Battle for the moniker "Most Devious Man in Chikara"
Ophidian vs Ultramantis Black - 6/10
Ophidian debuts new attire as his full transformation is now complete. Sadly, it's an ugly mask. Good wrestling, but i kinda expected something different coming in to this match. For a second there, i thought Ophidian had this one.
Loser Leaves Town
Throwbacks (Mr Touchdown & Dasher Hatfield) vs Team Tap Out Back Steak House(Colt Cabana & Mixed Martial Archie) - 6/10
Archie is freaking gold!! I don't watch a lot of chikara, so i'm not sure if this is normal, but it's weird to watch a comedy "loser leaves town" match. ARCHIBALD PECK IS BACK!!!! The thing with Veronica, including the aftermath was somewhat cheesy, but i wanna see where it goes with Peck.
Gran Akuma's Chikara contract on the line, Ladder match
Gran Akuma vs Icarus - 7/10
So Greg Iron is the special guest referee, nice touch. This is the second ever ladder match in Chikara. Thank You Ladder Chants!!! The match started pretty slow, but the violence and ladder spots started to escalate as the match went on. Some cool ladder spots here and there, but overall a basic ladder match. Please be careful chants
Table spot sucked bad. I lol'd at the guy who said "I think he's dead" at Icarus after the match.3-on-2 Intergender Handicap Match
Sara del Rey & Saturyne vs The Batiri (Obariyon, Kodama, & Kobald) - 7/10
Awesome Start!!! Great heel vs face work, a pretty awesome fast paced match, it was short, but had a good amount of spots, i was loving this match until Delirious got involved, don't get me wrong, i love Delirious, but I really wanted to see the end to this match. Saturyne has talent, she will go far if she keeps up and expands beyond Chikara. I knew Delirious was coming back, but to join the Batiri?? really?? we'll see where it goes.
Lucha de Apuestas, Hair vs Mask Match
Hallowicked vs Tim Donst - 7/10
Not much to say, good back and forward match. HOLY SHIT!!! HALLOWICKED LOST HIS MASK!!! NOOO BRYCE RESTARTS THE MATCH!!! I honestly believed that Hallowicked was gonna get unmasked there. I've always thought of Donst as a younger Kurt Angle, now he reminds me even more.
10-Man Tag Team War
GEKIDO (17, The Shard, assailANT, combatANT, & deviANT) W/ Derek Sabato
VS
CHIKARA (Eddie Kingston, Soldier Ant, Green Ant, & Jigsaw) - 8/10
Fire Ant was taken out pre-show by GEKIDO. So it's 4 on 5!! MIKE QUACKENBUSH FOR THE SAVE!! A little touch that many may not notice, but was great. When Soldier Ant was getting his mask untied, only Jigsaw and Green Ant made the save, they obviously understand more what a mask means than Quack and Eddie. I may be over analyzing this. Awesome match, i wish i would have lasted a but more. A lot of mask tearing teases, I got worried.
2-out-3 falls match for Los Campeonatos en Pareja
F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano) (C) vs The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) - 9/10
A match between, who i believe, are the best two tag teams in american wrestling. Above The Briscoes, ANX, or any other team. Awesome match, awesome action, awesome everything. heel vs heel match that saw a lot of heel stuff from both teams, yet treated by everyone like a face vs face match. Nick Jackson's nose looked awful. The Young Bucks are taking the campeonatos en pareja from Chikara, this will be interesting.
Archibald Peck Stuff - Awesome!
Tommy Dreamer, Jerry Lynn, and 2 Cold Scorpio for King of Trios!!! TO the EXTREME!!
Final Thoughts:
Good show, but with all the stipulations and blow off matches in this show, I was really expecting epic things going on (kinda like High Noon), but it didn't disappoint. I felt like a lot of stories did indeed move, with the exception of Chikara vs Gekido.
Notes:
- Arena is packed, good for Chikara
- Something for all indy shows, take at least 1 minute to show your broadcast team on camera. It's good to have faces on the voices you hear all night.
- Chikara vs Gekido was an obvious main event, but letting F.I.S.T. vs Bucks take that place is the kind of thing that makes the Campeonatos en Pareja to be most prestigious tag titles in wrestling.
