UltraMantis Black

UltraMantis Black (born July 17, 1975) is a professional wrestler and musician, who performed primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion.

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.

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.

In May 2004 he renamed himself UltraMantis Black and adopted a new mask and a red and black attire, while also beginning to express communist views.

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.

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.

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.

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.

However, on November 17, 2007, Hero had been able to break the hold and use it himself to win his feud against Equinox.

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.

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.

In 2009 UltraMantis and Crossbones began looking for a third member in the Neo–Solar Temple.

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, Combat Zone Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and Jersey All Pro Wrestling.

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.