I'm one of th0se people who's fallen into the trap. The espoused theories of Chikara 2013. Time Travel. False Heroes. Heroic Villains. And everything falls to the rubbery face of one man. Archibald Peck. Some say that he's going to be the one to end Chikara as we know it. And they might be right. There are two Archibald Pecks. But only one is evil. There is still a good Archibald Peck. And in Chicago? He made his return. I'll break it down step by step.
I'll try not to blow your mind.
We all know that the Eye of Tyr has been found. And we all know that Archibald Peck bought a sports almanac in the future. But what you don't know is that the Archibald Peck with the future phone and the quoting of Ozymandias, the Evil Archie? He's the one who found it. And he found it sometime before Aniversario 2012. Good Archie, the clean-shaven Archie? He was put under the spell of the Eye of Tyr and forced to walk the Earth.
The Evil Peck stepped in and became the Mysterious and Handsome Stranger. Being from 1885? One could get away with overt anti-heroic actions and still be a hero. I mean, let's look at this match from the Go-Go. He used an invisible lasso. THAT'S ILLEGAL WRESTLING TACTICS. He atomic dropped the Shard onto a Horse. THAT'S A FOREIGN OBJECT, GUY! And while him slopping Veronica Ticklefeather could be a justifiable action, it is not the actions of a hero.
And someone was on to him. Because game recognizes game? The Great and Devious UltraMantis Black knew that something was amiss from this stranger. But TM&HS was able to offer him the one thing that he wanted. The one thing he desired. The King of Trios. And because UMB remembers the experiments on Colt Cabunny, he let it slide.
Using his connections to his barister and ACW member Robert Davis Evans, he was able to get the rightful 2012 King of Trios winners, the Submission Squad, into a car that would conveniently break down on the road to Philadelphia. Plus, he was on the losing team that took the Squad's spot. Not to mention? This was the team that faced the order of the Neo Solar Temple Spectral Envoy on Night One of King of Trios.
But wither our good Archie? He was on his way to Parts Unknown. But what you don't know Parts Unknown is on an island in the Baltic Sea. Here's where my theory gets wobbly. But I think the good Archie, our Archie is the Latvian Proud Oak. He was taken in by the a man who became the symbol of Estonia, the Estonian Thunder Frog, and when another man found himself in Parts Unknown? He became the Lithuanian Snow Troll. My theory? The Thunder Frog is the Swamp Monster. and The Snow Troll? The Snow Troll is the displaced Knight Lance Steel. When they were ready they returned to America under the aegis of Wrestling is Fun.
At this point, you may have the question. You mentioned his treatment of Colt Cabunny. Wasn't he a rudo from jump street? Well, he was. But if you look at the subtext?
1) His challenge against Eddie Kingston was conducted in the manner of an 18th-century knight. If Jervis Cottonbelly's honor was ever roiled to the point where he felt that he needed to lash out? He would comport himself in the exact same way.
2) At the fan conclave of 2011, he was among those who stepped up to the plate to take the challenge of the mighty villain Tursas and give him what for with a body slam.
3) Archie was nothing but a perfect gentleman in his dealings with the former Marching Majorette Veronica. She did not reciprocate, but you can safely say that he only wanted to impress her. Until "he" slopped her at Under the Hood, you could safely say that he loved her.
4) In 2011, Archie made mention on multiple occasions that Aniversario was a dastardly despot that he was going to stop. Little did he know that how potentially right he was, but you know what? The good Archie wanted to stop it.
Now I know what you're saying. The good Archie didn't know Aniversario was an event. The evil Archie soon turned to talking about excessivos de Castagnoli and poems about the end of all things. But here's the thing. The Latvian Proud Oak, in promotion with the March Event for Wrestling Is Fun? Talked about when it was his time to die? He would be going into the sea and drown. Why? Because like Looper, he started remembering stuff from the alternate Peck. And he knew he was going to meet Evil Archie again. And if you didn't know, Percy Shelley drowned in Italy when he met his doppelganger.
(And as an aside? Notice that the Estonian Thunder Frog talked about the White Ship of Peace. The White Ship of Peace is a Corie Davis poem talking about just when all seems lost, there is hope on the horizon. The Baltic Siege is definitely on the side of good in this battle.)
And if you look at this AAW Promo? The mustachioed Archibald Peck, when first seeing the camera, he was not thrilled by its appearance and tried to pass off his Mixed Martial Archieness as a phase. But he decided to don the garb. (Even despite forgetting his sash and mouth guard. Evil Peck's strong enough to try and resist the siren song of broing out and pounding it when there's no reward to it. And there is no reward in a Davey Richards match.)
So we saw two Archies in Chicago. How? It's simple. Having received the thing he wanted, UltraMantis Black had no cause to continue his end of the bargain. And as someone who appeared in Wrestling Is, the great and devious one knows all the ins and outs of the Eye of Tyr, and as a man with a vacation home in parts Unknown, he had plenty of opportunity to subvert the magicks within the Eye of Tyr. Did it occur on the Feburary 23rd Wrestling is Fun event? No. But it was a signal that the good Archibald Peck was still around. Still fighting. I mean, normal proud oaks don't just march around the ring.
Marching Band leaders march around the ring.
So this leads us to Chicago. The dopplegangers seem to have reconciled. In the battle between good and evil, we don't know where Archibald Peck stands. We know that the Latvian Proud Oak wrestled and won on the May 25th WIF! event. So we know there's still a Peck on this current timeline. And we expect we haven't seen the last of him in Chikara Proper.
But here's a pro tip from me to you. If you want to know if Archie's beaten back the devil within? Check the facial hair. The evil man always sports the mustache. And let's hope the white ship of peace can stop it before it's too late.
Chikara's Never Compromise was a great show. The show featured a lot of different wrestling styles and did its best to have something for everyone. My favorite match was probably The Colony vs. The Devastation Corporation, but I enjoyed pretty much every match and there is a strong chance Tim Donst vs. Gavin Loudspeaker will be the one I always remember. The main event was actually better than I expected despite the lack of finish. Of course, nobody wants to hear about the wrestling portion of the show because of that non-finish in the main event because that non-finish could be the end of Chikara as we know it.
