After being shut down for months for the sake of story, CHIKARA Pro Wrestling is back!
Want in on the ground floor?
We’ve got you covered!
They wrote themselves into a corner there, but they obviously couldnt have let the strike continue.
Imagine if the strike lasted nearly a year.
That would be insane, right?
Indy wrestling promotionCHIKARAdid a storyline that was more or less just that.
A recent development from this months National Pro Wrestling Day, CHIKARA is coming back after a long absence.
As original as the storytelling was, it proceeded to annoy and alienate many.
The fact that they had to scrap fan-favorite annual showKing of Triosdidnt do the fan reaction any favors.
Hated wrestler Icarus refused to let it die without a fight and started a movement.
In the beginning, only the fans followed him as the wrestlers mostly moved on and actively ignored him.
Coincidentally, CHIKARAs site hasits own succinct descriptionof the event.
This whole story was told in a variety of different avenues.
Social media and theCHIKARA 101message board had been used in various ways.
Theres also stuff like a website forTitor Conglomeratethat added another dash of detail to what was going on.
This is a whos who mixed with the stuff leading intoNational Pro Wrestling Day 2014.
Over time, things started to get a little more questionable.
Fans began to notice a crackpot blog calledNo Private Armythats been around since 2006.
This kind of thing led to Titor having CHIKARA shut down during the 2012Aniversario: Never CompromiseiPPV show.
Since then, Titor attempted to liquidate assets.
Icarus foiled them by getting Thom back as well as the documents, suitably embarrassing Titor Conglomerate.
Titor has been silent since then, but its only a matter of time before they make another move.
Still, he meant well and a lot of his early ideas had merit.
Gradually, he became less aloof and more controlling.
I was there for it.
Since then, there hasnt been a single sign of him.
Hes been a staple, most notably as a super unpopular bad guy.
Two things changed Icarus state of mind.
One was his hero worship of WWF alumni Marty Jannetty, who wrestled a handful of times in CHIKARA.
The other was how Wink Vavasseurs CHIKARAmetrics program led to optimistic face Sugar Dunkerton being shoved into FIST.
He locked Eddie Kingston into the nigh-unbreakable CHIKARA Special and right before Kingston could tap, Condor swooped in.
While others lamented CHIKARAs demise, Icarus wouldnt let it go.
Although an Easton show was cancelled, Icarus insisted that he would be there anyway.
He handed off some t-shirts and had them sign a petition.
Lot of outside-the-box stuff.
Through the Ashes series, Icarus searched high and low for people to help him.
Initially, the only one of any use to him was Hallowicked.
DEREK SABATO
Sabato was a referee in CHIKARA for years, though not always the most popular.
When Wink Vavasseur took over, Sabato was removed from his position.
He resurfaced as a liaison for the equally-despicable faction GEKIDO in 2012, acting almost like their manager.
He became very critical of Wink, claiming that he was more qualified to be Director of Fun.
Shortly after, Sabato was fired.
Still, they dragged him out of the ring and threw him out of the building.
The evil faction GEKIDO invaded CHIKARA and its leader 17 snapped Quacks wrist.
That put him at odds with former best friend and partner Jigsaw.
Quack won a tag match in a shows main event.
Quack has shown no interest in fighting to bring back CHIKARA.
JIGSAW
Jigsaw was all but absent during the Ashes storyline.
Jigsaw felt that they were merely fighting for respect and chose to give them that.
Jigsaw was seen leaving the building during intermission.
At the end of the show, the massive army of CHIKARA villains showed themselves and destroyed the promotion.
For the first time, the Shard was seen as part of the heel army.
Since then, theres been no word from Jigsaw.
Would he still side with Shard or would he be true to CHIKARA?
As it is right now, hes the piece that does not fit.
It was written off by many as ridiculous ramblings, but time told a different tale.
And it turns out he wasnt making it up!
When the set ofNever Compromisewas destroyed, Archibald Peck was seen watching in the shadows before running off.
Archie explained that the great tragedy that would wipe CHIKARA off the map for good could not be stopped.
It was too late for the three of them to intervene as time moves differently in Parts Unknown.
Then he stopped to realize that there was a chance and inspected nearby blueprints for a flux capacitor.
On the other hand, he showed no interest in the idea of bringing CHIKARA back.
All good things must come to an end.
Its super hilarious, though.
As part of the rules, Donst had to shave his head as his own disfranchised followers left him.
Months later, Donst was seen in an Ashes video where Icarus sought his help.
Kingston became Grand Champion after defeating Mike Quackenbush in the finals and spent 2012 defending against all comers.
Through most of 2013, Kingston constantly defended his belt due to Wink Vavasseurs edict.
Fans grew tired of watching him constantly win and cheered on his underdog challengers.
Kingston became increasingly incensed, especially when Icarus of all people got a strong ovation during theirNever Compromisematch.
Kingston ignored Icarus pleas for help to bring back CHIKARA, claiming that campaigning wouldnt pay his bills.
