Bruderschaft des Kreuzes
Encyclopedia
Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 for "The Brotherhood of the Cross", commonly abbreviated to BDK) is a professional wrestling stable in the Chikara promotion.

Background (2007–2009)

On May 27, 2007, at Aniversario? Mike Quackenbush defeated longtime rival Chris Hero
Chris Hero
Chris Spradlin is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Chris Hero. He is a mainstay of many independent wrestling promotions, including Ring of Honor, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla as well as Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan...

 in a match two years in the making with a new submission maneuver called the Chikara Special. Following the match Quackenbush announced that since he knew Hero would never be able to break the hold, he would teach it and the counter to it to all tecnico
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...

s
(good guys) on the Chikara roster. After Lince Dorado
Lince Dorado
Lince Dorado is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for working for Chikara and currently performs for the several independent promotions.-Debut:...

, El Pantera
Pantera (wrestler)
Francisco Javier Pozas is a Mexican professional wrestler, or luchador, who is best known under the ring name El Pantera, but has also worked as Pantera II, El Manaya, América, Tritón and TANAKA over the years...

, Equinox
Vin Gerard
Vince "Vin" Gerard Durling is an American professional wrestler currently competing in the American-based promotion Chikara.-Equinox:...

 and Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli is a Swiss professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, working in its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling under the ring name Antonio Cesaro...

 had all used the move to defeat Hero, he was booked to wrestle Equinox in a hair vs. mask match on November 11, 2007, at The Sordid Perils of Everyday Existence. During the match Equinox managed to lock in the Chikara Special, only for Hero to counter out of it and apply the move himself to force Equinox to tap out and lose his mask.

Quackenbush, wanting to find out who had leaked the move and the counter to it to Hero, sent Tim Donst
Tim Donst
Timothy "Tim" Donst is an American professional wrestler, performing primarily in Chikara, where he is a former Young Lions Cup holder. He is known for his amateur wrestling background, which became the focal point of his persona....

 to infiltrate the rudo
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

(villain) stable The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple, led by UltraMantis Black
UltraMantis Black
UltraMantis Black is a professional wrestler, who performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he is the leader of the Order of the Neo–Solar Temple, while also regularly commentating on matches in which he is not competing...

. While undercover in the stable Donst found out that the leak had been Shane Storm
Stigma (wrestler)
Stigma is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he is a former Young Lions Cup Champion and King of Trios winner...

, the tag team partner of Mike Quackenbush, who was at the time on a losing streak and was ready to exchange the move for a win over Temple member Hydra. On June 14, 2008, Donst left the Temple and revealed the leak to Quackenbush, who attacked Storm, with whom he had a Campeonatos de Parejas
Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
The Campeonatos de Parejas is a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based promotion Chikara.-History:The Campeonatos de Parejas were introduced in February 2006...

(Tag Team Championship) title match coming up, but instead of picking Donst to be his new tag team partner, Quackenbush decided to pick Jigsaw
Jigsaw (wrestler)
Jigsaw is an American professional wrestler currently competing in the Chikara and Dragon Gate USA professional wrestling promotions...

, while Donst went on to form a comedy tag team with Hydra, who had left the Neo-Solar Temple with him. However, in August 2009 Quackenbush thanked Donst for the infiltration by teaching him and only him a new submission maneuver, an inverted Chikara Special, in order to give him an edge in the upcoming Young Lions Cup.

It wasn't until January 2009 when UltraMantis Black revealed that he had done this all to get a hold of the Eye of Tyr, a mysterious Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n artifact that could be used to control people's minds, named after the Norse god of war. The artifact which had gone missing from Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 had suddenly appeared in possession of Dr. Cube, a rudo manager in Kaiju Big Battel
Kaiju Big Battel
Kaiju Big Battel is a performance by the Boston, Massachusetts based performance entertainment troupe Studio Kaiju created by Rand Borden and David Borden. The performances are parodies of both professional wrestling and the tokusatsu kaiju movies of Japan...

. Cube, a fan of Chris Hero's, agreed to swap the Eye for the chance to have Hero wrestle for him. Once UltraMantis had learned the Chikara Special and the counter to it from Storm, he taught the move to Hero and to return the favor Hero left Chikara for good and went to wrestle for Dr. Cube at Kaiju Big Battel.

