Line #24 Wrestling/CHIKARA


1	[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chikara4_1258.jpg]]
2	CHIKARA (also Chikara or Chikara Pro, translated from Japanese as "Power") was a ProfessionalWrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, PA that chiefly toured the northeastern United States, known for its light tone, sense of humor, and high-flying action. It was established in 2002.
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4	It was 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 had a defined season and off-season, and its season was 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 could only be held by wrestlers 25 years old or younger), and the Torneo Cibernetico (a 16-man ''lucha libre'' elimination match that served as the show's main event). CHIKARA also operated the Wrestle Factory, a wrestling training school; many of CHIKARA's wrestlers are Wrestle Factory graduates. The Wrestle Factory, as of August 2020, has continued to operate even after CHIKARA's closure.
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6	CHIKARA was 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 did 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=].
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8	CHIKARA's events can be seen via DVD, available from [[http://www.smartmarkvideo.com/ Smart Mark Video]], and [=MP4=] download, available from [[http://www.chikarapro.com/ the CHIKARA website]]. Additionally, you can pay to watch each show on the [[http://smvod.com Smark Mark Video On Demand]] website (pre-Season 15) or on the [=CHIKARATopia=] stream offered by the CHIKARA website. The promotion also produces a weekly video podcast - "CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go" - that can be viewed on their official Website/YouTube channel.
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10	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 Mike Quackenbush) doing commentary for the PPV and DVD versions of their shows.
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12	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 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.
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14	!! Notable CHIKARA events
15	* '''Young Lions Cup''': The oldest and longest-running event in CHIKARA history; 16 rookie graduates of the Wrestle Factory compete in a (usually) three night tournament.
16	* '''Anniversario''': The Chikara Anniversary show, held in May.
17	* '''Chikarasaurus Rex''': The big summer supercard. Usually where the stakes in the StoryArc are raised.
18	* '''King of Trios''': A massive, sprawling three day tournament between teams of three. The Winning team is declared the Kings (or Queens).
19	* '''Season Finale''': Arguably the closest thing to a Wrestlemania-type event CHIKARA offers, almost always in November or December; usually with a different name each year.
20	----
21	!! "[=Tropecast=]-A-Go-Go":
22	* 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 ''[=JoshiMania=]'' though.
23	* AerithAndBob: The Death Match Kings at ''King of Trios 2009'' were Wrestling/NecroButcher, Brain Damage and..."Mr. Insanity" Toby Klein.
24	* AlliterativeName: The September 6, 2008 show, centering around the "Lethal Lottery"[[note]]A Wrestling/DustyRhodes idea from 1991 Wrestling/{{WCW}}, where tag teams are put together by random draw, first used for the ''[=Starrcade=] 91'' [=PPV=][[/note]], was titled ''La Loteria Letal''.
25	* AllAmericanFace: Formerly Tim Donst, U.S. Ape, and Green Ant of The Colony.
26	* AllThereInTheManual: At Anniversario: Never Compromise, Derek Sabato cut a promo in the ring about the Vavasseur family, Worldwide Media Development Corporation, and the Titor Conglomerate. These were references to a slowly building angle regarding a massive conspiracy incorporating the owners of the company, time travel, and paranormal artifacts. This was the first time the story had been referenced outside of some mysterious websites and the odd shady character hanging around shows, despite having been building up for at least ''two years'' at that point, and would continue for most of the next year and a half in some form as well.
27	* AmazonianBeauty: On one level, any woman strong enough to participate in pro wrestling who wasn't a BrawnHilda could qualify, but Chikara had two examples in particular.
28	** Wrestling/SaraDelRey openly stated that she'd have preferred fans to not think about her looks one way or another, but she had to say it because so many fans did despite (or because) she was 5 foot 10, well built and able to throw her male opponents around.
29	** Saturyne was an example for a different reason -- she had naturally shapely abs that were accented on the comic book style artworks for the shows.
30	* AntiquatedLinguistics: Wrestling/DasherHatfield, the Old Timey King of Swing, who speaks in the requisite old timey accent.
31	* [[AnyoneCanDie Anyone Can Suffer a Career-Ending Injury]]: The theme of season 14. The final list: Kobald, deviANT, Tursas, Callux, The Estonian Thunderfrog, the Latvian Proud Oak, Equinox III, Create-a-wrestler II, Ares, The Shard, Archibald Peck, and Deucalion.
32	* ArtifactTitle: After Mr. Azerbaijan disappeared from CHIKARA, the Bloc Party replaced him with Juan Francisco de Coronado, who is from Ecuador rather than the Bloc. Averted after they split from de Coronado and Azerbaijan returned.
33	* AssKicksYou: Los Ice Creams and their finishing move El Asesino. This was also a staple of Pinkie Sanchez's offense until he donned the Carpenter Ant mask.
34	* AxCrazy: Wrestling/EddieKingston in season seven (with a relapse in season fourteen), Pinkie Sanchez forever.
35	* BackFromTheDead: The Estonian Thunderfrog (via reincarnation), Tursas (escaped Valhalla behind the Thunderfrog), and Kobald (via a ritual by [=UltraMantis=] Black and The Batiri).
36	* {{Badass Cape}}s: The Colony wore them.
37	* BaldOfEvil: Gran Akuma, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli post-FaceHeelTurn both meet it, but Ares could be the trope codifier.
38	** Codified most definitely by Deucalion.
39	* BeardOfEvil: Ares had one during Seasons 9 and 10 - it started as a chinstrap and was later grown out into a full beard.
40	* BigBad: CHIKARA has many such villains that usually last for a year (or "Season") or two.
41	** For Seasons 1 and 2, Blind Rage, leader of the Night Shift then Dark Breed.
42	** For Season 3, Larry Sweeney, leader of Sweet 'n' Sour International
43	** For Seasons 4, 5 and 6, Chris Hero, leader of Wrestling/TheKingsOfWrestling
44	** For Seasons 7 and 8, Vin Gerard, leader of the [=UnStable=] (briefly a duumvirate with Mitch Ryder)
45	** For Seasons 9 and 10, Ares, leader of Wrestling/DieBruderschaftDesKreuzes with Wrestling/SinnBodhi, leader of the Dark Army, becoming a fellow BigBad in Season 10.
46	** For Season 11, there was an EvilPowerVacuum left in the wake of the BDK's collapse and who would fill it was a major theme in the season arc. In the end no one quite pulled it off - either they weren't formidable enough (17, Obariyon), disappeared on account of being hired by WWE (Brodie Lee), limited themselves to one specific feud (Delirious), or just didn't care enough to try to become it (Tim Donst).
47	** For Season 12, Wink Vavasseur, the corrupt Director of Fun as a NonActionBigBad.
48	** For Seasons 13 and 14, Deucalion, The Titan of Titor, the leader of the Flood.[[note]]From ''National Pro Wrestling Day'' to ''You Only Live Twice'', it originally seemed Jimmy Jacobs was the leader, but instead was TheDragon then TheStarscream at the close of the season[[/note]]
49	** For Seasons 15 and 16, NonActionBigBad Nazmaldun, the [[ManBehindTheMan force behind]] Hallowicked and the Pillars of Woe/[=heXed=] Men.
50	** Early Season 16 established Jakob Hammermeier as a contender for the title, as he drafted 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]].
51	** For Season 17, there was again an EvilPowerVacuum, this time left in the wake of Nazmaldun's banishment and the collapse of the Pillars of Woe. As it was an abbreviated "secret" Season, no one was able to pull it off, though The Whisper came close.
52	** For Season 18, the EvilPowerVacuum continued, as, due to roster departures and abbreviated storylines, no one claimed the position. Again, The Whisper came close, but he chose to antagonize Ophidian instead and was fairly quickly knocked out of the running.
