wrestling / Columns

Into the Indies 06.08.10: The Portal Goes to Japan

June 8, 2010 | Posted by Ryan Byers

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that walks like an Egyptian.

Earlier this year, I took a look at a pair of shows from the summer of 2009 in which a group of wrestlers from Philadelphia’s CHIKARA promotion headed overseas to promote two cards also involving the stars of Big Japan Wrestling. (Read Part 1 of that column here and Part 2 here.) However, two of the promotion’s brightest stars were missing from that mini-tour, namely Amasis and Ophidian, collectively known as the tag team of the Osirian Portal.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Portal, they are an Egyptian-themed tag team who both burst on to the scene in CHIKARA during 2007, first with the snake-themed Ophidian coming in as a singles wrestler at July’s “A Touch of Class” before being joined by the Funky Pharaoh Amasis at September’s “Cibernetico & Robin.” The duo immediately impressed not only with their crowd-pleasing dance moves during the entrances and slow periods in their bouts but also with their in-ring prowess. Despite having less than a year of experience each, the Portal absolutely tore things up in the ring throughout 2008, having many matches which amazed people who were aware that they were essentially rookies in the professional wrestling business.

It wasn’t long before both the promoters in CHIKARA and the community of wrestling fans as a whole started taking notice and giving Amasis and Ophidian the accolades that they deserved. The duo was given a reign with CHIKARA’s Campeonatos de Parejas (tag team titles) that lasted almost one full year, and the crowd reactions that they received while champions almost necessitated that they turn from heels to faces once they dropped the belts. To top it all off, they earned many honors outside of the wrestling ring as well, including but not limited to being named 411mania’s Rookies of the Year in the 2008 Year End Awards.

In storyline terms, the Portal has essentially been in limbo in CHIKARA during 2010. Their last big feud came to a close at the end of 2009, right around the same time that the new heel stable of Der Bruderschaft des Kreuzes was being unveiled and taking its first steps towards dominating the promotion. The insertion of the Bruderschaft into the CHIKARA mix essentially put the pharaoh and the snake-man on to the back burner, though just because they weren’t getting attention in their home promotion didn’t mean that the Osirian Portal had to stop progressing.

Fortunately for Amasis and Ophidian, they got their first invitation to head to the Land of the Rising Sun in 2010. Specifically, Pro Wrestling ZERO1 invited them overseas for a series of two matches on May 5 and May 8, 2010 the first being against the tandem of BattlArts mainstay Munenori Sawa and Z1 young lion Shota Takanashi and the second being against Sawa and his more regular partner Ikuto Hidaka for Hidaka and Sawa’s NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Titles. In my mind, Amasis and Ophidian were the perfect gaijin additions to ZERO1 because, even though the company has some technically proficient wrestlers, it has some serious problems in that almost every one of those technically proficient wrestlers is also profoundly lacking in the personality department (with a few notable exceptions like the aforementioned Munenori Sawa). The introduction of the Portal into the company seemed to be the perfect way to diversify the styles of wrestling that are present on the ZERO1 undercard and to add some much needed color to their otherwise bland roster.

But, of course, there are no sure things in professional wrestling. Several men who were supposed to join promotion’s rosters and be a perfect fit have wound up taking and taking hard . . . whether due to their own actions or the actions of those doing the booking. The only way to see if the Osirian Portal will meet the expectations that US indy fans have placed on them while they’re in Japan is to take a good hard look at their matches, and that’s exactly what I intend to do here. Gentle readers, I give to you . . .



Munenori Sawa & Shota Takanashi vs. The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) (ZERO1, 05/05/2010)

Amasis and Sawa start things off for their respective teams with a collar and elbow tie-up, thought he Funky Pharaoh has second thoughts and slips out of the grapple before showboating a bit. We clip ahead to Takanashi in the ring with both members of the Portal team, who he whips into one another. However, before long, Shota is caught offguard by the CHIKARA team’s snake charmer spot in which Amasis holds up Ophidian in a wheelbarrow position to “mesmerize” their opponents. Sawa gets the same treatment. Munenori in particular does a GREAT job of selling his hypnosis, and this all leads into a dance-off by the members of the Portal that causes everybody else in the ring – including the referee – to fall to the ground. Takanashi rolls out of the squared circle as a result of his bump, and that turns out to have been a bad move, as Ophidian comes off the top rope and blasts him with HUGE tope con hilo.

