#chikarabsa19

After a summer where I watched a lot of wrestling from home, including an outstanding G1 Climax in its entirety, I attended my first of two Chikara shows this weekend. This was a benefit show for the local Boy Scouts of America council, held in the gymnasium of Westampton Middle School. This is the closest Chikara has ever run near me, about 15 minutes from home. It had a nice turnout, a mix of regular Chikara fans I’ve see regularly at the Wrestle Factory, as well as South Jersey locals, including a lot of kids, out to see what this Chikara was all about. Among the things available at a table associated with the scouts was a program explaining who all of the wrestlers on the card were. After some kind words from one of the men associated with the council, a snafu with the sound system, and Mark Adam Haggerty thanking the sponsors for the event (including the Mount Holly-based comic book shop I go to), we got going with the matches.

1. Boomer Hatfield beat Callux the Castigator with a meteora. Betsy Ross and the AEW-bound Bryce Remsburg were the refs for the night, with Ross up first for this match. Boomer was supposed to be wrestling Der Wildebeest, Jakob Hammermeier’s latest charge, but he didn’t make the show, with Haggerty explaining that the tracking device on him was lost. Callux was available, sporting a quality farmer tan, for a textbook David vs. Goliath match. Hatfield was able to make Callux budge before Callux overpowered him, and then Hatfield came back with some flashy offense, including a quesadora DDT and a basement rana. This got the show off to a good start.

2. The Grimy Scots (Hamish Stuart & Grizzly Duncan McBain) beat The Colony (Green Ant & Thief Ant) when Stuart pinned Thief Ant after striking him with a club. The Grimy Scots are a team that Cagematch tells me started out in Virginia two years ago. They both wrestled in kilts (with trunks underneath), and McBain sported Braveheart paint and a large club. He attempted to use it early, but Remsburg stopped him and had it removed, in a spot that played well with the family audience. The Scots kept saying that they wanted to use International Rules, which I guess includes the use of clubs. Decent work, up to the finish where Stuart used a much smaller club to his advantage. The two Scots then did their best to hide the club from Remsburg after kids in the front row told him it was used.

3. Solo Darling beat Molly McCoy with the Sharp Stinger. My first time seeing McCoy wrestle since “The Infinite Gauntlet” in May, and I like her darker version of the Hatfields’ music. Darling brought out Officer Magnum with her for her entrance (because, yes, Magnum is her dog), but he didn’t stick around for the rest of it. A more technical match to start that the crowd only gradually got in to, though the regular fans’ enthusiasm and the use of kicks and bigger moves down the stretch helped motivate them. McCoy came close to winning with a type of body scissors submission, with one of her legs around Darling’s head.

- First of two intermissions, allowing the fans to meet a bunch of the wrestlers, and then...

4. Hallowicked beat Lucas Calhoun with the Rydeen Bomb. Fun match, with both guys looking good, especially Wicked. Calhoun did his best to get babyface fire and hit a superplex towards the end.

5. The Creatures of the Deep (Hermit Crab & Merlok) beat Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge when Hermit Crab made Crummels tap to the Boston Crab. The Creatures assumed the babyface role in what would normally be a Rudo vs. Rudo match. Crummels & Defarge got the upper hand a few times by sneezing in their faces, and Merlok was the hot tag guy. A little sloppy at times, but the crowd was into it.

6. The Whisper beat Danjerhawk with a rollup. Fun, faster-paced action for the crowd. Danjerhawk went for a splash off the top to halfway across the ring, but the Whisper moved out of the way, leading to the finish.

- One more, shorter intermission, and then...

7. John Francis of Coronado, Missile Assault Man, Danjerhawk, and Mick Moretti beat The Crucible (Ophidian, Matt Makowski, Devantes, and Lance Steel w/ E.M. Demorest) via disqualification. My first time seeing the Crucible in action in earnest after their sort-of debut at “The Infinite Gauntlet.” I’m not a Chikaratopia subscriber, so my intake of extra Chikara content is only whatever they put up for free, but I just don’t see how Lance Steel fits into this group. Nor what version of Lance Steel this is, as it’s been years since this character was around. Also, Devantes looked very green in this match, but he’ll get better, and all around is associated with a good crop of talent. Demorest was at ringside just to hold Ophidian’s three point medallions the Golden Opportunity he won in the Infinite Gauntlet. Moretti is back in the states for a lot of wrestling the next few weeks, including a return to King of Trios with the Nations and debuting in PWG as part of the Battle of Los Angeles, and I thought he looked very good here. This was the longest match on the card, with lots of big action as is accustomed to Chikara Atomicos. The Crucible got good heat with their gang mentality, jumping the tecnicos after teasing a one-on-one start to the match, as well as ganging up on one of them at a time. The end came when the tecnicos had it won after Devantes was hit with a Burning Hammer by Missile Assault Man and a Swanton off the top by Razerhawk, but as Razerhawk made the pin, Ophidian slid in and pulled off Razerhawk’s mask for the instant DQ under Chikara rules. An admittedly flat ending to all of the action that preceded it, but their were other plans later.

8. Travis Huckabee beat Mike Quackenbush after a low blow and a headbutt to the chest. Quackenbush was introduced as an Eagle Scout. Huckabee amped up the jerkiness for this crowd, taking a mask from a kid in the front row and tossing it across the gym. Huckabee later tried to run away after getting monkey-flipped around by Quackenbush, only for Quackenbush to quickly retrieve him and toss him back in... only for Huckabee to turn around and stomp on Quackenbush’s hand as it rested on the edge of the ring. The dirty end of this match came after Remsburg was inadvertently knocked down by Quackenbush diving off the top.

- Right afterward, with Quackenbush still nursing his groin, Ophidian came out with his Crucible charges (five of them, including the Whisper) and said he was cashing in his three points... on Quackenbush, for the title of Head Trainer of the Wrestle Factory. A pretty major angle to do on a show like this, as opposed to a bigger show at the Wrestle Factory or elsewhere, but nevertheless, we had a quick bonus main event.

9. Mike Quackenbush beat Ophidian with Quackendriver 3. Very short, but with good drama. Ophidian did his best to finish off Quackenbush early with his Death Grip as his Crucible charges surrounded the ring. On two occasions, Quackebush was able to roll to the outside, only for the Crucible to gang up on him while Ophidian drew away Remsburg’s attention. This caused a bunch of the Chikara tecnicos to run out and fight off the Crucible. Ophidian was thrown off by this, leaving the door open for Quackenbush to win. Ophidian was understandably distraught, but this is his fault for wasting his Golden Opportunity like this.