Forever Forward Fridays

Jason Cade/Veda Scott...? VS Shane Strickland/Adrian Alanis - FEST Wrestling 2/9/2018

CJD: I wanted to find Leva doing her own thing more so than doing someone else's schtick this week. But the more I dug the more obvious it was that that's exactly what her thing is. This match reminded me a lot of your Veda/Mike Bailey tag match from a little while back, ironically, since Leva is cosplaying as Veda here. Or is she?? (Yes she is). I really liked how slapdash this felt, and I also like using the word slapdash for the first time in my life. Everyone had great chemistry for something you could tell just got thrown together in the back. I feel like I should have seen a lot more of Cade over the years but I think this is only the third or fourth match of his I've watched. He may have been my favorite part of the match, and you know I'm a Swerve mark. The greenhorn more than held his own (that name has gotta go though). Also dug how we had a little FEST Wrestling fest these past couple weeks!

JJZ: Would have killed for the full Strickland entrance. This was a fun rag tag match. I loved your comments on this match btw. The announcers going back and forth about Leva being Veda was funny. And the ref getting into it was great. Stuff like this is was makes indy wrestling so fucking appealing. A little one off story like that includes everyone down to the ref. Action was solid throughout, the intergender aspect is there but doesn't overpower the psychological of the match. We're both Shane Strickland marks and I'm not super familiar with Cade but he was great too. Leva always is a treat to watch. You're 100% right on that name but Adrian definitely added more than he took away. Nice pick baby cakes.

Forever Forward Fridays

Effy (c) VS Leva Bates - FEST Wrestling Championship 3/31/2018

JJZ: I love the little backstory we got coming in to this one.  A lot of mind games for this match. Loving all the stuff Leva is doing to get into Eff'ys head. The size difference is real so Bates playing psychological warfare to even the playing field is smart. This was so much fun imo. A lot of great spots. Really thought the game of shadow Leva played on Effy was genius. Honestly this match had so many little touches that made it special. But it also had some sick fucking spots. The chair spots were insane baby. I've seen a lot of Effy so I knew how good he was with the extras in a match. But Leva over delivered in so many parts to this. Really impressed with her in this one.  Hope you enjoy baby cakes.

CJD: Effy brought a star power to this match that impressed me big time. If I had to sum this match up in one word it would be enjoyable. It was a rollercoaster and not every little bump along the ride will be for everyone but when all was said and done this was a fun package. An experience if you will. You know I'm not the biggest on intergender matches but I know there's one in particular that just grabbed a bunch of headlines so this is fitting right now. I've almost played Leva forward for you on Fridays many times over so I'm glad to dig into her a little more. Effy isn't exactly new to me but I left these two matches with a new appreciation for him. He explodes off the screen and makes everything he touches more interesting. Oh and $2 PBR?? Probably not anymore in 2023 but sign me up!!