Forever Forward Fridays

La Parka II/Garza Jr/Bengala VS Damian 666/Bestia 666/Nicho el Millonario - AAA 7/3/2016

CJD: I wanted to highlight Bestia 666's deathmatch roots this week, but just couldn't find a match up for streaming that scratched the right itch. There's a fun match VS Supreme (RIP) that falls apart badly but is worth a watch. Anyway, this scratched a different type of itch, which is a team of bad ass rudos running through a highly entertaining trios match. I really loved the 666 boys and Psicosis playing off the tecnicos shtick in this one. The match isn't objectively one of the better we've played recently. I honestly don't know if La Parka II was ever very good but towards the end of his career here (RIP) let's just say he was the weak link. Garza Jr, I know he's in WWE now, he's the spitting image of his uncle Hector who I always enjoyed (RIP), but I'm not terribly familiar with him either. Boy did the ladies love him! I dug what he brought to the match. The high flyer I've honestly never even heard of but he was good too. This was a "throw it on and see what we get" kind of match so my expectations were low but I was into it. Really liked the finish as well. And I thought our boy Bestia was low key the workhorse of the whole thing. One fall to a finish!

JJZ: Alright, so I will say this about this Lucha six man. It was entertaining. I definitely enjoyed the show they put on. But I ain't gonna lie. I didn't know what was going on a lot of the time during this one. I took it back a few times to see if I missed something and maybe I did but I didn't understand some what I saw. The build up to Bestia being the surprise partner was well done (even though I didn't understand what was being said). It gave off such a radiant energy. But man oh man. Garza Jr was hella over! That was fun to see such a ridiculous reaction to someone taking their gear off. I think this was the kinda match that played better in person. Rudos got some fucking killer heat. I also liked that finish my friend. Curious where I'm going next!

Hot, Top, Flight, Boy Outta Sight

Matt Sydal VS Dante Martin - AEW 6/24/2021

CJD: This wasn't my first choice for the type of Martin match to play forward. But damn AEW makes it super hard on YouTube at least to find anything other than 3 minute clips of their young wrestlers or a Dark or Elevation match here and there. And I'm not even talking I want more full AEW matches up there. I just don't want their content to overwhelm the search algorithm WWE style so it's so hard to find more from the wrestler's career. I digress, I'll still take any chance to watch Matt Sydal do Matt Sydal things, and I really liked the Sunday Morning Superstars dynamic here where Martin got so little, but made it count big when he did. So many cool roll ups, reversals, and submissions in this match. Not a ton of flying but I was fine with that. And now I'm setting myself up for more Matt Sydal in the future so I'm going to call this a win/win!

JJZ: This match was totally different than I expected it to be. I imagine when talking about the match Sydal was the one pitching to build everything for the big pop. It's funny because when you're young you get all the attention with big flashy spots but with age and wisdom you learn to place them when they are needed. So when a match up like this happens it's so good for the greenie. This was good man. Nothing over the top but just a solid well executed match. I like knowing this wasn't a one off either. Seeing they had at least three helped me understand the mindset of this match.

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Sonny Kiss VS Dante Martin - F1RST Wrestling 7/10/2021

JJZ: Oh shit!!!! That's how this match made me feel. I've watched a lot of Sonny Kiss this week. And non of the matches were bad but no match made me feel like this. It's just like YES! Junk food all the way my man. In this short match they delivered more than expected eye popping spots. I'm a fan of Martin. He still needs some polish but baby can he fly. So high. In the sky. I've learned in all the Kiss matches I've watched that Sonny can really build and work a good match. This one shows the ability to wow the crowd while the last Sonny match was more building a complete story. Hope you enjoy CJD.

CJD: The one thing I'd say above all else about this match is they knew how to read the room. These two knew their audience and gave them exactly what they wanted in the exact quantity they wanted it. It was nice to see Kiss leading a match and she did a great job of feeding Martin and building to his spots. Also for someone that does a lot of flexibility/gymnastic highspots, she really packs some pop in her strikes when she needs to. Good shit. Dante I'm not super familiar with but I'm excited to learn more. I haven't watched anything from F1RST in a while so this was quite the tasty little snack while you've got junk food on my mind.

Bitter Friends, Stiffer Frienemies

Joey Janela VS Sonny Kiss - WrestlePro 11/27/2021

CJD: Last time around with Janela and Kiss we talked about how they'd fit right in sharing a 40 and a smoke outside of Fun Rama in West Philly on a Sunday afternoon. Well we know those types of friends and we know the falling outs can be dramatic. So this feud made a lot of sense to me. That said I honestly wanted to go a different direction with Joey this week. I didn't want to rehash ground we already covered with him. But when you think about what we've featured on the blog, his super memorable match VS Orange Cassidy, a fun TV tag with Kiss, VS Scott Norton of all people, and now a heated longer singles match in a feud with his former partner... the man is a swiss army knife. Plug him in wherever you need him and you'll get good results. And I absolutely loved this match. The crowd was electric, Kiss gave the best performance I've seen from her, tremendous selling and fire, and the match built to and delivered some amazing highspots. I'm so glad I went this direction after exploring other options. This was such a great example of what I love about pro wrestling, maybe a little more of a Friday match on a Tuesday, but you gotta keep them guessing!

