None the less, enough pre-review talk. Lets get into this 3 disc Chikara collection!
1) The Colony vs. The Osirian Portal - Revelation X
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, this set is my first time seeing alot of the Chikara exclusive talent and that was the case here. I had seen the Osirian Portal one time prior to this although it wasn't enough to make a lasting impression. However, they certainly made a good impression here because this was a really good tag match! From bell to bell these two teams displayed some awesome wrestling and also mixed a few comedy spots in. On top of that, they put together a dramatic closing sequence with several close near falls. I loved it! Awesome start to the set.
Match rating - ****
2) Equinox vs. Vin Gerard - Ladder Match for the Young Lions Cup Championship - Revelation X
This is an interesting match up. It's the first ever Ladder match in Chikara history and it's got quite a bit of backstory. The commentators did a good job of filling me in on what took place. Apparently, Vin Gerard was the original Equinox and Jimmy Olsen now dawns the mask he once wore which in turn, set Gerard off. Sounds like an interesting storyline, definitely something I'm gonna look into. Just like the first match, I had minor experience seeing these talents compete as I saw Vin Gerard during his only weekend with PWG back in 2008 although I can't remember much from what he did so I came into this one with pretty much a clean slate. This was a really unique Ladder match as it wasn't just a bunch of daredevil stuff, it actually told a nice story. Vin worked over the leg of Equinox throughout the match in various aways including using the ladder on several occassions. Gerard played a great heel here as working the leg got him alot of heat, but not as much heat as he would get when he unmasked Equinox. The cockiness ended up costing him though as he clearly had the match won after DDTing Equinox on the steps (vicious spot) however he allowed the fact that Equinox was still moving to get under his skin so he came down from the ladder and recieved a death valley driver off the ring apron through a ladder for his troubles. Very nice change of pace for a Ladder Match here. Instead of throwing everything out there, they told a story and built towards one big highspots. I dig it. Great match.
Match rating - ***3/4
3) Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Cheech & Cloudy - Motive, Means, Opportunity
One of the main draws to me buying this set was the team of Quack & Jigsaw. I saw a match they had with Danielson & Claudio, which is included later on this DVD, and was blown away. The fluidity of both men's offense is what really impressed me. In fact, that's what impressed me about alot of Chikara talent. This match was exactly what I expected to be - flawless quality wrestling all around. Not much else can be said, if you've seen a Quack match, you'll know what I'm talking about. Great match.
Match rating - ***3/4
4) Team PWG (El Generico & The Young Bucks) vs. The Osirian Portal - King of Trios Night One
P DUB G! P DUB G! Sorry, just had to get that out of the way. PWG was my first love when it comes to Independent Wrestling so seeing them represent in this match here from the 2009 King of Trios is awesome. This was a really fun match with alot of highflying exchanges. It was the first meeting between these two squads so there were a few moments of miscommunication however this was still a very enjoyable match with enough action to keep you satisfied.
Match rating - ***1/2
5) (Masters of 1,000 Holds) Mike Quackenbush, Johnny Saint, & Jorge Rivera vs. Team Uppercut (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Dave Taylor) - King of Trios Night Two
Six of the best wrestlers in the same ring putting on a pure wrestling/technical showcase. That's what this match was. It wasn't a wild six man tag, it wasn't one of the heel heat which leads to an insane ending tag match, it was unlike any other six man tag I've ever seen. It was essentially just these six guys putting on an exhibition and it was alot of fun to watch. Pure wrestling clinic!
Match rating - ****1/4
6) Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico vs. Jigsaw vs. Nick Jackson - King of Trios Night 2
If you have never heard anything about this particular match then I'm surprised. It still gets alot of buzz, even to this day, almost 6 years later. It's just so mindblowing man. I've watched this bout several times and it never gets old. This was one of the bouts I discovered for free on YouTube and it was so awesome that I felt compelled to own it on DVD. Ibushi completely blew away the audience in attendance as he & Generico delivered one of THE best five minute or so exchanges that I've ever seen. Four of the elite high flyers in the world today doing what they do best here and it was amazing to watch!
