Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Johnny P is in Hellertown attending Night 1 of Chikara’s annual tournament and will be sending in results throughout the show. (Johnny P. EDIT: I’ll put my comments in Italics after every match)

ROH President Cary Silkin is in the crowd. John asked him about Bryan Danielson’s situation and Silkin said something to the effect of “there’s no news right now, we have him under contract.”

Kaiju’s Louden Noxious performed a song to open up the show.
(I just am not into this guy. It was decent considering it’s a goof anyway, but it’s not my thing. Fan’s DID NOT crap on it, however)
The first half of the show was first-round matches in the tournament.

1) Amasis defeated Ultimo Breakfast (Create-A-Wrestler) in 7:04 with the Twist of Funk.
(A solid fun opener. Interesting seeing Amasis seem to project his personality and verbal skills during the match here more than at the ROH PPV pre-show. It’s always possible he was nervous, but his wrestling for a very small guy was just as good both nights. Amasis led the match well feeding Ultimo Breakfast. That’s a gimmick that fits well with Chikara and I enjoy the humor. He was fine in this match)

2) Pelle Primeau defeated Ethan Page in 7:24 with a small package. “Very nice little match.”

(Pelle was over as the face, but Ethan Page did a great job before, during, and after the match being a heel. He had good presence, a decent to good look, and was verbal to the small crowd throughout. He connected and got alot of heat. He similar to Shane Hagadorn, but taller and in better shape. He has a Hollywood heel gimmick, though it’s not fully fleshed out. Pelle sold much of the way and was Pelle from ROH. flubbed finish, but nice little match with some hard work)

3) Vin Gerard defeated Sami Callihan in 9 minutes with an STF.

(Gerard has a vision for his gimmick, or the bookers do, but it’s not fully connected because of what I perceive to be his lack of full confidence in the Emo gimmick. He just seems a bit insecure, so while the gimmick might fit him socially, he’s not projecting the anger and hurt he feels all the time. Otherwise, he’s a good heel who works hard. Sami Callihan was impressive to me. Good look, in shape, and came across like he bought into his gimmick in the positive way. He’s got a punk/goth look. Intense and stiff match. Typical formula of face comes out hot, heel gains control two minutes in, and Sami sold for a bit. Sami sells well and looked good on comebacks. He tapped to the STF, but had a great showing. Best match to that point as the show built really well.)

4) Pinkie Sanchez defeated “Sugarfoot” Alex Payne in 7:18 with a sit-down driver.

(Pinkie has alot of personality and I was shocked it got over as a face gimmick being that wrestling fans are often homophobic and narrow minded, especially in groups. But this was a great crowd and the dancing gimmick was over. If the idea is to tease homosexuality that actually wrestles and HAPPENS to be gay, this is a very cool and progressive gimmick. I’ll bet it’s just a fem gimmick that got over and was turned face though. Alex Payne is a cult favorite from ROH for his gentile boyish looks and… who the hell knows. He was barely a heel here. Great match, but it was carried in every way by Pinkie. Payne is a guy who constantly seems afraid of his own shadow, and I’m not really sure why he got this far in wrestling to begin with. It’s an extroverts game, and Rhett Titus is winning , people!)

5) Drake Younger defeated James Ross in 8:02 with a Kudoh Driver. “Near squash.”

(Drake Younger was WELL over, as they say in Britain, and almost seemed like he didn’t know how to keep it together he was so please. He liked the attention but wasn’t sure what to yell to the crowd at times past “huh?” which always gets a YEAH! Lots of workers were watching this one from the curtain. James Ross was lost early and looked really intimidated in there. First time I’d seen that in a while and I felt for him, but he kept it together best he could and started actually doing well as the match went on. He got the crap kicked out of him, stiffed, and potatoed all the same. But he stayed to the finish. Crowd was into this one. Finish was brutal in the same way Homicide’s was at times. Younger needs some gym time and maybe a getaway from the death match atmosphere. Ross should be proud of himself for being here and look to build further with the best opponents. Another hot match where the young guys show alot of the building blocks and potential to go further)

6) Stupified defeated Jimmy Olsen in 9:56. The finisher (like a Razor’s Edge/Iconoclasm hybrid) was botched and Olsen took a nasty bump but appeared to be OK.

(Stupified has a cool name and attitude, but I think one day he’ll need to drop the nickname. That’s not a bad thing, it’s actually a good thing. He’s just going to outgrow the gimmick like some think Delirious has, and then it becomes a noose in a way. This kid has something. He connects with a small crowd, interacts, and owns them. He’s a heck of a wrestler too. Loved his poise and wrestling IQ for his young age. Olsen isn’t lost without his old pal-done-ECW-right, Colin Delaney. He had a big hand in this being the match of the night up until this point. And yes, it kept changing. The show built perfectly much of the time. Another solid showing for two young wrestlers. Hope Stupified bought him a soda afterwards)

Intermission

7) Mitch Ryder, Larry Sweeney, & Shayne Hawke defeated The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, & Worker Ant) in 16:18. Hawke pinned Fire Ant with an implant DDT.

(A very old school slowed down tag match, which was a good move, but probably third or fourth on most cards. It was more of a six man then a trios match. Long heel heat segment almost to the point of monotony at times, but the crowd would come back thanks to the over personalities in the match. I got bored with this one, but thankfully it wasn’t a bust. Just my least favorite)

8 ) The Neo Solar Temple (UltraMantis Black, Hydra, & Tim Donst) defeated FIST (Gran Akuma, Icarus, & Chuck Taylor) in 18 minutes. “Very good match, fun.”

(Wow, where to begin. This had so many over talents and so many personalities with so many mini-stories. At first all i thought was “aren’t they both supposed to be heel teams?”, but F.I.S.T. made it clear they were the alpha heels. Ther fans made it clear that the Solar Temple was not a heel faction for tonight. Small pairings early. Donst vs Icarus had solid mat wrestling and hot moves. This was my 3-4 time seeing Donst live. He’s still in my top five draft picks from the indy scene with Kingston. He’s not can’t miss, but he’s hard to miss for at least an ROH/PWG type run where he gets to travel the world in a few years.

Taylor vs Mantis Black was the capper. They decide to be best friends who can wrestle each other. That breaks up quickly. The heel heat starts, the fun keeps going, and by the end the big ROH/NOAH big move operation was in fun effect. The good kind where the crowd leaves pleased and loud. Just awesome well timed stuff and overall may squeak out MOTN honors, though I REALLY liked Stupified’s match and the earlier Vin Gerard/Sami Callihan stuff. Lets not forget Pinkie!)

9) Six-way elimination tournament semi-final featuring tonight’s first-round winners

Vin Gerard wins the elimination match by pinning Amasis

(Johnny P. Note : Show started half and hour late. I was on a schedule, so left 3 minutes into the main event. It looked awesome so I’m bummed. Hopefully I’ll see the whole show tomorrow. I’m PLANNING to attend, but you never know)