Post by cavedweller73 on Oct 9, 2011 10:27:36 GMT -5
Over the course of the 3+ years that I've been going to "modern" indy wrestling shows, I've covered many miles in the country, seen loads of awesome places and been to shows by many different companies. Companies such as ROH, IWA:MS, CZW, IPW, IWA:EC, IWA:DS, ACW, wXw, Jersey All Pro, St. Louis Anarchy, IWAU, PWP and all the ones that run here in Evansville. Earlier this year, when I was thinking about all the different shows I've seen, I came up with this silly idea that I wanted to try to see as many different shows from as many different companies as possible. So, in thinking of what ones I hadn't seen, Chikara topped the list. Granted, I'm not the world's biggest Chikara fan. Let's be honest, at times, Chikara can be a bit silly, to say the very least. But, it's hard to deny the impact Chikara has had on "modern" indy wrestling....especially when it comes to high-flying wrestling that mixes styles from all over the world. Since most of Chikara's shows are run in the Philly and northeast area, I just never got the chance to attend one of their shows because if I was to travel that far, I'd rather just go to a CZW show....it's the blood-mark in me....SORRY!!! Sure, Chikara did run a show in Chicago back in June (which was run in a theater in which I saw the legendary industrial band Throbbing Gristle play back in 2009) but, that show happened the same weekend as Tournament of Death. In hindsight, I should have gone to Chicago because TOD really sucked this year. But, I did also take another trip to NYC that weekend and got to hang out in Coney Island...and even got my ugly mug on "The Today Show"...HA HA!!! But anyway, during that weekend in which I was staying in Delaware, I found out that Chikara had booked a show in a town called Kingsport, Tennessee in October...right around the time that being out in the mountains is a sight to behold. Last year, I took a trip to Gatlinberg right around this same time, but it rained the entire time. So my plan was to try to make it back down there this year and so the timing of this show couldn't have fit more perfectly. I bought a ticket before they had even announced one match. As the match announcements started coming in, they were announcing matches featuring a lot of talent that I have yet to see in person. I'd seen a few Chikara guys here and there before, but this was certainly going to add to my "seen that worker in person" list. Plus, they announced that talent from places such as Japan and Australia were going to there. The card was absolutely stacked and I knew this was going to be a great show. Quack and the crew certainly didn't disappoint.
The show was held at a place called the Kingsport Civic Auditorium. The place looked like something straight out of a 1950's movie were they would hold a high school prom. Apparently, back in the 1950's, Elvis Presley himself even played a show in there. Sure, it was old, but the place was well-maintained. The crowd was strong, but I don't think many who were there were actually from Kingsport. I saw people that I've seen at other shows there. But the cool thing was that everyone there knew about Chikara and what it's all about. I'd say there were at least 150 or so people there.
The show started off with Bryce Remsberg coming out and firing up the crowd. He then introduced the "Rock and Roll Ring Announcer" Gavin Loudspeaker and he came out to a huge pop and REALLY got the crowd fired up. His hair was extra high too! HA HA!!! Gavin announced that due to injury to Madison Eagles, her match against Jessie McKay had been cancelled. McKay and Eagles were working the merch table all night. It was kind of a bummer because I was looking forward to seeing Eagles since she was recently named the best female wrestler in the world by PWI. All I can say about McKay is that she looked absolutely beautiful! I'm talking intimidatingly hot. HA HA!!!
