With any luck, I’ll be doing a live iPPV recap and review right here. I’ll discuss all of the matches and happenings here. If you’re not home and want to follow only results, check out our Twitter page.We’ll be back at 3:30 eastern for the free pre-show. Check out that (and purchase the iPPV) at Smart Mark’s on-demand service. We will also be recording a podcast roughly thirty minutes after the show ends. Please send us tweets or e-mails. The address you want to send to is prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com. We want your questions and thoughts sent to us immediately after the show.
Young Lion’s Cup: Mr. Touchdown (champion) vs. Saturyne
Saturyne with an immediate dropkick. Touchdown quickly gets the advantage back right away. Touchdown whiffs on a dive attempt. Saturyne headscissors over. Big dive to the outside. Plancha (not botched). Touchdown tosses her down to the mat. Touchdown toying with his challenger. Saturyne with kicks. Series of strikes. Angelosetti plants her down flat. Series of splashes and of course the Tebowing. One last splash met with knees. Dropkicks from Saturyne. Spin kick and leg kicks. Bulldog by Saturyne gets two. Axe kicks. Touchdown blocks the third. Beautiful rana by Saturyne. Saturyne drives Touchdown into the middle turnbuckle. Moonsault press for two. Touchdown drives her in the corner. Spin kick by Saturyne. Axe kick. Springboard to the outside. Touchdown suplexes her from the outside. Brian Cage and Michael Elgin want residuals on that. Saturyne crotches Touchdown on the top rope. Rana blocked. Rana connects for two. Touchdown sunset flips over for three in a great little pre-show match. This showcased both people well. Saturyne didn’t botch anything, and Touchdown used his power tremendously. This was a great way to engage audiences on the fence and make them buy the show.
Winner (s)/Rating: STILL Young Lion’s Cup Champion-Mark Angelosetti/***1/4
-Taped from Philadelphia
-Your hosts are of various members of the Chikara staff
The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black, Hallowicked, Frightmare) vs. Colony Xtreme Force (Missile Assault Ant, Orbit Adventure Ant, and Arctic Adventure Ant)
Orbit Adventure Ant’s helmet is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in professional wrestling…ever. I’m glad to be able to see and hear the show (big step up from WWN’s latest debacle), but the sound modulation is pretty brutal. Face-off and a brawl starts us off as all six men are in the ring. Spectral Envoy slowly clear the ring and triple team Arctic Rescue Ant. Frightmare with a squishing 450 splash. Mantis breaks out the step-up boot. Wicked and Mantis double dive. Frightmare with one of his own. Missile Assault Ant in the ring. Chops between he and Frightmare. Orbit forearmed off the apron. Missile with a nasty bucklebomb. Spectral Envoy cleared off the apron. Arctic Rescue almost kills himself trying to hit a belly-to-belly suplex. They shift their focus on Frightmare. Orbit Adventure Ant with a slo-mo powerslam. LOL. Wicked out of the ring. working over Mantis. Missile clears Wicked and Frightmare. CXF offense is pretty at ugly a certain times. These guys can’t be anything but students based on everything I’ve seen up to this point. They actually try the step-up again. Mantis with a release German suplex. Frightmare tagged in and he goes to work on CXF. Here it is Drive gets two on Arctic. Orbit moves quickly but gets booted in the face. Spinebuster by Mantis. Sloppy triple team. Wicked locks in the Chikara Special. Orbit taps. This match was not very good and a borderline waste of Spectral Envoy. The CXF are not ready and got exposed on live iPPV. Their offense was clunky at best. There were some awkward moments throughout. Not a great start to the actual show.
