By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN'S CHIKARA DVD REVIEW SERIES
ANNIVERSARIO ZEHN
MAY 22, 2010
TYNGSBORO, MASS.
BY SEAN RADICAN, TORCH COLUMNIST


(1) Amasis vs. Green Ant. They did some comedy before engaging in a lengthy battle of chain wrestling. Amasis had the advantage, but Green Ant fired back and locked in a cloverleaf submission. Ant caught Amasis with a great pinning combination for a nearfall. The finish saw Amasis catch Ant with a roaring elbow for the pin. (**1/2)

The Throwbacks cut a promo backstage. Hatfield said they were going to go to battle tonight against BDK. Dunkerton said he was in love with Daizee Haze. Hatfield walked away in disgust. Dunkerton said he had love in his eye for Haze.

(2)The Bruderschaft vs. The Throwbacks. Haze tagged herself onto the match and Dunkerton looked her over. He gave her his basketball, but Haze threw it at him. Haze teased a hug, but grabbed a headlock instead. Dunkerton locked in a submission and tried to flirt with Haze, but she bailed to the outside for a conference with Tursas. Dunkerton continued to flirt with Haze and Hatfield yelled at him. Tursas tagged back into the ring and took Dunkerton down. The announcers mentioned nobody had been able to knock Tursas off his feat. Haze and Tursas took control and dominated Dunkerton. Hatfield got the hot tag, but he couldn't take Tursas down. He threw Dunkerton into Tursas, who got tied up in the ropes. They hit stereo kicks on Tursas, but Dunkerton went after Haze again. Tursas freed himself and nailed Hatfield with a splash for he pin. The crowd booed the finish with the heels going over. This was a fun encounter. (**)

After the match, Tursas nailed Dunkerton with a splash for good measure.

(3) Stigma vs. Ophidian. Ophidian got a flurry of offense after being dominated during the early stages of the match, but Stigma countered one of his snake-like moves with a backbreaker. Stigma went for a dive, but Ophidian of out of the way and hit a corkscrew press to the outside moments later. He then went for a dive off the top, but Stigma got his knees up. Ophidian went for a spinning headscissors, but Stigma tossed him to the outside. Ophidian hit a series of power moves on Stigma, but couldn't get the pin. Stigma fired back and nailed a running kick in the corner for a nearfall. He went for the tombstone again, but Ophidian countered. Ophidian hit a beautiful springboard press for a nearfall. Stigma fired back with a German and a shining wizard for the pin. Ophidian looked good here despite the loss (***)

Lince Dorado and Tim Donst were shown backstage. Donst said he could tell that Dorado was ready. Dorado said he was going to show him he was ready.

(4) BDK (Tim Donst & Lince Durado) vs. The Future is Now (Equinox & Helios). Helios took Donst down and tagged in Equinox as the crowd applauded. Dorado managed to push off Equinox right into a DDT from Donst. That was sweet. Donst and Dorado got the heat on Equinox by using shortcuts. Equinox forced a tag by rolling out of the ring and Helios ran wild. He hit an insane running dive over the ringpost and Dorado to the outside on Donst. Equinox then caught Dorado with a superkick for a nearfall. Dorado managed to hang Equinox upside down in the corner. He nailed him with a doublestomp off the top, but Helios broke up the pin. Durado popped up Helios into the standing position on his shoulders and Donst clotheslined him off the top, but Helios kicked out. That was insane! Helios finally got the pin on Durado with a SSP. The crowd popped huge for Chikara picking up a win over the BDK. (***1/2)

Pinkie Sanchez cut a promo backstage. He said he had more heart than Green Ant. Sanchez said when he came to Chikara as Carpenter Ant he plowed through the competition, but the fans only cared about his character. He said he was going to go to the ring to express his emotions.

(5) Pinkie "Pink Ant" Sanchez vs. Fire Ant. Fire Ant sent Sanchez outside and hit a dove during the early stages of the match. Sanchez fired back and targeted Fire Ant's back. Sanchez beat on Fire Ant forever. He then began mocking the Colony's signature poses. Fire Ant saw this and unleashed fury upon Sanchez. Sanchez managed to cut him off quickly by going after his eyes. Fire Ant made another comeback with a number of kicks to the head. He followed up with a brainbuster for a nearfall. Sanchez managed to counter Fire Ant on the apron with a DDT. Sanchez locked in the inverted Chikara special, but Fire Ant countered with a rollup for a 2 count. Fire Ant then hit a stunned and the crowd popped huge. Sanchez fired back and locked in the Chikara special. The ref checked Fire Ant's arm and he was out. (***)

UltraMantis Black cut a promo backstage. He yelled about Ares and the BDK. He said they had destroyed everything in his life. Black said he was a single man without an army now. Black said Ares would pay tonight. He said he would get his revenge. He said Ares must die tonight.

