CHIKARA "Clutch of Doom" February 20, 2011 & "Operation: Big Freeze" March 12, 2011

Clutch of Doom - Feb 20, 2011

Green Ant vs. Mike Quackenbush - 4
Ophidian vs. Icarus - 3
Vin Gerard & Stigma vs. The Throwbacks - 3
Los Ice Creams vs. 3.0 vs. The Osirian Portal vs. Haze/Delirious - 5
Sara Del Rey vs. Madison Eagles - 6
Frightmare, Hallowicked, and Ultramantis Black vs. Obariyon, Kodama, and Kobald - 5
Tim Donst vs. Jigsaw - 2
Claudio Castagnoli & Tursas vs. Fire & Soldier Ant - 6

Interesting match up pitting the longest veteran in the company versus the newest rookie in the locker room. There was some catch going down on the mat that was really great, showing that Green Ant can bring it if he has the opportunity. Ant's selling of the leglock was a little hokey, grabbing his mask in a fashion that looked like he was enjoying an erotic film, but he made up for it later with some decent vocal selling. Quack maintained control throughout the match in a decent little opener.

Icarus appeared to be working stiffer than usual by laying in all his shots on the Serpent from the Nile. Ophidian was bumping around like a child in a blowup castle inside of a paint mixer. It was great. I dig this stiffer Icarus -- it draws attention away from the back tatt. I was a bit dissappointed with the match overall, though, because Icarus was on offense way too much, and we didn't get to see Ophidian perform to his full potential.

The Throwbacks were hitting some nice offense, including Dasher's trademark baseball spots. As the match was going on, 3.0 came out on mics to distract the UnStable. I honestly think this was a really bad move because, while it furthered the angle, it really took away from the match itself as people were listening to the two talk smack rather than watch the match. Sacrificing match quality for something for angle development didn't work well in this case. Neither team got to perform as well as they could due to the happenings on the outside.

Haze came out with leading her husband by a chain, oh, the potential jokes that could be had here. I love the Ice Creams, who got counted out when El Hijo had a 'heart attack' on the outside as Jr. tried to revive him. Good God I love CHIKARA. The match had a really nice flow to it. All teams seemed to be equally represented in the match by getting equal times to hit moves and sell. As the matched progressed, it got even better, espeically Gresham's showing against Haze/Delirious. Haze looked great, too. Her selling was on great display and bumped around like crazy with her tassels flying everywhere. UnStable came out to distract 3.0, causing them to get eliminated, but this worked well seeing as the match wasn't sacrificed to develop the angle further. Good match.

An amazonian battle of the ages~! Eagles is ridiculously tall and looks like a badass. I was really digging the mat wrestling going on early in the match. Madison maintained control over Del Rey, controlling the arm, using it as a base to take her down to the canvas. Del Rey gave it back to Madison, transitioning between holds flawlessly. A very great showing by both women. Just really clean and pure wrestling. This is what should come to mind when someone mentions women's wrestling in America.

The Batiri gain a third member who looks really green in all honesty. Hallowicked tried working with him in the ring and it just ended up looking awkward. Mantis brought this really great sense of intensity that usually isn't seen out of him -- something that I feel he's actually gotten a lot better at over the past year. His intensity is great because it makes the feud with the Batiri more important with KoT right around the corner. Kodama & Obariyon brought that great Jr. heavyweight puro style to the match that I adore seeing out of them, laying in their strikes and submissions. There was this awkward moment when Obariyon went for the tag, but neither man would tag in -- they looked at each other, back at Obariyon, and finally Kobald tagged in after Kodama made an odd grunting noise in his direction. Alright. Kodama hit his sick lung blower on Frightmare, which opened the floodgates to a pretty fun sprint finish. Overall, I enjoyed the match, but I wouldn't say it was something to go out of your way to see.

Jigsaw vs. Donst is something I've been longing to see in singles form. Jigsaw had this new-found intensity going into it and hit a nice tope, but the match ended with Sabado hitting a fast count after a swinging neck breaker. Wasn't sure whether or not to rate this, but I did.

Colony charged the ring and stormed all over the BDK team, with Fire Ant just owning the hell out of both Dub-C and Turs. C and Turs really held back Soldier, barely missing tags to Fire Ant. Really great face in peril work by Soldier. Fire Ant's hot tag was on fire. He hit this sweet head scissor/DDT combo that was to die for. As the floodgates opened, the face team nailed their comeback on the heel team of the BDK to a great finish. This was a great tag match~!

