#Sidney Bakabella

[wheredoisign]

[channingthomas]

No Sidney Bakabella? No problem. I'm World Class and don't need anyone.

[thebestwrestleralivetm]

Indie Watch Alert!

Ooc; If anyone is interested, NFW is going to be on IWTV tonight at 8pm est! Featured on the show are @prizecityog @channingthomas (w/ Sidney Bakabella) @bobbyisthegoatest and @dragoisthebest !

[minacoleta]

what lvac match are u referrin to abt that dan and mantis art? the one where dan is cradling him? eyes emoji..

It just happened at Let's Hang Out this past friday!! Mantis was unmasked by the dastardly Sidney Bakabella and Avery Good :( There's a good clip of it that I retweeted on my twitter! @minacoleta

[wewerecore]

JUST TAP OUT USA JTO Girls in America 07/04/23 Curry Donuts - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Attendance: 99

Match #1

The TUSSLE!: Dale Von Trier vs. Chase Oliver vs. Keith Von Trier vs. Channing Thomas (with Sidney Bakabella) vs. Kirk Von Trier vs. Jason Hotch vs. Milton Von Trier vs. Jaden Newman Channing Thomas and Keith Von Trier have entered the TUSSLE! - Referee Scarlette Donovan refused to call for the opening bell until Sidney Bakabella was escorted from ringside. Chase Oliver has entered the TUSSLE! - Channing Thomas planted Keith Von Trier with a piledriver and made the cover. Keith Von Trier has been eliminated. Dale Von Trier has entered the TUSSLE! - Channing Thomas and Dale Von Trier brawled on the parking lot blacktop surrounding the ring but Chase Oliver took out both men with a springboard moonsault to the outside. Milton Von Trier has entered the TUSSLE! - Milton and Dale double teamed Channing Thomas which allowed Dale Von Trier to apply the dreaded Iron Pinch. Thomas looked for Bakabella's help, but with his manager barred from his corner Channing began to fade. Dale pinched away Channing's nostrils until Thomas fell to the mat and was pinned. Channing Thomas has been eliminated. Kirk Von Trier has entered the TUSSLE! - Milton and Dale Von Trier each grabbed one of Chase Oliver's arms and held him open for Kirk Von Trier, but Oliver powered out, Milton and Dale conked their heads together and Oliver leapfrogged over the charging Kirk. Kirk Von Trier spun around into a package piledriver from Oliver and was pinned. Kirk Von Trier has been eliminated. Jaden Newman has entered the TUSSLE! - Chase Oliver and Jaden Newman worked together to eliminate the Von Trier brothers. Oliver swept the leg of Milton and Jaden Newman applied the hangman's clutch until Milton cried uncle. Milton Von Trier has been eliminated. - Chase Oliver connected with a superkick to Dale Von Trier before coming off the top rope with a frog splash. Dale Von Trier has been eliminated. Jason Hotch has entered the TUSSLE! - Jason Hotch lifted Jaden Newman up for the torture rack bomb and got the pin. Jaden Newman has been eliminated. - Hotch went for an inverted brainbuster on Oliver, but Chase countered with a death valley driver into the corner and followed up with a shooting star press. Jason Hotch has been eliminated. Winner: Chase Oliver

Match #2

Magenta (Riko Kawahata and Maria) vs. Kenzie Paige and Kylie Paige - Riko Kawahata tried for a moonsault press on Kylie Paige, but at the last second Kenzie Paige grabbed her sister by the ankle and pulled her out of the way. Riko got to her knees while Kenzie Paige placed a foreign object into her own boot and hit a superkick on the kneeling Riko with the loaded boot. Kylie Paige covered Riko as Kenzie caught Maria with a cutter as she rushed in with a failed attempt to break up the pin. Winners: Kenzie Paige and Kylie Paige

Match #3

Azusa Inaba vs. Bodhi Young Prodigy - Bodhi Young Prodigy tried for springboard Canadian Destroyer, but Azusa Inaba countered with a waterwheel slam. Inaba hit the ropes and drilled Bodhi with a PK and made the cover. Winner: Azusa Inaba

Match #4

HisokA vs. Nick Wayne - HisokA tried for a wristlock into a rocker dropper on Nick Wayne, but Wayne countered by hoisting HisokA on his shoulders and depositing her on the top turnbuckle. Wayne landed a jumping Venus palm strike on HisokA and finished things off with a cutter from the top rope. Winner: Nick Wayne

- Nick Wayne went to exit the ring after the match, but as he ducked his head between the ropes it was nearly taken off by a running yakuza kick from "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith. Bryan Keith battered Nick Wayne in the parking lot and on to the train tracks that run behind the Curry Donuts building. The Bounty Hunter hit a DDT on Wayne before producing a rope and tying Nick Wayne to the still very active train tracks and left him for dead. Kenzie and Kylie Paige came to the aid of Wayne, but clearly someone has put a price on Nick Wayne's head and Bryan Keith was in the Coal Region to collect.

