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-LIVE FROM PHILADELPHIA
-Your hosts are of course various members of the Chikara roster and staff
-3.0 (Shane Matthews and Scott Parker vs. F.I.S.T (Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor)
Match in Five Words or Less: Fun Opener
Match Highlights: FIST goes from main-eventing the last iPPV to curtain jerking. Logic in wrestling booking? Who would have thought? Matthews begins with Gargano. Immediate boot to the midsection and headlock. Matthews sends him off the ropes. Shoulder block. Leapfrog by Gargano. Exchange of armdrags. Matthews clotheslines Gargano over. Taylor sends Matthew out. Leg lariat by Parker on Taylor. Dropkick on Gargano. Taylor prevents a dive. Drop by Matthews coming back in the ring. Double whip. Charging forearm by Parker. Drop toe hold into the leaping elbow. FIST commiserates on the outside. Taylor and Matthews start us again. Boot by Taylor. Forearm. Into the corner. Chops from Matthews. Taylor into the buckle. Parker with jabs. Matthews hits a back elbow. Double clothesline and Russian legsweep. Double team running knee by 3.0. Firemen’s carry on Taylor. Gargano makes the save for his partner. Heat segment on Parker. Parker hits a clothesline on Taylor. Taylor holds onto the boot. Gargano with a dropkick, and FIST is back in control. Parker counters out of an abdominal stretch. Gargano rolls him to the corner in a waistlock. Taylor just bites. Parker kips up and dropkicks both men as FIST decides to dance. Her kicks Taylor away. Matthews with clotheslines for everyone. Headscissors on Gargano. Headscissors on Taylor. Boston crab attempt. Gargano from behind. Left hands. Spinebuster by Matthews. Taylor crotches Matthews. Parker knocks him down. TKO on Gargano. Matthews hits an elbow drop on Gargano and gets two. Soul Food blocked. Matthews gets the Boston Crab but Gargano hits the enziguri. Forearms by Parker. Gargano comes back. Lawn dart. Taylor sends Parker into a Gargano acecrusher. Matthews makes the save. Double team by FIST. Matthews clotheslines both men. He shakes the ropes. FIST counters and then they suplex Matthews. Double boots. Crowd chants at FIST that they can’t beat Matthews. Parker grabs Taylor’s legs. Matthews gets the Boston crab. Taylor with a forearm. Running knee by Taylor. Forearms by Parker. Spear back in the ring by Gargano. Dive to the outside. Half crab by Taylor. Matthews hits a pounce to break the hold. Boot by Matthews. Gargano out. Hurts Doughnut countered. Elbow and ino the corner. Taylor kicked hard off the apron. Gargano whipped. Boot out of the corner. Double team spear. Sweet Taste of Professionalism and 3.0 has their third point.
Match Analysis: Absolutely fantastic and energetic way to open the show. Both teams delivered in the way they needed to for this card. Great back and forth action. Lots of high octane action from both teams. I very much approve of this .
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: 3.0/***1/4/***1/2
-OH MY GOD, CHIKARA IS RUNNING RESEDA CALIFORNIA IN OCTOBER!
-Dasher Hatfield vs. Icarus (w/Sugar Dunkerton)
Match in Five Words or Less: Daniel Yost… BOOOOOOOO!
Match Highlights: Hatfield goes after Icarus right away. Boots by Icarus as Hatfield comes in the ring. Back drop by Hatfield. Running forearms. Hip toss and a sliding dropkick on the most hated man in Chikara. Off comes the jacket. Chop by Hatfield. Chop as Icarus is along the post. Hatfield is caught by his former partner, Sugar Dunkerton. Front flip by Icarus off the apron. Hatfield drives Icarus in the corner with his knees. Big uppercut slap. Running elbow. Back elbow. Forearm by Icarus. Abdominal stretch by Hatfield. Hatfield continually slaps Icarus. Dropkick by Icarus. Choking in the corner by Icarus. Into a guillotine choke. Hatfield locks his hands together as the crowd gets into things. Icarus charges as Hatfield is prone on the middle rope. Hatfield takes him down. Duke Snider Special, sort of a modified figure four leglock. Icarus turns over. Hatfield shoves him away. Jackhammer. 1-2-NO! Back to the Duke Snider special. Hatfield and Icarus battle in the corner. Hatfield looks for the Grand Slam. Icarus elbows out. He tears Hatfield down by the mask. Frog splash. 1-2-NO! Forearm battle. Hatfield blocks being whipped. Hatfield powers Icarus into the gutbuster. Icarus goes to the outside. Baseball dropkick misses. Icarus teases a blu ray on the floor but he sends him into the guard rail instead. Sweet Moses. Dunkerton checks on Hatfield. Haven’t we seen enough tragedy in this company? Dunkerton shoves Icarus. 1-2-NO! Dunkerton puts Hatfield’s foot on the bottom rope. WOW! Another cover and two. Icarus goes to the fanny pack for the powder. Dunkerton lifts him up. Powder goes into Yost’s face. Serves him right. Suicide Squeeze but no referee. Hatfield goes to help Yost. Icarus grabs the pack. Dunkerton tries to grab it from him. Icarus shoves Dunkerton into Hatfield. The fanny pack apparently nailed Hatfield in the face. Appeared inadvertent. Pedigree. Icarus wins.
