-Taped from Reading, Pennsylvania
-Your hosts are of course various members of the Chikara roster and staff
-Green Ant says that unlike in previous situations, Ophidian will have to take him on one-on-one. He’s confident, not cocky.
Match in Five Words or less: Better Than Last Month
Match Highlights: Ophidian’s creepy music really suits his new character. He wants the masks laid down in the corner and continues talking to them. Great. Another viper who hears voices in his head. Some mat work to start as you might expect. Green gets a pair of roll-ups, and this leads to Ophidian to cowering outside so he can talk to his masks. Kick and slap. Another chop but Green Ant hits an armdrag. Chops of his own. He no sells anything Ophidian offers. Ophidian grabs the throat. Double clubbering blows to the chest. Slap to the face. Choke along the middle rope. Forearm exchange. Leaping enziguri by Ophidian. Snapmare into a choke hold. Double chops to the throat once again. Headbutt to the stomach. Guillotine choke. Green Ant counters by slamming his down. Back to the throat. Green Ant can barely breathe. Ophidian tries to pull the top turnbuckle pad off with a pair of scissors. He is successful. This allows for a Green Ant comeback. Running boot sends Ophidian outside. Suplex attempt blocked. Counter by Green Ant. Whip to the undone buckled corner. O’Connor roll but Ophidian kicks out. Clothesline by Green Ant. Headbutts but Green Ant no sells. Headbutt of his own and a clothesline. Green Ant drives Ophidian face first. After a two count, Ophidian drives Green Ant throat first into the medal buckle. Death Grip and Green Ant has no choice but to tap.
Match Analysis: It felt like the Hieracon match did a lot of damage to what was turning into an excellent heel turn for Ophidian. This match was almost the complete opposite. In half the time, they seemingly got more accomplished. Ophidian really needed this to turn out well after the debacle that was last month. He got a chance to beat someone who’s gotten really high on the totem pole lately. Ophidian looked like a killer. This match also told a great story as Ophidian worked over the throat the entire match and eventually won with a choke. Good opener.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Ophidian/10:49/***/***1/4
Match in Five Words or less: The Learning Process Continues
Match Highlights: I’m assuming this match is really just to get Saturyne in front of the crowd and working with someone who has a lot of CHIKARA experience. *nudge nudge wink wink* Hijo wrestles heel and cheats at every turn. Saturyne wrestles a Lucha style and incorporates some high flying. Hijo gets the advantage and clearly isn’t taking her inexperienced opponent seriously. Series of boots in the corner. Sunset flip into a two count. Cross body same. Dropkick misses. Hijo shucks, jives, and only executes moves when it suits him. School girl gets two. Up top she goes. Cross body caught again. Samoan drop turned into a crucifix for two. Running knees. Leg lariat in the corner. Off the ropes. Up and over she goes. Dropkick sends Hijo in the corner. Elbow from the ice cream man. Drop toehold by Saturyne. Back suplex for two by Hijo. Quesa dora into a bulldog. Springboard into a rana and a three count! I guess you’d call that an upset.
Match Analysis: It was very cool that the crowd in Reading got behind Saturyne in her efforts to get a victory. She has long way to go before we can consider her a good wrestler, but she showed a lot of athleticism and enthusiasm for what she’s doing. That’s half the battle if you ask me. I look forward to Saturyne’s development this year.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Saturyne/6:42/**/***
Match in Five Words or less: Not Very Sporty
Match Highlights: This would be the Chikara debut of Mr. Touchdown although he did wrestle at a “Wrestling is Fun” show and has appeared in other promotions under a different name. Touchdown’s first chance in a Chikara ring is with Soldier Ant. They immediately start yelling at each other. Touchdown does calisthenics and poses. Fire comes in with a takedown. Leap frogs. Firemen’s carry. I have a random note because I know a lot of people won’t notice this. Every time Touchdown leapfrogs, HE DOES THE HEISMAN POSE! He’s shot up the list of favorite characters just by doing that. Dasher armdrags him out. Into the corner. Boots by Fire. Up and over. Wristlock and a set of chops. Off the ropes. Dasher blocks an armdrag and hits one of his own. Soldier in. Sunset flip but Dasher rolls over. Armdrag but Dasher awkwardly hits the ropes. Saluting from Soldier. Kick to the head after Touchdown gets in a three point stance. Backbreaker into a gutbuster. He turns down tagging Dasher. Boot out of the corner. He can’t make it to Fire Ant. Touchdown drives him in the corner. Cartwheel and a shoulderblock. Dasher tags in. Roll over and a dropkick. Soldier placed in the tree of woe. Touchdown prevents Dasher from running the bases. Touchdown hits a running dropkick. He calls Soldier four eyes and uses his hands to give him glasses. BEST. CHARACTER. EVER. Bodyslam. Series of drills sand splashes. The last one is met with knees. Roll-up by Soldier gets two. Up on top and a tag. Cross body and dropkick by Fire Ant as he enters. Dasher comes in as well. Headscissors by Fire Ant. Touchdown misses a shoulder block. Tope suicida to the floor. Soldier hits a saluting headscissors on Dasher. Four feet of fury sends Dasher in the corner. Touchdown comes in with a double clothesline. Double team neckbreaker by the Throwbacks. Fire Ant breaks up the cover. Chops for everyone! Double stunner. Dasher sits down in a cover and gets two. “Rudy” chant breaks out. Amazing. Soldier goes for a saluting stunner but gets hit with an exploder instead. “Green Ant” then comes out from the back and shoves Dasher off the top rope. Referee tosses the match out. Touchdown doesn’t understand what happened. The look on his face when he realizes they got the victory was tremendous. The Throwbacks get a disqualification victory. The Colony look confused.
