Contemplating CHIKARA 6.13.09: Talkin’ bout Tecnicos

Howdy ho, neglectareenos! It is I, Kevin Ford, back here with another edition of Contemplating CHIKARA. Many readers requested that I go in-depth describing the members of the CHIKARA roster. Well, ask and you shall receive! Let’s get to that before we get into some news.

I’d like to thank the fine folks at CHIKARA Fans for providing the pictures, and some of the information you read below. It’s a really great website, and if you wish to go to it, a link is provided at the end of the column. I encourage you all to do so.

The CHIKARA Roster: The Tecnicos

“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush

Known as “The Master Of A Thousand Holds”, Mike Quackenbush is a fifteen year professional wrestling veteran. Mike Quackenbush is one of the two founding fathers of the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory and CHIKARA Wrestling Promotion. Tom Carter, the second founding father, left CHIKARA the first day of the second class leaving the promotion in Quackenbush’s hands. To this day, Quack serves as the head honcho of the company and one of the head-trainers of the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory. Mike is arguably the most popular member of the CHIKARA roster, and has spent most of his CHIKARA tenure fending off the most powerful Rudos such as Chris Hero and his now defunct Kings of Wrestling super group.

Mike has actually never held a title in CHIKARA, being above the Young Lions Cup age limit and only having one shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas (April 2009 with Jigsaw) which he lost. However, Mike won the inaugural King of Trios tournament in 2007 with Jigsaw and Shane Storm, and may have won the 2005 Tag World Grand Prix had his partner Chris Hero not turned his back on him. Quackenbush is currently the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion, winning the belt from Tiger Mask back in May of 2007. Quackenbush continues to impress the fans with his incredible technical wrestling prowess and high flying offense.

“The Swiss Aristocrat/Double C/The Most Monkey Making Man” Claudio Castagnoli

Fancy nicknames aside, Claudio Castagnoli is one of the most popular and talented performers in CHIKARA. Claudio wrestled in CHIKARA in 2003 and 2004, but didn’t become a full timer until 2005 where he won the Tag World Grand Prix with Arik Cannon. As part of the “Kings of Wrestling” stable, Claudio achieved great success becoming one half of the first set of CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas with Chris Hero. Claudio left CHIKARA at the end of 2006 when he was mercifully beaten down by Chris Hero (Claudio had lost them the Campeonatos de Parejas), Icarus, and Gran Akuma. When Claudio’s WWE deal went awry, he returned to take out the Kings of Wrestling in 2007, which he accomplished by winning the 2007 Torneo Cibernetico and besting Chris Hero in a singles match at the CHIKARA season finale. Claudio spent most of 2008 feuding with Brodie Lee and The Fabulous Three (Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder, & Buck Hawke), and is now engaged in a feud with Eddie Kingston. Claudio’s future in CHIKARA is up in the air. Will he continue to be one of the top singles stars, or will he find himself a new partner to rekindle his tag team success?

The Colony (“The Hot Property” Fire Ant & “The Militant Mat Mite” Soldier Ant)

Fire Ant & Soldier Ant, collectively known as The Colony, made their debut at the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix. The Colony quickly rose to success in CHIKARA becoming extremely popular amongst the fans with their impressive Lucha Libre acumen. The Colony engaged themselves in a hard-hitting feud with The BLK Out in 2007, and found themselves having to deal with Vin Gerard for most of 2008. In fact, Fire Ant won the Young Lions Cup in 2008 defeating Vin Gerard in what was determined by the fans to be CHIKARA’s best match of that entire year. The Colony also won the 2008 installment of the Tag World Grand Prix, and put on an amazing effort for the Campeonatos de Parejas against The Osirian Portal in 2009’s season opener. The Colony has also had a perennial rivalry with F.I.S.T (Icarus, Gran Akuma, & Chuck Taylor) which picked up after F.I.S.T retired former Colony member Worker Ant. The Colony recently bested F.I.S.T. in a masks vs. hair match, forcing Chuck and Icarus to shave their heads bald (Akuma’s already bald, so what would be the point in that?) The Colony has recently enlisted Green Ant and a yet to be named Brown Ant (both pictured below), so who knows what 2009 holds in store for the hormigas?

