CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix 2005 Night 1

FIST (Icarus & Gran Akuma) vs Team WXW (Mana & John Cabbie)

Nicely worked opener, with FIST portrayed as the more fluid unit, but Mana being the wildcard factor in the match. FIST control Cabbie early with some nice double teams, but suffer when Mana gets tagged in. He’s a big guy, who easily puts both guys on his shoulders for a Samoan drop before blitzing Akuma in the corner with shoulder barges and running knees. Mana even no sells a pair of dropkicks, really getting put over, before Cabbie blind tags back in, and in the melee accidentally superkicks his own partner. Icarus hits a spinning flapjack on Cabbie for the win. Good stuff.

Davey Andrews & Shane Hagadorn vs the Ring Crew Express

For a guy who vanished off the face of the wrestling earth the same year, Andrews seemed pretty decent. He and Hagadorn are representing Ring of Honor as their students, and even heelishly put RoH turnbuckle padding in their corner. There’s bit of this that aren’t very good, not restricted to an early blown victory roll spot. For some reason, we get a game of dodgeball breaking out midway through, which is pointless. The rest of the bout is basic, but solid, tag formula stuff which is hard to mess up. The RoH team heel it up, double-teaming behind the referees back. Andrews hitting a dropkick on Marcos whilst Hagadorn held him in an abdominal stretch looked really good, and an Andrews stomach buster got real height on it. There’s a few slightly blown bits, like Andrews not tagging in before a double team move, making it look a bit awkward as Hagadorn was clearly expecting the tag. Andrews hit a diving to the floor, the kind of move that probably explains why he didn’t wrestle after this year. It gets a bit messy after the hot tag, before Dunn and Marcos get the win with a double team senton.

Crossbones & Mano Metalico vs Knight Eye For The Pirate Guy (Lance Steel & Jolly Roger)

This was nicely worked, you can see guys like Roger and Crossbones improving show by show. Here, Roger is really laying his stuff in, looks like his strikes are actually meant to hurt his opponent. Fun early spot sees Roger breaking a Crossbones Full Nelson by just punching the hands until Crossbones has to let go. Fun jousting spot, with Roger carrying Steel on his shoulders to hit Crossbones in the corner. Metalico plays monster here, and he’s pretty effective at it, reversing a wheelbarrow into an Irish Curse in one great spot. For some reason, Crossbones seems to be working against his partner, holding an opponent in place for a kick, then moving him so Metalico falls over. Very odd. Metalico beheads Steel with a clothesline, but Roger turns a flying headscissors into a small package for the victory

Big Daddy (Shirley Doe & Darkness Crabtree) vs Team Osaka Pro (Ebessan & Billy Ken Kid)

The cleverly named Big Daddy team are rather an unusual pairing, but Doe and Ken Kid pair up really nicely in the ring together. Ebessan and Crabtree, for their part, work a comedy bit based on Crabtree’s usual slo-motion wrestling, but in a nice twist Crabtree then takes his medication and works a fun, swiftly paced sequence with Ken Kid. Unfortunately, the pills are his downfall, as he takes some more and has a heart attack, culminating with Ebessan hitting a Shining Wizard for the win. Short, stupid, but kinda fun. Ken Kid looked really good, bodes well for the later round.

Team You Can Call Me Al (Allison Danger & Alere Little Feather) vs Claudio Castagnoli & Arik Cannon

Smartly worked intergender match, with the women outsmarting the larger men in the early stages. Really neat spot with Claudio elevating Danger high into the air, only for her to land and flip him into a crucifix. Alere becomes face in peril, with Claudio hitting a nice giant swing into a Cannon dropkick. Cannon also hits a really good looking fistdrop. This is a short match though, and it breaks down a bit sloppily towards the end. Danger gets a nearfall on Cannon with an STO, but Claudio saves. A Glimmering Warlock and Ricola Bomb finish Danger.

Rorschach & Ravage vs Jigsaw & Sabian

Jigsaw looks pretty terrific here, working Rorschach on the mat and looking really smooth in doing so. The heel team look pretty good double-teaming Sabian, with a nice Rorschach wheelbarrow into a Ravage running knee, followed by a Rorschach facebuster. They work over Sabian’s arm, with Larry Sweeney on commentary rightfully questioning this tactic, highlighting that Sabian barely uses his arm and that it would make more sense to go after his leg. Really liked Rorschach hitting a cross-armbreaker which he rolls through with into a chancery. This whole match is probably the best Rorschach has looked in CHIKARA so far. Jigsaw is great as the hot tag, full of energy. Sabian and Jigsaw lock in a fun double submission and both heels tap. This was fun.

Team IWA (Din Mak & Mat Bomboy) vs Team IWA-MS (Danny Daniels & Jimmy Jacobs)

The IWA-MS are very much an odd couple, very much opposites in terms of character, but working surprisingly well as a team. Daniels is enjoyably cocky early on, schooling Din Mak on the mat. Bomboy kind of mirrors Daniels, also being pretty cocky, but he’s laying things in a bit stiffer than his partner. Unlike the IWA-MS team, IWA don’t have much in the way of teamwork, with Bomboy breaking a Din Mak cover in order to try and get the glory himself. Daniels steamrolls both thanks to this distraction, until Bomboy tires of Mak, superkicks him, and Jacobs hits a top rope senton for the win.

