Chikara: Hot Off The Griddle Preview!

On Saturday afternoon, Chikara returns to Chicago, IL for “Hot off the Griddle” at the Frontier Fieldhouse as part of “Synergy” with Ring of Honor.  This will be my first live Chikara experience, and I’m really looking forward to the show!  Let’s take a look at the card! 

Archibald Peck vs. Kobald

Peck is now doing a “Mixed Martial Archie” character.  He’s a great fit here in Chikara and is a great comedy character.  Kobald is a “goblin” who does a lot of screaming, so this will be pure comedy, and probably will be a ton of fun.  Peck has been played as a patsy for the most part, so I’m thinking Kobald gets the win, unless they want to get behind the new character. 

Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin vs. The Young Bucks

A match between two teams that aren’t usual members of the roster.  Cannon of course is best known as one of the D.U.F. in DGUSA and Evolve, and Corbin is a Midwest based guy who formerly formed The Northwest Express with Cannon and Ryan Cruz.  They should make a decent team.  However, I just don’t see any way they get a win here, unless they’ll be in more regularly, which I don’t expect, so I think More Bang For Your Buck leads to the win for the Bucks here. 

3.0 & The Spectral Envoy vs. The Bravado Brothers, Tim Donst & Jakob Hammermeier

I am VERY excited to see the Bravados on both this card and the ROH card, as it will be very interesting to see what they learned at the NOAH dojo over the last 3 months.  3.0 reigning as the Campeonatos de Parejas seems to give them the edge here, along with the fact that Hallowicked and Ultramantis Black are higher on the card than the former BDK members Donst & Hammermeier.  Donst has been screaming to get a one on one match with Hallowicked, so the interaction here will be interesting to watch.  One of two things happens, either 3.0 gets the win for their team, or Donst chokes out Hallowicked to try and get him to give him that one on one match, I would assume at the next iPPV. 

The Throwbacks vs. The Batiri

Both teams are looking to get their first point towards a future shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas.  The Throwbacks seem to have some dissension in their ranks as the uber good guy Dasher Hatfield seems to be taking exception with Mr. Touchdown’s hyper competitiveness.  The Batiri on the other hand are as united as ever as they continue a feud with Sara Del Rey.  I think we’ll see some miscommunication between The Throwbacks, leading to The Batiri picking up their first point to start to head back towards another title shot. 

Sara Del Rey vs. El Generico

Easily the match (not involving Kevin Steen) that I am most excited for on this double header.  It’s going to be really fun to watch these two work together, as they are both among the best in the world at what they do.  Not much more I can say except that it will likely be worth the cost of the DVD to check this match out when it’s over!  I see Del Rey getting the win since Generico isn’t a regular here. 

Handicap Match

Gran Akuma vs. Icarus, Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor

Akuma has been in a trial series that somehow Icarus got him put in where if he loses, he’s gone from Chikara.  So, this is another way of Icarus trying to get Akuma gone from Chikara, this time in a 3 vs. 1 handicap match with all three members of F.I.S.T.  I really don’t see how Akuma wins this one, but I also don’t see him leaving Chikara, so perhaps Gregory Iron will come down and help Akuma (since Iron has said he’ll be in Chicago I believe).  I’ll go with Akuma in a big upset here!

The Colony & Jigsaw vs. The Swarm & The Shard

The Swarm, The Shard, and 17 have been tormenting The Colony, Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush.  There are a ton of theories out there about who the members of Gekido are, and whether they are “alternate versions” of the original Chikara roster members, or exactly what is going on.  I am very excited to see this as most of the matches between the factions so far have been wars, and this should be no different.  I think you keep giving The Swarm and The Shard wins since once they are defeated, what does that mean for the rest of the story? 

Chikara Grand Championship

Eddie Kingston (C) vs. Kevin Steen

Steen is RED HOT right now, and frankly this will just be awesome.  Kingston and Steen will beat the hell out of each other and we will all enjoy them doing it!  Part of me thinks Steen winning the Chikara title would be a huge swerve and lead to all sorts of craziness, but at this point, I just can’t see Chikara putting a ROH guy over their top guy, so I see Kingston winning this one, maybe after some interference from someone like El Generico or something.  Either way, this will be a war!

I am really excited to be headed to Chicago for both parts of Synergy, as well as Extreme Rules on Sunday.  Look for some sort of recap/live show thoughts to be posted on Monday as I look back at the weekend!