Hopes started out his career by training in Chikara's training facility under the tutelage of Claudio Castagnoli and Mike Quackenbush. He made his debut under the ring name Tim Donst in 2007 at Rey de Voladores in a trios match, which had his team end up on the losing end.[5] This would continue for a while, as he would lose to many more opponents, slowly building some steam, before the match got him noticed against Eddie Kingston, who dished out vicious punishment that Donst would survive through, and keep coming back, but still lost.[6] The effort gave him a strong fan base.
Following that, he moved on to gain his first victory over Alex Payne,[7] then established himself as a tecnico, confronting other big challenges with tenacity, even breaking his nose.
In April 2008, Donst was dropped on his head via a Praying Mantis Bomb from UltraMantis Black. He followed Mantis and the rest of the Order of the Neo Solar Temple to the back and would appear with them for the next few shows, eventually donning facepaint and being called the "Chosen One" of the Order. What emerged was that Donst had lost his memory and had been convinced by UltraMantis that he was a true member of the Order. During his stint with the Neo Solar Temple, he and Hydra formed a tag team and amassed the three points required for a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas.
On June 14, during a tag match between Mike Quackenbush and Shane Storm and the Super Smash Brothers, Tim Donst made his way to ringside and whispered something to Mike Quackenbush, which led him to attack Storm after winning the match. It was revealed that Donst's entire stint with the Order had been a setup between him and Quackenbush to infiltrate the rudo faction in Chikara to discover who in the tecnicos had revealed the counter to the Chikara Special, which turned out to be Storm. He left the Order, and Hydra would end up coming with him, and their team officially became known as the Sea Donsters. They feuded with the Order for the remainder of the year, and when the Donsters cashed in their three points and challenged the Campeones Incoherence on August 9, the Order cost them the match. The Donsters defeated them decisively in a tag match on December 12, and Hydra won a singles match against UltraMantis the next night, settling the feud.
Donst on the ring apron in 2008
The same night Hydra beat UltraMantis, Donst wrestled in a tag match with Mike Quackenbush against STIGMA (the former Shane Storm) and Colin Delaney of the UnStable. STIGMA dropped him on his head during the match and knocked him out, requiring him to be sent to the back (a returning Jigsaw took his place afterwards), and STIGMA even stole his wrestling headgear, starting a new feud. It ended on May 23, 2009, where he beat STIGMA with the Chikara Special and took back his headgear.
One night later, dissention started brewing within the Sea Donsters when they lost to the team 2.0, with Hydra taking the fall. Donst became angry with Hydra for that loss, as well as a few other recent losses they had suffered in the tag team division. After losing to Hydra in a Young Lions Cup qualifying match on August 14, and then Hydra taking the fall in a trios match two nights later, Donst attacked Hydra following the loss, becoming a rudo in the process. He later explained that he was tired of being undervalued by the tecnicos, specifically Mike Quackenbush, and he told Hydra that he was nothing more than comic relief while he was with the Order, and when they teamed together, it made him look like a joke as well. He vowed to destroy him and then take the Young Lions Cup by any means necessary.
He got a match with Hydra on September 12, but he attacked and viciously beat his former partner before the match even started. When the match finally did start, he won in sixteen seconds by making Hydra submit. The next night, he jumped Hydra and beat him up again, prompting Director of Fun Leonard F. Chikarason to suspend him for sixty days. A month later, Hydra challenged him to a Loser Leaves Chikara Match for the November 21 show, which he accepted. Donst won the match after low blowing Hydra while distracting the referee.
The following night at the end of the show, the BDK duo that had been pestering UltraMantis Black and the Order of the Neo Solar Temple for the Eye of Tyr for some time came into the ring. They called out UltraMantis, and he gave the Eye to his newest recruit Vökoder - a masked man who had debuted at the Young Lions Cup Tournament back in August and became a member of the Order - and entered the ring to confront them. After one of them revealed himself to be Ares, and he, the still-masked other BDK member, Claudio Castagnoli, Carpenter Ant (who later unmasked to reveal he was Pinkie Sanchez), Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze started to beat down members of the tecnico roster who came to ringside, Vökoder beat down UltraMantis and returned the Eye to Ares. When the new group of aforementioned wrestlers came together in the ring, Vökoder unmasked and revealed himself to be Tim Donst all along. He then joined the new group, which became known as Bruderschaft des Kreuzes. Jumping to BDK, Donst took with him the inverted Chikara Special, a supposedly unbreakable submission maneuver Quackenbush had taught him as a token of gratitude for infiltrating the Order.[8] On January 31, 2010, at the season nine premiere, Donst used the move to defeat Player Dos to win the Chikara Young Lions Cup.[3][9] After successful defenses against Player Uno, Dasher Hatfield, Soldier Ant and Frightmare, Donst was forced to vacate the title on August 27, 2010, in time for the eighth annual Young Lions Cup tournament.[3][10][11][12][13] On October 23 Donst represented BDK in the torneo cibernetico match, where they faced a team composed of Chikara originals. After a strong showing, which saw Donst eliminate STIGMA, Icarus and Jigsaw from the match, he was himself eliminated by Mike Quackenbush, who managed to counter the Inverted Chikara Special into the original Chikara Special to force a submission.[14] The following week Donst made his first tour of Japan with Osaka Pro Wrestling.[15][16] In early 2011, when Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas decided not to enter the 2011 King of Trios, Donst was placed in charge of leading BDK in the tournament. After weeks of scouting, Donst, voicing his displeasure with the rest of BDK, announced Delirious and Jakob Hammermeier as his partners and, on April 15, led the BDK trio to defeat Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson) in the first round of the tournament.[17][18] The following day, the BDK trio was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinal stage by The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant and Soldier Ant).[19] For most of 2011, Donst feuded with Hallowicked, which saw the two men captaining opposite teams in the eighth annual torneo cibernetico match on November 12. After eliminating Sugar Dunkerton, Dasher Hatfield and Hallowicked from the match, Donst was pinned by former BDK member, Team Hallowicked's Sara Del Rey for the win.[20] The following day at Chikara's first internet pay-per-view, High Noon, Donst put his hair and Ares the Eye of Tyr on the line against Hallowicked's and UltraMantis Black's masks in a No Disqualification match. At the end of the match, Donst abandoned Ares, leaving him to be pinned by UltraMantis, saving his hair, but costing BDK the Eye of Tyr in the process.[21] Donst's long rivalry with Hallowicked culminated in a Lucha de Apuestas Mask vs. Hair match on June 2 at Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur. Originally, Donst won the match after choking out Hallowicked, however, the match was restarted, when the referee of the match discovered that Donst had used a shoelace with the choke. After the restart, Hallowicked won the match and afterwards shaved his rival bald.[22]
