Preamble: In the real world, the Chikara 2015 schedule is now over.  But here on the blog, we’re following along a good few months behind.  It’s been nearly a month since the last show, when Hallowicked defeated Icarus to win the title.  Usually Chikara does several shows in a weekend, but “Spring Breakout” is a one-off.  This one is storyline heavy, since it has to pick up on the characters who weren’t on the UK tour, and it’s the last chance to set up the matches for “Aniversario”, one of the big shows of the year, which is in a few weeks time.

When and where: It’s 2 May 2015 and we’re in St Joseph’s School in Haverhill, Massachusetts.  It’s a school hall, but a pretty decent one as indie wrestling venues go.  No proper lighting, but hey, it has sound and a stage.  Chikara play it fairly regularly, and they’ll be back later in the year.

1.  Challenge of the Immortals: BDK v. Crown & Court

The back story: Continuing the season long double round robin tournament.  This is match 19 of 90, so we’ve got quite a ways to go.  Starting with this show, everyone has nice big banners with their team logo.  The Nightmare Warriors and Dasher’s Dugout share the lead on 3 points, with the Wrecking Crew, United Nations and Arcane Horde on 2, and the Snake Pit, the Gentleman’s Club, the BDK and the Battle Hive on 1.

That leaves Crown & Court on zero, which is hardly surprising, since Princess Kimberlee drafted Los Ice Creams, the biggest losers in the company, on the grounds that she likes them.  As for the BDK, they got their first win thanks to their brainwashed draftee Soldier Ant.  There are some stray references (including the blurb on the website for this show) which strongly suggest that the original idea was to have both teams on zero so that it would be a match to escape last place.  That would obviously have been better, but Soldier was the only BDK member available for the UK tour, and he can’t lose right now, because he’s on a winning streak to sell his “Winter Soldier” gimmick.

I should point out here that the tournament is obviously written with a view to the broad arcs of the individual teams, rather than the precise order of the matches, which is sensible enough given that you don’t want more hostages to fortune than necessary.  They really should have put some leaderboard graphics on the shows to help keep track of the points, even so – but the precise standings at any given point in time are not really the focal point.

Anyway, this is a trios match, with Crown & Court represented by Princess Kimberlee and Los Ice Creams, and the BDK by Soldier Ant, Pinkie Sanchez and Nøkken.  Backstage, Kimberlee implores her team for a win.  Los Ice Creams blithely promise to deliver, which she takes at face value.

The match: It’s an epic.  Los Ice Creams are as hopeless as ever.  As in January, Soldier Ant isn’t co-operating with the other BDK members, who pretty much just point him in the right direction and hope for the best, but the Ice Creams can’t take advantage.  Kimberlee does much better, but Soldier deals with that by throwing her out – which is an automatic tag under lucha rules – and hauling one of the clowns back in.  Finally, Kimberlee gets the hot tag.  She manages to throw the invulnerable Soldier Ant out of the ring (he can’t be hurt, but he can be thrown and wrestled), fends off Pinkie, and nearly pins Nøkken.  But a series of dives take her out of the ring, so the Ice Creams try to capitalise by double teaming Pinkie.  Predictably, they botch it, and he pins El Hijo Del Ice Cream with the Shiney Hiney in 20:49.  Kim is distraught that the Ice Creams have blown it again.  There’s a really good story in there, with the jobbers genuinely trying their best but still blowing it for poor Kim, who gets to look personally strong by hanging in there against 3-to-1 odds.  Could have been tightened up a bit, though.

The upshot: The BDK now have 2 points, and Crown & Court remain stubbornly stuck on zero despite Kimber’s best efforts, as she now realises she’s saddled herself with the bozo squad.  This is a major year-long storyline, though.  It’s going somewhere.

2.  Dasher Hatfield v. Volgar

The back story: Oh boy.  Volgar is a henchman left behind when the invading Flood faction was defeated last year.  Kevin Condron has been trying to recruit him as an ally, and persuade him to unmask.  Condron has a complicated back story, but for present purposes it’s enough to say that he’s an embittered rookie who has convinced himself that Chikara treated him as cannon fodder against the Flood.  He’s also a bit of an egomaniac.  Volgar was resisting his approaches when we last saw them, and in doing so, he was teasing a face turn.