53	** Season 19-21 would have Dasher Hatfield as a multi-season villain and would have lasted much longer had Chikara not shut down, as far as Dasher being set up as the biggest threat to the company in it's history
54	* TheBadGuyWins: Though there wasn't one main big bad per se, Season 18 ended with [[spoiler:Dasher Hatfield failing in his quest for the Grand Championship against Juan Francisco de Coronado, making it the first season finale since Season 12 to not end with a tecnico trumphant.]]
55	** This in turn, leads to Chikara itself ending with a DownerEnding, as Dasher never repents or given a AuthorsSavingThrow type reveal that he was being controlled or influenced into becoming evil and the company ending it's storylines with the now villainous Dasher victorious over Razerhawk (his last opponent) and pretty much no one able to stop him.
56	* BlackKnight: Lance Steel, post FaceHeelTurn.
57	* BloodKnight: Eddie Kingston, especially in Season Seven.
58	* 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]].
59	* BookEnds: The Ashes series proper (after the Prelude) began and ended with someone (Green Ant at the beginning, assailANT at the end) being told "You're a Worker now".
60	* {{Bowdlerize}}:
61	** 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.
62	** Wrestling/SeanWaltman even apologized on behalf of Wrestling/BillyGunn at the 2016 King of Trios for Gunn saying "Suck it", claiming that he'd forgotten to let Gunn know not to say that.
63	* {{Brainwashed}}: Delirious, during his time with the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple and The Bruderschaft. It might count as BrainwashedAndCrazy except "And Crazy" is Delirious' default state anyway.
64	* BreakingTheGlassCeiling: Sara Del Rey as the first woman to win a Torneo Cibernetico (2011), [[Wrestling/RubyRiott Heidi Lovelace]] as the first female Young Lions Cup Champion, [[Wrestling/KimberLee Princess Kimberlee]] as the first female Grand Champion, Team Sendai Girls as the first Queen of Trios...
65	* TheBusCameBack:
66	** Crossbones, 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.
67	** As of the final weekend of 2011, Gran Akuma returned from a year's hiatus with Icarus in his crosshairs.
68	** Amasis missed a little under two years with a back injury before returning to the ring in April 2013.
69	** Chikara as a whole.
70	** Almost the entire Flood consisted of people put on the bus prior, with most of them getting back on the bus at points during Season 14.
71	* 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", possibly due to licensing issues.[[/note]]
72	** When Ultramantis freed Delirious from the control of the Eye of Tyr, Delirious shouted "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I! REMEMBER! EVERYTHING!]]" Four years later, when freed from the Eye of Tyr and the [[DemonicPossession control of Nazmaldun]], guess what Ultramantis shouted out?
73	* CatFight: Parodied at ''Grit and Glory'', May 18, 2008. There was a mixed tag match with Sweet N Sour Inc. (Wrestling/SaraDelRey and Bobby Dempsey)[[note]]Sweet N Sour Inc. was Wrestling/LarrySweeney's Wrestling/RingOfHonor PowerStable[[/note]] vs. Wrestling/ChuckTaylor and Wrestling/DaizeeHaze, and it was the ''guys'' who got into a catfight.
74	* CatchPhraseSpoutingDuo: 3.0. BOOYAH!
75	* CerebusRetcon: Wink Vavasseur's "[=CHIKARAbermetrics=]" were initially seen as him merely being a incompetent PointyHairedBoss. Then, on Twitter, he revealed it was a system devised by his father, Conrad, to isolate and break the spirits of many CHIKARA wrestlers...
76	* CerebusSyndrome: Season Nine. Again in Season Twelve, continuing all the way to the end of Season Fourteen, and in Season Sixteen.
77	** And had the company not gone out of business, Seasons 19 would have seen the trope kick into permanent effect with Dasher Hatfields tenure as heel champion seeing Chikara becoming more serious and less and less silly, with regards to the impact of Dasher's heel turn would have on the company.
78	* CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown: Chikara loved this trope. From Mike Quackenbush returning from injury as the masked Spyrazul to fool Larry Sweeney, to Ricochet tormenting Chuck Taylor as Helios, and most recently, we had The Mysterious And Handsome Stranger, who was revealed to be Archibald Peck.
79	** Jimmy Olsen as Equinox II is an arguable example, as no one ever made any attempt to disguise who he really was and in fact he started using the Equinox gimmick to mess with the head of Vin Gerard (Equinox I).
80	* 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 Shane Storm's losing streak in exchange for the counter.
81	** DidntSeeThatComing: This scheme would eventually lead to the creation of the BDK, the destruction of Mantis's Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, and much later the destruction of the Spectral Envoy and the advent of Nazmaldun.
82	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Tim Donst dipped into this majorly, including a rare babyface example. He "betrayed" the babyfaces after feigning amnesia, after which he joined The Order of the Neo Solar Temple, who he betrayed after being a mole for the babyfaces. Then he teamed with Hydra, who he betrayed in frustration resulting in a legitimate heel turn, then betrayed Chikara in total by joining the Bruderschaft. AND, during the latter days of THAT stable, he was beginning to show serious Starscream tendencies. AND AGAIN, he tried to sabotage his partner Jakob Hammermeier's career.
83	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: There have been some roster members who just vanished (Like Melvin Snodgrass, [=BlackJack Marciano=], Lance Steel, Retail Dragon, Dr. Cheung and Private Eye, for example). but the most notable examples are probably Mitch Ryder, Lince Dorado, Tursas, and Sara Del Rey.
84	** 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.
85	** Starting roughly with the promotion's 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. It reached critical mass during Season 18, as so many people were leaving that nobody knew just who was still going to be around from month to month.
86	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Delirious.
87	** Shane Matthews deserves a mention here, as well. Half the time, his tag team partner didn't even know what he was ranting about.
88	* CollectibleCardGame: One based on running a promotion that uses Chikara wrestlers by Filsinger Games. The rules even allow Chikara decks to compete head to head with Wrestling/{{R\|ingOfHonor}}oH decks.
89	* CollectiveGroan: Mentioned by name by commentator [=UltraMantis=] Black when the ring announcer introduced [[TakeThat "Colt [=CaBunny"=]]] on Night 1 of the CHIKARA 2006 Tag World Grand Prix.
90	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Prior to being wiped completely, the CHIKARA roster page. Blue text for técnicos, red for rudos, yellow for non-wrestlers, and light gray for alumni.
91	* ContinuityCreep
92	** Perhaps the only example of a wrestling promotion featuring this. Compare the first few years where there are very few storylines (and the ones that do happen pretty much boil down to the standard "wrestler hates other wrestler, they fight" angle) to the promotion in 2009, where the BDK angle is deeply tied in to nearly every major feud in CHIKARA in the last two years ''somehow.'' The angle involving the Titor Conglomerate, Wink Vavasseur, and Archibald Peck's time travel may run even deeper.
93	** After Mike Quackenbush took over as the Director of Fun, he reset the standings for the Campeonatos de Parejas. This served to conclude a few loose ends - most notably, the [=QuackenStorm=] un-cashed shot at the titles - and cut back on continuity creep.
94	** Departing Director of Fun Sidney Bakabella reset the standings as his last decree in the role, concluding more loose ends - most notably, Jervis Cottonbelly's delinquent Golden Opportunity - and cut back on continuity creep once more.
95	* ContinuityNod: Delirious has defeated Hydra with the "[[Wrestling/MattSydal Here It Is!]]" driver. [[CallingYourAttacks Almost counts as a literal shout out too]].
96	* CoolMask: Sported by much of the roster, as CHIKARA was heavily influenced by Lucha Libre. Notable examples include Ophidian's succession of masks, Dasher Hatfield's baseball mask, and Deucalion's modified gas mask.
97	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Cavalier Jones, member of the Board of Directors for all of two shows in 2004. Creator/BobSaget is implied to have perhaps been this as well, leading to his being replaced as commissioner by Dave Coulier in 2008. Dieter [=VonSteigerwalt=] was one too; his decisions were fairly logical and rational... except for when they involved the Bruderschaft in any way, shape, or form.