(6) Ares vs. UltraMantis Black (w/Crossbones). Both men had a stare down. Ares simply backed down and went to the back. Ares came back with Delirious on a chain. Black jumped Ares from behind as he attempted to tie Delirious to the ringpost. The action spilled to the outside where Ares took control with a suplex on the turf field surrounding the ring. Both men continued to battle on the floor, but Black managed to fire back and counter a double underhook into a backdrop. Ares took control once again when the action resumed inside the ring. The announcers talked about how Black and Ares were similar in terms of their intelligence.

Delirious was shown standing on the outside dressed in white, but he didn't move. The crowd tried to rally behind Black, who was on the wrong end of a sustained beating. The crowd really got behind Black and began chanting his name. Ares got a whistle and blew into it, which prompted Delirious to attack Crossbones on the outside. Black fired back moments later and ran wild on Ares. Black hit a full-nelson driver for a nearfall. Black got several nearfalls, but he couldn't put Ares away. Delirious distracted Black on the apron, which resulted in Ares getting a rollup with the tights for the pin. This was more of an extended angle than a match, but it was well-executed. (**3/4)

(7) The Unstable (Colin Delaney & Vin Gerard) & F.I.S.T (Chuck Taylor & Gran Akuma) vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare). Quackenbush and Jigsaw worked together to take Gerard and Taylor to school during the early stages of the match. Frightmare and Hallowicked then showcased their abilities as a team with Frightmare taking down Akuma on the outside with a running head scissors under the bottom rope. The pace really picked up with men able to enter and exit the ring when someone rolled to the outside. After a great sequence, the heels got the advantage as Akuma worked over Jigsaw.

The heels continued to work over Jigsaw. Taylor hit a moonsault off the apron to the outside onto Jigsaw. At the same time, Gerard took out Frightmare in the corner inside the ring. The heels worked over Frightmare for a long period of time until he hit a dive to the outside, which forced a tag to Hallowicked, who ran wild.

The heels quickly cut off Hallowicked and went after his knee. The action then broke down once Quackenbush decided he could take no more and he took out Akuma with a dive off the top. The match really heated up here with a lot of cool sequences and dives to the outside. The finish saw Jigsaw and Quackenbush hit a sweet double hip toss off the top of the tower of doom. Frightmare then hit the twisting double knees from the standing position for the pin. This was really good. (***3/4)

Overall thoughts: (7.0) This was a really fun show from start to finish. The entire focus of the show was on BDK's invasion of Chikara, which played into nearly every match on the card from start to finish. The storyline seems to have a lot of layers, but I was able to jump into this show and get a good grasp on what has been going on in Chikara by listening to the announcers recap the angle, which launched at Chikara's final event of 2009.

The card really heated up starting with the Stigma-Ophedian match, which was really good. An insane tag match featuring Tim Donst & Lince Dorado taking on Equinox & Helios bolstered the middle of the show. This show shall be forever known for "The spot," which took place towards the end of the match, so when you see it, you'll know what I'm talking about. It was insane.

The second half of the show was strong as well. I really enjoyed the Pink Ant-Fire Ant contest. They wrestled an aggressive match that had the crowd on their feet at times. There was some really great back and forth action down the stretch before Pink Ant submitted Fire Ant with the Chikara special.

The semi-main event was more of an extended angle than a match, as Ares taunted UltraMantis Black by bringing out Delirious on a chain leash. Of course, this played into the finish of the match, which saw Ares pick up a cheap win.

The 8 Man Tag main event was the best match on the show. They built up to a really fantastic finishing sequence of maneuvers that had the crowd going crazy. It was nice to see the faces go over in the end, as this night seemed to be going mostly for the heels before the last match.

I give this show a solid recommendation. It's certainly a fun show and the storylines and in-ring action sucked me right in. There's no match of the year candidates here, but the show as a whole had a great atmosphere and there really wasn't a bad match on the show. Thumbs up!

You can purchase "Anniversario Zehn" by visiting SmartMarkVideo

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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