Contemplating CHIKARA 5.30.09: Busy, Busy, Busy

Posted by Kevin Ford on 05.30.2009

CHIKARA has a lot on it's plate lately, and we're going to talk about all of it! Off the heels of the HUGE Aniversario weekend, we discuss the big stories coming out of the shows, plus all the big plans CHIKARA has for this summer, including Big Japan Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, Fan Appreciation Night, and Young Lions Cup VII!

Folks, I must apologize first and foremost for the lack of a new Contemplating CHIKARA last week. Like most people, I was away visiting family for the long weekend and had extremely minimal computer access. On top of that, I just started a new job that Monday and had worked 8:30 to 5 everyday that week. To sum it up nicely, real life got in the way. Luckily for us, not a ton happened during the course of the week. However, LOADS of stuff has happened since, so let's talk about some stuff.

Results from this past weekend!

CHIKARA's seventh anniversary has come and gone, and left behind were two big shows that had many implications for the future of CHIKARA. From the good people of CHIKARA Fans, here are the results from this past weekend:

Aniversario Yin – May 23rd, 2009 – Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA

Preshow Notes: Not much going on that's noteworthy. Louden Noxious kicks off the Easton show in typical singing fashion, this time with a "Happy Birthday" song for CHIKARA in light of Aniversario weekend. New Podcast-a-Go-Go HD theme leads off the show; the crowd doesn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as the old theme.

1. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0] vs. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence]: The quest for one point (again) stops short here in the rematch. No Brodie Lee to give 2.0 the upper hand means no victory for them as Hallowicked hits Jagged with the Rydeen Bomb for the victory. Fun opener.

2. Hydra vs. Grizzly Redwood: Hydra entering the FunPlex to the lovely tones of Lady Gaga. The Grizz rolls up Hydra with some help from the ropes to get the quick win in a lighthearted competition.

3. Eddie Kingston vs. Create-A-Wrestler: Kingston brings the pain in a big way, taking out his aggression on Create-a-Wrestler by bruising up his chest to a dark shade of purple early on.Kingston, as expected, gets the win with the spinning backfist, though CAW put up one hell of a fight and impressed the hot Easton crowd.

4. Helios & Lince Dorado [The Future Is Now] & Jigsaw vs. Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Gran Akuma [F.I.S.T.]: The biggest news of the night comes as F.I.S.T. enters the building, as it's revealed that Icarus has added color to his tattoo and a nose piercing. Yeesh. The King of Trios champs reign supreme as Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor pull off the "Dinner n' Drinks" Yoshi Tonic/Sole Food on Jigsaw for the win. Great sprint with one hell of a dive by Helios.
5. Arik Cannon vs. Delirious: Delirious comes out accompanied by the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, wearing black and white gear to fit in with the rest of the crew. He also didn't spaz out at the sound of the bell…strange. Mantis has the Eye of Tyr around his neck, clearly controlling Delirious throughout most of the match. The finish is a surprise, as Delirious hits Cannon with the Praying Mantis Bomb for the win. The Order has definitely found their third member!

6. STIGMA vs. Tim Donst: The two men go to war with one another, including a DISGUSTING STO by STIGMA on the floor. Donst comes back later on with an STO of his own on the apron. A clearly brutal match all around, Donst taps out STIGMA with the CHIKARA Special. Better than what one would expect from these two.

7. Player Uno & Player Dos [Super Smash Bros.] & Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. Ophidian & Amasis [The Osirian Portal] & El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr. [Los Ice Creams]: Great match early on, tons of fun spots all around. Crazy match with all eight men going all over the place doing insane stuff. Fire Ant pins one of the Ice Creams with a GI-Ant. Great match! After the match, Chuck Taylor came out wearing a Fire Ant shirt and one of the new replica Soldier Ant masks and lowblows Fire Ant while Icarus runs in and pedigrees Soldier Ant to get a leg up on tomorrow's big mask vs. hair match.

8. Vin Gerard vs. Claudio Castagnoli: Great neck-and-neck match that really established Vin as one of the top names of the company. Gerard gets the win over Claudio with some help from STIGMA, sealing the deal with a jackknife pin. Great show.


