History Wrestling / ChrisHero

* WeaponOfChoice: A golden elbow pad, or really, any combination of metal and elbow pads. He claimed his first weighted pad was a gift from Wrestling/MitsuharuMisawa, who also used the rolling elbow as a finisher, in NOAH.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hero The Other Wiki]].

* BashBrothers: Claudio Castagnoli the most. At other points, Arik Cannon, Wrestling/NecroButcher, Wrestling/SaraDelRey, Marc Roudin, Porno The Clown, John Caesar, Danny Blackheart, Wrestling/ColtCabana, JT Dunn and [[Wrestling/AleisterBlack Tommy End]].

* {{Big Damn Hero|es}}: At Ring Of Honor Final Battle 2013 against Wrestling/AdamCole and Wrestling/MattHardy

He debuted in 1998 and traveled to receive further training from Tracy Smothers, Johnny Saint, Skayde, Les Thatcher, Dave Taylor, Dave Finlay, Wrestling/DoryFunkJr and others, wrestling in various Midwestern indies. His first standout role came from Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South in Indiana. In 2002, he debuted in [=CHIKARA=], teaming with Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/ColtCabana as the Gold Bond Mafia. He [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] on his [=SuperFriends=] partner Mike Quackenbush in the finals of the 2005 CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix, costing his team the match against [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro)]] and Arik Cannon. This led to Hero, Castagnoli and Cannon forming Wrestling/TheKingsOfWrestling and effectively shaped CHIKARA for the foreseeable future. Hero and Castagnoli would defeat Milano Collection A.T. and Skayde to win the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix and become the inaugural [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-t.html CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas]]. Hero left CHIKARA at the end of 2007 over what remains to this day completely mysterious circumstances. He has also competed for various Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance members, Wrestling/{{CZW}}, [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH and Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla.

He debuted in 1998 and traveled to receive further training from Tracy Smothers, Johnny Saint, Skayde, Les Thatcher, Dave Taylor, Dave Finlay, Wrestling/DoryFunkJr and others, wrestling in various Midwestern indies. His first standout role came from Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South in Indiana. In 2002, he debuted in [=CHIKARA=], teaming with Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/ColtCabana as the Gold Bond Mafia. He [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] on his [=SuperFriends=] partner Wrestling/MikeQuackenbush in the finals of the 2005 CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix, costing his team the match against [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro)]] and Wrestling/ArikCannon. This led to Hero, Castagnoli and Cannon forming Wrestling/TheKingsOfWrestling and effectively shaped CHIKARA for the foreseeable future. Hero and Castagnoli would defeat Milano Collection A.T. and Skayde to win the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix and become the inaugural [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-t.html CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas]]. Hero left CHIKARA at the end of 2007 over what remains to this day completely mysterious circumstances. He has also competed for various Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance members, Wrestling/{{CZW}}, [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH and Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla.

* AntiClimax: He defeated Wrestling/ShaneStorm at ''CHIKARA The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance'' by blasting him with a single right-hand punch.

* BigBad: For 2005-2007. Specifically, the Kings of Wrestling were ''the'' dominant heel stable in CHIKARA, and everything centered around them. The 2007 Torneo Cibernetico, at ''Cibernetico & Robin'', September 22, 2007, was the KOW (Hero, Castagnoli, Wrestling/ChuckTaylor, Wrestling/GranAkuma, Wrestling/{{Icarus|Wrestling}}, Wrestling/LarrySweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shane Hawke) vs. Equinox, [[Wrestling/{{Hunico}} Incognito (Hunico[=/=]Sin Cara Negro)]], Lince Dorado, Magno[[note]]a replacement for Sicodelico Jr.[[/note]], Las Chivas (Chiva III and Chiva IV) and Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream). The way the match works is that it is an elimination tag match where there can be only one person left, even if that means one team has to fight each other after the other team has been eliminated, which is exactly what happened here. Ryder had eliminated Dorado, leaving only himself, Hero and Castagnoli. Castagnoli eliminated Hero and Ryder to win.

