Hazleton, PA – 3.11.2012

This venue is so awesome. There is playground in the background of this open room inside a Kountry Kitchen Buffet.

Commentary is provided by Mike Quackenbush, Bryce Remsburg, and Leonard F. Chikarason.

Soldier Ant vs. Kobald

Many of the children ringside are legitimately afraid of Kobald. Is it wrong that that brings me joy? Kobald hip tosses Soldier Ant. Obariyon and Kodama make their way to ringside. Kobald hip tosses Soldier Ant two more times. Soldier Ant hip tosses, armdrags and scoop slams Kobald in response. He dropkicks Kobald to the corner. He slams Kobald on his chest and puts him in the Romero Special. Soldier Ant elbows Kobald in the corner once he lets go, getting a two count. Kobald grabs Soldier Ant’s antennae and throws him to the mat. Kobald drops a running elbow for two. Kobald chokes Soldier Ant in the corner as The Batiri distracts referee Jon Barber. Kobald drops an elbow on the small of Soldier Ant’s back for two. Kobald chokes him on the middle rope for two. Kobald becomes angry when Soldier Ant begins to the throw chops. Kobald goes back to choking him. Obariyon and Kodama attack Soldier Ant on the floor while Kobald distracts Barber. Kobald’s slingshot splash gets him two. Kobald ducks an elbow and hits a spear for another two count. Soldier Ant lands a chin breaker. Kobald throws Soldier Ant’s face into the middle turnbuckle. Kobald DDT’s him for two. Soldier Ant fires up and slams Kobald three times. He rams Kobald’s face around the ring into the top turnbuckles. Soldier Ant goes for a pin after punching Kobald ten times in the corner. Obariyon however distracts Barber from making account. Fire Ant and Green Ant run out to make sure Kodama does not interfere. Soldier Ant leapfrogs over Kobald to block a spear. Kobald runs into the middle turnbuckle, then takes a TKO and gets pinned at 9:07. Kobald’s offense was fine but began to wear thin due to a lack of offense on Soldier Ant’s end. It was good to have the hero go over the monster that struck fear into kids’ hearts, but there wasn’t much to this. **1/4

El Orreo vs. CD Sensation vs. Aaron Scott

This is the first I have ever seen of all three of these men. Orreo by the way does have black and white gear and a shirt with a knock-off Oreo logo on it. Sensation and Scott bring chairs in the ring right away. They end up playing musical chairs with them. Scott loses when he tries to sit in an invisible chair that Orreo set up. Sensation loses the second time. Sensation huracanrana’s Orreo out of the chair. Sensation takes a seat and eats a boot from Scott. Sensation sits Orreo in the chair in the corner for a time out. Orreo helps Scott double wristlock Sensation. Sensation whips them together. Sensation comes off the top with an armdrag to Orreo. Scott slams Sensation. Orreo and Scott trade holds on the mat. Sensation trips Orreo and gives Scott a modified spinwheel kick. Orreo delivers a dropkick. He Finlay rolls Sensation for two. Orreo misses a legdrop. Sensation puts him in a Walls of Jericho. Scott breaks the hold. Sensation drops the top rope, sending Scott out. Orreo gives Sensation a modified Uranage slam for the pin at 5:04. I was worried going in since I had not heard of anybody before watching this match, but this was actually amusing and had some good wrestling in it. I wouldn’t mind seeing these guys again. **

Saturyne vs. Ophidian

Ophidian tackles Saturyne right at the bell. He stomps her silly and delivers a pair of scoop slams. Saturyne trips Ophidian. She rolls back to give Ophidian a satellite headscissors. Ophidian chokes her and releases at 5. He drops her with a choke STO. Ophidian chops her up in the corner. He goes for a couple pins to no avail. Saturyne gets a forearm in, but Ophidian just chops her in the throat to take control again. He grabs a nerve hold. The crowd claps for Saturyne, giving her the strength to fight out. She forearms Ophidian in the stomach and looks for the Rings of Saturyne. When Ophidian resists, she headscissors Ophidian instead. Ophidian delivers a lariat for two. Ophidian slams her and goes up top. Ophidian misses a double knee drop off the top rope. Saturyne spin kicks Ophidian in chest. She spinwheel kicks Ophidian in the corner. An awkward back handspring elbow and a quesadora bulldog only gets her a two count. Ophidian puts a claw to Saturyne’s stomach and throat. She breaks out and spin kicks Ophidian. Ophidian gives her a spinebuster. He puts her in the Cobra Clutch Death Grip for the pin at 6:14. It was weird watching this, because I feel like Ophidian is still getting his shtick together while Saturyne is trying to work the kinks out of her usual move set. Because of it, the match itself was both combatants not doing anything remarkable or truly noteworthy. **

