Blog: Dasher Hatfield (11.5.14)
“One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.”
That little gem’s from legendary ace “The Ryan Express” himself, Nolan Ryan. But it doesn’t just apply to baseball. It applies to anything you do in life. And for me, for Mr. Touchdown,for everybody who believes in CHIKARA, it applies to this moment in time. Right now! Time to show and prove, lads and lassies.
This season’s been a long string of hard-fought innings under some of the worst conditions we’ve ever faced. The games we lost, we lost big. Key players like Kobald. ThunderFrog. Veterans like Archibald Peck. Rookies like Equinox. Or Create-A-Wrestler. I had high hopes for that kid, especially.
But we’re not out of this series yet. At "Moonraker" we scored our biggest victory when our Grand Champ, Icarus, speared Deucalion off his feet! Let me tell you, that’s far and away no easy task. I stood toe to toe with that Deucalion and it was like fighting an animal. Easily had twice the strength of anybody I’ve ever fought before. Gave him all I had in the tank and he was still able to bat Shynron into the bleachers and slam poor Archie into oblivion. All this, and Icarus still took him down! That’s a Grand Slam in my book.
Don’t think anyone’s overlooked Eddie Kingston, either. Eddie, you’ve got a lot to answer for. The road to redemption isn’t gonna be easy for you, friend. Still, one Last of a Dying Breed on our side is one less War King on theirs.
Our team might have been saddled with some injuries along the way, but the line-up has never looked stronger. Here’s where we all need to dig deep and pull through the home stretch. Finish strong with everything we’ve got! Prove that we deserve to be here because we fight as hard, or harder than anyone else who plays this game. To be a part of the Major Leagues you need to put in a Major League effort. And I don't need to look at the stats to say with confidence that everyone on this team has the potential to be an All-Star.
Meanwhile, The Flood’s bench is thinning. They’ve lost some of their heavy hitters in deviANT, Ares, and Tursas. Their Captain Jimmy Jacobs failed to take the title from Icarus. And Deucalion proved not to be as invincible as they wanted us to believe. The Flood can be beaten!
Now’s the time to push harder than we ever did before. The momentum is on our side and we cannot let it go! Not if we ever hope to prevent them from capturing our pennant. The Flood won’t tear down the CHIKARA banner. This is a series we must win! It’s a series we can win! And it’s a series we will win!
-DH
Blog: Eddie Kingston (10.31.14)
Look, I’m just gonna put this right out there. Ain’t no need to write a book about it. Deucalion, Jimmy Jacobs and everybody in their little band of maniacs want a war? Okay - guess they need to find out why Eddie Kingston is called the WAR KING.
You know, me and Archibald Peck weren’t all buddy-buddy, but the one thing I can say about that guy is that he breathed and he bled CHIKARA the same as me. The same as Icarus. The same as all the boys in the locker room who come out there to take a stand against The Flood’s attacks. When we all saw Peck laying in that ring, motionless, there wasn’t a wrestler there who didn’t want to take the fight right up to The Flood’s front doorstep! Not one who didn’t want to drag each of them out of their beds in the middle of the night, onto the street, and leave them beaten and broken in the gutter. I know I did.
Archibald Peck was the last of our team you take down, Flood. On my word! You want to try and pick us off one at a time? How about we take out your whole army, partnah? Come with your kamikaze attacks again! I dare ya! There’s a few of you I’ve got my eye on to take out personally.
You know what, that’s a lie. There’s only one of you I’ve got my eye on to take out personally. That’s you, Jimmy Jacobs.
Fool me once, shame on me - right? I’ll admit. You knew how to get to me, Jimmy. You knew the one thing that would make me blind enough to ever follow your plans. Her. That’s right, Jimmy. I did it for Her. But you know what, Jimmy? You know what I saw when Icarus gave Her back to me at King of Trios? I saw myself, reflected in the gold plate that reads Grand Champion of CHIKARA. And I knew I wasn’t the champion that she deserved...not yet.
She represents all of CHIKARA, Jimmy. And you tried to turn Her into some cheap prize by playing on my obsessions. Well, congratulations. Now my obsession is with you. Because once I get my hands on you. Once I get my FISTS on you, then I can show Her how much she means to me by getting rid of a cancer like you.
The Flood is a disease, Jimmy Jacobs. But it’s not going to take out CHIKARA, and it’s not going to take out the Last of a Dying Breed, Eddie Kingston. It’s going to be destroyed. Completely.
-EK
Blog: Gavin Loudspeaker (10.29.14)
Monsters are real. I know. I’ve seen one face to face. I still see that soulless stare every time I close my eyes. And this creature has taken away many of my friends.
The trip back from from Richmond was a particularly silent one. We left late, everything moving slower than normal. Packing up took twice as long. It was as if we didn’t want to stay, but it was too difficult to hurry and leave. Who knows how long we sat in silence at that road-side greasy spoon, staring into our cups of coffee between quick sips. We were still on the road by sunrise. The silhouettes of the power lines alongside the highway looked like a neatly lined row of tombstones against the horizon’s glow. That’s about where I lost it. The boys must have thankfully been sleeping, so it was easy to hide being choked up as a stifled cough. The tears helped refresh my eyes for the rest of the ride.
Archibald Peck, you left us too soon. All of our recently decimated friends have. Kobald. ThunderFrog. So many others. Too many!
Whatever the destination at the end of that tunnel, I hope it’s a place that can appreciate the ray of light you were to CHIKARA. May it be warmed by the intensity of your charm and joy. We will miss you, my wacky friend. I didn’t have a chance to thank you for all the color and life you gave to our family. Most importantly, I didn’t have the chance to thank you for saving me from the clutches of Deucalion. And we all couldn’t thank you enough for tipping the scales at National Pro Wrestling Day to save CHIKARA itself.
We never seem to appreciate what we have until its gone. Trite but true. Hard to reconcile when you’re also told “nothing lasts forever.” So while we still have this day, we will fight for every minute of it. Those of us that remain to continue fighting do so for everyone that cannot. We can’t live in fear of what we will lose, instead we’ll live bravely in the opportunities of what we can gain. If nothing else, we can strive to leave a legacy like those of our heroes sacrificed in battle. Like yours, Archibald Peck. You’ll forever be one of my heroes.
-GL