Wrestling is Cool: My Favorite Chikara Characters

 

I'm back with my second piece honoring the 20th Anniversary of the professional wrestling promotion known as Chikara Pro. Last month, I talked at length about the history of Chikara, and my own personal history with it, and what I loved about the company in general. Now I'm going to delve a bit deeper, and talk about many of the characters I loved, and why. Chikara Pro was a universe inhabited by all manner of strange warriors, from living ice creams, to humanoid ants, to maniacal insect overlords, and goofy white rappers, and demons, and knights from the past, and even heroes from the future! All that and more graced Chikara rings over the years, and I'm about to tell you what I feel were the cream of the crop. So buckle up!

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Name: Ultramantis Black

Type: Evil Insect Overlord

Style: Great and Devious

I'll start more or less where I started in the previous piece, talking about the character who might just be my top overall favorite Chikara persona of all time: Ultramantis Black! One of the graduates of the very first Wrestle Factory class in 2002, he was originally a heroic character known simply as "Ultra Mantis". Mantis was a send-up to Japanese tokusatsu heroes, specifically himself something of a cross between Ultraman, and the insect-like biker Kamen Rider. For the first couple seasons of Chikara, he was a red-clad hero of the people, and even spent some time teaming with fellow "Gen 1" graduate Mister Zero, a grumpy, coffee-addicted, middle-aged white-collar worker. Together, their team was known as "Ultra Zero". 

The Gen 1 Originals

But by 2004, Mantis grew tired of, at least in his mind, being seen as a joke. So he eventually turned his back on Zero, nay, ALL of humanity, and revealed a new persona: Ultramantis BLACK! This name too, was a send-up to tokusatsu, as such heroes often had evil shadowy twins or doppelgangers of sorts. It was as UM Black, that Mantis declared his hatred of humanity, and his intention to eventually dominate, or destroy, not just Chikara, but the entire world! This was the genesis of true foundation of the character: a villain very much also in the mold of Saturday Morning Cartoons, mustache twirling, monologuing, and while indeed being "Great and Devious", also at times proving to be somewhat incompetent. 

The Order of the Neo Solar Temple

Before too long, he set about building his army to accomplish his goals. He first introduced the devastating sea monster Hydra, who was one of the tiniest members of the roster, yet thought he was a Big Show-sized super heavyweight. He also recruited Crossbones, a genuine heavyweight, with a penchant for running his mouth during matches. Together they were known as the "Order of the Neo Solar Temple", with Mantis as the mastermind and spiritual leader. Unfortunately for Mantis, and true to Saturday Morning Cartoon villainy, they didn't often have success in their maniacal schemes. To counter this, Mantis would eventually add other members, such as brainwashing the squeaky-clean rookie Tim Donst, and convincing the technical grappler that he was part of the Order (right down to painting half his face ala King Diamond, or KISS). Later still, as I explained in the first article, Mantis "recruited" his enemy Delirious, by means of total mind control, thanks to the mystical and mysterious "Eye of Tyre" crystal that came into his possession. Of course, that would also be his downfall...

New and Improved?

I covered the mishaps with the Eye of Tyre, and the BDK group who came after it, in the Chikara tribute piece. But needless to say, after years of devious machinations, Mantis' scheming backfired on him, big-time, and he ultimately wound up losing his entire Order stable. He would then "see the light", to a point, joining the side of "good", at least to get revenge on the BDK. He befriended former ally-turned-enemy Hallowicked, and his spawn Frightmare, and the trio known as the "Spectral Envoy" fought on the side of Chikara, against not one, but what would eventually be multiple waves of Chikara invaders. The Envoy era is when I first started watching Chikara, circa 2012. In fact, the first full Chikara shows I ever watched (instead of merely just clips on Youtube), was the 2012 King of Trios tournament, which (SPOILERS), I was thrilled to discover Ultramantis and the Envoy won! 

It's Halloween All Year Round!

Looking back over Chikara's history, of which I was there actively watching from 2014 through 2016, and keeping tabs on after (and more recently going back and watching from its beginnings onward), I have had other characters who I would say were my "favorites" at the time. But when I really think about it, the character I am most entertained by, and find the most consistent and endearing from all of Chikaradom, is Ultramantis Black. In other words, I would have to call him my Top Favorite Chikara wrestler of all time. His commitment to character, his charisma, his in-ring work, his flair for presentation. He was just the "total package". 

 

The coolest tattoos I have ever seen.

 

But more than that, even for a "Maniacal Villain", there was always something endearing and lovable about Ultramantis. In a similar way to, again, Saturday Morning Cartoon villains like Skeletor, or Cobra Commander, or King Bowser Koopa. Mantis as a character (and seemingly as a person) is a juxtaposition of disparate parts. For instance, as you can see above, while he is supposed to be this evil, devious overlord, his "evil" tattoos are literally all nice, peaceful, happy Christmas iconography. I love his tattoos more than words can express, and the hilarity and sheer awesomeness of what people would automatically assume MUST be totally EVIL tattoos, being the friendliest shit you've ever seen, is priceless. 

 

 

Grand Champion!

 

 

Ultramantis Black is my favorite Chikara wrestler of all time, because he's dastardly, but charming. He's an incorrigible, arrogant rogue, yet at the same time a totally lovable, gregarious paragon. He's a mystical, supernatural character, who claims to be a sorcerer of great eldritch power. Yet he's also something of a warped, spiritual zen Buddhist. I was glad to be able to see him win the King of Trios (which was his first MAJOR accomplishment in Chikara) in 2012. And even though I wasn't watching regularly anymore by 2017, I was also happy to discover he finally won THE top prize, the Chikara Grand Championship! I wasn't thrilled with how all that was handled, and will always think his reign should have lasted significantly longer than it did. But considering he suffered a leg injury in 2015, of which I was devastated, and genuinely feared he might never wrestle again, it did my blackened heart good to see him with "The Strap". I had been genuinely hoping that he would win it before he retired, and he did. So in that, at least, I could be content.

Name(s): Hallowicked and Frightmare

Type: Nightmare Warriors

Style: Brutal and Frenetic

Instead of listing them separately, I might as well list Hallowicked, and his literal storyline spawn Frightmare, together. During that time that I was most actively a Chikara fan (2014-2016), I listed Frightmare as one of my probably Top 5 Favorite Chikara wrestlers. I have always liked Hallowicked too, but especially back then, I just loved Frightmare's seemingly boundless energy, his lethal combination of high-speed brutality and high-flying marvel. For his part, Hallowicked (whom I have come to appreciate more and more as I go back through Chikara's old shows), a fellow Gen 1 Wrestle Factory graduate of Ultramantis', is arguably the most overall "complete" wrestler that Chikara ever produced, that Mike Quackenbush ever trained. If 'Wicked were a Super Mario Bros. 2 character, he would be Mario, the All-Rounder. He isn't the most high flying, but he can sure fly, and he isn't THE biggest or strongest, but he's pretty big and strong. And he isn't the TOP most technical wrestler the company had, but he could tie you up six ways from Sunday when he tried. He was a lethal mixture of all the right elements, and together with Frightmare, these so-called "Nightmare Warriors" were one of the best tag teams Chikara ever had (which makes it ironic that they were never Tag Champs). 

All Glory, Nazmaldun.

When I was watching the 2014 Season Finale live, it was a roller-coaster of emotions when, first, Ultramantis defeated his old frenemy Delirious, but then Delirious turned around and got the last laugh, when he used the Eye of Tyre to seemingly take control of Mantis' friend Hallowicked (and through him Frightmare). But that wasn't quite what happened. Instead of being mind-controlled as Victims of the Eye had in the past, Hallowicked would instead seemingly be possessed by something else entirely. The very next Chikara show, the season opener of 2015, he and Frightmare came out looking completely different than they had before. Not only that, but Hallowicked, who had for his entire previous history only ever spoken in gibberish, now spoke perfect, sinister English, and they brandished the banner of some Lovecraftian forgotten god, the Lord of Rot, Nazmaldun. Hallowicked was now his scion, and he was bent on building an army for his Dark Lord, to take over Chikara (and of course, the world). 

