My top 5 non-WrestleMania moments with Chad

Hanging out at Stride Pro Wrestling 

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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May 13 is my buddy Chad Smart's birthday. He and I met in 2004 when I moved to southern Illinois to take a job at WSIL TV. Chad was the morning show director and we became fast friends bonding over pro wrestling and all things from the 80s. In the spirit of Chad's favorite podcast Tom & Jim's Top 5, I've come up with my top 5 non-WrestleMania moments together. We've been to nine WrestleManias, so there are plenty of lasting memories there.

Chad met Delirious at the Apri Bloodshowers show in 2005

5. Our Dinner with Ian. In 2005, Chad had the idea to bring Ian Rotten's IWA: MidSouth Wrestling to southern Illinois. We did some research and Chad reached out to Ian. In a matter of weeks, we found ourselves eating a basket of riblets at Applebee's with Ian and Mickie Knuckles. It was a surreal experience, to say the least. A short time later the show happened and that led to Billy Gunn appearing on the morning show. We played Chad's Playstation live on the air. Another surreal moment. Ian ended up bringing his company back two more times. 

TNA Basebrawl 2011

4. TNA: The early years. When I moved here, Chad had an open invitation to his house each Wednesday night. He ordered the TNA pay-per-views. I had never seen TNA until then and quickly learned more about the company. I was never able to make the road trip with him and other co-workers to Nashville to watch live, but those Wednesday nights at his place were a great time for bonding and learning more about my new found wrestling fan friends. We did make it to a live TNA show when the company held a Basebrawl event at Rent One Park in Marion. Chad flew in for it and we did a meet & greet with several wrestlers, including Kurt Angle.

3. Staying positive. About a year ago (I think) Chad created a podcast for the Jittery Monkey Podcasting Network. Positive Cynicism was originally a look at politics and other things going on in the world. Chad has evolved that and has several entertaining features on the show. He's actually inspired me to add new elements to 

My 1-2-3 Cents. I've been on his show a couple times and his new pledge to positivity should be an example for all of us.

Monstruos Azules del Dragon

2. Support Indy Wrestling. After moving here, I discovered there were a handful of independent wrestling companies in southern Illinois. Here are some of my favorites. Chad and I went to an AAPW show (before I became involved). We sat in the front row the entire time with lucha masks on. We were doing a gimmick Monstruos Azules del Dragon (Monsters of the Blue Dragon, but I think we have our Spanish messed up.) Then there's the night we went to Mugsy McGuire's in Carbondale. It was a bar that hosted a show. Maybe 20 people were there. "Cowboy" Bob Orton was in the main event and he signed my LJN card from his action figure. But not wearing his glasses he had no idea what I was showing him at first. Then there's the roadtrip we made to Chicago and Lafayette, Indiana for Ring of Honor and Chikara shows. It was the first live Chikara event I had been to and I have Chad to thank for that introduction. He's also flown back in and attended AAPW and Stride Pro Wrestling shows in the past. What a pal. 

Breakfast at Tiffany's and Pyscho shower

1. Hooray for Hollywood. Chad moved to LA in 2007. In 2010, I finally made the trip out. It was in part because WrestleMania was in Phoenix that year and we'd be driving there from Chad's place. I went out a day early and we tackled Tinsel Town. I got to see Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, famous Hollywood cemeteries, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, The Hollywood sign and much more. We ate at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles and In & Out Burger, I just need to remember to not order it the way he does because I don't like Thousand Island Dressing. It was a great trip I won't soon forget. All the other WrestleMania trips were great too, I didn't include them because I count them as part of the Mania experience. (My blog, my rules.)

These are just off the top of my head. We've had a ton of fun together and I'm looking forward to many more years of tomfoolery. 

Chikaratopia: Channel 7.99

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
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If you’re a wrestling fan reading this blog, you’re probably aware of the WWE Network, or Channel 9.99. Are you aware other wrestling promotions have similar offerings? Long time readers won’t be surprised to know one of my favorites is Chikara’s CHIKARATopia. $7.99 a month is all it costs for unlimited access to the history and current on goings of Chikara. I’m not sure if they’re still offering a year for the price of 10 months but if they are, it makes the price even better.

