UltraMantis Black (born July 17, 1975) is an American Professional Wrestler best known for his work in CHIKARA, as one of the original five graduates from the original Wrestle Factory in Allentown, PA, along with Mister ZERO, Ichabod Slayne (Icarus), Hallowicked and Dragonfly, all of whom debuted at CHIKARA's first event, The Renaissance Dawns on May 25, 2002. UltraMantis Black has also competed for Big Japan Pro Wrestling and many independent promotions.
He started as a Superhero called UltraMantis who teamed with Mister Zero. This ended at CHIKARA Pick Up or Delivery on April 9, 2004. BLK OUT (Joker and Sabian) defeated Ultra/ZERO after UM went heel and told BLK OUT, "Be my guest." After the match, UM cut a promo
where he renounced ZERO, the fans, and said that he was "sick of the human species." He declared, "UltraMantis is dead. Today, UltraMantis Black is born." He then formed the team the Dark Breed with Hallowicked and they feuded with Men @ Work (Mister ZERO and Shane Storm.) UMB began suffering injuries that led to him working as a manager for his new protégé Hydra and doing commentary work.
After Hallowicked turned tecnico, UMB and Hydra formed the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, adding Crossbones to the team. They would feud with Incoherence (Hallowicked/Delirious/Frightmare). Then came The Sordid Perils of Everyday Existence on November 17, 2007, which saw Chris Hero defeat Equinox by escaping Quackenbush's the CHIKARA Special and making Equinox submit to it himself. It was later revealed that Shane Storm had been the one who had provided UMB with the counter for the CHIKARA Special, with UMB giving it to Hero. UMB, it turned out, had sent Hero to work for Dr. Cube in Kaiju Big Battel in exchange for Cube giving him the Eye of Tyrnote .
This ultimately backfired on UMB, as it led to Ares and Tursas showing up at the end of the 2009 Season Finale, Three-Fisted Tales and the big riot that marked the formation of Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes. The BDK would take possession of the Eye of Tyr and use it to lure Delirious away and ultimately dismantle the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. UMB would eventually get it back and, at The Thirteenth Hat, he used it to free Delirious from the BDK's control. Delirious grabbed it and smashed it. UMB would later form the Spectral Envoy with Hallowicked, Frightmare and Crossbones.
After going 11 years without winning a title, on November 1, 2013, he finally won his first Championship by defeating Ethan Page for the Absolute Intense Wrestling (Ohio) Absolute Heavyweight Title.
"The Great and Devious Tropes":
- Arch-Enemy: After the breakup of the Dark Breed, Hallowicked. But when Ares showed up, UltraMantis hated him so much that it lead to his reconciliation with Hallowicked.
- Baphomet: Featured on the flag of The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple.
- Big "SHUT UP!": At King of Trios 2008 Night I, he was standing by the entrance before the Order (Mantis/Crossbones/Hydra)- Kaiju Big Battel The Sea Amigos (Call-Me-Kevin/Unibouzu/D.W. Cycloptopus III)]] match. Ring announcer Loudon Noxious asked if Mantis would be joining everyone in the ring and Mantis responded, "Shut your mouth!"
- Bystander Syndrome: UMB would've very happily kept out of Die Brudeschaft's business. He even told Bryce Remsburg on commemtary that he'd washed his hands of the whole affair. However, Ares continued to push him, leading to his Heel–Face Turn...
- Calling Your Attacks: He faced Mister ZERO at PXW (Pro Xcitement Wrestling)'s June 23, 2002 event. Right before he hit his Praying Mantis Bomb Finishing Move, he yelled "FINISH!" In fairness, it was only his eighth match.
- CamelCase: The U and the M in UltraMantis are both capitalized.
- Carry a Big Stick: He does, with a skull on top of it.
- Characterization Marches On: His character when he first became UltraMantis Black was mostly just "guy who screams constantly." The supervillain stuff would come later.
- Cult: The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, since UMB hypnotized Tim Donst and convinced him that he was a member of the group.
