The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 18: Michael Tunison/Christmas Ape

Photo Credit: KSK Spreadshirt shop

Episode 18: The Unforgettable Fire Ant

This week's podcast is your NFL preview podcast, and who better to run down the upcoming season than Michael Tunison (aka Christmas Ape) of Kissing Suzy Kolber? We run down each division, talk about the Steelers, Peyton Manning, both races in the AFC East, the big three in the NFC, whether Cam Newton is the new Brett Favre and who the Super Bowl teams might be come February. We also talk about CM Punk, the Attitude Era, our favorite wrestlers, WrestleMania each year and of course, KSK.

Direct link for your downloading pleasure

C'mon, Irene: Chikara Young Lions Cup IX Preview

Is Green Ant this year's YLC Champion?

Hurricane Irene, she's a real bitch, isn't she?

Already truncated from three days down to two this year, Chikara's annual Young Lions Cup Tournament has gotten the shortening treatment down to one day thanks to the burgeoning menace that is this year's major hurricane. So, instead of two days of mirth, merriment and new wrestlers making splashes to the Easton audience, the entire proceedings will be compressed into one day at the Palmer Center, Saturday at 4:30 PM (note the change in time from your tickets). Tickets for both days will be honored, and if you can't make it, or you have tickets to BOTH events, then you can get a refund by contacting the promotion at their website.

The only thing that's been announced so far is that all scheduled Cup tournament matches will happen. Other matches, like the 12 Large Summit tournament matches, the Countdown Showdown and the like, don't have clear statuses, although the Website lists other bouts to take place in addition to the seven match tournament to crown a new Young Lions Cup Champion.

So, what's the deal with this tournament anyway? Frightmare is still the Champion, and he's not even involved, right? Well, to understand the nature of the Cup would be to understand why they hold a YLC every year. The Cup is defended as a regular Championship among anyone in the promotion who is under the age of 25. The stipulation is that once you've held the title, you can't challenge back for it, and each "year" is an iteration of it. It's a title that embodies youth, hungriness and the constant turnover that happens in the wrestling business. Frightmare's reign is considered a great success since he went wire to wire as the YLC VIII Champ. Player Dos, for example, wasn't as lucky, as his reign was ended in January of 2010 by Tim Donst.

The tournament format, as foreshadowed by the initial decrease in days, has changed. In years past, it was set up as a 24-man fray with 12 "qualifier" matches, two big six-man eliminator matches and then a final on the third day. This year, there are only 16 men in the tourney. There will be four quarterfinal four-way elimination matches and then one-on-one matches from there on out - two semifinals and one final. The four matches shake out as such:

Green Ant vs. Will-o-the-Wisp II (there was a first one?) vs. Robbie Eagles vs. Kobold

Greg Iron vs. Chase Owens vs. Wil Maximo vs. Jakob Hammermeir

Nick Jackson vs. Mark Andrews vs. Tadasuke vs. Sean South

Archibald Peck vs. MK McKinnan vs. Milo Shizo vs. Mat Fitchett

That is an impressive list from the guys that I do know. The guys I don't? Well, that's a big reason why I look forward to YLC weekend each year. There's always an introduction to people you normally don't get to see. Mike Quackenbush is very much a student of the game, and he's always looking to bring in new talent, whether it's people known to the wrestling world like Manami Toyota or those who are wild cards, like Sindarin or Kaio last year (the former having appeared off and on for NWA Hollywood) and this year, folks like Sean South and Mat Fitchett.

Let's break down each match though as best as I can. The first match, there are roster regulars Green Ant and Kobold. Both are known quantities. In fact, with the Flex Express angle behind him, I'd say not only is Greenie a heavy favorite in this match, but in the entire tournament as well. Kobold is probably the least exposed member of the Chikara roster, but he's under the evil influence of the Batiri, so you can expect some shenanigans on his behalf. Will-o-the-Wisp II is a complete unknown to me, although he does have a neat looking mask. Robbie Eagles is from the Land Down Under, and as you can expect from his last name, he is related to current SHIMMER Champion and hiatused-Chikara roster member Madison Eagles. He's her brother-in-law. That pedigree bodes well for him, and hopefully, he'll be a better representation of the Australian males than Kabel and Percy T were at King of Trios. I expect Green Ant to win this match, but look out for Kobold, as he looks to stake his claim as more than just "Evil Midget Hydra."

Match two has three known names in it. Greg Iron was the new hotness in indie wrestling after CM Punk put him over after an AAW show in Berwyn. He truly is an inspiration, becoming a cult favorite despite being limited by cerebral palsy. His main roadblock in this match will be Jakob Hammermeir, or to be more specific, Hammermeir and the rest of his BDK backing. We actually saw seeds be planted for their tension at Chikarasaurus Rex, Night 1, when in the surprise match, Iron and Hammermeir locked up. Iron got laid out by the BDK after a ref bump, but won the match thanks to UltraMantis Black saving him from the announce table. I figure these two will be the main focus of the match. I see either Iron winning despite shenanigans or Hammermeir winning because of them. That's not to say that Wil Maximo or Chase Owens are dogmeat. Maximo impressed me enough King of Trios weekend. He's a serviceable high-flying type, and he'll provide some fireworks. Owens is someone that I'm completely new to.

The toughest match in which to pick a winner is the third one. Nick Jackson seems like he's the obvious choice because he's the most known one, but then again, that hasn't always been Chikara's MO. Tadasuke is making his first appearance for the promotion since King of Trios '10 when he teamed with Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada. He's known to bring the pain, and is a counterbalance to Jackson's high flying style. That being said, both Jackson and Tadasuke both like to play the villain, which could be a good thing for Sean South and Mark Andrews, both guys who are unknown quantities to me. If I had to flip a coin, I'd say Tadasuke takes this match, but again, I have no clue.

