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 It's the corner of indy wrestling that gets its own thread as to not poo poo up the actual indy wrestling thread. Chikara Pro is a promotion that started back in 2002 as a wrestling school that started doing their own shows for the sake of giving their students something to do. Over the years, it built up its own fanbase with a mix of fun matches, strong storylines, goofball gimmicks and lots of comedy. It's not for everyone and can sometimes be a bitch for new viewers, despite the commentary team usually doing a good enough job painting the picture. They use a lot of unique, viral storytelling and have ridiculous callbacks. For instance, they did a storyline back in early 2008 where Mike Quackenbush and Shane Storm split up right after gaining a shot at the tag titles. This has become the wrestling equivalent of Chekov's gun and will almost definitely come into play one day. The storylines can be fun poo poo if you really get into them, but they also can feel like the company is too far up its own rear end. While Chikara's doing its own thing, there's also Wrestling is Fun!, which is like Chikara Jr. A place that is less about putting on super awesome matches with guest talent and more about comedy matches featuring Wrestle Factory graduates and Chikara regulars who have nothing going on that weekend. Their championship is a banana. Currently, they're doing their own Tag World Grand Prix tournament across three shows (not in consecutive days). The finals is set for the eve of Chikara's return show and there are no announced dates after that, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is their last hurrah. They're also closely involved with Kaiju Big Battel, the giant monster fighting circuit where DANGER CAN HAPPEN. They mainly have their own stuff going on with the monsters, but the storyline of the imposter Dr. Cube appears to have ties with whatever's going on with him in Chikara. Plus his main soldiers Haack and Slaash have been entered into the Tag World Grand Prix. There's also Chuck Taylor's amazing 24/7 Hardcore Championship, with its tale told via Instagram. Much like the old WWF Hardcore Championship that was on the line at all times, this one's just a little weirder and occasionally R-rated. The title has changed via racist mistaken identity, a vegan being threatened with a hotdog, a clip from a scene from Jack Frost with Green Ant's head badly imposed over Shannon Elizabeth's, Thunderfrog dressing as a referee and stripping Max Smashmaster of the title and so on. Anyway, Chikara. There were gone for a while. Now they're back. Chikara has their own succinct take on what happened here and I wrote my own longer, more detailed version here. The quick version is that the evil corporation Titor Conglomerate closed down the company during the main event of their last show back in June. Since then, hated heel Icarus has been all, "Come on, guys! We need to fight for this!" and everyone else has been all, "Nah, we're just going to move on and wrestle elsewhere." Then "elsewhere" (various Wrestling Is promotions that couldn't draw more than a couple dozen people, with good reason) got destroyed by a super heel stable called the Flood made up of other heel stables from Chikara's history and led by Jimmy Jacobs. They've been able to snuff out all the Wrestling Is promotions except Fun. Then at National Pro Wrestling Day, Icarus led a massive revolt against them that included Archibald Peck and 3.0 showing up in a Delorean from the future. It was announced that Chikara would return on May 25, 2014, the 12 year anniversary of their very first show. Since then? Nothing. Sure, they've announced random stuff and released new t-shirts, but they've ultimately been pretty quiet. So quiet that they haven't announced a single match for any of their shows. Yes, their return show is still without a single signed match and they may just let it ride until the event. Since they're nearly sold out anyway (plus an upcoming Chicago show is already sold out), that wouldn't be the worst idea, except they're putting it on iPPV. They want you to pay money to watch them on brand name alone. The balls. So while we wait for their big return show, here's what else they have going on:  - The Ashes of Chikara. During the off-time, they released a bunch of YouTube clips about the fallout of Chikara being killed off. They became released quicker and quicker as time went on, ending just after National Pro Wrestling Day. The full version of this story, including plenty of yet-unseen footage, will be released as an 80-minute movie, debuting on May 5th in a theater. A few days later, it will be available for download. They're pretty serious about this time, considering they've released a soundtrack and they've been advertising it on the back of comic books. - Lately, random Chikara personalities have been talking about their favorite matches -- including ever or from this year. They've been uploaded to YouTube. - DARKNESS CRABTREE IS DEAD. - Speaking of dead, it turns out that the forgotten video game Chikara: Rudo Resurrection will finally see the light of day. Maybe. Probably not. Hopefully they change the plot a little because the old trailer made it about a storyline that's been over for three years with the top villain being a guy who's currently in WWE. Plus one of the zombie wrestlers was Jervis Cottonbelly and he's been around. Or at least they gave his gimmick to another guy because it's too good to left forgotten. - They're doing a charity bowling game a day before the big return show followed by a potluck. That sounds like a good time. - The Event Center is back, featuring a promo by Jimmy Jacobs where he cryptically almost explains why he's leading the Flood against Chikara.
