Reviews from Across the Pond – The Best of Chikara

This is a 2007 Big Vision Entertainment release aiming to sell Chikara to your average pro wrestling fan. It consists of nine matches spanning from 2005-2006. I’ve seen a little Chikara in the past and heartily enjoyed it, but I’ve never got around to picking up a full show (that also serves as a disclaimer- I’m not super knowledgeable about the promotion, so I’ll probably make some moronic comment or ask a stupid question.) One of the things that I think makes independent wrestling daunting to potential viewers is there is such a massive back catalogue of available shows, and if you ask about which one is the best you’ll get a million different answers. I’m hopeful this can solve the problem. The DVD features some recognisable names (The Kings of Wrestling, Mike Quackenbush, Larry Sweeney) as well as wrestlers I’m not so familiar with (Shane Storm, Icarus, the North Star Express) so I’m looking forward to submerging myself in the Chikara pool.

MATCH 1- SHANE STORM, JIGSAW & MIKE QUACKENBUSH VS GRAN AKUMA, ICARUS & CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI

This is from the 3rd night of the June 2006 Young Lions Cup, and takes place in the legendary New Alhambra Arena.

Akuma and Storm start us off by trading kicks, until Shane (who has quite the wacky mask) huracanranas his opponent out to the floor. Double C and Jigsaw come in, with the Swiss Superstars shoving the masked man across the ring. They then proceed into an incredible flashy mat sequence. The “technico” gets the better of it, so Gran Akuma tries to help out. That’s to no avail, so Icarus also gets involved. That just leads to Jigsaw taking both of them down. Shane Storm dives onto Castagnoli on the floor with a tope con hilo, while in the ring Jigsaw and Quack get simultaneous monkey flips! The match is about three minutes old and I already have to pause the action to catch up.

Anyway, the action returns to the ring, where Storm takes Icarus off his feet with a spinning wheel kick. Next up, Quackenbush and Castagnoli square off, with the lightning paced… lightning taking Claudio off his feet with various headscissors’ and arm drags. Flipping senton from the top rope to the floor! Incredibly graceful. Jigsaw and Akuma pair off, and once again the masked man conquers numerous men. Eventually he gets caught when he tries to take out all three men with a crossbody, but he armdags his way out of it, taking CC down. Akuma and Icarus recover the situation with a pair of sentons. Icarus tries to take the mask off. Castagnoli comes in and slows the pace right down. Akuma adds a couple of kicks and locks in Cattle Mutilation for a little while.

Jigsaw teases a comeback as Icarus tries to take control, but Claudio slows him down with a knee to the back from the apron, and the man of Greek Mythology drives him down with a Spike DDT. The rudos combine for a triple wheelbarrow facebuster. Shane Storm comes in but gets isolated and beaten down as well. Akuma dropkicks the knee. More snazzy triple teaming ensues. Quackenbush tries to make the save, but Castagnoli just pounces on him and stomps him into the ground. Icarus drops him with a fall-away slam. As an aside, this match has two heel commentators, and it works shockingly well. They manage to be interesting and insightful as well as devilish, which few have pulled off. In the ring, Castagnoli lands a flying European Uppercut to the Chikara founder, and Akuma comes in to stretch him. Eventually Shane Storm comes in to assist, and everyone just starts flying everywhere as the fan favourites briefly retake control. An inverted DDT from Icarus to Jigsaw puts paid to that. Mike breaks up the cover and lands a fisherman’s buster. Claudio breaks the resulting pin and hits the Alpamare Waterslide for two. Shane gets the air-raid crash for two.

Akuma and Storm does a quick sequence that ends with the rudo hitting a flying DDT for another two. Perfectly executed 450, but Mike and Jigsaw stop the cover. They set Gran on top, and Jigsaw brings him down with a slick huracanrana. Shining Wizard from Akuma and everyone covers, but Castagnoli and Icarus have just enough about them to make the save. Quack gets dropped with a powerbomb-lungblower-uppercut thing… for two. Icarus tries for a Shiranui, but Mike drops him back into a German Suplex by Storm for two. Akuma hits… something, Jigsaw gets something on him, Claudio elevates him into an uppercut. Quack comes in and drives his opponent down with La Mistica, but the European kicks out. Shane tries for a powerbomb, but Gran Akuma helps out by trying to remove the mask of Double S. Quack makes the save and those four spill to the floor. In the ring, Jigsaw and Icarus try for signature manoeuvres, until the frustrated rule-breaker rips off the mask, which apparently causes a DQ in Chikara!

