Forever Forward Fridays

Kyoko Inoue VS H - FMW 3/27/2000

CJD: File under: matches I never knew happened, exhibit A. I know maskless Hayabusa is not something we seek out. And I know this match puts you in a really awkward position to stick with our Friday themes. But this was so in the spirit of Forever Forward, especially for 2000 Japan, that I couldn't pass this up. If we have to hold up the imaginary FFF Championship and start from scratch, so be it. Inoue controls a crowd so beautifully. Dare I say she carried H for sections of this. Hayabusa is trying to get revenge for a loss to Kyoko in a tag match so he's really bringing the stank. I would've liked just a little more at the end but considering I never dreamed this match happened, I'll take what I got. What a strange time the year 2000 was.

JJZ: This was a very unexpected surprise babycakes. My first thoughts about this match was that I was happy that H didn't entirely wrestle as Hyabusa. Obviously some moves yes. But it wasn't a carbon copy. Inoue seems so pissed off during this match. You could tell she had something to prove. This was a really heated battle. I loved the aggressive nature of the bout. I know this was a intergender match but it never felt like that. It had the feels of two people wanting to beat the hell out of each other. I don't think I knew that Hayabusa worked maskless! Love play it forward for times like this.

Forever Forward Fridays

Kyoko Inoue VS Reggie Bennett - AJW 8/4/1996

JJZ: Baby cakes, how you doing. I'm doing great after watching this delightful little banger of a match. Hope you like powerbombs my guy because this match is overflowing with them. And all of them are bluechew stiff. Promo code play_it_forward2023 for a free month, just five dollars for shipping. Speaking of stiff, I dunno why this stood out to me in this match but goddamn that ring looked brutal. I know the rings in the 90s were harder than the rings of today but that thing didn't move at all when Bennett and Inoue had to bump on it. Good hot little start then some good tech work. Really strong build to falsies. This one definitely had me saying FUCK a few times. Enjoy cutie pie.

CJD: FUCK indeed. This was such a complete match! Reggie has improved in leaps and bounds in 2 years since our match VS Hasegawa. She had me popping throughout the match. Kyoko rules. You and I have been talking behind the scenes about wrestlers PIF has totally changed our opinions of. Kyoko is one of those for me. I don't know why I sold her short for the longest time?? But I did, and i was wrong! Peak Inoue is as good as any joshi, or any pro wrestling, period. Thank you for this chance to watch her against such a fun opponent, who she had such instant chemistry with. Hats off to these ladies, this is a match I'd put on a mixtape comp without a moment's hesitation as a must-watch no matter what your tastes. Great way to close out the year!

Forever Forward Fridays

Aja Kong/Kyoko Inoue VS LCO - AJW 8/9/1997

JJZ: Not gonna lie. I'm playing this forward mostly because I'm dying to hear your thoughts. One word can not describe this match so I'll use the following. Violent, crazy, annoying, stiff, heated, long, jaw-dropping. I mean there were times I was like what the fuck is happening why isn't this over. Then I was like holy shit. I could watch this all day! I think at least 7 times I said that should've been the finish, but then I loved the actual finish. I dunno man. Shit was crazy as fuck.

CJD: Well that was the damndest match I've seen in a while. I know LCO were built up as a monster team and they had to be to go to war with a mega power duo like Kong and Inoue like this. I will say I felt like Kong was kind of approaching this match with kids gloves for how personal and nasty it felt for the first half. Babyface Aja is not my favorite Aja. But then she busts out that fire extinguisher (which the commentators sell wonderfully!) and from that point on she's got her special up as our old friend Tommy B would say. I agree completely that this match felt like it hit its peak a few times over and kept going and going, but somehow it always got its heat back. And the actual finish was fucking beautiful. This was something else, at some point you're either just along for the ride or you're not. And I definitely was!

Forever Forward Fridays

Shinobu Kandori VS Kyoko Inoue - AJW 8/25/1993

CJD: I tried to trace back where our Joshi Journey began and how long we've been on and off with it but it's had such a long winding road with so many twists and turns I couldn't pin it down. Suffice to say it's been the majority of 2021 and it's not exactly how I envisioned Forever Forward Fridays when I came up with the concept. There have been weeks when I really wanted to get back to the indies and to take a break from shrill screams and bridging out of pins. But there have been so many weeks where I've fallen in love with matches I might not have ever seen otherwise. And boy is this one of them! This is such an exciting, quintessentially pro wrestling dynamic. Colorful explosive babyface against world class badass. One wants to create separation and blow the match open, one wants to close in, lock in a hold like a bear trap, and squeeze the life out of the other. Sometimes I feel like 90s joshi gets overrated, then we find a match like this and I realize I still don't rate it highly enough.

JJZ: What the fuck. I should've played this last Saturday for the gang. This match was excellent. Had me saying "Oh shit!" a bunch. The loved the wildness of it and then you'd see some ridiculously wonderful submission that looked so fucking painful. I don't know if I can say they built to the finish because the energy level was at a ten from the start. BUT, I loved the home stretch of this one. The finish was perfect and I didn't see it coming. Very nice pick!