The Chikarafication Of ROH

ROH: June 9, 2007
PA National Guard Armory - Philadelphia, PA

Wrestlers from the Chikara roster coming over to Ring Of Honor (and vice versa) is not a new development.  Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Delirious, and several others have wrestled for both promotions for a while now.  However, the Ring Of Honor relationship with Chikara seems to have taken on a new level of importance after TNA made the decision to pull all of their contracted talent from future ROH events.  We're now beginning to see wrestlers such as Mike Quackenbush and Larry Sweeney take on more prominent roles in Ring Of Honor, with other Chikara talent filling out the midcard, including Gran Akuma, Jigsaw and Hallowicked.  I don't see this turning into a storyline of an inter-promotional feud like they had with CZW, but it would be pretty cool to see Quack get pushed to the main event as the head of a group of Chikara luchadores.

There's no Chikara faction yet, but they're pushing Delirious, Matt Cross and Erick Stevens as a trios group that are feuding with The No Remorse Corps.  God, I hate that name.  What does it even mean?  Are they just going to kick the crap out of people while shouting that they don't feel bad about it?  How bad must their other ideas have been when they were brainstorming what they'd call the Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Rocky Romero group?  The Sans-Sympathy Squad?  The Guilt-Free Three?  Assassins Without Compassions?  Whatever their ideas were, I think they could have picked any fan from the audience at random and given them five minutes and a free t-shirt and they would have come up with a better name than "No Remorse Corps".

Speaking of factions, it looks like Claudio Castagnoli will not be joining Sweet & Sour Inc.  The story of the Tag Team Championship match at this show is that Claudio had earned a shot at the belts and could choose any partner he wanted.  Naturally, he picked the man with whom he held the titles last year, Chris Hero.  However, after The Kings Of Wrestling lost two straight falls in a best-of-three-falls match, Hero and the rest of Sweet & Sour Inc. went to the back in disgust, leaving Claudio behind.

The match of the night was Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness, which we were told was being recorded for a future ROH pay-per-view.  It was an amazing match between two of the most talented professional wrestlers in the world, and I'm glad to have been in attendance to see it happen from the second row!

Results:

• ROH Top Of The Class Trophy
  Four Corners Match
  Pelle Primeau defeated Rhett Titus, Mitch Franklin and "Sugarfoot" Alex Payne

• Damien Wayne defeated Rex Sterling

• Azrieal and Deranged defeated Michael Elgin and Gran Akuma

• Matt Sydal defeated Hallowicked

• Daizee Haze vs. Lacey ended in a ten minute time limit draw

• Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw

• Davey Richards defeated Matt Cross

• Delirious defeated Rocky Romero

• Four Corners #1 Contender Survival Match
  Brent Albright defeated Jimmy Rave, BJ Whitmer and Erick Stevens

• ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
  Best Of Three Falls Match
  The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) defeated The Kings Of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) in two consecutive falls
  

• "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness

• ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match
  Takeshi Morishima defeated Roderick Strong

Update: The match between Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness aired on September 21, 2007 as part of Ring Of Honor's second pay-per-view, Driven.  It was not included in the DVD of the show, which is now available on ROHwrestling.com under the name "Domination".

Nitro Shirt

I found this t-shirt at Goodwill in Wilkes-Barre a little while ago.  I can't say for sure if it's really from the last episode of WCW Monday Nitro, but it was previously worn and it's a pretty good quality shirt, so I think it's legit.  Either way, I'm wearing it to the ROH show tonight.

Oh My Godard

Oh My Godard Gallery
The Pier Shops at Caesar's - Atlantic City, NJ
We paid another quick visit to the Pier Shops before heading back to Philly and I'm glad that we did.  The Michael Godard gallery was closed before we got there last night, but it was open today. His work is very cool.  If I could have afforded it, I would have bought the painting on the right.

