Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 26, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 26, 2011 Due to the Hurricane situation in the US, Sundays YLC night 2 show has been cancelled, and they're going to have a super-long show on Saturday to try and fit the whole thing in one night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 29, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 Caught In A Cauldron of Hate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_S_A Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 We, most likely, all know what when down now but here's the full YLC results from Saturday;   1. Match 1 Young Lions Eliminator One; Robbie Eagles vs. Kobald vs. Green Ant vs. Will O the Wisp II headed to the ring now  Green Ant catches Kobald with an elbow shot to eliminate him from the match  Will O the Wisp II taps out to the cloverleaf from Green Ant, who is on a roll  Three up & three down! 8:50 and Green Ant eliminates Robbie Eagles with the Cloverleaf. Great showing from the resilient rookie!  Winner: Green Ant  2. Young Lions Eliminator 2 sees Jakob Hammermeier vs. Chase Owens vs. Obariyon (replacing Wil Maximo) vs. Greg Iron right now  Chase Owens rolls Obariyon, who was arguing with Jakob, eliminating him from the contest  Jakob, after a questionably low shot, eliminates Chase Owens from the match, leaving Jakob & Greg Iron  Good night! A rope assisted neckbreaker gives Jakob Hammermeier the win over Greg Iron & he advances to the semi finals  Winner: Jakob Hammermeier  3. A break from tournament action as FIST member Johnny Gargano takes on, of the Young Bucks, Matt Jackson  Matt Jackson scores with the 450 splash at 9:47 for the win over Johnny Gargano  Winner: Matt Jackson  4. Young Lions Eliminator 3 pits Prof Milo Shizo vs. Archibald Peck vs. Mat Fitchett vs. MK McKinnan  Archibald Peck eliminates Mat Fitchett from the match  After a quick back & forth, Milo Shizo gets pinned by MK McKinnan  And Archibald Peck advances to the semi finals at 16:45  Winner: Archibald Peck  5. The final Young Lion Eliminator sees Nick Jackson vs. Sean South vs. Tadasuke vs. Mark Andrews  Mark Andrews eliminated by Tadasuke  Big fist by Tadasuke allows Nick Jackson to pin Sean South  Time of the fall 7:21, Tadasuke pins Nick Jackson to advance to the semi finals  Winner: Tadasuke  6. Twelve Large Summit block A action sees Hallowicked (2 points) take on Sara Del Rey (4 points)  Time of the fall, 11:56, Hallowicked pin Sara del Rey with La Majistral Cradle  Winner: Hallowicked  7. Block B 12 Large Summit action pits Vin Gerard (2 points) take on the Colony's Fire Ant (2 points)  Burning Hammer at 11:45 give Fire Ant the victory over Vin Gerard & now has four points  Winner: Fire Ant  And now, intermission BRB  8. Back from intermission with the first Young Lions semi final, the BDKs Jakob Hammermeier takes on, from the Colony, Green Ant  Before the match can begin, Green Ant was attacked on the floor by Tursas  After colliding with Tursas, Jakob gets rolled up by Green Ant to advance to the finals but get demolished by Tursas afterwards  Winner: Green Ant  9. Next semifinal match sees from Osaka Pro, Tadasuke take on the leader of the band, Archibald Peck  Time of the fall, 9:03 Tadasuke defeats Archibald Peck with the Ourkast to advance to the finals against Green Ant  Winner: Tadasuke  10. Pinkie Sanchez out with an agenda. He's upset he's not in Young Lions Cup tourney but is interupted by UltraMantis Black & it is on!  Praying Mantis Bomb on Pinkie gives Mantis the win but lays down the challenge to Ares  Winner: UltraMantis Black  11. Twelve Large Summit Block A action sees Claudio Castagnoli (2 points) take on Icarus (2 points)  With a handful of tights & his feet on the ropes, Icarus pins Claudio at 12:45 and now has 4 points  Winner: Icarus  12. Now up, the Batiri, Obariyon & Kodama take on the Young Bucks, Nick & Matt Jackson  More Bang for your Buck scores as Matt Jackson pins Kodama at 11:18  Winners: The Young Bucks  13. Main event time to crown the new Young Lions Cup champion, Osaka Pro's Tadasuke takes on the Colony's Green Ant  The big punch followed by Outkast at 9:35 gives Tasauke the win and the honor of winning the Young Lions Cup tournament  Winner and New Young Lions Cup Champion: Tadasuke ------------------------------------------------------------------  Stolen from Chikara101.  Also, this years Cibernetico ("The Animated Series") takes place on November 12th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 29, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 Icarus over Claudio?!?! Hard to take that result seriously, even if he did have his feet on the ropes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted August 29, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 it works for me actually, they've made Icarus look ok in singles action and cheating to win still keeps up the Rudo in him, lets not forget he has beat Claudio before if I remember rightly as well so its not anything new. Â I believe that this means Claudio is the first to be eliminated from contention for the 12 Large Summit as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 29, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 Yeah, I mean that's the logic behind it - to get rid of Claudio ASAP from the 12 Large. But even so, Icarus has never had a great singles pedigree (no pun intended), that result looks a bit incongrous on paper.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted August 29, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 maybe they figure they need to do something with him seeing as the other 2 from F.I.S.T are about to become champions too, which I'm happy about as Gargano is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 29, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 Indeed, Gargano was one of the breakout guys of 2010, and has looked amazing in Chikara/ DG: USA this year so far. Should be in ROH really, but until DG:USA and ROH decide to start playing nicely together, it 'ain't gonna happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 31, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Clutch of Doom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Big Benny HG Posted September 12, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 12, 2011 I've seen bits and pieces of Chikara over the years, mostly from their very early days (Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Ultramantis, Hallowicked, Kingston, Blackjack Marciano, Shane Storm, Rorschach, Private Eye, Lester Crabtree, Darkness Crabtree, Jolly Roger, Akuma, Icarus, Mr ZERO, DJ Skittlez, etc) in the form of 'best of' compilations and the odd individual show. In fact, most of my exposure to the Chikara style and Chikara performers came in the form of the guest matches they were doing in other promotions such as CZW, IWA Mid South and PWG in the first half of the last decade. I liked what I saw, but I never really got into the promotion full-time. I even bought that commercially released 'Best of Chikara' DVD from Big Vision a few years ago, which I wasn't too impressed with. Â Anyway, I've recently been getting an urge to try something new when it comes to the wrestling, something different to the usual stuff I'd been getting. With Chikara seemingly getting a shit-load of praise this year for being one of the most fun, entertaining and enjoyable pro wrestling products out there, I decided to pick up a few discs from the past couple of years and give it another whirl after not seeing anything from them in years. Â So, with that... Â CHIKARA - Best of 2009 (Disc One) Â That's right, 2009. I figured I'd just started watching plenty of stuff from 2010 so this would get me up-to-date with what has been happening, roughly in line with where I'm up to with other promotions I follow. This is a 3-disc offering from Smart Mark Video, so there should be plenty to get my teeth into. First impressions are good, since the case art is excellent - cool manga-style drawings of the range of colourful characters, giving a great feel for the Chikara world. With so much content on the set, there is no full match listing on the case, just a few select bouts shown. Going to be a surprise. Inside the case is not so impressive, as the discs are DVD-Rs rather than professionally duplicated, with those home DVD labelling kits obviously put to use. Two discs are fixed into the case while the 3rd is in a separate plastic sleeve. Oh well, I've put up with less in the days of cheap copies from traders etc. Â Disc One opens with The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. The Osirian Portal (Amasis and Ophidian) from 'Revelation X' for the Portal's Campeones des Parejas, or 'tag team championship' as my lucha/Spanish knowledge tells me. Yep, Chikara likes to theme itself on lucha libre. The commentators also explain another cool aspect of Chikara's tag division, meaning every single match actually means something. You see, winners of tag bouts on Chikara shows gain '1 point' and losers lose ''1 point'. Once a team has amassed 3 total points, they have the right to challenge for the Campeones des Parejas. Neat idea to keep things interesting. Anyway, this bout, taking place in the old ECW Arena, is just about as perfect an introduction to Chikara as you could get: 4 masked dudes with colourful, wacky over-the-top characters (2 ants and 2 ancient Egyptians) doing cool moves tornado-style with loads of comedy and wackiness thrown in. Excellent. A great sprint, with some massive convincing nearfalls towards the end. Ophidian hits a massive top rope Canadian Destroyer and follows up with a sleeper hold for effect to get the title-retaining win in 18:52 (ring announcers give the match times). I absolutely loved this. Â Next up is a completely different style and change of pace to the first bout, with Vin Gerard vs. Equinox in a ladder match for the Young Lions Cup. Whereas the first bout was all-action coolness, this was slower, more story-driven, more traditional US-style of wrestling. Commentators helpfully explained the story for this one, in that Vin Gerard was once upon a time actually Equinox, but lost his mask. Gerard began feuding with Jimmy Olsen, only for his arch rival to adopt the Equinox mask and gimmick during the feud in some major mind games. In some cool attention to detail (which I get the impression Chikara is high on), Gerard actually wears ripped tights with his old Equinox gear on underneath sowing through. I'd seen Gerard before in PWG but hadn't been that impressed with him. New Equinox/Olsen actually reminds me greatly of CMLL luchador Valiente: a tubby masked flyer. Bout is mainly Gerard laying down a major league beating, focussing on the knee of his opponent, with Equinox/Olsen taking some real nasty ladder hits and bumps. The story develops as Gerard actually rips his opponent's mask off after a DDT onto the wooden ring steps. Dude is fucking dead. Gerard ascends the ladder and could actually have taken the medal (representing the YLC), but notices Olsen is getting back up so jumps down to continue the humiliation. In just about his first offence of the match, Olsen hits a Death Valley Driver through a ladder bridge (causing one fan in the ECW Arena to hold up a "SOMEBODY CALL 911!" sign - a tribute to the great, great man whic is the former CZW commentator John House), then slowly hops his way up the ladder to claim the prize and the match. At 21:35, I wasn't as immediately into this as the first bout, due to not really knowing the story, but they told their story well and by the end I was gripped. Â We switch to Easton, PA, now, for Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Cheech & Cloudy. I'm familiar with all 4 from their work in other promotions. I can take Quackenbush in certain situations, but leave him in others. Same with Jigsaw. I really don't see anything in their opponents. This was an all-babyface bout, so it was all nicey-nicey. So-so action, not as entertaining or engaging as the first tag bout on the disc. Having said that, the last couple of minutes picked up and were quite exciting, before Quack dropped one of his opponents (have never known which is which, never had reason to care, didn't change here) on their head for the pin. Not much to this one. Â The picture format suddenly changes to 16:9 for the next set of bouts, taken from the 2009 'King of Trios' events back at the ECW Arena. Basically, this is Chikara's showpiece event of the year, where 48 wrestlers from around the world are split into 16 interesting trios for a 3-day single elimination tournament. Team PWG (El Generico & The Young Bucks) vs. The Osirian Portal (Amasis, Ophidian and Escorpion Egipcio) is a first round bout. Really huge crowd compared to the last Philly events on this compilation. A really great 6-man tag team bout, much like the first bout on the disc I loved so much. Showcases everything that I am interested in with this promotion, just like I said for the first bout: interesting and colourful characters doing cool, wacky stuff and fighting all-out for the win. Just fun, fun, fun. An all-action last 5 minutes ends with Ophidian doing a wacky lucha cradle on Generico for the win in 16:29. Â More KoT action next, with Team Uppercut (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli & DAVE TAYLOR) vs. The Masters of 1,000 Holds (Mike Quackenbush & Jorge 'Skayde' Rivera & JOHNNY SAINT) in a quarter-final bout from Day Two. Yes, Brits DAVE TAYLOR, formerly of WCW and WWE, and JOHNNY SAINT, legendary WOS technical wrestler. Again, a complete change of pace to the previous bout, with these guys telling their story through slick mat wrestling and hold-for-hold exchanges and reversals. Mesmerising, enchanting stuff. Saint wows the US fans with an awesome exchange with Danielson - I wish I could see THAT singles match somewhere. Because the story is being told through the tiny detail in what the 6 wrestlers do here, the match makes you pay close attention to every detail since IT MATTERS. Captivating and draws you in. Team Uppercut get fed up of being shown up by the old dudes and become more aggressive, taking it further. As such, Castagnoli scores the win over Quack with a 2nd rope Ricola Bomb. A great exhibition of different wrestling styles. Â Alongside the main trios tournament, KoT weekend also features the Rey del Voladores ('King of the Flyers') series, a mini-tournament over the last two days featuring wrestlers eliminated from the first round of the trios tourney. We are given the final, Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico vs. Jigsaw vs. Nick Jackson. Jackson and Generico were, as seen earlier in the compilation, partners in Team PWG for the trios tournament, and team together again here to do their own interpretation of signature Young Bucks double-team spots but, naturally, fall out over the course of the match. A crazy sprint of jaw-dropping multi-man action. The bout peaks with a super, super, super series of exchanges between Ibushi and Generico, ending with Ibushi pinning Generico with a reverse frankensteiner from the top rope. The match is fought under elimination rules, so the action has to continue after that. The bout is decent from this point but, like I said, already peaked. Jigsaw pins Jeremy Buck after a Jig n' Tonic, then Ibushi wins the whole thing at 13:36 wth a Phoenix Splash. Stunning. Â Back to the Trios tournament for the semi-final between Team F.I.S.T. (Gran Akuma & Icarus & Chuck Taylor) vs. The Future Is Now (Equinox & Lince Dorado & Helios). F.I.S.T. (standing for "Friends In Similar Tights") has been a team since near the very beginning of Chikara, turning heel with Taylor added to the team since I last saw them. I've come to love Taylor through his 2009 PWG stuff with Kenny Omega, El Generico, Human Tornado and the Young Bucks. Helios, on the babyface side, is now unmasked as Ricochet in Dragon Gate. 13:31, developed slowly but turned into another mad sprint by the end of it. F.I.S.T. win with a low blow on Helios behind the referee's back, followed up by the Awful Waffle/Omega Driver (over-the-shoulder drop into a piledriver) from Taylor. Decent enough. Â More to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Saint wows the US fans with an awesome exchange with Danielson - I wish I could see THAT singles match somewhere  Octane  See if you can spot a familiar face in the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Big Benny HG Posted September 14, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Chikara - Best of 2009 (Disc Two) Â Continued from above. Â The previous match on the compilation is the last from the King of Trios weekend, so we don't get to see who actually wins the thing. This underlines that this is a "Best of..." compilation from an in-ring perspective, what the promotion believes to have been the strongest in-ring matches, rather than a "year in review", covering the storylines and significant happenings from the year. Â With that, the comp moves on to Easton, PA, and the venue where they place the ring diagonally in a sports hall, for Equinox vs. Colin Delaney for the Young Lions Cup we saw Equinox win earlier. A battle of brothers, since I've already mentioned that Equinox is openly known to be a masked Jimmy Olsen, after taking on Vin Gerard's former gimmick.... and before you ask, yes, it is THAT Colin Delaney, after returning to the promotion (where he was Colin Olsen, in 'The Olsen Twins') when things didn't work out in WWECW. Delaney is now a heel as part of The UnStable, and is doing a WWE gimmick where he uses trademark spots from WWE superstars (hence him keeping the 'Delaney' name), whereas Equinox is in The Future Is Now. This match wasn't particularly interesting, actually. Colin goes for the FU as his finish, but Jimmy escapes. Jimmy hits one of the crappiest looking shooting star presses I've ever seen, then Colin uses a wicked implant DDT for a 2-count. Delaney goes for the FU again, but Jimmy once again gets out and hits a big punch for the win. What have I learned? Equinox is a bit crap.... Â The disc picks up again in a big way with F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant), again from Easton, in a grudge match. Excellent bout. Smooth flowing action, cool moves and great characterisation and personality. All of this leads into a breathless crazy finishing sprint. After los rudos had been on top for what seemed an age, Fire Ant comes back with a brilliant fiery lucha technico comeback. Finish is equally great, as Icarus fakes receiving a low blow and, while the referee is checking him, Taylor low blows Soldier, setting up an Achille's tendon hold for the tap-out victory. With nothing settled, the teams continue their hate-fuelled fighting long after the bell. Super stuff, loved it. Â Back to Philadelphia for a 12:52 inter-stable match between Incoherence (Delirious & Hallowicked & Frightmare) vs. The Roughnecks (Brodie Lee & Eddie Kingston & Grizzly Redwood). Incoherence are a freaky masked team, with newcomer Frightmare the diminutive sidekick to Hallowicked. Roughnecks are a slightly odd combination of big bruisers... and Grizzly Redwood from ROH. Bout was mainly the rudos beating on young, little 'mini-Hallowicked'. Much of the early going is rather pedestrian and nothing special, but ends up pretty great when they are all in fired up going for the win. The gigantic Brodie Lee even hits a flying headscissors, which draws a massive pop of surprise from the crowd. Incoherence all hit their finishers on Kingston for individual two counts, Eddie refusing to give up. Then, little Frightmare hurricanranas big Brodie for the huge upset win. Real good fun, this match. Â Delirious also features in the disc's next offering, except he has now turned heel and joined Ultramantis Black's 'Order of the Neo Solar Temple'. Ultramantis has control over Delirious with some kind of 'eye' amulet. Also accompanied by Temple member Crossbones, this is about Delirious' first bout since the turn. So, Delirious vs. Arik Cannon. I've been familiar with Minnesota's Cannon since IWA Mid South in the mid-00s but, despite plenty of good showings, I haven't ever really been able to take him seriously due to his terrible, terrible look. He's a podgy little short, fat dude with a mohawk, dressed head-to-toe in pleather. INDY!! Mainly just a showcase for the new Delirious, as he uses heel tactics throughout the match as the commentators wonder what has happened to him. Delirious wins in just 7:21 with a double-underhook piledriver. A perfectly acceptable match, but an odd choice for a 'Best of...' compilation. Â Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare) & Cheech & Cloudy vs. Mike Quakenbush & Jigsaw & Lince Dorado & Helios. Amusingly, Cheech and Cloudy dress as Hallowicked and Frightmare for this atomicos match. A chaotic all-action affair, possibly too chaotic for anything to register or mean anything in this babyface vs. babyface environment, lacking the structure or intensity of some of the other sprint-based matches on the set (e.g. The Osirian Portal, Colony and F.I.S.T. tags). After too much craziness to mention, Cheech and Cloudy get the win for their team with a shining wizard-powerbomb combination. Â A rematch from earlier on the disc, the Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor) feud comes to a climatic conclusion in this Double Masks vs. Hair bout which was the main event of the 2009 'Anniversario' show. Stablemates Gran Akuma and Green Ant are ringside for their respective teams as the towel-bearing seconds. I thought the last match was fantastic, so my hopes are sky-high for this one. All of those expectations were met and, indeed, exceeded in an absolutely fabulous bout. Taylor puts Solider through the ringside table with the Awful Waffle, and he is helped backstage and taken out of the match. This leave Fire Ant alone to fight both opponents and defend their masks. Crowd going absolutely bonkers for the superbly engrossing action. After nearly 10 minutes of 2-on-1, the fans erupt as the heroic Soldier Ant comes back to fight some more. An unknown 4th Ant runs out to prevent Gran Akuma's attempted interference. Big moves causing massive, convincing near-falls aplenty. You know it is all working when this notorious Philly/indy wrestling crowd is completely into everything they do, 100% behind the babyfaces, not the match itself. Fire Ant hits 2 Beach Breaks on Taylor for the roof-shaking win in 23:17, to a standing ovation. Fucking marvellous match, my favourite on the set so far. ****1/2, and that is no exaggeration. As per the stipulations, we get to see the victorious Colony cut the hair of the embarrassed Taylor and Icarus. Â The on-screen graphic prior to the next match says Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. The Colony, but it is actually Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Gran Akuma) from Reading, PA. D'oh! This one reminded me of the old Chikara, these 4 particular guys wrestling in a tiny town hall. Icarus, of course, is sporting a new short haircut. In something that becomes incredibly annoying to anyone watching, a group of people continuously boo every time Icarus is in the ring. Anyway, Icarus low-blows Quack behind the referee's back, then hits the Blu-Ray (Death Valley Driver into the turnbuckles) for the win in 14:05. Okay match. Â A guest match now, between mini lucha estrellas: Mascarita Dorada vs. Pierrothito. These two have been rivals the world over. I even saw them have a fucking superb singles match against each other for Lucha Libre London in December 2008. Mascarita Dorada was originally the 2000s AAA version of the Mascarita Sagrada character, but had to change his name when he left the company. Needless to say, these two work so well together here, the bigger, stronger Pequeno Pierroth being the perfect springboard the Dorada's spectacular, jaw-dropping high-flying, while also looking completely brutal when smacking his smaller foe around. Mascarita hits a ridiculous rotational headscissors in the 'Cristo', then turns it into a wacky lucha pin for the victory. Good stuff. Â The final match to grace Disc Two is the 'Golden Dream Triangle Trios' match from the 2009 Young Lions Cup tournament final night. As suggested by the title, this is a 3-way trios contest of Chuck Taylor & STIGMA & Vin Gerard vs. Jigsaw & Helios & Equinox vs. Hallowicked & Fire Ant & Arik Cannon, first pin wins. Not sure how they came up with the teams, since they each consist of dudes from different stables. STIGMA, it should be noted, is the dark heel that was formerly Shane Storm, the construction-working, stop sign-wielding fan favourite from Chikara's early days, who was outed as a traitor who passed on details of Mike Quackenbush's secret submission hold to his enemy Chris Hero. I fucking love Chikara's unique storylines like that, and it's a shame that a compilation like this doesn't allow you to follow them. I guess that's why you are supposed to buy the shows.... For what it's worth, I've actually seen this match before since it was included on a free indy wrestling DVD sampler I was sent with my first ever Dragon Gate:USA order. The rest of the stuff on that disc was shite, by the way, and would only have the opposite effect to that intended. Bout starts with the guys running through spots from Dragon Gate (Japan) 3 & 4-way multi-team matches, including a big 9-man suplex, everyone taking it in turns to repeat moves, a big long 9-man submission hold and referee comedy bits. Fun for what it was. From there, they just start doing all manner of crazy shit and it all becomes a bit of a blur as nothing is allowed to sink in. The multiman nature lets them get away with that to a point and, again, this was fun for what it was. You just about forget about the teams as this is basically a 9-way, with everyone all doing their own stuff. Builds to bigger spots. Dive train, including Fire Ant nearly crippling himself on the ECW Arena guardrail and Gerard being suplexed off the top rope onto everyone. More craziness. Hallowicked hits the super-fisherman-brainbuster on STIGMA for the win. Hard to know what to think, but I think you could sum this one up as some fantastically colourful cartoon characters doing cool stuff, with nothing to engage the fans beyond clapping and going "ooooo" for teh movez. That said, still good fun. Â More to come on Disc Three... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Big Benny HG Posted September 15, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 15, 2011 Chikara - Best of 2009 (Disc Three) Â This third and final disc of the compilation set opens up with Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw. This one was Danielson's Chikara farewell before heading on to becoming Daniel Bryan. Early going, and much of the match, in fact, is based around technical wrestling exchanges between Danielson and Quackenbush. I've just spotted ROH's Todd Sinclair as the referee here. Well. While it all starts friendly and they play nice, 'Team Uppercut' become the more aggressive, mean-spirited, dickish 'heels', taking Jigsaw apart slowly and meticulously. Actually becomes pretty damn heated and intense, and it is this intensity which makes it work. Builds to near falls off the big mvoes, before ending in 21:27 when Quack pins the outbound Danielson with a folding press. Really good. Â One thing I have noticed throughout this comprehensive compilation is that non-Philadelphia Chikara shows look really low rent, still exactly like the early days of the promotion. Another thing is Bryce Remsberg being the campest commentator in the history of pro wrestling and, in fact, all of sports. Â "Double-C" is back for the next one: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Player Uno, from the Super Smash Brothers tag team out of Canada that has seen regular action in Chikara. Anyone who has rad my ROH reviews will know I am not the biggest fan of Player Uno or, indeed, Player Dos. Generic indy scum. Pretty unremarkable match, mainly a showcase of how great Castagnoli is. Very great, would be the answer to that one. Uno is shit. Castagnoli hits the UFO ('Unidentified Flying Opponent' - a no-hands airplane spin) for the win. Â A mid-card comedy feud comes to an end next in the Loser Leaves Chikara bout between former partners, Hydra vs. Tim Donst, in Easton. Hydra has been a lower-card comedy act in Chikara for a good while. He's a really skinny bloke in a sea-monster mask, braces and a muscle suit that the crowd LOVE. I guess he's the unlikely daft gimmicky character that fans started cheering sarcastically and ironically, but eventually turns into genuine love and support. The action itself is weak and sloppy, but the crowd is ridiculously hot for everything they do since they are so into the story, the characters and the possibility that their cult favourite may be on the way out. Must be doing something right. Donst rips the muscle suit off Hydra to massive boos. At 14:40, Hydra locks on the 'Hydralock' (his unlikely tribute to the Masterlock), but Donst escapes with a low blow hidden from the referee for the pin. A weak match, but the fan interaction saved it and made it worthwhile. "We Love Hydra (clap clap clapclapclap)" chants and a standing ovation for heir departing hero. Hydra then gives a retirement speech in sea-monster gibberish, which is translated over the PA system into a recording of a retirement speech nicked from some baseball player (probably someone really famous and well-known that I have no idea about...). Â Gran Akuma vs. Jigsaw next, in a battle of long-time Chikara stars who were also feuding by this point in Dragon Gate:USA. Match gets "This is Awesome (clap clap clapclapclap)" chants, but doesn't really warrant them. They try to do this big, epic, drawn-out grudge match, full of big moves and attempted drama, but it doesn't really work. It's a singles match between Jigsaw and Gran Akuma, for fuck's sake. Jigsaw's strikes continue to look feeble as fuck. Having said that, it does end up decent enough. Akuma goes for a super Joshitonic, but Jigsaw reversesit into a super Jig n' Tonic for the win. A cool finish. Â It's back to the ECW Arena for the penultimate offering on the set, Hallowicked & Frightmare vs. Ultramantis Black & Delirious, Delirious fighting his former partners in Incoherence now that he is a member of the 'Order of the Neo Solar Temple'. An exciting and well-worked tag match, working around a strong and definable babyface vs. heel divide. Hallowicked hits the Go To Sleepy Hollow on Ultramantis, but Delirious is there with a deathstar piledriver on Frightmare for the win. Real enjoyable. Â And so, the 22nd and final match on this 3-disc compilation is Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston, from Chikara's season-ending show in Philadelphia. Castagnoli hits his Ricola Bomb on Kingston within seconds of the opening bell for a two count. Predictably, Kingston then immediately gets to hit his own spinning backfist finisher for a two-count of his own. From there, this match then played out as a hard and heavy FIGHT, like these two fuckers wanted to KILL each other. Suplexes, slams and strikes. I'd genuinely forgotten how amazingly fucking great babyface Claudio is. 