** Given his position in Chikara and CZW, Chris Hero has trained or had a hand in the training of AKUMA, Ares, Claudio Castagnoli, Danny Havoc, Drew Gulak, Wrestling/EddieKingston, Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}}, JC Bailey, Wrestling/LarrySweeney, Lince Dorado, Lucky tHURTeen, Mickie Knuckles, Orange Cassidy, Portia Pérez, Thumbtack Jack, Tim Donst, Trik Davis and many, many more.

** The Kings Of Wrestling had [=QuackenSaw=] (Wrestling/{{Jigsaw|Wrestling}} and Mike Quackenbush) Lightning Storm (Shane Storm and Mike Quackenbush), [=ShaneSaw=] (Shane Storm and Jigsaw) in Chikara. Also Incoherence ([[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] and Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}})

* TheHeavy: He lead the CZW Invasion of Ring Of Honor. However, CZW owner John Zandig was the BigBad and thanked Hero for his efforts. Hero instigated the hostilities before Zandig and Necro Butcher's later involvement but Zandig is ultimately responsible for the existence of ROH itself.

He debuted in 1998 and traveled to receive further training from Tracy Smothers, Johnny Saint, Skayde, Les Thatcher, Dave Taylor, Dave Finlay, Wrestling/DoryFunkJr and others, wrestling in various Midwestern indies. His first standout role came from Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South in Indiana. In 2002, he debuted in [=CHIKARA=], teaming with Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/ColtCabana as the Gold Bond Mafia. He [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] on his [=SuperFriends=] partner Wrestling/MikeQuackenbush in the finals of the 2005 CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix, costing his team the match against [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro)]] and Arik Cannon. This led to Hero, Castagnoli and Cannon forming Wrestling/TheKingsOfWrestling and effectively shaped CHIKARA for the foreseeable future. Hero and Castagnoli would defeat Milano Collection A.T. and Skayde to win the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix and become the inaugural [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-t.html CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas]]. Hero left CHIKARA at the end of 2007 over what remains to this day completely mysterious circumstances. He has also competed for various Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance members, Wrestling/{{CZW}}, [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH and Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: During the Wrestling/DieBruderschaftDesKreuzes angle. Even though his last CHIKARA match was two years before the group formed, much of the stable had roots in Hero's machinations. Specifically, Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}} had sent Hero to work for Dr. Cube in Wrestling/KaijuBigBattel in exchange for Cube giving [=UMB=] the Eye of Tyr, a Norse mythological artifact that can be used to control minds. When Ares and Tursas came down to the ring at the end of CHIKARA's 2009 SeasonFinale ''Three-Fisted Tales,'' Ares demanded that [=UMB=] give him the Eye of Tyr.[[note]][=UMB=], Vökoder and [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] had walked to the ring together in response to Ares demanding "the man with the real power." [=UMB=] handed the Eye to Vökoder. After Tursas and Ares unmasked, Vökoder attacked [=UMB=], aligning himself with Ares and the BDK. He unmasked as Tim Donst, who subsequently gave Ares the Eye of Tyr.[[/note]] The other significant event was Shane Storm giving Hero the counter to Quackenbush's submission hold the CHIKARA Special, leading to Storm turning heel and becoming [=STIGMA=].

* WouldHitAGirl: Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru and Sumie Sakai say the Kings Of Wrestling definitely would. Larry Sweeney has also sicked Hero on Wrestling/DaizeeHaze.