Two Princes.

While I unfortunately never got to see Hallowicked and Frightmare capture the Chikara "Campeones de Parejas" (Tag Team Championship), I DID get to see Hallowicked, in this new "Evil Overlord" form, win the Grand Championship not once, but twice. In fact, in the entire (tragically ended) history of Chikara, Hallowicked was the ONLY 2 time Grand Champion. I was initially heartbroken (so to speak) when Wicked and Frightmare were turned against my boy Mantis, and I still prefer them as the heroes I first knew them as. But I also found the whole unexpected Nazmaldun direction to be quite interesting, and the storyline had a lot of potential. I don't think it quite lived up to that potential, ultimately, but it certainly had some cool moments. I had strongly hoped, as had been hinted before his injury, that the ultimate payoff for the story would be Ultramantis eventually defeating Hallowicked to finally become Grand Champion himself (which technically he did), and ultimately, to somehow "purify" and redeem his old friends, reuniting the Spectral Envoy one last time. That sadly didn't happen, and I'll always wish it had.

Overall, Hallowicked and Frightmare, individually or as a team, are two of my favorite Chikara personalities. Frightmare for his barely-contained energy and crazy moves, and Hallowicked for his excellent wrestling and commanding presence. I loved them as heroes, but I have to admit, they also made for some truly fearsome villains. 

 

Name: Estonian Thunderfrog

Type: God of Lightning and Thunder

Style: Power and Majesty of the Baltics

Right around the time that I was actually able to start watching and keeping up with every Chikara show in a given season (2014), a couple of rival "European" trios were on the rise. Originally appearing in Chikara's "Wrestling Is" satellite promotions, the two forces known as "The Baltic Siege" and "The Bloc Party" were now in Chikara proper. Both groups represented countries/regions of Eastern Europe, with the Bloc of course representing old Soviet Bloc nations, in The Proletariat Boar of Moldova, Mr. Azerbaijan, and Prakash Sabbar (who represented Georgia). The Siege, meanwhile, was made up of The Lithuanian Snow Troll, The Latvian Proud Oak, and the man we're here to talk about, The Estonian Thunderfrog. 

Bloc Party fan art.

Baltic Siege fan art.

The Thunderfrog character, for anyone familiar with classic Marvel comics, is an homage to an 80s Mighty Thor storyline, wherein the God of Thunder was transformed by Loki, into a life-size frog. Thunderfrog, of course, while also being a God of Thunder, is a man-sized frog...man. Who loves the ladies (especially classy milk-maidens), dancing, and justice. He speaks with a "Baltic" accent, and has that mysterious Eastern European charm. He is proud to represent the nation of Estonia, and even more proud to use his mighty "Hammer of Peace" to rain down justice upon evil-doers! In fact, true to his Thor homage roots, only Thunderfrog can lift his hammer. When others try, it proves to be too heavy for them to barely even budge!

Thunderfrog, wielding the mighty Hammer of Peace.

Not only did I immediately fall in love with Thunderfrog, as in he instantly became one of my Chikara favorites, but little did I know the emotional roller-coaster of sorts Chikara would take me on with him. Early in the 2014 season, the Siege continued their rivalry with the Bloc, and ultimately, they got the best of them. But their triumph was short-lived. Thunderfrog took part in a match that involved the great hulking behemoth of the BDK, the Nordic Nightmare, Tursas. And ever vigilant against evil, near the end of the match, Thunderfrog lifted his mighty Hammer of Peace, and used it to vanquish the giant, seemingly once and for all. 

But in reprisal for such an act, the terrorizing leader of "The Flood" villain super-group that was trying to destroy Chikara at the time, the monster known as Deucalion, came out at a following show, and "murdered" the Thunderfrog, with his fearsome "Chokebreaker" move. Not only did his fellow Baltic Siege-mates mourn their valiant friend, but they foolishly tried to avenge him at a subsequent show, which led to the poor Proud Oak's demise as well. 

Evolution.

For my part, I was legitimately, unironically devastated. Not only was I, yes, actually sad that the character "died" (something in and of itself that is fairly rare in pro wrestling), but I was also shocked, and even kinda pissed off, like "DUDE, what the fuck, I just got into this guy and you're already getting rid of him?" That was one of the few things that season that I didn't like about the whole Flood storyline, even though for the most part I enjoyed it. I honestly feared The Frog was gone for good from Chikara, and one of my new favorites was super short lived. Thankfully, I was wrong. 

Somewhat reminiscent of the '93 "Death and Return of Superman" storyline in DC Comics, there was a glimmer of hope! At the 2014 season finale, when former villain-turned-hero Icarus led the charge to stop The Flood, and faced their fearsome leader, "Duke", alone in a cage, because of his righteous cause, he proved worthy to wield Thunderfrog's Hammer. He used it to smite Deucalion, and end the Flood threat. As a post-show "stinger", they showed a brief skit wherein a mid-west farmer, after a random lighting strike, discovered a tiny frog, wearing Thor trappings! Via mysterious means, our hero had somehow returned from Valhalla, reborn as the mortal "Estonian Farmerfrog", an incarnation of the character which would eventually appear again within Chikara rings.

 

 

The Return!

 

 

But at the 2015 season finale, a year removed from that "rebirth" vignette, Icarus, who no longer could do anything more than drag the Hammer along the ground, left it backstage before his main event match that night. He was no longer worthy to lift it, because where he had once been fighting for Chikara, now he fought for himself, to recapture the Grand Championship he had lost (to Hallowicked, Scion of Nazmaldun). Well, ol' Froggy, in yet another post-show "stinger" skit, found the Hammer leaning against a wall backstage, and touched it. Doing so caused him to be charged with lightning, and he transformed into a NEW incarnation of the fully realized Thunderfrog! 

Now wearing golden "armor", and adorned with a superheroic cape, the Thunderfrog (no longer prefaced by "Estonian"), was a major player and hero of the 2016 season, for which I was enormously gratified. Not only would he take part in major matches at King of Trios, and in the main event Cibernetico match against the forces of Nazmaldun at the season finale, but he began the season with a bang. At the 2016 "National Pro Wrestling Day" show, he won the 2016 "Young Lions Cup" tournament, and became that years YLC Champion, which he went on to successfully defend. I was happy to see him be featured prominently like that, and have some major success. Though sadly, 2016 would also mostly be the end of it. Outside of a couple appearances in later seasons, "Because Reasons", the Thunderfrog stopped appearing in Chikara for the most part in 2017, which again made me sad. But at least I got his hot 2016 run, even though I would have hoped for him to be a long-term fixture, and future Grand Champ. Alas.

 

Name(s): Silver Ant & The Colony (Soldier Ant, Fire Ant, Worker Ant)

Type: Humanoid Insectoid Heroes

Style: Technical Wrestling Bug (Depends on the Ant)

Circa 2015/2016, especially in 2015 with Thunderfrog gone, and Ultramantis injured, my answer for not only "Favorite Chikara Wrestler", but "Favorite Wrestler At The Moment PERIOD", was none other than Silver Ant, of Chikara's long-running super-group, The Colony. As explained in the previous piece, The Colony debuted in Chikara in 2005/06, as the team of Fire Ant and Soldier Ant, the two originals. Later in 2006, and into 2007, they were joined by the original (and sadly somewhat forgotten) Worker Ant. Poor Worker fell afoul of some heinous villainy in 2008, and wound up retiring. But he would be replaced by a new-comer, a literal "Green" rookie, hence he was called "Green Ant".

Your 2011 King of Trios.

