-Taped from Easton , PA
-Your hosts are of course various members of the Chikara staff and roster
-Gavin Loudspeaker sings!
-Dasher Hatfield talks about not coming alone on this night. He has his two of his prior personas’ masks with him, meaning he’s also now talking to masks. Whole lot of that going around.
Match in Five Words or Less: Another Opener For Ophidian
Match Highlights: Some fans sing the “Whacking Day” theme song. That is a somewhat obscure Simpsons reference but a very appropriate one. Hatfield ducks a charge but eats a flying boot. Ophidian goes to work with a series of strikes. Clubbering blow in the back. Hatfield tossed to the floor. Pair of chops. He asks Gary for his camera and wants him to sit on Hatfield. Blows in response from Hatfield. Knee to the midsection. Slap in the butt. Knee strikes and uppercut. Elbow drop from Ophidian misses. Pair of armdrags. Ophidian hits a blow to the throat before speaking to the masks. Blow from Hatfield. Snapmare. He teases Ophidian with the masks. Uppercut blocked. Ophidian slides Hatfield’s throat toward the middle rope. Kicks and chops in the corner. Series of chops to the head and choking. Running splash. Elbow to the neck. Snapmare and a back bridge. Double chops to the throat. Springboard moonsault misses. Slingshot Oklahoma roll hits. Flying kick by Ophidian hits again. Headbutts in the corner. Up and over. Slingshot back suplex. Clotheslines and a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Suplex countered into Death Grip. Spinning backbreaker by Ophidian hooks the Death Clutch once again. Elbows by Hatfield. Jackhammer. 1-2-NO! Grand Slam… but Ophidian stands up. Shoulder tackle by Hatfield. Sliding dropkick. Leaping enziguri. Nerve pinch. Ophidian face plants Hatfield and gets two. Hatfield gets a roll-up for two. Double knees from Ophidian. Running kick to the back of the head. Death Clutch countered. Roll-up by Hatfield gets three!
Match Analysis: Really good opener between these two as they showed why they’re the surviving members of the season eight class. Ophidian has been an excellent wrestler for the last couple years, but Hatfield is the guy to watch out now that he’s really improved his game. He’s gone from just a guy with a goofy gimmick into a someone with a distinct identity and a good wrestler to boot.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Dasher Hatfield//***/***
Match in Five Words or Less: Past Versus Present
Match Highlights: The idea is that this is the current stars of season 11 versus individuals who were showcased in season three. Carolina Jim, the former Chikara ring announcer, does the honors here. The representatives of season three are as follows: Lance Steel, Rorschach, Crossbones, Jolly Roger, Shane Storm ( who gets an ENORMOUS pop by the way), and Jolly Roger. Kobald throws toilet paper at Crossbones. Some shenanigans between the two men. They exit so Kodama and Rorschach can continue the feeling out process. Armdrag sends Kodama out of the ring. Donst wants the only man who held the Young Lion’s Cup on the season three team. Donst wants to shake Storm’s hand. Takedown blocked. Storm gets one of his own. Leapfrog. Lucha roll. Armdrag and drop toehold. Cradle for two by Storm. Jackhammer blocked. Chops from Storm. More strikes and a tag to Steel. Time for some interaction with Kobald. Chop no sold. Kobald quiets the crowd, chops Steel, and sells his injured arm. Obaryion also fails. The Batiri go for a triple chop. Nothing. Steel throws all three Batiri members in the corner. Hammermeier has a chop no sold. Steel chops four of the five season 11 team members. Quadruple whip. Steel jousts Jolly Roger into the corner. This makes sense since they used to be known as “Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy.” Roger and Obaryion have a Lucha sequence. Roger ties his opponent up. Hammermeier sends him over. Donst bulldogs Roger and forearms him in the corner multiple times. Heat segment. Roger awkwardly takes Hammermeier down. Donst takes back control for his team. Roger hits a tope suicida on Donst. Crossbones goes crazy. Shoulder tackle on Hammermeier. Storm brings in the “STOP” sign. So Donst does. Hammermeier talks with him. They all stare at the sign. This leads to a quintuple suplex. Season 3 stops in mid-motion because Barber is holding the sign. He turns it around and it says “SLOW.” Rudos send everything back into full swing. Kobald gets a boot out of the corner on Steel. Demon Toilet countered into a powerbomb. Boston crab. Hammermeier grabs a nerve hold on Steel. Roger counters. Fishermen’s buster. Donst breaks the count. Donst goes for the armor. Storm hits a low kick and then THAT JAPANESE MOVE! Rorschach hits a pair of northern lights suplex. Kodama breaks that up and kicks Steel in the face. He takes the armor off. Kodama tries hitting Crossbones with the armor. Crossbones drives him down. Spear by Kobald followed by Demon’s Toilet. This leads to season 11 gettting the victory.