Chad with Cesaro before he was Cesaro

If you’ve never heard of Chikara or have only seen a small sampling of their product, I highly recommend at least checking out the CHIKARATopia free seven day trial. For WWE fans, this is a chance to see WWE stars like Luke Harper, Cesaro and Daniel Bryan among others early in their careers. For long time fans, watching the 1-2-3 Kid and Hakushi rekindle their feud from 1994 in the 2011 King of Trios is a blast from the past.

I have shouted praises for Chikara since day one of My 1-2-3 Cents. Going back and watching events from 2005, which is when I discovered Chikara, I can understand why other wrestling fans may have been confused by Chikara's style. It’s not necessarily an acquired taste, but it’s also not WWE. Seeing ants, time displaced knights, a guy with the face of a corncob and an actual dragon wrestling does take an open mind.

Last year's King of Trios finale

One of my favorite aspects of the CHIKARATopia is being able to go back and re-watch events that are still having effects today. One of the points I use to promote Chikara’s greatness is their attention to detail in their storytelling. Any company who has been around for 16 seasons to not have any glaring holes in their story telling is impressive. Part of the appeal to the storytelling has to be attributed to the huge comic book influence in the stories themselves. Forget the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC Films; I’ll take Chikara any day to get my dose of spandex clad heroes.

In addition to the past season events, Chikara puts their current events up one month after their available for purchase. This translates to an on average of 6-7 week delay in keeping current with Chikara. A six-week delay for only $7.99 a month is not a bad deal. In addition to the full shows, Chikara has also been doing a monthly Power Hour live show once a month.

Mr. Touchdown & Kevin in 2012

I’m writing about the CHIKARATopia now because should you have any interest in checking out the company, this weekend is the best time. On Sunday (8/21), before SummerSlam, at 3pm EST, Chikara is presenting their first major live event. In all fairness, I do have to mention that during the Power Hour live shows, there have been some minor technical problems. Most of those problems have been with the audio while the video stream has been near perfect.

Back to the show on Saturday, since I don’t read Chikara spoilers, I’m not up to date with what happened at last month’s shows. I do know something happened with the tag team titles and on Sunday there will be a double elimination 4-way title match The full card for Sunday, as listed on the Chikara101 message board is as follows:

Team Fire Ant vs. Team Hallowicked. Both teams will have 7 members. Hallowicked is the current Chikara Grand Champion and his team (I assume) are all the followers of the mysterious Nazbuldun.

Princess Kimberlee vs. Heidi Lovelace: Former Grand Champion vs. former Young Lions Cup holder. Former friends who each have 2 points in title contention play. The winner gets a title shot, the loser starts over.

Double Elimination Tag Team Title: N_R_G vs. Los Ice Cream vs. Devastation Corporation vs. Mustache Mountain. NRG are (or were) champions. Los Ice Creams had the Golden Opportunity to cash in for a title shot. Dev Corp. are the former champs who never got a rematch. Mustache Mountain were the surprise hit of the 2015 King of Trios tournament.

Eddie Kingston vs. Jakob Hammermeier. Kingston was the first Chikara Grand Champion. Jakob is the leader of the reformed B.D.K.

Team Big Deal vs. United Nations. This is a trio’s match. Team Big Deal is lead by the wrestler formerly known as Hornswoggle.

Ophidian vs. Hermit Crab. The master of snake style vs. the rookie crustacean. 

Abominous Rex vs. Oleg the Usurper. Rex is the largest man to ever step foot in a Chikara ring (pretty sure that’s a true fact). Oleg has become a fan favorite over the past two years, though I can’t get past the fact he’s responsible for the death of Dragon Dragon. #NeverForget

That’s seven matches, which should be a pretty outstanding show. There is no reason (other than not wanting to OD on wrestling this weekend) why you shouldn’t check out “No One’s First, and You’re Next” before SummerSlam. I’m pretty confident in saying, if you give Chikara a chance, you’ll stay subscribed to the CHIKARATopia.

