#chikarmy

Night 14 

Eddie Kingston vs Hallowicked Falls Count Anywhere 

Chapter 11 

This whole show starts with some very aughts rock n roll playing while Eddie Kingston goes over his beef with Hallowicked. Kingston is mad that everyone calls Hallowicked the best student in Chikara while Kingston believes he is the best Chikara student. Kington thinks that he broke out first and then should be thought of as the most successful Chikara student. Footage of Hallowicked pinning Kingston plays. Kingston attacks Hallowicked. The music continues to play while footage of Hallowicked and Kingston fighting everywhere and anywhere plays. Kingston tells Hallowicked he never liked him. Footage platys of Hallowicked attacking Kingston. Then Kingston is attacking a young Ricochet he blames Hallowicked for anything that happens to Ricochet. Kingston puts a Hallowicked mask on Ricochet and proceeds to attack him, 

There is another Kingston promo before the match but who is complaining. Kingston is one of the best and Hallowicked at the time just screamed some unknown language. Kingston talks about the difference between a want and a need “you need air to breathe you want McDonald's but you don’t need Mcdonalds. There’s a huge difference” Kingston tells the fans. An unshaven Kingston tells Hallowicked directly “Hallowicked you want to win this match to keep your little myth going. That you're the top student.” Kingston is different because he needs this. He needs this match and he needs to win it to prove to himself that he is better than Hallowicked. Kingston talks about how he wants to leave wrestling. How he is not having any fun in wrestling. He needs to win this the match to prove to himself wrestling is worth it. Just an all around fantastic promo from Kingston to start things off.

Kingston wastes no time going to the ring. He copies Hallowicked starting pose. Hallowicked comes out with his tag title around his waist and his fists clenched. When Kingston gets introduced he pretends to shoot at Hallowicked. It is almost surprising these two even waited to be introduced. Tension is in the air. These two want to fight each other, badly. 

The bell rings and nothing happens.  They finally meet in the middle of the and barely lock up instead of trading punches. Hallowicked gets Kingston in the corner and chops him. WOO. Kingston does the same. WOO. Kingston rakes the eyes. Hallowicked hits a high running knee and Kingston falls out. This is a Falls Count Anywhere match so there is not count. Kingston crawls up the entranceway. Hallowicked picks him up and kicks him. 

Hallowicked tries for a suplex Kingston but Kingston goes for a reversal Hallowicked flails in the air and gets out of the reversal and suplexes Eddie onto the entrance. Hallowicked tries for a pin. The walk around the arena. Hallowicked hits a chop and then punches Kingston’s back. Kingston hits his own chops hard into Hallowicked. 

Ultramantis gets REALLY into talkings about beets. He is alone on commentary but like it almost sounds pornographic the way he talks about beets. He must really like beets. I think beets are fine. We used to grow them in my garden and if you leave them in they will grow all winter. In spring we used to have these giant beets that really weren’t good for anything. I haven’t had beets in a while I am certainly craving them now. 

They are back in the ring now and Hallowicked goes for a fishermen suplex but Kingston gets out and lays shots into Hallowicked’s back. Wicked collapses to the ground. Eddie kicks him in the face. Bryce Remsburg joins on commentary. Kingston hits a bunch of open hand shots onto Hallowicked. Hallowicked gets up and chops Eddie. Kingston does the same. Eddie Kingston then headbutts Hallowicked. A move that seems to hurt Kingston as much as Hallowicked because Eddie falls to the ground. Giving Hallowicked time to breath. Hallowicked is being held up by the ropes. Eddie Kingston picks him up and Hallowicked hits a headbutt of his own. Bryce Remsburg screams like he normally does when something is exciting. 

Hallowicked goes for a pin but only gets two. Kingston hits a back elbow. Eddie hits a double stomp. Hallowicked uses the ropes to pull himself up Kingston holds the mask and slaps Hallowicked hard in the back of the head. Eddie Kingston then hits a neat looking springboard lariat as Hallowicked falls to the outside. Kingston goes to dive but Hallowicked kicks him in the face. Eddie is hanging on the middle rope Hallowicked gets in the ring and hits a capo kick onto the back of Kingston's head. The two both fall out of the ring.

Hallowicked picks Kingston up and hits a Mitonoku Driver on the cement ground. Kingston kicks out. Hallowicked tosses him into the barrier. Kingston hits an STO to the floor. Hallowicked uses the barrier to pull himself up as the fans chant for him. Kingston hits a big boot. Then Eddie throws Hallowicked across the venue into another barrier. 