On September 15, Donst set his sights on the Chikara Grand Championship, attacking reigning champion Eddie Kingston after his successful title defense against Tadasuke.[23] On November 18, Donst represented Team Kingston in the ninth annual torneo cibernetico, where they faced a team captained by Kevin Steen. In the end, Donst won the match, lastly eliminating Kingston.[20][24] On December 2, Donst unsuccessfully challenged Kingston for the Grand Championship in the main event of Chikara's third internet pay-per-view, Under the Hood.[20] Following the loss, Donst adopted a new depressed persona, forming a stable known as The Nest of Donst with his storyline followers Jakob Hammermeier, Steve "The Turtle" Weiner and Veronica in early 2013.[25][26] Also in early 2013, Donst started a rivalry with ring announcer and commentator Gavin Loudspeaker, which culminated in a Hair vs. Hair match at Aniversario: Never Compromise, where Donst lost, after Hammermeier turned on him, and was again forced to have his head shaved.[20][27] When Chikara returned from its one-year hiatus in May 2014, Donst was no longer part of the promotion's roster.
Dragon Gate USA (2014)
On February 22, 2014, Donst made his debut for Dragon Gate USA, defeating Chris Dickinson in a singles match.[28] The next day, Donst was defeated by Caleb Konley at Way of the Ronin 2014.[29]
Combat Zone Wrestling (2015–present)
On July 11, 2015, Donst made his debut for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), defeating Joe Gacy for the CZW Wired Championship.[30] On October 10, 2015, at Tangled Web 8, he lost the title to Joey Janela following outside interference from Gacy.[31] On June 11, 2016, he competed in the Annual CZW Tournament of Death, where he was defeated by Ricky Shane Page in the opening match in the bed of a pickup truck.
Personal life
In February 2015, Hopes announced that his professional wrestling career was possibly over after being diagnosed with a kidney tumor.[32] It was, however, later announced that Donst would be able to continue his career, returning to the ring on July 10.[33]
In May 2015, Hopes submitted a video for WWE Tough Enough.[34] He was, however, not chosen as part of the final 40 contenders for the program.[35]
Hunter Johnston is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Delirious, currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is known for his outrageous antics, such as running around aimlessly and screaming wildly when the opening ring bell sounds, and speaking in a rambling and mostly incoherent fashion. Delirious has competed internationally in Japan, Mexico, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom. He is a former head booker of Ring of Honor and was Executive Producer of Ring of Honor Television, producing and writing over 500 episodes of weekly television along with producing and writing hundreds of live events in the 2010s. He also started as the head trainer for the company's wrestling school, the ROH Dojo in 2007.
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.
Gran Akuma is a 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 is 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.
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.
Edward McGuckin is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jigsaw. He is best known for his work on the independent circuit for promotions such as Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, Full Impact Pro, and Ring of Honor and has also made appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he worked under the ring name Rubix. He is currently working most notably in the United Kingdom, where he predominantly appears for HOPE Wrestling.
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.
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.
Andrew Dinsmore is an American professional wrestler best known his time in the wrestling promotion Chikara as Hydra. During his time in Chikara, he was part of The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple and The Sea Donsters.
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.
Da Soul Touchaz is a professional wrestling alliance, currently consisting of American professional wrestlers Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett, Willie Richardson and manager C. Red. The group is best known for working for Chikara, but has also worked for promotions such as Dragon Gate USA, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and various other independent promotions.
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.
Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by the Chikara promotion, that took place on June 2, 2012 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and aired live on GoFightLive, with a pre-show airing live on Ustream. The event marked Chikara's second pay-per-view, following previous November's High Noon. This was the third year in which Chikara promoted a summer event under the Chikarasaurus Rex banner, with the original Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show having taken place July 25, 2010, and the Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Sequel weekend on July 30 and 31, 2011. The event was released on DVD and downloadable MP4 by Smart Mark Video on June 4, 2012.
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.
Tomorrow Never Dies was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by the Chikara promotion, that took place on December 6, 2014, at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event marked Chikara's season 14 finale and was the promotion's sixth iPPV. Tomorrow Never Dies was also Chikara's first event at the former ECW Arena since the High Noon iPPV in November 2011. Much like several other Chikara events in 2014, including the previous iPPV You Only Live Twice, the event was named after a James Bond film of the same name.
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