The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Sonny Kiss VS Dante Martin - F1RST Wrestling 7/10/2021

JJZ: Oh shit!!!! That's how this match made me feel. I've watched a lot of Sonny Kiss this week. And non of the matches were bad but no match made me feel like this. It's just like YES! Junk food all the way my man. In this short match they delivered more than expected eye popping spots. I'm a fan of Martin. He still needs some polish but baby can he fly. So high. In the sky. I've learned in all the Kiss matches I've watched that Sonny can really build and work a good match. This one shows the ability to wow the crowd while the last Sonny match was more building a complete story. Hope you enjoy CJD.

CJD: The one thing I'd say above all else about this match is they knew how to read the room. These two knew their audience and gave them exactly what they wanted in the exact quantity they wanted it. It was nice to see Kiss leading a match and she did a great job of feeding Martin and building to his spots. Also for someone that does a lot of flexibility/gymnastic highspots, she really packs some pop in her strikes when she needs to. Good shit. Dante I'm not super familiar with but I'm excited to learn more. I haven't watched anything from F1RST in a while so this was quite the tasty little snack while you've got junk food on my mind.

Bitter Friends, Stiffer Frienemies

Joey Janela VS Sonny Kiss - WrestlePro 11/27/2021

CJD: Last time around with Janela and Kiss we talked about how they'd fit right in sharing a 40 and a smoke outside of Fun Rama in West Philly on a Sunday afternoon. Well we know those types of friends and we know the falling outs can be dramatic. So this feud made a lot of sense to me. That said I honestly wanted to go a different direction with Joey this week. I didn't want to rehash ground we already covered with him. But when you think about what we've featured on the blog, his super memorable match VS Orange Cassidy, a fun TV tag with Kiss, VS Scott Norton of all people, and now a heated longer singles match in a feud with his former partner... the man is a swiss army knife. Plug him in wherever you need him and you'll get good results. And I absolutely loved this match. The crowd was electric, Kiss gave the best performance I've seen from her, tremendous selling and fire, and the match built to and delivered some amazing highspots. I'm so glad I went this direction after exploring other options. This was such a great example of what I love about pro wrestling, maybe a little more of a Friday match on a Tuesday, but you gotta keep them guessing!

JJZ: Love the shot of a cannon start! I popped big time for that rana! I thought this was a really different style for Joey than what we've shared. Yourrecap of his PIF journey really showed his depth as a worker. The story and the build with this match had me hooked. And with independent wrestling you're telling a tale that some people in that audience might not be familiar with history of. Rocky showing up in a suit in Rocky 3 doesn't have the same impact if you didn't see Rocky 1 and 2. But it still all came across in this match loud and clear. That home stretch kept me guessing. I couldn't figure out when they were taking it home. And I'll agree this was the best Kiss match I've seen to date. Really nice pick baby cakes!

I've Been Kissed By A Concrete Rose On The Gray

Jurassic Express VS Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss - AEW 11/10/2020

JJZ: I honestly don't know what's more impressive. A 30+ minute title match that gets over a 4 star rating. Or a 10 minute TV match that tells a complete story with falsies and a good finish. I'm being totally serious. It's a special kinda skill and level of talent to pull that match off. This contest highlighted everyone's strengths. I think no one come out of this looking bad. I was also happy that we got to showcase Sonny in singles and tag matches.

CJD: One of my complaints about AEW for a long while was how they didn't have an identity that I felt translated to a fan who just happened to catch a random match outside of a few exceptions. I don't think that's as much of a problem anymore and I honestly think undercard talent like this and matches like these go a longer way establishing that identity than their main event talent does. We talked about the art of the complete 10 minute TV match all the way back when we featured Eddie/Psicosis and I like when a match is a little less busy while attempting so much in a short period of time. That wasn't what these guys wanted to do though and I'm fine with that too. Jungle Boy is a bright spot on every AEW show I've seen him on and this was no different. I think Joey has had a hard time translating to a TV product but Sonny goes a long way in helping that problem. They have such a natural chemistry, they remind me of a pair of kids you'd run into at a West Philly house show smoking outside sharing a 40 between bands. This match was exciting, filled with personality, and you could feel how much fun everyone was having. Once again I have to give AEW a lot of credit for so much growth through the pandemic.

If My Fenix Still Shines

Rey Fenix VS Sonny Kiss - AEW 10/20/2020

CJD: This was one of those weeks where no matter what I watched, I kept thinking about the first match I put on. I was really looking to see Fenix's growth with whatever I played forward to you. And I saw a lot of that through the pandemic, it's about the only thing that can motivate me to put on matches without crowds again, to see how much certain guys and girls improved in these strange circumstances. I think there was a lot of that in AEW and now you're seeing them reap the rewards with a red hot product back in front of fans. This is a side of Rey I've seen flashes of before but I've never seen him shine up a babyface quite like this before. He still looks fantastic in the process and man this match just stuck with me. It's not as good as your Jack Evans match but it's another example of making a lot out of a little, and it's another match I just enjoyed the hell out of.

JJZ: I love love love when we can play a match that showcases a wrestler in a way that we aren't as familiar with. Fenix shines as a slow paced technician. Some of his submission holds I've never seen before and I honestly think would make for some good finishers. Sonny's athleticism was pretty epic in this one. Kiss made me say a few times, how the fuck did he do that?? Sonny working from under made for a great match that would've went over so good in front of a crowd. Also I think if they were in front of a crowd you would have went with this on first viewing.