Quite frankly, I would bet a good amount of money that you have never heard my name before, but if you have followed my past work on The Cool Kids’ Table and Pro Wrestling Ponderings, then major kudos go out to you. I’m virtually unknown outside of those places. In the past, I have written about World Wrestling Entertainment, Ring of Honor, and most recently, CHIKARA.
CHIKARA is a company that almost immediately took my interest upon discovering it towards the end of 2006. The zany characters and wacky storylines that the promotion produced were like nothing I had ever seen in my life. At that point, though, I mainly viewed CHIKARA as a company that did everything solely for comedic reasons. Mainstream professional wrestling, such as WWE and TNA, were still my primary adorations. It was not until 2008 when I would finally start religiously following the promotion and realizing that CHIKARA could do some amazing things if I followed it and actually took it seriously. Thank you, magnificent CHIKARA Special storyline. This entire story, my friends, is for another day.
What you have stumbled on is none other than the “CHIKARA Chronicles”, a bi-weekly column that covers everything you need to know that has gone on in the wonderful world of CHIKARA. Whether it’s event information or even some column-exclusive bits, I will be sure to fill your brain with all of the latest CHIKARA news. In addition to this column, I will also be posting some DVD reviews on Pulse Wrestling. They will mainly be recapping of CHIKARA shows, but a certain few may range from California’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla to Japan’s Dramatic Dream Team. With all that out of the way now, let’s get this article underway already.
DGUSA “Open The Historic Gate†(7.25.2009); Philadelphia, PA
â— The Fray: Lince Dorado won via pinfall (shooting star press), beating Cheech, Cloudy, Johnny Gargano, Louis Lyndon, Chris Jones, Unbreakable Andy, and Aaron Arbo.
â— YAMATO defeated BxB Hulk via pinfall (Gallaria).
â— 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Ken Doane via pinfall (Tumbleweed).
â— CHIKARA eight-man tag team showcase: Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, Mike Quackenbush, and Jigsaw beat Icarus, Gran Akuma, Hallowicked, and Amasis via pinfall (Michinoku Driver).
– Following the bout, “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush put over legendary trainer, Jorge Rivera, and requested a multi-man match between CHIKARA and Dragon Gate at the next DGUSA event in Chicago. This brought out YAMATO, who brutally attacked Quackenbush and Jigsaw. Gran Akuma came out to make the save, but then turned on CHIKARA by siding with YAMATO. Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, Lince Dorado, Cheech Hernandez, and KC “Cloudy” Day finally were able to clear the ring of Akuma and YAMATO.
â— Dragon Kid defeated Masato Yoshino via pinfall (Dragonrana).
– Masato Yoshino refused to shake hands with Dragon Kid after the match had ended, which brought out 2 Cold Scorpio. Scorpio told Yoshino and Dragon Kid that they are today’s version of Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko, as well as Rey Mysterio and Psicosis. Scorpio recommended that the two should have a rematch in the near-future, which Yoshino and Kid seemingly agreed to.
– Dawn Marie announced at intermission that there will be a one night tournament for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship, DGUSA’s belt, on November 28th, 2009 in Philadelphia.
â— Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson beat CIMA and Susumu Yokosuka via pinfall (More Bang For Your Buck).
â— Naruki Doi defeated Shingo via pinfall (Muscular Bomb).
I certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see this show on pay-per-view, which will debut in early September on iN DEMAND. For the record, commentary is rumored to be supplied by Lenny Leonard, Leonard F. Chikarason, and Mike Quackenbush. It sounds like things are certainly starting to heat up between CHIKARA and Dragon Gate. Could a war be in the near-future? We’ll have to wait and see.
CHIKARA “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity†(7.31.2009); Reading, PA
â— Dragonfly defeated Rorschach via submission (dragon sleeper).
â— Daizee Haze defeated Rayna VonTash via pinfall (Mind Trip).
â— Vin Gerard, STIGMA, and Colin Delaney beat Hallowicked, Frightmare, and Hydra via pinfall (Attitude Adjustment).
â— Claudio Castagnoli defeated Tim Donst via pinfall (Ricola Bomb).
– Gifts were handed out at intermission, as the event was dubbed “fan appreciation night”. Also, Vin Gerard reportedly sold his notorious “Absolute Worst of Equinox” DVDs for an absurd price of forty bucks at this time.
â— Brodie Lee and Grizzly Redwood beat Cheech Hernandez and KC “Cloudy” Day via pinfall (gutwrench powerbomb).
â— Amasis defeated Lince Dorado via pinfall (Egyptian Conniption).
â— Icarus and Gran Akuma beat Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw via pinfall (Blu-ray DVD).
â— Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, and Green Ant beat UltraMantis Black, Delirious, and Crossbones via pinfall (super sunset flip).
– After taking the fall to Soldier Ant, Crossbones was walked off on by UltraMantis Black and Delirious. While it has not been made official that Crossbones has been disowned by the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple yet, one could certainly assume that he is done with that stable for the time being.
Attendance was rumored to be around two hundred people for this show, which is a step up from CHIKARA’s more recent events. I would imagine that the exposure that DGUSA gave CHIKARA really pushed wrestling fans into checking out more of the product. At this point, I’m most interested in seeing both of the trios matches.
CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 1†(8.14.2009); Easton, PA
Donst and Hydra have successfully been competing as a tecnico tag team since 2008 as the “Sea Donsters”. At the “Aniversario Yang” event in May, Tim Donst walked out on Hydra after clumsily taking a fall to 2.0 in an important tag bout. Tim killed all rumors of a possible break-up between these two after posting a blog several weeks back. After Donst learned that he would be facing Hydra in a first round match on night one of YLC, he let the CHIKARMY know his thoughts once again via a blog entry. Will the young and patriotic, Timothy Donst, prevail or will Hydra prove that he is much more than just a former lackey of the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple?
Fellow member of the Future Is Now, Lince Dorado, will take on Elite Pro sensation and focus of the Team Taliban film, Prince Mustafa Ali, in a first round tournament bout. Lince has been on an interesting streak lately, winning the Dragon Gate USA “Fray” match, but also falling to Campeon de Parejas, Amasis, at “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity” last Friday. Ali will be making his CHIKARA debut here, certainly looking to impress and potentially even hoping to work his way onto the growing CHIKARA roster.
A petition was enough to get Inter Species Wrestling‘s Stinky the Homeless Guy in this year’s YLC tournament. However, Stinky’s going to need a lot more than fan support to advance in the tournament, as he is facing UnStable member and former WWE superstar, Colin Delaney. Colin definitely has momentum on his side, as he pinned Hydra to help the UnStable win a big trios match at “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity”. Will the friendly, homeless man pull off the upset or will the man of fame and fortune continue his winning ways?
Debuting a new gimmick at this tournament will be none other than Create-A-Wrestler. Advancing to the semi-finals will not be an easy task for him, though, as he collides with former IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion, Jason Hades. While this will be Hades’ debut match in CHIKARA, CAW has competed in the past two Young Lions Cup tournaments, even making it to the semi-finals in “Young Lions Cup V”. Whether home field advantage or Hades nailing his signature, “Killswitch” maneuver, leads to triumph remains to be seen.
Grizzly Redwood is one of eight Young Lions who have not had their opponents named yet for the tournament. The “Grizz” has had a pretty successful 2009 thus far, forming a dominant trio with Brodie Lee and Eddie Kingston as the Roughnecks. At “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity”, Grizzly and Brodie Lee beat Cheech and Cloudy, killing their momentum of recently gaining two points and acquiring two of their own as a tag team. While this will be Grizzly Redwood’s Young Lions Cup debut, he certainly has made quite an impact on CHIKARA this year and is a definite front-runner in winning the entire tournament in just a few weeks.
Making his CHIKARA debut this August will be none other than SoCal Pro‘s Leonino. Leonino made his professional wrestling in-ring debut earlier this year, so by qualifying for this year’s Young Lions Cup, one can assume that he has had quite an impressive run in Southern California within the past few months. Leo will be looking to impress the CHIKARMY at this year’s tournament with not only hopes of winning the Cup, but also seemingly holding intentions of possibly joining the CHIKARA roster.
Brendan Michael Thomas or “BMT” has been taking the New England independent scene by storm in 2009, wrestling Eddie Kingston to the limit several times in Connecticut. Despite the fact that Brendan wears a pink attire, don’t take him too lightly. Without a doubt, he’s one of the hardest hitters to be announced for this year’s Young Lions Cup. Don’t believe me? Do a quick YouTube search for some of his matches right now. Not to mention, with a haircut like that, how can’t you root against this guy as a favorite to take the Young Lions Cup?
There are few athletes who have made as much of a punch as Frightmare has this year. As a member of one of the more recent CHIKARA WrestleFactory classes, Frightmare has already shown a lot of promise in a CHIKARA ring, taking on the likes of Eddie Kingston, Brodie Lee, and even World of Sport legend, Johnny Saint, among others. For the record, Frightmare may even be my favorite wrestler on the entire CHIKARA roster at the moment. Many members of the CHIKARMY predict that Frightmare will make it far in this year’s tournament, but what will be most interesting is to see if the kid can live up to all of the hype without his tag team partner and mentor, Hallowicked, at his side.