98	** Authority figure Wink Vavasseur showed shades of it, though he eventually subverted it by being a WellDoneSonGuy to a real corrupt executive.
99	** The Titor Conglomerate, particularly Wink's father Conrad Vavasseur.
100	* CrapSaccharineWorld: Chikara would have to be this for the wrestlers who work there - the promotion was colorful and family friendly, and you had a pretty good chance of getting possessed by a demon or murdered by a super-soldier.
101	* {{Crossover}}
102	** The ''King of Trios'' tournaments regularly featured teams from other promotions, including Wrestling/RingOfHonor, Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam, Wrestling/{{CZW}}, [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]][[note]]Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr, Hotstuff Hernandez and Homicide of LAX[[/note]] [[GarbageWrestler Big Japan Pro Wrestling]], Osaka Pro, Kaientai Dojo, El Dorado, IPW: UK, BSE (Blood Sweat and Ears in Canada), IWS (International Wrestling Syndicate in Canada), [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]][[note]]Wrestling/{{Demolition}} and Wrestling/TheOneManGang in 2008[[/note]], EPIC WAR, [=F1RST=], Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla, Perros del Mal, Wrestling/DragonGate, Wrestling/MichinokuProWrestling, Wrestling/{{AAA}}, Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling[[note]]Wrestling/AJStyles and The Young Bucks of Wrestling/BulletClub[[/note]] and Wrestling/{{ECW}}[[note]]Wrestling/StevieRichards, [[Wrestling/MikeBucci Nova]] and Wrestling/TheBlueMeanie of the blue World order[[/note]].
103	** Tag World Grand Prix had the additions of Toryumon X, J'd Star, IWA Mid-South, Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}}, MUGA/Dradition, Dragon Door and World Xtreme Wrestling
104	** Joshi Mania saw the additions of Ice Ribbon, WAVE, JWP, Sendai Girls, OZ Academy, Union and Mima Shimoda represented Wrestling/{{CMLL}} at King Of Sequel, where ''[=JoshiMania=]'' was first announced.
105	** Several UK promotions, most notably Fight Club: PRO, either guested or hosted crossovers on the UK tours. CHIKARA's 2016 trip to Canada saw crossovers with SMASH Wrestling.
106	* CurbStompBattle: Eddie Kingston did 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 The Osirian Portal 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)
107	* CutShort: The Snowflake arc disappeared for a few months, and then came back long enough for an AntiClimax ending in which all of Snowflake's "allies" walked out on him. Kevin Condron later implied on his Twitter account that booking disagreements had derailed the whole angle.
108	* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: Dancing could break out at any time in CHIKARA, usually started by the Osirian Portal.
109	* DarkActionGirl: Sara Del Rey and Wrestling/DaizeeHaze. After endlessly feuding with each other, they teamed up (Sara turning heel in the process) and immediately proved to be entirely capable of beating the crap out of the guys.
110	* [[BlackComedy Dead Baby Comedy]]: Literally. Read The Batiri's Twitter. Apparently their favorite snack used to be "fetus jerky".
111	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: CHIKARA's Website/YouTube channel regularly featured a weekly segment called the "Throwdown Lowdown", which was clips of great moves from past shows in full color. The BDK's segment, "The VDK", on the other hand, was shown in black and white.
112	* [[VillainDecay Diminishing Villain Threat]]: GEKIDO in general. Individually some of the members found success ([=assailANT=] joined The Colony, The Shard won the Campeonatos de Parejas with Jigsaw, but as a stable, they only remained scary for the first few months of 2012. They ceased to be a threat after Quack injured 17 and combatANT on consecutive shows. When GEKIDO resurfaced as part of the Flood, they mostly served to give Deucalion bodies to go BadBoss on.
113	** [=deviANT=] and the Colony Xtreme Force unsuccessfully attempted to burn down the Wrestle Factory.
114	* DownerEnding: Chikara ultimately ended with the mother of all downer endings, after 21 seasons. The company's top babyface and arguably the face of the company, Dasher Hatfield, turned evil with regards to renouncing good and fair play and crippling his best friend and betrayed his son. Even with his unmasking, Dasher continued his reign of terror and brutally defeated Razerhawk when Razerhawk bravely tried to bring him down and received no comeuppance or redemption.
115	* EarlyBirdCameo: Carpenter Ant and Vökoder are a clever play on this trope; both characters appeared in the CHIKARA comic books, so fans thought that when they showed up in the promotion itself in 2009 they were the same characters. They weren't.
116	* EldritchAbomination:
117	** The Batiri aren't actually abominations themselves, but their gimmick seems to include being somehow associated with one.
118	** Though their origins and how they came to inhabit the Eye of Tyr were never explained, Nazmaldun could be considered one.
119	* EvilCostumeSwitch: Shane Storm's transformation into STIGMA, and pretty much all of the BDK (but ''especially'' Lince Dorado).
120	* EvilPowerVacuum:
121	** 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.
122	** Another happened after Nazmaldun's banishment at the end of Season 16. Several contenders, most notably The Whisper, Oceanea, and Professor Hugo Nicodemus, each stepped forth as viable options for the title. However, thanks to sudden departures and abbreviated/dropped storylines, the vacuum continued until Ophidian founded the Crucible and claimed it in Season 20.
123	* {{Expy}}:
124	** Amasis is a partial expy of Wrestling/BookerT.
125	** After his return from injury, Green Ant was one of Wrestling/LexLuger, of all people. Specifically, Luger's [[AllAmericanFace "All-American"]] gimmick. He even got an endorsement from the Total Package himself!
126	*** During the fan conclave for ''King of Trios 2011'', the BDK's Jakob Hammermeier dared anyone to try to slam the group's monster Tursas. Green Ant walked out dressed the same way Luger had for the Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}} Bodyslam Challenge that was held on the USS Intrepid on July 4, 1993 and even used the same music. Unlike Luger, Green Ant was not successful at the time at slamming Tursas. However, during Night II, Tursas interfered in the Colony ([[Wrestling/OrangeCassidy Fire Ant]][=/=]Soldier Ant[=/=]Green Ant) vs. BDK (Delirious[=/=]Hammermeier[=/=]Tim Donst) match, and Green Ant slammed him and followed by making Hammermeier tap out to the Torture Rack, which was Luger's primary FinishingMove.
127	* FaceHeelTurn: Many times. The most prominent example of the beginning of 2013 is Jigsaw.
128	** Subverted during an angle when it looked like Tim Donst had turned heel and joined the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, but was just faking it. He did eventually turn heel for real.
129	* FacelessGoons: 2016 introduced several enhancement wrestlers with different colored masks of the same design, with names like Ropebreak Randy and Hiptoss Hank.
130	* FelonyMisdemeanor: Thumbtacks have ''nothing'' on Ice Cream Junior's sprinkles.
131	* FightingInThePlayground: At ''Aniversario And His Amazing Friends'', May 21, 2011, [=UltraMantis Black=] and Chuck Taylor fought out of the Palmer Center in Easton, Pennsylvania into a playground next door. The fight involved Taylor coming down the slide and Mantis chopping him.[[note]]Mantis won in the ring with the Praying Mantis Bomb.[[/note]]
132	* ForeignWrestlingHeel: While Chikara had various heels from foreign nations, the only ones who've really played up their heritage for heeldom were Claudio Castagnoli and Ares.
133	* FunnyAnimal: U.S. Ape, [=MosCOW=], Dragon Dragon, [[Wrestling/NecroButcher CP Munk]], Colt [=CaBunny=]... the list goes on. Currently represented by the Colony who are masked wrestlers who represent different types of ants.
134	* FunWithAcronyms: '''F'''riends '''I'''n '''S'''imilar '''T'''ights.
