The Best of CHIKARA DVD Review

Match Numero Uno: Team FIST (Icarus & Gran Akuma) & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush, Shane Storm, & Jigsaw
Young Lions’ Cup IV, Night 3 (6/26/06)

This is in the middle of a big rivalry between Jigsaw and Icarus, so of course Jiggy makes several attempts to get at his foe. We’ve got a basic lucha opening early on, as we saw one-on-one pairings between various competitors in that match. That lead in to a big highspot with Quackenbush and Jigsaw pulling off stereo monkey flips while, at the same time, Storm landed a tope. After that, it’s Quack vs. Claudio in the ring, a pairing that never disappoints. Michael out-finessed the larger man, getting him out to the floor and landing big flip dive. The next pairing was Jigsaw and Akuma, with Jig dominating and cutting off a run-in by Icarus with a neat move in which he basically did a 619 around Akuma’s body and kicked the winged warrior in the face. Unfortunately, not long after that, the heels were able to triple team ‘Saw and cut off his momentum thanks to some big fat FIST sentons. After the lucha opening, we headed in to a heat sequence right out of a Memphis tag team match. It came to an unconventional conclusion, though, as CHIKARA rules allow for “lucha tags” in which a man can replace his teammate when that teammate rolls out to the floor. In this case, Jigsaw made it to the floor, allowing Storm to come in. I almost wonder if that was unintentional on Jig’s part, as the heat continued on Storm as though nothing had happened. Shane eventually rolled out for another lucha tag, though Claudio MURDERED Quackenbush with a spear as he ran in to attempt the valiant comeback. Thus, the heat continued.

Lucha tag number three wound up the start of the comeback, as Quack rolled out and he and Storm dispatched Claudio and Akuma with dives. That allowed Jigsaw to have a brief sequence with Icarus, though Icarus failed to get the pinfall thanks to a run in by Quackenbush. This began a sequence in which repeated run-ins allowed everybody in the match to hit a head-droppy move for a nearfall, and things culminated with Akuma’s beautiful 450 splash. Seconds after that happened, Jigsaw managed to get in his “Leap of Faith” no-hands top rope rana, followed up by Storm’s shining wizard. The technicos then piled on for a pinfall, but the bad guys broke it up and brutalized Storm with a triple team powerbomb. This began a second sequence in which everybody took turns hitting moves, and then Quack and Claudio had an AWESOME back and forth in which Quack got La Mistica and then turned it in to a crucifix in an effort to get a flash pin. Castagnoli was out at the last second, and things once again came down to Jigsaw and Icarus. The two men tried for their finishers, but Icarus wound up ripping off ‘Saw’s mask for the cheap DQ.

Match Thoughts: This match was a mixed bag. I don’t know what it is about Mike Quackenbush and Claudio Castagnoli, but they move so fluidly every time that they’re in the ring together. It looks almost like they’re dancing, and I don’t mean that in the derogatory way it’s often used in relation professional wrestling. All of their movements appear so natural and effortless that even the most ardent critic of wrestling could watch it and say, “Yes, these men are definitely athletes.” However, when they weren’t in the ring, the match wasn’t nearly as good. I’ve seen the other four participants have great matches in the past, but it seemed like they were all having an off night on this particular evening, especially Shane Storm. (Who has never really been great in the ring but won over CHIKARA crowds in large part due to his work ethic and rapid improvement.) Nothing reached the point of being actively bad, but there were definitely minutes of this match that could’ve hit the cutting room floor with the edit only serving to help the bout’s quality. **

Match Numero Dos: Shane Storm vs. Chris Hero
The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance (7/22/2006)

