It’s fair to say I like CHIKARA – a lot. This year, CHIKARA seems determined to make major waves on the overall pro wrestling scene.
For those who don’t follow CHIKARA religiously like I do, I wanted to compile a list of reasons why I am so excited for the company’s year to come:
Marquee Events
CHIKARA has titled their events after various pop culture phenomena in recent years – James Bond films, Arrested Development episodes, EPs and movie sequels, etc. While this year, some of the events are titled after the Goosebumps novels, many events are based around the annual events we’ve come to know and love from CHIKARA: National Pro Wrestling Day, Aniversario, King of Trios, etc. This year, events like the Cibernetico, the Infinite Gauntlet, Young Lions Cup tournament are their own titular events once again, or for the first time in the Gauntlet’s case. The Johnny Kidd Invitational and Tag World Grand Prix tournaments are back. Most exciting of all is the return after a ten year hiatus of the Lethal Lottery tournament. The abundance of stand alone big events adds an extra layer of panache to a year jam packed with events.
Partnerships with other organizations
It was very common for CHIKARA to partner with other organizations to bring in talent or bring their show to an area that may have been untenable without the partnership. Lately, CHIKARA has been quite insulated, which with the abundance of Wrestle Factory students and their own building is easy to do, and it is hard to argue against the concept of being totally self-reliant. What it does though it put up a barrier of entry, which CHIKARA has always had due to its dense history and layered storytelling, but re-visiting this old approach makes CHIKARA seem open and welcome to outside fans by being open to other organizations.
Just earlier this month at National Pro Wrestling Day, Tony Deppen was billed as a representative of Game Changer Wrestling when he challenged the Whisper for his Young Cup. Speaking of, the Young Lions Cup tournament is around the corner, and in addition to three CHIKARA roster members being involved, competitors from eleven outside organizations will be represented in the tournament, including Ring of Honor, Beyond Wrestling, and Fight Club Pro amongst others.Speaking of Beyond Wrestling, in July a show entitled “Clan Feuds” will feature an entire card of interpromotional battles between CHIKARA and Beyond, akin to when CHIKARA hosted the Global Gauntlet against Big Japan Wrestling in 2008.
This is just the start, too. The annual King of Trios tournament offers a bevy of opportunities for promotions across the globe to be featured on a big stage in front of new fans. Some of these newer partnerships could blossom into something long term and constant. I’m excited to see where things go from here.
Debuts and Returns
The CHIKARA roster has made a major overhaul in the past year. From November 2016 until now, more than a dozen regular characters have left the roster. However, more than a dozen new faces have come around to fill those vacancies. While it’s hard for fans like myself to say goodbye to characters we’ve grown accustomed to and become fans of, it’s equally fun to see the rookies of the Wrestle Factory debut and watch them grow into larger parts of the roster. The Xyberhawx 2000 triumvirate, Merlok, and Travis Huckabee have become some of my favorites on the roster overall. A new Green Ant has emerged along with a couple new trio stables in The Proteus Wheel and The Nouveau Aesthetic (led by the former Race Jaxon, who under a mask is now known as BLANK.) New characters and partnerships have been a key part of CHIKARA keeping things fresh.
Sometimes, a way to freshen things up is to bring back some old familiar faces. Gran Akuma was set on a course to be a major player in CHIKARA this year, but after years of wear and tear decided to retire from wrestling altogether just a few weeks ago. Recently, however, it was announced Colin Delaney and Cheech would return to CHIKARA as a tag team attempting to qualify for this year’s Tag World Grand Prix tournament. The Infinite Gauntlet in May also provides an opportunity for names of yesteryear to make a one off appearance, much like Shane Storm and Sumie Sakai did in 2016. Most importantly of all is Mike Quackenbush passing on the duties of the Director of Fun to Bryce Remsburg and returning to the CHIKARA roster as an in-ring performer. While we have yet to see Quackenbush wrestle in CHIKARA this year, he has performed in Beyond Wrestling against Jonathan Gresham, is set to wrestle David Starr on Joey Janela’s Spring Break, and is listed as an active competitor on the CHIKARA roster. He’s also only one victory away from being able to challenge for the CHIKARA Grand Championship, which as the company founder has to be enticing.
In addition, names like Joey Janela and Penelope Ford popping up at a number of events make it seem like anybody can be involved within the CHIKARAsphere in 2018.
All these changes are part of what keeps me interested in CHIKARA and has me excited for what other changes we may see over the course of the year.
Live Streams. Lots and lots of live streams.
If you’ve been an independent wrestling fan for awhile, you remember the long, agonizing wait from when an show occurred to when it was released on DVD (or even VHS!) some shows took a few weeks, some a couple months, and in certain instances upwards of a year to be released to a public. In 2018, more companies than ever offer live streamed independent wrestling events. It’s rare to go a weekend without several events being available to watch as they happen from the comfort on your own home.
The new Wrestle Factory, which CHIKARA began running events from in 2015, began testing live streaming in 2016 on it’s own streaming service CHIKARAtopia, and Facebook. This year, every show from the Wrestle Factory (which is almost every event on the CHIKARA calendar) will be live streamed. On average, CHIKARA will be live streaming 2-3 events a month on CHIKARAtopia. As of this writing, there are a minimum of 17 additional live streams coming this year, with several Hours of Power being added to the calendar as the year goes on. For older subscribers, it’s a major bonus on top of the back catalogue, and a nice incentive to encourage others to jump on board. Costing only $7.99 a month isn’t so bad either. The shows are typically at 3 PM Eastern, meaning it’s not too early for those on the West Coast (Noon) or too late for many of those watching overseas. If live wrestling at home is your jam, CHIKARA has you covered.
Of course, the major negative of this is that it means CHIKARA will not be touring around the country much this year. As somebody who doesn’t make it to many wrestling shows these days, I am fine with the trade off, but I completely understand the disappointment of those who enjoyed making the annual trip to CHIKARA when they came to their area. Maybe in 2019 we’ll see some live streamed traveling shows?
All of these things show major steps in the company attempting to become a player in the overall independent wrestling scene in 2018, and whether they succeed or fail, there’s no denying they’re going all in on getting new or former eyeballs on their company.
If you’re a lapsed CHIKARA fan and this article has you interested in maybe checking out some of their events in 2018, I highly suggest listening to the monthly VIVA CHIKARA podcast myself and Justin Houston produce. Additionally, you can follow CHIKARA Special on Twitter, which will link you to the Tumblr I personally run with updates on all match announcements, video content, and blogs produced by CHIKARA themselves, as well as older promos and show reviews I post on YouTube and on my blog.
What I want to know, dear reader, is what are YOU most looking forward to from CHIKARA in 2018?
