At the "National Pro Wrestling Day" event, Icarus came into the ring with a sign that he held up to the camera with the date “5/25/14” written on it, the date that CHIKARA Pro Wrestling is said to be coming back.
The show was shown live on Youtube, here is the video:
I just wanna say a good way for wrestling to catch on again would be for things just like this. Have Randy Orton punk out a camera man, be rude to kids, cut in line, whatever, in an almost candid camera fashion. Maybe get TMZ to pick up on it - not being in on it, and bam, WWE is playing it's 'unreality' against the 'unreality' of TV.
Jump to about 1h57m if you just want the the angle. Basically kicks off when Heidi Lovelace is attempting a submission.
As always, Chikara is not everyone's cup of wrestling tea, and it's okay to admit that. And if you haven't been all of the videos leading up to this, some of what happens is completely non-nonsensical. But the scene-in-question is pretty hot, and pretty fun to watch, even if you don't know why there was a smoking Delorean being driven by a drum major.
To be fair, anything would be better than what Orton is doing right now. Orton starting a yodelling gimmick would be a step up from what he's doing right now.
Nah, I kid. The column was sort of an inside funny joke among all of my former colleagues at Inside Pulse. Nobody was quite getting it on here because they weren't there to experience the backstory, so I realized it was utterly pointless to keep it u.
My wife and I were talking about our five favorite and least favorite workers in WWE and the subject of Orton came up. He was on both of her lists. I think I got the problem with him...he's good when motivated but completely out of place in this era. He would have been perfect as a mid card heel in the 80s with his ceiling being the IC belt and the occasional run as a world challenger on the house show circuit. Kind of like a much better version of his dad, really. As a main event guy in this era...he is woefully miscast. Also, as much as he hates playing a face he was better in the early days of his last face run when he wasn't speaking. He had an intensity which he seems to have lost. Ideally he'd be best served as a tweener.
That said, the RAW match was great. It reminded me of the Flair-Luger matches, with Bryan surprisingly playing the Luger role (and rather well). Actually, Orton could be 80s Flair-esque if booked that way. Character-wise, not in carrying ability, of course.
One more thing...I'm rather surprised nobody has commented on the fact that Cena actually lost the feud with Orton. That should be a big deal and I think if it was anybody other than Orton it would be
Good analysis. Orton is a strange case, I like him more then most but there will always be some disconnect between him and the fans. It's weird since he was REALLY over before this authority angle doing absolutely nothing as a generic face.
I'm sorry, but how is ANYONE digging The Rock's sell of the stunner? It was the most embarrassing, business exposing bullshit I've seen this side of Shawn vs Hulk. You could see him clearly push himself up with his arms as he flew half way across the ring. Anytime I was watching wrestling with someone not into it, they'd laugh their asses off at that.
I'm gonna go no-sell.
The nWo is in the ring, doing their thing, when an army of Stings....what the hell? Yes, I will go down by the bay, and eat some hay, I just may. Anyway, a bunch of Stings enter, and all go down one by one via different members of the nWo. Well, a fake Sting gets in, and Buff nails him with a right before immediately turning around to do a Buff pose. Only, the Sting he hit sold it like a stone statue, letting you know it was the real deal. I still mark out when I see it.
Then he went and got his ass kicked by Hogan and barely eeked out a victory at Starrcade.
This was so awesome to watch live this past Saturday. There hasn't been a pay-off to an angle this in all of professional wrestling in a really long time. On top of story line, The Osirian Portal are also back which I am super excited about. Those guys are super fluid plus who doesn't love "The most illegal move in the history of wrestling"?
If you're on the fence about watching this, give it a shot. It's not going to be up on YouTube much longer.
I'm on the west coast (NorCal). And STILL haven't made it down to Reseda for a PWG show. I was going to head down to San Diego last year when Chikara was supposed to come out here, but obviously THAT didn't happen.
Cena actually gets pinned cleanly often. He usually just no sells it and moves onto the next one. This is almost like Kevin Sullivans old trick of going out and saying you won even if you lost. WWE creative also tries to present Cena as an "underdog" even though that notion is just ridiculous.
