The Magnus Analysis- Chikara Remain In Light

Chikara presented Remain In Light in Reading, PA on March 18th 2005, being the first show after the Tag World Grand Prix, and the first night of a triple shot of events. Commentary is done by Eddie Kingston and ‘Sweet and Sour’ Larry Sweeney

Delirious vs Hallowicked
This was a really entertaining match, simply because of the way these two communicated with one another. It was like these two were the only people who understand each other, as we saw some funny exchanges where they talked in whatever language they talk in. There was a real element of comedy throughout as a result, along with great technical wrestling action. It’s easy to see why these two were paired together at the next TWGP. Hallowicked won this won to my surprise by pinfall with the Super Fishermans Buster- ***

Chris Hero, along with Arik Cannon and Claudio Castagnoli did an in-ring interview, further explaining his actions at the Tag World Grand Prix as revenge actions for the Ted Petty Invitational 2004 and blaming the entire thing on Quackenbush basically (as you can tell, I’m not one for promo’s, I don’t even mention the backstage one’s, I just focus on the matches)

Darkness Crabtree vs USApe
We had a bear at the last event, and now we have an ape. This was complete silliness of course. Crabtree was especially funny tonight, taking a t-shirt from the merchandise table and messing about with the hard camera and stealing several hats and a scarf during his entrance, then walking straight out the door and back in the other side during the match several times (and this was only a few of the stupid things he did). He also wrestled really slowly. USApe did all the ape style stuff you’d expect, acting crazy, plus he wrestled a 1980’s style (Kingston said during his entrance that he was like one of those dirty 1980’s wrestlers). And of course USApe won the match with the Monkey Flip. Really short, but funny- *

Daizee Haze vs Allison Danger
Sorry, but I’m not really a fan of women’s matches. I’d best not review this one since this isn’t really my thing (along with hardcore/deathmatch style matches) and I wouldn’t be able to give a good opinion of it. But I’m sure if your a fan of women’s wrestling then you’ll enjoy this ten minute match.

Team FIST (Icarus and Gran Akuma) vs Men At Work (Shane Storm and Mister Zero)
This is the beginning of the series of matches that would lead to Team FIST turning heel and putting Mister Zero out of action. This was good tag team action between two established Chikara teams, with a lot of great chain wrestling, holds and counter holds to go alongside the lucha style action. Both teams were fan favourites, and so wrestled cleanly, but you saw signs of aggression out of Team FIST that you wouldn’t usually see out of them. The last few minutes were especially good, but before either team could get the win, the 15 minute time limit expired- **3/4

Niles Young vs Rorschach
This was the first of two tournament matches to determine the next contender for the Young Lions Cup, with the winner of this match and the match later on wrestling the next day to decide who gets a Young Lions Cup shot on the third night. A decent match here, solid, but nothing special or above average. I think that Rorschach is one of the most underappreciated talents in Chikara, and is just as good as Jigsaw is. After a solid match, Rorschach picked up the win by submission with a variation of the Front Guillotine Choke which I didn’t know the name of- **1/4

Larry Sweeney and Mano Metallico vs Knight Eye For The Pirate Guy (Jolly Rodger and Lance Steel)
Another solid tag team outing, and was typically fun being a Larry Sweeney match. Yet another stable with problems in Chikara were Sweet and Sour International, with Larry Sweeney unhappy that none of his teams won the tournament or even advanced past the first round. You could see the problems they were having at times during the match, thanks to mis-communication, plus Sweeney letting Metallico do a lot of the work only for Sweeney to make the tag so he could try and get the pin. The finish saw the mis-communication come to a head when Metallico and Sweeney kept tagging themselves in, only for Sweeney to get pinned by a Small Package from Rodger when Metallico wasn’t looking- **

Crossbones vs Emil Sitoci
Kingston was obsessed with Sitoci’s abs in this match, mentioning them at least 10 times. I liked this match, it was a good clash of styles. Sitoci wrestled a fast paced, high risk style, while Crossbones tried to keep him grounded with power moves and matwork. Crossbones is another underestimated talent with a lot of charisma despite the mask, he could be going places in a few years time. Sitoci won this match though with the Tremendosity (Wheelbarrow into a Stunner). A good, fun match- **3/4

The Kings Of Wrestling (Chris Hero, Arik Cannon and Claudio Castagnoli) vs ‘Lightning’ Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Sabian
An excellent main event six man tag team match with great action from start to finish. Chikara always delivers on these multi-man matches, and this was no exception, especially with the issues from the Tag World Grand prix adding to the heat on this match. Hero of course played the cowardly heel, avoiding getting in the ring with Quackenbush, but when they finally were in the ring together, Quackenbush did everything he could to get his revenge.
What I really like about these matches are the multi-man spots, especially the one’s involving mis-communication between the heels, where one man will do a move to one of the faces that end up having the wrestler hit a member of his own team. These spots really start getting good as the year goes on though, they were still pretty basic at this point. I liked all of the double and triple team spots here as well though, they were the real highlight of this match. My favourite one of the match had to be where all three members of the KOW were tied up on the mat, Sabian and Jigsaw held them in place, and Quackenbush hat them with a Running Curbstomp.
The finish saw Cannon and Castagnoli hit Jigsaw with the Recola Bomb/Glimmering Warlock combo, then Hero locked in the Hangman’s Clutch, and Jigsaw was knocked out. The last few minutes were fantastic, and the rest of the match was great- ***3/4

After the match, The Kings of Wrestling beatdown Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush some more, and many members of the locker room tried to stop them unsuccessfully.

The 411: Another very solid, fun Chikara event. The main event tag match was off the charts, and easily best on the card. The rest of the card however was good, with everything from top to bottom bringing solid in-ring action and some good comedy. Another fun DVD if you are a Chikara fan
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]