Upcoming Shows:

The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour Every Thursday from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST on Defy TV

Thursday July 6th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM Come see Roderick Strong, Fuego Del Sol, HisokA, and Azusa Inaba as they sign autographs at the King Street Park in Northumberland, PA as part of Pineknotter Days 2023.

CORE Pro #117 The Long Mirror Of Time 07/07/23 Marts Center at Wilkes University - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 01. Chase Oliver vs. Fuego Del Sol 02. Kenzie Paige and Kylie Paige vs. HisokA and Azusa Inaba 03. Moonlight Express (MAO and "Speedball" Mike Bailey) vs. Toilet Truck and Baby Duff from the hit Netflix series 'I Think You Should Leave' 04. Starboy Charlie, Marcus Mathers, and Brogan Finlay vs. folkstyle (Shaw Mason, Tim Bosby, and Hunter Holdcraft) 05. Special Guest Referee Athena: Raychell Rose vs. Queen Aminata 06. Kerry Morton, Nick Wayne, and Billie Starkz vs. Jake Something, Vincent Nothing, and Giant Baba Yaga (with UltraMantis Black) 07. Roderick Strong vs. Titus Alexander

CORE returns to the Good Time Theatre at Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania! 07/09/23 Television taping for The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour as seen on Defy TV.

CORE Pro #118 Breaking Training: The Risky Raffle 08/05/23 West Scranton Little League Carnival - Scranton, Pennsylvania

CORE Pro #119 Burning The Tomato Worms 08/21/23 Pittston Tomato Festival - Pittston, Pennsylvania

CORE Pro #120 Trios Kingdom 2023 - Night One 09/01/23 Penn's Peak - Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

CORE Pro #121 Trios Kingdom 2023 - Night Two 09/02/23 Charles Chrin Community Center - Easton, Pennsylvania

CORE Pro #122 Trios Kingdom 2023 - Night Three 09/03/23 Martz Hall - Pottsville, Pennsylvania

[chikaraspecial]

Locker Room Detectives Ep. 5 - What is a Man?

[nagdabbit]

"she is a dashboard confessional song with legs."

[ibis-gt]

ponderin on looks for wrestler cam, including switching up his usual physique a little

[iamchikara]

So I’m going to take a stab at compiling results for Stem the Hemorrhaging of Polka under the cut. They’re going to be rather short and dirty due to lack of detail, and prob’ly out of order as well. As these are rough, I’m going to request no reblogs for a few days. Please abide by this. Thank you.

Devantes defeated ZERO by ring-out (this is a legal ruling in Crucible exhibitions). Ophidian didn’t like this one at all, calling it the coward’s way out on Twitter. E.M. Demorest defeated JoSue Ibanez. Xavier Faraday defeated Tunku Amir. Ophidian didn’t like this one either, threatening to put Amir under a carbon mask (these’re the basic CHIKARA ones they wore as enhancement talent). Matt Makowski massacred Josh Wells. Less than 30 seconds. The Spoiler defeated Masked Enforcer #2. The Whisper defeated Mobius. Whisper’s apparently still with the Crucible, we’ll see how long that lasts. The Bird and the Bee defeated Thief and Green Ant. F.I.S.T. defeated ZERO (working double duty for some reason) and Boomer Hatfield. Cabana Man Dan defeated Terry Zeller (unconfirmed name) Dasher Hatfield and Molly McCoy w/Sidney Bakabella defeated Razer and Danjerhawk. Apparently Sidney’s supposed final edict as DoF to wipe the point standings wasn’t actually his final edict, as a new rule for Grand Championship defenses now exists. The Sword of Damocles dictates that the loser of a Grand Championship match, whether it be Dasher or his opponent, must retire from CHIKARA. I’m not quite sure what to think of this, as we’ve had multiple exodi from CHIKARA in fairly recent history and losing more people might not be the best idea. Ophidian tapped out Mike Quackenbush.

[wheredoisign]

[thebestwrestleralivetm]

Indie Update Corner #3

Post-Wrestling Open edition!