He was only over because he was the one guy who was exempt from 50/50 booking. When Scott would post the TV win/loss stats, Orton was always near the top and had a ton of clean victories on TV. I liked Orton during Evolution and his heel run post Evolution but they just went in a weird direction with his character.
"(And you know what, the drugged-out bastard is nailing it)"
Hardy has been lights out in Ring of Honor. He didn't even have to do anything to get their fans to hate the absolute shit out of him but he's taken it to a whole other level, especially with his promos.
Well looked it up Bo is 6'1" 230 lbs, Sami is 6'0" 193 lbs according to Wikipedia, but Sami has added some muscle since he joined WWE and probably is closer to 210 nowadays.
For those who haven't followed Chikara over the years, the angle at the 2hr mark paid off and called back to a ton of angles. For instance, the faces hiding under the heel masks and attacking the heels was a call back how the BDK originally debuted, with a bunch of heels surprising the faces after unmasking. Another awesome bit of writing was the Submission Squad sticking up for Chikara after the fans turned on them when they had to no-show a big event.
I don't have any to add that haven't been covered, but the Bret corner bump is one of my favourites of all time. Everything about Mr Perfect too. I generally prefer more realistic selling but Rocky's stunner bump was awesome. That was the thing about Rocky was that he could do the silliest things and still make them awesome.
It's not my favorite of all-time or anything, but the way Brad Maddox sold Big Show's KO punch a few months ago was awesome. He almost rolled up like a cartoon character.
I can't remember if it was in his book or somewhere else, but he said the key was pushing off with his biceps when he went into the corner and that would keep the chest from taking the brunt of the blow. Bret also stated that his shins took a beating from hitting the bottom ropes when he did that.
I can't figure out what they are doing with Orton. He's definitely a heel, but the way HHH/Steph treat him, it's sort of like they are pushing him to be a babyface, but not exactly. They aren't giving him the Daniel Bryan treatment (beat The Shield in a gauntlet match) but they aren't helping him out either.
Who was the host promotion here? It was rather difficult to sort through, though admittedly I just jumped ahead to the angle. And I only recognized Jimmy Jacobs, so shame on me, I suppose.
Hey Scott! Actually I haven't watched any NXT except for a few random matches on Youtube, so I didn't know what teh Bo Dallas character was. Though from what I've read I thought he was doing more of a John cena goody two shoes who's rejected by the fans?
I think the Orton idea could work so long as Orton stays a total dickhead through it all. Like, he doesn't think he's a babyface, but he just expects everyone to worship him anyway, even the kids.
The main thing is that Orton should have been getting something out of being "face of the company" this whole time, otherwise why do we hate him? The villain needs to be on top and abusing his power, otherwise he's just a sad sack. If they were gonna bother making Orton champion for 8 months, then they REALLY needed to go all the way with it and show him milking the spotlight. Otherwise, what the fuck was the point of all this? Why do we care??
I am a huge fan of Rude, and although some don't like the hit in the nuts sell he does on the atomic drop, personally I think its gold. He did a similar it hurts sell at I think Beach Blast 1992, with the bicep and he couldn't pose.
This is exactly what they should have done when Orton turned heel and screwed Bryan over. Do the over-the-top 'corporate champion' thing. The storyline was there too: Cena was out with his injury, Bryan had just won the title, and the other most established guy was holding the briefcase. HHH & Steph reunite with Randy and endorse him as "face of WWE". They didn't actually GO with it though. It needed the full blown treatment...basically do the "Lex Express" type thing and put all the focus of the company on Orton. I love your idea about personal servants too.
I agree. What's the end game? I mean, there's the possibility that Triple H and Steph turn on him in favor of Batista (who then turns heel), but then what happens with Orton (I know, I know, who cares)? He can't effectively become a face because he's done nothing to warrant that response (and the fans aren't itching for it, unlike in his Evolution and Legacy days).
