{"id":3049,"date":"2015-06-20T15:02:27","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T14:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=3049"},"modified":"2015-06-20T15:02:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T14:02:27","slug":"chikara-15-2-national-pro-wrestling-day-2015-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=3049","title":{"rendered":"Chikara 15.2 – “National Pro Wrestling Day 2015”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preamble:<\/em>\u00a0Well, I did\u00a0say these would be erratic.<\/p>\n

National Pro Wrestling Day is\u00a0Chikara’s annual free charity show, which basically means they run the live show for donations, and there are regular exhortations to donate to the year’s selected charity. \u00a0It’s\u00a0notionally also a celebration of pro wrestling generally. \u00a0This is the third one. \u00a0The first two were\u00a0(in storyline) not Chikara shows\u00a0– this was terribly useful because it meant there was an actual show where they could pay off the shutdown angle in 2014. \u00a0This year it’s an official Chikara show,\u00a0and pretty much a regular one\u00a0with a couple of outsiders and not much in the way of\u00a0explicit angles (though some stuff is set up for the future). \u00a0Anyone with a complicated story pretty much skips this show entirely.<\/p>\n

There are probably two reasons for that. \u00a0First, it’s\u00a0going for a casual audience so there’s no point doing anything too story-heavy. \u00a0Second,\u00a0as I mentioned last time, the production on Chikara’s first in-house show in January was not, shall we say, 100% successful. \u00a0Shortly after this show, Chikara announced the year-long tournament which will dominate 2015’s storylines. \u00a0With hindsight, this\u00a0looks a bit like a low key show designed to\u00a0get some more kinks out of the system. \u00a0Camerawork is indeed better than last time, but the sound levels are still a bit dodgy. \u00a0It’ll be fine by March.<\/p>\n

When and where?<\/em> \u00a0It’s the afternoon of 8 February 2015 – two weeks after the last show, a month before the next one, in an unusually quiet start to the year. \u00a0(They’ll be doing four shows in a weekend by April.) \u00a0We’re in a gym in\u00a0Norristown, Pennsylvania, where Chikara’s discontinued Wrestling Is Fun brand ran a few shows last year. \u00a0Turnout is\u00a0decent. \u00a0No set, but it’s got a nice balcony to make entrances from.<\/p>\n

