wrestling / TV Reports

Journey Into CHIKARA 7.29.15 Review: Episode 1

July 29, 2015 | Posted by Kevin Ford
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Journey Into CHIKARA 7.29.15 Review: Episode 1  

For at least the next six weeks, CHIKARA will be live streaming a special called “Journey Into CHIKARA” through their website and YouTube channel. Each week, I will lead you through that journey.

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Challenge of the Immortals
Battle Hive (Amasis, Worker Ant & Ashley Remington) vs. The Arcane Horde (UltraMantis Black & The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama))

“Sword of Destiny” – Chicago, IL – 6.13.2015

Amasis’ team represents Battle Hive while Mantis’ team represents the Arcane Horde. Amasis smoothly dances his way out of a potential lock-up with Obariyon. Amasis does some dancing after teasing Obariyon with a test of strength request. He snaps off a pair of armdrags and a dropkick. Amasis and Worker Ant double back elbow Obariyon, do a little rump shaking, then drop tandem elbows. Worker Ant and Kodama trade wristlocks. Kodama brings him over in a side headlock. Worker Ant applies a headscissors, which Kodama pops out of. A Lucha sequence sees Kodama slingshot in from the apron with an armdrag. Worker Ant blocks another armdrag and muscles him up into a slam. Remington is impressed with his strength. He and Mantis tag in. Mantis twists on Remington’s wrist out of a lock-up, breaking on the count of four in the corner. Kodama gets in the ring to do some dancing per the request of the crowd. Amasis shows him up. Remington locks up with Mantis, but breaks on the count of 1 when he backs him to the corner. Remington ducks a charge, but Mantis armdrags him into a tornado clutch. Remington knees Mantis in the stomach and throws him out of a half-nelson, then again with a gutwrench suplex. Remington knocks the Batiri off the apron. He thinks of diving, but throws finger guns instead. The Horde get in his face, bringing in Worker Ant and Amasis. Instead of coming to blows, they all throw finger guns. The Horde toss the Battle Hive to the floor, aside from Remington who takes an Uncle Slam from Mantis for a two count. Mantis wears him down. Kodama comes in. Remington catches his kick and clotheslines him down. Amasis gets in a few strikes and leg lariats Kodama to the corner. He and Worker Ant double team Kodama in the corner. Worker Ant spins him into a flapjack. Obariyon drop toe holds Worker Ant on the second rope and knee strikes him in the back of the head. Amasis tornado kicks Obariyon. Mantis drops Amasis with a Falcon Arrow. Remington spins out Mantis into the Fair Winds. Kodama breaks up the pin. The Batiri nail Remington with the Skull Bronzing. Amasis breaks the pin and sends Obariyon to the floor. He tope con hilo’s onto Obariyon and Mantis. Kodama knee strikes Worker Ant out. Worker Ant and Amasis catch his pescado attempt. They pass Kodama up into Remington’s arm. Remington gives him a bridging German suplex for the pin at 13:35. This was a really fun match to kick off the show proper. With the characters being so beloved it was fun seeing how the crowd reacted from sequence to sequence. Remington getting the pin shows right away that he adds value to the Battle Hive in the Challenge of the Immortals. ***

We’re then treated with a Challenge of the Immortals Leaderboard, but oddly not every teams point total is shown. The Wrecking Crew are in the lead with 7 points. We then get a video recap of Oleg the Usurper as a member of UltraMantis Black’s Arcane Horde, showing how he had an issue facing his Wrecking Crew partners back at “Spring Breakout”, ultimately losing for his team.

Trivia Question presented by Leonard F. Chikarason: What was the first match in CHIKARA history? The answer is Dragonfly vs. Mister ZERO.

Botchamania Moment (submitted by Maffew himself): The stairs at “Spring Breakout” breaking under Eddie Kingston as he comes down the stairs.

After some ads and thoughts from fans on CHIKARA, we get a video counting down the Top 5 moves of Oleg the Usurper.

A King of Trios report has Bryce Remsburg run down the13 teams announced, as well as a revelation of Trio 14 in this year’s King of Trios tournament: The Arcane Horde of (Oleg the Usurper & The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama))

Oleg says their are days he fights for survival and sport. Today however, he will fight for gold. He has heard Missile Assault Ant shout his names from the mountain tops, and tonight he will silence him.

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Oleg the Usurper vs. Missile Assault Ant
“Aniversario: A New Attitude” – Easton, PA – 5.24.2015

Sidney Bakabella is in Oleg’s corner, parading around his contract as they enter the building. Oleg side steps an attack from Missile, sending Missile to the floor. As Oleg is posing to the fans, Missile comes in with a Jon Woo dropkick. He gives Oleg the Missile stomp. Missile drives his shoulder repeatedly into Oleg’s mid-section, then snapmares him back into the Missile stomp. They each throws some blows, but Missile gets the better of the exchange with an uppercut. He pulls off a Northern Lights suplex. Oleg muscles him into a backbreaker. Missile drops down the top rope to send Oleg to the apron and clotheslines him to the floor. Oleg tries a comeback, but ends up chipping the ring post. Missile knocks him down with a bicycle kick. In the ring he assaults Oleg with a barrage of uppercuts. Missile hits the ropes. Oleg follows in and splashes him. Oleg drops Missile face first across his knee and gives him a big boot. A rolling senton gets him a two count. He picks up momentum off the ropes but misses a corner splash. Missile gives him three uppercuts before attempting the Missile Launcher. Oleg escapes. Missile comes off the second rope with a dropkick to the chest. He misses a diving headbutt. Oleg hits Off With His Head for the pin and his third point at 8:01. This exceeded my expectations and was a fun hard hitting affair. Both wrestlers looked strong, and it helped forward the story’s for each character. No complaints here. **½

4.0
The final score: review Poor
The 411
This was an odd debut episode. If this was your first time ever seeing anything CHIKARA related, you would think Oleg the Usurper is the company's biggest star, as they showed two video packages with him as the focus, ended the show with a match of his, and announced him for King of Trios. The opening match was a fine representation of CHIKARA as a whole, but not the strongest outing from anybody. If you're a CHIKARA fan, this gave you nothing new, and if you decided to give the company a shot, I'm not terribly certain they left you wanting more. Hopefully they strengthen the show as weeks roll on.
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