Forever Forward Fridays

Toni Storm VS Kay Lee Ray - Target Wrestling 6/11/2016

CJD: I've heard wrestlers talk about with some opponents everything just pops from the simplest lock ups to the big highspots. That's how I felt about these two in this match. I wanted to stay in Japan but man joshi promotions have YouTube on lockdown and with how many ads dailymotion shove in there these days I only go to them for something really specific. This was still ground I was happy to cover as I haven't seen as much Kay Lee as I'd like. Really fun face/heel dynamic in this one that's opposite to what I'm used to from these ladies in NXTUK... at least as of 2019 when I was still watching. I found the "voice of Target Wrestling" introducing a match with no commentary amusing for some reason. This match has its foot on the gas a bit more than the last few Fridays but still feels like we're building up to a white whale. I'm all about that journey.

JJZ: So I've seen a lot of Toni vs Kay Lee in NXT UK but Toni was face and Kay Lee was heel. And I loved their matches in NXT UK. They have such chemistry together that I could watch them wrestle all day. Even this match that was on the shorter side told a complete story. I didn't need to know anything going in and I would've gotten everything I needed just from what was happening in the ring. These two ladies are extremely polished so the execution of everything was top notch. I know this might be a leap to some people but man I hope they have a Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owen's like life long feud.

Forever Forward Fridays

 

Mayu Iwatani/Toni Storm VS Hana Kimura/Kris Wolf - Stardom 5/6/2017

JJZ: So there are a few things in this match in terms of psychology I wasn't crazy about. BUT, the tightness and execution won me over. To me a big flaw in wreslting right now is bad tag team wrestling in the bigger companies. They use them as filler with minimum effort. To put it simply it's usually skippable. So when I see a match where all four of the wrestlers are making sure everything looks good it gets my full attention. All the moves looked like they hurt and everyone was trying to put on the best match possible in the time they had. I don't speak Japanese but the mic work after made me think this was part of a bigger storyline line. I really wish NJPW would put this kinda effort into their undercard sometimes.

CJD: Kimura and Wolf made for a great team, I wonder if they tagged regularly. My knowledge of Stardom is extremely limited but I do know we've covered some of their more tragic figures these two weeks with Act last week and Hana in this match. Two clearly very talented wrestlers, Hana in particular really jumps off the screen in this one. I've always wanted to check out more of Storm's work in Japan, but you certainly gave me some options in terms of which direction to go next. Like you said this match had a lot put into it for what could've been a throwaway undercard match. I don't want to rehash your comments but what you said last week about the DVD you get for the main event but the random undercard tag really delivers fits this one too. We had a run of some big matches on Tuesdays and Fridays and now I think we're into some palate cleansers and I'm totally fine with that. Everyone was really committed in this one and it made for a fun watch!