CHIKARA "Grit and Glory" review!

Hi friends. Time for me to sit down and give my thoughts on the latest CHIKARA show from Philadelphia, "Grit and Glory!" I wanted to go to the Hellertown show the night before, but I ended up having to work. The ride there was pretty bad because it was raining pretty hard, but I got there safely. I took both of my brothers this time and also Chris from York, PA was at this show. Before the show started, I bought an Equinox mask and the newest CHIKARA comic.

I got front row, hard camera side again. Unfortunately, the same group of rowdy, loud and obnoxious kids from the last CHIKARA show were there again shouting at the top of their lungs. People around me were moving because of these kids, therefore, the kids got closer to me thus they were screaming in my ear. I don't know how many times I told them to calm down, but they kept going on. It's extremely hard to get into a wrestling show when you have uncontrolled kids shouting right behind you. After the first match they quieted down, but after intermission they were at it again.

Enough of me rambling about annoying kids, let's get to the real reason I went to Philadelphia today, CHIKARA~!!!

Sara Del Rey and Bobby Dempsey def. Daizee Haze and Chuck Taylor
I love the Haze. She looked lovely today. This was a pretty fun opener. Bobby and Chuck got into a cat fight which was hilarious. Haze and Chuck kept trying to knock over Bobby with some shoulder blocks, but that didn't work. Chuck then threw referee Bryce Remsberg into Bobby, but that still didn't work. Dempsey also gave Chuck Taylor the cannonball, and the move pretty much killed Taylor (I believe that's the name of the move. It's when your opponent is sitting in the corner, then you run and flip into them. Kevin Steen and Joker both do it.) Del Rey pinned Haze after the Royal Butterfly.

Gran Akuma def. PSYCHO
Although I usually crap on Akuma just because, I thought this was one of his better matches. PSYCHO had an OK showing and I wouldn't mind him coming back. Akuma wins after a moonsault.

Hydra and Tim Donst w/ UltraMantis Black def. The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Stupefied)
Tim Donst is now fully a member of The Order of the Neo Solar Temple. The back of his singlet said "dONST" which is pretty neat, making you think they planned this whole thing a year ago. I love Uno and Stupefied so I enjoyed this match. I love all of their double-team moves. Donst got the pin after some move with a bridge. OK match.

Vin Gerard def. Lince Dorado
Vin went very rudo in this one working Lince's leg that he apparently injured the night before. I enjoyed this match. Vin made Lince pass out in the STF. After the match, it was Leonard F. Chikarason invited Vin Gerard to be in Young Lions Cup VI and he accepted.

Claudio Castagnoli, Pantera and Sonjay Dutt def. Mike Quackenbush, Jorge "Skayde" Rivera and Turbo(man)
This was a very good match, definitely MOTN. It was great the CHIKARA was able to bring in Sonjay Dutt. I enjoyed him in this match. It was great to see Jorge Rivera again. He truly is a great luchador. Turbo(man) was a bit iffy at first, but I was impressed by him later in the match. There were lots of nice moments in this match for me to name. Like I said this match was very good and "lucha-rific". Claudio got the pin on Turbo(man) after the Ricola Bomb. Crowd gave a standing ovation after this match.

INTERMISSION TIME!
Vin Gerard is selling 8x10's where he tells you why he hates you for only $3. I'm working on a Vin Gerard t-shirt design, so you might see that in the near future. My brother wore the Equinox mask while getting a Vin Gerard 8x10. Fun times. Vin asked if he was Mexican. Here is the 8x10:


Also I bought the Player Uno Gamers Club t-shirt and got a hug from Stupefied for buying it. Finally I got an autograph from Sonjay Dutt. He was a nice guy. Now the second half of the show begins!

Eddie Kingston def. Shane Storm
I'm a fan of Eddie and I'm glad that's he back doing wrestling shows again. I got excited when they announced this match the night before. I really liked the last match they had. I rewatched their match from "Two Eyebrows Are Better Than One" to get ready for this one. As expected, this was a brutal match. Storm was once again bleeding from the nose. The blood was waaaay worse than last time. This was a very good match. Eddie made Storm pass out to a sleeper hold/choke. Storm needed help to the back and there was blood everywhere. I would like to see this feud continue and was hoping Storm would score the upset.

The Colony def. Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shayne Hawke
made him go away. Colony got the pin on Sweeney after the Ant Hill. There was more Good match. The usual trios goodness from all 6 men. Vin tried to interfere, but Chikarason dissension between the Fab 3 since Sweeney got pinned again. However, they're still buddies and challenged The Colony to another match at "Young Lions Cup VI Night 1".

Brodie Lee def. Pelle Primeau
Naturally, Brodie beat the living tar out of Pelle. At one point, Pelle got thrown into the corner making the ring move, and it sounded like Pelle actually hit the metal of the turnbuckle. Brodie Lee wins after decapitating Pelle with the big boot.

Incoherence (Delirious and Hallowicked) def. The Osirian Portal (Amasis and Ophidian) to retain the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas
Ophidian got some new tights that look pretty cool. Those kids were getting worse, so I got fed up and moved my seat. This was a good match. I didn't expect Osirian Portal to win. I even called it in my previous blog here that Incoherence would win 2 falls to 0. The first fall was won with the "Here It Is" Driver from Delirious, and the second fall was won after a double-team super fisherman buster. I think that The Fabulous Two (Mitch Ryder and Shayne Hawke) should be the next in line to win the tag titles.

Incognito def. Helios to win Rey de Voladores 2008
Incognito is not over with the crowd at all. Chris from York said "Incognito is the Mike Adamle of Rey de Voladores". I thought that was pretty funny. The crowd was dead for this one and Incognito gave a sloppy performance. Crowd got back into it after Helios nailed a cartwheel to a Fosbury Flop to the outside. After that, nothing really fantastic. Incognito won with a Texas Cloverleaf-type submission. Yes, a tournament about HIGH-FLYING was won with a SUBMISSION. This match was watchable, but nothing spectacular. I was surprised this was the main event, but I guess they're trying to give some prestige to this tournament. If they do it again in the main event, PLEASE make it people we care about.

Overall I thought this was a good show. I'm probably going to get this one on DVD and I would recommend it. I was going to stay for the WWE "Judgment Day" showing, but I didn't since my brother wanted to go and I barely follow WWE anymore. I talked with Player Uno a bit after the show. We had a nice talk about Mario Kart Wii and other video game stuff. According to him, he only needs 2 more trophies in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Also I showed Worker Ant my Equinox mask and he threw it on the ground. That was pretty funny.

That's it for now. Be seein' you.
-Mike