Match Analysis: Season 11 had to win this match just based on the fact that they are the current guys. Nonetheless, this was a great match for nostalgia. Technically not the smoothest contest of all time but it was everything Chikara should be about with wrestling and fun. Great appreciation for the past characters is what makes Chikara such a unique entity. None of these were around for a point in time when Chikara was at the level it is now, but they sort of got to share in a great moment. Good for them and fun times all around.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Season11/15:06/***/***
Match in Five Words or Less: Japanese Girls Can Wrestle
Match Highlights: This is a make good from Joshimania as these four were supposed to be a part of those shows. Instead, we get them here. Kagetsu and Sachiko begin. Forearm exchange. Dropkick by Kagetsu. Headscissors into the octopus by Sachiko. Kagetsu rams her into the corner. Running dropkick into the corner. Roll over into an armbar. Chisako hits a running dropkick. Satomura with a series of kicks. Rams her knee into Sachiko’s arm. Ties the legs up and stretches her. Sachiko grabs the rope. Bodyslam by Satomura. Spinning toehold into the figure four leglock. Sachiko grabs the rope. Kagetsu powerslams her. Series of kicks to the legs. Kicks from Chisako. She even shoves the sheriff! Better watch yourself there. Toward the rope goes Chisako. Straight dropkick by Sachiko and a hot tag to Chisako. Series of straight dropkicks. Flying body press. She ties Satomura in the ropes and chokes her. Dropkick to the lower back. Into a guillotine choke. Sachiko dropkicks Satomura. She joins her sister in on the choke. Double team. Announcers make Hardy Boyz jokes since Sachiko looks like Jeff Hardy. Dropkick from Kagetsu. Spin kick nails Chisako. Nasty back suplex. Counter and another dropkick. Running boot. Kick in the face. Dropkick in the chest. Running Laurinitis crusher. Cover for two. Reversal and a forearm uppercut. Kagetsu hits a trio of dropkicks. Vertical suplex. Submission focusing on the neck and chest. Chisako puts her foot on the ropes. Knee to the head. Double team by the sisters. Sachiko climaxes the attack with a bulldog. DDT. Pair of running sentons. Dropkick off the top rope gets two. Vertical suplex blocked. Right hand by Kagetsu. Again into the guillotine. Kagetsu counters into the vertical suplex. 1-2-NO! Side kick by Sachiko. Kagetsu with a knee. Airplane spin into the samoan drop gets a nearfall. Satomura hits a tile a whirl drop. Strike exchange. These girls beat the bajesus out of each other. Body kicks from Satomura. Chisako meets her at the top rope. Rana by Sachiko. German suplex blocked. Kagetsu accidentally dropkicks her own partner. Tornado DDT into the dropkick into the German suplex. 1-2-NO! assisted sliced bread by Sachiko. Chisako hits a moonsault, but the count is broken up by Satomura. Kick to the midsection and a forearm. Cartwheel right in the back of the head. Sweet Moses. Leg lariat. Satomura drops Chisako head first in a DVD for the victory. Wow.
Match Analysis: This was a fine showcase of these four girls as they spent much of the match beating the holy hell out of each other for our entertainment. Not a match with a lot of psychology but you can definitely see why these girls would be highly regarded in Japan.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: 18:01/***1/2/***1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: A Fine Exhibition
Match Highlights: This is an MMA exhibition, not a traditional wrestling match. Mixed Martial Archie starts out by cutting a garbled promo with his tooth guard. He plugs “Wrestling is Serious.” He takes questions from the “press.” Best promo ever. Archie parodying MMA fighters and their sponsors is just a brilliant idea. Of course Bryce Remsburg is the official. The judges are Steve Weiner, Jervis Cottenbelly, and SWAMP MONSTER!
