Forever Forward Fridays

Cheerleader Melissa VS Jessie McKay - SHIMMER 5/3/2009

JJZ: Jessica McKay really impressed me this match, working a babyface style also so we got both sides of the coin with her PIF run. Cheerleader Melissa is honestly someone I always forget about and as soon as I watch her I get mad at myself because she is really good. The chemistry was great between these two ladies. McKay had some plucky underdog energy going on for sure. Melissa swinging Jessica into the gaurd rails was such a smart way to get heat. That move looks so painful. I know we talked about it before but man did the Shimmer crowd really show out for these events.  Melissa and Jessica used every minute they had to tell a complete and wonderful story.

CJD: I loved the beautiful simplicity of this match. Jessie was out of her depth but wasn't gonna back down unless Melissa put her in the ground. It was a fun, easy watch with some great moments. I've had a jumbled hectic couple of weeks and something about a match like this can be such a reset in the best way possible. I think that's one reason it can hook even a small crowd to this level. Melissa was a monster and McKay's growth from here to our last match, let alone now, is staggering. Also I'm loving these SHIMMER deep dives. Great pick my friend!

The Eagles Has Landed

The Tuckman (c) VS Robbie Eagles - PWA Soul Of PWA Championship 4/19/2024

JJZ: Alright babycakes! I really liked this match even though there was a little pizza. BUT, I think the announcers could've saved it by saying it was a result of that body part being worked over. Let me know if anything like that sticks out to you CJD! So what we have here is a returning star of a small promotion coming back to wrestle the current young star (and his student). Perfect independent wrestling storyline. Even though Robbie was in the Bullet Club I've never really seen him work a true heel role before. I think he did a pretty good job. The crowd was big time behind Tuckman, who I've never even heard about before this match. Natural heel babyface work from both guys. The crowd fueled Tuck's fire up and the second half of the match kept the strong psychology with a great back and forth. This was just a really solid match. Would love to watch more between these two.

CJD: Holy shit babycakes. Can you believe almost 8 years ago to the day, you played this ZSJ/Eagles match forward to me to crown our first ever Misawa Dick Togo Santo Outercontinental WWKD Champion?? And almost 8 years later to the day, Robbie Eagles has finally landed that most coveted title that has eluded him for nearly a decade, our imaginary utterly meaningless blog champion?!? I love that totally unplanned, we were both coincidentally watching PWA matches from different eras independent of each other for PIF, and one of those two paths somehow lead us to this insane time loop back to the beginning. That's some Dark Tower shit right there.

And I've been commenting to you that we've had some matches lately that give me big time old school PIF energy when we were first testing out this concept! Exciting, unusual matches that have substance but aren't dense, fun and dynamic but not too mindless either. This match checks every single one of those boxes. I went from thinking I wouldn't like Tuckman based on his intro to loving him by the end. I agree completely (and watched the match before reading your review) that the limb work absolutely played into a few awkward moments, and the commentary didn't always pick up on it. But man PWA was cooking with this one overall! Great experience for this live crowd, matches like this are special. I loved Eagles' heel work and presence. Speaking of the awkward moments too, the way they recovered from one of them, into a beautiful sell and a series of brutal strikes, was such a wonderful transition. And that finsh?!? Kiss all the chefs!! This is the stuff PIF was made for.

Forever Forward Fridays

Jessie McKay (c) VS Madison Eagles - PWA PWWA Championship 7/11/2010

CJD: I've always enjoyed Billie Kay in both goofy and serious roles in her time in WWE. I dont think I've seen any of her Jessie McKay days, so this was a treat as she really showed every side of her personality in this high stakes title match. The more I watch Eagles the more I think I must've watched something from her over the years, seeing how accomplished she was, but she also makes such a strong impression that I think I somehow have had her in a blindspot all this time?? I'm so glad you brought her into the PIF fold if so. This match has some 2010 commentary issues for sure, to shout out youtube commentor vandollism, but the presentation overall was so good from PWA that it didn't phase me. And the work the women did in this match did was even better. I know these two had other matches and I won't shy away from trying to lead us to another given the chance!

JJZ: Teacher vs student, lioness vs cub.  Simplest but best booking for a heated feud. This is both of our first time seeing Billie wrestle as Jessie McKay. She is good man. Her character work is incredible. I agree PWA does a very nice job on the production side. Also I'll shout out the announcers for really giving the back story and making everything with these two feel important. I'm coming out of this with a very high opinion Eagles. I need to check more of her stuff out. Just with Madison's two matches we watched I feel like the same as Del Rey, she was ahead of her time. She is super polished and talented. I bet PWA has a ton of hidden gems down there!

