100 Percent Fordified: CHIKARA The Germans

Philadelphia, PA – 11.21.2010

Commentary is provided by Gavin Loudspeaker (who’s pre-show song was sadly omitted from the DVD), Ultramantis Black, Chuck Taylor, Arik Cannon, Bryce Remsburg, Leonard F. Chikarason, & Mike Quackenbush.

Pinkie Sanchez is backstage. He says he’s smarter and crazier than when he defeated Green Ant at the beginning of the season. He mentions that he messed up Fire Ant as well, but has been waiting to get in the ring with Soldier Ant for a long time. He talks about how tonight is his Christmas day. Sanchez also regrets that he wasn’t the one to injure Fire Ant and Green Ant, but he will be the one to injure Soldier Ant tonight.

Jakob Hammermeier is still wearing a leg brace, neck brace, and arm sling. Of course, no one helps him in the ring so he has to scurry into the ring and shimmy up to his feet. I must say, I’m a member of Team Jakob.

Soldier Ant vs. Pinkie “Pink Ant” Sanchez

Soldier Ant and Sanchez trade forearms right away. Soldier Ant rips off Sanchez’s mask and throws it at him. Questionably a disqualification, but Bryce lets it slide. Sanchez chops Soldier Ant and slides his face across the top rope. Soldier Ant lays in chops in the corner. Soldier Ant hops over Sanchez, but Sanchez dropkicks Soldier Ant to the apron anyway. Soldier Ant kicks him in the chest and goes up top. Sanchez catches him with a kick. Sanchez brings him off with a modified hotshot. Sanchez lays in a few shots and bites on Soldier Ant’s antennae. Sanchez poses for the crowd and the camera, allowing Soldier Ant to come in with a few chops. Sanchez rakes Soldier Ant’s face and lands a few headbutts. Soldier Ant sends Sanchez to the apron. Sanchez blocks a shoulder tackle, so Soldier Ant chops him in the chest. Soldier Ant hip tosses Sanchez into the ring. Sanchez lands on his feet. Sanchez and Soldier Ant exchange running forearms. Sanchez and Soldier Ant collide with stereo headbutts. Sanchez and Soldier Ant trade open hand strikes to each others face on their knees. They come back to their feet, throwing relentless punches. Soldier Ant hits a saluting headbutt to a seated Sanchez for two. Sanchez hits an enzuigiri and applies a guillotine choke. Soldier Ant breaks and looks for a TKO. Sanchez escapes and drops him with the Burning Snicklefritz. Sanchez is beside himself as Soldier Ant kicks out at two. Soldier Ant hits a rolling saluting forearm for two. Soldier Ant drops Sanchez with a TKO. He transitions into the CHIKARA Special, and Sanchez taps out at 9:06. Much like Sanchez and Green Ant from the season opener, this was an exciting match that the crowd was into. The hatred came off as completely authentic, and neither guy slowed down their offense. A fine way to open the show. **3/4

Gavin begins to announce the second match when Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood come out. Grizzly begins talking about his and Brodie’s attack from last night when Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton run out and attack them. Officials and staff come in to break up the fight. It’s to little avail, as Sugar hits a springboard drive onto Brodie on the floor! Grizzly powerbombs Dasher off the second rope, and Brodie throws Sugar back first into the guardrail. Sugar comes back in the ring and gets blasted with a big boot from Brodie. Brodie and Grizzly head to the back. Sugar gets on the microphone, upset at how he got beat down considering how mad he is. Sugar throws out a challenge for the season finale; Dasher & himself vs. Brodie & Grizzly. That sounds awesome, especially after this fine segment.

