Forever Forward Fridays

Chigusa Nagayo VS Bull Nakano - AJW June 1986

CJD: Once upon a time we played forward a Bull Nakano match from 1989 VS Lioness Asuka and you said it was the youngest you ever saw Bull. Well now I'm playing forward an even younger Baby Bull (the earliest I've watched from her) VS Lioness' fellow Crush Gal, Chigusa!! And while Bull is maybe a little green here, fuck if she doesn't even hesitate to go toe to toe with Chigusa. Which is a tall order of business. This match is grimey, you want holds worked with bad intentions, this one is for you. But don't you worry, they still kick it into high gear by the end. I'm no joshi historian, but I have to imagine matches like this helped put Bull on the map, even as an emerging heel to a red hot top babyface here in Chiggy. This is such a breakout performance for someone who has been wrestling for 3 years, but then again 80s joshi is full of those meteoric peaks.

JJZ: When I start thinking about what I'm going to write about our matches I usually base it around the first impression I get. And at about the six minute mark I thought this match took place in 1986. Back then most people still thought wrestling was real and if I wanted to convince someone that indeed it is I would show them this match. The grit and rawness of this match made it feel like a real fight between two women who fucking hated each other. The selling was impressive because I genuinely believe that was pain they were feeling. I feel like I need to watch this again because so much was going on that I know I didn't pick up on some shit. This match was insane CJD. And that one German Bull took was heart stopping. One of the best finishes if its kind I've ever seen. I'd need to rewatch to say for sure but I think you pulled an ace out of the deck with this one.

Yeah I'm A Lone Wolf And I Ain't Never Been Trapped

Ron Garvin/Barry Windham (c) VS the Midnight Express - NWA Power US Tag Team Championship 2/21/1987

CJD: Very different flavor of Barry Windham here. I went on a little side quest after your awesome 6 man. Dabbled in some Barry, got side tracked on some Tully Blanchard, forgot Tully wasn't in your match, wrote up a whole review on a Tully match before I realized I couldn't play it forward. Even though Windham did make a run in. Damn!! So then I went back to the drawing board. Everything I was watching was really good. I love pro wrestling. Then I found this match. This match is simple. Spoiler alert: it's shine, heat, shmozz. But this is such a great aspect of pro wrestling that we don't get to share with a match focused blog. The angle that closes this out, all in one take, happening real time unless I missed something, is magic. This is the stuff that keeps you tuning back in. There's actually a lot I could say about the match as well. I'm such a sucker for Loverboy Dennis. But I'm playing this one forward because of the sizzle, not the steak, and boy does it end with some sizzle!

JJZ: Talk about a feud building match! Such good bones in this one. From intros to that wild ass ending you can tell this was the first paragraph for an epic novel. Great crowd to be expected, but what truly is special about this era of wrestling is that they really don't do much in the ways of offense. Heat man, this match is all about the heat. Not gonna lie, I'm super unfamiliar with Garvin. I honestly can't think of any matches I've seen him in before. I think I remember him refereeing for WWE. But dude throws a mean punch. I really want to see the blow off to this man. Who know where's I'm going to go next??

Those Hollywood Nights

Ric Flair/Arn Anderson/Paul Roma VS Barry Windham/Hollywood Blonds - WCW 7/3/1993

JJZ: Alright cutie pie. So we've done a fantastic job of playing forward matches showcasing wrestlers at different point of their career. For this one I wanted to play a match that showcased wrestlers around the same time frame and same type of match. To see how much they lifted from the matches. I did notice a few thing but nothing crazy. Both are six man tags but these six man tags are extremely different. The last one was a fantastic house show match while this one was a fantastic, heated feud building match. Also, I recently played forward a match with fucking horrible commentary. This bout totally makes up for that one. Tony and Jessie absolutely killed it on the mic. Great back and forth. But! These guys absolutely killed it in the ring. They focus on the things that really make you want to see the payoff at Beach Blast. Big props to the ref who's name is escaping me at the moment. They had him running all around, plus he took one hell of a ref bump. Timing in a match with so many wrestlers is so key and they all execute it very well. I'm loving this tag team heater we are on right now. But most importantly about this match Chris. Very little Paul Roma. Hope you like it sir.

CJD: I love how right down to the way it's shot, you wouldn't know Roma was even in this match for about 75% of it without someone reminding you. I think we both have a soft spot for Pretty Paul but wow did he look painfully uncomfortable in this match. Couldn't agree more that Jesse & Tony were firing on all cylinders for this one. Master class in play by play with heel color commentary. I really liked this match sweet pea. Maybe even more than my house show 6 man. The way they built the heat up over and over here was so nice. I've got to say in both matches, I thought Austin was low key the star. Always giving the spotlight to someone else but every little thing he does both looks great and adds purpose. With what he became that's not a hot take or anything, but this era of his career is still severely underrated. Last but not least. I know the days of us keeping close track of our fictional MDTSOCWWKD Championship are long behind us. But we've had two tag team champs in a couple of weeks here between MaruKEN and now the Blonds. And even after all these years I know we've only successfully had a small number of tag teams retain the big gold imaginary belts. Just a little tidbit that I enjoyed!

