History Wrestling / CHIKARA

* WhamLine: The aforementioned usage of the Eye of Tyr on [=UltraMantis=] Black. Fans were aware that the Eye was capable of MindControl, and that would have been bad enough. But after joining Hallowicked and Frightmare in their prayer ritual, Mantis looked up at them and said, "My Spear, My Broadsword..." revealing something far worse-- that he had become [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by [[EldritchAbomination Nazmaldun]].

** Season 19's top contenders for the title were Oceanea (the former Ashley Vox, leader of the Creatures of the Deep) and Professor Hugo Nicodemus (MadScientist leader of the Proteus Wheel), but neither ended up claiming it.
** For Season 20 and the abbreviated Season 21, Ophidian, leader of the Crucible.

* ActionGirl: Early on, Chikara ran a series of shows called Kiryoku Pro featuring only women. Usual adversaries Wrestling/MercedesMartinez and Wrestling/SumieSakai represented the 'brand' at the first Tag World Grand Prix. After Kiryoko Pro was discontinued, a ruling was made that there was no difference between men and women in Chikara. Since then, Chikara has had various intergender matches. This hasn't stopped them from putting on ladies-only shows like ''Wrestling/{{JoshiMania}}'' though.

* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: Lucas Calhoun and Wrestling/JeremyLeary (former test subjects of the Proteus Wheel) vs. Volgar II, Callux II, and Frantik (improved versions and current test subjects of the Proteus Wheel).

*** 2016: ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''

* AmazonianBeauty: Wrestling/SaraDelRey.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Specifically, ''FemmeFatale''. They used it to describe Wrestling/SaraDelRey in the [[PreviouslyOn "Previously At CHIKARA"]] video package at the start of the ''Three-Fisted Tales'' (the 2009 SeasonFinale) [=DVD=], and the [=CHIKARATopia=] [=Mixtape=] focusing on women's and intergender wrestling is titled ''Femme Fatales''. While Sara Del Rey meets the ''physical'' requirements of the trope (tall, hot and [[ShesGotLegs has great legs]]), she absolutely did ''not'' use her sexuality to destroy men, preferring to beat them up instead. CHIKARA simply isn't a promotion that utilizes sexuality of any kind in storylines[[note]]Even Veronica Ticklefeather leaving Archibald Peck for "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti was based on her disgust with Peck being a loser[=/=]{{Cloudcuckoolander}} than anything "romantic."[[/note]], which means that none of the women that have passed through the promotion could be called Femme Fatales.[[note]]At least, not in CHIKARA, no rule says that ''other'' promotions couldn't book them that way.[[/note]]

** [[Wrestling/HaniaTheHowlingHuntress Saturyne]] and Gran Akuma failed to return to CHIKARA with no within-kayfabe reason after it returned in May 2014. The real reason was that the former ditched and bashed her gimmick and the latter bashed the Ashes Of... angle, wasn't invited back, and didn't show up again outside of a video package 'til May of 2017.

** Wrestling/{{Deucalion}}, taken from a hero who survived the Greek mythological version of TheGreatFlood. Ironically, he was the BigBad of [[MatryoshkaObject The Flood]], the amalgamation of {{Heel}} groups out to destroy CHIKARA, and the most evil villain in the promotion's history.

* [[AnyoneCanDie Anyone Can Suffer a Career-Ending Injury]]: The theme of season 14. The final list: Kobald, deviANT, Wrestling/{{Tursas}}, Callux, Wrestling/{{The Estonian Thunderfrog}}, the Latvian Proud Oak, Equinox III, Create-a-wrestler II, Ares, The Shard, Archibald Peck, and Deucalion.

** Early Season 16 established Jakob Hammermeier as a contender for the title, as he drafted Wrestling/{{Jaka}} into the BDK to replace the departed Nøkken, then used the Eye of Tyr on Hallowicked, effectively drafting the Nightmare Warriors as well. Unfortunately, drawing the ire of Eddie Kingston then having the Eye stolen from him by the Warriors (with Hallowicked faking his brainwashing) knocked him completely out of the running, and soon [[PutOnABus out of CHIKARA as a whole]].

* DownerEnding: After 18 years in business, the promotion died in ignominy and shame following abuse allegations made as part of the [=#SpeakingOut=] movement. Possibly the ''worst'' way for such an established wrestling company to die.

* MatryoshkaObject: The Flood, an alliance of GEKIDO, Dr. Cube's Posse, Sinn Bodhi's Odditorium, BDK, Sidney Bakabella's Wrecking Crew, The Colony: Xtreme Force (A unit of Condor operatives) and Jimmy Jacobs alongside Condor operatives Volgar and Callux (with Eddie Kingston later taking Callux's place) certainly gave off this vibe.