Finally, there's the last match. Archibald Peck is the marquee name here, although technically, he's too old for the competition. That being said, he gave a call to his lawyer, the Barrister RD Evans (totally two different people, I swear!) and argued that in metric years, he was eligible to compete on the count that he is Canadian and they go by the metric system. I think picking him in this match might be a bit too easy though. The problem is, I don't know enough about the other three guys in the match - Milo Shizo (a Delirious protege/clone), MK McKinnan (British star), Mat Fitchett (appeared for ACW and given rave reviews by Brandon Stroud) - to make an educated guess.

Regardless of how those matches turn out, I really feel like this is going to be a fun, if compacted, event. The stock of the guys I can vouch for is pretty high, especially with natives such as Green Ant and Marchie Archie populating the ranks. If you're in the area, and you want to do something before you get blown away by Hurricane Irene, stop by Easton and buy a ticket. I think the Cup this year is going to have a special atmosphere given how chaotic things are surrounding it.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Triple H As the Sword of Damocles: WWE SummerSlam 2011 Preview

Who will stand tallest? If there's a God, it won't be the one with the microphone.
Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's weird.

The last time WWE has graced pay-per-view with its presence, it hit every note correctly. Every match was pitch perfect with the exception of the Divas Championship match. The right people won. The right decisions were made. Things looked like they'd be intriguing for awhile with everything that went down.

For the most part, SummerSlam still is intriguing, or at least it should be. Whether or not you felt CM Punk coming back after eight days was a good call or not, they've at least set the table for his match with Cena nicely in response to that. In a vacuum, SummerSlam, while not as highly anticipated as Money in the Bank was, still would look like a decent card on paper.

But then there's the Sword of Damocles hanging over that match, a huge insertion to the main event that has set several fans panicking. Despite the fact that I still remain hopeful despite there being no reason for me to remain hopeful, I can totally understand if people get scared with Triple H now being the special guest referee. There's a part of me that fears terribly that the man who stands tall when SummerSlam goes off the air won't be John Cena, won't be CM Punk, but will be the doofus son-in-law.

It's not just the history that I've been writing about this week in some regard. It's the recent shows where Trips' ego running wild has been a theme, whether overt or a bit muted. The opening segment to RAW this past week was a self-produced tribute to Trips, orchestrated by the man himself. The end segment, as beautiful and effective as it was, had Triple H butting his nose into the conversation and putting himself above Cena at one point. It's a scary time for folks like us who lived through is reign of terror as a wrestler, those who weren't in his fan camp and who didn't enjoy him going over our favorites, for whatever reason.

The thing is, Triple H in this match represents a zipper that could come undone and turn the entire new direction of WWE on its head to some people. If we get worried about Triple H exerting his will, then the play of Randy Orton decimating Christian in 5 minutes with no recourse whatsoever. That domino falls to knock over the Divas Championship match, where Kelly Kelly beats Beth Phoenix clean as a whistle with an ass-shaking stink face into an ass-shaking moonsault that's botched terribly with no discipline. That domino falls to have Wade Barrett defeat Daniel Bryan in three minutes, claiming his Money in the Bank briefcase in the process and having Michael Cole come in the ring and do a dance around the fallen "nerd". Then there's the domino of Sheamus and Mark Henry standing isolated in the middle, because hey, that's really the only sure thing on this PPV whether good or bad. Either you're a big fan of hosses pummeling each other or you're not. But if all of the other four scenarios play out the way they do, SummerSlam will serve as a scorched earth reminder that WWE really hasn't changed at all.

That being said, do I believe all of that will happen? Hell, I don't believe that any of that is going to happen very strongly. Why would WWE reverse direction so quickly, especially when a new regime is slowly taking over, letting the last two months play out the way they have with wrestling becoming more and more of the focus, letting Punk speak his mind, giving Christian a platform to work from that isn't "trusty sidekick" or "never-will-be". Hell, Triple H is the guy who spoke up loudest after Jamie Noble had the crazy idea that Bryan should win Smackdown's Money in the Bank match.

That being said, while I think this will be a step forward for WWE, even if it's a small one that seems like they've just ran in place, I still can't shake the feeling that Triple H is going to do something very terrible. The Sword of Damocles, naturally, is rooted a bit in paranoia. I've learned to recoil at the thought of trusting someone who's bitten me so many times before. So yeah, you'll have to forgive me if I speak out of both sides of my mouth on this one.

I don't know. I get the feeling that this year's Slam is going to be good. I really do. But this feeling of dread abounding, when in a vacuum, it shouldn't be there at all, is just disconcerting. Either way, it marks as a potential watershed moment for WWE. It'll be the point where we get a better idea if change really is afoot and we are in for very exciting times as wrestling fans, or whether the new boss is the same as the old boss.

And hey, if that gives the main event an extra added layer of unintentional tension, we might be talking about this for years to come like we will be Money in the Bank, especially if they shock us and actually do something that doesn't involve the thread on the Sword of Triplcles snapping, sending his long-nosed blade hurtling down at our heads in a terminal velocity of malaise and dissatisfaction.

TWIOT: NFL Training Camp Assessment

The AFC's two favorites?
Photo Credit: ESPN.com

Well, thank God professional football will come back with no missed games outside of a meaningless Hall of Fame preseason game. Hallelujah, hallelujah, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! The season may a month or so out, but now that its back, why not give a very rudimentary look at the way things will shape up. I'll save my full predictions for the Opening Night, but now, here are ten essential questions for the upcoming NFL season.

