The CHIKARA Special 1.30.10: You Stay Classy, CHIKARA

Hello folks, and welcome back to another edition of the CHIKARA Special! Today, we’ll run down the entire card for CHIKARA’s season premiere show taking place tomorrow night. In addition, the Wrestling Observer Awards are in and CHIKARA is represented quite well. We’ll take a look at just how CHIKARA did. There’s plenty of time for my yappin’, so let’s make it worth your while.

CHIKARA kicks off season nine with “A Touch of Class”

The finale to CHIKARA’s eighth season was by far the most exciting, confusing, and mind-melting finale CHIKARA has produced since its inception. Of course, that means that the ninth season is the most anticipated in CHIKARA history as well. The wait is over, as after over two long torturous months, CHIKARA returns with “A Touch Of Class”. Let’s run down the eight match card, shall we?

Pinkie Sanchez revealed himself to be the man behind the Carpenter Ant gimmick at “Three-Fisted Tales.” In early January, a video surfaced on Pinkie maniacally laughing and yelling about infiltrating the Colony for the better part of 2009.

Off the heels of his reveal, Pinkie (under the guise of “Pink Ant”) will take on Green Ant. Green Ant is likely the member of the colony Pinkie got to know the best, as they both came into the Colony as the newest members around the same time. Green Ant teamed with Carpenter Ant on a couple of occasions, and is the member of the Colony who was slighted the most by Pinkie’s turn. Now it’s time for Green Ant to step-up to the plate and avenge the Colony by defeating Pink Ant. Easier said then done, especially when you consider how hell bent Pinkie sounds in his promo about destroying the Colony.

2009 saw a lot of hemming and hawing from the women of CHIKARA. Daizee Haze and Sara Del Ray complained about that they had no real competition in CHIKARA. Leonard F. Chikarason did his best, bringing in many different female talents from across the globe. However, Sara and Daizee were offended that he would think that wrestlers such as Shark Girl, Rayna Von Tash, or Bullfight Sora were worthy competitors for female of their caliber. Now that Daizee and Sara are in the Brüderschaft, and Dieter VonSteigerwalt as Director of Fun, they will get their wish.

Their first challenge is the Osirian Portal, former Campeones de Parejas. Sara and Daizee couldn’t have asked for better talent to prove themselves against. The Osirian Portal ascended to the top of the CHIKARA food chain in unprecedented expedience, and have stayed there ever since. Daizee and Sara look to topple the former champions in their quest for dominance. Sara is roughly the same size as Ophidian, so it’s not ridiculous to assume that these women can hang with them. It certainly will be a big time challenge, as the Portal are coming off an unsuccessful title match against the Colony and are hungrier than ever. We can expect to see a new, more aggressive side of Daizee and Sara this Sunday. Will it be enough to topple the determination of Amasis and Ophidian?

You would think with the way things went down at “Three-Fisted Tales” that Ultramantis Black would be taking on some member of the Brüderschaft at the season opener. Well, you’d be wrong! Instead, Mantis, along with his cronies in the Neo-Solar Temple, will be in trios action against three members of the Ring of Honor Wrestling Academy. The first is Andy “Right Leg” Ridge, who makes his CHIKARA debut at this show. The second is Pelle Primeau, who we last saw in CHIKARA at the 6th annual Young Lions Cup tournament in June of 2008 (Pelle lost in the semi-finals). Finally, we have the returning Grizzly Redwood. Grizzly was kicked out of CHIKARA by Brodie (GET IT?!!) and has not been seen since. Grizzly was a full-time Rudo in CHIKARA, so it will be interesting just exactly how he co-exists with his ROH Academy buddies. Grizzly also suffered at the hands of defeat to the Neo-Solar Temple back in September when he and Eddie Kingston lost to Mantis and Delirious. Oh yeah, isn’t Delirious head trainer at the ROH Wrestling Academy? Hmmm….Well, it will be interesting to see how this turns out. Will the most evil tri in CHIKARA score another victory, or will the ROH graduates start of 2010 with a major upset?

