This was a Block A match in the 12 Large Summit.
Similar to the Hallowicked/Quackenbush match in the tournament in May, this is one of those incredibly well protected singles match ups between top CHIKARA guys. They had one match before in the fall of 2009 that’s one of the great forgotten match ups of the year, and while this isn’t quite as good, it’s Claudio Castagnoli vs. Hallowicked, and there are millions of worse professional wrestling matches.
This is a little bit different, as this is a match on the middle of the show where that first match was a B show main event. The result is that this feels something like the television rematch of a great pay per view match. It’s shorter, they do less, and it doesn’t matter nearly as much. That all being said, it’s Castagnoli and Hallowicked getting to do things together for ten to fifteen minutes and while it won’t light your world on fire, it’s definitely better than a lot of the other shit you’ve probably been watching. A lot of wonderful little touches on the mat in the first half before they go into trading some things. It’s the sort of by-the-numbers layout that might result in a boring match if it was left to worse wrestlers. As it is, Castagnoli is maybe the best wrestler in the world and Hallowicked has steady enough hands to keep up with anyone in the world.
Hallowicked is ready for the guy Claudio was last time, but not quite so prepared for the version of Claudio that’s this good but also willing to cheat and take the easier way out. He dodges Hallowicked’s big kick in the corner and drops him tube first onto the ropes, before cradling him for the win.
Not a match that’s going to give you everything you want, but non-major CHIKARA singles matches almost never do that. These two are good enough to still have a great match in spite of that.
***
HANDWERK 