CHIKARA ran night one of their annual Young Lions Cup tournament this Friday in Easton, Pennsylvania. Twelve participants competed, but only one of them managed to advance to the finals this Saturday at the Arena in Philadelphia. Attendance was at approximately one hundred people, which is a bit lower than usual. Despite that, the CHIKARMY was on fire and were clearly ready to witness a great night of professional wrestling.
Traveling by car to Pennyslvania to Boston is something that I have never done before. The traffic in New York was rough and the five hour car ride left me bored out of my mind. However, “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 1” is a show that I will never forget. Among being able to watch some familiar faces, a certain few stars were beyond a shadow of a doubt, born last night in Easton. Let’s dive into the action, shall we?
Louden Noxious, CHIKARA ring announcer, introduced each of this year’s Young Lions Cup participants individually. For the record, I believe the loudest pop went to Stinky the Homeless Guy. When each Young Lion booked for last night’s show made their way into the ring, a group photograph was taken with the brand new Young Lions Cup trophy in front. A never-before-seen blue ring apron was also displayed for tonight’s special tournament.
Brendan Michael Thomas defeated Frightmare via pinfall (low crossbody) – Despite being from the New England area, I have never seen “BMT” wrestle before. Quite frankly, I don’t think many people in Easton have, either. Thomas came out to a flashy cover of “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks and his deliberate arrogance certainly had the Eastonians viewing him as a rudo. This was quite a solid opener with Frightmare showing off exactly why he is considered to be one of CHIKARA’s future stars. After dodging a double knee moonsault from the top, Brendan managed to steal the victory by nailing a running crossbody and bending Frightmare’s legs underneath himself for the pinfall. **½.
Hydra defeated Tim Donst via pinfall (front bridge) – I was expecting Hydra to come out to “Octopus’ Garden” by The Beatles, but he shocked everyone by coming out to Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face”, instead. This was quite the funny match with the most notable moment coming when Hydra put Bryce Remsburg into a headlock about half-way through the match, as Tim Donst took the referee roll. Â Donst attempted to hit Hydra with the Donstitution, but Hydra escaped it and locked in the Hydralock. Tim Donst was able to get out of the submission, but Hydra backed him into the turnbuckle and caught Donst with a front bridge to get the second upset of the evening. More of a comedy match than anything else, but the wrestling wasn’t so bad, either. **.
As Hydra limped up from the ground, Tim Donst hinted at turning heel by knocking him from behind. Donst seemingly only wanted a handshake, though. To make things even more interesting, Donst then aggressively lunged towards Hydra, but went in for a friendly hug to put all of the speculation to rest. Readers, you be the judge. Could Timothy Donst potentially be heading towards the rudo side in the near-future?
Dasher Hatfield defeated Jason Hades via pinfall (Grand Slam) – Dasher Hatfield is this year’s winning gimmick for Create-A-Wrestler, which is basically an old time baseball player. He came out in a full baseball uniform with a CHIKARA team logo on the front. Masterful, isn’t it? Dasher was so over and well-deserving of it. Seriously, who doesn’t love baseball? Dasher featured a bunch of baseball-themed moves, including my personal favorite, a running “charge” ram into the corner. After kicking out of Hades’ impressive Killswitch maneuveur, Dasher Hatfield pinned Jason Hades with a finisher of his own, the Grand Slam, which is a top-rope powerslam. Hades looked solid, but the real star of this match was Dasher Hatfield, who successfully showcased one of the most interesting CHIKARA gimmicks to date. **½.
KC “Cloudy” Day defeated Chimaera via pinfall (flipping square driver) – It isn’t too out of the ordinary if you see Cloudy pull off a couple comedy spots in a CHIKARA ring, but he was all business tonight, as his opponent was Chimaera, a luchador from Tijuana. This match was simply awesome and the action was so fast and exciting that I can hardly recollect any of it. The finish was just as cool, as Cloudy went for a headscissor, but Chimaera reversed it into a piledriver, but then Cloudy managed to reverse it again into a sick-looking flipping square driver for the win. I would love to see more of Chimaera in a CHIKARA ring, as he clearly has the tools to make a name for himself on the east coast. ***½.