Following an abbreviated Season 21 due to COVID-19, CHIKARA ceased operations on June 24th, 2020. People involved in the [=#SpeakingOut=] movement made massive allegations came out against Mike Quackenbush related to harassment of female talent and trainees by Quackenbush himself and other trainers at the Wrestle Factory. Many roster members, including Hallowicked, Dasher Hatfield, and Kimberlee resigned from the promotion in protest, and Quackenbush subsequently announced the closure via his Twitter account.

CHIKARA was cross-promoting with Wrestling/KaijuBigBattel for a time, though the only remnant of said cross-promotion was Louden Noxious (now Gavin Loudspeaker), who served as an announcer for both companies 'til his departure from CHIKARA in 2015. CHIKARA also joined up with the USA counterpart of Japanese promotion Wrestling/DragonGate to help promote their arrival in the United States, with several wrestlers appearing on their shows and Leonard F. Chikarason (as well as Wrestling/MikeQuackenbush) doing commentary for the PPV and DVD versions of their shows.

* AssKicksYou: Los Ice Creams and their finishing move El Asesino. This was also a staple of Wrestling/PinkieSanchez's offense until he donned the Carpenter Ant mask.

* BackFromTheDead: The Estonian Thunderfrog (via reincarnation), Tursas (escaped Valhalla behind the Thunderfrog), and Kobald (via a ritual by [=UltraMantis=] Black and Wrestling/TheBatiri).

* BaldOfEvil: Wrestling/GranAkuma, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli post-FaceHeelTurn both meet it, but Ares could be the trope codifier.

** For Seasons 7 and 8, Wrestling/VinGerard, leader of the [=UnStable=] (briefly a duumvirate with Mitch Ryder)

* BombThrowingAnarchists: What Wrestling/ArikCannon was trying to go for, but besides using "Anarchy in the U.K." and having "The Anarchist" for a nickname, [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything he never did much of anything like that or in-character]].

** Wrestling/{{Crossbones|TheWrestler}}, who vanished in early 2010 and was absent for about a year and a half, made his return in a Big Damn Heroes moment to help Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}} against Sinn Bodhi and The Batiri. He now makes occasional appearances.

* CatchPhraseSpoutingDuo: [[Wrestling/ThreePoint0 3.0]]. BOOYAH!

* TheChessmaster: [=UltraMantis=] Black. He wanted the Eye of Tyr, which was in the possession of Kaiju Big Battel's Dr. Cube. So he found out what Dr. Cube wanted (Chris Hero to work for him), convinced Hero to work for Dr. Cube in exchange for the counter to the Chikara Special submission hold, and then broke Wrestling/ShaneStorm's losing streak in exchange for the counter.

* CurbStompBattle: Eddie Kingston does this to people a lot. Notable examples include his feuds against Lince Dorado in season seven, Tim Donst in season six, and BLK-OUT vs. The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple at King of Trios '08. In 2010 the all-girl team of Death Haze beat former Campeones De Parejas Wrestling/TheOsirianPortal in 5 minutes. (Death Haze later themselves lost in that exact time to the Colony, but the match was intended to go 15+ minutes before Daizee suffered a legit broken nose from a Fire Ant kick and they stopped it early)

** Wrestling/SugarDunkerton could be hammy at times as well.

* NoFourthWall: The Titor Conglomerate angle was played out on the official Chikara101 forums. There was an in-character moderator, Anton Frady aka wmdchikara, who would delete any posts critical of Wink Vavasseur or speculating on anything involving Titor Conglomerate and Condor Security. The [[FunWithAutocensors autocensor]] also blocked the words 'Titor', 'Condor' and 'Conrad'. Frady disappeared completely after a short time, and the autocensors were taken down months afterward.

** Wrestling/{{Icarus|Wrestling}}, who is [[PartsUnknown billed from]] [[Myth/ClassicalMythology "Mount Olympus"]].
** Wrestling/TheOsirianPortal, "The Funky Pharaoh" Amasis and "The Venomous Vile Serpent from the Nile" Ophidian, whose whole gimmick was derived from Myth/EgyptianMythology.

** The Throwbacks: Sugar Dunkerton (wrestling basketball player), Dasher Hatfield (wrestling baseball player) and [[Wrestling/MarkAngelosetti "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti]] (wrestling football player).

Following an abbreviated Season 21 due to COVID-19, CHIKARA ceased operations on June 24th, 2020. As part of the [=#SpeakingOut=] movement, massive allegations came out against Mike Quackenbush related to harassment of female talent and trainees by Quackenbush himself and other trainers at the Wrestle Factory. Many roster members, including Hallowicked, Dasher Hatfield, and Kimberlee resigned from the promotion in protest, and Quackenbush subsequently announced the closure via his Twitter account.