135	** Sadly, it later became a pseudo-acronym when none of them could remember what it meant.
136	* FunWithAutocensors: The official forums censor the name of Chris Hero (a wrestler who left the promotion on bad terms, see his listing on the Characters page for more information) to UsefulNotes/JohnKerry. Fans needing to mention Hero referred to him as "a certain Heroic figure" or as Kassius Ohno[[note]]the name he used while in WWE developmental[[/note]] - or simply by his last name only since 'Hero' isn't censored.
137	** The censoring of "Titor", "Condor", and "Conrad" (all in reference to the Titor Conglomerate shutting down CHIKARA), which has since been abolished.
138	* GainaxEnding: The ending of season 12. Kingston defeated Donst to retain the Grand Championship. Cut to two guys looking for the pieces of the Eye of Tyr in a tunnel. Cut to Wink Vavasseur's Father telling him to stop screwing up.
139	** The ending of Aniversario: Never Compromise. Icarus, fresh off his HeelFaceTurn, was about to win the Grand Championship from Eddie Kingston when [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Wink Vavasseur]] and around 20 security officers rushed the ring. The security guys dragged the wrestlers and referee out, tore down the set, and kicked the entire audience out of the building as Wink watched from the stage. The next day, all of CHIKARA's events on their website were marked as "canceled", and none of the typical daily Web content went up.
140	* {{Gangbangers}}: {{Downplayed\|Trope}} with the multi promotional All Money Is Legal and BLKOUT([[IronicName who didn't really]] live up to [[WhiteGangBangers their name]]), as they were on their best behavior, usually.
141	* TheGiant: Parodied by Hydra... all 150 pounds of him. Mano Metallico and Tursas are more typical versions.
142	* GoneHorriblyWrong: [=UltraMantis Black=] used the Eye of Tyr to give Delirious back his free will and then smashes the Eye. Delirious declares that since UMB stole 2 years of his life, he will subject him to 2 years of Hell.
143	** Later made even more horribly wrong as this directly led to the advent of Nazmaldun as well.
144	* GoodIsDumb: Subverted; see the storyline revolving around TheMole.
145	* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil:
146	** After Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes formed at the end of 2009, the roster page was changed from ''Tecnicos'', ''Rudos'' and ''Staff'' to ''Tecnicos'', ''Rudos'', ''Bruderschaft'' and ''Staff''.
147	** 2014 had ''tecnicos'' (The Colony, The Throwbacks, The Spectral Envoy, etc.), ''rudos'' (Chuck Taylor, Juan Francisco de Coronado, The Bloc Party, etc.) and...The Flood.
148	* GratuitousGerman: Die Bruderschaft Des Kreuzes (Brotherhood of the Cross), to the point where Claudio and Ares have cut ''entire promos'' in German, with no subtitles offered.
149	* GratuitousJapanese: The title. (ちから hiragana, 力 in kanji) It means "power". [[MeaningfulName Appropriate, eh?]]
150	* GreaterScopeVillain:
151	** Chris Hero may have ascended to this after leaving the promotion, considering his involvement in the backstory and formation of the BDK. This was reinforced by his later claim of responsibility for the assassination of the original Dr. Cube, making him also responsible for Jakob Hammermeier's hostile takeover of the BDK, the advent of Nazmaldun, and at least partially for the formation of the Flood.
152	** Several Seasons after his assumed demise, the reveal of the contents of Missile Assault Man's journal went a long way in establishing Deucalion as one.
153	** Dasher Hatfield was becoming this in the final years of Chikara. Having become the last remaining veteran on the roster, Dasher was set up as a heel champion that became even more ruthless after losing his mask. Had Chikara not gone out of business, Dasher would have been the focus of an open ended storyline where he would essentially hijack control over Chikara from Mike Quackenbush (using the company's in real life struggles post-Covid and post-rise of AEW, which gutted Chikara as far as signing most of it's main top talent) and through his flunkie Sidney Bakabella, begin a purge the sillier and campier aspects of Chikara to turn it into a more "respectible" wrestling company.... and succeed.
154	* HarmlessVillain: Los Ice Creams. Long-serving Rudos, but so silly no one really took them seriously. Averted the 'villain' portion in 2015 by silently turning Tecnico, but remained harmless outside of the COTI.
155	* [[HeavyMetalUmlaut Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut]]: Vökoder, who appeared to be some manner of time-traveling robot detective from the future. Which, really, was a pretty metal idea. The first time he showed up, it turned out to be Tim Donst in disguise. The second time, it was a returning Larry Sweeney.
156	* HeelFaceTurn: Well, it's a wrestling promotion, so obviously quite a few.
157	** Subverted by Larry Sweeney, who pretended to feud with the Fabulous Two for half a year for the ''sole purpose'' of luring Claudio into a false sense of security before screwing him over. Also subverted by Vin Gerard and STIGMA when they spent a good four months pretending to be on the road to becoming tecnicos and ditching Colin Delaney, but it turns out they were just faking it (probably just for the sake of screwing with people).
158	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Jakob Hammermeier is still technically a rudo and aligned with Tim Donst. Doesn't stop fans from feeling bad for him any time he suffers abuse and generally getting behind him however. Jakob's beat Jigsaw and Gran Akuma cleanly. He soon became really only ineffectual when dealing with Donst, and he was eventually able to overcome that as well during ''Never Compromise''.
159	* {{Jerkass}}:
160	** Chuck Taylor. One of his favorite ways to get heat is to surprise little kids watching at ringside by screaming at them.
161	** Pretty much every Rudo, by extent.
162	** In 2011 Wink Vavasseur was a total dick to Ophidian for no apparent reason, though he later apologized for it.
163	* JerkassHasAPoint: Mike Quackenbush on why he tried to end the career of 17. 17 was injuring people remorselessly, with the worst example being [=Tianlong=] at ''Hot Off the Griddle'' on April 28, 2012, as 17 not only squashed him in 1:05 but gave him a career-ending injury in what would sadly turn out to be his ''only match'', and took about five years off Quackenbush's career by breaking his wrist. General consensus was that 17 did indeed deserve it.
164	** On the other hand, general opinion on Quackenbush deliberately injuring 17's GEKIDO ally [=combatANT=] was more along the lines of "Going too far, dude."
165	** Dasher Hatfield's heel turn, which had him justify refusing to give up the belt to Mr Touchdown citing that he had not been medically cleared to return to active wrestling and the fact that, while tough on Boomer, he meant well towards his goal of making sure Boomer could survive in the ring along with the fact that he had shown the exact same level of training to Molly Mccoy and her turning out fine.
166	* {{Kayfabe}}: This is pro wrestling, so it goes without saying that there'd be some of this. But Mike Quackenbush is reportedly really strict about his talent never breaking kayfabe, even by pro wrestling standards.
167	** Quack has admitted to making the Chikara roster sign non-disclosure agreements about the details of Chikara's closure.
168	*** Boomer Hatfield's unmasking sadly got spoiled ahead of time by Dasher Hatfield. During an interview he gave prior to their mask vs remask match, post-Chikara closing, Dasher inadvertently spoiled the ending of the match (where if he and Dan Champion won Boomer would have to unmask and if he lost, he would have to wear his Dasher Hatfield mask and use the name instead of his post Chikara name "Avery Good") by stating that he had turned down an offer made by unnamed folks (implied to be Mike Quackenbush) to be allowed to once again use the gimmick and mask, due to Dasher having announced he was retiring from pro wrestling in 2022.
169	* KnightInShiningArmor: Lance Steel and Lance Steel (yes, two different Lance Steels) before they imploded.
