CHIKARA Review: Aniversario Yang

Philadelphia, PA – 5.24.2009

CHIKARA celebrates it’s seventh year in existence with it’s annual Aniversario show/shows. Tonight, CHIKARA returns to Philadelphia, PA with Aniversario Yang. The Colony and F.I.S.T. feud peaks tonight, as we have a Masks vs. Hair match between the two teams. Will The Colony be unmasked, or will Icarus and Chuck Taylor be shaved bald? Claudio Castagnoli looks to remedy his loss to Vin Gerard from the night before by taking on “The King of Diamonds”, Eddie Kingston. Also, Glacier has returned to face Vin Gerard once again. This time, it will be in tag team action. Vin teams with his UnStablemate Colin Delaney, while Glacier has brought back a buddy of his from King of Trios: Eurocontinental champion D’Lo Brown! All this and so much more awaits us tonight.

Commentary is provided by Bryce Remsburg, Eddie Kingston,

Los Ice Creams (El Hijo de Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr.) vs. The Roughnecks (Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood)

A bit of shoving and competition of who gets cheered the most begins the match pre-bell. Grizzly and Junior lock up and exchange go behinds. Junior snaps the back of Grizzly’s suspenders and complains to the referee. Hijo plays air trombone on the apron for no apparent reason. Grizzly punches and hits a boot on Junior’s head. Off the ropes Junior trips Grizzly down. An angry Grizzly boots Junior in the gut and sledges on his back. Junior leapfrogs out of the corner and snaps the suspenders of Grizzly. Grizzly responds with a chin breaker and a polish hammer to the chest for two. Brodie tags in and thrusts his hand into Junior’s throat. Junior makes the tag to Hijo, who immediately poses on the ropes to the fans. Brodie powers Hijo to the corner, but Hijo turns it around and slaps Brodie. Brodie responds in kind and Hijo pretends to cry. Hijo kicks Brodie in the leg and gets tossed off the ropes by Brodie. Brodie ducks down and Hijo pinches him in the buttocks. Brodie goes outside the ring and looks to crotch Hijo in the corner, but Hijo pushes Brodie away. He comes off the apron with a whoopee cushion slam to Brodie. Junior and Grizzly come in as the legal men. Junior slams Grizzly, tags in Hijo, and Hijo climbs up. Hijo climbs down and back up in a moonsault position. He keeps demanding Junior move Grizzly’s positioning in the ring. Grizzly gets pushed all the way to his corner across the ring. Hijo dives off and of course misses causing Hijo to cry. Brodie comes in and boots Junior’s face off and Grizzly kicks Hijo in the face too. The Roughnecks double team Hijo in their corner and push him to the floor. Junior comes back in and gets manhandled by Brodie. After a bit of double teaming from the Roughnecks, Hijo tags in via Lucha rules. Grizzly immediately takes him down, but Hijo fires up from constant kicks in the corner from Grizzly. Hijo rolls up into a seated dropkick to Grizzly. Junior gets tagged in and takes down both Roughnecks with clotheslines. Brodie hits the floor. Los Ice Creams toss Grizzly and Brodie comes back in the ring to catch him. Brodie tosses Grizzly on Los Ice Creams. Grizzly pins Los Ice Creams, and Brodie puts his boot on Grizzly’s back to give The Roughnecks the win! Eddie Kingston celebrates on commentary, even singing Johnny Cash! That’s a win. This was a goofy comedy opener, but wasn’t really that funny. Some of the wrestling was good, and the finish was clever. *

