"Evil Ways" is not only the show which comes the day after "Dead Man's Chest", but it is also included in the Blu-Ray release with "Dead Man's Chest". So to say that these two shows go together is fairly accurate and I figured I wanted to get "Dead Man's Chest" on Blu-Ray any way so why not watch "Evil Ways" before getting that on Blu-Ray with it. These two events on Blu-Ray together (one case, two discs) for $25 is a really great deal. I also feel like this event is the fall out to "Dead Man's Chest" in some way because it's not like it's the next event but then it comes a week or more later. It is literally within 24 hours. To that end, yes, I feel like you can't have one without the other and so the concept of them being on Blu-Ray together is perfect and why I decided to write reviews for both. I'm likely going to hold off on reviewing any more CHIKARA after these two though until I get the Blu-Rays as I'm trying to decide of the six Blu-Ray sets currently available on the CHIKARA website which ones I want to buy exactly. I might end up just buying the three on the top row first and then go back for the other three later because $155 is a lot to put down for wrestling Blu-Rays at one time and it makes me feel like I have an overwhelming amount of wrestling to watch. (Coincidentally, I have a stack of SHINE Wrestling DVDs and a few Blu-Rays to watch and review since getting them. So to add to that pile would just make me feel like it's going to topple over and crush me to death like a hoarder.
Match One: Eddie Kingston vs. Silver Ant
Since this was the day after Eddie Kingston got jumped and quickly pinned, the commentators played up how Eddie Kingston didn't look the same and it feels like he's going through a transformation now. He did not tap out to Silver Ant but rather passed out while being locked in a choke hold and it looks as if we are witnessing the downfall of Eddie Kingston.
Match Two: The Snake Pit (Argus & Ophidian) vs. The United Nations (Juan Francisco de Coronado & Prakash Sabar)
The Snake Pit is a decent enough team, as I'll watch whatever Ophidian decides to do, but I'm still just not a fan of Juan Francisco de Coronado. Even his name is too long to type. The guy just plays his heel role too well. He's that type of guy you want to see sit atop a promotion as champion for years and then finally get beaten by the next coming of Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair. I actually am kind of surprised his character doesn't come with a title or some sort of reward for defeating him since he's... Well, he's not a villain like Marty Scurll, but he's not as bad as someone like Alex Riley or Elias Samson, so he's just kind of someone I love to hate because Marty Scurll- despite being typically branded a heel- is someone I would still cheer and JFDC is not. Still, the heels won this one and I guess the good guys cannot win them all, right?
Match Three: Mark Angelosetti vs. The Estonian ThunderFrog
Mark Angelosetti has that gimmick where he comes out with a football... What do you call him... Mr. Touchdown... It's kind of funny. The Estonian ThunderFrog is the YLC holder in this match but that title is not on the line. ThunderFrog still wins though, which was rather interesting but I think Mr. Touchdown is better suited for a stable of sports-based gimmicks than a singles run. Plus, I just didn't see the YLC Champ losing, even in a non-title match.
Match Four: Bugg Nevans vs. Heidi Lovelace
I'm not sure why Chuck Taylor is going through this name change thing. His poor choice of a name here cost him a match to Heidi Lovelace, who has thus earned enough points to challenge Princess KimberLee for the title. Interesting. I kind of want to see a KimberLee-Heidi match because I feel like KimberLee would win it easily and yet she beat the wrestler formerly known as Sexy Chucky T here, so there's that. Plus you can't help but enjoy a woman challenging another woman for the World Title in a wrestling promotion.
Match Five: Oleg The Usurper & Princess KimberLee vs. The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch) (w/Max Smashmaster)
As much as I love Devastation Corporation, Princess KimberLee is the CHIKARA Champion and Oleg The Usurper is my favorite character in all of CHIKARA right now, and possibly ever. Needless to say, when this tag team defeated Devastation Co. I was a little upset but not too much because Oleg The Usurper is the best usurper I know. This was a solid match showcasing four of CHIKARA's best talents.
Match Six: N_R_G (Hype Rockwell & Race Jaxon), Dasher Hatfield & Icarus vs. The Nightmare Warriors (Frightmare & Hallowicked) & Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Jaka & Jakob Hammermeier)
N_R_G still reminds me of Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware while Dasher Hatfield and Icarus speak for themselves. The Nightmare Warriors and DBK- who won this match- pretty much speak for themselves, though I am wondering why Pinkie Sanchez wasn't involved in this match. I think the big story here though was getting to see Frightmare and Hallowicked. Why hasn't someone created action figures for CHIKARA yet is beyond me. I know with WWE and Mattel (Even when WWE was Jakks based) there was always a theory with the flashback figures like Ultimate Warrior and Doink the Clown that brightly colored figures would sell to kids even if they didn't know who they were. If I had no idea what CHIKARA was and I saw a series of wrestling figures that allowed me to have Los Ice Creams vs. The Nightmare Warriors, yeah, I'd play with that. Though I do currently have two rings set up with bootleg Lucha Libre figures from the dollar store in them, so you know, I might be a little bit biased. Still if Wrestling Super Store and CHIKARA are not in talks for action figures right now... they should be. That's what I get from this match. There are so many CHIKARA characters from the past and new ones now that this would be a shame to go overlooked.
Match Seven: Chuck Taylor vs. Jacob Headress
This was another bonus match but the Chuck Taylor in it was not the same guy as before. He's the guy using the Chuck Taylor name now, but I'm not sure why. I'm not sure why Converse doesn't just sue them all either, so there's that. If I don't ever have to see this new Chuck Taylor guy sing/fight again I will be okay with it. A bonus match but perhaps not a needed one. Also, not to confuse anybody further, but I learned via Cage Match that this new Chuck Taylor is Stokely Hathaway who I have to suffer through in ROH and EVOLVE. Ugh. Why can't Moose just eat him and Veda Scott?
I need to note that during this show someone came out and started running wild on everyone and then took out a guy who was in a suit. I don't know the whole story because I was kind of lost in it and didn't get the full details of names (sorry / I think Quack was attacked by... ???) plus I know I will see it again and again when we get the Blu-Ray set. But what I took away from it was this- and this is very important. CHIKARA is one of the few promotions which can actually keep kayfabe alive. By that I mean that when the wrestlers started coming out from the back, we even saw Eddie Kingston, for example, come out. Back in the old days (I'm old) of WWE and even ECW when they had these fights like this that would clear the locker room everyone would come out and seemingly put personal differences aside to make it feel real. This is something that 99% of wrestling promotions cannot pull off as well these days because kayfabe is dead (or maybe it's because I don't fall for it as easily since I'm older), but CHIKARA can still make it feel real and that just goes to show you that there is something special there. Most of what happens in CHIKARA does so under this family-friendly, fun vibe and you just have this feeling of being happy and pleasant. I could imagine the "Everything is Awesome" song playing on a loop in CHIKARA. But when this attack happened, that fun bubble just popped. All of the energy in the room got sucked out and it was completely uncomfortable just watching it at home. And that is exactly what it should be like. That's how a scene like that should play out to the audience. I was actually at a baseball game recently and one of the players got hit by the ball in the nose but went down hard. Most of the people in the crowd were parents and friends and the woman behind me was like, "Oh my God. He's not moving. He's not moving his legs!" and at first we all thought he got hit in the head and that's never good. Luckily he turned out fine, but there was just this tension in the air for a moment and it was real because, you know, this is real life and things like that just happen sometimes. CHIKARA came close to recreating that feeling for me here on this event and it's something I cannot say happens a lot so I am left rather impressed, and just when I thought CHIKARA ran out of ways to impress me.
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