Now, as promised, a special comment about
Sunday's CHIKARA show at the Bethel Park Family Center in Indianapolis,
Indiana...wait, what?...
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
This will have a bit more exposition than usual, so bear with me.
Twenty years ago, the dreaded Internet Wrestling Community was quite different.
The WWF's main presence was America Online, WCW had chats on Compuserve,
there was a lot of buzz about something called "ECW", and the
primary spot for discussion was the rec.sport.pro-wrestling newsgroup.
At that time, Eye Dubya See newbie "PowerPB13" decided
to try his hand at a rasslin newsletter. Through "The Power
Pack", I met quite a few fellow wrestling fans and one of them was
"CHAOSRulz"(aka "MrNEWZ", aka Michael Langan II) who
became one of my best friends. We had never met in person...until
this past weekend.
Michael and his wife Lauren have been traveling to a lot of wrestling shows
lately, especially CHIKARA, and Michael had been pushing me to drive to
a CHIKARA show at some point. It is my understanding that we're taking
a road trip in October for a CHIKARA quadruple-shot across the Midwest,
though I'll need to make some arrangements for dog care if that's the case.
:) In the previous few days, he pushed hard for me to check
out the Indianapolis show. I finally agreed to it on Saturday...I
wish I could have asked off work on Monday, but what's done is done. My
previous driving distance record for an independent wrestling show was
Cape Girardeau(which was about a two-hour drive at the time)...this would
come close to doubling that, clocking in at between three and four hours.
I also had to take time zones into account as Belleville is Central
and Indiana is Eastern...knew all those good grades in math would pay off
SOMEDAY.
The drive was lengthy but largely uneventful; it was an afternoon show so
I had to leave around mid-morning. Construction zone traffic boxed
me into a ramp I didn't want to take, adding a good chunk of drive time
to the trip as it took me a while to get turned around. I had to
pass on visiting the world's largest golf tee and world's largest wind
chime, much to my chagrin...maybe next time.
At any rate, I arrived at the venue shortly after the doors were opened...I
met up with Michael and Lauren, who had been at the Chicago show the night
before and traveled from there to Indy. (My trip was a drop in the
bucket compared to some people who traveled from the east coast.) Talked
with a few people at the merchandise table...Dasher Hatfield is still sporting
the battle scars from a previous encounter with Gary The Barnowl(aka Gary
Jay, aka Gerald James). Yikes. (EDIT: The scars were from the previous night's bout with Tommaso Ciampa, but he said the scars from the Gary match were worse.)
The gymnasium was HOT for most of the day...they finally cranked up the
air conditioner around intermission time. They had a pretty good
turnout as CHIKARA makes semi-regular stops in Indianapolis...for the record,
I'm not good at head-counting.
It would probably take a whole separate blog to explain CHIKARA. They
describe themselves as American lucha libre with a lot of masked characters
and intricate storylines that might fit better in a comic book than a wrestling
ring. They operate under lucha rules in tag matches, which means
that if a legal wrestler touches the floor, a member of that wrestler's
team can enter the ring and become legal. I would advise curious
fans to seek out the many fansites dedicated to the promotion for more
in-depth analysis. For perspective: Out of the people on the
show, I had only seen three of them at a live event prior to this: Heidi
Lovelace(at St. Louis Anarchy a year or two ago) and Fire & Silver
Ant(at High Risk Wrestling in December). CHIKARA embraces the wackier
aspects of the pro wrestling thing...it's definitely not for everyone,
but I had always enjoyed what I had seen of the promotion. Mark this
off ye olde wrestling bucket list.
Your ring announcer was Gavin Loudspeaker(who went shirtless for a good
portion of the show due to the heat). Your referees were Bryce Remsberg
and Percy Davis(IWA Mid-South wrestler).
CHIKARA is currently doing a series called "Challenge Of The Immortals".
