The promos from “Throwing Life’s Instructions Away” are here, including Louden Noxious’ latest song and Hydra’s emotional goodbye speech. Check the playlist below to view them, and be sure to buy the DVD from SmartMarkVideo.com.

This storm’s been brewing for a while now, and it’s finally hitting like an F-5 tornado – Hydra. Tim Donst. Loser Leaves CHIKARA. The divide amongst these two has been one of the prevalent stories in recent times: Hydra got the best of Donst in their first round Young Lions Cup tournament matchup, leading to an attack from Donst on night three in a tag match that saw them teaming for the final time. After that, it’s been attack after attack from Donst. Hydra finally had enough and laid down the challenge for this match in a blog (which you can read here. Donst responded with an absolute yes, and it was written. After “Throwing Life’s Instructions Away”, one of these men will remain in CHIKARA, while the other will be gone for good.

Also, if you’re interested in the awesome CHIKARA Wrestle Factory hoodies that were available in the past, make sure you drop by our boards to reserve yours. They’re going to be ordering a very limited run of these hoodies, and if you don’t put the word out there that you want one, then you’re gonna be out of luck. Grab one while you can!

- CHIKARA “Throwing Life’s Instructions Away”
November 21, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Loser Leaves CHIKARA: Hydra vs. Tim Donst
2. Chuck Taylor & Icarus [F.I.S.T.] vs. Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton [The Throwbacks]
3. Player Dos vs. Yujiro Kushida

A few weeks ago at the Young Lions Cup, several tag team partners collided in opening round competition. The Super Smash Bros. went head-to-head, as did members of The Colony and both members of the North Star Express. However, the confrontation with the biggest impact thus far has been between Tim Donst and Hydra. After Hydra overcame Donst in their singles match Donst snapped, finally turning on Hydra and dissolving their team after a trios loss on night 3 of the tournament. Now firmly on the side of the rudos, Donst has stated that he wants to destroy Hydra en route to winning the Young Lions Cup. He will receive that change in West Springfield as the former Sea Donsters will collide for a second time in a singles match.

In other roster-related news, Buck/Shayne Hawke has been removed from the official CHIKARA roster page and Donst has replaced him on the rudo side.

CHIKARA is running some cool store-related stuff. Check it out and buy merch by clicking here!

- CHIKARA “Man Makes Plans, and God Laughs”
September 12, 2009 ~ Elks Lodge, West Springfield, MA
1. Steve “The Turtle” Weiner vs. Grizzly Redwood
2. Hydra vs. Tim Donst
3. Brendan Michael Thomas vs. Frightmare
4. Dasher Hatfield vs. Colin Delaney
5. Hallowicked vs. Claudio Castagnoli
6. CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas Match ~ V4: Amasis & Ophidian vs. Icarus & Gran Akuma

- CHIKARA “Hidden in Plain Sight”
September 13, 2009 ~ Boys and Girls Club, Nashua, NH
1. Sara Del Rey vs. Ariel
2. Chuck Taylor vs. Frightmare
3. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Bryan Danielson
4. CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas Match ~ V5/V1: Winner of Amasis & Ophidian/Icarus & Gran Akuma vs. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant

It appears that the Soldier Ant vs. Carpenter Ant all-Colony clash has set a theme for this year’s Young Lions Cup, as the next two matches added to this year’s tournament pit even more tag team partners against one another. First up is a clash between North Star Express members Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz. Both wrestlers are extremely untested in singles competition in CHIKARA, but Corbin in particular has achieved slight success elsewhere, most notably defeating Arik Cannon in 2006 for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight title. The other tournament match has a bit more backstory to it, as Hydra and Tim Donst will battle to decide who is the dominant Sea Donster. These two showed a bit of dissention in May following a tag team loss to 2.0 and Donst in particular appeared to be very frustrated, so it should be interesting to see whether these two hold anything back when put against each other.

Elsewhere on the YLC cards, the UnStable and F.I.S.T. will join forces on night 3 of the tournament in the Golden Dream 3-way trios match as Vin Gerard has recruited Chuck Taylor to team with him and STIGMA. With The Future Is Now & Jigsaw also completing a trio, now all that remains is for Fire Ant to pick his final man out of a selection of Arik Cannon, Max Boyer and Larry Sweeney.

