The Superheroes Of Chikara

I got to meet a few Chikara wrestlers during the show on Sunday, including Eddie Kingston, Jigsaw, Shane Storm and Daizee Haze, and they were cool enough to take a photo with a nerdy mark like me.

Seriously, if you're a wrestling fan and you live in Pennsylvania, you really should check out a Chikara show.  Tickets are only $15 and it's a bargain for a few hours of the most creative and fun professional wrestling you're ever going to find.

Discovering Chikara

Chikara
Ryan Township Fire Hall - Barnesville, PA
I went to my first Chikara show on Sunday afternoon and I can't say enough good things about this company.  It's like watching a comic book come to life, with fan interaction, fun characters, and storylines that you won't find anywhere else.

To give you an example of what I mean, here is the origin story for one of the tag teams that wrestled on this show.  Two years ago, a knight from the middle ages named Lance Steel was transported to the present through the Galactica 3000 time machine.  Shortly thereafter, Lance's younger self made the same journey.  The older Lance Steel met the younger Lance Steel the present and decided to form a tag team called... Lancelot.  On Sunday they wrestled against two luchador ants, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant, whose team is called The Colony.

 It's bizarre and amazing, and I absolutely loved every second of it.  This definitely won't be my last show.

Results:

• "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney defeated Matt Turner

• Retail Dragon defeated Rorschach

• Daizee Haze defeated Alere Little Feather

• Eddie Kingston defeated Dr. Cheung

• Lancelot (Lance Steel and Lance Steel) defeated The Colony (Fire Ant and Soldier Ant)

• Chris Hero defeated Delirious

• Six Man Tag Team Match
  "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Shane Storm defeated Claudio Castagnoli and F.I.S.T. (Icarus and Gran Akuma)

Update: This show was released on DVD under the name "Apocalypso".  It is available on ChikaraPro.com.

Update #2: Both members of The Colony who wrestled on this show went on to achieve mainstream success following the closure of Chikara.  Fire Ant signed with AEW and is now wrestling as Orange Cassidy, and Soldier Ant signed with WWE and won the Cruiserweight Title under his current name, Drew Gulak.

After Show #100

After the ROH show on Saturday, I met Delirious, Allison Danger and Pelle Primeau, all three of whom are genuinely good folks.  Delirious wrestled twice that night, so it was especially cool of him to take some time to meet a nerdy fan like me.

The CZW War Continues At Show #100

Ring of Honor started just over four years ago at ECW Arena in South Philadelphia.  Their first show on February 23, 2002 was headlined by a triple threat match between Low Ki, "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels.  Low Ki would go on to become the first ROH Champion a few months later - a belt that is currently held by Bryan Danielson as the company goes into its 100th show.

The title match was in the middle of the card last night at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory as the war between ROH and CZW took center stage.

 

ROH: The 100th Show

PA National Guard Armory - Philadelphia, PA

Results:

• Apocalypse defeated Rhett Titus

• Six Man Mayhem Match
  Pelle Primeau defeated Shane Hagadorn, Bobby Dempsey, Matt Turner, Mitch Franklin and Smash Bradley

• Rockin' Rebel and Greg Matthews defeated Judas Gray and Mike Brown

• "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels defeated Claudio Castagnoli

• Four Corners Survival Match
  Delirious defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Jimmy Yang and Jimmy Rave

• ROH Tag Team Championship Match
  Generation Next (Austin Aries and Roderick Strong) defeated The Rottweilers (Homicide and Ricky Reyes)

• ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match
  "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeated "Classic" Colt Cabana

• ROH Top Of The Class Trophy
  Derek Dempsey defeated Pelle Primeau

• ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match
  "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeated Delirious

• The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) defeated AJ Styles and Matt Sydal

• ROH vs CZW Inter-promotional Six Man Tag Team Match
  Team CZW (Chris Hero, Necro Butcher and Super Dragon) defeated Team ROH (Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer and "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce

Update: This show was released on DVD under the name "The 100th Show".  It is available on ROHWrestling.com.