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May 4, 2014 07:26
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I watched Ashes of Chikara and it's really not worth checking out. I thought the Ashes YouTube videos were pretty cool overall as part of a wrestling angle, but when you tape them all together and try to make it into a movie, it falls flat. It could have been decent if they built up the whole Flood angle, but instead, they make vague references to stuff that you'd only know about via following the angle and then by the end it's like, "Oh, by the way, there's a big army of heels who we need to fight for some reason." Plus there are throwaway lines and references to stuff that have no bearing or explanation whatsoever to the point that I can't help but compare it to the, "It's official, I have cancer," type lines in the Room. If this is supposed to bring in new fans, they aren't doing it right. Yes, I realize I'm walking into the thread being renamed that. Anyway, here are the new/altered scenes: - The intro, which is pretty cool, shows some shots of No Compromise being torn down and the fans being thrown out. Quack is shown at home, watching it. It's also revealed that this is what the Batiri were watching that one time where they were shown freaking out. Different Chikara guys are shown reading different online articles about Chikara's demise. For the whole sequence, the screen is littered with ash and embers. - Quack meets up with Sabato at a cafe and Dieter VonSteigerwalt (the old Director of Fun who represented the BDK) joins them. The acting is SO BAD. Apparently, the Elohim groundbreaking image that Sabato had with him that night was indeed a Photoshop rushjob that Dieter made in order to anger Wink and cause him to bring the Condor Security out into the open for the live audience. They didn't expect it to go so out of hand. Quack leaves and it's pointed out that Dieter did this in return for Quack keeping Dieter's "brother" safe. This is never referenced again. - Green Ant spars with Equinox III and talks to him about earning respect and all that. They talk about how Green Ant doesn't want to be the new Worker Ant, even if his current name suggests that he's inexperienced. - "Believe It Or Not" is replaced with a new song and the training montage is a bit longer. - At National Pro Wrestling Day, we see how Icarus has some of the new Wrestle Factory guys stationed to keep an eye out for trouble. Private Eye Jr. has to watch the rear entrance and is told to call Icarus at the first sign of the Flood. - Icarus and Hallowicked walk around together and talk as Icarus figures the Flood and Condor aren't connected, since Condor just wanted them shut down and Flood wants them completely erased. - Quack is shown watching the event from home, but once the main event is underway, he's no longer there. - Private Eye Jr. sees the Flood showing up and fumbles for his phone. Qefka the Quiet steals his phone and 17 snaps his neck like a twig. Then they enter with 17 yelling at the hooded Dr. Cube goons for being late. - The Submission Squad stuff is completely removed. To the movie's credit, they actually improve the National Pro Wrestling Day footage by tossing in a handful of close-ups that better illustrate what's supposed to be going on. Stuff like assailANT refusing to join the heels, the faces unmasking, 17 being pulled through the curtain via a cane, Archibald Peck and 3.0 arriving via Deloreon. - Post credits, there's a quick scene of Conrad Vavasseur talking to Condor Security goons who have Wink wrapped up in a plastic bag. He tells them to, "Make this screw-up go away." So yeah, it's a mess. Meanwhile, they started announcing matches for the return show. The Batiri vs. the Odditorium as well as a four corners tag match with none of the entrants named yet. That's all we got.
