-wXw/CHIKARA "TAG WORLD GRAND PRIX 2008" NIGHT ONE & NIGHT TWO REPORTS-
by Gianmarco Caprio
Chikara/wXw Tag World Grand Prix - Night 1
08.11.08 - T-Club, Oberhausen
- TWGP Opening Round Match:
Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. The Fight Club [Kid Fite & Lionheart]
Taking Jimmie James' place was Lionheart, an english wrestler, I believe. The Colony was over huge here. The Fight Club got absolutely no reaction from the crowd. Fair affair that ended with a Beach Break from Fire Ant on Kid Fite quickly followed by a Saluting Headbutt from Soldier on Lionheart.
- TWGP Opening Round Match:
Claudio Castagnoli & Marc Roudin [Swi$$ Money Holding] vs. Vin Gerard & STIGMA [The UnStable]
Fans chanted SMH's theme live to make up for the sound system issues. Amazing. Vin Gerard it's just so easy to hate. We made STIGMA aware of the fact that he's fat, and he got mad at us. SMH's double team offense wasn't enough to put The UnStable away as the duo of former técnicos pulled off the win when Gerard rolled up Roudin to advance in the tournament after Emil Sitoci came at ringside and distracted Claudio.
- TWGP Opening Round Match:
Joel Redman & Wade Fitzgerald [The Thrillers] vs. Ophidian & Amasis [The Osirian Portal]
The fans really got under Amasis' skin, as they were invited to from the Funky Pharoah himself to get in the ring and face him. Joel Redman impressed the hell out of me; I've always heard great things about him, but never really saw any of his work. The Osirian Portal get the pinfall victory after the Osirian Sacrament.
- Big van Walter & [wXw World Heavyweight Champion] Steve Douglas & Sha Samuels vs. [Dt. Meister] Bad Bones & [wXw World Lightweight Champion] Emil Sitoci & Bernd Föhr
Incredibly fun trios match, and I give Walter credit for this. He was fantastic as a rudo, and the unhortodox tag he gave to Samuels alone makes this show a must buy. Walter gets the win for his team with a powerbomb on Bernd.
- TWGP Opening Round Match:
Martin Stone & Pac [Team UK] vs. Chuck Taylor & Icarus [F.I.S.T.]
In my opinion, the best of all the first round matches thus far. Stone and Pac make for a really good team. Pac did his usual amazing aerial stuff, while Stone just beated people up. The UK duo puts the CHIKARA team away with a Shooting Star Press from Pac on Icarus.
- TWGP Opening Round Match:
Johnny Kidd & Robbie Brookside [Team World of Sport] vs. Adam Polak & Lazio Fe [Revolution Purple]
Didn't like this one, duh. Robbie Brookside was welcomed back by wXw fans, although some didn't. Johnny Kidd I felt didn't get a proper welcoming, but whatever. This two teams, outside of the attire color, didn't mesh up really well. Revolution Purple advances when Polak pins with a folding press with extra rope leverage.
- TWGP Opening Round Match:
Tommy End & Zack Sabre, Jr. [Crimson City Saga] vs. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0]
Zack wasn't there, so Shane Matthews declared that he and Jagged automatically won, via disqualification. I laughed hard at this. However, the match had to take place by the way, so they proceded with the trademark CHIKARA random drawing! It wouldn't be a true CHIKARA tournament without it. 1st pick: Martin Nolte. Not there. 2nd pick: Darkness Crabtree. Not there aswell. 3rd pick: Andrew Patterson. And this time it worked! The so called "Negro Butcher" was welcomed with "Yes We Can!" chants. Good bout, I enjoyed it. Match ends when Ends submits Matthews to the Owari Death Combo #2.
- World of Sports Rules - 6 Rounds of 5 Minutes
Mike Quackenbush vs. Johnny Saint
Their one and only encounter ended in a draw, now the "Masters of the Thousand Holds" are going to square off once again. Six rounds, five minutes each. To be honest, I found it to be a bit dissapointing: don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot, but it was too much similar to the first one, in my opinion. Also, the crowd didn't see to be into it as much as the previous one. At first I thought Saint's injury was legit that bad, scary moment. Post-match Quack asks Saint for a third (and probably last) match in their series, since thus far we do not have a clear winner, and Saint accepted.
16K 2009, maybe?
Chikara/wXw Tag World Grand Prix - Night 2
09.11.08 - T-Club, Oberhausen
- TWGP Semi-Final Match:
Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. Vin Gerard & STIGMA [The UnStable]
Night two started off with a bang with a semi-final match between two teams with lot of history, and it turned out to be one of the best matches of the weekend. The always innovative wXw fans created a chant to inform Gerard that he will never be as good as the Colony to "Que Sera, Sera". The Colony advances to the finals in a hard-fought match when Fire Ant pinned Gerard following the Beach Break.
- TWGP Semi-Final Match:
Andrew Patterson & Tommy End [Chocolate City Saga] vs. Ophidian & Amasis [The Osirian Portal]
Loads of fun. Amasis said that the only way to see if him and Patterson were related was by doing a dance-off, in which Amasis got served. At one point, the Osirian Portal hypnotized Tommy, and when the effect was over, he accidentally kicked Patterson in the head, leading to the downfall of their team, downfall that ended when the Portal pinned Patterson after the Osirian Sacrament. The Osirian Portal joins the Colony to the finals of the tournament.
- TWGP Semi-Final Match:
Martin Stone & Pac [Team UK] vs. Adam Polak & Lazio Fe [Revolution Purple]
Revolution Purple took things under control from the get-go, as they dominated Pac, leading to the hot tag to Martin Stone. And from this point, things were a little bit different. Stone made sure to clean the ring from garbage. Pac pinned Lazio after a SSP to earn the final spot in the tournament finals.
- 6-Man Tag Team Match:
Joel Redman & Wade Fitzgerald [The Thrillers] & Marc Roudin vs. Chuck Taylor & Icarus [F.I.S.T.] & Emil Sitoci
Nice and fast paced trios action here, and yet another chapter in the Roudin vs. Sitoci saga. Roudin tried to get in the ring with Sitoci at every chance he had to, but Sitoci had none of it. Near the finish, everyone was hitting their big moves, but in the end was Sitoci who got the pinfall victory on Fitzgerald with a Tombstone Piledriver.
- 6-Man Tag Team Match:
Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0] & Karsten Beck vs. Kid Fite & Lionheart [The Fight Club] & Sha Samuels
I'm sure it was what it was meant to be: nothing special. 2.0 spent most of the time trying to convince Karsten to make the tag, but he kept fighting, even when the rudo team took advantage of the rules and out-numbered him. The Englishmen won when Samuels rolled up Karsten.
- wXw World Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal Match:
Mike Quackenbush vs. Claudio Castagnoli
First of the two semifinal matches for the wXw World Heavyweight Title tournament. This match featured a looong chant duel, and Claudio made clear that if we didn't stop, he would've left. Your typical Quack vs. Claudio great stuff, with the plus of having rudo Castagnoli, a thing we don't see much these days. Claudio wins after a low-blow not seen by Tas and the Ricola Bomb.
- wXw World Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal Match:
Bad Bones vs. Big van Walter
Yeah, this was great. I've heard discording opinions about this match on the internet, but I enjoyed it really much. So much I don't even remember much from the match, since I was marking hard at ringside during it. The only thing you have to know is that those two absolutely hated each other, and the outcome was fantastic. Bones pinned Walter after an Air Raid Crash.
- TWGP Three-Way Finals
Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. Ophidian & Amasis [The Osirian Portal] vs. Martin Stone & Pac [Team UK]
It all comes down to this. Three teams, with the winner earning a shot at the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas in the USA. The Colony, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant, one of the most beloved teams of the CHIKARA convoy; the Osirian Portal, Ophidian and Amasis, current Campeones de Parejas; and last, but not least, the team of wXw Tag Team champion Martin Stone, the Guvnor of European wrestling, and Pac, member of the Typhoon group in Dragon Gate and one of the most amazing high flyers at the moment. The match started off with Fire Ant and Pac going to work on Ophidian, but alliances in matches of this relevance don't count much, as they fought once they took out Ophidian. At one point, Stone appeared to be injured of the ground (I believe I missed the moment when he was attacked) and Pac had to continue all by himself, but not for much, since he was the first eliminated from the bout after an SSP Cutback from Ophidian. Now was only about the two CHIKARA teams. Fire Ant did a plancha from the top of the lightning steel structure, amazing.
After an unbelievable final, Soldier locked Ophidian in the CHIKARA Special to win the 2008 Tag World Grand Prix and earn a shot at the Osirian Portal for the Campeonatos de Parejas!
by Gianmarco Caprio
[Modificato da WrestlEurope 28/01/2009 19:23]