Friday, November 26, 2021

Forever Forward Fridays

Kylie Rae (c) VS Britt Baker - Zelo Pro Women's Championship 4/28/2019

CJD: Alright Zelo Pro, I have some questions. Why does your Champion in a main event title defense not have a belt. Why does your live commentary sound like it was dubbed over the video with a ghetto blaster after the fact. Why does your commentator have the worst seat in the house based on how often he miscalls the action. Why does he talk so much while saying so little. Why why why. With that out of the way. Thank you for booking this great match and putting it up for free on the internet for our enjoyment!! This was interesting in that it was an indie main event that was worked more like the match the closed the first hour of Nitro or opened the second. Which I liked about it. Up-tempo, fun, with some substance to it with Britt working the ribs and bringing her nastier side to Kylie's bubble gum pop Saturday morning cartoon energy. A lot of the work in this match was really tight and smooth but you had to focus on it as much as possible to stop the booming commentator audio track from distracting you. This is the type of match that made me want a trilogy from these two ladies touring different promotions. After our long long joshi journey we're definitely getting back to the Forever Forward Friday roots with this one.

JJZ: The only negative thing I can say is that I hate when the commentator is louder than the crowd. I hate it! But that doesn't have anything to do with the work in the match itself. While watching this I found myself thinking how much better the quailty of women's wreslting is in today's independent wrestling scene. And I thought that not because this is a five star classic but because this is just a good solid story-driven match. And CJD please correct me if you think I'm wrong but when we were going to shows all the time the women's matches (if any were on the card) were short and usually pretty weak. Fast forward 14 years and I love that we can have matches like this. Britt and Kylie tell a story in this 15 minute match that I really enjoyed. What I liked the most was the polish on both the wrestlers. So many little things that made me realize how good these ladies are. And the finish was excellent. Nice pick baby.

CJD: I think a lot of it was opportunity to build the audience and get the experience. SHIMMER paved the way. Promotions like IWAMS, for all the shit you can say about them, booked a substantial women's division at times too. But ROH in the mid 2000s, not so much. A lot of those ladies were capable of much better, but were not put in a position to do so on those shows we were going to. It really can't be understated the impact SHIMMER had on modern indie wrestling. Glad you dug this match, I'm excited to watch more Kylie, I'm still way too green on her!

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