Ten team captains drafted three wrestlers to their stables and the
teams compete for the best record. The top team at the end of the
series gets "golden opportunities" for its members(presumably
title shots). It sounds similar to the Pro Wrestling Championship
Series format, though the teams are more set in stone despite a few trades
being made. There are a few unusual partnerships in this context
as established tag teams have been split up in some instances.
Jervis Cottonbelly & Los Ice Creams(El Hijo Del Ice Cream & Ice
Cream Jr.)(Crown & Court) vs. Ultramantis Black & The Batiri(Obariyon
& Kodama)(Arcane Horde), Challenge Of The Immortals: The show
started with a battle of fan favorite trios...yes, the evil mastermind
UMB and the "toilet demons" of the Batiri are good guys. Jervis
is an old-timey British gentleman in a bowler hat with a handlebar mustache
and monocle on his mask. Los Ice Creams have cones on their head
and chin(respectively) and tend to be punching bags on most occasions.
Ultramantis was once associated with Delirious, but UMB forced him
out of the promotion not too long ago...despite that, Delirious had the
last laugh by turning UMB's minions Hallowicked and Frightmare against
him with the "Eye Of Tyr". The Batiri used to be a trio,
but Kobald was "killed off" by masked monster Deucalion's chokebreaker.
The Crown & Court team is captained by Princess Kimber Lee and
Jervis seems to be smitted with her...I believe they're in line for a shot
at the Campeonates De Parejas(CHIKARA's Tag Team Titles) in the near future.
(The women compete on equal terms with the men in CHIKARA, something
that has included such notable names as Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze in
the past.)
At any rate...wrestling match, yay~! The fans who go to CHIKARA shows
are generally clued in to the characters and storylines, so they were into
the action at most points on this show. Unfortunately, this match
was slightly derailed by an apparent knee injury to Ultramantis; Los Ice
Creams messed up some kind of double-team and he was down on the floor
for a long time afterwards. The finish came out of nowhere and I
ass/u/me they had to improvise something...I had to check Michael's Twitter(@MichaelLangan2,
cheap plug~!) and he wasn't sure if he got the finish right himself. I'll
put it down as "Kodama pinned El Hijo Del Ice Cream after a flying
forearm" in 10:33 and leave it at that. (EDIT 8/18: Finish was a running Buff Blockbuster.)
Heidi Lovelace(w/ "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti) vs. Argus(w/
Ophidian) for the Young Lions' Cup: This intergender face/face matchup
was for CHIKARA's version of a Young Lions' Championship(represented by
a physical trophy). It's defended like a title but is vacated every
year and put into a big tournament; Heidi defeated Missile Assault Ant
to win the most recent tourney. The partnerships here are related
to COTI(Heidi's a member of Dasher's Dugout and Argus is with Ophidian's
Snake Pit). Argus is a masked newcomer with a gecko motif. Heidi's
been moving up in the wrestling world lately, fighting both women and men
and holding All-American Wrestling's Heritage Title for a short time. No
interference from the cornermen in this one; it was a solid competitive
bout; Heidi won in 5:55 with a low-flying rana while Argus was on his knees.
Mutual respect afterwards and all that jazz.
Silver Ant, Frightmare, & Blind Rage(Nightmare Warriors) vs. Campeon
De Parejas Max Smashmaster, Flex Rumblecrunch, & Jaka(Wrecking Crew),
Challenge Of The Immortals: After two matches with nothing but fan
favorites, we had Silver Ant as the lone technico in a trios match full
of rudos. Frightmare & Blind Rage are traditionally aligned with
Hallowicked(current Grand Champion) while Silver Ant(formerly Green Ant)
is a part of The Colony with Fire Ant and Worker Ant II(formerly assailANT).
