Forever Forward Fridays

Shayna Baszler (c) VS Rhea Ripley - NXT Women's Championship 12/18/2019

CJD: Sometimes I like diving into matches that have historical significance more  than I care about match quality. This is one of those times. I was trying to avoid WWE since they won't let us give them free publicity on Instagram and they're clearly a terrible company but my options were limited. My opinion of this as a match would fall firmly in the "Good" category. But for Baszler's time on top of NXT's women's division, which I really enjoyed, I thought it was an awesome moment. When she transitioned from pure ass-kicker to boss god with minions doing her bidding, I'm sure some people got sick of it. It wasn't the best. But after a GOAT contender in ASUKA, in a very difficult position, I thought Shayna did a great job as the Ace (or Spade) of the division. Rhea was awesome here as well. I'm glad to have had an excuse to finally sit down to this match because I feel it was a bit lost to time otherwise.

JJZ: I've always wanted to see this. I loved Shanya's second title run. She was such a dominant champion and Rhea is such a believable threat even knowing the little that I do about this feud. I'll agree this match is just good but that doesn't take away the huge feel of it. The urgency that Ripley and Baszler wrestle with in the second half of the match came through the screen. The crowd pop when Rhea grabbed the ref's shirt to prevent her hand going down was awesome. Loved the home stretch. Wish I didn't know who won because everything played out great.

Forever Forward Fridays

Piper Niven VS Rhea Ripley - NXT UK 7/3/2019

JJZ: So this is a shotgun of a match. Comes at you fast and doesn't slow down. Very much a who's the baddest motherfucker in the room kinda match. I don't know if hoss is used in women's wreslting but this is a hoss battle in every way. Just two big beefy broads laying into each other. Ain't nuthin' text book about this one. Great television match. Hope you like it.

CJD: I've been lamenting how I don't have the time to watch full events or even TV shows anymore and how I miss those undercard, feud building kinda matches. So this one really scratched that itch for me right now. I think these are two really talented women. This isn't the easiest type of match to pull off and they do a great job of it here. WWE loves booking these kind of feuds of "who can say they're the baddest" without a clear way out for the loser, but these two kept their aura working with each other without doing anything cheap to do so. This was a real palate cleanser as we finally close the book on our most epic 6 month Joshi Journey... at least for now!!