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42-642: The Texas Hangmen consisted of wrestlers Frank Vizi , who had been wrestling as Rick Gantner in the AWA and World Wrestling Federation primarily as a jobber, and Mike Moran who had spent an extensive amount of time wrestling in Kansas City and the American Wrestling Association as Mike Richards. Both men were put under wrestling masks to hide their faces, and carried nooses to the ring to emphasize their characters as executioners. Vizi

84-720: A jobber . He would work with the company until the promotion went out of business in 1990. In 1987, Ganter joined the World Wrestling Federation as a jobber. He worked for the promotion until 1988, appearing regularly on WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestling Challenge . From 1988, Vizi wrestled on the independent circuit for promotions including the United States Wrestling Association , Windy City Pro Wrestling and Global Wrestling Federation . In 1992, he wrestled in Mexico with

126-568: A fan of professional wrestling (particularly Superstar Billy Graham , The Crusher and The Valiant Brothers ). Vizi was trained to wrestle by Tom Stone. He debuted in Milwaukee in 1984 under the ring name "Rick Golden", facing Lance Atlas in his first match. Later that year he joined NWA Heart of America , adopting the ring name "Rick Gantner". In 1984, Ganter joined the Minneapolis , Minnesota -based American Wrestling Association as

168-666: A losing effort against 2 Tuff Tony and Boondox . Following a run-in at Deuces Wild, Bull Pain made his Chikara in-ring debut at Passion and Persistence (April 20, 2008) at the New Alhambra Arena , teaming with Vin Gerard against The Colony (Fire Ant and Soldier Ant) . Due to Pain's use of his signature baseball bat, which he nicknamed Brother Pain, Pain and Gerard were disqualified, and Leonard F. Chikarason (Chikara's Director of Fun) banned them both from appearing on any Chikara shows for 30 days. Pain has not been seen in

210-569: A tradition of "seasons" that they maintain today. In 2004, Chris Hero became a co-trainer at the Chikara Wrestle Factory, replacing Carter. In 2005, Jorge "Skayde" Rivera joined as the third trainer. In March 2005, the school moved from Allentown to the New Alhambra Arena , in Philadelphia. They then took over the training for Combat Zone Wrestling , leading to the school's new name of CZW/Chikara Wrestle Factory. After

252-553: Is best known for his appearances with promotion such as the American Wrestling Association , World Wrestling Federation , World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling , as well as for independent promotions such as the World Wrestling Council , Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South , Juggalo Championship Wrestling and Chikara . Vizi had a grounding in martial arts and boxing, but, having been taken to AWA shows by his father, became

294-492: Is perhaps better known to modern wrestling fans as Mean Mike, one half of the team Disorderly Conduct in World Championship Wrestling. He teamed with Tom Beninghaus, who took the name Tough Tom, and the two served primarily as a tag team that primarily wrestled on the company's syndicated programming, WCW Thunder and WCW Saturday Night . On occasion, Benninghaus and Moran would don masks and wrestle as

336-472: The lucha libre tradition, Chikara performers were grouped into técnicos and rudos (the lucha libre terms for faces and heels respectively). Just as in lucha libre , many performers in the promotion performed under masks and with unique gimmicks . The promotion closed in June 2020, after several allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct were made against individuals within it during

378-711: The Chikara Wrestle Factory school. Two of their major events, September's King of Trios , the promotion's premiere event, and April's Tag World Grand Prix were centered on tag team and trios matches. Their other major events included Aniversario, held in May, and the Young Lions Cup tournament , held between June and August. In 2011, Chikara introduced the Grand Championship , the promotion's primary singles championship. Influenced by

420-637: The Speaking Out movement . Despite the promotion's closure, the Wrestle Factory school continues to operate in Allentown, Pennsylvania . In the summer of 2000, after "Reckless Youth" Tom Carter had been released from his World Wrestling Federation developmental deal, he, Mike Quackenbush and Don Montoya started talking about starting a wrestling school , which would teach professional wrestling in various international styles. Originally,

462-631: The Universal Wrestling Association . In 1990, Vizi donned a mask , adopted the ring name "Psycho" and formed a tag team with Killer named The Texas Hangmen . The Texas Hangmen achieved their greatest success in the Puerto Rico -based World Wrestling Council , winning the WWC World Tag Team Championship on four occasions. While wrestling for Global Wrestling Federation , Vizi developed

