Pro Wrestling Chronicle

We’re back with our continuing coverage of Young Lions Cup VI.

(Johnny P NOTE: Night one write up is finally all done. Check it out. Night One is here)
The show opened with an angle (right in front of John) where Vin Gerard attacked Worker Ant (who was scheduled to wrestle Chip Day tonight) and injured his knee.

((Between this and the Necro-Jay Briscoe match from a week ago my anxiety is up:) This time I had no idea it was coming, so for a split second you think you’re witnessing a fight. I’m always thankfully when I realize the men fighting are costumed and trying to not fall on me, which Worker Ant did a heck of a job here. Thanks to both for a fine angle that injured no fans. This would play in very well later)

Jason Blade (scheduled against Tim Donst) is also out and is replaced by a masked wrestler named Christian Faith.

((A new reason to think of Blade as worthless, as I’d gotten to a point where I was really looking forward to seeing Donst with a semi-well traveled opponent and seeing where he was at. Oh well, for all I know Blade has a serious injury or emergency, so I’ll reserve judgment for a later date.)

1) Lince Dorado defeated Kyle Matthews in 10:29 with a shooting star press.

(great chain wrestling/hold exchanges early. Unfortunately as it went on and escalated it reminded me of seeing a Brian Danielson vs Spanky match early in their careers. The moves that were executed and the timing was nearly flawless. Even more impressive was how quickly and how many they had to execute. Except they didn’t have to do so much, and in fact it all melded together. Selling became secondary to preparation of what comes next. Kyle Matthews was a heel here, but you wouldn’t know it. If he was a face, I couldn’t tell that either. He gave nothing to the crowd yet sacrificed his body too much. If I had to pick I’d say Dorado came off better, but only for his selling at times. If you know the names above, you know it worked out for them, and both Dorado and Matthews are under 25 - surprised I know. Great talents and I hope they realize when to do things. Match showed alot of potential and was solid if you don’t care about selling)

2) Ophidian defeated “Turtle” Wiener in 5:28 with a choke hold.

(Goofy comedy match that the crowd got into. My understand is that this was Weiner’s first match. He’s a “super fan” according to a friend of mine, and was spotted doing some backstage work for ROH last week at their PPV taping. Apparently someone showed him some stuff and they gave him the Ninja Turtles gimmick. He was bad, but he was allowed to be in this match in a forgiving promotion like Chikara. Funny spots where his sell protected him. Ophidian is so tiny, but he worked his ass off here for the big guy. Very good effort by both. Fans chanted “Turtle” at the end so they were entertained. Not much to say. A near squash with a short comeback at the end.)

3) Fire Ant (replacement for Worker Ant) defeated Chip Day in 6:38. Gerard tried to interfere, but was stopped by Worker.

(Great angle here. This stems from the attack earlier in the night. The Colony must choose who takes their brothers place. Rock, paper, scissors gives it to Fire Ant. Worker Ant stays outside with a crutch to dejectedly cheer on Fire Ant.

Chip Day was also a face, lost in the home promotion sympathy for the Colony. He had a Mountain Dew gimmick, with tights that said it and coming out with a can of it. I thought it was a little lame when he begged ringside fans to taste his Mountain Dew, but I’ll give him credit for going all the way with it. A minute in this kid dives to the outside, crashes and burns. They no sell that he mostly killed himself because he sorta touched Fire Ant, but it really bothered me. Match had that Indy-frific problem to me (cheap plug for my podcast with Brian Streleckis) until Vin Gerard showed up to interfere. Work ANT limped over (hopped actually) and nailed him before he got to the ring with a crutch shot. place went crazy for this. the match had developed well by this pointso the focus then got heated in the ring. Fire Ant kicked out of a big move, made his comeback, and won. Great piece of booking)

4) Tim Donst defeated Christian Faith in 6:43 with a leg/ankle submission.

(Compared to most of the roster this was a big man match. These guys were alot of fun to watch. Donst is a joy to watch develop. Faith was just there, but did his part to play the silent assassin big man roll. Think of a slightly more animated Kane in his Attitude Era prime. They did do a gimmick where thye pulled names out of a hat to replace Blade earlier and then ran to the back to see if they were there. “Matt Borne” and Evan Sydal” were not, but Christian Faith was.

