The Magnus Analysis- Chikara Tag World Grand Prix 2005 Night 2

We now move on to look at the second night of Chikara’s Tag World Grand Prix tournament This second night of action helps to determine who will join Knight Eye For The Pirate Guy (Jolly Rodger and Lance Steel), Arik Cannon and Claudio Castagnoli, and Sabian and Jigsaw for the tournament finals on Night 3. As if the previous night’s set of teams wasn’t big enough, tonight we see major teams like The Superfriends (Chris Hero and Mike Quackenbush), Team IWS (Kevin Steen and El Generico), Team Toryumon X (Skayde and Milanito Collection AT) and The Deathmatch Kings (Mad Man Pondo and Necro Butcher) in action, as well as top students from the Chikara school and loads more talent from around the indy scene.

Your commentator for tonight is Dave Prazak, joined by rotating colour commentators Arik Cannon, Bryce Remsburg, Eddie Kingston and Jigsaw.

A lot like the previous night, we see an opening ceremony to begin the show, introducing all the performers. Listen carefully to Dave Prazak’s reaction when BJ and The Bear come out, Prazak is in hysterics. Ring announcer Carolina Jim also goes over the rules and announces who advanced last night, and we get a group photo when everyone comes out.

Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz cut a pre-taped promo before the match ,explaining they have a plan to defeat The Bear.

Dave Prazak is joined by Arik Cannon to begin with on commentary.

Team MPW (Darin Corbin and ‘Version 2’ Ryan Cruz) vs BJ and The Bear (Beef Wellington and The Bear)
Team MPW are now known as the North Star Express, this was a little earlier in their careers before they really became a good team. Yes, very much a comedy match here, with some alright, basic wrestling action as well. The match actually told a decent story of Team MPW getting The Bear out of the ring, then isolating Beef Wellington. It didn’t work as The Bear got into the ring eventually, and hilarity ensues (including The Bear nearly losing his head doing an Earthquake splash). The Bear picks up the win for his team with what else, The Bearhug on Ryan Cruz, getting the submission- **3/4 (* added for entertainment value)

The ROH Students cut a pre-taped promo before the match saying that they will beat the deathmatch workers with their wrestling skills to help rid the business of the poison of death match workers.

ROH Students (Anthony Franco and Matt Turner) vs The Death Match Kings (Necro Butcher and Mad Man Pondo)
Oh man, what a brutal spectacle this was. The ROH Students got ripped apart, taking one of the worst, one sided beatings I’ve ever seen, as Necro destroys both of his opponents with stiff chops, punches to the face and headbutts. Towards the end he hits a brutal Suplex to the floor on Franco, hitting the floor with a sickening thud. Right at the end it looked like the ROH Students may be able to score a major upset, with Turner getting an extremely close near fall on Pondo with a Diamond Cutter, but Necro soon got the win with a Lariat that turned Franco inside out to get the three count. A sight to behold to say the least- ***

After the match the crowd give Turner and Franco a well deserved standing ovation for the beating they took, as they have to be helped to the back.

We then gets replays of some of the more brutal spots of the match.

Now there’s a pre-taped promo with Team CZW, saying how they are representing CZW and will take all the teams in the tournament down.

CKNY (Cory Kastle and Niles Young) vs Team CZW (Jon Dahmer and DJ Hyde)
Eh, nothing special. The action was solid enough, and there was some comedy mixed in with the action (some arm wrestling at the start of the match being the cause of this). There was nothing horrible, but there is nothing that makes you need to watch this match. And yes, DJ Hyde has wrestled twice in this tournament since he wrestled as Mano Metallico last night. Team CZW advances when Dahmer pins Castle with the Move Of 1000 Maniacs (basically an Electric Chair into a Piledriver). Not too good but better than it would have been in CZW, but that’s not saying a lot- *3/4

The Night Shift cut a promo in a darkly lit room, which I really didn’t enjoy due to Ultramantis Black’s annoying voice (he’s much better managing or on commentary).

Ultramantis Black then proceeds to cut another promo in the ring, a much better one this time around, to introduce Blind Rage. I don’t understand why they had another promo in the ring as well as a pre-taped one to say exactly the same thing.