All of the ants had some kind of specialty or character trait. Fire Ant was the "hot" tempered high flier. Soldier Ant, while technically proficient in his own right, was the military marching brawler of the bunch. The original Worker Ant, was the "blue collar" kid who never gave up. Even the future replacement Worker II, while he was originally the villainous "AssailANT", as one of the Colony was the big bruising power guy. But Green Ant? His specialty was technical mat-based wrestling. Much like their trainer, "The Man of 1000 Holds", Mike Quackenbush. Green may not have known 1000 holds, but he certainly knew many dangerous ones, and over time, he developed into one of the best technical wrestlers I've ever seen. And considering what a big fan of technical submission-based wrestling I am, considering All-Time favorites of mine like Bret "The Hitman" Hart, that made me a natural fan of his.

The Colony.

Well, when Chikara came back in 2014 from their "shut down" as part of the Titor/Flood story arc, Green was no longer a "Green" rookie anymore. So it was decided he graduate, into an older, wiser version of himself. Thus he became my preferred incarnation, and one of my top favorite Chikara wrestlers, Silver Ant! Once again, sadly, ol' Silver never won any major accolades during his Silver years, during my time of closely watching Chikara. He was another that I had high hopes would be around long-term, and one day have a run as Grand Champ, but it was not to be. 

It should be stated that, in all honesty, there hasn't really been a legitimate member of The Colony that I haven't liked. I like them all: Silver, Fire, Soldier, Worker I, Worker II. I even liked all the members of the villainous Swarm team: AssailANT (later Worker II), CombatANT, and DeviANT. Or the goofy but dangerous members of the Colony Xtreme Force: Missile Assault Ant, Orbit Adventure Ant, and my favorite, Arctic Rescue Ant. Hell, I don't even mind the two "New Generation" additions that popped up in 2018, Green Ant II and Thief Ant. If you find yourself thinking "Geezus, there's been a lot of Ants!", well, you're not wrong. 

Fire vs. "Winter" Soldier Ant. Brother vs. Brother.

 

But outside of Silver Ant, my top favorite, the one I liked the best, at least a specific and limited incarnation of him, was Soldier Ant, circa December 2014 through December 2015. For that one sweet year, he portrayed what many fans dubbed the "Winter Soldier Ant", referring to the Marvel character. He had been kidnapped and brainwashed/programmed by Titor, and employed by the Flood (and later Jakob Hammermeir's new BDK), to hate the other ants, and to destroy on command. As you can see above, his outfit was riddled with bullet holes, and he was implied to have at least some kind of possible cyborg shit going on as well. 

Either way, his performance during this time, in AND out of the ring, was amazing. I have rarely ever seen such an intense display of pro wrestling character, nor such dedication to constantly staying IN character, as I did with Soldier Ant that year. His mannerisms and persona were such a stark contrast from the goofy, fun-loving Soldier Ant of old. Instead, his movements were cold and robotic, he seemed impervious to most pain, he wrestled as if he legitimately possessed enhanced strength. And he was hyper angry and aggressive, yet cold and calculating. He destroyed people, and his rage engine never ran on "Low". It was short-lived, and I was a bit disappointed that he dropped all of those mannerisms entirely when his Colony-mates snapped him out of it and brought him back. But it will remain one of the best wrestling performance, one of my top favorites, I have ever seen, in ANY promotion. 

Unfortunately, by mid-2017, both Silver Ant AND Soldier Ant were gone from Chikara completely, having been hired by bigger wrestling companies (obviously as non-ant personas). 

Name(s): Ophidian / The Osirian Portal

Type: Venomous and Vile, Serpent of the Nile

Style: Master of Snake Style

One of my top favorite Chikara tag teams, aside from the likes of the Nightmare Warriors, or the Colony, was the Osirian Portal. Consisting of Ophidian the Cobra, and the "Funky Pharaoh" Amasis, they were a pair of ancient Egypt themed characters. They were not only a pair of dancing goofballs, on the one hand, but also a very dangerous and unpredictable team on the other, steeped in Egyptian symbolism and mysticism. In their early years, there were other temporary additions to the Portals' entourage, but these two were always the core of the group. And in 2008, very early into their tenure, they managed to capture the Campeones de Parejas, as seen above. And in spite of heel-ish antics in their early days, they also managed to quickly capture the hearts of fans. 

One of the reasons I liked them so much as a team, was because they were exciting and proficient in-ring wrestlers, who didn't always rely on the same exact moves every match. But they were also just highly entertaining. One of their classic "moves", and the way I first discovered them through Youtube clips, consisted of Amasis holding Ophidian up, while he did a "Snake Charm" routine, hypnotizing their opponent(s), and then making them do whatever they wanted. Which often consisted of dancing, but it also ranged from leaving the ring, hitting their own tag-partner, or whatever else. Amasis specifically also loved to challenge opponents to "Dance Offs", where he would try to show them up with his hip break-dancing moves. I love both characters, though as individuals, I always found Ophidian to be more interesting, and that echoed in his time(s) as a singles wrestler. The first of which came at the expense of Amasis himself.

Deceiver.

Conqueror.

Warlord.

In 2011, Ophidian grew tired of the Portal's feel-good ways, and their failure to re-capture the Tag Gold. So he eventually turned on his friend Amasis, stealing his mask. He would likewise target and defeat Portal allies, such as Hieracon, taking their masks as well. After this, now a crazed solo-act, Ophidian started undergoing a long-term metamorphosis, wherein he changed his form, "shedding his skin" like a snake, and changing up his mask and outfit over time, as he continued to evolve. He ultimately came out looking rather G.I. Joe-ish, or rather, COBRA-ish, which I'm sure was deliberate. And he also wound up allying himself with the evil newcomers, the demonic Batiri, as well as their manipulator at the time, Delirious. Delirious was occupied with trying to get revenge on Ultramantis Black for controlling him with the Eye of Tyre, and in so doing took the Batiri under his wing, and recruited Ophidian to be their "Ring General" and field leader. 

During much of this time, he continued to carry around Amasis' old mask, wherever he went, and even took to talking to it, having conversations with it, believing the spirit of Amasis was still communicating with him. The character had been corrupted, and was going insane, believing he kept seeing Amasis in the crowd at different shows. This was circa 2013, and before long, the true Amasis really did show up, seemingly to get revenge. But his motives were different: he wanted his friend back, and to do that, he had to "Purify" Ophidian of the evil that had gripped him. To accomplish this, he challenged him to a "Sarcophagus Match" at the final Chikara show of 2013 (the one where the company got "Shut Down"). He managed to seal Ophidian within, and even though the company was in doubt, Ophidian's soul had been saved. 

Purified.

Circa 2014.

Crucible.

The main reason I share so many pictures of Ophidian, is because he's had so many looks over time. And these pictures are only some of them. When I started really watching in 2014, he looked like the middle picture above, reunited with Amasis, a hero once more, trying to protect Chikara from the invading Flood. In 2015, he led his own "Challenge of the Immortals" team, the "Snake Pit", which also involved two young wrestlers I liked, Shynron and Argus, though it also unfortunately included Eddie Kingston. That same year he and Amasis also challenged once again to become Tag Champs, though they fell short. In 2016, both would become embroiled with the growing army of Nazmaldun, with Amasis ultimately succumbing, being defeated and stripped of his mask, leaving Chikara for good. While Ophidian played a major role in defeating Hallowicked and Co., by once again becoming "Purified", and in turn freeing poor Ultramantis Black, who had become a wheel-chair bound puppet and voice for Nazmaldun himself. 

Overall, Ophidian was one of the very few long-term Chikara characters, along with the likes of Dasher Hatfield, Icarus, and Hallowicked, to stick around in the company until the sad and unjust end. In later years, after failing to fully protect Chikara from evil-doers, Ophidian turned "evil" once again, though this time through ego, not supernatural malice. He was convinced only he knew how to truly protect Chikara, and thus started secretly training Wrestle Factory students in night-time "Fight Club" type sessions, building a group of would-be (but overly violent and misguided) defenders calling themselves "The Crucible". This group, in Chikara's last days, challenged Quackenbush and the old order of Chikara, led of course by Ophidian. The story never truly concluded, because the company shut down for real, which was one of many unfortunate things about the situation. 

