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.

Forever Forward Fridays

Top Guns/Wendi Richter VS Badd Company/Madusa Miceli - AWA 12/13/1988

CJD: So this match happened. I loved our Joshi Journey but I was starting to wonder if we'd ever find our way back to more familiar Friday territory. Well this match won't single handedly get us there, hell you might come right back with some Madusa in Japan. But at least you have options now. And what an oddball match I never would have watched otherwise. The entire heel faction look great, the future Orient Express in particular, but I even love DDP managing here. And if you want to come back with DDP VS Kanyon, by all means bend them rules however you see fit!! This match wasn't going to get rated by Meltzer but for what it was it was way better than I'd have ever imagined. I do wish the ladies had more opportunities but they popped me a few times with what little they had. And man did Madusa paintbrush Tanaka with that post match angle!

JJZ: Wow. What a stipulation. And you just put 7 doors in front of me!!! The pace of this match is fantastic. You can't look away for a second! I'll be honest. My opinion of a wrestler may never have changed as much in a title run as much as Wendi Richter has. I don't think I ever considered her to even be that good until these matches. She stood out in the best way possible during both her matches. I do wish this was longer but the energy and non-stop action created a great atmosphere. And watching early Orient Express was surreal! Love this pick man.

And You Know This, Man

Jack Evans VS Rey Fenix - Lucha Underground 2016

JJZ: High flyer dream match right here! I love Jack's shit talking during the match. What these two can with their bodies is insane. You can't predict what's gonna happen next and if you say you can that's bullshit. This is the opposite of a junkfood match because you can feel the pride of these two through the screen. I would like more time but at this pace I could not have expected more from Jack Evans and Fenix.

CJD: We've featured a lot of matches lately that have seen us branch out of our comfort zones, surprise each other, even have some disagreements. This is not one of those matches. This is the type of match that I'd call the bread and butter of PIF, and I was so ready for it right now. Straight to the point, a little under the radar, talent we love but could always stand to see more from. A minor opportunity that they used to deliver major performances. Jack Evans (from the heavens) is the king of this and I certainly got my wish to see him in all his glory at radically different points in his career these past two weeks. Rey Fenix, I'll be honest, I don't think I'm quite as high on as most. But I enjoy him and I'm looking forward to finding something equally good to come back at you with. Which won't be easy because this match was so, so much fun.

Forever Forward Fridays

Wendi Richter VS Princess Victoria - Houston Wrestling 2/10/1984

JJZ: I know we've played a lot of stuff forward to each other that we probably never thought we would. BUT! An American women's match this good from 1984 is something that still really surprises me. More so because it's so technically sound. Great back and forth of hold for hold wrestling. When I was a kid I hated when the bad guy would lay a hold on for an extended amount of time but now I really miss it. It makes so much sense. Why not put the Young Bucks in a 5 minute boston crab?? It almost never happens so I really popped when Wendi sat on them holds for so long. Victoria had a nice comeback that lead into a 50/50 home stretch to the finish. Hope you liked this match better than the last one I kicked over to you.

CJD: Damn, both of these ladies can go! I haven't watched nearly enough Wendi Richter and Princess Victoria has been such a revelation these past two weeks. She was a lunatic bumping daredevil with great selling and like you said, excellent comebacks. It's not surprising she retired early due to injury, she clearly got hurt late in this match too and asked Wendi for help. Which they stalled for her masterfully to regroup. Then to Victoria's credit she still rallied for a very good quick finishing stretch. Yes, I liked this match a hell of a lot better than anything I've ever seen from Teddy Hart. Great find! I'm taking the details of where and when this match took place from the YouTube upload and comments but it also looks highly likely this could have been Mid-South. So if anyone wants to correct us please feel free!

