Forever Forward Friday

Jonathan Gresham VS Karen Q - Beyond Wrestling VS WWR 4/5/2018

CJD: Ton of respect to Karen Q for hanging hold for hold with Gresham here. She might not be quite on his level but she didn't look out of place at all and the Octopus was really digging deep into his bag of tricks having a smaller (?) opponent for once. This crowd is pretty dead, I'm not sure if this is a WWN supershow preshow or something, but the commentators do a great job elevating the action and the talent regardless. I could have watched these two go at it twice as long but I really enjoyed what they packed into this one.

JJZ: This is one interesting match. Tiny ass crowd, intergender, probably enjoyed must by people who just love wrestling. Great hold for hold wrestling. The only thing I didn't like about the match was that it was only 10 minutes. And to be honest it only felt like 5. I could have watched this all day. I felt like Jon was very giving in this match. A lot of intergender matches just forcus the strength and size difference but not this match. They felt very equal. The finishing minutes were excellent and really had me guessing.

Forever Forward Friday

Deonna Purrazzo VS Karen Q - ROH No Disqualification 11/18/2017

JJZ: I'm excited for more Karen Q. I didn't want to do another Ring of Honor match, BUT! I watched another match with these two women before this and I really enjoyed it, just a bit too short. So when I saw a No DQ match I got excited to see what they could do in this setting. Both wrestlers have great fundamentals so getting to see their aggressive side showcased a new depth. Like with your Deonna/Klein match I would've loved to see the build up to this. Both are wreslting with anger and hate. I believe they want to hurt each other. We have watched a lot of women's independent wrestling on Forever Forward Fridays and these women you can tell are the cream of the crop. Both are very polished and experienced. Came out of this liking both more than I went in.

CJD: It's hard not to compare this match to the Klein match last week, both brawls, Karen turning on her training partner Deonna was part of the Klein feud, both in ROH. So I'll say the thing I prefer about the Klein match, that it feels more unpredictable, more like a fight, actually isn't necessarily a negative here. Because the thing I like best about this match is that it builds in a really deliberate, satisfying way, with a climax of great falsies. And I know you love a great falsie. Side note, there was a great obscure punk split when we were younger between the NJ band el Secondhand and the Virginia band the Falsies, and decades later I've wondered if that band name was a wrestling reference. ANYWAY, Karen Q really stayed on Deonna still entire match and I'm glad we cycled back to her after the limited roll she had in the tag match we featured weeks back. She's still pretty new to me and I like what we've watched. Now to go watch more of her. And to go see if I can find that split online anywhere!

Forever Forward Friday

Jordynne Grace/LuFisto VS Tasha Steelz/Karen Q - Women's Wrestling Revolution 5/27/2018

CJD: Tasha Steelz took me on a long journey that brings us to our first FFF tag match. I love seeing LuFisto happy, healthy and contributing to this new generation of talent. She's a true trailblazer and back when she was wrestling Necro Butcher in the KOTDM I didn't anticipate a long career for her. I love Steelz and Q representing their trainer Damian Adams with Purazzo on commentary as well. Their performance gives me real 90s Saturday morning babyface vibes which warms my heart. Both teams feel like a cohesive unit and have good chemistry with each other. And I know you love this venue!

JJZ: Love watching team PAWG! Excited for this one! This is a classic heel/baby face tag match. A lot of shine mixed with aggressive heat. And I do love this venue. I think you'll agree this could have used a little more time but they made the most of what they had. Energy and psychology really poured out. All four of these women really capture the independent spirit of Beyond and WWR. The fact they can perform such a solid tag match while being such excellent singles wrestlers shows the depth of their talent.