Team PWG (Super Dragon & B-Boy) vs Glenn Spectre & Mokujin Ken

Spectre and Ken are the mystery opponents after several names get called out and aren’t there (plus the Rachies, who are there, but are in no state to compete). If you haven’t seen Ken, AKA Ken the Box, he’s a wooden tree-man essentially. His size means he’s unable to stand on the apron while Team PWG kick the shit out of Spectre. Spectre is given a brief comeback, hitting an RKO on Super Dragon, but has no-one to tag to with Ken being stuck on the floor. Spectre instead sends the opponents to Ken, taking big bumps as they run into Ken’s wooden fists, but in the ring Spectre gets destroyed again, eating a Shining Wizard, a Kerb Stomp and a double stomp from the top for the loss.

Claudio Castagnoli & Arik Cannon vs Team FIST

The second round matches are all longer than the first round, so they all get a bit more meat to flesh things out. Really fun spot early, as the heels try to avoid stereo pescados from Team Fist, run into each other and then get wiped out by the dives they were trying to avoid. Icarus showcases an ability to hit an armdrag from any angle, much to the annoyance of Cannon. Cannon holding a full Nelson to allow Claudio to nail a brutal looking uppercut was a great spot. Icarus is face-in-peril, and takes a good beating, including a lovely moment where Castagnoli locks in a full Nelson and swings him round, a la the giant swing, getting a good number of rotations. However, Claudio manages to uppercut Icarus so hard that he falls into the corner to tag in Akuma. Akumao gets a Yoshitonic on Claudio for two, but an attempt on Cannon is blocked and Claudio nails him with an uppercut. The Glimmering Warlock/Ricola Bomb combo gets the three.

Ring Crew Express vs Jigsaw & Sabian

Two popular teams here sees this match receiving some duelling chants. Nice even stuff to begin, with Marcos and Sabian working some fun mat exchanges, whilst Dunn and Jigsaw work quicker, rope-running sequences. Sabian and Jigsaw hit dual topes to take control. Lovely spot sees Jigsaw holding Dunn in place in a surfboard to eat a top rope stomp. Jigsaw misses a 450 legdrop, allowing Dunn to tag in Marcos, and we get a melee of action in the ring. The Ring Crew Express hit the assisted senton, but Sabian saves, and the Sliced Bread #2 is reversed into a Jig’N’Tonic in a smooth sequence for three.

Jimmy Jacobs & Danny Daniels vs Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy

Interestingly, Jacobs hints at a heelish nature in this match, acting even more douchey than his partner, a guy who is working heel. It’s the addition of little cocky touches, like shaking off his fist after a great punch. Daniels drills Roger, who becomes face-in-peril, with some lovely looking kneedrops, really driving the knee into him. Both members of the IWA team hit airplane spins on Roger in a fun spot. Steel cleans up after a blind tag, and locks in his “unbreakable” Boston Crab on Jacobs. There’s a slightly clumsy bit, with Steel backdropping Daniels out of the ring as he tries to break it, whilst still holding onto Jacobs, didn’t flow very well. Jacobs gets dragged to the centre of the ring, and has to tap out.

Super Dragon & B-Boy vs Billy Ken Kid & Ebessan

Going into this, I was curious how Ebessan would fit into this, a guy who’s primarily a comedy worker. The answer, it turn out, is by having Dragon and B-Boy bully and batter him, making him the sympathetic face in peril of the match. They establish this early, with Dragon cheapshotting Ebessan on the apron. Both PWG guys are clearly frustrated by Ken Kid, getting outworked and sent to the floor, stalling for time before re-entering, before feasting like piranhas when Ebessan gets in. The beat him down in the corner, B-Boy locks in a nasty bridging Cobra Clutch on the mat, Super Dragon hits a nasty cappo kick in the corner followed by a B-Boy dropkick to the face…basically a big kicking to a likable schlub like Ebessan. Ebessan kicks out of just enough to remain credible, not taking any big killshots, just a lot of sustained offence. He makes the tag after Super Dragon misses a corner charge spectacularly, flying into the post, and Ken Kid is a ball of energy on offence. He hits a lovely cannonball from the second rope to the floor on B-Boy, only to be stopped by an unlikely leaping rana from Super Dragon, who shows great athleticism. Loved the end of this one, BKK ends up alone with B-Boy, and he circles him round by the arms, suddenly switching it into a backslide and he gets the three, thrusting his legs into the air on the final count to add more weight and to avoid Super Dragon’s save. Absolutely great stuff.

CHIKARA Fear of Music (2004)

Crossbones, Mano Metalico & Rorschach vs Jolly Roger, Icarus & Lance Steel

Super fun trios match, helped by Crossbones being a Grade-A trash-talker. He’s on it throughout the entire match, managing to just about avoid being irritating. Loved seeing Roger hit a sort of proto-Codebreaker on Metalico. The heat is worked on Roger, and it’s nice to see Rorschach finally starting to improve. He hits a really neat slingshot elbow and his Indian Deathlock has a nice bridge. For such a big guy, it’s fun seeing Metalico stop an offensive run by Roger with a poke to the eye. Roger gets the hot tag after blocking a Crossbones superplex and nailing a blockbuster. Things break down, and start getting a bit sloppy. Icarus hits a clumsy looking top rope dive, Crossbones almost drops Jolly Roger on his head by not holding the head on an Air Raid Crash and wrestlers get thrown out of the ring in a clumsy fashion. Rorschach hits a nice Dragon Suplex on Lance Steel for the win.

