Chikara, a noun in Japanese, meaning "power; strength; force; might; efforts; resources; capacity; talent."

On Saturday, May 25, you saw the true meaning of the word at the debut of the newest independent promotion - CHIKARA. And a self-proclaimed "wrestling renaissance" came into existence.

The night started with a display of technique as the fan favorite Dragonfly faced off against the similarly technical, but synically edged, Mister ZERO. ZERO pulled off an amazing victory in this back and forth match-up.

Captain of The Black T-Shirt Squad and co-owner of CHIKARA, Mike Quackenbush came out to thank everyone for their attendance and began to speak on the B.T.S.'s opponents...The GoldBond Mafia - C.M. Punk, Chris Hero, and Colt Cabana. But, Quack was interrupted by C.M. Punk, who after an apparent attempt to gain some favor, and with the help of Hero and Cabana, attacked Quack and berate the east coast. But, the tirade came to end with fellow Black T-shirt Squad members Reckless Youth (also co-owner of CHIKARA) and Don Montoya sending The Mafia packing to the back.

'Beauty and The Beast' (Marshal Law and Love Bug), the two American heavyweights, squared off against the debut of the mysterious and masked 'Night Shift' (Ichabod Slayne and Hallowicked). 'Beauty and The Beast's experience proved too much for the dark Night Shift.

The crafty submission expert Kid Kruel came to the ring next to face off against the wacky and zanny, Zane Madrox. Although a power house, Zane's diminished mental capacity proved too much of an obstacle, even avoiding what would have been an easy pin cover to go eat potato chips with the crowd, leaving Kid Kruel to catch him with the Jujigatame (side armbar) submission.

The darkness came out with the entrance of Blind Rage, "wrestling's Goth Rock Montster" as he faced the part-insect, part-hero UltraMantis! But Rage proved too much after this instense match-up for the insect-hero and nailed the bug for a 1-2-3.

The highlight of the night came in the Main Event when Black T-shirt Squad members went nose to nose with the mid-west rebels of The Goldbond Mafia. With such great intensity in this lucha-libre style match-up not seen recently in local independents, this action packed match-up amazed everyone in attendance, fulfilling everyone's need for a wrestling fix, and yearning to come back for more. Quack scored a victory after not only hitting Cabana with a reverse hurricanrana, but also seeing Reckless Youth land a Northern Lights Bomb 2k1, allowing the B.T.S. to go home the victors.

An excellent night of wrestling entertainment rarely seen any more and one great start to the world's newest Indendent promotion...CHIKARA.

Chikara has scheduled shows from now until the end of summer weekly on Friday nights. For more information, check out http://www.chikarapro.com or for more information on their training program, go to http://www.chikarawrestlefactory.com.