Brodie Lee and Hallowicked are no strangers to each other. The two titans collided back at “Cibernetico Begins” in 2008, where both men absolutely beat the tar out of one another. The feud escalated into a war between Incoherence and The Roughnecks, ending with Incoherence getting the big win in the end. Brodie has become noticeably angrier and more violent since late 2008, recently aligning himself as a teammate with the UnStable (although he is not an official member as of this writing). Brodie as his current partner, Eddie Kingston, have not teamed with one another since losing to Incoherence nine months ago. With Kingston going out on his own to defeat Claudio Castagnoli, and Brodie kicking Grizzly Redwood to the curb, it’s time for Brodie to break out on his own. Can he do that while redeeming his loss to Incoherence at the same time, or will Hallowicked once again get the upper hand?

As we saw from a Podcast update, Create-A-Wrestler has been having some…”memory card” issues, if you will.

Luckily, as Player Uno revealed (he is the video game whiz after all) he was able to fix Create-A-Wrestler’s corrupted memory card!

1/18/2010: Questions. They plagued my mind for the better part of the last year. About who my true friends are, about where I stand and above all – about myself. I wouldn’t usually be bothered by stuff like this, you know? I would just bury myself in a pile of games until it would cheer me up. I’d do speed runs through all the Megamans or go back and beat Super Mario Bros 3 without using any of the flutes.

None of it worked. I had some searching to do. I had to think outside the box. I had to try new things and through trial and error, I found what I was looking for. The answer to my losing ways. The Joystick.

Answers. They come at you in a moment’s time. It’s by answering another’s question that you find out on which side you stand. You find out who some of your real friends are. You find out a lot about yourself. Plus, for once, it’s a question that didn’t take much searching for me to answer.

Memory Cards. I know a lot about them. Heck, I know a LOT about video games. When Sugar Dunkerton came up to me and asked me the magic question, everything fell into place. C-A-W seems to be reverting to his previous “saves,” which has never happened previously. No Mercy 64’s memory chip used to get corrupted all the time from the tiniest surge of energy, and I’ve fixed my fair share of those. It can’t be that different.

When repairing certain memory cards, some of the data may be lost, but with a little luck, it can be stabilized.

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Player Uno certainly seems to have been in despair, losing every match he had until the Season Finale when he used the Joystick to defeat Tim Donst. Uno must feel a bit slighted by his partner Dos, who ever since winning the Young Lions Cup ahs put his partnership with Uno on the back burner. Luckily for Uno, his friends Create-A-Wrestler and Sugar Dunkerton are there to cheer him up and team with him once again! With Create-A-Wrestler’s memory card “fix”, one must wonder if he’ll be reverted back to Create-A-Wrestler, or permanently trapped in his persona of Dasher Hatfield (much to the delight of the CHIKARMY, myself included).

The opponents for the Saturday Night Slam Dunk Masters? The UnStable, who have had a somewhat unspoken rivalry with Dasher Hatfield. Dasher took Colin Delaney to the limit in the Young Lions Cup tournament, defeated The UnStable in some capacity on both nights in CHIKARA’s 2009 New England venture, and faced off with the UnStable in an Atomicos match at “Three-Fisted Tales”. The war seems to not yet be over, and with the UnStable’s last trios match a loss (to the Colony), they’ll want to start 2010 off on the right foot.

Dos will defend his Young Lions Cup for the fourth time this Sunday against Tim Donst. What did Donst do to deserve this shot? If you look back, it seems as if he’s undeserving. Donst lost almost every match he had in 2009, with the exception of a match he had with STIGMA back in May and vanquishing Hydra from CHIKARA forever. That latter statement may make him seem worthy, but when you consider Donst was so reckless that he was banned from CHIKARA for 60 days, and that he lost to Player Uno at “Three-Fisted Tales”, the choice for him to get the shot at the Cup is fishy. That is, until your remember that Dieter VonSteigerwalt is the Director of Fun now. Cleary a power move by the Brüderschaft to get all of CHIKARA’s accolades in their camp. Luckily for CHIKARA, Player Dos is no slouch, defeating the likes of Player Uno, Frightmare, Lince Dorado, and Yujiro Kushida since winning the cup in August. Dos doesn’t have his Cup to defend, but the pride of CHIKARA as a whole. A lot is at stake on the line, and one has to wonder if any foul play will take place.