Soldier Ant is currently signed up for the 2009 Young Lions Cup tournament. Will The Colony win the Cup and tournament two years in a row?

“The Wrestling Riddle” Jigsaw

A graduate of the second CHIKARA Wrestle Factory class, Jigsaw has had quite the CHIKARA. Jigsaw teamed with CHIKARA alum Rorschach to form “The Conundrum”, and at times with The Wildcards (Eddie Kingston and Blackjack Marciano). After a fairly uneventful and unsuccessful 2003, Jigsaw was beaten by The Blackjacks after the 2004 Aniversario main event. Jigsaw became a Tecnico soon after that and began feuding with CHIKARA Wrestle Factory graduate Larry Sweeney. Jigsaw won the first ever CHIKARA Torneo Cibernetico and won the Young Lions from Larry Sweeney in 2004. in 2005, Jigsaw and Hallowicked had a feud all over the independent scene, culminating in a two out of three falls match which Jigsaw won. 2006 saw Jigsaw feud with Icarus in a heated rivalry, culminating in a Mask vs. Hair match in which Jigsaw was able to shave Icarus bald. As mentioned earlier, Jigsaw won the 2007 King of Trios with Mike Quackenbush and Shane Storm. Storm and Jigsaw teamed for most of 2007, until Jigsaw became fed-up with Shane Storm and dumped him.

A real life issue caused Jigsaw to leave the company indefinitely at the end of 2007. Shockingly, Jigsaw ran in sans mask to save Mike Quackenbush from being attacked by The UnStable (Vin Gerard, STIGMA, & Colin Delaney). Mike did not want anything to do with Jigsaw, and told Jigsaw that he needed to don the mask to come back. Hesistantly, Jigsaw agreed, and he and Mike quickly racked up three points for a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas. They were unsuccessful against The Osirian Portal, but have not let that loss get them down. With Quackenbush rehabbing his back, Jigsaw is now grooming “The Future Is Now” a stable of three of the younger CHIKARA Tecnicos that we will discuss later on.

“The Nightmare Warrior” Hallowicked

Hallowicked has the distinction of being the only Tecnico on the CHIKARA roster today to be a graduate of the first ever CHIKARA Wrestle Factory class. Hallowicked started off in a group known as The Night Shift with Ichabod Slayne (now known as Icarus) and Blind Rage. Hallowicked became the first ever Young Lions Cup champion, beating Mr. ZERO in the tournament finals, as well as the first Tag World Grand Prix winner with Blind Rage, defeating Ultramantis and Zero in the finals. Hallowicked then joined Ultramantis Black in 2004 to form The Dark Breed. Ultramantis’ injury around both the 2005 and 2006 Tag World Grand Prix forced Hallowicked to team with someone else. In 2005, that man was Blind Rage, who turned the Dark Breed into a trio. In 2006, by random draw, Delirious was paired with Hallowicked. As it turned out, these two worked so well that they started to team more and more frequently. Even with Hallowicked engaged in a bitter feud with Eddie Kingston in 2007, Hallowicked found the time to win the Campeonatos de Parejas with Delirious, holding them deep into 2008. As payback for his “betrayal”, Ultramantis Black kidnapped and brainwashed Delirious, taking him away from Incoherence into the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. Luckily, Hallowicked has Frightmare, a new graduate of the Wrestle Factory to join him. It also seems as if Hydra has joined Incoherence in their quest to topple The Order.