Max is one-half of the Campeones De Parejas with Blaster McMassive(who
was in the house but didn't wrestle). In CHIKARA, you earn a title
shot by winning three matches(singles or tags) in a row, accumulating points
along the way. I'm a big fan of making wins and losses matter in
that regard. The Wrecking Crew stable is comprised of the three members
of the Devastation Corporation(Blaster, Max, & Flex), Jaka, and Oleg
The Usurper. However, manager Sidney Bakabella(absent for this show)
traded Oleg away to the Arcane Horde, leaving Oleg as the proverbial black
sheep of the family(more on that later). Got all that?
Anywho...wrestling match, yay~! The Wrecking Crew trio was the more
cohesive unit and Silver Ant took the brunt of the punishment(again, lone
good-guy on his side). The Nightmare Warrior trio turned the tide,
but Blaster ran in and hit Silver Ant with a Blackhole Slam(referee's attention
was elsewhere, as you might guess). Jaka capitalized with a splash
off the top for the win in 11:37.
Missile Assault Ant vs. "Juke Joint" Lucas Calhoun(w/ Kevin Condron
& The Lithuanian Snow Troll): Okay, there's a lot to cover here
as it relates to a non-match. We started with The Colony, but then
there were evil ants called The Swarm(all gone except for the face-turned
Worker Ant II). THEN there was The Colony Xtreme Force which was
created as a blatant knockoff of the originals. Orbit Adventure Ant
and Arctic Rescue Ant seem to have dropped off the map, leaving M.A.A.
on his own and only capable of saying his own name(see also his Twitter
account). Missile Assault got over with the fans by virtue of being
pretty good in the ring(sadly, I wouldn't get to see that here). On
the other side, we have a crew who ditched their old mask gimmicks(except
for Snow Troll who seems to be a slave of some kind): Condron was
Kid Cyclone, but Deucalion done kilt his old partners. Calhoun was
Volgar and is now in some sort of "fat Elvis" gimmick. Condron
reminded M.A.A. of his past rudo tendencies and encouraged him to join
his group...of course, the response he got was little more than "MISSILE!
ASSAULT! ANT!" Something had to give and M.A.A.
finally gave his real response in the form of a European uppercut that
sent Condron staggering back into the ropes. At that point, everyone
just left and there was no match...all righty then.
Eddie Kingston(Snake Pit) vs. Drew Gulak(Gentleman's Club): The Club
is captained by Chuck Taylor and includes Orange Cassidy and Swamp Monster...yes,
"Swamp Monster". This was a rare straight-up wrestling
match with zero masks...go figure. Kingston is a veteran of independent
wrestling who openly acknowledges that his physique, style, and verbage
probably wouldn't fit well in a bigger company. Meanwhile, Gulak
is one of the young up-and-coming guys on the indie circuit, having competed
regularly for groups like EVOLVE and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. No
one was really a fan favorite or rulebreaker in this one...at least not
that I could tell. Lots of FIGHTING SPIRIT~! in this one...they traded
major strikes until Kingston landed his second spinning backfist of the
match. (It's called the "Backfist To The Future" and has
even caused involuntary time travel in CHIKARA-land...yeah, long story.)
Eddie followed that up with a Saito Suplex/backdrop driver for the
win in 13:13. Nicely done.
Intermission~! The vending machines weren't too accepting of things
such as dollar bills, so I settled for the resident water fountain. Talked
to Gavin Loudspeaker for a bit...he's not a regular with the promotion
any more, but he travels with some of the guys so he worked this weekend's
double shot.
Gavin and Bryce did a drawing for the MAGIC MOVE~! of the night. The
premise is that if someone does the chosen move in a match, the fans all
win prizes...goodie. Bryce drew...the bionic elbow. Oddly enough,
that was the Magic Move in Chicago as well and Gavin called Bryce on this.
He then discovered that EVERY slip of paper in the drawing had "Bionic
Elbow" on it...bwahahaha. Gavin finally allowed it, leading
into our next bout. (R.I.P. Dusty Rhodes.)
