2010 – CHIKARA: A Touch Of Class

It’s time to start a whole new season of CHIKARA action with “A Touch of Class” (1/31/10) from Philadelphia, PA. We pick up where things left off last November, as the villainous Bruderschaft des Kreuzes made their existence know and their intention to take over the company clear. What will come of this war? Only one way to find out!

-The opener between BDK member Pinkie “Pink Ant” Sanchez and Green Ant is definitely a great start to the year! Pinkie is one of those guys who I’ve enjoyed with certain reservations in the past, but once he unmasked as Carpenter Ant, who I adored, Pinkie earned a whole new level of my admiration. Green Ant has also more than come into his own as an exciting member of the roster. These two bring an unexpected passion to this bout, making it quite the grand surprise! Good stuff.

-The main point behind The UnStable vs. Sugar Dunkerton, Player Uno, and Create-A-Wrestler is really to establish the return of CAW fan-favorite personality Dasher Hatfield. In that sense, it works, but do we really need a roughly ten minute match to pull that angle off? The action isn’t particularly that great, and overall this is forgettable.

-One of my favorite things about BDK is the formation of Daizee Haze and Sara Del Ray as a force in the tag division! Haze and Death Ray bring the intensity to their clash with the Osirian Portal, and it makes for a really good contest. Ophidian and Amasis are two of my favorites, so I wanted to see them win of course, but the sheer anger behind everything Haze and Del Ray unload on them is damn impressive. Thumbs up!

-Keeping my opposable appendage raised is Brodie Lee vs. Hallowicked! These two go together perfectly and I could watch them battle all day. Love that they both have the size and the speed, making for a really good contest.

-The story of the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple vs. Grizzly Redwood, Pelle Primeau, and Andy Ridge is that Temple leader UltraMantis Black has claimed he has more important matters to attend to than the BDK...like fighting a contention of ROH students. Fun stuff! Probably a lot more enjoyable than it should be. Everybody looks great here, even the Ring of Honor Crew, who if nothing else, learned how to take bumps like pros.

-Tim Donst vs. Player Dos for the Young Lions Cup is a very well put together match, but I’m really not sure if I liked it. I can tell that both guys were working hard, and Donst’s as a heel with BDK is absolutely great. He is worlds better as a bad guy. Who knew? But ultimately the bout didn’t leave me thinking wow that was good. There are solid components to it, but as a whole concept it feels a little disjointed. Plus, and I’m sad to admit this, there is shall we call it a “wardrobe malfunction” that Donst dons the entire time and it is kind of distracting. I want to be more mature and look past that, but it really kind of makes the match hit the skids. Sorry, had to be done. I’m ashamed, don’t worry.

-Eight-man tag time as The Future Is Now and Mike Quackenbush take on the BDK! Some really interesting plot twists here that are going to be essential viewing to the entire Bruderschaft storyline. The action starts out a bit slow, but things definitely pick up in classic CHIKARA eight-man tag style by the end! Really good stuff, easily the best match on this show.

-And then there’s the main event. F.I.S.T. vs. The Colony. This could be the most disappointed I’ve ever been in a CHIKARA match. Something is off with all four men, way off as a matter of fact. They all move slower than usual, and all seem to be missing a step. It bothers me because these teams have had fantastic matches, both against each other and apart, and yet here they are looking quite not good. If this was the first time I ever saw these guys wrestle, I would instantly have zero desire for seeing them again. As it stands, I’m glad I’ve seen them before and will chalk this up to four men having a bad night. It happens.

This isn’t one of my favorite CHIKARA shows overall. There’s some really good stuff, but there is also some really not good stuff. Call me spoiled, but I’ve come to expect more from CHIKARA.