4.18.2020
Championship Rundown
Grand Champion: Dasher Hatfield
Campeones de Parejas: Solo Darling & Willow Nightingale
Young Lions Cup Champion: TBD
Commentary is provided by Jason Worthington and Sidney Bakabella.
The Whisper calls Mobius the wild card of the Wrestle Factory group that are looking to get rid of the Crucible. Today, The Whisper plans to unravel the mystery. Before the next match, we see clips from the Season 20 finale, “Tug of War”, where Whisper paid the price for defying Ophidian’s orders during the Grand Championship match.
Mobius vs. The Whisper {TC}
“Stem the Hemorrhaging of Polka” – Philadelphia, PA – 2.29.2020
These two are even in many ways, and for the most part were fairly even in connecting with offense. With Mobius kicking out of the Upside Down and avoiding a 450 splash, he made sure to pull off the Aftermath as fast as he could when he ducked a high kick, which did get him the win at 4:48. I had more expectations in terms of how this affected the overall Crucible vs. CHIKARA storyline, but the wrestling was at least decent enough aside from Whisper’s really goofy acting. Commentary says he whispered something to Mobius after the match, so maybe there will be some ramifications in the future. **
After a Cibernetico video package, Sam Laterna brings us the Cibernetico Special Report where each team captain reveals their first picks for their teams. Mike Quackenbush picks Jigsaw and Mobius, and Ophidian picks the two people who helped him win King of Trios 2019, Princess KimberLee and Lance Steel.
E.M. DeMorest says the Crucible took him in when nobody else would. They accepted him for who he is. It doesn’t matter if he only has two minutes to fight – he will adapt, and he will win.
The next match is contested under Crucible rules: no ropes, 2:00 time limit, and you can only win by submission, knockout, or if your opponent exits the ring (ring out) whether on their own or by circumstance.
E.M. DeMorest {TC} vs. Tommy Knight
Knight puts up a decent fight at the jump, but a sit-out Liger Bomb gives DeMorest the Knockout win at 0:53.
Scott Holladay presents this week’s Scoreboard. Boomer Hatfield, Matt Makoswki, and The Whisper each have 1 point towards a Grand Championship opportunity. Whisper says Dasher Hatfield has escaped with the title for far too long, and that Dasher’s time as champion will soon be up. Razerhawk, Ophidian, and The Spoiler all also have one point. The Spoiler says having a point doesn’t make him happy, but stacking bodies six feet high does. He’s coming for the Grand Championship. Sonny Defarge and Lucas Calhoun also each have one point. Calhoun says from here on out, he’s paving his way to the Grand Championship.
An advertisement for a faux CHIKARA magazine is played. Gosh I wish that was real. The Likabro ad this week tells us to “taste the science, see the results, and taste the gains!”
We are reminded of Max the Impaler’s win in the Young Lions Cup tournament from last week before being treated to the second opening round match in the tournament. We also see the masked man who interrupted the Spoiler’s tag team match two weeks ago telling CHIKARA officials that the Spoiler is a “fraud”, as well as clips from Green Ant in last year’s Young Lions Cup tournament, where he lost in the opening round to Brayden Lee.
Young Lions Cup XVI Quarter-Final Elimination Match
Green Ant {C} vs. Joshua Wells vs. Matt Vertigo vs. The Spoiler
“Young Lions Cup XVI” – Philadelphia, PA – 1.18.2020
This is Green Ant’s third Young Lions Cup tournament, and the first for the other three competitors. Vertigo’s aggression and arrogance made for a very memorable performance. He ran the corners attacking all three of his opponents before hopping up to the second rope. He attempted an elbow drop to Wells, who caught both of Vertigo’s arms, and locked Vertigo in a double palanca that tore at his rotator cuffs. Vertigo verbally submitted at 9:13. The Spoiler, who had served up slams and claws all match long, used that combination to get Wells to pass out at 10:15. Green Ant got a two count shortly after on Spoiler with an overhead toss. Spoiler slid off of Green Ant’s shoulders and gave him a low blow in plain sight. He claimed it was part of going for a schoolboy, but it cost him the match as Green Ant was declared the victor at 11:21 due to the Spoiler being disqualified. Green Ant more or less was in the background for the match, which gave the other three newcomers ample time to show their personalities and respective arsenals. Vertigo brings a certain instinct and smoothness to his motions that makes me very interested in watching more of him. It’s nice to see Wells’ own arsenal has remained consistent and that he looks smoother each time I see him. I wasn’t sure what to make of Spoiler, but he did just fine and I’m interested to see how he fits into the CHIKARA tapestry. Green Ant was the obvious choice to win, but probably the right one. **½
The same individual from Episode 2 who wears a mask very reminiscent of the Masked Superstar berated The Spoiler from outside the ring after the match. Scott Holladay, referee Chris Bankos, and some staff members shoo him away.
We get some promos from some of next week’s batch of Young Lions Cup prospects. Oswald Project got an invite to the Young Lions Cup. While he doesn’t know what that is, he is excited at the prospect to make fifteen new friends. ZERO is looking forward to separating himself from his father and to stake his own legacy in CHIKARA. We then hear from Sonny Defarge who further stirs the pot between Boomer Hatfield and the rest of his family. Speaking of, Molly McCoy and Dasher Hatfield are in the main event.
Razerhawk {X2K} & Danjerhawk {X2K} vs. Dasher Hatfield & Molly McCoy
“Stem the Hemorrhaging of Polka” – Philadelphia, PA – 2.29.2020
After Dasher wiped out both Xyberhawx, Molly distracted the referee so Dasher could hit an errant kick to Danjerhawk as he hung on the middle rope. Danjerhawk was able to catch McCoy with a top rope dropkick and tag in Razerhawk. Hatfield almost immediately sent him outside. He muscled Danjerhawk up into a backdrop/top rope elbow drop combo with Molly for two. Danjerhawk was able to get another tag in, and Hatfield this time couldn’t get him tossed out. Razerhawk moved quickly to fight off both Hatfield and McCoy before Hatfield shut him down with a Gory Special into the turnbuckles. Razerhawk then smashed his foot in the ring post trying to enzuigiri McCoy. Danjerhawk knocked her off the apron with a tiger feint kick and tried a slingshot Frankensteiner. Although Hatfield blocked that, he did land a Code Red. Hatfield though caught him diving off the top and tossed him with a release German suplex. A DDT pins Danjerhawk at 6:58. The way this match was structured made both teams look really competent and strong, and it stands to reason that the Grand Champion would be able to manhandle a relative rookie. Some rough moments were had by the junior members of the respective teams, but they recovered well and ended up putting together a pretty fun package. **½
NEXT WEEK: another Young Lions Cup opening round match, and the debut of The Red Queen and One-Eyed Jack.
In a post-credits scene, a very creepy video of BLANK plays. He says “they” do their best to understand what’s going on – but “they “need to stop.
The CHIKARA Special 