- Dark Is Evil: His original UltraMantis was red with green trim. Once he turned heel, he started wearing black.
- Demonic Possession: At Disk, April 2, 2016, the second half of the Tag World Grand Prix tournament (the first part, Phone Home, was held earlier that same day), Hallowicked and Frightmare used the Eye of Tyr on him, causing him to become possessed by Nazmaldun. That led to Mantis hexing The Batiri, Icarus and Mark Angelosetti ( Jigsaw joined but was not hexed on-camera), with their group being named The heXed Men. At Temple of Doom on December 2, the first part of the Season Finale, Frightmare defeated Amasis in a Mask vs. Mask match, ending The Osirian Portal. The main event of Supremacy, held that same night was CHIKARA's Mightiest Heroesnote defeating the heXed Men in the Torneo Cibernetico. After the match, Ophidian, Amasis' former tag team partner, stole the Eye of Tyr from around Mantis' neck and used it on him, saying "Be free." Mantis woke up, realized where he was, got out of his wheelchair and chased Hallowicked to the back, screaming "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!"note
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: One of his Finishing Moves is "Cosmic Doom." Plus, there's his CatchPhrase, which he would use to end promos for a time during the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple run.
- Edible Ammunition: Dr. Cube gave him a bottle of tartar saucenote for the Order-Sea Amigos match. He poured it on all three Sea Amigos and pinned Call-Me-Kevin with the Praying Mantis Bomb.
- Evil Laugh: In his promos.
- Evil Overlord: Ever since his initial rudo turn, this has been his gimmick.
- Fighting in the Playground: At CHIKARA Aniversario And His Amazing Friends, he and Chuck Taylor fought out of the Palmer Center in Easton, PA into a playground next door. The fight involved Taylor coming down the slide and Mantis chopping him.note
- Finishing Move: Along with the above, the Praying Mantis Bomb.
- Green Aesop: EVERY song on his eponymous band's Self-Titled Album.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Crossbones. Mister ZERO qualifies as well, as UMB was Best Man at ZERO's wedding.
- Hidden Depths: He's one of the better brawlers to come out of CHIKARA, not a promotion known for that style. At IWA Deep South Carnage Cup 2007, December 1, 2007, he was in a Three-Way Barbed Wire Boards and Tables match against Scotty Vortekz and Sexxxy Eddy. While Vortekz won, Mantis made a good enough showing that the commentators said that he could be a deathmatch wrestler.
- Implied Death Threat: At Showdown in Crisisland, July 21, 2007, he cut a promo about the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple (himself/Crossbones/Hydra)'s match with Hallowicked, Cheech and Cloudy where they promised to "do a little jig on your graves."
- Inherently Funny Words: Well, bubonic is not supposed to get this reaction, but, some of the fans laughed when he used it to describe Kaiju Big Battel's The Sea Amigos before the Order-Sea Amigos match at King of Trios 2008 Night I.
- Ink-Suit Actor: In Champions Of The Galaxy complete with his own trading card, the first 100 of which could be bought on CHIKARA's website.
- Jerkass: In his treatment of Crossbones, especially after Delirious was added to the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, since UMB fawned over Delirious while ignoring or belittling Crossbones. At Aniversario Zehn, May 22, 2010, he cut a promo about how the BDK had taken everything from himnote and that he was now a single, solitary man, all while Crossbones was standing right behind him.
- Join or Die: At CHIKARA Battle of Who Could Care Less, he cut a promo before his match with MIYAWAKI where he offered him a chance to join the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple as its representative to the Orient. He said that if MIYAWAKI didn't take him up on his offer, UMB would follow him back to Japan, kill him and destroy the nation's whaling industry. He ended by invoking the trope word for word.note
- Large Ham: Crossbones excluded, he'd often have partners who didn't talk much or were hard to understand when they did, thus giving him free reign to hog the mic.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The Thirteenth Hat, January 28, 2012, opened with a skit involving UMB using the Eye to release Delirious from the BDK's control. Delirious grabbed the Eye, smashed it, and ran off, yelling, "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!" Delirious subsequently formed an unnamed powerstable with himself, Ophidian, and the Batiri (Obariyon, Kodama, and Kobald) and pledged to put Mantis through 2 years of Hell.
