Friday, November 7, 2014

Cibernetico Returns at the Chikara Finale

Graphics Credit: ChikaraPro.com
Via Twitter

I had a feeling the annual Chikara torneo cibernetico was coming, but I thought it would be on Friday night, December 5, on the eve of the 2014 finale Tomorrow Never Dies. However, the second match announced today for the event is the annual traditional 16-wrestler elimination match. The tradition dates back to 2004 and has been held every year except for 2013, when the company was on hiatus during the normal time of year when the match has recently happened. Prior winners include Tim Donst, Sara del Rey, Eddie Kingston, Pinkie Sanchez (as Carpenter Ant), Jimmy Olsen, Claudio Castagnoli, Icarus, Gran Akuma, and Jigsaw.

For those who don't know, a torneo cibernetico is a staple match in lucha libre. Two teams of eight wrestlers square off in a tag match. The wrestlers are ordered, so that when a competitor tags out or is eliminated, a set wrestler in the order comes in right after. The match ends when one person is left standing, so if an entire team is eliminated with more than one wrestler left on the other team, the remaining members face off against each other. The match usually runs between 45-90 minutes, but it is easy to follow and ends up packing a concentrated punch with all the different wrestlers involved.

None of the teams have had members announced so far, but if I had to chance a guess, one side will have Chikara wrestlers while the other will contain ranking officials of The Flood. Of course, the first match announced for the show is the Young Lions Cup final between Heidi Lovelace and Missile (!) Assault (!) Ant (!).