170	* LampshadeHanging[=/=]MediumAwareness: By the ''crowd'', of all possible people, after the match between The Future Is Now (Jigsaw[=/=]Helios[=/=]Jimmy "Equinox" Olsen) and The [=UnStable=] (Colin Delaney[=/=]STIGMA[=/=]Vin Gerard) at ''Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line,'' September 19, 2010. TFIN had won by DQ after Gerard hit Equinox with a [[GroinAttack low blow]]. Gerard did it again and beat him down until Helios made the save, with Gerard and STIGMA heading to the back. As Colin and Equinox were down on the mat, the crowd chanted "Awkward silence! Awkward silence!"
171	* LargeHam: There are a few heels (and former heels) who fit here, including but not limited to [=UltraMantis=] Black, Icarus, and ''especially'' the Fabulous Three.
172	** Archibald Peck may be the embodiment of this trope.
173	*** Before Peck, no one was hammier than Larry Sweeney, who was the ''leader'' of the Fabulous Three.
174	** Sugar Dunkerton could be hammy at times as well.
175	* LightIsNotGood: The BDK often dressed in white despite being the top heels.
176	* LightningBruiser: Brodie Lee, Crossbones and DJ Skittlez were all pretty quick for their size. Brodie and DJ could both bust out a tope suicido, and Crossbones threw kicks like Ultimo Dragon.
177	* MaskedLuchador: LOTS. From the very first graduates of the Chikara Wrestle Factory, luchadores that come in from elsewhere, to the more recent graduates like Ophidian, Amasis, Frightmare, and Argus. Since the promotion roots itself in ''lucha libre'' action, it's pretty much expected.
178	* 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.
179	* MeaningfulEcho: "I remember EVERYTHING!" [[spoiler: Spoken first to Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}} when [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] was freed from [[{{Brainwashed}} the effects]] of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Eye of Tyr]] in 2012. Later repeated to Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}} when Mantis was freed from [[DemonicPossession Nazmaldun]] (and the same Eye of Tyr) in 2016.]]
180	* MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody: At ''Operation Big Freeze'', March 12, 2011, there was a six-man tag with The Osirian Portal (Amasis/Ophidian/Hieracon [Jonathan Gresham]) vs. The Dark Army (Sinn Bodhi/Obariyon/Kodama). The Portal did their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBHC_DF1hTY hypnosis routine]], and the song started, with The Dark Army imitating the zombies and chasing the Portal around the ring. Finally, everyone got back in the ring and did the dance.
181	* MightyGlacier: 'Get the big one off his feet' was a theme following Mano Metallico for 2004/2005, Tursas for 2010/2011 and 2014, and Nøkken for 2014/2015.
182	* TheMole:
183	** 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.
184	** Neatly followed up by Pinkie Sanchez and Tim Donst (again) through 2009 as they took on the roles of Carpenter Ant and Vökoder to infiltrate the Colony (and the tecnicos) and the Order of the Neo Solar Temple (and the rudos) respectively. They revealed themselves at the WhamEpisode detailed below.
185	** Ophidian, from National Pro Wrestling Day '14 to ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', stole 17's identity to serve as Mike Quackenbush's mole within the Flood.
186	* MoodWhiplash: Chikara had their Tag Wars 2008 show hosted by German promotion westside Xtreme wrestling. wXw is known for its rowdy fanbase. Commentators had to continuously apologize for the obscene chants (for example, "You fat fuck" directed at STIGMA) and wild behavior of the fans. At the same time, the wXw fans were totally into the Chikara tecnico teams like The Colony.
187	* MundaneMadeAwesome
188	** The thing as a whole.
189	** Claudio Castagnoli's 100-revolution Giant Swing on Grizzly Redwood, at "King of Trios 2009."
190	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [=UltraMantis Black=] freed Delirious from the Eye of Tyr, giving him his sanity back. Delirious took and smashed the Eye, then soon teamed up with Ophidian and the Batiri to subject Mantis to "two years of hell" in return for the two years he had stolen from him. At the close of those two years, Delirious was forced out of CHIKARA, but utilized the restored Eye to destroy the Spectral Envoy, leading to the advent of Nazmaldun as well.
191	** Unmasking Dasher Hatfield was this to Boomer, as rather than humbling his father and making him renounce his villainy, it only made Dasher even MORE evil and vicious as far as Boomer not realizing that it was becoming world champion that made Dasher evil, not his mask.
192	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Wink Vavasseur's [=CHIKARAbermetrics=] shuffling assailANT (later revealed by Wink to have been seen as the "weak link" of GEKIDO) into the Colony and triggering both a HeelRealization and a gradual [[HeelFaceTurn Rudo Tecnico Turn]]. Since then, he prevented deviANT from burning down the Wrestle Factory, was anointed the new Worker Ant, and captained Season 14's Team CHIKARA Cibernetico team.
193	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Ice cream clowns, ants, women from outer space, characters from Egyptian mythology, time-traveling marching band leaders...
194	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The tag team gauntlet match on Night III of ''2012 King of Trios'' included the team of [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel]] and the team of [[Film/TheKarateKid Johnny Miyagi and Ralph Macchio Jr.]]
195	** At ''Zelda The Great,'' which was held in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, the Devastation Corporation (Blaster [=McMassive=] and Max Smashmaster) [[SquashMatch squashed]] [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar]].
196	* NoFourthWall: The Titor Conglomerate angle was played out on the official Chikara 101 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.
197	* NoIndoorVoice: 2/3.0, especially Shane Matthews.
198	* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGstJsPL7l0 Lince]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZED2v9_N8U Dorado]] seemed to thrive on violently and utterly getting destroyed. [[NoOneShouldSurviveThat He has had a seizure in the ring]] and is legally blind in one eye.
199	* NotSoHarmlessVillain:
200	** Pinkie Sanchez, the dancing, pink-clad comedy character, posed as Carpenter Ant for the second half of season eight, winning the Torneo Cibernetico while under the hood, and joined the BDK in the season eight finale.
201	** Also Team FIST at the start of the same season when they ditched their comedy leanings and put Worker Ant on the shelf for good.
202	** Wink Vavasseur, despite being stupid and incompetent, counted as this due to his connections to Titor Conglomerate and Condor Security.
203	** Jakob Hammermeier, going from IneffectualSympatheticVillain to masquerading as Dr. Cube to seize control of the BDK.
204	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Former Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur showed shades of this, though, though whether it was due to malice or stupidity changed at any given time.
205	* ObviousRulePatch: Mike Quackenbush's ruling of the 2 out of 3 falls rule applying to cashing in a Golden Opportunity for a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas after Los Ice Creams' successful-seeming cash in comes across as this, due to the rules for the Golden Opportunities never being made clear in the first place.
206	* OneSteveLimit: Parodied with Lancelot (or "Lance-A-Lot"), who were two masked knights ''both'' named "Lance Steel."
207	* OnlySaneMan: Crossbones was this during the [=UltraMantis=] Black/Crossbones/Delirious configuration of Order of the Neo-Solar Temple.
208	** Pinkie Sanchez tried to invoke this regarding the return of Vökoder, when no one else in the BDK believed him. Of course, he was right.
209	* PartsUnknown: Of course.
210	** The Colony, from "The Ant Hill". Their weight was announced in ''milligrams.''
211	** [=UltraMantis Black=] from "The Black Tea Garden"
212	** The Wrestling/TheSuperSmashBrothers from "The Mushroom Kingdom"
213	** Sugar Dunkerton from "Dunktown, USA"
214	** Crossbones, from "Jerk Town, NJ"
215	** Dragon Dragon, from "Dragon's Lair, AR"
216	** Retail Dragon, from "Super [=WalMart=], Aisle C"
217	** Gran Akuma, from "Afar"
218	* ThePigPen: Vin Gerard.
219	** And to an extent, Michael Nakazawa, who carried ''baby oil'' with him at all times.
