A new day brings a new entrant into the CHIKARA Young Lions Cup, and this one’s fairly notable as today’s participant is IWA Mid-South high-flier Jason Hades. Hades brings some credibility to the table, having held the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight title in the past. Not only that, but he holds big victories over past and present CHIKARA alumni such as Chuck Taylor, Josh Abercrombie, Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Ricochet, and he held his own when put into a singles match with former CHIKARA ace Chris Hero. Hades is perhaps best known for his devastating finishing hold, the Killswitch, which is best described as a butterfly front flip lungblower, and can be seen in numerous YouTube videos. That move has earned him numerous wins in the stacked IWA light heavyweight division, but whether it can guide him to the Young Lions Cup in his first weekend in CHIKARA remains to be seen.

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 1″
August 14, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 2″
August 15, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Lucha Libre Showcase: Mascarita Dorada & Turbo vs. Pierrothito & Jorge “Skayde” Rivera

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 3″
August 16, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. Golden Dream Triple Threat Trios Match: Vin Gerard, X & X vs. Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen, X & X vs. Fire Ant, X & X

Featuring: Mascarita Dorada

Announced Young Lions Cup VII Participants:
1. Create-A-Wrestler (new character TBA) (3rd Young Lions Cup)
2. Soldier Ant (2nd Young Lions Cup)
3. Trik Davis (2nd Young Lions Cup)
4. Frightmare (1st Young Lions Cup)
5. Player Dos (2nd Young Lions Cup)
6. Yellow Dog (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
7. KC “Cloudy” Day (2nd Young Lions Cup)
8. Player Uno (3rd Young Lions Cup)
9. El Leonino (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
10. Hydra (3rd Young Lions Cup)
11. Grizzly Redwood (1st Young Lions Cup)
12. Brendan Michael Thomas (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
13. Lince Dorado (3rd Young Lions Cup)
14. Tim Donst (3rd Young Lions Cup)
15. Jason Hades (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)

The latest addition to the upcoming July 31st card in Reading is arguably the biggest match on the card yet and pits two of CHIKARA’s longest-running and popular factions against each other, as Fire Ant, Soldier Ant and Green Ant of The Colony will take on The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple’s UltraMantis Black, Delirious and Crossbones. This comes hot on the heels of CHIKARA’s trip to Japan, where in the main event of the June 13th show in Shin-kiba 1st Ring, Tokyo it was Fire Ant scoring a direct pin over UltraMantis with the Beach Break. These two teams have clashed numerous times in the past in their various incarnations, but considering Mantis’ appreciation for Japan and the embarassment he suffered in Tokyo this could be one of the more heated. Not only that, but the Order are on somewhat of a roll in the United States since the addition of Delirious to the group after they overcame the Saturday Night Slam Masters at “Aniversario Yang”.

This match will also mark the “official” debut on US soil for Green Ant, who was in action on the Japan shows and actually went undefeated in his 3 “CHIKARA in Japan” matches. Whether that will transfer back to the United States remains to be seen. The involvement of three of the ants also raises the question of whether the new “Carpenter Ant” will be in Reading to support his fellow hormigas.

Claudio Castagnoli has a new promo up where he addresses the recent comments expressed by Eddie Kingston.

- CHIKARA “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity ~ Fan Appreciation Night”
July 31, 2009 ~ Riverside Beneficial Assoc. Building, Reading, PA
1. Daizee Haze vs. Rayna Von Tash
2. Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood [The Roughnecks] vs. KC “Cloudy” Day & Cheech Hernandez
3. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence] & Hydra vs. Vin Gerard, STIGMA & Colin Delaney [The UnStable]
4. Lince Dorado vs. Amasis
5. Green Ant USA Debut Match: Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant [The Colony] vs. UltraMantis Black, Delirious & Crossbones [The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple]

A new day brings more participants for this year’s Young Lions Cup, and they are both CHIKARA born and bred! First of all, “The Golden Lynx” Lince Dorado will be taking part in the competition this time around, his third attempt at winning the cup. In both the 2007 and 2008 editions of the tournament Lince has made it to the 6-way elimination match but has never made it to the final, but this time around he’ll be hoping to do much better than that and actually win the whole thing, finally attaining a singles title after past near-misses in both the Young Lions Cup and Rey de Voladores! Also participating in his third YLC is Tim Donst, who has come a long way since his glorified squashing at the hands of Shayne Hawke in 2007, and in fact he has something else in common with Lince, as both men fell in quick succession last year to Ophidian’s unbreakable prawn hold in the 6-way. Donst has recently shown frustration at his tag team partner Hydra but he has just vanquished his big singles foe STIGMA, so perhaps that singles momentum will carry him far in the 2009 Young Lions Cup.