Arik Cannon vs. Lince Dorado

You may be interested to know that this match was supposed to happen back at Young Lions Cup VII, Night II. Cannon turns a headlock into a waistlock takedown. Dorado and Cannon go back and forth, ending with Cannon hitting a pair of armdrags. Dorado bails to the floor, and Cannon curtsy’s for him. Not very anarchist-like, but I’ll allow it. Dorado comes back in and takes a chop. He springboards into an armdrag and then hits a corkscrew plancha. Cannon gets sent to the floor with a dropkick. Cannon evades a pescado and superkicks Dorado in the mid-section. Dorado avoids a dive, and handsprings off the apron into a headscissors takedown. Dorado goes back in the ring and flies right back out with a suicide dive. In the ring, Dorado jumps on Cannon’s neck on the second rope. Cannon hits a big boot and a twisting neckbreaker for two. Dorado snapmares Cannon and follows up with a senton for two. Dorado backflips off of Cannon’s chest. Cannon throws Dorado into the corner with an exploder suplex. Cannon hits a leaping forearm and a German suplex for two. Dorado comes back with a headscissors into a DDT. Dorado slips when attempting a quebrada. He tries again, and even though his form was perfect, Cannon moves out of the way. Cannon hits a spin-out uranage slam. Dorado blocks a brainbuster, but eats the hard right hand of Cannon. Cannon hits a brainbuster for two. Dorado looks for a guillotine choke. Cannon picks him up and drops him with Total Anarchy for two. Cannon sunset flips Dorado into the CHIKARA Special. Dorado breaks free. He drops Cannon right on his head with a headscissors takedown. Dorado hits a top rope shooting star press for the pin at 10:05. My unabashed love for Arik Cannon knows no bounds as he puts on another excellent contest. His quebrada screw up aside, Dorado had a good showing as well and has improved in spades this year. This was hard hitting, flippy fun times and I am glad we finally got to see this match. ***

The Olsen Twins are hanging out in the locker room. Jimmy says the UnStable may have gotten the victory last time, but they’re dealing with brand new Olsen Twins. Jimmy doesn’t recognize Colin, who now has short hair and a beard. Colin reiterates what Jimmy said earlier.

The Olsen Twins (Colin Delaney Olsen & Jimmy Olsen) vs. The UnStable (Vin Gerard & STIGMA)

The Olsens now use “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha as their theme song, and it’s very catchy (don’t confuse “catchy” with “good”). Gerard and Colin violently lock up. They break in the corner, and Gerard claims his hair got pulled. Colin and Gerard lock up again. Gerard messes up Colin’s hair in the corner. Gerard throws an Equinox mask at Colin, but Colin takes him down and bounces Gerard’s head off the apron. Colin gives him a couple hairmares and a knee lift. He hits a spinwheel kick, and the fight spills to the floor. STIGMA and Jimmy hit the ring. Jimmy hits a suplex for two. STIGMA whips Jimmy to the corner. Jimmy kicks him and takes him down with a hurricanrana. Both Olsens nail STIGMA with missile dropkicks. Gerard comes in and is hit with a double flapjack. The UnStable hit Colin with the Hart Attack and shove Jimmy to the floor. Jimmy comes in and brawls with Gerard again. Jimmy gets sent back to the apron while The UnStabe lay in shots to Colin. Jimmy runs in and attacks Gerard. They take their fight to the floor while STIGMA steps on Colin’s throat in the ring. Colin hits a leg lariat for two. Colin knocks STIGMA to the floor. Colin dives onto Gerard while Jimmy comes back in and dives onto STIGMA. Colin hits a Gory Gallows variant. Jimmy spikes Gerard with a low hurricanrana for two. Colin comes off the second rope with a stunner, and Jimmy superkicks him. Jimmy looks to suplex Gerard, but Gerard knocks him to the floor. Gerard pushes Colin off the second rope into a German suplex from STIGMA. Gerard dives to the floor, but Jimmy moves and sends him into the guardrail. STIGMA blocks Jimmy’s Overbomb and looks for the Stigmata. Jimmy prawn holds STIGMA for two. Jimmy stops a facewash by nailing STIGMA with a hard right hand. Gerard O’Conner rolls Colin for two. Colin reverses the momentum and pins Gerard at 9:04. This was much better than their encounter from last month. I never thought I’d say this, but The Olsens limiting their silliness to their entrance actually helped this match out in a great way. The UnStable also seemed to have learned how to gel even better in Osaka, as they put together some cool sequences of moves. Good performances by both teams. ***

Colin and Gerard brawl after the match until their teammates break the fight up. Colin and Gerard will meet in a singles match next month. We then cut backstage to Tim Donst. Donst says Hallowicked used to be the best Young Lions Cup champion, but once he held the Cup, that was no longer true. Donst says that unlike Hallowicked, he’s been to Japan and main evented in Osaka. He mentions that so far he’s pinned four former Young Lions Cup champions in the past month: STIGMA, Jigsaw, Arik Cannon, & Fire Ant. Donst isn’t impressed that Hallowicked pinned him in the Atomicos match last night, since he had three other people to help him.