Anyway, on to the show:
Archibald Peck (w/ Veronica & Colt Cabunny) vs. Chase Owens
Peck is also known as Robert Evans...the guy I saw at the first St. Louis Anarchy show back in Jan. who was one of the most entertaining wrestlers I've ever seen. He's also known as Barrister R.D. Evans in ROH these days. He came out to a HUGE pop, even though he is suppose to be a heel (or "Rudo). The crowd just absolutely loved him! Apparently, the night before in North Carolina, he introduced his mascot, Colt Cabunny. I'm guessing this will lead to a feud between him and Colt Cabana. It would be cool if he was having a match and the bunny pulled off his head and Colt was in the suit. I'm not sure who Veronica is. She is kind of an odd-looking chick, but she was really tall. Owens is a local guy who just worked Chikara's Young Lion's Cup. When he came out, people were actually booing him. Peck was soooooooooo over! The match was very solid. Peck did all kinds of great comedy spots and was running around the ring like a goofball. At one point, he had Owens in the corner and was kicking him against the bottom turnbuckle.....and then the rope broke!!! Both guys looked really good and made the most of the strange situation. Peck tried to pull off another part of the rope and choke Owens with it. After that, he went to the top rope and hit Owens with the sickest diving headbutt I think I've ever seen. Owens kicked out though and reversed the situation and tried to pin Peck, but Cabunny pulled out the ref and basically mauled him. Veronica then threw in her marching baton and Peck hit Owens with it and got an old school, southern, "Memphis rasslin'" pin out of it. A great way to open up a hot show!
Ophidian vs. Hallowicked
This match was part of their "12 Large" tournament to crowd the first Chikara singles champ. They really played up the fact that Ophidian was "doing this for his injured partner". The match was solid with both guys working hard, pulling off crazy moves and getting near-pins. Ophidian worked over Hallowicked's arm and Hallo' sold it like a million bucks. There wasn't much high-flying until the end. Ophidian hit a flipping dive from the top rope and then went for it again after Hallowicked kicked out. When Ophidian jumped the second time, Hallo' got up and kicked him in the stomach on the way down. It was SICK!!!! He then pinned Ophidian for the win. After the match, Ophidian went nuts and almost attacked the ref.
Team F.I.S.T. (Icurus, Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano) vs. The Batiri (Kolbald, Obariyon & Kodama)
This was a "Rudo" vs. "Rudo" match. Icurus came out and really heeled it up. He was getting in the faces of some of the kids in attendance and even threw his water bottle at me! I told the guy next to me, "Should I sell that?" and acted like it hurt my foot! Ha ha!!! The Batrir are a strange looking team. Kobald is a masked guy who looks a lot like Ophidian. Obariyon is a short, stocky guy who kind of reminds me of Taz back in his early 1990's days. Kodama looks just like him, only smaller. Both teams did a lot of heel tactics against each other. F.I.S.T. showed the experience and The Batiri showed a lot of power. Chuckie T screamed like a girl, of course! Ha ha!! I can't remember exactly how, but in the end, F.I.S.T.'s experience got the better of The Batiri and they won, although both teams looked great!
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. Momo no Seishun Tag (Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge)
The Japanese team were two guys from the Osaka Pro promotion. Harada was a stocky guy who looked a lot like Masato Tenaka and Kotoge was a taller, thinner guy who looked to be a high-flyer. The match started off slow with a few comedy spots and it slowly build up to a fevered pitch. All four guys worked hard and looked awesome. There were some nasty high-flying moves in which several guys ended up landing on a fat guy in the front row. The match turned into an "all over the place" brawl really. In the end, Kotoge hit Fire Ant with one of the sickest headbutts I've ever seen....or heard! But then Fire hit him with a backdrop driver style move and got the pin. Another awesome match!!!
Next was intermission. I spent way too much money and met Madison Eagles (who's super nice) and talked to Gavin Loudspeaker some. He was an interesting person, but really cool. I also said hi to Ophidian who was milling around. Green Ant came out and was doing pictures with people in the ring. When I went back to my seat, I told the guy next to me, "I gotta stay away from the merch table!" The bottom rope was fixed and it got a huge "BOTTOM ROPE!!!" chant! Ha ha!!
Ultramantis Black vs. Jigsaw
This was another "12 Large" match. UMB may very well be the most popular guy in Chikara. I can't even discribe the pop he got when he came out. Jigsaw was over too, but not nearly as much. The match was solid. So many awesome moves and near-pins. Both guys, once again, looked like a million bucks, but whenever UMB would hit a big move, the crowd went CRAZY!!! In the end, he hit the Praying Mantis Bomb but Jigsaw kicked out. Jigsaw then rolled him up from behind and got a quick pin. Kind of a crappy way to end an awesome match. They then announced that the finals of the tournament would be Quack vs. Eddie Kingston at the iPPV in Nov.