A win here for Fire Ant and Soldier Ant of the Colony would give them three points, making them eligible to challenge for the Osirian Portal’s Campeonatos de Parejas. Jagged and Shane Matthews, on the other hand, are looking to regain some of the points that they recently lost during their tour of Big Japan Pro Wrestling in June. Fire and Soldier were able to defeat 2.0 at “Duel & Duality” in their last outing together, but then again, that was during the Colony’s big tear upon gaining a record-setting eight points last year. Since then, there is a possibility that the Colony has lost some steam, while 2.0 has certainly improved in the “W” department. Only one tag team will walk out victoriously on August 14th, 2009 in Easton, Pennsylvania.
CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 2†(8.15.2009); Easton, PA
One half of the Colony will collide, as Soldier Ant takes on Carpenter Ant in a first round match of this year’s Young Lions Cup. Due to the fact that Carpenter just made his debut at “Aniversario Yang” (not even wrestling, may I add), one can assume that a man of Soldier’s experience will not have a problem with taking down a rookie. Knowing the Colony’s strict training processes, though, Carpenter Ant surely cannot be a slouch. Could Carpenter somehow manage to pull off an upset here or will Soldier put the newcomer back in his place?
Together as the successful mid-west tag team, the North Star Express, Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz have gone on to do great things in a wrestling ring. In CHIKARA, though, their backgrounds as singles wrestlers have gone untetested. Corbin pulled off a huge win in IWA-MS in 2006, defeating Arik Cannon for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship, so the CHIKARMY currently sees him pulling away with a win. What many of us fail to realize, though, is the fact that that was three years ago. Which member of the North Star Express will make their way into the semi-finals of this year’s YLC?
To keep the streak of tag team partners going one on one in this year’s tournament, CHIKARA has put together a battle of Canadians, which will see Player Uno taking on Player Dos. To name a few accomplishments that these two wrestlers have made in singles competition, Player Uno is the current Inter Species Champion, while Dos made it all the way to the finals of this year’s Rey de Voladores tournament, ultimately falling to Kota Ibushi. After reading a recent blog by Uno, I know for a fact that the Super Smash Brothers are very familiar with each other’s in-ring work. With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if this particular match steals the entire show and results in a highly unpredictable and exciting contest.
In a match between two of the top high-fliers in the country, KC “Cloudy” Day will take on SoCal Pro sensation, Chimaera. Cloudy is coming hot off a strong performance at Dragon Gate USA’s debut event, “Open The Historic Gate”, whereas Chimaera has been busy defending various championships around the west coast. While Chimaera will be making his CHIKARA debut, this will be Cloudy’s second Young Lions Cup tournament. At this time, it’s hard to tell if experience inside of a CHIKARA ring will make much of difference.
Yellow Dog of IWA-MS will be making his CHIKARA debut at “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 2” in tournament action. After Jaysin Strife was forced to part ways with the company after falling to Dingo in a “loser must leave” match in 2008, Yellow Dog popped up. Obviously, this got many IWA fans believing that Strife was Yellow under a mask. Strife is anything but a nice guy, though, and Yellow Dog has shown nothing but friendly mannerisms throughout his career thus far. Undeniably, Yellow Dog will fit in great with the rest of the CHIKARA roster, but his main priority on the fifteenth of August will be making it past the first round and through the semi-finals.
Despite being an outsider, this will be the second time that Trik Davis has been included in a Young Lions Cup tournament. For the record, Trik has been included on several CHIKARA cards over the past few years. Unfortunately, his win and loss record isn’t anything to brag about. Since his last Young Lions Cup tournament, though, Trik has certainly come a long way, becoming IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion and one of the promotion’s top stars. There is no doubt in my mind that Davis’ eyes are set on “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 3” in Philadelphia, where the opportunity of him adding another prestigious title will be available.
AAW regular and Iowa native, Shane Hollister, will be making his CHIKARA debut at this year’s Young Lions Cup. Shane has looked extremely impressive on the mid-west independent scene as of late, even earning himself a spot on the IWA-MS roster. As a man that cites the Motor City Machine Guns and former ROH World Tag Team Champion, Tyler Black, as his influences, if Hollister were to win the Young Lions Cup, he would certainly be heading in the right direction of following the men listed above’s footsteps.