We’ve got some basic opening stuff early, and then there’s a SICK bump by Storm as he tries for a tope con hilo, only for Hero to move, forcing the Unionized Traffic Regulator to splat back first on the unpadded floor. Hero follows that up with a big Yakuza kick on the floor and a front suplex on to the apron. Back on the inside, Hero takes over with strikes for a while and gets a powerslam/senton combo for a nearfall. Then it’s back to the outside, where Hero climbs up on to the stage that is in the venue and dives off of it for a double stomp in to Shane’s midsection. The indy-level production values actually made that spot look cooler than it could have otherwise, as Hero flew in to the camera shot from out of nowhere. When we head back to the squared circle, Hero employs a great heel tactic, turning his back on the beaten and battered Shane Storm and daring him to roll him up for a three count. Storm tries it and gets two. Hero tries to cut off his momentum with another senton, but Shane gets the knees up and follows with a fivearm and a spin kick. Hero bails, but the former Young Lions’ Cup Champion follows him out with a wacky inside-out armdrag to the floor and then a diving huricanrana off of the apron. Storm tosses his opponent back inside and plants him with a DDT for two (and two for DDT). After that, Hero fights out of the air raid crash and drops Shane with a Saito suplex. He slaps on with the cravate, which he quickly turns in to a wacky variation on the facebuster for yet another nearfall. Storm dropkicks Hero’s knees out from under him, though, and fakes Chris out by setting up for his shining wizard finisher but then hitting a sunset flip. That also only gets a two count. Another low dropkick leads to another shining wizard attempt, but Hero just punches Storm in the face as he’s charging and beats him with an Oklahoma roll.

Match Thoughts: This may have been the best Shane Storm match that I’ve ever seen. The little guy was working his butt off, taking all kinds of crazy bumps and other abuse from Hero. The result was a fairly exciting contest with several unique spots that I, a long-time wrestling fan, have never seen before. My only criticisms (and they are minor criticisms indeed) are that a.) Storm can’t throw a decent looking forearm to save his life and b.) I think it would’ve been more enjoyable with a gradual comeback by Storm as opposed to him going on the offensive out of the blue. That said, I could definitely see the argument for this match being included on a “best of” DVD, which is something that I couldn’t really say about the opener. ***

Match Numero Tres: Milano Collection AT & Skayde vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)
Tag World Grand Prix, Night 3 (2/26/2006)

This match will determine the first CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas. That’s Tag Team Champions for you uncivilized folk. Milano and Hero are in at the beginning, and it’s arm work up front. Hero moves in to the cravate after that, but Milano reverses in to a headlock. Hero eventually winds up in a hammerlock and tries to throw Milano from the ring while in that move. AT lands on his feet, though, and he comes off of the top rope with an armdrag on to Chris. Milano ties Hero to the bottom rope and knocks him off of the apron with a big flying dropkick. Now it’s time for Skayde and Castagnoli to hit the ring, and the Dragon Gym trainer gets a drop toe hold before going to the arm. Claudio has enough after a few headbutts to his wrist, and he heads to the floor with Hero to talk strategy. Claudio goes to the European uppercuts when he returns to the ring, but Skayde suprises him with a trio of armdrags, the third of which is rolled in to an impressive pinning combination. Mike Quackenbush notes that Skayde is forty-two years old, and you’d never believe it after watching that segment. Castagnoli eventually manages to isolate Skayde in the heel corner, and we get a tag to Hero. He doesn’t do much, just setting up Skayde for Claudio’s slingshot elbowdrop, which is followed up by a low dropkick from Hero. Claudio then comes in for a monkey flip/shoulder tackle combo. Castagnoli applies a version of the cobra clutch for a little while, and Hero comes in for an Indian Deathlock, which he turns in to an inverted STF. Claudio’s in after that, but Skayde blocks a double Yakuza kick from the Kings and escapes more double teaming, setting up the tag to Milano.

Mr. AT takes both of his opponents down thanks to an enzuguri and a handspring lariat. A top rope cross body gets two on Claudio, but the Italian’s big senton misses. Castagnoli looks to retake the advantage with an inverted vertical suplex, after which Hero is in for the Hero’s Welcome. It gets two. Hero then attempts a roaring elbow, but Milano matrixes under it and avoids a double stomp. The twisting senton and the AT Lock are next, but Claudio runs in. He kicks Milano, but he won’t break the Lock! Skayde’s in, and he dispatches Claudio with a big tope! It looked like that could have been it, but Hero eventually manages to pull himself over to the ropes. Skayde and Claudio hit the ring, with Skayde getting in a Mexican roll for a nearfall. A series of headscissors from the babyfaces are next, and then we go in to stereo submissions. The ropes are made, and Milano tries to stay on his man with a lariat. That’s blocked, and Claudio gets a TWO-MAN GIANT SWING, with Skayde hanging off the front of his body and Milano hanging off of the back. The Kings then hit their two-man powerbomb, which ends the match.

