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At “Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show”, it was announced that Smart Mark Video would have the DVD up for sale TOMORROW! If you were going to buy the DVD anyway, this is an opportunity to go into the show spoiler-free. While I am particularly proud of this edition of my column, I’d rather you buy it without spoilers if that is what you wish. Just a friendly heads up. Click the cover below to purchase the show!

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This edition of CHIKARMY Insider covers last night’s Chikara show “Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show”, which has been confirmed as the biggest show in the history of the company. Among other exciting moments: two huge six-man tags featuring Chikara Pro talent taking on the stars of Dragon Gate, the reemergence of a certain cyborg long thought to be a figment of imagination, the announcement of the American and Chikara debut of a wrestling legend, and F.I.S.T. simultaneously kicks a member out and welcomes a new member to the family. Big thanks got to various Twitter users and Chikara101 members for little snippets of information and for a few pictures, but the biggest thanks goes to Jerome Cusson. He texted in the live results to me and even called me after the show with more info. What a guy! This event will be talked about for a very long time to come, that’s not the only thing you’ll get in this column. As a nice bonus, I’ve listed my TOP TEN Chikara vs. Dragon Gate Dream Matches for your viewing pleasure. 3…2…1…MAKE COLUMN GO NOW! *presses button*

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Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show

July 25, 2010 ~ Philadelphia, PA

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1. Eight-Man Tag: The BDK (Donst/Sanchez/Dorado/Tursas) d. Frightmare & The Colony (14:31). Pinkie Sanchez pins Frightmare with the Burning Snicklefritz. Young Lions Cup VIII preview anyone? After the match, the lights begin to flicker and…Vökoder appears! OH MY. Pinkie has been complaining the last few months that Chikara fans are out of touch with reality, believing in robots and ants from the future. So the appearance of Vökoder caused the psycho Sanchez to lose his mind as the rest of the Bruderschaft stared in shock.

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2. Chikara vs. DG #1: Shingo Takagi d. Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen (10:02). Jimmy Jam took a nasty bump off of a dive and may have hurt his shoulder. Shingo killed him with the Pumping Bomber for the victory. Said to be a good match.

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3. Dream Women’s Tag: Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze d. Amazing Kong & Raisha Saeed (11:31). Haze gets the win for her team thanks to a German Suplex on Kong. That’s insane. Apparently it was ****ing Bridging German Suplex, too. That Daizee delivered. TO KONG. That’s like balancing your wallet on a matchstick! That’s like a bamboo stick flipping a panda! That’s like…okay I’ll stop. Seriously, I can’t wait to see this.

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4. Chikara vs. DG #2: CIMA, Super Shenlong, & Masaaki Mochizuki d. F.I.S.T. (15:17). The so-called Friends In Similar Tights are all wearing different outfits. So either there’s a break-up on the horizon…..or F.I.D.O. has risen! CIMA pins Gran Akuma with Meteora in the best match so far. Afterwards, Johnny Gargano shows up. There’s a discussion and…Icarus pedigrees Gran Akuma! GRAN AKUMA IS OUT OF F.I.S.T.! They take off his gauntlets and give them to Gargano. All three men pose together! WOW! As Akuma rose from the Pedigree, the fans chanted his name and really got behind him.

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5. Grudge Six-Man Tag: Drake Younger & The Osirian Portal d. The UnStable (13:57). Younger is wearing Osirian Portal tights, so I guess “Drake’s On A Plane” is officially a team…or maybe it’s just a fancy one-off. Colin Delaney is wearing a tie for some reason. Younger took a Tombstone on the ringsteps from STIGMA. Vin ended up in a garbage can. The Osirian Portal get the victory after the Osirian Sacrament on STIGMA. After the match, Younger danced with Amasis & Ophidian! Said to be an insane brawl and a really fun match.

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6. Grudge Tag Match: Claudio Castagnoli & Ares d. Eddie Kingston & Tommy Dreamer (15:24). Derek Sabato is out as the referee…that’s not good. Claudio’s Very European Mohawk is apparently ridiculous-looking. Finish comes when Claudio hits a release Ricola Bomb on Dreamer for the dubya. Lots of slow counts from Sabato in this one. There was an insane amount of heat, but it was not a great match. Dreamer unsurprisingly got a lot of heat but he can’t really go anymore. BDK goes undefeated on the weekend.

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7. Chikara vs. DG #3: Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, & Hallowicked d. WORLD-1 (16:53). Quackenbush pins Doi with the Quackendriver II in a really awesome match and may be the best of the entire show! The finishing sequence was said to be insane. Whether this leads to a future title shot for Quack in DGUSA against Hulk or Dragon Gate against Yoshino remains to be seen.

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Various Degrees of Awesomeness:

- Jacob Hammermeier was wearing a neck brace thanks to Kingston’s Backfist to the Future and Dreamer’s DVD back at Aniversario Elf. The bad news: it doesn’t cover his mouth.

- Eddie Kingston came out to induct Tommy Dreamer into the Arena Hall of Fame. Classy speech from Dreamer…and he didn’t cry!

- UltraMantis Black stated on his Twitter that he would be coming to “C-Rex”…and that he wouldn’t be alone. He was flanked at his merch table and the Commentation Station by two hooded figures. Couple that with the return of Vökoder and it appears that The Neo Solar Temple may be rising from the ashes.

- The legendary Manami Toyota will be making her American debut in Chikara Pro on September 18th in Baltimore, MD and September 19th in Brooklyn, NY! Word right now is that she will be hand picking her opponents for both nights. This is a HUGE honor, and anybody saying, “Well it doesn’t raise Chikara’s profile…” needs to be shot in the face with a Nerfzooka. Do those exist?

- The announcement that “Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show“ would be up for sale TOMORROW at Smart Mark Video still has me in shock. According to LFC on the Chikara101 boards, Chikara “specially recruited a dedicated video editor to work through the night, and he is already capturing the footage from tonight’s show to start cutting the matches.”

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Overall Thoughts

This event can only be viewed as an unmitigated, smashing, rousing achievement for Chikara Pro. Over 750 fans were in attendance to witness a really good show with some amazing moments: the return of Vökoder and three awesome-sounding six-man tags are just the tip of the iceberg on the DVD. While I haven’t heard that any specific matches are match of the year candidates or anything, every match has received compliments in some way or another, especially the Main Event. Dreamer/Kingston vs. Claudio/Ares was, as expect, not so great, but everything else is getting high marks. I will be buying this first thing tomorrow morning, and I’d suggest the rest of you nerds do the same.

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It was a big night for Chikara wrestlers at EVOLVE 4: Danielson vs. Fish on July 23 in Union City, NJ as the spectacular event saw several of the company’s finest come out on top. Despite Hallowicked & Jigsaw being a less-than-familiar tag team with one another, they still managed to beat Aeroform is a crazy match. Ricochet AKA Helios was involved in a 4-Way Match, but he was uninvolved with the finish. Brodie Lee fought Jon Moxley to a Double DQ with fans already clamoring for a rematch. The Osirian Portal fell to former Chikara roster members Cheech & Cloudy in a fun tag match. But the big winner was “The Kentucky Gentlemen” Chuck Taylor who beat the current Win Leader Jimmy Jacobs in a great match to claim that title as well as that of Longest Winning Streak in EVOLVE.

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DGUSA’s Philly return PPV, Enter the Dragon 2010, is one that Chikara fans will not want to miss. While Lince Dorado wrestled Super Shenlong to a ten minute draw on the Bonus Card, Chuck Taylor once again made a name for himself by winning a 4-Way Match that many called the show-stealing match of the pay-per-view. Taylor pinned longtime rival Ricochet with the Omega Driver for the victory. He placed himself at the head of the line to join the International WARRIORS with the victory. Seriously, when CIMA asked on Twitter who he thought would be a good fit for his International WARRIORS, I tweeted him Taylor. So…you’re welcome Chuck. YOU’RE WELCOME. Also of note was Brodie Lee, who did not have a match but intruded several times on other people’s contests, destroying everything in sight like a Godzilla villain. The PPV Main Event was an Elimination Match between Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw Hallowicked & Masato Yoshino against the KAMIKAZE USA team of YAMATO, Jon Moxley, Gran Akuma & Akira Tozawa. This was original set to end the feud between Chikara Pro and KAMIKAZE USA, but due to the adding of Bryan Danielson to face SHINGO, this contest would simply fan the flames of war. Hallowicked was eliminated first via YAMATO and his devastating Gallaria piledriver. Moxley drilled Jigsaw with a chair and earned a disqualification. Jimmy Jacobs ran him off. YAMATO eliminated Jigsaw with easy after the chair shot, leaving Quackenbush and Yoshino to fight off YAMA, Akuma & Tozawa. Quackenbush eliminated Gran Akuma to even the odds. The finish saw a double submission as Quack tapped Tozawa with The Chikara Special and Yoshino tapped YAMATO with Sol Naciente! Chikara Sekigun and Masato Yoshino got a huge victory and the momentum going into the inevitable feud-ending future match!

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There are many things to mull over when compiling a list of dreams matches. It would be easy to just put the best Dragon Gate has to offer against the stars of Chikara Pro and call it a “Dream Match”. However, with the diverse characters of Chikara and the rich history in DG, there is more to be considered than just which two guys might have the best possible match. A common gripe I have with the indy scene at large is that too often wrestling bookers are concerned with creating high drama with forty minutes slugfests between two over but very flawed performers. Sometimes, I get more joy out of a well-conceived squash match than these so called “epic contests”. Now, I know that the fact that ROH owes Dragon Gate money makes any wrestler on their roster off-limits, but we’ll just pretend Ring of Honor didn’t stiff DG out of some dough. Just for this piece. With that in mind, here’s my list of the TOP TEN Chikara vs. Dragon Gate Dream Matches.

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NOTE: These matches have not been announced, nor are they at present scheduled to take place. I made these banners myself to lend authenticity to the piece and, well…for giggles. I even left the damn watermark so that no one would get confused…though I imagine some people still will…

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Honorable Mentions

- Jigsaw vs. Naoki Tanisaki – Outside of them both sharing the same devastating finisher, I couldn’t think of many other good reasons to pair these two excellent workers together. They are both criminally underrated performers in the shadows of more popular grapplers. Both have some nasty strikes in their arsenals, Jig with his superkicks and Naoki with his various knee strikes. With Jigsaw in DGUSA, this actually could happen someday…but Tanisaki would have to get booked there first. Ya here me, Gabe?

- Cyber Kong vs. Lince Dorado – While both performers have suffered serious head injuries in the past, comparisons between them stop there. Kong is a hulking brute who could run through the diminutive Dorado like a knife through warm water. But Cyber works well with smaller guys, so I imagine the beating would be short, but ever so sweet.

- Jagged & Shane Matthews vs. The Florida Express – 3.0 are comedy geniuses, and they would be the perfect fit in a match against Jackson and Johnson Florida, who haven’t faced quality comedic competition in a very long time. Just the looks on 3.0’s faces as Jackson stumbles to the ring on his gimp knee might be worth the price of admission.

- DEEP DRUNKERS vs. The UnStable – A common theme I had when conceiving these contests was pairing top heels with top heels and the faces against one another. I don’t know why, but the idea of the perpetually hammered Kenichiro Arai, an unhinged Kzy, and…Yasushi Kanda…teaming against Vin Gerard, Colin Delaney, & STIGMA brought a smile to my face.

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10

This was just a no brainer. Amasis, a former holder of the Campeonatos de Parejas with Osirian Portal stablemate Ophidian, has a penchant for funky dance moves. He started his career as a heel but, as time wore on, fans got tired of feeling like they had to boo they guy and just started cheer him on. BxB Hulk, the current Open the Freedom Gate champion in DGUSA, is the fan-favorite in his home promotion, and like Amasis, he has an affinity for getting down with his not-so-bad self. A dance contest between the two would be epic, and the winner would simply be whoever’s backyard they were in. It’s a classic styles clash between a choreographed pop dancer and a freestyle rhythmic rumpshaker. Also, they’d probably find time to wrestle. Both are high-flyers, and Amasis even uses a retro Hulk move that BxB rarely ever busts out anymore. “The Funky Pharaoh” calls it the Twist of Funk while Hulk calls the BxB Smash. A stipulation where the winner of a dance contest between the two got to name the move permanently would be beyond awesome. It’d be shmawsome.