For no apparent reason,\u00a0Missile Assault Ant<\/strong> is hanging around at ringside making a nuisance of himself during the show intro.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Juan Francisco de Coronado v. Fire Ant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Backstory:<\/em>\u00a0Juan lost his last two matches (albeit to\u00a0top tier\u00a0opposition),\u00a0so he could use a win. \u00a0Missile Assault Ant is still\u00a0at ringside. \u00a0His\u00a0whole Colony: Xtreme Force stable are intentionally obnoxious knock-offs of Fire Ant’s\u00a0Colony group, and for obvious reasons there’s a long-simmering feud.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em>\u00a0Juan pins Fire Ant with his German suplex finisher after interference from Missile Assault Ant in 7:41. \u00a0A straightforward opening match,\u00a0well executed.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em>\u00a0Juan gets a much-needed win, against somebody who’s credible but won’t take any real damage from it because he’s mainly a tag wrestler. \u00a0Missile will be back later in the show, but\u00a0with the benefit of\u00a0hindsight the stuff with Fire Ant doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Mike Quackenbush<\/strong>\u00a0comes out to\u00a0give an Ambassador for Independent Professional Wrestling award to some guy I’ve never heard of, whose actual role and function is not terribly clear from anything Quack says.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0The Bloc Party (The Proletariat Boar of Moldova & Prakash Sabar) v. The Osirian Portal (Ophidian & Amasis).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Backstory:<\/em>\u00a0The Osirian Portal\u00a0won their last two tag matches, so\u00a0under Chikara’s points system, a win here will get them a\u00a0shot at the Devastation Corporation’s tag titles. \u00a0The Bloc Party, making their first appearance of 2015, are a trio of masked Eastern European rudos. \u00a0The Boar is the power guy. \u00a0Sabar notionally represents\u00a0Georgia, but is originally from Pakistan, on top of which\u00a0his\u00a0actual<\/em> gimmick is that he’s an undisguised\u00a0X-Pac clone (complete with sticky-out tongue built into his mask, and DX colours). \u00a0The Party’s third member Mr Azerbaijan isn’t at ringside. \u00a0They’ve been\u00a0largely\u00a0directionless since last year, when their tecnico counterparts the Baltic Siege were annihilated by the Flood.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em>\u00a0In a pre-match\u00a0skit, the\u00a0Portal\u00a0propose\u00a0a “Sexiest Man Alive 2015” competition, which is a riff on Azerbaijan’s gimmick. \u00a0They have a sash and tiara for the winner. \u00a0Amasis and Sabar agree to\u00a0compete\u00a0under “Azerbaijan rules”, with which the referee is surprisingly familiar. \u00a0It\u00a0ends in a no contest when the Boar interferes\u00a0in a dance off. \u00a0Finally, the match starts with the Party\u00a0quickly taking out Ophidian. \u00a0Sabar steals the sash and tiara. \u00a0The Bloc Party double-team Amasis for a few minutes\u00a0until heel\u00a0miscommunication lets Amasis hit a 450\u00a0splash for a clean pin on Sabar\u00a0in 4:32.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em> Well, that’s an odd way to\u00a0get a title shot – a skit based on the gimmick of the Bloc Party member who\u00a0isn’t<\/em>\u00a0there, followed by a short match where Ophidian never tags\u00a0in. \u00a0You have to wonder if they were working around an injury or something. \u00a0I can’t quite fathom why they did a no contest in the Sexiest Man contest either\u00a0–\u00a0Sabar adds the stolen sash and tiara to his already convoluted gimmick from here on, so why not just have him cheat to win?\u00a0 At any rate, the Portal will get their title shot\u00a0on the next show. \u00a0The Bloc Party’s\u00a0losing streak is\u00a0setting up\u00a0a story where Juan Francisco will take them under his wing.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Max Smashmaster v Shynron.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Backstory:<\/em>\u00a0They were on opposite sides in an\u00a08-man tag in\u00a0the last show. \u00a0Max is\u00a0one of the tag champs, who are 80s throwback monster heels clearly inspired by Demolition. \u00a0This is a rare solo outing for him. \u00a0Shynron’s a high flyer.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em>\u00a0Speed versus power, obviously. \u00a0They have an even match,\u00a0until Missile Assault Ant distracts Shynron and Max pins him with a piledriver in 5:15. \u00a0Short and sweet.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0upshot:<\/em> I’ve no idea what the point was of Missile interfering in two matches, because\u00a0it doesn’t come up again. \u00a0What actually happens is that he goes on a losing\u00a0streak until Kevin Condron takes an interest in him – in which case, it would have been better for him to simply wrestle on this show and get pinned. \u00a0Max’s win gives him two points, but\u00a0he’s yet to go for a third, presumably because he’s preoccupied\u00a0with the tag titles.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Drew Gulak v Ashley Remington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Backstory:\u00a0<\/em>Gulak\u00a0is an outsider – a\u00a0serious-minded mat wrestler and former\u00a0CZW\u00a0Champion. \u00a0Remington is an unbelievably cheesy yet sincerely nice\u00a01970s yachtsman. \u00a0Everyone loves him, he’s so sportsmanlike that he breaks on the count of 1, and he gives defeated opponents commemorative fruit baskets. \u00a0Only in Chikara would this be a babyface gimmick and actually work.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em>\u00a0Gulak is irritated by Remington’s schtick and aims to outwrestle him. \u00a0But Remington can hang, and dials back the goofiness to have\u00a0an\u00a0evenly matched\u00a0technical battle. \u00a0A series of near-fall reversals culminates in Remington\u00a0getting the pin at 9:24. \u00a0Great match. \u00a0Afterwards, Gulak gracefully accepts his fruit basket.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em>\u00a0Gulak’s going to be a regular this series, so this\u00a0reintroduces\u00a0him while taking the opportunity to use him as a quasi-outsider. \u00a0Remington gets a clean win over a serious and credible opponent, and has\u00a02 points towards\u00a0a\u00a0title shot. \u00a0 We won’t see him again until May (because he’s also Dalton Castle in ROH, and he’s kind of busy these days), but his title hunt will be picked up then.<\/p>\n