Round one starts off cautiously. Archie wants Crabtree to pound fists. Crabtree misses and he might be out. Crabtree makes his way up. Archie offers to pound fists again. He climbs Archie and applies a triangle choke. Archie powerbombs him down. Kick to the back of the head. To the top rope. Bell rings. Round one is over.
Crabtree is still down and out as the bell for round two begins. Crabtree asks for his pills and begins swallowing them down. He shakes around. Headlock grabbed. Up and around. Hip toss and dropkick. Crabtree kips up and plays air guitar. Leg lock by Archie. Crabtree bounces off the ropes and hits a headscissors. Leg sweep and a cover. Up and he’s ready to punch. Bell rings.
With each man taking a round, round three will prove to be crucial. Blows from Crabtree blocked. Big shot from Archie sends him down. Kicks to the side of the head by Archie. He climbs up for his finisher once again. He jumps and then applies the guillotine choke. Crabtree won’t give up, so Remsburg lifts the arm. Crabtree is apparently cold. Archie is scared out of his mind and kicks Crabtree’s body away. Crowd chants “Natural causes.” Not sure having a “death” in the ring was the best idea. We go to the judges. Gavin Loudspeaker declares Crabtree the winner…unanimously.
Archie knocks Steve Weiner out. Cottenbelly meets the same fate. Swamp Monster no sells and punches Archie. That’s really the only way to end this farce.
Match Analysis: I’m not even going to try and rate this. If you appreciate great fun and hijinks, you’ll love this. If not? Then just skip to the next match on the DVD. This was Chikara once again bringing the funny and making fun of something that really is so ripe for parody. My words cannot do this justice.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Darkness Crabtree/N/R/N/R/***1/2
Match in Five Words or Less: Gekido Reigns Supreme
Match Highlights: This is the first time the original five Chikara students have ever teamed up. Icarus even comes out wearing his old mask but quickly takes it off. The shirt also stays on for once. If you have to ask how this match starts, you haven’t been watching Chikara in 2012. Icarus hits combatANT with a pumpkin behind the official’s back. Tecnicos clear the ring except for Shard. Chops from Dragonfly in the corner. Another whip and an armdrag. Dropkick. Crowd chants for Mr. Zero. He engages with assailANT in a battle of the big men. Tilt a whirl backbreaker. deviANT prevents the camel clutch. Wicked and Mantis hit a side winder. Mantis tosses combatANT into Go 2 Sleepy Hollow. Icarus splashed into him. Step-up rana on 17. Charge misses. Gekido with quintuple kicks. 17 applies an abdominal stretch and gets help from his mates. Wicked gets a hip toss after Remsburg finally sees it. Tecnicos pull the same trick except they get help from the Chikarmy. Zero topeholds assailANT. Kicks from Shard and deviANT. Gekido isolates Zero in their corner. Zero exits the ring, so Mantis can come in and nail everyone in sight. 17 hits a gordbuster. Clothesline from Shard. Stomp by deviANT as it’s Mantis’s turn to get worked over. Gekido goes for the mask. His teammates are right there to make the save. Mantis counters out of a suplex and gets a double neckbreaker. Swanton by 17 misses. Dragonfly hot tag. Chops for everyone. Whip reversed. Series of clotheslines from Gekido. 17 isolated in the corner and it’s the tecnicos turn. Dragonfly drives 17 down and gets two. Shard takes Dragonfly up and over. Wicked hits a running boot and iconoclasm. Shard tosses. Discus forearm by combatANT. Six feet of fury. Icarus gets double dropkicked but Zero and Mantis break the count. Dragonfly hits a tope con helo. Double neckbreaker on 17. Mantis and Zero covered. Wicked with a boot on assailANT. TKO from combatANT. Dragon suplex by Wicked. Kick by deviANT. Preying Mantis Bomb. Gory special by Shard. Blue thunder powerbomb by Zero. 1-2-NO! Zero has a right hand blocked. assailANT hits a DVD. 1-2-NO! Wicked hits a series of strikes. Gordbuster blocked. combatANT goes to the mask. Mantis and Icarus make the save. Superplex. Dragonfly hits a splash. 17 applies a leg submission, like a guillotine of some sort. Dragonfly gives up, and he’s in a lot of pain.
