In the family-friendliest style known to man, TH Style!
Highlights:
General Observations:
Match of the Night: Jivin' Jimmy vs. Cameron Matthews vs. Kobold vs. Anthony Stone, Young Lions Cup Qualifying Eliminator - I have a lot of trouble getting worked up for random multi-man matches where I am intimately familiar with only one opponent, have had very little exposure to another one, and where the other guys are rasa tabulas to me. Maybe that's why this match caught me so off-guard in a good way. Matthews and Jimmy were both revelations, and I saw a lot more memorable stuff here from Stone than I had in previous matches where he worked for Beyond Wrestling. Combined with Kobold's familiar tactics, this match was a winning combination.
Let's start with Jivin' Jimmy, who was this ridiculous hoss of a man dressed in loud, clashing spandex. He was clearly the star of the match for me, bouncing around the ring and letting the smaller guys bounce off him. Not only did he work "big," but everyone else treated him like he was the Mons Olympus to their space pebbles, including Stone acting like he got shot just by having Jimmy toss him into the ring. Even though he was the first out of the match, he stole the show and left an indelible mark.
That isn't to say everyone else wasn't good. This match wouldn't be on here if it was a one man show, and trust me, all three others did their best to contribute to the crazy. I think multi-man matches like these are best when there's a reckless sense of anarchy in the air, where the traditional match tropes are kinda thrown into the trash and really, anything that you can throw to the wall sticks. I saw Stone use both Jimmy and Matthews as stepping stones to give Kobold a DDT. Matthews in turn used Jimmy as the first leap on a triple jump moonsault. There were NOOGIES even. All in all, even with the majesty of Sara del Rey challenging Eddie Kingston on the same card, this match stood out the most memorable one on the show.
Overall Thoughts: I know this wasn't Sara del Rey's final Chikara show, but it might as well have been her farewell to the company. It was treated as such when Eddie Kingston laid the title before her and bowed down to the Queen of Wrestling one final time. As the crowd burst into boisterous cheers of "Thank you Sara!" the Chikara roster could be seen standing in the back of the STRIVE Center. An evening heavy on laughs had to end with a display of sheer heart, didn't it?
It certainly wasn't the ending we were all hoping for, but these were circumstances beyond anyone's control excepting del Rey's. In the end, were you going to tell her that she was a traitor or a fool for taking WWE's offer? If you were, then I'm not sure we will ever see eye to eye. But that's one of the many places where Chikara excels. They take broken plans and form them into something that is still beautiful and satisfying. Whether our assumptions are right or not as for the end of the 12 Large Summit, there had to be some passing thought given to that being the final showdown between Claudio Castagnoli and Kingston, right? Well, High Noon came and went, and barely anyone that I've heard speak about that main event gave any pause over Mike Quackenbush being there instead of the man WWE claimed to turn into Antonio Cesaro.
Down the line, we all were wishing for del Rey to be Chikara's First Lady in more ways than a backhanded compliment. But this match and ending of the show was heartwarming even if it was a bit bittersweet. It was the perfect end to a show that featured the Heart Throbs and Young Bucks going to a literal drawing board or having a fat guy in loud spandex hold court for the first quarter of a thrilling elimination match. And even so, there were seeds planted for the Chikara faithful to grab another heroic underdog to clasp onto. Soldier Ant and Jakob Hammermeier both saw their own problems begin to manifest before their eyes, problems that have neither resolved yet, but have also turned into great rallying cries for them. Chikara is nothing if it's not dynamic, and that's why farewells never seem to sting as much as they would in some other venues.
Even when the one leaving is legitimate royalty.
Highlights:
- Green Ant used the Chikara Special: Green to tap out assailANT in the opening contest.
- Anthony Stone outlasted Jivin' Jimmy and Cameron Matthews to pin Kobold with a top rope Flatliner called the Stone's Throw to advance onto the Young Lion's Cup semifinals.
- Ophidian wriggled out of a Freakin' Sweet Driver and applied the Death Grip (cobra clutch) on Frightmare for the tap out victory.
- The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger felled Icarus in his debut match with the guillotine leg drop.
- Scott Parker pinned deviANT after he and Shane Matthews delivered the Sweet Taste of Professionalism (assisted wheelbarrow Codebreaker) for pinfall in 3.Akuma's win over the Swarm (f/ Soldier Ant).
- Tim Donst left Jakob Hammermeier out to dry, allowing Obariyon to hit him with the leaping DDT from the top, sealing the win for the Batiri.
- In a mild upset, Sugar Dunkerton rolled up the Shard with a school boy for the flash 1-2-3.