Darkness Crabtree vs Allison Danger

This wasn’t great, they’re playing up Crabtree being a bit creepy when facing a woman, which is a little uncomfortable. Crabtree takes control after he gets whipped to the buckle, and he’s so decrepit that he slumps down, which causes Danger to miss a corner charge. Crabtree misses a really slow People’s Elbow, and Danger hits an STO for two. Oddly, she just tries the pin again and gets the win. That was odd.

DJ Skittlez vs Gran Akuma

For two guys who were among the first CHIKARA students, there’s a bit of a gulf here in terms of look and performance. Akuma is in great shape, moves so well and his offence looks a lot better. Skittlez isn’t graceful in the slightest, which does have some benefits. It makes his top rope clothesline look more forceful, but after the initial opening sequences of nicely rehearsed armdrags and reversals, he looks a bit loss. Skittlez seems legitimately injured after taking a spin kick to the ribs, but he does get back on his feet to continue the bout for a few minutes. Akuma rolls through a cradle to get the win.

Sabian vs Ravage

Fuck, Ravage is so bloody irritating, all faux-quirkly shrieks and laughs. Sabian comes out with a sling on his right arm, and the match is called off. Only included in this review because it gets reference later.

Niles Young vs Claudio Castagnoli

Another match to push Castagnoli’s European Rules gimmick. Niles wins my heart early by working a headlock on Claudio, and slapping it back on every time Castagnoli escapes. Just nicely frustrating his opponent. Obviously frustrates him enough that Claudio changes his gameplan for round 2, hitting a sneaky cheapshot. Claudio shows nice strength to hit a backbreaker and muscle Young back up for a stomachbreaker. Loved Claudio cheapshotting after the bell to end round 2, then kicking the crap out of Young while Bryce Remsberg issues the public warning. Young fires back and gets a 9 count after a leaping 2^nd rope X-Factor, but Claudio stops a second by pushing Remberg into the ropes. As the second public warning gets issues, Castagnoli nails a European uppercut to the back on Young’s head to get the 10 count win. Dug this.

The Dark Breed (Ultramantis Black & Hallowicked) vs Men At Work (Shane Storm & Mr Zero)

At this point, Ultramantis still feels too goofy to be a dark lord like his gimmick suggests. Dig the early double team with Zero and Storm flipping each other onto the Dark Breed. The heat gets worked on Storm, including a bad spot where the ref clearly saw Black get his staff, but goes to stop Zero entering the ring instead, allowing a beatdown on Storm. Black seems to struggle at lifting Storm, always looks a bit shitty. There’s a spot where Black is supposed to hold Storm in a bearhug for an leaping forearm, but he barely gets him off the ground. Ends up with a melee towards the end, and there’s a great nearfall with Black holding a half crab on Zero, and Storm hits a Shining Wizard on him for two. Zero hits a big facebuster on Black for the win, nicely ending their feud. A few bad spots, but this was good on the whole.

Matt Bomboy vs Din Mak

The third show in a row for this pairing, this time with I Quit rules. Don’t think anyone was crying out for this feud to continue, especially as it feels totally isolated from the regular CHIKARA universe. Credit where it’s due, at least Bomboy tries a few submissions throughout, Mak seems to give very little lip-service to the gimmick. Loved Bomboy going to the rope, a la Old School, and clobbering Mak with a clothesline to the back of the head. Mak at one point threatens the Socko Claw, taking out a sock from his trunks. Fucks sake. Bomboy seems really fired up, hitting a side Russian legsweep on the floor, and chaining to an armbar. In contrast, Mak tries a pinfall halfway through the match, showing he’s not really into it. In the end, Mak locks in a Dragon Sleeper with a body scissors for the win. Their best match, but I really don’t need to see this again.

The Wildcards vs The Superfriends (Mike Quackenbush & Chris Hero)

This was a heap of fun, really loved the dynamic between these four guys. The early stages see the more experienced Superfriends schooling both Wildcards on the mat. Loved Hero taunting both Kingston and Marciano, threatening them with cravats. Lovely spot where Quackenbush hits a tilt-a-whirl armdrag to send his partner flying onto Kingston before hitting a senton on Marciano. The Wildcards finally get control following a Quack dive, as they take Hero out on the outside and isolate Quack in the ring. Really effective as, even when Quack gets to the corner for a tag after a double DDT, Hero is still on the floor selling his assault. Hero is great when he finally does get the hot tag, hitting Kingston with a killer forearm to the face and a lovely Saito suplex. Powerbombing Marciano onto Kingston looks great. The Wildcard’s end up winning thanks to Larry Sweeney – he waistlocks Kingston to prevent a Quackenbush top rope rana, and Marciano hits a reverse powerslam for the win. Top stuff here.

Skayde vs Oriental

2/3 falls here, and this is very much worked in exhibition terms. Lots of armdrags, reversals and guys flipping out of holds landing on their feet. None of the falls ever feel built to, with them just coming at regular intervals when a roll up or a submission ends up getting the fall. This means there’s no real tension, but it’s still quite fun to watch guys this smooth working the mat. A few neat spots, loved Oriental rolling through a Northern Lights and chaining to an armbar, but with the falls even, Skayde gets the final fall with a rolling cradle.

Jigsaw vs Larry Sweeney

This is for the Young Lion’s Cup that Sweeney cheated to beat Jigsaw for a few shows earlier, with Jigsaw winning the right to this match in the Cibernetico. Sweeney comes to the ring in a sling, playing off the Sabian no-match from earlier, but then he blindsides Jigsaw to kick off the match. You can really see how much Jigsaw has improved at this point, he comes back with a lovely midring rana and hitting a huge dive to the floor. Loved Sweeney taking over by catching a springboard into a stungun in a really fluid motion. Jigsaw rolls through a backdrop, grabs an ankle and rolls up Sweeney for two. So good. Sweeney doesn’t do anything fancy, but he’s got really nice execution and gives a nice base level for the match. It’s why his DJ Skittlez match was decent, his basic level of competency doesn’t allow the match to get too out of control. Both guys get their finishers kicked out of, the 68 Comeback Special and the Jig’N’Tonic. Really fun spot where Sweeney’s continued cheating backfires on him, as he tries to use brass knucks, misses, but hits a piledriver. However, Bryce Remsberg spots the knuckles and refuses to count. Loved that. Quack comes back out to stop Rorschach interfering, and Jigsaw blocks a superplex to hit a top rope powerbomb for the win. Really dug this.

CHIKARA - The Cibernetico Cometh

Claudio Castagnoli vs American Gigolo

Big fan of Claudio demanding a chair to use as a step for his ring entrance, despite the chair being the exact same height as the ring. This is fought under European Rules, with a round system. Round 1 is pretty even, with both guys doing some nice chain wrestling on the mat. The round ends with Gigolo going to the next door room to get a drink, only returning when on the brink of being counted out in R2. Felt like a comedy bit that the crowd didn’t bite. This round is a bit more heated, with Claudio doing a fun bit of schtick where he kept punching Gigolo whilst holding a headlock and claiming it was a flat palm until ref Bryce Remsburg catches him in the act. He also attacks Gigolo at the end of R2, then continues his assault as Remsburg tells the ring announcer to issue a public warning. Gigolo takes some fun bumps getting whipped to the corner in R3, before Claudio hits an uppercut to the back of the head to get the KO win. This was better than the first Euro Rules match against Sabian, felt like Claudio had already got a better idea of how to work the gimmick

Lance Steel vs Darkness Crabtree

This is actually a continuation of the match from the previous night, a falls-count-anywhere affair that saw both guys leave the venue and not return. They battle back into the ring, and Steel locks on a Boston Crab for the win in an announced 23hours and 36 minutes.

Ravage vs Niles Young

Two CZW trainees. This is one of those basic, competently worked rookie matches between two guys who obviously train together. Ravage is very annoying though, all “quirky” shrieks and whoops. Ravage hits a nice cradle neckbreaker at one point, but this is pretty by the numbers stuff. Young gets the win following an overly complicated facebuster and a Yakuza kick.

The Wildcards vs BLKOUT

There’s a bit of genial clowning to start, but soon Joker and Kingston are viciously exchanging headbutts in the corner. Loved the takeovers Joker hits on Marciano, grabbing him around the neck and flinging him to the mat. Sabian is soon isolated, eating a nice gutwrench from Marciano. The Wildcards work like a classic heel tag team, cutting off the ring, quick tags and keeping Sabian in the corner. Sadly, there isn’t any build to the hot tag, you feel like one or two hope spots could have made the eventual tag a bit more exciting. BLKOUT clear the ring, and Joker backdrops Sabian to the floor onto the Wildcards. There’s a poor looking roll up by Sabian where he looks to be chaining to a submission before his opponent actually kicks out, but he does eat a huge overhead belly to belly by Kingston to the floor, before Eddie gets an O’Connor Roll on Joker for the win. Overall, good stuff.

Skayde vs Oriental

This was ultimately fine, but just felt like an exhibition throughout. It’s 2/3 falls, but barely goes 10 minutes, and at a lot of points it didn’t feel like two guys trying to pick up a victory, no sense that anything was at stake. Oriental hits a nice rolling senton to the floor at one point, but there was no struggle, holds getting escaped from and reversed with no build. It ends up one fall a piece, before Oriental gets the eventual win with a flipping legdrop and a cradle. All the execution was on point, but this is pretty forgettable stuff.

Jigsaw, Mr Zero, Gran Akuma, Icarus, Jolly Roger, DJ Skittlez, Private Eye & Shane Storm vs Larry Sweeney, Rorschach, Mano Metalico, Share Cropper, Ultramantis Black, Spyrazul, Crossbones & Hallowicked

This is a Cibernetico match, elimination rules with only one guy allowed on the apron at a time, with tags having to be made in a batting order. It’s lucha rules, so tags can be made by one guy leaving the ring and his partner replacing him. There can only be one survivor, so team-mates may have to battle each other at the end to be the winner.