Match Analysis: It’s too bad the first class teaming up was used as cannon fodder for Gekido. This was a good match between these two teams despite many of these guys having never worked with each other. Fun to see guys like Zero and Dragonfly wrestling again too. I still think this Gekido angle needs some sort of juice because at this point, it’s really tough to see the difference between them and BDK. At least the match quality is getting better, and the concept of 17 bringing back forgotten moves is intriguing.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Gekido/14:37/***1/4/***1/2
-Tim Donst goes in the ring to talk more smack about Hallowicked. It’s the usual business about being the best YLC champion of all time. He talks about growing his hair out as a means of taunting him before their match coming up at Chikarasaurus Rex. Donst talks about hurting the returning Frightmare the next night. Wicked can take no more and charges into the ring. Brief brawl but Donst powders. He wants Wicked’s mask. Wicked accepts. Their match at the iPPV will now be a Lucha Depuesta affair.
-Mr. Touchdown talks about how he got his name. It’s exactly what you would think. He doesn’t care what people think of him, and he only cares about winning.
Match in Five Words or Less: Touchdown In The Middle
Match Highlights: Mark Angelosetti shows off the guns before the bell rings. Cabana slaps the football out of Angelosetti’s hands. Cabana runs around with the ball and begins playing catch with the fans. It’s like “Monkey in the Middle.” Football to the midsection and a cover for two. He tells Angelosetti to stop and then runs. Series of Indian rolls by all three men in the ring. Cabana covers for two. Angelosetti is not happy. He draws a line of scrimmage. Cabana talks about redshirting as a college freshmen. Three point stance. Angelosetti beats Cabana up. Remsburg throws a yellow flag. Penalty called. Five yard penalty. Back to the three point stance. Cabana shoves Angelosetti out of the ring. Cabana spanks Angelosetti around and then slams him down butt first. Cover for two. Football to the midsection and a spear by Angelosetti. Kick to the small of the back. Clubbering blows. Shoulder blocks in the corner. Somersault. Cabana gets a series of knees. Springboard but Angelosetti shoves him. Clubbering blows and a backbreaker. Bodyslam. Knee drop. Knees and a forearm to the back. Chinlock. Straight dropkick gets two. Three consecutive splashes. Cabana tosses Angelosetti over the top rope. Right hands on the apron. Angelosetti sent into the turnbuckle. Cabana brings him in the hard way. Series of double chops. Clotheslines send Angelosetti up and over. Flying apple. Lariat. 1-2-NO! Another one as Angelosetti comes off the ropes. Whipped into the tree of woe. Remsburg holds a football. Cabana kicks it at him. Chop. Angelosetti knocks him off and hits a beautiful splash. 1-2-NO! Knees by Cabana followed by a big punt. Angelosetti suplexes Cabana end over end. Slaps to the head. Jabs from Cabana. Elbow strike met with a kick. Off the ropes and he hits the elbow. Up and over. Right hand. To the top rope as they battle. Cabana drops Angelosetti across the top rope. Cover for three as Cabana wins.
Match Analysis: About what I expected from this match as Cabana used some shenanigans early before putting Angelosetti away with some good solid wrestling. I firmly believe Mr. Touchdown is someone for the company to build around, and this is one of those matches we’ll look back at and remember when he’s carrying the promotion or wrestling on WWE television.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Colt Cabana/13:05/***/***
-Shane Matthews tries calming his team down, but everyone is pumped! Sara Del Rey looks borderline mortified by the chaos that is ensuing.