The two end up in the crowd. I am such a sucker for a crowd brawl. When Kingston doesn’t get the pin he throws a chair in rage. The two end up back in the ring. Eddie charges all Hallowicked who gets out of the way and hits a step-up kick. Hallowicked puts Kingston on the top but Kingston knocks him off. Hallowicked gets back up and punches Kingston the two battle on the top rope trading slaps to the face. Hallowicked hits a headbutt and then hits a fishermen buster off the top rope. Kingston kicks out. 

Bryce talks out how Hallowicked won the entire Young Lions Cup with that move and Kingston just kicked out of it. Hallowicked is up first and tries to pick up Kingston for Go To Sleepy Hollow. Eddie hits elbows to the side of Hallowicked’s head. Eddie Kingston hits Hallowicked right on the top of his head with an All Japan looking suplex. But only gets a two. 

Hallowicked ducks a Back Fist to the Future and hits Kingston with chops. Hallowicked hits the ropes and Eddie blocks his kick. Eddie hits the ropes and Hallowicked gets his kick in. Hallowicked gets a step-up Frankenstiener. Then a huge Yakuza Kick that sends Kingston flying. Kingston gets out at two. Hallowicked tries to Never Wake Up but Kingston reverses it into a suplex. Kingston only gets a two count. Kingston hits another suplex. Hallowicked gets right up his legs a little wobbly. Kingston hits him with Back Fist to the Future and the match is over. Eddie Kingston is your winner. 

This match was really great for a lot of reasons. First, of course, Kingston and Hallowicked are just two of the best. With Kingston doing all the talking this match felt like it needed to happen. It seems like Chikara was saving this feud for a few years down the road and it worked out for them. 

One thing about Chikara is they rarely do matches with stipulations. I remember thinking this was weird when I was younger and just getting into Chikara but now I see why. They want every stipulation match to matter. Everything makes perfect sense in the story. These two needed to have a fall count anywhere because the ring just couldn’t hold them. It had been seen in plenty of other matches. The matches didn’t end up using a lot of weapons but still was plenty violent. I am excited to see these two face off again. 

Night 1

 CZW Cage of Death 6 

12/11/04

Last year I attempted to watch and review 31 Hallowicked matches. The idea was really just to watch more Chikara. I watched the first-ever Chikara main event along with watch a show that happened right in the middle of October. This year I have access to three different streaming services instead of just Chikaratopia and Youtube. I didn’t quite make it last year missing quite a few days because match reviews take a long time and I wore myself out. I hope that won’t happen this year but I can’t make any promises. 

I really didn’t get into independent wrestling until about 2015 so I have no reference for most stuff before 2015. I have watched back a fair amount of Chikara and if something or someone grabs my attention I will go back and watch it but CZW is not that something. I have no reference for most CZW things so I thought a fun way to try and get into would be this match from 2004. Chikara and CZW couldn’t be more different from each other in every single way: fanbase, style, wrestling. But around this time I am pretty sure the two were sharing a school. This means Chikara people on CZW show and a lot of deathmatch dudes being trained by Mike Quakenbush like G-Raver and Rory Gulak. I wanted to watch one of the Cage of Death matches and I decided on this match when I saw the Chikara’s trio match at the start of the card. 

This match is a trios match from CZW in 2004. The match starts with Chris Hero upset that he was not booked on the show to defend whatever title he is holding and instead tell BlackJack Marciano that he will be competing in a trios match. I have no idea why Chris Hero is allowed to make trios matches for CZW I haven’t watched much CZW so I do not really know how things work there. I guess you can just make trios matches if he wants to. It’s fine though. Chris Hero knows a lot about wrestling. He puts together a very good team. Chris Hero even calls Hallowicked his personal favorite wrestler. Which I agree with. 

Black Jack will be teaming with Larry Sweeny and Hallowicked to face Mike Quakenbush, Jigsaw and Gran Akuma. Larry Sweeny comes out in all pink with a purple feather boa. Hallowicked comes out in all black with his mask with green features and a pumpkin stem. Gran Akuma is still donning a mask and Mike Quackenbush has a lil soul patch. A young Bryce Remsburg is a ref in a yellow CZW ref shirt. 

I guess because this is Cage of Death or whatever there are two rings like the old WCW War Games style. I believe this match will only use one. The commentator talks about how this will be lucha rules. Black Jack rips off a paper sign a fan-made and throws it at Gran Akuma. Hallowicked starts the match with Gran Akuma. The two lock up as some fans, not very loudly chant “YOU SUCK”. Neither of these wrestlers sucks though so I don’t know. 