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May 9, 2014 03:00
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Two matches have been announced for the Chikara return show. They have not been put on their website, for whatever reason, but they have been confirmed on the 101 Forums. The first match announced was:  Sinn Bodhi & The Odditorium vs The Batiri Sinn Bodhi is the former Kizarny, who helped train the Batiri, and briefly invaded Chikara in 2011 because he wanted the mystical Eye of Tyr. Eventually the Batiri started doing their own thing, and Bodhi finally left when UltraMantis Black gave Bodhi a false Eye of Tyr. The Odditorium are Oliver Grimsley & Qefka the Quiet, a circus performer or something and a mime, who were active in some of the Wrestling Is companies. Bodhi & The Odditorium were behind the closure of Wrestling Is Art when Bodhi purchased the company from its head honcho (possibly using the actual Eye of Tyr to compel him to sell it). The Batiri are Obariyon & Kodama, two pint-size face-painted demon warriors, and Kobald, the Prince of All Goblins. They've been supportive of Chikara in the hiatus, or at least Kobald has, and were visibly snubbed by Bodhi when he shut down Wrestling is Art, as Bodhi just completely ignored them and walked away without talking to them. The second match announced was:  A 4-Corner Elimination Tag Team Match A Chikara staple. Four teams of two wrestle in an elimination match. Each pinfall gives the 'winning' team a point, and reduces the 'losing' team's points to zero. In Chikara's tag team division, three points allows a team to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas. It is not unheard of for one team to go from zero points to three by eliminating all three teams. Thus far, no teams have been announced for this match. The Campeonatos de Parejas belts, last held by the Pieces of Hate (Jigsaw & The Shard) after winning them at "Aniversario: Never Compromise," were supposedly auctioned off by Titor Conglomerate when they were selling off their assets related to Chikara. They resurfaced on May 3rd, when "Princess" Kimber Lee brought them out in the possession of her team, Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy (Sir Lance Steel & Jolly Roger), at Wrestling Is Fun's "Tag World Grand Prix 2014, Night 2." Whether Kimber Lee bought the belts and gave them to her team, or whether Jolly Roger was given the belts by his brother Jigsaw, is as yet unclear.
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May 9, 2014 03:16
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Chikara's Twitter just confirmed an Icarus vs. Kingston rematch.
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May 9, 2014 04:09
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While the movie itself was disappointing with very little new footage in it, I thought the whole movie premier went out really well. It was held in Collegeville, PA at a place called the Movie Tavern which is like half movie theater, half restaurant. The did the whole red carper thing and had a couple cars bring in 1 or 2 CHIKARA people at a time, completely with secret service type dude waving the cars in which was a cool added touch. There was a quick interview and photo op before the stars went inside. Dr Cube showed up, not as part of the red carpet, but with his own ticket so he could see the show. It was kind of surreal to be sitting a few seats over from Dr Cube during the movie. When they showed his entrance from NPWD, he nodded in approval. It was just really cool. They did a Q&A afterwards with some of the guys who filmed and edited it. Also, I thought it was funny that during the credits, some of the names were gimmicked like "Best Boy - AssistAnt". The food there was pretty good too. The Kobe Beef sliders were excellent. Overall, the whole thing was done extremely well and I don't know if I'll ever go to another premier again, esp one about wrestling. Just a shame there wasn't more extra scenes involved. Also, RIP Private Eye Jr. Was NOT expecting a death scene in a CHIKARA movie.
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May 9, 2014 04:44
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Gavok posted:Chikara's Twitter just confirmed an Icarus vs. Kingston rematch. So World Champion Icarus is actually going to happen?
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May 9, 2014 21:15
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Out of curiosity, with this seasons title theme being James Bond and last years being Watchmen Quotes, what were past years? Maybe a little more specifically where the show titles came from.
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May 12, 2014 08:07
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Beautiful Ninja posted:So World Champion Icarus is actually going to happen? Man, I hope so. I am champing at the bit to see this match, whatever The Osirian Portal are in (I'm guessing the 4-way tag team match) and whatever Eric Corvis is going to be doing. I'm also hoping Chuck Taylor shows up in some capacity a)because he's awesome, b)because my friend desperately wants me to pick up Taylor merchandise since she is head over heels for him and c)I owe him a bottle of Jim Beam.
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May 12, 2014 08:31
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KungFu Grip posted:Out of curiosity, with this seasons title theme being James Bond and last years being Watchmen Quotes, what were past years? Maybe a little more specifically where the show titles came from. One season was all episode titles from the Adam West Batman show. They've done a couple shows based on Ben Folds Five songs and all of the Cibernetico shows are named after Batman movies. Meanwhile, here's my full review of Ashes of Chikara
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May 12, 2014 15:07
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KungFu Grip posted:Out of curiosity, with this seasons title theme being James Bond and last years being Watchmen Quotes, what were past years? Maybe a little more specifically where the show titles came from. All the shows originally were based off of Talking Head albums/songs. I think they ran out of those names in 2006 so they've been doing themed ones since.
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May 12, 2014 15:40
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Announced for the return show: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Archibald Peck.
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May 13, 2014 02:26
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Well, I've got so much faith in Chikara's return that I bought second row tickets to The World Is Not Enough, sight unseen. This will be my first time attending a live wrestling show. I'm crazy hype. Mojo Rawley hype.
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May 15, 2014 02:58
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I'm natively from Easton and pretty much ashamed that I didn't know Chikara existed until I heard about NPWD. And now I'm ashamed that I'm going to be on vacation way in the depths of upstate New York for the return of Chikara. I am a bad Chikara fan.