Aniversario Yang – May 24th, 2009 – The Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Preshow Notes: A lot of people in attendance today, but for some reason, a lot of second row seats are open. Fans are clearly afraid of Lince's crowd diving antics.

1. El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr. [Los Ice Creams] vs. Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood [The Roughnecks]: Wacky match with a lot of fun antics that Brodie Lee was none too pleased to play along with. In a mild upset, Grizzly Redwood pins both El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr. after being launched on top of them by Brodie. Roughnecks on the board with their first point.

2. Arik Cannon vs. Ophidian: The much anticipated singles bout between CHIKARA's past and future only disappointed in that it shouldn't have been second on the card. Absolutely awesome with tons of false finishes. Ophidian gets the pin with the prawn hold in one of the better CHIKARA singles matches in a while.

3. UltraMantis Black, Crossbones & Delirious [The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple] vs. Player Uno, Player Dos & Create-a-Wrestler [Saturday Night Slam Masters]: With the addition of Delirious to the Neo-Solar Temple, this match became an impromptu trios bout with Create-a-Wrestler joining up with SSB to form the Saturday Night Slam Masters. At one point in the match, Player Dos hit a Death Valley Driver on Crossbones! The finish saw Mantis pinning Uno after Delirious hit him with a Praying Mantis Bomb.

4. Vin Gerard & Colin Delaney [The UnStable] vs. D'Lo Brown & Glacier: Early on in the match there are shades of the infamous Negative Balance tag match as Vin Gerard gets legit KO'd about two minutes in. Heavy mouth bleeding, not really looking good for him. Colin getting a little bit of blood himself, STIGMA out to ringside to help out his UnStable partners. The crowd is white hot and into all of the action of the match as the UnStable beat down both legends to get the upper hand again. The match breaks down into absolute insanity towards the end - D'Lo locks the CHIKARA Special on Colin, and while the referee is paying attention to that, STIGMA throws a lead pipe into the ring. Before any member of the UnStable can use the pipe, though, Glacier hits Vin Gerard with the Cryonic Kick for the victory. D'Lo hits a Lo Down after the match in celebration. "The best Glacier match of all his stuff in CHIKARA."

5. Tim Donst & Hydra [The Sea Donsters] vs. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0]: Fun, lighthearted match throughout. Good match to come back from after intermission. Jagged reversed Hydra's sunset flip for the pin. After the match, Donst shows a little bit of frustration and refuses to forgive Hydra for the loss.

6. Lince Dorado, Helios [The Future Is Now], Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence] & KC "Cloudy" Day & Cheech Hernandez: Quack makes a surprise appearance as the fill-in for Equinox, possibly his last match before his big back operation. Incoherence comes out…but then another Incoherence comes out? C&C are so convincing that people didn't realize it was them coming out first until Hallowicked and Frightmare come out with new orange/black gear! A Cheech slingshot senton landed directly on Jig's face, busting open his nose. Cheech gets the pin on Lince following the Shining Wizard/Powerbomb combo. "One hell of a match."

7. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston: A rematch from last November's "Armdrags to Riches" show in Connecticut, and it delivered on expectations in a big way. Kingston put away Claudio with an Oklahoma Roll to get the win.

8. Lucha de Apuestas ~ Double Hair vs. Double Mask Match: Icarus & Chuck Taylor [F.I.S.T.] vs. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony]: The atmosphere in the Arena is described as incredible, just absolutely electric. Everyone is anticipating the big match coming up. Gran Akuma and Green Ant are out in their respective team's corners as seconds. Chuck Taylor with an Omega Driver on Soldier Ant off the apron and through a table! Fire Ant pins Chuck Taylor with the Beach Break for the big victory! New Ant in brown fends off Akuma. One of the best CHIKARA matches ever.


Notes from Aniversario weekend

Equinox injured!

I know, I know. It stinks. Our Young Lions Cup Champion, Equinox, injured his ankle in training right before the Aniversario weekend. Mike Quackenbush, who originally stated after the April CHIKARA shows that he would be taking a sabbatical to get yet another surgery done on his back, stepped in to take over his spot in the big Relevos Atomicos match at Aniversario Yang. Although Equinox is slated to be back in just four weeks, we here at 411 Mania were sad to see him off the show and hopes that when he returns he is back to being one hundred percent.