Hallowicked gets an arm wrencher locked on Akuma. Gran Akuma lucha rolls out of it getting his own wrist lock on Hallowicked. Hallowicked drops to one knee and does a stunner kind of roll to get Gran Akuma off of him. Gran Akuma goes to jump off the turnbuckle but Hallowicked gets under him and Gran Akuma is on Hallowicked’s shoulders. Gran Akuma gets out of that with an arm drag in a really cool looking opening sequence, which I imagine did not look like anything else on that CZW card.

Hallowicked screams in pain as Gran Akuma pelts him with kicks. Hallowicked hits the ropes and dodges a clothesline. Hallowicked goes for a head scissors but Gran Akuma catches it and instead locks in a stretch muffler. BlackJack breaks the hold up illegally tossing out Gran Akuma. Mike Quackenbush quickly gets in the ring and kicks BlackJack hard then getting him in the wristlock. BlackJack gets his own wristlock in but Mike turns it into his own octopus hold. Then another submission and finally Robin Hood Special. Really showing why people call him the Master of A Thousand Holds. 

Hallowicked interference and Larry Sweeny helps to double team, Quakenbush. But Quackenbush isn’t going to just lay down for them. This is Cage of Death after all. He uses a series of lucha moves that all look very cool to outpace both Larry Sweeny and Hallowicked. Quack even hits an arm drag off the second rope that looks wild. He manages to get Hallowicked alone in the ring and tags in Jigsaw. Larry Sweeny takes Hallowicked’s place. Sweeny and Black Jack hang Jigsaw from the second rope and Hallowicked tags in and hits a rolling leg drop onto Jigsaw. He goes for a pin but only gets a two. Hallowicked’s team makes quick tags working over Jigsaw.

So it turns out they are using the other ring. Black Jack lands in the middle of the two rings Jigsaw then Larry Sweeny then Hallowicked and then Bryce all use BlackJack as a bridge to get to the other ring. Gran Akuma frog splashes BlackJack to the floor. Mike Quackenbush jumps to the top rope of the first ring and springboard clotheslines Hallowicked and Larry Sweeny who are, if you remember, in the second ring. Bryce Remsburg jumps in pain just at the site of it. 

The match is now taking place in the second ring. Hallowicked and Mike Quackenbush trade arm drag. Black Jack grabs Mike and Hallowicked goes for a big boot hitting Black Jack instead. Hallowicked flips Quack out of the ring but onto BlackJack. Mike flips over Hallowicked into the ring where Hallowicked drops down and catches Quack up against the ropes with a hard chop. The two whip each other across the ring and Hallowicked lands into Larry Sweeny. Mike Quackenbush clotheslines Hallowicked out of the ring. 

All three of Chikara’s team then dive out the ring onto Hallowicked’s team. A CZ DOUB chant starts. Hallowicked gets tossed into Sweeny and Mike and Akuma turn them both into a quadruple Boston crab.  Black Jack breaks it up. The match works it’s way to the first ring again. Where BlackJack Marchiano hits his finisher on Jigsaw for the win. 

Night 21

Hallowicked and Frightmare vs Boar of Moldova and Oleg the Usurper

King of Trios 2018 Night 3

Season 19

Hallowicked and Frightmare and entering last in the tag team gauntlet and making their first appearance of all of King of Trios. Beast Warriors had finally gotten their hands on two points, every time they got close to three points someone would get in the way including Hallowicked and Frightmare. It was the last pinfall of the gauntlet and Beast Warriors needed the win. Would they be able to get it?

The match starts off hot strikes traded back and forth. The two link arms and hit dual setup frankensteiners causing the Beast Warriors to collide in the middle of the ring.  Frightmare throws him out of the ring onto Boar gets back in and hits Oleg and then both members of Legion of Rot topa suicida the Beast Warriors.

Legion of Rot looks on fire and the hit tandem step-up corner kicks into their opponent on the turnbuckle.  Hallowicked hits a snapmare on Oleg, Frightmare hits the kneecolpsy. Halllowicked does the same to Boar, Frightmare does the same. Both of them cover Bowho kicks out. ar

This match starts off with Hallowicked’s greatest hits all two minutes.

Boar punches his way up Hallowicked holds him still. Frightmare hits the ropes but gets a superkick from Oleg. Boar hits the GORE on Frightmare they go for a cover but Hallowicked is close by and breaks it up. Hallowicked gets a big boot and tries for a Never Wake Up. Boar gets away and they hit a double chokeslam on Hallowicked who flees the ring fast. Oleg hits a rolling senton onto the outside on the ring on Hallowicked squishing him.