No one knows who Bret “Restle” Race is, including the CHIKARA office. Not to mention, he’s the only man in history to not have a photograph available for the YLC tournament. A few clever fans came up with an analysis that if you unscramble the letters of “Bret Race”, you get “Crabtree”. Also, by doing out the nickname, “Restle”, you get “Lester”. Lester Crabtree? Please say it isn’t so. Do a Google or YouTube search for “Darkness Crabtree” if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
The last time we saw Arik Cannon in CHIKARA was at “Aniversario Yin” and “Aniversario Yang” in May, in which he was defeated by the likes of Delirious on one night and Ophidian on the other. Going into this show, Lince Dorado will either have been eliminated from the YLC tournament or will have advanced to the finals. Will the “Anarchist” go back to his winning ways in CHIKARA or will the “Golden Lynx” pick up one of the biggest wins of his young career over a former Young Lions Cup Champion?
When the mini wrestlers, Mascarita Dorada and Pierrothito, were announced to be making their CHIKARA debuts at YLC, many people initially assumed that the luchadores would be facing off against one another in singles action. It turns out that Turbo and Jorge “Skayde” Rivera will also be added to the mix, as a big tag team contest has been signed for night two in Easton. Will the tecnico team of Dorada and Turbo prevail or will Skayde and Pierrothito be the team that has their hands raised in the end?
CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 3†(8.16.2009); Philadelphia, PA
A four corners elimination tag team match will take place on night three of YLC. If a duo manages to get all deciding three falls, then that team would walk out of this bout with three points, which is enough for a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas. So far, UltraMantis Black and Delirious of the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple have been the only team announced.
Leonard F. Chikarason announced a new and exciting match concept, “Golden Dream”, in a recent blog for “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 3” in Philadelphia. Basically, the bout is a trios contest that features only former Young Lions Cup Champions. The three team captains were revealed to be Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen, Vin Gerard, and Fire Ant. As seen in the graphic above, Olsen chose Jigsaw and Helios as his partners, Vin picked STIGMA and Chuck Taylor, and finally, Fire Ant went with Hallowicked and Arik Cannon for his squad.
With Castagnoli getting a win over Kingston at “AniversarioCT” and Eddie tying up the score against Claudio at “Aniversario Yang”, it was only fitting that these two would go against each other once more. It should be noted that this match was originally booked for “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity”, but Kingston backed out because of a back injury. This feud has grown into something personal, as Eddie Kingston described his side of the story in a promo before their match at “Aniversario Yang”, while Claudio responded back with his own words in a special update. Clearly, this is all about who is the better man and if these two can get down and settle their business inside of a wrestling ring, then that particular person will be declared on night three of YLC.
CMLL sensations and long-time rivals, Mascarita Dorada and Pierrothito, will face off one on one for the first time in the United States in Philadelphia on August 16th, 2009. These two have supposedly put on some of the best minis singles matches in the entire world, so be prepared to witness something special for this one.
Self-explanatory, really. The winners of the six-man elimination matches on “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 1” and “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 2” will face off in a singles bout in the main event of night three. The winner of this contest will be declared the new Young Lions Cup Champion.
Exclusive Interview: Leonino, YLC Participant
Remember those “exclusive column bits” that I was talking about in the beginning of this article? Well, here’s my first treat from me to you, readers. If all goes as planned, I should have one to two interviews with a CHIKARA wrestler or alumnus every month.
SoCal Pro wrestler and fellow participant in this “Young Lions Cup VII” tournament, Leonino, has agreed to sit down with me to answer a few questions. With that being said, kick back, relax, and enjoy this exclusive mini interview.
REYNOLDS: First off, I thoroughly appreciate you taking the time to do this interview with me, Leonino. I can only imagine how hard it must be to get internet access at the San Diego Zoo.
LEONINO: Thank you for having me. Actually, thanks to befriending the stoner teenagers that work here, I’ve got pretty solid wi-fi connection here, on my modified iPhone. Teens and their technology!
REYNOLDS: Take our readers inside of your shoes for a moment. Exactly what is it like to be half-man and half-lion?
LEONINO: It is very fun, yet very difficult at the same time. Being that I speak animal and English, it’s lead to me getting access to a TV with TiVo, so I never miss wrestling among other amnities, but it has also led to some resentment with the other animals. Some are cool with it, but others just get jealous, mainly the peacocks. As for being out among fullys (full humans), I get weird looks and some taunting , but it doesn’t bother me because I know human ignorance is something the world has had to live with for centuries. One half-lion, half-human isn’t going to change anyone’s minds any time soon.
REYNOLDS: Going into this year’s Young Lions Cup tournament, do you have any expectations? How are you preparing to train for arguably the biggest stage in your young career thus far?
LEONINO: I have been watching as much as I can of each competitor, thanks to YourTubes. I’ve been sizing up the competition and I’ve also been doing tons of cardio. Mainly swimming. I know, I know… don’t felines hate water? Yes, but that Michael Phelps guy was in tremendous shape from swimming and he beat everyone at everything. Shout out to my boys at Hippo Beach for letting me use their giant pool!
