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Official Indy DVD Thread

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#1 ·
#9,851 · (Edited)
Chikara Battle Not with Monsters

The Batiri vs. The Colony and Los Ice Creams: ***1/4

Missile Assault Ant vs. Saturyne: **

The Colony Xtreme Force and deviANT vs. 3.0 and Gran Akuma: ***1/4

Amasis vs. The Shard: ***1/2

Jigsaw vs. Archibald Peck: ***1/4

Young Lions Cup Match:
Mr. Touchdown(c) vs. Chiva Kid: ***

F.I.S.T. vs. The Spectral Envoy: ***

Chikara Grand Championship Match:
Eddie Kingston(c) vs. Green Ant: ****1/2

- By far the best Chikara show I've seen this year, this was so much fun to sit through and so easy to watch too. I might even go as far as stellar thanks to an amazing main event which I'll talk more about in detail.

- Opener on paper I was dreading the opener, all because of the horrid Baltri vs Los Ice Creams match I saw where the Ice Creams absolutely nonsensical bullshit antics on the outside and in the ring became more than just a huge distraction to the match but became utterly irritating to watch. But however I was pleasantly surprised by how good of an opener this was. Pleasantly surprised that Los Ice Creams comedy was kept at a more restrained and tolerable level which made me actually enjoy them for what they were and see the appeal rather than being utterly pissed off by them. This had a really good mixture of comedy and wrestling like Chikara is known for. The long chain with the crowd on the Colony and Los Ice Creams side was one of the funniest things I've seen all year. Really entertaining. That with the Colony bossing it like per normal made this very fun to watch.

- Second match was good for the time it got and told a nice little story with Missile Assault Ant going after the throat of Saturyne throughout who sold well. Missile Assault Ants over confidence and obsession with his name title costs him the match. This was really short though at only 3 or 4 mins so I can't give it a higher rating. But this was enjoyable for the time it got and served its purpose well. And I LOVE the chanting of the Colony Xtreme Force name titles which I'll say more about in the next match.

- The next match was another really fun tag match which is an ongoing theme in this show. Pretty similar to the opener as in a lot of great wrestling mixed with comedy. Grand Akuma is a really good working all around and carried a lot of the goodness for his team. I absolutely loved the interaction with deviANT and the Colony Xtreme Force members who would continually chant their name titles pissing off the fans but also deviANT who would get infuriated by it and start having a go at the other two ants. This was hilarious stuff overall. This also had some good post match storyline progression at the end with deviANT who directed traffic to get the win for his team being accepted as the leader of the Colony Xtreme Force at the expense of Soldier Ant who did not show at this event. Good stuff all around.

- Amasis vs The Shard was very very good, second best match of the night. Really fun and energetic fast paced match. Some really good nearfalls in here and both men have great great chemistry with each other, this could have been even better if given more time. I really loved this thing. Not much more to say. The crowd loved it as well.

- Jigsaw vs Archibald Peck was another good solid match. Good match from a booking standpoint to give Archie the strong win heading into the title match he would later have. Made him look really strong in his win against Jigsaw. There was one really crazy ass spot where Jigsaw hit the electric chair on to the ring apron on Archibald Peck which actually made me cringe, that's how loud the thud and the impact it was with Peck's head bouncing off the ring apron.

- Mr. Touchdown vs Chiva Kid was really good for the time it lasted but again it was short, the second shortest match of the night at 8 mins. So they weren't given a lot of time but they packed quite a bit of action here. Chiva was flying all over the place and is a fun little high flyer. Mr Touchdown is exceptional in the heel role, really really good in the heat segments keeping the match together and getting the necessary heat for the crowd to get behind Chiva. There was one botch near the finish which kinda messed up the momentum but they kept it together for Touchdown's finisher. Good match and could have been even better if given more time.

- F.I.S.T. vs. The Spectral Envoy I felt wasn't as good as what it could have been mainly due to Icarus and Chuck Taylor really draining the life out of this match. A lot of stupid antics by Chuck which was really distracting and took away from the match not to mention some of the stuff he did made absolutely no sense whatsoever to the match itself. Icarus's timing and some of his bumping was really out of synch, his bumping in general for some of the moves was really bad which is probably me being picky but it really irked me throughout the whole match. Thankfully Gargano and FIST kept it together. The second half the match it got better as it picked up and the finishing exchanges were really enjoyable. They did enough to outweigh the negatives for me. Great great finish involving Gargano and Sugar Dunkerton where they argued when Sugar was attending to Icarus on the apron which allowed Hallowicked to sneak the pin on Gargano. Loved that finish and the post match afterwards was also great, really good storyline progression with FIST. Gargano is such a bastard I love it! Good overall despite the negatives.

