100 Percent Fordified: CHIKARA Small But Mighty

Burlington, NC – 10.7.2011

Commentary is provided by Bryce Remsburg, UltraMantis Black, Tim Donst, Gavin Loudspeaker, Eddie Kingston and Mike Quackenbush.

Jigsaw vs. Obariyon

Obariyon slides to the floor. He comes back in and cleanly breaks a lock-up in the corner. Jigsaw breaks a lock-up in the corner as well, but chops Obariyon after doing so. Obariyon tries to do the same, but Jigsaw moves and catches him with multiple chops and a dragon kick for two. Jigsaw gets two with a leg lariat. Jigsaw puts him in a Gory Stretch. He then armdrags Obariyon into a dropkick. Jigsaw slingshots in from the apron but is caught with a gut buster. Obariyon and Jigsaw trade strikes on the floor. Obariyon knocks him down with an elbow back in the ring for two. Obariyon locks Jigsaw in a modified standing Octopus stretch. Obariyon kicks him down in the corner, then hops off the second rope into a double stomp for two. Obariyon catches Jigsaw with a bodyslam for two. He applies a headscissors. Jigsaw escapes and drops Obariyon stomach first on the mat. A running knee strike, a kick to the head and German suplex only get him two. Obariyon turns Jigsaw’s brainbuster into a back cracker. Obariyon hops off the second rope with a dropkick to Jigsaw’s neck for two. Obariyon goes for another back cracker. Jigsaw reverses into an ace crusher for two. Kodama tries to stop Jigsaw from coming off the ropes. Jigsaw fights him off, but Obariyon throws him to the mat. Jigsaw evades the Flying DDT. He hits a sliding dropkick to Kodama and kicks Obariyon from the floor. Jigsaw hits a top rope double stomp for the pin at 9:44. Really fun, energetic match to get the crowd riled up. This crowd is already hot and responsive and I hope they keep that flow for the rest of the show. The brainbuster into a back cracker was really nifty. **3/4

”12 Large: Summit” Tournament Match (Block A)
Hallowicked (4 Points) vs. Icarus (4 Points)

Each guy takes the other down to the mat with a top wristlock. Hallowicked does so again, placing his knee on Icarus’ head. Icarus transitions into a side headlock. Hallowicked applies a headscissors. Icarus escapes but fail to kip up. Hallowicked shows up Icarus by kipping up out of a wristlock. Icarus tries another kip up and once again fails. Icarus shoves Hallowicked to escape a headlock. Hallowicked shoulder blocks him down, then gets two with a schoolboy. Hallowicked escapes a courting hold by running up the ropes into an armdrag. Hallowicked puts Icarus’ track jacket back on to cover his tattoo. Hallowicked locks his legs in order to zip the jacket up. Icarus lifts Hallowicked up in a stretch. Hallowicked drops back down and zips up the jacket. Icarus escapes and continues the battle of keeping his jacket zipped. Hallowicked ends I with an atomic drop. Hallowicked sunset flips Icarus after Icarus takes his jacket off. He throws the jacket to the referee, allowing Icarus to poke Hallowicked’s eyes and hit him with a spear. Icarus chokes Hallowicked on the middle rope. He gets two count with a slingshot senton. Hallowicked lights up Icarus with overhand chops in the corner. He avoids a spear with a schoolboy for two. Icarus dropkicks him for two. Icarus legdrops him for two. Icarus Mongolian chops Hallowicked from behind and goes to the top rope. He misses a frog splash. Hallowicked and Icarus exchange shots mid-ring. Hallowicked takes him over with a step-up Frankensteiner. Hallowicked drops him with a super snapmare and Go 2 Sleepy Hollow for two. Icarus avoids a yakuza kick but eats a step-up enzuigiri for two. Icarus blocks a Rydeen Bomb with a huracanrana for two. Icarus rolls through a sunset flip with a dropkick. He connects with a Shiranui for two. He fisherman suplexes Hallowicked for two. Icarus then hits a frog splash for two. Hallowicked slips out of the Blu-Ray and nails a yakuza kick for two. Hallowicked goes for the Graveyard Smash but instead takes the Blu-Ray for the pin at 15:16. This was quite surprising considering Hallowicked had a shot to tie up the A Block if he were to win this match. With this, both men are definitively out of the running. All that aside, this was an excellent blending of humor and technical wrestling. ***

Icarus trash talks Hallowicked and then turns his attention to Gregory Iron. He says he knows Iron is faking his Cerebal Palsy and says he will prove that when the time is right. He says the right time would be at “High Noon” in Philadelphia on CHIKARA’s first internet PPV. Shortly after this show, Iron would accept Icarus’ challenge.

