Chikara (professional Wrestling) - History

History

The promotion grew out with the Wrestle Factory, which was founded as a wrestling school in Allentown, Pennsylvania by Mike Quackenbush and "Reckless Youth" Tom Carter on January 7, 2002. After five months, the school started Chikara. The first class included UltraMantis, Mr. ZERO, Dragonfly, Hallowicked, and Ichabod Slayne. In May of the same year, Chikara expanded into a wrestling promotion with the intent of showcasing its students. The first show on May 25, 2002, featured not only the Wrestle Factory students and head trainers, but several other independent wrestlers, including Don Montoya, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Chris Hero, Love Bug, Marshal Law, and Blind Rage. The main event of the first show featured Quackenbush and Youth joined by Don Montoya as the Black T-Shirt Squad defeat the Gold Bond Mafia of Chris Hero, CM Punk, and Colt Cabana. In the early days, Blind Rage, Hallowicked, and Ichabod Slayne formed a stable known as the Night Shift, which became the top group of rudos (or heels) in the company. They frequently feuded with tecnicos (faces) Quackenbush, Youth, and UltraMantis. Notable events of 2002 included an appearance by former WCW star La Parka, who joined Mister ZERO against Quackenbush and Youth, and the opening of the short-lived sister promotion Kiryoku Pro, which highlighted female wrestling.

2002 was also marked by a lawsuit against Chikara for promoting shows out of the Wrestle Factory. Neighborhood activists claimed that the building was not properly zoned for assembly, and that the shows detracted from the "complexion of the community". It was eventually ruled that Chikara provided inadequate parking for their shows, and would not be allowed to promote out of the Wrestle Factory any longer. This deterred Chikara from holding any more shows until October. During the Chikara hiatus, they released tapes of their early shows, titled "The Renaissance Dawns" and "Baila, Parka, Baila", and the wrestlers worked showcase matches in other promotions, such as IWA-MS. Chikara soon reached an agreement with St. John’s Lutheran Church in Allentown to hold shows there, only eight blocks from the Wrestle Factory. Chikara also began a second Wrestle Factory class, but lost trainer Reckless Youth at the beginning of the class, as he left the business. The first show in St. John's saw the Wildcards (Eddie Kingston and BlackJack Marciano), Gran Akuma, DJ Skittlez, Melvin Snodgrass and Lester Crabtree debut, and shortly after, they were joined by Wrestle Factory graduates Jigsaw and Bryce Remsburg.

Chikara soon debuted a concept that lasts to this day in their promotion, the Chikara Young Lions Cup. Commonly abbreviated as the YLC, the tournament was designed to showcase the best of the Wrestle Factory graduates. It continues to be a showcase of young talent from the independent circuit. Hallowicked defeated Mr. ZERO to win the first tournament. Chikara took a two-week break during Christmas before returning in 2003, establishing a tradition of "seasons" that they maintain today.

In 2004, Chris Hero became a co-trainer at the Chikara Wrestle Factory, replacing Carter. In 2005, Jorge "Skayde" Rivera joined as the third trainer. In March 2005, the school moved from Allentown to the New Alhambra Arena, in Philadelphia. They then took over the training for Combat Zone Wrestling, leading to the school's new name of CZW/Chikara Wrestle Factory. After the schools split in 2007, the training center became once again simply known as the Chikara Wrestle Factory. In 2007, Claudio Castagnoli took over Chris Hero's training duties.

The company's catalog of events (on both VHS & DVD) are available through Smart Mark Video.

Chikara drew their biggest crowd ever of over 550 at the New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia to see the finals of King of Trios 2008 on March 2, 2008. That record was broken on January 31, 2010, when their first show of season nine, A Touch of Class, drew over 600 fans. Later that year, on July 25, the record was broken once again at Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show, which drew 755 fans. The show was released by Smart Mark Video on DVD less than 24 hours after its conclusion.

Chikara also made Internet pay-per-views by the name of "Pod-Per-Views". Chikara also have a weekly internet show by the name of Chikara Podcast-A-Go-Go which contains matches and interviews.

On April 26, 2009, Chikara announced a working agreement with Dragon Gate USA, which saw Chikara wrestlers take part in Dragon Gate USA events.

On April 25, 2010, Chikara announced the release of a video game, titled Rudo Resurrection, for multiple gaming platforms later in the year.

On August 1, 2011, Chikara announced that their first ever live Internet pay-per-view, titled High Noon, would take place November 13, 2011, and would feature the crowning of the first ever Chikara Grand Champion. The event would again break Chikara's attendance record, drawing 864 fans. During 2012, High Noon was followed by the Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur and Under the Hood iPPV's.

In February 2012, Chikara launched their first ever web comic, written by Joey Esposito and drawn by Alex Cormack, telling the secret origin of Frightmare.

Throughout the years, Chikara has worked with several Japanese promotions in bringing their talent over to the United States, including Dragon Gate, Ice Ribbon, Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project, and Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling. In December 2011, Chikara hosted the three day long JoshiMania weekend, which featured some of the biggest names in joshi puroresu. Wrestlers such as Aja Kong, Dick Togo, Great Sasuke, Jinsei Shinzaki, Kana, Kaori Yoneyama and Mayumi Ozaki have made rare American appearances for the promotion, while Manami Toyota has made several appearances for Chikara since July 2010. Since 2010, Chikara has had a close working relationship with the Osaka Pro Wrestling promotion.