Back on the inside, Amasis slams Takanashi to set up a senton by his serpentine partner. There is an immediate tag back to Amasis, who hits a vertical suplex and floats over into a cover for two. Ophidian is back for a springboard moonsault press, which earns him a nearfall. We get more double teaming for the Portal as Amasis tags back in while Sawa rallies the crowd from his corner. Another quick exchange from the CHIKARA representatives sees Ophidian hit a slingshot stomp to the gut and a cartwheel into a kick to the face as well as a headstand into a senton. Ophidian audibly hissing as he makes each one of his pin attempts adds some much needed wackiness to the match. The Portal then work together to hit a series of corner shots on Shota, including a flying crotch to the face by Ophidian and a shoulder tackle by Amasis. Amasis follows it up with a spinebuster, but, seconds later, Takanashi hits a dropkick to his knee so brutal that Amasis doesn’t just fall over – he does a full head-over-heels front flip and lands flat on his back.

Needless to say, that gets us a tag to Munenori Sawa. Sawa and Amasis trade palm strikes for a bit, but it’s the BattlArts wrestler who comes away with the advantage and connects with an enzuguiri. Sawa decides he’s going to pull out a bit of dance-based offense of his own, doing the splits while simultaneously dropping a leg across Amasis’ gut. Sawa misses a running kick in the corner but manages to hit a dragon screw on the Pharaoh and then dragon screws both Portal members at the same time when Ophidian comes into the ring off a blind tag. Ophidian also winds up in Sawa’s octopus hold, but Amasis saves with a kick to the head. That allows Ophidian to slap on his bodyscissors/cobra clutch combination, but Sawa slips out of it and gets another enzuguiri. That gives us a tag to Takanashi, who connects with his version of the 619 and a side Russian leg sweep for a two count.

Amasis saves on that pin attempt, so Takanashi goes after him and hits a dropkick. Unfortunately for the youngster, Ophidian was lying in wait, as he comes off the top rope with a double knee to Takanashi’s face. Sawa has his partner’s back, however, as he mocks Ophidian with some snake-like hand gestures and then looks for a big boot. The reptilian wrestler bridges back to avoid contact (think Trish Stratus), and Amasis makes sure that the off-balance Sawa is neutralized. Meanwhile, Ophidian hits Takanashi with a shoulder to the gut and bulls him back into the corner for a few more. Amasis joins the fun, placing Takanashi on the top rope before placing Ophidian on his shoulders for a stacked-up superplex. Takanashi somehow manages to kick out of that one at two.

Ophidian is obviously frustrated, but he stays on his man with a high kick to the head and lands the CANADIAN DESTROYER, which is the name used by the Japanese language commentary team. It gets two as Sawa saves. Unfortunately for Sawa, he’s hit with the one-two punch of an Ophidian kick and an Amasis rolling elbow to once again take him out of the match. After that, the Portal come off of opposite turnbuckles with their Osirian Sacrament – a superfly splash/flying legdrop combination – on Takanashi, allowing the CHIKARA duo to earn the duke in their Japanese debut.

Overall

Though I mentioned toward the beginning of this column that there have been several much-heralded newcomers who have disappointed in their debuts with a new professional wrestling promotion, I think it is now safe to say that the Osirian Portal definitely does not fit into that category. Both Amasis and Ophidian delivered the goods in the ring in this one, and, barring any off camera problems which would not be evident from watching the video tape, I cannot imagine that their debut went over in any way other than well with the fans, their opponents, and the powers that be in ZERO1.

Granted, match wasn’t given all of the tools necessary to be an all-time classic. It was in the middle of the card and got only slightly over ten minutes, and it was fairly clear from the way everybody worked that they were holding back just a little bit to not overshadow the matches that were yet to come. However, as far as ten minute long midcard matches are concerned, this one was pretty damn good. The Portal didn’t come off as nervous at all, hitting every one of their spots well and inserting just as much of their wacky antics into this match as they do any other. Perhaps even more impressive was the fact that they looked just as good against Takanashi as they did against Sawa, which is important because Takanashi isn’t exactly the most experienced or polished wrestler in the world, so if the Portal managed to look as good as they did here against him, chances are high that they can look at least passable against any level of opponent.

Simply put, the Osirian Portal did everything that they needed to do in this match. The constraints put on it by its position in the card kept it down to the *** mark, but it was still a fine debut performance and one that will hopefully earn these men many more trips overseas. They certainly deserve it.


Looking forward to the next instalment of Into the Indies? Keep an eye on 411’s Twitter accounts, and you just might see it pop up!

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See you all next week!

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Ryan Byers

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