- Now the main event...Kingston vs Green Ant for the Chikara Grand Championship....this was phenomenal. Absolutely stellar throughout. This had A+ pyschology and story telling throughout the entire match. There was absolutely no wasted motion and no wasted moves. From when the bell rang Green Ant going right after the injured leg of Kingston and going for the high impact strikes and high flying moves. Showing how badly he wanted to win this match with the chances he took and the urgency he showed going right after the leg of Kingston trying to put him away as quick as possible. Kingston's selling throughout the match was utterly fantastic. Someone like Drake Younger could learn how to sell properly from watching this match with Kingston. There was not a single move that Kingston did which looked unrealistic due to how Kingston sold his injured leg, regardless if it was a strike, a high impact grappling move or a high flying move, Kingston's selling meant that there wasn't a single moment where you could get frustrated and not suspend your belief that Kingston wasn't actually injured. You could get sucked into the story of the match because of that alone. Green Ant overall is just a fantastic and underrated worker overall. He absolutely gets pro wrestling from a working standpoint, psychology and all. It is the little details about his offense towards Kingston which really makes me appreciate how great he is. From wasting little motion at the start of the match, to going back to the strikes to the head which worked throughout the match to get Kingston off his feet for a pin attempt or to work on the injured leg further. To switching his frog splash to aim right on top of Kingston's legs to set up the cloverleaf and when he aimed at Kingston's other leg when Kingston was on the turnbuckle which made Kingston full off and buckle on his injured leg. Throughout the match EVERY SINGLE PIN Green Ant made he hooked the injured leg and torqued on it to cause even more pressure. Such a simple but yet brilliant little nuance which added so much to this match. Kingston throughout played a great role in getting frustrated throughout the match, trying to nail high impact strikes and moves to take out Green Ant and trying desperately create space so Green Ant could not go after his injury. His desperation getting so much to the point of taking shortcuts and deliberately going out his way to hurt Green Ant, dare I say going a little more heel; raking the eyes of Green Ant and that devastating powerbomb to the outside. The ending was also played out beautifully to which the story of the match progressed. With Green Ant's urgency and will to win, Kingston nailing the backdrop driver but Green Ant refusing to stay down, trying to stand up and get his balance but not being able to retain consciousness whilst staggering desperately not wanting to lose before Kingston nails him with the back fist. This was a stunning stunning match, one of the best I've seen this year. The only thing I could critique this match on is I wish the Cloverleaf was teased a bit longer and was more drawn out as it could have added more drama to the match overall. But that's a minor complaint, this match overall was fantastic.

- Overall a great show from Chikara, super fun consistent card with an amazing main event. Well worth watching.

Obfuscation/HayleySabin is gonna be shocked how much I just praised a Chikara show.
 
#9,853 ·
Just finished Chikara's While the Dawn is Breaking. Show started off GREAT with Touchdown/Saturyne but never escaped mediocrity afterwards. I really don't feel like posting a whole review because of how frustrated it made me so I'll just run through a few things.

- Akuma/Hammermeier was great fun up until the puzzling finish. **

- Peck/Donst was terrible, the first 6-man went WAY too long, & Hatfield/Kobald was an absolute waste of my time. 2nd 6-man did nothing for me, didn't care about anything they were doing.

Ultramantis - "that's at least 150 lbs coming down on Kingston!"
Chikarason - "... seems like a bit of a low end estimate"
Ultramantis - "I'm sorry... I'm not very good with mathematics." :lmao

- Kingston/Steen was fine but what the hell's the big deal? Steen works on the leg for 10 minutes, Kingston wins with 3 moves that wouldn't have put Steen away in any other company on the face of the planet. ** 3/4

- Holy shit, 3.0 don't really have any good qualities do they? Matthews is annoying as hell and the match was all Bucks. I didn't care about this... at all.
 
#9,873 ·
I'm honestly shocked you watched everything else after Touchdown/Saturyne. Didn't we warn you? :durant3
 
#9,854 ·
Does Kingston still finish with the backfist? If so then ugh. I've never been a fan of that move(in Pro Wrestling) but Kingston's looks so bad to me he doesn't do it with any torque or at least it doesn't look like it.