– Gavin Loudspeaker\u00a0does a promo putting over the\u00a0Seva Foundation.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Los Ice Creams (El Hijo Del\u00a0Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr) v. Old Fashioned (Jervis Cottonbelly & Marion Fontaine).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/em>\u00a0These teams fought twice in 2014. \u00a0Old Fashioned won both times, which is hardly surprising, because Los Ice Creams haven’t won a match in years. \u00a0Notionally, their gimmick is that they’re the sons of the legendary Mexican luchador El Ice Cream, but basically they’re\u00a0absurdist jobber clowns. \u00a0Technically they’re rudos, but they cheat so ineffectually that everyone loves them anyway. \u00a0Old Fashioned are\u00a0Chikara regular Jervis Cottonbelly, The World’s Sweetest Man, and occasional guest Marion Fontaine, who has a similar\u00a0antiquarian grappler gimmick.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em> Old Fashioned deliver\u00a0a debatably audible pre-match promo,\u00a0the\u00a0gist being that after the match, Jervis will be\u00a0doing a recitation from\u00a0Romeo & Juliet<\/em>, dedicated to\u00a0Princess Kimberlee<\/strong>, who\u00a0happens to be manning the merch stand. \u00a0This is Kimber Lee from CZW and elsewhere; in\u00a0Chikara, she’s a dippy self-proclaimed\u00a0princess in a tiara and tutu, which she’s really very good at. \u00a0Kimber is clearly\u00a0delighted by Jervis’\u00a0gentlemanly attentions. \u00a0Somewhere along the line this ends up as a stipulation, where\u00a0if Old Fashioned win, Los Ice Creams must join in with the\u00a0Shakespeare rendition. \u00a0Of course, it’s Los Ice Creams, so really it’s more “when” than “if”. \u00a0(And yes, the crowd cheers the prospect of Shakespeare. \u00a0It’s Chikara.)<\/p>\n

The match is the usual Los Ice Creams\u00a0lunacy where they end up wrestling each other,\u00a0offer to catch their opponents on dives, and\u00a0triumphantly celebrate the smallest bit of offence they actually manage to get in. \u00a0Kayfabe is not rigidly adhered to. \u00a0Eventually Old Fashioned score simultaneous pins with side Russian leg sweeps\u00a0for the inevitable win at 8:27. \u00a0Los Ice Creams\u00a0honour the stip and gamely attempt to participate in the Shakespeare recital, despite obviously not knowing any of the words. \u00a0Kimber seems oblivious to anything being wrong, is hugely impressed, and pats everyone on the head. \u00a0All\u00a0good stuff.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em>\u00a0With hindsight, this is the most plot-heavy match on the show, because it’s setting up the formation of Kimber’s Crown & Court stable, comprising herself, Jervis and Ice Creams. \u00a0It also sets up\u00a0the fact that Jervis is smitten with Kimber and (by implication) tells us all to quietly forget about the fact that Kimber is supposed to be dating Lance Steel from Wrestling Is Fun –\u00a0a rare example of a Chikara dropped plot.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0Blaster McMassive (w\/Max Smashmaster) v Mark Angelosetti.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/em> McMassive is the other half of the tag champs. \u00a0Angelosetti\u00a0was one of the guys they beat.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em> Max interferes freely, Mark’s tag partner Dasher Hatfield<\/strong>\u00a0comes to his rescue, and it’s a double DQ\u00a0in 4:30. \u00a0Both teams agree to find more partners and return later.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em>\u00a0It’s an angle to set up the main event.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0Jenny Rose v Princess Kimberlee.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The back story:<\/i>\u00a0None. \u00a0Rose is a\u00a0visiting indie wrestler.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em>\u00a0Short and solid. \u00a0\u00a0Kimberlee wins clean with the\u00a0Alligator Clutch in 5:21.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em>\u00a0More build for\u00a0Kimber going into the COTI tournament, as well as\u00a0establishing her\u00a0finisher.<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0Flying Francis (Francis & Francis)\u00a0v. N_R_G (Race Jaxon & Hype Rockwell)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The back story:<\/i>\u00a0Flying Francis are\u00a0visiting indie wrestlers from Quebec. \u00a0The ring announcer and commentators bill them as “Francis and Francis”, but the official results page lists them as Matt Novak & Branden O’Connor. \u00a0Oops. \u00a0N_R_G, of course,\u00a0are still doing\u00a0their gimmick where Hype is permanently exhausted from doing all the driving, and Race is ludicrously\u00a0amped up and seemingly oblivious to his partner’s problems.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em> Sound quality on the commentary is really bad for this match. \u00a0Flying Francis quickly establish themselves as the heels. \u00a0They’re pretty good, with some slick double teams. \u00a0Jaxon hits\u00a0an overenthusiastic dive to the outside that nearly takes out several fans. \u00a0Rockwell summons up a few minutes of energy after getting the hot tag,\u00a0and\u00a0N_R_G\u00a0win with\u00a0their Maximum Overdrive\u00a0combo in 8:24.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/i> N_R_G’s best straight competitive match,\u00a0continuing their build, and playing down the exhaustion schtick for a change. \u00a0That’s their second straight win, so\u00a0their next tag match will have\u00a0a title shot on the line.<\/p>\n