Eye Candy (DJ Skittles and Private Eye) vs Night Shift (Hallowicked and Blind Rage) w/Ultramantis Black
Blind Rage came out of retirement to compete in this tournament after Ultramantis Black was injured, which is kind of ironic since this was pretty much the retirement match for both members of Eye Candy. A solid, unoffensive comedy match which not only entertained but the wrestling was well done (if not all that crisp). You’ve got to love Chikara plugging their own yearbook within a match when Private Eye starts reading it. Another funny spot see’s Ultramantis Black start playing a flute he brought to the ring with him, only for everyone in the ring to start dancing. My only downer on the match would be that Blind Rage was clearly a bit rusty due to months of inactivity, and the others were all a bit sloppy, but the comedy overshadowed any flaws in the in-ring action. The Night Shift advance when Hallowicked pins Skittles with the Super Fisherman’s Buster- **1/4 (½ added for comedy and entertainment value)

Ultramantis Black starts yelling “No” at ringside as if they lost the match, only to be informed by his team that they won, even though this was clearly announced by the announcer. I just wanted to mention that, as I found it funny. I should add that Mantis did add a lot at ringside to the match.

Perfect Strangers cut a promo ahead of their match with Team Toryumon X, displaying some problems in their team with Trik acting like an idiot and Emil having to correct him.

Bryce Remsburg replaces Arik Cannon on commentary.

Perfect Strangers (Emil Sitoci and Trik Davis) vs Team Toryumon X (Skayde and Milanito Collection AT)
Milanito is the smaller version of former Dragon Gate and current NJPW star Milano Collection AT. He gets pulled around by his invisible dog on the way to the ring, but despite this comedy aspect he shows all the potential to be as good as Milano is now. This was pretty good, fun action that I felt flowed well, and while not all the spots connected as well as they could, Skayde helped hold everything together. Milanito is sharp, despite wrestling for less than a year at this point. Overall a good, short lucha style match. Team Toryumon X advance when Skayde pins Davis with what I believe was the Skayde Special- **3/4

Larry Sweeney and The Sharecropper cut a great pre-taped promo. Sweeney is really a master of promos, even if his skills aren’t quite there yet.

Men At Work (Shane Storm and Mister Zero) vs Sweet and Sour International (Larry Sweeney and The Sharecropper)
Sharecropper and Sweeney heel things up before the match by shouting down a fan and then stealing his hat not once but twice (although it may have been a different fan the second time). The fans really rip into Sharecropper with some chants and replacing the “o” in his name with an “a”. Anyway, a match here than was more about entertaining rather than great wrestling, and it did just that, proving to be a good sports entertainment style of match if quite sloppy in parts. Plus everyone tried really hard and that’ always good to see. The finish saw Storm pin Sharecropper after That Japanese Move (Shining Wizard), continuing to play up the Sweet and Sour International losing streak- **

All Money is Legal (K-Pusha and K-Murda) vs Team IWS (El Generico and Kevin Steen)
I enjoyed this match, I felt the action was really good and the bout was given enough time to develop. Plus I’m a big fan of Generico and Steen so they were obviously going to have a good match due to their previous team experiences (although the idea that Steen didn’t like teaming with Generico continued to be played up), and the fact that Generico and Steen are good enough to have a good match with anyone competent in the ring. The action was pretty much a spotfest with loads of high spots, while Steen used a more high impact style, showing off his strength by tossing his opponents around the ring (not literally). The finish saw Steen hit the Package Piledriver on one of the AMIL members, then Generico followed it up with the Brainbuster to get the three count. Really good action- ***

Eddie Kingston cuts a promo saying he doesn’t need a partner for the match coming up.

Despite saying he doesn’t need a partner for tonight, he’s going to get one anyway, and it’s drawn in the same way the partner from the previous night was drawn: from a hat. The first name drawn is Ruckus, which would make sense, but he isn’t here. The next name drawn is Bob Saget again, but he apparently just left. The next name drawn is Mickie Knuckles, who is here.

