Forever Forward Fridays

 

Darius Lockhart VS Sugar Dunkerton - PWX PURE English Rules Match 10/14/2018

JJZ: I almost never search out British rules/style matches for some reason but whenever I stumble across them I'm a sucker. Man did I enjoy this. Coming off of Lockhart's last match this was a 180 in style. And as for Suger Dunkerton jesus christ. I didn't know he had this in him! I'm really only familiar with him from Beyond so this was such a welcome treat. I probably never would've seen this if it wasn't for PIF, so man do I fucking love me some PIF!!! This had me hooked baby cakes. I realized towards the end of the match that these guys never end climbed the ropes. These Pure shows from PWX seem terrific. Really gonna keep my eye out for them. What I most enjoyed about this was the back and forth. It was a true 50/50 match that I couldn't take my eyes off. A lot of new stuff I've never seen and some old stuff with a new twist. Enjoy sweetheart!

CJD: This color guy always rides a razor thin edge between effective heel color commentator and obnoxious mark trying to get himself over. Unfortunately in this match he firmly fell into the latter category and refused to give the action any room to breathe. Which is unfortunate because this match was rich with interesting transitions and interactions. A lot of the time American indie wrestlers doing World of Sport stuff can feel contrived or lifeless. That wasn't the case here and like you said that's because they brought their own twist to things. Lockhart and Suge D had great chemistry and the crowd was really engaged by this deliberate but exciting match. Dunkerton has been a joy to watch his entire career but I can't say I've seen a ton of him in this more veteran role and he did a masterful job of it. This was a FFFriday treat if there ever was one.

Forever Forward Fridays

Darius Lockhart (c) VS Shane Strickland - PWX iTV Title Match 3/25/2018

CJD: When we came up with the concept for Forever Forward Fridays Darius Lockhart was one of the top names I wanted to feature. I never would have guessed Ophidian the Cobra would be the gateway to lead us down that road but here we are. This match was brought to my attention by the incomparable _sasukespecial_ on Instagram a while ago and I really liked it on first watch. Well I don't know what it was between now and then but this time around I didn't like it. I loved it! I feel like we've been playing forward some really high level stuff lately and even with that in mind this match fogged my glasses up even more than my mask already did. Young Darius just won his title earlier the day of this match and Shane is once again the outside talent coming to face the local star, only unlike against Ophidian he's the subtle heel this time around. There's so much depth to how he works one compared to the other. He doesn't add any tired sneaky tactics, he just modifies his character and his work ever so slightly, and it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Lockhart does so much right in this match that I don't even want to talk about him, I want him to be a revelation to you if you haven't seen him before. And I don't know if you'll recall but PWX is a promotion I've been talking up for a while. I played you and the guys a match or two but nothing compared to this. This is a statement kind of match. Stick around for a few minutes after it's done too. These guys say so much with a few facial expressions and a few gestures. I don't like to hype my choices up too much when I send them over to you so I hope this match didn't just catch me on the perfect day and fall flat for you. But man am I glad FFFridays lead me to revisit this.

JJZ: These announcers need to shut the fuck up so I can fully enjoy Swerve's entrance. I started watching this match on my phone and quickly realized I need to watch this on a bigger screen. Knowing that Lockhart won the title earlier in the show and he gave this kinda performance on his second match is career making. Strickland coming into your promotion and you standing your ground was such  simple but excellent storytelling telling in a short amount of time. Fantastic indy booking. I really liked the 50/50 in ring work because it gave Lockhart credibility and also showed that Strickland doesn't have a big ego despite being the much bigger talent coming in. The match itself is very good. Everything is hit crisp and looks strong. The crowd is super hot and feeling every emotion. This is a great match baby. Thanks for sharing.