Match Thoughts: This was actually a bit of a letdown. In any other setting, I’d call it a fun professional wrestling match, but, when you’ve got the finals a major tournament taking place, you expect something major to happen in the match. That was not present here. It is true that the last several minutes of the contest were quite exciting with Milano’s comeback and a strong tease that the faces were going to take the championships home. However, the match was missing something . . . namely its entire middle section. It felt like the four men were still in their initial feeling out process when, for no rhyme or reason, that transformed in to the heat sequence without any major events happening or Skayde being put in to any big danger. Everything after Milano tagged in would have been a great climax to any other match, but it was odd here because there had been next to no build for such an awesome finish. I’ll still call it **1/2.

Match Numero Cuatro: Allison Danger, Rain, & Ranmaru vs. Sumie Sakai, Mickie Knuckles, & Daizee Haze
Tag World Grand Prix, Night 3 (2/26/2006)

Knuckles and Danger start, and Mickie takes her down with a drop toe hold before applying the front facelock. Danger goes to the arm, but that’s reversed. The girls trade forearms at this point, and then they even go to headbutts. Mickie comes out the clear winner, and she tags out to Daizee Haze. Haze smacks Rain on the apron, and she also tags in, only to be taken down and punched mercilessly. Daizee then applies the camel clutch. Rain starts firing back with a second rope cross body and some chops, but Daizee responds in kind. Haze slides out to the floor after that, which is a lucha tag to Sumie. Ranmaru is in as well, and she gets a quick victory roll for two. Sumie hits a dropkick and goes to the full nelson, but Ramaru slips out of it and hits a jumping back kick to the face. There’s a great quick sequence with Sakai dodging some Ranmaru kicks, and they do some fast pinning combinations as well. Ranmaru then tries to land some forearms, but Sumie turns that in to a cross arm breaker. Rain saves as Mickie tags in, and they do a bit of kick/forearm exchanging. Knuckles catches her opponent off of the ropes for a spinning uranagi, and Ranmaru rolls to the floor, bringing in Danger. Sakai tags in too, and Allison hits a kneelift, only to run in to a Mickie Knuckles spear seconds later. Sakai leaves the ring, allowing Mickie to hit a northern lights suplex with a sweet, sweet bridge. Haze and Rain run in after that, with Daizee hitting a HARD kick to the head and knocking her SHIMMER compatriot out of the ring. It’s Haze and Ranmaru now, with Daizee quickly throwing her woman out to the floor.

Mickie’s in to the ring, and then she’s quickly out of it with a TOPE ON RAIN AND RANMARU! That’s a whole lotta woman flying through the air. Haze follows it up with a HIGH cross body on the pile of her opponents. It looks like Sakai is setting up a dive as well, but Danger comes in out of nowhere and takes her down with an STO. Sumie comes back with a belly to belly, but, seconds later, Allison manages to reverse a roll-up for the pin.

Match Thoughts: This was the opening match of the card on which it occurred, and, for a short opening match, it was quite good. The pace was quick, the highspots were exciting, and every woman (except perhaps for Rain) got in a segment that would help get her over with the audience. It was clear that the Japanese ladies were leagues ahead of the Americans (and the Canadian) in terms of the sequences that they were pulling off in the ring. Hopefully their work was providing some indication of where American joshi is headed. I’d love to see this same pairing (or at least a similar one) get twenty minutes on another card, but, as things stood, it was incredibly well executed and got the crowd on their feet early. **

Match Numero Cinco: Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked w/ UltraMantis Black
Son of the International Invasion of the International Invaders, Stage 2 (9/17/2005)

They do a lengthy collar and elbow tie-up early, out of which they head in to some nice looking mat wrestling. Jigsaw gets the upper hand at the end of the sequence, so ‘Wicked takes a powder and consults with Mantis. After that, it’s time for some rope running spots and wacky lucha armdraggery by Jiggy, which again results in Hallowicked heading outside. ‘Saw tries to follow it up by running off of the apron with a dive, but Hallowicked clips his knee in a great spot and takes advantage by hitting a dive of his own. This causes a teenage girl at ringside to scream and UltraMantis to choke Jigsaw with a large stick. When we return to the inside, ‘Wicked gets a huge kick to the gut out of a fireman’s carry position, and that’s followed by an attempt at an iconoclasm. Jigsaw rolls through and mounts a brief comeback, though he’s cut off by an actual iconoclasm and the good old abdominal stretch is applied. ‘Wicked tries to go to the top, but Jiggy prevents it thanks to a massive kick to the head and then leaps in to a rana to trigger the double KO spot. Chops are exchanged, after which Jigsaw kicks his opponent in the head several times for a nearfall. Hallowicked responds in kind and follows with a textbook powerbomb for two.