Brudershaft Des Kreuzes (Tim Donst, Delirious, Tarsus & Jacob Hammermeier) vs. Mike Quackenbush, Green Ant, Eddie Kingston & Sugar Dunkerton
Before the match, Jacob came out and announced his team in German. I know I use this description a lot, but he really did remind me of Adrian Street, but without the glitter and makeup. The way that he had his hair in a side ponytail and his strut was so much like Street. The "technicos" team seemed really thrown together. Eddie Kingston looked like a BEAST. The last time I saw him was back in Dec. of last year and he was fat, slow and out-of-shape. He's shaped himself up and lost a ton of weight. As always, he looked really p*ssed off too. On the "Rudo" side, it was kind of odd seeing Delirious as a heel. He came out with a chain around his neck that was held by Tarsus. Tarsus is HUGE and it's kind of funny that his beard is part of his mask. I don't even know where to start with all of this. It was just a pure brawl with bodies flying all over the place. For a big part of the match, the BDK worked over Dunkerton. Once he got thrown out of the ring, all h*ll broke loose Tarsus threw Green Ant into the wall and threw a trash can at him. Tarsus then came back to the entrance way and grabbed a small child (who was VERY unwilling to be a part of all this) and challenged Green Ant to come after him. The kid looked traumatized and his mom was downright P*SSED about the situation. It was insane! After much yelling and screaming, everyone finally left. I looked back at the kid with his mom and the mom looked as though she was about to rip someones head off!
Mina Event
Kana vs. Sara Del Ray
All I can say about this match is OH MY DEAR LORD!!!!!!!!!! Kana is a lady from Osaka Pro in Japan and Del Ray is....well, just nothing but a pure bad*ss! Kana is known for having massively stiff kicks. She doesn't wear boots but has kickpads over her bare feet and ankles. The match was about as close to a pure shoot fight as I've ever seen. both ladies were hitting each other with stiff kicks and tying each other up in knots with submission holds. There were near-falls galore and both ladies looked like a million-trillion bucks! Folks, pro wrestling just does not get any better than this!!! At one point, Sara looked like she was about to pass out from one of Kana's submission holds and then, at another point, Kana kicked Sara so hard that it ripped her kickpad off....NO JOKE!!!! Sara also kicked Kana in the back of the head at one point in a Ryuji Ito-style kick that sounded gruesome! In the end, Kana got a near-fall on Sara but then she popped back up and hit Kana with a pure, old school pile driver and pinned her! 5 stars just isn't enough to give to a match like this. not only was this the best women's match I've ever seen, but I'd go so far as to say it was one of the best matches I've ever seen, period!
After the show, most everyone was hanging around and talked to several people. I got Ultramantis Black to sign a mask and Quackenbush to sign a DVD. I also talked to Hallowicked and shook all the Japanese talents hands....including Kana who was so nice! All in all, one of the best nights of wrestling I've ever seen.
So now, here I am, sitting on a balcony at a hotel in Gatlinburg with my dog. The weather is perfect and the trees and beautiful. I'm off to the mountains! BYE!!!!
The show was held at a place called the Kingsport Civic Auditorium. The place looked like something straight out of a 1950's movie were they would hold a high school prom. Apparently, back in the 1950's, Elvis Presley himself even played a show in there. Sure, it was old, but the place was well-maintained. The crowd was strong, but I don't think many who were there were actually from Kingsport. I saw people that I've seen at other shows there. But the cool thing was that everyone there knew about Chikara and what it's all about. I'd say there were at least 150 or so people there.
The show started off with Bryce Remsberg coming out and firing up the crowd. He then introduced the "Rock and Roll Ring Announcer" Gavin Loudspeaker and he came out to a huge pop and REALLY got the crowd fired up. His hair was extra high too! HA HA!!! Gavin announced that due to injury to Madison Eagles, her match against Jessie McKay had been cancelled. McKay and Eagles were working the merch table all night. It was kind of a bummer because I was looking forward to seeing Eagles since she was recently named the best female wrestler in the world by PWI. All I can say about McKay is that she looked absolutely beautiful! I'm talking intimidatingly hot. HA HA!!!
