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Chikara (professional wrestling)

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CHIKARA
Founded2002
StyleLucha Libre
Puroresu
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Founder(s)Mike Quackenbush
Reckless Youth
Owner(s)Mike Quackenbush

CHIKARA (sometimes referred to as Chikara Pro) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their signpost events each year include the King of Trios tournament (previously the "Tag World Grand Prix") in February, "Aniversario Weekend" in May, "Young Lions Cup" in June or July and the "Torneo Cibernetico" in the autumn. The CHIKARA promotion is based heavily on comical and wacky storylines and characters.

The company takes both its name and logo from the Japanese kanji meaning "strength".

History

Chikara Wrestle Factory was founded as a wrestling school in January 2002 in Allentown, Pennsylvania by Mike Quackenbush and "Reckless Youth" Tom Carter. After five months, the school started CHIKARA.

In 2004, Chris Hero became a co-trainer at the Wrestle Factory. In 2005, Jorge "Skayde" Rivera joined as the third trainer. In March 2005, the school moved from Allentown to the New Alhambra Arena, better known as "ECW Arena", in Philadelphia. They then took over the training for Combat Zone Wrestling, leading to the school's new name of "CZW/Chikara Wrestle Factory." The schools split in March, 2007, and the training center is once again simply "Chikara Wrestle Factory." In 2007, Claudio Castagnoli took over Chris Hero's training duties[1].

The company's catalog of events (on both VHS and DVD) are available through Smart Mark Video[2]. A confirmed release date of November 6, 2007 has been publicized as the arrival of CHIKARA's first commercial DVD release, distributed to retail outlets in North America by Big Vision Entertainment[3].

On Saturday, September 22, 2007 CHIKARA drew their biggest crowd ever of over 400 at the New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia to see the "Cibernetico & Robin" event.

Chikara also makes Internet Pay-Per-Views by the name of Pod-Per-View. Chikara also hold a weekly Internet television show by the name of Podcast A-Go-Go which contains Chikara matches and interviews.

Current Champions

Championship Champion(s) Defeated Date Won Location
Campeonatos de Parejas Incoherence[4]
(Delirious & Hallowicked)		 F.I.S.T.
(Icarus & Gran Akuma)		 October 26, 2007 Reading, PA
Young Lions Cup Champion Helios[5] Chuck Taylor October 27, 2007 Barnesville, PA

Roster

File:Roster2005small.jpg
The CHIKARA Roster of 2005
  • Crossbones
  • Daizee Haze
  • Delirious
  • Dragon Dragon
  • Eddie Kingston
  • El Hijo Del Ice Cream
  • El Pantera
  • Fire Ant
  • Gran Akuma
  • Hallowicked
  • Helios
  • Hydra
  • Icarus
  • Ice Cream Jr.
  • Jagged
  • Jimmy Olsen
  • Lance Steel
  • Larry Sweeney
  • Lince Dorado
  • Maxime Boyer
  • Mike Quackenbush
  • Mitch Ryder
  • Moohammad
  • Create-A-Wrestler
  • Ophidian
  • Player Uno
  • Ricochet
  • Ruckus
  • Sabian
  • Shane Matthews
  • Shane Storm
  • Shayne Hawke
  • Soldier Ant
  • Tim Donst
  • UltraMantis Black
  • Vin Gerard
  • Worker Ant

Stables and tag teams

  • 2.0 (Jagged & Shane Matthews)
  • BLKOUT (Sabian, Ruckus, Joker, & Eddie Kingston)
  • The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Worker Ant)
  • F.I.S.T. (Gran Akuma, Icarus & Chuck Taylor)
  • Hawke Like An Egyptian (Amasis, Ophidian & Shayne Hawke)
  • Los Ice Creams (El Hijo Del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr.)
  • Incoherence (Delirious & Hallowicked) – current Campeones de Parejas
  • The Order of the Neo Solar Temple (Ultramantis Black, Hydra & Crossbones)
  • The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian)
  • Up In Smoke (Cheech & Cloudy)
  • North Star Express (Darrin Corbin & Ryan Cruz)

Referees

  • Bryce Remsburg – Senior referee
  • Derek Sabato

Administration

  • Bob Saget – Commissioner
  • Crazy Frank – Czar of Security
  • Leonard F. Chikarason – Director of Fun

Alumni

Tournament winners

  • Young Lions Cup I - Hallowicked
  • Young Lions Cup II - Larry Sweeney
  • Young Lions Cup III - Shane Storm
  • Young Lions Cup IV - Arik Cannon
  • Young Lions Cup V - Chuck Taylor
  • Tag World Grand Prix 2003 - Hallowicked & Blind Rage
  • Tag World Grand Prix 2005 - Claudio Castagnoli & Arik Cannon
  • Tag World Grand Prix 2006 - Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero
  • Torneo Cibernetico 2004 - Jigsaw
  • Torneo Cibernetico 2005 - Gran Akuma
  • Torneo Cibernetico 2006 - Icarus
  • Torneo Cibernetico 2007 - Claudio Castagnoli
  • Nov. 12, 2006 Tag Tournament - F.I.S.T (Icarus and Gran Akuma)
  • King of Trios 2007 - Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm
  • Rey De Voladores 2007 - Chuck Taylor
  • King of Trios 2007 - Lince Dorado, El Pantera & Incognito

Commercial DVD Releases

Big Vision Entertainment Releases

DVD Name Release Date Region Additional Information
"Best of CHIKARA" November 6, 2007 Free Single-disc release containing 9 matches from 2005 and 2006, all of which were previously released by Smart Mark Video.

References

  1. ^ The Wrestle Factory - of CHIKARA & CZW
  2. ^ Smart Mark Video :: Chikara Pro Wrestling :: DVD
  3. ^ Big Vision Shop - Your Ultimate Source For Special Interest DVD's!
  4. ^ http://www.hpwf.org/~chikara/titlesTAG.shtml
  5. ^ http://www.hpwf.org/~chikara/titlesYLC.shtml

Further Reading

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