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9

Tim Donst may be the best heel in Chikara Pro today. At the ripe age of 24, the current Young Lions Cup holder has already earned a reputation for his smart, lengthy promos and his solid in-ring work. He also has a nasty side, known for using various cheating methods such as using ropes for leverage during pins and working the nipples of his opponents. His perfect foil would be a man not unlike himself, known for his ruthless personality and questionable tactics in the ring. That man is Gamma, a former Twin Gate, Triangle Gate, & Brave Gate champion in Dragon Gate. Gamma utilizes his trusty kendo stick to not only smack you across the head, but he’s just as likely to catch you where the sun don’t shine, too. Like Donst, Gamma is a man who seems to revel in his lack of scruples. Unlike Donst, people have gotten behind the veteran Gamma after years of intense hatred. He has made up with longtime nemesis CIMA and they now team as Osaka06 to the delight of the fans in Dragon Gate. Donst may think he’d have the upperhand against Gamma, but the first time Gamma gargled water and sprayed him with it like a devious fountain…he’d know forever the lengths that a truly disgusting guy would go and whether or not he could rise to his level.

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8

Incoherence is one of Chikara’s best-known and well-liked tag teams. Hallowicked, a Chikara veteran and former Campeon de Parejas, was still teaming with Delirious when he first started bringing Frightmare to the ring, usually with a steel chain wrapped around him to keep him in check. After Delirious was torn away from the trio, ‘Wicked started teaming with his young protégé, keeping the Incoherence name and attitude. Both would be elevated in stature by leaps and bounds over the next few months, as Frightmare would be declared the 2009 Rookie of the Year in all of professional wrestling  and Hallowicked would start working in EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA. Similarly, Super Shisa and Shisa BOY also share the same relationship as master and charge. While Super Shisa is a former Triangle Gate and Brave Gate champion, Shisa BOY has yet to have his big break out in Dragon Gate. But this match isn’t about accolades and accomplishments; it’s about talent. From a pure lucha standpoint, The Shisas are two of the best and most innovative on the DG roster. Incoherence had also shown to be two of Chikara’s best with it comes to innovative flips and death-defying dives. But these four guys in the ring together and I’m betting they crap out some magic. There’s gotta be a better way to say that, but I’m drawing a blank. The…the match would rule. There.

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7

Even the crankiest, most narcissistic independent wrestling fan has to see some upside in a match between the jabbering, excitable veteran know as Delirious and the…jabbering, excitable young wrestler Akira Tozawa. Delirious was Hallowicked’s partner when the two won the Campeonatos de Parejas back in 2007, but he has since joined The Neo Solar Temple and now the Bruderschaft de Kreuzes. The current Delirious is a mind-wiped drone…and no fun. I loved the laughing, chatty Delirious when he was wearing the trademark green mask, and that’s the Delirious you’d want to face Tozawa, a former Triangle Gate champion and a future main eventer in Dragon Gate. Even as a teenager, Tozawa rose above his fellow students with his loud mouth and vibrant personality. Tozawa will go on long rants about…I don’t know. I don’t speak Japanese. But he’s definitely prone to tirades, with his mouth constantly trying to cash checks his ass can rarely cash. But against Delirious, he may find someone just as loud and crazy as he is.

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6

It doesn’t take that many neurons to realize that teams like Incoherence, QuackenSaw, The Osirian Portal, and The Colony would turn out better matches against the team of Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino. Doi, a former Dream Gate champion and the first man in Dragon Gate history to hold every major company title, is joined at the hip with heterosexual life partner Yoshino, the current Dream Gate champion and the most decorated champion the Dragon Gate history. They have looked like they were breaking up many times over the years, but the two have weather storms and can lay claim to being the best tag team in DG history and perhaps in all of wrestling. They have a lot in common, a big one being that they both come from baseball backgrounds. Hell, Doi started his DG career as under a baseball gimmick as Second Doi. Enter Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton: The Throwbacks. After a match in Chikara back at Hiding in Plain Sight that is now simply known as “The Baseball Game”, it became clear that Chikara knew how to use sports in a variety of comedic ways. Just imagine Yoshino, the fastest man in wrestling, having a footrace around the baseball diamond-esque ring with Dasher. Imagine Dunkerton trying to baffle Doi with some slick basketball moves. This is the type of hilarious imagery that lead to this match coming to fruition on this list. Speed Muscle has proved time and time again that they can have amazing matches with just about anybody. But to pull off a comedy match outside of Japan would be a new type of challenge, one that, knowing them, they’d rise to the occasion for.

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5

I’m sure a lot of people will be baffled by this pairing, as Gran Akuma makes more sense in a discussion about the stiff kicks and nasty head drops of Masaaki Mochizuki, a former Dream Gate, Twin Gate, & Triangle Gate champion. I honestly found that pairing a little too obvious, and I had plans for Akuma elsewhere. In his twenty years in the wrestling business, Mochizuki has faced his fair share of hard-kicking opponents. I felt like the concept of Mochi versus a young striker is being done to death, and Masaaki is usually able to enforce his will upon them given time. Even at age forty, he is taking on all comers and seems to be in the best condition of his life. His many kicks aren’t just inventive. They may be the hardest and nastiest kicks in wrestling. He is as legit as you can get in modern wrestling, so the idea of putting him in the ring with someone not in his own mold intrigued me. It hit me like a Yakuza Kick…”Big Rig” Brodie Lee, a Chikara mainstay known for his devastating Big Boot and intimidating size. He would present Mochi with all kinds of problems: he’s at last half a foot taller, a hundred pounds heavier, and has the length to keep out of Masaaki’s kick range while still inflicting significant damage. Of all the guys in Chikara Pro, Brodie would provide literally and figuratively the biggest challenge for Mochizuki. It would be difficult for Mochizuki to even get his leg high enough to fire off a headkick, but I’m sure the crafty veteran would find a way.

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4

It would be a battle of the two true, undisputed aces of their home promotions. It would be a war between two of the top athletes in wrestling today. Claudio Castagnoli and CIMA have a helluva lot in common: both are the unrivaled top guys in their companies, both guys are known for their high-impact, innovative offense, both wowed WWE officials in tryout matches on Smackdown!, and both are among the most decorated members of their respective rosters. CIMA is Dragon Gate’s only two-time Dream Gate champion and the only man in company history to have held absolutely every active title at one point or another. Castagnoli has won almost everything there is to win in Chikara Pro: 2005 & 2006 Tag World Grand Prix, 2007 Torneo Cibernetico, 2010 King of Trios and the Campeonatos de Parejas…twice. As far as I know, they have only been in the same ring once: Claudio, alongside Austin Aries, Delirious, & Rocky Romero faced CIMA and members of Typhoon at All-Star Extravaganza III for Ring of Honor back in early 2007. Since then, both wrestlers have grown to become ever greater wrestlers, and hopefully one day they will face off again in a Chikara ring.

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3

Their rivalry stems from one simple truth: YAMATO doesn’t respect Mike Quackenbush and he doesn’t respect Chikara Pro. At the very first Dragon Gate USA show, Quack made a challenge to any Dragon Gate wrestler to take on any Chikara Pro wrestler and see who the better man was. YAMATO emerged and claimed not to know who the hell “Lightning” Mike was and proceeded to low-blow him. YAMATO enlisted the help of his own student Gran Akuma, and at DGUSA’s second show, Quack teamed with Jigsaw to gain a measure of revenge against YAMATO & Akuma. Soon after this, YAMATO’s Dragon Gate faction went international and KAMIKAZE USA was born. Now, the fight was between two entire stables of wrestlers as YAMATO, Akuma, Akira Tozawa, Jon Moxley and Shingo Takagi began attacking Quackenbush, Jigsaw, and the rest of the Chikara wrestlers. At the latest DGUSA event, Enter the Dragon 2010, Quack got a measure of revenge by teaming with Masato Yoshino & his Chikara brood to defeat YAMATO and KAMIKAZE USA in Main Event Elimination Match. Naturally, a singles showdown between the two looms. Both men are known for their cunning ingenuity in the ring, and in a battle of not only physicality but their very scruples, they’ll need to be firing on all cylinders to best the other man.

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2

This is another fantasy match-up where the accolades of the competitors speak for themselves. The trio of Icarus, Gran Akuma & Chuck Taylor has been through a lot as a trio. Last year, they ended their three year war against The Colony in one of the biggest matches in Chikara history. They beat The Death Match Kings, The F1rst Family, The Future Is Now and Team Uppercut in winning the 2009 King of Trios tournament. Akuma and Icarus won the 2005 and 2006 Torneo Cibernetico matches respectively and then teamed together to win the Campeonatos de Parejas, holding them for longer than any other team thus far. Likewise, the team of Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi is Dragon Gate’s most decorated triumvirate. They are the only threesome to win the Open the Triangle Gate titles more than twice, and with them recently reunited in the WARRIORS, they could earn even more. But the major reason that these men are known together is simple: Ring of Honor. 2006. Supercard of Honor. Against the Blood Generation, Do FIXER inspired the raucous crowd and the six men put on a performance that not only won Match of the Year in 2006, not only earned a 5-Star rating from Dave Meltzer, but helped popularize and broaden the reach of a company for years to come. They are the two finest trios in their companies…and thanks to Johnny Gargano, this match is never gonna happen. Gargano…YOU’RE ON NOTICE.

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1

This was the match that not only inspired this list but the very intellectual fabric behind it. As you may have noticed, I’m not content to just throw people in the ring together. I want to see the most decorated trio face the most decorated trio, the best athlete face the best athlete and the amateur baseball players face the old timey ball chuckers. Yeah, I’m pretty deep. This battle of hard-hitting heavyweights was inspired by one specifically shared trait between Shingo Takagi, a former Open the Dream Gate champion and leader of the KAMIKAZE faction, and “The Last of a Dying Breed” Eddie Kingston. That trait is ego. Shingo and Eddie are both their worst own enemies. Late in 2009, Shingo injured his knee and it became a focal point for the attacks of his opponents. The situation was exacerbated by Takagi’s repeated pounding of his own knee, as if he were baiting the challenger to break him. While Shingo’s ego is fueled by physical scars, Kingston’s comes from emotional ones. Eddie feels that he always misses out on the big matches in Chikara, that he’s always playing catch-up with the guys in the masks. He’s felt some level of dejection his entire life, and he uses the pent-up aggression to unleash a flurry of violence on his adversaries. Sometimes, this pride leads to disappointing losses, but more often than not, it acts as jet fuel for their fighting spirit and pushes them to succeed. So when it’s laid out like this, one wonders what would happen if they were to stand across the ring from one another. Two tireless warriors, both drunk on rage…ten feet apart. That’s a potential nuclear holocaust of lariats and arrogance…and that’s why it’s number one.

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- Please leave any comments or questions you might have and I’ll do my best to respond with as much colloquial Irish gossip as I can conjure. I’d like to do a contest or something cool like that, but I’m not sure how much interest there’d be. Let you voice be heard! Also, let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see in the column, like fantasy booking, treasure hunts, wish-lists, secret handshakes, etc.

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Look! CHIKARMY Insider is back! Seriously…you’re staring at it right now. In this week’s edition, you get must-have info on three new Chikara DVDs, a potential break-up for one of Chikara’s best triumvirates, details on this year’s Cibernetico event, a sleek visual aid that updates this year’s Young Lions Cup VIII participants, a full rundown on Chikara’s monumental show next week, Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show, featuring Dragon Gate stars such as CIMA, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Dragon Kid! Tickets are selling like warm muffins, as Chikara has already stated that this will be the biggest event in Chikara history! HISTORY! So hop aboard your starship and set a course for The Awesome Nebula. Also, if you could swing by my house, that’d be great. My address is 427 [EDIT: Justin, don’t list your actual address, ya dingus]. Once again, that’s 427 [EDIT: Why would you type this twice?!]. WOOSH!

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New DVDs: Danielson Returns + The Best of 2006!

Wanna see Bryan Danielson’s return to the independents? Do you want to see him mangling goons and kicking in skulls in ways that would make Vince McMahon soil his “Oops, I Crapped My Pants”? Then pick up We Must Eat Michigan’s Brain, featuring Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston, Frightmare vs. Tim Donst for the Young Lions Cup, and a crazy Eight-Man Main Event, as well as Faded Scars and Lines, featuring Danielson taking on Donst, Kingston battling Delirious, and The Future Is Now challenging The Bruderschaft for the Campeonatos de Parejas in an epic 2 out of 3 Falls Match! Also released is Chikara: The Best of 2006. This is very different from the Big Vision title that came out previously, as it features many, many more matches, including Arik Cannon vs. Eddie Kingston, F.I.S.T. vs. The Kings of Wrestling, a match between Mike Quackenbush & Ares that predates the Chikara vs. BDK Wars, and seventeen other stellar contests with former Chikara stars like Blind Rage, Chris Hero, Mr. ZERO and Larry Sweeney.