Match in Five Words or Less: Mixedmatches
Match Highlights: I love this concept and am glad it’s coming back. These matches were a huge part of 2008 and 2009. It’s a creative concept to get some good wrestling and also create interesting match-ups. Jigsaw grabs the championship, and it leads to an immediate face-off with Kingston. Parker wants to start with Del Rey. Waistlock on the injured ribs of Parker. Headlock but Del Rey shoulder blocks him to the mat. Parker requests a test of strength. Should have thought twice about that. Body scissors by Del Rey. Parker asks to get out… and grabs a headlock. Dropkick misses. Kick to the ribs blocked. Parker gently puts her foot down… but not without a pinky swear. She scares him, and they both tag out. Jigsaw and Soldier Ant lock up. Less chicanery between these two. Exchange of nearfalls. Armdrag into a dropkick by Jigsaw. Matthews with a boot and forearms. Dropkick. Parker asks to come back in, and here we have a battle of 3.0. Saturyne tags herself in. He shoves her down right away. Parker whispers in Saturyne’s ear. Quick ducks and a dropkick and spin kick by Saturyne. Armdrag. Spin kick on Green Ant. He tosses her. Matriz style duck. Rana off the top rope. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Green Ant. Bodyslam and a tag to Jigsaw. Bodyslam of his own. Del Rey keeps the theme going. Saturyne leaps over Green Ant and tags Soldier Ant. Code of honor and a salute. They battle to s stalemate with some fine technical wrestling. Series of roll-ups can’t end things. T-bone suplex as Eddie Kingston enters the ring. He’s had enough of the shenanigans. Chop on Green Ant. Northern lights suplex gets two. Forearm exchange. Kingston puts his hand in Green Ant’s face. Right hands by Parker. Charging forearm. Perfect neckbreaker for two. Leaping knee drop. Elbows from Soldier Ant followed by a flying headbutt. Kingston with a shot to the midsection. Small package by Green Ant. Kingston with an elbow to the midsection. Parker sends Green Ant into the corner. Flying headbutt off the ropes by Green Ant. Matthews hot tag. Chops on Kingston. Headscissors for Soldier Ant and Kingston. Parker tosses him over and dives on him. Matthews and Parker get into a shoving match. Green Ant dives. Saturyne dives. Soldier Ant goes for the TKO on Jigsaw. Series of counters leads to an enziguri by Jigsaw. German suplex and a bridge for two. Soldier Ant placed on the top rope. Jigsaw knocked off. Flying headbutt gets two as Green Ant breaks the count. Forearm by Green Ant. Bodyslam countered into an O’Connor roll. Green Ant applies the cloverleaf. Saturyne dropkicks him. Matthews tosses her. Shoving match with Parker. Strike exchange. Leg lariat by Parker. Forearm and a lungblower. Boston crab blocked. Spear by Matthews. Powerbomb and the Boston crab applied. Kingston breaks it up quickly. Del Rey confronts him. Straps come down. Strike exchange. Series of kicks lead to a two count on the champion. Crowd is behind Del Rey. Taunting kicks. Kicks to the chest. Running boot into an overhead suplex. Sliding D! 1-2-NO! Chop exchange with Jigsaw. Sidekick to Kingston’s side. Whip reversed. Back elbows by Jigsaw and a pele kick. Running knee by Green Ant. Running forearm by Matthews. Combo kick by Del Rey. Kick by Jigsaw. Super brainbuster and Jigsaw gets a rare pinfall victory over Eddie Kingston.
Kingston shakes everyone’s hand except the man for whom he is wrestling the following night.
Match Analysis: I was surprised by how much time this match received since this absolutely flew by in my opinion. Obviously, the result makes sense considering what was scheduled to happen tomorrow. Lots of quality action from these eight as you would expect. This night was definitely more about the celebration than dealing with all of the feuds pertaining to Chikara. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Winner (s)/Time/Match Rating/Entertainment Rating: Jigsaw, Shane Matthews, Green Ant, and Sara Del Rey/23:20/***1/2/***1/2
The Verdict: This was an evening about truly celebrating and appreciating 10 years of history. A lot of people from Chikara’s past were brought in for one night in front of a crowd that would likely appreciate them the most. This is not a must see event, but it’s one where you can see just how much Chikara has truly grown in ten years. A lot of issues will be addressed on night two. Enjoy this show for what it is. Don’t expect a match of the year candidate. Expect a lot of good wrestling, some nostalgia, and hijinks throughout. A big thumbs up for this first night of the Anniversario weekend.
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.
In addition to wrestling podcasts, I am also a proud co-host of a show specifically geared toward Mad Men. Please check out all of our previous podcasts here. You can also download them off of iTunes.
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