Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant), CHIKARA Creatures From The Tar Swamp (3/13/2011)

This was for Quack and Jigsaw’s CHIKARA Campeonatos Des Parejas, and accordingly, a best two of three falls match. 

This is the semi main event, but it’s an all time babyface vs. babyface CHIKARA dream tag. Like the other title matches in this reign, it’s a brutally efficient match. Quack gets right into it with Soldier Ant and goes directly into some harder mat stuff, directly putting The Colony in a more sympathetic role, or at least clearly shaping the match with him working directly from above. The first fall is entirely Quackenbush vs. Soldier Ant, which is really interesting and novel. In addition to simply being good as hell, it constantly pushes the story forward. Quack tries to get Solider to go to the ropes or tag out or something to admit defeat, but he hangs tough, and surprises Quack with a chickenwing into a crucifix pin to go 1-0! Quack’s facial selling is again top notch, and pushes the entire thing up just a little bit. He’s pissed, surprised, but also just a little bit impressed. 

He starts the second fall with so much more urgency and a little desperation too. Fire Ant and Jigsaw are able to pick up the pace, and it’s a perfect kind of good guys on good guys action. Super fancy and smooth arm drags and headscissors, constantly trying to top each other, and always getting a little bit rougher. Jigsaw is like Quack here, just a little outmanned at the approach he takes. Quackenbush stays more aggressive when he gets inside again against Soldier Ant. The troop can’t help but making a mistake, akin to blowing the signing bonus on a Dodge Charger, and he tries the same combination that pinned Quack moments ago. Quackenbush is frustrated and desperate, but he’s still the master, and he blocks it a second time into a modification on a Peterson Roll to put it to 1-1, and getting something back from Soldier Ant. 

It’s in the third fall that they get much more serious. Jigsaw brings the intensity too, and we finally get the big Fire Ant vs. Quackenbush exchanges that you (I) came into this really looking forward to. Quacksnbush suffers damage to the left arm, specifically the elbow or forearm, at a point taking a spill outside. He’s smart enough to sell it for the rest of the match despite The Colony being too respectful to ever go for it, and it adds just a little something extra when he has problems with lifting Fire and Soldier because of it. A few really well executed nearfalls and counters get the match just a little further. There’s one really delightful moment where Quackenbush breaks up the CHIKARA Special on Jigsaw by pulling Soldier Ant into the original CHIKARA Special, which just about sums up this delightful little match. Late in the match, Fire Ant finally does aim some of his kicks at the arm, and the refusal to do it earlier makes it mean just a little something extra when he goes for it here. Jigsaw has to carry it after that, but he has a big big one up his sleeve and defeats Fire Ant after an avalanche-style Torture Rack Bomb.

So many times in these reviews, things don’t age as well as I would have hoped. It’s sort of how it goes. This is the rare reversal of that, the match that’s even better than I remembered. A real epic, but done so efficiently. Virtually no fat on this thing. What isn’t essential to the story is simply just incredibly cool, and it’s this beautiful little pocket epic. The CHIKARA fan’s answer to The Steiners vs. Sting and Lex Luger.

***1/2