Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Brian Streleckis has yet another live report from (now cold) South Philadelphia, the New Alhambra Arena, and the house that Quackenbush built, this time housing the stars of Big Japan and another monumental title change.

Since the previous report… The Campeonatos de Parejas reign of Incoherence ended after eleven months when the red-hot Super Smash Brothers defeated them for the titles in Cleveland, OH on September 21st. They were set to face the Osirian Portal earlier today in non-title action, but it became a title match when the Portal picked up their third point the previous night in Easton, PA. Also in Easton – Night One of the Global Gauntlet – the wrestlers of Big Japan Wrestling defeated Chikara opponents of their choosing in a Best of 5 Series with a dominating 4-1, while Jimmy Olsen & Lince Dorado overcame Vin Gerard & Colin Delaney in the La Lotería Letal finals, earning themselves a third point in addition to some bragging rights over their enemies from The UnStable.

- Guard rails made their triumphant (?) return to this show, as did the blue canvas/yellow rope ring from “Style and Substance,” which in fact belongs to Velocity Pro Wrestling and was in use during their own epic show last month.

1. The UnStable (Colin Delaney & STIGMA) defeated The Sea Donsters (Tim Donst & Hydra). Colin came to the ring sporting a WWECW t-shirt and is now calling himself “The Extremely Cute Wrestler.” Hydra, returning from a 30-day suspension from a Wellness Policy violation (which he shrugged at), was sporting a wrestling team inspired singlet, and he and Donst were wrestling like they were the Steiner Brothers in the early going before Hydra was isolated. The heels worked him over, with STIGMA taking a moment to do a mocking cartwheel from his old Shane Storm days. Hydra scored a hot tag and Donst made the most of it for a while before he was tossed to the outside, leading Hydra susceptible to a tombstone piledriver from STIGMA. Colin did a dive onto Donst at ringside as STIGMA picked up the win. A good opener.

- Vin Gerard came out afterward (from the front entrance as usual) to congratulate his buddies and call out Jigsaw, who was sitting in the crowd. He invited Jigsaw to come into the ring, saying they got off on the wrong foot the last time. Gerard remarked how he must have done something really bad to Chikara, seeing how he had to pay to get in, which even Vin doesn’t have to do. Vin talked of how they have a lot in common – losing their masks and going on to better things – but then talked of how they all make their share of mistakes – “Colin teamed with Jimmy Olsen for about three years.” – and how he lost his focus. Gerard invited Jigsaw to join him to regain that focus. Jigsaw said he would have to think about it, but then superkicked STIGMA immediately afterward and went after the others. The UnStable gained the upper hand quickly, with nobody else coming out to help Jigsaw, but then Mike Quackenbush ran them off with a chair just as they were attempting to choke out Jigsaw. Jigsaw was happy, but Quack simply said, “Now we’re even,” and walked out on him again. Jigsaw tried to follow him to the back, but Leonard F. Chikarason stopped him and led him somewhere else (still towards the back) to presumably talk about things.

2. Lince Dorado defeated Icarus. Lince rode out to ringside on a razor scooter, so Icarus pulled another scooter out from under the ring and challenged him to a race around the ring before the match. Dorado won the race and had control of the match early. When attempting a flying crossbody though, Icarus ducked and pulled down the ropes, causing Dorado to fly clear over the top and land with a thud on the floor, taking everyone by surprise. From here, as Icarus controlled the match and Dorado fought back, this match was clicking quite nicely and ended up better than I expected for its spot on the card. Icarus scored a close fall with a death valley driver into the corner. Finish saw Dorado counter a Shiranui attempt from Icarus, connect with a C4 (backflip uranagi slam), and hit the shooting star press for the win.

3. Incoherence (Delirious & Hallowicked) defeated The Order of the Neo Solar Temple (UltraMantis Black & Crossbones). A fine match, though not necessarily a standout. The Order brought a small pumpkin with them to the ring, and they beat up on it (albeit poorly) to show what they would do to Hallowicked. Match started with Mantis getting his arm worked over a lot and him selling it in a funny, over-the-top fashion. The former Campeones had early control before Crossbones caught Delirious off-guard. The heels worked over Delirious forever with some good teases of the hot tag before the Sea Donsters walked out, distracting Mantis with their air-rocking. As Mantis dealt with Donst & Hydra, Hallowicked tagged in and scored some yakuza kicks on Crossbones. Delirious nailed the Shadows over He(ck) for the pinfall, with Mantis nowhere near the ring after chasing the Sea Donsters to the back. A slow middle with a good beginning and finish.

