It’s amazing how my perception of three people can change so dramatically after two shows. Colony Xtreme Force jumped the shark on the Orlando show. Their antics completely overwhelmed their match with the Batiri. You could see the crowd being sucked out of the Orlando crowd as the CXF danced, celebrated, and behaved in such a way that the very purpose of a wrestling was lost. Storylines are important. In-ring work should always take top priority. Poor Soldier Ant, despite being the most talented member of his group and the one trying to hold this match together, got to lose cleanly by submission in borderline humiliating fashion. I get what Chikara is going for, but the way the crowd was lost is not a good sign. It’s bad enough the new ants lack experience, but to throw them in the ring for a combined 45 minutes on their first weekend exposed them badly. To have the second match of the show go 20 minutes is insanity. To have this match go 20 minutes nearly took me out of Watchmaker completely, and it took a lot to bring me back.
The lack of Eddie Kingston on this show hurt tremendously. The difference between this being an average show, which I would regard this as, and an above average show, was the scheduled championship match between Green Ant and Eddie Kingston. I don’t want to speak to rumors and conjecture about why Kingston no-showed; I just want to talk about his lack of presence hurting the show. The ten men involved in the main event certainly worked hard, but there was no way they could compensate for no title match. We got a lot of storytelling between F.I.S.T members. Things still aren’t going well for the group as Johnny Gargano purposefully superkicked Sugar Dunkerton after being forearmed on accident. Green Ant got the booby prize by at least getting the win in the main event as he tapped Gargano with the cloverleaf. This is now the fourth fall he’s picked up with this hold. At least he was kept strong. The main event was a quality match despite being almost inconsequential. We got dives from Blaster McMassive and Sidney Bakabella. There was entertaining action and was probably the best way under the circumstances to end the show.
With no Grand Championship match, the closest thing to a main event match of any significance was Jigsaw and the Shard against Mike Quackenbush and Fire Ant. Although they didn’t pick up the victory in the four way, Jigsaw and Shard got one over on Quack and Green Ant. Here, they got one over on Quack and Fire Ant. Shard won with the ankle lock in a really back and forth match. The tecnicos got things off to a rousing start as they ran to the ring, got to right to work, and dove all over the place on the rudos. Once things settled down, Shard and Jigsaw focused on beating up Fire Ant. The idea is that Jigsaw is still “scared” to wrestle his mentor and wants to take out his anger on whomever Quack picks as his partner. Quack would run in only to get pushed back out and for Fire Ant to be made legal again. Even if you think Quack should have been the heel (and I maintain he should), the story they’re telling is sound. Shard and Jigsaw are just plain a better team than Quack and whichever trainee (s) he picks. This was probably the best match of the night.
Another good match featured assailANT getting a rare victory over Mark Angelosetti. This was not for the Young Lion’s Cup since assailANT has done almost nothing except lose, and we would later find out he was too old for cup competition. I liked what they accomplished here even though I’ve certainly seen better out of Touchdown. Regardless, this was a good match on a show that needed it.
It’s come to that time in the review where I complain about the Tim Donst angle. Hallowicked and Jakob Hammermeier are part of the issue here as they had a one-on-one match. I’m not sure why they only got six minutes when the CXF got 20, but this is the first time I would have liked to have seen a Hammermeier match get more time. Wicked got to go over someone who has been on quite the roll and established himself as a clear contender for the Grand Championship. Based on his winning with Go 2 Sleepy Hollow and yakuza kick in both matches, I’d imagine they’re building up to that spot in the Kingston match. The only question is whether Wicked wins with it. Later on, Tim Donst and Archibald Peck had a rematch from While the Dawn is Breaking. Things got started right away with Donst charging Peck. They got a bit more time to develop things, and Peck even blocked a low blow attempt from Donst. Things got weird in the end. Veronica took her baton and handed it to Donst. Donst threw it away. Peck took Donst down. Veronica checked in on Donst. Peck came off the rope and accidentally nails Veronica with a right hand. Steve Weiner, who had talked about his attraction to Veronica the last two shows, ran in to check. He attacked Peck and basically turned heel. So many things to say. We’ve got yet another BS finish involving a Tim Donst match. Steve Weiner turned HEEL ON SOMEONE. HE SPEARED PECK AND ATTACKED HIM! I’m not going to compare this to the Jesse Corgan angle from Resistance Pro because Weiner is no one’s brother, and he had a long-term relationship with the company. I do question why he needs to be involved in angles when there is an entire roster full of people who could accomplish the same thing and have the ability to produce quality matches to boot. A year ago Donst was probably my favorite thing about Chikara and the one shining light. Now, I have trouble watching his promos and angles without wanting to shout at my television screen, “WHAT IS THE POINT OF ALL THIS?” I’ll wait to see where this goes before making full judgment , but I’m not very excited for a new Flock.
Oliver Grimsley and Eddie Graves tried hard, but they allowed themselves to get too messy. In what has become a tradition of these showcase matches, they tried to do too much and overextended their welcome. There was one really notable botch on what appeared to be a DDT attempt. Between this and the second match involving Colony Xtreme Force, it’s a wonder the crowd stayed with this show at all. Lucky for Chikara, there was some level of recovery as many wrestlers stepped up. I can’t call this a must buy show. There were some good matches but a lot of frustrating aspects too. Just an average show unfortunately.
Grade: C+
**********************************************************************************************************************
Quick results, times, match ratings, and entertainment ratings:
Announcers: Bryce Remsburg, Steve Weiner, Scott Parker, Gavin Loudspeaker, and Leonard F. Chikarason, and Dasher Hatfield
-Oliver Grimsley defeats Eddie Graves with the back cracker/10:29/**/**
-The Batiri (Ophidian, Obaryion, Kodama, and Kobald) defeat Colony Xtreme Force (Solder Ant, Missile Assault Ant, Arctic Rescue Ant, Orbit Adventure Ant) after Op hidian taps Soldier Ant to the Death Grip/20:48/*/*
-Hallowicked defeats Jakob Hammermeier by pinfall after the yakuza kick/6:25/**1/2/***
-assailANT defeats Mark Angelosetti by submission via Chikara Special: Blue/11:21/***/***
-Jigsaw and The Shard defeat Mike Quackenbush and Fire Ant after Shard makes Fire Ant tap to the ankle lock/14:54/***1/2/***1/2
-Archibald Peck defeats Tim Donst disqualification after Steve Weiner spears Peck/9:13/**1/2/**1/2
-3.0 (Shane Matthews and Scott Parker), Gran Akuma, Green Ant and Dasher Hatfield vs. F.I.S.T (Sugar Dunkerton, Icarus and Johnny Gargano), and the Devastation Corporation( Blaster McMassive, and Max Smashmaster) when Green Ant makes Gargano tap to the Texas cloverleaf/24:30/***1/4/***1/4
**********************************************************************************************************************
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.
Contact Pro Wrestling Ponderings!
E-mail: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingPonderings
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pwponderings
Youtube: www.youtube.com/pwponderings
Contact ME!
E-mail: jcusson07@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepwpeditor