syxxpakk wrote:Day 154.
I intended to watch the rest of the Bryan Danielson-comp, but then I remembered CHIKARA's iPPV was on tonight so I ordered it. As a bonus, for the first time I was able to watch an iPPV on my TV. I hooked my wife's laptop to the TV and watched it that way. It was definitely much more preferable!
Anyway, so Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur. The show opened with Ultramantis Black vs. Ophidian. Ophidian is probably best remembered as the snake-guy from the YouTube clip that went viral last year. UMB is a fantastically over-the-top character that wouldn't work anywhere but here. The match is a bit disjointed though, but it's good enough. UMB won with a vicious double-underhook piledriver.
Next was MIXED MARTIAL ARCHIE~! (aka RD Evans of Embassy LTD)/Colt Cabana vs. The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield/Mr. Touchdown). The Throwbacks have a unique dynamic where Dasher is very much the gentleman and opposes cheating, whereas Mr. Touchdown is an utter douchebag. This match was so incredibly fun and the story was PERFECT. MMA came in wanting revenge on Mr. Touchdown for basically taking his gal, Veronica. Midway through the match MMA disappears and then returns as ARCHIBALD PECK~! his original CHIKARA persona. Alas, shenanigans occur and Pecks ends up pinned by Dasher (not knowing that Touchdown put Peck out by hitting him with a helmet - the fiend!). Per the stipulations, this meant Peck is done with CHIKARA. And to rub salt in the wound, Touchdown makes out with Veronica in the ring. FOR SHAME. On the other hand, the Throwbacks have 3 pts and garnered a match against the tag champs.
Next was a ladder match between Gran Akuma and Icarus, for Akuma's CHIKARA contract. It was a good, brutal match, but hardly a classic. The best parts would be the fans chanting "HOLY POOP!" and "PLEASE BE CAREFUL!" Gotta love those CHIKARA fans even if they overuse "THIS IS AWESOME." Akuma got his contract after putting Icarus through a table. Icarus' FIST-stablemates, Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor, did interfere - but special guest referee and handicapped hero Gregory Iron sent 'em packing.
Next was an intergender handicap match with Sara Del Rey/Saturyne taking on the Batiri (Kobald/Kodama/Obariyon). They did a much, much better job of making it seem normal to see a woman and a man fight, compared to the ROH I've been watching lately. Del Rey more than held her own and Saturyne hit some pretty sweet highspots. Crazy finish though as Delirious turned heel by attacking Del Rey and Saturyne and aligning himself, seemingly, with the Batiri.
Next is mask vs. hair, Hallowicked vs. Tim Donst. I will say they might have went overkill with the stips. This was a pretty good match, but more importantly it was a FANTASTIC story. Tim Donst used a shoelace to choke Hallowicked out for the win and that meant that Hallowicked had to unmask. As he was doing so, referee Bryce Remsburg raised Donst's hand for the victory and found the shoelace. Hallowicked was just about to take the mask off when the match was restarted and he kicked a trophy (Young Lion's Cup) into Donst's face and got the victory. The way it played out was just utterly perfect and one of the better angles I've ever seen. And of course, Donst got a haircut for his troubles. Great stuff, as you go from anger to sad to hopeful to ecstastic.
Then we come to the TEN MAN WAR. The big story this year is about GEKIDO, who are kind of like Mirror Universe versions of the major players in CHIKARA. You have 17, who is master technician ala Quackenbush. Then there's the Shard, a play on Jigsaw. You also have the Swarm, a play on the Colony, comprised of combatANT, assailANT, and deviANT. The scheduled match was GEKIDO vs. Fire Ant/Soldier Ant/Green Ant/Jigsaw/Eddie Kingston, but GEKIDO took out Fire Ant prior to the show. That's OK, because Quackenbush returns from injury to replace him. The match is all kinds of awesome. They brawl, they wrestle, there's highspots, and it's all kinds of fun. But it comes kind of to a halt because the big babyfaces get the win - but then that's it. There's no unmaskings, no revelations, nothing. And if you're not going to have that, the heels should win here one would think. Great match, but confusing booking at the end.
Finally the main event was FIST (Gargano/Taylor) defending the Campeonatos de Parejas (aka tag titles) against the Young Bucks. Per the norm in CHIKARA, this is contested under 2/3 falls. The match is pretty insane and right up there with the best that indy wrestling has offered this year, coming only a few notches below the 10AS main event. The Young Bucks take the first fall and somewhere along the way go from babyfaces to heels, quite the feat given the notoriety of FIST in CHIKARA. FIST, obviously, takes the second fall. The last fall is a mad dash to the finish with all kinds of crazy spots as you'd expect from the Bucks. However in the end, the Bucks win a shocker and take the belts with the understanding that they're taking the belts out of CHIKARA.
After the show there's a preview for King of Trios, MMA marching alone in the dark, and Tommy Dreamer announcing him/Jerry Lynn/2 Cold Scorpio as the first entrants to King of Trios.
Overall this was a great show. I'd put it right behind Showdown in the Sun Day 2 and Border Wars. The streaming problems were all minor and basically the same as most ROH iPPVs.
Match of the Day goes to the MMA/Colt Cabana vs. The Throwbacks.
Sound like a fun show. I wasn't home so I didn't get it.