Vince Gerard Durling (born February 4, 1986) is an American former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He is best known for his tenure in Chikara, where he was a one time Young Lions Cup Champion. Currently he is the owner/operator of Indiewrestling.tv.

Professional wrestling career

Chikara

Equinox (2005–2007)

After training in Chikara's Wrestle Factory school, Durling made his debut on May 20, 2005, as the fan favorite

masked wrestler A wrestling mask is a fabric-based mask that some Professional wrestling, professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick (professional wrestling), gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 ...

Equinox, a

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

of Mexican masked wrestler and Chikara alumnus

Skayde Jorge Rivera Soriano (born September 2, 1964) is a Mexican luchador (Spanish for "professional wrestler") who is best known as a trainer. He has been a ''tecnico'' throughout his wrestling career. He is currently training wrestlers at Arena Xalap ...

. Equinox soon began to show an impressive run early on and even made it past experienced Chikara wrestlers in an unsuccessful attempt to win the

Young Lions Cup __NOTOC__ The is an infrequent professional wrestling tournament promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a means of showcasing the younger talent on their roster. The tournament is the successor to the Karl Gotch Cup that NJPW promoted in t ...

. However, he suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

at the ''Negative Balance'' event at the hands of Team F.I.S.T. (

Gran Akuma Gran Akuma (born December 20, 1974) is a retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in Chikara. He has also worked for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Dragon Gate USA and Full Impact Pro (FIP). In Chikara, he was a member of The Kings o ...

and

Icarus In Greek mythology, Icarus (; grc, Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, King Minos suspe ...

), which put him on the injured list for a while. Upon his return, Equinox began to occasionally team with fellow masked wrestler Angel de Fuego and they became known as Pareja Solar ("Solar Partners" in Spanish). At the 2005 Tag World Grand Prix, Angel no-showed the event, an occurrence that would later become a running joke, leaving Equinox alone for the tournament. To compensate for his partner's absence, Hydra was named as a replacement partner for Equinox, though they lost in the first round to the Grand Prix's eventual winners Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. After the Grand Prix, Pareja Solar split and Equinox returned to singles competition, including an unsuccessful attempt at winning the Young Lions Cup from then champion

Arik Cannon Arik Cannon (born December 23, 1981) is an American professional wrestler known for competing in companies such as Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, IWA Mid-South, All American Wrestling and Wrestling Society X. He also runs the Minneapolis-based wrest ...

, during which he suffered a second concussion near the end 2006. The first half of 2007 was fairly uneventful for Equinox until he scored an upset over the much larger

Brodie Lee Jonathan Huber (December 16, 1979 – December 26, 2020) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Luke Harper (later simply Harper) from 2012 to 2019, and in All El ...

in Lee's Chikara debut, although Lee returned a couple of months later and easily defeated Equinox in a rematch. Equinox rebounded and scored another major upset, this time by pinning

Chris Hero Chris Spradlin (born December 24, 1979), better known by his ring name Chris Hero, is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is currently signed to Ring of Honor as a producer. Hero has worked for a number of independent wrestling pr ...

in a tag team match during ''Invaders'' weekend. Hero then began feuding with Equinox, which culminated in a hair vs. mask match that Hero won. After the match, Hero exposed Equinox as a Wrestle Factory drop-out who donned a mask and conned Skayde to get ahead in the wrestling business. After his unmasking, Equinox began using his real name (Vin Gerard) and became a

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

while also adopting both a new wrestling style and an entirely new attire consisting of black tights with slight variations of the fire and ice symbols from his Equinox attire and a

bandanna A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the Human head, head, face or neck for protective or decor ...

. Gerard later elaborated on his situation with Skayde, noting that he had threatened to report Skayde to the

border patrol A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In dif ...

if he did not pretend Gerard was his student. Soon after his unmasking, Gerard was banished from the locker room, robbing him of any

entrance music Entrance music (also known as an entry theme or walk-on music) is a musical piece or song that is played for athletes or entertainers when they first appear in front of the spectators before beginning a performance. Popular music acts may have rec ...

and forcing him to enter the arena though the back door of every venue Chikara ran in.

Young Lions Cup and The UnStable (2008–2011)

In 2008, Gerard gained significant success early on with several high-profile wins before beginning a heated feud with The Colony. At the Young Lions Cup tournament on June 15, Fire Ant of The Colony defeated Gerard for the Cup in a match that garnered significant praise from both the company and fans. However, the following month on July 13, Gerard gained revenge by defeating Fire Ant in a rematch for the Cup after utilizing the cup itself as a weapon, giving Gerard his first championship. During his run as champion, Gerard utilized the cup as a

piggy bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th century ...

of sorts to collect money from fans. In addition, Gerard successfully managed to manipulate former fan favorite Shane Storm into aligning with him, effectively renaming him STIGMA and changing his mask from its usual comedic design to a more evil and twisted version. Gerard and STIGMA would feud with The Colony until September 7, when the two aligned with the returning

Colin Delaney Colin Matthew Delaney (born September 7, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE on its ECW brand, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and has performed extensively on the independent circuit for promotio ...

to form the UnStable, and thus evening the numbers of both groups. At the 2008 Tag World Grand Prix, Gerard and STIGMA represented the UnStable and defeated Swi$$ Money Holding (

Claudio Castagnoli Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club stable. Castagnoli also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Ho ...

and Marc Roudin) in the first round before falling to their rivals The Colony in the semi-finals. The Colony would then go on to win the Grand Prix. On December 14, Gerard's reign as champion came to halt as a controversial match with

Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Olsen is most often portrayed as a young photojournalist working for the ''Daily Planet''. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and has ...