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The Fall of F.I.S.T.?

There’s no question that the blogs between Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano have been hilariously catty. Seriously, they’re like bunkmates fighting over Army men…and it grows more and more apparent that somebody in F.I.S.T. is gonna get stuck with the Minesweepers. Since the verbal slapfight began, both Gran Akuma and Icarus have weighed in on the madness, and it looks like all the talk and innuendo will come to a head at “Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show”. If you’re totally lost and want to catch-up, here’s the blogs in the order they occurred: [Taylor - Gargano - Taylor - Akuma - Icarus - Gargano]. Prepare to laugh yourself unconscious.

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Behold…The Dark Ciberknetico!

Chikara has announced the return of its annual manic multi-man match known as Torneo Cibernetico! This is the seventh year of the sixteen man contest that traditionally sees two sides of eight face off in an elimination-style contest, with the surviving members of the winning team battling it out until there is only one man left standing. Last year at Cibernetico Increible, the theme was “partner vs. partner”, and it was Carpenter Ant who emerged victorious, utilizing the Inverted CHIKARA Special in the first instance of any wrestler using the devastating submission. Of course, Carpenter Ant turned out to be Pinkie Sanchez in disguise, and he has not let the Chikara Tecnicos forget his shocking victory. This year, in the midst of the war between Chikara and the BDK, The Dark Ciberknetico will have more emotion and meaning than all the previous Cibernetico matches combined. For Chikara, this is about pride. For the Bruderschaft, this is about supremacy. If they can beat the Chikara faithful here, it may just be the disheartening blow that finally takes the wind out of the sails of Quack, Kingston and their tecnico brethren. On October 23rd in Easton, the battle lines will be drawn! The day after The Dark Ciberknetico, Hamden, CT will see the final New England card of 2010. Rendezvous at Big Gulch will take place Sunday, October 24th and, in the direct aftermath of Cibernetico, should be a humongous show.

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Young Lions Cup VIII

Entrants into the seventh Young Lions Cup tournament are coming fast and furious and the open spots are filling up quickly. Over nine different companies have announced representatives, three companies have announced participation but have not named reps, and six spots remain completely unassigned. In total, 24 wrestlers from 18 wrestling companies will be announced for the competition, which is shaping up to be the biggest and best YLC tourney ever! You can find a full list of all of the announced competitors below in a nice, neat format that I put together in that whole Photoshop thing.

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Mike Quackenbush is one helluva multitasker. While he continues to lead the CHIKARA Tecnicos in their war on the Bruderschaft for Chikara Pro’s very soul, he has continued to draw the ire of YAMATO in Dragon Gate USA. What started as a disrespectful act extended from YAMATO to Quack on the very first DGUSA show has snowballed into an all-out fight between YAMATO’s KAMIKAZE USA and the Chikara Sekigun. YAMA and his stablemates continue to jump Quack & company from behind and disrespect him, while Quack continues to lead his students in an effort to prove once and for all that his wacky band of youngsters can hold their own against the Japanese and independent elite. If not for one Bryan Danielson getting booked in a dream match against Shingo Takagi, this Eight-Man Elimination Match between the two sides in Philadelphia would have been the feud-ender. However, with Shingo’s removal from contention for the bout, the war will continue and this match provided Quack a chance to get in on the mind games. While YAMATO unsurprisingly chose Gran Akuma, Akira Tozawa & Jon Moxley for his side, Quack went with tag partner Jigsaw, top student Hallowicked and the man who very recently defeated YAMATO for the Open the Dream Gate, Masato Yoshino! “Lightning” Mike gets the last word in to YAMATO before this epic contest via the Chikara blog: “Go on, stick your tongue out on July 24th. Jigsaw will superkick it into the cheap seats. Or maybe Hallowicked will jam his boot down your throat the second you open your mouth. Prepare all you want. Try to be ready. Then get ready to lose. Your 15 minutes are up.”

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Perhaps the most beloved Dragon Gate wrestler on their roster, CIMA is never one to shy away from a challenge. He is the only two-time Dream Gate champion in DG history and he is their unofficial ambassador abroad. He has faced top competition at every level of professional wrestling, working dates for ROH, NOAH, IWRG, wXw, and he even had try-out matches on WWE Smackdown!. He has traveled the world and he has seen it all…everything except this. On July 25^th, in Philadelphia, he meets his antithesis. His opposite. The Anti-CIMA. Icarus is a CHIKARA’s most reviled performer, drawing the furious boos of a tyrant. He is unathletic, unoriginal, unfriendly, and undoubtedly one Chikara’s most decorated wrestlers. The only thing CIMA and Icarus have in common is their propensity for success within their home promotions. 2006 saw Icarus with both the Torneo Cibernetico and Campeonatos de Parejas and 2009 saw his faction F.I.S.T. stake their claim as the greatest Chikara trio in company history by winning the year’s King of Trios tournament. Both decorated, but worlds apart otherwise. CIMA is the Gallant to Ick’s Goofus, the snake to his mongoose. The Superman to his Bizarro. Now they will meet face to face in an extraordinary turn of events, and they won’t be alone. CIMA will be flanked by WARRIORS stablemate Dragon Kid and longtime ally Masaaki Mochizuki as they stand across from Icarus and the rest of F.I.S.T., Gran Akuma & Chuck Taylor. CIMA and Icarus eye to eye. Dragon Kid flying around the ring, flipping Taylor on his head. Mochizuki & Akuma, trading furious kicks. It’s a Chikara dream, and with Johnny Gargano threatening the very fabric of F.I.S.T. and it’s members, it may be the swan song for Chikara’s grandest and toughest trios.

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Eddie Kingston was a young man who had given up on wrestling. Disenchanted with the soft, watered-down product on current TV, the boy who would become “The Last of a Dying Breed” nearly missed his destiny. A fateful day at a friend’s house exposed him to the kind of wrestling that, to this day, keeps the fire behind his eyes burning in the face of constant demon and crippling depression. It was ECW. It was real. So many characters spoke to the young man from Yonkers. Shane Douglas, with his nasty mean streak. Raven, with his ability to turn a crowd on his head with only a few words. Tommy Dreamer, a young man who also hailed from Yonkers that, like Kingston, possessed the heart and determination of a lion. In Tommy, Eddie had found someone like him and realized that becoming a wrestler wasn’t impossible. If Tommy found a way outta Yonkers, so could Eddie. Thanks to Dreamer and ECW, the young lion rediscovered his love of wrestling, and he would eventually find his own personal jungle in Chikara Pro. But Eddie’s not just a dreamer; he’s a realist, too. Too slow, too gruff, too fat to get further than the indys. He used this bitterness to dismantle his opponents, knowing full-well that “his time” to reap the benefits of hard work would never truly come. Then…it did. Tommy Dreamer innocently strolled out onto the Arena floor just after Kingston had bested Christopher Daniels, and offered to give Kingston a crack at his idol. It would be Kingston vs. Dreamer, a decade in the making that no one thought possible. And when the time came for Kingston to live out an unlikely fantasy, to face the man that inspired him to compete, Claudio Castagnoli & Ares stole from him in an act of cowardice and hatred. The BDK generals interfered in the match, sullying a special moment for Kingston. The war between Claudio and Eddie that stemmed from a torn friendship has turned into as personal a fight as Chikara Pro has ever witnessed. Now, Dreamer and Kingston will join forces to teach the leaders of the Bruderschaft a lesson: you can kill the dream, but the dreamer never dies. Claudio and Ares will surely bring their soldiers, and that’s just fine. Two Dreamers against an entire army. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Daizee Haze & Sara Del Rey wanted competition. They begged for it. Pleaded for it. In July of last year, after Haze bested Rayna VonTash in less than four minutes, she screamed that she wanted to face someone stronger. Someone tougher. In an October tag match with Bullfight Sora, she was given Del Rey, an opponent she’s faced millions of times, and La Malcriada, a somewhat comedic competitor. This time it was Del Rey who showed frustration, beating Sora so badly that she was disqualified for Excesivo de Castigo. After the match, the two lethal ladies got together and decided to join up with Ares and the Bruderschaft. Since then, they have face mostly male competition and have held their own. However, the mean streak that consumed them both remains. They’ve continually been disqualified for blatant cheating and repeated violent acts without cause. Now, for the first time since that fateful tag match in October of last year, the two ladies will be involved in a tag match with two other ladies. This time, Death Haze is a united front, and they’ll have to be if they have any hopes of beating two of the toughest women in wrestling today: Raesha Saeed & Amazing Kong! This is perhaps their stiffest competition yet, as Kong and Saeed won’t hesitate to strike like Amasis, Mike Quackenbush and Hallowicked have in the past. They will be looking to squash the women of the BDK by any means necessary. And while most people would justifiably be worried, Haze seems very confident in a post on the Chikara blog: “Sara Del Rey and I, along with the rest of the BDK warriors, are recreating the definition of impact, incursion and havoc as we have – and will continue to – destroy everyone that crosses our paths. Everything that CHIKARA holds dear, we are taking for ourselves. We refuse to be ignored or overlooked anymore! So if you two can get on the same page long enough to make it to the ring next Sunday at Chikarasaurus Rex, be prepared to learn what [havoc] is all about. You think you’re going to bully Sara and I around the ring like you did all those precious TNA Knockouts? Think again Kong. I’ll be happy to put you in your place and show you what real wrestlers can do. We’re as good as the best and as bad as the worst. So don’t test us, just save yourselves and move out of our way. We are the best – the best on planet Earth! As you will find out.”

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Liars. Degenerates. Rudos. None of these labels are very surprising when used in the same sentence as Vin Gerard, Colin Delaney, and STIGMA, The UnStable. But because of some uncharacteristically sporting behavior early this year, the harsh language had been stifled by cheers of praise for Gerard and STIGMA’s performances. A series of hard-fought matches had Gerard expressing his desire to “go straight” and turn over a new leaf. STIGMA looked like he was missing his lovable “Shane Storm” days, using That Japanese Move to defeat Ophidian. Delaney wasn’t happy about all this, so here interfered on Vin’s behalf in a match against Amasis. Afterwards, when The Osirian Portal questioned Gerard about this, he apologized and claimed not to have been a part of it. They agreed to a tag team rematch with Colin barred from ringside. At Faded Scars and Lines, Colin showed up anyway, costing Amasis and Ophidian the match. Vin was furious afterwards, demanding that Colin tell the Portal that he had no part in any of it. Colin smiled and said that he could not. The UnStable then beat down the Egyptian duo, showing a returned mean streak and united front. It was all a ruse. Well, the Osirian Portal don’t like to be played, so when Amasis & Ophidian were challenged to a six-man tag at Chikarasaurus Rex, they turned to “The Psycho Shooter” for help.  Drake Younger has been waiting years to get his hands on The UnStable for their constant interference and cheating ways in his past Chikara appearances. Now, the team informally called “Drakes on a Plane” will seek retribution against a faction of wrestlers who proved to be calculated and malicious outside the ring, but still need to prove they can once again perform at a top level in-ring after their shocking exit from this year’s King of Trios.

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While The Colony may not have completely toppled the Bruderschaft at this year’s King of Trios, they at least showed that the faction has cracks and weaknesses. The BDK can be beaten, and Fire, Soldier and Green Ant plan to prove this again at Chikarasaurus Rex when they team with Frightmare to take on the BDK fearsome foursome of Young Lions Cup champion Tim Donst, “The Perfect 10” Lince Dorado, reigning Cibernetico winner Pinkie Sanchez, and the immovable, indestructible Tursas. While The Colony may hold a high-profile win over the BDK, the Bruderschaft have them in sheer volume. Donst’s last two successful defenses of the YLC championship were Frightmare and Soldier Ant. At Aniversario weekend, Fire Ant lost matches to both Pinkie Sanchez and Lince Dorado. Tursas not only destroyed Green Ant in a singles match early this year, but the 6 foot 7 inch monster has yet to be knocked down inside the ring. Tursas is the x-factor in every atomico match of the BDK’s, as he seems to make up for his team’s shortcomings with blunt focus and brute force. So if the Tecnico quartet can find a way to get Tursas off his feet –and keep him there –they have an excellent chance at coming away with a victory. But that if weighs almost 400 pounds, so you can bet that it’s going to take all four guys to put him down.