Arik Cannon vs. Ophidian

Ophidian rips up a fans sign before the match that is, obviously, pro Cannon. Cannon does his Kool-Aid schtick which I am a fan of. Arik goes behind into a wrist lock. Ophidian rolls and takes out Arik’s leg. Arik wraps his legs around Ophidian’s head. Ophidian’s headstands into an inverted chancery. Arik comes up into hammerlock takedown to which the fans applaude. Arik and Ophidian exchange waistlocks and Ophidian wrenches on a headlock. Off the ropes Arik doesn’t budge off a shoulder tackle. Ophidian tries once more and fails. Arik then hits the ropes as instructed by Ophidian and takes him down with a shoulder tackle. Ophidian hits a chin breaker. He chops Arik in the ropes. Ophidian hits the ropes and is caught with an armdrag into an armbar from Cannon. Arik hits a sole butt in Ophidian’s stomach then lands a bulldog. Arik comes off the ropes with a seated dropkick for the two count. Arik chops Ophidian. Ophidian throws Arik down to the mat by his Mohawk and follows up with a flying clothesline. Ophidian chokes Arik on the mat with his bare hands. Ophidian pulls up Arik by the Mohawk and again throws Arik down to the mat. Ophidian locks on a legged full nelson, bridging his shoulders to apply more pressure. The two roll around for pin attempts. Arik gets his legs on the ropes to escape. Arik fights up to his feet and Ophidian pokes his eyes and takes out Arik’s leg. Ophidian lands a handstand headbutt and then a slingshot senton to make a sequence of alliteration. Ophidian covers Arik for two. Arik escapes a flurry of offense and hits his patented swinging neck breaker for two. Arik hits the ropes, Ophidian follows, and skins the cat into a headscissors take down. Ophidian hits a spinning heel kick for a two count. Ophidian stretches Arik out on the mat while pulling on his Mohawk. Back on his feet, Arik slams Ophidian down face first and takes out Ophidian with two clotheslines and a leaping back elbow. Arik lands a exploder suplex for two. Arik misses a moonsault allowing Ophidian to get on his feet. Ophidian wheelbarrows into a face first slam. Ophidian rolls over for a two count! Ophidian looks to get the Ophidian Death Grip on. Arik puts Ophidian on his shoulders for a Death Valley Driver, and Ophidian slips into the Ophidian Death Grip! Arik’s arm almost drops for three but he rams Ophidian into the corner, the turns him up into a brainbuster! Arik pins for two and the crowd can’t believe it. Cannon awaits Ophidian to get up. Ophidian ducks the Glimmering Warlock and takes over Arik with a Fisherman’s suplex for two. Ophidian slips out of a Saito suplex then hits the ropes. Arik blasts Ophidian with his hard right hand and a clothesline. Arik lands Total Anarchy and Ophidian kicks out at two! Amasis shows up ringside and holds onto Arik’s leg. Arik is distracted long enough to be rolled up in a Prawn Hold for the three! Holy crap, that was a hell of a singles match. This was Ophidian’s coming out party as a singles competitor and he made the most of it. Arik Cannon is also really awesome and needs to be in CHIKARA more often. ***1/2

Originally, this was supposed to be a tag match. But with Delirious joining the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple last night, this was made into a trios match

The Saturday Night Slam Masters (The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Player Dos) and Create-A-Wrestler) vs. The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple (Ultramantis Black, Delirious, & Crossbones)

Delirious and CAW start off, and again Delirious does not freak out at the bell. Mantis gives some commands to Delirious who attacks all of the Slam Masters. Delirious takes down CAW with a Cobra Clutch slam. Uno comes in and takes out Delirious with a hip toss, arm drag, and leg lariat. Delirious rolls outside and Uno tags in Dos. Crossbones comes in and uses his size to thwart Dos. CAW gets tagged in and hits the ropes. Crossbones takes out CAW with a shoulder block. This happens once more, so CAW ducks the third time and dropkicks Crossbones. CAW dropkicks his leg out from him and bulldogs Crossbones. Dos comes in and attempts a slam, but Crossbones is too heavy. Crossbones elbows and chops Dos. Crossbones takes him out with a clothesline then tags in Delirious. Delirious suplexes Dos twice then lands an arm capture suplex. Delirious pulls Dos over to his corner and Mantis tags in for the first time. Mantis chokes Dos on the second rope then rams Dos face first into the corner. Mongolian chops bring Dos down to a seated position, allowing Mantis to choke him again with his boot. After being isolated and decimated by the Order, Dos reverses the momentum of Crossbones attack into a DDT and a wheelbarrow from Delirious to tag in Uno. Uno takes down Mantis with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and s ole butt to Delirious. Crossbones runs in and cuts him off. CAW comes in with a crossbody to both Delirious and Crossbones. Mantis gets lifted up by CAW and Delirious headbutts CAW to save Mantis. CAW fights back and takes out Mantis and Delirious. CAW lands a modified Death Valley Driver for two. Uno comes off top with an elbow drop on Mantis and Crossbones breaks up the pin attempt. Crossbones whips Uno across the ring and misses a splash. Uno gets sent to the apron and Dos dropkicks Crossbones. Uno hits the M. Bison Stomp on Crossbones, and as CAW comes off from the top rope, Delirious hits a headbutt to CAW’s mid-section. The Order hits a triple chokeslam on Dos for the two as Uno breaks it up. Uno gets sent packing. Dos hits a double Pele kick on Delirious and Mantis. Crossbones lifts up Dos. Uno takes him off and gets kicked in the head from Uno and CAW. Uno and CAW hits dives on Delirious and Mantis leaving Dos and Crossbones in the ring. Dos hits an Enzugiri and Dos hits a Death Valley Driver on Crossbones! Dos only gets two however. Crossbones rolls to the floor and Dos hits the Cancun Tornado on Crossbones and CAW on the floor! Uno and Delirious are left in the ring and Delirious hits a Cobra Clutch suplex. Delirious follows up with the Panic Attack then lifts Uno. Delirious hits the Praying Mantis Bomb then leaves the ring. Ultramantis gets the pin via Delirious’ move giving him the credit. This was a real fun, fast paced trios match. So far the new Order has been awesome and I am real happy with Delirious joining. ***