Dude, you've GOTTA go to PWG. It's totally worth the drive, every single time. And yea I got stoked when I saw on Chikara's page that Reseda was on the list before they "shut down."
I've wondered how they play it with Dallas since the whole gimmick right now requires having a title. Maybe have him debut on Raw while still NXT Champion and have him act like he's a big deal because he's the champion of NXT. Have a feud with Big E since he beat Big E for the NXT title so they have that history and you could have a thing where Dallas acts like his title is more important than the Intercontinental Title. Or have Santino pick him out of the crowd for a dance-off. That might work too.
I don't mind the beard but I agree 100% on the t-shirt thing. And that was actually one of my issues with Del Rio. It drives me CRAZY when he wears a cheap looking WWE Authentic t-shirt when he comes down to the ring. He's supposed to be this wealthy Mexican Aristocrat, and he's dressing like your average Joe on the street. I've said it before, but having your guys come out wearing something other than their t-shirt can really help give their characters an identity.
I wasn't surprised at all by the match. I think he's a tremendous worker who tends to take nights off a lot. But put him in there with Bryan, and it's magic just about every time. I get the impression Orton would rather work matches like Monday -- old-school, 30-minute deals -- than the typical breakneck 10-minute Raw match.
I love Perfect's flip out of the corner after a turnbuckle whip, as well as bailing out over the top from a punch, usually from Hogan or Andre.
Others: Ted DiBiase's flip after a gut punch coming off the ropes Steamboat taking a high knee and going down like he'd been hit with a baseball bat Lesnar's insane head bumps
Hawk standing up immediately after a piledriver is always a classic; I've also always loved the Undertaker spot where someone kicks him in the head when he tries a backdrop, and he stands up all pissed off.
Isn't part of Cenas gimmick now "face of the company"?
ReplyDeleteThat's not a gimmick.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first times Vince ever gets stunned, he lays there and just quivers for a few minutes. It's so over the top Vince like. It's awesome.
ReplyDelete......Or Randy Orton have a cheesy smile on his face with kids that look miserable.
ReplyDeleteI just wanna say a good way for wrestling to catch on again would be for things just like this. Have Randy Orton punk out a camera man, be rude to kids, cut in line, whatever, in an almost candid camera fashion. Maybe get TMZ to pick up on it - not being in on it, and bam, WWE is playing it's 'unreality' against the 'unreality' of TV.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to believe more so than a big, sweaty chunky dude like Rikishi.
ReplyDeleteShannon Moore's F5 into the turnbuckle on the outside was kinda special.
ReplyDeleteSantino's sell job of the stunner.
ReplyDeleteI love Chikara. I'm glad it's back.
ReplyDeleteJump to about 1h57m if you just want the the angle. Basically kicks off when Heidi Lovelace is attempting a submission.
ReplyDeleteAs always, Chikara is not everyone's cup of wrestling tea, and it's okay to admit that. And if you haven't been all of the videos leading up to this, some of what happens is completely non-nonsensical. But the scene-in-question is pretty hot, and pretty fun to watch, even if you don't know why there was a smoking Delorean being driven by a drum major.
Who killed Kyle's other post?
ReplyDeleteABUSE OF POWER!
To be fair, anything would be better than what Orton is doing right now. Orton starting a yodelling gimmick would be a step up from what he's doing right now.
ReplyDeleteTune into WCW to find out!?
ReplyDeleteNah, I kid. The column was sort of an inside funny joke among all of my former colleagues at Inside Pulse. Nobody was quite getting it on here because they weren't there to experience the backstory, so I realized it was utterly pointless to keep it u.
My wife and I were talking about our five favorite and least favorite workers in WWE and the subject of Orton came up. He was on both of her lists. I think I got the problem with him...he's good when motivated but completely out of place in this era. He would have been perfect as a mid card heel in the 80s with his ceiling being the IC belt and the occasional run as a world challenger on the house show circuit. Kind of like a much better version of his dad, really. As a main event guy in this era...he is woefully miscast. Also, as much as he hates playing a face he was better in the early days of his last face run when he wasn't speaking. He had an intensity which he seems to have lost. Ideally he'd be best served as a tweener.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the RAW match was great. It reminded me of the Flair-Luger matches, with Bryan surprisingly playing the Luger role (and rather well). Actually, Orton could be 80s Flair-esque if booked that way. Character-wise, not in carrying ability, of course.
