The weekend started on a somber note as Chikara paid their respects to Larry Sweeney. Fans were allowed to write their messages on a poster board as they came in each night. Many of the wrestlers wore pink and purple cloth straps on their person. To open the first night, a pair of sunglasses was placed in the center of the ring as nearly the entire roster, plus invited guests like Cary Silken and Hydra, surrounded the ring for a 10-bell salute and a moment of silence. Many of them, including Mike Quackenbush, Eddie Kingston, and Jigsaw, were visibly upset. A tribute video was played, followed by the crowd and talent erupting applause and chants for the Sweet & Sour one. A truly touching moment, and the love didn’t stop. In their First Round victory alongside Manami Toyota, Quack used Sweeney’s ’68 Comeback Special (a neckbreaker/DDT combo) on one of the Maximos, and Jigsaw finished him off with a 12-Large Elbow Drop. Kingston, in his first match of the weekend on Night 2 against Arik Cannon, wore a Sweeney shirt to the ring. Following his victory (a nearly 8-minute war of strikes and suplexes), he embraced Cannon and the two of them held up the shirt to the camera. Jigsaw also pulled out Sweeney’s DiBiase-esque fist drop in a singles match on Night 3.

The Colony advanced over Sinn Bodhi & The Batiri in the First Round, overcoming interference from Kobald (the goblin guy Sinn introduced in December) and the heel tendencies and incompetence of ref Derek Sabato. In the Quarter-Finals, they scored a big victory of the BDK team. In the First Round, the BDK overcame Da Soul Touchaz when Tursas interfered with a cross body and allowed Jakob Hammermeier (portrayed as a weakling and punching bag in his matches) to get the pin. They went for the same plan here on Green Ant, but he managed to duck and Jakob ate the crossbody. Then, continuing into his ode to Lex Luger (which began when returned from injury with a metal plate in his arm), he slammed Tursas to a massive pop and put Jakob in the Torture Rack for the quick submission. The slam spot was something carried over from the Tursas Body Slam Challenge. This wouldn’t be the only tribute to mid-90s WWF over the weekend.

In the Semi-Finals on Night 3, they met The Osirian Portal, another team thought to be favorites to win it all. They had advanced successfully over ¡3.Ole! and Team Dragon Gate. This opener for Night 3 saw a good, competitive match between two babyface teams that have met before, ending with a top rope neckbreaker by Soldier Ant. In the Finals, they met up old rivals F.I.S.T., who vanquished Team Australia in the First Round (they kept things basic, weren’t all that impressive, but still received a nice reception for making the trip) and avenged their loss last year to Team Osaka Pro in the Quarter Finals when Taylor rolled up Ultimate Spider Jr. with a handful of tights. In the Semi-Finals, F.I.S.T. were matched up with Team Michinoku Pro, who had been on fire all weekend. Limitations or no, Sasuke, Togo, and Shinzaki are still great friggin’ wrestlers and had excellent matches with Team Minnesota and Team Toyota. Togo is the one about to retire, yet he was probably moving the best out of all of them. Shinzaki looked really good and walked the ropes, and Sasuke was game for everything, including wrestling Darin Corbin in slow motion… twice! People were really rooting for them, but F.I.S.T. derailed them with a handful of powder to Sasuke’s eyes and a small package. It gave monster heat to F.I.S.T. and built some good tension going into the Finals, providing more drama than a face team vs. face team match would have provided. F.I.S.T., and especially Icarus, earned great scorn all weekend; fans rooted for Team Australia against them with chants of “Let’s Go Not F.I.S.T.” and Icarus was to every chant from “Worst in the World,” to “Please Retire,” to a chant to tap to a headlock.

So with the Finals set between F.I.S.T. and the Colony, they pulled out all of the stops. Green Ant fought back from weakened arm and a ripped antenna. A Chikara Special submission by Soldier Ant on Chuck Taylor was thwarted when Icarus pulled the ref out of the ring. They teased an Awful Waffle through the ringside table, a la the Hair vs. Masks Match from 2009. Fire Ant survived the Awful Waffle, Green Ant survived the Pedigree, and a reintroduction of the powder backfired on the heels. The Colony finally won when they pulled out the Super Ant Hill from last year’s tournament and finished off Icarus with it. A great ending to the weekend that made sense after last year’s screw job.

In addition to Team Michinoku Pro kicking ass, Sean Waltman made a believer out of people again. In addition to donning the role of the 1-2-3 Kid once more (old-fashioned gear, clean-shaven face, but no mullet), he also basically took on the role of Randy the Ram (except at the end, his heart didn’t explode). I was very worried in the beginning when he took forever to make his entrance on Night 1, but things were pretty much smooth sailing from there. He was overtaken with emotion by the crowd’s chants for them and didn’t let them down. Just as he stared down Shinzaki, fans broke out a chant of “1995,” which made Waltman laugh. That tournament match, which main evented Night 1, was indeed very good, and included Waltman hitting a crazy suicide flip to the floor. On Night 2, he had another good match as part of Rey de Voladores, outlasting Amazing Red, Obariyon, and Frightmare in a four-way elimination match, ending when he beat Frightmare with a Super X-Factor. In the Rey de Voladores Finals on Night 3, he pulled out all of the stops against El Generico (who got chants of “Uno, Dos, Tres” to counter the “1-2-3″ chants). This one had some rough patches (a turnbuckle brainbuster into a cradle attempt that had a clunky execution, and a Yakuza Kick in the Corner for which Waltman didn’t get all the way up), but otherwise it was quite awesome. Lots of nearfalls, including from another Super X-Factor and a regular brainbuster. In my favorite moment of the match, Generico even broke out the Razor’s Edge on Waltman. When he went for the pin, Waltman countered with a crucifix for another nearfall. Generico finally won with the successful turnbuckle brainbuster, earning him the Rey de Voladores plaque and his biggest win in Chikara. Waltman took the time to cut promos after all of his matches, putting over the fans for their support and his opponents. After this match, he said how much he was touched by the crowd response and how Philadelphia is a hotbed for the best wrestling. He also said this might retire this year, and that if this was his last match, he couldn’t think of a better opponent to have it with than Generico.

Generico, by the way, won his four-way elimination match over Pinkie Sanchez, Marshe Rockett (who dished out some Roderick Strong-level chops) and the impressive Englishman Zack Sabre Jr. (my first time seeing him live and second time overall). Sabato was the ref and was helping Pinkie throughout the match, eliminating Rockett and Sabre, but it was after Sabato helped Pinkie thwart an attempted turnbuckle brainbuster that Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur came out. He’s proven to be pretty aloof about what’s going on in Chikara, but the heavy influence over Sabato, against Sabato’s will, is very interesting. At this point, he made him exchange his white BDK ref shirt for a regular blue ref shirt. Pinkie’s confusion and frustration over this led to his demise, and Generico made some great faces toward Sabato as he counted the fall and raised his hand.

The teams from Dragon Gate and Osaka Pro really impressed all weekend. Akira Tozawa continues to his crusade of awesomeness, and his partners Super Shisa and Kagetora looked good too in their matches with the Spectral Envoy and the Portal. Fans around me thought that them defeating the Envoy was an upset, to which I say, “Really? It’s Dragon Gate.” UltraMantis Black, by the way, probably received the biggest ovation out of all of the Chikara regulars in his lone in-ring appearance. Tozawa also had an awesome match on Night 3 (the first in a trifecta that night) against Eddie Kingston. Kingston won it with a backfist and backdrop driver to win it, then showed respect to Tozawa. On the Osaka Pro side, Ultimate Spider Jr. had a good debut weekend with his spider antics (including some invisible webs used for offense), closing on Night 3 with a singles loss to Jigsaw. Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada also continued to win over fans. After their victory in the First Round over the Throwbacks (which had even better comedy than ¡3.Ole! vs. Portal, from an in-ring race between Kotoge and Sugar Dunkerton, to a penalty shot, to Dunkerton getting bullied by Matt Classic), fans chanted for them to please come back, then chanted for them to simply stay. Similar response after their loss to F.I.S.T. Then Kotoge and Harada entered the 10-Team Tag Gauntlet, earning three points with victories over the Rougnecks, 3.0, and Kagetora & Shisa. So it’s a matter of time before they come back to challenge for the Campeones de Parejas (or QuackSaw could head to Osaka Pro).

Also involved in the Gauntlet were Acid Jaz and Willie Richardson of Da Soul Touchaz, Cannon & Corbin, the Batiri, the Throwbacks (who advanced over the Batiri via DQ), Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze, and a team that must return: Matt Classic & Darkness Crabtree. Their bickering was hilarious, and the crowd stayed quiet for it. Classic didn’t think Death Haze were his opponents at first, giving them his jacket and towel as he prepared for his “real” opponents. Classic (a powerhouse on Nights 1 and 3 who left each of his matches in a huff when he lost) chastised the “dames,” and Crabtree came at them in lecherous fashion.

Classic’s apparent young boy and NWA World Champion, Colt Cabana, was selling merchandise all weekend (I bought The Wrestling Road Diaries from him), and he made a surprise in-ring appearance to open Night 2, answering the open challenge of Chikara newcomer Archibald Peck. Peck, who doubles as RD Evans, barrister for the Embassy in ROH, is an over-the-top marching band cadet with a wiry frame and a big hat. He is accompanied by a majorette named Veronica, played by a woman who went from being a long-time fan to a Chikara crew member/presumed student for the past few years. Together they are known as The Band, which I thought was asking for some Waltman crossover. I wasn’t sure about this act in their first appearance last month, where Peck lost his debut match to Kingston, but here I thought they were gold. Peck issued his challenge for a duel with Cabana with a glove slap, and Cabana answered it with a boot slap. A very funny opener for the second night, ending with a distraction by Veronica, a shot to the head with a baton, and a diving headbutt to give Peck the victory.

Amazing Red, who only competed on the first two nights before heading to Lockdown, looked good as usual, while the Maximos, despite huffing wind, pulled out some cool stuff and received a surprisingly strong ovation from the crowd following their First Round loss to Team Toyota. Their match was the shortest of Night 1 at around 10 minutes, but was some good fun. Toyota herself worked sparingly in the First Round, but still brought the goods. She got more involved on Night 2 against Team Michinoku Pro, from giving Sasuke the rolling cradle to getting beat to hell by Togo. On Night 3, she defeated Madison Eagles in a singles match, hitting the Ocean Cyclone Suplex for a nearfall before finishing her off with a brutal driver move.