* TrashTheSet: An unintentional example. During his match with Claudio at the ''King of Europe Cup 2007'', he suplexed Claudio so hard that the ring actually caved in from the impact. Considering that, unlike, say, the Wrestling/BrockLesnar-Wrestling/TheBigShow incident on ''[=SmackDown!=]'' in 2003, these guys ''aren't'' [=superheavyweights=], that says something about either how hard the suplex was or how poorly the ring must have been constructed.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: During the BDK angle. Even though his last CHIKARA match was two years before the group formed, much of the stable had roots in Hero's machinations. Specifically, Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}} had sent Hero to work for Dr. Cube in Wrestling/KaijuBigBattel in exchange for Cube giving [=UMB=] the Eye of Tyr, a Norse mythological artifact that can be used to control minds. When Ares and Tursas came down to the ring at the end of CHIKARA's 2009 SeasonFinale ''Three-Fisted Tales,'' Ares demanded that [=UMB=] give him the Eye of Tyr.[[note]][=UMB=], Vökoder and [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] had walked to the ring together in response to Ares demanding "the man with the real power." [=UMB=] handed the Eye to Vökoder. After Tursas and Ares unmasked, Vökoder attacked [=UMB=], aligning himself with Ares and the BDK. He unmasked as Tim Donst, who subsequently gave Ares the Eye of Tyr.[[/note]] The other significant event was Shane Storm giving Hero the counter to Quackenbush's submission hold the CHIKARA Special, leading to Storm turning heel and becoming [=STIGMA=].

* BigBad: For 2005-2007. Specifically, the Kings of Wrestling were ''the'' dominant heel stable in CHIKARA, and everything centered around them. The 2007 Torneo Cibernetico, at ''Cibernetico & Robin'', September 22, 2007, was the KOW (Hero, Castagnoli, Wrestling/ChuckTaylor, Wrestling/GranAkuma, Icarus, Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shane Hawke) vs. Equinox, [[Wrestling/{{Hunico}} Incognito (Hunico[=/=]Sin Cara Negro)]], Lince Dorado, Magno[[note]]a replacement for Sicodelico Jr.[[/note]], Las Chivas (Chiva III and Chiva IV) and Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream). The way the match works is that it is an elimination tag match where there can be only one person left, even if that means one team has to fight each other after the other team has been eliminated, which is exactly what happened here. Ryder had eliminated Dorado, leaving only himself, Hero and Castagnoli. Castagnoli eliminated Hero and Ryder to win.

* BigBad: For 2005-2007. Specifically, the Kings of Wrestling were ''the'' dominant heel stable in CHIKARA, and everything centered around them. The 2007 Torneo Cibernetico, at ''Cibernetico & Robin'', September 22, 2007, was the KOW (Hero, Castangoli, Chuck Taylor, Wrestling/GranAkuma, Icarus, Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shane Hawke) vs. Equinox, [[Wrestling/{{Hunico}} Incognito (Hunico[=/=]Sin Cara Negro)]], Lince Dorado, Magno[[note]]a replacement for Sicodelico Jr.[[/note]], Las Chivas (Chiva III and Chiva IV) and Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream). The way the match works is that it is an elimination tag match where there can be only one person left, even if that means one team has to fight each other after the other team has been eliminated, which is exactly what happened here. Ryder had eliminated Dorado, leaving only himself, Hero and Castagnoli. Castagnoli eliminated Hero and Ryder to win.

He debuted in 1998 and traveled to receive further training from Tracy Smothers, Johnny Saint, Skayde, Les Thatcher, Dave Taylor, Dave Finlay, Dory Funk Jr and others, wrestling in various Midwestern indies. His first standout role came from Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South in Indiana. In 2002, he debuted in [=CHIKARA=], teaming with Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/ColtCabana as the Gold Bond Mafia. He [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] on his [=SuperFriends=] partner Wrestling/MikeQuackenbush in the finals of the 2005 CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix, costing his team the match against [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro)]] and Arik Cannon. This led to Hero, Castagnoli and Cannon forming Wrestling/TheKingsOfWrestling and effectively shaped CHIKARA for the foreseeable future. Hero and Castagnoli would defeat Milano Collection A.T. and Skayde to win the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix and become the inaugural [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-t.html CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas]]. Hero left CHIKARA at the end of 2007 over what remains to this day completely mysterious circumstances. He has also competed for various Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance members, Wrestling/{{CZW}}, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH and Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla.