Rating- *** ¾- It needed a little more intensity and an actual finish, but my god was that a breath-taking battle at times. Just tons of incredible moves that I couldn’t even begin to describe, and a blistering pace throughout. However, while this isn’t a knock on the actual match. It would have helped if Big Vision had given us some context to the match (it was mentioned by the commentators for example that Quack had injured his back, but I’ve got no clue how or when) and let us know that in Chikara, removing the mask of an opponent is an instant DQ. I had to look it up, but I wonder if others would do the same, or just sit there confused.

MATCH 2- CHRIS HERO VS SHANE STORM

This is taken from the July 2006 show entitled “the Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance,” taking place in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

Mat wrestling sequence starts us off, trading armdrags before Storm misses a dropkick. Shane comes back with a flying armdrag to take Chris out to the floor, but he misses a tope con hilo through the middle ropes, allowing Hero to just boot him right in the face. Front suplex on the apron! Chris then re-enters the ring in style with a slingshot… stomp. The crowd is just full of unfunny smart-asses for this one. They seem more concerned with making jokes and doing silly voices rather than watching the match. As a contrast, the rule-breaker announcers of Ultramantis Black and Larry Sweeney are constantly amusing. In ring, the masked man gets a huracanrana into the corner but runs into a snap powerslam. Hero follows up with a standing senton for two.

The action heads back to the floor, where Chris dominates with a nice flying double stomp. The match kind of meanders for a little while. Hero challenges Storm to roll him up for the three count, and he almost obliges, getting a two count out of a schoolboy. Chris tries to quickly retakes control with another senton, but this time it meets knees. Flying forearm! Spinning heel kick, and the King of Wrestling is sent to the floor. Storm takes him down with a funky flying armdrag from the ring to the outside. He follows it up with a huracanrana to the floor! Back in, and SS gets a spike DDT for two. He tries for the Air-Raid Crash, but Hero slips out the back door and gets a Saito Suplex. Hangman’s Clutch Facebuster gets a very close near fall. Shane comes back and tries for the Shining Wizard, Hero ducks but Storm rolls over into a sunset flip for two. German suplex for two. Shane charges right into a knockout forearm though, and that’s enough for the three count.

Rating- ** ½- This got off to a pretty good start, but during the middle portion the match started to lose it’s focus, as the usually excellent Chris seemed content to just stroll around the ring, occasionally punching or kicking Shane Storm. The finishing stretch was exciting, but it would have been served better with a more interesting section preceding it. Not at all bad though.

MATCH 3- THE KINGS OF WRESTLING VS MILANO COLLECTION AT & SKAYDE

Winner becomes the first ever Campeones de Parejas, in the finals of the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix. This takes place in Philadelphia, ECW Arena, February 2006. Skayde is the only masked man in the match, so that’s who I’m referring to if I say “the masked man!”

Mat wrestling kicks us off. Hero frustrates Milano with his speed and ingenuity, which leads to Chris colliding with his own partner. He then gets dropkicked to the floor, leading to an impromptu Kings conference on the floor. Skayde and Claudio decide to battle it out. The masked technico hits a headbutt to the fingers of all places. Mostly though, these opening stages have just been some fluid chain wrestling. After being beaten in one exchange, Castagnoli decides to offer a handshake. As he ponders, CC goes on the attack, and it’s the Kings that take the early advantage, utilising quick tags. So far I’ve loved Chikara’s flashy style, but watching Chris elevate Claudio with his feet into a shoulder barge on Skayde was a little bit too choreographed.

Eventually Skayde is able to block a double big boot and dodge the attempts of the Kings to recover the situation. Tag to Milano, who tries for an enzuiguri on Claudio. He ducks, but the momentum sends AT’s boot into the face of Hero! Flying clothesline to the Swiss! High crossbody off the top to Chris! I’m a poet and I didn’t know it! Milano tries for a senton on Castagnoli but it’s dodged, and CC nails a reverse suplex for two, and Chris tags in for the Hero’s Welcome and a two count. Rolling Elbow is Matrix Dodged, and AT nails a Superkick. Twisting senton! AT Lock! Castagnoli stomps on him, but Milano refuses to let go of the hold. Skayde sends CC to the floor and follows out with a tope con hilo, but in the ring, Chris gets to the ropes. Castagnoli recovers and hits a European Uppercut, but Skayde is back in to cause trouble as the match totally breaks down. Hero ends up accidentally nailing his own partner, Skayde locks CC in the Figure 7, and Milano gets an Octopus Stretch. Both Kings make it to the ropes. In the end, CC is able to take out both men with a funky spinning sit-out powerbomb-backbreaker combo. Double Ricola Bomb to Skayde, and we’ve got new Campeones!

