Chikara “Summer Night City” Live Show Report June 7th in Philadelphia, PA
So, you may not know it if you’re only watching Raw and Smackdown, but wrestling has been really exciting recently. We’ve had a stretch of highly publicized (to varying degrees) events that I all thought really delivered. AEW Double or Nothing was a strong start to their promotion, NXT Takeover: XXV was packed to the rim with great matches, and the finals of New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors 26 has had the whole world buzzing ahead of what is supposed to be an even bigger show with Dominion on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the WWE main roster has been bogged down in lazy stories, a non-nonsensical Wildcard Rule to create false excitement, and by now WWE’s latest overseas blood money show as part of a deal that has felt no less scummy. So I was pleased that Chikara happened to be running later on Friday night to offer an alternative.
This show took place deeper into Philadelphia, closer to Chinatown for the first time since Chikara ran a few shows at the Trocadero (RIP). It was being held at a brewery called Love City Brewing, in conjunction with both Philly Beer Week and Pride Week, with proceeds to this show going to Valley Youth House.
This rear room of the brewery housed the ring, with standing space only for fans on two of the sides, and the curtained-off area for the wrestlers and crew on the other side. They made drinks available back here too. Early on, I noticed Philadelphia resident, Chikara alumni, and now AEW Superstar Chuck Taylor hanging out. Tickets were only $10, and by the time the action started, this room filled up, and the body temperature rose. This was perhaps the most unique venue at which I’ve seen Chikara action since they ran matches at an indoor music festival six or seven years ago.
1. Solo Darling, Razerhawk, and Danjerhawk beat Hermit Crab, Cajun Crawdad, and El Hijo del Ice Cream when Darling made Hijo tap to the Sharpstinger. Hot opener, with the crowd (a mix of regular fans and curious newcomers) sounding very loud for it. During some of the entrances, the wrestlers (especially the tecnicos) took the time to interact with the crowd, especially these three. No dives to the floor during this show though. Hijo did some of his usual antics, and Darling spent the most time in peril before rallying back with big moves.
2. Missile Assault Man beat Rick Roland with his inverted DDT. More of a hoss battle between these two. Roland got Missile Assault Man onto his shoulder after knocking him off the top rope, but Missile Assault Man was able to escape this potential powerslam and turn it into his finish.
3. Still Life With Apricots and Pears beat Boomer Hatfield to retain the Young Lions Cup after a kick to the back of Boomer’s knee and a rollup. This was a rematch of the Young Lions Cup Finals in March. Boomer is coming off what I’ve heard is a fantastic match two weeks ago in Chicago, where he beat his father Dasher in the non-title Mask vs. Mask Match. Boomer wore rainbow socks and received red, white, and blue streamers upon entering, while Still Life had a rainbow-colored shin guard and received rainbow-colored streamers. Still Life didn’t overtly play the heel as strongly as they have previously. Boomer started off hot before Still Life focused on his knee again, nearly making him tap to the Venus de Milo. The end came when Molly McCoy (Boomer’s cousin, Dasher’s niece) hopped up on the apron and distracted Boomer to lead to the finish; following the Mask vs. Mask Match, McCoy vowed to make Boomer’s life miserable. This was the only real element of an ongoing story on this short card. Boomer received a nice ovation as he left.
4. The Proteus Wheel (Volgar, Frantik, and Callux the Castigator) beat Off the Hop Rope (CPA, Troy Nelson, and a wrestler I didn’t recognize) following the old Quebecers finisher, with Volgar squashing Nelson. Off the Hope Rope consists of three wrestlers that podcast about beer. They sounded like they had a lot of fans here, with a rallying chant of “What’s On Tap” for them. CPA wrestled in trunks but still wore a buttoned shirt and a tie, which was of course revealed to be a clip-on in an early spot. The wrestler I didn’t recognize tired out the three Proteus Wheel members by frequently running the ropes and dodging their attacks. The Proteus Wheel eventually took over on their way to victory.
5. Travis Huckabee beat Rory Gulak with a spinning Stretch Muffler submission. Battle of the two previous winners of the Johnny Kidd Invitational, as well as a rematch from the first round of last year’s tournament. The most technical wrestling up to this point, but the crowd was still up for it. Gulak’s local ties and his “Amazing” catchphrase certainly helped. The usual strong work from both of them.
6. Fire Ant beat Tony Deppen with a brainbuster. Deppen was a very loud and agressive heel during this, much like he was at the Game Changer show I attended in April. He’s definitely assumed the Chuck Taylor role of this new F.I.S.T. Fire Ant had the crowd behind him.
A fun night out, with no intermission and the action lasting about 90 minutes. Even though it got pretty hot inside (it was cooler outside afterward), I knew I was going to have a better time here than watching whatever WWE had going on in the afternoon. They had their first minor league baseball spot show the day before, and they will have six more (including Wilmington, DE, Trenton, NJ, and Waldorf, MD) before returning to the Wrestle Factory in early September for Chikarasaurus Rex. Not I expect them to slouch it during these baseball spot shows, especially with Ophidian and his Crucible in full effect.