@brycedshook faced off against Channing Thomas in a Grand Prix Tourney match. I have ADHD and suck at remembering rules, so if you need more in-depth tourney info... idk ask @bobbyisthegoatest lmao. Bryce lost this match due to various shenanigans by Channing and his manager, Sidney Bakabella. (Special note: this match was awkward for @yourfavoritepopstar as Channing was her most regular hookup besides Bryce when she was cheating on Alec)

Bryce was not pleased about this. It was also announced during the show that Bryce's tournament match next week would be against his Shook Crew partner and best friend, Bobby Orlando. If Bryce loses, I think that means he's out of the tournament. Bryce seems to think there's some kind of conspiracy afoot at Open, but hasn't yet expanded on that. He ended the above-linked promo with an ominous, "Be shook, Bobby."

@prizecityog - Alec won his first round tournament match, but didn't seem elated about it. He says he doesn't really care about the Open title, he just wants his IWTV title back and that getting the Open title would be a means to that end. Homeboy doesn't seem to be doing too well mentally lately.

[thecompostpile]

Night 4 

King of Trios Night 1 2019 

Legion of Rot vs The Carnies 

King of Trios is here. Pro Wrestling’s largest wrestling tournament. 16 different teams facing off over the weekend and the winner will be the 12th ever King of Trios. For the very first time ever in the long storied career of King of Trios the tournament will be airing live on Indepdentwreslting.tv. This is huge for me who has always wanted to watch a King of Trios but never been able to make the three days and 4 plus hour trip to the actual event. Every year I would have to wait until the rough cut to go up on Chikaratopia after I had already read the results. So to be able to watch it live from my own home and watch the tournament unfold live is really something special. 

This month, however, is dedicated to on wrestler in particular and that wrestler is of course Hallowicked. Last year during October I watched a Hallowciked match live where Hallowicked teamed up with Shazza McKenzie and recapped it live. This year I am going to try and do it again for Hallowicked’s King of Trio match. Originally I planned on reviewing Hallowicked’s first King of Trios win, which is still definitely doable. Getting the chance to watch a Hallowicked King of Trios match live was too much to pass up though. So here we are. 

Hallowicked, Frightmare, and Kobald walk out to what seems like new music. Sidney Bakabella’s pick to win all of King of Trios is Legion of Rot. Koblad is also sporting a brand new mask that looks really cool and spooky or maybe I just haven’t seen Kobald wrestle in a while. The weird thing about this group is while all of them are Chikara regulars none of them are really doing much in Chikara this year. That could be because Chikara is also not doing much in Chikara this year but this is Frightmare’s first match in Chikara this year. Hallowicked has had seven matches in Chikara and Kobald has only had three. None of them have any points for either title but they are still the favorites to win King of Trios because they have two members who have already won King of Trios more than any other team besides last year's winners the Colony. 

The Carnies come out next and I will be honest when I say I haven’t seen much of their work. I watched Kerry Awful on that Amazon wrestling tv show that I can’t think of the name and honestly I do not care. The Carnies seem to fit perfectly in Chikara thought and according to commentary have dreamed of coming to King of Trios. Tripp Cassidy was trained by Billy Roc who has sent tons of talent through Chikara and visa versa. This is significant because Tripp has beaten Hallowicked once before and he has that helping him go into this contest. 

Frightmare starts the match with Nick Iggy who asks for a handshake but Frightmare denies it. Instead, he slaps Iggy in the face and grabs his foot. Iggy slaps Koblad and they end up on the trading slaps. Frightmare ends up under Nick Iggy who does one of his signatures where he makes his opponents smile in a cobra clutch position. The only problem is Frightmare’s masks was in the way. So instead Frightmare just rolls out of the ring. Kobald comes in and quickly finds himself in the same position Frightmare had just left. Nick Iggy puts a smile on Kobald but of course, Kobald just bites his finger. 

Kerry Awful might tag in at some point. I’m not sure it is hard to hand write notes and watch wrestling. Kobald and one of the Carnies get goofy hitting the same ropes running to the middles and running back to the ropes. Who I am pretty sure is Kerry Awful gets winded and the two try to use their butts to hurt the others. Neither works though. They both end up hurting their butts. Kerry Awful is for sure in the ring now, my notes make that very clear. He is going after Kobald’s hand. He stomps on it and then he sentons Koblad’s hand. Kerry Awful is a big boy and he lands all that weight just on Kobald’s hand. It must hurt. 