Dasher Hatfield vs. STIGMA

STIGMA knees Hatfield and hip tosses him out of the corner. STIGMA stomps on Hatfield’s foot in their lock-up. STIGMA gives Hatfield a back rake and a scoop slam. STIGMA asks Hatfield if he is good at anything. Hatfield says he’s good at baseball and challenges him to a game right here and there. Hatfield recruits Saturyne and Soldier Ant while STIGMA gets all three Batiri members to be on his team. Hatfield notices the numbers disadvantage and gets CHIKARA legend Marshall Law to join his team. Gavin Loudspeaker does commentary for the game while Jon Barber plays catcher. Saturyne bunts an invisible ball to make first base. Soldier Ant hits a ball to advance to first base and get Saturyne on third. Hatfield hits himself to first and Soldier Ant to second. Law hits a home run getting all of his teammate on home. Law gets to home after bulldozing through Kobald (the catcher). While STIGMA is arguing with Jon Barber, Hatfield rolls him up for two. STIGMA forearms Hatfield into a DDT for two. Hatfield elbows STIGMA from the apron. He slingshots into an Oklahoma Roll to pin STIGMA at 8:15. I’m a sucker for the mid-match baseball game, so I enjoyed this match. There’s no possible way to slap a rating on this. N/R

Gran Akuma vs. Johnny Ego

No Dr. Colonel Nolan Noisewater in Ego’s corner makes me the saddest. Ego peels off his shirt to show off his physique to the crowd. Ego gets the ropes to break a waistlock. Ego slaps Akuma in the back of the head as a sign of disrespect. Akuma kicks his legs before exchanging a wristlock with him. Akuma reverses a side headlock. He brings Ego back to the mat in a keylock and stretches him over his knees. Ego grabs the ropes to break free. Akuma delivers both a Japanese and traditional American armdrag. He spins Ego into a backbreaker. Akuma puts him in the Gory Special. Ego armdrags his way free. Ego swings Akuma into the ropes and brings him down with a jumping neckbreaker. Ego chokes Akuma on the ropes. Akuma kicks out his legs again. He drop toe holds Akuma into a cradle for two. Ego’s spinwheel kick also gets a two count. Akuma hooks Ego’s arms for a spinning neckbreaker. Ego whips Akuma to the corner. Akuma evades an attack an enzuigiri’s Ego from the apron. Akuma huracanrana’s back in and delivers a discuss clothesline. Akuma breaks out of a waistlock. Akuma drops him with a brainbuster for two. Ego kicks Akuma in the stomach and smacks him in the face. Akuma gives him a rolling Death Valley Driver for two. Ego throws Akuma’s face into the second rope. He hits the Rough Ryder. He drops Akuma with the Ego Driver (a spinning cradle suplex) for two. Akuma ducks a clothesline. He drops Ego with the Tenchi Crash for the pin at 10:01. I was really impressed with how well these two worked together. This came off as both men in a competition trying to win with the better man coming out on top. I loved Akuma busting out the Tenchi Crash again and I hope he works it back into regular rotation. Johnny Ego once again stole a Wrestling is Fun show. ***

Dalton Castle vs. “Mr. Touchdown” Mark Angelosetti

Castle is answering an open challenge Angelosetti threw out. Castle is known as “The Party Peacock” and is a competitor out of the Southern Pennsylvania/Ohio area. They apparently were in football camp together long ago. Castle says he used to knock Angelosetti on his butt everyday way back when. Angelosetti denies the fact and accepts the challenge out of outrage.

Angelosetti shows off after blocking some of Castle’s offense. Castle grabs a front facelock. Angelosetti shrugs off an O’Conner roll, but Castle does snap off a pair of armdrags. Castle gets sent to the floor. Castle comes back in and hits a dropkick. Angelosetti whips Castle to the corner. Castle evades an attack. He pump-handle suplexes Angelosetti for two. Angelosetti tackles Castle’s leg out. He shoulder blocks Castle a few times in the corner. Angelosetti snapmares him for two. Angelosetti does a few splashes while running drills. He misses a knee drop and Castle throws a few punches his way. Castle schoolboys Angelosetti to block a knee. Angelosetti shoulder tackles Castle into the corner. An awkward dropkick hits a seemingly exhausted Castle in the forehead. Angelosetti suplexes Castle and drops a knee. He gets two with a bodyslam. Castle responds with one of his own. Castle catches Angelosetti coming off the second rope. He powers Angelosetti over with a belly-to-belly suplex. A few clotheslines lead to a knee in the corner. Castle then dropkicks Angelosetti to the apron. Angelosetti coms to slingshot in. Castle turns him from the waterwheel position into a slam onto his face and chest for two. Angelosetti sneaks in an exploder suplex for two. A shoulder tackle exchange ends with Angelosetti using his hand to mow down Castle. Castle trips Angelosetti and looks for a deadlift German suplex. Angelosetti elbows his way off Castle’s shoulders. He powerslams Castle for the pin at 9:13. Angelosetti’s got his routine down pat. Castle knew exactly how to play into his offense and made it work. I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of Castle in his AIW days and was happy to see him look good here as well. **3/4

