{"id":3376,"date":"2016-03-30T22:16:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T21:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=3376"},"modified":"2016-03-30T22:16:12","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T21:16:12","slug":"chikara-15-13-shock-and-aww","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=3376","title":{"rendered":"Chikara 15.13: “Shock and Aww”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, I know I said I was going to start skipping the lesser shows, and I know I haven’t skipped one yet. \u00a0But Shock and Aww\u00a0<\/em>is an\u00a0important show in Chikara’s 2015 season, for reasons which will shortly become clear. \u00a0It also\u00a0has a ludicrously catchy theme tune. \u00a0(“Wrestling is so much fun! \u00a0Shock and aww! \u00a0Shock and aww!”) \u00a0Anyway,\u00a0we can at least start skipping past\u00a0some of the less\u00a0important matches.<\/p>\n

It’s 14 June 2015, the day after the previous show<\/a>. \u00a0We’re in the Bethel\u00a0Park Family Center in Indianapolis. \u00a0It’s\u00a0basically a basketball court. \u00a0There’s a decent size crowd, though\u00a0you wouldn’t know it from the hard cam, which somehow contrives to keep most of\u00a0them out of shot.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Challenge of the Immortals: The Arcane Horde v. Crown & Court.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, recap: Challenge of the Immortals\u00a0is a year-long ten-team double-round-robin tournament. \u00a0It’s teams of four, but team captains have to agree which members\u00a0take\u00a0part in each match. \u00a0Everyone on the winning team gets a “Golden Opportunity”, ie a\u00a0Money in the Bank title shot. \u00a0We’re now one third of the way through. \u00a0The\u00a0Nightmare Warriors and the Wrecking Crew share the lead on\u00a05 points, though\u00a0the Warriors have a match in hand. \u00a0The BDK, Dasher’s Dugout, the Battle Hive and the\u00a0United Nations are all on 3. \u00a0The Snake Pit, the Gentlemen’s Club, Crown & Court and the Arcane Horde are all on 2. \u00a0So this is a match between two of the teams in joint last place.<\/p>\n

The Horde’s basic problem is\u00a0that team captain UltraMantis Black tried to be too clever in the draft, and wound up with the Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama), a tag team who don’t like or trust him, and Oleg the Usurper, a powerful dimwit who\u00a0is still under contract to the Wrecking Crew’s manager. \u00a0Crown & Court’s problem is that while Princess Kimberlee and Jervis Cottonbelly are doing their best,\u00a0Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr and El Hijo del Ice Cream) are the biggest losers\u00a0on the roster. \u00a0It’s a trios match: Mantis\u00a0and the\u00a0Batiri against\u00a0Jervis and the\u00a0Ice Creams.<\/p>\n

In a backstage\u00a0segment, the Batiri complain that Mantis is wasting their time with this stupid team. \u00a0Mantis asks what\u00a0he needs to do to keep them onside. \u00a0They\u00a0whisper something, and he\u00a0cheerfully responds “Fine! \u00a0It’s a deal!” \u00a0The Batiri seem pleasantly surprised. \u00a0In several months time, we’ll find out that they\u00a0asked him to raise their teammate Kobald from the dead; he was killed by Deucalion in 2014.<\/p>\n

The match is\u00a0pretty average. \u00a0The Horde\u00a0dominate against\u00a0Los Ice Creams, who are full blown clown mode tonight. \u00a0Anyway, Mantis and Kodama botch a double team on Jervis, and Mantis’s leg\u00a0seems to\u00a0get trapped at an awkward angle against the ropes. \u00a0It doesn’t look that bad, but he\u00a0bails and never\u00a0returns to the ring. \u00a0The Batiri continue the match without him, and Kodama pins Ice Cream Jr cleanly in 10:09, to potentially turn the corner for the Horde, and\u00a0continue the Ice Creams’ unparalleled losing\u00a0streak. \u00a0Mantis is still not standing. \u00a0The Batiri carry him to the back.<\/p>\n