1. Are the Eagles a "Dream Team"?

No, and I'm saying this as a fan who has every reason to believe that they could be the best squad money can buy under the constraints of the NFL salary cap. I'm not saying that they won't be good, because I think they will. I think they win the division, and depending on how the Giants or Cowboys gel as teams, we may just win it running away, and I don't mean at 2002-04 levels, but with the way the Phillies right now seem to be running away with their division (knock on wood, for the love of God, don't let me jinx the baseball team). I mean, look at the collection of players on both sides of the ball. Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Steve Smith, Brent Celek, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown, Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel, Dominique Rogers-Cromartie and Trent Cole all range from very good to the best at their respective positions. However, that's only really looking at things in a vacuum.

For one, the NFC East rarely, if ever, is won going away by anyone. Remember, the Eagles were challenged in their salad days by the Giants, and I don't see them really going away this year either. Two, the Eagles may not even have the most impressive collection of talent in the conference. That distinction may still belong to the Green Bay Packers, who still boast the singular best offensive and defensive players in the NFL from last season in Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews. Plus, the defending Super Bowl Champions will be getting back a lot of players from injury as well.

Plus, there's that whole deal about the lines really being questions for the Birds. Games are won and lost in the trenches. That's a fact. Granted, there were signings that addressed both lines, but will they be enough, especially on the offensive line? I mean, Vick can do a lot with his feet to diffuse a pass rush, but for all his talents, his blitz awareness can be absolutely terrible at times. When the line had trouble holding back the front four from getting penetration, you could imagine how many free blitzers they let get into the backfield. I saw a really bad example of this at the infamous Tuesday night game, when a Vikings safety came into the backfield untouched and clobbered Vick, forcing a fumble. Vick didn't even know he was there until impact. That's bad. So while you think Vick may not need a line to be effective, well, even he can't turn every play into a positive if he's getting no protection.

Plus, the players that I did mention have some question marks. Maclin is battling a mystery illness. Samuel is on the trading block and isn't exactly happy about it. Jackson is holding out. The newly-signed Smith is battling through a knee injury and probably won't be ready Week 1. So yeah, there are plenty of reasons to think the Eagles will crash and burn. That being said, I still think they're in really good shape. Just don't crown 'em yet.

2. Okay then, other than the Packers, what other teams do you see with a chance at winning the NFC?

The Falcons are definitely a squad to contend with. Last year, they gained homefield advantage, and although they squandered it away, it wasn't like they lost to the Seahawks, right? The Packers were not going to be denied. The scary part is that the Dirty Birds got better all around for the most part. They signed DE Ray Edwards, a guy I wanted the Eagles to pick up, and they may have gotten the best overall offensive talent in the draft in Alabama WR Julio Jones. With Roddy White on the other side and Tony Gonzalez in the middle of the field, the Falcons all of a sudden have one of the scariest air attacks in the whole league. It's amazing that one of the three teams among the Eagles, Packers and Falcons is going to have to play on Wild Card weekend, because I think they may be three of the best four teams in the NFL right now, not NFC, but NFL.

Other than those three, well, anything goes. That's the beauty of the NFL; the best teams on paper in August rarely play out as the best teams on the field. The rest of the NFC right now has no fewer than ten teams that could make the playoffs. Right now, only the Redskins, Vikings and Panthers seem dead in the water to me, but who knows, I've been proven wrong before.

3. So what, is the AFC chopped liver?

No, but I think on the whole, it's a little more predictable, at least in the three divisions that aren't the West. I think there are fewer teams that are going to contend to go deep in the playoffs as well. For example, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Lions or 49ers make a deep run in the NFC, even at the expense of their big three teams. However, even though I'm not exactly sure that the Browns, Ravens, Jaguars or even the Broncos won't make the playoffs, I'd be utterly shocked if they crashed the party in the AFC Title game. There's less parity in the AFC this year. It's very top heavy.

Basically, it comes down to the Jets, Patriots, Steelers, maybe the Colts and possibly the Chiefs. That may seem like a lot of teams, but compared to how many I think can possibly make noise in the NFC, it's not that many at all.

4. Have we finally seen the last of Brett Favre?

...no, no, NO MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!! Err... I mean, I don't think you're ever going to hear the last of him, at least for a couple more years. Any time a team has QB issues or is looking for a backup, Favre's name is probably going to be dropped, either by the hive mind of reporters who for some reason flock to slobber the guy no matter if he's playing "heroically" or texting dick pics to Jenn Sterger, or by his agent who will call a big press conference just to say Favre is retired and has no plans of coming back.

That being said, there will be bluster, but I think the worst is over. I don't want to definitively say that he's not coming back because when he does, I'll catch some of the blowback, and believe me, I don't want anything to do with being seen as a guy who supports the notion that Favre is good for the game right now. However, I'd be less surprised to see Cam Newton lead the Panthers to a perfect season than I would be to see Favre starting any games for a NFL team this year. I just think last year, he got battered, and even his dumb hick self has to have gotten the hint that he's too old for this shit anymore, right? Right?

*knocks on wood*

5. The rookie wage scale, the new policy on holdouts from training camp and the decree on a salary floor has made this offseason unique and interesting. However, did it make things better?

Depends on whose perspective you're taking here. It's clear the owners won the lockout because they now have way more leverage over players, both rookie and veteran, with the wage scale and the holdout policy. A guy wants more money, especially one drafted in rounds 2 or later from previous years (the dropoff into the second round for salaries is pretty epic... DeSean Jackson is only slated to make $565K whereas Darrius Heyward-Bey makes $2.42M), and not only does he have to grin and bear it, but now his holdout will cost him money and eat more into his bottom line. The first round picks now will make a fraction of what their forebears made. From that standpoint, the greedy shitbag owners got what they wanted with a minimal deflection of the salary floor, which really still amounts to pennies out of their pocket relatively speaking.