Jessie McKay says she has grown quite a bit since she was last in CHIKARA three years ago, and she will prove it by defeating one of the best in wrestling today, Kana, tonight. McKay was originally supposed to be in an Atomicos match, but due to Madison Eagles (Kana’s original opponent) suffering an injury, McKay will take her place. Ophidian will take McKay’s place in the Atomicos match.

Jessie McKay vs. Kana

McKay goes for a handshake but Kana smacks her hand away. Kana relentlessly kicks McKay’s leg. She dragon kicks McKay in the back. McKay snapmares her and drops double knees for two. Kane bocks a kick and McKay rolls away to avoid an ankle lock. Kana stretches McKay’s arms out, then grabs McKay’s leg. She grapevines a painful looking ankle lock, locking McKay’s other leg under her arm. Kana sees McKay going for the ropes and applies another ankle lock mid-ring. McKay successfully grabs the ropes to escape. Kana kicks McKay’s leg again. She drops McKay with a dropkick. Kana blasts her with forearms in the corner. McKay blocks a hip toss and rolls Kana up for two. McKay drops Kana on her face and stomach for two. McKay sits out on a slam for two. Kana kicks at her legs and forearms McKay again. She drops McKay with a Rude Awakening. McKay blocks a running kick. Kana and McKay block each others’ moves until Kana German suplexes her. Kana kicks her in the face for two. McKay backslides her for two. Kana drops her with a reverse DDT for two. Kana lights up McKay with multiple kicks with one especially hard one to the side of her head. Kana puts McKay in a full body submission before putting on a cross armbreaker. Kana rolls McKay into the middle of the ring into a Katagatame. McKay taps out at 8:37. Kana got a chance to showcase just how ruthless she is, and boy is she ever. Her strikes were hit with such great precision and speed that she came off the like the toughest person in all of CHIKARA. Poor McKay had to eat all those attacks, but she served as a great punching bag in this particular scenario. **3/4

Eddie Kingston vs. Kobald

Kodama attacks Kingston as he’s coming down the aisle. He and Kobald double team Kingston in the ring. Kobald hits a seated senton for two. Kingston absorbs Kobald’s chops and grabs his face. Kobald knees Kingston in the face a few times for two. Kobald bites him on the shoulder. Kodama punches Kingston from the floor. Kobald drops a running elbow for two. Kingston boots Kobald then delivers a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Kodama grabs Kingston’s leg as he hits the ropes. Kobald spears him for two. Kingston goes to the floor after Kobald rakes his eyes. Kingston chops him on two sides of the ring. Kingston chops Kobald back in the ring. Kobald avoids a corner attack and hits a flying knee strike. Kobald misses a top rope legdrop. Kingston delivers rapid fire chops in the corner. Kodama distracts the referee after Kingston delivers a yakuza kick and a low dropkick in the corner. With Kingston distracted, Kobald rolls up Kingston. Kobald distracts the referee. Kodama tries coming in with a flying blockbuster but takes the Backfist to the Future mid-air. Kingston nails Kobald with the Backfist as well for the pin at 7:04. I liked how this match portrayed how ruthless and cunning the Batiri are as a tandem and just how much of wrecking crew Kingston is on his own. That dichotomy helped Kingston look like a God as he disposed of two men by himself. Too short to be memorable or special, but accomplished its goal. **1/4

Mike Quackenbush says everyone knew that Sara Del Rey was a great wrestler except for the group that ran with her (The BDK). He says he’s proud that she has the fans admiration now that she’s no longer a part of their group, but reminds her that in their match tonight, she’s playing “human chess with the master”.