- In a match that saw the rudo team go to the drawing board twice, literally, Hallowicked nailed Antonio Thomas with the Go 2 Sleepy Hollow for the win in atomicos action ('Wicked, UltraMantis Black, Mike Quackenbush, and Jigsaw vs. the Young Bucks and the Heart Throbs).
- In the main event, Eddie Kingston successfully defended his Chikara Grand Championship against Sara del Rey with a Backfist to the Future and a Sliding D.
General Observations:
- The opening match between assailANT and Green Ant was really good, but the highlight of it was Gavin Loudspeaker doing his best Vince McMahon impersonation from the Commentation Station.
- I really dug how Green Ant and assailANT played up the lingering hate between the two factions with how they were scrapping with each other. It's even funnier now that they're buddy-buddy.
- I'm a Chikara Special apologist, but even I can admit that Chikara Special: Green looks a lot better.
- I seriously don't know where they dug Jivin' Jimmy out from, but I don't think I ever want to see him put back there. Dude should be booked all over.
- Kobold bit Jimmy's forehead, and he sold it as he should have, which is funny, because Kobold's teeth are felt on his mask.
- Anthony Stone leaped from the top rope, did hop and a skip and jump off both Cameron Matthew's and Jimmy's backs to do a tornado DDT to Kobold, which was one of the most visually awesome spots I've seen all year.
- Jimmy at one point offered his hand to Stone, only to pull back and poke him in the eyes before grabbing a headlock and applying NOOGIES! Oh man, Jivin' Jimmy is rising up the HOSS rankings by the second.
- And he's an aerial hoss too, because he tossed Stone to the outside on top of Matthews and Kobold and proceeded to pull off the WORLD'S BIGGEST PLANCHA.
- Matthews, not grasping how an elimination match should go, broke up a pinfall on a high angle back suplex by Kobold on Stone. Some may see it as a negative, but I thought it was great because hey, in a real fight, dumbasses do dumbass things, right? Adrenaline!
- I really feel like Ophidian's biggest failing right now is that his matches go a bit too long. I thought his match with Frightmare was decent, but if it had gotten cut down by 25%, it might have been good or great.
- Delirious came down during the match, folded up Ophidian's sash (which he had removed to choke Frightmare), picked it up, and smelled it. He legit smelled it. Haha, I love Delirious.
- Frightmare hit a rana on Ophidian towards the end of the match that had Ophidian standing straight on his head. Dunno who was to credit more for that, but it was a cool visual.
- Icarus taunted a small fan with an uncomfortable looking mother during his ring intro. Then he ran into a giant fan, who stood up and caused him to jet in the other direction. It reminded me of the big lummox from Happy Gilmore, only without the nail in his cranium.
- "We don't know you!" *clap clap clapclapclap* The STRIVE Center crowd in response to the Mysterious and Handsome Stranger.
- The Stranger midway through the match kicked Icarus in the gut, mounted his back, and then rode him around the ring like a horse. This verily was the greatest moment in the history of mankind, so I'm going to leave the next bullet blank so that you may reflect on it.
- Not only was Soldier Ant belligerent throughout the entire match against his Swarm teammates of deviANT and combatANT, but before the match, Shane Matthews had his doubts as to whether he and Scott Parker could trust Gran Akuma. It added a nice bit of storytelling to the match.
- I mention this probably every time I crib a 3.0 match, but man, if they don't have the best teamwork in wrestling today as a tag team, they're at least top 3.
- Jakob Hammermeier tried talking some sense into former allies the Batiri before the match and got SLAPPED for his troubles. With his partner Tim Donst still all emo 'n stuff, the outlook was kinda grim for Chikara's premiere Katherine Heigl fan.
- Hammermeier kept going for a tag early, and Donst kept avoiding him. Finally, he was able to hit Donst with a hot tag, to which Donst responded by going to the floor, keeping Hammermeier the legal man. Ouch.
- Donst got drawn into the match when the Batiri taunted him about his hair, which I thought was brilliant. If you can't appeal to a man's sense of friendship, you mock his ego.
- Poor Hammermeier, getting shoved by Donst right into Obariyon's flying DDT. For a guy who was EASILY the most hateable personality in the BDK, Chikara has done a magnificent job of making him their most sympathetic character.
- Sugar Dunkerton complimented The Shard on the nice shade of pink in his ring gear, so of course, the only reaction was for Shard to attack right at the bell, right? What a jerk.
- The crowd took turns cheering for Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, UltraMantis Black, and Hallowicked before the match. That led the Heart Throbs to try and start a chant for themselves, which we all know is a major party foul. MAJOR. PARTY. FOUL.
- Not once, but twice the rudos went back to the white board to draw up some strategy after getting outhustled by the Envoy, Quack, and Jig. Neither time drew really effective results.