One more thing...I'm rather surprised nobody has commented on the fact that Cena actually lost the feud with Orton. That should be a big deal and I think if it was anybody other than Orton it would be
ReplyDeleteGood analysis. Orton is a strange case, I like him more then most but there will always be some disconnect between him and the fans. It's weird since he was REALLY over before this authority angle doing absolutely nothing as a generic face.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but how is ANYONE digging The Rock's sell of the stunner? It was the most embarrassing, business exposing bullshit I've seen this side of Shawn vs Hulk. You could see him clearly push himself up with his arms as he flew half way across the ring. Anytime I was watching wrestling with someone not into it, they'd laugh their asses off at that.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna go no-sell.
The nWo is in the ring, doing their thing, when an army of Stings....what the hell? Yes, I will go down by the bay, and eat some hay, I just may. Anyway, a bunch of Stings enter, and all go down one by one via different members of the nWo. Well, a fake Sting gets in, and Buff nails him with a right before immediately turning around to do a Buff pose. Only, the Sting he hit sold it like a stone statue, letting you know it was the real deal. I still mark out when I see it.
Then he went and got his ass kicked by Hogan and barely eeked out a victory at Starrcade.
Holy crap. There can't be more than 1,000 people in that crowd, and I'll be damned if it isn't as loud as any stadium show I've ever heard.
ReplyDeleteI haven't smiled like that in a while thanks to wrestling.
He could look off screen and have the camera pan to reveal Virgil at his gimmick table next to him saying 'don't worry it might pick up soon"
ReplyDeleteLegit LOL
ReplyDeleteThis was so awesome to watch live this past Saturday. There hasn't been a pay-off to an angle this in all of professional wrestling in a really long time. On top of story line, The Osirian Portal are also back which I am super excited about. Those guys are super fluid plus who doesn't love "The most illegal move in the history of wrestling"?
ReplyDeleteIf you're on the fence about watching this, give it a shot. It's not going to be up on YouTube much longer.
I hate you. (In the nicest way possible)
ReplyDeleteI'm on the west coast (NorCal). And STILL haven't made it down to Reseda for a PWG show. I was going to head down to San Diego last year when Chikara was supposed to come out here, but obviously THAT didn't happen.
I was actually shocked when Tursas walked in.
ReplyDeleteCena actually gets pinned cleanly often. He usually just no sells it and moves onto the next one. This is almost like Kevin Sullivans old trick of going out and saying you won even if you lost. WWE creative also tries to present Cena as an "underdog" even though that notion is just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteHe was only over because he was the one guy who was exempt from 50/50 booking. When Scott would post the TV win/loss stats, Orton was always near the top and had a ton of clean victories on TV. I liked Orton during Evolution and his heel run post Evolution but they just went in a weird direction with his character.
ReplyDeleteSami is pretty much the exact same size as Bo. And Neville is smaller but much more built muscular than Bo.
ReplyDeleteHm. I always see Sami as being so much smaller than everyone else. Not sure why.
ReplyDelete"(And you know what, the drugged-out bastard is nailing it)"
ReplyDeleteHardy has been lights out in Ring of Honor. He didn't even have to do anything to get their fans to hate the absolute shit out of him but he's taken it to a whole other level, especially with his promos.
Phredric must be overcome with joy
ReplyDeleteWell looked it up Bo is 6'1" 230 lbs, Sami is 6'0" 193 lbs according to Wikipedia, but Sami has added some muscle since he joined WWE and probably is closer to 210 nowadays.