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504-841: The WCW World Television Championship . He appeared with WCW throughout 1998 and 1999. In 1996, Vizi debuted in the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South . He went on to both hold the Television and Light Heavyweight Championships , as well as holding the Heavyweight Championship five times . He also worked for Heartland Wrestling Association from 1998 to 2000 and 2004 to 2006. He also worked for Kick Ass Wrestling (Now Known as Memphis Championship Wrestling ) from 1999 to 2000 where he

546-607: The WrestleMania 29 weekend in Secaucus, New Jersey , holding an event, which again broke the promotion's attendance record. On June 2, 2013, Chikara ran an angle at the conclusion of their fourth iPPV, Aniversario: Never Compromise , where the event was shut down by Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur. Following the event, Chikara went inactive, "canceling" all upcoming events, though in reality these events were never scheduled to take place. Chikara held no official events for

588-476: The Young Lions Cup tournament, a concept still used by the promotion. Commonly abbreviated as the YLC, the tournament was designed to showcase the best of the Wrestle Factory graduates. Hallowicked defeated Mister Zero to win the inaugural tournament, becoming the first-ever Young Lions Cup Champion in the process. In December 2002, Chikara took a two-week break during Christmastime before returning in 2003, establishing

630-709: The Black T-shirt Squad defeat the Gold Bond Mafia of Chris Hero, CM Punk, and Colt Cabana. In the early days, Blind Rage, Hallowicked, and Ichabod Slayne formed a stable known as the Night Shift, which became the top group of rudos (or heels) in the promotion. They frequently feuded with tecnicos (faces) Quackenbush, Youth, and UltraMantis. Notable events of 2002 included an appearance by former World Championship Wrestling star La Parka , who joined Mister Zero against Quackenbush and Youth, and

672-633: The Bull Pain gimmick, using an old high school football nickname. At the same time Ian Rotten was in a feud with his kayfabe brother Axl Rotten in Extreme Championship Wrestling , during which Axl Rotten disappeared. As Ian and Bull Pain had previously worked together in USWA, he recommended Bull Pain as a replacement, and the two had a brief feud, including Taipei Death Matches and Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Matches. Bull Pain

714-430: The Chikara Wrestle Factory, a wrestling school based in Allentown, Pennsylvania . Following the start of the Wrestle Factory's second class, Carter departed from Chikara and ultimately left the wrestling industry. In 2004, Chris Hero became a co-trainer at the Wrestle Factory, filling the vacancy left by Carter's departure. In 2005, Mexican luchador Jorge "Skayde" Rivera became the school's third trainer. In March 2005,

756-643: The Texas Hangmen with Benninghaus taking on the role as Strangler . They were soon known as the Texas Outlaws when they utilized that gimmick instead as the WCW Office felt that the word Hangmen had bad connotations. Bull Pain Frank Vizi (born June 9, 1961) is a German-born American professional wrestler , better known by the ring names Bull Pain , Rick Gantner and Psycho . He

798-782: The United States, including Dragon Gate , Ice Ribbon , JWP Joshi Puroresu , and Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling . In 2010, Chikara established a close working relationship with the Osaka Pro Wrestling promotion. In December 2011, Chikara partnered with numerous Japanese promotion to hold the three-day-long JoshiMania event, which featured some of the biggest names in joshi puroresu . Wrestlers such as Aja Kong , Dick Togo , The Great Sasuke , Jinsei Shinzaki , Kana , Kaori Yoneyama , Kota Ibushi , Manami Toyota , and Mayumi Ozaki have made rare American appearances for Chikara. On April 25, 2010, Chikara announced

840-546: The Wrestle Factory any longer. This deterred Chikara from holding any more shows until October. During the Chikara hiatus, they released tapes of their early shows, titled "The Renaissance Dawns" and "Baila, Parka, Baila", and the wrestlers worked showcase matches in other promotions, such as IWA Mid-South . Chikara soon reached an agreement with St. John's Lutheran Church in Allentown to hold shows there, only eight blocks from

882-618: The Wrestle Factory. Chikara also began a second Wrestle Factory class, but lost trainer Reckless Youth at the beginning of the class, as he left the wrestling business. The first show in St. John's saw the Wildcards ( Eddie Kingston and BlackJack Marciano), Gran Akuma , D. J. Skittlez, Melvin Snodgrass and Lester Crabtree debut, and shortly after, they were joined by Wrestle Factory graduates Jigsaw and Bryce Remsburg . Soon after Chikara debuted