As announced on the CHIKARA Pod-Per-View yesterday (and the Twitter account), upcoming CHIKARA dates after the Young Lions Cup weekend are as follows:

- September 12th in West Springfield, MA
- September 13th in Nashua, NH
- October 17th in Easton, PA
- October 18th in Philadelphia, PA

And speaking of the Pod-Per-View, it’s still ready and waiting to be bought for a mere $2.99! The show features a couple of cracking matches, F.I.S.T. (Gran Akuma & Icarus) vs. Cheech & Cloudy and a Best of 3 Falls match between Fire & Soldier Ant of The Colony and the Osirian Portal’s Amasis & Ophidian. Plus some clips of Mike Quackenbush and Negro Navarro. Not too shabby! Click here and get to it.

There’s some sad news to report today as on Monday both the original La Parkita and Espectrito II (who were brothers) were found dead following an encounter with prostitutes. Parkita is infamous in CHIKARA for his match at the August 2007 “Maximum Overdraft” event in Philadelphia, where he defeated Payaso del Futuro and then proceeded to dance with a female fan, so he was certainly a character. The story so far suggests the two had some drinks at a bar, picked up the prostitutes and took their party back to the hotel room. The prostitutes ended up spiking the minis’ drinks with eye drops and this caused the two to overdose and die. They were found on Monday (the next morning) and the prostitutes were located and arrested. Espectrito II, however, is NOT Guerrerita del Futuro from the Streamwood CHIKARA show (as first suspected), according to people who know Guerrerita. Thanks to CubsFan for his information on the matter.

UPDATE: The CHIKARA Office spillin’ the beans on the forum, which is much appreciated. According to that post, La Parkita had been living in Kennett’s Square, PA for a few years, explaining his participation on the “Maximum Overdraft” show (and also why he showed up unannounced at a CHIKARA Pod-Per-View show prior to the Philly booking). There have been three La Parkitas over the years, with the current AAA one being the third incarnation, and the original had rarely wrestled in recent years due to the legal issues over the name. It’s noted that his “Maximum Overdraft” match may have been his last match. The post closes with “Everyone at CHIKARA wants to express their sincere condolences to his family”.

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 1″
August 14, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 2″
August 15, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Lucha Libre Showcase: Mascarita Dorada & Turbo vs. Pierrothito & Jorge “Skayde” Rivera

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 3″
August 16, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. Golden Dream Triple Threat Trios Match: Vin Gerard, X & X vs. Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen, X & X vs. Fire Ant, X & X

Featuring: Mascarita Dorada

Announced Young Lions Cup VII Participants:
1. Create-A-Wrestler (new character TBA) (3rd Young Lions Cup)
2. Soldier Ant (2nd Young Lions Cup)
3. Trik Davis (2nd Young Lions Cup)
4. Frightmare (1st Young Lions Cup)
5. Player Dos (2nd Young Lions Cup)
6. Yellow Dog (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
7. KC “Cloudy” Day (2nd Young Lions Cup)
8. Player Uno (3rd Young Lions Cup)
9. El Leonino (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
10. Hydra (3rd Young Lions Cup)
11. Grizzly Redwood (1st Young Lions Cup)
12. Brendan Michael Thomas (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
13. Lince Dorado (3rd Young Lions Cup)
14. Tim Donst (3rd Young Lions Cup)

