UltraMantis Black (born July 17, 1975) is a professional wrestler and musician. He is best known for his time in Chikara professional wrestling promotion. He is a former one-time Chikara Grand Champion and winner of the 2012 King of Trios tournament. Throughout his career he has also worked for promotions such as Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) and Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South.
As part of his gimmick, he wears a mantis mask. As UltraMantis, his original red and green attire was based on the main protagonist from the Kamen Rider series, while his ring name was derived from another Japanese television program, Ultraman. In May 2004, he became a heel and renamed himself UltraMantis Black, adopted a new mask and a black-based attire, while also beginning to express communist views. In June 2006 he formed his own stable, the Order of the Neo–Solar Temple and adopted the dark look he has used to this day.
Since Chikara's closure, he has mainly performed for his Lehigh Valley Athletics Council (LVAC) promotion, as well as Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and the Philadelphia-based Power Pro Lucha (PPL).
Professional wrestling career UltraMantis started his professional wrestling training in 2002 at the brand new Chikara Wrestle Factory, where he was trained by Mike Quackenbush and Reckless Youth. He trained on the first term of the school alongside the likes of Hallowicked and Icarus.
Chikara
Debut and alliance with Mister Zero (2002–2003) On May 25, 2002, UltraMantis made his Chikara debut as a tecnico superhero on the promotion's first show, where he was defeated by fellow Wrestle Factory graduate Blind Rage. Afterwards, he teamed up with another Wrestle Factory graduate, Mister Zero, to form the tag team Ultra/Zero, and together they would feud with The Wildcards (Eddie Kingston and BlackJack Marciano) for most of 2003. The long feud ended on July 5, 2003, when Ultra/Zero defeated The Wildcards in the semifinals of the inaugural Tag World Grand Prix. The duo would lose in the finals against Night Shift (Blind Rage and Hallowicked) after Zero suffered an injury. On September 27, 2003, UltraMantis received a shot at the Chikara Young Lions Cup, but was defeated by the defending champion Hallowicked.
Turning rudo (2004–2005) In early 2004, UltraMantis began showing signs of a becoming a rudo after adopting a more aggressive style and attacking fellow wrestlers after they had managed to defeat him. Finally, on April 9, 2004, UltraMantis cemented his rudo turn by abandoning Zero during a tag team match against BLKOUT (Joker and Sabian), letting their opponents get the win. UltraMantis then debuted a new black mask and declared that UltraMantis was dead before announcing the birth of UltraMantis Black. He would then form a tag team with Hallowicked, known collectively as the Dark Breed, and together they would feud with Mister Zero and his new tag team partner Shane Storm. For the 2004 torneo cibernetico, the Dark Breed joined Larry Sweeney's faction Sweet 'n' Sour International, but after neither of them managed to win the match, they left the faction. In early 2005, UltraMantis Black began suffering from injuries that would force him to take on the roles of a commentator, a role he continues to hold, and a manager for Hallowicked.
Alliance and feud with Hydra (2005–2008)
On November 13, 2005, UltraMantis Black debuted his newest protégé, Hydra. With UltraMantis out with an injury, Hallowicked became a tecnico after forming the tag team Incoherence with tecnico wrestler Delirious. Beginning in 2006, Ultramantis debuted an entirely new mantis mask. Later on in June of that year, during the Young Lions Cup tournament, UltraMantis attacked Hallowicked and then announced the death of the Dark Breed and the birth of The Order of the Neo–Solar Temple. In October of that same year, Crossbones joined UltraMantis and Hydra as the third member of the stable. The feud between the Neo–Solar Temple and Incoherence would end during the season five finale weekend, where Incoherence first defeated UltraMantis and Hydra in a tag team match on November 17 and then UltraMantis, Hydra, Crossbones and Blind Rage in an eight-man tag team match, where they teamed up with Cheech and Cloudy, the following day.
UltraMantis, Hydra and Crossbones spent 2007 wrestling together on the undercards of Chikara events. Towards the end of the year, the team started to grow apart and on November 17, UltraMantis inexplicably helped Shane Storm, who had been on a long losing streak, defeat Hydra. On April 19, 2008, UltraMantis defeated Tim Donst, whom he had dropped on his head in Donst's debut the previous year, with the Praying Mantis Bomb. After the match, the Neo–Solar Temple kidnapped the concussed Donst and managed to convince him to become the fourth member of the faction. However, this would all be revealed a plan by Mike Quackenbush as he had sent Donst to infiltrate the Neo–Solar Temple in order to find out who had leaked the secret of the Chikara Special to Chris Hero. Quackenbush had been feuding with Hero and in the course of the feud, Quackenbush invented a move which Hero could not break. After defeating him in a singles match, Quackenbush taught the move to every tecnico on the Chikara roster. However, on November 17, 2007, Hero had been able to break the hold and use it himself to win his feud against Equinox. On June 18, 2008, Donst left the Neo–Solar Temple and with information gathered undercover, he was able to reveal to Quackenbush that Shane Storm, Quackenbush's longtime tag team partner, had been the one who had leaked the move and the counter to it to UltraMantis Black, who in turn taught the move to Hero. After being given an ultimatum by UltraMantis, Hydra left the Order with Donst and together they would form the tag team known as the Sea Donsters, resulting in the Neo–Solar Temple being dwindled down to a tag team. UltraMantis and Crossbones would feud the rest of the year with Donst and Hydra. On December 12, 2008, the Sea Donsters defeated the Neo–Solar Temple in a tag team match after Donst pinned Crossbones with the Donstitution. Two days later, at the season seven finale, UltraMantis and Hydra faced each other in a singles match, which Hydra was able to win after forcing his former mentor to tap out to the Hydra Lock, effectively ending their feud.