Frightmare

Frightmare made an unexpected debut in November, accompanying Hallowicked & Delirious to the ring on a chain. Frightmare went wild, and ran off into the night. Brodie Lee had stolen Hallowicked’s mask the night before, and Frightmare looked to get revenge on Brodie in December, but came up short. Incoherence began a feud with The Roughnecks (Brodie Lee, Eddie Kingston, & Grizzly Redwood) that began over that mask being stolen, and stemming from Kingston and Hallowicked’s 2007 rivalry. Incoherence defeated The Roughnecks in trios action in April, only for Delirious to be kidnapped at the end of that match. Now Frightmare and Hallowicked look for revenge on Ultramantis Black and The Order, with Hydra joining their side to fight for their cause.

“The Mini Man Monster” Hydra

Speaking of Hydra, he debuted at a special Monster Mash event in 2005. He debuted shortly after as Ultramantis’ black newest protégé. Hydra followed Ultramantis when he formed the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple in late 2006. Hydra has been characterized by his comedic acts in the ring, and his…questionable frame, appearing muscular and skinny, depending on the day. His unique body is even more questionable, as he has failed to comply with the CHIKARA Wellness policy on a couple of occasions. Hydra served as the whipping boy of the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, taking the brunt of Mantis’ anger. Tim Donst joined the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple in 2008, and Hydra became insanely jealous as Mantis obviously favored Donst over him. Donst and Hydra began teaming up, and to the surprise of even themselves, they worked tremendously well together as a team, even collecting the three points necessary to get a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas.

It was revealed that Donst’s participation in the Order was nothing more than a very elaborate scheme set up by Mike Quackenbush to discover who it was that taught Chris Hero the CHIKARA Special (Ultramantis Black on an episode of CHIKARA’s Podcast mentioned he knew who it was). Once Donst went back to the Tecnicos, Hydra decided he had had enough of Mantis’ abuse and turned on the Order to join Donst. As The Sea Donsters, Hydra and Donst failed to capture the Campeonatos de Parejas, but did best The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. At Aniversario, when The Sea Donsters lost to 2.0, Donst yelled at Hydra and left him in the ring. Supposedly broken up, Hydra decided to side with Hallowicked and Frightmare to once again take down the new incarnation of the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple.

“The Mat Wrestling Machine” Tim Donst

Donst debuted in a trios match in April, ironically against the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. Donst lost this match, and a match at the Young Lions Cup. Starved to prove himself, Donst requested to be put up against the best CHIKARA had to offer. First up was a now infamous match against Eddie Kingston, in which Kingston absolutely murdered Donst with Donst refusing to quit. Although Donst ultimately lost, he walked away a bigger star for the effort. Donst then would face guys like Brodie Lee, Mike Quackenbush, and a rematch against Eddie Kingston, and while he came out on the losing end of all those matches, Donst gained loads of respect from the locker room and fans. Donst ultimately beat Kingston in a trios match and beat Mitch Ryder in a singles match at the end of 2007, and headed into 2008 with his head held high.

At “Deuces Wild”, in a singles match with Ultramantis Black, Ultramantis gave Donst a concussion. Mantis took advantage of this by seemingly convincing Donst that he was a member of Mantis’ Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. As said, Donst’s participation was all a ruse, and he took Hydra out of the Temple and back to the Tecnicos side. Since then, the two have been one of the more popular acts in the comedy. Donst took a quick aside to deal with STIGMA, the man responsible for Chris Hero learning the CHIKARA Special. Donst won that feud at Aniversario Yin, but then lost in a tag match with Hydra the following night at Aniversario Yang. Donst was visually upset with Hydra after the match, and the team’s status is up in the air as of this writing.

“The Masked Marvel” Equinox

Equinox was first portrayed by Vin Gerard, debuting in 2005. Vin lost the Equinox identity to Chris Hero in a Mask vs. Hair match in late 2007.

