CHIKARA Review: Best of 2008, Disc 4

Posted by Kevin Ford on 06.07.2009

All of CHIKARA's best matches, put together in an affordable four-disc set!



Tag World Grand Prix; Round One
F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor) vs. Team England (Pac & Martin Stone)
From “Tag World Grand Prix 2008, Night One”: November 8th, 2008

Icarus and Stone start with a lock up. Stone knocks Icarus down with a shoulder tackle with Icarus coming off the ropes. Stone takes Icarus down but Icarus turns it into a head scissors. Stone works up out of it. Icarus eye rakes Stone, causing Stone to challenge Icarus to an exchange of elbows. Icarus’ comes off the ropes and catches Stone with a headscissors. Stone gets up and sends Icarus to the floor with another shoulder tackle. Chuck enters with Pac. Chuck takes Pac down with a shoulder tackle, and then go through a series of roll throughs and counters. Pac finally catches Chuck with a dropkick and tags Stone in. Stone lands some hard uppercuts and tags Pac in again. Pac sends Chuck to the corner and hits a hard forearm. Pac lands a two count and tags Stone in. Team England hits a big double back elbow, then Pac launches off Stone for a corkscrew moonsault! Team England continues to work over Chuck Taylor (especially his shoulder), until Icarus tags in when Pac has Chuck in a headlock. Icarus hits a back cracker on Pac while he still has Chuck in the headlock. F.I.S.T now gains control, isolating Pac in their corner. Pac actually managed to roll out of the ring at one point, but the referee was distracted by Chuck, allowing Icarus to roll Pac back in the ring with the referee being none the wiser. Pac managed to bandera to the apron and catch Icarus with a springboard delayed dropkick to end the beat down. Pac tags in Stone, who uses his hard right hand to take Taylor down. Stone rolls through a sunset flip and blasts Chuck with a clothesline. He follows up with a European uppercut and a Polish Hammer. Chuck rolls to the outside to stop the assault, but Pac comes at him with a dive! Icarus picks up Stone and hits the Blu-Ray DVD for the two count. Icarus looks for the Pedigree, but Stone powers him up. Stone lands a big suplex dropping Icarus right on his head. Chuck breaks up the pin and Pac rolls him up for the two. Chuck banderas Pac to the apron, and Pac jumps back in with an RKO! Pac hits a standing corkscrew moonsault for the two! Pac comes off the ropes, and Chuck catches him each time with an elbow. Chuck catches him with a capture suplex, and kips right back up. Chuck hits the ropes and is caught with a suplex by Stone. Icarus looks for the Shiranui, but Stone counters. Chuck comes in and F.I.S.T hits a double team kick to the head. Pac breaks up the pin. Pac looks for a springboard maneuver on Chuck, but Chuck ducks and lands the Sole Food! Icarus lands the Shiranui, but only gets the two! Pac counters both Icarus and Chuck’s attacks. Martin hits a big time lariat on Icarus, and Pac lands the Shooting Star Press for the three! This match was excellent; all the competitors brought their best to the table and really delivered. It was nice seeing Chuck back in CHIKARA after being absent for the past couple months. So far, the best match in the first round. ***1/2

The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Player Dos) vs. 2.0 (Jagged & Shane Matthews)
From “Cibernetico Begins”: November 15th, 2008

Jagged says he and Shane Matthews are in a very familiar position with zero points to their name. Jagged says since the SSB just lost their Campeones de Parejas they’re in the same boat as 2.0. Jagged flubs up, but they continue on with a very goofy and awesome promo.

