…and so it begins, the voting for the 2009 CHIKARA Fans Awards! We’re rolling out EVERYTHING today, so the ballot will be freakin’ stacked. Be prepared to get your votes in for every category. Get your votes in now; voting for the Awards wraps up on January 14th. We’ll be announcing the award winners soon after that in a huge special 2009 CHIKARA Fans Awards celebration post of honor and special stuff!
Hit the jump and start voting now!
Just a few days ago, UltraMantis Black wrote a blog where he mentioned that him and his cronies in the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple were all set to face top competition come January’s “A Touch of Class”, and that’s what was going to prevent them from squaring off with any Brüderschaft der Kreuzes members. This was promised to be some of the stiffest competition that the Temple had ever seen, a match that was going to truly test their limits and put them in prime condition for King of Trios, whether they walked out on top or were humbled in defeat.
When we fired up the ol’ CHIKARA Fans computers today and saw the match…needless to say, we were a bit underwhelmed by the promise that Mantis had made. The return of Pelle Primeau for the first time since Young Lions Cup VI and the concussions that put him out of wrestling soon after? Surely something to be excited about. The return of Grizzly Redwood after Brodie Lee’s big boot took him out last October? Fun times. The debut of “Right Leg” Andy Ridge, who is supposed to be one of the ROH Academy’s top students in recent years? Cool! But to say this trio is one of the strongest teams that the independent scene could muster up to face the Neo-Solar Temple? A ridiculous claim. It’s clear to us that UltraMantis Black is running scared from the Brüderschaft, and it’s only a matter of time until they catch up to him.
- CHIKARA “A Touch of Class”
January 31, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas ~ V3: Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] (c) vs. Icarus & Gran Akuma [Team F.I.S.T.]
2. UltraMantis Black, Delirious & Crossbones [The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple] vs. Pelle Primeau, Grizzly Redwood & Andy Ridge
The first main event of season nine has been signed, sealed and delivered to the fans, and while CHIKARA’s management may be more corrupt than Congress, they surely haven’t given up on giving the fans quality wrestling matches.
Team F.I.S.T. – Icarus and Gran Akuma – have been sitting on three points for quite a while, dating back to September when they were originally scheduled to get a title shot against former champions the Osirian Portal in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, fate had its way with Gran Akuma’s physical well-being and put a delay to F.I.S.T.’s hopes of regaining the Campeonatos de Parejas. In that time? Fire Ant and Soldier Ant capitalized on F.I.S.T.’s delays and the Portal’s injuries and grabbed up the belts for themselves.
Now, these two duos face off again, adding yet another chapter to their storied rivalry. We all know the history between these two squads is deep. F.I.S.T. are the most dangerous duo in all of CHIKARA, and The Colony know this better than anyone. They took out their partner Worker Ant with one quick move on the outside. They won King of Trios, a tournament that The Colony were heavy favorites to take home. Even though they didn’t win the match and eventually lost their hair, F.I.S.T. even took The Colony to limits they had never reached before in a lucha de apuestas. Now, they look to take home the belts one more time.
January 31st. Philadelphia. Team F.I.S.T. vs. The Colony. One more time.
- CHIKARA “A Touch of Class”
January 31, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
1. CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas ~ V3: Fire Ant & Soldier Ant [The Colony] (c) vs. Icarus & Gran Akuma [Team F.I.S.T.]
Yesterday, we talked about “We Must Eat Michigan’s Brain”, CHIKARA’s return to the midwest after nearly two years and the debut in Michigan. Today, we learned some more details on the midwest swing, including the second date of the convoy’s stop. Saturday, June 26th sees the Michigan date, which was announced today by CLASH Wrestling (one of Michigan’s finest independents) to be a collaborative event that will see talent from both promotions on the card. CLASH will offer up some of its best competition such as H3RD, Cameron Skyy, and GQ for this special event. The following afternoon sees the much-anticipated CHIKARA return to Cleveland with “Faded Scars and Lines”. We know that fans on our boards have been petitioning for a Cleveland return, so let’s hope that the attendance shows that they deserve such a stop on the CHIKARA schedule! Get out there and support CHIKARA, folks!
Also announced today was the return of Claudio Castagnoli to Japan, as he’ll be teaming up with former tag team partner Chris Hero in Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Global Tag League. They’ll be squared off to face such duos as Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima, current GHC Tag Champs Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Rikio and more. The tour starts on January 9th in Differ Ariake, going on through January 24th where the Tag League wraps up in Korakuen Hall.
- CHIKARA presents “We Must Eat Michigan’s Brain”
June 26, 2009 ~ Taylortown Trade Center, Taylor, MI
- CHIKARA presents “Faded Scars and Lines”
June 27, 2009 ~ Cleveland, OH
It’s no secret that CHIKARA keeps getting bigger and bigger. 2005, it was shows in the ECW Arena. 2006, the addition of the Campeonatos de Parejas. 2007, running outside of Pennsylvania for the first time and the beginning of the CHIKARA Podcast-a-Go-Go. 2008, stepping off of the east coast states for the first time for the Midwest tour, along with the biggest tournament in wrestling history. 2009 saw attendance records broken, shows in Japan, and incredible growth both in the company and reaching outwards in alliances with Big Japan and Dragon Gate USA.