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One particular phrase popped into my head upon learning of this match-up: Sweet Merciful Zeus. Perhaps the most exciting and dynamic faction in Dragon Gate, WORLD-1 has come to Chikara and are well represented by their three figureheads: leader Naruki Doi, Dream Gate champion Masato Yoshino, and Freedom Gate champion BxB Hulk. With a trio that strong, one would think that Chikara officials would find it tough to match that kind of electric trio. Fear not, Chikara faithful: Mike Quackenbush captains a team with his tag partner and top student, Jigsaw and Hallowicked. While this bout may not have the natural match-ups the way WARRIORS/F.I.S.T. does or the heated exchanges of Kingston & Dreamer versus the BDK, it does possess as much talent as any match Chikara has put on this year. If you’re looking for you potential match of the show, your search should start here. While WORLD-1 might be considered a lock by some, don’t count out Quack and his Lightning Breed. Also, the Chikara squad has proven to be very cohesive the past year thanks to their joined struggles against the BDK while W-1 could suffer from some recent turmoil. See BxB Hulk in the avatar above? Well, he ain’t lookin’ like that when he shows up in Philly. He lost a match against Shingo Takagi at DG’s Kobe World PPV on July 11th, and as a result, he had his head shaved bald. Shingo demoralized Hulk afterward, calling him by his real name of Terumasa Ishihara, telling him to go back to dark matches and start his career over. On the same show, Yoshino captured the Dream Gate, DG’s top prize, and Naruki Doi won a tag match with PAC that may grant him a future DG tag title shot. So while it appears that W-1 has a lot on its plate, they are also coming in with a psychological advantage. Yoshino will be teaming with this Chikara trio the night before in DGUSA, so he should get a good look at what this awesome Chikara trio is all about, and Naruki Doi holds a win over Quack & Jigsaw in DGUSA with partner PAC. It’s gonna be six of wrestling’s most energetic performers in one match, and the only thing we can expect is the type of fast-paced, non-stop action that only Chikara and Dragon Gate can bring you.

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- My brother’s birthday was July 10^th, and my gift to him on his twenty-first birthday was this very tasteful BIRTHDAY CARD. Classy, no? My father’s birthday was July 17^th, and he enjoyed a nice time at the beach. Just wanted to wish them both Happy Birthdays and I hope both of their rashes clear up soon. It’s weird that they both got them at the same time…and in the same places…but I didn’t wanna ask.

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- Please leave any comments or questions you might have and I’ll do my best to respond with as much colloquial Irish gossip as I can conjure. I’d like to do a contest or something cool like that, but I’m not sure how much interest there’d be. Let you voice be heard! Also, let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see in the column, like fantasy booking, treasure hunts, wish-lists, secret handshakes, etc.

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Justin Houston gets inducted in the Cool Kids Society in this very special episode. First, host Kevin Ford and Justin sit down to discuss two of CHIKARA’s upcoming events, Chikarasaurus Rex and the Young Lions Cup tournament. See which matches Justin and Kevin would potentially like to see, and what may or may not be changed. In addition, Justin expresses his disdain for a particular Young Lions Cup participant. Then Cool Kids founder Brad Garoon joins the discussion as Dragon Gate’s “Kobe World Festival 2010” PPV is run down in full detail. Justin and Kevin close the show as a duo, giving their brief thoughts on Dragon Gate USA’s “Uprising” PPV. Also, Brad’s dinner makes a special cameo appearance.

This is the first of a a marathon of podcasts coming to the website. Be sure to come back every day for new audio, including interviews with some old favorites and new guests. Download above or listen live below.

Wrestler of the Year: Yamato

Other contenders: John Cena, Tyler Black, Davey Richards, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Chris Jericho, Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, El Generico, Kevin Steen, Masaaki Mochizuki, Naomichi Marifuji, Prince Deavitt

Instead of coming up with numbers  for the other contenders, I’m just going to come up with a random list of guys who deserve mention and will be guys to watch the rest of the year.

When it comes to this award, I’m more basing this on their in-ring ability. I’m not sure how much wrestlers even have an impact on drawing power, so I think a better idea is to focus on what wrestlers do inside the ring. In all honestly, this was such an easy choice for me. Yamato is a guy who’s had tremendous matches in Dragon Gate Japan and Dragon Gate USA. In a company known for high flyers who aren’t the best at selling, Yamato has brought a more technical style to the main event scene. The two best examples of this are an Infinity match with CIMA and his Mercury Rising contest with Susumu Yokusuka. That doesn’t even take into account matches with Naruki Doi and two matches Masaaki Mochizuki. I’d say Tyler Black or John Cena are tied for a distant second.

Tag Team of the Year: The Young Bucks

Other Contenders: BDK (Claudio Castagnoli and Ares), The Colony (Soldier Ant and Fire Ant), The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe), Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli), Switchblade Conspiracy (Jon Moxley and Sami Calihan), Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black), House of Truth (Josh Raymond and Christian Able), Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw, K-nuska (Susumu Yokusuka and K-ness)

Tough call. Kings of Wrestling and Briscoe have had a very good feud, but Hero and Claudio haven’t really had many matches as the champions. Same goes for Claudio’s other duo with Ares. I’d say the second half of the year with each team getting more title defenses will move them up the list. Age of the Fall have had a great run in AAW. Quack ‘n’ Saw has delivered on some excellent in-ring performances but haven’t had much better than a .500 record nor have they held any gold.

‘It all comes back to the Bucks, a team I said was the best team of 2009. The Bucks continues defending their tag team titles in great matches before finally losing the belts at DDT4 2010.  And having seen that tournament? They ended their title reign  in the best possible way.They had a pair of four star matches in DG USA before their eventual departure. They even had some memorable matches during King of Trios 2010. I think the Bucks will be usurped by another team on the list, but the Bucks PWG tag team title reign ending might go down as one of the top moments in independent wrestling this year.

Non-Wrestling Performer of the Year: Bryce Remsburg

Other Contenders: Jacob Hammermeier, Truth Martini, Prince Nana, Jim Cornette, Gavin Loudspeaker, Excalibur, Rick Knox, Phil Colvin

I swear I didn’t give him the award because he was (and might be again) on the show. Is there anyone who better represents CHIKARA than Bryce? He’s one of the best referees in the business. Want proof? Look at all the Indy companies he’s refereed for. This doesn’t even take into account his announcing for CHIKARA which gets better with every show. He seems to show a genuine level of excitement for what’s going on in the ring. He also does a fine job getting storylines over. And think about this. When wXw came to Philadelphia in March, who announced the show Bryce Remsburg. And I’m also counting the Fan Conclave for the purposes of this award because of how awesome an experience it was for me and everyone involved.

If Jacob Hammermeier had a slightly more active role, he so would have won this award going away. I don’t think there’s a BDK member more hated than he. He’s so gloriously annoying as a ring announcer that when he gets taken out once and for all, the pop might be as loud as when the BDK lose the tag team titles or Cibernetico.

Comeback of the Year: Steve Corino

Other Contenders: Colt Cabana, Paul London, Ring of Honor (yes, the whole company), Brian Kendrick, Cyber Kong, Edge

What I like about this category is the many criteria you can judge it by. You can go to injuries and say a guy like Cyber Kong or Edge deserves it since both of their careers could easily be in jeopardy right now. Then I look at Brian Kendrick, a guy I buried at the end of 2009. He’s had good efforts in DG USA and TNA of all places. London is sort of an unknown because a lot of his standing with this award will be determined by his PWG tag title reign. His three matches during DDT4 2010 were a positive sign. Cabana focused too much on comedy and not enough wrestling. His focus in 2010 has been much improved. Ring of Honor- I’ll put it this way. Anyone who watched the company in 2009 and thought they were just fine was watching the shows with rose-colored glasses. Period. This company was putting on a lot of useless shows with bad booking and horrendous finishes. The finishes still aren’t great, but everything else has gotten so much better.

That brings me to the guy who’s going to win this award easily. Steve Corino meant nothing for indy fans last year. A lot of people looked at Corino coming back to Ring of Honor as a negative. All he’s done is consistently put on some of the best performances in recent years and been a major reason for the success of the El Generico vs. Kevin Steen rivalry. His year can be summarized when he took a chair shot to the heat while his head was in barbed wire at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies. It was a brutal shot that exemplified Corino’s seemingly full commitment to Ring of Honor.

Most Improved of the Year: Zero Gravity (Bret Gakiya and C.J. Esparza)

Other Contenders: Malachi Jackson, Green Ant, The Cutler Brothers, AIW

I think I’ll have more of a sense of this award in December.  Zero Gravity have been a part of AAW for a couple years actually. Their growth started in last year, but anyone who’s watched an AAW show would notice it a lot more this year. Gravity has made spot appeareance for CZW, but AAW is where they’re breaking out. They’ve had two excellent matches with House of Truth. They were part of my favorite main events, an eight man tag at Appetite for Destruction. I know Aeroform gets all the publicity, but I think Gravity has more to offer in a similar type of role.

Malachi Jackson was a guy who I thought blew in 2009. He put on an impressive performance on night one of King of Trios and is at least putting on tolerable matches in PWG. Cutlers weren’t exactly stiffs last year, and Green Ant’s “improvement” might have more to do with the booking rather than just natural improvement.  Even if Drew Cordeiro wasn’t a friend of the show, I’d have to give Absolute Intense Wrestling a lot of credit. AIW was a rinky dink promotion out of Ohio not too long ago. They’ve show-horned their way into a crowded indy wrestling scene thanks to a number of well-done DVDs. Two were shoot interviews. One with a freshly released Colt Cabana and the other a hilarious interview with Matt Classic. Next was the Jack of All Trios that featured a number of talented wrestlers where the winner would get into the King of Trios. Guys like Flip Kendrick, Louis Lyndon, and Johnny Gargano have received opportunities throughout the northeast and Midwest. A relationship with CHIKARA leading to a doubleheader a couple weeks ago is another step in the evolving of AIW.

Most Underrated: Silas Young

Other Contenders: Arik Cannon, Northstar Express, House of Truth, Ryan Taylor, Brandon Bonham, Ares

I almost feel like I should just put AAW under this category, but I don’t want to come off as biased. Nonetheless, there are a lot of roster members who don’t get their just desserts. A lot of the PWG locals might not be household names, but they’re putting on some of the best matches in the company.  I guess none of these guys work in the northeast, so no one talks about them. If you haven’t watched any AAW or PWG, it’s well worth buying a DVD. I included Ares because the guy doesn’t get any credit for his in-ring work. Yes, he ‘s involved with the BDK, but beyond him being eeeeeeeeeevil, he’s a really strong talent inside the ring. Despite all the names on this list, there really is one guy who stood out above the rest.

The king of underrated this year is Silas Young because of his consistency as the AAW heavyweight champion. He’s had a number of good matches with Shane Hollister, Tyler Black, and Matt Cross. I could make an argument Colt Cabana’s best match since returning to the indies came against Young back in April at Point of No Return. He might be the best heel champion of the last couple years based on his ability to draw genuine heat from the Berwyn Eagles  Club. Even though he won the title in November, I see no signs of Young’s title reign ending.

Best Weekly Wrestling Show: Infinity

Not even bothering with other contenders here. Smackdown was actually pretty good the first couple months, but it has decreased rapidly with such an emphasis on Drew McIntyre and taking away much of the star power. Raw has too much comedy and too much of the writers not being able to make up their minds about angles. The Nexus angle brings some improvement to the show lately thankfully. NXT is a joke, or the WWE at least treats it like one. Impact… I don’t even need to go there. ROH is decent but has a few important flaws.

Infinity has some of the best wrestling on a weekly basis. I can think of multiple four star matches without even thinking. There are storylines, video packages, and an emphasis on promoting the product. If  none of the shows in the states can bother producing a show as good as this, then I’m going across the Pacific to find a great weekly wrestling show.