You're Going To Be Sorry When You Find Out Who My Uncle Is

 

Teddy Hart VS Jack Evans VS Petey Williams - CZW 3/6/2004

CJD: Last week you saw a match that you knew you needed to watch. Well maybe it's the withdrawal from that great stretch of early/mid 2000s indie wrestling we featured a while back on Tuesdays, but if I'm going to watch a Teddy Hart match, this is exactly what I want to see. Which is mostly just Jack Evan's doing a bunch of stupid shit. Teddy's sociopathic narcissistic tendencies actually work really well in the 3 way format, as he can't be bothered to pretend to go through the motions of 3 way exchanges, bump to the outside and sell for a stretch, etc. Which is pretty interesting watching him essentially babysit Jack and Petey until he throws a temper tantrum, cuts yet another long unnecessary promo, and turns the match into an angle between him and Zandig. Once again, this match ain't winning no awards. I've never been more okay to watch something so heavily clipped. I've never enjoyed watching the Botchmania stuff but I imagine a match like this has a lot of the same appeal.

JJZ: Holy spotfest Batman. Jesus this was a car crash if I ever saw one, in more ways than one. There is a lot one can complain about in this match but if you don't overthink it there is some good stuff here. The athleticism is off the charts. The spots are crazy as fuck and even by todays standards. The crowd is hot and I even liked the CZW commentators. But most importantly it was just a sight to see and for that it is a match I will always remember.

July Red, White, & Blues

Hey gang, we're a bit behind with your regularly scheduled programming right now if you haven't noticed. I know this is right on the heels of missing a week and I do apologize. JJZ and myself are family men as we reference from time to time and lately family has been coming first. Vacations, family visiting, sick kids, camping trips, bbqs, visiting old friends, working holidays, working overtime, you name it, the FanCam Connection is living it. We have matches lined up and our enthusiasm for PIF is super high despite the delays. We appreciate your patience and hope you're all enjoying a bit of a return to normalcy as well!

The Tremont Street Experience

"Bulldozer" Matt Tremont VS Teddy Hart - H2O 2/23/2019

JJZ: Teddy looking every day of his age. Watching Teddy walking to the ring with the cat made me laugh out loud. Not because it was funny but because I wasn't surprised at all and thought to myself well that seems about right. Gonna say right off the bat this match ain't winning no match of the year awards. But I really enjoyed this one. It was way more technically sound than it had any right to be. After the gaga in the beginning they built a really nice story with some well placed highspots. The finish was great and bit over down. I knew I needed to watch this match as soon as I found it. And of course Teddy cuts a awkward long promo at the end. Enjoy baby cakes.

CJD: John, I love you. I hated this match. I got excited to see Teddy get his ass kicked pillar to post. Instead I got to see him dominate Tremont while dressed like and wrestling like an annoying Aunt nagging you to come home for the holidays. There were a few good spots but this was way too slow and meandering and Teddy has the worst strikes to ever come out of the Dungeon. You definitely got me back for that intergender 6 man I played you years back with this one. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

JJZ: Listen. I know this match has its flaws. But if we only played the cream of the crop it just all becomes crop. I think we went in with different mindsets. I expected and enjoyed the weird shit. The cat, the gear, the gaga. I was hoping for a match that just made sense. And I think they delivered that. I easily could've found a match that Matt was bleeding all over the place and trading crazy ass spots. But I liked watching him working something different.

Forever Forward Fridays

Princess Victoria/Velvet McIntyre VS Leilani Kai/Despina Montagas - WWF Women's Tag Team Championship 1/9/1984

CJD: I was listening to Madusa on the Chavo Guerrero podcast for a little while before the awful audio quality made me turn it off and they made good points about how many talented female wrestlers that paved the way for this generation are largely forgotten about and would have done anything to have this level of talent to compete with. But how we never would have gotten here without their contributions. Well I present to you Exhibit A of that argument. Maybe it's a matter of expectations and having none going into this match, but holy shit did this one blow me away. This is such a strong performance from both teams. Now there's some rough moments from Dick Graham (I think?) on commentary, and the Philly crowd, as you'd expect. But there's some great moments involving them as well. Kai is the best wrestler in the match IMO so it's fitting she's our Forever Forward Champ of the week. And it's really a shame that this match ended Princess Victoria's career. But these four ladies should look back on this match and be extremely proud, because women's wrestling of this caliber in the US at this time must have taken so many dues paid to come to fruition. And then to knock it out of the park when finally given this opportunity!

