
Following Eddie Kingston’s challenge on the CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go Update just a few days ago, Claudio Castagnoli has accepted and the two men will meet in one of the highlight matches on the upcoming Philadelphia card. Both men are among the top singles wrestlers in all of CHIKARA and both trained at the Chikara Wrestle Factory but this grudge apparently only really developed at King of Trios when Claudio’s Team Uppercut overcame Kingston’s Roughnecks in a match deemed to be “embarassing” by Kingston. However, the two have actually had issues for many years, dating back to the early days of the Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Hero feud in CHIKARA and CZW. Their first singles match in CHIKARA occurred in late March of 2007 in Kingston’s comeback match from a broken ankle, and Claudio came out on top of that by going after the injury and using a heel hook for the submission. More recently, they wrestled last November in Wallingford in a match again won by Castagnoli. “The King of Diamonds” has often been called “a man who wears his hear on his sleeve” and he is not a man who takes losses easily, so he will be well aware of Castagnoli’s record against him, so he’ll be out to “right that wrong” in Philly.

Meanwhile, finishing up the weekend is another singles match for Easton between “The Anarchist” Arik Cannon and Incoherence member Delirious. Both of these men really made their names at the same time, coming into some success in 2004/2005 in IWA Mid-South, where Cannon won the Heavyweight Title and Delirious won the Light-Heavyweight Title on multiple occasions. Both have also achieved a lot in CHIKARA, Cannon holding the Young Lions Cup in 2006 while Delirious held Los Campeonatos de Parejas last year with Hallowicked. Cannon is returning to CHIKARA after a massively impressive weekend at King of Trios where he dropped El Generico in singles competition, while nobody really knows where Delirious is at – quite literally – following his apparent kidnapping at the hands of the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple last month.

The second participant has been added to the Dragon Gate USA atomico showcase match and it is another member of the tecnico squad. With the addition of Fire Ant to the 8-man match, his tag team partner in The Colony, Soldier Ant, has also been added. Soldier brings a lot to the table, having teamed with Fire Ant to win Tag World Grand Prix 2008 and challenge for Los Campeonatos de Parejas in January. While his singles credentials are not quite as decorated as those of his tag team partner, Soldier has challenged for the Young Lions Cup in the past as well as going toe-to-toe with the likes of Eddie Kingston, so his ability should not be doubted by anyone.
Chuck Taylor has a new blog on the CHIKARA site addressing the upcoming F.I.S.T. vs. Colony match.
- CHIKARA “Aniversario Yin”
May 23, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
1. Hydra vs. Grizzly Redwood
2. Eddie Kingston vs. Create-A-Wrestler
3. Arik Cannon vs. Delirious
4. Player Uno & Player Dos [Super Smash Bros.] & Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] vs. Ophidian & Amasis [The Osirian Portal] & El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr. [Los Ice Creams]
5. Jagged & Shane Matthews [2.0] vs. Hallowicked & Frightmare [Incoherence]
6. STIGMA vs. Tim Donst
7. Helios & Lince Dorado [The Future Is Now] & Jigsaw vs. Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Gran Akuma [F.I.S.T.]
8. Vin Gerard vs. Claudio Castagnoli
- 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. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston
8. Lucha de Apuestas ~ Double Hair vs. Double Mask Match: Icarus & Chuck Taylor [F.I.S.T.] vs. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony]
- Dragon Gate USA Debut Show
July 25, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. CHIKARA Showcase Match: Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] & X & X [CHIKARA Tecnicos] vs. X, X, X & X [CHIKARA Rudos]
Also scheduled to appear: Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, YAMATO, CIMA, BxB Hulk, Susumu Yokosuka, Shingo Takagi, Matt & Nick Jackson: The Young Bucks, 2 Cold Scorpio and more!
Tags: Aniversario Yang, Aniversario Yin, Arik Cannon, Claudio Castagnoli, Delirious, Dragon Gate USA, Eddie Kingston, June 2009, May 2009, Soldier Ant