Line #3 Trivia/CHIKARA


1	* ActingForTwo: Chikara is a strange animal in this regard compared to other wrestling companies, where they often like to train new wrestlers and bring in other wrestlers and sometimes remake them into a new gimmick. But over the years many of the more OutOfFocus masked wrestlers have been played by more significant wrestlers on the card either as well or all along. Given there's no out of story documentation how many people actually have trained at the Wrestlefactory in some of these cases it's unknown how all the examples actually play out. It's entirely possible some characters have no one regular performer. It's also possible some started out as legitimate new rookies that couldn't make it in the business and thus they just kept the character alive without them. It's also possible some of them can only work indy wrestling part time and such sometimes are played by a regular performer but have someone on the roster fill in if they just can't make it. Lastly some are also regularly known on the indy circuits by other names but were given new gimmicks for their Chikara debut. While this page will cover these subjects as best we know, discussing any of this as a fan of or a performer in Chikara is a good way to get PutOnABus as far as Chikara is concerned.
2	** Los Ice Creams being perennial favorites have been this at times if not always. It is believed Quackenbush and Hallowicked have been under the Ice Cream masks before. The most frustrating thing about this example is that most people who have been believed to have played the Ice Creams also have at least one match listing where they fought against the Ice Creams. This one example that probably does have multiple people under the mask over the years.
3	** Darkness Crabtree has often been played by Mike Quackenbush, maybe from the get-go or taking over the role at some point. Also, Crabtree's partner Melvin Snodgrass was played by Reckless Youth.
4	** Chuck Taylor is sourced on Wikipedia as being Mr. Azerbaijan but it is also believed others have filled in for the role. So far there isn't much belief this character was ever portrayed by a new rookie.
5	*** Chuck Taylor was also Orbit Adventure Ant. Dan Champion was supposed to play the role but dropped out before debuting after falling out with Quackenbush. Taylor did mention one night another guy played the role when OAA had to wrestle Mr Azerbaijan.
6	** Jervis Cottonbelly was originally played by wrestler TJ Cain until he disappeared OutOfFocus for years. While the character had a more recent comeback people noticed that Kevin Condron's leave and Jervis's absence being around the same time has heavily implied to have been Jervis Cottonbelly from at least 2015 onward. As of [[https://twitter.com/GentlemanJervis/status/1469088602768371716 late 2021]], he no longer conceals this.
7	** The biggest example though being for years it was rumored Soldier Ant and Drew Gulak were the same guy. Especially given how often wherever Gulak went in the states Soldier Ant popped up too. In late 2016 Soldier Ant suffered a "career ending injury" on the same show that Drew Gulak left due to being signed full time by WWE. Naturally, none were fooled.
8	** "The Hot Property" Fire Ant was played by Orange Cassidy in one of the biggest cases of PlayingAgainstType in history. He also made some appearances as JC Ryder in 2005 before donning the Fire Ant mask in 2006.
9	** The other main ant, Green Ant (later Silver Ant) also worked unmasked in Chikara as Dieter [=VonSteigerwalt=]. For many years it was wrongly assumed Dieter was an unmasked Hydra. However once he decided to leave Chikara and focus on wrestling unmasked under his real name as Tracy Williams, he no longer conceals any of this.
10	*** Hydra himself was speculated for years to have been Leslie Butterscotch of the Flames of Love tag team, which was [[https://twitter.com/DJHydra_Gains/status/1584719242493952000 confirmed]] after being forced to unmask in 2022.
11	** The Latvian Proud Oak was played by the same wrestler who played Archibald Peck (and his other characters including the one he is generally called elsewhere RD Evans)
12	** Brief character Tianlong was played by the same wrestler who went on to become Lithuanian Snow Troll. Outside of Chikara he went by Alexander Bird.
13	** Prakash Sabar and Officer Bruno Meloni were played by the same wrestler who otherwise appears to have been a legitimate new rookie trained by Chikara. It's also thought, though unconfirmed, that he played The Brown Morning of Belarus before becoming Prakash.