The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple had been looking for a third member besides UltraMantis and Crossbones and after failed attempts with Pinkie Sanchez and Sami Callihan
Sami Callihan
Sam Johnston is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "The New Horror" Sami Callihan. He competes for promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, NWA Force One Pro Wrestling, EVOLVE Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Absolute Intense Wrestling, and Insanity Pro...

, UltraMantis saw a chance to get back at his former stable mate Hallowicked
Hallowicked
Hallowicked is a professional wrestler, who performs primarily in the Chikara, Dragon Gate USA and Evolve Wrestling professional wrestling promotions. Throughout his career he has also worked for promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling, Full Impact Pro, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling...

 and used the Eye of Tyr in April 2009 to gain control over the mind of his Incoherence team mate Delirious
Delirious (wrestler)
Hunter Johnston is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Delirious. He is currently wrestling for Ring of Honor, International Wrestling Cartel, Chikara, Pro Wrestling Noah, and Jersey All Pro Wrestling...

 and make him the third member of the Neo-Solar Temple. According to legend, once the Eye is used, it must be given away, or the user would face bad luck and tragedy. However, UltraMantis didn't believe this and refused to let go of the Eye.

On August 16, 2009, during the third night of the annual Young Lions Cup, a man dressed in a white mask and clothes confronted UltraMantis Black in the ring and gave him a box. Inside of the box was a message stating that a war was coming. That same man then began sending messages over the internet to UltraMantis saying that he and his Temple would be destroyed if he didn't return the Eye of Tyr to the "family". On October 18, 2009, at Cibernetico Increible the man was joined by another larger man dressed in similar fashion and together they appeared in the crowd and confronted UltraMantis, who proceeded to flee the arena. Following the event a cyborg named Vökoder, who had debuted during the Young Lions Cup, came to UltraMantis and offered to protect the Eye of Tyr and to convince him of his sincerity, Vökoder started interfering in UltraMantis' matches in order to help him win.

Formation (2009)

On November 22, 2009 at Chikara's Season eight finale titled Three Fisted Tales, following the conclusion of the main event between The Colony
The Colony (professional wrestling)
The Colony is a professional wrestling stable wrestling for Chikara. Their gimmick is, as their name suggests, a colony of ants.-Debut:After being trained by both Mike Quackenbush and Chris Hero, Fire Ant and Soldier Ant debuted as Team Colony at the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix, where they lost in...

 (Fire Ant and Soldier Ant) and The Osirian Portal
The Osirian Portal
The Osirian Portal was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Amasis and Ophidian. The team mainly competed in Chikara, where they held the Campeonatos de Parejas, and Combat Zone Wrestling . They have also made appearances in Ring of Honor and several other independent promotions based...

 (Amasis and Ophidian), the two masked men from months prior invaded the ring and one of them stated that a war was coming and that he was tired of waiting. Green Ant and Carpenter Ant came out to support their fellow Colony members, in addition to the entire tecnico locker room. Mike Quackenbush and Claudio Castagnoli confronted the men, however, one of the men demanded to meet the man with the real power and pointed at UltraMantis Black, who had been doing commentary during the main event. UltraMantis handed the Eye of Tyr to Vökoder before entering the ring, where he said that he was sick of the men and claimed to not even know who they were. This led to both men removing their masks, the larger man revealed another mask with a helmet, horns and beard, while the man with the microphone unmasked as Ares
Marco Jaggi
Marco Jaggi is a Swiss professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, known by his ring name Ares , who primarily competes in European and American independent promotions. For much of his career, Jaggi teamed with Claudio Castagnoli and Marc Roudin as part of Swiss Money Holding...