Forever Forward Fridays

Sara Del Rey VS Madison Eagles - SHIMMER 5/2/2009

JJZ: So excited to showcase to different sides of Del Rey with her two matches. In the match with Eddie she worked a great main event psychology. In this mid card match with Madison Eagles (sister in law of Robbie Eagles) Sara and Madison work such a traditional mid card match. Madison showcased her technical skills, having no problem keeping up with Sara. I really like that since Sara was coming off a rare loss, she seemed to be wrestling a little more aggressive and focused than normal. Shout out to the Shimmer crowd for make 50 to 100 people feel like 500 to 1000. I watched several matches from Sara before picking this one and man do I wish she could have worked during this current era of women's wrestling.

CJD: I play you a Robbie Eagles match on a Tuesday, and you go and swoop in with a Madison Eagles match on our totally separate brand Friday. I see what you did there!! Sneaky stuff. My favorite part of this match was definitely SDR coming off the big loss, and seeing how she responded against a very game opponent. I can't remember if I've seen Madison wrestle before but she brought the goods in this one. I loved how these two women pushed each other and had such a good back and forth flow. You're right that Sara doesn't quite get the flowers she deserves having such limited resources when she was in her prime. But when you go back and watch two matches of this caliber and know this is what she was doing night in and night out for years, it really gives you an appreciation for what a once in a generation talent she was. And then take into consideration her contributions since stepping out of the ring!

Brooks Run Into The Ocean, Man

Adam Brooks VS Robbie Eagles - OPW Heavyweight Championship 7/1/2023

CJD: They mentioned Eagles on commentary in your match so my mind was already going in this direction. Hearing Brooks' actual entrance music this time makes the overdub in your match that much more hilarious. Very different tones. This was way more of a crash pad match as I believe you call them, and since it was the opener you can see why. It was frantic with a great back and forth pace and very good chemistry between these rivals. As I believe Aiden English (I'm positive that's no longer his name) says on commentary, they do a good job of eliminating space in this match, making it feel like both guy wants to maintain body control and ring retail. Not everything was hit perfectly in this and I think that kind of helps make it feel like more of clash. There's some similarities with your Ali match but a lot of differences. I thoroughly enjoyed both.

JJZ: Man I love Robbie Eagles. I really think he is underrated. He keeps it super tight with mixing in a good amount of high flying. Brooks had a solid showing with both of these matches. Now CJD, I don't think I've said crash pad but I have said this was a junk food match. This could fall into that category for me with the added ingredient of it being a title match. I do think Eagles and Brooks brought a big match feel to this while keeping the pace up and taking risk early and often. I was biting on the falseies and was happy to have gotten familiar with OPW. Seems like a good company with a loyal fan base. Hope to bring more of their matches to the blog in the future.

In Ali We Trust

Adam Brooks (c) VS Mustafa Ali - OPW Heavyweight Championship 9/22/2024

JJZ: Did not expect to take Ali in this direction but boy did this match over deliver for me. I'm sure I've seen Adam Brooks before but can't recall. Maybe NXT UK? I dunno. I think one of the best things about Ali is he seems like he has chemistry with everyone no matter what their style is. The smoothness between the two was almost like dancing. Solid crowd that was hooked bell to bell. Brooks and Ali had some beautiful highspots that just made you say "Jesus Christ!" Both guys were determined to put on a memorable match and I believe they did.

CJD: Wow this one caught me totally out of left field. I'm pretty certain I've never seen Adam Brooks before, and that was one hell of a first impression. You mentioned how smooth this one was, that was something I noticed, but I also really appreciated how much Brooks ground Ali down. Besides one or two really cool moments, Brooks was more focused on hurting Ali than anything else. That created a great dynamic for Ali to shine and the crowd was all that much more along for the ride because of it. This could have easily been a your move/my move trade off with a big fireworks finish and everyone would have went home happy. But they elevated things a bit higher than that which I appreciated very much. It still was a bit of a big indie moves match but not in a bad way at all. It felt important and that's a credit to everything that went into it, both in and out of the ring. What a great showcase for a promotion I'm totally unfamiliar with. What is this, Friday on a Tuesday?!?

Forever Forward Fridays

Eddie Kingston (c) VS Sara Del Rey - CHIKARA Grand Championship 7/28/2012

CJD: So I was thinking Ruckus for our next FFFriday Champion but you put the idea for the War King in my head, and I'm so glad you did. Holy shit this match John. It probably won't stay up long so watch it sooner than later if you can. When you listen to accomplished wrestlers talk about the most important lessons to learn, the top two answers are almost always selling and storytelling. This match has both in spades. We watched a lot of both Eddie and SDR's matches around this run but I'd never seen this one before. I don't know why I skipped this DVD, maybe I didn't hear great reviews?? This match was everything I could've wanted. I loved the desperation from Kingston as he'd try to turn the tide with a quick bomb or a big shift of momentum. Great crowd too. This recent Friday run is the stuff PIF dreams are made of! It helps that from LuFisto, to the CZW 6 man, to this match, we've had some all-timers in the mix.