Frightmare comes to save Kobald and hits a knee on one of the Carnies. My notes are confusing. But Kerry and Nick Iggy ends up outside. Frightmare jumps out of the ring. Kobald climbs the top rope and jumps to the outside as well. Tripp Cassidy wants to get in on the fun and goes running out. What do you know Hallowicked, who has been quiet this whole match eerily enters the ring and stop Cassidy from diving. 

Tripp Cassidy manhandles Hallowicked like not too many people can. He hits the 619 or whatever his personal area code is on Hallowicked. Then goes to the top and hits a missile dropkick’s Hallowicked. Kerry Awful gets in the ring and Hallowicked who you’d think would be out of the ring hurting gets a surprise Rydeen bomb on Kerry Awful. 

Hallowicked picks up Kerry Awful and throws him into Frightmare’s knees for a team Go To Sleepy Hollow. Kobald hits a spear but it isn’t enough to put Awful away. It ends up being Kobald and Iggy who slaps gets another slap from Kobald. Frightmare works his way in and hits a standing moonsault onto Iggy. Hallowicked is back in and the two work over whichever Cranie is in the ring with some double team move.

Frightmare is getting mad that he hasn’t been able to pick up the win for his team. But like buddy maybe show up to wrestle more. The three are making quick tags and working over one member at a time from the Carnies. Hallowicked is in soon and hits a big uppercut then an exploder. Hallowicked helps Frightmare with an assisted kneecolepsy. It isn’t enough to get the pin. Kerry Awful gets a stunner on Hallowicked and gets the tag. Tripp Cassidy comes flying in like a man on fire. He tosses Frightmare into Kobald then hits a brainbuster on Kobald. Goes up top and hits a twisting corkscrew. 

Kerry Awful ends up alone in the ring fighting off all three members of Legion of Rot. After Hallowicked hits a big kick to Tripp Cassidy. Awful tries to fight everyone off and gets brief moments but the numbers game is too much. Kobald gets a pin but only a two. 

Hallowicked places one of the Carnies up to the top rope and put Frightmare on his shoulders. The two hit one of Hallowicked’s favorites but with a King of Trios twist a top rope diamond cutter. Kobald is quick to hit Demon’s Toliet but they only get a two count when Nick Iggy makes the save. 

Hallowicked and Tripp Cassidy end up alone in the ring together. Hallowicked goes to the second rope and trip gets him off with something like an arm drag and seemingly out of nowhere gets the pin. The finish was kind of strange and happened quick. The Carnies will move on to Night two of King of Trios while Legion of Rot will have to find another place in the tournament. 

This match was interesting because these two teams were a really fun matchup. One of the best for the night. The story the match told was Legion of Rot always working together to take out one opponent of The Carnies. Tripp Cassidy always seemed to have Hallowicked’s number though. This is interesting because I don’t know that last time Tripp Cassidy was even in a Chikara ring. It was noted on commentary that Tripp had beaten Hallowicked once before but Hallowicked never gets manhandled like that. The finish was nothing special and really came out of nowhere so it will be interesting to see if these two meet again. 

As for The Carnies beating Legion of Rot could very well mean they can win the entire thing. My personal favorites to win it are the Hatfield and Mccoys but it is literally anyone’s. A big decisive win over some of Chikara’s best certainly could mean good things for the Chikara outsiders The Carnies.

[wewerecore]

The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour - 006 06/22/23 Defy TV 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST Filmed at the Good Time Theatre at Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania

SEGMENT ONE (EIGHT MINUTES):

- Sudu Upadhyay greeted the viewers and welcomed back his broadcast colleague, the "Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko, who is making his return from a one week suspension. Sudu wished all the dads in the audience a Happy Father's Day and asked Larry for his thoughts on last week when Starboy Charlie promised to have a Father's Day gift for him today. Zbyszko claimed the only present he'd accept from Rentboy Charlie or the rest of the Putz Patrol would be their letters of resignation.

- The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour opening aired set to "Black Swan Lake" by Janko Nilovic.

The Production (Derek Dillinger and Ziggy Haim) vs. GummiBoar (The Boar and Erica Leigh) The Production defeated GummiBoar with a combination air raid crash and superkick from The Production on Leigh. (4:10)

SEGMENT TWO (SEVEN MINUTES):

Joshua Bishop vs. Milton Von Trier Joshua Bishop defeated Milton Von Trier when Bishop countered the Iron Pinch with a chokeslam. (3:33)

- After the match we immediately segued into The Throne Room with host Prince Nana who called Joshua Bishop over as Big Dan Champion, Invictus Khash, and Hyan of the TrustBusters Reserve joined Nana on set. The faction discussed the rigorous training they've undergone under the tutelage of Ari Daivari, Slim J, Sonny Kiss, and JeeVeS K, thanked Smart Mark Sterling for handling their contracts, and credited Tony Nese for his guidance as their nutrition coach. The Reserve stand ready should they need to be called into action at any time by The TrustBusters, and announced that Invictus Khash and Hyan be making their tag team debut next week and Big Dan Champion will be in singles action.