, a Swiss wrestler. Immediately following this Castagnoli, fellow Swiss and Ares' longtime tag team partner, blasted Quackenbush with a European uppercut, turning rudo in Chikara for the first time in three years. A massive brawl broke out, during which Vökoder attacked UltraMantis Black, Carpenter Ant, a relatively new member of The Colony, who had shocked everyone by winning the annual torneo cibernetico
Torneo cibernetico
A Torneo Cibernetico is a type of elimination tag-team match that frequently appears in Lucha Libre promotions.The match is a 16-man elimination tag team match consisting of 2 teams of 8. It uses standard Lucha Libre tag-team rules with elimination occurring with a pinfall, submission,...

with an inverted Chikara Special, turned on the rest of The Colony and Sara Del Rey
Sara Del Rey
Sara Amato is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name, Sara Del Rey. She is a mainstay for Chikara and Shimmer Women Athletes. She has also appeared for many other independent promotions in the United States, including Ring of Honor, IWA Mid-South, All Pro Wrestling, as...

 and Daizee Haze
Daizee Haze
Daizee Haze is an American professional wrestler. Whilst wrestling for many companies Daizee Haze is also the head trainer for the Shimmer Women Athletes promotion.-Training and Gateway Championship Wrestling:...

, who had been complaining about the way the company had used them, turned on Chikara wrestlers, helping the rebel faction. Once the fight had subdued with the new group on top, Carpenter Ant unmasked as Pinkie Sanchez and Vökoder unmasked as Tim Donst, both of whom had a history with the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple. The group saluted in a formation, before the larger masked man cut the lights and the stable fled the arena, with the Eye of Tyr intact.

The following day, a Podcast-A-Go-Go special update with Claudio Castagnoli revealed the group's name to be "The Bruderschaft", while also claiming that the group has eight members as opposed to the seven already known. A week later, the Chikara website added a fourth section to the website specifically for the Bruderschaft des Kreuzes alongside the tecnico, rudo and staff pages. On the page, they confirmed the mystery masked man to be a Finn named Tursas, after a sea monster in the Finnish mythology
Iku-Turso
Iku-Turso is a malevolent sea monster in the Finnish mythology. Nowadays Meritursas means octopus in Finnish, named after Iku-Turso, but originally tursas is an old name for walrus while the more common term is mursu. However, it is more common to see the word Iku-Turso is a malevolent sea...

. The eighth member remained unknown.

On December 7, 2009, Chikara's official website announced that a Chikara Wrestle Factory trainee named Dieter VonSteigerwalt, representing BDK, was taking over as the new Director of Fun, replacing Leonard F. Chikarason, who was re-assigned as a commentator. During the season break, Sanchez began wearing a pink and white version of the ant mask worn by The Colony, while also adopting the nickname "Pink Ant".

Championship success (2010)

On January 31, 2010, at the season nine premiere, titled A Touch of Class, Lince Dorado was revealed as BDK's eighth member, as he turned on his frequent tag team partner Equinox
Jimmy Olsen (wrestler)
Jimmy Olsen , also known by his ring name Equinox, is an American professional wrestler, who is best known for his work in the American-based promotion Chikara.-Chikara :...

 and together him, Castagnoli, Ares and Tursas defeated Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Equinox and Eddie Kingston
Eddie Kingston
Edward "Eddie" Moore is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Eddie Kingston. He is best known for competing in Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and Ring of Honor...

, Dorado's replacement in the tecnico team, in an eight man tag team match, when Castagnoli pinned Kingston, with whom he had feuded most of the previous year, after a low blow. This victory marked a clean sweep for BDK, as earlier in the evening, Donst defeated Player Dos
Stupefied
Marc Dionne is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ringnames Stupefied and Player Dos. He currently competes most notably for the American-based promotion Chikara. He bases his gimmick, moveset, and attire around video games, more specifically games for the NES and SNES consoles...

 to win the Young Lions Cup
Chikara Young Lions Cup
The Young Lions Cup is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Chikara.-History:...

, Sanchez began his quest to destroy the Colony after defeating Green Ant and Haze and Del Rey defeated former Campeones de Parejas, The Osirian Portal, in a tag team match. At the event, BDK also debuted their own ring announcer named Jakob Hammermeier. During the weekend of February 27 and 28 Ares and Castagnoli picked up the three points needed in order to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas, by defeating The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and Sugar Dunkerton) during the first night and winning a four-way elimination match the second night. During the main event of the second night, in which UltraMantis Black and Delirious challenged The Colony for the Campeonatos de Parejas, Ares used the Eye of Tyr to release Delirious, who then proceeded to go crazy and run out of the arena, leaving UltraMantis to be pinned by The Colony, who retained their titles in two straight falls. The following day Ares declared victory over UltraMantis and announced that now that he had gained revenge on him by destroying his dream of winning, not only the Campeonatos de Parejas, but also the King of Trios
King of Trios
King of Trios is a three-night tournament promoted by the Chikara wrestling promotion. The tournament is a different take on the Tag World Grand Prix event that the company is known for annually promoting; in King of Trios, instead of tag teams, there are trios that will compete in six-man tag team...