Overall, this was an amazing weekend and my favorite King of Trios since 2009. It truly felt like an indy WrestleMania, and it felt like nearly everyone brought their A-game for the sake of weekend, and I’m sure many of them in honor of Sweeney. I had an awesome time and won’t forget seeing such legends and such great talent in person. The DVDs at Smart Mark Video have got to be must-buys, with Night 2 perhaps being one of the best shows of the year when all is said and done. If you’ve seen these shows in person or at home, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

I also took a lot of photos throughout the weekend (as did many other people), which can be found HERE!

Chikara returns to action with their debut in Burlington, NC on May 14th, followed by Easton, PA on May 21st and Union City, NJ on May 22nd (two of many indy shows in the span of that week). Those will be their Aniversario shows, closing their eighth year and beginning their ninth, as well as the beginning (and perhaps ending) of a 12-man tournament to crown Chikara’s first singles champion.

Following last year’s King of Trios, then-Director of Fun Dieter VonSteigerwalt retired the tournament, claiming the BDK trio of Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, and Tursas would be the final – and greatest – King of Trios champions. Fast-forward a year, Dieter is out, Wink Vavasseur is in, and King of Trios is back in action! This year’s tournament will follow the same format as the past two years, with the First Round on the night of Friday the 15th (16 trios, 48 wrestlers total!), the Quarter-Finals on the night of Saturday the 16th, and the Semi-Finals and Finals on Sunday the 17th in the afternoon. The Rey de Voladores tournament (two four-way elimination matches leading into one singles match) is confirmed to return, taking place over Saturday and Sunday along with other non-tournament matches. The eight opening round matches all offer some form of intrigue due to the varied participants. Hyperbole or not, this could very well be the most star-studded field yet.

Team Michinoku Pro (Great Sasuke & Dick Togo & Jinsei Shinzaki) vs. Team Minnesota (Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin & 1-2-3 Kid). Clearly the biggest attention grabber of the First Round. The Michinoku Pro contingent, in addition to all of their Japanese accolades, have roots in some of the brighter spots of the mid-90s U.S. scene, appearing in both ECW (with Sasuke and Togo on opposite ends of that trios match from Barely Legal) and WWF (Sasuke clashing with Taka Michinoku, Togo briefly working as a member of Kaientai, and of course Shinzaki’s run as Hakushi). All three are credited by Chikara as heavy influences of what they do, and they’ll certainly be the sentimental favorites of the weekend given the earthquakes that affected northern Japan (where the Michinoku Pro offices are located, and where Shinzaki lost his home and restaurant). Also, Togo’s participation is apparently part of a retirement tour. To my knowledge, he’s the most recent visitor to the U.S., having last been here in 2002 to team with Ikuto Hidaka at ROH Unscripted. On the opposite end, Sean Waltman (provided he shows up) is expected to flash back to mid-90s WWF himself, perhaps tangling with Shinzaki in something akin to Summerslam ’95 (which a lot of people are expecting and remember better than me). His teammates Cannon and Corbin have been crowd favorites the past three years alongside Ryan Cruz as The F1rst Family (word is Cruz has retired), but have never gotten past the Quarter-Finals. Should be a very good match, with big butterflies for all involved.

Team Dragon Gate (Akira Tozawa & Super Shisa & Kagetora) vs. The Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked & Frightmare & UltraMantis Black). Another exciting Japanese team, with Tozawa (The New Fucking Man) coming back to Chikara after previous competing in last year’s Young Lions Cup tournament. His partners both have at least one U.S. appearance under their belt, with Kagetora (a member of Kamikaze in Japan) competing in PWG’s DDT in 2008. Hallowicked and Frightmare (Incoherence) were shot down the First Round in the past two King of Trios tournaments, with Delirious and Mike Quackenbush as their partners. Now that they’ve aligned with Mantis in his war with Sinn Bodhi’s dark army, they have a new tournament partner and a new handle. Mantis’ past experience in the tournament has been in 2007 and 2008, with Crossbones and Hydra as his partners as part of the Order of the Neo Solar Temple, but their success rate was also low. They’re heavy fan favorites going in.

Amazing Red & The Maximos (Wil & Joel) vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Manami Toyota. My choice for the oddest First Round match, as the Campeones de Parejas and one of the best women wrestlers ever lock horns with a team that parties like it’s 2002. This is the first time Quack and Jigsaw have been on the same KoT team since the first one in 2007, which they won alongside Shane Storm (STIGMA). Toyota returns to Chikara following her successful and beloved visit back at the September shows (one of which saw her team with Quack. Amazing Red and the Maximos should be familiar to longtime fans of the northeast indy scene and TNA past and present. With Jose Maximo apparently retired though, a new Maximo takes his place, so we’re getting something a little more fresh. Red on his own should do well based on his recent work; it’d be even better if Don West tags along.

Team Australia (Tama Williams & Percy & Kabel) vs. F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano). The first trio announced for the tournament, this will be the first time F.I.S.T. goes in Garganofied. Alongside Gran Akuma, Icarus and Taylor conquered the mountain in 2009 but fell in the Quarter-Finals last year to Team Osaka Pro. Still, they should be a big force in the tournament. The three Aussies represent New Horizon Pro Wrestling, and I don’t know a thing about them outside of what they look to me: a generic indy guy, a poindexter, and a C-Grade Lord Humongous. Hopefully, they’ll do more than just walk away, and F.I.S.T. seems like a good barometer for their skills.

Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada & Ultimate Spider, Jr.) vs. The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton & Matt Classic) Two returning teams from last year, albeit slightly modified. Kotoge and Harada (Blood & Guts) stole the weekend alongside Tadasuke, making it all the way to the Semi-Finals. They’re expecting to do better with the debuting Spider, a fellow babyface that might get along with them better. The Throwbacks lost in the First Round to F.I.S.T. last year. Dasher and Sugar have been on more of a roll lately, plus I’m sure they’ll have more confidence considering Dasher actually toured with Osaka Pro, Sugar has been gathering up more international experience, and Matt Classic is… Fucking Matt Classic (he has a low tolerance for those that don’t speak the language too).

Sinn “Kizarny” Bodhi & The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant & Green Ant). After coming so close to winning last year’s tournament before getting screwed by the Bruderschaft, The Colony are my sentimental favorites to take it all the way (finally). The rest of 2010 felt like kind of a down year for them due to Fire Ant and Soldier Ant’s injuries (broken face and broken arm respectively), but 2011 has been going pretty well so far. There is the possibility that first-timers Dark Army could unseat them and clash with Mantis and company in a later round, but that issue can be settled outside of the tournament brackets and shouldn’t come at the expense of The Colony’s comeback.

The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian & Hieracon) vs. ¡3.Ole! (El Generico & Scott “Jagged” Parker & Shane Matthews). Parker and Matthews haven’t taken part in King of Trios since the first one in 2007, where they formed a new Team Canada with Max Boyer and lost in the First Round to eventual winners QuackenShaneSaw. Four years later, following a stint in denim and a reboot in Zubas tights, they’re now teaming with ever-so-awesome Generico, last seen in January in a hell of a match with Eddie Kingston. Generico’s past KoT experience includes getting to the Quarter-Finals with the Super Smash Bros. in 2008, and not getting past the First Round with the Young Bucks (pre-GenMe) in 2009. Amasis and Ophidian, alongside the long-gone Escorpion Egipcio were responsible for beating Generico’s team that year before falling to The Future Is Now in the following round. Last year, they lucked into getting an entry, but unlucked into having the deck stacked against them by the BDK, with Sara Del Rey as their selected partner against Claudio and company. Now, they’ve been on a big role with the addition of Hieracon to their team, going undefeated in all of their other trios matches and placing them as pretty big favorites as well.

Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz & Marshe Rockett & Willie “Da Bomb” Richardson) vs. The Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Tim Donst & Delirious & Jakob Hammermeier). Feeling that he shouldn’t have to win it again (and because he’ll be on another NOAH tour), Claudio is sitting out this year, as are Ares and Tursas. He has put Donst in charge of captaining a BDK trio, and has decided to select Delirious (with KoT experience from ’08 and ’09) for his ruthlessness and Jakob as a partner he can mold. After being continuously injured for the second half of last year, Jakob has healed up, trained under Claudio, and made his debut match last month in Brooklyn a victorious one… thanks to everyone else helping him. So Donst, his apparent young boy, and the BDK’s ruthless puppet march into action against a team that wants their heads. Da Soul Touchaz first made their names in Chikara in 2008 and came back for more in 2009 (with an injured Jaz replaced by Trauma), making it to the Quarter-Finals each times. Now they’re returning after missing out last year, for the first time as roster regulars and for the first time with a grudge, still trying to avenge C. Red and Dymond being taken out by the BDK.

I’m still set to attend all three nights provided nothing more pressing comes up. Also of note is the annual Fan Conclave on the afternoon of the 16th. Among the activities planned are a dancing contest judged by the Osirian Portal, a Tursas Body Slam Challenge (so awesome), and a live concert by Stan Bush. I’ve always had a fun time at these, whether it be from seeing these activities or interacting with the wrestlers themselves. If you haven’t been exhausted by this past weekend, it should be a great time in just under two weeks.

watch?v=DU4TDGlbTz8

I saw it yesterday, but then I heard today that it’s blowing up. Not quite to the level of the homeless man with the golden voice, but huge. Break.com, CollegeHumor.com, tweeted by Bill Simmons and “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof, and today’s #1 Around The Net video on tonight’s “Attack of the Show.”

Hopefully this can be spun into gold by the parties involved: CZW (like’em or hate’em, it was their show), Gacy & Slater (Holy Face Slide!), and especially the Portal and Chikara, for showing that wrestling can be just plain fun.

I can go through things pretty quickly from Philadelphia’s main card since it’s readily available through GoFightLive.tv, but I had a fantastic time live. My only issue from the night were a couple guys behind me (may have been inebriated, who knows) incessantly trying to get Brodie Lee’s attention during the last two matches. Not sure how the crowd came off from home obviously.

Parking at the Asylum Arena was fucking horrible this time around because of the snow and nobody caring enough to call Mr. Plow. I ended up chatting well with a few people before the show, including the same guy I sat next to in Rahway in October (big Jimmy Jacobs fan who incidentally ended up going to the New York show on Friday) and a couple guys who may have also been inebriated, but we bonded over our boredom with WWE’s main event players and our love of PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2007 (seriously, Night Three from that year was top-to-bottom excellence). If you caught the live stream (which aired on the Asylum’s stream), the dude who gave the double thumbs up during the opener was one of those guys. If he visits this site… hey dude, thanks for checking it out! You’ll love Up North Radio, and yeah I’m on Facebook too.

Mike Quackenbush sighting early. In dress clothes, just helping out with the show.