Crowd loved Donst and the match had a likable formula that was executed well. The Face was hot early with mat work and a suplex or two. The babyface then sold for a decent amount of time, always fighting for a comeback. Finally, he came back, hit a wicked suplex, and that was the end of the night for Faith. Good solid match that was more fundamentally sound then the other matches so far)

5) Shayne Hawke defeated Bobby Dempsey in 4:27 with an implant DDT-like move.

(Shane Hawke, like much of the niche stuff in Chikara, is really growing on me. He doesn’t look like much but an indy geek. But I can see where even as a heel the fans take a stance of “he’s OUR heel jerk indy geek!”, much like his mentor Mitch Ryder. Hawke was this match. He worked his ass off doing comedy with Dempsey and ref Remsburg to get this match over. He bumped like crazy for all the big man - little cocky heel spots. He sold the whole way while Dempsey got by on the ROH-storyline love. Then the last 30 seconds Hawke used a 3rd or 4th strategy, chopped Dempsey down, hit his big move (Tomahawk? - and pinned him. It was what it was, but it was delightful to be a fan)

6) Marshe Rockett defeated Johnny Gargano in 9:13 with an Ace Crusher.

(Rockett and his manager got a huge pop coming out as they returned for the first time since there star-turning performance in the Trios back in March. Gargano played heel well with the fans early. I was under the impression he played it crazy, or half sane with a crazy streak, but he played it like an insecure Rock and Roll star here most of the way. His heel stuff was very good, especially on offense taunting the crowd. Both milked the crowd for reaction very well throughout. The match was decent, though it became a burnout question after a while as I needed intermission. Alot of heart from both was shown. I’d like to see more of Gargano on th east coast. Rockett is young and has some work to do past his great personality and gimmick. Coming east will only help him)

Intermission

7) Shane Storm & Mike Quackenbush defeated Super Smash Brothers. Storm scored the pin fall win, but Quack attacked him after the match.

(Words can’t say enough for how much of an MVP I thought Stupified was this weekend. I am debating going back Sunday because of travel and time, but if I do, it’s because of Stupified and a chance to see Eddie Kingston. Just as impressive, Player Uno and Shane Storm are a bit chubby around the waiste, yet hit every spot they needed to within reason.

Maybe more to the root of my worries was Donst’s uneven performance as a heel…I mean face…I mean no one knows. Claim Chikara fun all you want, this was meant to be as serious as an Eddie Kingston promo, and I hope it gets over. I just worry. See my comments on Donst’s character below in comments.)

8 ) The Order of the Neo Solar Temple (Crossbone & UltraMantis Black) defeated Da Soul Touchaz in 12:47. Crossbone won the match with a sit-out driver.

(This was just there. At this point I’d seen enough that I just sat back and watched the formula match. Crowd was sad at the finish, but the Temple is staying and the Touchaz are headed by to the Midwest. Hydra was sent backstage to give Ultra Mantis Black some heat. Traditional heel-face interactions and match. LONG heat segment that reminded me of the six man last night. Lots of heel cheating. Decent. A personality match more than anything)

9) Fire Ant won the six-man elimination semi-final in 20-25 minutes.
Eliminations:
- Dorado eliminated Rockett by submission (leg/head lock)
- Ophidian eliminated Dorado by pin
- Ophidian eliminated Donst by pin
- Fire Ant eliminated Ophidian by pin (roll through pin attempt)
- Fire Ant eliminated Hawke (top rope Air Raid Crash with a bad head bump)

(Shane Hawke was great here, as were most of the bigger personalities in the match. But Hawke carried this as a heel. They did alot of different match ups early, then moved to frustrating Hawke with comedy stuff and faces getting the edge. They then went to all out highspots and dives, before bringing it back to the ring. Eliminations went really quick as they went from a full house to the final two in about 45 seconds. They then gave Frie Ant and Hawke some time to keep the crowd to them before the finish. Nearfalls had the fans in their palms, and the finish was really well done. Vin Gerard comes out at the end to set the stage for the finals Sunday. Well booked show that helped the promotion as a whole with outsiders complimenting it wonderfully)

Good night!