”12 Large: Summit” Tournament Match (Block B)
Mike Quackenbush (6 Points) vs. Sara Del Rey (6 Points)

The winner of this match wins Block A of the 12 Large: Summit. Sara does not shake Quack’s extended hand. Quack shoulder blocks her down, but Sara pops up and kicks Quack in the leg. Sara snapmares Quack to end his arm work and kicks him in the leg once more. Sara delivers more kicks to the chest and headbutts him. She traps Quack in the ropes and kicks him multiple times in the chest. Quack evades a splash in the corner. He knocks her down but misses a one legged dropkick. Quack kicks Sara’s leg out and takes hold of it. Quack drives his knee into her upper thigh and sits down on the leg. Sara grabs the ropes to break the hold, but Quack takes her right back down. Quack gives her a kneeDT. She rolls to the ropes as Quack sits down on a spinning toe hold. Sara goes for a German suplex once coming back in from the apron. She schoolboys Quack head first into the middle turnbuckle. Quack rolls her into a leg-crossed hammerlock stretch. Sara grabs the bottom rope to escape. Quack throws her with a dragonscrew leg whip. Quack butterfly stretches her while keeping her legs crossed. He throws her out of the hold for two. Quack misses a senton. Quack tries to sit down on Sara after she goes for a sunset flip. He misses and she crucifx pins him for two. Quack stomps Sara’s knee into the mat and takes control once more. Quack applies a cross-legged STF. Sara gets the ropes to break. Quack misses a corner elbow. Sara delivers a series of forearms. Quack blocks her kick and forearms her in the head. She catches him with a kick as he runs off the ropes. Quack turns another kick into an ankle lock, but Sara rolls forward to send Quack to the corner. She gets two with a delayed Northern Lights suplex. Quack blocks a Royal Butterfly and rolls her into a modified sharpshooter. Sara finds the ropes to escape again. Quack grapevines her legs around his. Sara fights free and goes to the corner. Sara catches Quack with a Koppu Kick for two. She puts him in the Royal Butterfly. She suplexes him out of it for two. Quack kicks Sara in the head to block a piledriver. He punts her knee and goes for a figure four leg lock. Sara cradles him for two. Quack palm strikes Sara and rolls her into Lightning Lock Beta. He adds a Stretch Muffler causing Sara to tap out at 15:00. This was so brilliant. Quackenbush, now the Block A winner, spent almost the entire match working on Sara’s knee. Who has a bad knee in the tournament? Eddie Kingston, the guy in Block B who currently has the most points and was on commentary for the match. Sara had to go to the ropes to stay alive, but once she was mid-ring it was all over. The audience was captivated by all of this as well and it made for a great watch. ***3/4

The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant) & Ophidian vs. Die Brüderschaft des Kreuzes (Tim Donst, Tursas, Delirious & Jakob Hammermeier)

Delirious pitches Green Ant to the floor. Fire Ant dropkicks Delirious to the floor. Hammermeier sends Fire Ant to the floor. Soldier Ant sends Hammermeier to the floor. Donst sends Soldier Ant to the floor. Ophidian sends Donst to the floor. Ophidian crossbody’s onto Tursas who throws him overhead, causing Ophidian to roll to the floor. Green Ant and Tursas stand off mid-ring. Green Ant nails him with chops and forearms. The rest of the BDK jump Green Ant, and the other Colony members and Ophidian fight them off. Delirious and Fire Ant are left in the ring. Fire Ant toreador’s him into a fireman’s carry. Tursas stands off with Soldier Ant. Tursas misses a corner splash. Soldier Ant hits a missile dropkick. Hammermeier sends Soldier Ant to the floor and chokes Ophidian in the corner. Ophidian headstands in the corner. He rolls back and forces Hammermeier to do a little dancing. Ophidian then kicks him in the head and applies the Ophidian Death Grip. Donst breaks it but then gets put in the hold himself. Tursas pulls Ophidian off and gets put in the hold as well. Donst takes Ophidian off his back with a backbreaker. The BDK now isolate and wear down Ophidian in their corner. Ophidian finally gets a chance to tag in after sending Delirious and Donst to the floor and ducking an attack from Hammermeier. Green Ant tags in and takes out those three guys. Tursas misses a crossbody and gets sent to the floor. Green Ant follows out with a flying crossbody. Soldier Ant and Fire Ant double boot Donst and double flapjack Hammermeier. They drop him with Ants Go Marching for two. They double team Delirious and then Green Ant joins them for six feet of fury. Tursas breaks the Antapult. Fire Ant turns a vertical suplex into a stunner. Hammermeier drops Fire Ant with Goodnight Jakob. Green Ant drops Hammermeier out of a torture rack. Delirious drops Green Ant with a choke bomb. Soldier Ant delivers a TKO, then eats a Gator Roll from Donst. Ophidian misses double knees but puts Donst in the Ophidian Death Grip. Donst brings him off the second rope with the Donstitution for two. Ophidian drops Donst with the Duat Driver. Donst rolls to the floor and Ophidian follows with a twisting tope con hilo. Soldier Ant and Green Ant trade strikes with Hammermeier and Delirious in the ring. Rolling forearms send the BDK members to the floor. Fire Ant gets antapulted onto Donst, Delirious and Hammermeier. Tursas throws Soldier Ant out. He tells Green Ant that he’s dead and goes for the Kreuz Bomb. Green Ant escapes and kicks out Tursas’ leg. Donst guts off Green Ant with an STO. Ophidian flies in with double knees for two. Donst blocks the Duat Driver. He flips him into a Mad Scientist facebuster. Donst applies a new submission called “From Dusk Till Donst” on Ophidian which is very akin to the Rings of Saturn. Ophidian taps out at 16:37. This was a very fun showcase that moved the Tursas and Green Ant feud forward, gave Donst the win he’s been dying to get, and continued Ophidian’s losing streak. ***1/4