Feud of the Year: Kevin Steen vs. El Generico

Other Contenders: The Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling, Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries, Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong, BDK vs. CHIKARA, World-1 vs. Warriors, The Young Bucks vs. PWG Fans, John Cena vs. Batista, C.M. Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, nXt vs. WWE

I don’t even know what to say. This is a remarkably simple feud. Generico and Steen were former partners, championship partners no less, who broke up in Ring of Honor. They’ve feuded in other places, yet what used to be old is new again. Steen’s presentation at Final Battle 2009 no doubt helped kick this feud off in an impressive way. While the trashing of the main event is well-deserved, it also needs to be said that the Steen and Generico feud kicked off in classic fashion. From the promo to the chairshot. It was all perfect. The promo work by Steen has had a lot to do with the success of the feud as well.

The efforts of Colt Cabana and Steve Corino shouldn’t be left behind either. Generico doesn’t do promos, so Cabana’s presence has become invaluable to lend a little bit of verbal sparring. And it’s not really fair for Cabana to be on Generico’s side without Steen getting a partner of his own. It also allowed ROH to put off a singles match between the former partners until Death Before Dishonor mere weeks ago. In what other feud in recent memory has it taken six months for two guys who are feuding to have a one-on-one match. Just an incredible feud, and if this doesn’t end up winning “Best Feud of 2010.” I’ll be floored.

Company of the Year: Ring of Honor

Other Contenders: CHIKARA, PWG, AAW, Dragon Gate

WWE and TNA aren’t on this list because they don’t deserve to be. Evolve doesn’t make the cut because they can’t decide on their own rules and have only run three shows. That leaves five companies, all of which I follow. I’m pretty much digging everything that is going on with all five companies I mentioned for this award. I don’t think CHIKARA nor PWG are as good as they were last year, but their shows are still worth checking out. Dragon Gate has a produced a number of incredible matches, but they’ve also had some negative moments (Abdullah the Butcher and L.A. Park anyone?)

Ring of Honor has streamlined the number of shows they’re running. They’ve become the first wrestling company to regularly experiment with the iPPV concept. The video packages, which can all be seen for free on YouTube and the website, has also helped improve the way ROH promotes their shows. The television show has at least become more focused on promoting the Pay-Per-Views. ROH has upgraded their announcing (not much but it’s a start) and the way they produce their DVDs. Tyler Black has been a major upgrade when it comes to being the ROH champion, mostly from an in-ring standpoint. El Generico and Kevin Steen has been one of the most compelling feuds in all of wrestling. Kings of Wrestling against the Briscoes is a solid number two. I wouldn’t say ROH is perfect, but they’ve reclaimed their spot as a top wrestling company.

Match of the Year: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels(****1/2) (Wrestlemania XXVI)

Other Contenders:

DG/DG USAWorld-1 vs. Warriors (****1/2)(Mercury Rising) World-1 vs. Warriors (****1/4)(Dead or Alive 2010) Yamato vs. Naruki Doi (****1/4)(Compilation Gate), Yamato vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (****1/2)(Infinity), Yamato vs. CIMA (****1/4 (Infinity)

ROH: Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries (****1/4)(8^th Anniversary Show)Kings of Wrestling vs. The Briscoes (****1/4)(The Big Bang) Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong (****1/4)(The Big Bang), Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. El Generico and Colt Cabana (****1/4)(Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies II)

AAW: The Phoenix Twins vs. The House of Truth (****1/2) (The 6^th Anniversary Show)

EVOLVE: Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi (****1/2)(Evolve 1)

PWG: The Young Bucks vs. The Cutler Brothers (****1/2)(DDT4)

Basically, these are all the matches I’ve given ****1/4 or above. It’s honestly a pretty sad list when you look at it. Neither CHIKARA or PWG make the cut. Not to say they haven’t had any great matches, but they haven’t had any MOTYC. Sorry guys. This is the weakest year I can ever remember for great matches. By this point last year, I’d given one match ***** and another ****3/4. This year, I’ve given three matches ****1/2 and that’s it. ‘Taker and Shawn from Wrestlemania 25 was number three on my list last year. If it wins this year? That’s just sad. Shouldn’t be surprised by WWE only having one contender considering how poor the Pay-Per-Views have been and all the departures. Ring of Honor will always have matches on the list because of the talent involved. Here’s to better wrestling in the second half of the year, and some matches that light my world on fire. I fully expect PWG and CHIKARA’s summer run to produce multiple candidates that will make me change the list drastically.

These ten awards should give you an idea what the year 2010 has been all about. Tomorrow I will look at a burning question facing each company.

Download above or listen to live below. NSFW

Download audio file (pwp06302010.mp3)

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Welcome to another edition of CHIKARMY Insider, the on-line Chikara article that dares to use the word “indubitably” in a sentence despite it’s propensity to draw open mockery. We use “propensity”, too. This whole Daniel Bryan Danielson mess involving Triple H? Balderdash and codswallop derived from rumpus scuttlebutts of the hoi polloi. I CAN’T STOP! Okay, I’ll stop. This week, we get blog posts from UltraMantis Black and referee Nick Sabato, minor updates on two big future Chikara events and major match updates for the June Chikara shows. Pinkie up, fools. We’re in Mannersville not Slob City!

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Eine Mitteilung von Derek Sabato

This morning, I had to sit and review some frightening clips from Aniversario Elf with Herr VonSteigerwalt. In Union City, the one and only Tommy Dreamer, a man I thought would have some moral fiber to him, went WAY over the line. First, he grabbed me, wrinkling my clean, white shirt, which no wrestler should ever do to an official. Then, he threatened me with bodily harm. For this transgression, I had no choice but to disqualify him. You cannot make threats in line at the airport and expect to get away with it, and you cannot threaten a sanctioned referee and expect nothing to happen. Those wild and crazy ECW days are over for a reason, Mr. Dreamer.

Then, things went WAY over the line, as Dreamer attempted to piledrive me. ME – an unarmed man, doing his job, trying to make a living as an honest ref. Why on Earth would anyone even think of harming me? Watching these clips back today reminded me of just how senseless this type of wrestler-on-official violence is. While I have sought counselling for the emotional trauma suffered at the hands of Mr. Dreamer, imagine what poor Jakob is going though. Now with an injured neck, he is sidelined indefinitely until he is well enough to hold up that microphone and do his job again. Who will support his family until then, Tommy? Did that ever cross your sick mind before you crushed him with that Dreamer Driver?

CHIKARA fans around the world, you have never been particularly nice to me. But even so, you must agree with Dieter and I that this type of behavior is totally unacceptable. No one should have to ply their trade in a hostile work environment. My therapist believes I am not ready to return to the workplace this month, but I will continue courageously on the path to recovery, until the flashbacks and night terrors are gone, and I am released to resume the job that I love to do.

- Derek Sabato

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A Message from UltraMantis Black

In the year Two Thousand Two, UltraMantis was born into professional wrestling via the slightly askew world of CHIKARA. At that time, he was one among a very, very small cast of players in an organization that was in its mere embryonic stage. A company that was conceived, constructed, and cultivated with the labor and toil of individuals whose only goal was to completely transform the sport of professional wrestling as it had hitherto been known. It is eight short years later, and a cadre of deviants calling themselves the Bruderschaft des Kreuzes seeks to erase that history. To eradicate the legacy we forged.

I am fully cognizant of the fact that my insatiable hunger to elevate the Order of the Neo Solar Temple to glorious heights through manipulation of the black arts is what directly led to this BDK infiltration. As I have watched the razing of my Order and the oppression of all of CHIKARA by jackbooted thugs, I am reminded of the War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. I have long studied the structural damage in the blueprint of humanity, and now at last I am able to make sense of it and accept that for which I am responsible. So to that end, my sole mission becomes clear – to completely vanquish the BDK from all of CHIKARA.

It is abundantly clear that the man they call Ares has gravely underestimated me. He can destroy my Neo Solar Temple and take away everything I hold dear, but the mastermind remains. That is your fatal flaw, Ares. So relish the Campeonatos de Parejas. Relish the Young Lions Cup while you can. Enjoy your tenure as the King of Trios. Whether you sense it or not, your days are numbered.

Those of us that built CHIKARA brick by brick will only tolerate so much.

- UltraMantis Black

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Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show

So, are you a fan of Dragon Gate? Do you know what Dragon Gate is? Can you tell me your last name? Super Duper! Chikara Pro and Dragon Gate, two of the most unique and fast-paced wrestling companies in the world, have stayed apart for far too long. In the Dark Times, one would have to watch Chikara and DG stars separately, wasting valuable mall loitering time. Kids and some bears would dream of the day when both companies would come together on the same night, in the same building, and then have people tape it and sell as a means to make money. Then, we were blessed with Dragon Gate USA, and while they’ve been super good shows…it’s not enough. Not enough, I tell you! On July 25th at The ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Chikara will host the stars of DG in what could only be called “Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show”! Many of your favorite Dragon Gate stars will be there to oppose the stars of Chikara Pro! It’s a concept show of epic proportions! So far, two matches have been made official: Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Kingston vs. Ares & Claudio Castagnoli in a tag team grudge match stemming from the results of “Aniversario Elf” and a dream trios match that will pit the 2009 King of Trios winners against three of DG’s toughest veterans: Team F.I.S.T. vs. CIMA, Dragon Kid, & Masaaki Mochizuki! You can expect full write-ups on these matches right here in this column the week after Chikara’s June shows take place!

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DGUSA: Enter the Dragon 2010

The war between the Chikara Sekigun and KAMIKAZE USA will come to an end the night before “Chikarasaurus Rex” on July 24th at The ECW Arena when each side will stand against the other in a big, to-be-determined bout during Dragon Gate USA’s 1st Anniversary Celebration known as “Enter The Dragon 2010”! To get a detailed summary of how the feud as escalated to this point, read this article on the subject, which includes a few video summaries as well. Furthermore, DGUSA officials are currently listening to ideas from fans for what the conflict-ending match should be! I’ve left my own thoughts under my name, as did Chikara Special author and wandering philanthropist Kevin Ford. You may not be as cool as us, but you’re opinion counts the same! Head over to the official DGUSA website for all the info!

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Young Lions Cup VIII

On August 27th, 28th, and 29th, residents of Reading, PA will be fortunate enough to take in three days of blockbuster Chikara action when the eighth Young Lions Cup Tournament takes place at the Goodwill Fire Association Hall! The tourney features twenty four wrestlers that must be under twenty five years of age to compete. Nights One and Two both feature six singles matches that grant the winners a spot in each night’s Six-Way Elimination Match. The two wrestlers who survive the main events will face each other in the Main Event of Night 3 to determine not only the tournament’s winner but the new holder of the Young Lions Cup! You can expect full write-ups on all announced competitors and matches right here in this column the week after “Chikarasaurus Rex” takes place! So far, only two of the tourney’s participants have been named, and they are presented below.

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Before they tag in perhaps the biggest match of their Chikara careers (see below), Helios and Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen will team with fan-favorites 3.0 in an eight-man tag match. While The Future Is Now may see this as merely a tune up for the next night’s huge challenge, this is serious business for a team known for their comedic chops. When Jagged and Shane Matthews revealed to the world that they, in fact, both 2.0 and The Badd Boyz, fans were both stunned and excited. The denim was shed, Jagged got a first & last name, and 3.0 was born! For some reason, Icarus & Gran Akuma showed up at ringside to berate the tag team for not taking anything seriously. With Akuma out due to injury, Chuck Taylor will step in to defend the honor of F.I.S.T., and they’ll get help from UnStable members Vin Gerard & STIGMA. In the past few months, Vin Gerard has expressed a desire to curb his mischievous ways and join the Rebel Alliance. With so many conflicts and personal issues in play, it’s like you’re getting the action of a top-level independent wrestling company with the emotional drama you’d only find on “The Maury Show”. That’s a legit compliment. I love that show.

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Though they have largely been relegated to the background of the Chikara vs. BDK Wars, Amasis & Ophidian have just as much a reason to hate the Bruderschaft as any tecnico on the roster. They were the target of Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze on the first Chikara show of the year, and the ladies destroyed the duo in brutal fashion. Later in the year, The Osirian Portal opposed Claudio & Ares in a Four Team Elimination tag match which saw Ophidian get pinned by Ares thanks to a Toblerone Driver. That BDK team would win the match and use the points gained to challenge and capture the Campeonatos de Parejas. At King of Trios, everything came to a head when the Portal was inserted into the tournament as a replacement for Team Mexico. They were to face the Bruderschaft trio of Claudio, Ares and Tursas. Their partner was drawn from a special hat brought out by BDK supporter and Director of Fun, Dieter VonSteigerwalt. Their “randomly chosen” partner turned out to be Sara Del Rey. Needless to say, they never had a chance. Once again, the BDK used a win over the Portal as a springboard to success, as that trio would go on the claim the title of King of Trios. Now, the pair will face BDK young lions Lince Dorado and Pinkie Sanchez in Chikara’s Detroit area debut, presenting a wonderful opportunity for Amasis & Ophidian to exact some revenge…Egyptian style. If memory serves, Egyptian justice usually involves sand, locusts, a violent storm of blood rain, and sand. Groovy.