Hallowicked vs. Tim Donst

Hallowicked and Donst start out hot and heavy. Hallowicked sends Donst to the floor and hits a suicide dive. In the ring, Hallowicked rolls up Donst for two. Donst turns Hallowicked’s mask to the side so that he can’t see. Donst snapmares Hallowicked into a submission predicament. Hallowicked puts his foot on the ropes to escape. Donst chops him in the corner. Hallowicked fixes his mask after avoiding a splash. He slaps Donst, but Donst takes him down with a bulldog. Donst hits a suplex for two. Donst sends Hallowicked to the apron and brings him right back in with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Donst blocks a yakuza kick with an STO. Donst places Hallowicked in a seated position in the corner. Hallowicked escapes a back elbow and takes Donst down with a super snapmare. He connects with a yakuza kick. Hallowicked and Donst trade forearms. Hallowicked blocks a Gator Roll with an enzuigiri. He then hits a Rydeen Bomb for two. Hallowicked ducks a bulldog. He hits a step-up Frankensteiner and a step-up enzuigiri. Hallowicked hits the Go Too Sleepy Hollow. Donst pulls a shoelace out of his wrist tape. He avoids a yakuza kick, and brings Hallowicked down in a body scissors chokehold with the shoelace. Hallowicked’s arm drops three times, giving Donst the win at 5:41. I expected more out of these two given their level of talent. The cheap finish fit given Donst’s character but it left a sour taste in my mouth. The match itself was fine, but the finish left a lot to be desired. **1/2

Ultramantis Black is in the back. He says he thought Ares was just like him. Mantis then says he was wrong, and Ares is a cog machine more than a natural leader. Mantis says all he has to do is destroy Ares and then the rest of the BDK will come to a halt. Mantis says he will destroy Ares, the BDK, and everyone tonight.

Falls Count Anywhere Match
Ultramantis Black vs. Ares

BDK official Derek Sabato is the referee assigned to this match. Mantis throws a carton of soy milk at Ares before the bell. Ares chokes Mantis with his t-shirt. Mantis brings Ares and himself to the floor with a Cactus clothesline. Mantis suplexes Ares onto the ring steps. Sabato slow counts him for two. Mantis and Ares go backstage where Mantis throws Ares face first into a chair. Their fight is brought up to the Commentation Station where Leonard F. Chikarason and Bryce Remsburg are. Ares slams Mantis on a table for two. Ares tries to throw Mantis off the balcony, but Mantis has the wherewithal to fight back. He gives Ares a Michinoku Driver on the floor, and Sabato again slow counts the pin. Mantis throws Ares down with stairs. They fight into the crowd. Mantis slams a trashcan into Ares for two. Mantis throws Ares into a pile of chairs. Mantis clotheslines Ares for two, and Sabato’s count is noticeably normal as Mantis pins Ares in front of Wink Vavasseur. The fight goes to the front of the arena. Mantis looks for a Praying Mantis Bomb on the sidewalk. Ares blocks and throws Mantis into the wall of the arena for two. Ares throws him head first into the steel grating at the arena entrance, and then throws a full trashcan at him. Ares brings Mantis back into the arena, and they fight up to the top of the bleachers. Ares looks for a Tiger Driver. Mantis counters by back dropping Ares off of the bleachers and onto a couple of storage boxes. Of course, Sabato’s slow count gives Ares plenty of time to kick out. Tursas comes out to cheer on Ares. Mantis gets in a cherry picker and moves it up high. Mantis dives off with a crossbody to Ares and Tursas! Mantis covers Ares for two. Mantis mauls Ares back to the ringside area. Tursas follows them and attacks Mantis as he crawls over the guardrail. Tursas misses a splash, hitting the ring post. Mantis dives onto Tursas. Tursas catches him and crotches Mantis on the guardrail. In the ring, Ares drops Mantis with a Tiger Driver. Mantis miraculously kicks out. Mantis points to the back, beckoning for someone to come out. The two druid characters that have been following him emerge. They reveal themselves to be Obariyon & Kodama, the mysterious tag team that’s been running around CHIKARA for the past couple of months. They menacingly get into the ring as Ares looks terrified. Before they can strike, a third hooded man comes out and beckons them to the back. Obariyon and Kodama obey, leaving Mantis by himself once again. Mantis is most upset at the scenario that has unfolded. Ares clobbers Mantis with a steel chair. As a measure of humiliation, Ares drops Mantis with the Praying Mantis Bomb on the steel chair to score the pin at 13:07. I love when CHIKARA does brawls like this, because they’re so few and far between that they mean something when they occur. Mantis and Ares had a brawl the likes of which you’ve never seen in CHIKARA and made it count. The fans went bananas for Mantis, and when Obariyon and Kodama “turned” on him, they were confused and upset at the same time (but in a good way). I loved the execution of this match and am excited to see the Obariyon and Kodama story play out. ***1/4