Kingston also revealed that he still carries the Grand Championship around at all times.
UltraMantis made two appearances in the Ashes videos.
Green didnt take that so well.
UltraMantis once introduced the Eye of Tyr into CHIKARA lore.
The Eye of Tyr was a mystical, mind-controlling artifact that caused CHIKARA nothing but trouble.
It was shattered at some point by its main victim, Delirious.
The lineup changed over the years with Worker Ant retiring and brief membership of Carpenter Ant.
Then Wink Vavasseurs CHIKARAmetrics kicked in.
Soldier would be traded with assailANT for the sake of improving the teams.
On the other side, Soldier Ant refused to see eye-to-eye with combatANT and deviANT.
That left Soldier to stew alone.
After CHIKARA went goodbye, Fire Ant and Green Ant went looking for Soldier Ant.
They visited Worker Ant, now bitter and confined to a wheelchair, but he had no news.
Presumably, they watched one of the Wrestling Is promotions get destroyed, as they suddenly became incensed.
He left an angry message on Icarus answering machine, blaming him for it.
The only surviving promotions are Wrestling is Fun!
and Kaiju Big Battel.
GEKIDO
GEKIDO was an invading force from 2012 that took the form of evil versions of the CHIKARA roster.
CHIKARA was able to fight back against GEKIDO and win the war.
The returning Quack started to take it a little too far by trying to outright cripple 17 and combatANT.
They got their wish.
Still selling Quacks wrath, combatANT was sporting a neck brace.
DR. CUBE
Dr. Cube has always been the marquee villain of Kaiju Big Battel.
The Nazi-experiment-turned-mad-scientist dabbled in CHIKARA back in 2008, though nothing huge came of it.
In Kaiju, Dr. Cube and American Beetle were shot by an unknown assassin.
Dr. Cube returned at the next show, although it was very obviously not him.
Still, the imposter Dr. Cube was able to convince his monsters to follow his lead.
They stole both the title belt and the gate money, thereby destroying the promotion.
Whoever this fake Cube is, hes got impeccable taste in sweaters.
The Batiri were his followers and he lent them to UltraMantis in return for the Eye of Tyr.
Since UltraMantis couldnt supply the Eye, Bodhi turned on him.
He used it to sway the promoter of Wrestling is Art to hand over the promotion.
For a while, nobody could stand up to them.
It took all of 2010 for CHIKARA to finally win the war and regain their footing.
2011 was about the BDK breaking apart, finally done away with in the season finale,High Noon.
At the final show for Wrestling is Cool, the main event had the Devastation Corporation destroy the Colony.
He triumphantly ended his own promotion just to mess with the ants.
While goofy, the trio were very underhanded and refused to listen to Soldier.
THE WRECKING CREW
Sidney Bakabella is a living anachronism mixing Tony Clifton with a 1980s wrestling manager.
Bakabella revealed that he and his men were being paid real well to go on the warpath.
Up to a point, at least.
During an Ashes video, he was shown training alongside assailANT at the Wrestle Factory.
Their sparring session came to an end once deviANT and the Colony XTREME Force showed up.
Jervis was chloroformed and dragged away while deviANT ordered assailANT to burn the place to the ground.
assailANT refused, causing an argument over whether GEKIDO was about gaining respect or wiping CHIKARA off the map.
assailANT was beaten down while deviANT warned him not to stand against them.
With his fate up in the air, Jervis ended up missing his next few shows.
SUBMISSION SQUAD
Actually, scratch that.
Its the Submission Squad who have the worst luck.
During King of Trios 2009, they held a tag match to showcase Lethal Wrestling Alliance.
It was Pierre Abernathy and Evan Gelistico vs. Davey Vega and Gary the Barn Owl.
They even convinced Wink to let them compete in King of Trios 2012 as a foursome!
Unfortunately for them, their exploits never bore fruit.
Their attempts to invade CHIKARA were constantly foiled by their own buffoonery.
Coincidentally, their car broke down within a very short walking distance from the show.
The full reasoning for his inclusion here can only be speculated.
And so, they were beaten down.
Icarus arrived with Hallowicked, his trainees, and the Colony.
A massive brawl erupted and it looked like the good guys were still going to lose.
Thats when the doors opened up and a Delorean rode in, driven by Archibald Peck!
Accompanied by 3.0, he helped turn the tide of battle and sent Jacobs side off, defeated.
Then they had an extra main event for the heck of it.
assailANT showed him a picture of his newborn baby and said that he needed to set an example.
If he stayed with GEKIDO, he wouldnt be able to live with himself.
Understanding and finally trusting him, Green Ant handed him Worker Ants gear.
He had shoes to fill.
And so, CHIKARA is back.
Though we still dont know whats become of Soldier Ant and Titor Conglomerate is still out there.
In May,theyre going to release a full version ofAshes of CHIKARAin theatrical form.
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