That being said, "only" $565K? While I can baffle at the average fan's siding with the owners over players (or at the very least their equal disdain for both sides in conflicts such as these), I can wholly understand their lack of sympathy for a guy like Jackson or Chris Johnson. Fans who plunk down their hard-earned cash to watch grown men play school yard games don't necessarily want to care about the economics (hm, sounds familiar on this, The Wrestling Blog, eh?). Quite frankly, this improves the quality of the game. It'll force more players into training camp on time, they'll be more prepared, and the quality of play will theoretically be sharper in week 1.

6. How long do you see Kyle Orton staying in Denver?

I thought he would have been gone already, and in fact, that Miami hasn't already traded for him means that I don't think he's going anywhere. If the Dolphins, a team struggling to find a QB for about a decade now in the post-Marino area, won't give up half of what the Cardinals gave up for Kevin Kolb, then I seem to think Orton, a valuable fantasy QB and not a whole lot else it seems, doesn't have the demand that the Broncos thinks he has. Looking around the league, there aren't a whole lot of teams that seem to think they have a need for a QB right now. Tennessee got themselves Matt Hasselbeck, a guy who may be washed up, but don't tell the Titans that. The Seahawks have hitched their wagon to Tavaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst. Whether you think Orton is better than both those guys or not, it doesn't matter what you think. Pete Carroll thinks he can salvage T-Jax, so that's what's going to happen.

The best thing that can happen for Denver is for a marquee name to get injured and for Tim Tebow to prove everyone wrong and make the jump from college-fabulous player to sound NFL signal caller. It would make Orton expendable, but given that he's a capable QB being bandied about midseason, he'd still command a big price tag. Until then, I expect him to be a Bronco until the end of the year.

7. How will Albert Haynesworth fit in with the Patriots?

Bill Belichick has this track record of taking problem guys and reining them in at the very least. Look at Randy Moss. He was enough of a problem in the locker room everywhere he went that you could at least loosely correlate his behavior to the on-field performance of the team on the whole, but in New England, he was summarily kept in line. When he started to become remotely close to a problem, they shipped his ass to Minnesota.

Haynesworth at the very least was lazy and at the very worst a malignant sore sport on the field in his previous two stints in Tennessee and Washington respectively. That being said, he's doing and saying all the right things right now, which leads me to believe that he'll be useful to the Pats for a year or so, which is good for them, because their defense is coming along nicely and is ready to be a dominant force again. A motivated, healthy, in-check Haynesworth only makes them deadlier.

8. What player would you take first overall in fantasy this year?

As of right now, before any preseason games played, the top player on my radar is Jamaal Charles. Arian Foster produced out of his mind last year, but reports are saying that he's battling a sore hamstring. It's always troubling to see backs struggle with their legs. To me, that catapults Charles to the top of the heap. He split carries last year and still busted out with 1400+ yards rushing/1900+ total yards from scrimmage and 8 total touchdowns. Impressive for a guy who gave up most of his goal line carries to Thomas Jones. In TD only leagues, he may not be as enticing an option due to Todd Haley's refusal to use him at the goal line, and even in yardage leagues, his 6.4 yards per carry last year is a major red flag in that I doubt he keeps it up this year with increased carries. That being said, I'm not sure there's a better candidate in a traditional league.

In other types of leagues, other players may have more value. Leagues that weigh passing yards the same as yards from scrimmage dictate that you take hard looks at both Michael Vick and Aaron Rodgers at the top spot. Point-per-reception leagues put LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice and Peyton Hillis near the top along with Charles and Foster. It depends on the league, but I think you can't go wrong going with Charles.

9. I know you said you weren't doing predictions, but what team is your bust-out candidate this year?

The Rams seem to me to be on the verge of something special. Last year, Sam Bradford shocked the world, coming back from a year inactive in college to take every snap for his team and lead them to the doorstep of the playoffs despite the fact that they didn't have a receiving threat greater than the world's most famous shoot German suplex victim, Danny Amendola. This year, they brought in Mike Sims-Walker from Jacksonville, a proven threat who will give Bradford someone to target more reliably than last year's crops.

Their defense really impresses me too. They have a good young core with the right coach molding them into a fierce unit. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take the NFC West this year with a record better than the 7-9 slate posted by last year's divisional Champion Seattle Seahawks.

10. Again, I know you said you weren't doing full predictions right now, but who do you have in the Super Bowl this year?

It's a tough call, because we haven't seen any teams play live ball, even in somewhat-meaningless preseason play. There are also a lot of injury questions that have yet to be posed. My gut feeling is to say Packers and Jets. My super optimistic homer glasses tell me Eagles and Jets. My ultra-pessimistic outlook says Giants and Patriots. I dunno. I'll get a better feeling for this after week 4 of the preseason, but for now, let's pencil in Eagles and Patriots and go from there.

The Very European Beginning of the End?: Chikarasaurus Rex Preview

Quack. Claudio. One Last Time.

Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Sequel, is a two day event which will cap off what has been an excellent month in professional wrestling. Saturday's card takes place in Reading, PA at the Goodwill Fire Hall on 100 Madison Avenue (doors open at 6:30 PM) . Sunday's event will be in Philadelphia, at the former ECW Arena at Swanson and Ritner (doors open at 3:30 PM). Both cards will be known for their guest stars, and have gained a sort of accord because of them. Granted, Mima Shimoda, Johnny Kidd, Portia Perez, two imports from the Ice Ribbon promotion in Japan, Adam Cole, El Generico, Colt Cabana and of course, Johnny freaking Saint, would be enough to sell anyone on going to one or both of the shows.