After that, Hallowicked rolls his opponent to the apron and attempts to suplex him, but Jigsaw blocks it and hits an enzuguri. The ring is literally six inches away from a stage in this particular building, so Jigsaw uses ‘Wicked’s body to create a bridge between the stage and the apron and then double stomps the opposition. Hallowicked falls to the floor, so Jigsaw double stomps him there as well. Because that just wasn’t enough, Jiggy finishes the combo with a double stomp from the top once Hallowicked is repositioned in the ring. Unfortunately for him, UltraMantis pops up on the apron, distracting the referee and giving ‘Wicked an opportunity to hit a dragonrana that gives him the three count.

Match Thoughts: It’s somewhat ironic that, on a DVD produced by a promotion that has a heavy lucha libre influence, I’m enjoying the singles matches a good deal more than the tag bouts. These two worked together very well, which I’m sure has a lot to do with the fact that they’re trainees of the same wrestling school who, if my math is correct, would’ve started at around the same time. Though it is true that there were a ton of highspots in the match (more than I often enjoy seeing), at least they kept things logical in that there was always a reason for one guy to go back on the offensive after his opponent had killed him with a big move. More thumbs up action from Chikky Pro. ***

Match Numero Seis: Angel de Fuego, Equinox, & The Colony (Fire Ant & Solider Ant) vs. Crossbones, Rorschach, & Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. & El Hijo del Ice Cream)
Young Lions’ Cup IV, Night 3 (6/25/2006)

Solider Ant and Crossbones start, with Bones rolling out early to get a Fire Ant/Rorschach pairing going. The bug gets a big missile dropkick that sends the ink blot out, and here come Angel and Ice Cream Jr. They do a little bit of comedy and a rana before sending the dessert outside for a big corkscrew dive. El Hijo del Ice Cream and Equinox is our last pairing of singles wrestlers, so they hit the ring. Icey gets the first real offense for his team, taking over with some strikes before Equinox lands a few armdrags. A butterfly suplex allows Ice Cream Jr. to reenter the match, and now it is time for the rudos to dominate. Crossbones eventually tosses Equinox from the ring, so Fire Ant runs in. He is also soundly beaten, including Los Ice Creams’ big “Ice Cream Sandwich” maneuver and a clothesline over the top rope and to the floor. That constitutes a lucha tag to Angel del Fuego, and he is able to briefly evade the Ice Creams’ double teams before getting dropkicked in the side of the head by Junior and rolling to the floor. That’s the cue for Solider Ant to hit the squared circle, and he’s squished by an Ice Cream senton. He’s treated to rapid fire corner attacks from Rorschach and Crossbones, though those moves only get a two count. However, when an Ice Cream places the Ant on the top turnbuckle, he’s able to leap over him with a big somersault and make the hot tag to Fire Ant.

This leads to one of CHIKARA’s patented ULTRA-WHACKY~! spots, as a seven-man headlock develops. Soldier Ant is the only individual not involved in the headlock chain, so he grabs a man on the end and drops everybody in the chain with a DDT. Then all hell breaks loose as the majority of the match’s participants brawl on the floor, with several of them getting suspiciously close to a support beam not that far from the ring. Sure enough, Fire Ant climbs the beam and comes off of it with a huge dive on to four men, while, in the ring, Solider Ant is decked by Ice Cream Jr. Junior takes this opportunity to pull a bag out from underneath the ring . . . AND IT’S FULL OF SPRINKLES! The confections are poured out all over the mat, and Equinox barely escapes being powerbombed in to them. After that, he heads up to the top rope and hits Junior with RANA IN TO THE SPRINKLES~! The Cream sells it like he’s just been thrown in to a flaming bed of glass and tacks, which allows Equinox to follow up with a standing shooting star press and pick up the victory for his team.