Winner (s)/Rating: The Spectral Envoy/**1/4
Dasher Hatfield vs. Delirious They wrestled for 57 seconds at the season premeire. Batiri and Hatfield have had a bit of a feud since that time. Another match that’s starting quickly with Hatfield forearms. Delirious with a knee. Hatfield with an O’Connor roll for two. Delirious runs around. Hatfield comes back with an exploder. Big running boot to the midsection. Delirious drops Hatfield across the top rope. Shoulder blocks in the corner. Hatfield low bridges Delirious out of the ring. Hatfield sells his ribs. Sledgehammer met with a right hand to those ribs. Delirious sends him out. Elbow out of the corner by Hatfield. Delirious catches Hatfield with a headbutt. Panic Attack. Hatfield drives Delirious to the top rope. Jackhammer. Baseball dropkick. Tope suicida. Suicide Squeeze turned into abdominal stretch. Hatfield takes him by the chin and swings him around for a neckbreaker. A legitimately new move. Delirious in the corner. Drop toe hold by Delirious. Right hand by Hatfield. Series of chops. Kobald sneaks in the ring and spears Hatfield. Pretty enjoyable match until the ending with a clear story as Hatfield was having his ribs worked over most of the match. Hatfield looked great despite having just returned from injury. Delirious looked good for someone who’s pretty much a part-time wrestler at this point. Crowd asks where Touchdown was. Very good question.
Winner (s)/Rating: Delirious/***
The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant, and assailANT) vs. Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive, Max Smashmaster, and Flex Rumblecrunch)
Another match with no feeling out process as the brawl goes all over the building. Too much to even call at this point. Smashmaster tosses Fire Ant from the entrance way onto his partners. assailANT taken in the ring. Bodyslam by Smashmaster. Standing splash. assailANT with chops. Green Ant with a dropkick. Flex Rumblecrunch with a standing spinebuster. Heat segment on Green Ant. Kicks from Green Ant no sold. Smashmaster out of the ring, enziguri on McMassive. Flying apple by assailANT. In the ring and Bakabella trips him. Black hole slam but Green Ant kicks him HARD! Smashmaster tombstones him. Shoulder tackle off the top rope by Rumblecrunch. Fire Ant crossbody and dropkick on Smashmaster. Claw by Rumblecrunch. Powerbomb by McMassive. Smashmaster with a standing senton. Deadlift vertical suplex turned into Burning Down the House. Comeback by Fire Ant. DDT on McMassive as he headscissors Smashmaster. assailANT dives to the outside on the DC. Green Ant goes up a level. Oh my God. FROM THE BALCONY! McMassive tossed in the ring by Green Ant. Six feet of fury. Rumblecrunch with right hands. Triple neckbreaker/powerbomb from the Colony. ANTAPAULT! DOUBLE TOPE SUICIDAS! McMassive in the ring. Fire Ant and assailANT build the hill. DC pull him off. Bakabella shoves Green Ant. Kick by Green Ant on McMassive. Texas Cloverleaf. Bakabella on the apron. Green Ant goes after him. Superkick sends him down. Green Ant with clotheslines no sold. German suplex. Texas Cloverleaf. No one is around to make the save, so McMassive has no choice but to tap. This overdelivered in every conceivable way. What a fantasticly crazy match with all kinds of insanity everywhere you turned. The Colony made DC look like monsters. DC looked quite good. They’ve been inconsistent at times, but they showed up big time. I loved this match and want to watch it again on SMVOD.
Winner (s)/Rating: The Colony/***1/2 Sarcophagus Match:
Amasis vs. Ophidian
This is essentially under casket match rules. This should have been a rematch from the Wrestlecon show, but Ophidian was injured. Fast paced match. Amasis with a wheelbarrow suplex and spin kick. Up and down in a facebuster by Amasis. Ophidian sends Amasis down first. Amasis with knees and strikes. Leaping elbow to the back of the neck. Running forearm. Ophdian with blows. Back elbow by Amasis. Nervehold into the enziguri by Ophidian. Spinning into an electric chair. Elbows from Amasis. Rolling forearm but Ophidian drives him down arm first. They to the entrance where there’s no light. He decides to inflict more damage on Amasis. Running knee to the chest. Dropkick and leg lariat by Amasis. Pele kick as Ophidian comes off the ropes. Ophidian counters a superkick and twists his knee around. To the sarcophagus they go. We know it exists because Mike Quackenbush