The Throwbacks(Dasher Hatfield & "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti)
& Icarus(Dasher's Dugout) vs. Amasis, Worker Ant II, & "Smooth
Sailin'" Ashley Remington(Battle Hive), Challenge Of The Immortals:
This was another all-technico matchup. Dasher and Touchdown
have been on-again-off-again tag partners with Touchdown playing the bully/jock
character until their reconciliation. (NERDS~!) Icarus went
from being one of the most hated guys in CHIKARA history to one of the
most popular, fighting his way to the top to unseat Eddie Kingston as Grand
Champion. He recently lost the title to Hallowicked and seems to
be on a bit of a downturn as he was surprisingly not selected to be a captain
in COTI. Osirian Portal partners Amasis & Ophidian were divided
by virtue of being captains of separate teams in the competition, plus
Worker was separated from the rest of The Colony. Ashley Remington
is a wrestling sailor who gives opponents fruit baskets after defeating
them...tremendous. He also bears a striking resemblance to Dalton
Castle.
Anywho...wrestling match, yay~! A lot of SHENANIGANS~! ensued(with
some tomfoolery on the side) as Remington was way too enthusiastic about
witnessing ye olde Test O' Strength. It somehow ended up in a six-way
knucklelock with the referee caught in the middle(Ashley: "THIS
IS HAPPENING!"). Dasher and Amasis engaged in some pantomime
baseball, leading to Dasher accidentally hitting Amasis with a pitch and
a "bench-clearing brawl" nearly ensuing. As a peace offering,
they had an impromptu dance-off...The Funky Pharaoh Amasis was the clear
favorite in that exchange, but Hatfield showed that he's got some good
old-timey moves. Remington did his best to get Touchdown to join in the fun with limited success. At one point, five men were in a chain of headlocks
and Remington came in to hit a bulldog on the lead guy, causing all five
guys to get dropped to the mat. The bionic elbow was teased repeatedly,
but eventually all six men started throwing jabs at each other in preparation
for the old "flip flop 'n' fly"...finally, everyone hit bionic
elbows on their respective opponents at the same time, leaving all six
down on the mat. Bwahahaha. Alas, things got slightly more
serious as the match progressed...finishers were exchanged, ending with
Touchdown muscling the powerhouse Worker Ant up into a delayed superplex
for the victory in 18:11. Handshakes all around afterwards...woo.
The Magic Move prize of the night: Brand-new CHIKARA pens~!
Ophidian & Shynron(Snake Pit) vs. Jakob Hammermeier & Soldier Ant(Das
Bruderschaft Des Kreuzes): Shynron does flippies. Jakob was
once an underling of the original BDK(led by some guy named Claudio Castagnoli)
but is now attempting to remake the stable to his own liking. His
minions include Pinkie Sanchez(who had worked as "Carpenter Ant"
for a while), Nokken(who was scheduled for the weekend of shows but didn't
appear), and the returning Soldier Ant. Soldier Ant had previously
retired due to injuries, but he returned under the control of the rudos(and
missing one antenna). The original lineup had a trios match with
the Snake Pit members against Jakob/Soldier/Nokken, but it was changed
to a tag match with Kingston facing Gulak instead. Jakob seemed to
have trouble controlling Soldier Ant, lecturing him at the start of the
bout. Ophidian took abuse, hot tag Shynron, WE GOT OURSELVES A FLYIN'
SPIRIT DRAGON, MAGGLE~! Bonzo gonzo, Shynron pinned Jakob after a
rope-handspring Diamond Cutter(a la Jay Lethal's Lethal Injection) in 11:36
as Ophidian cut off Soldier Ant.
Hallowicked(w/ Frightmare & Blind Rage) vs. Oleg The Usurper for the
Grand Championship: It actually took CHIKARA several years to establish
a singles title...Eddie Kingston was the first belt holder with Icarus
capturing the gold after the company's hiatus. Hallowicked recently
defeated Icarus for the title on an overseas tour. Oleg has become
popular as the outcast of the Wrecking Crew and the fans have been chanting
"Oleg Oleg Oleg Oleg" in the same style as the "Ole"
chants for El Generico. (Whatever happened to that guy, anyway?)