Hell, I was already going to the Philly show, and thanks to a series of fortunate turns in events, I'm more than likely heading to Reading as well, mainly because I'm a Chikara fanatic and go to every Philly show possible. But even so, the two English legends of Saint and Kidd were huge selling points for me. Not only am I huge into English chain wrestling, but they're both William Regal approved. Who better to give his stamp to guys you may never have seen before than the surly English legend?

However, there is another reason, one that has nothing to do with Chikara storylines or happenings (but at the same time, everything), why people need to go to these shows. Night one has a match between Claudio Castagnoli and Mike Quackenbush. Yeah, that may not sound all that special right now, because they've had several matches against each other over the last decade. They're inexorably linked, especially given the events of 2010, with Quack leading the Chikara faithful against Claudio's charging Germanic invaders, the BDK. Tomorrow night's match takes on a more wistful tinge given that Claudio, along with his tag team partner Chris Hero, are reputed to be on their way to WWE.

That makes this match between the two titans of the indie world perhaps their final encounter ever. That puts a much different spin on things than when this match was originally charted out as part of the 12 Large Summit. Nominally, Claudio would come into this match as the mega bad guy, and Quack as the protector of all that was good. He'd stand as a barrier between the evil Swiss evildoer and the honor of being called the first ever Chikara Campeon del Mundo. With the specter of Claudio leaving, this match might become the first of a prolonged farewell tour from the indies for the King of Wrestling. What better opponent to kick that tour off with than his longtime rival and colleague in Quack?

Of course, there are any number of things that could demean everything I'm writing here. Quackenbush could always join Claudio in WWE (highly unlikely). Claudio may end up back in the indies after a year for whatever reason (more likely). I mean, remember the last time he was signed by Stamford? He didn't even make it to developmental before he got his future endeavor well-wish. Of course though, I have more of an optimistic view on this, and I seriously want Claudio and Hero to succeed at the next level. They more than deserve it.

So, it's with that in mind that I write this match off as a very special occasion. Hell, the match the next night in Philly, Claudio taking on his BDK partner and stablemate everywhere else in the indies Sara del Rey in another 12 Large Summit match. Honestly, I'm not sure why WWE didn't take del Rey as part of a package deal with the Kings, since with the signing of Kharma and the extension of Divas matches beyond the normal 20 seconds, they seem to be serious about pushing women's wrestling as more than time filler. Still, that's the card she's been dealt. This match to me was a big deal before Claudio's rumored leaving was even an option. Now? Well, there may just be an electric atmosphere in The Arena, way more electric than any match between two BDK members ever would have been before now.

That isn't to say the weekend is all about Claudio. Again, the lineup is stacked. Saint and Kidd will go 30 minutes in six separate five-minute rounds on Saturday; Sunday, Saint will team up with Quack and Kidd with Cabana to provide obvious Match of the Year candidate bait. The fact that Shimoda will follow in the footsteps of Manami Toyota is a huge deal in and of itself. Quack is serious about giving the fans of America a proper Joshi education, and for that, he deserves some major props. Team 3.Ole reforming for two matches over the weekend is music to my ears.

And hell, maybe the most entertaining part of the weekend could very well be the culmination of the Flex Express. Green Ant has been on a mission, and although it wasn't a mission from God like it was for Jake and Elwood, it was handed down from Lady Liberty and from the person whose original run in 1993 inspired this whole story:


(Go to 2:50 on the video to start)

Yep, that's right, Lex Freaking Luger is on board with the Flex Express. That. Is. Awesome. If you don't know, well, Greenie has been out to take down Tursas. He body slammed the Finnish Warlord at King of Trios en route to the Colony defeating the BDK in the second round of the tournament. He's been on a tour of America (and oddly enough, Canada too), and now he's ready to be the first man to levy a pinfall loss on Tursas in a singles match… ever?

The fact that the culmination of the Flex Express may only be the third or fourth biggest thing going down this weekend shows you that Chikara doesn't screw around when it comes to building up its events. Believe you me, this is an event. IF you're anywhere in the greater Philadelphia area this weekend, come on down to Reading or Swanson and Ritner (or both) and partake. You seriously won't be disappointed with the English legends, the Joshi standouts or the patriotic young ant looking to slay a monster.

But most of all, you'll get the chance to be there for the start of something special, the beginning of a farewell tour for one of the cornerstones of Chikara. I'd say that's worth the trip.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Into the Great Wide Open: WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Preview

All about the briefcase, two times
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I get a lot of inspiration for blog posts from people saying smart, dumb or otherwise in between things, and me agreeing, disagreeing, replying, retorting, building upon or just plain making fun of those statements. When it's someone like Razor of House Kick-Out!! saying it, you can bet I'm either agreeing with it, or if not, retorting civilly because he's a sharp guy. This is one of the times when I'm in full agreement:

I think MITB is one of the least predictable PPVs in recent memory. I can see every match going either way and the MITBs are wide open.

Think about it for a second. You might jump and say "WELL, I KNOW WHO'S GOING TO WIN! HE'S WRONG!" but then you think, and it's quite possible that the only match on the card that's even close to being easy to predict is Big Show taking on Mark Henry. I mean, Henry's gotta win that match, right? Right?

Well, no, because what if it's the blowoff, and Show gets to give Henry his comeuppance here before both men move onto threats on their respective brands? See what I mean? This has to be the first WWE PPV in a long time with so much mystery surrounding what the matches themselves are going to produce in terms of results.