, he would be returning the Eye of Tyr to Switzerland and his father's collection. Ares and Castagnoli used their three points at the following show Wit, Verve, and a Bit o' Nerve on March 20, 2010, and defeated The Colony in two straight falls, following interference from Pinkie Sanchez, Lince Dorado and Tursas, who powerbombed Soldier Ant against a wall and rendered him unconscious for most of the match, to win the Campeonatos de Parejas.

On April 23 BDK entered the 2010 King of Trios tournament with two trios, the first one consisting of Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas and the second of Donst, Dorado and Sanchez. When Ares', Castagnoli's and Tursas' original first round opponents Team Mexico (Jorge "Skayde" Rivera
Skayde
Jorge Rivera Serrano is a Mexican professional wrestler who is best known for Lucha Libre. He has been a tecnico throughout his wrestling career. He is currently training wrestlers at Arena Xalapa.-Professional wrestling career:...

, Valiente
Valiente (wrestler)
Valiente is a Mexican luchador enmáscarado, or masked professional wrestler, and is mainly known for his work in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . Valiente's real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico...

 and Turbo) no-showed the event, their replacement trio was decided by a random draw. After Amasis and Ophidian of the Osirian Portal were picked as their opponents, BDK's own Director of Fun Dieter VonSteigerwalt picked their trios partner out of his own hat and came up Sara Del Rey. Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas advanced in the tournament, pinning Ophidian with their new triple team finisher Ragnarok
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...

, after a low blow from Del Rey. Later in the night, Donst, Dorado and Sanchez continued BDK's winning streak by defeating The F1rst Family (Arik Cannon
Arik Cannon
Arik Cannon is a professional wrestler known for competing in companies such as Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, IWA Mid-South, All American Wrestling and Wrestling Society X.-Career:...

, Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz) to advance to the second round. The following day Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas defeated Team Perros del Mal (El Alebrije
El Alebrije (wrestler)
El Alebrije is a Mexican Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre as part of the group called Los Invasores. He best known for his work in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, where he worked for 12 years as El Alebrije, along with his...

, Cuije and El Oriental) to advance to the semifinals of the tournament, while The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant and Green Ant) handed BDK their first non-disqualification loss by eliminating the trio of Donst, Dorado and Sanchez from the tournament. On April 25 Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas first defeated Team Big Japan Wrestling
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Big Japan Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests.-History:...

 (Daisuke Sekimoto
Daisuke Sekimoto
is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. He is a former six-time BJW Tag Team Champion, as well as a former NWA United National Heavyweight Champion in ZERO1-MAX...

, Kankuro Hoshino and Yuji Okabayashi) in the semifinals and then The Colony in the finals, after referee Derek Sabato, who had not been seen in Chikara since December 2008, returned to replace Bryce Remsburg, whom Tursas had knocked out, and performed a fast count, to win the 2010 King of Trios. After the match Sabato revealed himself as the newest member of BDK and in a blog entry on Chikara's official website announced that VonSteigerwalt, whom he had met when he was just starting his training at the Chikara Wrestle Factory, had reinstated him after realizing that his referees had lost power over the wrestlers and the respect of the fans.

On May 22 at Aniversario Zehn Ares faced UltraMantis Black in a grudge match. The match ended when Delirious made his return to the company, now aligned with BDK, and provided the distraction, which led to Ares scoring the pinfall victory. The following day at Aniversario Elf Delirious was instrumental in helping BDK retain the Campeonatos de Parejas against his former Incoherence team mates Hallowicked and Frightmare
Frightmare (wrestler)
Frightmare is a professional wrestler, who performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he is a former Young Lions Cup Champion. He has also worked for promotions such as Evolve Wrestling, International Wrestling Cartel, IWA East Coast and Jersey All Pro Wrestling...