From all that I've seen of him Green Ant is someone I'd love to see in Dragon Gate; see what CIMA can do with him and they could make him an American Shenlong lol. I've also been thinking that with CHIKARA on hiatus/gone they need to re-add JigWicked, pair up Taylor & Cassidy and witness greatness. Seriously:

The Young Bucks
EITA & Tomahawk T.T
CIMA & AR Fox
Ricochet & Rich Swann
The Super Smash Brothers
The Premiere Athletes- Brian Cage & Tony Nese
JigWicked/The Sekigun- Jigsaw & Hallowicked
Chuck N'Orange/Gentlemen's Club- Chucky T & Orange Cassidy

That'd be one hell of a tag team division not counting DGJapan fly-ins. I hope that the "rookie" they're sending in July is Kotoka, one of the best things about DG this year.
 
#9,856 ·
Does Kingston still finish with the backfist? If so then ugh. I've never been a fan of that move(in Pro Wrestling) but Kingston's looks so bad to me he doesn't do it with any torque or at least it doesn't look like it.
Yeah, it was a spinning back fist to the back of the head after a back suplex into the corner, but Steen just sort of fell into the buckle cause both guys are so big. haha

-----------------

Bout time you got around to watching that Cody, although it's ASW 9, not 11. :p Really glad someone else noticed Del Sol/Perkins was a total sleeper and an excellent match. Gets overshadowed by two others from the card. The finish was so sexy, mainly because I've never seen it executed so well.

Are you telling me you didn't think the triple suplex spot in the 6-man wasn't hilarious? I laughed hysterically at Steen falling so quickly. :eek:
 
#9,855 · (Edited)
Can't say I have much to disagree with you there except for myself liking the Team Frightning vs Piece of Hate/DeviAnt trios match. Kingston vs Steen III wasn't special and didn't exceed past solid & the main event was probably the flattest Young Bucks match in like...forever. Oh and I didn't hate Donst vs Peck. I liked it; only thought it was too short. It really dawned on me how I liked all of Jakob's matches this year. Moment he started to work in a more serious manner, the matches worked. Not that I didn't enjoy green, shenanigan filled Jakob a year or so ago. Arguably the weakest Chikara show of the year - although it does have a stellar match in Touchdown vs Saturnye, while Watchmaker had about two good matches and that's all. Take your pick.

----------​

Here are a quick overview of my thoughts on Night One after a second watch to rack up with my review on Night Two:

PWG All Star Weekend IX Night One​

1) Kevin Steen vs Paul London ~ ***3/4


2) The Young Bucks vs Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano ~ ****


3) Eddie Edwards vs Jay Lethal ~ *1/2


4) Inner-City Machine Guns vs Samuray Del Sol & AR Fox ~ **


5) Roderick Strong vs Trent? ~ **


6) Future Shock vs Unbreakable F'n Machines ~ **1/4


7) Best of Three Series: Match Three - Guerrilla Warfare Match
Sami Callihan vs Drake Younger ~ ****1/4


PWG All Star Weekend IX Night Two​

1) Jay Lethal vs Willie Mack ~ *1/4


2) Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano vs The RockNES Monsters ~ ***1/4


3) Paul London vs Trent? ~ **3/4


4) The Unbreakable F'n Steen Machines vs The Inner-City Machine Guns & AR Fox ~ **1/2


5) TJ Perkins vs Samuray Del Sol ~ ***1/2


6) Sami Callihan vs Kyle O'Reilly ~ *


7) PWG Tag Team Championship
Young Bucks(c) vs Dojo Bros ~ ****


8) PWG World Championship
Adam Cole(c) vs Drake Younger ~ ***


~ Opener was bleh. It started off hot then quickly became what I figured it to be; bad & uninteresting. FIST vs RockNES was FUN. Yuma looked out of his element yet again - the other three made up for him not pulling his weight. Good match. London vs Trent? was some more fun. Trent? can be vanilla as an overall package, but it was London who made this come together nicely. It went 18+ and didn't even feel like it. Solid match & easy to watch. I love Paul London so much.

~ I really don't have too much to add to the six man. It was a light-hearted affair. No major problems with it at any point. I simply felt there was nothing too special about it. The guys did their thing and that's that. Best part of the match was the succession of 450 splashes. Swann's from the ground, Fox's from the top rope, & Ricochet's DOUBLE aka 630 splash to finish it off. Beautiful. Finish of course put a smile on my face; that's a given.

