Blog: Mike Quackenbush (11.14.16)
The events of the last few days have been just cause to take a look at the state of professional wrestling. The art form that I love, and have dedicated my entire adult life to, is embarrassingly behind the times. It is beholden to outdated tenets that threaten to render it...obsolete at worst, and a punchline at best.
I know there are others, influential and celebrated, that imagine pro-wrestling to be a bubble in which the social norms from a bygone era are still relevant and valid. At CHIKARA, we rail against them, and those ideals, with everything we make. It is one thing to speak, to voice an opinion. It is one thing to call for change, to wish for change, to imagine how that change might come about. It is another thing to make it. At CHIKARA, we make it happen. It doesn’t matter to us in the least how many people show up to see it, or how many people recognize it for what it is. Our mantra is not about critical acclaim or pats on the back: “We believe pro-wrestling should be fun. That’s why we make it for everyone.”
Effective today, we are terminating our relationship with Joey Styles. Effective today, we are instituting a zero tolerance policy for misogynistic, racist, and/or homophobic speech, written or verbal, whether it’s directed toward our cast, our crew, or our patrons. This is the shape of CHIKARA.
To all that craft and shape pro-wrestling, we must fully understand this: the patrons of our art form demand more of us. It is to them - those that empower us to create the larger-than-life spectacle of professional wrestling - that we are beholden. Not to an archaic sub-culture made up of turn-of-the-last-century carny values.
The time for us to do away with antiquated and insulting vocabulary, like the term “mark,” is right now.
The time for us to relinquish any last vestige of power we’ve given to outmoded wrestling rhetoric is right now.
The time for us to draw a line in the sand, and to say this is where we stand on equality and integration in our art form, is right now.
The patrons of our amazing art form deserve not just our respect, but our thoughtful presence of mind in 2016 and beyond. We owe nothing to “the business.” The people our antecedents called “marks” are not handing us their dollars because they fail to understand what it is we truly make - they support us in spite of it. They come because they know our kind of live entertainment is a viable art form, not some midway hustle. They come for an inclusive experience where they can be bolstered by a passionate community of like-minded fans.
At CHIKARA, we love pro-wrestling every bit as much as our fans do. We love it so much, we want it to change. Let’s take a step toward a world where we need not be subject to any type of hate speech, and that the only violence we witness is of the neatly choreographed variety.
-MQ
Blog: Chuck Taylor (10.25.16)
Always read the FINE print!
I entered the world of CHIKARA to make a name for myself and there was only one way to do it – take someone else's! There were papers printed, parties signed them, and I obtained the name CHUCK TAYLOR™ (along with some other stuff, which can only be described as deec). It was a lot of paperwork. Imagine the Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy paperwork TIMES 10.
DUSTIN is contractually obligated to either record a duet with me (lol that voice), take Trent? and I to Universal Studios, or help me become a CHIKARA Champion. I chose the latter for him since Trent? has apparently blocked my number. Hey man, I didn't really mean it when I said “Roppongi Vice” needed an Akon solo. IT WAS A JOKE, MAN. Unblock me.
Anyway, on Saturday, November 5, we're entering a 4-way elimination tag-thing to win 3 points.
You all know what's next, baby. I mean, do you ever dream of Candy Coated Raindrops? If so, you'll see some Soul. FOR REAL. Chuckie T and DUSTIN as Campeonatos de Parejas!
No Diggity / No Doubt,
CT
Blog: Hallowicked (10.18.16)
The multitude of fools who are willing to throw themselves before the might of Nazmaldun does not surprise me. Fools are born each day. Fools are trained to fight each day and fools are given a choice: to stand against Nazmaldun or to submit to his will. So it is no great shock when I am sent to lead his arsenal of living weapons to smash those who choose the latter and remove them from his path. But you, Ophidian, have done what no other has done. Not only did you ignore his call, not only did you dare to face his legion, you defeated his twin scythes Obariyan and Kodama in Haverhill.
I cannot pretend to understand how this was done as you so easily pretended to not be teamed up with a dead man that day. Your partner Amasis is marked for his heresy. One day soon the Spear, Frightmare, will slash him to shreds with the ferocity only a wild animal overcome with rage can hope to achieve. Yet you went into your match with a bullseye as a partner and came out victorious. Was this valor, or was this blissful ignorance of the consequences? We do not know and what we do not know gives us pause.
Nazmaldun has not assured my victory on November 5th like he has in all of my battles before this one. Nor has he guaranteed my defeat. He is for the first time uncertain and his uncertainty is an arrow in my side. Whatever trick, whatever power it is you possess that can cloud the all-seeing vision of my master, I vow to beat it into disuse. Your continued existence does us great insult and I, as his appointed Broadsword, will not stand for it.
Ophidian, I defeated you at National Pro Wrestling Day. On November 5th in Philadelphia I will serve your heart to the Lord of Rot.
-H