Elimination Match
Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) vs. Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor) vs. Die Brüderschaft des Kreuzes (Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze)

We begin with some silliness from Icarus and Amasis. Amasis gives him a hip toss, and Icarus bails. Jigsaw tags in. He and Amasis trade holds, reaching a stalemate. Taylor blind tags himself in. Amasis ducks a clothesline and does some dancing with Taylor. Ophidian comes in. With the help of a punch from Amasis, Ophidian drops Taylor with a crucifix bomb for two. Ophidian does a headstand in the corner. He comes down and over Taylor. He and Amasis do a dance similar to the “lean back”. Taylor ducks a spinwheel kick, but Ophidian still hits a sick kick. He rolls Taylor around on the mat. Taylor rolls out tagging in Quack. Ophidian ducks a palm strike and tries a Skayde schoolboy for two. Quack leapfrogs Ophidian. Icarus throws Ophidian to the floor to tag himself in. Quack gives Icarus multiple shots in the corner. Quack gives him a wheelbarrow armdrag. Icarus tries one of himself, but Quack drops him. Quack hits a Naniwa senton as a tribute to the recently fallen Gran Naniwa. Quack follows up with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Jigsaw tags in. He and Quack hit Icarus with some tandem offense. Taylor comes in. Jigsaw bridges him in a Gory Special, and Quack double stomps him for two. Icarus kicks Jigsaw in the face from the apron. F.I.S.T. trap Jigsaw in the ring and exclusively tag out to one another in order to effectively wear Jigsaw down. Sara and Daizee, who have done nothing but avoid tags and sit idly the entire match, blind tag in to also weaken Jigsaw. Taylor tags back in and hits Jigsaw with Sole Food for two. The BDK women take over the duty of wearing down Jigsaw once again. Jigsaw gets dropkicked into the Portal’s corner, and Amasis tags in. Amasis takes out both Sara and Daizee. Taylor tags in and kicks Amasis. Ophidian kicks Taylor in the side of the head. Taylor suplexes Ophidian into Amasis in the corner. Sara kicks Taylor to the floor. Quack comes in and elbows Sara to the floor. Quack follows with a somersault senton. Ophidian flies out with a sky twister press. Jigsaw looks to dive, but Haze cuts him off. She kicks Jigsaw into the corner. Icarus comes in and avoids the Mind Trip. He gives her an enzuigiri and the EVO. Jigsaw drops Icarus with a brainbuster to win the first fall at 14:27.

