CHIKARA’s MIKE QUACKENBUSH INTERVIEW
- 05/24/2008 (1:19:41 pm)
- Keith Lipinski
….
Dr. Keith Lipinski Show Recap - CHIKARA's Mike Quackenbush
By Matt Hack, www.CHIKARAFANS.com
Listen to the free show here http://www.f4wonline.com/free/052208dks.mp3
- Quack and Keith discuss the sixth anniversary of CHIKARA. There were many times where they were unsure they would make it to the next month, but they've made it six years strong and will keep on going. Quack claims the key to success was to stand out and do something that would make them a true alternative, something in which they believe they've succeeded in.
- Within the first year alone, there were three or four scares in which they were unsure that they would continue running the promotion, the first of which was when Reckless Youth came in one day and declared it was his last day and a decision had to be made by the end of the day to either it was time to shut down shop or buy out his part of the company. Oddly enough, this same day was the first day of training for most of the second class of the Wrestle Factory, the class that brought us DJ Skittlez, Bryce Remsburg, Gran Akuma, Eddie Kingston, Jigsaw, and others. There were times where the rent couldn't be paid all the way through 2004, and even since then there have still been a few moments here or there when there were scares of the company shutting down, the most recent of which being the conclusion of King of Trios 2008.
- The biggest fans of CHIKARA are the ones that buy DVD's from SmartMarkVideo.com. Quack has found in the past that some of the people that claim on the message boards that they're the biggest fans are the same ones he's heard about downloading shows on torrent sites. Remember kids, Quack is watching...
- There were a number of moments throughout Trios '08 that were real "markout" moments where it was still a bit of a shock to see guys like Demolition in the ring that Quack helped build. "It's not all that often that you get to go to Taco Bell with MECHA Mummy (he's a big fan of the carmel apple empanada) and it's not all that often you get to go to Starbucks with Glacier." Quack mentioned that there were various guys in the locker room that were responsible for bringing in some of the bigger names; Quack reached out to Ax, Smash and Glacier, Sweeney used a friend of a friend of a friend to get in touch with One Man Gang, etc. Ax, Smash and Glacier all sent e-mails in return saying that they were very appreciative of the experience and would love to come back at any time they could.
- The topic of older WWF/WCW guys then came up. About thirty members of the staff and crew went out to dinner on Sunday night after the show at the Arena and the same conversation was had. Jake Roberts' name was brought up and everyone seemed to agree; eventually discussion was all about "Hey, I have this guy's number!", etc., but it's all a matter of money and what advice they can offer to the younger guys.
- Latest with the Wrestle Factory: the 11th class just started a few weeks ago. One or two candidates were set for this year, and at least one is set to debut sometime by the end of this calendar year. There are currently about 10 or 12 guys in the system that have yet to make it to the public eye.
- Season Seven: the theme to this year, as with any of the past CHIKARA years, can best be described as "reinvention". Depending on the success of this coming Aniversario weekend, more expansion could be coming this year. There will be many other new things tried this year, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. There was talk about a CHIKARA year-end banquet with awards given out and whatnot, and that thought may be revisited for season ten ("if we make it that far").
- Create-a-Wrestler: there was a large number of submissions coming from outside the US. Double the response compared to last year, but there were notably many more foreign entries, some of which had to be translated. It was noted that some of these entries this year were so rotten, like the person was either in a car accident, perhaps they were high, but they basically just pounded on the keyboard ham-fisted and sent it in. One of the worst ideas was something along the lines of Gary Anderson-Young (note the initials)...everything would be gay, to the point where the word "gay" was said approximately a thousand times. The only disappointment is that many of the entries were one trick ponies that would only get a laugh for thirty seconds and would never be useful again. There was also an entry where they asked for special provision to pass the word limit which resulted in no less than 15 fully typed pages of a backstory for a bird-themed character named "Caw".
- Writing: Quack recently parted ways with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, severing a ten year relationship where he wrote for their sister publication "The Wrestler". While it was fun at first, writing such a column every other month soon became a sour note where he didn't want to even do it when deadline time soon came around. The next printed "From Bell to Bell" column will be the last; the magazine has recently taken a turn for the worse in their coverage, and Quack wasn't too excited about said direction and decided it was time to part ways. He still plans to watch international wrestling despite the end of the column.
- International wrestling talk: AAA undercard = yay! AAA main event = boo. Air Force is all sorts of good, and are currently being mentored by Oriental (great friend of CHIKARA). The comeback they've made over the last year or two in light of Mistico's fall from grace.
- Skayde vs Pantera: this Friday is the first time the two have ever had a singles match. They'd only been in a ring once before meeting in the same ring at King of Trios, which is astounding considering the two have been around the Mexico City scene for twenty years. The two of them have been mentoring at the Wrestle Factory and have sort of been playing a game of one-upsmanship.
