I would like to lay a few things out before I get into my first review OFFICIAL review. I don’t do recaps. I would but I find them pretty tedious to do truthfully for the most part. I do them for freeprowrestling.com but that’s about as far as I’ll go. Instead I am going to opt for a little bit about some of the going ons coming into the match(won’t do this for every review but seeing I’m just shooting a randomly placed review I figured that’d be the way to go about it on this one). If what I gave didn’t give you enough insight and you want more no problem, go to @MurrayDarkMatch ‘s blog: http://thedarkmatch.blogspot.ca/ . His blog is a fountain of Chikara knowledge and if you want to get caught up for the most part before hopping into Season 12 of Chikara make sure you check it out. I don’t know why I said there were a few things cause that was about it. Without further ado here is my review of Chikrasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur.
Ultramantis Black vs. Ophidian:**3/4
This is good opener to start Chikara’s second ever iPPV in what was billed as a battle to be considered the most devious in Chikara. UMB has long been considered the most devious wrestler to step foot in a Chikara ring but now he’s turned over a new leaf and, while bits of his evil remain, he has turned face as part of his stable with Hallowicked and Frightmare called Spectral Envoy. Ophidian is in the midst of a transformation here after teaming with his longtime tag partner Amasis. This is a good showing for both guys that I believe are better in tag matches. Ophidian has shown in a standout match with Quackenbush that he can be good in singles but during this transformation he’s not too hot at all. With Chikara it almost seems like that could have been the plan to give off the vibe that the transformation throws some hiccups into Ophidian. That’s a much cooler explanation than he was under delivering at this time. Was a little sad that UMB didn’t bring out more deviousness for this match but Ophidian was willing to bring his evil side even bringing in some mist to the battle.
RESULT: Ultramantis Black puts this match away with the Praying Mantis Bomb.
In Short: Short and sweet opener to set a most proper tone for the card ahead.
Loser Leaves Town Match
The Throwbacks vs. Mixed Martial Archie and Colt Cabana:***1/2
This match is earlier from the Archibald Peck and Mr.Touchdown arc so I don’t have to dive into nearly as much. Here’s a quick synopsis, Archie debuted with Veronica Ticklefeather by his side but then this young cat Mark Angelosetti comes a long and the evil woman starts giving Mr.TD “the look”. Marchie Archie is saddened by this and transforms himself into the more rugged, Mixed Martial Archie. This match is a loser leaves town so whichever man is pinned will have to leave Chikara for good. This match was super fun. Dasher is so underrated given the fact that if you don’t watch Chikara you probably don’t know him which is a shame because the man is talented. Then we have Mark Angelosetti who is such a great young talent that if he doesn’t start getting booked in other big indies I’ll be really sad. The guy plays his heel character to a friggin’ tee. Robert Evans aka Mixed Martial Archie aka Archibald Peck is almost too damn good. I’m not a big Colt guy but when a match is meant to be fun in delivers and this match was totally meant to be fun. Everyone played their roles with Angelosetti as the douchey jock, Dasher as his partner/family member who chooses to barely notice, MMArchie as the loveable babyface and Colt brings the star power. Part way through the match MMArchie goes crazy with vicious punches on Mr.TD and punches all the way up onto the ring ramp. Somehow Angelosetti is able to hit a spinebuster on the ramp effectively eliminating Mixed Martial Archie forcing him to go to the back. This means Colt is left to wrestle a good chunk of this match as one man team and it works. When Colt gets offense in he doesn’t look like some sort of silly superman which is usually the case in these types of situations with 2-on-1. Then the magic happens and Marchie Archie comes into the match instead of MMArchie. Peck gets the hot tag from Colt and he’s off and running until he decides to go for his finisher, the Cranium Crescendo, which ends in Mr.Touchdown countering it into an Ace Cutter. This brings out the manipulating Veronica Ticklefeather who places a baton for both men to fight over.
RESULT: The honorable Dasher Hatfield yanks the baton out of both wrestlers’ hands and explains to the ref what happened. While the Ref is distracted Angelosetti takes his football helmet, smashes it into Peck’s face and pushes Dasher unknowingly into a cheap victory.
In Short: Fun match that is really only the beginning of one of the most enjoyable storylines Chikara currently running.
-Dasher is excited for the win but the crowds reactions make him feel like he didn’t really earn the victory in the way he wished but either way it got the Throwbacks their third point towards title contention. Then it is just Mr.TD, Archie, and Veronica in the ring. Veronica lays a big wet kiss on Angelosetti and Peck is destroyed. It honestly makes you want to cry a little deep down.