The Portal pummel Jigsaw with strikes. They head up top for the Osirian Sacrament. Sara kicks Amasis down. Quack brings Ophidian off the top rope with a double underhook suplex to win the second fall at 15:14. Quack backdrops Sara. He knocks her down with an elbow and calls for the Quackendriver III. Sara avoids it and gives Quack an axe kick. Quack palm strikes Sara into a superkick from Jigsaw. Jigsaw and Quack hit Sara with stereo superkicks. Haze prevents Jigsaw from hitting a Jig N’ Tonic and rolls up Jigsaw for two. Haze dropkicks Jigsaw into a rolling Liger kick from Sara for two. Sara drops Jigsaw with a piledriver. Haze follows up with a German suplex, and Quack breaks the pin. Haze puts a waistlock on Quack. He knocks Haze into Sara. Quack hits Haze with the Quackendriver IV for two. Quack places Haze up top. Sara kicks Quack into a tree of woe. Haze stomps Quack as he dangles from the top rope. Sara throws Quack with the Royal Butterfly, and Quack kicks out! Jigsaw avoids a rolling kick from Sara. Jigsaw picks up Haze. He hits the Quackendriver I to win the third and final fall at 19:38. Quack and Jigsaw now have three points and a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas. Speaking of good stories, this was another great one. The entire second half of the season saw Quack and Jigsaw looking to obtain three points to challenge Ares and Claudio for the titles. After being screwed out of their third point twice (thanks to the BDK), they finally got the points and the shot they have been looking for. Aside from the great story, the action was excellent. All four teams put in a very strong showing and never slowed down. Every team played their particular role to perfection. It’s hard to go wrong with these four team elimination matches when you load them up with good teams. ***1/2

The Soul Touchaz, including their managers C-Red and Dymond, come out to pick the winner of the raffle that takes place at each show. Once that’s over, C-Red gets on the microphone. He says the Soul Touchaz have had the BDK’s number, beating them in Michigan, Brooklyn, and last night in Easton. This brings out Ares who cuts a promo in German. This allows the rest of the BDK to emerge from the audience and attack the Soul Touchaz from behind. Sara gives Dymond a piledriver. Ares gives C-Red the Tiger Driver. Tursas comes off the second rope with a big splash to C-Red. We would find out later that this attack would cause C-Red and Dymond’s retirement from wrestling. The Soul Touchaz are now looking to get even with the BDK.

Young Lions Cup Championship
Frightmare (Champion) vs. Johnny Gargano

This is a rematch from last month’s Cibernetico show. Gargano visibly pinned Frightmare the night after, which was good enough for Dieter to give Gargano another shot. Frightmare lays in forearms at the start. Gargano looks for the Hurts Donut right away, but Frightmare takes him down with a headscissors instead. Frightmare gains a head of steam and sends Gargano to the corner with a step-up Frankensteiner. Frightmare follows up with a slingshot headscissors. Gargano drops him with a German suplex. Frightmare low bridges the top rope to send Gargano to the floor. Gargano hits a slingshot spear for two. Frightmare comes back with an enzuigiri. Gargano blocks a step-up Frankensteiner with a sole butt. Gargano applies an abdominal stretch. Gargano looks for the lawn dart. Frightmare slides off his back and hits a reverse hurricanarana. Gargano rolls to the floor to recover. Frightmare kicks Gargano to avoid another slingshot spear. Frightmare and Gargano each try their finishers, but get thwarted by the other. Frightmare hits a step-up neckbreaker. Frightmare goes for Kneecolepsy, but Gargano catches his legs and twists him into a cross-legged cloverleaf. Frightmare escapes using the ropes. Frightmare clotheslines Gargano to the floor and hits a tope con hilo. Frightmare screams to pump up the fans. He runs to Gargano’s corner. Gargano lawn darts Frightmare onto the ring steps. Gargano gets a two count back in the ring. Gargano looks for a piledriver on the apron. Frightmare sweeps his legs and hits the ropes. He hits a low dropkick. Frightmare hits a Kneecolepsy on the apron. He drags Gargano back in the ring for a two count. Gargano and Frightmare level each other with forearms. Gargano pops up Frightmare. Frightmare comes down with a clothesline. Gargano gets enough energy to hit a superkick, and both men fall down looking to recover. Frightmare places Gargano on the top rope. It backfires as Gargano drops Frightmare face first on the top rope. Gargano hits the Hurts Donut for two. Frightmare and Gargano go back and forth, hitting running strikes to one another in the corners of the ring. Gargano pins Frightmare with his feet on the rope, and the referee catches Gargano’s cheating. Frightmare hits a yakuza kick and a pump-handle piledriver for two. Frightmare hits a Kneecolepsy for two. Frightmare goes up top and hits a super Kneecolepsy to score the pin at 12:08. This match was missing something their first match had, but I can’t put my finger on it. The action was really good, but the energy and intensity just didn’t seem as strong as it did the first time these two met. Regardless, Frightmare has had a very good championship reign thus far and I hope he ends up holding the Cup for a significant period of time. ***1/4

Eddie Kingston talks about how he’s messed up many people this year; Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, and his hero Tommy Dreamer. He says that the BDK thinks they can bring in a fellow New Yorker and Kingston will go easy on him; they’re wrong. Kingston says his match tonight is a chance for him to prove himself as the top dog and that he will do so.