Glacier & D’Lo Brown vs. The UnStable (Vin Gerard & Colin Delaney)

The UnStable attack before the bell. Glacier is able to take out Colin, and Vin turns around almost eating the Cryonic Kick. Vin then turns into a shot to the face from D’Lo. D’Lo takes down Vin with a clothesline then picks up Vin by the hair. Vin is bleeding from the mouth and is thrown in the corner. Vin may be legit hurt here. Colin tags himself in and D’Lo attacks him with right bands. D’Lo snapmares Colin over before tagging in Glacier. Glacier wrenches the arm of Colin then legdrops Colin’s arm on the mat. Glacier takes Colin over with an armdrag into an armbar. Glacier drops the knee on Colin’s arm. Colin pushes Glacier to the corner and runs his shoulder into the mid-section. Glacier evades an attack from Colin and takes Colin down with an armdrag. D’Lo gets tagged in and kicks at the arm Glacier’s been working over. Colin tries to fight up, but an elbow to Colin’s head stops that. Colin ducks a clothesline but still gets taken down with a shoulder block. D’Lo tags Glacier in. Glacier strikes Colin then sends him off the ropes. Colin stops and goes to the apron where he is taken down with a thrust to the mid-section. The UnStable discuss things outside, and scatter when D’Lo runs at them. D’Lo takes out Vin with a pescado however as Colin and Glacier exchange blows on the arena floor. D’Lo and Vin also fight on the floor towards the entrance ramp. Vin gets slammed on the arena floor. STIGMA runs out and attacks D’Lo while the referee is paying attention to Glacier and Colin. STIGMA throws D’Lo back in the ring and Vin follows. The UnStable decide to keep D’Lo in their corner and focus solely on attacking him. D’Lo escapes the barrage of attacks with a lungblower and tags in Glacier. Glacier runs in and Vin immediately heads to the floor. Glacier takes out Colin with strikes and a hip toss. Glacier catches Colin and slams him to the mat. Vin breaks up the pinfall attempt. Vin takes out Glacier with an STO and Colin follows up with the falling lariat. D’Lo comes in, and he and Glacier take down The UnStable with tandem back body drops. Colin puts a sleeper hold on D’Lo. D’Lo takes Colin over and applies the CHIKARA Special! Vin tries to break it but D’Lo keeps it on! Glacier comes in and hits the Cryonic Kick on Vin and pins him for three. STIGMA attacks but gets the Cryonic Kick as well. D’Lo then gets his revenge on STIGMA by nailing him with the Frog Splash! The good guys celebrate with the fans admiration to end this feud once and for all. This was the best match of the mini-feud and thank goodness it is over. D’Lo and Colin essentially wrestled the whole thing and Glacier was…Glacier, and Vin looked to have been knocked out of it early. **3/4

The Sea Donsters (Tim Donst & Hydra) vs. 2.0. (Jagged & Shane Matthews)

We see The Sea Donsters backstage grooving to 2.0’s theme music while Donst strums away on the guitar as well. That’s funny stuff. Jagged makes some jabs at the Donsters saying that Hydra would fail the wellness policy. Shane gets Donst’s guitar and swings it at the Donsters. They duck and Donst lands The Stroke on Shane. The Donsters then do the Jeff Jarrett strut. Jagged tosses Hydra to the floor. Donst then lands a Manhattan Drop on Jagged. Jagged gets sent to the apron then is suplexed in back to the ring. Shane turns Donst over into the Canadian Crab. Hydra runs in and Shane puts the Crab on him. Shane reapplies the Crab to Donst. Jagged comes in and Shane turns him over in the Crab! The Sea Donsters look confused and Shane realizes what he has done. The Donsters then row the boat that is 2.0’s legs. Jagged catches Hydra with a knee to the bread basket and an inverted Samoan Drop for two. 2.0. take turns working on Hydra with frequent tags and some double team maneuvers. Hydra gets on the Hydralock but that is immediately thwarted by Shane. Hydra sunset flips Hydra but Jagged grabs his legs in a kneeling frog press for the pin. Wow, 2.0. won that real quickly. 2.0. again celebrate getting one point. ½*

An upset Donst leaves Hydra ringside as the fans chant “Hug it out”.

Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, and The Future Is Now (Lince Dorardo & Helios) vs. Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare), Cheech Hernandez, & KC “Cloudy” Day

Equinox hurt his ankle during practice, so Mike Quackenbush is back to wrestle this match before his back surgery.

Cheech and Cloudy are dressed like Hallowicked and Frightmare in their green gear for this match, continuing their trend of dressing like Incoherence whenever they are their partners or opponents. However, for ease, I will refer to them as Cheech and Cloudy still. Just imagine Cheech dressed as Hallowicked and Cloudy dressed as Frightmare. The REAL Incoherence come out in kick ass new black and orange gear.

Quack and Hallowicked, the veterans of their teams, kick this thing off. As expected, they unleash some sweet lookin’ Lucha Libre for the fans. That ruled. OK, there’s some fast a furious action in this opening that’s impossible to call, so I won’t. Things slow down after Frightmare hits a dive onto Lince to the floor. Hwlios comes in with Cloudy who tries to scare Helios. These two also do some Lucha with some stuff that I don’t think I’ve seen Cloudy do before. Helios does the Tiger Walk but Cloudy evades the attack and sends Helios to the floor with a headscissors. Quack comes in and dumps Cloudy to the floor. MORE HIGH FLYING CRAZINESS! Quack pops up Frightmare into a powerbomb for the two. Now Quack’s team decide it’s time to hold onto the punitive Frightmre and bully him. Frightmare thwarts an attack from Quack and tags in Cloudy. Cloudy mows down Jigsaw with a series of clotheslines. Cloudy gets pushed into the corner and Jigsaw hits an inverted Death Valley Driver for two. Cloudy comes back with a tornado DDT, and Jigsaw eats the Big Boot from Hallowicked. Cheech tags in and frog presses Jig for two. Jig is now isolated in Team Hallowicked’s corner. Jig escapes with a superkick to Cloudy. Helios tags in and takes over Cheech with a headscissors. Cheech lifts up Helios and Helios throws down Cheech with an armdrag. Helios hops onto Cheech’s shoulders and takes him down with a rana. Helios German’s Cheech down and throws him to the floor. Sasuke Special from Helios to Cheech on the floor. Lince hits the Lynxsault on Wicked in the ring. Wicked and Lince go to the floor. Frightmare hits the double knee moonsault onto Jigsaw. Quack comes in and applies the Lightning Lock on Frightmare! Wicked breaks it up and tosses Quack to the floor. Wicked follows with a baseball slide. Lince and Frightmare, in the ring, go on the top rope. Lince hits the Spanish Fly off the top rope! Hallowicked breaks up the pin and a chop battle begins between he and Lince. Lince hits an Enzugiri and heel kick. Hallowicked catches Lince with double knees as he comes off with a moonsault. Hallowicked hits the Go Too Sleepy Hollow. Cheech and Cloudy hit a Shining Wizard/Powerbomb combination for the two count. That was absolutely awesome. You want fast paced, fun, Lucha action? This was it in a nutshell. These eight men really laid it all on the line, and busted their asses for an incredible match-up. This was one of the best eight man tags I have ever seen, and the streamers the fans threw in the ring afterwards were well deserved. ****

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston

Eddie takes out Claudio’s legs. The two men look for the advantage on the mat. Claudio gets Eddie in a go behind on the mat, and then turns around into a front gut wrench. Claudio and Eddie shove each other and circle around one another. Eddie throws some shadow punches at Claudio. Claudio picks up Eddie for a gutwrench suplex. Eddie throws an offensive gesture and takes Claudio to the corner. Eddie slaps Claudio right in the face and Claudio responds in kind and then lands a couple of gutwrench suplexes. Eddie strikes and Claudio hits a flurry of European uppercuts. Claudio catches Eddie with a lariat off the ropes for two. Claudio lands his spinning European to the back of Eddie’s neck for yet another two count. Eddie rakes the eyes before hitting the Urinage suplex. Eddie blatantly chokes Claudio right in front of Derek Sabato. Claudio rolls to the floor and Eddie yells at him that he’s a coward. Claudio stomps back into the ring and Eddie rakes the eyes once more. In the corner, Eddie peppers Claudio with shots to the kidney before poking Claudio in the eyes. Off the ropes, Eddie hits a seated dropkick on Claudio. Eddie kicks Claudio square in the face after sizing him up. Eddie steps on the head of Claudio in the corner. Claudio fights back up to a vertical base. Eddie throws Claudio off the ropes. Claudio catches Eddie and pops him up into a Samoan drop. Claudio hits some more uppercuts. Eddie cuts him off with a knee to the gut. Off the ropes Claudio lands a springboard European uppercut. Claudio trips Eddie and spins him around with the Giant Swing. Claudio hits a running uppercut for two. Claudio deadlifts Eddie up to his feet, and Eddie turns into a DDT. Eddie blasts Claudio with the Sliding D and Claudio kicks out of it. Eddie sends Claudio to the apron. After exchanging blows, Eddie Yakuza kicks Claudio off the apron to the floor. Eddie hits the ropes and dives through the middle ropes onto Claudio. They both get back into the ring with Eddie on the apron. A big flurry of strikes from Claudio leads to a battle vying for a suplex. Eddie brings Claudio out to the apron with him and delivers some chops to Claudio. Claudio uncoils a clothesline to Eddie, leading Eddie back into the ring. Claudio European uppercuts Kingston as Kingston dangles on the ropes. Claudio from the outside hits the Sweet Schwinn Music on Eddie. Claudio hops back in the ring with a twisting springboard crossbody for a two count. Claudio tunes up the band for Sweet Schwinn Music. Eddie sidesteps it and lands a Dragon Suplex. Eddie follows up with the Shotgun lariat to which Claudio kicks out! Eddie whips Claudio to the corner and cracks him with the Yakuza kick. Eddie tosses Claudio the opposite corner, and Claudio flies out with the Sweet Schwinn Music. Eddie and Claudio exchanging shots that get faster and faster. Eddie cuts him off with a knee. Eddie looks for the backfist and Claudio counters with an uppercut. The Alpamare Waterslide gets Claudio the two. Claudio deadlifts Eddie into a bridging German suplex for two! Claudio looks for the Ricola Bomb with Kingston blocks. Eddie trips Claudio and gets La Magistral for the pin! A great match between these two CHIKARA main eventers. This was a great battle, but I think it fell just a tad short of their match back in November. Not by much though, and that shouldn’t take away from this match. I very much look forward to the rubber match. ***1/2

Lucha de Apuesta – Masks vs. Hair
The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) vs. F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor)
If The Colony loses, both Fire Ant and Soldier Ant must unmask. If F.I.S.T. lose, both Icarus and Chuck Taylor must have their heads shaved bald. In the case of a double disqualification, double count out, etc., both stipulations will be upheld.

Gran Akuma and Green Ant follow their respective team to the ring with a towel, just in case they choose to surrender for their team.

The Colony and F.I.S.T. go at it right away before the bell. The two teams brawl on the outside of the ring. Chuck and Fire Ant come back in the ring. They go for their finishers early and each man blocks. Back outside they go, and Chuck hotshots Fire Ant on the guardrail. Chuck follows up with a big kick to the face. In the ring. Soldier Ant takes down Icarus with a German. Icarus fires up and lands one on Soldier, and Soldier fires up and knocks down Icarus for two. Chuck comes in the ring and punches away at Soldier Ant’s face. F.I.S.T. capitalize on Fire Ant being laid out by easily isolating him in the ring. Fire Ant makes his way back to the apron and F.I.S.T continues to prevent Soldier Ant from making a tag. Soldier Ant muscles his way out of a pedigree attempt and exchanges forearms with Icarus. They exchange slaps and chops till Icarus boots him. Soldier Ant comes off the ropes and lands a lariat to the back of Icarus’ head. Soldier Ant lands a pescado tagging in Fire Ant and Chuck. Fire Ant comes in and takes it to Chuck. The Colony hit a double boot to Chuck’s chest. Icarus comes back in and is sent into Chuck in the corner. They hit the Ants Marching double seated dropkick and follow with double foot stomps from the top rope. They both pin F.I.S.T. for two. Chuck feels the Ants Marching neckbreaker and is able to kick out at two. The Colony go to the top rope on opposite sides of the ring. Icarus trips Soldier Ant, Chuck moves, and Fire Ant misses the Senton splash. Chuck gives Icarus a chair. Bryce grabs it from Icarus’ hands. As Bryce is putting the chair outside, Fire Ant goes for a dropkick on Icarus. Icarus trips Fire Ant and Fire Ant dropkicks Bryce to the floor outside. Chuck Taylor grabs Soldier Ant and drives him off the top rope through the table on the floor with an Awful Waffle! Icarus in the ring looks to pedigree Fire Ant. Fire Ant powers up and hits the Beach Break. Fire Ant pins Icarus but no referee is around. Green Ant and a couple others take Soldier Ant to the back. Icarus lands the pedigree on Fire Ant as Bryce pulls himself back in. A slow count, but Fire Ant kicks out at three! Fire Ant is pushed to the floor by Icarus. Chuck uses a chair to attack Fire Ant’s back, and the referee is distracted by Icarus. Chuck bodyslams Fire Ant onto the chair which lies on the concrete floor. Icarus throws Fire Ant into the steps. Icarus sets up for the Pedigree on the steps. Fire Ant tosses Icarus off to the floor. Chuck drags Fire Ant back in the ring and powerbombs Fire Ant. Chuck pins Fire Ant, and before the referee can count three, Chuck picks up Fire Ant to inflict more damage. Bryce refuses to put up with Icarus ripping at Fire Ant’s mask. Icarus drops Fire Ant with an Island Driver and Fire Ant kicks out. Bryce says if they do one more overly aggressive thing, he’s calling for the bell (Castigo Excesivo, or excessive punishment). Fire Ant makes a one ant comeback with the wheelbarrow stunner on Chuck and tope con heilo on both Icarus and Akuma. Chuck gets whipped into the guardrail, and Fire Ant follows up with a moonsault into a swinging DDT. Fire Ant climbs up top to see Icarus in the ring. Fire Ant hops off the top and lands the Antzugiri on Icarus for two. Fire Ant lands another Antzugiri on Icarus and signals for the end. Fire Ant hits a third. Fire Ant picks up Icarus by his hair and tries to lift him up. Behind the referee’s back, Chuck Taylor comes in and fouls Fire Ant! Chuck pins Fire Ant yet he kicks out. Chuck turns Fire Ant into the Cross Crab, which won them the King of Trios against Bryan Danielson! The fans plead Fire Ant not to tap out. Soldier Ant crawls out of the backstage area. Akuma tries to clothesline him but hits Green Ant instead. Akuma grabs Soldier Ant’s leg, but a brand new ant comes out to attack Akuma! Soldier Ant comes in and saves Fire Ant from certain doom. Chuck grabs Soldier Ant and tries for the Awful Waffle. Soldier Ant reverses and lands the TKO! Soldier Ant wraps up Chuck with the CHIKARA Special! Icarus mows down Soldier Ant with a spear then lands the Pedigree on Soldier Ant! Soldier Ant kicks out, so Icarus pulls him up to the top rope for a Shiranui. Fire Ant cuts him off. Green Ant and the new ant block Akuma from interfering. Fire Ant tosses Icarus off with a super fireman’s carry onto the pile. From behind, Chuck comes and hits a HYUGE top rope Awful Waffle onto Fire Ant! Chuck goes for the pin and Soldier Ant breaks the count up! Soldier Ant takes out Icarus with a tope to the floor. In the ring, Fire Ant ducks a boot and lands tow Antzugiri’s. Fire Ant counters the Awful Waffle and hits the Beach Break, Chuck kicks out! Fire Ant hits another Antzugiri and another Beach Break, and finally Fire Ant pins Chuck Taylor! Well holy shit, that was a wrestling match right there. The match got better and better as it went along, the crowd was hot for it the whole time, everything made sense, it was exciting, and it felt like a monumental event. It was, indeed. This was arguably the best match of the year, the best match CHIKARA has had, and all four individuals really raised the bar for themselves and the other CHIKARA competitors. This was so good in fact, this deserves all the credit in the world and your viewing. ****3/4

Of course, following the match, The Colony cuts the hair of Chuck and Icarus, leaving them with big shaven streaks down the middle of their heads. They do eventually get shaved completely bald, however, so don’t you fret about that one.

The 411: I laugh at you and you can’t figure this out. BUY THE SHOW! The exceptional main event, eight-man tag, and two exceptional singles matches (Cannon vs. Ophidian, and Kingston vs. Claudio) make this worth the purchase. CHIKARA made this seventh anniversary show a perfect picture of what CHIKARA is all about. This is a great overall show and must buy.
Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]