That's not a bad thing, by the way. In fact, it probably makes this the most appetizing event on the schedule for WWE so far this year. People by and large don't want to tune into foregone conclusions. They want drama, intrigue, suspense and some kind of struggle or conflict to go with their potentially happy ending. The way WWE has built up the top matches for this PPV has been superb, especially for the nominal main event, John Cena defending his title and his job against a potentially exiting CM Punk. For the first time in a long time, the story isn't being framed to make Cena the obvious victor. There is drama, coming from all kinds of outside sources. There's Vince not having faith enough in Cena to get the job done. There's Punk's recent winning streak against The Champ. Everything's so perfectly staged and virtually anything can happen.

I mean, there are also two Money in the Bank matches, spectacles in and of themselves, with no clear favorites going into the frays beforehand. I mean, yeah, I handicapped both matches on here, but let's be real; the whole point behind Money in the Bank, why it exists anyway, is to be able to throw a curveball and have someone who isn't in the picture suddenly get into it. That's why it's ends with a briefcase being taken off a hook by means of climbing a ladder, something fluky and attainable by anyone, whether they were the aggressor or just picking the scraps from a spectacular car wreck, and not a pinfall or submission.

Oh yeah, and Randy Orton and Christian get to wrestle again in what's certain to be a damn good match. This angle has been brushed off to the side in the gigantic wake of Punk/Cena, and rightfully so in a way. Any feud that goes three PPVs in length with this much of a one-sided tilt to it is going to induce groans when it continues. But Christian has done his best to drag great matches out of Orton, and who knows, maybe fourth time is the charm.

But that's the fourth-most intriguing match on the card at best. If you get this event, you're getting it for two car crash ladder matches and to see whether CM Punk is going to walk out of Chicago - and WWE - with the title. And if you're like me, you have no fucking idea where to start forecasting what's going to happen.

If that doesn't give you butterflies - the good kind, that is - then I don't know what would.

The Summit Hits the Heartland: Chikara Weekend Preview (and AIW too)

Haters gon' hate... but will they if Icarus gets bullied by SDR?

Last year, Chikara made its debut in the Detroit area and returned to Cleveland for the first time in a few years. There will be no such wait for either area, and they even threw in a Chicago date for a rare tripleshot of shows that will surely take the Midwest by storm

The tour kicks off tomorrow night in Chicago with The Case of the Bulletproof Waldo. Doors at the Logan Square Auditorium will open at 7 PM CDT, and you can still get tickets. Trust me, if you haven't already, you definitely want to get them. There will be three big matches in the 12 Large Summit taking place at this event. There are two matches taking place in Taylor the next night as well. What is this 12 Large Summit? Well, if you don't know, it's the original 12-person round robin tournament to be announced this year. The winner will be crowned the first ever Chikara Campeon del Mundo. There are two blocks (A - Claudio Castagnoli, Hallowicked, Icarus, Ophidian, Mike Quackenbush, Sara del Rey; B - Brodie Lee, Eddie Kingston, Fire Ant, Jigsaw, UltraMantis Black, Vin Gerard), and I assume that the winners of said blocks will face off for the right to be the Champion

Only two matches have been contested so far, both of them being upsets with Gerard going over Brodie and Hallowicked defeating Quackenbush. This weekend's slate of matches for the tourney should be good. In Chicago, we have Claudio battling Hallowicked, del Rey locking up with Icarus and Fire Ant taking on Mantis. At the Taylor show, which takes place Saturday at the Taylortown Trade Center with doors opening at 7 PM EDT, Mantis will battle Kingston, while Quack tackles Ophidian. OF all these matches, the most interesting to me is the Icarus/SDR tilt. They're both rudos, well-entrenched rudos to be even more specific. Icarus' smarmy demeanor and heat-garnering back tattoo have made him the target of hatred to almost every crowd he's performed in front of. Conversely, del Rey, despite being a female wrestling in a man's ring, has become one of the biggest bullies in Chikara, really beating up on the smaller males at will. Of course, the crowd will gang up on Icarus early, but I have to wonder if he'll remain the de facto heel during the match if del Rey starts abusing him. If that happens, then Chicago would truly become one of the most special Chikara crowds instantly.

Aside from the tournament action, there are some really cool matches going on this weekend. Tomorrow night's main event in Chicago features native sons, Da Soul Touchaz, looking to exact some revenge for the heinous crimes perpetrated against them by the BDK since last year's The Germans in a six-man tag match against Ares, Tursas and Tim Donst. After dominating the BDK for the first part of last year, the Chicagoland trio has not been able to defeat them ever since the evil German stable decimated their manager, C-Red, in a sneak attack. This should be a pretty hot match. Another Chicago native, Colt Cabana, will take to the ring to battle Eddie Kingston in a special attraction match. I wonder how Cabana's comedic antics will match up with the War King? That one should be interesting to say the least.

Rounding out the Chicago card will be a trios match between the Throwbacks (featuring Matt Classic) and the Batiri, a tag match featuring Soldier and Green Ants from the Colony against Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor from FIST and a special attraction tag between Ophidian and Hieracon of the Osirian Portal and two standouts from Chicago's GALLI promotion, Emperador and Ripper. I'm not familiar with GALLI, but I've heard it's another American lucha libre fed, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one on DVD.

The non-tournament matches on the Taylor card are headlined by a rematch from last year's King of Trios final. The 2010 Champions of Claudio, Ares and Tursas will take on the 2011 Champions from the Colony in a match that's being billed as the war to settle who the ultimate Kings are. Both these teams are no strangers to each other, and I feel like this could be your match of the weekend.