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924-748: The belts. They lost the belts to Jarrett and Robert Fuller in May 1991. Both Vizi and Moran would move on to different companies. Vizi eventually became known as Bull Pain and have a successful singles career as an independent wrestler, first in the original Extreme Championship Wrestling and then in IWA Mid-South . He would also appear from time to time as an enhancement talent in World Championship Wrestling . The team made one last run as WWC World Tag Team Champions in 1996, only to split during their reign as Vizi and promoter Carlos Colon fought over his salary and left. Moran

966-432: The company since. Pain continued his losing streak at Bloodymania III , losing a Tough Man Match to Butterbean . At Oddball Wrestling 2010, Bull Pain and Ian Bloody lost to Corporal Robinson and 2 Tuff Tony in a Taipei Deathmatch . The following night at Bloodymania IV , Pain and Bloody interfered in a match on Tracy Smothers' behalf. The duo was fended off by Jim Duggan and Smothers' opponent Booker T . By

1008-688: The crowning of the first ever Chikara Grand Champion . The event would again break Chikara's attendance record, drawing 864 fans. During 2012, High Noon was followed by the Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur and Under the Hood Internet pay-per-views. In February 2012, Chikara launched their first ever web comic, written by Joey Esposito and drawn by Alex Cormack, telling the secret origin of Frightmare . On April 6, 2013, Chikara took part in WrestleCon , held during

1050-528: The end of 2010, Pain was put into a storyline in which he was seemingly dating Tracy Smothers' daughter Isabella. Both Pain and Isabella became involved in a rivalry with The Weedman. On March 26, 2011, Pain took part in Juggalo Championship Wrestling's first internet pay-per-view Hatchet Attacks . Teaming with Baby Bitch Boy and The Bumpin' Uglies, Pain lost to the team of The Weedman, 2 Tuff Tony, Jailbird Man, and Rhino . At

1092-484: The following event, he lost to The Weedman in a match that seemingly ended their feud. At Bloodymania 2011, Bull teamed with Tracy Smothers in a losing effort against Necro Butcher and Mad Man Pondo , The Ring Rydas and Raven and Slim Goody. Raven and Goody left with the Tag Team straps. Chikara (professional wrestling) Chikara (stylized in all capital letters and sometimes referred to as Chikara Pro )

1134-483: The newly crowned WWC World Tag Team Champions, The Super Medicos, for the titles. The match ended controversially, with the titles being held up, and the champions regained the title over the Hangmen one week later. Killer and Psycho would return the favor one week later, winning their first championship together. They would hold the belts until February 3, 1991, dropping them to El Bronco and Invader I . The Hangmen won

1176-472: The opening of the short-lived sister promotion Kiryoku Pro, which highlighted female wrestling. 2002 was also marked by a lawsuit against Chikara for promoting shows at the Wrestle Factory. Neighborhood activists claimed that the building was not properly zoned for assembly, and that the shows detracted from the "complexion of the community". It was eventually ruled that Chikara provided inadequate parking for their shows, and would not be allowed to promote out of

1218-518: The promotion returned in February 2017, it was announced as the start of season 18. Season 17 had been taped during the break and would be streamed on Chikaratopia. On August 7, 2019, Chikara announced a working relationship with Michinoku Pro Wrestling . On June 24, 2020, Quackenbush announced Chikara was shutting down amid allegations of misconduct within the company. On January 7, 2002, "Reckless Youth" Tom Carter and Mike Quackenbush founded

1260-509: The record was broken once again at Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show, which drew 755 fans. The show was released by Smart Mark Video on DVD less than 24 hours after its conclusion. On April 26, 2009, Chikara announced a working agreement with Dragon Gate USA , which saw Chikara wrestlers take part in Dragon Gate USA events. Throughout the years, Chikara has also worked with several Japanese promotions in bringing their talent over to

1302-431: The release of a video game, titled Rudo Resurrection , for multiple gaming platforms later in the year. After not being heard of again for four years, it was announced on May 2, 2014, that a new developer, Rotary Games, had picked up the rights to the game. On August 1, 2011, Chikara announced that their first ever live Internet pay-per-view (iPPV), titled High Noon , would take place November 13, 2011, and would feature