I liked Ophidian as a solo character and singles wrestler, because he was, quite frankly, one of the most interesting, complex, and compelling pro wrestling characters I've ever encountered. He was layered, nuanced, and one hell of a wrestler to boot. Ophidian could pull off moves, and "snake like" movements and mannerisms in the ring, that I've never seen anyone else do. At his peak, he had uncanny body control, and his signature moves, such as his dreaded "Ophidian Death Grip" submission, were top of the class. Whatever else can be said about Ophidian, I will always fondly remember him, and the Portal, as some of the greatest Chikara had to offer.

 

Name: Jervis Cottonbelly

Type: World's Sweetest Man

Style: Purveyor of Gentlemania

There is perhaps no more unique a personality (at least that I've ever seen) in all of professional wrestling, than Mr. Jervis Cottonbelly. Originally appearing as early as 2005, the early days of Chikara, the character of Jervis was that of a vaguely aristocratic, vaguely Victorian (or perhaps Edwardian) Era British gentleman. He was the embodiment of "Chivalry" and the ultimate Gentleman, as well as being purported to be the friendliest/sweetest man on Earth. While his appearances were sporadic prior to 2012, he eventually started appearing more regularly in the "Wrestling Is..." spinoff promotions around that time. By 2014, again the first year that I was able to watch every Chikara show and really dive in to the promotion, Mr. Cottonbelly was appearing regularly in Chikara itself.

Implied to be possibly immortal, or at least very long-lived (and thus slow-aged), this "blast from the past" personality immediately struck my fancy. From his penchant for treating his opponents kindly, dancing with them or even gently putting them to sleep, to his ceaseless positive attitude and "Gentlemanly" charm, he won me over. Jervis was a sometimes tag-team partner of fellow "Olde Fashioned" (in fact their team name) rassler Marion Fontaine. As well as having a friendship with the Estonian Thunderfrog, which somewhat played out when he tried searching for the hero after his apparent "demise". He was ALSO a member of the 2015 Challenge of the Immortals team "Crown & Court", led by Princess Kimberlee and including the team Los Ice Creams. I have mixed feelings about the end results and aftermath, but I was happy at the time, that Jervis and his team ultimately wound up winning the tournament, the ultimate underdogs.

The reward for winning the tournament, was that all members of the team received an automatic, un-loseable title shot for whatever Championship they wanted (Grand or Tag). But sadly, Jervis was another character who disappeared from Chikara, without any sort of storyline explanation whatsoever, in 2016. So he never got a chance to cash in, which is a damn shame, because I would have taken a Jervis Cottonbelly Grand Championship reign over Kimberlee, any day. Jervis appeared all of one more time, in the first ever "Infinite Gauntlet" Match (basically a Royal Rumble), but was never ever seen again in Chikara thereafter. Which made me very sad, as he was one of my favorites.

Name(s): Los Ice Creams

Type: Sweet Yet Sour Living Ice Creams...With Sprinkles!

Style: Frozen Lucha Libre

Speaking of Los Ice Creams, another of my favorite tag teams in Chikara, were these vaguely sinister, but ultimately harmless fighting treats. Brothers, Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream, were supposed to be the sons of actual Mexican luchador, "Ice Cream". Originally appearing in 2006, for most of their existence, these living dairy delights were more or less "Rudos", yet they also quickly became fan favorites. They were silly as hell, and their antics were a lot of fun, known for such shenanigans as Hijo pinching people's bottoms, or the boys dropping their opponents on deadly, painful candy sprinkles!

Unlike regular Ice Cream, these guys would often shift their look/flavor, from mint green, to purple grape, or some manner of sherbet. But no matter their look, for much of their career, the brothers were known more for goofy antics than being much of a threat. That wasn't always true, of course, as there was a period around 2007/08, where they acted as a formidable team. But by the time I really started watching, they were clownish Rudos with charm, for the most part. That all changed when they became co-winners of the CotI tournament in 2015, and unlike poor Jervis, while they bided their time before doing so, the Ice Creams DID eventually cash in, and seemingly won the Tag Team titles! There was some nonsense that saw them stripped of this win, BUT they did later actually (finally) win the belts for real, and Ice Cream Mania ran wild in Chikara for a brief but happy time. 

 

                                                                      ************** 

 

 

I liked many other Chikara regulars, such as the high flying Shynron, the Spirit Dragon. Or the zany tag team of Scott "Jagged" Parker and "Big Magic" Shane Matthews (now known as AEW's Angelo Parker and Matt Menard), or the awesome throwback team of "NRG", Race Jaxon & Hype Rockwell. I loved the powerhouse throwback bullies The Devastation Corporate, made up of Max Smashmaster, Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch, AND their hilarious heel manager Sidney Bakabella. The "Kentucky Gentleman" Chuck Taylor and his group "The Gentleman's Club", made up of serious stretcher Drew Gulak, lethargic luchador Orange Cassidy, and the mysterious Swamp Monster. 

There was the cornball "Leader of the Marching Band" Archibald Peck, and the fearsome "Queen of Wrestling" Sara Del Rey. I absolutely loved the sadly short lived alter ego to wrestler Dalton Castle, who in Chikara was known as "Smooth Sailin" Ashley Remington, a nautical themed fancy gentleman wrestler, with the world's greatest suplex. The villain team of Jigsaw & Shard, the "Pieces of Hate" were awesome while they existed. I even liked the founder and trainer of Chikara, "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush himself, who early on was a great high flier, but I've also not seen much of a better technical wrestler in my life, outside of the likes of Chris Benoit or Bret Hart. 

Chikara was chock full of great wrestlers, and even better characters. And I shall always love and miss (most of) the whole zany crew. 

 

 

 

 

Wrestling is Art: Remembering Chikara Pro

 

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of one of my personal top favorite Professional Wrestling entities to ever exist, I thought that I would write a piece (or two) on the promotion Chikara, both to wistfully remember something now sadly gone, and to inform and educate people "not in the know", on one of the very best things the industry has ever produced. Before I dive headlong into that, I should probably briefly revisit why I like pro wrestling in the first place.

As explained in one of my earliest pieces, circa October 2012, shortly after I first started this blog, wrestling was one of many things I was "not allowed" to watch or partake in growing up. My mother, who lived with us off and on until around 1991, was a big WWF fan, and I was peripherally aware of stars that she liked, or just in general names such as Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and of course Hulk Hogan. In fact once she lived with us more permanently in the early 90s, she likely watched WWF wrestling in her room sometimes, though I never joined her. I'm not sure that I would have been allowed to, as my grandmother, the one who raised me, didn't like wrestling, or anything "fighting" related in general (hence she wouldn't let me take karate), so she didn't want me partaking either. 

The greatest wrestler of all time (besides Bret Hart).

Thus Pro Wrestling during my childhood, was one of several things, such as heavy metal, such as TMNT, etc., which I convinced myself "probably wasn't that good" anyway, so that I wouldn't feel like I was missing out on something that, realistically, I probably would have otherwise loved. Even from '91-'94, when I finally had my own TV in my own room, while I would eventually sneak watch things I wasn't supposed to, such as MTV, I don't think I even once ever bothered trying to watch wrestling alone. It wasn't until 1996, in point of fact, when a (at the time) friend of mine was watching WWF's "Monday Night Raw" with me around, that I finally got exposed to it. And even then, at first, I kinda looked down my nose at it, feeling like "Do we HAVE to watch this?". That is, until I caught my first glimpse of The Undertaker.