. Later that night Ares and Castagnoli ruined Eddie Kingston's dream match with his idol Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

, after which Dreamer helped Kingston chase them away, before challenging the Campeones de Parejas to a tag team match for July 25 at The Arena in Philadelphia. After the weekend UltraMantis Black finally took responsibility for causing the formation of BDK, before declaring that it was now his job to take the stable down. On June 26 at We Must Eat Michigan's Brain Delirious wrestled his first match as a member of BDK, losing to his former mentor, UltraMantis Black. That same night the brand new Kings of Trios suffered their first six man tag team loss, losing to Da Soul Touchaz
Da Soul Touchaz
Da Soul Touchaz is a professional wrestling alliance, currently consisting of American professional wrestlers Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson...

 (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson), after an interference from Eddie Kingston. The following day at Faded Scars and Lines Ares and Castagnoli successfully defended their Campeonatos de Parejas against Equinox and Helios in two straight falls, after another pre–match assault. After the event UltraMantis Black announced that he would lead Chikara into a final battle with BDK in the torneo cibernetico match on October 23. On July 26 at Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show Vökoder, the cyborg previously portrayed by BDK's Tim Donst, made a return to Chikara, staring down Pinkie Sanchez after a match, where he, Donst, Dorado and Tursas defeated Fire Ant, Green Ant, Soldier Ant and Frightmare. However, none of the other members of BDK were able to see Vökoder before he disappeared from the arena and questioned Sanchez's mental stability, when he tried to explain what he had seen. In the main event of the evening Ares and Castagnoli defeated Eddie Kingston and Tommy Dreamer in a non–title match.

After successful defenses against Player Uno
Player Uno
Nicolas Dansereau is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ringname Player Uno, who currently competes most notably for the Chikara and Inter Species Wrestling promotions. He bases his gimmick, moveset, and attire around video games, more specifically games for the NES and SNES...

, Dasher Hatfield, Soldier Ant and Frightmare, Tim Donst was forced to vacate the Young Lions Cup on August 27 in time for the eighth annual Young Lions Cup tournament. Due to Sanchez's mental instability, BDK hand picked Lince Dorado as the follower to Donst and the next Young Lions Cup Champion. He entered the eighth annual Young Lions Cup tournament on August 28 and first defeated Gregory Iron in a singles match and then Adam Cole
Adam Cole
Austin Jenkins is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Adam Cole. He competes for several independent promotions, including Combat Zone Wrestling, Maryland Championship Wrestling, Northeast Wrestling and Ring of Honor....

, Cameron Skyy, Keita Yano, Obariyon and Ophidian in a six-way elimination match to make it to the finals of the tournament. However, the following day Dorado was defeated in the finals by Frightmare, after BDK referee Derek Sabato was knocked unconscious and Chikara referee Bryce Remsburg ran in and performed a three count to give Chikara its first major victory over BDK. The weekend also saw the debut of Wink Vavasseur, an internal audit
Internal audit
Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk...

or hired by the Chikara Board of Directors to keep an eye on VonSteigerwalt. On September 18 at Eye to Eye BDK made their third defense of the Campeonatos de Parejas by defeating 3.0
2.0 (professional wrestling)
2.0 is a Canadian professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Scott "Jagged" Parker and Shane Matthews . The team is best known for working for Chikara, where they are currently using the name 3.0, and International Wrestling Syndicate...

 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews) two falls to one, the first time Ares and Castagnoli had dropped a fall in their title matches. The following day at Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line Pinkie Sanchez failed in his attempt to bring the Young Lions Cup back to BDK, when he was defeated in the title match by Frightmare. After dominating the first half of 2010, BDK managed to win only three out of the ten matches they were participating in during the weekend. On October 23 Ares captained BDK members Castagnoli, Delirious, Del Rey, Donst, Haze, Sanchez and Tursas to the torneo cibernetico match, where they faced Team Chikara, represented by captain UltraMantis Black, Eddie Kingston, Hallowicked, Icarus
Icarus (wrestler)
Icarus is a professional wrestler, who performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he is a former Campeon de Parejas and King of Trios winner...