Match Average: 4.25

See: Sara Del Rey vs. Madison Eagles; The Colony vs. Claudio & Tursas

----------Operation Big Freeze----------

Tim Donst & Pinkie Sanchez vs. Marshe Rocket & Acid Jaz - 3

A rather mundane opener to the show pitting the smaller memembers of Da Soul Touchaz against two of my faves in the BDK faction. Jaz looked pretty damn good, really milking the tag after suffering a beat down from the BDK. Pinkie's facials during the match are seriously great. It's pretty obvious just how much he's putting into the matches. There didn't seem to be a real click between the two teams, though. I mean, The BDK took out the manager and valet of Da Soul Touchaz, which leads me to believe that DST are pretty pissed. That fact did not come out in this match and the feud didn't seem to be furthered at all in this match.

Madison Eagles vs. Toshie Uematsu - 6

I loved how much of and even feel the match had. Eagles had the definite height advantage, but Uematsu got her on the mat and maintained control over the Amazon. Eagles' submission repertoire was quite impressive. I can see her challenging Del Rey for the notable women's position in the company. Eagles pretty much rocked the hell out of the match with some great mat work, including some great leg submissions like the surfboard and this really great looking cross-over leg submission. Uematsu seemed to be wanting to get over that really crazy foreigner gimmick by screaming at the crowd and generally looking odd and scary. Her vocal selling was rather sweet, though. I'm digging this women's highlight match on CHIKARA shows and I hope it continues throughout the year. Joshi goodness in America.... DIG IT~!

Eddie Kingston vs. Archibald Peck - 3

Dude came to the ring and I was nearly in tears with laughter. Kingston decimated this dude so bad. The kid looks kind of like the kid that got stuck in lockers in high school. Kingston delivered some suplexes and and backfist and sent this kid packing. What a joke. Nice hat, by the way.

The UnStable & The Roughnecks vs. 3.0 & The Throwbacks - 5

Starting off hot on the floor, the Throwbacks yet again brought that great element of hate to the match, but Brodie had something to say about that -- oh, did he have something to say. The big man was knocking them down left and right. Just when I thought the match progressed and a sprint atmosphere would develop throughout, Dunkerton decides to choose teams to do a jump ball in the ring which went nowhere except straight to Brodie Lee beating hide. Scott hit some really nice running knees on Brodie that looked pretty delicious I must say, but I found there to be this weird drag near the middle while Dasher was in the ring. In-ring wise, I would've liked to have seen more Throwbacks vs. Roughnecks, but I can understand holding it back a bit.

Icarus vs. Fire Ant - 6

This match hearkened back to days of old after Icarus lost his hair due to Fire Ant, so we immediately get some heat in the match. This match was crispier than a Granny Smith Apple. Both of these guys just hit everything with perfection. Ant brought that great lucha style to the match, hitting all kinds of arm-drag variations on the Winged Warrior. Icarus ate Ant's offense with gusto, bumping around the ring like an 80s style Terry Gordy with a terrible tattoo. When someone talks about CHIKARA, this is the type of match one should conjure up in their head. Crisp, clean, and tasty. You could eat dinner off of this match. Yeah, I said it.

Sinn Bodhi & The Batiri vs. The Osirian Portal - 4

So Bodhi looks really bad. I touched on that earlier, but I think it needs to be reiterated here. Bodhi's rocking this apron so he looks like Martha Stewart after a run-in with a paint mixer and a lot of deep fried foods. The in-ring was quite fun to watch, and I was actually kind of happy with Kizarny's performance. He does this really weird and unnecessary move in which he hangs from the ropes to the outside only to deliver a double chop to the chest. Whatevs. Portal hit their music spot with MJ's "Thriller" which had me in stitches. The Batiri can break it down like you wouldn't believe. Marred by a stupid finish, it was still a fun outing.

Tursas vs. Willie Richardson - 2

Richardson was pimping his Dusty-like singlet, living up to his moniker as the "Urban American Dream." Going into this, I thought to myself, "This could either be really good or really bad." Sadly, it was the latter. This match just did not take off at all and was quite pointless in all honesty. Disappointing to say the least.

Claudio Castagnoli, Tim Donst & Sara Del Rey vs. Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked & Frightmare - 3

The final match of the night had me torn. While it wasn't exactly a strong match, it was still decent, yet not the way you want to end a show. Here was my problem with the match: nothing flowed at all. Awkwardness seemed quite abundant in the ring as there were apparent mis-steps and miscues throughout. We got this really cool sprint feel throughout, but it never culminated. Too many people in the ring at once, too many things happening at once. People with ADD might have liked this, but me... not so much.

Match Average = 4
See: Eagles vs. Uematsu; Icarus vs. Fire Ant

CHIKARAWESOME Tracking:

"Chaos in the Sea of Lost Souls" - January 23, 2011
"Caught in a Cauldron of Hate" - February 19, 2011
"Clutch of Doom" - February 20, 2011
"Operation Big Freeze" - March 12, 2011