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It was back at “Wit, Verve and a Bit o’ Nerve” where Mike Quackenbush first mentioned the idea of Frightmare someday becoming the Young Lions Cup champion. Many thought this meant that Frightmare would be secured a spot in the Young Lions Cup VIII tournament that is coming soon. However, because of recent stellar performances, he has been granted a chance to bypass the tourney altogether. At “We Must Eat Michigan’s Brain” in Taylor, Michigan, Frightmare will attempt to do what Player Uno, Dasher Hatfield and Soldier Ant failed to do: beat Tim Donst for the YLC Title. This will be Frightmare’s second title match in consecutive shows; he and partner Hallowicked failed to gain the tag titles at “Aniversario Elf” after the BDK champions targeted Frights and beat him to a pulp. Because of this, Donst may come in to this match more cocky than usual. It’s a mistake that’s been made by Crossbones, Icarus and even big Brodie Lee. They all underestimated the little guy, and he pinned each one.

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When you face Ares & Claudio Castagnoli with the Campeonatos de Parejas on the line, you can expect anything and everything other than a fair fight. In winning the titles, they required the assistance of stablemate Tursas to distract the referee and help defeat Fire & Soldier Ant. In their first attempted defense of the championships, the BDK utilized their newest weapon and faction pet, Delirious. Controlled via dog whistle, Delirious destroyed his former friends Hallowicked and Frightmare, leading to a successful defense in two straight falls. Now, their next threat comes from the two youngest members of The Future Is Now: Helios & Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen. This is a huge opportunity for Helios and Olsen; Helios has not tasted a big Chikara victory in over two years. Helios is at the top of his game, and all it takes to secure a pinfall is one 630 Splash and a three count.  Jimmy is in a rut after two years of unprecedented success. In 2008, he won both the Torneo Cibernetico & La Lotería Letal tournament, and the beginning of 2009 saw him become the eleventh Young Lions Cup champion. Since losing the cup, he has fallen off considerably. This is his chance to ascend once again. The key to victory, however, will be found in whether The Future Is Now have adequately prepared for the contest. Translation: unless Helios and Equinox show up with the tecnicos in tow, it could be a short night.

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Yikes. This is the word that comes to mind when considering the fate of Player Dos as he attempts to do what no other wrestler on the roster has done: beat the mighty Tursas. Heck, the Bruderschaft’s dominant big man has yet to be knocked down in a wrestling ring, so Dos finding a way to get Tursas off his feet would be a minor miracle. This appears to be yet another breezy win for the giant, but in the long run, these lopsided confrontations could be the very thing that spells doom for the BDK. You see, the Bruderschaft began by fight the founders and faces of Chikara: Quack, UltraMantis, Kingston, The Colony, Hallowicked, and their various understudies. It has been a manageable endeavor made easier thanks to the sheer volume of its members. However, as they draw the ire of more and more tecnicos on the Chikara roster, they begin to show cracks. They are no longer bullet proof. As teams like The Osirian Portal and the Throwbacks become more and more involved in the fight, the BDK will find their fall to be the same folly as all greater superpowers: not knowing when enough is enough. Dos may not beat Tursas, but if he decides to give him a post-match big splash as he is arrogantly prone to do, he may find yet another impassioned enemy in the fight to rid Chikara of the Bruderschaft.

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I’ve already established that 3.0 and F.I.S.T. do not care for one another, so I’ll let 3.0’s Shane Matthews spin his yarn that I’ve taken from his Chikara Pro blog post. “Boy, do I feel pumped. I’m feelin’ really pumped. I woke up this morning, hopped outta my big, bad bed and fixed myself up a 10-egg omelette. But was I done? Oh no. Not by a long shot. I packed 6 pieces of cheese singles into that piece o’ business, chopped up some onions, some red bell peppers and some bacon. Yeah. That’s right. BACON. You boys think we’re a joke? Lemme tell ya something Icarus, Taylor. The last thing that thought I was a joke was that omelette and now it’s in my stomach! We’re comin’ to Cleveland, boys! Shane Matthews! YES! Scott The Jagged Parker! YES! 3.0! The freedom fighters of CHIKARA!”

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On the surface, a match between Player Uno and Johnny Gargano feels more-or-less like an exhibition. With Uno in the tag division in the Super Smash Brothers and Gargano not a regular roster member, the best each could hope is a earning a spot in the upcoming Young Lions Cup VIII tourney with a decisive win. However, the ever chatty Gargano is apparently intrigued by one of Chikara’s strongest trios. He showed up in the entrance way wearing one of their shirts on King of Trios: Night 2 and spoke about them on one of his many social network sites. “Ya’know, I’ve been watching more and more CHIKARA stuff lately.” He said on his Facebook page. “I really dig FIST’s style, yo. These guys MAY be the best Trio I’ve ever seen… But, you know… something just doesn’t seem like it fits. Hmm, I guess even the best Trio has a weakest link.” Gargano has a lot to prove if he thinks he can usurp someone’s spot in F.I.S.T. Just as important…who does Gargano think is the weak link? You can bet that Johnny will find a microphone in his hands at some points, and perhaps he’ll make his intentions known.

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- The Aniversario Shows are out now at Smart Mark Video! Buy them and that rash should heal right up!

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- Mike Quackenbush was officially announced on the developer’s production blog as a playable character in the upcoming Chikara video game “Rudo Resurrection”. If this surprises you in the slightest…then you don’t know QUACK. Ha! Get it? IT’S HUMOR!

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- Claudio Castagnoli has World Cup fever! Check out his personal website for his thoughts on every World Cup match as well as various opinions on a variety of subjects. Warning: they can be VERY EUROPEAN. Bah-Ha-Ha! MORE HUMOR!

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- My take on this whole Bryan Danielson situation: its sucks. It sucks that the WWE basically had to fire him, based on reports. It sucks that I won’t be able to see him wrestle every week. It sucks that he won’t be a part of the NXT faction. It sucks that the WWE feels they need to be PG. It sucks that, financially, they’re probably right. It sucks that the WWE couldn’t find a compromise. It sucks that they didn’t go to bat for a future superstar. It sucks that he could end up in TNA. It just sucks. Hopefully, this is all a work and I can laugh about this Tuesday. The chances thin with every passing day. Danielson will be back soon enough, and I hope it’s in the WWE where he can ply his trade in front of the largest audience possible.

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- Please leave any comments or questions you might have and I’ll do my best to respond with as much colloquial Irish gossip as I can conjure. I’d like to do a contest or something cool like that, but I’m not sure how much interest there’d be. Let you voice be heard! Also, let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see in the column, like fantasy booking, treasure hunts, wish-lists, secret handshakes, etc.

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(There were some filing issues but those should now be taken care of. Sorry for the issues everybody.)

Download above by right clicking or listen to live below

March 27, 2010 – Phoenix, Arizona | Aired May 14, 2010

The show starts showing the World-1 and WARRIORS’ locker rooms.

Shingo {K} vs. Genki Horiguchi {W5}
I hope this is better than their King of Gate match. Horiguchi has all of the WARRIORS with him. Last time we saw him he was a bad guy in Real Hazard teaming with Ryo Saito. Now he’s a colorful good guy with the WARRIORS. No explanation is given as to why for fans who don’t follow Dragon Gate in Japan. Shingo comes out alone. He puts on a headlock to start. He hits a shoulder tackle and blocks an armdrag. Horiguchi dropkicks the knee. He splashes the leg. He dropkicks the knee again. Shingo blocks a moonsault with his knees. He hits a gutbuster, a DDT and a senton for 2. He puts on a chinlock. He hits a vertical suplex. He avoids Horiguchi’s elbow by hitting an exploder for 2. He goes back to the chinlock. Horiguchi gets to the ropes. Shingo puts on a choke hold but Horiguchi hits an armdrag to escape. Shingo hits a powerslam for 2. He puts on the Manriki but Horiguchi gets to the ropes. Horiguchi hits a head scissor takedown. He hits a swinging DDT but Shingo pops up. Horiguchi hits a vertical suplex. Shingo pops up again so Horiguchi hits an inverted DDT for 2. Horiguchi hits a dropkick to the back. He hits a hurricanrana. Shingo hits a powerbomb. He hits a lariat and the STAY DREAM for 2. He hits another lariat. Horiguchi gets the Backslide from Heaven for 2. Shingo hits the DVD, the Pumping Bomber and MADE IN JAPAN for the win at 10:07. This was an extended showcase for Shingo, who got to do all his moves while treating Horiguchi like a persistent nuisance. I’m all for that given that Shingo is a featured guy in DGUSA and Horiguchi isn’t as much, but I don’t think this was the best choice for an opener. Still, it was better than the match they’d have in Japan a couple weeks later.
Rating: **¾

A video package explains why the next match has the stipulation it has. Brian Kendrick brought Lacey with him to screw with Jimmy Jacobs in their match at Fearless. This meaning something to you relied entirely on your having watched Jacobs’s heel run in Ring of Honor. Jacobs retaliated by recruiting Kendrick’s friend and former tag team partner Paul London on a house show the night before this show in Arizona. London turned on Jacobs on that show, so we get a loser leaves town tag team match in which former Dragon Gate gaijin Jack Evans has agreed to side with Jacobs.

Jimmy Jacobs & Jack Evans vs. Paul London & Brian Kendrick {TNA}
Loser of the fall leaves DGUSA. Based on faction identification, who do you think is going to drop the fall? London and Kendrick attack Jacobs before the bell. Evans runs out to even things up. He dives off the ramp to hit knee kicks on both opponents, and then comes off the ramp again to hit a head scissor takedown. That was awesome. In the ring Evans dropkicks London. He hits a standing SSP for 2. He hits another dropkick, using Kendrick as a base. That was less awesome. Jacobs goes for the End Times on London but Kendrick makes the save. London hits Jacobs with a back elbow for 1. He hits a double stomp. He hits a dropkick for 2. Jacobs hits a chinbreaker. London hits a legsweep and a standing SSP for 2. He hits a butterfly suplex for 2. He hits another double stomp. Evans tags in and cleans house with a back flip into a double back elbow. He hits dropkicks on both opponents. He dumps both opponents on the floor and hits the Space Flying Tiger Drop. Back in the ring Evans hits a springboard 450 splash on London for 2. London hits a superkick and Kendrick hits the Complete Shot for 2. Jacobs hits Kendrick with a spear. He hits London with a hurricanrana. London hits another double stomp for 2. Jacobs hits a huge DDT with Evans’s help. Evans hits a standing phoenix splash for 2. He sends Kendrick to the floor with a hurricanrana. London hits Jacobs with a facebuster. He punts his face. Evans kicks London up top and drags him to the mat. London blocks the 630 senton with his knees. Jacobs hits Kendrick with a lariat. Kendrick avoids the spear. Jacobs avoids Sliced Bread #2. Kenrick kicks his face and hits an enziguiri. He hits Slide Bread #2 for 2. Jacobs gets a roll up out of nowhere for 2. He puts on the End Times for the win at 10:44, knocking Kendrick out of DGUSA. The finish came out of nowhere, but up until that point this was an intense brawl with some flashes of the typical Dragon Gate style from Evans and London.
Rating: ***

Jon Moxley and Brian Kendrick got some promo time back at Fearless. Moxley was unhappy that Tommy Dreamer was in attendance at the show. Kendrick insists that beating Dreamer won’t do anything for Moxley because Dreamer is a loser and a coward. Moxley still wants to fight, so he tells Dreamer to come out and make him shut his mouth. Dreamer didn’t come out then, but tonight at Mercury Rising he comes out to the ring wearing MMA gloves. He thanks the fans for coming out to an indy show during WrestleMania weekend. He says he fought Tajiri the night before in SMASH in Japan and flew to America tonight to have a hardcore match. He calls out Moxley so that can happen now.