Ladder Match
Icarus vs. Grand Akuma:***1/4
Not sure how Chikara pulled this off but they put on a good ladder match without getting super nutty. This is the blowoff to the Akuma and Icarus feud. Akuma and Icarus use to be partners and were original members in one of the most significant stables in Chikara history, FIST. Icarus, the leader of FIST, decided to replace his former partner with Johnny Gargano and Gran Akuma has had to fight his way back into Chikara. This ladder match has Akuma’s contract hung from the ceiling and if Akuma grabs it he’s back in Chikara but if Icarus grabs it he gets to tear it up, wipe his butt with it, or do whatever he wants with it. As I said once on the podcast I am a big fan of Icarus. The man is full of charisma and , though not spectacular, can deliver in the ring. Both men work a smart match that instead of going crazy. There was a Blu-Ray into a ladder so it did have a little crazy. Actually I gasped at that but that was where most of my gasping came from this match. Did I mention Icarus being awesome already? Because it’s gonna happen again. The man sold a ladder. That doesn’t sound like a heck of a lot but trust me it helped out my enjoyment of this match. When Icarus would be on offense and hit a move on Gran Akuma involving the ladder whether it be him doing a senton onto it to hurt Akuma or the ladder simply falling after a move and hitting him by accident the ladder was sold. Fans love seeing heels get hurt by nature. Or they should at least. Icarus gives the fans a chance to be gleeful while still on offense and he didn’t do it by doing fancy moves. Plus by selling the ladder he made the ladder seem like this dangerous weapon.
RESULT: FIST tried to get involved but that ended up leading to Gran Akuma powerbombing Icarus through a table and grabbing his contract and his spot in Chikara.
In Short: This is a nice blow-off that people would complain about in other promotions because it didn’t have enough SPOTZ but worked here in the lovely universe of Chikara.
Sara Del Rey/Saturyne vs. The Batiri:**1/4
This match really wasn’t terrible or anything but there wasn’t a ton going for it outside of SDR being legit one of the best wrestlers on the planet. The Batiri at this time had gone on a twitter rampage against Sara Del Rey and to an extent Saturyne. If you aren’t following them on twitter you really should, I’ll make it easy for you @TheBatiri. I don’t really like handicap matches to begin with since it really becomes a little bit harder to suspend disbelief but if there is someone I’d think could take on three wrestlers it’d be SDR. Saturyne gets some high flying spots in and the Batiri looks like gremlins from the depths of hells so they nailed that.
RESULT: Delirious popped in and took out Saturyn and SDR resulting in a DQ victory for the female team.
In Short: Has the flaws of a handicap match but the greatness of Del Rey making it above the average affair of this type.
-After the match Delirious kisses each member of the Batiri on the forehead. Creepy.
Mask vs. Hair
Tim Donst vs. Hallowicked:***1/2
This was a big match and one I thoroughly enjoyed with the two former YLC holders doing battle in a wager match. Donst offered up his long locks of hair while Hallowicked put his mask at stake. In Chikara masks are treated as extremely important and losing your mask is like losing a part of yourself. Donst has been terrorizing Hallowicked at this point for some time trying to put to prove that Tim Donst was the greatest YLC holder of all time. He actually carries his and ‘Wicked’s cups to the ring. Donst heeled it up quite well here using tactics such as twisting Hallowicked’s mask and even putting the honorable ref Bryce Remsburg in front of a Hallowicked enziguri. Hallowicked is a guy that deserved to have broken out by now but for some reason it hasn’t and possibly won’t happen. It’s a real shame too cause the dude is so crisp in the ring as well as having the gift they’ve gotten from Chikara training, being able to tell a solid story in the ring. Speaking of which they were able to integrate some of the story of their feud naturally, something not enough people really get.
RESULT: Donst choked Hallowicked out with a shoelace but then referee Bryce Remsburg notices and reverses the decision. Hallowicked quickly pops out of the chair he was sitting on while undoing his mask and hit a big yakuza kick and locked in the Chikara Special in order to gain the win, keeping his mask and forcing Donst to shave his head in the process.
In Short: This match isn’t the greatest match of all time or anything but both men brought their characters to the table and delivered a worthwhile finale to their feud without going nuts.
-After the match Donst slammed down the YLCs that had become so important to him in this feud and left. This would be the beginning of a troubled Donst.