Jimmy Olsen is the current Equinox. Jimmy teamed with his brother Colin Olsen aka Colin Delaney when they first debuted in late 2006. The Olsen Twins tagged all throughout 2007 as a very entertaining comedic tandem. Even with their schtick, they still put on some really great matches, including an amazing tag team bout against Cheech & Cloudy at “Cibernetico & Robin”. As we know, Colin headed off to the WWE leaving Jimmy alone in CHIKARA. Jimmy wrestled, hanging on to the school of thought that any day Colin would return. Vin Gerard, as a joke, told Jimmy that Colin was still in CHIKARA under a mask. This caused to Jimmy wrestling many masked wrestlers and unmasking them during the course of the match. After being fired, Colin returned making Jimmy look foolish. Disgusted by how pathetic his brother acted when he was gone, Colin joined up with Vin Gerard and STIGMA instead of Jimmy. To get revenge on Vin, Jimmy donned the Equinox identity to play mind games. Ironically, Jimmy found tons of success under the guise of Equinox, winning the 2008 Torneo Cibernetico and the Young Lions Cup in January of 2009. Random drawing during the “La Lotería Letal” put Lince Dorado and Jimmy together as a team, who won the whole tournament. Lince and Jimmy continued to team, and Helios joined them to form “The Future Is Now”. Jimmy holds the Young Lions Cup to this day, and will most likely hold it till he is forced to vacate it at Young Lions Cup VII.

“The Golden Lynx of Lucha Libre” Lince Dorado

Lince debuted alongside El Pantera and Sicodelico Jr. in the 2007 King of Trios tournament. Making an impressive showing, and making it all the way to the semi-finals, Lince was a hit. Lince made it to the finals of the Rey de Voladores in 2007, losing to Chuck Taylor in the finals. Mitch Ryder attacked Lince after Lince defeated him in a Trios match, claiming Lince to be an illegal immigrant who has no business in CHIKARA or the U.S. Lince and Mitch feuded for the rest of 2007, culminating in a mask vs. hair match which Lince won. During that match, Lince suffered a major concussion, but came back in 2008 with a bang by winning the 2008 King of Trios tournament with El Pantera and Incognito. Eddie Kingston took notice of Lince Dorado’s popularity, and in a series of three matches, absolutely demolished Lince much like he did Tim Donst in 2007. Lince begged for the punishment, proving just how tough he could be. Lince found a strange partnership with Equinox, who spent some time fighting The Osirian Portal and The UnStable. Helios and Lince have recently teamed together more often, and with Equinox they make “The Future Is Now” stable. Jigsaw has become the mentor of the group, so their future looks good for the future is now (see…see what I did there?)

“The Burning Star of CHIKARA” Helios

Ricochet and Chuck Taylor had an issue in CHIKARA that ended with Chuck telling Ricochet that he would give him one more shot at the Young Lions Cup, but if Chuck won, Ricochet could never show his face in CHIKARA again. Chuck won, seemingly banishing Ricochet forever.

However, Ricochet took Chuck’s word literally. Ricochet debuted under a mask as Helios at “New Star Navigation” against Chuck, and won the Young Lions Cup in his debut. Helios would wow the crowds with his high-flying and agility that helped him hold the Cup until he was forced to vacate it at Young Lions Cup VI. Helios has spent his time since teaming with Equinox and Lince Dorado with great success. Now with Jigsaw by their side, Helios star will burn brighter.

The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Player Dos)

“The 8-Bit Luchador” Player Uno debuted in 2006 as a singles wrestler. He made sporadic appearances in 2006 and 2007, but never really shined as a star. Stupefied debuted in 2007, and he and Player Uno brought their Super Smash Bros. team to CHIKARA. The Super Smash Bros. lost a series of matches, leading to Stupefied getting angrier and angrier with Uno. But Uno had a plan that would bring them together as a unit – Stupefied had to become Player Dos. He did, and within a month they wore the Campenatos de Parejas…for a month. Sadly, Player Uno is known for wearing pants with an NES controller on the side…that works. This means his opponents could pause him during the match, which they often did. It was these pants that caused the Super Smash Bros. downfall, as the pause button allowed The Osirian Portal to beat them for the titles. Since then, Uno has trashed those pants and has tried to get back on track with Dos. Their success has been sporadic; Dos made it to the finals of the 2009 Rey de Voladores while Player Uno successfully defended his ISW Championship against Twiggy during King of Trios weekend. Recently they have teamed with Create-A-Wrestler, calling themselves the “Saturday Night Slam Masters”. The Super Smash Bros. no doubt are looking to hold the gold again, as their thirst for it has no doubt been intensified since they have held it once before.