Dos and Shane lock up, and Shane shoves Dos down to the mat. Dos and Shane go back and forth each man trying to gain the advantage. Dos’ speed allows him to get the advantage with a spinning headscissors. Uno and Jagged tag in after their partners leave the ring. Uno applaudes Jagged for evading a hip toss, but Uno then delivers a couple vicious chops. Uno goes for a sunset flip, and Jagged stops him. Jagged looks to apply the CHIKARA Special, but is clueless as to how to apply it. Jagged asks Dos how to apply, and Dos helps him apply it. Dos then pushes Uno over for a two count pin. The fans applaud and laugh. The Super Smash Bros. double team Jagged after he chastises them. Shane comes in as the legal man after Jagged slides out. The SSB duck a clothesline attempt, then hit him with a clothesline/619 to the back combo. Jagged and Shane recoup on the outside. Uno fakes them out with a dive, but then Dos leaps up for a springboard tope! The fans chant for Dos as he tosses Shane to Uno. Uno pins Shane for the two. The SSB hit a fist drop/moonsault double team for another two count. Shane catches Dos in the corner and slams him down. Jagged goes up top teasing a move, but walks down from the top rope to hit a head butt instead. Jagged stretches Dos on the mat, while twisting his mask out of place and biting his fingers in the process. 2.0 continue their beat down on Dos, relentlessly looking for the victory. Luckily for Dos, Uno continues to break up 2.0’s pinfall attempts. Jagged pulls Uno off the apron when Dos is close enough to attempt a tag. Dos turns a double clothesline into a backflip, kicking both members of 2.0 in the head. Dos then rolls under a double clothesline to make the Ricky Morton tag! Uno comes in a house of fire taking down both members of 2.0. Uno lands a Michinoku Driver on Jagged for the two after Shane breaks it up. Uno pushes Jagged into Shane, forcing Shane to give him a stunner. He throws Shane into Jagged, forcing Shane to land a DDT while Uno hits a Shiranui on Jagged! 2.0 send Dos to the outside and hit a tandem STO on Uno. They hit a double DDT, but Dos breaks up the pinfall attempt. Jagged ducks an attack from Dos and launches him in the air. Dos is caught in a spear from Shane, and Shane covers for the two! The SSB hit a sunset flip/suplex combination on Jagged, then follow up with the Pac Man Fever for the win! The SSB earn their first point on their quest to regain the titles. This match was so much fun; both teams looked awesome and put on a great match. 2.0 were hilarious through out the entire match, and the crowd ate it up. ***1/4

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston
From “Armdrags to Riches”: November 16th, 2008

These two lock up and Claudio goes for an early pin. Claudio tries his best to get a grip on Kingston, but Kingston refuses to give. Eddie rolls outside the ring to take a breather. Claudio waste locks Eddie and rolls around looking for a pin. Claudio dead-lifts Eddie up to his feet, and Kingston grabs the ropes. Claudio continues to hold Kingston down on the mat, and dead lifts him up again. This time he lifts him into a gut wrench suplex! Eddie rolls to the outside even with Claudio trying to stop him. Kingston comes in and both put up their dukes! Claudio brings Kingston to the corner however, and throws him out with a underhook suplex! Claudio tries again, but Eddie slams his face on the second turnbuckle. Eddie hits a belly to belly suplex for the two count. Eddie chops Claudio and then lands an exploder suplex. Claudio fights up, but Eddie lays some more chops on him. Eddie chokes Claudio with his boot in the corner. Eddie delivers some strikes to Claudio’s mid-section, then to his face. Claudio tries to fight back but another shot crumples Claudio to the mat. Eddie throws some uppercuts in the corner, and Claudio is fired up by it. Kingston throws Claudio to the other corner and catches Claudio with a Yakuza kick. Eddie hits a clothesline, and Claudio blows back with one of his own! The camera shows us that small cut has been made on Eddie’s eye lid. Claudio ducks an elbow and hits a barrage of European uppercuts. Claudio catches Eddie with a power slam out of the corner for a two count. Claudio dead lifts Eddie onto his shoulder for a Samoan Drop! On their feet, Claudio and Kingston exchange shots. Claudio goes for the Sweet Schwinn Music, but Kingston catches his leg and slams him down to the mat. Eddie follows up with a Sliding D, but only gets a two. Claudio blocks a Back Drop Driver, and Claudio tries for a Dead Lift German. Eddie elbows Claudio in the face to escape. Claudio still manages to hit the Dead Lift German but only for the two! Claudio calls for the Ricola Bomb. As he sets up, Kingston turns it into the Back Drop Driver. Kingston goes for the Backfist to the Future but Claudio ducks. Claudio follows with a European uppercut and the Sweet Schwinn Music. Claudio sets up Kingston for the Ricola Bomb. Kingston twists out and smacks Claudio with the Backfist to the Future! Eddie follows up another Back Drop Driver, and Claudio amazingly kicks out! A pissed of Kingston tries for another Back Drop Driver. Claudio counters by pushing Kingston into the ropes. Claudio lands a European Uppercut and a HUGE Sweet Schwinn Music! Claudio finally lands the Ricola Bomb to secure his victory. The fans gave this match a standing ovation, and I can’t blame them. These two men did such an awesome job playing a game of “can you top this?” Kingston knew Claudio hitting the Ricola Bomb would be the end and tried avoiding it all match long. When Claudio finally nailed it, it was all over. Such a fantastic contest. ***3/4

Super Fun Times Over-the-Top- Rope Elimination Style No-Holds-Barred Masked-Dudes-Welcome Battle Royal of Doom [and Honor]
From “Face With A View”: December 12th, 2008

This battle royal was set up in order to bring back some of the beloved former CHIKARA wrestlers for one night only. Speculation and anticipation was high for this match; will it live up to the hype?