, Jigsaw, Mike Quackenbush, STIGMA
Stigma (wrestler)
Stigma is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he is a former Young Lions Cup Champion and King of Trios winner...

 and Vökoder). During the match Vökoder was unmasked as Larry Sweeney
Larry Sweeney
Alexander K. Whybrow was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name Larry Sweeney...

, who then proceeded to eliminate Sanchez from the match, before being eliminated himself by Castagnoli. Also during the match Quackenbush managed to counter the inverted Chikara Special, which Donst had used to eliminate Icarus and Jigsaw, into the original Chikara Special to force his former pupil to submit. The final four participants in the match were Castagnoli and Tursas for BDK and UltraMantis Black and Eddie Kingston for Chikara. After Tursas eliminated UltraMantis, Castagnoli got himself disqualified by low blowing Kingston. Kingston, however, managed to come back and pinned Tursas to win the match for Chikara. The following day Ares and Castagnoli defeated Amasis and Ophidian of The Osirian Portal to make their fourth successful defense of the Campeonatos de Parejas. Meanwhile, Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze defeated the Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Player Dos) to earn their third point and the right to challenge for the championship. While Del Rey and Haze were toying with the idea of cashing their points and challenging Ares and Castagnoli, the champions told them their only job was to make sure no one else in Chikara was able to gain three points. On November 21 Del Rey and Haze competed in a four–way elimination match with Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw, The Osirian Portal and F.I.S.T. (Icarus and Chuck Taylor
Chuck Taylor (wrestler)
Dustin Howard is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chuck Taylor. He is currently competing most notably in Chikara, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Evolve Wrestling and Dragon Gate USA...

). After surviving the first two eliminations, Jigsaw pinned Haze to not only take away her and Del Rey's points, but also to earn himself and Quackenbush three points and the right to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas. At the same event Ares defeated longtime rival UltraMantis Black in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Downfall (2010–present)

On December 12, at the season nine finale Reality is Relative, Ares and Castagnoli were set to defend the Campeonatos de Parejas against Jigsaw and Quackenbush. Prior to the start of the match, internal auditor Wink Vavasseur replaced BDK referee Derek Sabato with Bryce Remsburg, while Eddie Kingston took out Delirious, when he tried to attack the challengers. After Quackenbush and Jigsaw had won the first fall, Castagnoli took Remsburg out of the match and with help from Sabato tied the score to 1–1. However, in the third fall Remsburg came back to attack Sabato and made a three count, when Jigsaw pinned Ares, to end BDK's nine month reign as the Campeones de Parejas. Immediately following the event BDK was stripped of all of their power in Chikara as Wink Vavasseur replaced Dieter VonSteigerwalt as the new Director of Fun.

After not appearing at Chikara's shows in March 2011, despite being advertised, Lince Dorado's profile was quietly removed from the promotion's official website, confirming his departure from the promotion. On March 13 Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston finally faced each other in a grudge match fifteen months in the making, with Castagnoli emerging victorious after hitting Kingston with a chain. At the same event Jakob Hammermeier made his in–ring debut, defeating Green Ant, following interference from the rest of BDK. When Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas decided not to enter the 2011 King of Trios, Tim Donst was placed in charge of leading BDK in the tournament. After weeks of scouting, Donst, voicing his displeasure with the rest of BDK, announced Delirious and Jakob Hammermeier as his partners and, on April 15, led the BDK trio to defeat Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson) in the first round of the tournament. The following day, the BDK trio was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinal stage by The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant and Soldier Ant). In early 2011 Tursas was given a more prominent role in BDK as he began writing anti-American blog entries on Chikara's official website, drawing the ire of Green Ant, which led to the two entering a feud, which closely followed a feud between Lex Luger
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell "Larry" Pfohl , better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy...

 and Yokozuna from 1993 with Green Ant taking over Luger's role as the patriotic American and Tursas working as the foreign giant. After months of buildup, the two faced each other on July 30 in a match, where Tursas was victorious, following outside interference from Jakob Hammermeier. In May, both Claudio Castagnoli and Sara Del Rey were entered into the 12 Large: Summit to determine the first ever Chikara Grand Champion
Chikara Grand Championship
The Chikara Grand Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Chikara promotion. The first champion was crowned on November 13, 2011, at the High Noon pay-per-view, when Eddie Kingston defeated Mike Quackenbush at the conclusion of a six-month long, twelve-person...