ReplyDeleteFor those who haven't followed Chikara over the years, the angle at the 2hr mark paid off and called back to a ton of angles. For instance, the faces hiding under the heel masks and attacking the heels was a call back how the BDK originally debuted, with a bunch of heels surprising the faces after unmasking. Another awesome bit of writing was the Submission Squad sticking up for Chikara after the fans turned on them when they had to no-show a big event.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any to add that haven't been covered, but the Bret corner bump is one of my favourites of all time. Everything about Mr Perfect too. I generally prefer more realistic selling but Rocky's stunner bump was awesome. That was the thing about Rocky was that he could do the silliest things and still make them awesome.
ReplyDeleteYodeling and Farting. Fodeling.
ReplyDeleteIt's not my favorite of all-time or anything, but the way Brad Maddox sold Big Show's KO punch a few months ago was awesome. He almost rolled up like a cartoon character.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a Philip Saymour Hoffman tribute where he "Sharts"?
ReplyDeleteTens of people across the globe must be very excited.
ReplyDelete... Tom Magee. And Ted Arcidi. And Outback Jack. And Mordecai. And...
ReplyDeleteand then ODs, I see where you are going.
ReplyDeleteI'd take him over Tazz behind that desk right now.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was video of Mankind/Owen and the huge-ass bag of popcorn.
ReplyDeleteLinda's sell of the stunner. Best ever.
ReplyDeletealso might be the (unintentional) debut of the Hangmans DDT (aka everybodys create a wrestler finisher in the older THQ games)
ReplyDeleteThe Orton the emailer described is 1000% more interesting than what we're currently getting.
ReplyDelete"You're the thing you hate most, John. You're the NEW YORK YANKEES."
ReplyDeleteAh, the summer of Punk.
Windham Rotundo sounds like you've been genetically engineered to be a wrestler.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if it was in his book or somewhere else, but he said the key was pushing off with his biceps when he went into the corner and that would keep the chest from taking the brunt of the blow. Bret also stated that his shins took a beating from hitting the bottom ropes when he did that.
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out what they are doing with Orton. He's definitely a heel, but the way HHH/Steph treat him, it's sort of like they are pushing him to be a babyface, but not exactly. They aren't giving him the Daniel Bryan treatment (beat The Shield in a gauntlet match) but they aren't helping him out either.
ReplyDeleteSo have him go out there pretending to be the celebrated hero and have people reject him? So like Cena in real life?
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. And you could tie in the fact he's a third-generation wrestler and how he was 'bred to be champion'
ReplyDeleteWho was the host promotion here? It was rather difficult to sort through, though admittedly I just jumped ahead to the angle. And I only recognized Jimmy Jacobs, so shame on me, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteHey Scott!
ReplyDeleteActually I haven't watched any NXT except for a few random matches on Youtube, so I didn't know what teh Bo Dallas character was. Though from what I've read I thought he was doing more of a John cena goody two shoes who's rejected by the fans?
I think the Orton idea could work so long as Orton stays a total dickhead through it all. Like, he doesn't think he's a babyface, but he just expects everyone to worship him anyway, even the kids.
The main thing is that Orton should have been getting something out of being "face of the company" this whole time, otherwise why do we hate him? The villain needs to be on top and abusing his power, otherwise he's just a sad sack. If they were gonna bother making Orton champion for 8 months, then they REALLY needed to go all the way with it and show him milking the spotlight. Otherwise, what the fuck was the point of all this? Why do we care??
Cool! Where do I sign up?
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of Rude, and although some don't like the hit in the nuts sell he does on the atomic drop, personally I think its gold. He did a similar it hurts sell at I think Beach Blast 1992, with the bicep and he couldn't pose.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people that hate it with a passion, but dammit I love me Chikara. It helps me to take it all a little less serious... in a good way.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. book Orton as the "violent babyface"* and he is over like crazy (well at least he was every time they tried it in the past).
ReplyDelete* the kind of babyface that knocks out the helpless Cody Rhodes with a ring bell.
To me this sounds like Rock's "corporate champ" gimmick. Randy Orton almost has as much charisma as Dwayne's left testicle.
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the thousand or so Wrestling Is... off-shoots that Quackenbush was running to dupe wrestling nerds into thinking CHIKARA was dead.
