It’s time for the At Odds with Wrestling homework. This week Joe had a very specific breakdown for watching parts one and two of this 2013 tournament and I actually followed the directions. If you have more time than I had this week, head over to IWTV to watch both shows and so much more wrestling in full. 

First up we all watched one match from part one, and that was it from this release but what a match it was. 

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs The Baltic Siege (The Estonian ThunderFrog & The Latvian Proud Oak).

This is my first time seeing the Baltic Siege and I expected a squash match just to make the Young Bucks look good. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This was an amazing match. So much fun. I was beyond impressed with the Siege and I have no idea if I’ll see them again but I would love to. What chemistry. What powers! There were great comedy spots and great wrestling throughout the match. A perfect opener for a long day of Chikara action. The Young Bucks win, which should have been expected. But this was loads of fun. 

Now we jump to part two. 

We skip 28 minutes ahead of the show and start with the following match:

The Colony (Fire Ant & Green Ant) vs. The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive & Max Smashmaster) (w/Flex Rumblecrunch & Sidney Bakabella).

On paper one would think this would be a squash because that is what the Corporation has been doing all along. But this was an incredibly competitive match and the crowd was super into it. Bit of some dangerous spots as wrestlers came flying and the crowd was right up against the ring with no guard rail. Some big boys in this match. The match gets hot and I had no idea who would win. Also because I wasn’t watching every match and had no idea what the brackets looked like. Flex hides under the ring and prevents Fire Ant from getting back into the ring and this results in a double count out! The Colony is upset. The crowd is upset. Sidney is upset. This pays off later in the night with some great heel heat because the double count out means someone is getting a bye. 

Pieces Of Hate (Jigsaw & The Shard) vs Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin.

By far the highlight of the match is an extended slow motion sequence. I fully believe a wrestler has to be great at their work before they can add comedy. It’s not a crutch, it’s more difficult in many ways. I loved that the crowd was in on it the whole time and went into slow motion as well. I’ve only seen Darin Corbin once before and he had some good spots here. Pieces of Hate get the win and they get the bye! 

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs The Batiri (Kodama & Obariyon).

The story here is that one of the Bucks (Matt?) injures his knee and now must fight through the pain and possibly one more match tonight in order to win. Batiri does a great job of beating the hell out of his knee. It’s interesting to hear one Leonard F Chikarason building up the faces who happen to be the Bucks in this match. If I could hear his voice now I feel that his entire call of the dastardly heels in this match and the finals could be quickly reversed and applied to the Bucks currently. Bucks end up winning. Batiri look great. But can the Bucks continue? 

Icarus vs Colt Cabana.

In light of the last two weeks in wrestling there’s a lot of baggage to watching any Colt match right now. As in, this is the guy that launched a thousand fists? The story of the match though is to build up Icarus as he will receive a title shot in two weeks at the next Chikara IPPV. The crowd supports Icarus which is odd to see but he’s earned every bit of it. He may be a heel, but he’s their heel. Now, previous points aside, I do think young wrestlers will discover Colt later in life and steal many of his comedy moves. There were some fun ones in here that could work at any level and not look ridiculous. Icarus gets a very hard fought and well deserved win and I can’t wait to see this upcoming title match. 

Eddie Kingston (champion) vs Archibald Peck.

Eddie just seems full blown heel, sick of Chikara, sick of the comedy, and all of this sounds like someone on the way out who is ready to lose the title and then head out. He mentions that he’s sick of the jokes and comedy and I had no idea what to expect. This was a fun match. We know Eddie can wrestle. We know Archie can. But can the man in the crowd?! A doppelganger of Archie appears in the stands distracting the original Archibald that is in the ring. Eddie hits the backfist on Archie and the lights go out! The lights go out! This is the moment in which Archie is sent back in time which is how he was reinstated months earlier. The long story pays off. It is absolutely ridiculous and could only be pulled off in Chikara. But it’s also so nice to see a closed loop in wrestling. (Who raised the briefcase?) Eddie wins because Archie disappears and Eddie does not appear pleased with how he got the win. 

Pieces Of Hate (Jigsaw & The Shard) vs The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson).

This is the finals for the tag grand prix. The entire match is all about the knee injury. It’s very well done and no one would be shocked to see Pieces of Hate win at any time. But it’s also the Bucks. Of course they’re going to win. They’re going to superkick their way to victory despite the busted knee. However, this is also 2013 Young Bucks wrestling for a company in which they are contracted talent and not EVPs. Holy crap, Pieces of Hate win! I was honestly shocked. With the bye and the knee injury everything seemed scripted to be a hard fought dramatic victory for the Bucks. But no! 

Chikara’s main stories are getting to be very interesting, and they should be on the road to setting up an IPPV. Pieces of Hate now have 3 points as well and should be taking on 3.0 soon for the tag team titles. I have to imagine after this battle they might be the favorite against the champions. I’m hoping this IPPV is an upcoming homework assignment because I am purposely staying ignorant of Chikara history so I have no idea who wins, loses, becomes champion, or any other twists and turns along the way.