Chikara Aniversario Blog:

Tim Donst vs. Gavin Loudspeaker

Hair vs. Hair

 

 

I never expected to be emotionally drawn into a feud between a wrestler and a ring announcer.  It's the kind of thing that I usually just dread seeing the end result of and try to ignore.  On the other hand, I've never seen a wrestling promotion anything like Chikara before.  I've only been a fan since last year, but that year has been full of pleasant surprises.  The history of this feud is quite the dramatic tale, and involves far more than just the two men who will face off on Sunday.  Let's take a moment to review the players in this little drama.

 

Every story needs a good villain, so let's start with Tim Donst.

What brought him to this point?  Why is he fighting a ring announcer?  And why is their hair on the line?

It started with the Young Lion's cup.  If you aren't in the know, that's a championship Chikara has for young up-and-coming stars.  I don't think anyone was ever prouder of winning it than Tim Donst.  In fact, Donst believed he was the greatest Young Lion's Champion of all time.  To prove this to himself and to the world he challenged Hallowicked the first Young Lion's Champion to a match.  Not just any match, but one where if Hallowicked lost he would be forced to unmask and if Donst lost he would have his head shaved.  Donst failed in his effort and spent most of last year bald.  He also spent most of last year chasing the Grand Championship; perhaps the highest honor a single wrestler can attain in Chikara.  Donst believed it was his destiny to take the Grand Championship away from Eddie Kingston.  He would get his match, but in the end he came up short.

From there, Donst began alternating between anger and depression.  Still believing in destiny, the only conclusion he could draw was that destiny didn't want him to be Grand Champion.  That meant that he was destined to be unhappy, and if that was the case then he was going to share that feeling with as many people as possible.  He has tried to communicate this new philosophy of his to the fans at Chikara shows.  Despite his best efforts the fans still seem to think that wrestling is fun.  Since words haven't done the trick Donst has sought out others within the Chikara locker-room to spread unhappiness to.

That brings us to the second character in our story.  Jakob (pronounced with a "Y" sound for the "J") Hammermeier would say that he is Tim Donst's best friend.  For reference (and I apologize for the picture quality, but all the pictures in this blog entry are ones I took myself at a Chikara event in Porterdale, GA called "The Ghost of You Clings"  I'll be referencing that event a lot)  this is Jakob:

He is wearing half a shirt because Donst ripped it apart.  He is nearly bald because Donst has cut off his hair against his will.  Twice.  Jakob is a friendly and fun-loving guy.  I mentioned above that these pictures are from an event I attended.  Jakob was the first person greeting fans when they came in the door.  He was funny and energetic and seemed to really want everyone to have a good time (and okay, he may have been trying to drum up t-shirt sales for himself as well but seeing as I bought one and didn't go into the show planning to I guess I can't fault him for that).  Fun is just a part of who Jakob is.  On some level, he wants to think that that's true of Donst as well.  He remembers what Donst was like in better times and is grateful to him for training him to wrestle.  But to Donst, Jakob is an annoyance and another happy person who doesn't get it.  Jakob will never know success while associated with Tim Donst.  Donst has told him as much, and even cost him the chance to win the Young Lion's Cup.  The sad thing is that the main reason Jakob wanted to win the cup is that he thought it would make his friend proud.  Instead of being proud of Jakob or showing any gratitude for his loyalty, Donst calls him useless and tells him he hates him.  The hurt this brings Jakob is plainly obvious on his face every time it happens.  You'd think he would have gotten the message that Donst is no good for him the first time he cut his hair.  I can't help but wonder how Jakob is going to feel when someone else is forced to lose their hair on Sunday.

I also have to wonder what the next member of our cast is feeling.  She is one of the great managers of the independent wrestling scene.  Her name is Veronica Ticklefeather and I think confusion rather than loyalty is the reason she follows Tim Donst.

She only joined Donst back in February.  At the time, she found herself without purpose.  She had broken up with Mr. Touchdown her boyfriend (who she was also managing) the night before when he embarrassed her by losing to Archibald Peck the man she left to be with him.  No longer wanting to be with Touchdown and with Archie no longer interested in her she was a little lost.  Enter Tim Donst.  Donst saw that keeping Veronica unhappy was easy.  All he has to do is periodically tell her that she's ugly and will never have a boyfriend.  It's hard to say what has kept her at his side through all this verbal abuse.  I only hope it comes to an end soon.

 

Rounding out Donst's little group is Steven the Turtle Weiner.  Turtle really only joined this group because of his crush on Veronica.  Like Jakob, he is usually a very happy guy, and Donst seeks every opportunity to take that from him.  He has been used as a step-stool and a bench by Donst several times which would humiliate most people, but Turtle seems oblivious to the fact that this should be embarrassing.  I don't have a picture of him to post here.  I never got a good shot of him in Porterdale.