Also on the card will be some guest stars from CLASH Wrestling. Greg Iron will tangle with Icarus in one match. Iron fell victim to Icarus earlier this year in Reading, and he's looking for some revenge. If he can beat the tattoo off Icarus' back, he'll be a fan favorite in no time. Also on the card will be a trios match featuring six of CLASH's best and brightest. Cameron Skyy, who participated in last year's Young Lions Cup, will team with the tag team Too Sweet to take on CLASH Champion Gavin Quinn and the H3RD. TWB superfan Dorian Jackson will probably be able to tell you more about this match than I can.

Rounding out the card, Hieracon will take on Gerard in singles action, Hallowicked and Frightmare will wrestle Taylor and Gargano in one tag match, and the Throwbacks will battle the BDK's team of Donst and Jakob Hammermeir in another.

Sunday's card in Cleveland doesn't have any 12 Large Summit matches, but it's still pretty loaded. The show, titled The Evil That Lies Within, Pt. 4, will emanate from St. Gregory's Byzantine Hall in Lakewood, OH, and doors will open at 3:30 PM. The top two matches on the card should be dazzlers. The assumed main event is an atomico match featuring Quackenbush teaming with the Colony against Team FIST and Gerard. That one should be standard operating procedure for a Chikara multi-man match. Good for the crowd in Cleveland, that usually means fireworks. The other big match is a Young Lions Cup defense by Frightmare against the devious Kodama. This is an extension of the greater feud between the Spectral Envoy and Sinn Bodhi's Batiri, and I fear that Frightmare's title reign could be in jeopardy here. Whatever it is, it'll have a lot of heat behind it.

As for the other two members of the Envoy, Mantis and Hallowicked will have other old scores to settle as they gun for Ares and Donst of the BDK. Wow, it seems like there are a lot of old BDK-related feuds and arcs coming to the forefront this weekend. Could we be seeing a lot of closure to some of the issues between Chikara and the marauding Germans? It's possible, but at the same time, while the Brotherhood has been somewhat castrated, they're still very much a threat. The other two Batiri are in action too with them participating in a four-corner elimination tag match. In the other three corners will be Aeroform (Louis Lyndon and Flip Kendrick), the Olsen Twins (Colin and Jimmy) and Los Ice Creams. It'll be interesting to see if any one team will garner three points so they can challenge the Campeonatos de Parejas of Quack and Jigsaw.

Rounding out the card in singles competition, Dasher Hatfield battles Tursas, Hieracon battles Kingston, Hammermeir takes on Cheech Hernandez and Dunkerton will meet Ophidian. As an added bonus, following Chikara's show will be Absolute Intense Wrestling's Absolution 6, which is their biggest card of the year. Their show will be headlined by Gargano, who is their Absolute Champion, trying to fend off a challenge by Donst, whose stock has risen in the Cleveland indie promotion in the last year. Also on the card, Facade will battle Sabu and Kingston will take on former ROH standout BJ Whitmer among other matches.

All three Chikara shows, and the AIW show even, look really cool. There may not be a whole lot in the way of guest stars, but I feel like if you want a real feel for Chikara, you need to see them when it's mainly their regulars in tow. They have a very talented roster, and that will be on display this weekend, whether it's deciding matches in the 12 Large Summit or just other business-as-usual action. If you're in Chicago, Detroit or Cleveland or if you're willing to road-trip, you gotta go and see at least one of these shows. It'll be worth it.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

An Event That Lives up to Its Name: PWG All-Star Weekend Preview

WAR TOZAWA

The Southern California indie scene has a relatively new player in town in NWA Hollywood. They've generated a good buzz and made the rest of the nation aware that there's more to the greater Los Angeles indie scene than Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Granted, it's using a lot of the same players, but with the TV exposure and the more regular storylines, well, it's the new thing.

That's not to say you can forget about PWG. Oh hell no, there will be no way that the elder statesman of SoCal indie feds should be ignored or diminished, and the big reason is that they produce cards like the one starting tomorrow night at American Legion Hall #308 in Reseda, CA. Yes, it's All-Star Weekend again, the eighth installment of their star-studded all-weekend long affair, and this year's proceedings have a lineup of talent that totally makes the fed justified in the name of their event.

You can find the full cards here, but I'll do you even better and preview some of what I feel will be the standout matches of the weekend. When you've got a talent roster of Claudio Castagnoli, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Chris Hero, the Young Bucks/Generation Me, Kevin Steen, Akira Tozawa, El Generico, Alex Shelley, Low Ki, Eddie Edwards, Chuck Taylor, Scorpio Sky, Joey Ryan and Ricochet among others wrestling for you, it would take a lot of aggravating factors for it to turn out to be average let alone bad, so yeah, maybe I don't need to sell you on the matches they have booked, since you could throw darts and create random matches from that lineup. But I am anyway. Why? Because I love PWG and I love writing about it.

Night One, which is tomorrow (Friday), is headlined by two pretty killer title matches. The titular main event is a Clash between Kings. Claudio Castagnoli defends his PWG World Heavyweight Championship. Both Claudio on his Twitter as well as the official PWG preview swear this match will remain friendly, as the two have been nearly inseparable since reuniting in ROH early in 2010. Things can be a bit different in LA-LA Land though, as wrestlers go there to change their images rather than be the same people they are, say, on the East Coast. Is that a guarantee that things will boil over? I can't read it right now, although with all the platitudes going around, I'd say it's a near lock that there'll be some kind of feud coming out of this. That being said, I don't think you could ask for a better Night One title bout than the one that the PWG faithful are going to see tomorrow night. These guys know each other and know each other's limits better than anyone else but themselves. I think this could be a serious MOTY candidate.

