wrestling / Columns
The CHIKARA Special 9.04.10: A Major Victory
Welcome back to another edition of the CHIKARA Special. The Young Lions Cup VIII tournament is in the books, and we’re going to talk all about it. And of course, we have our winner for Bryce’s “Wrestlicious Rap” contest. As Chip Douglas would say, “Let’s do this!”
The annual Young Lions Cup tournament had a lot of intrigue this year. In a field of 24, only 7 (barely over 1/4th) of the participants were CHIKARA regulars. It seems like more than ever it was the non homegrown talent that had the advantage in taking the tournament. Perhaps this was part of the Director of Fun, Dieter VonSteigerwalt’s plan. After all, only one BDK member (Lince Dorado) was apart of the tournament, and if he couldn’t take home the Cup, it’s just as well that someone unaffiliated with the company take it home. Luckily for Dieter, Lince did make it to the finals. Dieter also reserved referee Derek Sabato, a BDK member to officiate the finals. Unfortunately for Dieter he didn’t plan on Sabato being taken out of commission and for referee Bryce Remsburg to ultimately make the deciding count. Who ended up besting Lince in the finals?
Frightmare did, and he is now your Young Lions Cup champion. Quite frankly, this was a very obvious choice but it’s also the right move. I think Tim Donst did a great job during his time as the Cup holder, but it was time for CHIKARA to get the Cup. I also believe it’s a far better story for Lince to never get the Cup than it would have been to win it here. Not to mention it would’ve been overkill for the BDK to win both of CHIKARA’s major tournaments (King of Trios and Young Lions Cup) in the same year.
Frightmare’s meteoric rise from unknown rookie in November 2008 to Young Lions Cup champion in August 2010 is phenomenal. From the get-go Frightmare has been a member of Incoherence, a group originally consisting of CHIKARA original Hallowicked and his equally crazed cohort Delirious. It takes a lot of talent to hang with these two, so it’s easy to see that the CHIKARA office had a lot of confidence right off the bat to put Frightmare in a group that many fans held in high regard. Frightmare did not dissapoint, putting on really fun matches with The Roughnecks (Brodie Lee, Eddie Kingston, & Grizzly Redwood) and Ophidian in the opening months. Frightmare even was paired against Johnny Saint, Jorge Rivera, and Mike Quackenbush in the opening round of King of Trios in 2009. With Delirious being abducted by Ultramantis Black, it was his shoes Frightmare would fill as Hallowicked’s tag partner and main confidant. Frightmare essentially served as a miniature counterpart for Hallowicked, mirroring his moveset by also using the step-up Frankensteiner and enzugiri.
Last year was Frightmare’s first Young Lions Cup tournament, as he competed against Brendan Michael Thomas from New England. In what has to be the biggest upset of the entire tournament last year, Frightmare lost in the opening round. If you recall, I had Frightmare taking the Cup last year, so myself and many others felt extremely foolish. Frightmare would get his second chance at the Cup in October of 2009 when he challenged Player Dos. Dos would conquer, and Frightmare’s quest for the Cup continued. The pressure would increase when Tim Donst won the Cup from Player Dos in January of this year. Now the Cup was in enemy territory, as Donst was (and still is) a member of the anti-CHIKARA supergroup of the Bruderschaft des Kreuzes. Donst would take on a slew of challengers in the ensuing months, such as Player Uno, Dasher Hatfield, Soldier Ant, and even Frightmare himself. All would fall though, and Donst held the Cup high for the first 8 months of the year.
What would it take for CHIKARA to take the Cup away from Donst’s tight grasp? The best hope they would have would be when the annual Young Lions Cup tournament came and Donst was forced to relinquish his Cup to whomever won the tournament. While it was the best option, it’s not as if it’s the easiest. After all, one would have to best at least seven opponents to win the Cup. There were many strong CHIKARA regulars who were in the tournament who could also take it. Both members of the Osirian Portal, former Campeones de Parejas (and in Ophidian’s case, the winner of this years Rey de Voladores tournament) both entered and made it as far as the semi-finals. Johnny Gargano, who has made a big splash in the independents this past year had a lot of momentum going into the tournament (especially as the newest recruit for Team F.I.S.T.). Green Ant of the Colony also has had a break-out year, and winning the Cup would put him over the top of the heap. Sugar Dunkerton’s search for the Cup would have him do his best to break the “Night One Curse” he had, losing on Night One in whichever tournament he entered.