PIGS FLY as Boar dives over the top rope onto everyone. Oleg and Frightmare are alone in the ring. Oleg gets Frightmare with a chokeslam and gets him to the top rope. Frightmare tries anything to get out of it as Oleg climbs the rope. Boar knocks Hallowicke. Oleg gets the Super Choke Slam while Boar hits a diving elbow and Frightmare gets pinned.

Beast Warriors win their third point.

The two wrestlers that grabbed my attention from Chikara weren’t the best “workers” or even the most famous wrestlers on the roster. No, the Chikara wrestlers that first grabbed my attention were instead the coolest gimmicks. Dasher Hatfield, a time-traveling baseball head and Hallowicked who I only read his terrifying name but it instantly grabbed my attention. I pictured a pumpkin-headed, evil villain terrorizing Chikara. I was pretty much correct in that.

Hallowicked was Grand Champion when I first started getting into Chikara. I read an article where Princess Kimber Lee beating him for the Grand Championship and along with the other stories I read about on that card I was sold instantly. I started following Chikara on twitter and have kept up with them since. I have gone to two of their shows and Connecticut but have never gotten to see any shows at The Wrestle Factory.

Chikara and Chikaratopia offer such a giant video back with a long and dense back history there is so much to explore. I have started this Chikara project to look all over Chikara history through a rudo who was there from day one. Inspired by things like Inktober and preparing to start Novel Writing November I have decided to write about one Hallowicked match every night for the entire month of October.

Night One The Renaissance Dawns

I started from the very beginning. This is the very first show and Hallowicked is one of the first graduates of the Wrestling Factory. He teams with Icabob Slayne (who unmasks at the end of season one as Icarus) as Night Shift. They would be teaming against Marshal Law and Lovebug, the team of Beauty and The Beast,  two wrestlers who were all over the first season and impedimental to Chikara in the early days. This is one of the two shows from Chikara’s first season that exists and has had commentary added to it long after the fact by Mike Quakenbush and Bryce Remsburg. It is a fantastic and informative commentary that goes into some interesting notes about Chikara’s very first show.

Hallowicked and Icabob Slayen come out in matching black leather pants and black shirts. Hallowicked’s mask will look familiar to anyone who has seen his green colored masked. Icabob has a strange mask and his curly blonde hair overflows out the back. Lovebug and Marshal Law are two very big boys. Apparently, these two have much more experience then these Hallowicked and Icabob who are having their first match and it shows. Icabob and Hallowicked don’t get much of anything in. Icabob has a little bit of offense here or there but mostly gets beaten up.

Hallowicked cheats, chokes and distracts the ref but doesn't get too much in offense wise. He gets a few strikes in and takes a gnarly looking Okaka Cutter by Love Bug he bounces hard and flops to the mat. Hallowicked then tags in Icabob for the hot tag. Marshal Law has other plans and clotheslines both rookies hard to the ground.

Hallowicked tries to work himself out of a double team but gets caught and sidewalk slammed hard to the ground and gets pinned but Icarus breaks it up. The two rudos leave the ring, get back in, taunt their much bigger opponent then quickly make a run for it. They get chased around the ring and catch Marshal Law by pulling him into the top rope and he drops to the ground, not very far below. Hallowicked and Icabob get in some offense with a few boots outside. Hallowicked rolls Marshall Law back into the ring and they take turns hitting the ropes and stomping on Marshal Law.

Hallowicked gets tagged in and he and Icabob start to double team Marshal Law in their corner. They get a double arm drag on Marshal Law as the ref turns around arguing with Law’s partner. Hallowicked picks up Icabob and drops him onto Marshal Law in one of their “classic moves”. Beauty and the Beast start to overwhelm Night Shift but Icabob gets back momentum by flinging Halllowicked into Love Bug then Hallowicked drops to his hands and knees and Icabob jumps off him into Love Bug. Love Bug uses his size and strength to catch Icabob. Hallowicked gets clotheslined by Marshal Law and Icabob gets power bombed and locked into the king crab where he is forced to tap.  

This match was a fun watch both mostly because of the commentary had a very Deep Blue Something feel and I miss that podcast more than anything. The match itself wasn’t much different than any tag team match on a local wrestling show. It is amazing to compare day one Hallowicked to the veteran Hallowicked of today.

Some fun trivia from the commentary:

Hallowicked and Icabob Slayne were close friends from childhood when they came to the Wrestle Factory.

The old Wrestle Factory was a hot mess.