JJZ: So this was totally different than what I expected it to be. Kingston working from under for most of the match was suprising, but made sense with him coming into the match with the hand injury. That injury debilitates you in every way possible. Sara just going crazy with the kicks to chop Eddie down to size was a perfect chapter in this story. The home stretch of this match is what put it over the top for me. I got sucked in man. Total love when that happens. So happy I've never seen this till now. Great shit!

Whether They Like It Or Not, I Wanna Show You Off

Nic Nemeth (c) VS Mustafa Ali - TNA World Championship 7/21/2024

CJD: I don't know if I've watched a single Nemeth match outside of WWE. This was one hell of a crash course. This match had some really amazing highlights, but it was also very tightly worked with a nice logical flow. I know you love Ali, it was so nice to see him bring this excellent heel side of his persona. It complimented the babyface Champ perfectly. And Ziggler brought an extra sense of struggle to key moments, when you know how silky smooth he usually executes. Like a kid scuffing up a new baseball glove. This match felt like a real main course, which is impressive after featuring a bunch of great high stakes Cena matches. I think you'll really like this one my friend!

JJZ: Love that you went this way! I'm such a mark for Ali. I think WWE totally misused him after 205 Live. Side note, Ali's 205 Live run is one of the best runs of a wrestler in the 2010s! I have seen a few Nic Nemeth matches post WWE. I haven't really been into any of them....... until this one! Different than I expected. I thought it was gonna be more car crash but it brought such a story. They had the big spots but Nic and Ali built to everything and everything felt earned. I listened to a podcast with Nemeth recently and he talked about how good TNA is and how strong the locker room has been. Wouldn't mind checking out more from Impact after this.

Forever Forward Fridays

Eddie Kingston/Ruckus/Sabian VS Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli/Super Dragon - CZW 1/14/2006

JJZ: Thought you'd appreciate the beginning of the match foreshadowing the show (Hell Freezes Over) we were at later that evening. This was a car crash of a match if I ever saw one. So many innovative spots. Obviously super fucking stiff. CZW is the junk food of wrestling. When you're craving it, CZW can really hit. Now, too much and you start to get a little sick of it. This hit so good on a day when the temps are in the teens after shoveling for 3 hours. I really like that everyone got at least a little shine in this match. Definitely loved that swinging cravat hold. All six wrestlers could put this match on a best of tape.

CJD: This match is like a love letter to so many aspects of my pro wrestling fandom. This era of the indies, this feud, me and you going to so many of these shows. Trading backyard wrestling tapes back in the *Prodigy days to get a glimpse of the mind blowing stuff Claude Morrow was doing before he'd someday be CZW Champion. The different layers of feuds and stories, and another chapter in the historic Kingston/Hero wars. This match rules. There was one giant spot that I thought should've ended it. Only criticism, but I did buy on the nearfall. The point that it could be on any best of comp is such a good one. Also for such a violent match the only part that felt unsafe was Super Dragon landing on his fucking head as Super Dragon was prone to do. Him and King felt like such stars in this. Thank you so much for getting me to watch this my friend. This one brings me joy!

Smells Like Team Spirit

John Cena VS Dolph Ziggler - WWE Steel Cage Match 1/14/2013

JJZ: Let's bookend this son of a bitch CJD! After the ladder match with Dolph had some sneaky interference, John Cena finds a way to eliminate the distractions so he can get his revenge on Ziggler in a STEEL CAGE MATCH! This was the blow off to the Cena/Ziggler feud as a RAW main event. I think using a cage as a tool to keep AJ and Big E out of the ring and not as a weapon to punish Dolph was a good way to not expect the blood and guts that a steel cage match usually comes with. Great story telling in the ring. Loved the falsies. Big E looked like such a monster at this time. I loved that what won Ziggy the match at TLC played into the finish of this match for a satisfying conclusion. Enjoy homie.

CJD: I was so close to watching this match instead of my ladder match, and I was already in the mood for more Cena, so you made my freezing cold day with this pick John! I love the rare instances we hold up our imaginary title for the week and feature a rematch. And I love really well done TV main event wrestling. And this was both of those things! I didn't love the angle that brought AJ and Ziggler together, but this trio together were one of my favorite things about this era of WWE. They had such a fun dynamic, and similarly I am a total sucker for Cena and Dolph as opponents. These two matches were a treat, and I'm tempted to go back to Big Match John yet again, but I think I think I'll take a break from the WWE machine and dig into some Nic Nemeth instead.