Colin Delaney defeated Stinky the Homeless Guy via pinfall (RKO) – Stinky did his typical entrance routine, collecting spare change from the crowd. I’m not ashamed to admit that I tossed in a couple coins, myself. Colin controlled Stinky for the majority of the match, but there were a few cool moves that Stinky was able to get in on him, including the Skid Mark. In a sequence that we have seen all to often in the WWE, Colin managed to catch Stinky with an RKO as he dove down for a diving shoulder block. Fun stuff, to say the least. **¼.
Lince Dorado defeated Prince Mustafa Ali via pinfall (Spanish Fly) – Expectations were high going into this match, as both competitors are two of the top high-fliers on the independent scene. In a spot that happened right in front of my face, Lince knocked Ali out of the ring with a dangerous headscissor. It was around this time when I noticed that Lince started favoring his leg. I’m not sure if this was legitimate or not, but I do hope he’s alright. Lince missed the shooting star press, so Ali looked to capitalize with the WMD, a reverse 450 splash. At the last second, Lince was able to get out of the way, though. Seconds later, Lince and Ali were on the top-rope once again, but this time, Lince caught him with the Spanish Fly to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Phenomenal match, right up there with Cloudy versus Chimaera as being the first round tournament bouts of the evening. ***½.
Brodie Lee defeated Cheech Hernandez via pinfall (gutwrench powerbomb) – Brodie Lee has been quite a dominating force in CHIKARA as of late, but Cheech really took him to the limit, making this an exciting exhibition match. After being unable to put Brodie away with a submission, Cheech got kicked hard in the face with a corner big boot. Brodie Lee then followed things up with a devastating gutwrench powerbomb to score the pin and the win. **¾.
Fire Ant and Soldier Ant beat Jagged and Shane Matthews via pinfall (Ants Go Marching) – There was a lot on the line going into this match, as the Colony had two points and 2.0 had one. Shane Matthews insisted that he could do better than Jagged in the beginning, so he got tagged in. Matthews locked in the Boston crab late in the match, but Soldier refused to give up. After some more near-falls, the Colony finally managed to pin Jagged with the Ants Go Marching in just under fifteen minutes. If you include their tag team victories in Japan, the Colony now have enough points to challenge the Osirian Portal for the Campeonatos de Parejas. Fun times. ***.
Following the match, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant confronted Ophidian, who was at the commentary booth, making it clear that they are definitely looking to become the next tag team champions of CHIKARA. For those who are not aware, the Colony challenged the Portal earlier in the year for the Campeonatos de Parejas, but were unsuccessful in their title match.
Colin Delaney beat Brendan Michael Thomas, Hydra, Dasher Hatfield, KC “Cloudy” Day, and Lince Dorado via pinfall (avalanche high speed prawn hold) to advance to the finals of YLC7 – The eliminations went as followed: Lince Dorado pinned Hydra with the Lynxsault, Colin Delaney submitted Lince Dorado to the STF, Dasher Hatfield pinned Cloudy with the Grand Slam, Hatfield made Brendan Michael Thomas to the CHIKARA Special, and lastly, Delaney won the match and earned himself a spot in the YLC7 finals by pinning Hatfield with an avalanche high speed prawn hold. The elimination of Lince Dorado seemingly came out of nowhere and he was treated by a paramedic, so I am guessing that he may have injured himself. Not to mention, he was being treated by a paramedic on the floor. Dasher kicked out of nearly everything Delaney through at him at the end, including Randy Orton’s punt, a Dreamer DDT, and a Swanton. Despite taking the final fall, Hatfield truly broke out last night and I think that there is a strong possibility that he could become Young Lions Cup Champion by the end of the year. As usual, this was a fantastic elimination match put on CHIKARA and a great way to end the show. ****.
I will be attending “Young Lions Cup VII: Night 2” today in Easton, as well, so expect to see a live review of that event later on tomorrow. A new “CHIKARA Chronicles” article will also be posted on Monday, so be sure to give that a look at, as well.
Not to mention, I picked up a copy of the “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity” show that took place on July 31st, 2009 at intermission. As soon as I get to watching that, I’ll start typing up a DVD review for that. With all that being said, you have a lot of CHIKARA-related stuff to look forward to on Pulse Wrestling within the next week or so. Hope you all enjoyed this live review and I look forward to reading your feedback, whether it’s below or at royreynolds@4sternstaging.com. I appreciate the support.