14	** While this list generally doesn't include wrestlers who only play one character in Chikara but others elsewhere, one now applies to this in The Shard. The Shard was played by regular indy wrestler John Silver. Years after the Shard character was killed off Silver worked a Chikara event as his regular persona.
15	** The Shard's GEKIDO partner [=combatANT=] was played by Alex Reynolds, who would later form a regular tag team in CZW called The Beaver Boys. Reynolds and Silver, working unmasked, participated in the 2018 Cibernetico. Ironically, Reynolds and Silver would reunite in 2020 in Wrestling/{{AEW}}'s Dark Order stable.
16	** Technically this applies to the original 17, who made an appearance under his real name Kyle Matthews after 17 was written out of the storylines.
17	** It was never a secret that Colt Cabana and Matt Classic were the same guy (Scott Goldman), but during 2011 and 2012 Goldman was working CHIKARA both as Colt Cabana and Matt Classic.
18	** According to cagematch.net at least, the same wrestler played Ursa Minor in the Night Sky, as well as the back-from-the-bus Arctic Rescue Ant who became Bullet Ant. The original Arctic Rescue Ant was someone else. The guy who played Ursa Minor and [=ARA2=] also worked outside Chikara as Jixx.
19	** Lest one think Cagematch is a 100% reliable resource, it claims that Qefka the Quiet was portrayed by ''three'' different wrestlers, two of whom would count for this trope. One was Juan Francisco de Coronado who would be a major player in CHIKARA for years, the other was Mark Andrews, who made some appearances during King of Trios 2014 and later appeared on NXT UK. The third was lesser known indy wrestler Daniel Yost, who never made any unmasked appearances in Chikara.
20	** Nytehawk and Sylverhawk were Boomer Hatfield and Wheeler YUTA; the former of which was a temporary gimmick given to Boomer to help get in ring experience until he was ready to take a leading role as Dasher Hatfield's son Boomer. The latter was retired when Wheeler YUTA quit Chikara, due to him not liking having to wrestle while wearing a mask.
21	* AscendedFanNickname: Even before he was officially named, Equinox III had already been dubbed "3quinox" by fans. Later ascended as Kid Cyclone used it in [[http://web.archive.org/web/20140905095250/http://www.chikarapro.com/blog-kid-cyclone-7-18-14/ an official blog]].
22	%%* AuthorsSavingThrow: Subverted hard with Dasher Hatfield's heel turn as there was no plan whatsoever to really reverse it had it failed as far as Quackenbush and Hatfield committing 100% to it and Dasher unmasking as part of the storyline.
23	* BreakupBreakout:
24	** In recent times, Darin Corbin is more well-known as the slow motion guy and as one half of AC/DC with Arik Cannon, while Ryan Cruz hasn't appeared in CHIKARA since 2010.
25	** Amasis was initially more successful than Ophidian as a singles wrestler. During the Osirian Portal's original heel run he was considered the less formidable of the two, but that reversed itself once the team turned face, and he won their singles feud. Ophidian eventually eclipsed him in CHIKARA, however.
26	** Averted by Obariyon and Kodama of The Batiri. Obariyon stuck around a little longer into 2017 after Kodama was fired, finally leaving after getting squashed by Merlok, leading to Ashley Vox channeling the darkness inside herself to become Oceanea. Both played straight and averted by Kobald, as he outlasted both of his partners but was outed as an abuser during the [=#SpeakingOut=] movement and subsequently kicked out of wrestling as a whole.
27	** "Juke Joint" Lucas Calhoun (formerly Volgar), of the Two Masked Condor Security Guys, due to his partner Callux being destroyed by Eddie Kingston on orders from Jimmy Jacobs. Outside the Volgar gimmick, Calhoun has since outlasted several other partners as well.