“The Wrestler That YOU Create” Create-A-Wrestler

Pictured above is CAW as his Ultimo Breakfast persona. CAW debuted in 2007 during King of Trios, and was essentially inconsequential in his presence. However, someone got the awesome idea that the fans would actually create CAW’s persona. Every year, a contest is held to determine his character. 2007 saw him become Moscow, the Communist Bovine, and 2008 saw him become Ultimo Breakfast, hailing from the Bed and Breakfast of the Gods. While CAW has had few noteworthy matches in CHIKARA, he has continued to become more and more talented as the years go on.

Cheech Hernandez & KC “Cloudy” Day

Cheech & Cloudy are one of the most fun and popular tag teams in CHIKARA. Both men bring a nice mixture of high flying and technical prowess to the ring. They are most known for their history with Incoherence, both feuding against and teaming with them. Sometimes, they even play dress up, imitating the look of Incoherence during their matches. Cheech & Cloudy had a series of really fantastic matches against The Olsen Twins in 2007, putting on a show stopping performance at “Cibernetico & Robin”. Cheech & Cloudy also became the only team in CHIKARA to collect enough points for two shots at the Campeonatos de Parejas in one calendar (The Osirian Portal challenged twice in one calendar year, but collected the points in two different years). After a hiatus in the summer of 2008, Cheech & Cloudy came back with full names and new personas as beach bums. Now surfing the waves of CHIKARA, Cheech & Cloudy once again look to challenge for, and win, the Campeonatos de Parejas.

Well that does it for the Tecnicos. Sara Del Ray is technically there, but she’ll be covered in another roster coverage segment. Moving on!

CHIKARA in Japan!

As many of you may know, some of the Chikatheletes headed over to Japan for a few shows with Big Japan Wrestling this weekend. The wrestlers headed over earlier to wrestle on a few other shows in Japan, and here are the results, thanks to the FINE folks over at Chikarafans:

BJW “DAINICHI DASH”
June 9, 2009 ~ Nigiwaiza, Yokohama, Japan
1. Masashi Takeda defeated Atsushi Ohashi in 8:09 with an Ankle hold
2. UltraMantis Black and Daisuke Masaoka ended in 6:48. The referee stopped the match due to an injury suffered (I believe the injury was incurred by Masaoka).
3. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant defeated Shinya Ishikawa & Shinobu in 13:51 with the “Dis-missile”
4. Chuck Taylor defeated Yuji Okabayashi in 8:24 with a La Magistral
5. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Ryuichi Kawakami in 15:14 with a Lariat.

Hama Pro “Yokohama Anniversary Special Series 150″
June 10, 2009 ~ Nigiwaiza, Yokohama, Japan
1. 2.0 (Jagged & Shane Matthews) defeated (11:51 ~ Sweet Taste of Professionalism) Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinya Ishikawa in 11:51 with the “Sweet Taste of Professionalism.” Alright, I’ll cave: I have NO idea what that means.
2. Western Tiger, Pierre, & Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Buta Gunso, UltraMantis Black, & Crossbones in 12:27 with a Diving Senton.

BJW “CHIKARA Japan Showcase”
June 12, 2009 ~ Ice Ribbon Arena, Saitama, Japan
1. Green Ant Debut Match: Green Ant def. Tigre Rojo
2. Chuck Taylor def. Michael Nakazawa
3. 2.0 (Jagged & Shane Matthew) def. Mototsugu Shimizu & Atsushi Ohashi
4. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) def. The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple (UltraMantis Black & Crossbones)

MOAR Young Lions Cup Participants announced!