The Undertaker, as seen above, was originally a character WWF owner Vince McMahon conceived, as an old-timey "Wild West" style undertaker, who would come out and "lay his opponents to rest". Early on, he would often put defeated opponents into body bags, to emphasize the point that they would "Rest in Peace", a saying which would become his mantra. But long story short, Mark Calloway, the man portraying the character, would take Vince's initial vision, and over time make it his own, gradually adding more and more supernatural trappings and theatrics. The Undertaker was supposed to be a quite literally undead fighter, hence his initial stiffness and slowness of movement, seeming imperviousness to pain, and seemingly supernatural physical feats for a man his size, such as performing flying clotheslines, or walking (with impeccable balance) across part of the top ring rope, before crashing down on his victims.

Simply put, I initially fell in love with Professional Wrestling, because I fell in love with the persona of the Undertaker. And while I would come, over time, to love many other wrestlers who came and went through WWF/E's ring, and even in other companies, to this day, The Undertaker remains my favorite of all time. He embodied everything that I still love about wrestling; the theatrics, the commitment to always staying in character (which not all wrestlers share), the importance of ambiance, aesthetics, and presentation, not just the moves. He personified what I feel is THE single most important aspect of good Pro Wrestling; the fact that while it IS absolutely what I would call an "Exhibition Sport", because it is an exhibition of athletics, it is also what should rightly be termed "Performance Art", because everything from characters' entrances, the theatrics of their characters (if they have any), and most importantly the action in the ring, they are performing Art. Pro Wrestling is an art form, a performance of "mock battles", using the ring to tell stories of good against evil, and much more besides.

My Second Genesis?

It was the Undertaker who made me a wrestling fan, mainly because he represented what has always appealed to me most about "The Business", and to this day, I don't think there has ever been anyone BETTER at this "Performance Art", than him. And it was because of him, that I would come to watch the WWF (later called "WWE"), quite religiously at times, from around 1997 through at least, let's say, 2007. I continued to watch after 2008, but as the quality (I felt) gradually started to slip, I too gradually started to watch it with less dedication.

That said, ironically, I first came to truly, and fully, experience a little "Indie" wrestling promotion with a weird name, "Chikara", in 2012. I had been aware of Chikara's existence for a few years prior, due to funny clips on Youtube, and my own wrestling geek diggings around those interwebs. But when a friend and I decided to purchase and watch their marquee event, "King of Trios", in the fall of 2012, that was it. Much like my first experiences with The Undertaker, I was hooked. The thing was, I still loved Pro Wrestling. But as stated, my love for the modern WWE product was absolutely waning, to the point that by 2012, I barely watched it anymore. So you could rightly say that Chikara came into my life at a time when I needed it most, at least from a wrestling fan perspective.

Chikara became my new primary outlet for my pro wrestling affection. And not only that, but unlike WWF/E, where I got little bites and tastes of what I loved most about the sport here and there, through specific characters, here I was now presented with practically an entire company full of the colorful, crazy, weird, awesome types of personas that I was most attracted to. It was a company, while "small time" compared to mainstream outlets like WWE or "Total Nonstop Action" wrestling, fully dedicated to the notion that Wrestling IS Art, and they went hard on it. Now allow me to tell you more about this strange beast called Chikara, and why I came to love it.

Where it all started.

In January of 2002, "Reckless Youth" Tom Carter and "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush, two figures who had become top stars of the American wrestling "Indie Scene" by the late 90s, opened their own wrestling school, originally located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, named "The Wrestle Factory". Their vision was a well-rounded school, that not only taught students the basic fundamentals of the business, but gave them a skillset steeped in various styles, including Japanese "Strong Style", and Mexican "Lucha Libre". While it had small and humble beginnings, and Reckless left the school by the autumn, Quackenbush would keep it going, and over the course of many years, "The Wrestle Factory" would eventually come to be widely recognized as one of the best wrestling schools in the country, if not the world. The initial classes from 2002 would produce a handful of what would be long-term Chikara talent, with names like Hallowicked, Ultramantis, Jigsaw, Gran Akuma, and Icarus (then called "Ichabod Slayne"). But the school would, over time, also produce (or give additional training to) such notable names as Eddie Kingston, Claudio Castagnoli (WWE's Cesaro), Drew Gulak, Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Lince Dorado, Tracy Williams, Wheeler Yuta, and Madison Eagles.

On May 25th, 2002, a small wrestling promotion called "CHIKARA Pro", was born. An offshoot and outlet for the Wrestle Factory school, Chikara was meant to be a place to showcase the school's top graduates, somewhere they could start getting experience in the business. The very first Chikara show not only featured its first class of graduates, but was also headlined, as you can see in the picture above, by the (at the time) "Superstar" Main Event showdown between "The Black T-Shirt Squad" of Reckless Youth, Mike Quackenbush and Don Montoya, against Colt Cabana, Chris Hero, and one CM Punk. Those three were top stars on the "Indie" scene in the early 2000s, and all went on to have significant levels of success with bigger "mainstream" promotions, most especially Punk. So some might be surprised that they were in the main event of such an initially tiny company's show. Chris Hero, for his part, would go on to forge a long-term partnership, spending several years not only as a Wrestle Factory trainer, but also one of Chikara's top stars in its early days. 

The Wrestle Factory's philosophy of dipping into different pro wrestling traditions, carried over into Chikara as well. For instance, the name "Chikara", is the Japanese word for Power, and their first (and for a few years only) championship, the "Young Lions Cup", took its name from a Japanese tournament.. Yet Chikara also integrated many aspects of Mexican Lucha Libre style, such as the "Lucha" tag rule of a wrestler rolling to the outside of the ring, counting as a "tag" to a partner, instead of having to physically slap hands. Or their tag team championship, introduced in 2006, was named the "Campeones de Parejas", roughly Spanish for "Tag Team Champions". Or Chikara's strong focus on tag team wrestling, including "trios" (three man teams), and their eventual marquee (mostly) annual event, King of Trios, a major tournament of three-man teams, which always featured major "Indie" and international talent, as well as sometimes major veteran names.

Mr. Brodie Lee and Grizzly Redwood, The Roughnecks.

But "notable" names were not uncommon to Chikara, small time or not. Over time, many such notable names, even some legends of the business, would grace Chikara's ring. Names that include the likes of Mexican luchadors like La Parka, El Pantera, Skayde, El Oriental, and Sin Cara (then called Incognito). Japanese stars like Manami Toyota, Meiko Satomura, Akira Tozawa, Kota Ibushi, The Great Sasuke and Jinsei Shinsaki (WWF's Hakushi). And British stars like Mark Andrews, Zack Sabre Jr., Dave Taylor, Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, Johnny Saint, and Johnny Kidd. The biggest surprise might be the number of older wrestling legends that have appeared for the company at various points, with standout names including: Glacier, Al Snow, D'Lo Brown, The Patriot, One Man Gang, Demolition (Axe and Smash), Meng/Haku, The Barbarian and the Warlord, Marty Jannetty, The 123 Kid (X-Pac), Jerry Lynn, Justin Credible, Tommy Dreamer, Tito Santana, Tatanka, Too Cold Scorpio, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Stevie Richards and his Blue World Order, Jazz, Mickie James, Victoria, The Hurricane, and even one Scott Steiner! 

But Chikara wasn't just a place where legends popped up. A great many stars of the American "Indie" scene, and even larger promotions such as TNA and Ring of Honor, would also grace Chikara's ring from time to time. Some of those names included: CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels (or rather, Curry Man), Sonjay Dutt, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Kevin Steen (aka Kevin Owens), Jon Moxley, El Generico (aka Sami Zayn), and many more. But more importantly, there were many wrestlers who would go on to be standout stars in bigger companies, who were not "Wrestle Factory" graduates, yet still spent a significant amount of time "cutting their teeth", so to speak, in Chikara. Some of these include, as seen above, Brodie Lee (and Grizzly Redwood of ROH fame), Delirious, Sara Del Rey, Heidi Lovelace (aka Ruby Riot/Soho), Ricochet, the aforementioned Chris Hero, Jonathan Gresham, several members of The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Alex Reynolds), 2.0 Scott Parker & Shane Matthews (now with whatever silly names in AEW), Johnny Gargano, and The Young Bucks, among others.