Anyway, on to the show:
Archibald Peck (w/ Veronica & Colt Cabunny) vs. Chase Owens
Peck is also known as Robert Evans...the guy I saw at the first St. Louis Anarchy show back in Jan. who was one of the most entertaining wrestlers I've ever seen. He's also known as Barrister R.D. Evans in ROH these days. He came out to a HUGE pop, even though he is suppose to be a heel (or "Rudo). The crowd just absolutely loved him! Apparently, the night before in North Carolina, he introduced his mascot, Colt Cabunny. I'm guessing this will lead to a feud between him and Colt Cabana. It would be cool if he was having a match and the bunny pulled off his head and Colt was in the suit. I'm not sure who Veronica is. She is kind of an odd-looking chick, but she was really tall. Owens is a local guy who just worked Chikara's Young Lion's Cup. When he came out, people were actually booing him. Peck was soooooooooo over! The match was very solid. Peck did all kinds of great comedy spots and was running around the ring like a goofball. At one point, he had Owens in the corner and was kicking him against the bottom turnbuckle.....and then the rope broke!!! Both guys looked really good and made the most of the strange situation. Peck tried to pull off another part of the rope and choke Owens with it. After that, he went to the top rope and hit Owens with the sickest diving headbutt I think I've ever seen. Owens kicked out though and reversed the situation and tried to pin Peck, but Cabunny pulled out the ref and basically mauled him. Veronica then threw in her marching baton and Peck hit Owens with it and got an old school, southern, "Memphis rasslin'" pin out of it. A great way to open up a hot show!
Ophidian vs. Hallowicked
This match was part of their "12 Large" tournament to crowd the first Chikara singles champ. They really played up the fact that Ophidian was "doing this for his injured partner". The match was solid with both guys working hard, pulling off crazy moves and getting near-pins. Ophidian worked over Hallowicked's arm and Hallo' sold it like a million bucks. There wasn't much high-flying until the end. Ophidian hit a flipping dive from the top rope and then went for it again after Hallowicked kicked out. When Ophidian jumped the second time, Hallo' got up and kicked him in the stomach on the way down. It was SICK!!!! He then pinned Ophidian for the win. After the match, Ophidian went nuts and almost attacked the ref.
Team F.I.S.T. (Icurus, Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano) vs. The Batiri (Kolbald, Obariyon & Kodama)
This was a "Rudo" vs. "Rudo" match. Icurus came out and really heeled it up. He was getting in the faces of some of the kids in attendance and even threw his water bottle at me! I told the guy next to me, "Should I sell that?" and acted like it hurt my foot! Ha ha!!! The Batrir are a strange looking team. Kobald is a masked guy who looks a lot like Ophidian. Obariyon is a short, stocky guy who kind of reminds me of Taz back in his early 1990's days. Kodama looks just like him, only smaller. Both teams did a lot of heel tactics against each other. F.I.S.T. showed the experience and The Batiri showed a lot of power. Chuckie T screamed like a girl, of course! Ha ha!! I can't remember exactly how, but in the end, F.I.S.T.'s experience got the better of The Batiri and they won, although both teams looked great!
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. Momo no Seishun Tag (Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge)
The Japanese team were two guys from the Osaka Pro promotion. Harada was a stocky guy who looked a lot like Masato Tenaka and Kotoge was a taller, thinner guy who looked to be a high-flyer. The match started off slow with a few comedy spots and it slowly build up to a fevered pitch. All four guys worked hard and looked awesome. There were some nasty high-flying moves in which several guys ended up landing on a fat guy in the front row. The match turned into an "all over the place" brawl really. In the end, Kotoge hit Fire Ant with one of the sickest headbutts I've ever seen....or heard! But then Fire hit him with a backdrop driver style move and got the pin. Another awesome match!!!