Icarus and Chuck Taylor – now in bald form!


Yes my friends; the Friends in Similar Tights are now the Friends with Identical Haircuts. Icarus and Chuck lost the Lucha de Apuesta against the Colony on Sunday, and as per the stipulation, they were shaved bald. What does this mean? It means Icarus once again was humiliated as for the second time in his CHIKARA tenure he had his head shaved. Gran Akuma no longer has to feel alone in his baldness amongst his fellow teammates. "Sexy" Chucky T. is debatably no longer sexy.

In all seriousness though, as pouty as they may seem in the above photos, F.I.S.T is most assuredly motivated by this loss. F.I.S.T made themselves known as the most dangerous group in CHIKARA, and now that they have been humiliated, their aggression will be taken out on some of the poor saps on the roster. Needless to say, F.I.S.T will do their best to make sure this historic loss doesn't derail their momentum they've been building since December. What they do in order to keep it going is yet to be seen.

Delirious joins The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple


As many of us predicted, Delirious has joined Ultramantis Black and Crossbones in their quest to take over the world. The Order kidnapped Delirious last month, and this weekend was his first reemergence since. Delirious came out with Mantis and Crossbones in new black and white gear, representing the colors of The Order. Mantis had more to say as to why he chose Delirious to join him and how he convinced Delirious to do so:

5/27/2009: I told all of the doubters and nay-sayers in CHIKARA that I would have my comeuppance and, true to my every word, I so did! You see, the reasoning was quite simple. I had successfully disposed of every traitor that had ever double-crossed myself or The Order. Except for one man - Hallowicked. A man I once called "friend." My confidant, my unquestioning soldier in the war on CHIKARA. But also, the man who chose to serve his own foolish self-interests by turning his back on me. At the Tag World Grand Prix 2006, while I was sidelined by injury, you put your fate in the hands of chance, and a new partner was "randomly" appointed you. Did you ever look back, Hallowicked? Did you ever think that it was you that destroyed the Dark Breed and gave birth to the Order of the Neo Solar Temple with your insolence? Hallowicked, you, more than any other near-mortal should have known that I never forgive and I never, ever forget.

Of course, revenge is a complex game, and I was forced to do many unsavory things and to break bread with some despicable beings - but it has all been worth it. I knew well the legend of the mysterious Eye of Tyr, and I knew I would have to do whatever it took to wield it's mystical properties. Storm, Hydra, Cube, Saget, Hero - all just pawns. I never cared what needed to be bought, traded or stolen, or whose back I needed to step on. It took years for all the pieces to align correctly on the board. But I never forgot your betrayal, Hallowicked. And when Dr. Cube was willing to trade me for the name of the private collector in possession of the fabled Eye, the core of my being trembled with excitement - my patience was finally rewarded!

My time spent skulking in the shadows while Hallowicked and Delirious basked in their championship spotlight, my time spent on underacheivers like Sami Callihan and Pinkie Sanchez, who would never be fit for The Order, all this time was time well spent. Why? Because in biding my time, and waiting for the stars to align, I was at last presented an opportunity to wreck your little family, Hallowicked...just as you had wrecked mine.



Finally, at Aniversario weekend, it all came to pass - the dramatic dénouement! The one, true Unholy Triad coming together at last in the ring. The final transubstanciation of The Order, just as our ancient sacred texts had long predicted - UltraMantis Black, Crossbones, Delirious! What a frightening and painful realization it must have been for you, Hallowicked. To know that your tag team partner, your closest ally, was now in the clutches of the one man fully willing and able to destroy you! The Delirious you once knew is erased, and you have been left with nothing more than that sad little street urchin, Frightmare, as your aide. Ha! How your despair amuses me. I win again!

And now, I alone reign supreme over all of CHIKARA! The Order is in complete control of not only our own destiny, but of the fate of every last human cog in the CHIKARA machine. Fighters of the CHIKARA heed my warning: submit to The Order via your own freewill now, or face harsh retribution later. We will enslave or exterminate every last one of you; there is no other alternative. CHIKARA belongs to me!