saw cell phone pics. He said it in a shoot interview. No way he could lie. Anyway, brawl continues as they remain in the sarcophagus. Amasis sweeps the leg and tries to put the lid on top of Ophidian. Ophidian takes his sash off and chokes him. Back to the ring they go. It’ll be nice to actually see everything again. Cross body by Amasis and he sells his knee. Ophidian with a German suplex. Sitdown powerbomb. Ophidian is looking really slick with his execution, but this match is all over the place, and the crowd hasn’t been into this nearly as much as they’ve been into everything else. Another sitdown powerbomb and he stares down the sarcophagus. Kicks by Amasis. Running knee to the head. Open hand chop by Ophidian on Amasis. Crowd seems surprisingly mixed. Ophidian with a quesa dora face plant. Ophidian asks Amasis why he won’t die. I definitely would not have put this match after the six man tag. There’s no way this was going to match the pacing and intensity. Running double knees by Ophidian. Springboard dropkick and Ophidian is selling his knee. Both men on the apron as Ophidian went for a suplex. Amasis with a DVD on the apron. 450 splash by Amasis connects. Amasis drags Ophidian over to the sarcophagus. Ophidian locks in a choke. Knee to the side of the head. Spinning brainbuster. Toward the sarcophagus they go. Crowd again chants “Rest in peace,” Yuck yuck. Ophidian tosses him in. Amasis prevents the lid from being put on top. Amasis to the top rope. Cross body wins. Bicycle kick by Ophidian. Spin kick. Amasis sends him down face first into the mat. Up and down facebuster. Spin kick blocked. Ophidian grabs a choke. Back toward the sarcophagus they go. Ophidian stares the sarcophagus down and pulls the lid down. Piledriver blocked. Amasis with blows. Low blow by Ophidian. Canadian Destroyer on the lid of the sarcophagus. Sweet Jebus. Kobald sent out to grab Amasis. They set the lid back on the sarcophagus. Amasis isn’t moving in the ring. Kobald goes for the spear, but he takes his own partner out instead. Kobald goes for a tombstone on the entrance. Amasis back drops Kobald on the steps. Both men in the ring. Ophidian tries hypnotizing Amasis. Ophidian directs him toward the sarcophagus. Amasis goes in willingly. He blocks the lid from being put over him just in time. Ophidian pleads with him to end it. Amasis GOES FOR THE MASK AND REVEALS AN AMASIS MASK! Amasis slams him in puts the lid over. I liked some of the elements they incorporated into the match. Some of the things they did were really creative and amazing callbacks to past events. That being said, this was way too long of a match and could have afforded to be cut for a better and more efficient match. This is one of those matches that almost needed an editor to cut off certain elements. This would have been an amazing 18 minute match. As is, this was just a good 25-30 minute match.
Winner (s)/Rating: Amasis/***1/4
Hair vs. Hair: Tim Donst vs. Gavin Loudspeaker
Rana by Gavin. Choking on the middle rope as Donst quickly takes control. He runs through his usual offense. Veronica hands Donst the baton. He breaks it over his knee and tosses it. As Donst yells at Veronica, Gavin ends up on the outside. Donst whips Steve Weiner into him. In come the scissors. Bryce Remsburg takes them away. Donst eats Gavin’s hair. Does he want to go to the hospital again? Elbow and boot by Gavin. From behind with a sleeper. Gavin applies the octopus. Donst hits the tilt a whirl backbreaker. Bucklebomb. Cover but Donst picks him up at two. Donst takes the straps down. Weiner knocked off the apron. Donst goes to the top rope. Jakob Hammermeier comes in the ring. Hammermeier punches Donst right in the face. Huge pop to the face. Donst is prone on the top rope. Gavin is still down. Hammermeier is gone. Lots of stalling by Gavin, but he slowly climbs to the top rope. SUPERPLEX! 1-2-3! Gavin Loudspeaker wins!
I can’t say this was a great match with tons of workrate. However, the storytelling was perfect. Brilliant execution. Loudspeaker looked better than some wrestlers who do this for a living. Donst played his character about as well as you could expect. This was a lot of fun and about as good a match as could be hoped for. My star rating in no way reflects how great this was. Oh, and Gavin even sold better than a lot of wrestlers, to the point he couldn’t shave Donst’s head after the match. Donst actually did the deal himself.