Rating- ***- Maybe it’s because I saw this completely out of context, without knowing the backstories or seeing how both teams made it to the final, but I couldn’t connect with this. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good match because it was, and I wouldn’t have given it three stars if I hadn’t thought so. But that rating for a massive tournament final to crown the only set of champions in Chikara? The long technical sequences early in the match were bags of fun and laid excellent foundations, but it felt to me like they abruptly switched from that into the close near falls, with no middle section or heat segment to bridge the gap. At times it felt like they were trying too hard to be innovative as well, instead of just going out there and having a great match. I can’t give it lower than three stars, because everything was crisply executed and there were some genuinely great moments and manoeuvres in there, but nevertheless you can color me disappointed.

MATCH 4- ALLISON DANGER, RANMARU & RAIN VS DAIZEE HAZE, MICKIE KNUCKLES AND SUMIE SAKAI

This is from the same event as the previous match.

Knuckles and Danger start things off with a handshake and technical wrestling. Things quickly degenerate into a hard-hitting exchange of forearms and headbutts though. Daizee Haze tags in and ignores Allison in favour of going after Rain, who was apparently an unsuccessful tag partner from the previous night. Rain gets a flying crossbody, but again it turns into trading of strikes. In come Ranmaru and Sumie Sakai, who do a funky little lucha sequence, trading victory rolls rather than shots. Mickie Knuckles enters the ring, but the much smaller Ranmaru is still able to hold her own… until she gets caught off a high-crossbody and dumped with a spinning side-walk slam. In comes Danger, in comes Sakai. Corino’s sister gets a facebreaker but Mickie just slams into her with a Spear to cut off any momentum. Northern Lights Suplex forces Rain to come in and make the save, so Haze just boots her down. Danger and co are all sent to the floor, allowing Mickie to cascade onto them with a Suicide Dive! Haze leaps onto everyone with a high crossbody! Sumie tries to follow up, but Allison, back in the ring, cuts her off with an STO and gets a Northern Lights of her own. As everyone else brawls on the floor, the women in the ring trade roll-ups, and Allison is able to hold her opponent down for the three count!

Rating- ** ¼- Too short! That was colossally enjoyable while it lasted. It had a great pace and was actually the most intense battle on the DVD so far. Give them 10 or 15 more minutes to have told a story and it could have been just wonderful.

MATCH 5- JIGSAW VS HALLOWICKED

This is taken from one of the International Invaders shows. Look up the full titles for yourself to see some of Chikara’s trademark brand of humor. From September 2005. It’s fair to say they’re organising these in a confusing order. I understand these two aren’t exactly best friends.

Long, intense lock-up to start, neither man gaining a decisive advantage. This leads into a mat sequence. They eventually reach a stalemate, both going for the same moves, which frustrates both of them. Hallowicked receives some words of wisdom from manager Ultramantis Black. Jigsaw makes things a little more fiery with a slap to the face and takes control with some lucha offense, sending Hallowicked to the floor. He tries to dive onto him off the apron, but his leg is swept away, and Ultramantis’ charge follows up with a tope from the ring to the floor. Black then gets in some stick-choking action.

Back in, Wicked controls with basic offense, wearing his opponent down with holds and strikes. Jigsaw roars back with a clothesline but gets caught with a missile kick to the head. Hallowicked puts him on top and brings him back down with an Iconoclasm. He heads up top himself but gets caught with an enzuiguri, and then a huracanrana down to the mat. They both stay down for a little while, and once they’re back up it’s an exchange of chops and forearms. Jigsaw nails a high knee to the face for two. Wicked tries for a Fisherman’s Buster, Jigsaw slips out the back door but gets smacked into with a big boot. Powerbomb follows for a two count. The action heads onto the apron, where HW is kicked in the head, sending him down to lie across the apron and a stage which houses one section of the crowd. Saw ascends to the top turnbuckle, and flies down with a double stomp. A second one in the ring gets two, but Hallowicked has his feet on the ropes. Ultramantis Black causes a distraction and gets sent to the floor for his troubles. This allows Wicked to come back with a Reverse-Rana though, and it secures the three count!

