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RADICAN'S CHIKARA DVD REVIEW
Three Fisted Tales
Philadelphia, Pa.
November 22, 2009
By Sean Radican, Torch columnist
Star ratings and analysis
The show kicked off with a nice video package highlighting some of the bigger happenings in CHIKARA leading into this "season finale" release.
(1) The Unstable (Stigma & Colin Delaney & Vin Girard) & Brodie Lee beat The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton) & The Colony (Green Ant & Carpenter Ant) in 11:14. This was a fun opener. They did some sports related spots involving the Throwbacks that were a lot of fun, but they got foiled by the heels every time they were attempted. Lee ended up getting the pin after obliterating Green Ant with a running boot. This was a solid opener. (**)
(2) Helios beat Yujiro Kushida in 10:46. Kushida was trained by Tajiri. They had some great fast-paced exchanges early on that got the crowd into the match. At one point, the ref took away Kushida's belt. Kushida took advantage of the ref having his back turned to him and threw the flag of Japan he had had tied around his waist at Helios and then nailed him with two sick looking kicks, but Helios got his foot on the bottom rope. Kushida argued with the ref again, which allowed Helios to nail him with a superkick and then the 630 off the top for the pin. (***)
-Player Uno cut a promo backstage. He said he wasn't even thinking about Tim Donst tonight because of his losing streak. Uno concluded that there wasn't anything left for him to lose tonight.
(3) Player Uno beat Tim Donst in 6:17. Donst beat on Uno forever. Uno then made a comeback and the crowd got into the action. Uno ended up taking the win with his new Joystick submission. This was short, but good. (**)
-The Neo Solar Temple were backstage. UltraMantis Black cut a promo. He asked Delirious about his recent tour to Japan and Delirious said a bunch of stuff I didn't understand. Black said tonight they could obtain the third point to get a shot at the tag titles. Crossbones said he also had two points tagging with Black, but he got blown off. This was a fun exchange.
(4) The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple (Delirious & UltraMantis Black w/Crossbones) beat Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare) in 10:51. Awesome match here with a lot of good storytelling. Hallowicked and Delirious really went at it during the latter stages of the match and did some nice "fighting spirit" spots. It looked like Incoherence was going to win, but Delirious ran into the ring and nailed Frightmare with a double under hook DDT for the pin. The Temple now qualifies for a shot at the tag titles. This was fantastic and the crowd hated the Temple getting the win. (***1/2)
-Tim Donst cut a promo backstage. He said he had gotten rid of Hydra. Mike Quackenbush confronted him backstage and said he had taught him the inverted Chikara special. Quackenbush asked him if he had taught Carpenter Ant the inverted Chikara special. Quackenbush said he had only taught Donst the Chikara special to give him an edge. Donst said Carpenter Ant knew it because he was from the future. Quackenbush then slapped Donst across the face and told Donst to teach that move to Carpenter Ant. Nice segment.
(5) F.I.S.T (Icarus & Chuck Taylor) beat Mike Quackenbush & Jorge Rivera in 11:43. This was a solid match. F.I.S.T got the heat on Rivera and worked over his leg during the early stages of the match. Quackenbush eventually ran in and the action broke down with all four men in the ring. Quackenbush and Rivera hit a nice double pendulum spot at one point on Icarus and Taylor. It felt like the match should go longer, but Taylor ended up getting the submission win with a leg submission on Rivera, who tapped quickly. I give Rivera a lot of credit for being able to wrestle like he does at his age. (**1/2)
(6) Young Lions Champion Player Dos beat Lince Dorado in 12:48. This was a really good match. They did some nice Lucha exchanges during the early stages of the match. Dorado looked to have the upper hand for a good portion of the match and got a nice nearfall with a code red DDT followed by a standing Spanish fly, but Dos got his foot on the ropes. The finish saw Dos nail Dorado with a belly to belly suplex off the apron and into the ring steps. Dos then dragged Dorado back into the ring and nailed him with a big frogsplash for the pin. Several people came out from the back to attend to Dorado after the match. (***1/2)
-Eddie Kingston cut a promo backstage. He said he knows who Castagnoli really is. Kingston said he badly wanted to see Castagnoli looking up at the lights tonight. Kingston said Castagnoli would say, "Eddie Kingston, I respect you." Good promo.