Match Thoughts: Though there was some athletic stuff in the opening sequences and a hell of a risky dive by Fire Ant, this remained, for the most part, a comedy match. As far as comedy eight man tags are concerned, it was fine. However, it certainly wasn’t going to set the world afire. *

Match Numero Siete: The North Star Express (Darin Corbin & Ryan Cruz) w/ JJ Dillon vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)
Tag World Grand Prix, Night 3 (2/26/2006)

It’s Castagnoli opening things up with Cruz, and armbars are the order of the day. Headlocks! Shoulderblocks! Armdrags! All of your match-opening standards are here, baby! Cruz opens things up with a second rope cross body block, and the Kings take a break to regroup on the floor. Hero and Corbin are in when the match starts back up, and they strike each other repeatedly. Corbin gets in some armdrags and a rana, followed up by Hero missing a senton and getting caught in an armbar. Hero forearms out of it and brings Claudio in, but he is also armdragged many times. The Swissman suckers Corbin in to a kick, though, and that sets up a tag to Hero, allowing the Kings to drop some elbows. Castagnoli comes back for his European uppercuts, one of which knocks him in to a Hero schoolboy for two. Chris stays on his man, dropping a knee and then bringing Claudio in for a slingshot elbowdrop. Choking from the heels follows, and JJ Dillon is not helping his men out in the least here. Hero slaps on an STF variant when we get back to legal wrestling maneuvers, and Claudio follows that up with a missile dropkick to the face. Corbin eventually rolls under a Hero clothesline for the hot tag, though, and Cruz takes Chris down with the Side Effect. A JJ Dillon trip sets up a double Japanese armdrag from the Express, and they roll through for a double STO. It gets two, and then Claudio is back in the ring. Corbin looks for a Stinger splash on him, but he’s caught and put in the tree of woe. Castagnoli misses a baseball slide and falls out to the floor, with Corbin following him out with a cannonball body block.

That leaves Cruz and Hero in the ring, and the Minnesotan hits a spinning heel kick. The Express then set up Hero for a double team move in the corner, but Claudio cuts it off. In an odd looking and somewhat contrived spot, Hero hangs the two Express members off of Claudio’s shoulders, which Hero follows up by simultaneously dropkicking both of his opponents. Hero then monkey flips Cluadio in to a corner shoulder on one of the Express members. The Kings try to follow up with a similar move, but this time the Express smarten up, as Corbin catches Claudio in midair and hits him with an Ace Crusher. Hero responds with a DOUBLE CRAVATE, though that’s turned in to a wacky double team move by the younger wrestlers. Claudio breaks up their dominance with a European uppercut, though, and that leads in to a two-man powerbomb from the Kings. This ends the match.

Match Thoughts: As far as a good tag team bout goes, this had just about everything. There was a solid feeling out process between the two teams in the beginning, and the action was hot and heavy at the end with tons of unique double teaming and a great false finish for the plucky underdog babyfaces. I did have a couple of problems with the contest, though. First of all, though the moves were unique, a lot of the double teaming towards the end came off as really unnatural, barely resembling something that men would do to each other if they were involved in an actual fight. I understand that you can say the same thing about most professional wrestling moves, but this was on the very extreme end of being unrealistic. The other problem was the heat sequence on Corbin. There was heat built up, and then the big tag just came up out of nowhere. In order for a tag team match to be most effective, you need to work in a few spots in which the tag almost makes it but doesn’t. They didn’t have the time to do that here, and the drama suffered a bit because of it. However, for all the talking about negatives that I’ve done, this was still a fine professional wrestling match, and the Express in particular looked better than their level of experience would indicate. They just need to hit the gym and the tanning bed a bit more. **1/4

Match Numero Ocho: Mike Quackenbush vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Negative Balance (8/13/2005)