Next was intermission. I spent way too much money and met Madison Eagles (who's super nice) and talked to Gavin Loudspeaker some. He was an interesting person, but really cool. I also said hi to Ophidian who was milling around. Green Ant came out and was doing pictures with people in the ring. When I went back to my seat, I told the guy next to me, "I gotta stay away from the merch table!" The bottom rope was fixed and it got a huge "BOTTOM ROPE!!!" chant! Ha ha!!
Ultramantis Black vs. Jigsaw
This was another "12 Large" match. UMB may very well be the most popular guy in Chikara. I can't even discribe the pop he got when he came out. Jigsaw was over too, but not nearly as much. The match was solid. So many awesome moves and near-pins. Both guys, once again, looked like a million bucks, but whenever UMB would hit a big move, the crowd went CRAZY!!! In the end, he hit the Praying Mantis Bomb but Jigsaw kicked out. Jigsaw then rolled him up from behind and got a quick pin. Kind of a crappy way to end an awesome match. They then announced that the finals of the tournament would be Quack vs. Eddie Kingston at the iPPV in Nov.
Brudershaft Des Kreuzes (Tim Donst, Delirious, Tarsus & Jacob Hammermeier) vs. Mike Quackenbush, Green Ant, Eddie Kingston & Sugar Dunkerton
Before the match, Jacob came out and announced his team in German. I know I use this description a lot, but he really did remind me of Adrian Street, but without the glitter and makeup. The way that he had his hair in a side ponytail and his strut was so much like Street. The "technicos" team seemed really thrown together. Eddie Kingston looked like a BEAST. The last time I saw him was back in Dec. of last year and he was fat, slow and out-of-shape. He's shaped himself up and lost a ton of weight. As always, he looked really p*ssed off too. On the "Rudo" side, it was kind of odd seeing Delirious as a heel. He came out with a chain around his neck that was held by Tarsus. Tarsus is HUGE and it's kind of funny that his beard is part of his mask. I don't even know where to start with all of this. It was just a pure brawl with bodies flying all over the place. For a big part of the match, the BDK worked over Dunkerton. Once he got thrown out of the ring, all h*ll broke loose Tarsus threw Green Ant into the wall and threw a trash can at him. Tarsus then came back to the entrance way and grabbed a small child (who was VERY unwilling to be a part of all this) and challenged Green Ant to come after him. The kid looked traumatized and his mom was downright P*SSED about the situation. It was insane! After much yelling and screaming, everyone finally left. I looked back at the kid with his mom and the mom looked as though she was about to rip someones head off!
Mina Event
Kana vs. Sara Del Ray
All I can say about this match is OH MY DEAR LORD!!!!!!!!!! Kana is a lady from Osaka Pro in Japan and Del Ray is....well, just nothing but a pure bad*ss! Kana is known for having massively stiff kicks. She doesn't wear boots but has kickpads over her bare feet and ankles. The match was about as close to a pure shoot fight as I've ever seen. both ladies were hitting each other with stiff kicks and tying each other up in knots with submission holds. There were near-falls galore and both ladies looked like a million-trillion bucks! Folks, pro wrestling just does not get any better than this!!! At one point, Sara looked like she was about to pass out from one of Kana's submission holds and then, at another point, Kana kicked Sara so hard that it ripped her kickpad off....NO JOKE!!!! Sara also kicked Kana in the back of the head at one point in a Ryuji Ito-style kick that sounded gruesome! In the end, Kana got a near-fall on Sara but then she popped back up and hit Kana with a pure, old school pile driver and pinned her! 5 stars just isn't enough to give to a match like this. not only was this the best women's match I've ever seen, but I'd go so far as to say it was one of the best matches I've ever seen, period!
After the show, most everyone was hanging around and talked to several people. I got Ultramantis Black to sign a mask and Quackenbush to sign a DVD. I also talked to Hallowicked and shook all the Japanese talents hands....including Kana who was so nice! All in all, one of the best nights of wrestling I've ever seen.
So now, here I am, sitting on a balcony at a hotel in Gatlinburg with my dog. The weather is perfect and the trees and beautiful. I'm off to the mountains! BYE!!!!