Elimination Match
Fire Ant & Green Ant vs. Obariyon & Kodama vs. Jack Bonza & QT Marshall

Bonza takes Green Ant to the mat amateur style. Bonza takes control with a wristlock. Green Ant transitions into a cravate. Bonza escapes but gets booted out of the corner. He armdrags and toreador’s Bonza to the corner. He dropkicks Bonza and tags in Fire Ant. Kodama also tags in. Obariyon forearms Fire Ant from the back and takes over for his partner. Fire Ant wrist clutch armdrags Obariyon to the corner. He sends him to the floor to bring in Kodama. He takes a wheelbarrow armdrag. Fire Ant fights off the Batiri by himself. Marshall shoulder tackles both Colony members, then both Batiri members. He almost knocks down Bonza but gets calmed down. The Colony boot Marshall out. A headlock chain is formed with everybody but Marshall. Marshall shoulder tackles Green Ant to knock down the entire chain. Marshall and Bonza decide to double team and wear down Green Ant. Kodama asks for a tag. Marshall gives it to him, but only so he and Bonza can press slam Kodama onto Green Ant. Green Ant drops the top rope to send Kodama out. Bonza drops an elbow to Green Ant’s back to prevent him from tagging out. A backbreaker and powerslam combo from Marshall get him a two count. Marshall slaps Obariyon to tag him. He slingshots Obariyon into the ring for a senton onto Green Ant. Bonza and Marshall end up making The Batiri angry. They dropkick Bonza to the floor and powerbomb Marshall off the second rope. Green Ant comes off the top with a splash to Marshall for the pin and elimination at 9:03. Green Ant throws a series of punches to The Batiri. They give Green Ant Scrambled Brains. Green Ant rolls to the floor. This brings in Fire Ant with a crossbody on Obariyon. He spikes Obariyon with a DDT. He hits the Yahtzee Kick on Kodama, followed by a brainbuster for two. Kodama dropkicks Fire Ant to the corner. Obariyon dropkicks him, and Kodama follows with a cannonball dropkick. Green Ant breaks their pin. Green Ant lariats Obariyon. He gives Kodama a Michinoku Driver. Obariyon gives Green Ant a reverse Go 2 Sleep. Fire Ant hits an antzuigiri and stunner. The Colony elbow Kodama in the corner. They hit stereo dropkicks as well. A tandem DDT/EVO on Obariyon gets Green Ant a two count, but only because Kobald grabs Bryce’s leg. Kodama rolls up Green Ant and holds his tight for the pin and victory at 12:41. Bonza and Marshall were actually an awesome team. Their size, power and ability is so different from the majority of the guys on this show that they stood out in a positive way. It’s no wonder why they made it onto the CHIKARA show in Rahway. The Batiri and Colony provided the usual excellent action they produce when placed opposite each other. This was the best match of all three WiF shows. ***1/4

The Batiri continue to beat down Fire Ant and Green Ant after the bell. Soldier Ant runs out to make the save. Once The Batiri have retreated to the floor, Green Ant informs them that they will meet them in a trios match on a future show.

Overall: Everything was kind of there up until the baseball game, which also isn't necessarily for everyone. However, from Ego/Akuma to the end the show is all gravy. Ego, Castle and the Bonza/Marshall team are all ready to get at least one match in CHIKARA. Would I say it's worth the $10 to $15? Probably not, but if you need something to pad an SMV Sale order you could do a heck of a lot worse. You can pick up the DVD from Smart Mark Video or watch the show On Demand for a reduced price at SMVOD.

Be sure to check out our VWAA DVD GIVEAWAY HERE! LAST WEEK TO ENTER!!

zp8497586rq
4 thoughts on “Wrestling is Fun! Review – 3”
  1. Is the Tenchi Crash the cross-legged Michinoku Driver II Akuma used to do?

  2. No, it’s where he picks up someone in a Tombstone Position and then drops them chest first onto his knees.

  3. They should make all these wrestling is fun shows a package box set. I would totally buy them all if there was a reduction in the per dvd price.

Comments are closed.