Who?: Mike Quackenbush
Promotions: Chikara, DGUSA, EVOLVE, IWA-MS (alumnus), CZW (alumnus), ROH (alumnus)
Alias: Lightning, The Master of 1000 Holds
Current Affiliations: Every single tecnico in Chikara is affiliated with Quack in some way or another. Hell, even some of the rudos are as well. Quack has trained nearly every graduate of the Chikara Wrestle Factory since he and Reckless Yough opened it in 2002. Currently, his main affiliation is with Frightmare and Hallowicked in Team Frightening in both the recently completed King of Trios and in EVOLVE. He's also had close affiliation with Jigsaw and The Future Is Now (Helios, Equinox and pre-BDK Lince Dorado) in the very recent past. He also once had a very strong tie with his trainer Jorge "Skayde" Rivera until the two had a falling out very recently.
Height: 6'
Weight: 191 lbs.
Hometown: West Lawn, PA
After the jump... Wrestling Style: He's not called the Master of 1000 Holds for nothing, you know. He can work a varied style, but his bread and butter lies in lightning-fast lucha libre exchanges and holds segueing into big indie-style head drops in heated matches.
Signature Maneuvers:
Quackendriver Montage:
Alligator Clutch:
Quackenrana into Quackendriver 3:
Top 20 Moves of Mike Quackenbush:
Titles Held:
NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship (current)
2007 Chikara King of Trios Champion (with Jigsaw and Shane Storm)
CZW Jr. Heavyweight Championship (2x)
IWA-MS Heavyweight Championship
IWA-MS Light Heavyweight Championship
Promos:
Pre-match promo against Gran Akuma:
Disappointment at Shane Storm (now STIGMA):
The previous promo referring to the events described in this video:
Forming an unlikely alliance with the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple:
Why You Should Know Mike Quackenbush:
You should know Quack because he's one of the most influential wrestlers in independent wrestling today, if not the most influential. The list of wrestler's he's trained or help train is immense and includes the compendium of guys who got their start in Chikara, including Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli, two men who are among the hottest names on the indie scene right now. Along with Reckless Youth, he's the reason Chikara exists today, and he's the driving creative force in a fed that I unabashedly consider my favorite of all-time at the present moment.
On top of all that, he's one of the best wrestlers in North America today. He can have a good match with anyone, and he's been proving it his entire career. Ever since I started following Chikara, he's never had a bad match and has produced thoroughly entertaining fare from guys such as Tursas all the way down to Frightmare and everywhere in between. Any time he's on a card, I know that at least one match is going to be excellent.
And despite him coming up on 20 years in the business, there's no real sign that he's going anywhere, unless his nagging back injuries sideline him. He's got his hands in the pot in both the Gabe Sapolsky feds (DGUSA and EVOLVE) in addition to Chikara. He's also been known to work a few ROH dates here and there. Honestly, if there's only one guy you know and really follow in the indies, it should be Mike Quackenbush. The guy's a legend, maybe the biggest legend who's never stepped foot in a WWE, WCW or TNA ring.
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography
Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!