Match Analysis: Just because there wasn’t a major story going into the match doesn’t mean this didn’t have a lot of story within the match. Hatfield is one of the most improved wrestlers in the promotion and absolutely deserved a spot on this show. Dunkerton’s response to Icarus is very interesting, and I have to believe this storyline will carry on into season 12. This was another good match with no feeling out process and just a straight up action-packed contest..
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Icarus/***/***1/4
-Icarus hugs Dunkerton after the match and even pulls him by the hair.
-Mike Quackenbush, Fire Ant, Green Ant, and assailANT vs. Jigsaw, The Shard, Soldier Ant, and deviANT
Match in Five Words or Less: MADNESS!
Match Highlights: assailANT is trying his hardest to be embraced by his teammates still. Jigsaw stands on the top rope as Quack stares him down. Shard, deviANT, and Soldier Ant stand in front. Symbolism? assailANT and Soldier Ant start. Some fast pace mat work. Soldier Ant hits a dropkick. Rolling elbow hits. Fire Ant tags in. Soldier Ant is still missing his antenna from the match with Mr. Touchdown. Soldier Ant maintains a headlock. Fire Ant with a snapmare. Quick roll-up for one. Soldier Ant goes for a headlock. Takedown. Back and forth off the ropes. Armdrag by Fire Ant. Into the corner. Soldier Ant whipped. Fire Ant placed on the top rope. He gets himself stuck. Soldier Ant helps him out. Fire Ant takes him down. Exchange of sweeps. Stalemate and Soldier Ant salutes. Handshake. deviANT sends Soldier Ant out of the ring and attacks Fire Ant. Fire Ant exits. Green Ant comes in. Enziguri. Double team by the Colony. Big splash by Green Ant. Forearms as Shard walks in. Takedown by Green Ant. STF. Boot from deviANT. Green Ant sent out. Quack comes in. He works Shard and deviANT over. Shard attacks from behind. And things now break down as all eight man brawl. All the rudos are sent out. The Colony and Quack dive together. That was interesting. Jigsaw and Fire Ant go in the ring. Jigsaw backs up and points at Quack for losing it. Low superkick to the leg. Soldier Ant is not happy. deviANT sends him out. Jigsaw with fists in the corner on Fire Ant. Rudos work Fire Ant over. Announcers emphasize Jigsaw is delusional for what he did and the verbal exchange with Quack. So this heel turn is clearly sticking. Fire Ant kicks Jigsaw in the corner. Soldier Ant won’t attack his partner. Jigsaw will and goes after Fire Ant’s injured knee. Fire Ant chops his way back. Jigsaw with a series of chops himself. Brainbuster by Jigsaw on Fire Ant. He stares right at Quack. Jigsaw passes on a three count and lifts Fire Ant up. Fire Ant counters into Burning Down the House. Green Ant with a slam. Michinoku driver on Shard. deviANT makes the save. Acecrusher by Green Ant. Six feet of fury as they INVITE assailANT to join them. WOW! Soldier Ant is shocked. Jigsaw sends Soldier Ant to break up the Ant Hill. Soldier Ant shoves Jigsaw. assailANT hits the assailANT’s cross. Kicks to the back by deviANT. Cross body and running kick by Fire Ant. Powerslam by Shard. Green Ant hits a gordbuster. Kick and release German suplex by Jigsaw. Quack comes in but can’t hit Jigsaw. Kick and brainbuster by Jigsaw. Soldier Ant sends Jigsaw off. They set up the Ant Hill. Splash by Fire Ant. Shard makes the save and breaks the count. All eight men are down. Jigsaw measures Quack. assailANT sacrifices himself. Quack blocks the superkick and hits a palm strike. Shard hits the gory bomb. To the top rope. Double stomp hits. Quack makes the save. deviANT dropkicks Quack. deviANT covers and gets three to get the rudos a win.