The Eye of Tyr and BDK (2009–2010) In 2009 UltraMantis and Crossbones began looking for a third member in the Neo–Solar Temple. Pinkie Sanchez and Sami Callihan were given chances, but neither of them could help the Neo–Solar Temple to qualify for the 2009 King of Trios. In early 2009 UltraMantis, after being threatened by Quackenbush, revealed that the reason he had wanted the Chikara Special from Shane Storm the previous year was that with it he could get his hands on the Eye of Tyr, a mysterious artifact that could be used to control minds. The artifact, which had gone missing from Switzerland, had suddenly appeared in possession of Dr. Cube over at Kaiju Big Battel. Cube was a fan of Chris Hero's and was ready to swap the Eye of Tyr for him. Shane Storm came to UltraMantis and offered to teach him the move in order to get back to his winning ways and this is why UltraMantis had helped him defeat Hydra back in November 2007. After learning the move, UltraMantis taught it to Hero, who then, after winning his feud with Equinox, agreed to leave Chikara for Kaiju Big Battel and in exchange, Dr. Cube handed the Eye of Tyr to UltraMantis.
In April 2009, UltraMantis saw a chance to finally get revenge on his former Dark Breed partner Hallowicked and on April 26, he and Crossbones kidnapped Delirious after Incoherence's match. On May 23, 2009, UltraMantis Black and Crossbones debuted the new third member of the Neo–Solar Temple, Delirious, who had been brainwashed with the Eye of Tyr and was now under the control of UltraMantis. With their newest recruit, the Order went on a winning streak, which included tag team victories over The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Player Dos), The Roughnecks (Eddie Kingston and Grizzly Redwood) and The Colony (Carpenter Ant and Green Ant) and a trios victory over Mike Quackenbush, Claudio Castagnoli and Skayde. According to a legend, once the Eye of Tyr is used, it must be given away, or the user would face bad luck and tragedy. However, UltraMantis did not believe this and refused to let go of the Eye. On August 16, 2009, during the third night of the annual Young Lions Cup, a man dressed in a white mask and clothes confronted UltraMantis Black in the ring and gave him a box. Inside of the box was a message stating that a war was coming. That same man would then begin sending messages over the internet to UltraMantis saying that he and his Temple would be destroyed if he did not return the Eye of Tyr to the "family". On October 18, 2009, at Cibernetico Increible the man was joined by another larger man dressed in similar fashion and together they appeared in the crowd and confronted UltraMantis, who proceeded to flee the arena. Following the event a cyborg named Vökoder, who had debuted during the Young Lions Cup, came to UltraMantis and offered to protect the Eye of Tyr and to convince him of his sincerity, Vökoder started interfering in UltraMantis' matches in order to help him win. Eventually, UltraMantis made Vökoder the fourth member of The Order of the Neo–Solar Temple.
On November 22, 2009, during the season eight finale titled Three-Fisted Tales, UltraMantis and Delirious defeated Hallowicked and his new Incoherence partner Frightmare to earn their third point, which meant that they could now challenge for the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas. At the conclusion of the event the two masked men once again confronted UltraMantis, calling him the man with the real power in Chikara. This time both men removed their masks and revealed themselves as Ares and Tursas. Immediately following this, Vökoder, who had been given the Eye of Tyr for safekeeping, attacked UltraMantis, while Claudio Castagnoli, Carpenter Ant, Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze all turned rudo and helped Ares and Tursas beat down the tecnicos, who had gathered around the ringside area. Once the fight had subdued with the new group on top, Carpenter Ant unmasked as Pinkie Sanchez and Vökoder unmasked as Tim Donst, both of whom had a history with UltraMantis Black. After a salute, the group fled the arena with the Eye of Tyr intact. Following the event, UltraMantis met with Quackenbush and claimed that in order to defeat the new group, named Bruderschaft des Kreuzes, tecnicos and rudos would have to join forces as they now had a common enemy.