Jon Moxley vs. Tommy Dreamer [Hardcore Match]
Moxley has Christina Von Eerie with him that weirdo indy fans are into. They start their hardcore match by fighting over a waistlock. Lame. Even Lenny Leonard notes that chain wrestling doesn’t belong in this kind of match. Thankfully it’s short-lived, as Moxley starts slugging and chopping Dreamer. He hits a weird leg lariat for 2. He bites Dreamer for 2. Dreamer hits a bulldog. He clotheslines Moxley to the floor and hits a baseball slide. He dives off the ramp onto Moxley. He hits Moxley with the ring bell. He rings the bell against Moxley’s crotch. He spits water in Moxley’s face and hits him with a fan’s crutch. They brawl to the back where it’s too dark to see. He hits Moxley with a plastic cup. He hits a suplex on the ramp. That’s more like it. He brings out a trash can from the back and throws it at Moxley’s head. Moxley crotches Dreamer up top and hits him with the trash can. He chokes Dreamer on the turnbuckle before hitting a superplex. He hits a clothesline for 2. Dreamer is bleeding. Moxley puts on the STF. Dreamer comes back with a cloverleaf. He stomps on Moxley’s hand. He hits a clothesline for 2. He hits a chair shot to the back. Moxley hits a drop toehold onto the edge of the chair. Dreamer hits a Rydeen Bomb. He slams the back of Moxley’s head into the seat of the chair for 2 when Von Eerie makes the save. That was a SICK spot. Dreamer tries to hit her with a piledriver but the referee isn’t having it. Dreamer slugs the referee in response. Von Eerie slaps Dreamer so he hits the piledriver. Leonard makes oral sex jokes. YAMATO runs out and puts the sleeper hold on Dreamer. Dreamer sends him to the floor. Shingo runs out and hits Dreamer with the DVD. Moxley rolls into the ring and covers Dreamer for 2. He misses a chair shot. Dreamer hits a piledriver for 2. Moxley goes to the eyes and hits a DDT on the chair for the win at 12:30. This was a lot like an old ECW match, in that weapons that would hurt less than fists were used in abundance and there was plenty of interference. I actually don’t mind the interference because the match wasn’t amazing to begin with and it was a fine way to get Moxley into Kamikaze. Points for Moxley’s nasty spill onto the chair too.
Rating: **¼

YAMATO © {K} vs. Susumu Yokosuka [Open the Dream Gate Championship Match]
This is the first time the Open the Dream Gate title has ever been defended outside of Dragon Gate in Japan. It is YAMATO’s first defense, as he won the title five days earlier. This is a rare example of a match being booked before the title was put on the line. This is the second time that kind of booking has benefitted Yokosuka, as he was the first challenger for BxB Hulk’s Open the Freedom Gate title for the same reason. Leonard mentions all of this. I’m impressed. Yokosuka powers YAMATO to the ropes to start. They trade shoulder tackles. Yokosuka gets a roll up for 2. He clotheslines YAMATO to the floor. Back in the ring YAMATO goes to the eyes. Yokosuka hits a lariat. YAMATO goes for an armbar but Yokosuka gets to the ropes. The fight spills to the floor where YAMATO goes after the arm. Back in the ring YAMATO hits a backbreaker. He puts on an armbar. He hits a low blow. Yokosuka returns the favor. He hits the exploder. YAMATO returns the favor. Yokosuka pops up and hits another. YAMATO does the same. Both guys are down. Yokosuka hits a super exploder for 2. YAMATO goes back to the arm to keep Yokosuka from hitting the Jumbo no Kachi. Yokosuka dropkicks the leg. He hits the Ashi Yokosuka. He puts on a figure 4 leglock, which gets a bigger response in the States than I’m sure Yokosuka is used to. YAMATO gets to the ropes. He blocks a powerbomb and puts on an armbar. Yokosuka gets to the ropes. YAMATO hits a running elbow. Yokosuka comes back with an avalanche DVD. YAMATO pops up and trades elbows with Yokosuka. They up the ante with lariats and rolling elbows until Yokosuka lays YAMATO out for 2. YAMATO ducks the Jumbo no Kachi and puts on the sleeper hold. Yokosuka counters to the DVD. He hits the Jumbo no Kachi but there isn’t much behind it. He hits it again with even worse results. He hits a third crappy Jumbo no Kachi. YAMATO goes to town on the arm. Yokosuka hits a powerful lariat out of nowhere for 2. He hits the Jumbo no Kachi as hard as he can but his arm is too hurt to cover. Eventually he gets 2. He hits the Mugen for 2. He goes for another but YAMATO avoids it and puts on the sleeper. YAMATO hits a German suplex. He ducks a lariat and reapplies the sleeper. He hits a sleeper suplex for 2. He punts Yokosuka’s head and hits a brainbuster for 2. He hits the Galleria for the win at 21:42. This was just awesome. YAMATO completely neutralized the Jumbo no Kachi and then used his always awesome catch skills to counter everything Yokosuka had left down the stretch to pick up the win. It was great stuff that he’d use in later title matches, but so far this is the best example of it that I’ve seen.
Rating: ****

BxB Hulk {W1}, Masato Yoshino {W1} & Naruki Doi {W1} vs. CIMA {W5}, Gamma {W5} & Dragon Kid {W5}
Four of the six original participants from the 2006 version are in this match. Yoshino and Kid start. They move at an insane speed until Kid hits an armdrag. Gamma hits a shoulder tackle. He spits in Yoshino’s face. Hulk hits a dropkick. He armdrags CIMA but misses a dropkick. He hits a senton for 2. Kid works Doi’s arm. Yoshino hits a bodyslam. CIMA hits the Superdrol. He and Kid hit sentons for 2. CIMA and Yoshino fight over a surfboard stretch. CIMA hits Doi with a hiptoss. He and Gamma hit a double dropkick. They hit stereo back suplexes. Gamma spits in Hulk’s face. He gives Hulk the Sweet Angel’s Kiss. He hits a dropkick. CIMA swings Kid into Hulk. The WARRIORS hit a triple dropkick for 2. Gamma canes Hulk’s crotch. Hulk cleans house with kicks. He hits Gamma with the uranage. He hits Kid with a dropkick. Doi grabs the cane and bops Gamma on the head. He comically hits him a few more times before nailing a back suplex. Kid hits Yoshino with the Diamond Dust. He hits a stunner for 2. He hits a hurricanrana. Yoshino ducks the 619 and hits a powerbomb. Doi hits an elbow for 2. Yoshino hits a double stomp on the arm. Speed Muscle double-teams Kid. Hulk hits a roundhouse kick for 2. He puts on an abdominal stretch. He hits a senton for 2. Doi hits the hanging senton for 2. Yoshino hits an elevated double stomp for 2. Kid comes back with a head scissor takedown. CIMA hits a double stomp. He suplexes Doi while keeping Hulk in a toehold. Gamma hits a dropkick. Kid hits the Déjà Vu. He hits the Bermuda Triangle. Doi unloads elbows on Gamma. Gamma blocks the Doi 555 and hits a dropkick. He hits a powerbomb for 2. Yoshino hits an elevated facebuster for 2. He avoids the Venus and puts on the Coumori. CIMA hits a dropkick. Yoshino hits the Sling Blade for 2. He puts on From Jungle. Kid puts Hulk in the Christo and has a slap fight with Yoshino. He hits the Messiah on Hulk for 2. CIMA hits a baseball slide on Yoshino. He misses the Tokarev. Yoshino hits the shotgun senton combo. Doi hits Kid with a German superplex. Hulk botches a springboard leg lariat. He hits a Michinoku Driver for 2. Yoshino dropkicks Doi by mistake. CIMA and Gamma hit a double superkick. CIMA hits the Perfect Driver for 2. Kid and Gamma hit a double Tokarev while CIMA hits a dropkick. Gamma hits the…

CIMA misses the Meteora. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Yoshino rolls CIMA up for 2. CIMA hits a superkick. Hulk hits the Mouse and the EVO for 2. CIMA hits the Venus. Gamma canes Hulk and Kid hits a super reverse hurricanrana. Gamma hits a reverse hurricanrana. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for 2. Hulk avoids the Dragon Rana. Kid hits Yoshino with the Bible for 2. Yoshino hits the Lightning Spiral for 2. Speed Muscle double teams Gamma. They hit a Sling Blade Bomb for 2. Hulk hits the First Flash for 2. Doi hits the Doi 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Yoshino hits the Lightning Spiral for 2. Yoshino hits the Torbellino and puts on the Sol Naciente. Kid fails to make the save. Hulk stops CIMA from saving with a dropkick and Gamma passes out at 27:25. The second half of this match was as good as anything Dragon Gate has done in the States. Sure Hulk botched a spot, but the hurricanrana sequence and the way World-1 dominated down the final stretch both more than made up for it. Dragon Gate’s perfect record on WrestleMania weekend continues.
Rating: ****½

After the match we get the following, hilarious exchange, all in English:
Yoshino: Hulk, I want the title.
Hulk: Are you serious?!
Yoshino: Of course!
Hulk: OK OK OK OK OK, in Toronto. [In Japanese (subtitles available on DGUSA’s channel on YouTube): If it’s going to be a title match, it will be a different story. I won’t go easy on you. Get ready for it.]
Doi: Yoshino, are you sure?
Yoshino: Yes!
Doi: BxB, are you sure?
Hulk: Yes!
Doi: I wish for a good match! Title match, Freedom Gate! OKAY! Everybody, thank you for coming tonight! Did you enjoy the show? Hey one more time, DID YOU ENJOY THE SHOW? Okay, thank you, gracias! DRAGON GATE DRAGON GATE DRAGON GATE!

Japanenglish is my favorite.

In a hallway backstage Jon Moxley, Shingo and YAMATO are hanging out. Moxley lets us know he’s formally aligned with these men to create Kamikaze USA.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NLXMY49T

Or listen to it live on the site by checking out our podcast player to the right or in this article after the jump

]]> http://www.prowrestlingponderings.com/2010/05/13/the-cool-kids-table-redux-episode-8-naruki-dois-mascot-shirt/feed/ 0 http://www.prowrestlingponderings.com/2010/05/07/dragon-gate-usa-debuts-in-canada-pac-debuts-in-dgusa-its-this-weekend/ http://www.prowrestlingponderings.com/2010/05/07/dragon-gate-usa-debuts-in-canada-pac-debuts-in-dgusa-its-this-weekend/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 07:36:07 +0000 Justin Houston http://www.prowrestlingponderings.com/?p=1302

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Hey, Justin Houston here. I do the Chikara column and DVD Reviews, along with the much-neglected Pushing Puroresu. Now, I consider myself a pretty patriotic fellow. My curtains are all semi-sheer red, white and blue. I don’t eat French Fries or Bratwursts unless they are surrounded by American cheese. I would take a bullet for a bald eagle, unless it was super old or something. While I sleep, I listen to “Toughen Up, Brah”, an inspirational audio book by Dog the Bounty Hunter. I have a back tattoo depicting Randy Couture planting the American Flag on Mars. Despite all of this, I currently harbor a deep-seeded jealously of Canadians in the Ontario area. Dragon Gate USA is coming to Canada this Friday & Saturday, and while any foreigner with a passport can attend these potentially awesome shows (it’s insanely close to Detroit), the residents of America Jr. have easy access to see DG stars like Dragon Kid, CIMA, BxB Hulk, SHINGO, Naruki Doi, YAMATO and Masato Yoshino. Here’s a rundown of what you can expect.

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“Open the Northern Gate” DVD Taping

May 7^th, 2010 ~ Windsor, Ontario

The Windsor Armory ~ 8:00pm Bell Time

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The Main Event of DGUSA’s debut in Canada will also mark the DGUSA debut of Pac, world-renowned high-flyer and member of the WORLD-1 faction. He will team with fellow WORLD-1 member and Open the Freedom Gate champion BxB Hulk to take on teammates of the KAMIKAZE faction: its leader, Shingo Takagi (or SHINGO as he’s billed in the U.S.) and the Open the Dream Gate champion YAMATO. Before he beat Naruki Doi for the Dream Gate, the top belt in Dragon Gate, YAMATO made it to the final two of the tournament to crown the very first holder of the Freedom Gate, the singles title of DGUSA. Hulk pinned YAMATO to win the title, and he made his first defense at the next show. It was there that YAMATO and SHINGO took their frustrations out on him post-match, as YAMA wanted the title and SHINGO had yet to manage a win. BxB Hulk and YAMATO also share the distinction of being in the first ever match on a DGUSA show, where YAMATO beat Hulk. And as long as the history between those two are, the one between Takagi and Hulk dwarfs it in intensity. Shingo has bested Hulk in most every confrontation between the two, beating him for the recently-vacated Dream Gate back in 2008. The deck is stacked against Hulk once again, but with an innovator and risk-taker like Pac by his said, anything can happen.