Just like the Cibernetico, I’ll provide the entrants and eliminations, but not a whole lot more detail to the actual match itself. As of note however, former CHIKARA announcer Carolina Jim is in attendance to introduce the participants! The fans in attendance love to see him again, and I can’t blame them. Entrants enter in 42 second intervals (such an awesomely random number), and the match is contested under your basic battle royal rules.

Entrants (in order) are: Rorschach, USApe, Darkness Crabtree (!!), Shun the Kabuki Kid, Jervis Cottonbelly (!!!!!!!), Pinkie Sanchez, Dragon Dragon, Dragonfly, Retail Dragon (who switched his allegiance from Wal-Mart to Target), Worker Ant, Love Bug, Dr. Cheung, Larry Sweeney, Grizzly Redwood, and Sara Del Ray

Order of Elimination
- USApe by Rorschach
- Darkness Crabtree by Worker Ant and Dragonfly
- Dragonfly by Worker Ant
- Retail Dragon by Rorschach
- Dragon Dragon by Rorschach, Love Bug, Shun The Kabuki Kid, Jervis Cottonbelly, and Worker Ant
- Jervis Cottonbelly by Shun The Kabuki Kid
- Love Bug by Rorschach and Shun The Kabuki Kid
- Rorschach by Pinkie Sanchez
- Shun the Kabuki Kid by Larry Sweeney
- Dr. Cheung by Sara Del Ray
- Larry Sweeney by Grizzly Redwood
- Pinkie Sanchez by Grizzly Redwood
- Worker Ant by Grizzly Redwood, with an assist from Sara Del Ray
- Sara Del Ray by Grizzly Redwood, making Grizzly the winner of the Battle Royal!

In other notes, Grizzly Redwood immediately targeted Worker Ant’s knee as soon as he got into the match. Even after Grizzly won the match, he continued attacking Worker Ant on the floor! Clearly, Amasis got into his ear and made some sort of deal involving Grizzly taking out Worker Ant (A promo, not shown on the Best of DVD, makes me think this). Remember, Fire Ant & Soldier Ant have earned a shot at The Osirian Portal’s tag titles somewhere down the line, so this attack must be related.

This match was unpredictable, exciting, and most importantly, fun. When this match was first announced, I, like many, was very excited. However, I thought to myself “this match is all well and good for the long time followers of CHIKARA, but what about the new fans who don’t know these guys that well?” Fortunately, CHIKARA thought the same thing. Not only did they include plenty of participants the current fans would know, but also tied in a very relevant and current storyline plot at the end. I really loved everything about this Battle Royal. I feel weird rating it, so I won’t. Rest assured though that it was awesome.

The Future Is Now (Equinox, Lince Dorado, & Helios) vs. The UnStable (Vin Gerard, STIGMA, & Colin Delaney)
From “Face With A View”: December 12th, 2008