220	* OutsideContextProblem: As of National Pro Wrestling Day 2014, Wrestling/JimmyJacobs appeared to have a '''big''' hand in the closure of Chikara. He appeared in a Condor mask leading the entire RoguesGallery of anti-Chikara wrestlers, and later revealed that he'd been hand-picked to be Deucalion's [[TheDragon Dragon]].
221	* PermanentlyMissableContent: And we missed it. The [=MysteriumP=] riddle that was going around at the same time as the closure angle was going to affect the storyline had anyone been able to solve it - sadly, nobody even came close, and so everything related to [=MysteriumP=] was simply dropped.
222	* PitifulWorms: Ares did this to [=UltraMantis Black=], usually calling him "insect" or "bug". Granted, [=UMB=] ''is'' a bug, sort of...
223	* PlotCoupon: Contendership coins, representing points earned towards a title shot. Introduced in late 2015.
224	* PointyHairedBoss: Wink Vavasseur, circa 2012. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130421042213/http://www.chikarapro.com/blog/4-3-2012.php Here is an example.]]
225	* PowerStable: The Kings of Wrestling, who filled this role from 2005 to the end of 2007. Despite being powerful and a stable, The Brüderschaft falls outside the description of PowerStable.
226	** The Flood.
227	* {{Pride}}: After [=UltraMantis=] Black obtained the Eye of Tyr (see above under The Chessmaster), he refused to listen to the part where the Eye brought misfortune on its user unless he gave it away after using it, because he believed he was smarter than the Eye's curse. Then the BDK destroyed his Order of the Neo-Solar Temple.
228	** Dasher's fall from grace can be seen as a result of his not wanting to give up the title he was defending as interim champion.
229	* PunBasedTitle: ''Armdrags to Riches''
230	* PutOnABus: Chikara often tries to provide storyline reasons to remove wrestlers from the roster.
231	** Mr. ZERO, Jolly Roger, and Worker Ant I were all written out via excessive injuries suffered at the hands of Team FIST.
232	*** While he was CommutingOnABus for a while, Jolly Roger may have been written out again after excessive injuries suffered at the hands of the Flood-aligned GEKIDO.
233	** Hydra, via losing a "Loser Leaves CHIKARA" Match vs. Tim Donst.
234	** Crossbones at the hands of Delirious via kayfabe broken collarbone.
235	** Gran Akuma getting kicked out of FIST by Icarus and Chuck Taylor.
236	** Amasis, who was legitimately injured in a car crash in April 2011, though he wasn't put on a bus properly until the end of the season, when Ophidian turned on him during his retirement speech).
237	** Daizee Haze, who was suffering from an unspecified legitimate health issue, was kayfabe injured off a chokeslam from Claudio Castagnoli.
238	*** And then Claudio left for WWE a month later, with the explanation being that he was too embarrassed by losing to Icarus to stick around.
239	** As of August 2012, 17 and [=combatANT=] were both deliberately injured by Quackenbush.
240	** Soldier Ant, Wrestling/JohnnyGargano and Sugar Dunkerton all ragequit out of disgust with Wink Vavasseur's management. Soldier over being forced to team with the Colony: Xtreme Force, Gargano over having Sugar in F.I.S.T., and then Sugar after F.I.S.T. dissolved.
241	** Jigsaw, departing both the Flood-aligned GEKIDO and CHIKARA as a whole after being forced to fight his brother Jolly Roger.
242	** 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. This 17 was later revealed to have been Ophidian working as a mole within the Flood.
243	*** This action would later lead to the blinding/forced retirement of Soldier Ant and the demise of Bullet Ant and Silver Ant, all at Frightmare's hands.
244	* PsychoRangers: GEKIDO. They were invaders who appeared to be dark mirrors of popular CHIKARA wrestlers The Colony (combatANT, assailANT, & deviANT), Jigsaw (The Shard), and Mike Quackenbush (17).
245	* QuestioningTitle: ''Aniversario?'', May 26, 2007.
246	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: When Claudio signed with Wrestling/{{WWE}}, CHIKARA had to explain his departure somehow. So the end of his last match in CHIKARA (a losing effort against Icarus) was shown on the Podcast-A-Go-Go, followed by this news from Gavin Loudspeaker:
247	-->'''Gavin:''' In fact, Claudio was ''so'' upset over this loss, he packed his bags, went down to World Wrestling Entertainment, and changed his name to "Antonio Cesaro". Who figured?
248	* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming:
249	** Icarus, who is [[PartsUnknown billed from]] [[Myth/ClassicalMythology "Mount Olympus"]].
250	** The Osirian Portal, "The Funky Pharaoh" Amasis and "The Venomous Vile Serpent from the Nile" Ophidian, whose whole gimmick was derived from Myth/EgyptianMythology.
251	** Tursas and Nøkken of Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes. The former is a UsefulNotes/{{Fin\|land}}nish SeaMonster, and the latter name is taken from UsefulNotes/{{Norw\|ay}}egian river demons.
252	** 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.
253	* RingOldies: Parodied with the Senior Assault Team; Lester "Darkness" Crabtree and Melvin Snodgrass. Snodgrass vanished off the face of the Earth by the end of 2003. Crabtree showed up once in a blue moon afterward, until he met his end at the hands of GEKIDO. Both were old and slow (and funny).
254	** Played straight with Johnny Saint and Robbie Ellis, both of whom make occasional appearances.
255	* RuleOfFunny: A 150-pounder as an unstoppable force? Bob Saget and Dave Coulier as commissioners? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P9qgbT1YwY Pausing Player Uno by pressing "Start" on the controller printed on his tights]]? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RPARG_u9Q4 Player Dos gaining abilities based on what NES cartridge is connected to his tights?]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX5l9iqh2xA A match done in slow-motion]]? All in a day's work for CHIKARA's athletes.
256	** Also, Mr. Zero's Newspaper Lock, where he has his opponent in a camel clutch-like position while reading a newspaper.
257	** A team called [[TheUnintelligible Incoherence]] regularly getting promo time.
258	* RuleOfThree: In order for a team to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas, the team has to have three points via winning three consecutive matches.
259	** As of the return in 2014, the same applies to shots at the CHIKARA Grand Championship.
260	* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: The [=RumbleBees=] (Travis Huckabee and Solo Darling, respectively).
261	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Chuck Taylor does not like to be chopped, have his hair pulled, or be dropped face-first on the mat. [=UltraMantis=] Black is known to scream like a girl when chopped, torqued in an armbar, or confronted by ominous, menacing figures clad in white. (Although that last was marred by his voice cracking in mid-scream.) Amasis is an unintentional example, as his voice frequently cracks when he's trying to sell normally. Icarus and Los Ice Creams are also offenders, though it's PlayedForLaughs with those three.
262	* ShootTheShaggyDog: Ashley Vox's entire character arc during CHIKARA. Merloc torments her and kills her sister. Obariyon sacrifices himself to give her his 'dark Batiri powers.' She turns into the evil Oceana, becomes Merloc's master, creates the Creatures of the Deep. They accomplish little, she mistreats them, they abandon her, and then she just leaves CHIKARA.
263	* ShoutOut
264	** The DVD covers up until season 14 are all homages to famous comic book covers, and many of the show names are lifted from song titles from various bands (including Music/TalkingHeads and [[Music/BenFolds Ben Folds Five]]). Similarly, ''Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line'' is from Music/JoniMitchell's "The Jungle Line."
265	** Does the fact that the entire promotion is basically a live action version of ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' count?
266	** The entire existence of Los Ice Creams is a shout-out to a small piece of Wrestling/{{AAA}} history. The original Ice Cream was a luchador called Bobby Lee Jr., who wasn't a good worker but AAA had to keep booking him anyway [[{{Nepotism}} because his father ran most of the bookings in his home region]] and they didn't want to lose a market. To deal with this, AAA kept repackaging him under gimmick after gimmick, changing when he inevitably failed to get over, with the KidAppealCharacter Ice Cream being the one that was active around the time CHIKARA itself started.