Here endeth the career of UltraMantis Black (2002-2015). \u00a0He’ll\u00a0keep showing up as a non-wrestler into 2016, but this is it so\u00a0far as in-ring wrestling\u00a0is concerned (at least as at time of writing). \u00a0\u00a0Mantis is hugely entertaining,\u00a0he’s\u00a0been with Chikara literally since day 1, and he really deserved to get a proper farewell match. \u00a0It’s a terrible shame that it ended like this.<\/p>\n

But it also causes huge problems for the rest of the\u00a02015 season, because even\u00a0though Mantis is\u00a0wrestling in the opening match with a struggling\u00a0team, he’s a nexus of storylines. \u00a0Obviously, he’s tied to the other three members of the Arcane Horde, plus\u00a0Kobald, who does indeed return later in the year. \u00a0But through Oleg, he also has a feud with the four members of the Wrecking Crew, plus their manager Sidney Bakabella. \u00a0And\u00a0his\u00a0archenemy Hallowicked, the former acolyte who was\u00a0magically\u00a0turned against him, is now the Grand Champion. \u00a0So not only is Mantis feuding with\u00a0Hallowicked’s Nightmare Warriors team, he’s also the obvious long-term challenger for the title. \u00a0There’s no way of knowing what would have happened if he’d stuck around, but\u00a0the first half of 2015 sure looks like\u00a0the set-up for him to overcome the array of obstacles, pull his team together, and come back to confront Hallowicked for the title.<\/p>\n

None of that can happen now; the champion no longer has an arch-challenger waiting in the wings; and other\u00a0characters will have to be diverted from their own planned stories to plug the gaps. \u00a0It doesn’t help, either, that the round robin tournament format dictates that a lot of matches still have to happen whether they make sense or not,\u00a0making it much harder than usual to get to a revised endpoint. \u00a0It’s a challenge. \u00a0But there’s still six months to the season finale.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Chikara\u00a0Young Lions Cup: Heidi Lovelace (c) v. Argus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Young Lions Cup is Chikara’s secondary singles title, with an under-25 age limit. \u00a0It’s a weird hybrid thing: there’s a tournament every year or so, and in between,\u00a0it’s defended\u00a0like a regular title. \u00a0Young Lions\u00a0Cup matches don’t count towards earning a\u00a0Grand Championship shot, presumably because they’re in a separate division. \u00a0Heidi won the Cup at the end of\u00a02014, but hasn’t defended it until now because she was in Japan for several months. \u00a0Spoilers:\u00a0she’s going to\u00a0hold on to it\u00a0for the rest of the year without any great drama, and\u00a0it’s mainly just a\u00a0way of pushing her as a star.<\/p>\n

Argus is a fellow tecnico, and the\u00a0protege of veteran wrestler Ophidian. \u00a0They go\u00a0back and forth, with Argus\u00a0acting as\u00a0de facto<\/em> heel by going after Heidi’s\u00a0injured shoulder. \u00a0She fights him off and pins him clean with the Heidicanrana in 5:56. \u00a0Fine for what it was, but it seems awfully short\u00a0given that Argus\u00a0has been\u00a0pushed as someone\u00a0who can hang in there with the\u00a0Wrecking Crew. \u00a0Fair enough for Heidi to beat him, but you’d think it’d take her longer; if they just wanted to give her a decisive win in her first defence, I’m not sure Argus was the best choice.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Challenge of the Immortals: The Nightmare Warriors v. The Wrecking Crew.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

These two teams are\u00a0the tournament leaders. \u00a0Since Hallowicked is defending his title in the main event, the Nightmare Warriors are fielding\u00a0Silver Ant, Frightmare and Blind Rage. \u00a0The Wrecking Crew, for some reason, are\u00a0Max Smashmaster, Flex Rumblecrunch and Jaka. \u00a0You’d think it’d make more sense to use Blaster McMassive instead of Jaka, and field the reigning King of Trios champions. \u00a0I don’t really get the thinking there.<\/p>\n

You’ll recall that Silver Ant is a tecnico who was drafted to the Nightmare Warriors because they wanted to recruit him, and he’s consistently been the weak link on their team despite his best efforts. \u00a0Backstage, Hallowicked tells Silver Ant to embrace his dark side. \u00a0Silver Ant insists that he wants nothing to do with the Warriors’ weird religious rituals, but concedes that he needs to bring\u00a0more\u00a0aggression\u00a0to his matches. \u00a0Hallowicked seems happy enough with that, for now.<\/p>\n

