Chikara Memories Blog Entry:

 

This one is a little more personal than what I've been writing so far.

 

 

I know I said earlier that I was going to do a profile piece on a wrestler tonight, but something else came up while I was on Twitter earlier.  Lots of people were sharing their favorite moments from their experiences as fans of Chikara and adding the hashtag #ChikaraMemories.  It was a moving thing to watch go through the feed.  Most of the tweets were from fans like me, but some of them were from the wrestlers themselves and commentator  Leonard F. Chikarason even joined in.  It was a wonderful feeling.  Everything that was tweeted was either something that made me go "I remember that.  It was great!" or "I wish I had seen that.  I'll have to look for the video of it" except the more personal experiences.  By personal experiences I mean that some of the tweets were about meeting the wrestlers during intermission or before or after the show. 

 

 I admit I haven't been to many indie wrestling shows and therefore don't know what the fan interaction is like in most promotions, but I can't imagine a more welcoming, fun, and friendly environment than the one created by the Chikara wrestlers, staff, and even fans.  I'm sorry to say I've only ever attended one Chikara event.  Most of them are several hundred miles from me.  That one event was the greatest experience I've ever had as a fan of professional wrestling.  I've been to WWE live shows.  I've even been to a WrestleMania, but nothing has ever matched the personal connection made by that Chikara show.  I'm going to share my most precious Chikara memories tonight.  The ones that don't fit in a 140 character limit.  I'm going to talk about my personal experience with the Chikara roster at "The Ghost of You Clings". 

 

I've talked on here before about Jakob Hammermeier greeting people at the door and joking and making conversation while we waited to get in.  That was the first moment that it felt real.  I was interacting with a wrestler I'd only ever seen on video.  It was one of those moments where I would have thought I'd be nervous, but I was having too much fun to be.  When the show started there was a match presented by Platinum Championship Wrestling (whose arena Chikara was borrowing for this show) as an opener.  Now I felt nervous.  I wasn't used to being only a few feet from the ring with no guardrail.

 

 

Pictured above: The view from my seat.

 

I was worried someone was going to fall over the top rope and land on me.  It was a silly thing to worry about (although I've seen it happen from time to time on videos), but these things cross your mind when you've got an anxiety disorder.  After the first match was over, Gavin Loudspeaker hit the ring to perform his protest song against Wink Vavasseur.  By the time he was done singing I had forgotten about being anxious.  Once again the fun had distracted me.  I was just excited about the show.

 

The night consisted of a lot of great matches that I'll have to do some sort of formal review of one day, and I'll save the great moments from the actual matches for that.  For now, I just want to share the personal experiences.  Sugar Dunkerton and I had met before, in fact if we hadn't I probably wouldn't have found Chikara.  I owe him a lot of thanks for that.

 

 

  

 

Why I gave him a copy of Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter is an inside joke that I won't go into here.

 

We talked a little during intermission before I made my way back over to Jakob.  Jakob had tried to sell me a t-shirt on the way in.  At the time I had said that I might get one later.  He had walked through between matches at one point and acted hurt when he saw I had found the time to buy an Ultramantis Black mask after blowing him off earlier.  I of course wound up buying a "Hairless Aggression" t-shirt from him.  I've given it to a good friend of mine who is bald and wasn't able go to the show.  I made my way over to ringside where I got a picture of Mark Angelosetti with the Young Lions Cup:

 

 

 

 

I went past Jigsaw without saying anything.  I was discovering that talking to people in masks was not something that came naturally to me.  I think it has something to do with not being able to see the other person's eyes.

 

I did go see Veronica Ticklefeather and had a good time talking to her for a few minutes.  She really is even more beautiful in person and was much more approachable than I expected.  I got an autograph and bought a couple of wrestling DVDs from her.

 

I regret not finding Gavin Loudspeaker during intermission.  I really should have thanked him for taking my mind off my nerves at the start of the show.  At the time I thought there would be a chance to talk to him later.

 

After intermission the second half of the show went on.  It was fantastic.  That's all I'll say until I review it.