9. \u00a0The Wrecking Crew\u00a0(Max Smashmaster, Blaster McMassive & Oleg the Usurper), The Bloc Party (Mr Azerbaijan, Prakash Sabar & The Proletariat Boar of Moldova), Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr & El Hijo Del Ice Cream), Juan Francisco de Coronado, Missile Assault Ant & Shayne Hawke v. The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Mark Angelosetti), The Colony (Fire Ant & Worker Ant), The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian),\u00a0Old Fashioned (Jervis Cottonbelly & Marion Fontaine), Princess Kimberlee, Argus & Shane Storm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The back story:<\/em>\u00a0Yes, a 22-man tag. \u00a0Well, they did say they were going to get some partners and come back. \u00a0Storm and Hawke are retired\u00a0wrestlers from earlier years making a one-night-only guest appearance. \u00a0Argus is a rookie\u00a0with a mute lizard gimmick (honest). \u00a0This is his main roster debut, though he did wrestle a couple of times for Wrestling is Fun last year.<\/p>\n

The match:<\/em> It’s a comedy main event, obviously, and the sheer unwieldiness of it is largely the joke. \u00a0There are a couple of story points in here, though, as\u00a0Oleg continues his slow turn by\u00a0giving a genuine handshake to his opponent, and Los Ice Creams (who are only technically rudos anyway)\u00a0stop their teammates from\u00a0double-teaming Kimber. \u00a0There’s a 22-man chain of submission holds which ends up extending to most\u00a0of the audience. \u00a0(“I’m surprised the referee is allowing this,” muses lead commentator Leonard F Chikarason.) \u00a0We’ll be seeing variations of this spot a\u00a0lot\u00a0<\/em>in 2015, but this is pretty much the ur-version that works the best. \u00a0There’s an awful lot\u00a0of Shayne Hawke in this match, considering how long he’s been retired, but the guy’s got a ton of charisma, so no complaints. \u00a0The tecnicos win (well, the other side\u00a0does<\/em> have Los Ice Creams), with Argus pinning Hawke after a splash from a human pyramid in 17:05.<\/p>\n

The upshot:<\/em> It’s a fun capstone for a semi-detached show, simple as that. \u00a0But Argus at least gets to do something noticeable in his debut, and the\u00a0formation of Crown & Court is quietly furthered as well.<\/p>\n

Bottom line:<\/strong>\u00a0If NPWD was a quasi-PPV in the previous two years, this time it’s pretty much an episode of Smackdown. \u00a0That made it a bit underwhelming at the time, but re-watching it with lower expectations, it stands up better. \u00a0There’s some fun wrestling on it and it’s relatively newcomer-friendly, though the\u00a0sound issues on the first few shows of this year continue to grate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preamble:\u00a0Well, I did\u00a0say these would be erratic. National Pro Wrestling Day is\u00a0Chikara’s annual free charity show, which basically means they run the live show for donations, and there are regular exhortations to donate to the year’s selected charity. \u00a0It’s\u00a0notionally also a celebration of pro wrestling generally. \u00a0This is the third one. \u00a0The first two were\u00a0(in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrestling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3049"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3071,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3049\/revisions\/3071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}