REYNOLDS: Are there any potential threats that you see in this year’s tournament?
LEONINO: Well, now that I know all of the announced competitors, I still say Player Uno is a big threat because he is much larger than the rest of us and now, add the homeless gent to the fray and us, little ones, are in quite for the potential beatdown. We all have our strengths and we all have our weaknesses. It’s going to be a very unpredictable weekend.
REYNOLDS: I understand that you will be releasing a new shirt at this year’s tournament. Do you have any other surprises that you would care to share with us?
LEONINO: Yes, I’m hoping the shirt will be a huge hit with the children of Pennsylvania! As for any other surprises, well… let’s just say that I will have my game face on.
REYNOLDS: That’s all I’ve got for you, Leo. Best of luck this August in “Young Lions Cup VII”. I’ll definitely be rooting you on, as I just bought tickets to night one of the tournament.
LEONINO: Thanks! I’m very excited and hope to see all the CHIKanimals out in that crowd, ready to get loud! Hey, I rhymed!
Be sure to check out Leonino’s MySpace page for all the latest news regarding him, including upcoming bookings and new merchandise. Also, give a look at his home promotion, SoCal Pro, which is located just outside of San Diego.
Links For Looking
In other news, president of the Inter Species Wrestling promotion, Mike Rotch, announced earlier last month that the Canada-based company will be making their United States debut on August 8th, 2009 in East Hartford, Connecticut. Several CHIKARA wrestlers will be on hand for this show, including Player Uno, Jigsaw, Vin Gerard, Hallowicked, Buck Hawke, Zombified (Player Dos), the Badd Boys (Jagged and Shane Matthews), Hydra, and even Jolly Roger. If you’re in the area, go out of your way and check out this show. More details are available on the official website of ISW.
Weeks after Green Ant’s gear was “stolen” at the “Aniversario Yang” event, Chuck Taylor posted a blog following the BJW versus CHIKARA shows in May. Chuck explained that he was the one who stole Green Ant’s gear because he wanted to make a deal with Kazuhiko Mikayami. After months of speculating exactly what this deal concerned, Chuck Taylor revealed in another blog that he had traded Green Ant’s gear to “Kazzy-san” for some time in the spotlight in return for a formula that helped regenerate hair. I doubt this angle is going to result in much, but it’s still quite a funny read.
WFMZ News out of eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey had their cameras running at the “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity” show last Friday. Several wrestlers were interviewed for this segment, including Lince Dorado, Crossbones, and Claudio Castagnoli. The report is currently available in both, text and video format, so check it out now while you can.
The highly-anticipated and brand spankin’ new, CHIKARA yearbooks, have finally been released in the store section of CHIKARA’s official website. Autographed copies were available last month for a price of $75.00, but that offer has seemingly disapeered. Now, those who are interested in purchasing a yearbook must resort to a normal copy for the price of $20.00. In addition to the yearbook being sold, Hallowicked and Hydra replica masks, as well as a new Cheech and Cloudy shirt were reportedly at the merchandise table at “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity”. I assume that those items will be added to the inventory early on this week.
Have you missed a lot of CHIKARA shows from 2009 so far? That sucks for you, but fortunately enough, Taylor McKnight made an awesome video, recapping CHIKARA’s recent shows. This seriously needs to be seen by everyone, as it’s beautifully done. I have been all caught up with my CHIKARA news for almost two years now, but this really brought a smile to my face.
Also, don’t forget about the weekly Podcast-A-Go-Go episodes. These go up every Monday night, usually just before WWE Raw goes on air. Speaking of podcasts, “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush and Fox News anchor, Clayton Morris, have one called the Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe. Honestly, the GBEG might just be my favorite internet segment out there these days. Mike and Clayton talk about anything from comics to computer technology. You can expect good stuff from these two gentlemen all the time. New episodes are usually posted every Tuesday or Wednesday.
In exactly two weeks, the “CHIKARA Chronicles” will be back, featuring coverage from all three nights of “Young Lions Cup VII”. Hopefully, by that time, I’ll also have some more information on the upcoming New England shows in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to feed you guys. If all goes accordingly, I should have a live report posted about night one of the tournament on Saturday, August 15th, 2009.
Comments and feedback regarding my first article on Pulse Wrestling can be posted below this article. I will be sure to read everything that’s dropped my way. If you would like to contact me directly, please send an e-mail to royreynolds@4sternstaging.com. Thanks for reading, CHIKARMY. I fully appreciate the support.