The match: This is a “Magic Move” match, so everyone in the crowd gets a token prize if somebody hits the “randomly chosen” move.  It’s a Stunner.  Dasher hits it, and follows with a jackhammer for the clean pin in 6:42.  Short but decent, but it’s a backdrop for the post-match angle, as Condron’s voice plays over the speakers.  To understand this, you need to know that it’s a callback to an angle last year when Eddie Kingston was recruited into the Flood, and proved himself by taking out Volgar’s fellow henchman, who was never seen again.  So the idea is that Condron is reminding Volgar that the Flood treated him as disposable.  He points out that nobody even remembers the other guy’s name, and urges Volgar to unmask.  Fade to black.

The upshot: The Volgar/Condron angle continues on the next show.  The idea here, which Condron explains a bit more clearly elsewhere, is that he sees the Flood henchmen as kindred spirits, because they were cannon fodder too.  He’s apparently sincere, but that won’t stop the stable being an ego trip at the same time.  As for Dasher, he now has two points towards a Grand Championship shot, so a title shot will be on the line in his next singles match.

3.  Challenge of the Immortals: The Gentleman’s Club v. The United Nations

The back story: Nothing beyond the tournament itself.   The Nations have 2 points.  The Club have 1, but they have a match in hand.  It’s a singles match, with the Club’s captain Chuck Taylor taking on the Nations’ self-explanatory Proletariat Boar of Moldova.

The match: The Boar’s power versus Taylor’s veteran wiles.  In theory this is heel/heel, but as a beloved veteran tweener, Taylor is the de facto babyface.  It’s competitive, and the Boar gets near falls, but Taylor sidesteps the Gore and rolls him up for the clean pin in 7:02.  Perfectly fine.

The upshot: The Club are up to 2 points, leaving the Snake Pit alone on 1.  Look, there are ninety matches in this tournament, and some of them are just matches.

4.  Ashley Remington v. Missile Assault Ant

The back story: Nothing between these two, but a win tonight will give Remington his third point and a shot at the Grand Championship.  Missile Assault Ant, formerly of the impostor Colony: Xtreme Force, abandoned his team in January and was last seen sulking around the fringes in February.

The match: Missile is exasperated by Remington’s genially polite schtick, but can’t outwrestle him.  Eventually Remington pushes his luck too far and Missile gets the upper hand for a while, but Remington makes a comeback and wins clean with his Anchors Away submission in 11:05.  Good stuff.  It served the immediate purpose of building of Remington for his title shot, but the action was good too, and Missile is a great straight man.

The upshot: Remington gets his win and “Aniversario” gets its main event.  As for Missile, at this point he’s a directionless masked henchman left behind when the Flood collapsed – much like Volgar.

5.  Challenge of the Immortals: Nightmare Warriors v Snake Pit

The back story: It’s a trios match, with Hallowicked, Frightmare and Silver Ant for the Nightmare Warriors, and Argus, Shynron and Eddie Kingston for the Snake Pit.  The Warriors are co-leaders on 3 points, and Hallowicked won the title on the last show, so all is well among the worshippers of Nazmaldun.  Silver Ant, who is not one of those worshippers, and was baffled to be drafted as the team’s fourth member, is deeply uncomfortable with their mystical babbling.  The Snake Pit – Ophidian’s makeshift collection of otherwise unaligned tecnicos – have only wrestled one match, since they had no members on the UK tour.  Kingston wasn’t in their first match, and Ophidian was grumbling on that show that he wouldn’t return calls.  As a former Grand Champion, he ought to be a major asset to the team, but all he really cares about is getting his title back, and as far as he’s concerned this whole tournament is an unwelcome distraction.

The match: The match instantly books itself a place in Botchamania when the stage steps collapse during Eddie Kingston’s entrance.  He springs to his feet and assaults the wrecking with a plank, which is great.  As before, Silver Ant is co-operating with this teammates, though Hallowicked is clearly not happy about his sportsmanlike tendencies.  The antihero Kingston, in contrast, has no real interest in teamwork.   There’s an exchange of finishers, and Hallowicked and Frightmare double team Shynron for the pin in 14:15.  Hallowicked and Frightmare invite Silver to join their celebration prayer circle.  He hesitates before leaving separately.  Again, the long-term story leaves plenty of scope to deliver the action.  Oh, and the rookie Argus was holding his own impressively.