Two things occurred for the live crowd that the rest of the world didn’t see (a little bit for good reason). The first was a FRAY! match, the first time I saw one of these matches live (I was oddly excited for it). Royal Rumble format with a small group of guys (in this case, nine), with eliminations coming from pin or submission. EVOLVE and JAPW regular Chris Dickinson (his trunks this time reading SEX MURDER ART) came out on top when he eliminated the last guy in his path, Pinkie Sanchez (who scored a few eliminations and was the most over with the crowd). Both of these guys looked good. Other competitors included Chikara’s own Obariyon, Ryan Eagles (husband of Madison), an impressive dude from Ohio named Dave Cole, another impressive dude from South Jersey (further south than me) named RV1, and a guy I never heard of before, sporting furry boots and a passing resemblance to David Otunga, but he had some skills. This was more good than not.

This was followed by a mini-show put on by Kaiju Big Battel, with Gavin Loudspeaker reverting back to Louden Noxious to announce and narrate everything and a fake city set up within the ring. This all its charm, but kind of wore out its welcome for this type of crowd. This was likely taped for one of Kaiju’s own DVDs. The highlights were Dr. Cube coming back from the dead (Burnside will be happy to learn that), Sami Callihan making a cameo to help a Kaiju babyface win a match, and the most over character here: Steam-Powered Turbo Boulder.

Onto the main show, which had a more traditional layout than New York. Each match had plenty of time, with lots of big moves and nearfalls, reverting back to that “each match is a main event feel” that was kind of the format of the early shows. Everyone got plenty of cheers, including Kamikaze USA, so there was no real heel heat during matches, but I didn’t mind that too much because the action was so damn good, and this is just a different kind of promotion in general where the draw is clearly the matches. Of course, the promos of Jon Moxley and others certainly don’t hurt. Moxley was still a dick throughout, badmouthing Homicide more while Homicide’s friends jumped out of the crowd after him on two occasions. He also again encountered Reby Sky (very attractive in person and clearly being groomed to be the next Tammy Sytch), who sent him to the back to care for his nether region when he tried to cost Austin Aries his match against Akira Tozawa. The Velvet Revolver-esque Blood Warriors super-stable, after heeling it up in Japan earlier in the month, fully turned heel here in America when they denied respect to – and beat up – the increasingly popular Ronin, who kept saying they belong in Japan and backed it up with fair victories.

PAC & Masato Yoshino defeated Naruki Doi & Ricochet in the main event, and Ronin’s Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano defeated CIMA & Dragon Kid in the semi-main, so that gave Union City its match to decide the first Open The United Gate Champions. Both matches were really good (outside of the annoying Brodie fans I previously mentioned), with the main event perhaps being the best of the night. PAC was flat-out awesome, as was the interplay between the former Speed Muscle partners. I can’t discount Aries vs. Tozawa though. Great back-and-forth action combined with great character work, and after plenty of close calls, including a seduction/kiss by Reby Sky that would have been the finish in other places, Tozawa finally scored the fall with a straitjacket suplex to a huge ovation. If he wasn’t already made a star through PWG, he should be after this weekend.

YAMATO, being the new Open The Freedom Gate Champion, was the first guy to come out, with Moxley introducing him to the world. By hook or crook, he managed to defeat Brodie Lee in the chaotic opener by making him pass out to the choke sleeper. The one other Japanese star, former champ BxB Hulk, took it to Moxley in their match, made No DQ the night before, and ultimately won with his flash superkick. Rich Swann continued to impress with a competitive victory over Jimmy Jacobs, continuing to derail Jacobs’ quest for the title. Swann had yet to sing the Ronin theme song at this point in the show (he did for Taylor & Gargano’s time to wrestle), but that song was still over and he even got some chants of “Sing the Song!” Sami Callihan gained more momentum with a victory in a Six-Man Freestyle. Other guys in that match, full of total action in a nonstop fashion, were Jigsaw, fellow Chikara regular Frightmare in his DGUSA debut, Cheech Hernandez, CZW regular AR Fox (also debuting, and pinned by Callihan after a sliding forearm), and that big lug Rexx Reed. Reed first popped up back in July after taking part in the Dragon Gate seminar. Other guys from that seminar, Scott Reed and Tomasso Ciampa, were supposed to be on this show, but Scott was MIA for some reason and Ciampa joined ROH the previous weekend.

So there was much fun and excitement to be had Saturday in Philadelphia. The show ended earlier than I thought at around 10:25 PM, but that was good for my sake. I was way too busy (and too far away, even at home) to attend Union City’s taping, but it sounded aces based off the report at PWInsider (read if your computer can handle it). The most I’ll spoil here is that the Open The United Gate titles went the way of World-1. Also of note: the two Blood Warriors teams that would have fought each other joined forces instead to fight the odd quartet of differing circumstances that was Jacobs, Aries, YAMATO, and Callihan (it was explained fairly well). Homicide and Moxley had their No Rules match that aped what they did at EVOLVE 6 in November. Tozawa battled Hulk in what sounds like another standout match. Swann ran into Brodie’s convoy, and Cheech, Fox, Reed, and Pinkie got more attention in their own matches.

They announced a return to Philadelphia for June 6th, coinciding with the return to Manhattan.

For those that missed it, Chikara’s live Pre-Show-A-Go-Go prior to this show can be viewed HERE. This ended just as the live show began.

1. The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian & Jonathan Gresham/Hieracon) defeated F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano) when Gresham pinned Icarus with a driving cradle. After becoming an impromptu partner to the Portal last month and scoring a win as a trio against the BDK, CZW regular Gresham is now a full-fledged member of the Portal, with a new Egyptian name and a bird-like mask. He’s a quick guy who strings a lot of moves together; I suspect in a couple years he could get the momentum Ricochet is getting now. Icarus continued to draw even more boos by removing his jacket and unveiling his back tattoo. It actually opened with a dance-off between Icarus and Amasis, to the sound of “Pokerface,” but both wrestlers were left served by a surprise entrant, ref Bryce Remsburg. Very competitive match, with both teams hitting tandem offense for close nearfalls. At a little over 18 minutes, this went almost as long as the main event. Still, it was fun stuff. The crowd was a little quiet following the opening comedy bit, but got into it more as it went on. F.I.S.T. is one of only two trios entered into the 2011 King of Trios tournament so far (the other being the Colony), so it’s pretty obvious that the Portal will gain entry after this victory.

2. Daizee Haze defeated Madison Eagles with a German suplex. Jakob Hammermeier, who was a riot before the show hawking BDK merchandise, no longer has the neck brace, but still has the leg cast and arm sling. Eagles, for those unfamilar, is a tall woman from Australia and is the current SHIMMER Champion, beating MsChif for it last year (though she didn’t wear the belt tonight). From watching some recent SHIMMER, I learned she’s done some MMA training under Georges St.-Pierre, and she got to show a little of the ground game here. The height difference between the two was also played up. Haze took a header into a turnbuckle and claimed that she broke her nose again (she did so at Chikara’s season finale last month, a week before Final Battle), but it was all a ruse, and she clipped Eagles’ leg when she wasn’t looking. She worked her over some more, but Eagles fought back with some big kicks. Eagles attempted her finisher – a death valley driver onto the knee – but Haze escaped from it twice and managed to catch her with the German. Fans gave Eagles a nice applause for her efforts.

- A video aired in between the second and third match, possibly teasing the introduction of a Trios Championship for Chikara.

3. The Roughnecks (Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood) defeated The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton) when Brodie gave Dasher the big boot off of Grizzly’s shoulders, almost Doomsday style. Grizzly had what was left of Dasher’s bat after he chopped it up into toothpicks. Gavin Loudspeaker unfortunately announced Brodie and Grizzly as the Throwbacks, but Brodie played off it very well. The actual Throwbacks charged the ring and the action stayed pretty strong from the start. Brodie booted Dasher on the outside, leaving Sugar on his own for the majority of the match before Dasher could come back. Towards the end, Dasher was isolated when Brodie gave Sugar a gutwrench powerbomb onto the ringside steps. Fine action, and this feud must continue.

4. Tursas & Lince Dorado & Sara Del Rey defeated Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz & Marshe Rockett & Willie Richardson) by disqualification. Derek Sabato officiated. Da Soul Touchaz skipped the dancing and rushed to the ring, out for revenge on the BDK for taking out C-Red and Dymond. Traditional back-and-forth tag action. Sabato seemed to count fair pins, but still made sure the BDK was getting preferential treatment. Both Tursas and Richardson left their feet for dropkicks. The two smaller Soul Touchaz subdued Tursas with dives to the outside, leaving Willie alone with Dorado. Sabato had his back turned to check on Del Rey at ringside. Willie was about to give Dorado the Pounce, but Dorado took off his own mask and tossed it to him, quickly falling to the mat and covering his face. Sabato turned around as Willie picked up, thus calling for the DQ. Willie cornered Sabato in the corner while Dorado gloated with his back turned, but Willie turned around and gave Dorado the Pounce anyway. No surprise this feud must continue either.

- Intermission. Allow me to take the time to explain some other recent events. The hooded figure at “The Germans” in November who lured away Obariyon and Kodama from UltraMantis Black’s side revealed himself in December to be Sinn Bodhi, the wrestler formerly known as Kizarny and currently known for shacking up with Stacy “The Kat” Carter. He trained the two of them and loaned them to Mantis, but took them back under his control because he wanted payment for his services: the Eye of Tyr. Since the BDK has it and Mantis doesn’t, Bodhi and his minions are waging war on Mantis. Fortunately, Incoherence, despite the history between Mantis and Hallowicked, decided to help Mantis and even the odds. Hence the next two matches.

5. The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama) defeated Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare) when Obariyon hit Hallowicked with his flying DDT. I’ve felt these two freaky rookies have looked pretty good in their matches so far on previous shows. Unfortunately, things kind of derailed early following a botched huricanrana where Kodama seemed to injure his shoulder. Hallowicked landed on his head from this too, having delivered the move, but he was fine. They still went on and put on some decent stuff, Obariyon doing most of the work. As Incoherence seemed to have the match in hand, carnival music played, and out came Sinn Bodhi in a goofy carny getup (including stuffed animals attached to his pants) and accompanied by a little masked goblin dude (shades of Hydra). They distracted Incoherence a little bit, and Frightmare got into it with the goblin on the outside and got speared for his efforts. Remsburg wasn’t paying attention to this stuff outside because he was busy with the Batiri fighting Hallowicked 2-on-1. Also, UltraMantis Black ran out – in Incoherence’s orange and black scheme – to start fighting with Bodhi early. The match ultimately ended and the Batiri picked up their third point to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas. This whole thing became a bit of a mess but served its purpose.