Match Analysis: It would take an entire book to explain the amazing storytelling done in the match. If you’ve watched Chikara all year, this is one of those matches that rewards you. I haven’t been a huge fan of the Gekido storyline, but this was quite great. Jigsaw and Quack have a lot of work to do next season. Another match with some good wrestling but this was obviously very storyline oriented. The wrestling was practically background noise to the amazing moments that took place here.
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Jigsaw, Soldier Ant, The Shard, and deviANT/***1/2/****
-Great moment after the match as Quack symbolically accepts assailANT. Fire Ant and Green Ant walk out on Soldier Ant. Crowd chants that they blame Wink.
-Young Lions Cup: Mr. Touchdown (champion)(w/Veronica) vs. ACH
Match in Five Words or Less: Damn You Baton!
Match Highlights: This is Touchdown’s second defense of the YLC as he defeated Green Ant in Piedmont. These two had a match at Ring of Wax that could be considered a Chikara match of the year candidate. Feeling out process. ACH locks in a full nelson. Side headlock takeover. Shoulder block goes nowhere. ACH teases coming off the ropes but takes Touchdown instead. Armdrag. A second armdrag. Touchdown blocks. ACH ducks under. Armdrag by Touchdown. Touchdown heads outside. Shoulder block misses. ACH dropkicks Touchdown off the apron and to the floor. Asai moonsault misses. Touchdown sent into the rail. ACH taken into the crowd. Back chop. Rana blocked. Touchdown sends ACH down hard into the steel barricade. Kick. ACH sent back in the ring. Springboard elbow. Veronica joins in on the choking party. ACH fires back briefly. Touchdown whips ACH into the corner. Shoulder tackles. Touchdown gloats. Bodyslam. Series of splashes. He says it’s good… and then Tebows. ACH sends him in the corner. Whip and a follow-up clothesline. Choke in the corner. Running clothesline but Touchdown gets out of the way. Dropkick misses. ACH hits an enziguri. Dropkick hits. Missile dive connects on Touchdown. Chops on Touchdown. Double stomp misses. Touchdown tackles ACH down. 1-2-NO! Kicks by Touchdown. Snap suplex. Knee drop. Forearm to the back. Chinlock while maintaining a body scissors. ACH takes him in the corner. Double knees. Rana out of the corner. Slide and an enziguri as Touchdown is prone on the middle rope. Acecrusher blocked. Touchdown rolls out. ACH rolls back and hits the acecrusher. 1-2-NO! Touchdown takes ACH over. Touchdown’s head rammed into the top turnbuckle. Touchdown catches ACH in a spinebuster and gets a nearfall. Touchdown measures ACH. Crowd chants he’s a monster. Forearms by ACH. Back elbow. Chop by Touchdown. Off the ropes. ACH misses a forearm. Kick misses. Slap and forearm. Tiger driver turned into a sitdown powerbomb. 1-2-NO! ACH places Touchdown on the top rope. Touchdown shoves him. Series of punches. Running leap kick by ACH. Touchdown is laid down on the top rope. Top rope rana! Big elbow. 1-2-NO! Crowd was ready for a cup change there. ACH feeds off the crowd. To the top he goes. Splash met with knees. Touchdown rolls him up. 1-2-NO! Veronica throws Touchdown the baton. Jon Barber gets sent down. ACH ducks a shot. Touchdown holds the baton. Veronica grabs it. Barber counts three.
Match Analysis: The finish to that match was absolutely deflating. These two were on their way to having as good a match as their Indianapolis affair until the baton came into play. These are two of the biggest rising stars for this year. Great work by both men. I loved Touchdown countering a lot of ACH’s offense and ACH breaking out some new stuff. That flash kick as Touchdown was on the top rope. Wow!
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: STILL YLC holder- Mr. Touchdown/***1/2/***1/2
-They transition right into homecoming ceremony. Veronica is announced as the homecoming queen. And the king? Touchdown gets on the microphone and says he’s the homecoming king. Gavin Loudspeaker has a twist to this story. Then some very familiar music plays. The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger comes out. Stranger springboard clotheslines him. Touchdown with shoulder blocks. Boot by Stranger. Clothesline sends Touchdown over. Veronica is in the corner and doesn’t seem to know how to react. Stranger and Veronica share their first dance. AMAZING! Veronica goes in for a kiss and tries to take the mask off. Stranger shuts her eyes and exits the ring. Stranger goes under the ring for a bucket. My God it’s a pig slopping in 2012. WHERE ARE THE GODWINNS? Off comes the mask… and my God, that’s Archibald Peck! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT!? Security takes Peck out of the ring because of the June iPPV stipulation.