** Another example involving Archibald Peck. Archie used to be in a relationship with Veronica. [[Franchise/ArchieComics Sound familiar?]]

CHIKARA (also Chikara or Chikara Pro, translated from Japanese as "Power") was a ProfessionalWrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, PA that chiefly tours the northeastern United States, known for its light tone, sense of humor, and high-flying action. It was established in 2002.

It's heavily influenced by not only the American style of pro wrestling, but also Japanese ''puroresu'' and Mexican ''lucha libre'', as well as a heavy dose of {{Superhero}} comics and ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films. Unlike most wrestling promotions, CHIKARA has a defined season and off-season, and its season is built around 4 annual events: King of Trios (a weekend-long tournament of three-man teams), Aniversario, the Young Lions' Cup (a tournament to crown the new holder of the Young Lions Cup, a title that can only be held by wrestlers 25 years old or younger), and the Torneo Cibernetico (a 16-man ''lucha libre'' elimination match that serves as the show's main event). CHIKARA also operates the Wrestle Factory, a wrestling training school; many of CHIKARA's wrestlers are Wrestle Factory graduates.

CHIKARA is also notable for being [[LighterAndSofter about as family-friendly as wrestling can be]]: in addition to the wacky over-the-top-and-then-some characters and [[RuleOfFunny the comedy bits within matches]], CHIKARA and its fans do their best to keep adult language out of the shows (a popular story goes that when a fan tried to start a "Holy shit" chant at a show, he was met with the rest of the crowd chanting "Shut the heck up!"), and there's virtually no kind of sexual content. If Wrestling/{{WWE}} is TV-PG, CHIKARA could be [=TV-Y7=].

Chikara 'closed' in spectacular fashion at the end of their show on June 2nd, 2013. Although there seemed to be various levels of storylines involved, Chikara legitimately did not promote any more shows in 2013.[[note]] Indeed, events listed on the website as scheduled after June 2nd weren't even booked before being announced as canceled.[[/note]] A fan-compiled [=.PDF=] document, "Is ''Chikara'' Really Dead?", is so far the most comprehensive explanation of the events revolving around Chikara's closure. It can be read [[http://chikaralives.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/chikara-is-it-really-dead.pdf here]].

Sometime after Chikara's 'closure', a series of Chikara-related videos, titled [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151220065119/http://theashesof.com/ Ashes]], started being put up. Among other things, these mainly chronicle Wrestling/{{The Colony|Wrestling}}'s search for Soldier Ant, Wrestling/ThreePoint0's search for Wrestling/ArchibaldPeck, and Icarus' search for allies to help revive Chikara. These, in extended form and along with footage that wasn't included in the web series, were compiled into a [[http://chikarapro.com/chikaratopiafiles/ashes-chikara-theatrical-release full-length feature film]], which, according to Mike Quackenbush and along with everything that happened from the closure to National Pro Wrestling Day 2014, is considered to be season 13. In October 2013 Chikara signed an agreement with Creator/NeonAlley, the anime streaming service, to release a weekly wrestling program on their Saturday lineup. This deal expired at the end of March 2014.

CHIKARA returned on May 25th, 2014, the 12th year anniversary of their very first show, with the Season 14 opener, ''You Only Live Twice''. This was [[http://www.smvod.com/premium-video/chikara-ippv-may-25-2014-you-only-live-twice-easton-pa aired on iPPV]]. Season 18 (not a typo) opened on February 4th, 2017 with National Pro Wrestling Day 2017, and closed on December 2nd, 2017 with Closing Time. It would also reveal the existence of a "secret" Season 17, which would become available for streaming on [=CHIKARATopia=].

Following an abbreviated Season 21 due to COVID-19, CHIKARA ceased operations on June 24th, 2020. As part of the [[https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SpeakingOut&src=typed_query #SpeakingOut]] movement, massive allegations came out against Mike Quackenbush related to harassment of female talent and trainees by Quackenbush himself and other trainers at the Wrestle Factory. Many roster members, including Hallowicked, Dasher Hatfield, and Kimberlee resigned from the promotion in protest, and Quackenbush subsequently announced the closure via his Twitter account.

Sometime after Chikara's 'closure', a series of Chikara-related videos, titled [[http://theashesof.com/ Ashes]], started being put up. Among other things, these mainly chronicle Wrestling/{{The Colony|Wrestling}}'s search for Soldier Ant, 3.0's search for Wrestling/ArchibaldPeck, and Icarus' search for allies to help revive Chikara. These, in extended form and along with footage that wasn't included in the web series, were compiled into a [[http://chikarapro.com/chikaratopiafiles/ashes-chikara-theatrical-release full-length feature film]], which, according to Mike Quackenbush and along with everything that happened from the closure to National Pro Wrestling Day 2014, is considered to be season 13. In October 2013 Chikara signed an agreement with Creator/NeonAlley, the anime streaming service, to release a weekly wrestling program on their Saturday lineup. This deal expired at the end of March 2014.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: Amusingly, the fans do this to themselves and each other. They substitute "holy poop" for the standard "holy shit" chants, and when one guy once tried to start a "holy shit" chant, they shouted him down with "shut the heck up". Even Wrestling/TommyDreamer apologized for saying "shit" during a speech at one event.