SEGMENT THREE (EIGHT MINUTES):

- This segment opened with a trip to the CORE news desk where Daphne Oz kicked off another edition of the COal REgion Roundup. She began with two announcements for the special JUST TAP OUT USA card taking place on the 4th Of July at Curry Donuts in Wilkes-Barre. First, there will be a new match concept called the TUSSLE! which will be an elimination match with eight participants, it will begin as a one on one match and every three minutes another participant selected at random will enter the TUSSLE! until there is only one survivor. The first TUSSLE! will feature some of the top prospects in wrestling today; Dale, Keith, Kirk, and Milton Von Trier will all participate along with Chase Oliver, Channing Thomas with his manager Sidney Bakabella, Jason Hotch, and Jaden Newman. Secondly, appearing in tag action will be the Magenta team of Riko Kawahata and Maria representing the Marvelous office in Japan.

- Daphne Oz continued with two big match announcements for CORE's The Long Mirror Of Time on July 7th at the Marts Center at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre. The Moonlight Express of MAO and "Speedball" Mike Bailey will face off against two of the stars of the hit Netflix series 'I Think You Should Leave', Toilet Truck and Baby Duff. And in our main event, making his return to CORE for the first time since CORE 100 in October of 2016, Roderick Strong will face off against Titus Alexander.

folkstyle (Shaw Mason, Tim Bosby, and Hunter Holdcraft) vs. Tiberius Asante, Bad Bad Banks, and Tony Leyenda folkstyle defeated Tiberius Asante, Bad Bad Banks, and Tony Leyenda by submission with an ankle lock from Mason on Leyenda. (3:50)

SEGMENT FOUR (EIGHT MINUTES):

- As we come back from commercial, Sudu and Zbyszko were unexpectedly joined by the Queens Of Wrestling, Raychell Rose and Queen Aminata. Rose and Aminata said they've been trying to get to the bottom of why, despite their recent dominance, they've not received a match these past two weeks. But an opportunity has presented itself and they requested that CORE and JUST TAP OUT matchmakers put them against Riko Kawahata and Maria on the 4th of July in Wilkes-Barre.

Giant Baba Yaga vs. Valerie Verman Giant Baba Yaga defeated Valerie Verman with a running neckbreaker. (2:53)

- As Giant Baba Yaga enjoyed her post-match American Rebel cigar, she called for UltraMantis to enter the ring and get on the microphone. Mantis appeared to be trying to dissuade Baba Yaga, but after being grabbed by the lapel UltraMantis challenged Rina Yamashita to a match against Giant Baba Yaga next week on the Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour on Defy TV. Rina Yamashita rushed out to the ring but was stopped by CORE officials Trik Davis, Jigsaw, and Andy Harner as Mantis repeated that the match was for next week as he struggled to hold back Giant Baba Yaga.

SEGMENT FIVE (TEN MINUTES):

- Starboy Charlie made his way to the ring and welcomed Larry Zbyszko back to the show. Starboy said he trusts Larry has learned his lesson, but to show there are no hard feelings he would like to give Larry a special belated Father's Day gift. Charlie said that with the blessing of Kerry Morton, they flew him in last night, making his CORE debut is Larry Zbyszko's son, Tim "Ripper" Zbyszko. And he'll be going one-on-one against Starboy Charlie right now.

Starboy Charlie vs. Ripper Zbyszko Starboy Charlie defeated Ripper Zbyszko with the skytwister press. (2:02)

- Starboy Charlie continued to put the boots to Ripper Zbyszko after the match. From the ring Starboy asked Larry Zbyszko how it feels knowing that this is his legacy, a forty year old failure of a son that despite all his daddy's connections can't get booked. Starboy told Larry Zbyszko that he understands he's afraid to get in the ring because he needs this job, so Starboy agreed to a hold harmless clause earlier today that will absolve Larry from any discipline should they come to blows.

