Chikara Grand Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Details | |||||||||||||||||||||
Promotion | Chikara | ||||||||||||||||||||
Date established | February 3, 2011 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Date retired | June 24, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Chikara Grand Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Chikara promotion. The first champion was crowned on November 13, 2011, at the High Noon pay-per-view, when Eddie Kingston defeated Mike Quackenbush at the conclusion of a six-month long, twelve-person tournament. [2]
Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result of a scripted match. Since the founding of the promotion in 2002 and before the Chikara Grand Championship was created, Chikara promoted only the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, a tag team championship, and the Chikara Young Lions Cup, a championship for rookies, but did not have a major singles championship until an announcement regarding the creation of the Grand Championship was made in February 2011. On March 14, 2013, Chikara announced that in the future the title would be defended at every event held by the promotion. [6] This was later negated following Mike Quackenbush's takeover as Director of Fun and on August 1, 2014, he announced a three-point system to determine contendership for the title, similar to the system used for the Campeonatos de Parejas. Under the system, wrestlers need to accumulate three back-to-back wins in order to be eligible to challenge for the title. [7]
Overall, there have been nine reigns shared among eight wrestlers. One female wrestler, Princess KimberLee, has held the title. With the win, KimberLee became the first female wrestler to hold the top title in a major non-female promotion. [8]
On February 3, 2011, Chikara's new Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur announced that the promotion would be determining their first ever singles champion, nine years after the promotion was founded in 2002. Being new in his job, Vavasseur asked the Chikara roster to cast their vote on who should get to compete for the title with the only provision being that a wrestler cannot vote for themselves. [1] For the next two months wrestlers such as Vin Gerard, UltraMantis Black, Green Ant, Brodie Lee and Icarus pleaded for votes on Chikara's official website. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] While most of Chikara's top rudo (villainous) stable Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (BDK) seemed united behind their leader Claudio Castagnoli, who had ordered his stablemates to vote for him, BDK member Sara Del Rey also asked for votes for herself. [14] [15] [16]
On April 21, Vavasseur announced the result of the vote. Castagnoli had received the most votes, getting five votes from his seven stablemates. The others qualified were Jigsaw with three votes and Amasis, Brodie Lee, Eddie Kingston, Fire Ant, Hallowicked, Icarus, Mike Quackenbush, Sara Del Rey, UltraMantis Black and Vin Gerard, all with two votes. [17] Vavasseur then revealed that the twelve wrestlers would then be divided into two blocks in a round-robin tournament, starting on May 21. [17] On April 11, Chikara Wrestle Factory graduate and former Chikara Young Lions Cup Champion Larry Sweeney committed suicide. [18] [19] On April 29, Chikara announced that the tournament to determine the promotion's first ever singles champion would be named 12 Large: Summit, after Sweeney's catchphrase and finishing maneuver. [20] On May 10, Chikara revealed the tournament's block structure and rules; each match in the tournament had a 60-minute time limit, a win was worth two points and a draw one point. The top wrestler from each block would then face each other on November 13 to determine the first ever Chikara singles champion. [21]
On May 16, Vavasseur announced that Amasis had suffered an injury, which would force him out of the tournament. He then gave Chikara's fans the right to vote one of his Osirian Portal stablemates, Hieracon or Ophidian, to take his place. [22] On June 18, Vavasseur announced that Ophidian had won the vote and would get the vacant spot in the tournament. [23] Meanwhile, also Brodie Lee was sidelined with an injury and was forced to pull out of his match with Eddie Kingston on June 26, giving Kingston two points via forfeit. Lee was, however, given the opportunity to rejoin the tournament later, but never did make his return, forfeiting the rest of his matches. [23] Jigsaw started the tournament on the sidelines, but returned at the July 30 event. [24] On July 25, Ophidian announced that he had broken his jaw and would be forced to forfeit his match with Icarus on July 31. [25] On August 27, Claudio Castagnoli became the first person eliminated from contention in the tournament, after being defeated by Icarus. [26] Following the event, Castagnoli signed a contract with WWE and was forced to forfeit his final match against Ophidian. [27] On August 1, Chikara announced that the finals on November 13 would take place on the promotion's first ever live internet pay-per-view High Noon. [28] When the event's poster was revealed on August 29, the championship's name was at the same time revealed as the Chikara Grand Championship. [29] On October 7, Mike Quackenbush secured the top spot in Block A with a win over Sara Del Rey. [26] The following day, Eddie Kingston won Block B, when Jigsaw defeated the only man who could have threatened his number one spot, UltraMantis Black. [26] On November 13 at High Noon, Kingston defeated Quackenbush to win the 12 Large: Summit and become the inaugural Chikara Grand Champion. [2]