A Full Irish Breakfast

The Trinity - Irish Pub and Carvery
The Pier Shops at Caesar's - Atlantic City, NJ
We found this beautiful pub on the third floor at the Pier Shops.  They serve breakfast all day, so I ordered the Irish Breakfast.  It came with eggs, potatoes, black pudding and white pudding.  Black pudding is basically fried blood and it was very tasty - a bit like scrapple.  White pudding is mostly animal fats and doesn't have blood.  It was alright, but I liked the black pudding much more.

The atmosphere really is incredible and worth visiting.  Our waitress told us that all of the wood and materials used in the pub are from an old pub in Ireland that was disassembled, shipped to New Jersey and reassembled piece by piece.  Before we left, she offered to take this photo of us in front of one of the walls.

Dirk On The Beach

We're on a short vacation to Atlantic City, so I had to take some time to relax with a good book on the beach.  This one is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.  I got this a little over a year ago from the dojo when I found the signed Hitchhiker's Guide.

The 8-Bit Goddess

Athena
SNK (1987)
When I was a kid, the vast majority of video games in my library were presents that were given to me by my parents or grandparents for Christmas, Easter or my birthday.  Most of them cost over $40 each, so it wasn't the impulse buy that the $1 to $2 Atari 2600 cartridges were a few years earlier, so if I got a game, it was usually because I specifically asked for that particular game.

There weren't as many ways to learn about a new video game back in the 80's.  I can't speak for my entire generation, but my exposure to new games was limited to the following:

• Played it at the arcade (usually Aladdin's Castle or Wildwood).
• Played it at a friend's house.
• Read about it in Nintendo Power.
• Saw it in a store or in the Sears Wish Book.
• Saw a few seconds of the game on a tv commercial.

I have no idea how I first learned about the NES port of Athena, which turns 20 this month.  I don't remember playing it at a friend's house or seeing it in a magazine.  There wasn't a commercial for it on American television, and I've never come across the arcade cabinet to this day.  Nevertheless, I had this game in my collection when I was a kid, and I can't explain why.  Maybe it was the cool box art which includes pyramids, mermaids, centaurs and Medusa.  Maybe it was the starburst which advertised it as "Japan's top arcade hit."  It might have even been the fact that the package name checks Ikari Warriors, which I had definitely played at the arcade.  Something must have inspired me to ask for it, because I'm positive that no one in my family would have picked it up randomly.

Even though I don't know why I had it, I'm glad that I did.  The mechanics take a little getting used to, but it's a fun game with a lot of different weapons, armor and other secrets hidden throughout.  It is also a deceptively hard game.  When you first turn it on and see the Athena character happily winking, you might get the impression that you're about to play an easy or childish game.  However, despite the cute and colorful graphics, Athena is tough as nails.  In fact, I don't think I ever made it past the second level (World of Cavern) and I'm pretty sure I needed a few Game Genie codes to get even that far.  If you haven't played it before, give it a shot.  Just be prepared to be frustrated while you get the hang of it.

More Sunday Shopping Photos

Grandpa and I outside of Big Lots.

Grandma and I inside Big Lots.

Grandma getting some instant lottery tickets at the Wyoming Valley Mall.

It doesn't look like Grandma's ticket was a winner.

Let's see if Grandpa got a winner.

Stopping for a drink at Cafe Europa at the Wyoming Valley Mall.

Grandma's coffee must have been better than her lottery ticket.

Grandma, Grandpa and I in the parking lot outside of Sam's Club.

Pleasant Sunday Shopping

Grandma is feeling very cheerful while shopping with Grandpa and I at JC Penney's in the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Liquid Memories

Liquid Television
MTV (1991)
The first episode of Liquid Television aired on Sunday night 16 years ago today.  My step-sister and I discovered this sometime in 1992 and we both became instant fans.  The show was made up of strange animated shorts from independent studios and producers.

The cartoons I remember best from watching this back in the early 90's were The Killing Of An Egg, Frog Baseball, and Mirror.  The latter two were spun off and given their own cartoon series: Beavis and Butthead and Aeon Flux.