The near-annual event, "King of Trios", was a tournament held over a weekend (usually Friday/Saturday/Sunday), three days of wrestling. A lot to take in, a lot to consume, even for an avid wrestling fan. But it was almost always well worth it. I personally looked forward to King of Trios the same way I once looked forward to, and got excited about, WWE's Wrestlemania. A big part of that excitement, was seeing who the teams would be (16 teams of 3) each year, including who the outside special guest teams were. More often than not, I tended to root for the Chikara "home" teams, but there was still always a lot of excitement and intrigue every year, as they slowly revealed the various participants.

The Great and Devious One

But what truly made Chikara great, and made them stand out to me, was not their guest stars or passers-through. To me, the majority of characters I fell in love with, which in turn made me a fan of the promotion itself, were the mainstays, the "home grown" stars. One such star, in fact a graduate of their first ever class all the way back in 2002, and one of my top favorites, was Ultramantis Black. Originally simply known as "UltraMantis", he was a masked insectoid hero, essentially a mix between popular Japanese children's heroes Ultra Man and Kamen Rider. Before long, however, he tired of being a good guy, and turned his back on the fans, beginning a gradual evolution into his best self, the renamed "UltraMantis Black". This send-up to Saturday Morning Cartoon villains, headed up many evil schemes, and evil groups, with named like the "Dark Breed" and "The Order of the Neo Solar Temple". Claiming to want to "destroy the world, starting with Chikara", Mantis became well known for his often inept villainy, dastardly deeds, and mysterious mystical trappings (he eventually claimed to be a sorcerer with vast dark powers). 

Ultramantis Black and The Order

Hero once more.

But this is precisely the kind of goofball shenanigans (or as I call it, greatness), that made me love Chikara. By the time I began to really immerse myself in Chikara and its characters and lore, Mantis had once again become something of a hero, leading a new group called the "Spectral Envoy", seen above, with his old "Dark Breed" cohort Hallowicked, and Hallowicked's frenetic spawn, Frightmare. Mantis still referred to himself as "The Great and Devious", retaining much of his cartoon-esque villain persona. But he had become a defender of Chikara, instead of its purported destroyer. What led to such a cosmic metamorphosis, you ask? Well, before we get into that...

Seeing Double?

I'd like you to meet Lance Steel. He was a time displaced noble knight, from medieval England, who had somehow fallen through the cracks of time, and found himself in 21st Century America, having to vanquish evil in a wrestling ring, instead of the ancient fields of battle. Well, as it happened, after spending a time teaming with a colorful party pirate by the name of Jolly Roger, Lance would find himself joined in the present by another time displaced noble knight. This was, in fact, another Lance Steel, or to be more accurate, a somewhat younger version of himself. The two joined forces, calling their team "Lancelot" (get it?), and they enjoyed a decent stint as one of Chikara's most heroic tag teams.

However, all was not kosher in the kingdom, as younger Lance was more care-free and accepting of modern things, and this included his tolerance of dragons, or more specifically, Chikara's own resident Dragon Dragon. And that, my friends, was something that the older, original Lance Steel, he who had been forged on the fields of battle, and gallant slayer of said dragons, simply could not stand. Which of course led the two Lances to fight, ultimately ending in a "Loser Leaves the Present" match, which saw older Lance defeat younger Lance, sending him back to his proper time for good. 

Retail Dragon and Dragon Dragon, team Triple Dragon.

This was, in the grand scheme of Chikara, a fairly minor storyline. But it's relevant, because it was also arguably the very first time that the company, who had always had its share of outlandish and quirky characters, saw its first truly elaborate and more fantastical brand of storytelling. Certainly far more than the average pro wrestling fan would be used to. And this was only the beginning, because as the early 2000s gave way to the mid and then late 2000s, little by little Chikara would become steeped in progressively more complex and fantastical plots. 

The UnStable

One such storyline, would surface not too long after the Lance Steel episode. In 2005, a colorful masked luchador, announced as being from Mexico, named Equinox arrived. This half-fire, half-ice alleged trainee of Tito Santana, and protegee of then-Chikara star (and trainer) Skayde, was an enigmatic high flyer, who fought on the side of the Technicos (Lucha Libre for good guys, as opposed to bad guys, or Rudos). But all was not as it appeared. Some time during the course of 2007, Equinox was outed as being, in actuality, former American Wrestle Factory student, Vin Gerard. Gerard had apparently washed out of the school, but as the storyline went, found a "back door" into Chikara anyway, by donning the Equinox garb and gaining the trust of Skayde. 

Former hero Shane Storm, and his partner Mister Zero.

 

Once outed, Vin Gerard dropped the heroic attitude, and instead began a reign of terror that would last for the next couple years. He effectively replaced Chris Hero as the new top "Big Bad" of Chikaradom, and gathered around him similarly disaffected wrestlers. Former hero (and early Wrestle Factory graduate) Shane Storm, a masked, fun-loving "Traffic Regulator", who for years had been a golden boy in the fan's eyes, turned on them, tired of "being seen as a clown", and instead became the darker Stigma. And Colin Delaney, formerly Colin Olsen of the Olsen Twins tag team, who had spent a stint in WWE's "ECW" brand, and returned to Chikara believing he was "too good" for the promotion. Together, they called themselves the "UnStable", with their symbol being Chikara's own logo, turned upside down into a "U".

But even bigger threats loomed on the horizon, than grumpy emo bad boys...

Evil Machinations.

While all of this UnStable tomfoolery was going down, our good friend Ultramantis Black, was being Great and Devious indeed. In an attempt to upgrade his Order of the Neo Solar Temple, from some of the goofier members it had employed in the past, Mantis decided to try a new tactic, to his own folly. He procured for himself a rather ominous and sinister artifact, one that would come to effect Chikara heavily for years, called the "Eye of Tyre". It was said that this crystalline object, could give you control over others, to make them do your bidding. But there was also a warning, that one must pass the Eye on to another after using it, or else the user would be cursed. Mantis, believing he was above worrying about such paltry things, employed the Eye on one Delirious, a crazy but dangerous wrestler, who had been a friend and tag team partner of (at the time) hero Hallowicked. With Delirious now part of his Order, Mantis felt assured that he would finally become all-powerful, and dominate Chikara. Or destroy it, whichever seemed more fun. 

 

 

The Batiri, spawns of evil.

 

However, Mantis would come to be warned that the alleged "Rightful Owner of the Eye" was looking for it, and wanted it back. If he wouldn't give it up, they, whoever they were, would come and take it. Continuing to think himself far too Devious for any opposition, Ultramantis Black set about even more background scheming, secretly ordering a "dark army" to be trained, further foot-soldiers to come and help defend him from the Eye's owner. Thus in the fullness of time, the Devious One would find himself twice cursed, all the product of his own villainous schemes. At the end of 2009, Chikara would suffer its first full blown invasion, by the very same figure that Mantis dismissed...

 

 

Der Bruderschaft des Kreuzes

 

Claudio and Ares

That invasion came in the form of masked mystery men who showed up, dressed in white. They unmasked, revealing themselves to be the Swiss Ares, and his monster Tursas. They were joined by several Chikara stars, who laid waste to the Chikara roster. They called themselves Der Bruderschaft des Kreuzes, German for "The Brotherhood of the Cross". Instead of merely taking back the Eye of Tyre from Ultramantis, the leader Ares, backed by Chikara hero Claudio Castagnoli (later WWE's Cesaro), decided he wanted to conquer Chikara instead. And conquer they did, joined by disaffected wrestlers like Tim Donst, Sara Del Rey, Daizee Haze, and Lince Dorado. Most interestingly, the last of their membership, Pinkie Sanchez, had previously infiltrated the heroic Colony (a group of humanoid ants), pretending to be the ant from the future, "Carpenter Ant", only to turn on them and mock them by calling himself "Pink Ant". Then again, Tim Donst was pretending to be a robot from the future named Vokoder prior to the invasion, so you know, it happens. 

