Spoiler:
A little context: Chikara was "sold" to Worldwide Media Development Corporation a few years ago. Shortly after the sale, a sharp-dressed gentleman would be seen at events, observing the roster and matches. We'd learned his name was Wink Vavasseur, an auditor from Worldwide Media Development Corporation. Soon, he would replace Dieter von Steigerwalt as Director of Fun. Clearly with a business background and no wrestling knowledge (he would routinely refer to wrestlers as Baseball Face or Snakeface, etc), Vavasseur oversaw a period of growth in Chikara, multiple attendance records broken and the creation of the Grand Championship under his watch. Towards the end of 2012, Chikara fans learned that Worldwide Media Development Corporation was actually a holding of Titor Conglomerate, which also owns Condor Security, a private security company whose employees usually flanked Wink Vavasseur at shows. Those members of Condor Security were no longer seen in Chikara after King of Trios 2012 when they removed Swamp Monster from the building. We also learned that Wink got the Director of Fun job, because his father, Conrad, is an executive at Titor.
Vavasseur's approval rating within the fan base and locker room has plummeted. Vavassuer created a series of analytical formulas, dubbed Chikarabermetrics, to ensure the best athletes were being paired. This resulted in the popular Colony being rearranged, with Soldier Ant being kicked out of the group. Other unpopular decisions included placing Sugar Dunkerton in FIST, the censorship of blogs on the Chikara website, and the creation of Colony: Xtreme Force, which is purely as a marketing ploy. At the end of "The Shoulder of Pallas," the Chikara event as part of Wrestlecon, Mike Quackenbush was handed an envelope by a gentleman wearing a hat with NPA on the front. After the event, Mike Quackenbush was removed from the roster page and hasn't been booked in Chikara since. Yesterday, Derek Sabato sent out cryptic tweets about an "interesting phone call." Sabato came to the ring today with the envelope given to Quackenbush, tweeting its contents: a photo of the Titor executives at a ground breaking. This photo is somehow incriminating, or Wink Vavasseur wouldn't have sent the officials to kick Sabato out of the building.
During the main event, Wink Vavasseur, looking disheveled, and 20+ members of Condor Security came to ringside, causing the end of the main event. Condor Security began breaking down the set and entry way while shooing the fans out of the building. Wink sat on the stage, watching it all, eating an apple. Bit by bit, the lights in the building went out. Zia, one of the photographers, and Billy ***ohara, host of the pre show quiz game, stood up to Condor members, but Billy was struck and Zia retreated to the locker room. As the fans were ushered out of the building, no merchandise was up, no roster members selling their wares, nothing in the lobby. As we went outside and the Trocadero's doors closed, a fan shoulder blocked the door, breaking the glass. Senior official Bryce Remsburg rushed out the door and through the crowd, still wearing his referee uniform, in tears. The crowd slowly dissipated, with a few fans in tears as well. Billy ***ohara was the only other member of Chikara staff to be seen in front of the Trocadero, saying he was now out of a job.
"Worldwide Media Development Corporation" is clearly a phony company with a completely separate website, created by Quack for a storyline. TWO YEARS AGO. And they've slowly scattered appearances in and out of their shows. Here is their website, by the way.
Here's a live report from the show.
Spoiler:
Wink Vavasseur appeared from the back, disheveled, as if he got into an altercation. With whom? I doubt we'll know anytime soon.
Condor Security followed behind, swarming the Trocadero in the greatest numbers I've ever seen them in at least. They swept the ring and removed Bryce Remsburg, Eddie Kingston, and Icarus before moving towards the crowd to get them to leave.
More Condors went back towards the stage, toppled the entryway, ripped down the curtain, and even toppled the larger curtain that hid the backstage area from view. When the main curtain came down, it revealed Gavin Loudspeaker was STILL dead, being attended to by Dr. Dave Robel on top of the sarcophagus.
The Condors were mashing down barricades, trying to intimidate fans on the floor to leave, but we all stood our ground, chanting "WE WON'T GO! WE WON'T GO!" The house lights flickered on and off, but the crowd didn't start to move towards the exit until Brendan O'Donnell, who took over ring announcing duties after Loudspeaker had become incapacitated, announced that the show was over.
As all this was happening, Vavasseur sat, suit torn apart, atop a steel folding chair, eating an apple, as his goons whisked fans from the arena.
As I got into the foyer area where the wrestlers were hawking their wares, all the tables were gone, and the counters were bare. There was not a shirt, glossy, mask, or Devastation Corporation wrestling buddy to be seen anywhere. Ghost town.
Once every last fan was outside, the Condors locked the doors. One fan, whom it turns out I actually know, rammed into one of the doors so hard that it shattered the glass on it.
As the crowd milled around outside on Arch Street, Bryce Remsburg walked by hurriedly, ignoring any calls or greetings. He had a corrugated cardboard box and his duffel bag, and he still was in his Chikara referee gear.
The guy who presumably writes the No Private Armies blog was standing around outside at the corner of 10th and Arch. He didn't answer any questions because of the sensitivity of the situation, but Danielle ended up giving him her e-mail address before he scampered across Arch Street to flee the Condors.
Here's an update: Chikara has cancelled all events, and will now be running under "Wrestling is" banner.
Spoiler:
As we noted last night in the PWInsider.com Elite section, it is expected that all of the announced CHIKARA dates will shortly be canceled or converted into live events presented by the promotion's "Wrestling Is..." satellite promotions.
CHIKARA the brand, as it stands, has run its last event, at least for some time. No idea whether that's the end of the promotion or some really intricate angle and storyline remains to be seen. There are some who truly believe that was the end of the company while others believe it's a comic book style reboot of the entire company, similar to how comic companies reboot their entire universes. Josh Higham has a great write-up detailing all the background of what led into the show closing moments last night.
There was no official announcement as to what was going on in the locker room, although I am told small groups of wrestlers were spoken to over the course of the night. We were also told that the roster was asked to signed non-disclosure agreements before last night's event. Given how secretive CHIKARA is usually with all their plans, I'm not surprised to hear that.
I do know that A number of CHIKARA performers have started reaching out to independent promoters looking for work to replace what were originally CHIKARA dates this summer.
There were several incidents with fans in the wake of the end of the show. One fan was so angry about security forcing him out of the building, he shoulderblocked a glass door and ended up breaking the glass door. I am sure the venue LOVED tnat. Another fan loudly refused to leave the Trocadero's box office, demanding a refund. He was so disruptive that the venue management was going to call the police to remove him. It was described to me as "the worst stereotypical wrestling fan tantrum you could imagine."
As you can see... CANCELLED
Oh, and there's time travel involved, apparently.
A reddit thread
Tweets
And the more you read about it, the deeper it goes. I'm going to try and catch up tonight. Craziness.