The Cow's A-Peeing

The Fountains
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA
There are a few fountains throughout the Schuylkill Mall.  They look cool and sound pleasant when you take a seat near them, but I love them because of a funny thing that happened in childhood.  I don't remember this, but my dad told me a story about he and my mother bringing me to the mall during the holiday season when I was very young.  The fountains were decorated for Christmas, and one of them had a statue of a reindeer.  From the perspective of a toddler, I suppose the reindeer looked like a cow, and the water spraying out of the fountain looked like it was peeing.  Naturally, I had to point this observation out to my parents, so I shouted very loudly in a crowded mall: "Look Dad.  The cow's a-peeing!"  Dad tried not to laugh and to quiet me down, but instead of taking the hint, I tried even harder to show my dad what I saw: "No, really Dad, look!  The cow's a-peeing!".

Regal Is Three For Three

Regal Cinema
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA
The four screen theater in the Schuylkill Mall is showing Shrek The Third, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End - three different films, and each one is part three of their respective franchise.

Pirates And Motorcycles At The Drive-In

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End / Wild Hogs
Laurel Drive-In - Hazleton, PA
I didn't go into this expecting to enjoy Wild Hogs more than Pirates Of The Caribbean, but I did.  It's not the kind of movie that's ever going to be nominated for an award, but it's a silly slapstick comedy that made me laugh.  If you don't take it too seriously, there's not much to dislike with a movie like this.

Grandpa at Hallmark

Grandpa smiles all the time, but for some reason, he rarely smiles when he knows someone is taking a photo.  I brought my digital camera on a trip to the Fairlane Village Mall and took this photo without him knowing while he was waiting for Grandma to finish up at a store.

The Perfect Post-Wrestling Snack

Bacon Ranch Fries
Tony Luke's - Philadelphia, PA

Dusto Bunny Conquerors South Philly

Chikara: Anniversario!
New Alhambra Arena - Philadelphia, PA
The second Chikara anniversary show was held at the former ECW Arena in South Philadelphia, and it featured a special guest that was not at yesterday's show in Hellertown.  They're called Kaiju Big Battel, and they're an absolutely brilliant group of folks whose shows are a blend of pro wrestling and a live-action Godzilla movie.  I'm going to have to write more about them in the future because they're absolutely insane in the best possible way!

If you enjoy professional wrestling and you've never watched one of their shows before, I highly recommend Chikara.  They're a blend of comedy and lucha libre that is unlike anything I've ever seen in any other promotion.  Some of the performers on the show are not too many years removed from their training, so they're still learning and the occasional botch does happen, but their enthusiasm and their willingness to try new things to get over more than makes up for it.  However, not everyone on a Chikara show is a rookie, as many of the wrestlers on their show are veterans of the business who train the younger stars of the future.

This photo from the merch tables at intermission yesterday is the perfect example of what makes Chikara great, and not because of me looking super nerdy in the Pepsi shirt.  On the left is El Pantera, who has been one of the most traveled and well respected luchadores in the world for over twenty years.  If you watched WWF in the late 90's, you may recognize him from their Light Heavyweight division.  The man in the center is Lince Dorado.  He turned 20 years old earlier this month and had been training to become a professional wrestler in Mexico with El Pantera as his teacher and mentor.  He's been wrestling for Chikara since February of this year with most of his matches including El Pantera, or veteran luchador Sicodelico Jr.  If the past two nights are any indication, Lince has a very bright future.

The main event was kind of a civil war between members of the same group.  To understand the story, it's important to know that while The Kings Of Wrestling are a tag team in ROH and CZW, they're a much larger group in Chikara.  The larger group includes the tag team of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli, as well as "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney (presently the manager of Chris Hero in ROH as part of the Sweet & Sour Incorporated group).  The Kings Of Wrestling also include Young Lions Cup winner Max Boyer, veteran wrestler "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder, "The Kentucky Gentleman" Chuck Taylor, and the tag team of Icarus and Gran Akuma who are collectively known as Team FIST (which stands for Friends In Similar Tights).  It's a pretty big group.  Anyway, there was a battle between two different sides for supremacy, with Team FIST, Chuck Taylor, and Max Boyer on one side and Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Larry Sweeney and Mitch Ryder on the other.  The younger team won (Icarus, Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor), but they all came together and remained friends when the match was over.