This goes long, 76minutes long to be precise, and it’s remarkable to note that it never drags. On paper, a 76 minute match featuring DJ Skittlez and Private Eye sounds disastrous, but it’s very cleverly worked to keep the pace up and keep things fresh. The first fifteen minutes sees different wrestlers pairing up then tagging out, so even limited guys only need to find two minutes of stuff to do. Then, as Larry Sweeney tags out straight away to avoid Jigsaw, we go through the cycle again, only with wrestlers getting paired up with different opposition. The first time, all the wrestlers are testing the water, basic holds and matwork, so by the second go around, all wrestlers up the tempo a bit, leading to DJ Skittlez looking the best he ever has by just getting in, hitting a few big clotheslines then hitting a big dive to end his ring time. Even so, Private Eye looks a bit clumsy and lumbering, but we also get a fun spot when someone pokes him right in his massive eye to temporarily blind him. This also builds the excitement for the Jigsaw/Sweeney showdown, as once Jigsaw is out, he knows he has to let his whole team cycle through until he has another chance to possibly face Sweeney.

The first elimination doesn’t come until the 44^th minute, when Metalico pauses when Shane Storm holds up his “STOP” sign, and Jolly Roger hits a crossbody to pin him. Other fun eliminations sees Private Eye’s mask turned sideways to stop him seeing, allowing Hallowicked to roll him up, whilst Icarus takes a nasty backpack stunner, also by Hallowicked to be eliminated. The only really prolonged heat section is worked on Storm, giving the rudo team a chance to do a number on him. A lot of ref distractions and multi-man assaults. Loved the Yakuza kick delivered by Crossbones to a kneeling Storm. By the end, we’re down to 3-1, a sneaky brass knuck shot by Sweeney eliminating Akuma to leave Jigsaw all alone against Spyrazul, Rorschach and Sweeney. As Sweeney gloats to the crowd, Spyrazul – who had been late arriving and had taking a few brow-beatings from Sweeney – suddenly downs his partner Rorschach and gestures to Jigsaw to pin him, leaving it 2-1. As Sweeney turns around confused, Spyrazul unmasks to reveal himself as Mike Quackenbush, leaving the match and FINALLY giving us the Jigsaw/Sweeney battle the match had been building to. Really nicely worked angle. Sweeney tries to escape, but gets brought back by Jigsaw who hits a shining wizard to finally win the bout. An unexpected, but resolute, success.

CHIKARA Young Lions Cup II Night 1 2004

Ash vs Shane Storm

This was awful. Everything about it felt disjointed and clumsy, especially in the performance of Storm. He sets a bad tone by going down too early on a neckbreaker and is constantly out of position. Ash tries hard here, liked his running knees to the corner and his trio of sentons, but Storm is so bad. They blow a collision spot, before Storm hits a Shining Wizard to advance. At this point, Storm needed to stick with working guys he’s trained with, as he looked so lost in this one.

Larry Sweeney vs DJ Skittlez

This is probably the best Skittlez match I’ve seen, mainly because it comes across as a Poundland version of a Ric Flair vs Sting match. Sweeney (who was accompanied by 3 unnamed henchmen) controlled the match, with Skittlez making comebacks, and did some fun basic heel shtick – begging off before a poke to the eye, pinfalls with feet on the ropes and distracting the ref to allow his henchmen (who were no Anderson or Blanchard) to beat up Skittlez. Sweeney’s execution isn’t perfect, but he’s a magnetic personality already. To further the Flair/Sting allusion, Skittlez hits a nice Stinger Splash, a decent top rope clothesline, catches Sweeney on the top rope to slam him off and hits an inverted DDT. That has to be deliberate, right? He does botch a spinning slam, but his diving clothesline over the top rope to wipe out Sweeney’s goons looked great. However, a distracted ref allows one of them to come in, nail him with a chokeslam, and Sweeney picks up the victory. This was fine.

Spider vs Gran Akuma

Spider is just a normal looking guy, but he hits a big dive to the floor as Akuma makes his entrance to grab some attention. Quite a decent showcase for Spider here, as he seems happy to commit to taking bumps, both on moves taken and moves given, leaping off the mat as he delivers a swinging neckbreaker. Aside from one awkward flub, he doesn’t botch anything, though he does have a goofy way of selling some early strikes. Akuma looks good too, loved the big spinebuster he hits. There is a lack of transition to offence from both guys though, as if a switch has flicked and it’s the guy in perils time to go on the attack. Akuma finishes it with a slingshot powerbomb and complicated submission, and this was better than I expected.

Arik Cannon vs Jay Lethal

For two more experienced guys, this wasn’t particularly great and had a pretty ugly ending. Not as ugly as Cannon’s ring gear, which is terrible pleather binbag gear. The structure here was pretty weak, with Cannon basically dominating 75% of the match before Lethal just decided to go on offence. Cannon’s stuff looks good though, and there appears to be a focus on Lethal’s back. I mean, Lethal never sells his back as hurting, but Cannon hits a big spinebuster, a knee to the spine and a back-cracker in quick succession, so at least there’s intent. Cannon also drops a vicious knee across Lethal’s throat. Then, after hitting 2 suplexes, a third is blocked and Lethal just takes over. Simple as that. Then, the sudden ending. Cannon runs into a Lethal back elbow, and this seems to knock him spark out. Lethal takes ages to cover him, Bryce Remsburg only counts two, then realises Cannon aint getting up, so counts three.

