Forever Forward Fridays

Jonah Rock VS Super Crazy VS XL - NOAH 3/8/2014

JJZ: Probably the shortest match in PIF history. I didn't mean it to be but with intros this jawn is short short short. BUT! I think I came out of this match with a better impression of XL and Jonah. I already love Super Crazy and think he played his part fine in this one. Still can't believe XL was able to get his weight low enough for the Cruiserweight Classic. This had some nice highspots and all the guys showed a good amount of aggression. This is a perfect second or third match on a card. I remember watching Jonah in NOAH during this time but don't remember him being this small. More like a pebble. Bad joke. Hope you enjoy this match for what it is baby cakes.

CJD: I literally thought while watching this "I'm going to make a Jonah Pebble joke... no I'm not," so thank you for jumping on that grenade for me! I'm curious if this was actually shorter than RSP VS Heidi Lovelace which I'm pretty sure held the title of our shortest match previously. This was good! Obviously if you want a vet directing traffic for a 3 way you couldn't ask for a better chaperone than Super Crazy. Both of the young guns impressed here. The best word I could use to describe this match is fresh. It just felt fresh. Nothing mind blowing obviously but it left you excited for more from all three. I will say I was disappointed that XL wasn't Brian XL, but I digress. Maybe I can find a BXL VS XL match for next week!!

Forever Forward Fridays

Zack Sabre Jr VS Jonah Rock - 6/23/2018

CJD: I was going to go a different direction with ZSJ this week and watched a much more ambitious match of his in Mexico. But I had some problems with it and his opponent's performance, so I decided to watch one more to compare and contrast. I've liked everything I've seen from Jonah/Bronson so this was an easy choice. And this match won my rose for the week simply because it didn't have any glaring weakness. It was the type of match that on a great show, maybe a PPV, it might not be the second or even third best of the night. But if that's the case it just means you watched a damn fine event. It has a satisfying, steady pace that builds logically. They do a very good job of highlighting the powerhouse VS technician dynamic, with a nice sub theme of Sabre going after the leg to take away the Australian Samoan's base. And both men are excellent at selling the damage as they keep chipping away, giving you the sense you're watching a brutal competition. In the end the other match I watched had slightly higher highs but it was a lesson in you're only as good as your worst player. Rock was a better opponent and this was the match I decided to play forward to you this Friday my friend.

JJZ: Another reason way I love Play It Forward. If I watched this match under different circumstances I think I might be disappointed. Zack has put himself in the realm of match of the night every match. So when I plan on watching a ZSJ match I'm expecting it to be the ace of the show. But with PIF matches I'm looking for little things that make it stand out to us. In this match I realized that Zack has the ability to eliminate the size advantage that bigger wrestlers have over smaller or lighter wrestlers with his joint manipulation and violent striking. Honestly I can't recall a match where he was just totally over powered and was working from under most of the time. Please correct me if I'm mistaken baby cakes. Jonah does a great job of adding some really nicely timed flying spots. I enjoyed this one. I see that this was a rematch, I'd be curious to watch their first meeting!