King of Trios: Night 1

The bWo reunites

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
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The first night of Chikara’s 2015 King of Trios is in the books. As a first time attendee, I can say the night more than lived up to expectations. There’s no way to do a quickly written recap can do justice to the night. I highly recommend buying the show when Chikara makes it available on their website. Here are some quick thoughts on the night as best as I can remember them.

As with most shows, the night was split into two halves. The first half of the show was the matches that had little storyline implications or teams the audience weren’t familiar with while the second half featured the more invested matches.

United Nations vs. Team Attack

The first match saw United Nations defeat Team Attack. This made me 0-1 for my predictions. Sean “X-Pac/123 Kid” Waltman was on commentary and got into a stare down with Prakash Sabar after the match. Mister Azerbaijan had the pin but elected to let team captain Juan Francisco de Coronado get the victory for his team. Solid opener and Team Attack looked good in their debut.

BDK

While Team Attack had a good showing, it was their British counterparts Team Fight Club Pro that had the breakout night with their mild upset victory over the BDK.  Derek Sabato refereed the match. When the BDK was at their height in 2010, Sabato was the crooked ref who helped them win. Before the match, current BDK leader Jakob Hammermeier told Sabato it was nice to see him again and then gave an exaggerated wink. Fight Club, I think due to having a tag team called Mustache Mountain, walked in to a crowd that was polite in welcoming them to the Easton Funplex but walked out with a crowd fully behind them for the weekend.

Los Ice Creams

If I’d made official predictions for the tournament, I probably would have picked Crown and Court (Princess Kimber Lee, Los Ice Creams) to be the most likely to pull off the biggest upsets and advance to the finals. It’s a good thing I didn’t actually put any money on my prediction. Crown and Court fought a valiant fight only to end up losing to the Arcane Horde (The Batiri and Oleg the Usurper). As I said in my King of Trios preview, fans have really taken to Oleg this season and were happy to see him advance in the tournament. However Oleg will always be a murderer and therefore I can’t cheer him. RIP Dragon Dragon. Los Ice Creams looked better in this match than they normally do. Maybe in a year if they keep working together Crown and Court may be able to go on a winning streak.

Devastation Corp. vs. bWo

The last match of the first half was the Devastation Corporation taking on some up and comers calling themselves the Blue World Order. Dev Corp thought this would be a cakewalk to the pay window. They were wrong. The bWo proved to enough of a challenge that the “King of Managers” Sydney Bakabella had to interfere helping Flex Rumblecrunch get the victory.  One of the highlights of the match was the first time “Hollywood” Nova and Blaster McMassive were in the ring together. For those not in the now, Nova does a Hulk Hogan rip-off character and Blaster is a black man. Seeing the two of them face to face led to a “This is Awkward” chant and Nova bailing out of the ring to avoid having to fight. After the match the crowd gave the bWo a standing ovation and chanted, “Please come back.”

Battleborn

The second half of the show started with Dasher’s Dugout vs. Battleborn. I have Battleborn picked to win the tournament so I was glad to finally see one of my predictions for the first round come true. Former Grand Champion, Icarus seemed to take a nasty bump early in the match and then was hit with a chair to the face allowing Battleborn to pick up the victory. After the match, Icarus lay on the mat for a while and the doctor came over to check on him. Hopefully he’s okay and wasn’t too shaken up. My favorite part of the match was when Battleborn leader Kevin Condron was on the apron, the crowd had a dueling chant of, “We want Kevin,” “No we don’t.”  I wanted to record this and make it my ring tone for when Kevin calls me to ask why I haven’t written a blog in three months.

Airborne!

The Bullet Club defeated the team of Fire Ant, Worker Ant and Pharaoh Ant. While this match was really good, I don’t think the Young Bucks threw enough Superkicks for this to really classify as a Superkick party. I was seated near the Bullet Club’s corner. At one point, AJ Styles looked at the guys in front of me who were harassing him and said, “If this wasn’t a PG show, I’d give you the DX chop. I’ve got to be good.”  During the match, AJ went to do a top rope move and slipped. He blamed the “lucha ropes” for causing the mistake. After the match, in a bit of retaliation, AJ had the Bucks superkick the rope.