Block A | Block B | ||
---|---|---|---|
Mike Quackenbush | 8 | Eddie Kingston | 8 |
Icarus | 6 | Fire Ant | 6 |
Hallowicked | 6 | Jigsaw | 6 |
Sara Del Rey | 6 | UltraMantis Black | 6 |
Ophidian | 2 | Vin Gerard | 4 |
Claudio Castagnoli | 2 | Brodie Lee | 0 |
Block A | Castagnoli | Del Rey | Hallowicked | Icarus | Ophidian | Quackenbush |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Castagnoli | X | Del Rey (13:15) [26] | Castagnoli (14:34) [26] | Icarus (12:45) [26] | Ophidian (forfeit) | Quackenbush (19:59) [26] |
Del Rey | Del Rey (13:15) [26] | X | Hallowicked (11:56) [26] | Del Rey (13:56) [26] | Del Rey (13:59) [26] | Quackenbush (15:00) [26] |
Hallowicked | Castagnoli (14:34) [26] | Hallowicked (11:56) [26] | X | Icarus (15:16) [26] | Hallowicked (14:28) [26] | Hallowicked (18:50) [26] |
Icarus | Icarus (12:45) [26] | Del Rey (13:56) [26] | Icarus (15:16) [26] | X | Icarus (forfeit) [25] | Quackenbush (6:59) [26] |
Ophidian | Ophidian (forfeit) | Del Rey (13:59) [26] | Hallowicked (14:28) [26] | Icarus (forfeit) [25] | X | Quackenbush (17:31) [26] |
Quackenbush | Quackenbush (19:59) [26] | Quackenbush (15:00) [26] | Hallowicked (18:50) [26] | Quackenbush (6:59) [26] | Quackenbush (17:31) [26] | X |
Block B | Fire Ant | Gerard | Jigsaw | Kingston | Lee | UltraMantis |
Fire Ant | X | Fire Ant (11:45) [26] | Fire Ant (11:40) [26] | Kingston (22:27) [26] | Fire Ant (forfeit) | UltraMantis (12:46) [26] |
Gerard | Fire Ant (11:45) [26] | X | Jigsaw (12:48) [26] | Gerard (9:47) [26] | Gerard (7:15) [26] | UltraMantis (forfeit) |
Jigsaw | Fire Ant (11:40) [26] | Jigsaw (12:48) [26] | X | Kingston (19:43) [26] | Jigsaw (forfeit) | Jigsaw (12:13) [26] |
Kingston | Kingston (22:27) [26] | Gerard (9:47) [26] | Kingston (19:43) [26] | X | Kingston (forfeit) [23] | Kingston (11:56) [26] |
Lee | Fire Ant (forfeit) | Gerard (7:15) [26] | Jigsaw (forfeit) | Kingston (forfeit) [23] | X | UltraMantis (forfeit) |
UltraMantis | UltraMantis (12:46) [26] | UltraMantis (forfeit) | Jigsaw (12:13) [26] | Kingston (11:56) [26] | UltraMantis (forfeit) | X |
Final | ||||
A1 | Mike Quackenbush | Pin | ||
B1 | Eddie Kingston | 17:52 [26] |
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
Days | Number of days held |
Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | ||||
1 | Eddie Kingston | November 13, 2011 | High Noon | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 924 | 13 [30] | Kingston defeated Mike Quackenbush in the finals of a 12-person tournament to become the inaugural champion. Kingston's 14th Title defense against Icarus at CHIKARA Aniversario: Never Compromise on June 2, 2013 ended in a No Contest | [2] |
2 | Icarus | May 25, 2014 | You Only Live Twice | Easton, PA | 1 | 316 | 4 [31] | [32] | |
3 | Hallowicked | April 6, 2015 | Afternoon Delight | London, England | 1 | 243 | 6 [33] | [34] | |
4 | Princess KimberLee | December 5, 2015 | Top Banana | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 177 | 5 [35] | Cashed in her Golden Opportunity she had won earlier in the night in the finals of the Challenge of the Immortals tournament with Los Ice Creams and Jervis Cottenbelly as Crown and Court | [36] |
5 | Hallowicked | May 30, 2016 | Aniversario: The Lost World | Glasgow, Scotland | 2 | 213 | 7 [37] | [38] | |
6 | UltraMantis Black | December 29, 2016 | Whatever Happened, Happened | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 93 | 2 | [39] | |
7 | Juan Francisco de Coronado | April 1, 2017 | Bad Wolf | Orlando, FL | 1 | 497 | 13 | [40] | |
8 | Mark Angelosetti | August 11, 2018 | Chikarasaurus Rex: A Deadly Secret | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 237 | 0 | [41] | |
— | Dasher Hatfield | September 4, 2018 | Chikara Wrestle Factory Press Conference | Philadelphia, PA | 213 | 5 | When Mark Angelosetti got legitimately injured, Chikara Director Of Fun Bryce Remsburg allowed Angelosetti choose an Interim Champion to defend the belt until he comes back. Angelosetti then chose Dasher Hatfield. | ||
9 | Dasher Hatfield | April 5, 2019 | Once Upon A Beginning | Jersey City, NJ | 1 | 446 | 3 | Hatfield defeated Mark Angelosetti in a ladder match. | [42] |
— | Deactivated | June 24, 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | Deactivated when Chikara closed down. |
Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined defenses | Combined days |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Eddie Kingston | 1 | 14 | 924 |
2 | Juan Francisco de Coronado | 13 | 497 | |
3 | Hallowicked | 2 | 13 | 456 |
4 | Dasher Hatfield | 1 | 3 | 446 |
5 | Icarus | 4 | 316 | |
6 | Mark Angelosetti | 5 | 237 | |
7 | Princess KimberLee | 5 | 177 | |
8 | UltraMantis Black | 2 | 93 |
Michael Spillane is an American podcaster, author, professional wrestling trainer, professional wrestling promoter, and semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Mike Quackenbush.