- There was one point in the match where the Heart Throbs would isolate one of the members of the other team and then toss them to the Young Bucks, who were facing the crowd on the apron, so they could wrench the arm down across the top rope. This predictably went awry when Wicked tossed the Throbs right into the grasp of the Bucks.
- Antonio Thomas (of the Heart Throbs) tried using a stuffed animal as an international object. That is so Chikara it's not even funny.
- Eddie Kingston and Sara del Rey both brought their grade-A trash talking games to this match. The best line might have been after Kingston spat (SPAT!) on del Rey, causing her to furiously and stiffly kick him while shouting "YOU THINK IT'S CUTE TO SPIT ON ME?"
- del Rey spent a good portion of middle-beginning of the match kicking Kingston's butt from pillar to post, so how did the Grand Champ respond? Eye poke! It was such a dirty trick that almost acted as comic relief in a match that had to be serious given the circumstances.
- Kingston went to send del Rey into the post on the outside, but she blocked it by yakuza kicking the post. Then she grabbed Kingston's arm and rammed it into the post, beginning the part of the match where she set to weaken Kingston's Backfist to the Future.
- Case in point, towards the end of the match, Kingston went to hit del Rey with two Backfists and only drew a two, which was a brilliant callback to the arm work del Rey did. People who work limbs in a match ad nauseam should watch this match and learn how to make it count.
Match of the Night: Jivin' Jimmy vs. Cameron Matthews vs. Kobold vs. Anthony Stone, Young Lions Cup Qualifying Eliminator - I have a lot of trouble getting worked up for random multi-man matches where I am intimately familiar with only one opponent, have had very little exposure to another one, and where the other guys are rasa tabulas to me. Maybe that's why this match caught me so off-guard in a good way. Matthews and Jimmy were both revelations, and I saw a lot more memorable stuff here from Stone than I had in previous matches where he worked for Beyond Wrestling. Combined with Kobold's familiar tactics, this match was a winning combination.
Let's start with Jivin' Jimmy, who was this ridiculous hoss of a man dressed in loud, clashing spandex. He was clearly the star of the match for me, bouncing around the ring and letting the smaller guys bounce off him. Not only did he work "big," but everyone else treated him like he was the Mons Olympus to their space pebbles, including Stone acting like he got shot just by having Jimmy toss him into the ring. Even though he was the first out of the match, he stole the show and left an indelible mark.
That isn't to say everyone else wasn't good. This match wouldn't be on here if it was a one man show, and trust me, all three others did their best to contribute to the crazy. I think multi-man matches like these are best when there's a reckless sense of anarchy in the air, where the traditional match tropes are kinda thrown into the trash and really, anything that you can throw to the wall sticks. I saw Stone use both Jimmy and Matthews as stepping stones to give Kobold a DDT. Matthews in turn used Jimmy as the first leap on a triple jump moonsault. There were NOOGIES even. All in all, even with the majesty of Sara del Rey challenging Eddie Kingston on the same card, this match stood out the most memorable one on the show.
Overall Thoughts: I know this wasn't Sara del Rey's final Chikara show, but it might as well have been her farewell to the company. It was treated as such when Eddie Kingston laid the title before her and bowed down to the Queen of Wrestling one final time. As the crowd burst into boisterous cheers of "Thank you Sara!" the Chikara roster could be seen standing in the back of the STRIVE Center. An evening heavy on laughs had to end with a display of sheer heart, didn't it?
It certainly wasn't the ending we were all hoping for, but these were circumstances beyond anyone's control excepting del Rey's. In the end, were you going to tell her that she was a traitor or a fool for taking WWE's offer? If you were, then I'm not sure we will ever see eye to eye. But that's one of the many places where Chikara excels. They take broken plans and form them into something that is still beautiful and satisfying. Whether our assumptions are right or not as for the end of the 12 Large Summit, there had to be some passing thought given to that being the final showdown between Claudio Castagnoli and Kingston, right? Well, High Noon came and went, and barely anyone that I've heard speak about that main event gave any pause over Mike Quackenbush being there instead of the man WWE claimed to turn into Antonio Cesaro.
Down the line, we all were wishing for del Rey to be Chikara's First Lady in more ways than a backhanded compliment. But this match and ending of the show was heartwarming even if it was a bit bittersweet. It was the perfect end to a show that featured the Heart Throbs and Young Bucks going to a literal drawing board or having a fat guy in loud spandex hold court for the first quarter of a thrilling elimination match. And even so, there were seeds planted for the Chikara faithful to grab another heroic underdog to clasp onto. Soldier Ant and Jakob Hammermeier both saw their own problems begin to manifest before their eyes, problems that have neither resolved yet, but have also turned into great rallying cries for them. Chikara is nothing if it's not dynamic, and that's why farewells never seem to sting as much as they would in some other venues.
Even when the one leaving is legitimate royalty.