28	** The Proletariat Boar of Moldova, of the Bloc Party by default - the Polar Baron, the Brown Morning of Belarus and Prakash Sabar have all disappeared, and Mr. Azerbaijan makes very occasional appearances.
29	** After Ursa Minor was dispatched from The Nouveau Aesthetic, Still Life started making strides as a singles wrestler, eventually winning the Young Lions Cup.
30	** Max Smashmaster outlasted his teammates (Blaster [=McMassive=] and Flex Rumblecrunch) in The Devastation Corporation. If you extend that to the entirety of Bakabella's Wrecking Crew, count Oleg the Usurper among the Breakouts and Jaka among the Jannettys.
31	** From Team Sea Stars, Delmi Exo just quietly disappeared while Ashley Vox turned heel, became Oceana, and was for a time one of the more formidable heels in the promotion.
32	** Of the main 3 Colony members, Drew Gulak (Soldier Ant) and Orange Cassidy (Fire Ant) are in international promotions, while Tracy Williams (Green[=/=]Silver Ant) is currently doing OK for himself in independent promotions.
33	** Following the breakup of the Wild Cards, [=BlackJack=] Marciano disappeared entirely from wrestling with no explanation, while Eddie Kingston's been featured in several different promotions besides CHIKARA.
34	** Compared to former partners [=UltraMantis=] Black and Shane Storm/STIGMA, Mister ZERO has not done much else in CHIKARA, though he's also the only one of the three to become a LegacyCharacter.
35	** After the breakup of The Conundrum, Jigsaw went on to become a well known name on the indie scene, while Rorschach gradually disappeared. His last documented match was in 2012.
36	** Out of Swiss Money Holding, Ares and Claudio Castagnoli saw varying amounts of success (Castagnoli especially), while Marc Roudin quietly retired. CHIKARA pulled him out of retirement for ''Tag World Grand Prix 2008''.
37	** While Darkness Crabtree was a recurring character until his death at the hands of the Flood, Melvin Snodgrass disappeared in 2004.
38	** After the breakup of N_R_G, Race Jaxon reinvented himself as "That Young and Handsome", a narcissistic heel, distancing himself from his previous role in an attempt to escape the CreatorsPet label the team had been tarred with. Once he lost the subsequent feud with his ex-partner and was forced to wear a mask as a result of a match, he rolled with it, shedding the "That Young and Handsome" moniker and becoming the egocentric artiste BLANK, a change that was very well-received by fans. Meanwhile, Hype Rockwell retained the N_R_G trappings and didn't do much of note after their feud except hang around Oleg the Usurper and the Proletariat Boar of Moldova. He eventually turned heel, which turned out to be rather pointless as he left CHIKARA immediately after doing so.
39	*** Speaking of BLANK, him and Still Life[[note]]now known as Edith Surreal but still considered the same gimmick[[/note]] are still making waves, but Ursa Minor isn't doing that much.
40	* ColbertBump: It is likely that Jervis gained more popularity after appearing on a stream with WebVideo/NewLEGACYInc, a comedic group of wrestling fans. Some said that one guy bought a large amount of Jervis Cottonbelly merchandising.
41	* CreatorBacklash:
42	** The pre-2004 shows, which most everyone on the CHIKARA roster have referred to as varying degrees of 'bad'. Icarus in particular has said that he'll do everything he can to keep the match in which he lost the Ichabod Slayne mask from seeing the light of day. Only five pre-2004 shows (The Renaissance Dawns, Live From the Factory 2, Aniversario, night one of the 2003 Tag World Grand Prix, and The International Invasion of the International Invaders) are available to watch on [=CHIKARATopia=] as a result.
43	** Jigsaw's brief unmasked run in Ring of Honor is treated as such.
44	* FakeNationality: Lince Dorado. Born in UsefulNotes/PuertoRico, billed from UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}}.
45	* {{Fan Community Nickname\|s}}: [[https://twitter.com/chikarmy Chikarmy]], originally the name for the since-discontinued fan club.
46	* ThePeteBest: The Bloc Party debuted in Wrestling Is Fun, but one member didn't make it to Chikara, while another would leave not long after. The Brown Morning of Belarus was KilledOffForReal after being hit with Estonian Thunderfrog's hammer and subsequently replaced with Prakash Sabar, while the Polar Baron, a NonActionBigBad, left after the Bloc Party lost a flag match to the Baltic Siege in the main event of ''The World is Not Enough''.
47	* PromotedFanboy: A pre-Director of Fun Leonard F. Chikarason is very visible in the front row at many of the early 2004 shows.
48	** In an interview, Vin Gerard claimed he was an indy wrestling fan and Reckless Youth mark, and had watched the first ever CHIKARA show as a fan in 2002. Then in 2005 he enrolled in the Chikara Wrestle Factory...
49	** Travis Huckabee is in the front row of many older shows, a thing that's often brought up as part of his journey to becoming a wrestler.
50	** It's a whole ''promotion'' of this. The December 28, 2011 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iLn_apOV9A edition]] of their Website/YouTube series ''The Barber Shop'' involved asking different CHIKARA personalities who, growing up, their favorite wrestlers were.
51	* RealSongThemeTune
52	** 2.0: Music/MichaelJackson's "Beat It" (later switched to a cover by Music/FallOutBoy and John Mayer)
53	** Ares: Jermaine [=Dupri=] with Music/{{Nas}} and [=Monica=]'s "I've Got to Have It" (Instrumental)
54	** Blind Rage: Music/MotleyCrue's "Girls Girls Girls", Music/TheMisfits' "Kong at the Gates"
55	** Arik Cannon: [[Music/SexPistols The Sex Pistols]]' "Anarchy In The UK"
56	** Cloudy: Music/GwenStefani's "[=Hollaback=] Girl," The Audition's "Oh How Cliché"
57	** The Colony: Music/DaveMatthewsBand's "Ants Marching," of course.
58	*** Soldier Ant used Music/SouljaBoy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
59	** Jervis Cottonbelly: The theme from ''Series/MrBelvedere'', The Squirrel Nut Zippers' "Lover's Lane"
60	** Crossbones: Music/LambOfGod's "Omerta," George Thorogood and The Destroyers' "Bad To The Bone," and Music/KillswitchEngage's "A Bid Farewell"
61	** Darkness Crabtree: Music/{{Iron Butterfly\|Band}}'s "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
62	** Da Soul Touchaz used Music/SouljaBoy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
63	** Wrestling/DieBruderschaftDesKreuzes: Music/{{Rammstein}}'s "[=Engel=]"
64	** DJ Skittlez: "#1" by Nelly
65	** Dr. Cube (the one at ''King of Trios 2008''): Music/TheMisfits' "Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes"
66	** Tim Donst: Music/GaryGlitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2"
67	** Lince Dorado: Music/{{Survivor\|Band}}'s "Eye of the Tiger"
68	** Sugar Dunkerton: Music/EarthWindAndFire's "Let's Groove"
69	** Madison Eagles: Music/{{AFI}}'s "Prelude 12/21"
70	** Equinox I (Vin Gerard) used Music/{{Santana}}'s "Migra."