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May 15, 2014 04:45
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Remember that Chikara video game? Gavok mentioned it up in the OP. Rotary Games has launched a Kickstarter for it.
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May 15, 2014 18:52
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50k? No thanks.
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May 15, 2014 20:09
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May 15, 2014 22:20
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Well if this game was gonna come back from the dead, Kickstarter's the way to do it. I don't see it making the money though.
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May 15, 2014 23:49
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I had a dream last night that I was having coffee with Mike Quackenbush who wanted me to do a masked run-in at the Chikara iPPV and win the title. I told him I was too busy with my real job.
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May 16, 2014 01:04
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I know it's proof of concept and all, but the developer talking over the video of the clunky punch kick combo while raving about the compelling fighting made me chuckle quite a bit.
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May 16, 2014 01:06
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I dunno,going by the kickstarter, the team seems to have thought everything through, and I dig the art style. I just threw a couple bucks I wouldn't miss at it.If the game gets made, great, if they don't make the goal, then it doesn't cost me. So, how surreal is it going to be to hear Icarus get cheered? Do you think he'll wear his Marty Janetty inspired getup again?
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May 16, 2014 02:33
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I worry that CHIKARA's recent hiatus might hinder the interest. If they had announced this at the last King of Trios, I feel there would be a bigger initial surge. $50,000 would be a lot for them two years ago, much less now. Plus, while the game doesn't look bad or anything, it doesn't look remarkable beyond it being about CHIKARA.
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May 16, 2014 02:47
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Considering all there offering and the goal it doesn't seem like that bad of a kickstarter. Though the gameplay is something left to be desired, I hope they abandon the 2D sidescroller part and try something a bit more different with it. Because that combo vid just looked clunky and bad. It'd barely hold a candle to the 300 other 2D sidescroller beat'em ups on steam, already. Especially considering Guacamelee covering the luchadore part up quite nicely.
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May 16, 2014 03:02
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This.... looks really cool. I'm kinda new to following wrestling and a filthy American, how do I get started watching this insanity?
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May 16, 2014 03:15
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fuzzy_logic posted:This.... looks really cool. I'd say get any given "Best of" DVD/MP4 from 2007-on. They're all solid in their own way. If you want something a little more complete and coherent, go with the three nights of King of Trios 2012. Really, any King of Trios is good except 2007 is a bit too long and 2008 has some funky booking. But if you just want one single show to start with, I'd say High Noon. It's the first iPPV they ever did, it was the finals for a tournament to crown the first ever Grand Champion (they went nine years without a heavyweight champion) and it's an incredibly solid show. A few years ago, I wrote a well-regarded primer to Chikara. It includes a summary of the main storylines, up until mid-2012.
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May 16, 2014 03:49
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Whatever happened to Hydra? He's a sleeper agent in the Shield
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May 16, 2014 15:55
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reality_groove posted:Whatever happened to Hydra? He got busted for steroids and started hosting a childrens' cooking show.
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May 16, 2014 16:22
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reality_groove posted:Whatever happened to Hydra? Lost a Loser Leaves Chikara match against Tim Donst. Now he does host a children's cooking show. The guy under mask was Dieter Von Steigerwalt, the BDK puppet authority figure.
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May 16, 2014 21:35
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Gavok posted:I'd say get any given "Best of" DVD/MP4 from 2007-on. They're all solid in their own way. Awesome - thanks for making the thread, I've been trying to get into more indy/non-wwe stuff but a lot of it is just insanely over the top violent and dangerous which I really don't enjoy watching or supporting (especially the local stuff here - their big trophy is a gold-plated gig for chrissakes) and this seems more fun and light hearted which is wayyyyy more up my alley. Looks like I'm just in time to recap a little before the iPPV too  .
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May 16, 2014 21:53
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reality_groove posted:Whatever happened to Hydra? The real question is what happened to the Flames of Love.
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May 17, 2014 02:53
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Full card for Chikara's return show is complete. Main Event: Grand Championship Match Eddie Kingston defends vs Icarus Four-Corner Elimination Tag Team Match 3.0 vs 17 & DeviANT vs Pieces of Hate vs [Winners of TWGP] Archibald Peck vs Jimmy Jacobs Trios Match Sinn Bodhi & The Odditorium vs The Batiri Trios Match The Spectral Envoy vs BDK Jervis Cottonbelly vs Juan Francisco de Coronado Trios Match The Colony vs Colony: XTREME Force
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May 20, 2014 01:12
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That's only 7 matches. And there's a ton of CHIKARA regulars without a match. If Thunderfrog isn't on this show, I will be sad.