-We come back from intermission with the Devastation Corporation squashing Los Ice Creams. Because of a choppy connection and the website giving me issues, I was not able to review the match. Apparently, my brief paragraph on the match didn’t appear when I updated this at the time.
-The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black, Hallowicked, Frightmare, Crossbones, and Blind Rage) vs. Delirious, Ophidian, and The Batiri (Obaryion, Kodama, and Kobald)
Match in Five Words or Less: Mantis Conquers All
Match Highlights: Ophidian has changed his mask once again as it’s back similar to the original design. This feed is getting very choppy. Delirious stares Mantis down. Forearm and it’s a mini battle royal to start. Everyone is on the outside brawling around ringside. Delirious works over Crossbones back in the ring. Clotheslines go nowhere. Whip across. Big splash by Crossbones. Delirious whipped again. Drop toe hold and panic attack by Delirious. Obaryion with a shot to the back. Mantis comes in. Boot and butterfly suplex. Headbutt. Boot and DDT. 1-2-NO! Obaryion out of the corner with a neckbreaker and Mantis is on the outside. Kobald, also with a new mask that makes him look gremlin like. Wicked in with him. Iconoclasm hits. Swanton hits. Kobald rammed head first into the corner. Step-up boot. Go 2 Sleepy Hollow countered. Loaded forearm by Kobald. Wicked kicked out of the ring. Clothesline by Rage on Ophidian. Dropkick hits. Mist by Ophidian to the face. Frightmare hits a cross body. Armdrag. Rana by Frightmare. Clothesline. Dropkick by Kodama. Knees to the leg of Frightmare. Rudos (GIVE THEM A NAME!) work over Frightmare’s left leg. Frightmare ducks the Demon’s Toilet. Hot tag to Mantis. Delirious with a quick chokebomb. Ophidian dropkicks his partners off the apron. Heat segment on Mantis now. Cut to a crowd shot and there are a lot of Amasis masks. Series of moves hit in the corner by the rudos. My God! That’s Amasis! That’s not a fan! Ophidian is rocking back and forth in the ring. Mantis takes the Batiri up and over. Kobald posts his shoulder. Delirious sent over the top rope. Regalplex on Ophidian. Wicked tags and dives on everyone except Ophidian. Frightmare dives. Rage with right hands on Ophidian. Boot blocked. Dragon screw leg whip. Chop in the corner. Kodama sends him out. Crossbones tosses him out. Ophidian whipped in the corner. Crossbones with a running boot. Leg drop. 1-2-NO! Obaryion with shots in the corner. STO by Crossbones. Waistlock on Kodama. Kick and a knee by Kodama. Crossbones is outside. Rage hits a reverse DDT. He holds on and takes him over in a reverse suplex. He drives Obaryion down but Kobald breaks the count. Vertical suplex on Rage. Frightmare with back elbows. Exploder into the cover. Ophidian breaks the count. Egyptian Destroyer. Wicked goes for the finish again but Ophidian Death Grip. Wicked drops him. Delirious attacks the knee and hits a flatliner. Wicked goes for Preying Mantis Bomb. Batiri break that up. Double team on Frightmare. Into the knee but only two as Mantis makes the save. Double team ends with Crossbones hitting a splash. Mantis splashes on them but the cover is broken up. Ophidian with double knees on Crossbones. Demon’s Toilet. Rage saves. Headbutts on Ophidian. Frightmare spikes Ophidian in a rana. 1-2-NO! Rage, Crossbones, and Mantis hit a triple chokeslam. Obaryion kicks out. Boot on Kodama. Double chops to the back. Mantis drops him down. Frightmare with a double stomp. Wicked hits one of his own. Dive to someone. Kobald breaks the count. Mantis tossed outside. Forearms on Crossbones. Spear goes nowhere. Crossbones knocks Kobald to the floor. Delirious is alone in the ring. Mantis comes in the ring. Delirious spits in his face. Forearms by Mantis. Into the corner for Mongolian chops. Delirious with a clothesline. Panic Attack. Shadows Over Heck. 1-2-NO! Preying Mantis Driver. 1-2-NO! Delirious stares Bryce Remsburg down. Mantis stares him down. Delirious continutally tries slapping him down. Mantis won’t stay down. Forearm shots exchanged. Mongolian chop by Delirious. Mantis comes back with forearms and chops. COSMIC DOOM. 1-2-3!