267	** The team finisher for The Colony is "Ants Go Marching", which - in addition to formerly using "Ants Marching" as their theme - is a ShoutOut to the Music/DaveMatthewsBand.
268	** Archibald Peck's animated portrait on the pre-2014 roster page was nearly a dead ringer for [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-8-most-baffling-food-mascots-all-time_p3/ Popsicle Pete]].
269	** Another example involving Archibald Peck. Archie used to be in a relationship with Veronica. [[ComicBook/ArchieComics Sound familiar?]]
270	** Wrestling/LowKi was dubbed [[Franchise/StreetFighter The World Warrior]].
271	** The theming for each King of Trios from Season 14 onwards uses a specific reference as its shout out:
272	*** 2014: ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie''
273	*** 2015: ''Film/HarryPotter''
274	*** 2016: ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries''
275	*** 2017: ''Series/GameOfThrones''
276	*** 2018: ''Franchise/StarWars''
277	*** 2019: ''[[{{Music/Queen}} A Night At The Opera]]''
278	* ShoutOutThemeNaming:
279	** All of the ''[=Cibernetico=]'' shows have names derived from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' (e.g., ''[=Cibernetico=] and Robin''.)
280	** The names of the 2013 shows from ''All the Agents and Superhuman Crew'', itself a ShoutOut to Music/BobDylan's "Desolation Row," through ''The Ghost of You Clings'' are all taken from lines in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', with ''All You See Is Mine'' through ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'' being named for Music/GeorgeHarrison lyrics.
281	** Most of the Season 14 events had the names of [[Film/JamesBond James Bond films]], except the two Quebec events, which used the French translations ''[[Film/LicenceToKill Permis de Tuer]]'' and ''[[Film/LiveAndLetDie Vivre et Laisser Mourir]]''.
282	** With the exception of Back to Skull (which is a Music/TheyMightBeGiants album), all the Season 15 shows are named after episodes of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.
283	** Most Season 16 shows take their names from the second installments of various film franchises. Those that don't take their names from various song titles.
284	** The "lost season" shows are, appropriately enough, named after ''Series/{{Lost}}'' episode titles.
285	** Most Season 18 shows are named after episode titles from the post-2005 ''Series/DoctorWho''.
286	** Season 19 takes its show titles from either Hong Kong action movies or ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' books.
287	** Some Season 20 shows are named after episode titles from ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace''.
288	* SmallNameBigEgo: Buck Hawke.
289	* {{Sssssnaketalk}}: Ophidian.
290	* {{Supervillain}}s: The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. Especially their leader, [=UltraMantis=] Black.
291	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Green Ant, for Worker Ant, in a very successful iteration of this trope as he both fills Worker's role in The Colony (as the one who speaks fluent English and the one who tends to play face in peril for the group) and has developed his own distinct persona.
292	** Originally thought justified, as he almost became the second Worker Ant by receiving the mask and gear of the first. Eventually subverted, as he passed the name, mask, and gear on to assailANT and became Silver Ant.
293	--->'''Green Ant''': "You're no assailANT, you're a Worker now."
294	* TakeThat:
295	** CP Munk was a TakeThat against Wrestling/CMPunk, born after Punk canceled on one of their shows at the last minute. Punk didn't take it very well, which inspired CP Munk to become an occasionally recurring character, as well as the creation of Colt [=CaBunny=] (based off Punk's tag partner Wrestling/ColtCabana), and later Ace Panda (based off Ace Steel, the Panda portion of this character came from WWE losing the letter F to the World Wildlife Fund in a lawsuit, leading to jokes that WWE "lost to the Pandas"). He also used a chipmunked version of Music/{{AFI}}'s "Miseria Cantare- The Beginning" as entrance music.
296	** Along similar lines, Icarus wore a pink shirt with the words "Best In The World" on it during the Team FIST (Icarus/Chuck Taylor[=/=]Wrestling/JohnnyGargano) vs. Team Osaka Pro (Ebessan, Kikutaro and Takoyakida) match on Night 1 of King of Trios, September 14, 2012. CHIKARA has even parodied ''that'', selling a T-shirt that read "Worst In The World".
297	** The December 9, 2007 show was called ''Creator/StephenColbert > [[Series/TheOReillyFactor Bill O'Reilly]]''.
298	** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20110717202535/http://www.chikarapro.com/blog80.shtml One of Pinkie Sanchez's blog updates]] was a fairly tongue-in-cheek TakeThat aimed at the portion of CHIKARA's fanbase that jumped to conclusions regarding the BDK angle when he writes "And the geeks out there figured I was a comic book character from the future. Great Scott - someone needs a reality check!"
299	** In March 2017 Kevin Condron went on a massive anti-Mike Quackenbush rant on Twitter. He accused Quack of, among other things, making the rookies work for free and pay their own travel costs. He also said that the massive roster turnover of the last couple years was because Quack fired anyone who stood up for themselves, and that Deucalion was a plot device used to intimidate the roster into silence (if they complained about anything, their characters would be killed by him). The former Leonard F. Chikarason stood up for him.
300	** The 2008 Season Premiere ''Two Eyebrows Are Better Than One'', January 27, 2008, was supposed to have been held at [[http://www.moravian.edu Moravian College]] in Bethlehem, PA but had to be moved to the American Legion Hall in Hellertown. The second match was a [[MeleeATrois Three-Way-Dance]] with Hydra, Zombie Plantain (a creation of Dr. Cube as an EvilCounterpart to the popular Heroes team Los Platanos) and The Moravian Greyhound, some guy in a greyhound suit, since Moravian College's teams are called The Greyhounds. The match ended with Hydra and Zombie Plantain double-chokeslamming the Greyhound and both pinning him, with Hydra being declared the winner.
301	** Dasher Hatfield's heel turn was a meta "Take That" towards other indie feds who had blacklisted Dasher Hatfield from getting work outside Chikara. By stripping him of his mask and allowing him to go full heel (and arguably the most dangerous and successful heel in Chikara lore), Dasher was able to prove to his critics that he was just as good as other folks in Ring of Honor and AEW wrestling-wise.
302	* TerribleTrio: There have been many Rudo trios, but the original was the Night Shift in Blind Rage, Hallowicked and Ichabod Slayne (better known as Icarus).
303	** The most well-known example in the promotion was F.I.S.T.: Icarus, Chuck Taylor, and Gran Akuma (later replaced by Wrestling/JohnnyGargano). They were even been referred to as "CHIKARA's Most Dangerous Trio".
304	* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The annual Torneo Cibernetico match. The match starts as an elimination match between two eight-man teams; if a whole team is eliminated and the other team has more than one competitor remaining, those remaining competitors continue the match under the same elimination rules (and, if required, tag rules) until only one wrestler is left to stand tall.
305	* TimeTravel:
306	** The Osirian Portal.
307	** Also formerly Lance Steel, Time Displaced Noble Knight (and his tag team partner... Lance Steel, Time Displaced Noble Knight).
308	** Carpenter Ant was hinted at being this, but it was ultimately a red herring.
309	** Archibald Peck did a lot of it. First, he was hit by Eddie Kingston's "Backfist to the Future" and actually went to the future. He brought back a Chikara Almanac, which is how he knew Colt Cabana would answer his open challenge at King of Trios 2011. Later, Peck's attorney "The Barrister" RD Evans explained said time travel to get him reinstated in Chikara at the end of Season 11.[[note]]Peck and Evans are the same guy, though treated as two separate people.[[/note]]
310	*** Archie got it so much that it even created something of a StableTimeLoop featuring two separate versions of him.
311	*** And he later deliberately invoked it by showing up to National Pro Wrestling Day 2014 in a [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture [=DeLorean=]]] with 3.0 (who had also been affected by time travel by traveling to Parts Unknown to find him) in tow.