(7) Claudio Castagnoli beat Eddie Kingston in 15:03 a Respect match. This was insane! Both men hit their finishers early. The crowd was split at first, but totally got behind Kingston, who showed great fire in this match. Castagnoli literally hit him with everything he could, but Kingston wouldn't stay down. Castagnoli finally put Kingston away with a bicycle kick and a European uppercut for the pin. This was a fantastic feud. (****)
-After the match Kingston got on the mic and said he didn't respect Castagnoli. He said Castagnoli might have all of the fans fooled, but he knows Castagnoli is shady. Castagnoli went to grab Kingston as he left the ring, but Kingston nailed him with a spinning back fist. The crowd booed as Kingston left the arena.
(8) Campeones de Parejas The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) beat The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) in 23:15 in a 2 Out of 3 Falls match. The Colony worked over Amasis during the early stages of the match, but the Portal made a comeback and Amasis pinned Fire Ant after a modified TKO in 8:43 to go ahead 1-0. The Portal continued to work over Fire Ant during the second fall, as Ophidian worked over his neck with a nasty bridging submission. Green Ant got the hot tag and ran wild until submitting Ophidian with the Chikara special at 13:09 to tie the match at 1-1. Fire Ant hit a huge springboard cannonball to wipe out everyone during the early stages of the third fall as the pace picked up.
The Colony worked over Amasis for a long period of time until the action broke down and the Portal made a comeback, which included a nice stacked suplex on Fire Ant. The Colony fired back and Fire Ant got an arm submission on Ophidian, who struggled for a long period of time until finally getting Fire Ant to break the hold after a second rollup attempt. At one point, Ophidian hit an insane 450 missile dropkick on Fire Ant for a huge pop from the crowd. The Portal hit their tandem legdrop/splash combination from opposite sides of the ring on Soldier Ant, but he kicked out at the last second and the crowd gasped. The finish saw Fire Ant nail Ophidian with an island driver off the top. At the same time, Solider Ant nailed Amasis with a TKO off the top for the double pin and the victory at 23:15. This was an awesome match. (***3/4)
Two men in white suites came out. They said they had warned that a war was coming. They said they were tired of waiting. Several wrestlers came out from the back as the shorter man said to bring out the victim. Quackenbush and Castagnoli came into the ring to confront the men in white. The man in white called for UltraMantis Black, who came down to the ring from the booth with Delirious. The man in white revealed himself and Castagnoli turned and nailed Quackenbush. Carpenter Ant revealed himself to be Pinkie Sanchez. Vodokor unmasked and it was Tim Donst. The new group stood tall in the ring. They were also joined by Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze, who were shown in the opening video package forming an alliance. They all did a military style salute before the larger man in the group used a remote to turn out the lights.
-Chikarason was backstage trying to get into his office. He was told by a Chikara student dressed in the attire of the new group that he was late for his semi-annual performance review with the board of directors.
Overall thoughts: (8.5) This was a really good show from top to bottom. This show comes at you in two ways with some really good storyline development to go alongside some really good matches up and down the card. There wasn't a bad match on this card and the real gem of the night was the fantastic Castagnoli-Kingston Respect match.
The undercard featured a lot of solid matches, but the action picked up with the Hallowicked & Frightmare-Delirious & UltraMantis Black match. There was a lot of good storytelling in the match and Delirious and Hallowicked had some nice exchanges in the ring. The crowd was hot as well during this encounter (as they were all night for the most part), which didn't hurt either.
The second half of the card was perhaps the strongest series of matches I've seen on a CHIKARA show. I haven't watched them all, but I was really impressed with how the show built to a strong closing segment. The Dorado-Player Dos match was really good and the finish was insane. Just watch the match to see what I'm talking about.
Kingston and Castagnoli then put on the best match on the show. These two guys just went at it from the opening bell and Kingston was awesome here, as he just wouldn't stay down for the pin when it seemed that he was done for. By the end of the show, a lot of what Kingston was saying about Castagnoli for several months all makes sense.
The main event tag between the Colony and the Portal was really good as well, but it's hard to remember much about the match given the strong closing angle of the show, which featured the formation of a new stable. I wasn't sure exactly how all of the pieces fit together, as the storyline is one of those angles that you have to see just about every CHIKARA show from this year to fully understand, but there was enough background information given during the course of the show that I wasn't totally left in the dark.
I highly recommend purchasing this show, especially if you're looking for your first CHIKARA experience on DVD. You'll get a taste of the storylines and in-ring action that made CHIKARA such a popular independent promotion in 2009.
You can purchase Three Fisted Tales by visiting Smart Mark Video
Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