Rating- ** ¼- Much like the previous match, this was intense and intriguing but needed a little more time. Enjoyable.

MATCH 6- THE COLONY, ANGEL DE FUEGO & EQUINOX VS LOS ICE CREAMS, CROSSBONES AND RORSCHACH

Plenty of… unique characters in this match. The Colony are ants. Los Ice Creams are ice creams. This, like the first match, takes place at the 2006 Young Lions Cup in the ECW Arena. I’m fairly certain Crossbones is the biggest guy I’ll see on this DVD.

Soldier Ant successfully blocks a variety of strikes with salutes, and then drops him with a jawbreaker. Flying headscissors sends the big man to the floor. Tag to Fire Ant, tag to Rorschach, and things get more lucha, with the fiery one getting a missile dropkick. In comes Angel del Fuego and… one of Los Ice Creams. They both look exactly the same, aside from different mask colours. We’ll go with Ultramantis Black’s guess of Ice Cream Jr. Fuego gets a huracanrana and flies out to the floor with a Corkscrew Press! This allows El Hijo del Ice Cream and Equinox. Ice Cream takes a huracanrana and a back body drop, but Equinox is no match for a posterior tweak. This is followed up by a butterfly suplex for two. Tag to Ice Cream Jr. for a slam and a leg drop. Two count only. Rorschach follows up with a double axe handle and a slingshot elbow. Again, just two. Next up, Crossbones. Fire Ant comes in for the Technicos but is quickly overpowered. Side backbreaker by Rorschach, and Crossbones follows up with a series of kicks. The Ice Creams come in for an Ice Cream Sandwich (essentially just sandwiching the opponent with body splashes.) Rorschach clotheslines Fire Ant to the floor, and thwarts Angel Del Fuego’s attempt at a save.

El Hijo del Fuego gets a scoop slam (get it?) and tags in Ice Cream Jr. for a double backdrop. Fuego comes back with a dual flying crossbody and huracanranas Ice Cream Jr. El Hijo breaks it up for a dropkick. In comes Worker Ant, who promptly gets floored and dropped with a senton. I should note the commentators have changed their minds as to who the individual Ice Creams are, but I’ll stick with the original guesses. Crossbones and Rorschach decimate Worker Ant. He dives over the top of Ice Cream Jr. though, and it’s a hot tag to Fire Ant! Everyone headlocks each other! Worker Ant is on the end, but decides to break the status quo and hit a DDT, sending everyone to the mat! Fun spot. Everyone brawls to the floor as Fire Ant ascends a nearby ball, and flies out onto a pack of wrestlers. In ring, Ice Cream Jr. litters the ring with sprinkles, and tries to powerbomb Equinox into them! He slips out of it though, and follows it up with a huracanrana into the sprinkles! Standing shooting star press, and that’s enough for the three count!

Rating- ***- Just great fun from beginning to end. A sprinkling of the trademark Chikara comedy, combined with a wacky multi man spot, lots of lucha and strong characters made for a super sprint. Again though, it could have done with more time.

MATCH 7- THE NORTH STAR EXPRESS VS THE KINGS OF WRESTLING

This is from an earlier round of the Tag World Grand Prix. Why they decided to show the Kings’ victory in the final before this I don’t know. It’s kind of a massive spoiler. North Star Express, for those who like me didn’t know who they were, are comprised of Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz. They are accompanied to the ring by, of all people, JJ Dillon.

Cruz holds his own with Claudio in the early technical exchange. He comes off the turnbuckles with a high crossbody, sending CC out the ring to re-group. The flame-haired Darin Corbin squares off with Chris. They exchange strikes until Hero claims he was tripped up by J.J. Dillon. Corbin takes the initiative with a headscissors. He’s able to out-wrestle Claudio, but the Kings use their ring smarts to take control and isolate poor old Corbin. Classic tag team formula ensues. European Uppercut into a roll up gets two. Castagnoli slingshots in with an elbow for two. Eventually the hot tag is made to Ryan Cruz who promptly cleans house, dumping Hero with a uranage. Chris starts to fight back, but Dillon most definitely trips him this time. This allows North Star to get a double STO, Claudio breaking up the resulting pin. Darin leaps right into the arms of the Swiss-Man, and gets placed in the Tree of Woe. Castagnoli slides towards him but Corbin sits up, sending Double C out to the floor. DC follows him out with a somersault senton!