* CallBack: The use of an acoustic cover of the theme to ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' in the Ashes video "Believe" calls back to its almost-use in the earlier video "Fickle", with Icarus' reaction to it in both videos serving to illustrate just how far his crusade has come.[[note]] In the versions of both scenes used for the Ashes movie, the GAH theme is replaced with Jonathan Coulton's "So Far So Good".[[/note]]

** Starting roughly with the promotions revival, characters getting Chucked has become so commonplace that it's hindering the ability for new characters to get over - nobody wants to invest their interest in someone who might vanish into thin air.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The current CHIKARA roster page. Blue text for tecnicos, red for rudos, yellow for non-wrestlers, and light gray for alumni.

* EldritchAbomination: The Batiri aren't actually abominations themselves, but their gimmick seems to include being somehow associated with one.

* EvilPowerVacuum: The storyline going into 2012. With Ares, Claudio and Sinn Bodhi gone and the BDK disbanded, the top rudo spot was up for grabs and Tim Donst, Obariyon, Brodie Lee, Ophidian, and Vin Gerard were all in the running for it. However, Donst, Ophidian and Obariyon ended up back in the midcard, Brodie was signed to a WWE developmental deal, Vin was re-released after losing a match against Eddie Kingston, and 17 wasn't quite formidable enough to claim the job. By 2013, Wink Vavasseur had become a NonActionBigBad.

* {{Expy}}: Amasis is a partial expy of Wrestling/BookerT.

* {{Jerkass}}: Chuck Taylor. One of his favorite ways to get heat is to surprise little kids watching at ringside by screaming at them.

* TheMole: An entire storyline revolved around one of the Tecnicos having gone mole for the Rudos and passing the counter to Mike Quackenbush's feared finisher (the CHIKARA Special) to Chris Hero via [=UltraMantis=] Black. The Tecnicos had Tim Donst do a fake FaceHeelTurn and join up with the Rudos as a mole and find out who the traitor was. Turns out the traitor was Shane Storm, who later became STIGMA.

** 17, after watching The Shard be executed by Deucalion, saved Frightmare from the same fate then abandoned his mask and gear before leaving the building.

CHIKARA ceased operations on June 24th, 2020. As part of the #SpeakingOut movement, massive allegations against Mike Quackenbush related to harassment of female talent and trainees by Quackenbush himself and other trainers at the Wrestle Factory. Many roster members, including Hallowicked, Dasher Hatfield, and Kimberlee resigned from the promotion in protest, and Quackenbush subsequently announced the closure via his Twitter account.

CHIKARA (also Chikara or Chikara Pro, translated from Japanese as "Power") is a ProfessionalWrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, PA that chiefly tours the northeastern United States, known for its light tone, sense of humor, and high-flying action. It was established in 2002.

-->-- [[Wrestling/DeanAmbrose Jon Moxley]]

** Sugar Dunkerton could be hammy at times as well.

* BombThrowingAnarchists: What Arik Cannon was trying to go for, but besides using "Anarchy in the U.K." and having "The Anarchist" for a nickname, [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything he never did much of anything like that or in-character]].

* [[AnyoneCanDie Anyone Can Suffer a Career-Ending Injury]]: The theme of season 14. The final list: Kobald, deviANT, Tursas, Callux, Wrestling/{{The Estonian Thunderfrog}}, the Latvian Proud Oak, Equinox III, Create-a-wrestler II, Ares, The Shard, Archibald Peck, and Deucalion.

* ActionGirl: Early on, Chikara ran a series of shows called Kiryoku Pro featuring only women. Usual adversaries Wrestling/MercedesMartinez and Sumie Sakai represented the 'brand' at the first Tag World Grand Prix. After Kiryoko Pro was discontinued, a ruling was made that there was no difference between men and women in Chikara. Since then, Chikara has had various intergender matches. This hasn't stopped them from putting on ladies-only shows like ''Wrestling/{{JoshiMania}}'' though.

** For Seasons 7 and 8, Wrestling/VinGerard, leader of the [=Unstable=] (briefly a duumvirate with Mitch Ryder)
** For Seasons 9 and 10, Ares, leader of Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes with Wrestling/SinnBodhi, leader of the Dark Army, becoming a fellow BigBad in Season 10.