Eddie Kingston and Mickie Knuckles vs The Superfriends (Chris Hero and Mike Quackenbush)
A fantastic match, my pick for match of the night. Not only a extremely hard hitting bout, but also an entertaining bout with the exchanges between Kingston and his tag partner. Kingston underestimates Mickie and tries to put her down, but gets more and more impressed with her as the match goes on. The big highlight here however was the strike exchanges between Eddie Kingston and Chris Hero, who prelude to their hard hitting matches here and in other promotions with their strikes here. Hero gives Kingston one of the sickest headbutts that I’ve ever seen, and this brought the crowd to their feet. The Superfriends were able to come out on top in this match when Hero makes Mickie tap to the Hangman’s Clutch. Great stuff, well built and very entertaining from start to finish- ***1/2

Hero walks out after the match without shaking hands with his opponents, which is a prelude to what we would see tomorrow night (see my review of Night 3 when it is finished).

Eddie Kingston now replaces Bryce Remsburg on commentary.

Before the match starts, The Bear mauls the referee when he tries to check for foreign objects, leading to Bryce Remsburg coming out in hockey gear to be the referee. The Bear does a very weak roar after this. Another reason why I love Chikara are things like this.

BJ And The Bear (Beef Wellington and The Bear) vs Team Toryumon X (Milanito Collection AT)
If The Superfriends vs Mickie Knuckles was the wrestling match of the night, then this was the comedy match of the night. I actually enjoyed this more than the Darkness Crabtree match from the previous night, as The Bear was very funny here. When the match is in full flow, The Bear throws up the straight edge X, and shakes the ropes like the Ultimate Warrior. The match was a big mix of comedy and some occasional wrestling. I honestly don’t know what the Toryumon wrestlers would have been thinking about this. The finish saw Milanito tell The Bear to stop, then gives him an Enziguri, before locking on the AT Lock that breaks The Bear’s neck and makes him tap(I’m in hysterics at this)- **** (*1/2 added for comedy value)

After the match The Bear manages to fix his neck, then when Beef tries to take him to the back he drops him and The Bear break his neck again

We get a pre-taped promo with Men At Work (Shane Storm and Mister Zero), who basically say they were happy to get through to Round 2 and plan to put down the Death Match Kings in the next match.

The Death Match Kings (Mad Man Pondo and Necro Butcher) vs Men At Work (Shane Storm and Mister Zero
One of those only in Chikara matches here. Anyway, not as brutal a spectacle as the match against the ROH Students was, but this was still a fairly one sided beating by the deathmatchers who brutalised their two opponents, but Men At Work did get in some offense for parts of the match, so it looked like they did have a chance. Mad Man Pondo actually did a bit of wrestling, with a few impressive high flying moves, and Necro seemed jealous since he can’t do that. To be fair the Death Match Kings should have been DQ’ed after Pondo hat Storm with a stop sign. Anyway, the Death Match Kings advanced when Pondo made Zero tap to an STF after a Dragon Screw- **

After the match, Pondo hits Zero over the head with Storm’s Stop sign, taking him out of tomorrow’s show.

Eddie Kingston leaves commentary since he doesn’t want to commentate on a match with Team CZW in it, but Jigsaw is there to take over.

Team CZW (Jon Dahmer and DJ Hyde) vs Team IWS (Kevin Steen and El Generico)
Not bad, but nothing special about this match, it was just average and really not that exciting. I only really enjoyed this when Generico was in the ring as he at least has the personality to liven things up a bit. But besides that it was just there and that’s all, and went on for far longer than it needed to. Team IWS advance to the quarter finals when Generico pinned Hyde with a rollup after a Steen Superkick- *3/4

The Superfriends cut a promo, where Hero promises to destroy Hallowicked for beating him in the IWA, and Quackenbush says it’s time to settle the score between the two teams.

The Superfriends (Chris Hero and Mike Quackenbush) vs The Night Shift (Hallowicked and Blind Rage) w/Ultramantis Black
Blind Rage and Mike Quackenbush have both changed their gear, I don’t know why but it’s their choice not mine. This was very good, and a good main event choice for me that showcased all four men’s ability. The match was well built and drew you in more and more as things went on. I also found the dynamic quite enjoyable, as while The Night Shift were clearly the heel team the crowd were split because of Hero’s action earlier in the night. Unfortunately my DVD was playing up towards the end so I didn’t see the finish, but I know that it was The Superfriends who advanced- *** (for what I saw)

The 411: Just like Night 1, this event doesn’t provide the best top to bottom wrestling action in the world, but it provides excellent entertainment and there’s rarely a dull moment. Night 1 had the best match of the first two nights, but this card was more overall solid than Night 1. This gets an easy good recommendation as a result.
Final Score:  7.8   [ Good ]