Match Analysis: I really enjoyed what they were doing before the finish. Mr. Touchdown seems to have his character down pat right from the start. “Green Ant” becoming involved is clearly going somewhere. Considering how injured he was earlier in the night, I can’t imagine it was the real one, especially since he appeared to have another mask on underneath.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: The Throwbacks/9:51/***1/4/***
-Jigsaw isn’t afraid of Brodie Lee. Short and sweet promo.
Match in Five Words or less: Brodie Trucks On
Match Highlights: Because of an injury to Brodie Lee in the summer of last year, we never got to see these two wrestle in the 12 Large Summit. Lee has already begun taking out people in his bracket with a victory over UltraMantis Black at Joshimania, and this is another step toward getting a title match. Immediate shot sends Jigsaw in the corner. Jigsaw comes back with forearms but one strike sends him outside. Hard chop from Lee. He rips at the mask and delivers another hard chop. Battle continues on the outside. Kick from Jigsaw. Rana sends Lee out. Lee catches a diving Jigsaw and chokeslams him on the apron. Back suplex on the apron. Springboard senton. Vertical suplex. Guillotine on the top rope. Clothesline from Lee. Elbow from Jigsaw. Dropkick by Lee. Lee tears Jigsaw down and covers for two. Whip across. Lee hits a forearm. Jigsaw low bridges him. Tope atomico sends Lee four rows deep. Dropkick off the top by Jigsaw. Running elbow and enziguri. Springboard dropkick back in the ring. Blows to the back. Jigsaw blocks a suplex. Lee his a LARIAT! Half nelson suplex sends Jigsaw right on top of his head. 1-2-NO! Jigsaw rolls Lee up for two. Superkick. German suplex nearly gets three. Double stomp off the top. Lee catches Jigsaw with a boot. 1-2-NO! Lee hits a Truck Stop. He doesn’t cover though. Running boot. Running powerbomb. Done.
Match Analysis: Not much of a feeling process to start the contest. They just went right away and delivered a fun action packed contest. Jigsaw has really put together a string of solid performances lately, and I think his improvement is almost being ignored. Great to see these two put together a solid contest.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Brodie Lee/8:36/***1/4/***
-Brodie says he’s coming for the Grand Championship in Canada.
-Kobald says he’s going to make history by defeating Colt Cabana. He says Colt will remember his name and says stuff about the end of the world. He sounds like a Power Ranger villain.
Match in Five Words or less: SHENANIGANS!
Match Highlights: Kobald attacks Colt from behind. Whatever he’s trying to sell, Colt ain’t buying. Forgot the play-by-play. We get lots of antics to start as you might expect. Colt plays with Kobald’s earring, rides him, and rolls him all over the place. Kobald takes a seat in the front row. Kobald sends Cabana into the post. Double axehandles. Bodyslam. Spear to the midsection. Series of chops in the ring. High knee sends Cabana to the floor. Chop exchange. Abdominal stretch while in the kneeled position. Running shoulder block. Another and he runs into the post. To the outside. Series of double chops by Cabana. Elbow between the eyes. Flying apple in the corner. Kobald grabs a choke. Flying butt attack into a cover. Kobald hits a rana out of the corner. Awkward cover gets two. Cabana slaps him. Cabana drops Kobald body first on the turnbuckle. Billy Goat’s Curse. Kobald taps.