Since\u00a0Silver Ant is the only tecnico in the match, it’s a slightly odd dynamic. \u00a0Frightmare\u00a0spends a lot of the match\u00a0yelling at Silver Ant to pick up the aggression, and for the most part, it seems to\u00a0work, but Blaster does a run-in\u00a0behind the ref’s back so that Jaka can pin Silver Ant in 11:37. \u00a0Frightmare is deeply unhappy, but\u00a0does<\/em> help Silver Ant to the back. \u00a0So the Wrecking Crew are now the clear tournament leaders, and Silver Ant is starting to\u00a0respond to Hallowicked’s entreaties, but not enough to actually make the difference yet.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Missile Assault Ant v. Lucas Calhoun.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recap:\u00a0The ego-driven Kevin Condron has already managed to free Lucas Calhoun from his brainwashing as a Flood henchman and\u00a0turned him into a protege. \u00a0Now he’s trying the same with Missile Assault Ant, who is similarly brainwashed\u00a0and abandoned, but rather less stable. \u00a0It’s not been going quite so smoothly.<\/p>\n

Condron and his sidekick Troll accompany Calhoun to the ring, and do a promo asking Missile to join them. \u00a0Missile interrupts by yelling “Missile Assault Ant”\u00a0(the only thing he ever says). \u00a0 Condron tells him he’s not an ant, he’s patently a human being. \u00a0Missile yells “Missile Assault Ant”\u00a0again. \u00a0Condron says he knows about Missile’s background and\u00a0he cares. \u00a0He points out that\u00a0he’s done wonders for Calhoun, which is actually true. \u00a0He tells Missile that they’ve all been treated as cannon fodder and should join forces. \u00a0Then he works in the word “Condor”, referring to the\u00a0evil private security force from Season 12,\u00a0who were presumably\u00a0Missile’s original employers. \u00a0Missile promptly decks Condron\u00a0and walks out. \u00a0No match – just an angle. \u00a0Chikara\u00a0hardly ever do this. \u00a0They get away with it here, because (a) it’s\u00a0a match between two midcarders which was always going to be story driven, and (b) they’re about to bring out two bigger stars for an unannounced match to take its place.<\/p>\n

The video doesn’t draw any attention to this, but when Missile\u00a0storms out, he leaves behind the backpack that he wears to the ring. \u00a0Though we don’t actually see it happen, Condron’s crew\u00a0retrieve\u00a0it, which leads\u00a0to something next month.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Challenge of the Immortals: The Gentleman’s Club v. The Snake Pit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is your make-good for the preceding angle –\u00a0a singles match between Drew Gulak of the Gentleman’s Club and Eddie Kingston of the Snake Pit. \u00a0Both teams are\u00a0currently in joint last with Crown & Court. \u00a0It’s pretty much a technical exhibition match, as Gulak\u00a0works the arm in endless variations,\u00a0but Kingston won’t quit, and\u00a0gets the pin in 13:13 with a second Backfist To The Future followed by a backdrop driver (because he doesn’t trust\u00a0a\u00a0finisher delivered with his injured arm to get the job done on its own, you see). \u00a0Very good match.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0Challenge of the Immortals:\u00a0Dasher’s Dugout v. The Battle Hive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another trios match. \u00a0Since Heidi already wrestled, the Dugout are Icarus and the Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Mark Angelosetti). \u00a0The Battle Hive team is Amasis, Worker Ant and Ashley Remington – again, an odd pairing given that their fourth member Fire Ant is on hand, and has more\u00a0experience teaming with Worker. \u00a0It’s a Magic Move match – everyone in the crowd gets a token prize if the “randomly drawn” move is hit\u00a0– and just like last night, it’s the Bionic Elbow.\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0try drawing a different move and keep getting the Bionic Elbow. \u00a0Eventually everyone agrees that this is a sign from destiny and they had better do the\u00a0Bionic Elbow.<\/p>\n