 

The show ended and the handful of people who rushed out to get to their cars really missed out.  Some of the roster hadn't been around during intermission because they were getting ready for their matches.  At the end of the show nearly everybody was around.  3.0 had successfully defended the Campeonatos de Parejas in the main event and I walked up and shook their hands and told them it was great.  Then I suddenly felt anxious for the first time since Gavin's song at the start of the show.  Standing before me were several masked wrestlers.  that discomfort that had kept me from talking to Jigsaw earlier started to come back.  Then AssailAnt stepped forward, shook my hand and started talking with me.  My anxiety faded away again.  I've said before that he impressed me with his enthusiasm for the fans.  This was where he made a permanent impression on me.  I think the image of him standing there and eagerly talking to everyone he saw will always be the first thing I think about when I think about Chikara.

 

I spoke briefly again with Sugar Dunkerton before trying to make my way to my two final objectives for the night.  I thought about not telling this story because I'm worried it might be a violation of the promise I made to maintain Kayfabe in the first post of this blog but after due consideration I don't see the harm in sharing this. 

 

I made my way to a merchandise table that Kobald was standing behind.  I was there to deliver my tribute to the Batiri.  For anyone who doesn't know, there is a tradition of fans giving Pop Tarts to the Batiri as tribute.  I don't know how it started, but I decided I wanted to take part.  I approached Kobald and we started to talk.  I told him I had found some special tribute.  The Pop Tarts I had brought were a limited edition flavor.  I had only just got those words out of my mouth when a hand reached out from off to one side of me and grabbed the box.  I looked over and realized I had somehow not noticed Ophidian standing there.  He was staring at the box now in his hands (at least I think he was.  It's hard to tell with that mask of his).  I don't remember his exact words, but apparently what I brought was a very hard to find flavor that happened to be his favorite.  He proceeded to put the box on the table and reach out his arms.  Before I knew what was happening I was being hugged by a man with a cobra-head.  This may have been both the most awesome thing to happen to me that night and the scariest thing to happen to me that night.  On the one hand, I was receiving an unsolicited hug from a wrestler who has given me many hours of entertainment.  On the other hand, I am terrified of snakes.  Thankfully, the wrestling fan in me won out over the ophidiophobic in me.  I returned the hug and after talking to Ophidian and Kobald for a minute I moved on to my final goal.

 

I was nervous again, so nervous I nearly forgot how to speak.  I was about to meet my favorite wrestler.  I was about to meet The Great and Devious Ultramantis Black!  I didn't get to talk to him long (which may have been a blessing given my anxious state).  There was a line of people waiting to meet him and I didn't want to be rude.  We talked for a minute, I bought a shirt, and I got the guy in line behind me to take a picture:

 

My night felt complete, but it wasn't quite over.  On the way out the door I ran into Chikara's senior referee Bryce Remsburg and decided to congratulate him on doing a good job as ring announcer (he had to take over part way through the show when Tim Donst attacked Gavin).  I also asked him to pass along to Gavin that we all hoped he recovered soon.  I also shook hands with Frightmare before heading out the door.

Finally, just outside the arena I met Saturyne and got a picture with her:

   

What Knowwon is thinking:

 

1. Knowwon has had an epiphany.  I know I said I was going to look into more of the conspiracy stuff, but I think I've changed my mind.  There are others handling the Titor Conglomerate's dirty laundry and doing a better job than I ever could.  After tonight I've decided that what is more important is to do my part to keep the spirit of Chikara alive and fresh in people's minds.  I'll be writing about their previous events and about the wrestlers who have made up the roster.  I still don't believe the doors have shut for good, and that we members of the Chikarmy should stay positive and hopeful for now. 

 

2.  Knowwon intends to start covering other events featuring members of the Chikara roster.  Readers who are new to Chikara may not be aware, but Chikara actually has several sister organizations that feature many of the same wrestlers.  I made a few vague allusions to them in previous posts, but I plan to start with one called Wrestling is Fun! and go from there.

 

3. Knowwon encourages everyone who reads this to make their own Chikara memories.  While my favorite ones are of the show I attended, I've had several good ones from shows I've bought on smvod.com. Chikara's sister organizations (Wrestling is Fun!, Wrestling is Cool, Wrestling is Heart, Wrestling is Intense, Wrestling is Art, Wrestling is Respect, and Wrestling is Awesome) also have their shows available there.  And if, unlike me, you live close enough to go see one of those shows in person I can't recommend it enough.

 

4. Knowwon has a recommendation for new Chikara viewers.  If you want a good show to give you a feel for what Chikara is like, my favorite is Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur.  If anyone has a favorite they'd like to suggest to a new viewer please post it in the comments.