The Indie Corner: When Right and Wrong Aren't Exactly Clear

Chikara's Cibernetico event in New York this past Sunday (Nov.18) was a very eventful show. It was so eventful that if a certain troika of NXT young lions didn't show up to keep Ryback from feeding on John Cena, it might have been the most talked about thing in the wrestling world the next day.

A lot of stuff happened at that show, including Tim Donst winning the titular torneo cibernetico and the team of Marty Jannetty and 1-2-3 Kid earning their third point towards contention to the Campeonatos de Parejas.

However, the most intriguing thing that happened came after The Shard defeated Fire Ant by submission via the ankle lock. Shard wouldn't release the hold, which drew out Mike Quackenbush to save the day so to speak. That, in turn, drew out Jigsaw, who instead of going after his Gekido doppelganger, planted his foot square in the jaw of his mentor.

The common logic here is that Jigsaw turned rudo. That would be the overly simplistic explanation for people who like their wrestling in black and white. Then again, when has Chikara ever been known to paint things with such a limited palette? Why would Jigsaw kick Quack in the face for saving one of his fellow Chikara mainstays from injury? Let's take a trip back in time to Indianapolis on August 18th...

It was there that Shard and Quack's analogue, 17, took on Quack and Jig in a tag match. Quack got 17 alone in the ring and hit his signature Quackendriver. That would be enough to put most wrestlers away, but he didn't go for the pin. Instead, he hit Quackendriver II. Then Quackendriver III. After he hit the fourth in his series of brutal piledriver-like maneuvers, the referee had no choice but to call for the bell and to disqualify Quack and Jig.

This wasn't the first time that Quack got rough with the Gekido. At Chikarasaurus Rex, he broke 17's wrist after a hard fought, super crazy match that saw Green Ant leap from the balcony of Philadelphia's Trocadero to fell the entire ranks of the rogue group. At the time, it was understandable because 17 had broken Quack's wrist a couple months prior. Quack also put combatANT out with a serious injury thanks to his rage after Team Quack Saw Toyota defeat the Swarm on the first night of King of Trios.

It's arguable that Quack is going a bit too far in his war against the identity of Chikara. For example, and Quack has admitted as such in blogs, the Bruderschaft des Kreuzes at one time had nine members in its active ranks, the Director of Fun in its back pocket, and a ring announcer who would do anything to ensure his team had the extra advantage. Quack never went batshit on them despite the fact they clearly had posed a far greater threat than the five mirror-men have this year so far.

Then again, it's not like these invaders are playing with kid gloves either. They injured Tianlong in his first match and have attempted to injure other Chikara wrestlers without any real provocation other than to push the buttons of the people they've been mirroring. However, what's the right thing to do?

Is it to fight fire with fire, or is it to battle them in the ring and prove your point through fair means? Do you sink to their level, if that's the only way you can protect your own, or are sportsmanship and the absence of malice paramount to a man's integrity, even when his or her opponents are full of nothing but malice?

How you answer that question says a lot about whose side you're on in this ordeal. This isn't tecnico vs. rudo. This is a morality play. Both sides are right, and both sides are wrong. Well, at least right now they are. We don't know what further wrinkles that will happen between now and the season finale iPPV in that same Trocadero where Quack first showed signs of coming off his hinges in July.

What I do know is that to call Jigsaw a rudo now would be to undermine the story being told right now.

Chikara is a company that is praised for being both hip and family-friendly at the same time. Sometimes though, staying in the kiddie pool of subject matter helps no one. By running this story and going into their own version of Marvel Comics' Civil War storyline, they're wading into the deeper ends of morality, ethics, and nuanced storytelling.

Then again, did anyone expect less from Chikara? I'd hope not.