Match Analysis: Kobald has a lot of work to do before he can get into the elite category like Colt Cabana. If nothing else, Kobald can use this as a learning experience moving forward. Always good to see Cabana in a Chikara ring as he fits in very well with this promotion. Hopefully, he is a frequent guest star.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Colt Cabana/8:11/**/**1/2
Match in Five Words or less: Donst Is A Cheater
Match Highlights: The faces order Bryce Remsburg to take in the cheers from the top rope when Reading chants for him. Donst and Parker begin. Feeling out process. Donst cheats a bunch. Parker hits a leg lariat and grabs a headlock. Back drop on Hammermeier. Matthews tags in. He and Hammermeier stare each other down. Kingston gives Matthews some Red Bull. Matthews goes crazy. Hammermeier slaps him in the face. Chase is on. Hammermeier kicks him back in the ring. Dropkick by Matthews. Hammermeier kicks him away. Matthews with boots. Attempted Boston crab. Iron takes his turn with Obaryion. Quick knee by Obaryion. Armdrags by Iron. Forearm. Iron drives Obaryion into his knee. Clothesline to the floor. Kodama runs into a clothesline. Senton. Kingston is in. Body shots in the corner. T-bone suplex for two. Headbutt. More body shots. Backbreaker. Parker hits a running knee. Kingston shoves him. Elbow drop. 3.0 double team. They use Iron’s feet to send Kodama down. Chops from Iron. Donst hits a knee to the back. Iron tries fighting them off but gets hit with a dropkick. Heat segment on Iron. “Donst is awful chants” as he comes in the ring. Kodama ever so slowly heads up top. Donst tags in himself but Iron sends him over. Obaryion tries preventing the hot tag, but here comes the champ. Kingston takes them out one at time with various suplex and throws. Parker dives on Hammermeier and Donst. Kingston yells at Iron to get up. Iron hits a tope atomico. Kingston does as well. Matthews goes into headscissors mode. Boston crab on Obaryion. Kodama breaks the hold. Kingston with a strikes. Off comes the elbow pad. Drop toehold into a knee strike by the Batiri. Double team on Iron. Iron comes back with a double elbow. Hammermeier hits a backbreaker. Parker drives him down. Donst sends Parker down with a swinging neckbreaker. He takes a moment to celebrate. We get back fists from all the tecnicos. All eight men are down. Donst hits a series of chops and grabs Iron’s nipples. Donst hits a running forearm. Bulldog. Donst goes into his tights for an object. Remsburg is distracted. Donst chokes Iron out with the object. Hammermeier superkicks Matthews. Backcracker by Obaryion. Kodama hits a blockbuster on Kingston. Donst finally chokes Iron out. He has words for Hallowicked after the match, so clearly that issue is going to be addressed soon.
Match Analysis: After a loss during the season premiere, it was good to see Donst pick up an important victory to get back in the winning column. Although these eight guys might have seemed thrown together, they really conducted themselves well. It helps that the crowd was really into liking the four tecinos and despising Tim Donst. However, it feels like the Batiri are in a holding pattern with not much to do. They really need a feud to get them back moving in CHIKARA.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Tim Donst, Jakob Hammermeier, and the Batiri/19:01/***1/2/***1/2
Match in Five Words or less: Too Long
Match Highlights: Veronica is clearly displeased with Peck’s recent losing streak as she ignores him on their walk to the ring. Peck slaps Del Rey for whatever reason. The hell? Del Rey responds in kind. Shove as Peck keeps talking smack. He calls for a test of strength. He puts his arm up but proves to be too tall. Leg kicks by Del Rey. Now she proves to be too tall for the kneeling Peck. Peck pouts. He refuses to stick his arms out toward Del Rey. Crowd wants Del Rey to say she’s sorry. She obliges. She tries kicking him. He puts his arms up. Test of strength. Del Rey dominates. Snapmare by Del Rey into a chinlock. Peck bites her finger. Del Rey sends Peck into the corner head first. Series of kicks in the corner. Running kick. He strings Peck across the top and middle rope. Kicks. Peck elbows Del Rey to the floor. He whiffs on a dive. Peck hits a boot. Del Rey rammed into the post. Right hands in the corner. Gutbuster. Stomps in the corner. Del Rey responds with chops. Peck grabs a waistlock. Del Rey rams Peck in the corner. Knee by Peck. Del Rey sent in the corner. Boots up. School boy into the bottom of the buckle. Quick cover and two. Peck hits another gutbuster. Abdominal stretch. Del Rey hip tosses Peck down. Biting by Peck… in the stomach. Peck strings Del Rey between the top and middle rope. Del Rey shoves him down. Kick to the arm sends him down. Cannonball off the apron. Knees to the upper body. Running boot. A second one leads to a two count. Royal Butterfly countered. Cross arm breaker is not. Peck has to grab the ropes. Shot to the midsection. Stomach claw. Del Rey hits a stalling northern lights suplex. Peck sends Del Rey down face first out of a lawn dart position. Elbow pad comes off. He heads to the top rope. Del Rey crotches him. Veronica comes in the ring and tosses Peck a baton. Remsburg sees Peck. Veronica begs off but gets combo kicked in the face. Peck meets the same fate. Royal Butterfly. Peck manages to hold on. Del Rey reapplies it and gets the submission. Peck checks on an injured Veronica and is even amazing at that. We really need Peck and Mr. Touchdown to join forces.