** The Kings Of Wrestling had [=QuackenSaw=] (Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush) Lightning Storm (Shane Storm and Mike Quackenbush), [=ShaneSaw=] (Shane Storm and Jigsaw) in Chikara. Also Incoherence ([[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] and Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}})

* AntiClimax: He defeated Shane Storm at ''CHIKARA The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance'' by blasting him with a single right-hand punch.

* BigBad: For 2005-2007. Specifically, the Kings of Wrestling were ''the'' dominant heel stable in CHIKARA, and everything centered around them. The 2007 Torneo Cibernetico, at ''Cibernetico & Robin'', September 22, 2007, was the KOW (Hero, Castangoli, Chuck Taylor, Gran Akuma, Icarus, Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shane Hawke) vs. Equinox, [[Wrestling/{{Hunico}} Incognito (Hunico[=/=]Sin Cara Negro)]], Lince Dorado, Magno[[note]]a replacement for Sicodelico Jr.[[/note]], Las Chivas (Chiva III and Chiva IV) and Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream). The way the match works is that it is an elimination tag match where there can be only one person left, even if that means one team has to fight each other after the other team has been eliminated, which is exactly what happened here. Ryder had eliminated Dorado, leaving only himself, Hero and Castagnoli. Castagnoli eliminated Hero and Ryder to win.

* OutGambitted: At ''IWA Mid-South No Retreat...No Surrender'', January 21, 2006, he faced GarbageWrestler Wrestling/NecroButcher in a "European Rules" match, with the stipulation that if Necro survived both rounds Hero would have to face him in a Barroom Brawl. Hero imposed tons of rules on the premise that there would be no way for Necro to keep up with them. Instead, Necro managed to fight Hero to a 1:1 draw (Hero won Round 4, Necro won Round 5), meaning that Hero found himself in the situation he did ''not'' want to be in, a Barroom Brawl against ''Necro Butcher''. Butcher won, of course.

* BashBrothers: Claudio Castagnoli the most. At other points, Arik Cannon, Necro Butcher, Wrestling/SaraDelRey, Marc Roudin, Porno The Clown, John Caesar, Danny Blackheart, Wrestling/ColtCabana, JT Dunn and [[Wrestling/AleisterBlack Tommy End]].

* {{Cameo}}

* OutGambitted: At ''IWA Mid-South No Retreat...No Surrender'', January 21, 2006, he faced [[GarbageWrestler Necro Butcher]] in a "European Rules" match, with the stipulation that if Necro survived both rounds Hero would have to face him in a Barroom Brawl. Hero imposed tons of rules on the premise that there would be no way for Necro to keep up with them. Instead, Necro managed to fight Hero to a 1:1 draw (Hero won Round 4, Necro won Round 5), meaning that Hero found himself in the situation he did ''not'' want to be in, a Barroom Brawl against ''Necro Butcher''. Butcher won, of course.

He debuted in 1998 and traveled to receive further training from Tracy Smothers, Johnny Saint, Skayde, Les Thatcher, Dave Taylor, Dave Finlay, Dory Funk Jr and others, wrestling in various Midwestern indies. His first standout role came from Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South in Indiana. In 2002, he debuted in [=CHIKARA=], teaming with Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/ColtCabana as the Gold Bond Mafia. He [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] on his [=SuperFriends=] partner Wrestling/MikeQuackenbush in the finals of the 2005 CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix, costing his team the match against [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro)]] and Arik Cannon. This led to Hero, Castagnoli and Cannon forming the Kings of Wrestling and effectively shaped CHIKARA for the foreseeable future. Hero and Castagnoli would defeat Milano Collection A.T. and Skayde to win the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix and become the inaugural [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-t.html CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas]]. Hero left CHIKARA at the end of 2007 over what remains to this day completely mysterious circumstances. He has also competed for various Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance members, Wrestling/{{CZW}}, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH and Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla.