, who was wrestling under Gerard's own Equinox mask and gimmick in an attempt to play

mind game Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the ag ...

s with him, resulted in the Cup being held up by Chikara Director of Fun Leonard Chikarason. In the beginning of 2009, Gerard faced Olsen once again but this time in a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...

to determine the Young Lions Cup champion, which Olsen won to become the official champion. The UnStable entered the 2009 King of Trios, where they advanced to the semifinals, before losing to Team Uppercut (

Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he worked fro ...

and Dave Taylor). UnStable 2010

In the latter half of 2009 The UnStable started a long losing streak, which included a first round loss in the 2010 King of Trios, during which Gerard and STIGMA began showing signs of a face turn by making sure that Amasis was fine after their match against him and Ophidian on March 20. Gerard faced Amasis again, this time in a singles match, on May 23 and managed to score his first victory in six months only to learn later that Colin Delaney had interfered in the match. In a blog entry on Chikara's official website Gerard attacked Delaney, calling him selfish and warned him not to interfere in his and STIGMA's deciding match against The Osirian Portal on June 27. On June 27 at ''Faded Scars and Lines'' Delaney interfered in the match and helped Gerard and STIGMA defeat the Osirian Portal. After teasing dissension, all three members of the UnStable united and attacked Amasis and Ophidian. On July 26 at ''Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show'' the Osirian Portal gained a measure of revenge on the UnStable, when they teamed with

Drake Younger Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, who also had a history with Gerard and STIGMA, and defeated Gerard, STIGMA and Delaney in a six-man tag team match. Even though the UnStable had seemingly reunited, tension rose again during the Young Lions Cup VIII weekend, when Delaney eliminated STIGMA from a 30 Man Countdown Showdown match. On September 19, 2010, at ''Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line'' the UnStable faced the Future is Now (Equinox,

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...

and Jigsaw) in a six-man tag team match. During the match Delaney turned on the UnStable and re–formed his tag team with Olsen, after which Gerard got his team disqualified by low blowing the former Olsen Twins. On October 24, in the first match between the UnStable and the Olsen Twins, Gerard picked up the victory for his team by forcing Delaney Olsen to submit. The following week Gerard and STIGMA made their first tour of Japan with

Osaka Pro Wrestling Osaka Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1998 by Super Delfin. The promotion held a major flagship event called the Osaka Hurricane each year from 2003 to 2012 and also hosted the fourth edition of the Supe ...

. The UnStable had a rematch with the Olsen Twins on November 21, this time with the Olsens coming out victorious. At the season nine finale on December 12, Delaney Olsen defeated Gerard in a singles match. In February 2011, the UnStable began feuding with 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews). The feud ended on May 21, when 3.0 defeated the UnStable in a tag team match, where the losing team had to split up.

Feud with Eddie Kingston and retirement (2011–2012)

After going solo, Gerard entered the '' 12 Large: Summit'' to determine the first ever

Chikara Grand Champion The Chikara Grand Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Chikara promotion. The first champion was crowned on November 13, 2011, at the High Noon pay-per-view, when Eddie Kingston defeated Mike Quackenbush at the conc ...

. After one win and two losses, Gerard was eliminated from contention in the tournament as

Eddie Kingston Edward Moore (born December 12, 1981), better known by his ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Kingston started his wrestling career in 2002, and has wrestled for numerous ...

won four straight matches, winning the block. This led to Gerard forfeiting his match with

UltraMantis Black UltraMantis Black (born July 17, 1975) is a professional wrestler and musician, who performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion. He is a former one-time Chikara Grand Champion and winner of the 2012 King of Trios tournamen ...

so he could concentrate on Kingston, and on October 30, Gerard defeated the previously undefeated Kingston via submission in the final round-robin match of the tournament. After the match Gerard hit Kingston in the knee with a steel chair, putting his spot in the finals into question. To further the storyline, Gerard's profile was removed from Chikara's official website following the event. Afterwards, Gerard appeared on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and threatened to reveal secrets about Chikara, unless he was reinstated. Gerard returned to Chikara on January 28, 2012, having a confrontation with Grand Champion Eddie Kingston, who then ordered Chikara's Director of Fun, Wink Vavasseur, to reinstate Gerard so he could get his hands on him. Following the event, Gerard's profile was put back on Chikara's website. On February 26, Gerard challenged Kingston for the Grand Championship in a title vs. career match, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the title and was forced to retire as a result.

Personal life

Since 2016 he has owned and operated the streaming website Indiewrestling.TV one of the leading streaming services for professional wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

* Chikara **

( 1 time)

Lucha de Apuesta record

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Vin 1986 births 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania