I Was Lightning Before The Thunder

Tiger Mask IV (c) VS Mike Quackenbush - FSM NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship 5/11/2007

CJD: Back when this match happened I read a lot about it and considered picking the show up. I bought the first FSM DVD and thought they had potential, but I believe they folded soon after. At one point in time, with much criticism from the message board I posted it on, Tiger Mask IV was in my top 10 wrestlers in the world. This match is years after that but he still has a bit of greatness deep down. After finally watching this I'm pleasantly surprised by what these two did in a venue and in front of a crowd that had to be giving TMIV flashbacks of Michinoku Pro gymnasium shows. I'm also always trying to slowly push PIF back from generation to generation so I'm very curious to see what you come back at me with here.

JJZ: I will confidently say that I've probably watched more wrestling with CJD than almost any person has ever watched wrestling with another human before. So with that certain wrestlers always remind me of Chris. TMIV is one of those wrestlers. Now I do enjoy TMIV so this match has me amped. This is Tiger Mask's second match on PIF but first as the MDTSOWWKD CHAMPION. Love that Bryce is the ref. Big room with a small crowd but they come through nicely. Very surprised to hear that at the time Quack had never wrestled in Japan. He'd be perfect for Dragon Gate or MPro. This has a classic Japanese Junior style but it ends up going in a different direction. Shit!

Editor's note: This match has been taken down since we originally shared it. We'll check back periodically to see if we can find a new link. We apologize for the inconvenience!

Dragon's Gonna Stretch You

Super Dragon VS Mike Quackenbush - RevPro Revolution J Tournament 2002

JJZ: Talk about a styles clash here. Right off the bat Super Dragon is showing more technical skill than I'm used to and Quack is working a little stiffer than he usually does. In my opinion shows the respect these two have for each other. This match really gave me a '93 ECW FanCam vibe. With the last Dragon match being pretty epic, this was a nice counterpoint to show him work a more straight forward style match. Quack brings a lot of energy and storytelling which is what he does best.

CJD: I was as excited for this match as any you've ever played forward to me. And for historical significance alone this is well worth us featuring. Unfortunately I couldn't help but wish for the only encounter these two ever had that it happened after they both had a bit more seasoning. This was disjointed, in a tournament setting it was perfectly fine with some good moments, but on a whole it played like more of a curiosity. Which is '93 ECW FanCam through and through, so I guess that's fitting!

Baby Steen, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo

Kevin Steen/El Generico VS Super Dragon/Excalibur - CZW 12/11/2004

CJD: Totally selfish pick on my end this week. I've been reading about this match for a decade plus but would probably never sit down to it otherwise. CZW did their best to kill my favorite promotion, Big Japan, a few years previous to this. It made it difficult to ever give them a fair chance. The fact that their premise was a shitty ECW rip off didn't help entice me. But I knew they were bringing in great talent and I always heard this in particular was a benchmark match getting some under appreciated talent booked on the East Coast. Watching now it didn't disappoint in the slightest. The commentary is shitty, the match is a product of the times, but this is a statement performance from everyone involved and some great tag team wrestling.

JJZ: Look at Mr Steen. Baby baby shark. SUPER excited for Super Dragon. Excalibur being in this match made me smile since I haven't watched anything with him in forever. Props to him for becoming one of the best commentators in the game. El Generico is soooo skinny. This era of CZW always felt very backyard to me and I don't mean that in a negative way. Backyard wrestling is very near to my heart. God do I miss dickhead Super Dragon. I agree Chris that this CZW is a shitty ECW but can you imagine Super Dragon in ECW? You can tell how much this match means to all four of these wrestlers at this time. This match was so much fun and I found myself saying "Jesus Christ" and "Oh fuck!" out loud many times. If a match could perfectly define 2000s Indy wrestling this would be it.

CJD: Kayfabe Commentaries needs to produce a time traveling Super Dragon fantasy booking series. That's a license to print money right there.

JJZ: YEAH they do.

We Are The Sons Of No One, 100% Bastards Of Young

Dave Mastiff VS Kevin Steen - PCW 11/16/2013

JJZ: WWE Kevin Owens is very good but Kevin Steen is on a totally different level for me. I really miss Steen and I didn't even realize it until I watched this match. This has a fantastic mix of comedy and stiffness. Both wrestlers work the crowd while building a solid story and delivering a satisfying finish.

CJD: These are two surprisingly agile big beefy bastards beating each other up and letting their personalities shine. I think this match has a lot of similarities to my pick last week but Steen brings an entirely different set of skills to the table. Mastiff reminds me a little of babyface Jerry Blackwell in these two matches, a guy who you'd peg for a heel at first glance but who connects with the crowd in a "one of us" kind of way immediately. Also both are surprisingly good working underneath considering their size. And as for Steen, well we'll see more of him next week!

You Either Die A Prince, Or Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Demon

Prince Devitt VS Dave Mastiff - IPW:UK 1/19/2014

CJD: This match is interesting on a few levels. A few years later in the same promotion this would have been wrestled as much more of a dream match, but here you can tell IPW:UK is more of a mix of families and a small town indy crowd. Mastiff and Devitt wrestle as such but with more of a big match closing section, with the future star playing the touring heel to the local beefy bruiser. I was into the throwback feel of this one, and the opportunity to switch up the great run we just had from Japan.

JJZ: We're getting the Demon. I agree with the kid in the beginning of the match that stated Mastiff is "very large." I'm into this venue and crowd, they're popping at all the right moments. This bout tells a great story had me marking out a few times. When you first shared it I thought I'd seen it before but I was definitely wrong this time. I 100% approve of the 100% Bastard being the new MDTSOWWKD Champion!

Editor's note: This match has been taken down since we originally shared it. We'll check back periodically to see if we can find a new link. We apologize for the inconvenience!