Equinox rams Colin head first in between the turn posts. Colin tries to fight back, but Jimmy is too quick and aggressive. Equinox is distracted by the other members of the UnStable, allowing Colin to attack from behind. Vin is tagged in and caught in a scoop slam. Equinox then slams Colin onto Vin, and Colin rolls to the floor. Lince tags in and springboard arm drag’s Vin down. Vin comes back with a shoulder. Vin locks his hands into Lince’s trying for the pin. Lince Mexican catapults into a sunset flip for two. Lince then headscissors into another pin for two. Lince heads up top and jumps off. He eventually arm drags Vin to the floor and fakes a dive. STIGMA and Helios come in. STIGMA chops away at Helios. Helios comes back with an arm drag, then a few pinning combinations. STIGMA ducks an elbow and lays in the forearm shots. Helios comes off with a kick flip in the corner. He goes for the cannonball senton, but Colin moves STIGMA out of the way. Vin flies out of the corner with a clothesline. Vin attacks Equinox and Lince. Vin pulls Helios over to the UnStable’s corner. The UnStable has found their target to isolate. They continue to beat him down with punishing strikes and tandem offense. Of course they manage to mock The Future Is Now in between beat downs. Helios flips over a double back drop attempt and scoots out to the floor. This tags in a member of his team. Equinox and Lince come in and take down all three members of the UnStable. Equinox accidentally hits Lince, but they work it out. Vin catches Equinox with a choke STO, then beats the crap out of Equinox’s head, even ripping at the mask. The UnStable then decide to isolate Equinox and beat him down. The UnStable does a good job cheating whenever Bryce isn’t looking. Vin continues to try and pull of Equinox’s mask, but fails. Equinox ducks a clothesline and spins into an inverted DDT! Lince hops off the apron when Equinox wants a tag, and heads to the UnStable’s corner and pulls them off. Helios comes in as the legal man when Equinox leaves the ring. Helios takes out Vin, then hits a cartwheel moonsault onto STIGMA and Colin Delaney! Lince hops off the top rope onto Vin. Helios follows up with double knees, but is taken out with a big release German suplex. Equinox goes for the Overbomb only for Colin to cut him off. STIGMA and Colin hit a big Electric Chair/lung blower combination on Helios! Vin goes for the pin but Lince breaks it out. STIGMA lands the Stigmata on Lince, and Equinox breaks that up. Colin takes shots at Equinox. STIGMA puts him on his shoulders. Vin looks for the Doomsday Device, but Vin misses and hits Colin on the mat. Equinox flips STIGMA over in a reverse hurricanrana. Equinox throws Colin to the floor, and Lince headscissors Vin to the floor. Equinox lands a tope into a DDT onto Colin, Lince lands an Asai moonsault onto Vin to the floor, and Helios hits a big Shooting Star Press onto STIGMA inside the ring. That’s enough to score Helios the pin! A very good main event here, getting The Future Is Now over as the big new trio. The UnStable did a fine job playing the role of the heels as well. ***1/2

Young Lions Cup
Vin Gerard (Champion) vs. Equinox
From “Duel & Duality”: December 14th, 2008

Equinox and Vin really take it to one another. Vin does his damndest to rip Equinox’s mask off from the get go. Equinox blasts Vin Gerard in the face with a forearm, as both men are on the arena floor. Equinox continues the assault with a barrage of chops. Equinox hits his hand on the ring post, and Vin chokes Equinox back into the ring. Equinox blocks an attack from Vin in the corner. Equinox runs out and is knocked down with a flying clothesline from Vin. Vin beats on Equinox while he lay on the mat. Vin applies a stretch while pulling on the mask of Equinox. Vin hits a double underhook suplex. Vin trips Equinox to the mat and follows it up with a senton on Equinox’s upper chest. Vin tries once more to pull off the mask, which has some laces untied. Remember, it’s an instant disqualification if Vin unmasks Equinox. Vin rakes his finger nails across the back of Equinox. Equinox fights his way up, and hits his patented dropkick from the second turnbuckle. Equinox comes back with some hard shots and a big back body drop. Vin reverses a whip, and goes for a Michinoku Driver. Equinox locks on the End Time instead, but Vin turns him up into a Michinoku Driver. Equinox kicks out at two. Vin looks to apply the CHIKARA Special, but Equinox rolls out. On their feet, Equinox lands a hurricanrana and an inverted DDT. Equinox hits a standing shooting star press for the two! That was a signature move of the original Equinox. Equinox fires up and picks up Vin. Vin lands the Hot Shot and suplex’s Equinox. Vin locks on the CHIKARA Special! The fans loudly chant “PLEASE DON’T TAP!”, and he twists out. Equinox locks on Vin’s STF! The fans are going nuts as Vin reaches for the bottom rope. Vin gets it and Equinox lets go. Vin snaps Equinox down with a leg mare and applies the STF himself! Vin lets go and goes for Equinox’s mask instead. Bryce Remsburg keeps attempting to stop him, but Vin refuses. Equinox fights back and sets up for the Overbomb. Vin escapes and accidentally knocks Bryce down. Vin drops down holding his crotch, pretending as if Equinox had fouled him. Equinox then throws off his mask and falls to the mat! Both the foul and un-masking count as instant disqualifications in CHIKARA! A confused Bryce stands in the middle of the ring looking at Vin, while holding the mask at the same time. Leonard F. Chikarason comes out demanding a microphone. Leonard says he has seen enough shenanigans here tonight. Leonard says effective immediately, the Young Lions Cup is being held up! Leonard takes the cup with him and heads backstage. An enraged Vin Gerard pushes Louden Noxious out of the way and runs to the back after Leonard. An unmasked Jimmy Olsen smiles and holds up the mask in the middle of the ring. This was awesome story telling once again by both men. It ended the season with fans questioning what the fate of the Young Lions Cup was, while giving them a good match in the process. ***1/2

