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what was i saying about being thirteen years old? mike, john & i went to see CHIKARA’s “maximum overdraft” (i don’t get it either - stephen king meets my bank?) at the new alhambra in south philly yesterday. i go to a small handful of independent wrestling shows a year and they are a ton of fun - the cheap seats and close proximity to the action, the immediate interactivity between and among the performers and mutants in the audience (ourselves included) and let’s face it - all claims of kitsch and camp aside, it’s just fun to watch people knock the stuffing out of each other for a few hours and the weirdos that love them.

on its website and myspace, CHIKARA is rather understated for a wrestling federation. there are no barbed wire graphics, lame macho slogans or manifestos. instead they’re quite funny, revealing a love of sci-fi, comics, b movies and just plain wackiness. in person, they implement a lot of lucha libre conventions that include extravagant costumes & masks, an emphasis on high-flying acrobatics, multiple (as many as ten) man tag matches, minis (midgets) and more than a healthy amount of comedy. while the in-ring action can be hard-hitting and intense, it’s mostly a light-hearted and family-friendly affair that you wouldn’t be uncomfortable bringing your wife, mom, girlfriend or kid sister to (convincing them to come with you is another matter entirely). this is in stark contrast to other shows i’ve been to that tend to bring out the more hardcore, snarky, humorless & vulgar simpsons comic book guy/living in mom’s basement breed (or is it inbreed?) of fans and action that more often than not ends up with you having to get out of the way to avoid flying bodies, chairs or fluids.

furthermore, i was extremely impressed the the quality of the venue and production values of the organization itself. most shows i’ve been to have been no-frills at best; housed in varying degrees of seediness that include athletic centers, armories and everything in between. at times i’ve come out of places soaked in the collective sweat of a few hundred subhumans and been nearly frozen solid at others. we were pleasantly surprised to find air conditioning (!), ample seating (we were able to get front row seats quite easily) and even a few projection screens with the CHIKARA logo around the wrestlers’ entrance, as well as a larger screen that showed a live feed of the action.

once the show started, it was all-out action with the only downtime being a short intermission halfway through the show. the gimmicks did not disappoint, with the first eight man tag featuring wrestlers with names such as “the unionized traffic regulator” shane storm & someone dressed up in a cow costume, and had soviet tights on top of that. his name was (wait for it)… MOSCOW. right then i knew i’d gotten my money’s worth. there was another team called los ice creams (made up of ice cream jr. and el hijo del ice cream - brilliant) as well as what i paid to see, mini wrestler la parkita original defeating payaso del futuro, complete with dancing before and after the match. los tres deliriosos vs. the colony (made up of worker ant, soldier ant and fire ant) wasn’t just high comedy but there were some amazing feats of athleticism as well.

there were also some really great straight-ahead contests as well. mike quackenbush vs. black tiger was probably the most well put together match with a nice mix of speed, action & flying that had a nice buildup to the end. however, my personal favorite was the 2 out of 3 falls match featuring sara del rey & daizee haze. it was stiff, hard-hitting and may have been the most physical of the night. the main event of the briscoe brothers vs. f.i.s.t. was a little underwhelming; i’m not sure if it’s because the briscoes don’t really interest me (their style seems to be reckless move followed by bigger reckless move, repeat) or that i was a little burned out at the end of the show. either way, i could think of a thousand worse ways to spend an afternoon and i strongly encourage you to check out CHIKARA when it comes to your town.

CHIKARA returns to philadelphia on september 22, with an event titled “lettuce entertain you”. you can’t make this stuff up.