Edward Moore, better known by the ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler. As of July 2020, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he was the inaugural AEW Continental Champion. He also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion. Additionally, he makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign. All three of these championships were defended jointly under the Continental Crown Championship banner until he lost the Continental Championship.
Chikara was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company took both its name and logo from the Japanese kanji meaning 'strength' (力). It was founded in 2002 by professional wrestlers Mike Quackenbush and Reckless Youth, who also served as trainers and in-ring performers.
A torneo cibernetico is a multi-man professional wrestling elimination match that was created and primarily used in Mexican lucha libre professional wrestling promotions, especially in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The match format sees two teams of varying sizes face off against each other. It uses standard lucha libre tag team rules with elimination occurring with a pinfall, submission, disqualification and count out and allows a wrestler to enter the match when their tag team partner exits the ring as well as when they tag out. A special 'batting' order system is used in which the wrestlers are given a specific order and may only tag in and out in this order. If two or more men from the same team remain, they must face each other to determine one individual winner.
The Kings of Wrestling was a professional wrestling stable that worked on the independent circuit. It was formed in Chikara as a large stable, but also appeared in numerous promotions mainly as a tag team of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. Hero's manager Larry Sweeney and valet Sara Del Rey were also part of the group at differing times. The group also comprised Icarus and Gran Akuma who teamed separately as Team F.I.S.T. as well as Arik Cannon, Mitch Ryder, Max Boyer, Chuck Taylor and Shayne Hawke.
Gran Akuma is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Chikara. He has also worked for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Dragon Gate USA and Full Impact Pro (FIP). In Chikara, he was a member of The Kings of Wrestling stable, while also being a part of Team F.I.S.T. with Icarus and Chuck Taylor. On November 17, 2006, Akuma and Icarus defeated Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli to capture the Campeonatos de Parejas.
The Colony was a professional wrestling stable, best known for performing for Chikara. As their name suggests, their gimmick is that of an ant colony, which is further reinforced with their names being based on particular ants and classes within an ant colony.
Michael Hopes is an American professional wrestler, better known under the ring name Tim Donst. He is performing primarily in Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), Chikara and Dragon Gate USA. He is known for his amateur wrestling background, which became the focal point of his gimmick. He is a former two-time AIW Absolute Champion and holder of the Young Lions Cup.
The Osirian Portal is a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Amasis and Ophidian. The team mainly competed in Chikara, where they held the Campeonatos de Parejas, and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). They have also made appearances in Ring of Honor (ROH) and several other independent promotions based in the north eastern part of the United States. The tag team eventually expanded into a stable with the additions of Escorpion Egipcio and Hieracon. Amasis was forced to retire from professional wrestling in June 2011 as a result of a non-wrestling accident, which led to the official dissolution of the team in September. Amasis returned to the ring in early 2013, starting a rivalry between the two former tag team partners. The team reunited in mid-2013.
Bruderschaft des Kreuzes was a professional wrestling stable in the Chikara promotion.
UltraMantis Black is a professional wrestler and musician, who performed primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion. He is a former one-time Chikara Grand Champion and winner of the 2012 King of Trios tournament. Throughout his career he has also worked for promotions such as Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and Jersey All Pro Wrestling. As part of his gimmick, he wears a mantis mask. As UltraMantis, his original red and green attire was based on the main protagonist from the Kamen Rider series, while his ring name was derived from another Japanese television program, Ultraman. In May 2004 he renamed himself UltraMantis Black and adopted a new mask and a red and black attire, while also beginning to express communist views. In June 2006 he formed his own stable, the Order of the Neo–Solar Temple and adopted the dark look he has used to this day.