6. UltraMantis Black defeated Sinn Bodhi by disqualification. Derek Sabato ran out to to immediately start this match while the two kept fighting on the outside. Prior to the bell ringing, Bodhi retrieved a metal rod from under the ring, bent it with his mouth into a hook, and used it choke Mantis. Then he tossed it to some kid at ringside as a souvenir. They made it back into the ring while all of the other principles from the previous match stayed at ringside. Sabato tried doing fast counts on Mantis. The other refs came out to check on the fallen technicos. Also walking out was Wink Vavasseur, who in the time between shows went from being an independent auditor hired by Chikara’s Board of Directors to being named the new Director of Fun, replacing the BDK-aligned Dieter VonSteigerwalt. At one of the November shows, he walked out to ringside while Sabato was reffing, scaring Sabato into calling the match straight. Here, Bodhi’s minions began beating up Mantis in the middle of the ring, and Sabato did nothing. Wink caught wind of it and simply walked up onto the apron and did nothing else but stare at Sabato. Sabato then called for the bell and declared Mantis the winner by DQ. Also, Incoherence came back into the ring to chase off the heels. Though he certainly has the authority now, they seem to be hinting at some other kind of power/influence Wink has over Sabato. The match itself was more of an angle and only lasted three minutes. Not sure how well the Bodhi Bunch got over with the crowd. Mantis laid down the challenge for a trios match next month, and Bodhi, in his own odd way, accepted.

7. Eddie Kingston defeated El Generico with two backfists. First time match, and they made good on it. El Generico offered his hand and tried to show Kingston that he was “street.” Kingston slapped him, Generico slapped back, and Kingston applauded him standing up to him. The match had a slow start but considerably picked up half-way through or so. Both guys dealt each other chops and yakuza kicks, and Kingston broke out a little bit of lucha to match Generico’s. Close to the end, Generico gave Kingston a brainbuster onto the edge of the apron, and both guys crashed to the floor. Kingston was dead weight, Generico attempted to take the count-out win after trying and failing to lift him, but Kingston managed to get back in at 19. Kingston was like a stiff log and was favoring his shoulder, so Generico couldn’t quite pull him closer to the center of the ring. Kingston eventually got up, avoided the yakuza kick in the corner, and gave Generico two consecutive backdrop drivers – one into the corner and one on the ring – prior to the finish. Kingston gave major props to Generico following the match and he reciprocated. A hell of a match that’s worth checking out, better than Kingston vs. Homicide in November. Good amount of time at around 17 minutes.

They showed a new teaser for the 2011 King of Trios, coming in April. Gavin made note of Stan Bush contributing a new version of “The Touch” to be the official theme song for the tournament, and made mention of Mr. Bush performing live at the Fan Conclave this weekend.

8. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Fire Ant & Soldier Ant defeated Claudio Castagnoli & Ares & Tim Donst & Delirious when Jigsaw hit Donst with a top rope doublestomp. Very fun capper to the night. It started off as your traditional tag match with clearly defined heels and babyfaces, and it ended with the wondrous action you’d expect from a Chikara Atomico. Donst tried to prove he could do pushups just as well as Soldier Ant, but ran out of gas at the end. Delirious used his head as a battering ram on more than one occasion. One of the ants and Jigsaw were recipients of heel beatdowns. The Chikara Specials, both original and inverted, made brief appearances before being broken up. The technicos fought back with dives to get the upperhand. I debated with another fan next to me as to whether Delirious lost a tooth from a Jigsaw superkick; it came toward the end of the match and essentially took him out of it, and he was still holding his mouth at the end. The finish was pretty fitting, as Donst, who’s been trying to prove he’s the greatest Young Lions Cup Champion ever by defeating past champions, takes the fall to one of them. Also, Claudio and Ares save some face.

Overall: A stronger show than “The Germans” in November, buoyed by two mighty fun matches to end the night, a fun opener, and a few things in between that planted seeds for upcoming events. I was very satisfied with things. As of now, I’m okay with Kizarny being around (he’s certainly good on promos and a unique presence, especially since he’s bigger than most guys), but I’m more optimistic about Jonathan Gresham as new Portal member Hieracon and the other younger talent still tearing up Chikara. The BDK is still a threat, but it’s less doom and gloom than it was a year ago. I already bought my King of Trios tickets in the beginning of the year. Before that, Chikara is running four more shows, including a return to Brooklyn. Their 2011 schedule is already mighty packed, so kudos to them.

This is the third time I’ve attended a JAPW show. The first show of theirs I went to was actually the first independent show I ever attended: Seaside Heights in 2002. I was on vacation there with my family and found out about it by accident (it was being held and and promoted right on the boardwalk). The marquee bout was Jerry Lawler vs. Steve Corino, while the undercard featured Jay Lethal vs. current Smackdown announcer Matt Striker (in the opener) and Slyk Wagner Brown (who I guess was made out to be a big deal) vs. Mike Quackenbush (who I didn’t know what to make of at the time). The Briscoes, Da Hit Squad, and various Special K alumni were among those that filled out the card. The second JAPW show I attended was (I think) their second excursion to Philadelphia, in February 2006. The top matches were the Briscoes (just before their ROH return) vs. Sonjay Dutt & Sabu (yep), Charlie Haas (just before going back to WWE) vs. Homicide, and a three-way title match of Rhino vs. Jay Lethal vs. Teddy Hart. Contrary to what you may think, all of these matches were good. Their show this day was held in the afternoon, the first half of a doubleheader with CZW’s annual Cage of Death show.

- Parts of the Cage of Death were hanging on opposite sides of the ring. Crowd was pretty big, and their were LOTS of vendors were here. Raven was here, though I didn’t find out why. The ring announcer for JAPW, much as he was back in 2006, was Stephen DeAngeles. He warned the crowd that some portions of the show might be for mature audiences. He still starts his introductions for wrestlers walking to the ring with, “Ladies and gentlemen,” but at doesn’t do that for in-ring introductions. As for the refs, I wasn’t familiar with them.

1. Devon Moore defeated Josh Daniels, Bandido Jr., and Azrieal when he hit Daniels with a Shooting Star Press. I’ve seen Moore, the Philadelphia native and CZW regular, on occasion on DVDs and live shows since 2004. Bandido Jr. is a JAPW original I first saw back in 2006, and he’s vastly improved his look since. Daniels and Azrieal, both ROH alumni, look about in the same good shape they did five years ago, but have longer hair (with Daniels, who’s always been a bit of a Benoit clone, sporting Benoit-style hair circa 1995). This was a perfectly fine opener, with all four keeping the energy up. Bandido hit a moonsault off the top onto two or three guys on the floor. Azrieal and Bandido seemed to have an issue going into the match based on Azrieal’s language toward him. At the end of the match, Daniels had Bandido in a figure four, leaving him susceptible to Moore’s SSP. Fairly short. Bandido and Azrieal brawled to the back afterward.

2. Joe Hardway & Mia Yim (w/ Mo Sexton, Jonny D, and three random broads) defeated Corvis Fear & Annie Social (w/ Myke Quest) after Yim superkicked Social. Mixed tag action involving two tag wrestlers (Hardway and Fear) whose partners (Quest and Sexton respectively) were relegated to ringside due to leg injuries. Fear and Quest form the Garden State Gods, while Hardway & Sexton team up as the South Side Playaz Club, with Jonny D as their fairly sleazy manager. I’ve seen Yim before on Pro Wrestling Respect shows, and I’ve seen Social (a northeast regular) as a manager on SHIMMER DVDs. The entrance of the South Side Playaz Club should be seen to be believed. The whole entourage came out, Jonny D threw glow sticks into the crowd, a stripper pole was brought to ringside by crew, and the three random broads (from whom Yim kept her distance) began to dance on it while the guys sprayed champagne on them. All of this coupled with the music and lighting made this the new Best Entrance Ever, so of course the batteries on my camera were dead at that point. Honestly, this entrance was better than the match itself, which felt like it was going too long. It was by this point in the show I had trouble telling who were supposed to be heels and who were supposed to be faces, as the fans just cheered for whoever they liked. The men and women were treated as equals in the match, so they were chopping each other. The men together were decent. The women together were pretty clunky but worked hard. So the finish involved Sexton tripping up Social (guess that makes the Playaz Club the heels), which lead to one of the random broads distracting Social even further by kissing her and/or giving her a motorboat, which left her open for a superkick. I wasn’t crazy about this match, but holy shit, they’ll always have that entrance.

3. Eddie Kingston defeated B-Boy with a backfist. Stifftacular, with both guys really laying into each other. B-Boy was the more popular of the two with this crowd. They chopped each other a lot, one of them by Kingston sounding like a thud. B-Boy blocked the first attempted backfist with his forearms, and scored a nearfall with two Jimmy Rave-style running knees. B-Boy also laid into Kingston with basement dropkick in the corner, right into Kingston’s face. It looked insane and got the biggest pop of the match. Kingston avoided a second one, attempted a suplex that B-Boy escaped from, but then successfully hit the backfist as B-Boy charged into him. Quite a battle outside of a few slow moments, and Kingston showed respect to B-Boy afterward.

4. Sara Del Rey defeated LuFisto (w/ her doll Pigaboo) with the LeBell Lock to retain the JAPW Women’s Championship. Del Rey became the inaugeral Women’s Champion last year and hasn’t lost it since. LuFisto, the Montreal-based wrestler, suffered a stroke earlier this year, but has amazingly returned to action since, and this was her first match back in the Arena in two years (she used to be a CZW regular). This match was originally going to happen in Chikara nearly two years ago, but the the US-Canada border patrol thwarted that one. So I finally get to see it here and it didn’t disappoint. Del Rey laid into LuFisto good and worked over the leg a bit. LuFisto fired back. The action was taken to the outside briefly. The crowd really took notice after LuFisto nailed Del Rey with a cannonball into the corner and Del Rey immediately countered with a rolling kick. I popped for Del Rey using the LeBell Lock. My favorite match of the first half.

5. The United States Death Machine (Sami Callihan & Chris Dickinson) defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe following a chop into a tiger suplex on Jay. The Death Machine (cool name for an odd team) were the JAPW Tag Team Champions until the previous night, when they lost them to the reunited Hit Squad. I’ve only seen Dickinson (whose trunks asininely read “Win Dicky Win”) on EVOLVE shows and am not familiar with his history prior to those. He looked okay outside of some pretty weak offense. It was cool seeing Callihan mix it up with the Briscoes. Callihan and Dickinson warmed each other up by chopping and headbutting each other prior to the match, to which a few fans chanted, “What the fuck?” The Briscoes got the upperhand on chop battles with Dickinson. Lots of back and forth prior to the finish. After Dickinson hit the tiger suplex on Jay following a chop by Callihan, the ref counted to one, Callihan joined in on the pin, and then the ref restarted his count and counted to three quickly before Mark could make the save. The fans booed this finish and chanted “This ref sucks.” Jay agreed with this assessment and said the ref should get his ass whooped, so the Briscoes chased him to the back. Needless to say, this particular ref didn’t appear again until the main event, which wasn’t so reliant on competent reffing. Aside from all of that, pretty good match.