In the ring, Cruz gets Trouble in Paradise (though I doubt that’s what it was called back then) on Hero. They start to double-team Castagnoli, but it doesn’t work, and CC holds both in position for Hero to try and decapitate them with kicks. They do that annoying flipping shoulder-thrust thing that I mentioned earlier. Hero dumps Cruz with a Wasteland (what is it with this match and future WWE finishers?) and tries to follow it up by monkey flipping his partner into a splash. Corbin recovers though, and catches Castagnoli with an Ace Crushes as he flies through the air. Cover gets two, despite Ryan Cruz preventing Chris from breaking up the cover. Chris grabs both his opponents in a Cravat, but it’s countered into an inverted flapjack. Claudio makes the save with a European Uppercut to Cruz, and the Double Ricola Bomb finishes off.

Rating- ** ¾- Solid tag match. It was pretty similar to the Kings of Wrestling’s earlier match on this DVD against Skayde and Milano Collection AT, but being as it wasn’t meant to be a hugely important final it was infinitely more satisfying, if not quite as good a match. If that makes any sense.

MATCH 8- MIKE QUACKENBUSH VS CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI

This is the match I was most excited about coming in. Hopefully it’ll deliver. This is from Negative Balance in August 2005.

They trade reversals at a lightning fast paced to start, both men knowing each other so well they’re unable to build any real momentum. Eventually Quack headscissors’ Claudio to the floor and tries to slingshot onto him, but CC catches him and dumps him back in the ring. European Uppercuts galore! Loooooooong stalling suplex gets two. Quack fights out of a rest hold and rolls up Castagnoli for two, but runs right back into another Uppercut. He sets the Chikara founder on the top rope and bombards him with strikes, before trying for a Superplex. It’s blocked, but he gets a palm strike anyway. He tries to throw Quackenbush off, but, ever agile, Mike rolls through and sends Claudio back to the floor. Big flip dive to the floor, and what’s more impressive, he lands on his feet!

Back in Quack windmills some palm strikes. He almost gets manoeuvred into an Alpamare Waterslide, but instead gets a Black Tornado Slam for two (think of just falling back on someone in a Reverse Crucifix position.) Quackendriver, countered to Tombstone, Quack flips out of it, but gets caught with another European Uppercut for two. Listening to the commentators rip on the fans for being annoying is pretty funny. Mike back-body-drops out of the Ricola Bomb, and heads up top. Claudio tries to meet him but Mike drops onto the apron. Double C takes control back in the ring though, and gets the Ricola Bomb for two! MQ wisely crawls to the apron and greets Claudio with a kick to the face when he comes charging. He tries to springboard in with a DDT, but the powerful CC catches him and tries to elevate him up for a powerbomb. That’s countered into a huracanrana, and it’s enough for three!

Rating- *** ¼- A common complaint I seem to have with the matches on this particular DVD is that they’re just too damn short. This had all the ingredients of a phenomenal match- some unbelievably fluid sequences that made for a free-flowing battle, and an exciting ending. They just needed to stretch it out across another ten minutes.

MATCH 9- EDDIE KINGSTON VS LARRY SWEENEY

This is from the Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance show that also featured the Chris Hero vs Shane Storm match from earlier in the DVD.

Eddie goes right on the attack to start, and they battle it out on the floor. In ring, the slugfest continues until Sweeney drops Kingston face first across the top rope. He grinds the neck against the ring post. Cover gets two. Kingston gets choked with ring tape and, when the referee goes to check on his opponent, Larry loosens a turnbuckle pad. This is in between clamping on a sleeper hold. Kingston powers out the sleeper, and drives Larry against the exposed metal in the corner! They both try and send each other into said corner, until Sweeney switches things up with a thrust to the throat. DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Slam and second rope elbow drop gets two. Pair of fist drops for the same. Next up, some slaps to the face. I don’t think that’s wise. That instigates a chop battle which Eddie quickly wins. Back into the exposed turnbuckle for Sweeney, and a Yakuza Kick follows up. Northern Lights Suplex gets two.

The Sweet (and Sour) one is able to fire back and nails a front suplex, before catapulting Kingston throat first into the exposed turnbuckle. He tries for a piledriver, but EK is just dead weight. Eventually he is able to get it, but it’s too close to the corner, and Kingston puts his feet on the ropes. Larry heads up top, but a Macho Elbow misses. Big lariat! And another! And one more! One, two, not three! Spinning backfist, but Sweeney ducks another and tries for a piledriver. Eddie backdrops out of it, and transitions into a pin for the three count!