4. Jimmy Olsen defeated Vin Gerard. Gerard’s Young Lions Cup was not on the line in this grudge match. After months of Gerard playing with Jimmy’s head, Jimmy had a field day with Gerard’s head by coming out dressed as Gerard’s old persona of Equinox, even coming out to Equinox’s music and wrestling in the signature mask and gear all throughout the match. Gerard looked completely dumbfounded when he came out, going back where he came from a couple times at the shock of what he saw. He sold his dismay of this predicament – standing across the ring from the previous persona he now deeply hated – really well this entire time. Gerard laid in some blows, but Jimmynox took him down with some fancy flying. People were really into this, even chanting for Equinox to get under Gerard’s skin. Towards the end, Jimmy spiked Gerard on his head with a huricanrana, and scored the big win with the Chikara Special. Good match adding another great wrinkle to this complex storyline. Jimmy remained under the mask as he left, so he might still use it to his advantage as evident from pictures now on ChikaraPro.com.

5. The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) defeated The Super Smash Bros. (Players Uno & Dos) to win the Campeonatos de Parejas 2 Falls to 1. The SSB came out to some Street Fighter II music in corresponding giis a la Ryu & Ken. After the pre-match photo opportunity, the Portal jumped the champs from behind, fought off any attempts at Dos’ aerial offense, and nailed the Osirian Sacrament (top rope leg drop and top rope splash simultaneously) for the first fall in a little over two minutes. Despite playing the heels, the Portal may have been more over the SSB. Second fall began with Uno getting beat down and isolated without the benefit of a rest period between falls. The Portal were in it to win it (sans Nigel McGuinness’ spiky hair), with Amasis even contorting Uno’s mask. Dos eventually scored the hot tag and flew around the ring. Dos attempted the Final Smash (pretty much an inverted Razor’s Edge where he drives the opponent into the mat like a lawn dart) on Ophidian, but Ophidian slivered out and locked on the Cobra Clutch Death Grip. Uno hit an enzuiguri on Ophidian before he could score the submission, and Dos nailed him with the Final Smash to score the second fall and keep the Super Smash Bros. alive. Third fall began as Uno powered up for a Haduken, but Dos was nearly pinned with a small package while Uno’s back was turned. From there it evolved into all out madness that had the crowd going crazy. Multiple big moves and doubleteams, ranging from an assisted Shiranui from Uno onto Amasis that in turn made Amasis give Ophidian a DDT, to a simultaneous Swanton Bomb and Cannonball from the SSB. Too much stuff going on to mention, but it was all mighty exciting. Finally, after all the insanity, Uno looked to hit a fatality on Amasis, but Amasis hit Uno’s pause button and pinned him to clinch the match and the titles. This sneaky finish after everything previously done came off great, and the match got a very good ovation.

- Post match, Dos unpaused his partner and expressed his anger to Uno over his pants costing them the titles. He was essentially reverting back to his frustration before he became Player Dos. Uno tried to explain how it was an accident, but Dos just walked out. The partners’ frustrations re-emerge after falling off the top the mountain.

- Intermission was held, Louden Noxious and Steven “The Turtle” Weiner gave away some posters autographed by the Big Japan wrestlers as part of a raffle, and then it was time for the main event. It was a 7-on-7 Gauntlet Match, culminating when one team has been run through completely. A female ref from Big Japan, Nikkan Lee, officiated the entire main event.

6. Team Chikara defeated Team Big Japan Wrestling to win the Global Gauntlet. Starting out for Big Japan was Jaki Numazawa, who looked to be the elder of his team. He was announced as a former Deathmatch Champion and had the scars on his back to prove it, and had a pretty cool look with a bald head, long red hair and beard, and face paint. Gran Akuma started out for Team Chikara. This opening portion of the Gauntlet did little to nothing for me, as Numazawa was moving very slowly and there was miscommunication between the two. Akuma worked hard, but this couldn’t have ended soon enough. Eventually, Akuma had Numazawa’s back, Numazawa tossed his arm pad into the corner to distract the ref, then kicked Akuma low and hit a death valley driver to eliminate him.

Fire Ant was up next for Team Chikara and amped up the energy considerably, taking down Numazawa with some kicks from the top. Numazawa eventually tried the same trick from before, but Fire Ant sidestepped the kick. Numazawa then just kicked him point blank in the groin, but the ref caught it and disqualified Numazawa.