71	** F.I.S.T: Orgy's "Blue Monday"
72	** Gran Akuma: [[Anime/BubblegumCrisis "Akuma To Tenshi No Kiss"]], Music/{{Disturbed}}'s "Hell", Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}}'s "She Is My Sin"
73	** Hallowicked: Music/{{Laibach}}'s "God Is God", Music/CypressHill's "Insane in the Brain"
74	** Dasher Hatfield: (as Create-A-Wrestler) Music/{{Wolfmother}}'s "Joker and The Thief"; (as [=MosCow=] The Communist Bovine) Music/DschinghisKhan's "Moskau"; (as Ultimo Breakfast) Music/SimpleMinds's "Don't You (Forget About Me)"; (as Dasher) Music/BruceSpringsteen's "Glory Days" and [[Music/DropkickMurphys The Dropkick Murphys]]' "Tessie"
75	** Cheech Hernandez: Music/FranzFerdinand's "This Boy"
76	** Chris Hero: Ralph [=Cardall=]'s "It's A Bird, It's A Plane", Music/StoneTemplePilots' "Dead and Bloated", Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero"
77	** Hydra: Music/BlueOysterCult's "Franchise/{{Godzilla}}", Music/AmyWinehouse's "Rehab"
78	** Icarus: Music/{{Blur}}'s "Song 2"
79	** Jigsaw: Music/BonJovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name", [[Theatre/LaNouba "Once Upon a Time"]], [=TRUSTcompany's=] "Rock the Casbah"
80	** Eddie Kingston: Music/{{Jay Z}}'s "[=Blueprint2=]", Music/KanyeWest's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", [=T.I.=]'s "What You Know About That", "Money Making Blueprint" by DJ Sonic
81	** Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy used Music/FloggingMolly's "Seven Deadly Sins"
82	** Men @ Work: "Down Under" by Music/MenAtWork
83	** "CP Munk" (Necro Butcher): A [=chipmunked=] version of Music/{{AFI}}'s "Miseria Cantare- The Beginning"
84	** The North Star Express (Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz): [=Vengaboys=]' "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom"
85	** Colin Olsen/Colin Delaney: Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky's "1812 Overture"
86	*** The Olsen Twins used Music/BritneySpears' "Toxic" and Music/{{Kesha}}'s "Tik Tok."
87	** The Order of the Neo Solar Temple: "Satori Pt. 1" by Flower Travellin' Band, "Tearing the Veil from Grace" by Music/CradleOfFilth
88	** The Osirian Portal used Music/TheBangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian" and covers of same.
89	** Mike Quackenbush: "Break it Down Again" by Music/TearsForFears
90	** Grizzly Redwood: [=Jackyl=]'s "Lumberjack"
91	** Retail Dragon: Music/FranzFerdinand's "This Fire," Music/{{Powerman 5000}}'s "When Worlds Collide", [[Anime/DragonBallZ "Perfect Cell Remix"]]
92	** Rorschach: Music/{{Sum 41}}'s "Fat Lip", [=Trans Am=]'s "Cologne"
93	** Mitch Ryder: Music/RodStewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", Music/{{Mew}}'s "Saviours Of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)"
94	** Wrestling/SumieSakai: "My Humps" by Music/TheBlackEyedPeas
95	** Skayde: Music/LilKim's "Magic Stick," Music/RageAgainstTheMachine's "Guerilla Radio" and Music/{{Shakira}}'s "Music/HipsDontLie."
96	** STIGMA: Music/GunsNRoses' "Welcome To The Jungle."
97	** Chuck Taylor: [=Polaris=]' "Hey Sandy"
98	** U.S. Ape: Music/JohnMellencamp's "R.O.C.K. In The USA (A Salute To 60S Rock)"
99	** [=UltraMantis=] Black: Music/ManOrAstroMan's "Mermaid Love"
100	** The Wildcards: "Jack of Speed" by Music/SteelyDan
101	* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: ''The entire promotion'' went under following the [=#SpeakingOut=] movement of June 2020. It primarily began due to reports of Anthony "Kobald" Wilson being physically and mentally abusive, but then further allegations became levied towards co-founder Mike Quackenbush of enabling and perpetuating systematic abuse against female staffers and trainees throughout the company. Following several public resignations of high talent, Quackenbush deleted his Twitter, and CHIKARA has since remained defunct.
102	* ScheduleSlip: They sometimes go weeks without posting a [="Podcast-A-Go-Go"=] for "Free Match Monday."