Green Ant, Fire Ant, and Soldier Ant, the Colony

 

So not only did The BDK, as they came to be known, go on to dominate Chikara for over a year, but as previously stated, Ultramantis was now twice cursed. For not only did he have to deal with the BDK showing up to stomp a mudhole in his insectoid ass, and them eventually wresting control of Delirious away from him. But when that aforementioned "Dark Army" he had ordered finally showed up, in the form of the demons Kodama and Obariyon, and the "Prince of All Goblins" Kobald, led by their trainer, the evil carny Sinn Bodhi, in the midst of a crisis of conscience over his misdeeds, Mantis rejected their evil services. And so, instead of working FOR him, he now had not only the BDK, but the demonic Batiri after him as well! This is what happens when you layer evil scheme on top of evil scheme. 

Gekido

It took the combined might of the Chikara Technicos AND Rudos to finally, eventually oust most of the BDK from their midst, so that things could get back to whatever passes as normal in the crazy world of Chikara. But, as I mentioned before, the BDK was only the first invasion they would suffer, not the last. In 2012, around the time I finally started gradually wading into the Chikara pool, a different hostile Rudo group showed up, calling themselves "Gekido", which is Japanese for Rage or Fury. It can also stand for Violence. Similar to Vin Gerard, three of this new group's members, a subset of ants called "The Swarm", were, according to Mike Quackenbush, jilted former Wrestle Factory students, who again had washed out. But unlike Gerard, who by this time was gone from Chikara, these boys found themselves a mysterious new teacher, one with "forbidden" wrestling knowledge and zero scruples, known only as "17", so-named for the "17 Forgotten Wrestling Holds" he claimed to know. And all of them were deadly dangerous, as he was soon to display.

The "Swarm" were evil ants, to mock the Colony, heroes of Chikara, who called themselves DeviANT, AssailANT, and CombatANT. Joining their leader 17, was also the mysterious "Shard", who seemed to be an evil doppelganger of Jigsaw, just as 17 himself dressed as an evil doppelganger of Quackenbush. Gekido made their presence known by attacking various Chikara stars, with typical Rudo run-ins and beat-downs. But after not too long, 17 upped the ante, by beginning to use his "Forgotten Holds" to purposefully injure and thus eliminate Chikara wrestlers. This only made Chikara's leader, Quackenbush, more angry and desperate to get rid of these invaders, to the point that he began using their violent tactics against them, eventually himself injuring both CombatANT and 17. The threat of Gekido would ultimately fade, AssailANT even eventually turning good, after being forcibly put in The Colony. But their defeat also carried a heavy cost, as "Quack" had compromised himself, and this caused Jigsaw, longtime friend and hero, to turn on him, surprisingly joining what was left of Gekido. He formed a new team with his own doppelganger Shard, known as the "Pieces of Hate". 

The Pieces of Hate, Jigsaw and Shard

Colony: Xtreme Force

All was not well in Chikara, still, as it was in storyline now owned by a seemingly sinister corporate outfit known as Titor Conglomerate, and the owner's son, Wink Vavasseur, had been in charge of Chikara since the beginning of 2012. It was his idea to instigate the use of "Chikarbametrics", a goofy scheme to "spice things up" by using supposed analytics to tell him which wrestlers would be best teamed together. It was due to this that Soldier Ant was swapped into the villainous Swarm, and AssailANT joined the Colony. It was also due to this that Techonico favorite Sugar Dunkerton, was removed from the sports-themed "Throwbacks" team, and instead paired with the Rudo bullies, F.I.S.T. But in 2013, he had a new bright idea, and introduced yet another team of ants. This lot were supposed to be fun and great for merchandising, based more on action figure tropes. They were called Colony: Xtreme Force; Orbit Adventure Ant, Missile Assault Ant, and Arctic Rescue Ant. They had a propensity for yelling their names out loud a lot (especially Missile Assault), and while they started off harmless enough, they eventually fell under the villainous leadership of DeviANT. 

The Monster, Deucalion.

Jimmy Jacobs and Co.

The now evil Jigsaw and Co.

The Devastation Corporation

The business with Wink, ultimately culminated in the most ambitious (and risky) storyline that perhaps any wrestling company has ever attempted, before or since. In mid-2013, at Chikara's PPV event "Anniversario: Never Compromise", at the end of the show, in the midst of a still ongoing championship match, Titor's own "Condor Security" forces showed up, ejected the wrestlers, ejected the fans, and began tearing down the set. Chikara was, in storyline, effectively "Shut Down", because top secret, and quite sinister information had been threatened to be leaked about Titor Conglomerate. This whole deal was so effective at the time, that fans weren't even sure whether or not it fully WAS a story, or if the company was really closed for good. 

 

 

The Ashes of Chikara

 

 

And this is also about where I came in, as a more regular Chikara viewer. I was already by this point a major fan of Chikara, having watched King of Trios 2012 with my friend, and done as much clip-watching and internet reading as I could, about their storylines, their characters, their history. I was hooked. But it wasn't until the 2014 "Season", that I finally found myself in a financial position to be able to afford to buy and download all their shows (and PPV events). The "Closure" of Chikara, led to basically a full year of the company only existing as a group of several smaller splinter promotions, almost all of whom carried a "Wrestling Is" moniker. "Wrestling is Fun", "Wrestling is Cool", "Wrestling is Art", etc. Over the course of that year, various villainous factions started showing up at these shows, and gradually shutting them down. Titor was still out to extinguish what was left of Chikara.

There was also a series of online, indie-movie quality videos, dubbed the "Ashes of Chikara" series, which also slowly unfolded a storyline of Titor's attempts at destruction, and a handful of Chikara faithful, including the formerly "most hated man in Chikara" Icarus, becoming its new champion and hero, trying to pick up the pieces. They eventually turned the video series into a feature length film, and it was announced at the 2014 "National Pro Wrestling Day" show, that Chikara was finally officially coming back, live on iPPV, at the May 25th event "You Only Live Twice". This was the first Chikara show I got to watch live, and let me tell you, I was stoked. I more than got what I wanted out of it, and I was stoked to actually be able to watch the full season of shows going forward. 

The Unlikely Hero, Icarus

Dasher Hatfield and Mr. Touchdown, The Throwbacks

Amasis and Ophidian, The Osirian Portal

"Big Magic" Shane Matthews and "Jagged" Scott Parker, 3.0

Of course, the overarching story of 2014, featured Chikara's third, and by far biggest invasion, by a veritable army of villains, a "Super Group" if you will, akin to the "Legion of Doom", led by the murderous "Titan of Titor", Deucalion. The group was known collectively as "The Flood", and as a bit of mythological side lore, Deucalion in Greek Mythology was the brother of Prometheus, and was a demi-god of a man (a Titan, actually), who survived a great flood. Well "Duke" and his Flood army, were here to "wash away" Chikara, destroying it completely. And with a force comprised of many smaller Rudo groups, such as Sinn Bodhi's evil "Odditorium", The Devastation Corporation (and their Wrecking Crew cohorts), Colony Xtreme Force led by DeviANT, the last vestiges of Gekido, including Jigsaw, and even a resurfaced version of the BDK, they could do it. The "Field General", or second leader in command of this lot, after "Duke", was indie wrestler and all around not-nice guy, Jimmy Jacobs. Quite a daunting force, indeed. How could Chikara possibly fight back against all of that?