And speaking of Fire Ant, he will be in action on night 1 of the tournament as he teams with Soldier Ant to tackle 2.0 – Jagged and Shane Matthews. This is a rematch from the “Duel & Duality” show last December where the Canadians failed to overcome the record-setting Campeonatos contenders despite using every trick in the book, including a handful of powder! However, this time around 2.0 come in with some slight momentum following a win in May over the Sea Donsters and a trip to Big Japan Pro-Wrestling. Also of note is that Soldier Ant could be making a big mistake by taking a non-tournament match one night before his match with Carpenter Ant, so Jagged and Matthews could look to take advantage of a potential lack of focus and steal the win.

CHIKARA wrestlers will be participating on the second Dragon Gate USA card in Chicago on 9/6. Mike Quackenbush has been added to the card, as will be the wrestler who scores the pin in the upcoming Atomico on the debut show in Philly (assuming that it isn’t Quack who scores it). Other CHIKARA wrestlers should be announced in the coming weeks.

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 1″
August 14, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0]
2. Young Lions Cup ~ Opening Round: Hydra vs. Tim Donst
Announced Young Lions Cup VII Participants for Night 1: Create-a-Wrestler, Prince Mustafa Ali, Lince Dorado, Jason Hades, Colin Delaney, Brandon Michael Thomas, El Leonino, Frightmare, Stinky the Homeless Guy, Grizzly Redwood

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
2. Young Lions Cup ~ Opening Round: Soldier Ant vs. Carpenter Ant
3. Young Lions Cup ~ Opening Round: Darin Corbin vs. Ryan Cruz
Other announced Young Lions Cup VII Participants for Night 2: Yellow Dog, Cloudy, Player Uno, Player Dos, Trik Davis, Shane Hollister, Chimaera, Bret Race

CHIKARA “Young Lions Cup VII ~ Night 3″
August 16, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. Golden Dream Triple Threat Trios Match: Vin Gerard, STIGMA & Chuck Taylor vs. Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen, Helios & Jigsaw vs. Fire Ant, Hallowicked & X
2. 4-Corners Elimination Tag Team Match: X & X vs. X & X vs. X & X vs. X & X
3. Mascarita Dorada vs. Pierrothito
4. Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli
5. Young Lions Cup ~ Final: X vs. X

In a surprise to no one, CHIKARA announced that, on August 16th in Philadelphia, a lucha libre explosion will take place as eternal rivals Mascarita Dorada and Pierrothito will face off one-on-one. Those of you that were looking forward to their tag bout on night two should really anticipate this showdown on the third night of Young Lions Cup, as these two have had some of the best minis singles matches in the land.

Also announced over the weekend were a myriad of matches featuring CHIKARA talent for Inter Species Wrestling’s upcoming debut in the United States, “The Worst That Could Happen…in Connecticut”. With the inclusion of the CHIKARA talent, the card is somewhat reminiscent of their first event back in August of 2005 “One Hit Wonder”, where Quack and the gang headed to the great white north to take on the ISW talent. There are two incredibly noteworthy occurrences of CHIKARA talent on the show. The first one, on paper, stands to be one of the best matches in ISW history as CHIKARA’s Jigsaw takes on El Generico and Zombified in a three way. The second sees the return of Jolly Roger, CHIKARA’s original Party Pirate, as he steps out of retirement for the first time since 2005 (at “One Hit Wonder”, coincidentally), to take on Hydra in one hell of a battle between a pirate and a sea monster. Also announced is The Badd Boys, Chad and Brad Badd, taking on the unlikely duo of Vin Gerard and Buck Hawke and a showdown between CHIKARA semi-regular Pinkie Sanchez and ISW’s undead beast Izzie Deadyet (who appeared in CHIKARA way back in 2006 in a special Monster Mash preshow before the “Cibernetico Forever” event).

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
2. Mascarita Dorada vs. Pierrothito

- Inter Species Wrestling “The Worst That Could Happen…in Connecticut”
August 8, 2009 ~ Knights of Columbus Pavilion, East Hartford, CT
1. Three Way Mayhem: Zombified vs. El Generico vs. Jigsaw
2. Izzie Deadyet vs. Pinkie Sanchez
3. Chad Badd & Brad Badd [The Badd Boys] vs. Vin Gerard & Buck Hawke
4. Hydra vs. Jolly Roger
Also Appearing: ISW Champion Player Uno, ISW Other Champion Stinky the Homeless Guy, Twiggy, Moohammad the Terorrist Cow, Sexxxy Eddy, Beef Wellington, Hallowicked and more!