. On July 31 the two faced each other in a tournament match in the main event of the second night of the Chikarasaurus Rex weekend. After Del Rey managed to score an upset win over her BDK leader, Castagnoli turned on, not only her, but also Daizee Haze, as she was standing up for her regular tag team partner. On August 3, Del Rey officially announced her resignation from BDK. Three days later, Chikara announced that Daizee Haze would be taking a leave of absence from the promotion after suffering a storyline injury at the hands of Castagnoli. At the following event on August 27, Castagnoli was defeated by Icarus and thus eliminated from contention in the 12 Large: Summit. This would mark Castagnoli's final appearance for Chikara as the following month he signed a developmental contract with WWE. After losing to UltraMantis Black that same day, Pinkie Sanchez also left Chikara and BDK. On November 13 at Chikara's first internet pay-per-view, High Noon
Chikara High Noon
High Noon was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view event produced by the Chikara promotion, that took place on November 13, 2011 at the Asylum Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event marked Chikara's first ever live pay-per-view and it was headlined by the finals of a tournament...

, Ares put the Eye of Tyr and Donst his hair on the line against UltraMantis Black's and Hallowicked's masks in a No Disqualification match. UltraMantis ended up regaining the Eye of Tyr by pinning Ares for the win, after Donst abandoned his stablemate in order to save his hair.

In wrestling

  • Finishing tag team moves
    • Diving European uppercut (Castagnoli) / electric chair drop (Ares) combination
      Doomsday Device
      Doomsday Device, often shortened to Device, is a term used in professional wrestling to reference a tandem move in which one wrestler hoists the opponent on their shoulders so that they are facing in the same direction in what is known as the electric chair position, while another wrestler climbs...

    • Spike piledriver by Del Rey followed into a bridging German suplex by Haze

  • Finishing triple team moves
    • Ragnarok (Castagnoli and Tursas lift the opponent up by their arms, while Ares runs through and pushes their legs back so that they flip over into a double team iconoclasm by Castagnoli and Tursas)

  • Ares' finishing moves
    • Sitout double underhook powerbomb

  • Delirious' finishing moves
    • Bizarro Driver (Inside leg hook fisherman driver)
    • Chemical Imbalance II (Double pumphandle wheelbarrow driver)
    • Cobra Stretch (Bridging cobra clutch)
    • Shadows Over Heck (Diving splash to the back of a kneeling opponent)

  • Donst's finishing moves
    • Donstitution (Bridging Olympic slam, sometimes from the second rope)
    • From Dusk 'til Donst (Crossface / Scissored armbar combination)
    • Inverted Chikara Special (Kneeling step–over head–hold armbar to a face down opponent followed by hooking the opponent's near leg)
    • SDT (Front facelock STO)

  • Hammermeier's finishing moves
    • Gute Nacht! (Hangman's neckbreaker)

  • Tursas' finishing moves
    • Diving splash
    • Jumping crossbody, sometimes from the second rope
    • Kreuz Bomb (Throwing crucifix powerbomb)
    • Spinning side slam

  • Entrance themes
    Music in professional wrestling
    Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...

    • "Engel
      Engel (song)
      "Engel" is a song by German Industrial metal band Rammstein. The song is released as the first single from their second album Sehnsucht...

      " by Rammstein
      Rammstein
      Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...

    • "Im Namen Der Bruderschaft" by Kenny Pickett

Championships and accomplishments

  • Chikara
    • Campeonatos de Parejas
      Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas
      The Campeonatos de Parejas is a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based promotion Chikara.-History:The Campeonatos de Parejas were introduced in February 2006...

       (1 time) – Ares and Castagnoli
    • Young Lions Cup
      Chikara Young Lions Cup
      The Young Lions Cup is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Chikara.-History:...

       (1 time) – Donst
    • King of Trios
      King of Trios
      King of Trios is a three-night tournament promoted by the Chikara wrestling promotion. The tournament is a different take on the Tag World Grand Prix event that the company is known for annually promoting; in King of Trios, instead of tag teams, there are trios that will compete in six-man tag team...

       (2010) – Ares, Castagnoli and Tursas

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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