The fourth entrant into the Young Lions Cup is Incoherence member Frightmare. Frightmare is the youngest member of the roster at the moment (Green Ant may be the same age, but I’m not sure) so it’s very fitting to be in this one. Frightmare’s been involved in a few independent wrestling tournaments (King of Trios, Chainsaw Cup, NWS’ version of the J-Cup, etc.) and wasn’t so successful in those. This time around, Frightmare looks to better his track record. Frightmare showed some impressive outings in singles outings against Brodie Lee and Ophidian earlier this year, and while he didn’t win, his athleticism and talent could not be denied. Frightmare could surely be the dark horse of this tournament.

Player Dos is the fifth (shouldn’t he have been the second? I smell a missed opportunity) entrant in the Young Lions Cup tournament. As Stupefied, Dos competed in last years tournament, defeating current Young Lions Cup holder Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen in the first round. Dos also was the last person eliminated in the six man elimination match by another Young Lions Cup holder, Vin Gerard. Dos has proven that while he mostly competes in tag team action, he’s still a very capable singles wrestler, by making it to the finals of this years Rey de Voladores tournament a few months ago. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that he was one half of the CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas back in the fall. No doubt about it, Player Dos is much more skilled, polished, and decorated since last year’s tournament and he is out to prove it to the CHIKARMY.

Making his CHIKARA debut is the sixth entrant in the tournament, Yellow Dog. Now I admit it; I was horrified that CHIKARA would be making Brian Pillman jokes in 2009! But then I found out this was a completely different Yellow Dog altogether and I felt better. Yellow Dog wrestles primarily in the Midwest, namely the IWA:MS promotion. According to Chikarafans, rumor has it that he is Jaysin Strife under a mask. Yellow Dog’s persona will fit right in with CHIKARA’s atmosphere, and he of course would love to make a big impact in his CHIKARA debut by taking the whole tournament. An impressive showing could mean repeat bookings for the Dog. Just ask Pinkie Sanchez.

Colin Delaney is one unhappy Rudo

As reported last week, at CHIKARA’s July event, “Never Kneel At The Altar Of Conformity”, Hallowicked, Frightmare, & Hydra will team up to take on The UnStable. Colin Delaney, who just loves to open his mouth, of course had something to say about the matter in CHIKARA’s most recent blog:

6/9/2009: Is this some kind of joke? Is this supposed to be funny? Because I’m not laughing. How do three goofballs like Hydra, Frightmare and Hallowicked end up in a match with CHIKARA’s elite unit, The UnStable? How do they even negotiate for matches, anyway?

I’m not sure that those three will understand, but just so we’re clear about this – The UnStable is the hottest thing to hit the scene in a long, long time. Better than Legacy. Bigger than the Triple Threat. Badder than the nWo. And way cuter than the Un-Americans. In case you’ve been living under a rock, at the BIGGEST pro-wrestling tournament of the year, we mauled Da Soul Touchaz, and basically devoured the likes of Al Snow, Glacier and D-Lo Brown. It was almost sad. Like putting your ailing old dog to sleep. That’s what it was like for us.

So after all that, after setting the wrestling world on fire like only true SUPERSTARS can do, what do we get saddled with? An enhancement match. Yeah, I said it. Hallowicked, Frightmare, Hydra, these guys are jabrones compared to us. We’re going to show CHIKARA fans how dominant, how destructive we can be…and after two, three minutes tops, you can sweep what’s left of those mumbling morons under the ring.

As annoyed as I am by this match being added to the card, at least I know we’ll get the reception that’s been long overdue. Apparently, “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity” will be a special night for the fans to show how much they appreciate us. And it’s about friggin’ time, people. We deliver one five-star performance after another for you close-minded ingrates, and I think it’s a great idea to designate a special event where you can finally show us some appreciation for it.

