Forever Forward Friday

Athena (c) VS Heidi Lovelace - AIW Women's Championship 7/26/2014

CJD: Heidi Lovelace becomes the first person to ever hold both of our imaginary titles, and she's good in this. Her and her heater are really effective setting the tone for Athena's babyface champ performance. But I picked this match much more because of Athena. I haven't seen a lot of matches where she totally clicks for me. Some wrestlers, even if they're good, are just like that for you as a fan I think. But here it clicks. She's awesome and efficient and smart at keeping the match moving when things slip up a little here and there. If I was there live that night I'd have left expecting big things from both ladies. Add in the old school AIW setting and I was sold.

JJZ: First thought. Who is the woman drinking an Artic Splash? I thought that was a pure Phila thing? I always loved the short/pant tights that Heidi rocked. I'm going to disagree with you though. I think Heidi was the one that shined here. Her transitions and the finish of her kicks and punches came across much more polished. Athena was good in this match but it felt like a match where one wrestler was obviously ready for the next level of their career and the other was still figuring a few things out. Personally I would have loved a longer match but for the match they were trying to give the crowd it came across really well.

Forever Forward Friday

Athena VS Mercedes Martinez - SHIMMER 45 3/17/2012

JJZ: So we are getting a FULL back story to this match. A little different for our blog but I like it. Since the only live story telling wrestling I'm watching currently is AEW I'm excited for a match that I know the background to. The heat of the match made total sense. Athena had pure babyface fire while Mercedes Martinez had Randy Orton type heel heat imo. Great back and forth with Athena bringing the high energy while Mercedes Martinez tries to slow it down the pace. Enjoy baby cakes!

CJD: The recap setting up this match was a nice touch. It's pro wrestling 101 booking but you can hear the crowd buy in. Simple story telling works when done effectively. Martinez was masterful as the veteran gatekeeper in this match, she made the prospect of Athena beating her feel like it would really mean something. The way she laid in her slaps, punches, the swagger she carried herself with while still seeming vulnerable when Athena would come roaring back. One of my favorite roles in wrestling is the gatekeeper, guys like Bockwinkel, Taue, and Nagata made an artform out of it to name a few. Randy Orton has some of those same qualities as well now that you mention it. Well Mercedes Martinez is a name I'm going to have to toss in that hat from now on too.