I don’t know why it wasn’t mentioned, but Frightmare had the exact same curse as well. Young Lions Cup VII? Gone in Round One, Night One. King of Trios 2009 and 2010? Gone in Round One, Night One. Rey de Voladores? Gone in Round One. And who would it be that Frightmare faced in Round One this year? The same person who defeated him in 2009; Brendan Michael Thomas. Now granted, Frightmare did defeat BMT in September of last year to close that chapter, but I digress. Frightmare was able to conquer the same man who defeated him last year, which provided a good omen. Frightmare went on to win the semi-finals, outlasting Christian Abel, Amasis, Kaio, Johnny Gargano, and Akira Tozawa. Frightmare of course went on to the finals where he defeated fellow BDK member Lince Dorado to take the Cup. This is a huge victory for CHIKARA, and the hope for them is that this new found success will carry over to the Cibernetico, and to the end of the season (or longer) with the BDK’s existence.
A big congratulations to Frightmare for winning the Young Lions Cup!
Frightmare winning the Cup was not the only noteworthy story to come out of the Young Lions Cup weekend. Here’s a rundown of some of the things that went down.
– Of course, in addition to the Young Lions Cup CHIKARA has it’s Campeones de Parejas (currently held by Claudio Castagnoli and Ares of the BDK). We have new challengers for those titles as of this past weekend, as 3.0 (Scott “Jagged” Parker & Shane Matthews) won their 2nd and 3rd point over the weekend and will go on to face Claudio and Ares in Baltimore (more on that next week). Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw had quite a rough weekend, as they lost ALL of their points on Night 1 when losing to BDK members Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze. They did however win back one point on Night 2, but it’s frustrating that they have to start all over again.
– 3.0. and Quacksaw actually faced the same team on back-to-back nights; The House of Truth (Josh Raymond & Christian Abel). I can not tell you how happy I was that the HoT got an opportunity in CHIKARA. I think they are one of the most entertaining and criminally underrated teams in all of pro wrestling. I think there personalities and wrestling style mesh well with many CHIKARA teams and really do hope to see them return. It’s there matches on Night 2 and 3 that make me even more anxious to see these shows on DVD. Let’s just say that any night the House of Truth wrestle, WE’RE WINNING! (We meaning the fans, by the way).
– One guy who had me intrigued when he was announced was Obariyon. When he was announced, CHIKARA said that nothing was known about him. Think about that. In this day and age where we have YouTube, a billion wrestling message boards, and loads of wrestling websites, how is it possible to not be able to find some information on a wrestler? The only reasonable explanation would be that someone never wrestled a match. My suspicion was that Obariyon was a new student debuting during the weekend, and he would have quite a showing. Needless to say, I was right! Well, at least the part about getting quite a showing for the weekend. He won his first round match against Dustin Rayz, then went on in the semi-final to beat BattlArts regular Yeita Kano and internet darling and recent ROH signee Adam Cole before being defeated by Ophidian with a prawn hold. Obariyon would also defeat Mike Sydal in a singles match on Night 3. It should be noted that all four pinfalls that Obariyon scored over the weekend were gained by him hitting a “Flying DDT”. Someone also noted that Ultramantis Black did commentary for a match of his, and nodded approvingly. It’s highly possible that Mantis will recruit Obariyon to join his “Order”, or whatever group Mantis will be in now.
– A man was at the Young Lions Cup named “Wink Vavasseur”, who is apparently an internal auditer hired by CHIKARA’s Board of Directors. Basically, an auditer comes in and makes sure the organization is running fairly and justly (so not like, say, Enron). Considering how the Director of Fun has handled CHIKARA since he’s come in (unfair sway towards members of the BDK, bringing back Derek Sabato, etc.) it’s not surprising that they would want to check to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. Essentially, this means the BDK’s reign of oppression could come to close sooner rather than later. Here’s a picture of the business card passed around at the YLC:
We can’t forget that The Countdown Showdown took place! This turned out to be almost exactly like a Royal Rumble. Some notable things that occurred:
– Johnny Gargano won (entering at #30) and has a “Golden Opportunity”. Your guess is as good as mine as to what that means, but my assumption is he’ll get a Young Lions Cup shot (perhaps even as early as Brooklyn).
– Eddie Kingston was jumped by the BDK as soon as he entered. He did run roughshod on them though, eliminating Delirious, Daizee Haze, and Sara Del Rey in quick succession (as well as Jervis Cottonbelly!) Unfortunately for Kingston, his true rival, Claudio Castagnoli, eliminated him from behind shortly after eliminating Sara.
– Speaking of Claudio, both members of 3.0 eliminated Claudio from the match. However, an angry Claudio eliminated Matthews and made it easy for Gargano to eliminate Parker to win the match.
– STIGMA was eliminated from the match by his fellow UnStablemate Colin Delaney. What is up with that?
– Grizzly Redwood eliminated Brodie Lee…what is up with THAT?!