Update #2: Apocalypse, who wrestled in the opening match at this show, signed with NXT in 2012 where he wrestled as Viktor, one half of The Ascension tag team.

Once You Go Blak...

Coca-Cola Blak
Coca-Cola (2006)

This may be my favorite soda of all time.  The package calls it a "carbonated fusion beverage", which is a fancy way to say that they've blended the flavors of coffee and cola.  It may not sound like it would taste good, but it's smooth and delicious, and it's definitely better tasting than an energy drink.

Another reason that I love Coke Blak is the fact that it has only 45 calories per bottle.  My weight has gotten out of control, and for the first time in my life, I reached over 300 pounds in December.  I've been watching what I eat and drink this year and cutting back or cutting out a lot of the things that I used to enjoy, and beverages are at the top of that list.  I've gotten myself back under 300 pounds, but there's still a long way to go.  I'm allowing myself a bottle of Coke Blak as an occasional treat, but it's not going to be something that I have every day, and I'm not going to drink any more than one a day.

Trump Plaza

Trump Plaza
Atlantic City, NJ
We're staying at Trump Plaza tonight for two reasons: it's the least expensive hotel on the boardwalk, and it feels like time traveling back to the 80's.  It feels like they haven't remodeled this place since they held Wrestlemania IV next door.

Caesar's Palace

Caesar's Palace
Atlantic City, NJ

I have an odd appreciation for indoor settings  that are designed to feel like they're outdoors.  This is something I typically found in old malls that have a center court with a skylight, trees, park-style benches and faux roof awning that hangs over the entrances to some of the stores.

The best example that I ever found of what I'm talking about was at Epcot Center.  It was in one of the countries; Italy, I think, but it was fifteen years ago so I could be wrong.  I remember that it was so realistic that I actually forgot I was inside of a building until my stepmother mentioned it.

This section of Caesar's Palace isn't quite that realistic, but it had the same vibe.  It's a restaurant hub surrounded in Roman decor with trees and stone floors that give this area a feel of an outdoor cafe.

There's a large statue of Caesar Augustus near one of the entrances of this area.

 

The center has a large restaurant called Mia.  The main portion is through a set of pillars surrounded by a curtain, but there are tables with umbrellas on the outside as well.  The picture came out a little dark, but it really is very pretty.

Damn You, JohnnyBens

Allentown Service Plaza
Pennsylvania Turnpike - Allentown, PA

Unless I'm in a big hurry, I always make it a point to stop at the Allentown Rest Stop every time I'm headed down the Turnpike to Philly or Atlantic City, even if I'm good on fuel.  Part of that is the fact that it has the only Roy Rogers restaurant in the area.  However, my motivation recently has been the trivia game on the Megatouch machine.

This is the Megatouch Maxx Emerald 2.  It's a touchscreen arcade-style game that you usually find in bars, restaurants and truck stops.  One day, I stumbled onto a trivia game called Quiz Show and I managed to get the top score at 47,000.  Since that time, JohnnyBens swooped in and knocked me out, and I've been trying to get it back ever since.

Teriyaki is my dog's name, by the way.  We just call him Terry.

Believe It Or Not

Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum
Atlantic City, NJ

Well, that's definitely a building that draws your attention.  This is a museum that features artifacts and objects collected by Robert Ripley and the things that appeared in his syndicated newspaper feature, Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Vampire killing kit

Shrunken head

Haitian voodoo statue

Coal from the wreckage of the Titanic

Vlad The Impaler (the statue, not the nerd standing in front of it)

Hi Jimmy

Made a new friend on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

La Dolce Casa

La Dolce Casa
Tamaqua, PA

This is one of the best Italian restaurants I've ever been to.  Everything I've ever had here has been absolutely delicious!  It's not often that I have an opportunity to get dressed up, but my family and I attended a wedding reception here and took a few photos.