There’s been lots of other fun and games over the last few days regarding the Young Lions Cup, but the main piece of news is a sad one, as last Friday the Osirian Portal of Amasis and Ophidian competed in the NCPI Tag Team Tournament in Michigan. The Portal did advance to the finals of that tournament, but unfortunately along the way Ophidian suffered a severe break to his right arm, which you can see here. Of course, this will take him out of the July 25th Dragon Gate USA debut show, which must be incredibly frustrating for such a young wrestler. He will undergo surgery next Wednesday and have a steel plate inserted into his arm to fuse the bones together. It’s not known how long exactly he will be out but the Portal’s blog assures us he will be posting an entry soon enough, so perhaps the questions will be answered! All the best to Ophidian and everyone here at the website wishes him a speedy recovery!

Relating to that tournament, several other CHIKARA young lions were in action. Create-A-Wrestler teamed with cult hero and expert microphone stand Tuck Hanson, forming Create-A-Team, and they fell in the second round, while Frightmare teamed with Klondike Kremlin but they lost at the first hurdle.

Now, onto a trifecta of Young Lions Cup additions! First of all, Hydra will be participating in the tournament once again. In years past Hydra has competed in the tournament but has never really done much, falling in opening round matches to the likes of Jon Moxley and Moscow the Communist Bovine. Next, Grizzly Redwood will be making his Young Lions Cup debut. Coming into this competition with wins over fellow young lions Hydra and Create-A-Wrestler, Grizzly may have a chance but he has not fared particularly well against others, such as Frightmare (who pinned him in January). Finally, making his debut in CHIKARA is Brendan Michael Thomas (or BMT, if you like). Bringing quite a considerable amount of charisma to the tournament, BMT should not be overlooked, as he has battled CHIKARA’s own Eddie Kingston numerous times in Connecticut. What better way to get one over on his rival than to impress on “The King of Diamond’s” home turf?

Gran Akuma has a blog up on his MySpace talking about Dragon Gate and his thoughts on wrestling on PPV.

Mascarita Dorada will also be participating on the third night of the Young Lions Cup in Philadelphia.

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

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)

Following last night’s CHIKARA Podcast Update the second match on the upcoming Reading card will pit Hallowicked, Frightmare and Hydra up against the UnStable trio of Vin Gerard, STIGMA and Colin Delaney. Incoherence are coming off the loss of Delirious to the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple so they will be looking to show the CHIKARA fans that they are no weaker as a pair than they were as a threesome, while Hydra’s regular team with Tim Donst has put him in contention with the UnStable on many occasions. On the other side of the ring, the UnStable have had mixed fortunes recently and a win here could turn that around, as Vin Gerard’s victory in Easton over Claudio Castagnoli has been countered by STIGMA’s loss to Donst and a tag team loss to Glacier and D’Lo Brown. Both sides will want to get back on track but only one will succeed.

May’s Aniversario events, Yin and Yang, have just been released on DVD with unique cover artwork done by Dave Perillo. The DVDs can be found at Smart Mark Video by clicking here and here.

A pretty snazzy interview with UltraMantis Black can be purchased for $2.95 by clicking here. Half an hour of outstanding UMB fun!

- 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. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence] & Hydra vs. Vin Gerard, STIGMA & Colin Delaney [The UnStable]

The Philadelphia card for May 24th is coming together, and hot off the announcement of the Incoherence vs. 2.0 rematch in Easton, the Canadian duo of Jagged and Shane Matthews will be in Philly too. Their opponents on this occasion will be Tim Donst and Hydra, collectively known as the Sea Donsters. While the Donsters and 2.0 are among CHIKARA’s more comedic teams, the Donsters have done the one thing that 2.0 have not: Challenged for Los Campeonatos de Parejas. If 2.0 can win both of their matches over Aniversario weekend they would be well on the way towards amending that. Lose and it’s right back to the drawing board.

Apparently a new video update is coming up on the podcast feed. Check back as I’ll edit that in when it turns up.

UPDATE: Eddie Kingston wants Claudio, presumably in Philly!