- Intermission, at which point Jushin Liger was available for photos and autographs.

6. Kenny Omega defeated Jay Lethal with Croyt’s Wrath. Good, even matchup put in the post-intermission slot. Omega, who was JAPW Heavyweight Champion for nearly a year and is now essentially a full-timer for DDT and New Japan, looked as good as he did the last time I saw him. He did not do his stop sign spot. Lethal played it straight but did break out the Flair strut early. The action between the two was very hot and heavy in the early going. By the time they slowed things down and were working each other over, the crowd was just dead unfortunately. I’m not blaming the guys themselves though, as they worked quite well together. Lethal got a nearfall following the Lethal Combination and avoided the first attempted Croyt’s Wrath before succumbing to it the second attempt. Omega was able to roll through on the bridge into a victorious pose while getting the pin. Omega gave credit to Lethal for his efforts, as did the crowd.

7. Brodie Lee defeated Rhino (w/ Jonny D) with the Big Boot to retain the JAPW Heavyweight Title. Brodie is actually a double-champ in JAPW, also holding a secondary title called the New Jersey State Title. He came to the ring wearing a confederate flag as a cape, as he’s part of a faction called the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew. Rhino went after him in the aisle way and fought with in and out of the ring. Brodie managed to get a nearfall after a surprising execution of the Truck Stop, and Rhino was able to throw Brodie around with a couple of suplexes. One of Brodie’s Hillbilly Wrecking Crew stablemates – Necro Butcher – attempted interference, but Rhino gored him. Right afterward, while the ref dealt with Necro, another one of Brodie’s stablemates – CZW regular Nick Gage, coming out to a huge reaction from the CZW-heavy crowd – ran successful interference by dropping Rhino’s neck over the ropes. This led to the finish. Quite short, but better than Brodie’s match with Akebono in DGUSA.

8. Jushin “Thunder” Liger defeated “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush with a series of palm strikes to retain the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship. Liger won the title the previous night in Rahway – it was a multi-man match with defending champ Azrieal, Kenny Omega, B-Boy, El Generico, and Bandido Jr. – so the title stip were added for this previously scheduled dream match. His retaining of the title is pretty exciting in that not only does this mean he would return after this, but it also ties into JAPW joining forces with New Japan to hold some New Japan-branded shows in the US. On top of that, Tiger Hatori from New Japan was brought in to officiate this match. Lots of submission work here, with Liger wearing down Quack with various holds and Quack working over Liger’s leg. This was all really good stuff. Quack hit Liger with a tope con hilo to the outside right in front of me, and he followed it up with a swanton inside for a nearfall. Liger took to the air when he leaped off the top onto Quack on the floor. Quack and Liger scored nearfalls with the Black Tornado Slam and the Liger Bomb respectively. Just a highly enjoyable match that delivered on the expectations I had for it. It was the reason I went, so I’m glad it didn’t disappoint. Outside of a few guys shouting insults at Quack (I have no clue why and don’t wish to deal with such people), the crowd was highly respectful of this match and gave Liger a huge ovation before and after the match. Great respect shown by both guys afterward. Huzzah and kudos to both men.

And now for something completely different…

9. No DQ Match: The Hillbilly Wrecking Crew (Necro Butcher & Nick Gage) defeated Da Hit Squad (Dan “Mafia” Maff & Monsta Mac) after giving Mac a double superplex onto a pile of chairs to win the JAPW Tag Team Championship. I presume this was No DQ, even though it wasn’t announced, since Da Hit Squad threw a few chairs into the ring before their opponents came out. Maff heeled on the Philadelphia crowd with his mic work. Then out came the challengers, and it was Brawly Brawl Brawl time. The crowd was shitting apes as all four guys brawled at ringside, dislodging the guard rails and hitting each other with chairs. I honestly couldn’t give a damn and was contemplating leaving if not for the sea of people. Necro and Gage took the majority of the match. Big CZW chants, even though this was supposed to be a JAPW show. At least when Maff was hit by chairs, he put his hand up. Mac did not, so nuts to him. Mac challenged Necro to sit down for a bar fight (just punching each other while seated in front of one another), and Necro got the better of it. Necro started throwing in a bunch of chairs into the ring, some of them hitting a downed Mac. He even threw in a tool box of some kind. The most entertaining moment of the match for me was that he was getting so carried away, he attempted to throw the heavy ring steps inside and failed in a comical way. Necro slammed Mac onto the chairs and Gage gave him a piledriver. Then came the finish and this one was mercifully over. I am definitely not the audience for this type of match anymore. I’ve already seen it done several times in the past with better wrestlers. The rest of the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew – Brodie Lee and the Briscoes (!) – came out to celebrate and pose with their titles. They now have three of JAPW’s five championships, so maybe one of the Briscoes can go after the Light Heavyweight Title and the other can cross-dress and go after the Women’s Title.

Overall: The show overall was alright, though Liger-Quackenbush was essentially on a different planet compared to the rest of this show. That match, Lethal-Omega, and Del Rey-LuFisto made me happy I went to this show. The tag title match did not, so to close the show with it left a damper on my experience. It worked for the rest of the audience, the majority of whom were sticking around for CZW, so whatever. I’ll just look forward to Chikara and Dragon Gate USA next month.

The former ECW Arena finally has a proper name: The Asylum Arena. Wink Vavasseur, an auditor character hired by Chikara’s Board of Directors who first popped up in August (no BDK affiliation as far as I know now) wandered around the place. Gavin Loudspeaker opted to explain Chikara’s crowd guidelines through a song. When he brought up the name of the show, fans booed. Poor Jakob Hammermeier was in attendance too, slowly transitioning into Mr. Glass: he’s still in his neckbrace from July, his right arm in a sling as seen on the September shows, and now his left foot in a cast.

1. Soldier Ant defeated Pinkie “Pink Ant” Sanchez with the Chikara Special. Soldier Ant made a reserved hustle to Pinkie and the match got off to a hot start. Plenty of back-and-forth stuff, with Soldier Ant getting the better of chop battles and Sanchez taking short cuts. Soldier Ant managed to kick out of Pinkie’s burning hammer to much surprise and used a forearm to escape a second attempt. He hit the TKO before transitioning into the Chikara Special. Fire Ant and Green Ant ran out to celebrate with their victorious partner. Fun opener.

- Gavin’s introduction for the next match was interrupted by Brodie Lee and Grizzly Redwood, who reunited as the Roughnecks the previous night in Easton following a sneak attack on Dasher Hatfield. Before Grizzly could explain how they got back together, Dasher and Sugar Dunkerton ran in to fight with them. Refs, students, and other people (including former Chikara regular Jolly Roger and Bobby Shields) ran in to separate them to little success. Sugar did a dive off the top onto Brodie and other bodies on the floor. Dasher was about to do the same, but Grizzly powerbombed him off the cornbuckle. Then Brodie laid out Sugar with a boot. After the Roughnecks left, Sugar put out a challenge to them on the next show, December 12th in Reading.

2. Lince Dorado defeated Arik Cannon with the Shooting Star Press. More fun back-and-forth action, with Cannon getting the better of strikes and hitting some of his scary signature moves (exploder, brainbuster, Total Anarchy neckbreaker). Dorado slipped up on an attempted Lionsault, but that can play into his character, and he powered on. Cannon caught Dorado in the Chikara Special, but Dorado managed to escape. Toward the end, Dorado wrapped his legs around Cannon’s head out of a cornbuckle headstand, looking like he’d hit a headscissors, but instead hit a flipping piledriver from the position, then leading to the SSP and 1-2-3.

3. The Olsen Twins (Colin & Jimmy) defeated The UnStable (Vin Gerard & STIGMA) when Colin reversed a tights-assisted O’Connor Roll by Gerard into one of his own (and exposed too much of Gerard’s crack). A rematch from last month following the Olsens reuniting in September against The UnStable. Colin & JImmy looked in better shape in the past, and Colin has cut his hair. Also – and I find this really egregious – they have new entrance music. The Olsen Twins used to come out to the “Full House” theme lead-in followed by Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” Now they have the same lead-in, but it’s followed by “Tick Tock” by Ke$ha. Decent-to-good action all around here. Colin and Gerard exchanged hair-based offense early. Gerard and Jimmy brawled a quite a bit on the outside while Colin and STIGMA stayed in the ring. The Olsens hit stereo dives on opposite sides of the ring. Jimmy took out STIGMA toward the end with his trademark punch.

4. Tim Donst defeated Hallowicked with a bootlace-assisted rear naked choke. Solid character work throughout this one. Donst got the better of Hallowicked early turning his mask sideways to blind him. More back and forth thanks to Hallowicked’s yakuza kicks. Donst’s victory here was practically the same as his victory over Frightmare in June, making his opponent pass out through nefarious means without letting the ref see everything.

- Intermission. Met Bryce Remburg and commended him for THIS, which you absolutely should pick up if you’re really interested in Chikara’s early days. I was meaning to write something about one of the matches whenever I thought to do so.

5. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Ares defeated UltraMantis Black with a Praying Mantis Bomb onto a chair. Derek Sabato (in glasses) was the ref, counting slow for Mantis and fast for Ares. Mantis probably received the biggest crowd reaction out of anyone on the show, and it was awesome. They brawled early in the ring, took it backstage and up into the balcony where the hard camera and commentary table is set up (fans chanted “Push Sabato!” when they were up there), then back down into the crowd, outside (I didn’t bother following them) and into the crowd again. Tursas came out to help Ares, but Mantis avoided his wrath. By the mens’ room was a mechanical lift. Mantis got onto it, elevated it to well above the level of the mens’ room door, then dove off of it onto Ares and Tursas. Tursas got a hold of Mantis as they got back to ringside, but Mantis avoided a charge by the big man into the ring post. He attempted to dive onto him but got caught and was crotched on the guard rail. Ares hit Mantis with a tiger driver for only a two count, overcoming Sabato’s fast count again. Then, as Tursas got into the ring, Mantis called out these two druid bodyguards that have accompanied him in recent months. They unveiled themselves to indeed be recent debuts and all-around creepy guys Obariyon & Kodama. Ares looked pretty scared. Before they could help Mantis, the lights dimmed a bit and a third hooded mystery man came out, beckoning Obariyon & Kodama to return to the back. Then Ares, despite nearly coming into contact with the unknown, finished off Mantis with chairshots to the back and the finish. Very fun stuff action-wise and story-wise, though I’m sure it’ll play out much better on DVD.

6. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw defeated F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor), The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian), and Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze in a 4-way elimination tag match. Jigsaw has gone from the pleather pants to long tights. Icarus was wearing a jacket for the first minute or so before removing it to unveil his unsavory back tattoo, to which he’s still having detail added. The bulk of the first portion of the match had the three Chikara teams going at it – including Taylor with his bum shoulder suffered the previous night in EVOLVE – while the ladies of BDK (who already had three points coming into this) stayed on the outside. Jigsaw was worked over quite a bit. After lots of fast action and dives, Jigsaw connected with a brainbuster on Icarus to eliminate F.I.S.T. Following time the women spent with the Portal and QuackSaw, Amasis took a big spill off the top to the floor right in front of me (selling it big time), while Quack hit Ophidian with a double underhook superplex, eliminating the Portal. The women began working over QuackSaw a lot, hitting a lot of their big moves (including the Royal Butterfly on Quack) which they then kicked out of or saved each other from. Very hot moments all. Del Rey was subdued by Quack, and ultimately Jigsaw pinned Daizee with QuackenDriver 1 (standing iconoclasm). So with getting all three pins in the match, QuackSaw finally scored the three points necessary to challenge for the titles. My favorite match on the show and perhaps the longest at over 19 minutes.

- Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jazz, Marshe Rockett, Willie Richardson, manager C-Red, and their valet Dymond) were in attendance and came out to assist with the show-long prize raffle, which included the raffle ticket being picked by a baby girl. Then C-Red cut a promo about how they have the BDK’s number, defeating them in matches in Michigan, Brooklyn, and the previous night in Easton. Then Ares walked out cutting a promo in German, closing in English by saying the BDK have their number as the rest of the BDK jumped the Touchaz from behind. Only absent members were Daizee and the currently-in-NOAH Claudio Castagnoli and Delirious. Del Rey took out Dymond with a pile driver, and C-Red was laid out by a second rope splash from Tursas. Not sure if this was a way to write off Da Soul Touchaz, or if they’re going to be making more appearances in 2011.

7. Frightmare defeated Johnny Gargano with a top-rope Kneecolepsy to retain the Young Lions Cup. Frightmare came out wearing a personalized Eagles jersey, then Gargano got a hold of it and wiped his nether regions with it. The action was taken to the outside, where Gargano hit Frightmare with his “You’re Dead!” lawn dart into the ring steps. In retaliation shortly afterward, Frightmare gave Gargano Kneecolepsy while he was draped over the edge of the ring (as anyone will tell you, the hardest part of the ring). Lots of fun action prior to a regular Kneecolepsy and the top-rope version to finish it.

8. Eddie Kingston defeated Homicide with the Backfist to the Future. Both guys came out to great ovations. Homicide wrestled in a Chikara shirt. It started with both guys measuring each other up and working over each other on the mat. Homicide connected with a flipping senton off the apron to the floor, and Kingston followed that up shortly with a suicide dive. Action was largely methodical but well worked, though the crowd was fairly tired by this point and not nearly as hot as they were two matches earlier. Homicide worked over Kingston more on the outside, nearly stabbing him a pencil. Homicide hit the Three Amigos but caught knees when he attempted the frog splash. Kingston scored a nearfall after a backdrop driver and Sliding D, and also made a comeback following a backfist to an in-flight Homicide. Solid match overall, but not the strongest match to main event unfortunately.

Overall: A fun show as we’ve come to expect for quite a while now. However, this was the first Chikara show I’ve attended this year that was pretty standard, whereas the others I’ve attended were the first show of the year with BDK’s first matches, King of Trios weekend, and the big supercard with Dragon Gate talent. Still, a lot of good action with some pieces set into motion for the last show of the year (December 12th in Reading) and beyond. That beyond would be their first 2011 show, January 23rd back in Philadelphia, for which I bought a ticket to while at this show.

Amazingly, this show is available for purchase on DVD right now as you read this. The announcement was made during the show that Smart Mark Video would get it out the next morning, and sure enough they worked all night to do so. The live show itself opened with a video introduction done in the style of a movie trailer. Very well done like all Chikara videos of this sort.

1. Tim Donst & Pinkie “Pink Ant” Sanchez & Lince Dorado & Tursas defeated The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant & Green Ant) & Frightmare after Pinkie gave Frightmare the Burning Snicklefritz. Jakob Hammermeier was sporting a neck brace after he was laid out by Eddie Kingston and Tommy Dreamer in May. Very fun match to kick things off. Frightmare did a sprint around the building after hitting a dive. Tursas remained nigh immovable and at one point plowed down everyone else while they were involved in a headlock chain. Frightmare nearly had it won with the Kneecolepsy on Dorado before Pinkie broke it up and finished him off.

- Right after the match ended, the lights flickered, the video screens went to static, and out came someone dressed like Vokoder, Donst’s old persona leading up the BDK unveiling. Only Pinkie seemed to notice him while everyone else, especially Donst, acted oblivious to it.

2. Shingo defeated Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen with a lariat. This was a special unannounced match that was teased days prior to the event. Many people including myself thought it might include Bryan Danielson, but I’m not complaining. This was a fun match that Shingo mostly dominated, working as the heel and even attempting to remove the Equinox mask (does that really matter though considering his identity isn’t a mystery?). The one down note was Jimmy taking a scary landing after doing a suicide dive. He seemed pretty out of it but still worked onward before Shingo finished him off with Made In Japan and one of his monstrous lariats.

- Eddie Kingston came out and introduced Tommy Dreamer, inducting him into the Arena’s Hardcore Hall of Fame. Dreamer gave a nice speech, during which he didn’t cry nor say that he promised himself he wouldn’t cry. He mentioned how the building may have changed in some respects but the spirit of the Arena is still strong thanks to places like Chikara. He also recalled a funny story of how he and Taz drove for two hours from New York to Philadelphia to work for ECW the first time, but then spent another hour driving trying to find the Arena. He closed by saying he was born in Yonkers, NY, but when he’s no longer living, it’ll be written that he was born here. Very nice segment, angle-free.

3. Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze defeated Amazing Kong & Raisha Saeed when Daizee pinned Kong with a bridging German suplex (!) following momentum by one of Del Rey’s rolling kicks. Someone in the crowd shouted out to Kong to “do it for Haiti.” The women of BDK demanded this challenge, but Haze was quite intimidated by her opponents. In addition to Kong, it was nice to see Cheerleader Melissa wrestle in person for the first time, despite working under this goofy gimmick and at one point wailing to her Middle Eastern gods. Del Rey acted surprised that her shoulder tackles weren’t taking down Kong, despite these two wrestling a number of times, including the previous night. Fun match with a simple story, and the finish (both the outcome and the actual offense) was a big suprise that the crowd exploded for.

4. CIMA & Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shenlong defeated F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Gran Akuma & Chuck Taylor) when CIMA gave Akuma the Schwein followed by double knees off the top. Shenlong was filling in for the injured Dragon Kid; I don’t believe he’s affiliated with CIMA and Mochizuki in WARRIORS. Just like at King of Trios (which I didn’t notice) and talked about in a blog battle with F.I.S.T. on Chikara’s site, Johnny Gargano popped up at some point to watch F.I.S.T. wrestle in person. One of Mochizuki’s kicks sent Icarus scurrying off the apron and into the crowd, during which he crawled over me. Akuma was the recipient of alternating kicks from Mochizuki and CIMA. F.I.S.T. got the majority of their offense on Shenlong before CIMA and Mochizuki could get back in. One of the heels received a massive Mochizuki axe kick to the lower regions. Fantastic stuff right up there with the F.I.S.T. vs. Osaka Pro match at King of Trios.

- Johnny Gargano entered the ring after the match with a disappointed look. Icarus attended to the fallen Akuma while Gargano and Taylor exchanged a few words and largely silent body language. Icarus took part in a little of this, and then he gave Akuma a pedigree, kicking him out of the group and replacing him with Gargano. Icarus and Taylor even removed the F.I.S.T. gauntlets from Akuma’s wrists and gave them to Gargano. Pretty big heat, and fans chanted for Akuma as he slumped away.

- Intermission. Right after it ended, another video announced that Manami Toyota, the acclaimed female wrestler from Japan, would make her U.S. debut on the Chikara shows in September (Baltimore and Brooklyn). That’s huge. On top of that, fans were handed exclusive (?) Chikara trading cards of Toyota.

5. The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) & Drake Younger defeated The UnStable (Vin Gerard & STIGMA & Colin Delaney) when the Portal gave STIGMA the Osirian Sacrament. Colin wore a neck tie for whatever reason (Danielson-related?). Younger, who looked better here than the previous night, wore an Osirian Portal tunic over his usual shorts. Largely a three-on-three brawl around the ringside area with lots of chaos and a crazy dive sequence right in front of my section. The crowd loved it. Smartly, all six made sure to avoid the count-out at one point. Younger’s forehead cut from the previous night opened up again at some point. Younger dumped Gerard headfirst into a garbage can outside and did an Ole Kick into it. Shortly after this, Younger was taken out by STIGMA’s tombstone piledriver onto the ringside steps. After the finish, the Portal celebrated by dancing and convinced Younger to do his goofy white boy dancing for a big pop. Fun stuff once again, very different from everything else on the show.

6. Claudio Castagnoli & Ares (w/ Delirious) defeated Eddie Kingston & Tommy Dreamer after Claudio gave Dreamer a Ricola Bomb. BDK-affiliated ref Derek Sabato officiated this match and was terrifically dickish in this role (slow counts for Kingston and Dreamer’s pin attempts, fast counts for his buddies, etc.). Still under control of the Eye of Tyr in Ares’ possession, the zombified Delirious in cool new BDK gear was lead to the ring on a chain and remained motionless in the BDK’s corner. Ares has grown a beard, and Claudio has grown an unfortunate mohawk. Not to be outdone, Dreamer now wrestles with goofy-looking MMA gloves. Basic match that served its purpose. Dreamer did some of Kingston’s strikes like the Kobashi chops and the backfist. Delirious only got involved right after the end, attacking Kingston. He was straddled on the ropes as Claudio celebrated over the fallen Dreamer.

7. Chikara Sekigun (Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Hallowicked) defeated World-1 (Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi & BxB Hulk) when Quackenbush hit Doi with the Quackendriver 2. Yoshino and Hulk came out with their titles (and in Hulk’s case, his wig again for the entrance). Great main event with lots of crazy moves within its 17 minutes. Everything you could possibly hope for from these six guys. At the very end, Doi peppered Quack’s face with about three dozen slaps and went for his sliding kick, but that was avoided and countered into one pin attempt, followed by another counter, followed by the finish. The Chikara team invited World-1 back into the ring to shake hands, and they did so for the ultimate crowd-pleasing ending.

Overall: One hell of a super card. I actually thought this was a more satisfying overall show than Dragon Gate USA’s show the previous night, and I still really enjoyed that show. The two six-mans with Dragon Gate talent delivered big time, some good upper-midcard angles began, and Tommy Dreamer was used better than he probably will be in TNA. The best part is that everyone who wasn’t there can see it on DVD sooner than they could have before. Buy this sucka. Chikara returns to action at the end of August for the three-night Young Lions Cup VIII tournament in Reading, PA, then Baltimore on September 18th and Brooklyn on September 19th featuring Manami Toyota.

John Philapavage and I scored VIP Balcony seats again as we did for “Open The Freedom Gate” in November. Though it didn’t help in fighting the building temperature, it did entitle us to the Bonus Card for people with our seats and the first four rows.

1A. Super Shenlong vs. Lince Dorado went to a 10-minute time limit draw. Kind of a nothing match, pretty basic with little heat. Things were drawn out presumably because they were going the distance, but the bigger moves toward the end didn’t get much of a reaction. Dorado, wrestled in his previous gear and coming out to “Eye of the Tiger,” thereby forgoing his BDK allegiance in DGUSA. He’s had better nights than this, and Shenlong, out of Dragon Gate, was about equal to him. The big spot toward the end was Shenlong missing a Shooting Star Press and Dorado connecting with his, but he was too wiped out by it to make the immediate cover. Fans were polite and some provided a tepid “five more minutes” chant. I didn’t think this draw was necessary.

2A. Cheech & Cloudy defeated Rex Reed & Tommaso Ciampa when they gave (if I recall correctly) Reed the Tidal Wave/Quebecers finisher. Ciampa is a well-built guy with a stupid haircut who was once in OVW with a developmental deal and worked some ROH dark matches late last year/early last year. Reed is shorter, heavier, bald, and more bearded than his partner. They got in some offense, but this was mostly a showcase for Cheech & Cloudy, who hit some of their signature moves prior to the finish. Pretty fun.

- Brodie Lee came out as Cheech & Cloudy celebrated. They fought back against the big man before getting decimated by the Big Rig.

3A. Jimmy Jacobs defeated Sami Callihan with the guillotine choke. Jacobs was sporting plain red trunks, the plainest gear he’s ever worn maybe. Callihan looked like he was in the best shape of his life. This match was worth the early admission. Great back and forth stuff beginning with strike exchanges. Callihan nearly got the submission with a horse collar before Jacobs made the ropes. They took it outside and Callihan set up a chair for something, but Jacobs countered whatever it was into a Contra Code off the ring post onto the chair. Jacobs set up the submission after giving Callihan a DDT off the top straight down on the mat (as opposed to the tornado style). I really enjoyed this one.

- Before the main show started, it was announced that EVOLVE 5 on September 11th in Rahway, NJ would include Bryan Danielson vs. Munenori Sawa and Mercedes Martinez vs. Amazing Kong. Also, Rahway would host the next Dragon Gate USA show in the Northeast (as opposed to Philadelphia) on October 30th.

- The main show opened with CIMA coming out welcoming us to the show. Everyone did the WARRIORS salute with him. Johnny Gargano interrupted to say that he should be the US representative for WARRIORS International that CIMA has been looking for, capping off his plea with his catchphrase. CIMA feigned ignorance of the English language, saying he didn’t know what Gargano was saying, so Gargano slapped him. CIMA got the message and requested a match between the two start right now.

1. CIMA defeated Johnny Gargano with the Schwein and a top rope doublestomp. Fun match to get things going, and Gargano held his own in this high-profile match. Each guy hit some of their signature moves, including CIMA with his Perfect Driver and Gargano with his javelin throw into the corner. No real complaints about this one. Afterward, CIMA shook the hands of Super Shenlong (working ringside detail and being their to catch guys) and referee Jason Harding, but psyched out Gargano on his handshake.

2. Chuck Taylor defeated Ricochet and Arik Cannon and Adam Cole after hitting Ricochet with the Awful Waffle. Comparable to the Chikara 8-man tag last year in that it featured a number of names the general public wouldn’t know (people that order the PPV as opposed to people who attended this show) going out to impress and stealing the show. I almost didn’t recognize Ricochet as I’m used to seeing him as Helios these days (he’s beefed up) and Taylor was beloved. No discernible heel-face dynamic outside of Taylor’s facial expressions. One-on-one most of the time with LOTS of crazy moves for nearfalls and a dive sequence early. Poor Adam Cole took a few folded-over back bumps. Purists may hate it – certainly calls back to early ROH in some respects – but the crowd loved it. All four looked really good, including Ricochet with his aerial moves and Cannon with his crisp wrestling and strikes. Taylor picked up the win with his finisher after he dodged Ricochet’s double moonsault. Really really fun.

3. Naruki Doi defeated Drake Younger with the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Younger was filling in for the injured Dragon Kid. Doi seemed to be hiding a bandaged midsection under his shirt. Early on, Younger went for a flipping senton off the apron, but Doi moved and Younger’s back ate floor. Then his leg got worked over a bit on the outside, and from there it was very basic and pretty one-sided. Not much to it all aside from Doi’s moves. Younger has had much better showings, and John felt he looked like shit. Younger ate the sliding kick after receiving a couple dozen rapid fire slaps by Doi. The worst match on the main card, but fans seemed polite and Younger is popular in the Arena.

- Afterward, Younger cut a promo saying that, if nothing else, he could take a violent onslaught by one of Japan’s finest. He nominated himself to be a US representative for one of the stables, but then Gargano sneaked up and tripped him from the outside. He pulled him out and rammed him headfirst into the ring post, to which Younger came up bleeding (really?).

4. BxB Hulk defeated Masaaki Mochizuki with a seated superkick to retain the Open The Freedom Gate Title. Hulk came out to dance (sans girls) while wearing a wig, then pulled it off when he finished his dance to reveal his recently shaved head (courtesy of Shingo in Japan). A long match where they largely traded kicks throughout, but both men throw really good kicks. One of Hulk’s kicks on the outside missed and he sold the leg for a while before coming back with a springboard attack. I was enjoying it, and someone in the crowd started a “This is Wrestling!” chant, but then came the unfortunate finish. Hulk hit Mochizuki with a Phoenix Splash that almost missed. It looked like Mochizuki kicked out, but ref Jason Harding still counted to three and the bell half-heartedly rang. Then Hulk got up to deliver a kick to the seated Mochizuki for the definitive finish and a very confused/negative reaction from the crowd. Lots of miscommunication here somewhere that I imagine will be edited down the line, but I dug the the other seven-eighths of the match.

- As Hulk was alone in the ring with his title afterward, some mystery woman in white face paint and a bridal gown came out and confronted him. I couldn’t tell who it was (maybe Lacey, maybe Becky Bayless, maybe someone else), but then YAMATO, Shingo, and Jon Moxley (Kamikaze USA) came out and jumped him, and the woman paying homage to mid-00s horror movies returned to the back. Moxley told Hulk that he didn’t have his hair nor his dancing girls, so the only thing left to take was his title. YAMATO was about to give Hulk the Galleria Special onto the title belt, but out came an angry Bryan Danielson to the expected huge pop. The heels stopped what they were doing as Danielson came in the ring and stared them down. Moxley made his comrades retreat as he said “We already know this guy’s a pussy.” Danielson picked up the title and handed it back to Hulk while seemingly indicating he’d like a shot.

- Intermission. The floor was swamped before the show, and with Danielson offering autographs it was swamped here too.

5. Rich Swann defeated Seth Reed (w/ his valet Nicole) with a standing 450 splash. Very short but perfectly acceptable popcorn match. Not familiar with Reed. I suspect Gabe Sapolsky is high on Swann, as he made his DGUSA debut the night after he made his EVOLVE debut.

- Brodie Lee came out again. He laid out the referee (Jon Barber from Chikara) before destroying the two wrestlers, and he capped things off with a big boot to the valet. Lee said he’s just proved he could plow down a man, woman, and child (referring to the ref), so now he’s looking for a Japanese man (his words). Lee’s being used awesomely here. He got into it with an overzealous fan on his way to the back.

6. Open The Dream Gate Champion Masato Yoshino & Chikara Sekigun (Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Hallowicked) defeated Kamikaze USA (YAMATO & Jon Moxley & Akira Tozawa & Gran Akuma) in an 8-man elimination match. Ask Johnny P. and he’ll tell you Moxley is the one guy he’s most intrigued by in wrestling these days. My first time seeing Tozawa (who’s doing the US excursion deal, working PWG in addition to DGUSA), and I thought he was pretty awesome, at one point shouting out “C’Mon Baby” in a high-pitched voice. The match started with a brawl and worked really well with Kamikaze USA as the super heels. Hallowicked was the first one eliminated after taking YAMATO’s Galleria Special. Jigsaw took a couple big moves, including a crossface chicken wing suplex by Moxley, but managed to kick out at one. This infuriated Moxley to the point that he used a chair and got himself disqualified. Jimmy Jacobs ran out right after this, spearing Moxley and brawling with him into the crowd. During this, Jigsaw was soundly eliminated by another Galleria Special, leaving Quack and Yoshino with the man disadvantage. Quack evened things up a little later by reversing a Yoshi Tonic attempt by Akuma into a powerbomb pin with great force, so Akuma was gone. Plenty of drama and very good back and forth action with the four remaining guys. YAMATO did a low blow mule kick behind ref Bryce Remsburg’s back, but the pin attempt was broken up. He attempted a second one on Quack, but Quack caught it and gave him an inner thigh kick. Quack and Yoshino clinched it for their side, simultaneously making Tozawa and YAMATO tap to the Chikara Special and Sol Naciente respectively. Second best match of the night and a satisfying end to the yearlong Chikara-YAMATO feud.

- Quack thanked Yoshino for his help afterward and confirmed he was the fastest man he’s ever seen in the ring, but then said he, Jigsaw, and Hallowicked were looking forward to facing Yoshino and World-1 the next day. The two shook hands.

7. Bryan Danielson defeated Shingo with the omoplata crossface. Danielson came out to no music and was greeted with streamers and a few neckties. The PG nature of DGUSA was thrown out the window from the start as fans chanted that Shingo would get his fuckin’ head kicked in. This truly built to an excellent match, going from good exchanges between the two met with various chants of approval (and some tongue-in-cheek referencing Danielson being too violent) to lots of hot nearfalls met with loud excitement. A classic Danielson match with all of his tropes (including the surfboard and the springboard dive into the crowd). Shingo came close with Made In Japan, the Original Falconry off the top (which he fought through Danielson’s elbow strikes to deliver), and a couple of monstrous lariats. Danielson broke out Cattle Mutilation and transitioned the fuckin’ head kicking into a triangle. Danielson scored with his most recently added submission after transitioning from the triangle. This match ruled.