Announced yesterday by Leonard Chikarason on the CHIKARA blog, this year’s Young Lions Cup will see the return of the Golden Dream match. In years past this match has involved only past holders of the Young Lions Cup, and this will be no different. In 2005 on the very first CHIKARA show in the former ECW Arena, entitled “Negative Balance”, Shane Storm & Jigsaw defeated Hallowicked & Larry Sweeney. The match returned in 2007 when Jigsaw, Shane Storm & Hallowicked overcame Larry Sweeney, Arik Cannon & Max Boyer. Now in 2009 the stakes have been raised even higher with the increased list of cup holders. In this year’s match the men who have held the title since last year’s tournament – Vin Gerard, Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen and Fire Ant – will each captain a team for a Dragon Gate-esque Triple Threat Trios Match! As an added stipulation, the rest of the participants in the match must be past holders of the cup. This promises to be one of the highlight matches of the entire weekend.

The latest CHIKARA Pod-Per-View will be turning up shortly at CHIKARAPodcast.com.

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 1″
August 14, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 2″
August 15, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Lucha Libre Showcase: Mascarita Dorada & Turbo vs. Pierrothito & Jorge “Skayde” Rivera

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 3″
August 16, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. Golden Dream Triple Threat Trios Match: Vin Gerard, X & X vs. Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen, X & X vs. Fire Ant, X & X

Featuring: Mascarita Dorada

Announced Young Lions Cup VII Participants:
1. Create-A-Wrestler (new character TBA) (3rd Young Lions Cup)
2. Soldier Ant (2nd Young Lions Cup)
3. Trik Davis (2nd Young Lions Cup)
4. Frightmare (1st Young Lions Cup)
5. Player Dos (2nd Young Lions Cup)
6. Yellow Dog (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
7. KC “Cloudy” Day (2nd Young Lions Cup)
8. Player Uno (3rd Young Lions Cup)
9. El Leonino (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)
10. Hydra (3rd Young Lions Cup)
11. Grizzly Redwood (1st Young Lions Cup)
12. Brendan Michael Thomas (1st Young Lions Cup, CHIKARA debut)

A quick update this weekend before we hopefully get the chance to punch the clock for the weekend, as the month of July sees a few new additions into the mix. While Ophidian has been removed from the Dragon Gate USA atomico match due to his broken arm (see yesterday’s update for details), the atomico squad has added Jigsaw to the ranks to team alongside Fire Ant and Soldier Ant. Unlike the rest of the men in the match so far, this will not be Jigsaw’s first time appearing on pay-per-view television, as he appeared as a member of the Vulture Squad in past Ring of Honor PPV’s. However, this is possibly Jig’s biggest stage yet in his career, as an impressive performance here could perhaps pay off in the form of a proper Dragon Gate Japanese tour for any of these men.

Also in the month of August is a match added to the “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity” card in Reading, as perpetual rivals Lince Dorado and Amasis square off in their first ever CHIKARA singles bout. The two men have had a competitive feud with one another dating back to Amasis’ early days in CHIKARA, when him and Ophidian took two points away from Lince and El Pantera in one of the Portal’s first tag matches way back in November of 2007. How will the devious Funky Pharaoh fare without his partner at his side? We’ll find out in just five weeks when CHIKARA hits Reading for the last time in 2009!

- Dragon Gate USA Debut Show
July 25, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
0. The Fray – Featuring: Flip Kendrick, Johnny Gargano and more!
1. CHIKARA Showcase Match: Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] & Jigsaw & X [CHIKARA Tecnicos] vs. Gran Akuma & Icarus [F.I.S.T.] & Amasis & X
2. CIMA & Susumu Yokosuka [Warriors-5] vs. Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson [The Young Bucks]
3. Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid
4. Shingo Takagi vs. Naruki Doi
5. BxB Hulk vs. YAMATO
6. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. X

- CHIKARA “Never Kneel at the Altar of Conformity ~ Fan Appreciation Night” July 31, 2009 ~ Riverside Beneficial Assoc. Building, Reading, PA
1. Daizee Haze vs. Rayna Von Tash
2. Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood [The Roughnecks] vs. KC “Cloudy” Day & Cheech Hernandez
3. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence] & Hydra vs. Vin Gerard, STIGMA & Colin Delaney [The UnStable]
4. Lince Dorado vs. Amasis