The other title match is, of course, the PWG Tag Team Championship match between the Bucks and the RockNES Monsters. While I'm not as sold on Johnny Yuma, the Rock half of the challengers, the NES half of Johnny Goodtime is more than adept at covering for his partner, as he's shown in several episodes of NWA Hollywood, where the Monsters are featured quite prominently. Given that they're in there against one of the best tag teams in the business in a match that should have plenty of heat, I think we have the recipe for what could steal the show or even get the main event slot given how protected the PWG Tag Titles and division on the whole has been. When the Bucks aren't forced to job to Matt Hardy in glorified handicap matches on Impact, well, they shoot fireworks. This match will get time, and I think it'll be really good.

The next two matches are the kinds of dream-type matches that make any PWG card must-see. The first will pit two guys that were riding on top of the world late last year in the big companies only to suffer precipitous misfortunes that ended up benefiting indie fans like you and me (and before you n00bs say anything, re: Shelly, I'm talking more about TNA's bright idea to tease a MCMG breakup, not his clavicle injury). Alex Shelley, still of TNA fame, takes on Low Ki, formerly Kaval, in what will definitely be a hard-hitting match with all the spotlight on it. The last Shelley tilt in PWG I witnessed with my own eyes was at As the Worm Turns against Chris Hero. It was, in a word, epic. Ki will have some big shoes to fill, but if anyone can, it'll be him and his lethal kicks of chest-reddening destruction.

The last match I wanted to highlight for Night One is not El Generico/Ricochet, mainly because if you don't know why that match is going to be awesome, or at the very least exciting if flawed, then you need to jump out of a window. No, the fourth match that I think will knock it out of the park is Akira Tozawa taking on Eddie Edwards. I had always been cognizant of Tozawa, but when I finally saw him live for the first time at King of Trios a month or so ago, the man blew me away with his ability. The Other Wolf is making his PWG solo debut (after making his total debut at DDT4 with partner Davey Richards), and I think he provides a great foil for Tozawa here. Bonus points will be had for this match if Tozawa has the same hairstyle and facial hair for this as he did at King of Trios. All the bonus points in the world will be had if he wears a keyboard necktie to the ring.

Night Two isn't slouching in the match quality department either. The title situations for this card will not be set until Night One is in the books, but all four potential title matches look like the goods to me. First up, Claudio will battle Ki in the titular main event right now, although if Hero wins the title and the Young Bucks retain on Night One, I can totally see the Tag Team Championship match taking the final bow of the weekend. Anyway, this is a classic size mismatch, which worked so well for Ki as Kaval in WWE during his NXT and mostly-Superstars run. The difference is that in this match, Claudio will actually sell extensively for the big-voiced-in-a-small-framed wrestler more than just in token style like Jack Swagger and the like were instructed to do. I expect a very physical, strike-based match with a lot of potential for Ki to bump like a pinball for Claudio's big move offense.

The other potential World Championship match might sound a bit unsure to you, but again, trust me on this one, it should be really, really good. Hero is slated to go against Willie Mack in this match. If you don't know who Mack is, well, he's a great story. He was actually one of PWG's original fans, going to all the early shows in the promotion's history. Then, he went and got himself trained, and now he's turning into SoCal's hottest property. He's wrestled guys like Roderick Strong in PWG and Austin Aries in NWA Hollywood, and now, he has the opportunity of a lifetime to impress the indie world at large, whether it's for the strap or not. Hero is about as big-name an opponent as they come nowadays, and I think that Mack, the guy who has a similar kind of look and style as Samoa Joe had in the indies, is more than game for the challenge.

The first of two potential Tag Title matches is a historic one. Should the Bucks retain tomorrow night, Saturday's match with Generation Next will be for the straps. If you don't know who Generation Next is because you're more of a neophyte indie fan, well, it's Roderick Strong and Austin Aries. Yep, in only their second match after reuniting for the first time in over five years (the first one is Night One against the Cutler Bros., one of my new favorite tag team acts by the way), Aries and Strong may have the chance to capture gold. Honestly, this may turn out to be the best match of the weekend. Bar none. It's must see. Seek out the DVDs for this match, even if nothing else interests you on the card.

Finally, the other potential Tag Title match will pit those RockNES Monsters against the Nightmare Violence Connection teaming of Tozawa and Kevin Steen. First off, can I tell you how much I love their tag name? It's a throwback to the AJPW tag team the Miracle Violence Connection, consisting of Terry Gordy and Steve Williams, and the changing of the first word to Nightmare only proves to perfectly exemplify the wrestling styles of both men. The funny thing is that they kicked so much ass at DDT4 that despite their ruthless heel aggression, they were pretty much got the biggest face reactions of the tournament. Go figure. Anyway, I can't wait to see the interplay between Goodtime and Tozawa here, as well as the sheer amounts of brutish thuggery that the NVC are going to whip out. I have a feeling that this one should be worthy of a classic PWG Tag Title defense should the belts go RockNES' way on Friday night.

As if In-n-Out Burger, the Grill 'Em All Burger truck, the idyllic warm weather year round and the massive amounts of hot women populating the region didn't make me jealous enough of Southern California, PWG takes the cake. If you're there, you need to go to Reseda and buy up a general admission ticket before they sell out, even if it's just for one of the nights. You don't need to be an over-optimist, a PWG apologist or really anything else but a realistic indie wrestling fan to know that your purchase will be well-rewarded, and that All-Star Weekend will more than live up to its name.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!