It’s a face\/face pairing between two mid-table teams which is happening mainly because the tournament requires it, so it’s the extended comedy\/action match for the night. \u00a0There are some very slight story nods\u00a0along the way –\u00a0after\u00a0his upset loss to Kevin Condron last night, Icarus is showing signs of playing to the crowd in a not-entirely-heroic way, and there’s a spot where Mark Angelosetti\u00a0might have eye-poked an\u00a0opponent deliberately, but we can’t be sure. \u00a0Both guys will\u00a0start showing signs of backsliding towards their original heel personas in the coming months, and these are the first very gentle signs. \u00a0Anyone, everyone hits the Bionic Elbow at once, and Angelosetti pins Worker with a superplex in 18:11. \u00a0 Perfectly fine.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0Challenge of the Immortals: The BDK v. The Snake Pit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s Jakob Hammermeier and the brainwashed Soldier Ant for the BDK, against\u00a0Ophidian and Shynron for the Snake Pit. \u00a0Thanks to Kingston’s win earlier tonight, both teams are on 3 – which the commentators promptly get wrong. \u00a0Last night,\u00a0the BDK duo didn’t\u00a0work well together, but Jakob seems to have Soldier under better control tonight. \u00a0\u00a0Soldier’s “Winter Soldier” brainwashing leads him to shrug off the Snake Pit’s offence, so their strategy is to use his momentum to get him out of the ring, which under lucha rules counts as a tag to\u00a0Jakob. \u00a0Ultimately it works, and the Snake Pit\u00a0manage to keep Soldier out of the way\u00a0long enough for\u00a0Shynron to pin Jakob with an\u00a0RKO in 11:36. \u00a0Nice match which\u00a0managed to keep it competitive without compromising Soldier Ant’s\u00a0indestructibility.<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0Chikara Grand Championship: Hallowicked (c) v. Oleg the Usurper.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is Hallowicked’s second defence since winning the title\u00a0in April. \u00a0Oleg’s main\u00a0storyline right now is about his awkward relationship with the rest of the Arcane Horde, and his off-and-on attempts to break free from Wrecking Crew manager Sidney Bakabella. \u00a0So\u00a0you’d expect Bakabella to be involved here, and quite possibly Mantis too. \u00a0But for whatever reason, Bakabella’s on the show – surely an availability issue, because there’s no good story reason for him to be absent – and of course Mantis is\u00a0probably in the hospital by this point. \u00a0So it’s a completely straight match between Oleg and Hallowicked. \u00a0Frightmare and Blind Rage are in the champion’s corner, though not Silver Ant.<\/p>\n

Oleg is more of a character performer than a great technical wrestler, but this is one of his strongest\u00a0matches in terms of the actual wrestling. \u00a0It’s a very WWE style match, built around finding inventive\u00a0ways of getting to their signature moves. \u00a0Oleg gets some near falls on the champion, and kicks out of the Rydeen Bomb, but ultimately gets pinned clean after three Yakuza kicks in\u00a011:51. \u00a0I remember this being underwhelming\u00a0at the time because it doesn’t advance Oleg’s storyline, but without those expectations and judged purely on its own terms as a match, it’s quite\u00a0good.<\/p>\n

Encore:\u00a0The\u00a0United Nations v. Fire Ant & N_R_G.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like last night, there’s an encore. \u00a0Unlike last night, it’s just a random encore. \u00a0Fire Ant pins Juan Francisco de Coronado with a brainbuster in 7:26.<\/p>\n

Worth getting?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0It’s a generally solid card, but it’s not a standout\u00a0show – it’s notable more for the impact it has down the line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, I know I said I was going to start skipping the lesser shows, and I know I haven’t skipped one yet. \u00a0But Shock and Aww\u00a0is an\u00a0important show in Chikara’s 2015 season, for reasons which will shortly become clear. \u00a0It also\u00a0has a ludicrously catchy theme tune. \u00a0(“Wrestling is so much fun! \u00a0Shock and aww! \u00a0Shock […]<\/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-3376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrestling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3376","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=3376"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3398,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3376\/revisions\/3398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}