- Larry Zbyszko verbally agreed to the same hold harmless clause before he threw off his headset and made his way into the ring. Surprisingly none of Starboy Charlie's stablemates came to the ring. Starboy Charlie informed Larry Zbyszko that humiliating Larry's son in front of him wasn't his present, because Larry's son has been an embarrassment his entire life. Starboy said his present for Larry was that despite every birthday present, every holiday, every first day of school, a roof over his head, that all it took was $2,500 cash to get Larry's son to agree to kick his own dad's ass.  

- Larry Zbyszko turned around into a right hand from his son. Ripper Zbyszko pummeled his father as Starboy egged him on. All of Starboy's associates surrounded the ring now and passed Ripper a chair that he cracked over his father's head splitting his forehead open. Starboy instructed Ripper to put the figure four on Larry Zbyszko and break his leg. Ripper locked it on but after awhile Starboy stated that Ripper couldn't even do that right. So, with Larry Zbyszko still locked in the figure four, Starboy Charlie climbed to the top rope with a chair and drove the chair down into the medial side Larry Zbyszko’s knee. The Living Legend wailed out in pain as CORE officials called for the ring to be cleared and the CORE medical staff led by Dr. Frank Romascavage made their way to ringside. As Ripper broke the hold and looked down at what he had agreed to do, Starboy Charlie held a bill in the air and offered Ripper another $50 bucks to spit on his dad, which he then did as we left for commercial.  

SEGMENT SIX (FOUR MINUTES):

- We returned from break to see the ring crew removing the bottom rope from the ring as the CORE medical team immobilized Larry Zbyszko's leg and bandaged his head. Sudu Upadhyay apologized to their sponsors this week, but with the seriousness of the situation in the ring it seemed inappropriate to thank them at this time. Sudu apologized but said he was going to leave the microphone and make his way to the ring at this time to check on his friend. Cameras documented the scene without commentary until TV time ran out.

Upcoming Shows:

The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour Every Thursday from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST on Defy TV

JUST TAP OUT USA JTO Girls in America 07/04/23 Curry Donuts - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 01. The TUSSLE!: Dale Von Trier vs. Chase Oliver vs. Keith Von Trier vs. Channing Thomas (with Sidney Bakabella) vs. Kirk Von Trier vs. Jason Hotch vs. Milton Von Trier vs. Jaden Newman 02. Magenta (Riko Kawahata and Maria) vs. ??? and ??? 03. Azusa Inaba vs. Bodhi Young Prodigy 04. HisokA vs. Nick Wayne

CORE Pro #117 The Long Mirror Of Time 07/07/23 Marts Center at Wilkes University - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 01. Moonlight Express (MAO and "Speedball" Mike Bailey) vs. Toilet Truck and Baby Duff from the hit Netflix series 'I Think You Should Leave' 02. Roderick Strong vs. Titus Alexander

CORE Pro #1?? Trios Kingdom 2023 09/01/23 Penn's Peak - Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania 09/02/23 Charles Chrin Community Center - Easton, Pennsylvania 09/03/23 Martz Hall - Pottsville, Pennsylvania

[pwchronicle]

Chikara “The Infinite Gauntlet” Live Show Report May 11th in Philadelphia, PA

This was my first Chikara event since “Once Upon a Beginning” in Jersey City last month, which featured Sidney Bakabella return to the promotion as the new Director of Fun, as well as Dasher Hatfield defeat Mr. Touchdown in the best Ladder Match of the week to become the undisputed Grand Champion of Chikara. This was also my first event back in the Wrestle Factory since March. A very full crowd with a number of new fans coming in.

1. Still Life With Apricots and Pears beat Thief Ant to retain the Young Lions Cup with their Venus de Milo leg lock. It started with Still Life requesting referee Kris Levin to position the Young Lions Cup (now sporting a bouquet of flowers while in Still Life’s possession) on the entrance stage for the cameras. As Levin obliged, Still Life chop blocked Thief Ant’s knee before the opening bell, establishing Still Life as the heel after they received a warm reception during their entrance. Still Life continued working over Thief Ant’s knee, applying a figure four that Thief Ant was able to reverse. A little later Thief Ant used a figure four as well, but Still Life got to the ropes. The finish came out of Still Life throwing the Cup into Thief Ant’s hands, followed by Still Life hitting a bulldog amidst the confusion. Solid opener.