Mike Quackenbush, Mister Zero & Icarus vs Skayde, Ultramantis Black & Hallowicked

Fun trio match to break up the tournament. This is 2/3 falls, but seeing as how the whole match goes 10 minutes, they could just have made it one fall to a finish. This is as fast-paced and action-packed as you’d expect, with lucha tag rules meaning there’s no resting. Loved the Skayde/Quack section at the start to lead to a sweet Quack dive, and Ultramantis takes the Hamrick bump to a matless floor, which had to hurt. The rudos win the first fall with a Black/Hallowicked slingshot/big boot combo on Icarus. The heat is maintained on Icarus in the second fall, until a fun spot where the rudos keep hitting a triple team move, only to let the technico out and having to repeat the spot on his replacement. This obviously end with Quack being the last technico involved and reversing the move. A trip on Hallowicked is followed by stacking Skayde in a submission on top of him for the equalising fall. The third fall fair breezes by, though Skayde looks pretty sloppy throughout it. He seems to stumble his way through a sequence with Quack, before rolling him in a crucifix to win the match for the rudos.

American Gigolo vs Anton Arakis

No idea who Arakis is, but he doesn’t impress here. He moves really oddly, and his standing moonsault looks naff. In contrast, Gigolo seems to be working hard here, a few stiff strikes and some nifty work on the mat, tangling up Arakis’ legs, help carry the match. He also eats turnbuckle on a missed splash with gusto. Gigolo gets the rope-assisted pin after Arakis misses a top rope legdrop

Eddie Kingston vs Jolly Roger

Probably the best Roger match I’ve seen to date, mainly because Kingston really forces him out of his comfort zone. Kingston is vicious here, chopping nastily in the corner, hitting double-foot stomps and nailing a tough Yakuza kick in the corner. Roger seems to be aware of the risk of being eaten up, so fires back with his own nice blows, and gets great height on his own stomps. A top rope cutter is a bit clumsy still, and Walk The Plank is a move that never looks good, but I liked his big dive to the floor. Still, Kingston rightly wins, kicking ref Bryce Remsburg into the ropes as Roger goes to the top, and nailing a top rope exploder to pick up victory.

Blackjack Marciano vs Jimmy Jacobs

Marciano is so much fun as a stooging heel here, really playing up to the antics of Jacobs (who was in full “Barbaric Berserker” mode here). Loved him heelishly putting Jacobs on the top rope, then doing a muscle pose despite his entirely average body. Marciano initially outwrestles Jacobs, so Jacobs retorts by biting him on the arse. Marciano is a lot of fun in control, posturing and showing off, and I like how Jacobs’ comeback wasn’t just due to his speed, but also because he was striking Marciano pretty stiffly. A big boot to the face looked great. The end sees Jacobs try the Contra Code, but Blackjack stops it and nails a reverse powerslam to win. All good stuff.

Sabian vs Niles Young

These guys both come from the CZW wrestling school, and you can tell by the early going, which is all pretty slick in a “we’ve practised this every week in training” kind of way. Sabian decides to focus on Young’s spine, hitting a dropkick to the back, followed by a rolling senton and a penalty kick all to the spine. I loved Sabian’s smarts when, after getting locked in a half grab, he pulls at Bryce Remsburg to pull himself to the ropes for a break. Sabian hits a dropkick to Young’s face so nasty it earns applause. A back-cracker and a sweet looking straitjacket Camel Clutch give Sabian the win.

Jigsaw vs Rorschach

Big sign of Quack’s faith in Jigsaw, as he gets the main event and against a guy who’s been pretty unimpressive in previous shows. One of the fun things about watching CHIKARA from the start is seeing the guys who evolve quicker than others. At first, these two guys felt very similar, thanks to their near identical look, but before the bell rings, you can see Jigsaw has better poise, a better looking physique and better gear, showing an improvement. Here, he works a pretty decent match and Rorschach has never looked better. This is leagues ahead of the Jolly Roger stinker from a few shows previous. Both guys bump big, Jigsaw eating an overhead suplex to the corner and tumbling to the floor, whilst Rorschach takes a nasty spill to floor from the top. Both guys also take big dives, which were impressive. They even get perfect timing on Jigsaw springboarding into the ring, and into a dropkick from Rorschach. Not everything looks good – we’ll not talk about Jigsaw’s twisting moonsault that barely touches Rorschach – but this was a good main event with a great ending, as Jigsaw hits a middle-rope Jig’N’Tonic to definitively put away Rorschach.

CHIKARA Kids Eat Free On Tuesday 2004

Phantasmo & Darkness Crabtree vs Private Eye & Shane Storm

Basic comedy match, worked very simply due to the inexperience of the guys involved. Private Eye’s mask seems to be a big papier mache eyeball, and as such he seems very hesitant of damaging it, not taking any bumps. The highlight of the bout is probably Crabtree using his cardigan to hit a pedigree, otherwise very forgettable. Storm wins with a sunset flip.