UltraMantis Black makes his way out for his scheduled “12 Large: Summit (Block B)” match with Vin Gerard. Bryce Remsburg brings out a note from Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur. Gavin announces that due to travel issues, Gerard will not make it to the show and therefore forfeits the match and gives Mantis two more points. Mantis seems annoyed by this.

Archibald Peck and Veronica then make their way out to the ring. Peck says there’s so many other things to do in North Carolina, so the fans showed up to see March Madness’ mascot. Peck says their new mascot is Colt (Colt Cabana’s music hits to get a rise out of the crowd)…Cabuny! With that, a giant bunny with a Colt Cabana singlet makes his way out to dance around ringside with Peck. Cabunny was originally seen back at Tag World Grand Prix 2006 with BLK Out member Joker in the role (he unmasked himself that night). Cabunny has now returned as a member of March Madness. Mantis says he didn’t travel all this way to disappoint his minions and sets up Peck for a Praying Mantis Bomb. Cabunny gives him a bionic elbow. Mantis corner Cabunny and hip tosses Peck to start an impromptu match.

UltraMantis Black vs. Archibald Peck

Mantis slams Peck and delivers a low clothesline for two. Peck flips to the apron ala Ric Flair. He sends Mantis to the floor and turns a fake dive into a march. Mantis Cactus clotheslines Peck to the floor. Mantis grabs a chair. Peck puts Veronica in the chair’s way. Mantis of course stops short, allowing Peck to boot the chair into Mantis’ face. Peck chokes Mantis on the middle rope. Peck drops him with a neckbreaker for two. Peck drops him with a front flip neckbreaker for two. Peck drops an elbow from the second rope for two. Mantis gets his boot up to block a second one. Mantis lights up Peck with strikes in the corner. Peck throws Mantis shoulder first into the ring post. Peck tries to boot him but Mantis moves out of the way. Mantis and Peck fight on the ring apron. Cabunny grabs Mantis’ leg to block a Praying Mantis Bomb. Mantis kicks Cabunny away and comes off the apron with a somersault senton to Peck. Peck drop toe holds Mantis into a steel chair. Mantis responds by backdropping Peck on the entrance ramp. Peck manages to crotch Mantis on the top rope. Peck follows Mantis up to throw him off. Mantis brings Peck off with a super Finlay Roll. Peck blocks the Cosmic Disaster with a slam. Peck heads up top. He misses the Cranial Crescendo. Mantis blocks a boot and drops him with the Cosmic Disaster for the pin at 8:28. This was pretty remarkable considering that this match was impromptu. Mantis and Peck showed they have the tendency to be aggressive and put on a very good match when the occasion calls for it. Veronica is very unhappy Peck lost. **3/4

Johnny Gargano says that Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada will have to go to Burlington Coat Factory to look good for their funeral after tonight. Chuck Taylor says they beat Osaka Pro at King of Trios and will do so again in the dirty South, his hometown.