Forever Forward Fridays

Crush Gals VS Jaguar Yokota/Devil Masami - AJW 9/26/1984

JJZ: Chris, this match was so good that it fully overcame truly terrible English commentary recorded on top of Japanese commentary. This was a two outta three falls fuck ing banger! Joshi is always just a ball of nonstop energy that is coming through your tv screen. Even with the sloppy jalopy announcers the crowd was still fully present in the mix the entire match. With a lot of Joshi I always appreciated that they hit moves out of timing and necessity. It feels very organic and not a spot they planned in the back. Totally not shitting on that style, I'm just saying that it makes Joshi feel very individualized. I thought the finishes were great and timed out excellently. Overall man. This match was awesome. Enjoy.

CJD: This match was awesome indeed, my friend! I think I've avoided this one because every time I hear these putsy AV club loafer wearing geeks on commentary I try to find another version. However reading through the YouTube comments makes me realize these guys might have actually recorded over these matches for US broadcast in the 80s?? That makes their forced, unintentionally hilarious, (but admittedly, open minded and enthusiastic), constantly cringe worthy audio at least a bit more palpable. Anyway, man this was a war of attrition. Jaguar and Devil looked individually superior, the Crush Gals stronger as a team for the majority of the match. Devil did work from under a good amount though and Chigusa looked every bit the emerging superstar she was. The selling was sporadic as you'd expect with this era but the structure, execution, and pace were so ahead of their time. Maybe even to the point they still haven't been topped. You said it to me behind the scenes, but we're truly on a tear of great matches right now man. The stuff that makes pro wrestling fandom special. Thank you for sharing this gem!

It Was A 2 Cold Chill

Sting/Ricky Steamboat/2 Cold Scorpio VS Rick Rude/Hollywood Blonds - WCW Elimination Match 5/6/1993

CJD: The FanCam Connection doing FanCam Connection things! This match has less than 1k views and has only been up for a year which tells me there's a good chance it might not stay up for long. So drink in this 1993 house show goodness while you can. There's a lot of table I need to set for this match. First of all it's an elimination tag. Second of all this is a high school show in Terre Haute Indiana in 1993, and the crowd is every bit as homophobic as you'd imagine. Watch with the sound down if necessary. And third of all, the actual finish to this match is such a classic horse shit house show finish that I'd probably skip sharing it if there wasn't so much other excellent content otherwise. It's kind of a glimpse of how awesome WCW was in this era but all the reasons why they never realized their full potential in one tiny homophobic high school gym in Indiana. I thought everyone did some really great stuff in this match. Some unusual spots, great crowd work, and great apron work while guys weren't in the match. Not a lot of bumps punched on the bump cards as you'd expect, but nobody was taking the night off by any means. And yeah the finish was, well, you'll see, but at the end of the day there was no way I wasn't playing this one forward.

JJZ: So right off the bat, I loved the finish. It perfectly fit the tone of the match. If this was a PPV I would have a problem with it, but with all the gaga it worked. The fucking star talent in this match was insane CJD. Just wow. Six generational talents sharing the mat and all of the them showing the depth in their game. This would've been a perfect match for sharing with all of our wrestling buddies. I fully agree that the punch card wasn't hit too hard in this one, but that's to be expected with a house show like this. But that doesn't mean it wasn't entertaining and that the people didn't get their money's worth. 10 out of 10 fury cakes. Would watch again.

Yes We MaruKEN

2 Cold Scorpio/Superstar Steve VS Naomichi Marufuji/KENTA - NOAH 7/27/2001

JJZ: I know we've seen so many MaruKen matches, so I wanted to try to find something a little different. This was definitely new to me so I'm hoping it's new to you. It was wild seeing baby Kenta getting broken in by old out of shape 2 Cold. And when I say out of shape I just mean that on looks alone. He still hits all the flippy dippy action. Even my favorite move of his. It was a blast to see Kenta bust out a lot of stuff I've never him do before. You could tell that NOAH had a lot of faith in what Marufuji was gonna become because he stood toe to toe and Scorpio and SS. Which btw Superstar Steve wasn't half bad. I thought he came out looking really solid in this match. Enjoyed the falsies that didn't over stay their welcome either. Good shit here baby. Hope you enjoy it.

CJD: Superstar Steve?? What in the actual fuck. My first thought is he must be a Harley Race trainee, and a quick cagematch search confirms he is. And he was still wrestling as of June 2023?!? Versus Flash Flanagan??!? Man, we gotta pack it in. There's no coming back from a peak like Super Star Mother Fucking Steve. Just kidding. He was decent enough, just, why. I loved watching Scorpio and Marufuji go at it in this one. I didn't love watching KENTA get concussed as I've seen happen to him far too many times. Both Scorpio and Steve were pros directing traffic for him but he probably shouldn't have gotten back into the ring here. I was holding my breath on that springboard dropkick but hey, he stuck the landing! Marufuji really did have a star quality about him from day one, and while you can criticize a leg slap here or a whiffed coast to coast there, watching this match all the way to where he is now, that's one hell of a career. Now let's see what Superstar Steve gems I can dig up!!! Once again I'm joking, there is absolutely no way I'm not going 2 COLD.