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!!

Forever Forward Fridays

Viper VS Aja Kong - Pro-Wrestling: EVE Wrestle Queendom 5/5/2018

CJD: Let's be honest about a few things here. This crowd is there to witness Aja Kong live more than they are to see a great Aja Kong match. And I'm picking this match to play forward to you as much because it's the perfect end to our Joshi Journey that started back in April with the match that happened right before this one on this very show, Meiko Satomura VS Kay Lee Ray. Now whether or not this will be the end of our epic 2021 journey, you will have to decide! Because Viper had a pretty storied career in Japan as well as far as I understand.

Now I will say, this match is really solid despite Aja's limitations. Piper/Viper approaches it with all the respect in the world and makes Kong look fantastic. They get a lot out of not doing too much, which is key to aging gracefully as a performer. In some ways this match reminded me of a match we played forward years back, Sabu VS Arik Cannon, and similarly to when I finished watching that one, I was really satisfied by what these two excellent pro wrestlers did in the ring. Regardless of nostalgia or the respect being paid, I thought this was a good match. Night and day from the madness you brought to me last week, and certainly a far cry from prime Aja Kong. But sometimes something simple and satisfying is all you need.

JJZ: So when I got halfway through this match I'm thinking to myself, how the hell am I not going to sound negative with my comments about this one. Then about the 8 minute mark, these women, fueled by a white hot crowd, really hit their stride. This wasn't groundbreaking or anything. It was just moves being executed well and the crowd popping like crazy for it. You are dead ass right. These people were there to see Aja Kong and they wanted her to know it. These tribute style matches usually underdeliver for me because you're hoping for a glimmer of what the elder wrestler use to be. But like this crowd I was very happy to see Aja's hits and Niven did a really good job selling for them. Nice pick mi amigo.