Welcome to my first in a weekly series of columns that will take an in-depth look at wrestling storylines and how they shape the art form that I hope everyone reading this column loves.
Anyone in to independent wrestling across the United States almost certainly knows the name CHIKARA. Mike Quackenbush’s little indie fed that could had single handedly carved out a name for itself across the northeast with fun, family friendly shows that mix great wrestling with fun gimmicks and crazy characters. They’ve been doing it for over eight years now, but not until this year did they hit it big with a storyline that encompasses everyone in the company and drives the promotion forward. Sadly they still haven’t made it in to the Midwest yet (though they reached Michigan this year), but hopes are high for a Chicago show possibly next year.
That storyline is quite simple and has been done many times before. It’s an invasion, not unlike the NOW, the WCW/ECW alliance, or the Nexus. But it’s an invasion booked with a simple purity and a drive for good storytelling that hasn’t been seen in…. well, maybe ever.
And that story encircles a group called the Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (the “Brotherhood of the Cross” in German). The Bruderschaft’s origins lie in a complicated storyline from late 2009 that revolved around prominent CHIKARA heel (or rudo in the lucha libre-tinged vernacular of CHIKARA) Ultramantis Black. Black came in to possession of a mind-controlling object called the Eye of Tyr and used it to take control of fan favorite Delirious. With Delirious at his side, he started to cut a swath towards the company’s top title, the Campeones De Parejas (tag championship).
But being a power-mad evil genius, Ultramantis Black didn’t come by the title honestly. He stole it and the Bruderschaft wanted it back.
The invasion started with two masked men, one a true giant compared to the regular CHIKARA roster. They interfered in Mantis’s matches and otherwise caused trouble for a few months and led to Mantis hiring a masked bodyguard named Vökoder. Meanwhile the perennial fan favorite stable, the Colony, gained two new members in the mysterious Carpenter Ant and the rookie Green Ant. Despite his sudden appearance, Carpenter Ant proved to be a very strong competitor for the group, even winning the sixteen-man Cibernetico in a surprise finish. He did it using a new move that Quackenbush hadn’t yet revealed to the world, a submission called the Inverted CHIKARA Special.
Quackenbush immediately began suspicious of Carpenter Ant’s secrets, but it wasn’t until the 2009 finale show “Three-Fisted Tales” until the true plot was revealed. At the end of the show following a tag title match between the Colony and the Osirian Portal, the two masked men appeared again. Quack and long time ally Claudio Castagnoli came to the ring to confront the men. Ultramantis handed the Eye of Tyr over to Vökoder for safe-keeping and came to the ring from the announce booth to confront them as well.
Finally it came time for the two masked men to reveal themselves. The helmeted giant looked like a Viking warrior, someone never seen before in CHIKARA. But the other man was someone very familiar: Ares, a Swiss wrestler that once worked several shows for CHIKARA alongside his good friend Claudio Castagnoli. Quack realized the deception just in time to turn in to a massive European uppercut from Claudio. A massive brawl broke out between the invaders and the CHIKARA wrestlers. Vökoder turned on Mantis, Carpenter Ant took out the Colony, and long time CHIKARA stalwarts Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze joined in the assault. The new group beat down the CHIKARA loyalists. Vökoder and Carpenter Ant unmasked, revealing long time Quack ally Tim Donst and a man with a history of hatred for Mantis and the Colony, Pinkie Sanchez.
With that cataclysmic event, CHIKARA started off a story that would reshape their promotion in to one of the most talked about indie feds of 2010, but more on that in a future column.
Comments