- It's been noted by some that since Mantis directly enslaved Delirious and indirectly lead to the BDK enslaving Delirious, that UMB kind of had it coming.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Possibly a case of Word Salad Title. His stable the Spectral Envoy's name would seem to mean "of or related to a ghost sent by a government to represent it in dealing with another government," even though there is nothing about the gimmick that would suggest any connection to ghosts or to governments.
- Out-Gambitted: By Ares, who had Tim Donst pose as Vokoder to retrieve the Eye of Tyr from Mantis, and then used the Eye to have Delirious injure Crossbones and destroy Mantis' Order of the Neo-Solar Temple.
- Parts Unknown: "The Black Tea Garden" and "The Sea of Capricorn" before that.
- Path of Inspiration: Long after the fall of his Order Of The Neo-Solar Temple, Delirious still accused UltraMantis Black of trying to run a false religion.
- Similarly, on February 14, 2015, CHIKARA posted this video, which was Hallowicked speaking English for the first time, due to Delirious using the Eye of Tyr on him and Frightmare at Tomorrow Never Dies on December 6, 2014, and explaining the list of demands he received from Nazmaldun.
"First, cease at once your blasphemous teachings. Do not seek to recruit any others to your corrupted causes." - Similarly, on February 14, 2015, CHIKARA posted this video
- Power Stable:
- Sweet 'n' Sour International. Lead by Larry Sweeney and containing, in addition to Sweeny and UMB: ShareCropper, Mano Metalico, Crossbones, Rorschach, Claudio Castagnoli, Hallowicked, and a few one-shots.
- The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. Led by UMB himself, with Delirious, Crossbones, Hydra, Tim dONST, and Vökoder (actually also Tim Donst)
- The Spectral Envoy: with Hallowicked, Frightmare, Crossbones and Blind Rage
- The heXed Men: With UMB as the Non-Action Big Bad, also possessed by the spirit of Greater-Scope Villain Nazmaldun. Also containing Hallowicked, Mark Angelosetti, Frightmare, Obariyon, Kodama, Icarus, Kobald, and Jigsaw.
- Pride: UltraMantis knew about the Eye's curse, but he believed that he was smart enough that he could out-smart it. He wasn't.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Really was injured, and the prognosis was long enough that any return date would have been too far away to actually hype, so his injury was played up as being career ending so he could take as much time as he needed away from the ring and step into a managerial role.
- Real Men Wear Pink: He wore a pink mask at some point in 2008.
- Red Baron: "The Angry Insect Evildoer," "The Great and Devious One"
- Shout-Out: To UltraMan, of course.
- As well as Kamen Rider obviously.
- To The Smiths as well. He has a T-shirt based on the cover to Meat Is Murdernote and his Smart Mark Video DVD is titled Strangeways Here We Come.
- He sells a T-shirt based on Black Flag's logo, and Sara Del Rey wore it in this video for Mana The Polynesian Warrior's New Horizons Pro Wrestling.
- At The Constant, one of the events of the "lost" Season 17, he cut a promo where he promised to go from enslavement to obliteration, which is the title of an album by Napalm Death.
- Supervillain: Even after turning Tecnico in 2010.
- Tactful Translation: He sat in on commentary with Bryce Remsburg for the second match on JoshiMania Night I, which was Pro Wrestling Wave's GAMI vs. Osaka Joshi's Sawako Shimono. At one point, GAMI yelled something in Japanese, leading to the following exchange:BRYCE: "I know you speak some Japanese. What up?"UMB': "Believe me, you do not want to know."
- Tag Team:
- Ultra/ZERO (w/ Mr. ZERO)
- The Dark Breed (w/ Hallowicked)