Well, Chikara had some firepower of their own, such as the now heroic Icarus, the sporty Throwbacks, Ultramantis' Spectral Envoy, 3.0 (as they were known then) and their new pal Archibald Peck, who they had rescued from the timestream and "Parts Unknown" (a story for another time), and more. The Chikara side certainly faced losses like never before, though, as this was also arguably the darkest Chikara storytelling in its history. Deucalion had a penchant for murder, favoring a deadly move he called the "Chokebreaker" (a chokeslam onto his own knee, breaking their back and "killing" them). And he used this move early and often, sometimes even against his own teammates, if they lost matches. "Duke" himself didn't even wrestle for most of the season, instead acting as a boogeyman, a terrifying phantom who at any moment during a given show, could pop up like Jason Voorhees, and destroy someone else. More than one beloved fan favorite fell victim to his might, including poor Archibald Peck, and one of my new top favorites, The Estonian Thunderfrog (think Thor, but as a frog-man). 

Not to give TOO much away, but the Flood were eventually defeated, or driven off, but at a much higher cost to the Chikara roster than the BDK had ever taken. 

Portents of the Future...

All Glory, Nazmaldun...

 

Of course past misdeeds have a cost. The now somewhat heroic Ultramantis Black's machinations were not done with him yet. As during the course of the 2014 season, one of Deucalion's "POWs", was none other than his former thrall Delirious. Mantis had freed Delirious from the control of the Eye of Tyre at the end of 2011, but Delirious claimed to "remember everything", and would eventually come back to threaten Mantis with "Two Years of Misery" as recompense for the time he had been controlled. As an at first seemingly unwilling member of The Flood, but later willingly seeking revenge against Mantis, the two clashed at the 2014 finale, "Tomorrow Never Dies", in a "Loser Leaves Chikara" match. Mantis won, but it would prove a Pyrrhic Victory, as after the match, Delirious produced the Eye of Tyre, and used it on Hallowicked, seemingly putting he, and Frightmare who he was spiritually connected to, under his thrall, turning them against Ultramantis.

But something else, far darker happened instead. At the 2015 opener, Hallowicked and Frightmare would show up looking radically different, donning red and white, and toting a strange new banner, as you can see in the picture above. They now seemed to be in the service of some eldrich, Lovecraftian type dark god, called "Nazmaldun, the Lord of Rot". And Hallowicked, who had always spoken in incomprehensible gibberish, spoke with a new voice, clear as crystal, but dark as midnight. He claimed to be the herald of this new power rising, and in the fullness of time, which we won't get into here, he too gathered a small army of Nazmaldun "possessed" villains to try and conquer Chikara. 

Silver Ant, Fire Ant, and Worker Ant (II), the New Colony.

The "Winter" Soldier Ant...

Meanwhile, during the course of 2014, Solider Ant, a long-time stalwart and hero of Chikara, also reappeared as a "POW" of The Flood. Soldier, after being forced to join The Swarm, eventually went AWOL in 2013, disappearing from Chikara and its satellites completely. That was a big storyline in the "Ashes" videos, was Fire Ant and Green Ant's search for him. Well, it turned out that Titor got their hands on him, and seemingly brainwashed him, and turned him into a kind of "Super Soldier" weapon to use against his old friends. Many fans dubbed this version of the character "Winter Soldier Ant", after the Marvel character, and during the course of 2015, he did indeed seem driven to destroy The Colony. Fire Ant and Soldier Ant had debuted as The Colony all the way back in 2006, and had been teammates and friends, defending Chikara, even becoming tag champs and King of Trios together. So it was only fitting that, in the end, Fire faced Soldier alone, to either find a way to get him back, or be destroyed by his friend. Ultimately, he won him back, and the friends were reunited. 

The Gentleman's Club

F.I.S.T. (Friends In Similar Tights)

The Founder, "Lightning" Mike

The point of going over ALL of that, was to illustrate the top-most reason why I love Chikara. What made me fall in love with Chikara Pro, and become such a big fan. From 2012 through 2016, especially, they were pretty much THE wrestling promotion I watched, for the most part. They were "My" company, my preferred flavor of "rasslin", and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I was glad to be able to afford to buy and watch every single show of 2014 and 2015 especially, and those two Seasons remain probably my favorites, overall. Not everything was perfect, I didn't love every single twist or turn or "booking" decision. In fact some I outright hated. BUT, all in all, it was a great ride, and a whole lot of fun.

For all this talk about crazy characters and elaborate plots, and imagery of colorful masks and goofy gimmicks, don't think for a moment that Chikara lacked "serious" wrestling. There was indeed a lot of goofiness and humor. But there were also dark and serious moments, and I'm glad to say, as someone who has watched an awful lot of wrestling in his life, that there were more good Chikara wrestlers, and matches, than bad ones. I'll go into further depth another time, on individual characters I liked, and their in-ring acumen. But sufficed to say, I wasn't merely enjoying fun storytelling, but a lot of very high quality wrestling matches as well. 

 

 

The Xyberhawx, heroes from the future year of 2000.

 

 

I will say, while I want to remain mostly positive, that in my personal view and experience, Chikara did, unfortunately, start to decline a bit over the course of 2017-2020. This was for several reasons, the chief one I think, being that they lost a lot of talent, either to being signed by other companies like TNA, WWE, etc., or other wrestlers simply leaving. But I will say, it definitely soured me, personally, when suddenly many of my favorites, such as Silver Ant, Ashley Remington, Shynron, Jervis Cottonbelly, Thunderfrog, etc., were now gone. New characters popped up, of course, such as the Saturday Morning Cartoon inspired "Xyberhawx 2000", whom I liked. But by and large, the new characters who came along, in my eyes, couldn't really replace the beloved ones who left. And in general, at least in my view, the stories started to become less interesting, as well. It was still my favorite promotion, I'd like to point out, but it just wasn't AS good as it used to be.

I had high hopes, I'll admit, in 2015 and 2016, when it seemed like Chikara's "comeback" was going really well, that the company would continue growing, gaining a bigger audience, making more money, and eventually gaining the recognition (and production budget) it rightly deserved. Sadly, that never materialized, for whatever reasons. And while I will absolutely not bother getting into the sordid (and frankly stupid) details, the company tragically closed its doors, seemingly for good and for real this time, in June of 2020. I will only say, that I don't feel the company should have ever closed, period, and leave it at that. 

Some examples of awesome Chikara DVD art.

Many were based on classic comic book covers.

It needs to be said, that Chikara Pro was a one of a kind wrestling company. I have never seen another quite like it, before or since, with such a dedication to emphasis on characters, with unique, fun, and elaborate personalities, and full-blown, intricate storytelling. That doesn't mean everything they tried worked, or that everything they did was gold. But more of it was gold than not, and what's important, is that Chikara made a LOT of people smile, made a lot of people's days, and gave people a lot of good memories. Myself included. Living on the West Coast, I sadly never go to attend one of their shows live, something that had been a goal of mine. But I was still a fan, from afar.

In a "perfect" world, Chikara never would have closed. And in my heart of hearts, I perhaps naively wish that they would return someday. Though, of course, much like a lot of other modern forms of entertainment, there's no guarantee that the "reboot" would ever be as good as the original. But I will leave you with these final thoughts. If you're at all, even a little bit, of a pro wrestling fan. Or even if you aren't, and have never bothered watching the stuff, I think that there is a lot here for you, a lot to like, and be enjoyed. I firmly believe that Chikara Pro was one of the very best wrestling promotions of the last 20 years, and while they often had probably shoestring budgets, and not WWE's billions, I can say with some authority that this tiny company was putting on better shows than the "Big Leagues" were, for many years running. They deserve to be remembered, appreciated, and still enjoyed, because they were that good. And to people like me, they mattered. 

 

 

If you're at all interested in dipping your toes in yourself, you can catch ALL of their shows on "Independent Wrestling TV", at this link:

https://independentwrestling.tv/promotions/CHIKARA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In memory of "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney, 1981-2011