Match Analysis: It was almost getting ridiculous with some of these broken covers, but this was another very fun contest. Blind Rage did not look like he lost a step and seemed to fit right in with everyone else. Mantis pinning Delirious was appropriate given the storyline, but I’d have to imagine the feud is now over. Fascinated to see where this goes next year. Maybe a little long but I enjoyed this.
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: The Spectral Envoy/***1/2/***1/2
-Campeonatos de Parejas: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)(champions) vs. 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty
Match in Five Words or Less: Still The Champs
Match Highlights: Jannety starts with Matt Jackson. Handshake offered but Matt turns him down. Basic to start. Matt talks some trash to Jannetty. Test of strength teased but Matt kicks him in the midsection. Right hands. Off the ropes and a back elbow by Jannetty. Matt slides under and hits a back elbow of his own. Matt tosses his chair at Jannetty. Nick and Kid take their turn. Headlock by Kid. Shoulder block. Hip toss. Chop in the corner. Nick up and over. Shoulder block on Kid. Leaping enziguri. Springboard splash. Nick with stomps in the corner. He mocks Kid’s bronco buster but misses the charge in the corner. Kicks by Kid. Bronco buster countered with a low blow. Tandem spike piledriver and the Bucks win fall number one.
Jannetty checks on his partner before the next fall commences. Right hands for everyone by Jannetty. Bucks sent into each other. Matt superkicks Jannetty. A second one. Bucks work Jannetty over. Counter into a sleeper. Heat segment continues as Nick knocks Kid off the apron. Jannetty won’t go up for a suplex. Double superkick by the Bucks. No pin. Tandem spike piledriver countered. Kicks by Jannetty. X-Factor hit by Kid and just like that we’re tied at one.
Kid dives on both champions. Jannetty misses a cross body. Ouch. That was dumb. Kid holds his own for a minute but gets send crotch first into the post. Bucks slow the pace down and work Kid over. Necktie by Nick leads to the dropkick by Matt. Bucks work over Jannetty next. Slam by Jannetty. Elbow drop misses. Nick with a stomp. Shoulder tackle. Jannetty slowly works out of a Matt Jackson chinlock. Matt drags him by the hair into the corner. Handspring backrake by Matt. Rocker dropper countered. Matt bucklebombs Jannetty. 1-2-NO! Jannetty flips over and nearly gets three. Double whip in the corner. Nick taken out. Back elbow and a boot on Matt. Nick grabs him from behind. Jannetty sends them into each other. Kid comes in. Spin kick on Nick. Spin kick off the ropes on Matt. Kicks in the corner. Nick drop toe hold into his brother. Bronco buster. Matt with a shoulder block. Into the ring with a facebuster. Jannetty tries pulling Kid out. Suplex countered. Nick has Kid on the top rope. Rana. 1-2-NO! 450 but Kid hits an X-Factor. That was awesome. 1-2-NO! Matt DDTs Kid on the apron. Nick rolls Kid back in the ring. 1-2-NO! More Bang for your Buck. Matt covers and the champions retain.
Match Analysis: Kid and Jannetty worked as hard as they could to make this a good job. One of my biggest problems with Chikara sometimes is their propensity for short-changing matches. In this case, it feels as though a couple of these matches have gone too long. The heat segment with Jannetty in particular felt like it took forever. Still, I give all these guys credit for busting it out and doing what they could given their limitations.
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: STILL Campeones de Parejas- The Young Bucks/***/***
-Grand Championship: Eddie Kingston (champion) vs. Tim Donst (w/Jakob Hammermeier)
Match in Five Words or Less: Huh?
Match Highlights: Remsburg has to hold Kingston back from attacking Donst. Kingston paces back and forth. Kingston rushes Loudspeaker through the introduction. Donst has new gear. Looks good. Slap exchange. Kingston follows him outside. Donst sent into the steel barricade. Another chop. Donst sent into the barricade again. Headbutt on Donst. Elbow by Donst. Right hand by Kingston. Donst crawls around ringside. Kingston continues chopping Donst away. Donst sends Kingston back first into the post. Tope suicida. Knee drop in the back. Donst rips at Kingston’s face. Kingston whipped in the corner. Clothesline by Donst. Butterfly guillotine. Knee and over head with a butterfly suplex. Snap suplex on the outside by Kingston. Chikarason mentions how the director of fun has a means of determining contenders for the title moving forward after this match. I sure hope so. Guillotine drops Kingston’s neck across the top rope. Neck first into the knee. Donst rams Kingston into the barricade. Kingston reverses a whip in the corner. Blind charge misses. Donst hits a charging back splash. German suplex into the bridge for two. Kingston fights off being tied in the ropes. Donst stands up to him. Back elbow to a charging Donst. Reverse jawbreaker and reverse DDT. Reverse of the whip. Boot by Kingston. Bulldog from the middle rope. 1-2-NO! Donst has a smile on his face. Donst counters sliding D into From Dusk ‘til Donst. Kingston quickly reaches the bottom rope. Chinbreaker by Donst. Kingston hits an over the head uranagi. Lariat. 1-2-NO! Slap exchange. Snapmare by Donst. He sends Kingston down. Kingston leaps up and slaps Donst again. Chop in the corner. Whip in the corner. Yakuza kick blocked. Donst on the top rope. Slap by Kingston. Hammermeier distracts Kingston momentarily. Donst sets up Kingston but changes his mind and just pushes him down. Cover for two. Backfist to the Future misses and he’s hurt. Donst rubs his bald head. Taunting slaps. Forearms back and forth. Double forearms and each man goes into the corner. Kingston clotheslines a charging Hammermeier. STDonst. Kingston tied in the ropes. Elbows by Donst. Slaps. Kingston sent crashing into the mat. Belly-to-belly suplex to the ramp way. This continues the back work done throughout the match by Donst. Donst yells at Hammermeier. Slap. Implant DDT for two but Donst grabs the bottom rope. Donst yells at Kingston. Slaps by the champion. Can’t quite make out what Donst is saying. Series of slaps by Kingston. Donst covers up while smirking. Clothesline nails Remsburg. Forearm by Donst. Backfist by Kingston. Clothesline. No referee. Hammermeier is hesitant to hand the bag to Donst. Donst pie faces him. Donst nails the champion with the back. Swinging neckbreaker. Hammermeier wakes Remsburg up. 1-2-NOOOOOOOOOOO! Straps come down for Donst. Donst brings Hammermeier up to the apron. Big shove sends him to the floor. Small package. 1-2-NO! Backfist to the Future. A second one. Kingston wins. That was anti-climactic.
Kingston continues punching away at Donst. Hammermeier tries making the save but gets beaten up himself.
Match Analysis: The story was solid. The work was solid, but something was missing. I’m honestly not surprised Donst lost, but the finish seemingly came out of nowhere. Just as something has been missing from Donst’s character, there was something missing from the match itself.
Winner (s)/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: STILL Grand Champion-Eddie Kingston/***1/4/***1/2
-A mysterious video plays after the show. I have no idea what to say about it.
The Verdict: The bar for Chikara iPPVs was set really high by High Noon and Chikarasaurus. I liked a lot of what I saw on this show, but this did not have a season finale feeling to it at all. Still good enough to warrant a thumbs up but not the best Chikara show of the year. I could almost argue the Chicago and Cibernetico shows were better. This show was also not as easily accessible to non-fans. If you watched the two multi-man tags without a scorecard, good luck. Tough to give a thumbs down to a show with so many good matches, but with additional pay-offs and more of a sense of finality, this show could have been so much more.
For more information in CHIKARA Pro, including tickets and event information, please check their website. While you can purchase DVDs there as well, you can also purchase their DVDs on Smart Mark Video. Something relatively new to Smart Mark Video is video downloads. This is a great way to save on shipping and not have a DVD clogging your shelf (if that’s what you’re concerned about). It’s super easy to purchase and then download on your computer. I could not recommend this service strongly enough whether you’re buying CHIKARA or many other promotions.
To get a great sense of history and participate in discussion of the company, check out their official messageboard. One thing the promotion does really well? Videos. They have frequent (almost daily) updates on their YouTube channel.
As someone who is not nearly the CHIKARA fan as certain others, even I need to look up information and have a good CHIKARA resource. I can can think of no better place to do this and also read exclusive reviews of every CHIKARA show in history than at The CHIKARA Special. Kevin Ford maintains this little blog and also updates a CHIKARA Special Tumblr with news and videos nearly every day.
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