2. Lucas Calhoun & Stray Kat beat Travis Huckabee & Icarus when Calhoun pinned Icarus following a back suplex from a powerslam position following a kick from Kat. Allie Kat is now based on the East Coast, and she has started working in Chikara more with a modified name and black gear to mesh better with new partner Calhoun. Huckabee came out with his Campeonato de Parejas (his co-campeon Tony Deppen was absent, having popped up in PWG the previous night), and Icarus came out in a loud shirt, claiming to be on vacation and just acting especially sleazy. Kat wanted each of them to scratch her belly. When Icarus removed his shirt, Kat scratched his back twice to his displeasure. The match had some clunky moments but overcame them. Kat was able to survive a pedigree, and when Icarus went to hit a shiranui on Kat, Calhoun caught him on his shoulder to set up the finish. This was Calhoun & Kat’s second point towards a title shot.

3. Der Wildebeest (w/ Jakob Hammermeier) beat Missile Assault Man with a running cross body. Hammermeier is back in Chikara, with a new hair cut and a new monster to do his bidding in Der Wildebeest, a wide masked man with a thick beard, tattoos, furry gear, and no shoes. Hammermeier handled the ring announcing for him (his role for the BDK when he first appeared nine years ago), but did both that and corner his new monster while in his wrestling gear. He did a lot of talking and interfering during the match. At one point Wildebeest plowed Missile Assault Man over the top rope, and he had two front row fans help him back into the ring before he could get counted out. Towards the end, Jakob got on the edge of the ring to instruct Wildebeest to give Missile Assault Man a death valley driver, but Missile Assault Man slipped out and booted Jakob off the ring, only to lose right afterward. Jakob then kicked him low and hid behind Wildebeest as they left to the back. I can totally get behind Jakob being back.

4. The Colony (Fire Ant & Thief Ant) beat The Creatures of the Deep (Merlok & Cajun Crawdad) after they hit Merlok with a spiked Beach Break. My favorite match of the undercard. The ants worked together early on, only for Merlok to take them both down with a pounce when they attempted Ants Marching on Crawdad. Merlok showed off his power early, hitting a corner cannonball on both ants while one of them was on his shoulders. He and Crawdad hit Fire Ant with an Emerald Frosion/top rope double stomp for only a nearfall, with Green Ant making the save. They also set up a spot that was very well executed, with Crawdad attempting a springboard move into the ring, only to be taken out by Green Ant hitting a dropkick off the ropes. Even after this hard-fought victory, Merlok and Crawdad still attacked the Colony afterward, even forcing the ref to count a pin on Fire Ant, just so Crawdad could celebrate as if he actually won.

- Intermission.

5. Ophidian won the Infinite Gauntlet Match to win a Golden Opportunity. This match made up the remainder of the event, nearly lasting a full hour. Thirty-three wrestlers, starting with two in the ring and a new entrant coming out every eighty-eight seconds (though there were hiccups with the countdown screen and entry sound effects early on before they were sorted out) Eliminations occurred via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope with both feet hitting the floor (this match predates MLW’s Battle Riot, having started in 2016). The order of entry was:

1. Boomer Hatfield 2. Danjerhawk 3. Sonny Defarge 4. Dasher Hatfield, rocking the gold mask he debuted in Jersey City 5. Ice Cream Jr. 6. Nytehawk 7. Kobald 8. Frantik 9. Fireman’s Carry Fry, the first of five enhancement wrestlers in this match 10. Cornelius Crummels 11. BLANK 12. Molly McCoy, a debuting student who came out in hockey gear and wrestled in Flyers colors 13. Volgar 14. Snapmare Matt 15. John Francis of Coronado, now waving the American flag and decked out in stars and stripes, including his bow tie 16. Armbreaker Amir 17. Worker Ant 18. Rick Roland 19. Officer Warren Barksdale 20. The Whisper 21. Jawbreaker Josue 22. Oleg the Usurper 23. Bull James, formerly of NXT 24. Unsocial Jordan, an Australian wrestler 25. Enzuigiri Evan 26. Hermit Crab 27. Shazza McKenzie, back again from Australia 28. Razerhawk 29. Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, now in his 50s and wrestling with a prosthetic leg 30. Hallowicked 31. El Hijo del Ice Cream 32. Solo Darling 33. Ophidian

A number of stories to come out of this, the biggest one having nothing to do with the result. After being able to pin Danjerhawk and eliminate Defarge, Boomer and Dasher were left in the ring. Dasher instructed Boomer to leave the ring, but Boomer stuck around and fought. They eliminated Ice Cream Jr. and Nytehawk quickly as they continued wrestling each other. Then the next few entrants opted to stay on the floor while the the two Hatfields fought, beginning with Kobald taking a seat in the front of the bleachers and having a snack. BLANK rallied the others on the floor when he came out, but they all got eliminated, save for Fireman’s Carry Fry, who landed on an eliminated Frantik, escaped a powerbomb from him, and got onto the bleachers, hiding out while taking a seat next to me (I wasn’t able to get a good picture of us). When McCoy entered, she was revealed as Dasher’s niece, and she tried to smooth things over between Dasher and Boomer. She turned out to be on Dasher’s side all along and assisted him in eliminating Boomer. When the third enhancement wrestler Armbreaker Amir entered, he helped Fry re-enter the ring, and Amir, Fry, and Snapmare Matt worked together to toss out McCoy, as well as pin Worker Ant and Barksdale by piling up on them.