No one can stop us!
UMB

So yes, Delirious is under the control of the Eye of Tyr and Ultramantis Black. If this wasn't clear, Delirious acted unusually this weekend. He didn't freak out at the sound of the opening bell, and used Mantis' finisher, The Praying Mantis Bomb, to defeat Arik Cannon in his singles match. The choice of Delirious seems to be a wise one, as he helped secure The Order their first victory in quite some time in a Trios match.

Aside from Delirious helping The Order regain dominance, Mantis' taking of Delirious also screws up Hallowicked's plans. Ultramantis sees Hallowicked's teaming with Delirious as a betrayal, and has sat and watched him climb the ladder of success in CHIKARA for the past couple years waiting for his revenge. Now with Delirious at Mantis' side, his revenge plan has begun. One can only wonder just what Hallowicked thinks of this, and if he will do anything in retaliation to Delirious now being out of Incoherence. Will he try to save him from Ultramantis' control? Will he bring in a new member to take out the brand new Order? We'll have to wait and see.

Speaking of the Eye of Tyr, that may be the explanation for the…

Mystery Man spotted in crowd at "Aniversario Yang"


As seen in the above photo, this mysterious man was seen lurking around The Arena this past Sunday night. Reports say he had a ticket in hand that he would look at sort of confused. Who this person is, or what their motives are, are unknown. Much speculation has been made. Is he a relative of CHIKARA alumnus Private Eye? Is this fellow, who looks very similar to Rorschach from The Watchmen (not to be confused with CHIKARA alumnus Rorschach) a new member of the CHIKARA roster?

One theory from CZW Fan Forum member "moonkngt" has me thinking. Moonkngt believes that he is a private investigator from the ISRPPA; International Society for the Research and Preservation of Paranormal Artifacts, looking for Ultramantis Black's Eye of Tyr. The link for the website, as found on the CHIKARA webpage, states that "Due to the unusually mysterious history of this artifact, the ISRPPA has made it a priority to locate." Since this artifact is quite a priority, it only makes sense that the ISRPPA would hire someone to track down the artifact on their behalf. Ultramantis has now made it public knowledge that he is in control of the Eye of Tyr, which may have been a mistake on this part. Ultramantis is heading over to Japan in a few weeks. One must wonder whether or not the potential investigator is tracking him worldwide.

If this theory is true, it would once again be a testament to how intricate, clever, and intriguing to CHIKARA's latest storylines. It's another story the fans love to attempt to put the pieces together and can not wait to see where it goes.

CHIKARA's turning Japanese. Yeah, I really think so.



CHIKARA's trip to Big Japan Wrestling is only a few weeks away. Although there are a few shows during the week CHIKARA goes that involve some of CHIKARA's talent, we'll be concentrating on the two shows that are joint productions between CHIKARA and Big Japan Wrestling. Recently, the cards have been released for both shows. Here are the line-ups, courtesy of CHIKARA Fans:

BJW "CHIKARA Japan Showcase"
June 12, 2009 ~ Ice Ribbon Arena, Saitama, Japan
1. Green Ant vs. X
2. Chuck Taylor vs. Michael Nakazawa
3. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0] vs. Mototsugu Shimizu & Atsushi Ohashi
4. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. UltraMantis Black & Crossbones [The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple]

BJW "CHIKARA Japan Showcase ~ GLOBAL GAUNTLET II"
June 13, 2009 ~ Shin-kiba 1st Ring, Tokyo, Japan
1. Daikokubo Benkei vs. Atsushi Ohashi
2. CHIKARA vs. BJW: UltraMantis Black & Crossbones [The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple] vs. Shadow WX & Yuichi Taniguchi
3. CHIKARA vs. BJW: Chuck Taylor vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
4. CHIKARA vs. BJW: Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0] vs. Yoshihito Sasaki & Ryuichi Kawakami
5. Takashi Sasaki & Shinobu vs. X & X
6. CHIKARA vs. BJW: Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant [The Colony] vs. Jaki Numazawa, Yuji Okabayashi & Shinya Ishikawa

Many of the Big Japan guys on these shows have been in CHIKARA before. Atusushi Ohashi, Daisuke Sekimuto, Jaki Numazawa, Yuji Okabayashi, and Shinya Ishikawa all were apart of the first Global Gauntlet back in October of 2008. Motosugu Shimizu and Michael Nakazawa were both apart of the 2008 King of Trios tournament as two-thirds of Team El Dorado, and Nakazawa compted in this years King of Trios tournament as part of Team DDT. This time, it's CHIKARA's turn to travel in the search for competition. CHIKARA was bested in Night One of the 2008 Global Gauntlet, but then came back on Night Two. Which group will come out on top this time?