 

Of course, there is ultimately one great target for Tim Donst's crusade against fun and joy.  That target is the very heart and soul of Chikara.  That target is the ring announcer, and master of ceremonies for every Chikara show.  That target is Gavin Loudspeaker.

 

He was good enough to pose for a picture for me while he was doing his job.  Sadly it came out terribly and is the only one I got where he was looking in my direction.  The best picture I got is probably this one:

That's Gavin opening the show.  He creates excitement in the crowd with rock-star-like charisma that builds anticipation for what is to come.  He opens most shows with a song that he sings and plays on his guitar.  His only concern throughout the evening is to keep the crowd pumped up, excited, and happy.  This of course makes him a natural enemy to Tim Donst.  Things seem to have been bad between these two for quite some time now, but I don't think it would have ever gotten this far if Gavin hadn't done something brave and perhaps stupid.  Gavin became an unlikely hero by standing up to Donst when he couldn't bear to watch him bullying Jakob anymore.  He tried to tell Donst's followers that they didn't need him.  Donst has reacted to Gavin's words with physical abuse.  Twice he has attacked him and cut locks of his hair off.  At the event called "Battle Not With Monsters" he taped Gavin's arms and legs and locked him in a closet.  Donst spent half the show playing ring announcer before Gavin managed to free himself and take control of the show.  But what happened the next day in Porterdale, GA was worse.  The second attack where Donst cut Gavin's hair was far more violent than the first.  The first time he just backed him into a corner before cutting it (correction- I misremembered this at first.  He did actually push Gavin to the ground in the first attack).  In Porterdale, at "The Ghost of You Clings" things got far more serious.

Donst had a match at "The Ghost of You Clings" where he took on the Intergalactic Luchadora Saturyne.

I was there for this one, and can relate my personal experience of the events that transpired.  I even show up in places on the video.  During the match Gavin got sick of seeing Donst's followers play cheerleading section and began encouraging the crowd to cheer for Saturyne.  He was literally standing right in front of me when he started this.  Maybe that's why I feel so swept up in this feud.  The chanting led by Gavin distracted Donst and wound up costing him the match.  After the match Gavin announced Saturyne the winner and was looking into the crowd with what appeared to be a sense of satisfaction.  I was very proud of what he'd accomplished and was beaming at him.  As  I was looking up at him in the ring and I think he saw me.  The realization that haunted me afterwards is that I was one of the last things he saw before he got attacked.  Donst came back into the ring and hit him with a Death Valley Driver which knocked him out.  I actually covered my mouth with my hands out of shock and concern.  He taunted Gavin's unconscious form on the microphone as referees tried to force him to leave the ring so they could get medical attention for Gavin.  Donst proceeded to cut a lock of Gavin's hair and eat it before Gavin was carried away.  I understand Donst had to have his stomach pumped.  Couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.

What is undeserved is Wink Vavasseur signing a match between Gavin and Donst for Aniversario.  You see, Donst isn't the only bully Gavin has been standing up to lately.  Enter the final player in these events: So-called "Director of Fun" Wink Vavasseur.  I don't have a picture of Wink to share because he wasn't even at "The Ghost of You Clings"  it's one of the many things he seemingly couldn't be bothered to do.  Gavin has occasionally pointed out in blogs on Chikarapro.com that a responsible authority figure might be expected to fine or suspend a worker as abusive to the staff as Tim Donst.  Vavasseur has responded mostly by insisting that subordinates should not be telling him how to do his job.  Gavin has continually brought attention to situations where Wink could be considered negligent or even incompetent.  In response, Wink made this match.  And it might have been an ordinary match, but in Porterdale Gavin opened the show with a "protest song" against Wink Vavasseur.  Once Wink finally heard it he announced the hair vs. hair stipulation.

I don't know how Gavin Loudspeaker is going to survive this match, let alone come out of it with his hair intact.  I suggested to him on Twitter that he might use the tried and true wrestling tradition of breaking his guitar over his opponent's head.  He thanked me for the advice, but responded as a true musician saying that "guitars are instruments of creativity and expression, not weapons."  Of course, that was before the hair vs. hair stipulation was added.  I doubt that changed his mind, but you never know.

A few short days from this writing we'll see how it goes.

What Knowwon is thinking::

1. Knowwon is pulling for Gavin.  I just really hope  he at least gets to leave this ring under his own power.
2. Knowwon believes Veronica may finally be seeing the light based on her recent posts on Twitter
3. Knowwon is trying to imagine what Jakob is thinking.  Does he realize how much of this is actually about him?
4. Knowwon wonders if Donst will still believe in destiny if he loses this one.  If so, what depths will that belief drive him to this time.
5. Knowwon knows that Gavin has been training at the Wrestle Factory to prepare for this match, but wonders if a few weeks of training (even from great wrestlers like Green Ant, Hallowicked, and Saturyne) will make a difference with the odds so stacked against him.

Chikara Aniversario: Never Compromise can be watched live at smvod.com on June 2nd 2013