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1344-502: The rematch on February 10 and kept the belts for three more weeks, losing a Luchas de apuestas match on March 2 where El Bronco and Invader I put their mask and hair on the line against the tag team title belts. Shortly after their loss of their second WWC World Tag Team Championship, the Texas Hangmen went to the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis and defeated their tag team champions, Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler , for

1386-475: The rest of 2013, though wrestlers from the promotion did hold a small event on November 2 in Philadelphia's FDR Skatepark with the storyline that they were trying to revive the promotion. In October 2013, Viz Media acquired rights to 26 Chikara events, which would start airing on their Neon Alley digital service on Sundays as part of the new fall lineup. On February 1, 2014, it was announced that Chikara would be returning on May 25. On February 10, 2014, it

1428-432: The same year, Chikara expanded into a wrestling promotion with the intent of showcasing its students. The first show on May 25, 2002, featured not only the Wrestle Factory students and head trainers, but several other independent wrestlers, including Don Montoya, CM Punk , Colt Cabana , Chris Hero , Love Bug, Marshal Law, and Blind Rage. The main event of the first show featured Quackenbush and Youth joined by Don Montoya as

1470-444: The school moved from Allentown to the New Alhambra Arena , in Philadelphia. In 2007, Chris Hero left Chikara and the Wrestle Factory, with Claudio Castagnoli taking over Hero's training duties. In August 2011, Castagnoli signed with WWE , and departed the Wrestle Factory. Former guest instructors included El Pantera , Terry Funk , CM Punk, Marty Jannetty , and many others. At the time of June 2020, head trainer Mike Quackenbush

1512-472: The school was to be called "Impact Wrestling" (not to be confused with the later promotion of the same name ), but when Montoya decided not to put up money for its foundation and left the project, Carter and Quackenbush decided they needed a new name. The Wrestle Factory was founded by Carter and Quackenbush in Allentown, Pennsylvania on January 7, 2002. The first class included UltraMantis , Mister Zero, Dragonfly, Hallowicked , and Ichabod Slayne . In May of

1554-491: The schools split in 2007, the training center became once again simply known as the Chikara Wrestle Factory. In 2007, Claudio Castagnoli took over Chris Hero's training duties. On March 2, 2008, Chikara drew their biggest crowd ever of over 550 people during the King of Trios finals. That record was broken on January 31, 2010, when their first show of season nine, A Touch of Class, drew over 600 fans. Later that year, on July 25,

1596-406: Was also wrestling at this time as a regular "enhancement talent" for World Championship Wrestling , wrestling the likes of Jim Duggan , Hak , Van Hammer , Johnny B Badd , and Bobby Duncum, Jr. In 1996, Bull Pain toured Japan with Big Japan Pro Wrestling . Vizi debuted in World Championship Wrestling on January 18, 1996, as "Bull Payne", unsuccessfully challenging Johnny B. Badd for

1638-534: Was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . The company took both its name and logo from the Japanese kanji meaning 'strength' ( 力 ) . It was founded in 2002 by professional wrestlers Mike Quackenbush and Reckless Youth , who also served as trainers and in-ring performers. The promotion held multiple live events per month, with the majority taking place at

1680-590: Was announced that The Wrestle Factory would start a new training class at the 2300 Arena on March 1. In April 2015, Chikara made its debut in the United Kingdom with a four-show tour held across England and Wales and launched Chikaratopia , a streaming service featuring past events. That same year on July 29, the promotion launched a new weekly program, entitled Journey Into Chikara , which would air live on both Chikaratopia and YouTube . In December 2016, Chikara concluded its 16th season. However, when

1722-579: Was given the name Psycho while Moran became Killer . Killer and Psycho wrestled in the AWA for several years, beginning in 1987, and contended for the AWA World Tag Team Championship but never won it. They were also participants in the company's ill-fated Team Challenge Series that eventually resulted in the AWA's downfall. After the AWA folded, Vizi and Moran carried their Texas Hangmen characters with them to Puerto Rico. On September 15, 1990, Killer and Psycho challenged

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1764-638: Was the KAW Heavyweight Champion Bull Pain debuted in Juggalo Championship Wrestling in 2007 at East Side Wars by attacking hero 2 Tuff Tony . In the following weeks, Pain continued to beat opponents mercilessly using a metal baseball bat he called Brother Pain. At Bloodymania , 2 Tuff Tony defeated Bull Pain in a Louisville Slugger match. The following year at Bloodymania II , Pain replaced Isabella Smothers to team with Tracy Smothers in

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