Thursday, January 2, 2014

The Battle for Fun Is Set

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Who will stand with Icarus?
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

The New Year has set upon the Chikaraverse, and with that beginning comes a new skirmish in the raging war for the soul of the company and its fans. The Gekido, who started off poaching the Wrestling Is... companies with their squelching of Intense on September 15. While their roles as minions of Dr. Cube, Sinn Bodhi, and Ares are heavily suspected at this point, the rogue group of bizarre mirror imaged Chikara regulars has not resurfaced until a couple of weeks ago on Twitter with this threat:

Two things jump out from that tweet. One is that they are planning an "ultimate revenge," which suggests their endgame is coming soon. Second, they want to have a little "fun" before doing so? That statement could mean anything... *looks at calendar* *notices January 18 has a Wrestling Is Fun! show scheduled at the Easton Funplex* Oh, I see what they did there. The Funplex itself was at the center of the scavenger hunt. Condor Security was looking for its razing notice, but it was taken back by the Chikarmy and shredded before it could be processed. Gekido running wild there could mean a few things, including the standard promotion shutdown, but their arrival will not be met without resistance.

Icarus, via the Chikara 101 message board (transcribed here for those who don't have logins and don't feel like creating one) in no uncertain terms said he was going to be in Easton, the first time he's actually put boots to ground and fought in opposition of the Condor/Titor forces since they shooed him out of the Trocadero last June. Who will fight beside him though? Blind Rage won't return his calls. UltraMantis Black would rather read musty books than join the fray. As of right now, the only recruits he has are Hallowicked and a bunch of Wrestle Factory trainees. Still, that army is a lot more formidable than Icarus standing up to the megalith by himself.

What will come after that reckoning in Easton? Sunday January 19 will see a Wrestling Is Respect show visit the Boonton Elks Lodge. No advance chatter on a threat there has been leaked, but a quick turnaround between a battle in Easton and a retaliation in Boonton is not out of the realm of possibility (unless you believe a story development in Chikara would never happen that quickly after a major one, which is the most accurate thing to assume ever). However, all of these dominoes falling are leading up to National Pro Wrestling Day.

Now, if one is to believe what they would read about future plans of a wrestling company in the dirtsheets, then NPWD, which is also happening at the Easton Funplex, is a possible targeted comeback date for Chikara. I would personally be so happy if that was the case, but as the story stands right now, a good bit of the flock needs to come home to roost. I wonder if this year's NPWD will end up being that blockbuster show every fan has seemingly been waiting for. Either way, one stop in Easton is required before that one happens, and it is shaping up to contain a pretty significant battle.