Match rating - ****1/4
7) F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Gran Akuma) vs. The Future Is Now - Semi Final Round Match - King of Trios Night 3
So far we've seen many different styles of tag team wrestling showcased. The technical exhibition of Team Uppercut & The Masters of 1,000 Holds, the fluidity of Quack & Jigsaw's team, and now we get one of the spotty kind and it's insane! Things started off with just some good wrestling exchanges however it soon turned into craziness. Dives, wild action, near falls - all that fun stuff. As a huge Chuckie T mark, seeing him deliver a low blow when the ref's back was turned to pick up the victory was hilarious. Team FIST rules!
Match rating - ***3/4
Disc 2:
7) Equinox vs. Colin Delaney - Behind the 8 Ball
Apparently these two are brothers in real life which adds a bit of intrigue to this match for me. The commentary was once again very informative and helped me get into the story that was being told. This match didn't last too long and I can't remember much from it aside from the fact that it was a solid encounter that saw Equinox take his own mask off to prove who he really was.
Match rating - **3/4
8) Chuck Taylor & Icarus vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) - Behind the 8 Ball
I've heard Chuckie T talk about he & Icarus' series of matches with The Colony in some shoot interviews and while this isn't the one he named as his favorite, I was still looking forward to it because the other is featured later in this set, so I was sure this would be a good pre-cursor. After watching it, I can say that I was correct. Taylor & Icarus were super over as heels here, there's literally only a handful of people I've seen on the Indies that have gotten as much heat as they did in this match. The boos carried on throughout the match, especially during the heel heat segment. They never seemed to end! It was really cool to see. As said before, there was a fairly long heel heat segment here with Chuck & Icarus really getting under the crowd's skin by working over The Colony. This led to the big comeback which gave us a great exchange from both teams then Chuck's heel persona shown through as he used a low blow to pick up the victory when the ref's back was turned due to a distraction from Icarus. This was the same way they won their trios match on Disc 1, great booking here. Solid tag match that continued the story well and delivered some good action at the same time.
Match rating - ***1/4
9) Roughnecks (Brodie Lee (Luke Harper), Eddie Kingston, & Grizzly Redwood) vs. Incoherence (Delirious, Hallowicked, & Frightmare) - Bobliographon
This match was formatted similar to the previous Fist/Colony match up as we got a heel heat segment with the Roughnecks working over Incoherence. This set up for your classic babyface come back near the end of the match which delivered some insane action including Big Rig hitting a hurricanrana that made the crowd AND commentators pop hard. I had just seen him do it in a match against Michael Elgin against C4 so it didn't make me mark like it would have had it been my first time seeing it. None the less, there were some great exchanges in the closing sequence of this and I think I was able to pick up on a story they were telling as Frightmare picked up a sly victory over Brodie Lee with a hurricanrana. Fun match.
Match rating - ***
10) Delirious vs. Arik Cannon - Aniversario Yang
During my watching of the Indies, there are certain talents who didn't wow me like others, these are two of them. With that being said, I wasn't really looking forward to this, but it turned out to be a solid little match. It was a great addition to the set as we got to see Delirious' change in character as he was accompanied to the ring by Ultra Mantis Black. It was definitely a different Delirious than we saw in the previous six man tag as he even garned some boos by the time things were finished.
Match rating - **1/2
11) Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Helios, & Lince Dorado vs. Hallowicked, Frightmare, Cheech & Cloudy - Aniversario Yang
This was alot of fun. As soon as I saw all the names involved, I knew this would be great if given time and it certainly was. It's basically a spotfest however the wrestling here is so fluent and everything is done perfectly. I think this is one of those matches that you could say perfectly defines Chikara. Pretty incredible spotty multi man with a ton of amazing exchanges.