'Double-C' hits a bicycle kick on the floor, followed by the Alphamari Water Slide onto the ring apron for a ridiculously close near-count-out. Back inside, Claudio blasts Kingston with the Ricola Bomb again, for a ONE count. Deal is that Kingston refuses to be put down and wants to keep fighting. A deadlift German suplex. A gutwrench off the top rope. NOTHING keeps Kingston down. Finally, after such a brave fight that the fans are going berserk for, Kingston stays down when Castagnoli hits a spinning European uppercut for the win. Developed into a tremendous match. Â Sooooo..... I wrote a few posts back that I picked up this set to check out the modern Chikara product and see what I thought. What did I learn? Well, first of all, this was a fucking great DVD set. Thumbs way up. As I wrote earlier, there are no angles or complete storylines included within the footage, so this is limited to being a "Best of.." the in-ring product, as in individual matches that deliver, as opposed to being a full review of the year's happenings. There's a few bum notes in there, but overall his is a terrific selection of action on offer here. Â While I learned some things that I expected, such as that I'd love the wacky, colourful cartoon characters, huge personalities and crazy gimmicks fighting it out in fast-paced, all-action matches, I also gained an full appreciation and understanding that Chikara is very much a multi-layered product. For the people who do follow the promotion closely, watching from show-to-show, they are rewarded with some of the most creative, in-depth, logical, perfectly-paced and well-thought-out storylines and booking out there in independent wrestling. However, on the flip side, they have also managed to keep the majority of their product supremely enjoyable as stand-alone matches and shows for those who dip in and out and just catch the odd bit. I include myself in that bracket as I went through this particular compilation, and while I hadn't seen everything leading up to the matches or understood where they figured into the grand scheme of things, they were still brilliantly executed matches that could be enjoyed on a stand-alone basis without the background knowledge and without feeling lost. As you can tell from my musings above, there was plenty across these three discs that I absolutely loved and it has got me interested in seeing more of what they have to offer. If you do follow the stories, great, it makes it even more enjoyable. Â I have already bought the '2010 King of Trios' weekend DVDs, as well as the 'Best of 2010' set (and I am open to recommendations as to what other shows I should look into from 2010), so I won't be waiting long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted September 16, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 It's best to watch all the 2010 shows to be honest, as that way you get to see the rise and fall of the BDK - superbly booked from start to finish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_S_A Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Odyssey Of The Twelfth Talisman Results:   Opening contest sees the Batiri, Kodama & Obariyon take on the Throwbacks, Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton  Suicide Squeeze by Dasher followed by a top rope elbow drop by Sugar give the Throwbacks the win & 2 points!   Now, FIST's Johnny Gargano takes on from Da Soul Touchaz, Marshe Rockett!  Johnny Gargano gets the victory over Marshe Rocket with the Hurtz Donut & builds momentum to tomorrow's show in Manhattan   10 person tag sees Summers, Amber, JT Dunn & Da Hoodz take on Sople, Triplelicious, Ramano & Minute Men right now  JT Dunn gets the victory for his team in an exciting contest   12 Large block B action sees Vin Gerard (2 points) take on Jigsaw (0 points)  A superkick from a seated position on Vin Gerard gives Jigsaw the win and two points   We return from intermission with FIST's Chuck Taylor taking on Ophidian of the Osirian Portal  Awful Waffle by Chuck Taylor puts Ophidian down for the count   A time for a reckoning as the BDK's Ares takes on the defiant Sara Del Rey  Ares gives it up when trapped in the Triangle Choke, your winner, Sara Del Rey   Twelve Large Summit Block A action sees Icarus (4 points) take on Mike Quackenbush (4 points) right now  Icarus taps to the CHIKARA Special and now Mike Quackenbush leads Block A with SIX points!   Main event sees the BDK's Tim Donst, Tursas & Jakob Hammermeier take on the Colony, Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant!  Ant Hill on Jakob give the Colony the duke in a wild one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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