- Incognito: the submission hold used to win the Rey de Voladores tournament this year was a hold he created himself, the Incognito Especial. The reason for a performance that some would describe as below his best was due to blowing out his knee 48 hours before stepping off the plane in Philadelphia last weekend. One thing that is really understated is how nice of a guy he is and just blends in perfectly backstage.
- Louden Noxious: Louden'll be doing more and more in-ring announcing over the next few months, and Quack feels he's a perfect fit for the role. Quack feels that Louden is the best acquisition from Kaiju that they've gotten yet. He showed up this past weekend in Hellertown with his guitar and the Ballad of Hellertown written.
- If one person could be brought to CHIKARA with no limits (age, time period, money, etc.): Satoru Sayama in his prime, perhaps the '96 M-Pro roster. Speculation about Jushin Liger/Ultimo Dragon/Great Sasuke has been noted but the expenses are a bit much. "Until we get our own Cary Silkin to pour money out for us and thinking we're the best ever, I don't see it happening."
- Retirement: these rumors go around every now and then, including a rumor where someone saw a poster on a J-Cup and believed that Quack was DEAD. All of the rumors are ridiculous hearsay, of course, though there are few goals left to accomplish in his wrestling career. Were it not for the young students coming out of the Wrestle Factory, there'd be very little to keep going for.
- Match with Johnny Saint: rather pleased with the performance, just watched the match this past week with Skayde. It was an experience completely unexpected due to his disappearance years ago, but after he came out of retirement, a renewed wave of popularity came around. While there are few matches Saint likely has left, Quack couldn't be happier that he was one of those matches. It was a match where it wasn't about grudges or one-upsmanship, just a matter of having fun.
- Comics: he's read nothing since moving to Philadelphia in February. He's been catching a lot of crap from the students for not being caught up on all the recent books.
- NWA World Jr. Title: TJ Perkins is expected to be the next challenger, as dates have been floated around. NWA Mexico and New Japan have also enquired about bringing him in, though it's all loose talk.
- New CHIKARA territories: it all depends on how this weekend goes. It's far enough outside the comfort zone to be new, but close enough to not be a huge risk. There have been talks with other promotions to co-promote a show to ease the costs. Membership in the CHIKARMY has proven that there are fans throughout the US and the world that can't always make it to southeast PA.
- Head injuries and upcoming schedule: Quack's come close to a full recovery within the past month, feeling as good as he ever has. This year looks to be incredibly busy, between CHIKARA work and his own bookings.
- Within the first year alone, there were three or four scares in which they were unsure that they would continue running the promotion, the first of which was when Reckless Youth came in one day and declared it was his last day and a decision had to be made by the end of the day to either it was time to shut down shop or buy out his part of the company. Oddly enough, this same day was the first day of training for most of the second class of the Wrestle Factory, the class that brought us DJ Skittlez, Bryce Remsburg, Gran Akuma, Eddie Kingston, Jigsaw, and others. There were times where the rent couldn't be paid all the way through 2004, and even since then there have still been a few moments here or there when there were scares of the company shutting down, the most recent of which being the conclusion of King of Trios 2008.
- The biggest fans of CHIKARA are the ones that buy DVD's from SmartMarkVideo.com. Quack has found in the past that some of the people that claim on the message boards that they're the biggest fans are the same ones he's heard about downloading shows on torrent sites. Remember kids, Quack is watching...
- There were a number of moments throughout Trios '08 that were real "markout" moments where it was still a bit of a shock to see guys like Demolition in the ring that Quack helped build. "It's not all that often that you get to go to Taco Bell with MECHA Mummy (he's a big fan of the carmel apple empanada) and it's not all that often you get to go to Starbucks with Glacier." Quack mentioned that there were various guys in the locker room that were responsible for bringing in some of the bigger names; Quack reached out to Ax, Smash and Glacier, Sweeney used a friend of a friend of a friend to get in touch with One Man Gang, etc. Ax, Smash and Glacier all sent e-mails in return saying that they were very appreciative of the experience and would love to come back at any time they could.
- The topic of older WWF/WCW guys then came up. About thirty members of the staff and crew went out to dinner on Sunday night after the show at the Arena and the same conversation was had. Jake Roberts' name was brought up and everyone seemed to agree; eventually discussion was all about "Hey, I have this guy's number!", etc., but it's all a matter of money and what advice they can offer to the younger guys.
- Latest with the Wrestle Factory: the 11th class just started a few weeks ago. One or two candidates were set for this year, and at least one is set to debut sometime by the end of this calendar year. There are currently about 10 or 12 guys in the system that have yet to make it to the public eye.
- Season Seven: the theme to this year, as with any of the past CHIKARA years, can best be described as "reinvention". Depending on the success of this coming Aniversario weekend, more expansion could be coming this year. There will be many other new things tried this year, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. There was talk about a CHIKARA year-end banquet with awards given out and whatnot, and that thought may be revisited for season ten ("if we make it that far").
- Create-a-Wrestler: there was a large number of submissions coming from outside the US. Double the response compared to last year, but there were notably many more foreign entries, some of which had to be translated. It was noted that some of these entries this year were so rotten, like the person was either in a car accident, perhaps they were high, but they basically just pounded on the keyboard ham-fisted and sent it in. One of the worst ideas was something along the lines of Gary Anderson-Young (note the initials)...everything would be gay, to the point where the word "gay" was said approximately a thousand times. The only disappointment is that many of the entries were one trick ponies that would only get a laugh for thirty seconds and would never be useful again. There was also an entry where they asked for special provision to pass the word limit which resulted in no less than 15 fully typed pages of a backstory for a bird-themed character named "Caw".
- Writing: Quack recently parted ways with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, severing a ten year relationship where he wrote for their sister publication "The Wrestler". While it was fun at first, writing such a column every other month soon became a sour note where he didn't want to even do it when deadline time soon came around. The next printed "From Bell to Bell" column will be the last; the magazine has recently taken a turn for the worse in their coverage, and Quack wasn't too excited about said direction and decided it was time to part ways. He still plans to watch international wrestling despite the end of the column.
- International wrestling talk: AAA undercard = yay! AAA main event = boo. Air Force is all sorts of good, and are currently being mentored by Oriental (great friend of CHIKARA). The comeback they've made over the last year or two in light of Mistico's fall from grace.
- Skayde vs Pantera: this Friday is the first time the two have ever had a singles match. They'd only been in a ring once before meeting in the same ring at King of Trios, which is astounding considering the two have been around the Mexico City scene for twenty years. The two of them have been mentoring at the Wrestle Factory and have sort of been playing a game of one-upsmanship.
- Incognito: the submission hold used to win the Rey de Voladores tournament this year was a hold he created himself, the Incognito Especial. The reason for a performance that some would describe as below his best was due to blowing out his knee 48 hours before stepping off the plane in Philadelphia last weekend. One thing that is really understated is how nice of a guy he is and just blends in perfectly backstage.
- Louden Noxious: Louden'll be doing more and more in-ring announcing over the next few months, and Quack feels he's a perfect fit for the role. Quack feels that Louden is the best acquisition from Kaiju that they've gotten yet. He showed up this past weekend in Hellertown with his guitar and the Ballad of Hellertown written.
- If one person could be brought to CHIKARA with no limits (age, time period, money, etc.): Satoru Sayama in his prime, perhaps the '96 M-Pro roster. Speculation about Jushin Liger/Ultimo Dragon/Great Sasuke has been noted but the expenses are a bit much. "Until we get our own Cary Silkin to pour money out for us and thinking we're the best ever, I don't see it happening."
- Retirement: these rumors go around every now and then, including a rumor where someone saw a poster on a J-Cup and believed that Quack was DEAD. All of the rumors are ridiculous hearsay, of course, though there are few goals left to accomplish in his wrestling career. Were it not for the young students coming out of the Wrestle Factory, there'd be very little to keep going for.
- Match with Johnny Saint: rather pleased with the performance, just watched the match this past week with Skayde. It was an experience completely unexpected due to his disappearance years ago, but after he came out of retirement, a renewed wave of popularity came around. While there are few matches Saint likely has left, Quack couldn't be happier that he was one of those matches. It was a match where it wasn't about grudges or one-upsmanship, just a matter of having fun.
- Comics: he's read nothing since moving to Philadelphia in February. He's been catching a lot of crap from the students for not being caught up on all the recent books.
- NWA World Jr. Title: TJ Perkins is expected to be the next challenger, as dates have been floated around. NWA Mexico and New Japan have also enquired about bringing him in, though it's all loose talk.
- New CHIKARA territories: it all depends on how this weekend goes. It's far enough outside the comfort zone to be new, but close enough to not be a huge risk. There have been talks with other promotions to co-promote a show to ease the costs. Membership in the CHIKARMY has proven that there are fans throughout the US and the world that can't always make it to southeast PA.
- Head injuries and upcoming schedule: Quack's come close to a full recovery within the past month, feeling as good as he ever has. This year looks to be incredibly busy, between CHIKARA work and his own bookings.
CHIKARA celebrates six years tonight in Wallingford, CT at th e Knights of Columbus Hall (279 Quinnipiac Street Wallingford, CT) For more information: http://chikarapro.com/
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Dr. Keith Lipinski
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