- After this, as fans chanted “Thank You Both,” YAMATO came out and had a tense staredown with Danielson. Hulk came back out before Shingo could jump Danielson from behind, and the faces cleared house on the heels. Moxley came back out to hold back YAMATO and Shingo on the outside. Then Danielson requested to join World-1 and Hulk seemed to accept (not sure if he can speak for the rest of his stable though). Danielson thanked the crowd for helping make the show great, but then remarked something was missing. Cue “The Final Countdown” to send the fans home happy.

Overall: Though not quite the best DGUSA show I’ve attended, it was still really fun with a number of storylines continuing and beginning. The booking in that respect has certainly grown over the past year. This was reminiscent of the first show in that there was a very fun potential show-stealer in the first half, and two very good-to-great matches to close things out. The one drawback is that Danielson-Shingo, the best match on the show, won’t be on the PPV when it debuts in September, so people will have to wait for the DVD in October. A real treat seeing Danielson live again, as himself and doing what he does best.

- Gavin Loudspeaker’s voice has been pounded into submission this weekend, as he was very hoarse (his voice is his only power!). Also, there were some funny pre-show antics between Jakob Hammermeier and the crowd.

1. King of Trios Semi-Finals: The Colony defeated Team Osaka Pro when Green Ant jumped off the bridged arms of his partners (who were on the top turnbuckle) and hit a massive splash onto Tadasuke. Somehow the Colony had a bag of sugar with them (might have been a gift from ringside fans), but Tadasuke took it from them. The teams agreed to put the sugar on the line in the match. They all worked very well together, and Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada continued to look impressive together. Just a lot of fun, and fans chanted for the Osaka Pro team to return.

2. King of Trios Semi-Finals: Claudio Castagnoli & Ares & Tursas defeated Team Big Japan when Ares pinned Kankuro Hoshino with the Tiger Driver. More great stuff from Daisuke Sekimoto, including giving Claudio a deadlift German suplex. He attempted doing the same to Tursas, but it was broken up. Big Japan gave them a run for their money here, showing some weakness against guys closer to their size. Ares was alone with Hoshino in the ring, getting nearfalls on each other (including from a swanton from Ares), while the other four were left at ringside. Claudio even used to the ring steps to pin Yuji Okabayashi against the ring. A very good match, and fans also requested vociferously the Big Japan crew return.

3. Chuck Taylor defeated El Oriental with the half crab. Pretty good match between the two. Taylor screamed like a little girl when Oriental chopped him. Oriental was hitting the three ascending moonsaults when Taylor got his knees up for the third one, then he hit Sole Food and locked in the crab for the submission.

4. Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare) won a 10-team Elimination Gauntlet. The match started with the Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton) and the UnStable (Vin Gerard & STIGMA). Nice stuff that included Dasher putting Vin on his shoulders and counting down the clock for Sugar to dunk him into the turnbuckle. The Throwbacks were doing the ten corner punches in opposite corners when Vin slipped out of Sugar’s grasp and cradled him for the elimination. Next out was a new team for the occasion called the Legion of Green, consisting of Steve “The Turtle” Wiener and the returning Dragon Dragon (a guy in an oversized dragon mascot costume). Dragon Dragon was beloved upon his first appearance in over two years, paraded around the ring cheering on Steve, and then finally got in the ring himself to fight STIGMA and take him down with a dragon screw. He also gave him some Kobashi-style chops against the ropes, successfully hit a dragon suplex, and he and Steve hit a version of Total Elimination. In the second best moment of the match, Gerard made Dragon Dragon tap out with a stepover TAILhold facelock. Next out were the UnStable’s old enemies in the Future is Now (Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen & Helios), who took it to them with some dives. Olsen eliminated the UnStable with a piledriver on Gerard. Then out came Aeroform (Flip Kendrick & Louis Lyndon) for more flippity doos and back and forth action. After all of the flash, Olsen just punched out Flip to eliminate them. The North Star Express (Darin Corbin & Ryan Cruz) came out, and the two teams had a very nice stretch of action. Corbin and Olsen tired each other out by shooting each other into the ropes, and then came the match’s best moment: Corbin and Olsen wrestling in slow motion, and the ref and the crowd followed suit in their speed. They’ve done this before, and it was still very funny and well done until they had trouble nipping up in slow motion, so they used the ropes and returned to normal speed. Cruz and Helios exchanged some nearfalls before Cruz caught him with one for the elimination. Then came the Order of the Neo Solar Temple (UltraMantis Black & Crossbones). They used their rudo power on the NSE, including a flip dive by Mantis off the apron to the floor. Mantis scored the elimination when he hit the Praying Mantis Bomb on Corbin. Then came Incoherence to quickly clean house, scoring a quick elimination after a series of kicks on Crossbones. Icarus & Gran Akuma followed, and the two teams went at it for a while with Frightmare taking a lot of punishment. However, when Icarus attempted to give him the Blu-Ray (death valley driver into the corner), Frightmare countered with a crucifix bomb for the elimination. Final team out was Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze. Frightmare was worse for wear while Hallowicked offered to take them on by himself. Frightmare survived a piledriver into a German suplex, but then Hallowicked took out Del Rey with a big knee in the corner and got the pin on Daizee after a massive Rydeen Bomb. So they won the Gauntlet and picked up three consecutive points, qualifying them for a tag title shot. Very fun stuff.

- Intermission. There was an animated trailer on the big screen for a Chikara video game called “Rudo Resurrection.” Something about UltraMantis Black making clones of past Chikara characters to battle the BDK. I had thought it was a legitimate angle at first. More info will be available eventually at chikaravideogame.com.

5. Eddie Kingston defeated Christopher Daniels with the backfist. Daniels played it cool, taking a powder twice early and worked in the headlock on Kingston. He especially worked over his neck to good effect. Kingston fought back. Daniels got the ref in the way so as to poke Kingston in the eye and take him down to set up the Best Moonsault Ever. Kingston got up to avoid and hit the backfist to end. Good stuff.

- Immediately after the match, Tommy Dreamer walked out. Big surprise, though he was simply continuing his “Respect for the Indies 2010 Tour.” He said anyone who knows him knows he loves wrestling, promised everyone he really wouldn’t cry this time (he held up to that), and put over Chikara big time. He said he was really enjoying the show, wouldn’t mind wrestling that dragon, and that “this shit is awesome,” but then he corrected himself for the family audience and restated, “this stuff is awesome.” He knew Kingston looked up to him, wished Eddie that his career wouldn’t end up like his, and then said he would do for Kingston what Terry Funk did for him and offered to wrestle him on the May 23rd Chikara show in Union City, NJ. He then removed his jacket as he left the ring to reveal a Chikara shirt and told Kingston to take the moment because this wasn’t Dreamer’s house anymore. This was all very nice, and Dreamer admittedly would seem like a better fit for a Chikara show than a Dragon Gate USA show.

6. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw defeated the Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) when Quack hit a Jig n’ Tonic on Matt with a double stomp assist from Jigsaw. A rematch from the last DGUSA show in Phoenix. The Bucks really heeled it up, taking pride in beating down Quack. A great barrage of moves and dives followed, with Quack & Jigsaw avoiding More Bang For Your Buck, but Jigsaw still eating a 450 for Nick when he had Matt down with a German suplex. Just fantastic stuff overall.

7. Rey de Voladores Finals: Ophidian defeated Matt Cross with a moonsault into a small package to win the tournament. The crowd was sssssssolidly behind Ophidian, but they only really reacted to the match when he got the upper hand or kicked out of one of Cross’ moves. The match was just fine and they worked pretty well together, with Cross surviving Ophidian’s 450 and Ophidian surviving Cross’ shooting star press, but not the strongest match for the semi-main event slot, and I don’t think it could follow the previous match. The finish was a little sloppy.

8. King of Trios Finals: Claudio Castagnoli & Ares & Tursas defeated The Colony to win the tournement with Ragnarok on Fire Ant (and a crooked referee). This match was awesome, full of drama the whole way through. The Colony ran into the ring to take the fight to BDK. A few minutes in they attempted to give Ares the same massive splash that got them into the Finals, but Claudio gave Green Ant an uppercut on his way down. The Colony did pretty well avoiding Tursas by taking him down with dives and sliding dropkicks to the outside, and by sidestepping Claudio and Ares so that they’d collide with him. Fire Ant even climbed one of the Arena’s support beams and did dive off of it, which is something I haven’t seen him do since the first time I saw him on a Chikara show in 2006. Green Ant took a quite a bit of punishment, including a big running uppercut, but that only received a 1-count. Fire Ant (I think) and Ares had one of each other’s partners in the Chikara Special and inverted Chikara Special respectively, and dealt blows to one another as they were side by side. Claudio was in Green Ant’s cloverleaf for quite a while without tapping while his partners were on dive duty. A great near-submission had Claudio lock the inverted Chikara Special on Green Ant, stepping on his hand so as not to reach for the ropes, but then it was broken up. Toward the end, ref Bryce Remsburg was knocked down, Ares had a possible pin with the Tiger Driver, but Bryce was slow to count. Then Tursas just splashed on Bryce to take him out completely. A few moments later, the Colony regained control and hit the Ant Hill on Ares. Out ran a second ref in Derek Sabato (who hasn’t reffed in Chikara since maybe 2008). Ares was down for three, but Sabato cut his count short and said it was only two. Then BDK regained control, hit their finisher on Fire Ant, and Sabato did the fastest count imaginable and demanded the bell be rung. So BDK clinch it the tournament with the help of their own referee, the jerks. Sabato even removed his traditional blue ref shirt to reveal an all white ref shirt. Simple yet great storytelling.

Overall: A great last day for another monstrous Chikara weekend. A number of good-to-great matches on the card topped off by the tournament finals. Story-wise, I was hoping the Colony would win to end the weekend on a happy note, but Chikara got it’s happier moments earlier in the weekend with the other members thwarted, and the war continues. I figured it was a matter of time before the BDK got their own heel ref, following in the footsteps of Dragon Gate way back (Muscle Outlawz had their own heel ref) and lucha. A bit of a downer, but the match and the show overall was fantastic. Chikara returns for their Aniversario shows May 22nd in Tyngsboro, MA and May 23rd in Union City, NJ. Their whole announced schedule can be found at their home base of Chikarapro.com.