– In the ongoing “Pinkie Sanchez isn’t really crazy when he says he sees Vökoder, but everyone thinks he’s crazy cuz he’s Pinkie Sanchez” saga, Vökoder came out and eliminated Sanchez and himself from the match. Who could Vökoder possibly be? And why is it Pinkie that’s he is targeting directly?
Needless to say, this tournament looks amazing and I am shaking with anticipation to get my hands on all three nights. Of course, all three nights will be reviewed yours truly for this very website!
To get full results of the weekend, please consult CHIKARA’s results page.
I must admit, the Bryce Remsburg Wrestlicious Rap contest went very well. We had many entries, and almost all of them were fantastic. Bryce and I have a tough time choosing a winner, but we sincerely do thank everyone who entered.
Some of our criteria include whether or not the rap was creative, “TV friendly”, it followed the format of the actual rap, and if it was something we could actually envision being used on the show. I mean, that IS the point right?
With that said, after deliberating via email, Bryce and I decided that the winning entrant would go to Vincent Chiucchi! Congratulations Vincent! Please email me to let me know you’re still reading the column, as well as your address so I can send you the winning prize!
For those wondering, here is Vincent’s entry that me and Bryce enjoyed so much:
“I’m Bryce Remsburg, the senior ref
Unlike the rest, I’m not blind nor deaf
I’ll DQ you even if you’re slightly suspicious
Cause I’m here to keep it fair and Wrestlicious”
Thanks again everyone for participating. I really like the reader feedback, so it’s likely that more contests will pop up here in The Special again.
The 228th Podcast-A-Go-Go is live! This week, Wiggly and Gavin continue to cover King Of Trios 2010, Night Two. Matches featured this week are Team F.I.S.T. vs. Team Osaka Pro, and the Perros del Mal triuumvirate taking on the BDK of Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, & Tursas..
Bryce Remsburg brings us the latest on CHIKARA’s Baltimore debut in this weeks “CHIKARA Event Center”. .
Here’s a sweet music video for CHIKARA’s Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show event. Be sure to check out all of these guys show music videos; he does them for a bunch of different companies and they’re always well done.
My CHIKARA blog, The CHIKARA Special, is still going strong.Just this week I was able to put 2004 in my rear-view mirror, as I reviewed Fear of Music and “In Memory Of Adam Mills…”Also, CHIKARA matches from other companies are getting reviewed as well. So make sure subscribe to the blog (on the right) and continue reading my sweet CHIKARA related reviews. Subscriptions are good because: A) They let me know you’re reading and B) All my reviews get delivered directly to your inbox. Its good times, so check it out and tell your friends about The CHIKARA Special.
Pro Wrestling Ponderings is BACK! In a big way as well. And what better way to celebrate a relaunch than with a podcast discussing the Young Lions Cup Tournament, as well as plenty of PWG talk with a BOLA 2010 preview and a 40 minute interview with DINO WINWOOD! Get yer listen on right here!
Brad Garoon’s blog, Open The Garoon Gate is all about Dragon Gate and Dragon Gate USA. He reviews every Infinity, PPV, appearance of a Dragon Gate wrestler in the U.S. and other Japanse promotions , etc. Brad has just completed his archive, so EVERYTHING Dragon Gate is on his blog now. You owe it to yourself to check out that blog, as well as his Toryumon and dragondoor/El Dorado/Secret Base blogs which you can find links to on his Dragon Gate blog.
Jake Ziegler, another Cool Kids Table founder, writes some fantastic wrestling DVD reviews in his A 2 Z Analyziz.. This guy has been working so hard, reviewing every TNA No Surrender and ROH Glory By Honor event, so be sure to give his stuff a look.
Ari Berenstein has been so kind to give me a spot in this weeks Column of Honor where I discuss my live thoughts of ROH’s Richmond debut. Won’t you read?
If you have not begun listening, Mike Quackenbush and Clayton Morris (of FOX News & Friends) host a pop-culture podcast known as The Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe. Clayton and Mike talk about all things geek such as movies, music, television, comic books, tech stuff, and wrestling here and there. I find it wildly entertaining, as Clayton and Mike play off each other very well. It’s also really cool to hear Mike talk about non-wrestling stuff as well. So please, check out The Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe and subscribe to their podcast on iTunes.
That will do it for this weeks edition of the CHIKARA Special. In the mean time, please visit my nifty blog for some awesome CHIKARA reviews. Next week we’ll talk about CHIKARA’s Baltimore and Brooklyn debuts and other CHIKARA related junk. See you in seven!
Links!
The CHIKARA Home Page .
The brand spankin’ new official CHIKARA message board.
Buy CHIKARA DVD’s at Smart Mark Video
Don’t like DVD’s? Stream CHIKARA shows for half the price at Hybrid Entertainment Television!
Follow CHIKARA on Facebook
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CHIKARA 101 on YouTube
CHIKARA Fans
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