What does 2010 hold in store? If there’s one thing we know, it’s a schedule that sees nearly national expansion. When we last talked the schedule, it was mostly expansion to familiar areas – a new venue in Reading, a show in March right outside Philadelphia over the Whitman in Jersey, the long-awaited return to Schuylkill County, et cetera. Since then, it’s busted open huge, and with almost half of 2010’s schedule announced, the plans are quite interesting. Traditionally, after King of Trios comes Aniversario, and this year’s mimics 2008’s shows as they’re not going to take place inside of the confines of Pennsylvania. “Aniversario Zehn” sees CHIKARA make its return to Massachusetts and the Nashua area for the first time since this past September’s shows on May 22nd. The next day will see CHIKARA make its debut in North Jersey, a quick shuttle ride from New York City, as the ACE Arena in Union City, NJ presents “Aniversario Elf”. The month after that sees the CHIKARA debut in Michigan, as the city of Taylor gets the awesomely named “We Must Eat Michigan’s Brain”. It’ll be interesting to see if that gets followed up with a Sunday show as the CHIKaravan brings its way back to Pennsylvania, and if there’s an announcement of such a show, we’ll be sure to let you know!
Now for some site news. Please check out our CHIKARA Fans Wiki, a work-in-progress that you can assist with! Check out our message board for more information on it, but feel free to dive right in and check it out.
Nominations on the 2009 CHIKARA Fans Awards rolls on with Class A nominations opening today. Click here to get to nominating!
See you as soon as we’ve got more news!
- CHIKARA presents “Aniversario Zehn”
May 22, 2010 ~ Tyngsboro, MA
- CHIKARA presents “Aniversario Elf”
May 23, 2010 ~ The ACE Arena, Union City, NJ
- CHIKARA presents “We Must Eat Michigan’s Brain”
June 26, 2010 ~ Taylor, MI
The promos from “Three-Fisted Tales” are here, including a confrontation between Mike Quackenbush and Tim Donst, along with an emotional speech from Eddie Kingston. Check the playlist below to view them, and be sure to buy the DVD from SmartMarkVideo.com.
The promos from “Throwing Life’s Instructions Away” are here, including Louden Noxious’ latest song and Hydra’s emotional goodbye speech. Check the playlist below to view them, and be sure to buy the DVD from SmartMarkVideo.com.
Our buddy Lyle C. Williams, the hardest working and greatest photographer in independent wrestling, has finally gotten around to providing us his photos for the last four CHIKARA events of season eight! He’s been hard at work tinkering these to make them perfect, even skipping out on a CZW show in November (yes, we’re saying it was for us and we’re sticking to it!) in order to bring these to the fans.
“An Optimistic View of a Pessimistic World” Photos
“Cibernetico Increible” Photos
“Throwing Life’s Instructions Away” Photos
“Three-Fisted Tales” Photos
Sorry for the lack of updates up here as of late…we’ve been incredibly busy working on a new project that we hope to roll out within the next day or two. I think it’ll deliver on expectations. You’ll know when it hits! But hey, we’ve got a LOT of CHIKARA news to catch up on…so let’s do that!
First off, the schedule for the first quarter of 2010 has rolled out, and it’s a heavy one! While King of Trios has been confirmed for season nine, it’s gonna be a long road to get there as there are five big events in the first three months of the year that see CHIKARA expand into new territory and revisit some old ones! January 31st sees the year kick off in Philadelphia as CHIKARA presents “A Touch of Class”. Then, the convoy steamrolls through Pennsylvania in February as Reading gets hit with “The Mint Condition” on the 27th, and Schuylkill County gets its first CHIKARA action since Barnesville’s “New Star Navigation” all the way back in 2007 with “A World of Comforting Illusions”. Finally, fret not, all Lehigh Valley fans, as you’ll see the return to Easton on March 20th with “Wit, Verve and a Bit o’ Nerve” which is complimented with CHIKARA’s New Jersey debut the following day as Westville, NJ hosts “Testimony of Evil”. A packed schedule in the first quarter of the year, and we’ll have all updates on those cards as they roll out right here!
However, the biggest news from CHIKARA so far in the off season relates to both the ever-expanding Brüderschaft der Kreuzes and the future of Leonard F. Chikarason. It was announced that Chikarason has been moved to strictly commentary duty, as the election for Director of Fun for 2010 was won by none other than Dieter VonSteigerwalt, a man who the public knows nothing about except for his seeming affiliation with the Brüderschaft. What will 2010 bring under the rule of VonSteigerwalt?
The DVD’s for the 2009 Season Finale events have been released. Head over to Smart Mark Video now to pick up “Throwing Life’s Instructions Away” and “Three-Fisted Tales”.
- CHIKARA “A Touch of Class”
January 31, 2009 ~ The Arena, Philadelphia, PA
- CHIKARA “The Mint Condition”
February 27, 2009 ~ Reading, PA
- CHIKARA “A World of Comforting Illusions”
February 28, 2009 ~ Pottsville, PA
- CHIKARA “Wit, Verve and a Bit o’ Nerve”
March 20, 2009 ~ Palmer Community Center, Easton, PA
- CHIKARA “Testimony of Evil”
March 21, 2009 ~ Westville, NJ
This isn’t going to really be a beefy post, so apologies for its lack of length. However, just a notification to let folks now that nominations for the 2009 CHIKARA Fans Awards have started! The third annual awards have begun with Class B nominations, which can be made on our message board in the appropriate section. Nominations for Class A will begin on December 16th, leading up to the big voting right here on the front page on January 1st (Class B) and January 14th (Class A). Then, the big reveal of the winners will be made just in time for the 2010 season premiere event at The Arena in Philadelphia. Get your nominations in now!