Match Analysis: I feel like this match could have been done in ten minutes and gotten the same message across. No promotion is better at timing matches than Chikara, yet the last two shows have seen the semi-mains go way too long. This wasn’t as frustrating as Hieracon and Ophidian because Marchie Archie is an entertaining guy, but Del Rey should be above this sort of thing. Much like the Batiri, they need to find someone for her to feud with. Maybe even give her a crack at the Grand Championship.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Sara Del Rey/16:29/**3/4/***
-It’s been ten years of Chikara, yet Ultramantis Black has never held gold within the promotion. Tonight will be a different story as Mantis once again gets the chance to win the tag team titles. He vows victory for his team.
Match in Five Words or less: Poor Mantis
Match Highlights: Icarus comes out with Chuck Taylor, so for the second time, he gets to defend the Campeonatos de parejas instead of Johnny Gargano. Icarus has a goatee and dyed hair. Incredibly, he looks evern scummier than before. I wasn’t even sure that was possible. Mantis sends F.I.S.T into each other. Spectral Envoy double flapjack Taylor out of the ring. Wicked wants Icarus inside. Double hip toss. Mantis tries removing Icarus’s moustache from his face. Bodyslams on Icarus. Vertical suplex leads to a two count. More double teaming from the Spectral Envoy. Taylor with a knee to the back. Dropkick misses for Wicked. Armdrag. Taylor sends him up and over. Wicked with a roll-up for two. Rana. Mantis comes back in. Leg drop out of a double team. Double chops from Mantis. Kick by Taylor. Icarus enters to boos. Mantis with a clubbering blow. Choking in the corner. Snapmare into a roll-up. Icarus goes for a Boston crab. Awkward slingshot. Taylor sledges Mantis from behind. Bodyslam and he’s pretty strong. Just like every other heel tonight, Taylor bites his opponent. Wicked comes back in. Snapmare and dropkick. Wicked works Icarus over in the corner. Taylor knees Wicked in the back but gets decked. Icarus takes advantage. Wicked takes Taylor up and over. Taylor trips Wicked and goes for some foreign object. Oh, it’s powder. Powder gets thrown in Wicked’s face Icarus rolls Wicked up for the victory in fall number one at 7:35. Taylor kicks Mantis out of the ring, so Wicked is still the legal man in the ring. Russian legsweep. Heat segment on Wicked continues. Taylor misses a moonsault. Icarus knocks Mantis off the apron. Mantis wants in. Icarus chokes Wicked… nearly unconscious. Wicked finally elbows out of it and hits a back suplex. Mantis and Taylor both in. Mantis goes to town on both men. Icarus knees Mantis in the gut. Wicked hits a running boot and immediately gets three on Icarus at 15:12. Soul Food by Taylor. Rydien bomb gets two as Icarus breaks the count. Taylor hits a superkick. Icarus German suplexes Wicked over. Mantis deposits Taylor outside. Chop on Icarus. Full nelson slam for two as Taylor breaks the count. Choking in the corner. Taylor hits a boot out of the corner. Backcracker from Icarus again only gets two. Double team from F.I.S.T. Go 2 Sleepy Hollow on Taylor. Iconoclasm of Icarus onto Taylor. Cover for two. Exchange between Icarus and Mantis. Series of counters. Taylor throws powder in his partner’s face accidentally. Icarus pedigrees his own partner. Wicked with a running boot. Preying Mantis Bomb. 1-2-NO! Taylor pulls Remsburg out of the ring. Taylor guillotines Mantis on the middle rope. Delirious runs in the ring and puts Mantis on top. Then he stares at Mantis. Preying Mantis Bomb on Mantis. Icarus covers and F.I.S.T retains the titles.
Match Analysis: Interesting to note that this is the second time in three years Delirious has caused Mantis the championships. Mantis is rapidly turning into the Susan Lucci of Chikara. The man really does deserve to win some sort of title, but it wasn’t mean to be tonight. A lot of questions are raised from this match, a lot of them having to do with Delirious attacking Mantis. What’s up with that? Very intriguing.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: STILL Campeones de Parejas-F.I.S.T/19:51/***1/4/***1/2
The Verdict: This felt more like the season premiere than the previous show. A lot of angles were set up for the rest of 2012. We’ve got the mysterious “Green Ant.” We’ve got Delirious going after UltraMantis Black. We’ve got the issue between Tim Donst and Hallowicked. That’s not even taking into account everything surrounding the Grand Championship. There was nothing blow away contained on this show, but I think we’ll look back on this show as the real start of the 11th season. Minor thumbs up for “A Death Worse than Fate.”
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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