Match rating - ***3/4
12) FIST (Chuck Taylor & Icarus) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) - Aniversario Yang
Here we have the aformentioned match that I was drawn to buy this set based on Chuck Taylor's comments on it in a shoot interview. He not only said it was a match he was proud of, but he also said it featured alot of "late 90's WWF shit" and indeed it did and yes, it was great! Before I get too far into this thing though, let's talk about the stipulation and the level that this rivalry reached. It got so intense that this, the final match in the series, was a hair vs mask match or a Lucha De Apesta. The action was great all the way through and while it did have interference like Chuck said, it was logical as we saw Green Ant, the ant FIST took out, come down to the ring. Gran Akuma was there as well. Fantastic ending to this rivalry!
Match rating - ****
13) FIST (Gran Akuma & Icarus) vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw - Never Kneel At the Altar of Conformity
Icarus rolls into this match his new hair due thanks to the Lucha Da Apesta previously on this set. Quackenbush came into this as the fan favorite, but he also had a back injury that was nagging him and it soon became the target of FIST's offense. This was another match that was very well executed and delivered some great wrestling as well. Things were just heating up when it ended however it was a logical ending, as I said before, this match was executed extremely well. Good tag bout.
Match rating - ***1/2
14) Mascarita Dorada vs. Pierrothito - YLC VII Night 3
This was a different match up to say the least, then again, it wasn't. These two are mini/midget wrestlers and they delivered a bout just as good as some of the others on this set. It fit perfectly in the Chikara style as we saw alot of arm drags and lucha style exchanges. Fun stuff here.
Match rating - ***
15) Golden Dream Triangle Trios - Fire Ant, Hallowicked, & Arik Cannon vs. Chuck Taylor, Vin Gerard, & Stigma vs. Jigsaw, Helios, & Jimmy Olsen
There have been several spotty tags on this set and from what I can remember, this was another one of them. It wasn't as good as the 8 man tag or any of the FIST/Colony or Quack & Jig matches however it was still very entertaining. I also liked the concept of this because it's not something you see often. As you probably figured out from the title, it's a triple threat tag match consisting of three man teams. Nice match.
Match rating - ***1/4
Disc 3:
16) Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli - Hiding in Plain Sight
I had been looking forward to this match the entire set. I remember seeing this on YouTube and it was so good that it made me want to watch more Chikara as well as own this match on DVD. Both of those things have came to reality so here we are! This bout took place during Bryan's Final Countdown Tour before going to WWE and he was just as on point here as he was in his ROH & PWG farewell runs. On paper this is a dream match and it lived up to that billing. Some highlights including Claudio catching Jigsaw in mid-air on a dive and throwing him into the ring from the floor. I've said it before, but Claudio is an absolute BEAST! There were many vicious uppercuts and fluid exchanges here and I enjoyed this one just as much as I did the first time around. Quality wrestling from bell to bell courtesy of four of the best in the world.
Match rating - ****
17) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Player Uno - An Optimistic View of a Pessimistic World
As a Super Smash Bros mark, I was hyped to see Uno going against one of my favorites in the form of Claudio. This match didn't go long however they made great use of the time they had by packing it with action and several unique exchanges. Claudio spinning Uno around on his shoulders with no hands was a crazy sight! I'm not sure if this was an opening match, but it sure felt like one. That's not a bad thing in this case because it was alot of fun for what it was.
Match rating - **3/4
18) Tim Donst vs. Hydra - Throwing Life's Instructions Away
For this to be a "retirement" match, it sure didn't seem like it. Maybe I just haven't fully settled into the Chikara style of things or maybe it's because there wasn't much backstory provided for this match. It was just lacking the typical emotion of a Loser Leave (insert promotion) match. There were a few solid exchanges and some good heel work from Donst, but other than that this really wasn't hitting on much. Couldn't get into this for whatever reason. I think this was a match that would've came off better with some backstory instead of being presented on it's own like it was here.