JJZ: I never would've expected a match of this execution and psychology for the time and who's in it. It was extremely well done. I feel like all of these ladies were backstage and said fuck it. Let's go out and bring the house down. Great crowd. Gotta mention the odd camera shots of the men in the building. Shout out to the shirtless guy you could hear shouting to the ring. This was fun man. I had a blast watching this and like last week loved the energy that these ladies brought. My journey for the next match is gonna be an interesting one. A lot of fresh faces I'm sure and I'm hoping I take us into some hidden gem material.

Close Our Eyes To The Octopus Ride

Jonathan Gresham VS Matt Tremont - Beyond Wrestling 11/28/2015

CJD: I mentioned I don't want my #GWE26 viewing to dominate PIF and of course it's all we've talked about since here or when you and I have chatted wrestling. Well here's another modern (although retired... for now) wrestler who I nominated, definitely a bit of a dream match for me, in what seems like the opener (crazy to think about between these two), in Gresham's second match in a row we've featured VS a deathmatch wrestler. And you know what? If this match isn't as good as the Takeda classic, it's damn close. Like that match both guys try to play in the other's wheelhouse. Unlike that match this has more of a traditional structure and build but man these two are really two of the best of their generation. They make this one count. I love the momentum shifts. I even love Doom Patrol on commentary cracking wise. And I especially love the finishing sequence. This is a match that takes two completely different talents you're high on, throws them together on a whim, and leaves you on an even higher note. Still not sure if either guy will make my top 100 all-time by 2026, but I feel more optimistic about their cases after this one.

JJZ: Going into this match I had an idea of what it would look like. And I was totally wrong. Not in a bad way though. The easy road psychology would've been a 70/30 match in favor of Tremont using his size and strength for the advantage while Gresham uses his speed and submission abilities to grab quick holds so he can level the field. What we got was a 50/50 match that I couldn't see where it was going. I couldn't predict much of anything and I found myself on the edge of my seat to see what was next. I totally agree that the finishing sequence was fantasic. Great pick sweet cheeks.

Forever Forward Fridays

 

Jumping Bomb Angels (c) VS Glamour Girls - AJW WWF Women's Tag Team Championship 6/8/1988

JJZ: So I knew right away what I wanted to watch when you played a Jumping Bomb Angels match forward to me. I immediately remembered a few of their matches in WWF when I was a kid with the Glamour Girls. And man those matches were crazy a real nice change of pace. For the time that this took place it was great to see what they were doing. Really jaw dropping imo. The moves were so stiff and different. The energy was non-stop. Like four kids on a sugar rush. Watching this I loved how influential I knew this feud was. It was like watching a historic documentary. Just so amazing to see four women setting standards and they didn't even know it. I'd tell anyone trying to get into the business to give this feud a once over. I wasn't crazy about the finish but I wasn't surprised. Side note I got a real kick out of the way the Glamour Girl went for their pins.

CJD: Yeah those pinfall attempts were straight out of a NES wrestling game. This match reminded me so much of when I started getting into 80s wrestling tape trading and for every amazing find like Jumbo/Kerry there were so many "what the fuck??" matches that I was looking for glimpses of greatness in overall match structures and styles I was still desperately trying to wrap my head around. I'd imagine what something that sounded great on paper like a best of Steamboat VS Muraco feud must have been like, then get the VHS in and found out the reality was very different. Part of that was being a child of the 80s and romanticizing the glimpses of memories I had watching back then. But part of it was just having to relearn the psychology, the crowd expectations, and the schedule and lifestyle wrestlers had back then. Now this match is not a total WTF watch, it's a quality match for certain. But there's definitely moments that took me back to those early tapes that left me dumbfounded. The main thing this match has is a great energy as you said. What a fun feud in wrestling history and what a shame that Moolah sabotaged the finish to this match and their supposed upcoming Wrestlemania match as a result. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the history of women's wrestling in the US may have been different otherwise. The last thoughts I'll close with are that the Glamour Girls gave me serious Beatdown Biddies vibes from GLOW. And damn did that entrance song slap!!