This one is intense right from the beginning as the two men get in each other’s faces and take turns missing big strikes on each other, after which they go right back in to the staredown. Quack gets a big takdedown early and LAUNCHES Claudio with the biggest monkey flip that I’ve ever seen. He follows that with a top rope armdrag and a rana, but Castagnoli catches him on dive and throws him back in to the ring. That was a HELL of a fast opening sequence, especially with a guy Claudio’s size involved. Quack manages to take over back in the ring and does a front flip off of the ropes in to another armdrag, and there’s a crazy spot as Claudio does a somersault off of the second rope and Quack tries to jump over whatever offense his opponent is mounting, only to be caught in the back of the head with a European uppercut. That sets up a huge delayed suplex by Claudio, with a chinlock being next in line. Quack makes the stereotypical babyface comeback, though another European uppercut prevents him from gaining that much momentum. The Swissman sets his opponent up on the top and attempts a superplex, but Mike fights off and forces Claudio to settle for a rocket launcher . . . but QUACK ROLLS THROUGH! He catches Claudio offguard with a FAT shotei that sends Castagnoli over the top rope, and there’s a big flip dive from the indy veteran.

Both men reenter the ring at the same time, and Quackenbush goes to town with big open hand chops before having his Black Tornado Slam reversed in to a torture rack. Quack blocks that with a victory roll and actually does hit is BTS, though it only gets a two count. Mike’s next attempted move is a Quackendriver, but Claudio slips out of that and attempts a tombstone. Quack rolls out of the move and down to the mat, but his attempted offense off the ropes is blocked by another massive uppercut. Quack does try to come back with another springboard armdrag, but Claudio does something unique by holding on to his opponent’s arm and preventing himself from being thrown. He uses his grip on Quack’s arm to maneuver him in to a pyramid bomb, but that is also only good for a two count. Now Quack attempts to put his opponent away with a springboard DDT, but Claudio prevents his head from being driven in to the mat. Unfortunately for Castagnoli, his counter put him in to perfect position for a guillotine choke, which Quack cinches in for a few seconds before popping up with a huricanrana out of nowhere for the three count.

Match Thoughts: If I had to pick one word to describe match, it would be “innovative.” Maybe there’s some obscure independent lucha group out there in which all of the reversals and counters used in this match are commonplace, but, if there is, I’ve certainly not seen any of their work. That alone would be enough for me to give the match a thumbs up, but it wasn’t just good because it contained a ton of stuff that I’ve never seen before. It was also good because, as I alluded to earlier in the review, these two men gel very well in the ring, with every movement they make being so smooth that they look like wrestlers who have fifteen years of experience working against each other. (In fact, this is not the case.) Also, this is set apart from most modern independent wrestling because, as the guys were going at it, they remembered to actually act as though they intensely disliked each other. There were dirty looks shot back and forth, and the zany high flying was interspersed with strikes so hard that you’d swear one man had stolen the other’s girlfriend. In a world in which far too many independent wrestlers act like they hate each other pre-match but then turn in to emotionless zombies when the bell rings, the acting here was a welcome change. In short, this was excellent. If I had to pick one match to preserver in a time capsule to show future generations what CHIKARA was, this would probably be it. ****

Match Numero Nueve: Eddie Kingston vs. Larry Sweeney
The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance (7/22/2006)

There certainly won’t be any lucha libre in this one. King jumps Sweeey at the bell, and we’ve got some big forearms being traded. Sweeney takes an early advantage with the ole’ stun gun over the top rope, and much choking follows. Sweet ‘n Sour then goes to the Paul Orndorff/Bob Orton playbook, draping Kingston’s neck across the apron and dropping a big elbow in to it. After that we head in to the sleeper hold, and, after letting King go, Sweeney pulls the padding off of one of the turnbuckles. More time in the sleeper follows, but the King of Diamonds escapes by crushing his opponent against the buckles. Larry is able to take the advantage again with yet more choking, though he gets a little too cocky and starts slapping Kingston in the corner. That fires up the Puerto Rican and gives him the strength to Yakuza kick Sweeney in to the exposed turnbuckle. He immediately follows that up with a northern lights suplex, but the bridge only gets two. Sweeney responds with a gordbuster for another nearfall, and he catapults King in to the exposed buckle. He looks for the piledriver after that, but Eddie is dead weight. Ultimately he does get it, but he’s too close to the ropes, allowing Kingston to get his foot on the bottom strand before the three count can be logged. Larry’s next attempt at wrapping up the match is the Savage elbow, but he misses. Kingston pops up and manages to hit three consecutive lariats, but that’s also not enough to bring the match to its close. King’s back first connects, but Sweeney ducks a second. He tries to roll King up after that, but Eddie shifts his weight and comes out on top of the pinning combination to pull out the victory.