Forever Forward Fridays

Savannah Evans VS Willow Nightingale - CCW 8/6/2022

JJZ: The first thing that pops out to me about this match is the fact that they wrestled like there were hundreds in the crowd, not 10s. The babe with power and the cannibal were going back and forth, trying to show who was the stronger of the two. I totally popped for the old school test of strength. Bring the 80s WWF vibes. Willow brings such energy and confidence into the ring with her. She is super bubbly but somehow also gives off a don't fuck with me vibe. Evans has just an old-school power house, hoss level of you don't want any of this. Super impressed with the level of wrestling Willow and Savannah brought despite the crowd.

CJD: The energy the crowd and the commentators brought to this match wasn't exactly dynamic, although I do love the call "a bridge you could walk over!" Thankfully the energy Willlow and Savannah brought turned things a notch up! Besides the raw power struggle, I love a match with some suplays that have some extra OOMPH and some of these really popped. Willow looks like a work in progress here but the potential is clearly there. Evans was such a revelation these two weeks, equally as impressive as a face or a heel, just super entertaining overall. I'm excited to dig into more Nightingale as I know her name has been all over lately. Thank you for opening this door for me my man!

Justice For Hidaka

Minoru Tanaka/Ikuto Hidaka VS Masao Orihara/Takeshi Ono - BattlARTS 10/19/1997

CJD: When I decided to play a tag match for our 2x MDTSOCWWKD to show how great he was at both sides of the coin, I didn't expect to stumble onto the most young boy lookin Hidaka I ever damn seen!! Add in some classic BattlArts action, swanky ass Ishikawa setting the table in vintage 90s puro TV fashion, and three excellent shootstyle/junior heavyweight hybrid dance partners... and what a stew this is John. These recent Tuesday matches are the stuff PIF dreams are made of man. So many different directions and flavors of what we love about pro wrestling (yes I'm a very culinary motivated individual). Speaking of food, the only slice of pizza in this match is courtesy of young Ikuto, but I love love the way he recovers. He's channeling some serious Kikuchi/Otani energy in this one. The heels bring it, Tanaka looks like he's about to blast off to the moon, I could watch matches like this all day every day.

JJZ: ThIs was fantastic, CJD! To be honest, I didn't realize which wrestler was young Hidaka until he was in the camel clutch. Ikuto took a bunch of licks during this match, but when his opportunity came, he layed it back in for sure. Also, big time appreciation for his bumping and selling. He made Ono and Orihara look like monsters. Hidaka sold a low blow like I've never seen before. I think he might have actually eaten it straight to the duck. All four wrestlers brought such fight and energy to the ring that day. I was also pleasantly surprised for the outside the ring action that took place. I don't recall too many Battle Arts matches where guys are being slung into the chairs. Maybe I just haven't watched enough. This made me a wonderous Sunday afternoon delight for us to share with everyone this Tuesday.

CJD: One last footnote, Hidaka just landed in something like the 500s in the Greatest Wrestler Ever poll, and that's a travesty of justice. I feel somewhat responsible as I said on pro wrestling only I'd help build his case but never got back to him. And now I can't figure out how to get back into my damn account but that's neither here nor there. All I'm saying is, this is I think the fourth Hidaka match we've shared at PIF over 8 years. Expect a hell of a lot more than that in the next decade as we try to right this wrong by the time GWE36 rolls out!!!

Forever Forward Fridays

Savannah Evans (c) VS Cheerleader Melissa - OCSW Women's Championship 4/14/2019

CJD: I watched this during our little spring break and the few times I'd tried to sit down to a match it wasn't clicking for me. So when I put this on and was immediately feeling the energy these women, this venue and promotion were bringing, I knew I probably had a match I'd be playing forward. And Melissa and Evans brought such a classic face/heel clash that I couldn't say no. Something about this match speaks to the first time I heard a bump on a mat live in person. It reignites a little spark of pro wrestling love in my old jaded heart. I knew nothing about Evans previously but I hope you have good options with her because her babyface energy here totally hooked me. And it was fun watching this era of Melissa with that veteran salt & vinegar baked in.

JJZ: Man, O man, do I love how independent wrestling this is. Cheerleader Melissa is so good, CJD. Old lion versus young lion. Totally not familiar with this promotion. OSCW seemed cool. It's hard to get a read on a promotion from a special event like this one, but Evans rapport with the crowd seemed like they had a solid fan base. Melissa plays a great heel. I think she is such a fantastic wrestler, but I really wanted Evans to break her foot off in Cheerleader's ass. Evans hooked me in with her selling. Little Plucky Underdog Babyface action. Really enjoyed watching some independent wrestling this Friday.

Reason Through MCs Inflicting Slatalities

Ikuto Hidaka VS Damian Slater - Wrestle Rampage 11/23/2012

JJZ: Oh Fuck Yes. Man do I love Ikuto Hidaka, and after Slater's two matches I think I got a little crush on him! Hidaka is so smooth and makes everything look effortless. After watching your last match with Slater I knew this would be another match young wrestlers should study. All the moves flowed and the storytelling was wonderful. I miss watching Hidaka on the regular. I would get so excited when you'd bust out a Zero1 VHS and we'd watch that grainy ass tape. Slater is someone I'm 100 percent gonna watch more of. A wrestler's wrestler in my opinion

CJD: A wrestler's wrestler is a great way to describe what we've seen from Slater these 2 weeks. What a breath of fresh air especially coming back after a little break for us. Hidaka is well documented as one of our favorites, I similarly got so excited when I saw that's who you were playing forward to me! This match was such a good back and forth struggle, with Slater looking a little outmatched or star struck early, then really turning the heat up on Ikuto, who in turn went to some classic limb work trying to set up that Shaaaaaawwwwwnn Capture! So many silky smooth moments within the struggle and extremely creative ideas, an arm drag fake out I've never seen, a transition into a spinning heel kick I rewound multiple times. Finish was a pleasant surprise and pretty much everything about this match was so refreshing. Beautiful choice my friend!