I was a WWF/E fan for a long time (1996-2008 or so). I even watched beyond that, but progressively less and less. The product, the characters, the "writing", to ME anyway, just got stale. Now, it's beyond bad. That last WM was, IMHO, fucking awful, especially the BS with the Undertaker, one of the main reasons I got into wrestling. Years ago, WM weekend used to feel like a wrestling fan's holiday. It felt special, it was something you got excited about and looked forward to. But progressively went downhill from WM25 onward, IMO. With a few exceptions (the first Taker vs. HBK match, etc.), WM has gotten to the point that it feels like an overpriced, overproduced episode of Raw now. I only say any of this because I wanted to give reasons for why I'm no longer a fan.

Don't get me wrong, there were some bright spots like CM Punk and Bryan Danielson, or the sadly-short-lived Hart Dynasty. But it hasn't been enough to keep me watching.

I still love pro wrestling in general, and I will always love the classic eras of WWF (most specifically the 80s "golden era" and the "Next Generation" era that followed). I've tried to get into TNA over the years, and while I've seen some great matches from them once in awhile, I just have never been able to get into their product as a whole. I've also dabbled in Ring of Honor, which is alright, great in-ring product, but the characters and fueds/stories, for my tastes at least, are terribly bland.

More recently however, as in within the last 2-3 years, I've gradually gotten into what has become my new favorite promotion, and to me the last bastion of both great wrestling and great wrestling "storytelling", and that is the indie promotion Chikara. To me, there's nothing NOT to love about Chikara, except their low budget/production values, which they can't really help, being so small-time. That would be my only wish for Chikara, really, is that they could get a regular internet show and at least 4 iPPVs a year going, sell more merch, etc., so they could get some real revenue and book themselves at bigger venues, and get some better production going on. Because everything else about the company is top notch. The matches are almost always great, even the not-technically-great ones still are usually entertaining, sometimes comedically so (they really know how to do wrestling comedy correctly). Their characters are great, and for the most part very elaborate. They have huge, sprawling backstories (if you want to pay attention, it's not a necessity to enjoy the product), and probably the greatest amount of character and story continuity I've ever seen in a wrestling promotion. They play out each year as a "season" of Chikara, and they plot out their fueds and storylines like a comic-book almost, which I suppose is part of the appeal. A lot of it is highly ridiculous and requires you to put your modern cynicism aside and allow your inner kid to just enjoy, with a liberal dose of humor and imagination, but that's what makes it so fun.

And I guess that is the best, briefest thing I could tell someone to sell them on checking Chikara out: it's actually fun to watch. As in every time. I have yet to watch one of their shows and not be entertained. There are so many great characters, there's something for everyone of varying tastes to latch onto and be a fan of. And that's another thing about Chikara.....the fans. They're pretty great, as in the live audiences. They help make the show. And not as in obnoxiously hijack the show, ala classic ECW, or ROH, or even TNA. The crowds at Chikara shows are usually die-hard, long-time fans, they're "in on it", so to speak, they know all the storylines and characters, and they play along to such a degree that they really do help make the matches and the shows fun to watch. That isn't to say they NEVER get annoying like some other wrestling fan crowds. But it's more rare, at least to me.

So yup. I'm a Chikara fan now. I really hope they get "bigger" in the coming years, as they've been great since their "return" in May. Not "mainstream" big, but like I said, it would be nice for those of us who don't live Philly or on the east coast in general, who can't make the live shows, if they had even just a once a month, but preferably more frequent, internet show, so we could follow along easier. It would also be awesome, if they could get an official game, as in an actual wrestling game, because their cast of characters are perfect for a wrestling game, it could be amazing. So that's my take on Chikara, and what I'm into now. Cheers.

Just watched this and smiled throughout the entire thing.  So many great moments, but my favorite mighthave been when Suzuki worked over AJ's finger.  The only problem with this match was when it ended.  Boo!  

Suzuki is the kind of old-school, tough-guy, Arn Anderson-style wrestler that is really missing in western wrestling at the moment.  The guy absolutely understands the psychology of his character and of what his character will do in the ring.  He "gets it" as much as anyone in wrestling.  Grabbing AJ's fingers when he made the Bullet Club sign or really cranking back on the arm-bar like he genuinely wants to break it, those were great.  His style meshed perfectly with AJ's quick offense and great selling.

This match also completely destroys the idea that two heels should never face one another, which I've heard said before.

Yeah, though, it's a shame that this didn't go 30+ minutes.  However, the fact that this was "just" a tournament match, with no heat going in and a relatively short time-limit, is pretty damn amazing.  This year's New Japan G1 CLIMAX tournament is the best wrestling event I've ever seen.  List of some of the best matches, for anyone interested.

I'm really hoping we get to see these two guys in a proper feud one day, with Bullet Club against Suzuki's faction.

Ha, that's perfect.  Cena looks really fruity sometimes.

Bobby Roode is champion once again after 3 years!!!! For now i dont think theres a better face of TNA (besides Austin Aries and of course Samoa Joe). Respect to Lashley havn't enjoyed a heel championship run since Bobby Roode XD

Some of the better matches from Power Struggle.

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) 11-8-14

Really good tag team match with two of the best teams in the business.  Both the Young Bucks and the Hooligans ran down afterwards.  A 4-way at Wrestle Kingdom?

NEVER Openweight Championship Match Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto 11-8-14

If you like two bad-asses beating the hell out of each other, here you go.  Both guys are full-speed-ahead battering rams.

So TNA's back on Life Support...