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(continued) The year 2007 would prove to be a benchmark in the storied career of Mike Quackenbush, seeing him rise to new heights, starting with his epic win at CHIKARA's first annual "King of Trios" tournament in Philadelphia, PA. In April, he made his debut for Ring of Honor, an event for which fans had been clamoring dating back almost to ROH's inception. He has made semi-regular appearances with the group ever since. On May 11, 2007, Mike defeated Tiger Mask IV of New Japan Pro Wrestling to become the 96th champion in the lineage of the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title. That September, Mike defeated Billy Roc, Joey Ryan, and Josh Abercrombie to arrive in the finals of the Ted Petty Invitiational for the first time in his career. Despite injuries suffered earlier in the tournament, he prevailed over Claudio Castagnoli, the man who defeated him the year before, and Chuck Taylor, the reigning IWA Mid-South Heavyweight champion (and captured that title in the process.) He followed the giant tournament win by fulfilling his career goal of wrestling in Japan just two weeks later. On October 12th, Mike debuted for Michinoku Pro, the group which in many ways inspired his own CHIKARA, defeating Shibaten before a massive crowd of 1,176 fans in the village of Takazawamura. The final months of 2007 saw CHIKARA draw its largest crowds to date, and Mike's record-breaking number of championships (he held 7 simultaneously) saw him appearing all across the globe in order to make title defenses. He kicked off 2008 by reuniting with mentor Jorge "Skayde" Rivera for CHIKARA's "King of Trios," and a week later, he had the chance to both learn from and wrestle against British legend Johnny Saint, who Mike has emulated dating back to his earliest bouts in Europe. It was in Europe that Quackenbush was first called "The Master of a Thousand Holds," a moniker he shares with Saint. After ten years of writing "From Bell to Bell" for London Publishing's The Wrestler magazine, Mike bid farewell to the printed page, and shortly thereafter, severed all ties with the magazine company. Mike said this of the parting of ways: "There was a time when having your name and face in the magazines was really important, career-wise. In the beginning, it was a fun experience, and great exposure. But over time, the novelty wore thin, and it became a tedious chore. The editorial staff there underwent a lot of change, and as the wrestling mags became increasingly irrelevant, and the opinions of the people there became increasingly ignorant, it was clear to me that I needed to move on." In the last 15 years, Mike has worked for over 90 different independent companies across 10 different countries, and held scores of championships. He has appeared in tournaments like the Super 8 (ECWA), the Shane Shamrock Cup (MCW), the Ted Petty Invitational (IWA:MS) the Revolution J (Rev Pro) and the Jersey J-Cup (JCW). His feuds with Reckless Youth, Ace Darling, Don Montoya, Blind Rage, Jorge Rivera and Claudio Castagnoli stand out as some of his finest work. Mike Quackenbush has invented dozens of moves, and has taught clinics on the foreign styles of wrestling everywhere from Allentown to Zurich. More than a hundred wrestlers have learned from him at one time or another, and his in-ring experience encompasses some 900 professional bouts. |