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Their rivalry started on the very first DGUSA show and it will finally end in Canada. Dragon Kid, one of the best high-flyers in the business, bested Masato Yoshino, the fastest wrestler on Earth, on the first and second DGUSA shows. He rejected DK’s congratulations and it lead to a tag match between involving the two. Yoshino’s team got the victory, forcing this match-up. Dragon Kid and Masato Yoshino know each other better than just about anyone on the Dragon Gate roster. They have faced each other numerous times over the years, recently rekindling their feud during the 2010 King of Gate tournament. In the semifinals, it was Kid who scored an upset over “Speed Star”, nailing a satellite crucifix pin for a three count that Yoshino immediately protested. Now, in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match, the score will finally be settled.

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The match between Naruki Doi, leader of the WORLD-1 faction, and Masaaki Mochizuki, a hard-hitting and respected veteran, is a long time coming. 2008 saw the rise of Shingo Takagi in Dragon Gate. He would attempt to become the first new generation Dragon Gate wrestler to become a credible force, beating BxB Hulk in July for the ultimate prize in Dragon Gate, the Open the Dream Gate Title. He would only hold the title to the end of the year, where he was bested by Naruki Doi, who had gone through a never-before-witnessed, meteoric rise to the top levels of DG. He would shatter every Dream Gate record in the books, becoming its greatest champion ever. Shingo has yet to get revenge on Doi, and Mochizuki will now attempt to get his. You see, it was a win against Mochizuki that won Doi the King of Gate 2008 title and a title shot at Shingo, which he would win. Two years have passed, and, insane as it may sound, Masaaki Mochizuki is, at age 40, the best he’s been in years. He has gone from a calculated striker to a relentless buzzsaw, mowing down even the stiffest competition, sometimes against grapplers half his age. Now is as good a time as any for Mochizuki to gain a measure of retribution, but with a looming Dream Gate title match again YAMATO at the Korakuen Hall on May 13th, who knows what’s on his mind.

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At first glance, CIMA looks to be the better of Jimmy Jacobs in every conceivable way that matters in a wrestling match. He’s faster, taller, stronger and more experienced. He’s also tanner, but that’s probably extraneous. Or is it? Perhaps that’s why “Daniel Bryan” isn’t doing so well at the next level. That, or Michael Cole knows voodoo, or at least has a “male friend” who does. But I digress. Despite the physical factors against him, do NOT count out Jacobs in any contest. He has proved many times over that underestimating him can lead to more than just a pinfall loss. BJ Whitmer was never the same after their Cage Match. Austin Aries went from a razor-focused mat machine to a flamboyant, mouthy jerk after they met in an I Quit Match. He’s never the biggest dog in the fight, but he may be rabid…and he’ll never let up.

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At the very first DGUSA show, Gran Akuma turned on Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw, natives of the Chikara Pro wrestling promotion, aligning himself with YAMATO for his fight against the “unworthy” Chikara luchadors. But, with YAMATO and Shingo Takagi joining up with Jon Moxley, it appeared that Akuma might have been left out of the mix. Enter the debuting Akira Tozawa, the youngest member of Shingo’s stable KAMIKAZE. So while YAMA focuses on other projects with Mox and SHINGO in KAMIKAZE USA, it appears that Akuma is still in the mix with them, tagging with Tozawa for the young, brash wrestler’s United States debut!

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FIP World Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley© vs. Phil Atlas

I have no clue who Phil Atlas is, but he’s in for a world of hurt when he faces the psychotic, garrulous Jon Moxley. When Atlas takes on Mox for the FIP World Title, he’ll be looking to move up the independent ladder and earn future bookings in both FIP and DGUSA. After doing a little research, I’ve found that Atlas has toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling, facing the likes of Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kaz Hayashi. He is also an Ontario native, but Moxley is used to being the least favorite person in the ring, so I don’t imagine he’s sweating it much.

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Maximum Pro Wrestling Showcase: Tyson Dux & Jon Bolen vs. Brad Martin & Xtremo

I know of Tyson Dux, and I think he’s a solid wrestler that shows a lot of unique personality. The other three…no clue. Professionalism! So instead of talking about the four wrestlers aka make shit up for a paragraph (Bolen starred in Species 7!) I’ll comment on “showcase” matches in general. Back in 2006, Dragon Gate put six of their best guys in a ROH ring and became the talk of the wrestling word the next day. Lethal Wrestling Alliance threw four guys into the ring during Chikara’s King of Trios 2009, and they were booed out of the arena and met with “Don’t Come Back” chants. There’s a lot of pressure on guys who have to not only represent themselves, but an entire company. Some rise to the occasion, some work for the Lethal Wrestling Alliance. It’s a risky endeavor that can pay off in the future or bury your company’s reputation…*ominous voice*…FOREVER. Good luck, guys.

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- On the Bonus Card for those who purchased Row 1-3 Tickets, Johnny Gargano will take on a mystery opponent. Gargano’s a lot of fun as a performer, so it’s a nice treat for those select folks.

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“Uprising” Pay-Per-View Taping

May 8^th, 2010 ~ Mississauga, Ontario

International Centre ~ 8:00pm Bell Time

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Masato Yoshino is either the most understanding man of all-time or he is convincingly hiding his anger towards BxB Hulk. Yoshino and Hulk are members of WORLD-1 and occasional tag partners. At the end of last year, Hulk turned his back on Yoshino during the Hair vs. Mask Survival Cage Match, leaving him 2 on 1 versus K-ness & Yokosuka and ultimately causing him to have his head shaved as the match’s loser. Yoshino managed to get to a flag earlier, allowing him to escape, but he saw Hulk was in big trouble, so he came back down to help him. Then Hulk managed to get to the hard-to-reach flag with the help of a pair of gloves and a rope. Yoshino was in big trouble now…but BxB Hulk, with tears in his eyes, grabbed the flag and hopped down, hanging Yoshino out to dry. Yoshino was in disbelief that his friend could leave him like that, and Hulk, showing severe regret, screamed in support of Yoshino, as did all of WORLD-1. It was the first time I’d ever heard Hulk get booed in a Dragon Gate ring, and quite loudly, too. It was a selfish act by Hulk to preserve part of his identity, as Yoshino had run to Hulk’s aid just minutes before, sacrificing a golden chance to exit. Everyone took turns shaving the head of a deeply depressed-looking Yoshino, except Hulk. When he tried to leave, Yoshino grabbed Hulk by the arm and shoved the electric razor into his hand, forcing Hulk to face the same fate as Hulk’s enemies. Hulk could only shave a little bit before the impact of his betrayal was too much and he collapsed. They have played nice for almost six months, but with BxB Hulk’s Open the Freedom Gate title on the line, it may be anything goes.

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This feud stems from Dragon Kid’s involvement with YAMATO & SHINGO in their KAMIKAZE stable. As you can see IN THIS VIDEO, they turned on DK and he had to be saved by his longtime friend CIMA. Days prior to this, Dragon Kid had left the KAMIKAZE faction and joined CIMA’s faction, the WARRIORS-5, after a laundry list of miscommunications between the men. CIMA and Dragon Kid will be facing an uphill climb, as they have been unsuccessful in recent matches against the pair. Much like Naruki Doi earned his status as the company’s top dog by first defeating Masaaki Mochizuki, YAMATO earned the respect of CIMA by tapping him out to begin his road to the Dream Gate championship. Shingo Takagi faced underdog Dragon Kid in the finals of the King of Gate 2010, where he defeated him and earned a title shot against his own partner. However, despite the recent wins, the Dream Gate match between the two caused much friction, nearly fracturing their unit beyond repair. The in-fighting within KAMIKAZE is the biggest advantage CIMA and DK will have, and they must find a way to exploit it if they’re to win.

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While their first tag match of the weekend will be more heated, Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw will have just as much to prove in their match against WORLD-1 members Naruki Doi and Pac. With Chikarasaurus Rex on the horizon for Chikara Pro in July (see below), QuackenSaw will be looking to scout talent for the huge Chikara vs. Dragon Gate weekend. In all likelihood, they could face Doi again on familiar ground soon enough, as he is one of the biggest stars of DG. Pac has worked several dates for Chikara in the past, so he could show up, too. But Quack & Jig have a golden opportunity this weekend to also, perhaps, earn themselves a shot at the Twin Gate, Dragon Gate’s tag titles, just as The Young Bucks did. In fact, QuackenSaw beat The Bucks on their way to TNA! So, despite an innocent exterior, there’s quite a lot on the line here.

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Akira Tozawa will make his debut the night before, getting thrown into a feud he has no real part in. However, he second match in the company and first singles match will be against a man who’s been picking at him for years: Masaaki Mochizuki. Since he was a rookie, Masaaki as seemed to take perverse joy in throttling young Tozawa with vicious kicks…and who wouldn’t? Tozawa has a reputation for yelling at the top of his lungs in an attempt to rattle his opponent. While its actual effect has not been verified, for the most part, it has just lead to worse and worse beatings, specifically from veterans like Mochizuki and Don Fujii. But, with Tozawa getting closer and closer to breaking through in Dragon Gate, a win over Mochizuki could propel him from the back of the line to a future Brave Gate or even Dream Gate shot. It could happen!

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John Moxley and Jimmy Jacobs may be the biggest non-DG feud in the company right now. Moxley started at the side of Brian Kendrick in his efforts to screw with Jacobs, but Jacobs pinned Kendrick at the March 27^th Phoenix show, banishing him from DGUSA and leaving Mox on his own against Jimmy. At said Phoenix shows, Moxley showed he can handle himself just fine, going undefeated on the weekend, including beating Tommy Dreamer in a Hardcore Match. Moxley also won the FIP Title recently, so he’s on a hot streak. Things will get extreme when Jacobs tries to cool him off with a big loss.

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Special Attraction Match: Tyson Dux vs. Gran Akuma

Once again, I don’t know a ton about Tyson Dux. I know he loves comic books, so he’s automatically a hero in my book. He’ll have to handle potential KAMIKAZE USA member Gran Akuma, who I’m quite familiar with. For the benefit of Mr. Dux, here’s the scoop on Akuma: he gonna kick you. Hard. OFTEN. The Rubik’s Cube sounds like a silly name for a finisher, but if he manages to get you on his shoulders, you won’t be laughing much longer. He’s an unforgiving, unflinching striker who always aims high and rarely misses. Good luck, dude. If they allow it, wear a helmet. And wear a cup, because…he WILL kick there.

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- Like the previous night, the Bonus Card will be for those who purchased Row 1-3 Tickets. FRAY! makes its return to DGUSA. It starts with two competitors. Every 2 minutes another one enters the ring. Eliminations can take place anytime by pinfall, submission or DQ. The last man standing is the winner. Those competing so far: Phil Atlas, Brodie Lee, Cheech, Cloudy, Xtremo, Brent B, Anthony Fiasco and Michael Elgin. Any match involving the Miracle Ultraviolence Connection gets a thumbs up from me. Also, there will be a match consisting of wrestlers chosen by CIMA from the Seminar/Tryout that will be held that afternoon.

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From Chikara Pro: “A year ago, CHIKARA partnered up with a revolutionary new brand in the American wrestling scene – Dragon Gate USA! Now that partnership will bear some truly unique fruit…on Sunday afternoon, July 25th, the stars of both CHIKARA and DG USA will come together for a giant spectacle that could only be called “Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show“! Some once-in-a-lifetime encounters will take place, as DG USA sends six of their most acclaimed superstars into a CHIKARA ring for this epic event. Get your tickets in advance through our online store and save!”

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If you’re looking for the best Dragon Gate reviews that also just happen to be the quickest to the net, look no further than Brad Garoon’s groin-grabbingly awesome blog, “Open the Garoon Gate”. You’d be a fool not to read his reviews…a fool I’d pity. So…I guess I’m saying I’d pity the fool who didn’t read his blog. Pity to the max. He also posts them here, so for the sake of hits, read both his blog and his column here. Don’t make me beg…

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