ReplyDeleteThis is only good because it means the return of THE MOTHEFUCKING DEVASTATION CORPORATION.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UgLQGE_r5E
That's the LESS charismatic one, for those that aren't into science.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what they should have done when Orton turned heel and screwed Bryan over. Do the over-the-top 'corporate champion' thing. The storyline was there too: Cena was out with his injury, Bryan had just won the title, and the other most established guy was holding the briefcase. HHH & Steph reunite with Randy and endorse him as "face of WWE". They didn't actually GO with it though. It needed the full blown treatment...basically do the "Lex Express" type thing and put all the focus of the company on Orton. I love your idea about personal servants too.
ReplyDeleteI agree. What's the end game? I mean, there's the possibility that Triple H and Steph turn on him in favor of Batista (who then turns heel), but then what happens with Orton (I know, I know, who cares)? He can't effectively become a face because he's done nothing to warrant that response (and the fans aren't itching for it, unlike in his Evolution and Legacy days).
ReplyDeleteGotcha. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDude, you've GOTTA go to PWG. It's totally worth the drive, every single time. And yea I got stoked when I saw on Chikara's page that Reseda was on the list before they "shut down."
ReplyDeleteRyder.
ReplyDeleteNo sells....how about Batista as the 2014 Royal Rumble winner being no-sold by....well.....pretty much everyone
ReplyDeleteEddie Gilbert selling a punch!
ReplyDelete"I like what everyone else likes, Ma! Does that make me popular?"
ReplyDelete"No son, you're still a loser"
Moron.
U mad bro?
ReplyDeleteTrue, but he always wins the feud. Not this time, though
ReplyDeleteI've wondered how they play it with Dallas since the whole gimmick right now requires having a title.
ReplyDeleteMaybe have him debut on Raw while still NXT Champion and have him act like he's a big deal because he's the champion of NXT.
Have a feud with Big E since he beat Big E for the NXT title so they have that history and you could have a thing where Dallas acts like his title is more important than the Intercontinental Title.
Or have Santino pick him out of the crowd for a dance-off. That might work too.
I don't mind the beard but I agree 100% on the t-shirt thing. And that was actually one of my issues with Del Rio. It drives me CRAZY when he wears a cheap looking WWE Authentic t-shirt when he comes down to the ring. He's supposed to be this wealthy Mexican Aristocrat, and he's dressing like your average Joe on the street. I've said it before, but having your guys come out wearing something other than their t-shirt can really help give their characters an identity.
ReplyDeleteNot just any submission -- the Chikara Special. Nice touch there.
ReplyDeleteNo, just acknowledges that people have different tastes and doesn't need to go trolling for attention. But, uh, keep up the good work?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if I offended the 17 people worldwide that care about chikara.
ReplyDelete"They're not booing, they're Bo-ing"
ReplyDeleteThat one delusional line somes up Bo Dallas
That's the thing, for the "face of the company the guy sure was under promoted
ReplyDeleteCompletely agreed. The way they've booked Orton has been downright bizarre.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't surprised at all by the match. I think he's a tremendous worker who tends to take nights off a lot. But put him in there with Bryan, and it's magic just about every time. I get the impression Orton would rather work matches like Monday -- old-school, 30-minute deals -- than the typical breakneck 10-minute Raw match.
ReplyDeleteRandy is such a natural to be the sleazy douchebag jock heel....but I don't even know what he's supposed to be at this point
ReplyDeleteI love Perfect's flip out of the corner after a turnbuckle whip, as well as bailing out over the top from a punch, usually from Hogan or Andre.
ReplyDeleteOthers:
Ted DiBiase's flip after a gut punch coming off the ropes
Steamboat taking a high knee and going down like he'd been hit with a baseball bat
Lesnar's insane head bumps
Hawk standing up immediately after a piledriver is always a classic; I've also always loved the Undertaker spot where someone kicks him in the head when he tries a backdrop, and he stands up all pissed off.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what the hell is happening
ReplyDeleteRefusing to tip his waitress.
ReplyDelete