Kingston & Hallowicked

The story during the Nightmare Warriors vs. Snake Pit was former Grand Champion Eddie Kingston trash talking current Grand Champion Hallowicked. This was a brutal match that saw “The Last of a Dying Breed” Kingston working with his team only to end up on the losing end. After the match, Hallowicked and Frightmare tried to get Soldier Ant to become a full-fledged member of their team. Soldier eventually pulled off his mask revealing another mask that was a hybrid of his camouflage look mixed with the style of Hallowicked and Frightmare’s masks.

Swamp Monster!

The main event saw the Gentleman’s Club square off against Team AAA. Aerostar entered with a flamethrower. Gentleman’s Club captain Chuck Taylor suggested if Aerostar gets to use a flamethrower, Chuck should get to use a gun. A wild a crazy match, which is pretty much a given when on one side of the ring is a dragon and the other side features a swamp monster. The finish came after Colonel Doc Angus and Orange Cassidy tried to interfere to help the Gentleman’s Club only for Drago to mist Cassidy and Team AAA getting the victory shortly thereafter.

That was just night one. Can’t wait to see what nights two and three have in store as well as the fan conclave. I’m predicting come Monday, I will be sleeping all day in an attempt to recoup from the weekend.  Check out more pics on Facebook!

King of Trios Preview

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
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Chikara’s 8th Annual King of Trios takes place this weekend (September 4-6, 2015). This will be my first time attending the event live. While unforeseen circumstances have me attending the shows alone, this should still be an amazing weekend. This blog looks at the first round matches. There are a few minor predictions involved but not many since the full brackets for the tournament haven’t been released.  Let’s not waste any more time and jump right into the first announced match. 

UNITED NATIONS VS TEAM ATTACK

United Nations is a Chikara trio made up of team captain, Juan Francisco de Coronado, Mr. Azerbaijan and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova. In the series long Challenge of the Immortals, United Nations are currently one point ahead of last place.  

Team ATTACK is a British team comprised of Mark Andrews, Morgan Webster and Pete Dunne. The only member of this team I’m familiar with is Mark Andrews. Andrews won TNA British Bootcamp 2 and appeared on a few episodes of Impact this year helping Rockstar Spud in his feud with EC3. 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Team ATTACK win this match given the lack of success United Nations has had this season. 

BDK vs. TEAM FIGHT CLUB PRO 

Jakob Hammermeier revealed himself the man under the disguise of Dr. Cube on September 19, 2014 and reformed Bruderschaft des Kreuzes. After using the Eye of Tyr to oust BDK leader Ares, Jakob took control of the BDK. Jakob’s two other members in the King of Trios are Nokken and Soldier Ant who is under the influence of the Eye of Tyr. 

Team Fight Club Pro is the other British trio competing this year. MK McKinnan, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate travel across the pond to compete in their first King of Trios. 

CROWN & COURT VS ARCANE HORDE

Crown & Court currently reside in the basement of the Challenge of the Immortal standings. Captain Princess Kimber Lee didn’t draft wisely when choosing her team. Her partners in the King of Trios are El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr., collectively known as Los Ice Cream. Los Ice Cream has probably the worst win-loss record of anyone who’s competed in Chikara. 

The Arcane Horde is Ultramantis Black’s team members in the Challenge of the Immortals. The Batiri (Kodama and Obariyon) join Oleg the Usurper. Oleg is having a breakout year in Chikara. Fans have accepted the Viking brute, which surprises me. Oleg is responsible for the death of Dragon Dragon. That is an act I don’t think I can ever full forgive nor forget. 

