CHIKARA’s Season 20 continues to roll in after a successful Young Lions Cup XV. Next will be their contribution to WrestleMania Week as part of The Collective: Once Upon a Beginning. At the Young Lions Cup XV, Director of Fun and senior official Bryce Remsburg announced he was stepping down as DoF. The New Director of Fun will be assuming their duties at Once Upon a Beginning. Remsburg’s final action as Director was to make the main event of the show. The issue of the Grand Championship will finally be settled as Mr. Touchdown and Dasher Hatfield collide at last. That’s just one match on this incredible event though!
A-Kid vs. Air Wolf
The Spanish sensation A-Kid will be flying in for his first appearance in season 20. A-Kid made his awe-inspiring debut in 2017 during season 18. During that season, he participated in the King of Trios tournament. A-Kid returned for season 19 during King of Trios weekend as well. There, A-Kid was part of the Rey de Volodores tournament and made it all the way to the finals with his opponent, Air Wolf. A-Kid works all over Europe for promotions like White Wolf Wrestling, Revolution Pro UK, Fight Club: PRO and PROGRESS Wrestling.
Air Wolf is a young and upcoming star out of Minnesota. He trained at The Academy under such names as Ken Anderson and Molly Holly. As mentioned earlier, he is the 2018 Rey de Volodores tournament winner. Air Wolf also participated in the recent Young Lions Cup, where he was eliminated in the first round. During Stage Two, he was able to get a victory over Cam Carter. Air Wolf also competes for F1rst Wrestling, All American Wrestling (AAW) and recently signed with Major League Wrestling. These two young and hungry competitors will put on quite the show at Once Upon a Beginning.
Carlos Romo vs. Still Life With Apricots And Pears
Carlos Romo (formally known as Adam Chase) is another Spanish star from White Wolf Wrestling. He has frequently teamed with A-Kid as Team White Wolf. He also made his first appearance for CHIKARA in season 18 at the King of Trios tournament in the United Kingdom. Like his partner A-Kid, he also participated in the 2018 Rey de Volodores tournament. Now Romo will have another honor, challenging for the Young Lions Cup. Still Life with Apricots and Pears just won the Young Lions Cup and now they must defend it. Certainly, Still Life was shocked when their artist, BLANK, decried them following their triumph. However, if they would like to continue to keep the Young Lions Cup on permanent display, they will have to put that aside.
Princess Kimber Lee vs. The Whisperer
The Campeonatos de Parejas will not be defended here at Once Upon a Beginning. Travis Huckabee and Tony Deppen of F.I.S.T. have chosen to cash their three points in at Fright Night on April 27th. In theory, this would leave the Princess KimberLee and The Whisper off of the show, without opponents. Princess KimberLee, however, had an idea. She presented the idea in a video posted online in the hopes of it being made a reality.
With the #1 contenders for the belts cashing in on April 27th, that leaves Princess @Kimber_Lee90 & @The__Whisper with no one to face on April 5th in Jersey City. …or does it? pic.twitter.com/yspgUXuH5r
— CHIKARA (@CHIKARApro) March 21, 2019
The history between The Whisper and the Princess originated in season 17. The Whisper began to blackmail her, saying that he knew the Princess’ secret. A secret so important, that at the time she quit CHIKARA for fear of it being revealed. When Princess KimberLee returned in season 19, it was clear The Whisper had not forgotten whatever information he held over her. By a cruel twist of fate, the two were partners in La Loteria Letal. The Whisper warned her that if they were not successful, he would reveal her secret to the world. Princess KimberLee, never one to wait for one to save her, saved herself at that time. She forced herself to get along with The Whisper and the unlikely pair was able to win La Loteria Letal.
By winning that, they earned a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas at the season 19 finale. The Whisper again threatened the Princess with revealing her secret, if they didn’t win. Again, the Princess saved herself and the two were able to win the Campeonatos de Parejas. Now that they have a spot in their wrestling dance card, the Princess wants revenge. She wants The Whisper. She will get to face him, one-on-one at Once Upon a Beginning.
The Colony vs. F.I.S.T. (Travis Huckabee, Tony Deppen & Icarus)
One of the hottest feuds in CHIKARA’s recent memory will add another chapter on April 5th. The last time these six clashed in Trios competition, it was the King of Trios 2018 tournament. And on that occasion, The Colony were triumphant and would go onto win the gold medals. The group of Travis Huckabee, Tony Deppen, and Icarus couldn’t let that go. They couldn’t let the ants and their success be, much like their vendetta against the Xyberhawx. The bond between Green Ant, Fire Ant, and Thief Ant have only been strengthened. Especially during their miraculous King of Trios 2018 performance. Now at Once Upon a Beginning, these two factions will again go to war.
CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) vs. Cornelius Crummels & Sonny Defarge
The last time we saw the team CCK in CHIKARA, it was the King of Trios 2017 tournament. There Brookes and Lykos teamed with Elijah. They were knocked from the tournament in the quarterfinals by Crummels, Defarge and Juan Francisco de Coronado. On night 3, CCK took part in the Tag Team Gauntlet, where they managed to score three eliminations. If they had won, they would have earned a shot at the Campeonatos de Parejas at the time, Los Ice Creams. Los Ice Creams though proved tougher competition and won the match. When the bell rang, so did CCK’s point aspirations. Now they will have a chance against two of the wrestlers who knocked them from the King of Trios.
Crummels and Defarge haven’t been off to the best of starts to season 20. At National Pro Wrestling Day, they were unsuccessful in challenging the Campeones, Princess KimberLee and The Whisper. By cashing in their points, they went back down to zero on the leaderboard. Lastly, at the Young Lions Cup XV, they were handily defeated by Tony Deppen and Travis Huckabee. Now Crummels and Defarge are going to be a couple of real desperate businessmen heading into this event.
Golden Dreams Atomicos Match: Thunderfrog, Jigsaw, Razerhawk & Chuck Taylor vs. Hermit Crab, Cam Zagami, Hallowicked & Arik Cannon
A Golden Dream Atomicos Match had been a CHIKARA tradition. This match involves past and sometimes current Young Lions Cup holders. It has been eight years since one has been held though, and many more Young Lions have handled the cup. On the technicos side, we have Thunderfrog, Chuckie T and Jigsaw returning to CHIKARA. Jigsaw held the cup back in 2004, Chuckie in 2007 and Thunderfrog in 2016. Razerhawk held the cup most recently for their team, in 2017. They will take on the rudos team, where we see Arik Cannon and Cam Zagami returning. Hallowicked was the inaugural Young Lions Cup winner, a season 1 original. Cannon held the cup in 2006, Hermit Crab in 2017 and Zagami in 2018. This match also represents CHIKARA’s past meeting its present, mixing old friends with new ones.
CHIKARA Grand Championship, Ladder Match: Mr. Touchdown (c) vs. Dasher Hatfield
Let’s start back at the beginning of this story, the story of what the Grand Championship has done to the Hatfield family. Mr. Touchdown won the CHIKARA Grand Championship at CHIKARAsaurus Rex: A Deadly Secret. Unfortunately, he was injured shortly thereafter at the 2018 King of Trios. Director of Fun Bryce Remsburg allowed him to select an interim champion to defend the title while he recovered. Mr. Touchdown didn’t hesitate and immediately selected his step-cousin-in-law, Dasher Hatfield. Dasher stepped up to the plate and defended the title valiantly on four occasions. At the season 19 finale, Let’s Get Invisible, Mr. Touchdown shocked us all and returned. He announced that he had been cleared to return to competition. And when he went to reclaim possession of his Grand Championship, Dasher refused to let go. Instead, Dasher clobbered his own step-cousin-in-law with the title.
As season 20 began at National Pro Wrestling Day, Mr. Touchdown returned to in-ring action. After a successful outing against Callux the Castigator, he was confronted by Dasher Hatfield. Dasher contended that Mr. Touchdown was not yet ready. He had not yet proven himself worthy of holding the Grand Championship again. To do so, he would have to get three points to show Dasher he was ready. Mr. Touchdown agreed, and in a video prior to the Young Lions Cup XV, he explained why. Mr. Touchdown explained that family is the absolute most important thing in his life, and Dasher is family. Dasher had been there for him and showed him the way. So instead of attacking his family and taking the title back by force, he would do what Dasher asked.
At the Young Lions Cup XV, Mr. Touchdown defeated not one, but two opponents in one night. After defeating Chris Dickinson, an opponent who Dasher Hatfield has never beaten, he angrily sent Icarus out to face Mr. Touchdown right then. And Mr. Touchdown again rose to the challenge to defeat the winged ring warrior. However, after the match, Dasher Hatfield attacked Mr. Touchdown. He claimed Mr. Touchdown still wasn’t ready. Director of Fun Bryce Remsburg had had enough. In his final act as Director of Fun, he made the match between Dasher and Mr. Touchdown. Not only would the two step-cousin-in-laws face each other at Once Upon a Beginning, but it would also be in a ladder match.
And that’s the story of Dasher, Mr. Touchdown and the Grand Championship. One way or another, at Once Upon a Beginning, we will have an undisputed Grand Champion. This will also be only the third ever ladder match in CHIKARA history. Whether or not the Hatfield family can be put back together after this, we’ll have to wait and find out.
If you can’t make it out to New Jersey to join in the fun in person, fear not! It will be available on CHIKARAtopia and IndependentWrestling.TV. Once Upon a Beginning goes down on April 5th during WrestleMania week, as part of The Collective.
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