Gekido(17/The Shard/assailANT/deviANT/combatANT vs. Eddie Kingston/Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw/Green Ant/Soldier Ant:****
Wow! I don’t think anyone will love this match as much as I but I thought it was great. Gekido is consists of characters that are upset with the Chikara roster since the Gekido feels they deserve the spot the Chikara guys like the Colony and Jigsaw are in now. Fire Ant was suppose to be in this match but the evil Gekido took him out. This match starts with brawling all over ringside with the Chikara side being one man down until the great and mighty Mike Quackenbush makes his return to even up the sides by springboard dropkicking 17. Didn’t look like 17 was quite ready for it which made it twice as awesome.Then this match settles down into a traditional tag but then goes back into chaos and then back to settling down. Gekido was that stable who work well as unit here and that’s how they were gain their advantages most of the time. When the Chikara team was on offense though it was pretty much spotlights, which was fine being each did well when they stepped in the ring. I think me being a huge Eddie Kingston mark certainly helped my enjoyment of this match because even though he wasn’t a focus of the match he looked like a force to be reckoned with. He would toss guys around all willy nilly making it look like it was no big deal. That alone would be enough goodness to recommend this match to a big Kingston fan.
RESULT: The match had a fitting ending with a Super Ant Hill and then Soldier Ant latching in the Chikara Special.
In Short: It’s a 10 minute match in a constant struggle between an out of control brawl and a traditional heated match with Gekido getting show off as a unit, some of Chikara’s bigger names getting to show off, and a great match all around.
-Quack tries to break 17’s finger after. Oh how this story did not go the way I expected and I can thank Chikara for genuinely surprising me.
For the Campeonatos de Parejas
FIST(Chuck Taylor/Johnny Gargano)© vs. The Young Bucks(Nick Jackson/Matt Jackson):***3/4
This match is just a little bit crazy but I like it. One side of the ring you have the current Campeonatos de Parejas, FIST, and on the other you have one of the best tag teams on the planet in the Young Bucks. In almost every single match they have in Chikara FIST is considered the rudo team but with the Young Bucks saying the only reason they want the CdP is to take them back to Ring of Honor so FIST gets to be the technicos in this one. It seems incredibly odd but it makes sense so I go with it. This is a Campeonatos de Parejas match so this is conducted under 2 out of 3 falls rules. Both the first and second falls are decided by rudo tactics and it’s great. It should be noted that Gargano takes some really nutty bumps. Nick Jackson goes for a DDT on the apron and Gargano spikes his head. At that point I thought he was dead but then he went for his patented spear through the ropes but onto the ramp leading to the ring. Nick Jackson moved out of the way of that spear though and smacked off the ramp. Otherwise you have the Young Bucks showing why they are one of the best tag teams on the planet in this match. Chuck Taylor can play both a rudo and techinico REALLY swell so him hot tagging after Gargano takes a ton of punishment is great. There was one moment where Gargano rolled through to tag Chuck that irked me cause it looked as if he hadn’t been getting beaten down. Roll through is fine but making it look like no big deal didn’t quite sit well with me. but honestly that didn’t really hamper any part of this match but was simply something that made me go “What?” which mixed in with all the other really good stuff in this match that’s not too shabby.
RESULT: Taylor gets hit by a sick springboard spike tombstone which a essentially dead Gargano breaks up. All the Young Bucks have to do from there is hit More Bang For Your Buck and we have NEW Campeonatos de Parejas.
In Short: Really good match from two talented teams that borderlines on being spotty but they were able to add enough character as well as nice double teams to make up for it. Oh and the Young Bucks are too awesome.
OVERALL: This show is a real breeze and joy to watch. Nothing I would really call bad on the card. Ratings really only tell half a story on a card but I know plenty of people see that as the deciding factor. And if you want that then you won’t find anything truly blow away but a ton of quality none the less from smartly worked blow-offs in Gran Akuma vs. Icarus and Tim Donst vs. Hallowicked to matches that were truly early chapters in great stuff to come in the form of the Loser Leaves Town tag match and the Campeonatos de Parejas’ match. If you are wanting to get into Chikara this certainly wouldn’t be a bad choice with Chikara’s iPPVs usually being good complete shows to get a full view of the promotion.
For more information on Chikara shows make sure to go check out:
And for DVDs go check out Smart Mark Video
-Sam DiMascio
4crwrestling.wordpress.com 
Reblogged this on MMA, Wrestling, Comic and Gaming News.
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