And while, we're on the topic of Japan, may as well talk about the updates to the Dragon Gate Relevos Atomicos match in Philadelphia, eh?


Gran Akuma joins Relevos Atomicos!


The Rudos squadron gets their first participant, with Gran Akuma of F.I.S.T. joining CHIKARA's Relevos Atomicos at Dragon Gate USA's debut. Gran Akuma has been with CHIKARA since 2002 and has done a lot in his tenure, including a lengthy reign as one half of the Campeones de Parejas and one-third of 2009's King of Trios. Akuma has had quite a bit of experience with Japanese wrestlers, as he has taken on men such as PSYCHO, Shadown Phoenix, and many others in CHIKARA. With Akuma's illustrious CHIKARA career, and with a storied rivalry against The Colony (who are on the Tecnicos side of the match), he's a great pick for this match-up.

CHIKARA schedules a Fan Appreciation Night in Reading, PA!
On Friday, July 31st, CHIKARA makes its final return to Reading, PA in the 2009 calendar year with "Never Kneel At The Altar of Conformity". This isn't going to be any regular show however, as CHIKARA will be hosting a Fan Appreciation Night. As of now, all tickets for the show (including front row seats) will be only $15 and every fan in attendance will receive a free gift. As of now, one match has already been signed for the show



It has been mentioned many times before in this very column that CHIKARA has made a conscious effort in 2009 to include much more women's wrestling on their shows. Their show in Reading, PA in July looks to be no different. Scheduled for this show is a classic Teacher vs. Student match, as CHIKARA veteran Daizee Haze will take on her student, and the very first graduate of the SHIMMER Wrestling School, Rayna VonTash. Rayna most recently appeared in Chicago for the latest series of DVD tapings for the SHIMMER promotion. Daizee must be proud that her student is getting a shot in CHIKARA, but will most definitely not make things easy for her. If Rayna is going to end up being a regular on the CHIKARA roster, Daizee wants to make sure her student earns it. Will the teacher school her student, or will Rayna teach Daizee a lesson of her own?


Young Lions Cup VII officially announced!

As you can tell from the graphic above, CHIKARA has at last announced when this years Young Lions Cup tournament will take place. Since CHIKARA has plans for the month of June, the tournament has been pushed back to August 13th, 14th, and 15th. The first two nights will take place in Easton, PA and the tournament finals will take place in Philadelphia, PA. Participants and more information have yet to be announced, but tickets are already on sale at CHIKARA's official website, listed at the end of the article.

YouTube fun!

We're a week behind on CHIKARA Podcasts, so here is Episodes #162 AND #163 of the Podcast-A-Go-Go. Enjoy!






And that's all from me for this week! Lots of information was thrown your way, so I hope that makes up for a lack of an article last week. Thanks so much to everyone who leaves their comments and sends e-mails. I love reading and responding to them, so keep em' coming! Make sure you also clicks on the links at the end of the article. In the mean time, I'll see you all in seven!

Links!
The CHIKARA Home Page: www.chikarapro.com
CHIKARA Fans!: www.chikarafans.com
Buy CHIKARA DVD's at Smart Mark Video: www.smartmarkvideo.com
Follow CHIKARA on Twitter!: www.twitter.com/chikarapro
Follow CHIKARA Fans on Twitter: www.http://twitter.com/chikarafans
CHIKARA on Myspace: www.myspace.com/chikarapro
Dragon Gate USA Home Page: http://www.dgusa.tv/
Follow Dragon Gate USA on Twitter!: http://twitter.com/DragonGateUSA
Dragon Gate USA on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dgusa
NYC fans, get on the to the Dragon Gate USA debut!: http://chikarafans.com/?page_id=2240