Winner (s)/Rating: Gavin Loudspeaker/***
Campeonatos de Parejas: 3.0 (Shane Matthews and Scott Parker)(champions) vs. Pieces of Hate (Jigsaw and The Shard)
Feeling out process by Parker and Jigsaw. Dropkick sends Jigsaw out of the ring. immediate hip toss on Shard. Double team by the champions. Sloppy backbreaker on Jigsaw by Matthews. Drop toe hold by Matthews and an elbow by Parker. Shard saves his partner and plants Parker on top of Matthews. Superkick and enziguri combination leads to Shard pinning Matthews. Shard applies the ankle lock, bypassing the rest period. Referee finally separates them. Matthews with forearms on Jigsaw. Jigsaw sends Matthews up and over completely to the floor. Shard grabs the ankle lock. Heat segment on Matthews. Headscissors on both members of Pieces of Hate. Jigsaw rips Parker off the apron. Gordbuster and clothesline to the back of the head by Shard. Matthews manages a powerbomb. Parker takes Jigsaw over. Series of clotheslines, jawbreaker, and enziguri on Shard. Flying forearm on Jigsaw. Big boot. Parker rips him off. Twisting suplex for two. Shard puts Parker on the top rope. Matthews waistlock. Sweet Taste of Professionalism and 3.0 wins fall number two. Shard and Parker battle. Parker in the tree of woe. Big double stomp. Jigsaw with a coast-to-coast dropkick. Matthews has to break the count JUST IN TIME! Jigsaw superkicks Matthews out of the ring. Shard spinebuster on Parker in the corner. Jig ‘n’ Tonic. 1-2-NOOOOOOOO! Matthews uranagi on the apron as Jigsaw is taken down. Shard and Parker left in the ring. Shard with forearms. Parker with one of his own. Hart Attack! Matthews applies the Boston crab! Parker elbows Jigsaw as Jigsaw tries saving his partner. Matthews spears Jigsaw, but he released the hold. Parker to the top rope. Matthews lifts Shard up. Jigsaw knocks Parker off the top rope. Leg kick by Jigsaw. Shard applies the ankle lock. Jigsaw sends Parker to the floor. Jigsaw superkicks Matthews. Jon Barber checks the arm. Matthews is out. NEW CHAMPIONS! This was the best match of the show so far. Great action from bell-to-bell. It felt like either team had a chance to win. Jigsaw and Shard were the right team to win based on the first half they’ve had so far. At least 3.0 went out like this and not like the blah match they had with the Batiri back in Porterdale.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Pieces of Hate/***3/4
Chikara Grand Championship: Eddie Kingston (champion) vs. Icarus
Icarus is dressed like Marty Jannetty crica 1993. Chikarason discusses everyone who has ditched Icarus lately. Pretty basic to start. Kingston with chops to the corner. Backbreaker and he holds it. Icarus goes for a dive but gets forearmed in the jaw for his troubles. Kingston goes for a wrench, but Remsburg takes it away from him. Poke to the eye and chops from Kingston. Kingston applies a laying bearhug of some sort. Icarus grabs the bottom rope. Blows to the back. Series of blows and headbutts to the lower back. Pedigree out of nowhere by Icarus. Shirnui by Icarus. More folks in the crowd seem to be behind Icarus. Series of chops. Rana into the alligator clutch for a nearfall. Enziguri. German suplex and a bridge for two. Kingston with a swinging uranagi followed by the short clothesline. Icarus blu-ray into the corner. 1-2-NO! Kingston gets his arm on the bottom rope. Kingston enziguri. Powerbomb right into the pin for two. Second powerbomb countered. Tiger suplex for two by Kingston. Yakuza kick misses. Pedigree but Kingston back drops him to the floor. Icarus’s back connected nicely with the edge of the ring. Series of right hands. Icarus placed on the entrance. Icarus tossed into Remsburg. Backfist to the Future by Kingston on Icarus. Kingston mocks the lack of Jannetty at ringside. He goes for the steel chair. Chair to the back. Icarus no sells. Another chair shot but Icarus mans up. This crowd is getting behind him even more! Sliding D. 1-2-NO! Back drop driver! 1-2-NO! Kingston takes off the straps. Backfist misses. Pedigree countered. Icarus with a rana. CHIKARA SPECIAL! Referee goes for Kingston’s arms.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: No-contest/N/R
Out comes condor Security and they’re taking everyone out. Remsburg, Icarus, and Kingston get taken out of the ring. Down comes the set. A disheveled Wink is out directing traffic. What the hell was that?