Campeonatos de Parejas
F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano) (Campeones) vs. Momo no Seishun Tag (Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada)

Icaurs accompanies Taylor and Gargano to the ring but is sent to the back before the match begins. This is F.I.S.T.’s first defense. Gargano and Harada doe a fast exchange ending with a stalemate. Harada twists on Gargano’s wrist once taking him to the mat. Kotoge and Taylor tag in. They also trade hammerlocks, ending with Kotoge nailing a back elbow. Kotoge strikes Taylor in the corner and Taylor then boots him down. Kotoge does the same. Taylor pie faces into the opposite corner and rams Kotoge’s face into Gargano’s upturned feet in the corner. Taylor and Gargano deliberately pick apart Kotoge’s left knee. Kotoge catches Taylor with a boot but gets thrown to the apron. Taylor knocks Harada to the floor, giving Kotoge the opening to roll into an ace crusher. Harada sends Taylor to the floor and blocks Gargano’s slingshot spear with a dropkick. Harada pummels Gargano with forearms in the corner. He comes off the second rope with a double stomp and Taylor breaks the pin. Harada somersault sentons off the apron onto Taylor on the floor. Kotoge gives Gargano a very hard headbutt. Gargano drops down to fake a low blow, the same move he did to win the Campeonatos de Parejas. Bryce Remsburg doesn’t fall for it, but it does allow Taylor to roll up Kotoge and hold his tights to win the first fall at 9:38. Kotoge and Harada nail Taylor with double enzuigiris to start the second fall. Taylor baits Harada into eating the slingshot spear from Gargano and a quebrada for two. Kotoge dropkicks F.I.S.T. to the floor. He comes off the top with a dive but flies into a chair that Taylor holds up. Gargano pins Harada for two. Taylor beats down Harada on the floor, then with Gargano back in the ring while Kotoge recovers on the floor. Harada side steps a corner attack from Taylor. Harada overhead suplexes Gargano into Taylor. Harada hits a flying elbow on Gargano for two. Taylor holds Harada from the apron. Harada fights his way out. Kotoge comes off the top, dropkicking Taylor off the apron to the floor. Harada delivers a hip toss knee strike to Gargano’s face. Kotoge superkicks him from the apron. Harada delivers a German suplex to win the second fall at 15:15.

Taylor and Gargano attack at the start. Osaka Pro take over quickly, sending Gargano to the floor and nailing Taylor with some rapid fire tandem offense. Harada suplexes Taylor into a springboard splash from Kotoge for two. Taylor eats multiple kicks. Harada hits a Death Valley Driver. Kotoge superkicks him and Gargano breaks the pin. Gargano then takes a spear/running face kick combo. Gargano superkicks Kotoge on the apron, then rolls Harada into a low enzuigiri. Gargano blocks Kotoge’s ace crusher with a lawn dart. Taylor tosses Kotoge into an ace crusher from Gargano for two. Taylor powerbombs Kotoge into Harada. Everyone ends up knocked down after a series of moves. Gargano and Harada trade forearms. Harada wins the exchange. He eats three superkicks but still manages to blast Gargano with a rolling forearm. Taylor superkicks Harada to break the pin and superkicks Kotoge as well. Taylor pulls out a chain. Kotoge superkicks him twice and Harada forearms him before he can put it to use. Harada German suplexes him for two as Icarus pulls referee Remsburg out of the ring. Kotoge takes Icarus out with a tope con hilo. Icarus grabs Remsburg to prevent him from seeing Gargano strike Harada with his title belt. Taylor covers Harada but only gets two. Gargano and Taylor double superkick Harada. They hit an assisted DDT, then pop him up into Gargano’s Hurts Donut for the pin at 22:43. Although this was the longest match of the show, it felt like the shortest. The action never stopped and both teams put forward an incredible effort. This was just as fun and just as good as their King of Trios matches and the pinfalls in the final fall were all quite believable. A great start to F.I.S.T’s Campeonatos reign. ****

The 411: If this were a race, this show lapped the other Burlington show about four times. The main event and Quackenbush vs Sara Del Rey are two of the best matches CHIKARA has put on this year. This felt like CHIKARA put on a tried and true CHIKARA show in the South as opposed to bringing in the skeleton crew to mix it up with some locals. The crowd was electric from start to finish, raising the quality of each match and making this a fun, easy watch. This really suprised me. I highly recommend snagging this show. Be sure to check out all of my CHIKARA reviews at my CHIKARA blog; "The CHIKARA Special" and all the CHIKARA news over at "The CHIKARA Special" Tumblr.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]