~ Goodness TJP vs Del Sol was the biggest surprise out of the weekend. Straightforward wrestling match and I really got behind it. Those two went out and did work. I'd dig a rematch if Del Sol wasn't signed already. Idk. Funny, story of TJ Perkins career. Known to be a good wrestler for years, yet his best work always seems to go unnoticed. Always a gem even when his match is one of the best on the show.

~ Callihan vs O'Reilly was a stinker. More like the world's UNINTERSTING match tbf. It was pretty bad yeah, but I find it more like "who gives a shit about this?" than anything. Nearly 25 minutes. GTFO. When I'm sitting on my hands during a Sami Callihan match, well, something went wrong. I was more annoyed during Callihan vs Hollister II from this year, but really, this is probably the weakest match from Callihan this year. Mostly b/c there is no reason for anyone to try and see it.

~ Oh look Bucks vs Dojo Bros. And it was excellent. NOBODY IS SURPRISED. Not as great as their Mystery Vortex match, imo. Still...that isn't a negative. Bumped up my rating thanks to the 450 on Knox. <333333333 Bucks for shenanigans like that. Adds so much more to their ultra dickhead personas. Remember when these guys were faces? Yeah, me neither. YOUNG BUCKS DO IT AGAIN~! (and so do Dojo Bros)

~ I can see why the main event has been deemed underwhelming by some folks. I had a good time watching it. Build up Drake's story well. Anyone to thwart Cole, fans don't care. Only they adore Drake so that emphasis was heightened to a mad degree here. Shocked at Cole's kickout of the second Drake's Landing. Glad it ended quickly after that as I was worried it was veering into overkill territory. Throw in the best possible finish for this match and I was left happy. Very like DDT4 with Bucks vs Generico & Steen. Sucked the air out of the fans and it ruled all. Good match and a good end to a solid weekend of wrestling.
 
#9,858 ·
Watched AIW "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gang$ta" today. Haven't typed up anything, but NIXON/Youthanazia & Delaney was awesome, and Page/Alexander stole the show IMO. Must say I was kind of disappointed by Masada/Dickinson. Felt really flat, especially when you consider the other matches that night.

Random question: But who's the heel in the Whitmer/Dickinson feud? Only started following AIW recently, and by the pre-show promos, it sounds like Dickinson is but he got cheers when he came out.
 
#9,859 ·
I'm new myself but I think it isn't a "heel vs face" type deal. Only a personal vendetta among both. Although IF someone had to be the heel, it is clearly Dickinson.

Page vs Alexander brutalized each other. That I got a kick out of. It didn't extend past much of it being a slew of nutty spots though. Also, Page should never do an ace crusher onto a guard rail. Spot looked terrible. It looks terrible when anyone does that move onto a weapon. RKO, ace crusher, diamond cutter, doesn't matter what you call it. Doing it onto a prop is the worst. It hurts the guy doing it more than the opponent.

Six man match was awesome. RSP is a man bumping machine.
 
#9,860 ·
James Gibson vs. Roderick Strong(ROH Unforgettable):**3/4
I went in thinking this was going to be the sweetness. I feel like a few years ago I would have drooled over this match but I don't know there was something wrong here. I feel weird giving it shit rating but I thought it was pretty blah. Felt like a lot of moves with not a lot of connection for me. There was a few good things such as Gibson periodically coming down in a heap. After getting hit by Strong. Overall though I was wondering why so many things were just happening. Strong always works the back and I feel like it rarely is a key part of the match. I know it leads into the Strong Hold but shouldn't it be more than that? I don't know. Do enjoy Gibson quite a bit but there was something about this match that I didn't get.

Colt Cabana vs. Jack Evans(ROH Unforgettable)
This match won't get a rating. I'm beginning to understand why some people don't do ratings. I tend not to really enjoy either man so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this match at all and even thought about skipping it. So glad I didn't because even though this was essentially a Cabana squash it was such a fantastic one with Evans being Gumby and Cabana stretching the piss out of him. Cabana literally folded Evans in two. UGHASDDSGFSFDG
 
#9,861 ·
I refuse to believe Gibson/Strong is that low... even though I've never seen it. haha. Heard nothing but uber positive reviews on that puppy. I always like the fact the Roddy always works the back in all his matches. It's constant psychology that works towards a finisher of his, much like what you see from Del Rio in just about every one of his matches. It may get repetitive but I'll be damned if it doesn't work.
 
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