Match rating - **3/4
19) Jigsaw vs. Gran Akuma - Throwing Life's Instructions Away
One thing this set has done very well is showcase the top storylines of the year. The first piece of this partictular story was put on display earlier during the Quack & Jig/FIST match up in which they noted tension between two of the Chikara school graduates, Jigsaw & Gran Akuma. Here we see them go at it to end their feud and while it wasn't the greatest match in the world, I enjoyed it & I liked how they presented it. After an early flurry from both men, Akuma targeted the leg, the same one targeted in the aforementioned tag match might I add, by delivering a dragon screw leg whip on the second rope. From that point on, it was his target and he worked it over in various ways. Jigsaw sold it very well throughout the match thus making it a successful story. The finish was awesome as Jigsaw hit a jigatonic off the top turnbuckle. The way this match was put together was simple, but effective. You can't go wrong with some limb work and a slow build that leads to an epic finish.
Match rating - ***1/4
20) Hallowicked & Frightmare vs. Ultramantis Black & Delirious - Three Fisted Tales
Once again we see more storylines that were showcased previously on this set coming to a close. I'm guessing it's because we're getting near the end of the year at this point. None the less, earlier we saw Delirious go from being a member of Incoherence in a six man tag to embracing his darkside by aligning with Ultramantis Black. Now, we see what his alliance with Ultramantis did to him as they had apparently been mowing through the tag divison at this time which leads them to this match with Delirious' former teammates. They did a good job of showcasing the betrayal felt by Hallowicked & Frightmare early on however once Delirious refused to listen, they went right to battle. Good match to continue telling the Incoherence/Delirious story.
Match rating - ***
21) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston - Three Fisted Tales
I'll be completely honest, I didn't expect much here. Whether it be because I've only seen a handful of Eddie Kingston matches or my doubts about how their styles would mesh, the bottom line is all my assumptions were wrong because this match was absolutely awesome. In fact, I'll go as far to say it was the best of this entire set. It reminded me of a japanese strong style match which in a way fulfilled a fantasy I've had for a long time of seeing Claudio/Cesaro in New Japan Pro Wrestling. These two delivered a match filled with stiff strikes of various forms including chops, elbows, and palm thrusts as well as back drop drivers and devastating suplexes that planted their opponent on the back of their head. Some highlights include Claudio hitting an waterslide on Kingston on the ring apron and also hitting a gutwrench suplex on him off the top turnbuckle. The story here was one of respect and that was showcased well however Kingston's resiliance and toughness shown through just as much. Epic match, best of the set, and way to close this DVD with a bang!
Match rating - ****1/2
Overall thoughts: My first venture into Chikara was an enjoyable one. Disc 1 was awesome as we saw some great trios action, the unforgettable four way, as well as several other remarkable tag bouts. Disc 2 was a mixed bag. The only real highlights were the FIST/Colony feud & matches and the big 8 man. I think I got slightly burnt out around that point because there were so many matches in one fell swoop that were very similar. Or it could have been because it was showcasing a few storylines I wasn't familiar with in some cases. Disc 3 started off in exciting fashion in the form of Bryan Danielson's farewell match and while it started to slow down in quality after that, it picked up drastically mid-way as we saw the final hooray of many of the feuds showcased earlier in the set along with a mindblowing match between Claudio Castagnoli & Eddie Kingston. The thing I liked most about this set was probably either the variety of styles showcased or how they displayed all the storylines. I did mention some lower quality matches being on here, but when I think back on it, I can't complain because while there a few lower quality matches here and there, everything served a purpose. If it wasn't quality action deserving of being on a "Best of" set, it was a match that gave you a taste of story that would be touched on & finished later in the set. If you're new to Chikara, I do think this would be a nice place to start because there are some really great matches on here and you are also shown some of their top storylines from this particular year and can see how they start and finish.
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter @EthanPWT and this blog @ThePWTruth!
No comments:
Post a Comment