Delaney, out!
CD

Some very, very harsh words by the Extremely Cute Wrestler. Sure, Delaney had a mouth full to say, but will the UnStable be able to live up to what he says, or will the green and black attack show that his words are nothing more than hot air?

Dragon Gate USA news!

Dragon Gate has announced two matches for their Philadelphia debut event. First, in singles action, Dragon Kid faces off with Masato Yoshino. In tag team action, CIMA & Susumu Yokosuka of the Warriors 5 faction will take on So-Cal superstars, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson).

In addition, it’s been announced that not only CHIKARA, but AAW and Hybrid Pro Wrestling are partners with DG USA. Because of this, Midwest wrestlers (The) Flip Kendrick and CHIKARA guest Johnny Gargano will be apart of the show opening “Fray” on both the Philadelphia and Chicago shows. Dawn Marie of ECW will also be the hostess for the event.

That’s not the only news. On the CHIKARA front, one half of the current Campeones de Parejas, “The Funky Pharoah” Amasis of the Osirian Portal, has been added to the CHIKARA Relevos Atomicos match. Amasis has been in CHIKARA for almost two years now, being one of the most impressive young stars on the entire roster. He’s a perfect choice for this match, and you must wonder if his slithery serpentine partner Ophidian will join him. Amasis, Icarus, and Akuma are no strangers to one another, having teamed up in the past at “The Battle of Who Could Care Less” and “Tragedy & Triumph”

Absolutely shameless shills!

The first shill is for Wrestling Interviews dot com. I recently watched their first episode, a 30 minute interview with CHIKARA veteran Ultramantis Black. In this interview, the questions asked helped me gain quite a bit more insight into Mantis’ career while Mantis threw in his own unique personality and humor into the mix. There’s a surprise at the end that also made me chuckle as well. For only three bucks, the interview is all yours. The best part is that all the questions are submitted by us, the fans. Their next set interview is with CHIKARA guest, “The Psycho Shooter” Drake Younger. Head to Wrestling Interviews dot com now to submit your questions and to watch the Ultramantis interview.

Here’s a free preview!

The second shill is for Pro Wrestling Ponderings. As most of you know, I actually came here to 411 because of my work over at the now defunct Cool Kids Table website. A bunch of my former co-workers now write at this new and growing website. There’s lots of cool stuff over there, so check it out.

The main reason I am plugging Pro Wrestling Ponderings is because I also do a podcast over there! Oh yes. Jerome Cusson (webmaster, and great man) and I sit down every week (sometimes more than once) to discuss all the news in pro wrestling. WWE, ROH, CHIKARA, PWG, DG USA, and more is covered. I suggest you give it a listen, I’m pretty proud of what we’ve produced so far. Click on the “Uncategorized” tab on the top of the page to find the shows. Ari Berenstein has appeared on one of our recent shows, and we look to have him on again in the very near future. So check that out and let me know what you think!

YouTube Fun!

The only video I have for you this week is the 165th episode of CHIKARA’s Podcast-A-Go-Go. This week, coverage of “Armdrags to Riches” continues, with with match clips including the Campeonatos de Parejas, The Osirian Portal (Ophidian & Escorpion Egipcio) vs Lince Dorado & Equinox, and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston. You can my read my review of this show by clicking here.

Okay, that’s a lot to take in, so I am going to get the hell out of here. I’ve got an ROH show (Manassas) to attend and a 21st birthday to celebrate. I’ll see you all in seven!

Links!
The CHIKARA Home Page .
CHIKARA Fans!
Buy CHIKARA DVD’s at Smart Mark Video
Follow CHIKARA on Twitter!
Follow CHIKARA Fans on Twitter!. CHIKARA on MySpace
Dragon Gate USA Home Page
Follow Dragon Gate USA on Twitter!.
Dragon Gate USA on MySpace
NYC fans, get on the to the Dragon Gate USA debut!