Out came Atsushi Ohashi for Big Japan. A younger wrestler, he was the same size as Fire Ant and had similar agility. He eliminated Fire Ant with a yoshi tonic. Chikara’s next entrant was Soldier Ant, who “dismissed” Ohashi following a TKO. Soldier was definitely brought more of fight here than I’m used to from him, and I like the change. When the next Big Japan entrant, the thick bruiser Katsumasa Inoue, made his entrance, Soldier got the upper hand with a tope to the outside on him. The two dished out some big strikes to one another, including Soldier connecting with a crazy torpedo headbutt to a seated Inoue in the corner. Inoue put his size and power advantage to use, giving Soldier a big headbutt himself and eliminating him with a tiger suplex.

More unexpected hard-hitting action came from the next two entrants. Worker Ant came out after Soldier Ant’s ousting in full Stan Hansen garb and exchanged strikes with Inoue. Inoue gave him another headbutt, but missed a diving headbutt off the top, leaving him open to Worker Ant’s La Magistral cradle and an elimination. Shinya Ishikawa came out for Big Japan. Like before, Ishikawa was similar in build to Worker Ant, plus he dished out some more heavy strikes before eliminating Worker Ant with a roaring elbow. These past three Big Japan guys were looking mighty good.

Next up for Team Chikara was Eddie Kingston, coming out to a massive ovation. More major strike exchanges and few suplexes from Kingston, culminating with a great backfist out of nowhere to eliminate Ishikawa. Next up for Big Japan was their team captain Ryuji Ito, looking like a slightly thinner Japanese version of Drake Younger with a body covered in scars. These two dished out the strikes and suplexes to one another, including a backdrop driver from Ito and another backfist from Kingston for close nearfalls. Ito gets the better of Kingston and hits his version of the frog splash – the Dragon Splash – to eliminate him. Next up for Chikara was their team captain, Mike Quackenbush, resulting in a rematch between the two from the previous night in Easton. More mat-based action than previously, with Quack working over Ito’s arm. Ito manages to survive by powering out of them, but succumbs to the Chikara Special after missing a Dragon Splash. Quack then is forced to change things up against Big Japan’s next entrant, Yuji Okabayashi, a well built wrestler who reminds me a little of Takashi Sugiura in appearance. Quack attempts some quick rollups, but Yuji, the young lion of his team, is too fresh and takes down Quack with a spear. Yuji attempts a submission via the Torture Rack, but Quack slips out, takes him down with some kicks, and lands the double knees off the top. Quack manages to score the first successive pinfall for his team by pinning Okabayashi with the Alligator Clutch (a forward rollup) out of nowhere.

Quack’s luck ended there, as the final entrant for Big Japan that he had to face off was Daisuke Sekimoto, a powerhouse built like a brick wall, a more impressive Japanese version of Tank Toland, and maybe the most anticipated of the Big Japan talent announced for the weekend. He overpowered Quack pretty handily, giving him a deadlift german suplex while on the other side of the ropes and a second such suplex for the pinfall. Sekimoto is a beast. Then came Team Chikara’s final entrant, Claudio Castagnoli, and the fate of the Global Gauntlet was left in the hands of these two powerhouses. As fun as Claudio vs. Brodie Lee was over the past few months, this was even better. The two exchanged strikes and European uppercuts, and even gave each other a deadlift german. The climax was tremendous: Claudio caught Sekimoto with a pop up European uppercut, Sekimoto kicked out at one and spit hot fire in his fighting spirit, and Claudio responded with a bicycle kick and the Ricola Bomb to win the Global Gauntlet for Team Chikara at the 54-minute mark. The crowd was electric for this finishing sequence. So after a rough start, the subsequent wrestlers brought it good and hard and churned out what was a pretty epic match.

- The technicos of Team Chikara came out afterward to applaud Claudio as he shook hands with Sekimoto, then the rest of Team Big Japan was brought out again for a standing ovation. The Big Japan stars got a hot response for their efforts, including a “Please Come Back” chant, as the Chikara wrestlers, now including Akuma and Kingston, applauded them at ringside. Very nice.

Overall: A very good show when you take in everything. The Global Gauntlet came through with flying colors, the tag title change stole the show, and the entire storyline involving Vin Gerard and the extracurriculars around him took two more progressive steps forward. Taking in these live shows and the DVDs I’ve seen, the booking in Chikara has been very good, keeping things simple enough while harking back to things that happened in months previously. Pretty comparable to Ring of Honor’s booking in some ways. This show is definitely worth checking out on DVD. Chikara wraps up the rest of their year next month with stops in Germany (for the Tag World Grand Prix, featuring Kota Ibushi and Pac as a team), Framingham, MA, and Wallingford, CT. Hopefully, before 2009 rolls around, some announcement is made regarding their season opener, be it King of Trios or something more, involving another stop in Philadelphia.