There have been rumors of Chikara’s impending doom for quite some time. I have no idea what is to come in the coming weeks, but I can say this was the last Chikara or Wrestling is show I plan on reviewing. That ending was a complete and total rip-off. Fans should be outraged at that ending because literally no answers were given. No big announcement. I’m supposed to accept that as the possible end of Chikara? I’ve had to deal with these rumors for roughly two months. It’s torn me up to know this company, a company I’ve loved for over four years, is gone. I think? Honestly, the bottom line is I don’t care. We all wasted our time thinking about this company and what could happen on the iPPV. We paid 15 dollars to see a set get torn down in the end.
I love professional wrestling, particularly independent wrestling, but I need to step away for a bit. Therefore, I’m taking a month off starting right now from reviews and will return the second week in July. I will likely be starting to recap some new companies never before reviewed on PWP when I come back. Until then, it’s been real Chikara. Thanks for the memories.
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. 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.
I’ve spent the last hour or so going to pretty much every website reviewing this show and am honestly shocked and disgusted at the reaction people are having to it. THIS IS PRO-WRESTLING PEOPLE!!! And for all these websites that claim to love it seem to have no understanding of how it works.
Don’t get me wrong most wrestling companies have been horribly booked since 1989. Most companies except Chikara. As a person who is primarily a movie fan above anything else. Not just watching but breaking down the aspect of storytelling and what we got tonight from Chikara was an amazing end to the 2nd act of a story. Wrestling is meant to be booked this way. A story is slowly built and big advancments happen on ppv. What we had tonight was huge progression in the story, this is the kind of thing we all tear the WWE apart for not having. “I paid $15 dollars and got tat ending Boo Hoo”. It’s indy wrestling you pay $15-20 for every show!
“We didn’t get a clean finish Boo hoo”. You are all know its not real right? If you want clean finishes with no shenanigans its called the UFC check it out. I’m starting to ramble so I’ll end this now with simply we watch wrestling for storylines if you don’t I have no clue why you do. So please stop complaining when something truely great like what happened tonight happens.
Pat Healy?
The three last paragraphs you wrote, Jerome, were amongst the saddest things I’ve ever seen you write. For you to be that outraged…you need some help.
Playing the world’s smallest fiddle for this dude’s whiny ass inability to follow a complicated angle.
Stick to doing WWE recaps dude, and also stay away from sharp objects.
… Storylines, its all about storylines.. I love this Peck and this Backfist to the Future hook 😛
As far as rumors goes, its rumors but they still selling tickets for July’s show and WIF! is still dong is June Show. WIF! and Chikara still have there events listed but know way to by tickets passed next month…
They have now all been canceled.
We have actually been following it from the beginning and recapped it on the podcast.
well according to PWInsider.. all Chikara events will be Wrestling Is or be cancelled. So let’s just say a new and improved NWA 😛
I’m going to respectfully disagree with your feelings about the main event. Chikara has been telling a secret story comprised of small clues and online scavenger hunts and conspiracy theories for the last few months (and to a lesser degree, years), and that ending was the first time they put it front and center. I understand being put off by a show that’s asking you to do homework, but it’s begging you to dig deeper and feel like a part of it, and that’s something far more magical than just another evil commissioner screwjob ending.
I hated the no contest ending with a passion, but only because Chikara actually made me want to see Icarus become champion (SHOCKED FACE) and they took that from me. I’ve been emotionally manipulated by good storytelling. Even if this was the end of Chikara there’s no way it’s the end of the story, and to view it as such is to do yourself a great disservice. The stage coming down was just the opening salvo of a much larger battle.
Even beyond that, hating a show that you otherwise loved because you hated the last five minutes seems silly. Writing off half a dozen promotions because of it is insane.
Just for the record, my decision to not review Chikara and the Wrestling is companies came before the iPPV. If I wasn’t clear in my actual recap (and I’m unhappy with my writing of the whole review honestly), then let me make it so. I made my decision not to cover/review Wrestling is shows because of the quality of the shows not being very good. I may still buy shows that look good, particularly Wrestling is Respect, but someone else from PWP can do the actual reviewing I’m not reviewing Chikara for reasons that extend beyond what happens on the actual shows. Again, I may still support the promotion, but someone else can review them. Thank you for your comment.