Eddie Kingston vs. Homicide

Both guys pace the ring, reluctant to make the first move. Homicide takes Kingston down in a wristlock. Homicide traps Kingston’s arm in the ropes and cranks on it. Homicide blocks a snapmare and takes Kingston down in a headlock. Homicide transitions into a crossface. Kingston mounts the guard, and Homicide grabs the bottom rope as a preventative measure. Kingston’s multiple shoulder blocks fail to knock Homicide down. Homicide sends Kingston to the floor. He hits a baseball slide and tumbles off the apron with a somersault senton. In the ring, Homicide claps Kingston’s ears and hits a back elbow for two. Homicide goes back to working on Kingston’s arm. Homicide bites Kingston’s ear in the corner. Kingston kicks Homicide and takes him down with the STO. Homicide rolls to the floor, and Kingston dives on him through the middle and top rope. Kingston bites Homicide as revenge. As they get back in the ring, Homicide hits a JYD-esque headbutt. Kingston takes Homicide over with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Kingston hits a regular suplex for two. Homicide counters a clothesline with an exploder suplex. Homicide fish hooks Kingston’s face as he chokes him on the second rope. Homicide puts Kingston in the Mexican Stretch. Homicide breaks and knees Kingston in the head. Homicide brings Kingston to the apron and steps on his back. He then drives Kingston sternum first into the apron. On the floor, Homicide grabs a pencil from the ringside table. It’s hard to see, but it looks like Homicide is driving it into Kingston’s neck. Homicide breaks on five, and Kingston flips the ringside table over in rage. As Kingston comes back in, Homicide kicks the rope to foul him. Homicide hits the Rude Awakening for two. Homicide goes to the second rope as Kingston slowly gets up. Homicide hits a leaping swinging DDT for two. Homicide hits a forearm into a bulldog for two. Homicide blocks the Backfist and rolls up Kingston for two. Homicide delivers some kicks which don’t effect Kingston. Homicide hits one that knocks Kingston down. Homicide looks for the Three Amigos. Kingston blocks the third suplex, but Homicide hits one a few seconds after. Continuing on the Eddie Guerrero theme, Homicide tries for a frog splash. He misses, and Kingston capitalizes by hitting a suplex for two. Homicide evades a mafia kick and drops Kingston with an Ace crusher for two. Kingston catches Homicide on the top rope. Homicide rakes Kingston’s face to keep him away. As Homicide is coming down, Kingston nails him with the Backfist. Homicide pops up and hits a lariat. Both men recover and exchange strikes. Kingston blocks a backslide and turns it into a Saito suplex. He hits the Sliding D for two. Homicide looks for the Cop Killer. Kingston blocks and goes for a Saito suplex. Homicide blocks that. Kingston hits a second Backfist to the Future which is enough to give him the pin at 16:33. This came off a lot better on DVD than it did live. The idea of Homicide getting Kingston’s number for most of the match and Kingston getting the win after just a few shots seems sort of strange. This dragged at times, and I thought they should have done much more brawling than they did in the end. While this wasn’t bad, it’s placement on the card is questionable. After the crazy brawls and the fun, fast-paced high-flying action, putting this match on last did kill the crowd’s buzz. **1/2

The 411: "The Germans" is an easy recommendation based on the blend of fun wrestling and storyline advancement. While the main event left something to be desired, the rest of the card picked up the slack. The Elimination tag match is one of the best of the year, the Young Lions Cup defense was very enjoyable, and Ares/Ultramantis Black came off so well in execution. The Olsens vs. UnStable and Dorado vs. Cannon were also nice surprises. CHIKARA set up their season finale perfectly, and I know am dying to see that show after this show. Pick up this show folks. Be sure to check out all of my CHIKARA reviews over at The CHIKARA Special!

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]