The two BDK members who had been terrorizing Ultramantis Black since the summer finally revealed themselves at “Three-Fisted Tales”. The taller, and heftier man in white was Tursas, presumably a student from CHIKARA’s Wrestle Factory. The other man in white was revealed to be Ares, veteran of the European independent wrestling scene, and more importantly, a good friend and partner to Claudio Castagnoli. With Ares’ reveal, Claudio nailed Mike Quackenbush with a European uppercut to reveal his allegiance with Ares and Tursas, as well as the other members of BDK. These three men will be teamed up to take on Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Lince Dorado, and Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen. The biggest question in this match is who the eighth and final member (and therefore, the fourth member of Team BDK in this match) of the Brüderschaft will be. Last week, I gave what I believe are the top five prospects of who the mystery partner is. Funny enough, two of them are on the opposite side of the ring! Do not be surprised to see a Horsemen beatdown (or for you younger fans, what Cody Rhodes did to Hardcore Holly when he joined up with Ted Dibiase) occur during this match with either Lince or Jigsaw switching sides. Luckily for the other team, Helios is a very easy team fill-in if this does occur. Needless to say, insanity is likely to happen no matter who the eighth member is.

The Colony and F.I.S.T first interacted back at the 4th annual Young Lions Cup tournament. Fire Ant and Soldier Ant scored an upset victory over Icarus and Gran Akuma. Keep in mind that at that time, Icarus and Akuma had been teaming for over three years. The Colony? Four months. The teams would meet again at the season opener in 2008, where once again Fire Ant and Soldier Ant defeated Icarus and Gran Akuma. As trios, these teams fought one another multiple times in 2008 and for the vast majority of the first half of 2009. Heck, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant even took Icarus’ hair. Over the summer, Icarus and Akuma re-grouped and collected the three points needed for a shot at the Campeones de Parejas in less than 20 days. An injury to Akuma forced the team to sit on their points for the rest of 2009. In that time, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant defeated the Osirian Portal to win the Campeones de Parejas. Here we are, going into 2010. Much like 2008, the season will open with Fire Ant and Soldier Ant opposing Icarus and Gran Akuma. The stakes are much higher this time around, with the Campeonatos de Parejas on the line. This will be the Colony’s third defense, with successful defenses against The Roughnecks and The Osirian Portal under their belt. F.I.S.T. looks to regain the titles they held from November 2006 to October 2007. F.I.S.T has been biding their time to cash in this title shot, and the sweetest revenge on the Colony would be to take away the belts they worked so hard to earn over the past two years. The rivalry re-ignites this Sunday; who’s walking out with the gold?

“A Touch of Class” takes place this Sunday, January 31st at The Arena in Philadelphia, PA. Tickets will be at the door, and as usual, CHIKARMY members get in early to get dibs on seats and brand spankin’ new merchandise (like the new replica Player Uno mask!) Be sure to check the show out folks, it’s bound to be one for the record books.

CHIKARA’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter highlights

This past week, the Wrestling Observers annual awards issue hit the presses. Too my surprise and delight, CHIKARA received a great amount of attention.

First off, Mike Quackenbush was ranked 7th overall best Technical wrestler, which I believe is the same position he ranked in 2008 (where he beat Shawn Michaels!) Quack spent the entire calendar year as NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion, and will have held that belt for three whole years if he holds it till May 12th (May 11th was the day he defeated Tiger Mask IV for the title). If you want an example of Quack’s technical prowess, look no further than his trios match at King of Trios Night Two (which includes the winner of Best Technical Wrestler, Bryan Danielson).

Quackenbush came in second place for Best Booker, losing to UFC booker Joe Silva. This means that Quack has the distinction of being the best professional wrestling booker in 2009. That is a tremendous accomplishment, considering the Wrestling Observer audience is very fickle and in some cases uninterested (or even downright abhorred) by booking that isn’t right out of the 80s. CHIKARA is absolutely unique brand of wrestling that is unlike anything else in the United States. 2009 was a break-out year for them in terms of attendance records, big names visiting shows, and forming a partnership with Dragon Gate USA. Lots of the attention however comes from the intricate, compelling storylines and angles CHIKARA has. Fans absolutely love to speculate and fantasy book what’s going to happen next and can’t wait to attend the next show or buy the next DVD to see how the story plays out. Quackenbush is an avid fan of the show Lost, giving Dr. Keith’s quote about how CHIKARA is the pro wrestling version of Lost a lot of credence. Quackenbush winning second place for this award tells the stubborn, cynical wrestling fans what all of us CHIKARAfiles have known for awhile: the booking is phenomenal and deserves your attention. This can also be identified with CHIKARA taking 5th place Best Overall company category.