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May 20, 2014 01:19
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DM Punk posted:That's only 7 matches. And there's a ton of CHIKARA regulars without a match. If Thunderfrog isn't on this show, I will be sad. There's apparently a match exclusively for the sold out "expansion pack" pre-show.
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May 20, 2014 01:24
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Jay 2K Winger posted:There's apparently a match exclusively for the sold out "expansion pack" pre-show. Oh right. Possibly something like Baltic Seige/Throwbacks vs Dev Corp/Ice Creams. I am assuming Portal will win TWGP.
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May 20, 2014 01:47
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DM Punk posted:Oh right. Possibly something like Baltic Seige/Throwbacks vs Dev Corp/Ice Creams. I am assuming Portal will win TWGP. Could just as easily be KE4TPG. Get some drama going over J-Ro having the CdP belt that used to belong to Jigsaw. But yeah, it'll probably be the Portal.
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May 20, 2014 02:02
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7 matches for a Chikara iPPV is pretty regular. Every show has had 7 matches on the main card, except for Under the Hood, which had an unannounced Devastation Corporation vs. Los Ice Creams squash match tossed in there. I watched Tag World Grand Prix: Night 2. While Night 1 was possibly the worst show Wrestling is Fun has put on, Night 2 is one of the better ones. No match of the year candidates or anything, but it's a pretty solid and enjoyable show. Some notes: - The new Wrestling is Fun ring announcer sounds exactly like Terry the "WELCOME TO THE WOOOORLD OF TOMORROOOOOW!" guy from Futurama. - Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy has a really interesting and entertaining dynamic/storyline right now. Princess Kimber Lee is their heel manager despite them being faces. Lance Steel chivalrously does everything she asks with no question while Jolly "More Charisma Than His Brother Jigsaw" Roger barely humors/tolerates her. Kimber Lee bought the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas belts off eBay over the summer and gave them to Steel and Roger. Steel accepted it gracefully while Roger is reluctant because they didn't earn them. Anyway, Kimber Lee is amazing in her role. - Throwbacks took on Dr. Cube's henchmen Haack and Slaash. Early on, Milo Schnitzler came out to tell the henchmen to take a walk before getting in a distracting argument with the ref. Throwbacks followed them, only to be confronted by a group of 8 Flood members, who beat the poo poo out of them. This is my first good look at Nokken, who is an inch or two shorter than Tursas and lacks the mass. Still bigger than Oleg, though. - During Fire Ant vs. Missile Assault Ant, the Flood tried the same stunt again. This time, Icarus (who wasn't in any matches) appeared to lead a crew to drive them off via standoff. - The Throwbacks' team finisher is called the Bo Jackson. Brilliant. - The finals show will be on iPPV this Saturday. I feel that they've done a poo poo job of making that apparent, considering I only learned about it through watching this show. Makes sense that it would be iPPV, though. Considering the winning team competes at the Chikara show the next day, you either watch it live or the whole thing feels moot. Right now the semi finals are Devastation Corporation vs. Osirian Portal and Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy vs. Throwbacks. I like everyone in that bracket.
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May 20, 2014 02:04
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I remember recently finding a HUGE writeup of the Quackenbush vs. Kings of Wrestling storyline where it covered the entire season in which the Chikara Special was invented. I feel like it was on 4thletter, but I can't seem to find it again. It was such a great article and really made me want to follow Chikara from the beginning. Does anyone know the article I'm talking about?
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May 20, 2014 15:36
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Uncle Ulty posted:I remember recently finding a HUGE writeup of the Quackenbush vs. Kings of Wrestling storyline where it covered the entire season in which the Chikara Special was invented. I feel like it was on 4thletter, but I can't seem to find it again. It was such a great article and really made me want to follow Chikara from the beginning. Does anyone know the article I'm talking about? Here you go, though it was really more about Claudio vs. the Kings of Wrestling. Coincidentally, I'm working on a list article for Den of Geek about the top 10 Chikara storylines. Kings of Wrestling is #3.
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May 20, 2014 15:52
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chikara special has to be #1 gavok, right?
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May 20, 2014 16:43
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Red is Dead posted:chikara special has to be #1 gavok, right? ashes.
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May 21, 2014 00:37
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Capsaicin posted:ashes. Lance Steel time travelling to retrieve the only tag team partner he can trust, Younger Lance Steel.
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May 21, 2014 01:06
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