JJZ: Love the shot of a cannon start! I popped big time for that rana! I thought this was a really different style for Joey than what we've shared. Yourrecap of his PIF journey really showed his depth as a worker. The story and the build with this match had me hooked. And with independent wrestling you're telling a tale that some people in that audience might not be familiar with history of. Rocky showing up in a suit in Rocky 3 doesn't have the same impact if you didn't see Rocky 1 and 2. But it still all came across in this match loud and clear. That home stretch kept me guessing. I couldn't figure out when they were taking it home. And I'll agree this was the best Kiss match I've seen to date. Really nice pick baby cakes!

Forever Forward Fridays

Black Taurus VS Rey Horus - Black Label Pro 8/24/2019

CJD: I know Black Taurus has had some high profile singles matches, but I've really only seen him in tag and multiman settings. So this was new to me and I really enjoyed it. I hate playing forward wrestlers to you that I'm not crazy about. I know with how little time we both have to devote to this silly hobby, every match is precious. But sometimes getting out of your comfort zone makes you find great stuff, and this was one of those weeks for me. Hopefully you can do the same with Horus. He definitely has some great spots. Maybe I'm being too hard on him. ANYWAY, this is the goofiest I've heard Dave Prazak in a long time, and I enjoyed hearing that joy in his voice. He and Sarah Shockey also called this one beautifully while cracking each other up. The fans really put this over the top for me and I loved the sign of respect after the match. I felt like they came close to going off the rails a few times and BT brought it back home like your neighbor landing the plane in Top Gun on NES while you watch on in amazement.

JJZ: Man this was a fun match. This match truly reminds me of a '90s Japanese juniors match. Quick flash start. The baby working from under for the body of the match. Explosive jaw dropping back and forth for the head and shoulders. And finally a finish that doesn't overstay its welcome that makes sense. I like Horus more than you but I'd definitely put him as a B list high flyer. Imma disagree about this almost coming off the rails. I think both guys kept this one on the road nicely. Fantastic pick fam.

He'll Save Every One Of Us

Scott Norton VS Joey Janela - AIW 3/24/2017

JJZ: Fuck it, let's see what happens. I've watched some underwhelming Scott Norton matches before finding this. Janela really works his ass off for Flash Norton in this one. I mean he really makes the match to be honest. Scott's limited offense is executed nicely though. Everything he hits looks good and tight. But Double J really over sells to make the point and to make it seem like Scotty is still a fucking monster. Which he kinda is. Dude is twice the size of most humans. I know how much you love AIW and this venue in particular so I know you'll also probably love this.

CJD: I'll say this about Norton's performance in this match. What he can't do physically, he more than makes up for with the little things. His body language, his selling when necessary for Janela, how engaged he is in this match. We've both seen vets, especially with a physical mismatch like this, just take a payday and mail the effort in. That wasn't this match at all. Now the match was still more of a novelty than anything great, but that was kind of Janela's MO against aging stars around this time, the guys he grew up idolizing. I've seen a few of those matches and I'd say this is one of the better ones. It's simple, both guys are really in the moment, and it's fun. Everything I could have asked for given the circumstance.

Forever Forward Fridays

Rey Fenix/Laredo Kid VS Abismo Negro Jr/Black Taurus - AAA 2/7/2021

JJZ: Let's flip flop and fly my guy. This scratched an itch for me at the moment I needed it to. This contest had some beautiful artwork of ariel offense. All four guys really went for it when they had the chance. I feel like Play It Forward finally made me a major fan of lucha libre. Now i know this definitely has a modern twist to it but I feel like it still holds some roots. This was a blast to watch. Hope you got your popcorn ready for this action baybay!!

CJD: One fall to a finish and I've got that popcorn ready. Fenix really has that star presence, it's one of those things you have a hard time quantifying but you know it when you see him. I thought the rudos held this one together nicely, especially after Laredo Kid seemed to get his bell rung. Which made the finish of the match all that much more impressive. Black Taurus blows my mind how he moves around like that in that gear with that much man meat on his meat hocks. He's low key the MVP of every one of these car crash matches I see him in. This had a bit more substance than a total spotfest too and as far as post-pandemic presentation goes I really dig how AAA adjusted.