Eddie Kingston was ranked 5th best overall on interviews. If you’ve seen Eddie Kingston in CHIKARA, you would know just how good he is. His sense of reality is haunting, as you absolutely believe every word that comes out of his mouth. Kingston seems completely genuine, and seems as if whatever he’s facing completely overtakes him. It’s likely that Kingston’s promo were given greater exposure thanks to the ROH Video Wires/YouTube channel, but we can’t overlook the great promos Kingston delivered in CHIKARA. Kingston has won the Promo of the Year award at CHIKARA Fans for all three years the awards have took place. Take a look at his promo from “Three-Fisted Tales” for instance.

Whether it’s being serious or bringing the funny, Kingston has the goods.

Kingston also took 10th place when it came to the Bruiser Brody Memorial award. Kingston’s brawling style is unique and has been showcased in a great series with Claudio Castagnoli this whole year.

The biggest victory of all is Frightmare winning Rookie of the Year. Frightmare won the award in the 411 Mania awards, and it’s great to see that we’re not alone in recognizing his greatness. It is simply astounding to see how far Frightmare has come in such a short time. Frightmare’s first match was in December of 2008, and he can hang with the absolute best CHIKARA has to offer already. Frightmare’s been involved in fantastic matches all year round (Incoherence vs. The Roughnecks, the Atomicos match from “Aniversario Yang”, the Torneo Cibernetico) and only looks to get better and better. Hell, I thought he was a shoe-in for the Young Lions Cup this year given his track record. Frightmare has traveled across the U.S. so far and we can only hope his star will rise in 2010.

YouTube Fun!

Here’s the latest Podcast-A-Go-Go, covering action from “Young Lions Cup VII, Night Three”. Check out the review at my shiny, cool blog!

I know what you’re thinking: “Kevin, your blog is so awesome! Those reviews of CHIKARA’s season finale shows were great! But I don’t know if I want to buy these shows without seeing footage first.” Well CHIKARA has put out trailers for each show, so you can see for himself just how fun they were.

Another spectacular wrestling show is taking place TONIGHT in California, as PWG presents “Kurt Russellmania”. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend attending. TigerDriver98 is an astounding music video maker, and he’s done it again with this hype video for Kurt Russellmania. If this doesn’t make you want to see the show, I don’t know what will.

Eddie Kingston shares his thoughts on Twilight and Jersey Shore

Johnny Gargano’s third “Power Hour” is now on YouTube. Johnny Gargano is amazing, and I’ll get the chance to interview him in the coming weeks! (More on that later)

Shillville

Check out all the new podcasts with myself and/or Jerome Cusson at Pro Wrestling Ponderings We have THREE this week.
1) Jerome sits down with Lince Dorado, Lenny Leonard, and JOHNNY GARGANO to talk the latest in their careers.
2) Jerome and I talk to ROB NAYLOR and reminisce on past Royal Rumbles (I apologize ahead of time for the audio issues).
3) Jerome and I talk with Ring of Honor and EVOLVE superstar KORY CHAVIS about his career and future. This was a fun show, and Kory was a phenomenal guest. If this isn’t available by the time you read this, it will be very, very soon.
The podcasts, and other fine articles, can be found at Pro Wrestling Ponderings.

PLEASE check out my blog I post all my wrestling writings there (outside of this column), so check it out! All of my reviews from 411 and elsewhere get posted here. My reviews can be seen here first, even before they get posted on 411. My latest reviews are both nights of the 2009 Jeff Peterson Cup. Make sure you subscribe so that all my reviews get delivered directly to your e-mail. Click here and check it out!

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.

I once again participated in this week’s “Buy or Sell”. This time around, it’s myself and Jasper Gerretsen going head to head. Be sure to read my awesome opinions nyah.

Ari Berenstein as usual keeps up his great work in the Column of Honor. Make sure to check it out, it’s a guaranteed good read every single week.

Brad Garoon is an obsessive maniac. For it, we are better wrestling fans, as his 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., etc. You owe it to yourself to check out that blog, as well as his Toryumon and dragondoor blogs which you can find links to on his Dragon Gate blog. Jake Ziegler also blog, JZ Says, which has WWE, TNA, ROH, and even film reviews. Make sure to check out and enjoy both!

Thanks so much again everyone for checking out this week’s CHIKARA Special! Make sure to check my other stuff here on the website, as well as my blog. I’ll be back next week to discuss the fallout of “A Touch Of Class”, and whatever else I feel like. See ya in seven!

Links!
The CHIKARA Home Page .
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