As this story of the enhancement talent rallying together begins to build, the recently rechristened John Francis of Coronado goes on a tear, gaining great support from the Wrestle Factory crowd that once largely despised him. Francis was able to eliminate Roland, who was still going after him after the Closers beat him up. He dropkicked Volgar to assist Dasher and someone else trying to eliminate him. Dasher gave Francis a high five for this, taking him by surprise, then immediately tried to toss him out, only for Francis to reverse it and toss him out for a huge ovation! Shortly after this, focus shifted back to the enhancement talents, as Jawbreaker Josue entered to join the other three, retrieving some tools from underneath the ring and proceeding to loosen the top turnbuckles so as eliminate the top rope. This pretty much happened by the end, but it got difficult as Oleg and Bull James shifted their focus from each other to them. When Enzuigiri Evan entered, he was the biggest and most powerful of the five students. I could see him having a future beyond this. He was able to pin James, and then the five students all ganged up to pin Oleg. Hermit Crab and was unfortunately eliminated by them almost as soon as he entered the ring, and the two Australian guests didn’t get a chance to really do much. Francis was able to kick out after receiving a pop-up powerslam from them (or maybe he wasn’t meant to be pinned after such a strong showing in his new tecnico role?). He was tossed out of the ring afterward, but the students slowly started to get eliminated. Droese of course brought a trash can with him, using it to eliminate one of the students. Armbreaker Amir used his armbreaker to make Droese tap out. The final four left in the ring, if I recall correctly, were Hallowicked, Darling, Whisper (who lasted a while), and Enzuigiri Evan. With the ropes being so loose at this point, all four of them tumbled to the floor... just before Ophidian made his entrance as the final entrant. As soon as he stepped in the ring, he was declared the winner and was awarded the three point medallions for his future Golden Opportunity. He nonchalantly accepted them and left, and talking with someone else online about it after the show ended, there’s a chance that the students rallying together was all in an effort to help Ophidian, their trainer, win the match. Time will tell.

Just as Ophidian left, Boomer re-entered the ring and called out his dad to exchange some harsh words. Dasher took the mic first, quietly called him “you little disappointment,” then got louder in running him down. He said Boomer doesn’t deserve to carry his bags, wrestle in his ring, share his last name, nor wear his mask. Boomer took over, saying that Dasher taught him a lot of great values in the past, but now he just sees him as a liar, a cheater, and a bully. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re not my dad!” The two began fighting again, refs tried to separate them, and then Bakabella walked out to calm them down. He referenced Fritz Von Erich in his intolerance for family in-fighting, so he made an official match for the return to Chicago in two weeks, Dasher Hatfield vs. Boomer Hatfield, Mask vs. Mask. Dasher then kicked Boomer low and swarmed him as Bryce Remsburg and seemingly the entire tecnico roster (including John Francis) caused him to leave the ring. Then Boomer got up on his feet as everyone else in the ring took a knee, and without a mic cut a fiery babyface promo about how Dasher’s new mask does not represent his legacy, and he will take it in Chicago.

This may have been the shortest full-fledged Chikara event I’ve attended in a while, clocking in just at two hours, and this was with an intermission. It was no less fun and intriguing, with a lot of interesting stories told in the Infinite Gauntlet Match and a strong segment afterward to close it. Chikara doesn’t hold their next Wrestle Factory event until September, as after their Aniversario weekend in White Oaks, PA and Chicago, they have half a dozen spot shows in conjunction with minor league baseball games (one of which will be in Trenton!), as well as a chairty show in June at a Philadelphia brewery near Callowhill). I do have some other big wrestling plans in June and July though.

[chikaraspecial]

CHIKARA's Director of Fun on Ophidian's "Crucible" [Announcement]

[nagdabbit]

"you know, usually, cam zagami has to pay a few hundred bucks at 3 am to get choked like that."

- sidney bakabella