- CHIKARA “Aniversario Yang”
May 24, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. Arik Cannon vs. Ophidian
2. Tim Donst & Hydra [The Sea Donsters] vs. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0]
3. El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr. [Los Ice Creams] vs. Brodie Lee & Grizzly Redwood [The Roughnecks]
4. Vin Gerard & Colin Delaney [The UnStable] vs. D’Lo Brown & Glacier
5. Lince Dorado, Helios & Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen [The Future Is Now] & Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence] & KC “Cloudy” Day & Cheech Hernandez
6. UltraMantis Black & Crossbones [The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple] vs. Player Uno & Player Dos [Super Smash Bros.]
7. Lucha de Apuestas ~ Double Hair vs. Double Mask Match: Icarus & Chuck Taylor [F.I.S.T.] vs. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony]

The second match for the “Aniversario Yin” event in Easton has been added, and it will bring together one of the smallest men on the roster and quite clearly the biggest man on the roster, as Roughnecks member Grizzly Redwood will look to chop down the hulking tree of a monster that is Hydra. Redwood has had mixed fortunes in singles wrestling since he first landed in CHIKARA, defeating Create-A-Wrestler but losing to Hallowicked, whereas Hydra’s last singles match back in December saw him overcome former friend UltraMantis Black. Brodie Lee and Eddie Kingston will NOT want to see their team-mate fall to Hydra, but Hydra will be doing his very best to hurl a spanner into the works.

CHIKARA’s official website has confirmed the shows in Japan in June. What this means for Young Lions Cup VII isn’t known. The first show will be taking place on June 12th at THE ICE RIBBON ARENA~! in Saitama, Japan, and then the next night they will be running in Shinkiba, Tokyo. Both shows will be put on in cooperation with Big Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Updates have been made to the CHIKARA roster page, and the changes have been noted on our own roster page. After his non-appearances at this past weekend’s shows, Mitch Ryder has been removed from the regular roster and moving the the Alumni page. Likewise for Escorpion Egipcio, who was kicked to the curb by the Osirian Portal.

2 Cold Scorpio and The Young Bucks have been added to the DGUSA debut card on July 25th.

- CHIKARA “Aniversario Yin”
May 23, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Hydra vs. Grizzly Redwood
2. Eddie Kingston vs. Create-A-Wrestler

- BJW “CHIKARA Japan Showcase”
June 12, 2009 ~ Ice Ribbon Arena, Saitama, Japan

- BJW “CHIKARA Japan Showcase”
June 13, 2009 ~ Shin-kiba 1st Ring, Tokyo, Japan

A unique staple of CHIKARA history – the Incredibles tag match – sees its return in Easton as four teams split up and face off in an atomico that should see insane action on all sides! Former Campeones de Parejas the Super Smash Bros., The UnStable, The Fabulous Two and The Sea Donsters will all be forced to square off against one another. One team sees Player Dos, “Marvelous” Mitch Ryder, and two men that have had their differences recently, STIGMA andTim Donst. The other side shall see, obviously, Player Uno, “The Red Romeo” Buck Hawke, Vin Gerard and Hydra. A fantastic addition to what looks to be one of the more exciting cards in recent CHIKARA memory!

There are a few historical notes regarding these matches. Possibly the most notable case of an Incredibles match causing a team to fall apart would be ShaneSaw, as Jigsaw and Hydra defeated UltraMantis Black and Shane Storm in late 2007 and the two never teamed again after that. On the other side of the coin, just last year in Streamwood the Super Smash Bros. clashed in a similar 8-man tag and the following night in Ohio they become Los Campeones, proving that the match can either strengthen or weaken a pairing. There’s also the potential for “civil war”, as the teams comprise of both tecnicos and rudos. While there are no real outstanding examples of this in CHIKARA (outside of Lince Dorado in last year’s Cibernetico), you’d have to imagine Tim Donst and STIGMA, who have been great rivals since STIGMA injured Donst in January, will have a hard time getting along.

- CHIKARA “Behind the 8 Ball″
April 25, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Nevaeh vs. Shark Girl
2. Shadow Phoenix vs. Gran Akuma
3. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. Chuck Taylor & Icarus [F.I.S.T.]
4. Atomico Incredibles: Player Dos, Mitch Ryder, STIGMA & Tim Donst vs. Player Uno, Buck Hawke, Vin Gerard & Hydra
5. CHIKARA Young Lions Cup Title Match ~ V2: Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen [c] vs. Colin Delaney
6. CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas ~ Best of 3 Falls ~ V3: Amasis & Ophidian [c] [The Osirian Portal] vs. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush