Best Of The Year...So Far

My infinite dorkdome came to life following CHIKARA’s season 8 Premier, “Revelation X” (1/25/09), as I told Amasis, who was out to say hello to the crowd after the show, that The Osirian Portal vs. The Colony was the best match I had seen this year. Of course, with this being the first live show I had been to for the year and it generally being pretty early on in the calendar, the compliment came with an asterisk at best. Best match of the year...so far. And “so far” with so long to go didn’t necessarily mean much at all.

Now with a second viewing under my belt, I must say it again - The Osirian Portal vs. The Colony is the best match of the year...so far. The level of creativity and uniqueness brought to the bout by both teams is off the charts. As a fan of all four, I expected nothing but greatness, and received even more than that. Anybody who ever feared these young talents were only good for hitting their big spots and not being able to put together a full narrative need only see this contest for proof that they are all well rounded wrestlers. And they have many more brilliant matches in them. Here is the first of many.

The other main event of the night was the first ever ladder match in CHIKARA, as Vin Gerard battled Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen for the Young Lions Cup. Unfortunately, it seems to come across as a bit polarizing to much of the audience. People have a certain expectation of ladder matches, and for their first ladder match, CHIKARA tried to do something very different. They built a highly psychological back and forth between two men who hate each other. The lack of ladder use is part of what makes this not just another ladder match. And while some of the middle of the match does drag, it does so in a way that makes a lot of sense. May not be match of the year material, but for the decidedly uncommon approach alone it gets a huge thumbs up.

As a whole, Revelation X is a fantastic show, with everything CHIKARA does perfectly put on display. When it comes to tag team wrestling, nobody rivals CHIKARA, and there is no shortage of proof of that fact here. Add to that a great Delirious vs. Eddie Kingston bout, with a finish that comes across as plain brutal, and an entertaining Sara Del Ray vs. Daizee Haze match, let the fact that this is the 4,756th time they are wrestling each other be damned, and you have the makings for a perfect start to the new CHIKARA season.

Best show of the year...so far.