Not too much to say about this, it should be a nice mix of good and absurd.
CCK vs Crummels & DeFarge
I really enjoyed this. I thought it was one of the better pure tag matches that I have seen so far this weekend, with some genuinely innovative tag moves. I haven't seen much of Crummels and DeFarge but they impressed me here, and I like their gimmick. Good start to the show. ***3/4
Missile Assault Man vs Boomer Hatfield
This wasn't at the level of the opener but it did feature some nice offense in the relatively short time that it lasted. It's a very Chikara match. **1/2
Hermit Crab, Hallowicked, Cam Zagani & Arik Cannon vs Thunderfrog, Jigsaw, Razerhawk & Chuckie T
Now, this is a Chikara match. Chuckie T came out as Stokely Hathaway, which got a laugh from me. This one had a nice mix of good wrestling and comedy but it did go a touch long for what it was. ***
Air Wolf vs A-Kid
Yeah, this fucking rocked. Air Wolf is good but A-Kid is going to blow everyone's minds over the next year or so. If he hasn't already. Consider me sold. They put on a belter of a back and forth encounter with plenty of big moves and near falls. It was a wonderful showcase for both wrestlers. ****1/4
Young Lions Cup - Still Life With Apricots And Pears vs Carlos Romo
This wasn't as much of a showcase as the last match. This one told the story of Still Life taking advantage of an injury to the leg of Romo. It served its purpose. **1/2
Princess Kimberlee vs The Whisper
This one basically had Kimberlee hitting roughly 20 suplexes on Whisper before dispatching of him with ease. As squashes go it was quite entertaining. **
F.I.S.T vs The Colony
This was a very good representation of what Chikara is, with another in the list of matches between these two factions. It's not the best version of this match that I've seen but it was still good fun to watch with both teams working together with ease. ***1/2
Chikara Grand Championship, Ladder Match - Mr Touchdown vs Dasher Hatfield
This has a surprisingly great story leading into it, especially considering one guy has a baseball head. Mr Touchdown won the title but suffered a broken leg. In his absence, the title was defended by his tag partner Dasher Hatfield. By the time Mr Touchdown returned, Dasher felt like he deserved by recognised as champion in his own right and attacked his former partner. And that led to this. Oh yeah, and they are family. Could they pay that off in this main event? Yes, with interest. This may well be my favourite match of Mania weekend so far. Dasher targetted the leg of Mr Touchdown, trying to rebreak it, but he just wouldn't give up. Some of the ladder spots were awesome too, including an all-time great one with the ladders propped against the ropes that you will definitely be seeing in GIF form if nothing else. In the end, Dasher was too much for the injured Mr Touchdown and following a Ligerbomb through a ladder he retrieved the title. I said yesterday that it would be hard to top the Lucky Kid vs David Starr match for a combination of story and ring work but here we are. This was wonderful. ****3/4
Overall Thoughts
This show was an absolute joy to watch. The main event is the stand out match, and is a perfect example of just how much a story can add to the occasion, but it also featured a banging undercard match between A-Kid and Air Wolf and a hot tag opener. Nothing on the card even approached boring to watch and most of it was thoroughly enjoyable. I know the company has daft gimmicks but it also has great wrestling. Watch this show.
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