Results:

• Brodie Lee defeated Retail Dragon

• The Order Of The Neo Solar Temple (Hydra and UltraMantis Black) defeated The Olsen Twins (Colin Olsen and Jimmy Olsen)

• Shayne Hawke defeats Create-A-Wrestler

• Trios Match
  El Pantera, Lince Dorado and Player Uno defeated Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr.) and "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder

• Dragon Yuki defeated Kagrra

• Kaiju Big Battel: South Philly Sci-Fi Street Fight
  Dusto Bunny and Giii The Space Pirate defeated Call-Me-Kevin and Dr. Cube

• Chikara Young Lions Cup Match
  Max Boyer defeated Pelle Primeau

• Trios Match
  "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush, Shane Storm and Equinox defeated The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant and Worker Ant)

• Incoherence (Delirious and Hallowicked) defeated BLK-OUT ("The King Of Diamonds" Eddie Kingston and Ruckus)

• The Kings Of Wrestling Trios Match
  Team FIST (Gran Akuma and Icarus) and Chuck Taylor defeated Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney

Anniversario?

Chikara: Anniversario?
American Legion Hall - Hellertown, PA

The Chikara Anniversary Show weekend is taking place this year across two shows.  The first show was earlier tonight in Hellertown, and the second is tomorrow at the old ECW Arena in Philadelphia.  We have tickets for both shows, and the first night did not disappoint.

Results:

• The Colony (Fire Ant and Soldier Ant) defeated The Olsen Twins (Colin Olsen and Jimmy Olsen)

• Brodie Lee defeated Equinox

• Shayne Hawke defeated Player Uno

• Worker Ant defeated Hydra

• "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder defeated Shane Storm

• El Pantera and Lince Dorado defeated The Kings Of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney)

• Chikara Young Lions Cup Match
  Max Boyer defeated Create-A-Wrestler

• Hallowicked defeated "The King Of Diamonds" Eddie Kingston

• Team FIST (Gran Akuma and Icarus) defeated Dragon Yuki and Kagrra

• "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush defeated Chris Hero

During intermission, a bunch of folks from the roster came out to the merch tables to meet with fans, sign autographs and take pictures, so of course I had to get a few nerdy photos with some of the wrestlers at tonight's show.

The Olsen Twins: Colin Olsen (left) and Jimmy Olsen (right)

Hallowicked

Worker Ant

Ultramantis Black (this dude is hilarious!)

Dragon Yuki

Kagrra

Icarus

_______________________________________________________

UPDATE: Quite a few wrestlers on this show went on to wrestle in WWE, AEW, ROH, TNA, or in another major promotion outside of the United States.  Here is a list of their current names and promotions (as of July 2020):

• Fire Ant wrestles as Orange Cassidy in AEW

• Soldier Ant wrestles as Drew Gulak in WWE (Smackdown brand)

• Colin Olsen wrestled as Colin Delaney in WWE (ECW brand) and in AEW

• Jimmy Olson has retired, but what I didn't realize is that he also wrestles under a mask as Equinox, so he wrestled in back-to-back matches on this show.

• Brodie Lee went on to wrestle as a member of Age Of The Fall in ROH.  He also wrestled in NXT and across both brands of WWE as Luke Harper (who was a member of The Wyatt Family and The Bludgeon Brothers).  Presently, he is signed to AEW where he wrestles as the leader of The Dark Order, Mr. Brodie Lee.

• Player Uno wrestles in AEW as Evil Uno, and is also a member of The Dark Order

• "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder wrestled across the independent scene since this show.  He hasn't signed with WWE, AEW or ROH, but he did wrestle as enhancement talent for WCW in the early 90's as Mitch Bell.