The upshot: The Nightmare Warriors pull ahead in the tournament, Kingston’s position in his team is established, and Silver Ant’s story edges on.

6.  Amasis v Juan Francisco de Coronado

The back story: None, really.

The match: Flyer versus old school heel technician.  Juan nails Amasis with a metal pipe and pins him with a German suplex in 7:54.  But after careful consideration with the fans, referee Bryce Remsburg searches him, finds the pipe, and restarts the match.  Juan goes to yell at the fans, and gets pinned with a spin kick.  Wrestling doesn’t get much more old school than that, but Juan does it so well.

The upshot: Nothing immediate, but Amasis gets his first point towards a Grand Championship shot, because it’s time to start lining up some future challengers for Hallowicked.

7.  Challenge of the Immortals: The Arcane Horde v. The Wrecking Crew

The back story: It’s a trios match, with UltraMantis Black, Obariyon and Oleg the Usurper for the Arcane Horde, versus Max Smashmaster, Flex Rumblecrunch and Jaka for the Wrecking Crew.  The Crew need a win to stay level with the Nightmare Warriors.  The Horde have only two points from five matches, and are saddled with the halfwitted Oleg, even though he’s also the fifth member of the Wrecking Crew, and still under contract to their manager Sidney Bakabella.  The Crew thought he was a liability too, which is why they traded him to Mantis – but Oleg is too slow to have picked up on his rejection.  In February, the Horde lost a match when Oleg hesitated after Bakabella ordered him to throw it.  He got pinned anyway before he could decide what to do.

Given that, quite why Mantis decided to field Oleg against the Crew is a bit of a mystery.  You can come up with explanations – given Mantis’ usual overconfidence, maybe he just feels he can force the issue and lance the boil.  But it really needed a promo to explain it, and without one, it’s a glaring plot hole that annoyed me in May and still annoys me now.

The Horde’s entrance is magnificent, as the stage curtains draw back, and they enter dramatically through the set of the school play.  Embrace the indie!  (The contrast with Mantis’ fantastic entrance music helps too.)

The match: Poor, befuddled Oleg is confused to see his usual teammates across the ring and decides he must be standing in the wrong corner.  Everyone kindly steers him back.  When he tags in, Max tells him to lay down.  But he’s  too stupid to understand that too, so he fights back.  Bakabella hauls him out and explains the position.  Meanwhile, the Crew isolate Obariyon.  Max mocks Oleg, and it finally seems to dawn on him what’s happening.  He accepts a tag but quickly gets hauled out again by Bakabella, who carefully explains the contractual position.  Finally Oleg snaps and breaks up a pin on Mantis, before clearing the ring.  He signals for his finisher on Flex, but Bakabella jumps onto the apron and brandishes the contract.  Oleg toys with decking him, but can’t go through with it, and Flex spears him for the pin in 12:55.  The Horde squabble post-match, and Obariyon storms out in frustration.  The wrestling is solid, but it’s a complete backdrop to the storyline, and fair enough.  Just a shame they didn’t properly set up Oleg being in the match in the first place.

The upshot: Well, Oleg’s babyface turn continues – though perhaps not as quickly as Mantis might have hoped for.  And Obariyon is losing patience with this mess, which is a lesser storyline, but will also play out in its own way. Coming out of this show, we have the Nightmare Warriors and the Wrecking Crew in the lead on 4, Dasher’s Dugout on 3, the BDK, the Gentleman’s Club, the United Nations, the Arcane Horde and the Battle Hive all on 2, the Snake Pit on 1, and poor old Crown & Court on zero.

Worth getting?  Relatively speaking, this is a storyline-heavy show, albeit one that’s mostly about getting the pieces into position for the next phase of major storylines.  But it’s solid wrestling throughout as well, even if the opener could have got away with losing a few minutes.  And even if that plot hole irritates the hell out of me, I really do love the Horde’s entrance on this one.