* TheDragon: As the centerpiece of Sweet N' Sour Incorporated's ROH branch. Obviously Larry Sweeney called the shots but Hero was his most important wrestler.
* TheFace: John Zandig sent Hero to represent CZW in IPW:UK and at the 2007 King of Europe Cup.
* TheHeavy: He lead the CZW Invasion of Ring Of Honor. However, CZW owner John Zandig was the BigBad and thanked Hero for his efforts. Hero instigated the hostilities before Zandig and Necro Butcher's later involvement but Zandig is ultimately responsible for the existence of ROH itself.
* TheJannetty: In Wrestling/DragonGate USA, Trent Baretta teased him over the fact Claudio Castagnoli was headlining WWE when it should have been Hero, who Baretta accuses of shooting himself in the foot [[YouAreFat for not eating salad]].
* TheRival:
** The H8 Club (Nick Gage and Justice Pain) in CZW to the Kings Of Wrestling.
** The Kings Of Wrestling had [=QuackenSaw=] (Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush) Lightning Storm (Shane Storm and Mike Quackenbush), [=ShaneSaw=] (Shane Storm and Jigsaw) in Chikara. Also Incoherence ([[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] and Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}})
** Generation Next in Ring Of Honor, particularly Wrestling/AustinAries and Wrestling/RoderickStrong, who frequently acted as a tag team, though Wrestling/MattSydal too, as he teamed with Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels to unseat them as ROH Tag Team Champions after The Kings Of Wrestling unseated Aries and Strong. Also, The American Wolves and Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam
** Team PWG (Super Dragon and B-Boy) in Pro Wrestling Guerilla
** Brave in NOAH, particularly Takeshi Morishima and Mohammed Yone (AKA Captain NOAH), who acted as a tag team against Hero and Castagnoli
** The Olsen Twins, Colin and Jimmy in 2CW
** Wrestling/TheYoungBucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) in ROH and PWG
** Individually, he's wrestled to several draws with CM Punk in IWA Mid-South and the International Wrestling Cartel
** He has a verbal rivalry with Wrestling/LanceStorm, but the two don't wrestle too much, due to Lance being ''mostly'' retired.
* TheWorfBarrage
** Just how many people ''haven't'' been knocked out by his elbow or rubix cube? At ''ROH Goldrush'', [[Wrestling/SethRollins Tyler Black]] endured several, the last time he didn't even fall down before flooring Hero with a super kick. Though in that case, Hero endured several super kicks without being pinned himself.
** Realized this after Bryan Danielson beat him for the PWG World Title, his multiple elbows failing to knock him out.

* RealSongThemeTune: Among others...
** Ralph [=Cardall=]'s "It's A Bird, It's A Plane"
** Music/StoneTemplePilots' "Dead and Bloated"
** Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero"
** The Kings of Wrestling (Hero and Castagnoli) used Music/{{Queen}}'s "We Are The Champions" and ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man"
** (In JCW): [[Music/FooFighters The Foo Fighters]]' "My Hero"
** He's protested against being given Black Sabbath's "Ironman"

* {{Expy}}: Of [[Wrestling/ExtremeChampionshipWrestling ECW]]'s [[Wrestling/MikeBucci Super Nova]], being a similar long-haired superhero wrestler with a highly technical moveset.

!!! "Knockout Tropes"

Chris Spradlin (b. 1979) is an American {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er from Dayton, UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}. He has wrestled in no less than sixteen different promotions stationed across North and South America, Asia, Australia and Europe and is best known for his work in Wrestling/RingOfHonor and Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} as Chris Hero. The German westside Xtreme wrestling is his home promotion away from home.

* BashBrothers: Claudio Castagnoli the most. At other points, Arik Cannon, Necro Butcher, Wrestling/SaraDelRey, Marc Roudin, Porno The Clown, John Caesar, Danny Blackheart, Wrestling/ColtCabana, JT Dunn and Tommy End

** Heroes Eventually Die with Tommy End in EVOLVE