CHIKARA shuts down amid Bullying/Abuse Allegations: Fallout

[Deleted]

Jun 24, 2020 14:03:35 GMT -5 lildude8218 said:

I'm pretty bummed about this. I haven't been a Chikara fan for the longest time but the shutdown angle got me interested in it. I cancelled my subscription to Chikaratopia this morning. I've written and deleted a few comments on this now over the last few minutes and don't feel right saying anything so I'm just going to leave it at that.

I know the feeling, man. I am trying not to quantify or rank any of these scandals as the "worst," because they're all bad in their own ways, but this one has really gotten to me. I first got into CHIKARA around 2005, and have really fond memories of watching the Podcast-A-GoGo on my old iPod. I loved the goofy, colorful characters and the absurd storylines, and it really represented what was fun in wrestling for me at a time when I really didn't care for WWE or TNA. Admittedly, I haven't really kept up in well over a decade outside of occasionally checking out the King of Trios, and I'm not altogether surprised that this is all coming out now because Quack's character has been questioned for years, but it's a still a huge bummer to find out just how extensive it all was.

CHIKARA was the goofiest, most innocent and silly wrestling federation I'd ever seen and was such a great form of escapism. Finding out that it was so sleazy behind the scenes is a sobering slap in the face of reality in a year where we really didn't need any more of those.

[sushiburrito]

Man, what a year.

Chikara was my favorite escape away from the real world. I went to over a hundred shows. I traveled all over the country.

Rough day. Very rough.

I knew it would end one day and my fun travels would cease. But not like this.

[Urethra Franklin]

I've never been a religious CHIKARA fan by any means, but I've gone to a couple of shows and I've always tried to keep abreast with what was happening there.

For me, CHIKARA always meant goofy fun and to see its seedy underbelly is such a jarring juxtaposition with the kind of product it presented.

Not that all of these stories from across the industry aren't incredibly harrowing and disappointing, but the stuff coming out of CHIKARA is truly awful.

This really sucks.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Jun 24, 2020 14:20:07 GMT -5 @mattyphatty said:

Jun 24, 2020 14:03:35 GMT -5 lildude8218 said:

I'm pretty bummed about this. I haven't been a Chikara fan for the longest time but the shutdown angle got me interested in it. I cancelled my subscription to Chikaratopia this morning. I've written and deleted a few comments on this now over the last few minutes and don't feel right saying anything so I'm just going to leave it at that.

I know the feeling, man. I am trying not to quantify or rank any of these scandals as the "worst," because they're all bad in their own ways, but this one has really gotten to me. I first got into CHIKARA around 2005, and have really fond memories of watching the Podcast-A-GoGo on my old iPod. I loved the goofy, colorful characters and the absurd storylines, and it really represented what was fun in wrestling for me at a time when I really didn't care for WWE or TNA. Admittedly, I haven't really kept up in well over a decade outside of occasionally checking out the King of Trios, and I'm not altogether surprised that this is all coming out now because Quack's character has been questioned for years, but it's a still a huge bummer to find out just how extensive it all was.

CHIKARA was the goofiest, most innocent and silly wrestling federation I'd ever seen and was such a great form of escapism. Finding out that it was so sleazy behind the scenes is a sobering slap in the face of reality in a year where we really didn't need any more of those.

The biggest downer to me is how there isn't really anywhere else to turn for the same kind of thing except maybe DDT. The great things about Chikara... featuring women so well, and combining batshit goofiness with internal consistency... don't seem all that difficult to do, and I can't imagine the gay-nerd twitter wrestling people aren't drawn to that sort of thing over lots of other of ways wrestling can be presented. But maybe it's just not a big enough audience.

[Deleted]

Lince Dorado is also not a fan:

[octopus]

Kimber Lee quits.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Jun 24, 2020 12:16:58 GMT -5 honsou said:

Hallowicked works local independents in the northeast. I think he was the champion of Synergy Pro Wrestling which runs in Central NJ. Him leaving is really big because you'd think he'd be one of the guys who are ride or die...and would know everything that went on behind the scenes.

We are going to start hearing a lot of stories about Quack and its not going to be pretty

My understanding of Wicked is he has a very good non-wrestling job, and due to that, he's never gone fully all in on wrestling and has made it his sort of side thing

So basically I guess WWE or AEW would have to come calling for Wicked to see any mainstream wrestling relevance outside of the Indy scene, more than likely AEW, where he'd be a really great hand to have and a good coach frankly and he already has a lot of friends there. 

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Bakabella has quit

Still Life has quit

Green Ant II has quit

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Matt Tremont has extended an open invite to any CHIKARA Pro students to welcome/train at his training school, the H2O Wrestling Academy

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Kate Nyx said she and Ophidian left CHIKARA officially in January, Cibernetico was going to be Ophidian's last appearance no matter what

It was not connected to the allegations, and Ophidian is allowed to keep his gimmick as they apparently woked out a deal then.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

So Chikara is going to be dead in the water then?

Can't see the promotion itself surviving but someone will make a spiritual successor

[Deleted]

Razer and Danjer have put out a joint statement announcing they're done with the company: razerhawk2000.com/blog/resignation-a-joint-announcement-from-razerhawk-and-danjerhawk

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Molly McCoy says she won't retire but isn't sure what to do next

Scott Halladay has quit 


twitter.com/_ScottHolladay/status/1275891107797381120


Hermit Crab has quit

Frightmare has quit

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Steve Weiner, Dan Champion and Lady Frost express their anger/grief 

I feel particularly bad for Lady Frost and her husband who did everything they could just to GET on CHIKARA including moving to Philly and then becoming Red Queen and One Eyed Jack. Like all that just to get hit with this, just heartbreaking, and they're both very talented, I hope they continue to get bookings.

[Super Nintenjoe KBD]

So what percentage of the former regular roster has quit at this point?

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I said I wasn't surprised by Quack being a creep, but I am floored with how many people he's indirectly hurt as a result of this.

[thegatewaydrug]

Wrestling Is... Dead.

[mattyy]

Jun 24, 2020 16:21:26 GMT -5 Super Nintenjoe KBD said:

So what percentage of the former regular roster has quit at this point?

I've thought about going into the list of their roster and alumni and listing what had happened, but there isn't a lot of their former stars with CHIKARA. It really boiled down to Mike, Dasher, and Ophidian.

[Super Nintenjoe KBD]

Jun 24, 2020 16:30:28 GMT -5 mattyy said:

Jun 24, 2020 16:21:26 GMT -5 Super Nintenjoe KBD said:

So what percentage of the former regular roster has quit at this point?

I've thought about going into the list of their roster and alumni and listing what had happened, but there isn't a lot of their former stars with CHIKARA. It really boiled down to Mike, Dasher, and Ophidian.

I meant from this scandal, like we've had about 13 wrestlers mentioned in this thread as having now quit in the last 24 hours, I mentioned to a friend in a chat that half the Chikara roster were quitting right now and it made me wonder how many could be left at this point!

[thegatewaydrug]

Jun 24, 2020 16:44:29 GMT -5 Super Nintenjoe KBD said:

Jun 24, 2020 16:30:28 GMT -5 mattyy said:

I've thought about going into the list of their roster and alumni and listing what had happened, but there isn't a lot of their former stars with CHIKARA. It really boiled down to Mike, Dasher, and Ophidian.

I meant from this scandal, like we've had about 13 wrestlers mentioned in this thread as having now quit in the last 24 hours, I mentioned to a friend in a chat that half the Chikara roster were quitting right now and it made me wonder how many could be left at this point!

By Saturday morning we'll be down to Los Ice Creams to turn off the lights for good.