312	*** And now the 2011 version of him is officially in 2015, in possession of the sole copy of the Almanac, and knows full well what'll happen to him when the loop completes.
313	** Jervis Cottonbelly has hinted at this in the past.
314	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze as part of the BDK. As of 2016, this dynamic has been inherited by [[Wrestling/RubyRiott Heidi Lovelace]] and Princess [=KimberLee=].
315	* TooDumbToLive: Jakob Hammermeier thought it would be a good idea to accuse Sara Del Rey of being "the Queen of the Lockerroom". She didn't appreciate it, and beat the hell out of him.
316	** Jakob Hammermeier in 2016, twice. One, he thought the Eye of Tyr would work on Hallowicked, forgetting that the Eye had already been used on him prior. Two, he thought it'd be a good idea to antagonize Eddie Kingston and proclaim himself the new king of CHIKARA. Neither ended well for him.
317	* TookALevelInDumbass: Wink Vavasseur has been getting dumber ever since showing up. Compare sanctioning the Grand Championship in early 2011 to breaking up the Colony and the Swarm with his "Chikarabermetrics" system in 2012.
318	** Subverted in regards to [=CHIKARAbermetrics=], as according to Wink, its true purpose was to sow discord within the CHIKARA teams it affected.
319	* TheUnintelligible: Delirious, most of the time. Also Hallowicked (until 2015) and Frightmare. (There's a reason why their team is called "Incoherence".) Finally, Hydra mostly communicated in a series of grunts and growls.
320	** Fire Ant also usually only communicates with growling and yelling noises, but when the situation really calls for it he ''is'' capable of saying a few words. Soldier Ant, conversely, only speaks in military jargon ("SIR YES SIR!").
321	* UnnecessaryRoughness: They have a rule about it, called ''"castigo excesivo"'', or "excessive punishment." At ''A World Of Comforting Illusions,'' Incoherence (Hallowicked and Frightmare) d. the BDK team of Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze by DQ for this reason after Sara gave Frightmare four consecutive piledrivers without going for a cover.
322	** Archibald Peck was disqualified for this a number of times against Mr. Touchdown.
323	** Team Hallowicked were eliminated from King of Trios 2016 for this against Team JWP.
324	* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: Lucas Calhoun and Jeremy Leary (former test subjects of the Proteus Wheel) vs. Volgar II, Callux II, and Frantik (improved versions and current test subjects of the Proteus Wheel).
325	* ViewersAreGeniuses: Simply being able to keep up with the [[ReferenceOverdosed numerous]] {{Shout Out}}s and {{Take That}}s in an average event, from the wrestlers AND the announcers, requires a ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' meets Creator/QuentinTarantino meets Wrestling/JoeyStyles-level of cultural and wrestling literacy and attention span.
326	* VillainTeamUp: The Flood was a superstable of several rudo factions[[note]]The Brudershaft, the Wrecking Crew, GEKIDO, the Colony: Xtreme Force, and the Odditorium[[/note]], under the lead of Deucalion and Jimmy Jacobs.
327	* VillainousBreakdown: Eddie Kingston flirted with this during his feud with Lince Dorado. Not because he couldn't beat him, because King never suffered a real singles loss to Lince, but because no matter how badly he beat him down, Lince ''kept getting back up and asking for another rematch.''
328	* TheVoiceless: Tursas. He's supposed to be some Finnish viking/monster thing, but it seems likely the wrestler has no knowledge of Finnish, so they use this trope. STIGMA spoke a whole lot less after turning heel, though he still spoke from time to time.
329	** Tursas DID yell "Fight me!" during his match with Eddie Kingston at ''CHIKARA The Mint Condition'', February 27, 2010, though.
330	* WaifFu: Averted by Daizee Haze, who, despite being the size of your average Waif Fu practitioner, preferred punching, kicking and front face locks.
331	* WhamEpisode: The end of ''Three-Fisted Tales,'' November 22, 2009, which was the GrandFinale for Season 8 (the last of CHIKARA's 2009 shows) - BDK demanded the Eye of Tyr back from [=UltraMantis=] Black, and when he refused, the larger BDK guy unmasked as Tursas and the regular-sized one unmasked as Claudio's ex-Swiss Money Holding partner Ares, who had been gone from the promotion since ''2006''. Mike Quackenbush looked over at Claudio as if to say, "What have ''you'' got to do with this?" Claudio uppercutted Mike Quackenbush, Carpenter Ant attacked the Colony, Vökoder attacked [=UltraMantis=], Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze just attacked whoever's there. After this the 7 posed in the ring, and Vökoder and Carpenter Ant unmasked to reveal they were, respectively, Tim Donst and Pinkie Sanchez.
332	** Midway through ''Disk'', April 2nd, 2016. After a match with the Arcane Horde, Hallowicked and Frightmare ambushed [=UltraMantis=] Black at ringside, bringing him into the ring before using the Eye of Tyr on him, allowing Nazmaldun to successfully possess him. This was enough of a Wham that it made ''the Warriors' theme music stop completely''.
333	** National Pro Wrestling Day 2017, February 4th, 2017. Originally assumed to be the lead-in to Season Seventeen, it ended up being the opener to Season Eighteen, at the same time revealing the existence of a "secret" Season Seventeen. Accompanying the revelation were changes such as Race Jaxon having had a FaceHeelTurn and, most shockingly, [=UltraMantis=] Black being in possession of the Grand Championship.
334	* 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]].
335	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: 17's seventeen forgotten finishing holds. He only got about a quarter of the way through them before Quack dropped him on his head 4 times to remove him from Chikara, then it didn't even come up when he returned as part of the Flood.
336	* During Chikara's brief revival during the web series "Lockerroom Dicks", Dasher Hatfield was MIA due to longstanding behind the scenes personal animosity with Mark Haggerty. He returned for "Camp Leapfrog" to continue his feud with Boomer and Molly.
337	* WingedHumanoid: Powa Rangeru's costume at least has rounded transparent wings.
338	* WorkedShoot: Vin Gerard being released from Chikara seemed to be one. One ''day'' before his release in October 2011 he won clean over Eddie Kingston via submission. He then posted Youtube videos and made appearances at a few other promotions talking about Chikara, and the angle looked like a worked shoot. Come February 2012 he got re-added to the Chikara roster... lost clean to Kingston, was immediately removed from the roster, and vanished into thin air.
339	** The Titor Conglomerate angle had some strong worked shoot elements to it. Especially on the May 31, 2013 show, when Condor Security goons tore down the set and ring and chased the fans out of the building. Shortly after that, various Titor Conglomerate people had posted on various fora that they were liquidating the Chikara assets in their possession.[[note]]This was what led to Knight Eye 4 The Pirate Guy possessing the physical Campeonatos de Parejas belts, as the Pieces of Hate had voluntarily surrendered them and Princess Kimberlee purchased them in the sale. Theirs were the only titles to change hands in that fashion, as the Young Lions Cup for 2012 and the Grand Championship were still in the possession of their respective holders, Mark Angelosetti and Eddie Kingston.[[/note]]
340	* WorldsStrongestMan: Hydra ''thought'' he was.
341	* WouldntHitAGirl: Invoked repeatedly by Daizee Haze, who wasn't above cowering and screaming when it looked like her male opponent was about to turn the tables on her. Of course, the second the guys hesitated she'd cheap shot them.
342	* WrestlingDoesntPay: Retail Dragon, masked Wal-Mart clerk extraordinaire. Also formerly Shane Storm (now STIGMA), Unionized Traffic Regulator and Mr. ZERO, wrestling office worker. Taken to the logical extension, Vin Gerard is rumored to be homeless (yet he has an Internet connection).
343	** The Throwbacks: Sugar Dunkerton (wrestling basketball player), Dasher Hatfield (wrestling baseball player) and "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti (wrestling football player).

Context Wrestling / CHIKARA