The stemmed superstar had his minions at ringside to run interference
while Oleg was on his own without the support of the Wrecking Crew or Bakabella.
(I guess he's not good enough friends with the rest of the Arcane
Horde?) This was a battle of the big boys...Wicked is a lot bigger
than I expected him to be. (He used to be tag team partners with
Delirious in a tandem known as "Incoherence"...yup.) Oleg
delivered his "Off With His Head" finisher(sort of a modified
Asiatic Spike) but Wicked rolled out of the ring to escape defeat. Oleg
got a really close near-fall after a top-rope chokeslam(!). Despite
all of that, Hallowicked unleashed the educated feet and retained his title
in 11:49 after a flying boot. Better luck next time, Usurper.
Gavin attempted to close out the show, but the fans started chanting "ONE
MORE MATCH". Fans did that at the previous night's Chicago show
and they were rewarded with an extra bonus bout, so why not two-for-two?
Gavin conferred with Bryce and teased that they would just be ending
the show...but then announced the next contest. WOO~!
Fire Ant & N_R_G(Race Jaxon & Hype Rockwell) vs. Juan Francisco
De Coronado, The Proletariat Boar Of Moldova, & Prakash Sabar: Coronado's
team is three-fourths of the United Nations team in COTI along with the
esteemed Mr. Azerbaijan. The Boar is a big dude with a tail on the
back of his attire...the fans come up with clever chants and shoutouts
like "Boar-ing". Sabar is described as an ex-Pakistani...so,
in other words, he's "Ex-Pak". He dresses primarily in
green and black, has a mask with a goatee and extended tongue, and does
a lot of moves reminiscient of our old buddy Sean Waltman(though he usually
misses the Bronco Buster). N_R_G are newcomers who dress in baggy
pants similar to those worn by the High Energy tag team in the early '90s(Owen
Hart & Koko B. Ware), even using the old High Energy theme music. Their
odd gimmick is that Rockwell is lethargic and often dozes off while waiting
in the corner...but give him an energy drink and he's the proverbial house
afire. Okay then. I think Fire Ant is in the Battle Hive stable
for COTI; don't think N_R_G are in that competition.
So...bonus wrestling match, yay~! Fun quick sprint to send the fans
home happy. The rudos tried to shush the crowd when Rockwell dozed
off, but he wasn't likely to wake up on his own anyway. The evil
foreigners controlled the bout until Race got the appropriate beverage
to pep up his partner...then Hype got the tag and cleaned house! Cue
trainwreck dive sequence(right in front of us!), then Fire Ant pinned Coronado
after a brainbuster in 7:26. Woo-hoo.
Afterwards, myself and the Langans conferred with other traveling fans(Alec, William, & Heather)
and decided to grab dinner at Culver's, home of the butterburger. Sounded
nutritious enough. Had a good combo meal plus a brownie-bite concrete.
Yup, diet starts tomorrow.
The sky got dark FAST once I got back onto the highway to go home...thankfully,
I only had to drive in the rain for a small portion of my return trip.
In my younger days, I would have liked to stop at a wide-open space
to just stargaze...but as it was, I got home around midnight and had to
get some shut-eye before work the next morning. Thus ended my interesting
little adventure for the weekend.
I think I'm officially out of excuses to skip shows that are a larger distance
away...heh. I do want to get to Metro Pro in Kansas City at some
point. Other groups I'd like to check out include 3XW in Iowa, AAW
in Berwyn(near Chicago), and maybe even SHIMMER(also in Berwyn).
The rest of June looks like this:
-Friday 6/19: Dynamo Pro Wrestling in Glen Carbon, IL
-Saturday 6/20: Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East
Carondelet, IL
-Friday 6/26: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO
-Sunday 6/28: High Risk Wrestling in Cahokia, IL
Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
P.S. We are all marks.
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