Marco Jaggi is a Swiss professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, known by his ring name Ares, who primarily competes in European and American independent promotions. For much of his career, Jaggi teamed with Claudio Castagnoli and Marc Roudin as part of Swiss Money Holding. One of the top tag teams in Europe during the 2000s, the trio won titles in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and their native Switzerland. Under the Freebird Rule, Jaggi held the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship with Castagnoli and Roudin for a record 12 months.
Robert Goodwin, better known by the ring name Hallowicked, is an American retired professional wrestler. He performed primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he started his career in May 2002. His accomplishments in the promotion include becoming the inaugural Young Lions Cup Champion, a one-time Campeon de Parejas, a two-time Grand Champion and the winner of the 2003 Tag World Grand Prix and 2012 King of Trios tournaments. He served as an assistant trainer at The Wrestle Factory, operated by Chikara founder Mike Quackenbush. Throughout his career he has also worked for promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, Evolve Wrestling, Full Impact Pro, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor. He is known for his ghoulish looks and incoherent speech pattern.
Ronald Grams is an American professional wrestler. He is known for his 18-year tenure with the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, under the name Icarus since 2002, where he is a former Grand Champion, Campeon de Parejas and King of Trios winner. He has also wrestled for Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, Evolve Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Stigma is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he is a former Young Lions Cup Champion and King of Trios winner. He was previously known as Shane Storm and has also wrestled for other independent promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling, Full Impact Pro and Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South.
Stephen Delicato is an American professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Frightmare. He performed in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he was a former Young Lions Cup Champion. He has also worked for promotions such as Evolve Wrestling, International Wrestling Cartel, IWA East Coast, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Synergy Professional Wrestling, where he is a 2-time Synergy Pro Wrestling Champion.
High Noon was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by the Chikara promotion, that took place on November 13, 2011, at the Asylum Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event marked Chikara's first ever live pay-per-view and it was headlined by the finals of a tournament to determine the first ever Chikara Grand Champion. The event aired on GoFightLive, with a pre-show airing live on Ustream. The event broke Chikara's attendance record, drawing 864 fans into the Asylum Arena, and drew more than 1,000 buys online, beating Ring of Honor's previous iPPV, Death Before Dishonor IX, which drew 972 buys. The event was released on DVD by Smart Mark Video on November 25, 2011.
Under the Hood was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by the Chikara promotion, that took place on December 2, 2012 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event marked Chikara's third iPPV, following November 2011's High Noon and June 2012's Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur. While the two previous iPPV's aired live through GoFightLive, Under the Hood instead aired through Smart Mark Video, Chikara's longtime DVD production and distribution partner. The event was headlined by Eddie Kingston defending the Chikara Grand Championship against the number one contender and 2012 Torneo Cibernetico winner Tim Donst. The event also saw The Young Bucks defending the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas against 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty and "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti defending the Chikara Young Lions Cup against A. C. H., making Under the Hood the first ever Chikara event, where all three titles were defended. Other featured matches saw the culmination of two year-long storylines, with UltraMantis Black leading his Spectral Envoy stable to take on a team led by Delirious and a match where two teams, mixed of representatives of both Chikara and the villainous Gekido stable, battled each other. Under the Hood was Chikara's season eleven finale event. The event was attended by 525 fans and drew 1,025 buys online. The event was released on DVD and downloadable MP4 by Smart Mark Video on December 7, 2012.
The Batiri is a professional wrestling alliance in the Chikara promotion. The team includes Kodama and Obariyon, who work under face paint with the wrestling characters of demons, and Kobald, who performs under a goblin mask. Both Kodama's and Obariyon's ring names come from Japanese folklore from the characters of Kodama and Obariyon, while Kobald is named after the German word for goblin. All three men were trained at Chikara's Wrestle Factory by then head trainers Claudio Castagnoli and Mike Quackenbush. They have also made appearances for promotions like Beyond Wrestling, Collective League of Adrenaline Strength and Honor (CLASH), STAR Pro-Wrestling, Wrestling is Fun! (WiF!), and Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW).
Aniversario: Never Compromise was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by the Chikara promotion, that took place on June 2, 2013, at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event marked Chikara's fourth iPPV, third to take place at the Trocadero Theatre and the promotion's only event to take place in Philadelphia in 2013. Much like the previous iPPV, Under the Hood, Aniversario: Never Compromise also aired through Smart Mark Video. Aniversario: Never Compromise celebrated Chikara's eleventh anniversary and was the first anniversary event to take place on iPPV; in the past, the promotion had celebrated its anniversaries with weekends of two shows. The event saw all three Chikara championships being defended with one title change, where Pieces of Hate defeated 3.0 for the Campeonatos de Parejas. Another major match during the event saw former Campeones de Parejas, Amasis and Ophidian, end their nineteen-month storyline rivalry in a Sarcophagus match. The event concluded with a major storyline development, where Chikara's authority figure Wink Vavasseur ended the event and shut down the promotion, while the main event was still going on in the ring, leading to the promotion going inactive for a full year.