103	* WhatCouldHaveBeen
104	** In late 2002, they experimented with a sister promotion, [=Kiryoku=] Pro, which would focus on women's wrestling. It was abandoned after only three shows. Among the women who competed on those shows were [[Wrestling/MickieJames Alexis Laree (Mickie James)]], [[Wrestling/BethPhoenix Phoenix (Beth Phoenix)]], [[Wrestling/JillianHall Macaela Mercedes (Jillian Hall)]] and Little Jeannie (from Wrestling/{{WCW}}).
105	** In 2005, while CHIKARA and CZW were still co-running the Wrestle Factory, CHIKARA introduced a promotion for the school's "graduates" called [=NEXT=], later renamed [=STF=] (Stars of The Future). It lasted ten shows, from ''NEXT: Genesis Point'' on April 7, 2005 to ''STF Monster Mash II'' on October 28, 2006.
106	** Blackjack Marciano was in a prototype of the Kings of Wrestling with Hero and Double C in the winter months in Wrestling/{{CZW}}. Whether he was going to join or not if he stayed in wrestling is unknown, though.
107	** Don Montoya was offered a teacher spot by Mike Quackenbush, but declined.
108	** Wrestling/SamiCallihan revealed on a podcast that he was originally planned to be Vokoder. However, when he told Mike Quackenbush that he was skipping a show to attend a funeral, Quack fired him before he even got started - and demanded the return of the Vokoder costume which Sami had paid for with his own money.
109	** One of the reasons Jim Sterling moved from Mississippi to Pennsylvania was to work with Chikara on a regular basis, but they closed essentially the day he landed in state.
110	** Had Chikara not been shut down, the company would have gone out of it's way to shed most of the goofiest and supernatural elements of previous years going forward. In particular, it would be explicitly established that there was ZERO supernatural explanation for Dasher Hatfield turning evil (as opposed to previous storylines where top babyfaces went heel and it was explained away that they were under supernatural control) and position him as the person responsible for these changes in the company's direction. Using Sidney Bakabella as his henchman, Dasher would begin seizing control over Chikara from Mike Quackenbush in a hostile takeover with help from the Crucible (which Dasher would revive and take control over) and use the fact that Quackenbush was struggling to keep the company afloat in a post-Covid, post-AEW world to reduce Quackenbush into a subservient figure and change Chikara into a more serious and generic indie company. Molly [=McCoy=], who would begin to believe Dasher was being controlled by outside demonic influences like several other major Chikara stars were, would eventually leave Dasher over this push, as she eventually realizes Dasher simply went evil and that there was no outside force corrupting him into villainy that could be defeated to reset Dasher back to his old good guy self. Boomer and most of the new guard would try and stop Dasher and the Crucible recruits Dasher would be training for what was planned to be an open war arc with Boomer, Molly, and the others struggling to keep the spirit of old Chikara alive while Dasher and his proteges would seek to turn the company into Ring of Honor-lite.
111	** Adding to this, Max Zero would have seen a retool of his gimmick with Max adopting a New England accent and reveal himself to be a self-made millionaire partly inspire by the novel Great Gatsby film. Max would have kept the mask, but in general dress like a wealthy person as opposed to being a xerox copy of Mr. Zero.
112	* WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings: Before the Chikara 101 forums, there were the [=ChikaraFans=] forums. However, the moderators and a few of the most prominent users developed egos and started posting abusively and berating new users over pretty much everything - essentially falling afoul of the [[ForumSpeak Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory]]. When Leonard F. Chikarason told them to cool off, the owners responded by turning violently against CHIKARA itself, deleting their archives and turning their main forum into a venue to bash the promotion. The Chikara 101 forums are as good if not better than the [=ChikaraFans=] forums, but the archives are still missed.
113	* YouLookFamiliar: Vin Gerard resurfaced in CHIKARA at King of Trios 2015 with short, platinum-dyed hair, hawking Electric Monkey energy drink under the name Stan Malibu. After quickly being identified, he vanished not long afterward and was never mentioned again.

Context Trivia / CHIKARA