• Shane Storm continued to wrestle for indie promotions, including Chikara and CZW, under the names Shane Storm and Stigma.

• El Pantera has wrestled all over the world since 1985 and continues to wrestle to this day at 56 years old.  He wrestled for the WWF in the late 90's, and appeared in the 1998 No Way Out pay-per-view in a match against Taka Michinoku for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.

• Lince Dorado wrestles in WWE as a singles wrestler in the Cruiserweight Division on Raw and 205 Live, and in the tag team division as a member of Lucha House Party.

• Claudio Castagnoli wrestles as Cesaro in WWE for both Raw and Smackdown

• "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney died on April 11th, 2011.  He was only 30 years old.  I met him on several occasions and he was an extremely kind and talented man.

• Create-A-Wrestler has wrestled under many different names in Chikara and elsewhere, including Dasher Hatfield, Avery Good (as in "A Very Good Professional Wrestler"), Moscow the Communst Bovine, and Ultimo Breakfast.

• Eddie Kingston has wrestled across the indies and internationally for many years.  He has worked for ROH and TNA, and has just signed with AEW in July 2020.

• Chris Hero has signed with WWE on two separate occasions and wrestled as Kassius Ohno for NXT and NXT UK.

One last wrestler from this show that I feel like I have to mention is Kagrra, because he is an absolute mystery to me.  First of all, I know that he's not a figment of my imagination.  I watched him wrestle at the "Anniversario?" and "Anniversario!" shows on May 26th and 27th, 2007.  He's on the DVD release of the show.  Hell, I met the man during intermission of the Hellertown show and he took a photo with me.

I also know that Kagrra was visiting the United States from a promotion called Pro Wrestling Kageki that is based in Fukuoka, Japan.  I was able to find a lot of information about many wrestlers that worked in this company, including Dragon Yuki, who is also on both of these shows.  He was in a tag team match alongside Kagrra on the 26th and he wrestled against him on the 27th, so I know this isn't a situation like Jimmy Olsen wrestling in a tag team match, only to come right back out for the very next match under a mask and calling himself Equinox.

When I researched all of the wrestlers from this show to see what they're doing today, I found a lot of information for all of them... except Kagrra.  In fact, the only time I saw his name mentioned at all was in references to these two shows.  The Internet Wrestling Database has a profile for him, but the only matches that are listed are the May 26th and 27th, 2007 shows from the Chikara anniversary weekend.  So, I'm guessing that either one of two things happened:  either Kagrra changed his gimmick and no one ever thought to associate his new character with the one he used in Chikara, or he spent all that time training in Japan only to wrestle two matches in Pennsylvania and then retire from the business forever.  The first option seems more likely, but it's been over 13 years since this show.  You'd think that there would be someone out there who would have added a footnote that said "Hey, Wrestler X once went by the name Kagrra on a tour of the United States".  If I ever find out the answer, I'll add a second update to this post.  If you're reading this and you know who this dude is, by all means, please reach out to me on Twitter and let me know.

Willy Wonka Doritos

Doritos X-13D
Wal-Mart - Wilkes-Barre, PA

These taste exactly like a McDonald's cheeseburger.  You can taste the meat, the cheese, the pickles, and even the ketchup.  It's pretty crazy how close they came.

Happy Birthday, Grandma

Grandma on her 69th birthday holding Little Sammy.

Grandma showing off one of her birthday cards while Dad looks on.

Dad staring at Grandma's birthday cake as she put it on the table.

Dad is always in a good mood when we're having KFC for dinner.

Me with Little Sammy.

Heroes In The City

Heroes is one of my favorite new shows in a long time, and it'll be wrapping up pretty soon, with the second to last episode of the season airing tonight at 9:00.  NBC is pushing the season finale pretty hard.  Angie and I were in New York for Ring Of Honor over the weekend, and there were advertisements for the show everywhere.

There are no Heroes ads in these last two pictures, but it's my blog damn it, and I want to post cheezy pictures with my girlfriend!  :p