BATTLEBORN VS DASHER’S DUGOUT

Kid Cyclone removed his mask last year revealing his identity as Kevin Condron. Condron was upset at the fans acceptance of Eddie Kingston after Kingston turned on The Flood and rejoined the Chikara locker room. Kingston had taken part in ending the careers of Condron’s colleagues Private Eye Jr. and Create A Wrestler. Kevin Condron then took masked wrestler Volgar under his wing with the condition that Volgar remove his mask as well. Once the mask was off, “Juke Joint” Lucas Calhoun was born. I’m not sure how Missile Assault Ant joined the trio.  At a show in Indianapolis, Kevin Condron tried to recruit Missile Assault Ant with MAA refusing. Sometime between that show and now, MAA had a change of mind and is now Missile Assault Man. If I were a betting man, I would put money on Battleborn either winning the tournament or at least making the finals. 

Last year, the Golden Trio made the finals, losing to the Devastation Corporation. This year, Dasher Hatfield, Mr. Touchdown and Icarus don’t have their titles or their moniker. Instead, they’re part of the Challenge of the Immortals with Dasher Hatfield being the team captain. Since I picked Battleborn to advance to the finals, I’m going to speculate a loss in the first round for Dasher’s Dugout will lead to Dasher and Mr. Touchdown being part of the tag team scramble match on Night 3. 

NIGHTMARE WARRIORS VS SNAKE PIT

Chikara Grand Champion Hallowicked leads his trio mates Frightmare and Silver Ant into battle.  All three members are former King of Trios winners.  Silver Ant, back when he was Green Ant, won the 2011 tournament as part of the Colony. Hallowicked and Frightmare were victorious in 2012 alongside Ultramantis Black. 

The Snake Pit boasts one of the more eclectic trios. Team captain Ophidian teams with former Grand Champion, Eddie Kingston and the highflying Shynron. It will be interesting to see if these three can work together well enough to advance in the tournament. 

GENTLEMAN’S CLUB VS TEAM AAA

Did I say the Snake Pit was one of the most eclectic trios? The Gentleman’s Club may give them a run for their money in that department. Captain Chuck Taylor has enlisted two of his good friends to fill out his trio. Pure wrestler, Drew Gulak and the, I don’t know what adjectives to use, Swamp Monster. 

Team AAA could also be called Team Lucha Underground. Aero Star, Drago and Fenix bring their high flying style to the Easton Funplex While I’m looking forward to seeing this trio in person, a part of me wishes if I am going to see a dragon that it would be Dragon Dragon. 

BATTLE HIVE VS BULLET CLUB

The Funky Pharaoh, Amasis dances into competition alongside 2011 co-winners Fire Ant and Worker Ant. While Amasis may be looking for a dance party to start up during King of Trios, he will probably end up walking into a different kind of party: a superkick party. 

Former Campeonatos de Parejas The Young Bucks return to Chikara with a debuting AJ Styles. While the Bullet Club is a faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling, their popularity crosses the ocean. To me, I’m interested in seeing if any anti-TNA comments are made while Styles is in the ring. 

DEVASTATION CORPORATION VS bWo

This is the match I’m most looking forward to out of all the first round matches. The current King of Trios, Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive, Flex Rumblecrunch and Max Smashmaster) are also the current Campeonatos de Parejas. On paper it looks like Dev Corp may have the easiest draw of the first round. (Cheap plug: listen to Kevin’s interview with Max Smashmaster on episode 40 of the My 123 Cents podcast)

For the first time since a brief reunion in 2005 as part of the new ECW, the Blue World Order reunites. Big Stevie Cool, Da Blue Guy and Hollywood Nova will be looking to take over the Funplex. Do they have what it takes to knock off the reigning King of Trios? I’m picking the bWo to pull the biggest upset of the tournament. 

In addition to the King of Trios, Nights 2 and 3 feature the Rey de Voladores tournament. As of this writing the only two names announced are Matt Cross and 2 Cold Scorpio.   Day 3 will include the tag team gauntlet. 

While this year’s tournament may not have the emotional storytelling that 2011 had, the line up is pretty impressive and should make for an exciting three days of action. I will have a full recap in the days after the tournament and will try to line up a few more interviews for the podcast.