Joker vs Sabian

Imported CZW match here, and a really fun one. You can tell these guys have spent a lot of time training together as this was a really smooth match. Loved the opening battle of wristlocks, especially as both made a concerted effort to prevent the other guy getting to the ropes. Joker gets a backbreaker early and focuses his attack on the back, locking in a surfboard and hitting a nasty looking Shock Treatment. This is a bit more vicious than previous matches I’ve seen in CHIKARA, some real intensity on their slaps and running kicks in the corner, especially the Sabian dropkick to the head that sends Joker to the floor. There’s a really nice nearfall as Sabian reverses a Joker Driver attempt to a victory roll, but Joker then hits the Joker Driver for real to win. Really dug this.

Gauntlet Match:

Mr ZERO vs John Brooks

The winner of this gauntlet will challenge Mike Quackenbush for four titles he holds at the end show, which Quack kinda arrogantly shows off before the match. I dug Brooks here, he’s a stocky looking power guy, and he looks decent working over ZERO’s leg after a nice dragon screw. It’s not the most exciting match, but it’s logical and I loved the fluidity of Brooks going from a drop toehold to a Texas Cloverleaf. ZERO ends up winning with something that doesn’t look too good.

Mr ZERO vs Ultramantis

Though ostensibly partners, Ultramantis attacks ZERO’s leg from behind to start and continues this assault. Ultramantis locks on a figure four and holds the ropes to earn the submission

Ultramantis vs Fumar Dos

Dos has the most bush-league look, plain black mask, black t-shirt, terrible binbag trousers. He’s also not very good, with his brief run of offence looking sloppy. Ultramantis takes him out on the floor, suplexes him and rolls him inside for a DVD to win

Ultramantis vs DJ Skittlez

Very brief, though Skittlez finds time to hit a very shitty flying headscissors before a facebuster slam gets 3

DJ Skittlez vs Jigsaw

Ultramantis attacks Skittlez before Jigsaw even gets to the ring, pushing him off the ringpost to the floor. Skittlez responds to this by not selling his disadvantage during the match, and they just have a long bout instead. Even when Skittlez hits his head on the ringpost early on due to a missed corner splash, it doesn’t affect how the match proceeds. Really odd. Jigsaw looked really good here, and I loved his leaping knee to the face in the corner. In contract, Skittlez offence looks really weak – his sitdown slam where he gently places Jigsaw on the match is particularly poor. At one point, he catches Jigsaw on a suicide dive, which is pretty impressive, then just places him back in the ring. It’s like he has no idea how to structure a bout. Obviously, these guys are rookies, but Skittlez is several levels below Jigsaw here. Jigsaw seems to get how to build a match, spending time yelling at the fans before missing a high risk move, giving Skittlez realistic time to recover. The end sees Jigsaw nails an enzuigiri and the Jig’N’Tonic to win.

Jolly Roger vs Rorschach

Honestly, this bout seems like it lasts forever. The initial stages see some terrible work by Roger, slipping on a springboard armdrag and barely bridging on a deathlock attempt. I appreciate that Rorschach at least tries to keep up his heel role, mainly choking and clubbing on Roger, but it devolves to the point of just guys hitting moves that don’t seem to end the bout. Not even well executed moves, with this terrible wheelbarrow slam looking rubbish on the part of both men. They’ve simply been given too long for guys of their experience and they just fill it with move after move with no sense of structure. A running Tomikaze only gets 2 for Roger, but he wins with a rubbish looking flipping cradle from the second rope, despite Rorschach having his shoulder up when the ref started counting. This was wretched.

Hallowicked & the Wildcards vs Mike Quackenbush, Gran Akuma & Icarus

6 man elimination match here, but rather bizarrely there are no eliminations for nearly 30 minutes then they all come at once in a 5 minute spell. The opening stages are really fun, worked primarily on the mat. There’s a really fun section with Quack and Hallowicked battling over a groin hold, and Eddie Kingston’s trash talking is really on point. Also loved the big convoluted submission with 5 guys locking on holds, then Kingston not joining in (in favour of just booting Quack in the face). Crucially, unlike the previous match, it doesn’t feel like moves just for the sake of killing time and it remains entertaining. The turning point of the mat comes when Icarus hits a suicide dive on a Wildcard, and they go flying into a small child at ringside. Though Quack keeps working in ring, you can see Icarus talking to the child who ultimately ends up leaving with his mum. It seems to take the wind out of the crowd, and even Kingston helpfully yelling “Fucking kid will be fine” doesn’t make things better. It also seems to distract the guys in the ring, as things get lost for a little bit. Ultimately, after some compelling heat on Icarus and Akuma (with the rudos trying to unmask Akuma), the crowd get back into it. And then….the eliminations. Quack takes Blackjack Marciano out with a crucifix for 3. Quack gets pinned following an enzuigiri by an interfering Jigsaw. A terrible Kingston moonsault takes out Icarus. A roll up by Akuma on Hallowicked takes him out, leaving it 1-on-1. Kingston then removes Akuma’s mask to get disqualified, ending a rather odd 5 minute spell. I liked this for the most part, though it was pointless making it elimination, as the numbers difference was never exploited or part of the story. They also did well to recover both the crowd and the match after the child injury.