The CHIKARA Special Music Video
An amazing video that recaps the history of the CHIKARA Special from its inception at “Aniversario?” is shown, and explains the match that follows it very, very well. I have found the video on youtube, so here it is!



Mike Quackenbush & Tim Donst vs. The UnStable (STIGMA & Colin Delaney)
From “Duel & Duality”: December 14th, 2008

Quack twists Colin around by his arm for the first portion of the mat. Colin cuts Quack off with a knee to the stomach. Quack reverses an attack out of the corner into a back body drop. STIGMA runs in the ring and attacks Quack from behind. Quack stops a double team maneuver and causes STIGMA to attack Colin severeal times. Quack takes STIGMA down hard with an arm drag and looks for the CHIKARA Special. Quack continues to assault STIGMA and tags in Donst. Donst takes him over with a back drop then a suplex. Donst uses a second rope assist to once again muscle over STIGMA for a supelx. Colin comes in to help out STIGMA, but Donst forces STIGMA to slap him in the face. Donst then suplexes Colin onto STIGMA. Donst places Colin on STIGMA’s shoulders. Donst takes over STIGMA with a drop toe hold, bringing both members of the UnStable to the mat. Donst rolls over into a double boston crab! Colin gets out and hits the ropes. Donst back drops Colin while remaining in the crab. STIGMA kicks out of it, but is knocked down with an elbow. Donst’s knees buckle while heads out to the floor to attack Colin. Colin puts Donst on the apron, and STIGMA kicks him head first off the apron! Donst lay on the arena floor, with referees and Hydra checking on him. Meanwhile, Quack and STIGMA continue to battle inside the ring. The UnStable is able to easily take advantage, with the math being a two on one affair. The Unstable take advantage with a brutal double team assault. STIGMA and Colin land an electric chair drop/lung blower combo which takes a lot out of Quack. Quack tries the La Magistral on Colin, then goes for the corner, but there is no one there to tag. The UnStable quickly strikes back, continuing their assault on Quack. Quack fights back valiantly, even landing a double DDT with a flip off the second rope! Jigsaw, with the mask hops on the apron and extends his hand. Quack is able to make it to his feet and proudly tags him in. Jigsaw hops in and takes out the UnStable himself. Jigsaw hits his signature moves, not missing a step since he’s been out of CHIKARA. Jigsaw pins Colin for the two count. Quack and Jigsaw double team STIGMA in the corner. Quack palm strikes him, and Jigsaw hits a hurricanarana off the top rope. Quack follows up with Swanton and Colin breaks up the count. Jigsaw is tossed to the floor by Colin. Quack looks for the CHIKARA Special but Colin puts him on the apron. Colin wants to sunset flip him to the floor but Quack double stomps on his chest instead. Quack hits the ropes and flies onto Colin with a senton! Jigsaw, after a couple misses, cracks STIGMA with his super kick! Jigsaw lands STIGMA with the Jig N’ Tonic for the pinfall and the victory! The fans are going crazy. Jigsaw and Quack embrace as the fans give them a standing ovation. I’ll admit, this was quite the predictable match, but it doesn’t matter. The fans knew it was going to happen, but most importantly, they wanted it to happen. No need to swerve anybody here. The match itself was alright, but picked up when Donst was taken out, and once again when Jigsaw hit the ring. ***1/4

The 411: Really good stuff overall on this disc. A lot of matches crucial to the 2008 season are on here, and some awesome matches like Kingston/Claudio and F.I.S.T vs. Pac & Stone make this worth the watch. Oh yeah, BUY THIS SET. If you’re new to CHIKARA and don’t know which shows or DVD’s to buy, this is a great one to start yourself off with to introduce you to everyone.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]