CHIKARA International Invasion of the International Invaders

Melvin Snodgrass vs Darkness Crabtree vs Ultramantis vs Jigsaw vs Sumie Sukai vs Jon Thornhill vs American Gigolo vs Mr ZERO vs Blind Rage

Opening match rumble to kill some time basically, with the winner facing Hallowicked for the Young Lions Cup later in the night. It opened with some old man comedy between Snodgrass and Crabtree, before Ultramantis hurled both guys out with gusto. There wasn’t much drama in this rumble, as most elimination attempts consisted of people hugging other wrestlers stood near the ropes, though Jigsaw took a dumb looking bump from a Sukai dropkick to be eliminated. Blind Rage, who has been the most impressive guy in early CHIKARA, gets binned almost right away, before ZERO eliminates Gigolo and Ultramantis at the same time to win. Some tension is teased between Ultramantis and ZERO at the end.

Rorschach vs Jolly Roger

Roger is basically working a party pirate gimmick and I kinda hate him. This is a pretty bland match, just passable rookie wrestling, with a few fun touches. I like Rorschach chopping Roger in the back, like a cat o’ nine tails, and you could see the Quackenbush training as he locks in a fun looking submission. There’s a terrible spot where Roger waits awkwardly on the turnbuckles, just waiting to be powerbombed, but on the whole, this was ok. Roger wins with a running unprettier, called Walk The Plank

American Gigolo vs Ultramantis

Gigolo is more experienced and there’s a noticeable upgrade in crispness from the previous match. Gigolo heels it up nicely, cheating to retain control, and I loved his seated Cattle Mutilation. Ultramantis makes a comeback and gets a two off a Skull Crushing Finale. Gigolo is still ahead and is able to regain control easily, locking in a beautiful takeover pin for the nearfall, only for Ultramantis to get a crucifix pin for the win. Short match, but fine.

Hallowicked vs Mr ZERO

This was actually pretty good. Loved the early matwork, with nice little touches like ZERO punching Hallowicked in the knee to break a body scissors. Both guys have their partners on the outside, and Hallowicked keeps provoking Ultramantis which allows Blind Rage to interfere on his behalf. Hallowicked concentrates his attack on ZERO’s head and neck, hitting a DDT and two neckbreakers, as well as teeing off with punches and kicks. ZERO gets to make a comeback after Hallowicked takes a needless chance, missing a cartwheel splash in the corner. Two uranage’s get two. Hallowicked hits a non-too-pretty looking sunset flip, before Rage drops ZERO neckfirst on the rope. This allows Hallowicked to hit a Michinoku Driver for the win. Pretty fun.

Jigsaw vs Sumie Sakai

I’m not a big intergender fan, but this was pretty well worked. Here, it actually made sense for Sakai to be able to control at the start of the match, given that she’s more experienced than a relative rookie in Jigsaw, and Jigsaw is so rail thin here that you buy her being able to knock him over without too much hassle. Jigsaw really bumps and stooges throughout the match to put over her offence too. When he does get control, Jigsaw does real asshole stuff, like standing on her face in the corner. He gets a really close two count off a Death Valley Driver after doing squats with her on his shoulders. Sukai’s comebacks come after Jigsaw gets too cocky, missing an elbow after dicking around, though he also gets screwed by the ref delaying him going to the top rope for a missed corkscrew splash. Jigsaw takes a few more massive bumps to put over Sukai’s missile dropkicks, but her moonsault only gets knees and a superkick gives Jigsaw the win. Again, not my favourite type of match, but this was ok.

The Wildcards vs Gran Akuma & Icarus

This was built up earlier after the Wildcards accepted a challenge for a match by attacking from behind, and severely working over Akuma’s leg. The result of this is that Icarus comes out alone and, though he runs wild at first, the Wildcards number advantage gives us a handicap match. Marciano hits a lovely flying knee to the head to down Icarus and the Wildcards are in total control Kingston is so confident he just hangs about in the crowd, while Marciano dominates. Eventually, Akuma comes to the ring on crutches to help out his partner, but even when Icarus gets a few hope spots (like a nice crossbody for 2), he refuses to tag in Akuma. Akuma eventually blind tags in, and gets in a few bits of offence that don’t involve his knee, causing the Wildcards to collide into each other and hitting a nice one-legged dropkick on Kingston. Eventually though, Marciano hits him with a chop block and Kingston locks in the Kondo Clutch. Just to rub it in, Marciano handcuffs Icarus to the ropes to leave Akuma no choice but to tap. More angle than match, but the Wildcards were great as heels here.

Skayde vs Mike Quackenbush

This is for Skayde’s AULL Mexican Middleweight title and is 2/3 falls. With this in mind, it’s a very brief match, with the second and third falls being particularly short. The match kicked off with some lovely matwork, with some impressive holds and counters being used, most of which I don’t know the names off.Things start to heat up as both find their way into the match. It’s Quack who hits a suicide dive to really push things along, and inside Skayde seems to be driven by this, hitting a legdrop to Quacks head and tying him up to earn the tap out. The second fall also kicks off with matwork, but takes less time to get heated as Skayde starts slamming Quackenbush to the match, seemingly to get a quick win, but Quack hits the Quackendriver for the equalising fall. The final fall sees a big dive by Skayde early on, and Quack take a nasty looking bump as American Gigolo pushes Skayde out of the way of a suicide dive. The smack as Quack hits the floor is nasty. Quack just beats the count and hits a victory roll for the title. Odd match, what we got was really good, but it seemed to be over before it really got going.