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The King of Trios Retrospective: Day 11

September 3rd, 2012 by Gavok | Tags: Chikara, king of trios, wrestling

King of Trios 2009: Night 2

Match 1
Rey de Voladores Qualifier
Austin Aries vs. Player Dos vs. Matt Jackson vs. Fire Ant

Aries is suddenly a heel, explained through commentary as having some bad hotel service and sleep the night before. Player Dos is the rechristened Stupefied, now fully immersed in his partner’s gimmick and wearing a new set of tights that include a Triforce, the Deadpool logo and other nerd insignias. The opening is extremely quick with a fast Dos/Matt exchange leading to Dos throwing Matt out with headscissors, throwing Aries out immediately after and then being taken apart by Fire Ant. Fire Ant throws Dos out with a Fireman’s Carry, then Aries returns and slows it down quite a bit. Aries lays Fire down on his stomach and slides him out of there. He sends Dos to the outside with a dropkick, leading to Aries vs. Matt on the inside with Dos and Fire Ant fighting on the outside.

After a brief exchange, Aries applauds Matt and reaches out for a handshake. Matt accepts, but is then slapped in the face. He sends him to the outside and as Aries bounces off the ropes for a dive, Dos trips him. Aries gets up and punches him down and bounces the opposite ropes to try a dive on Dos. This time, Matt trips him. He blocks a punch from Aries and drags his throat across the top rope, opening Aries for a top-rope crossbody courtesy of Fire Ant. Matt comes in and clears the ring, bounces the ropes and this time it’s Aries who comes in and interrupts him with a clothesline. Aries spends a few minutes working Matt over and ends up screwing himself over by dedicating way too much time to playing to the crowd.

Matt fights back with a Shiranui, backdrops Fire Ant and then Spears Dos. Again, he goes for a dive follow-up, but Aries smashes him with an axe-handle to prevent it. Matt clotheslines him out of there, bounces the ropes, dropkicks all three through the ropes, bounces back up and then gets them all with an Asai Moonsault. Back in the ring, he gets Dos with a twisting Ace Crusher from off the top.

He prepares a superplex on Dos, but Aries appears and throws him off and to the mat. Aries climbs up to do a superplex on the prone Dos, but Fire appears on the apron to jumpkick Aries in the head. Fire hops to the top rope, jumps off and kicks Matt right in the skull. He follows with the Beach Breaker and pins Matt, eliminating him from the match. Dos is still in the corner and keeps getting hit repeatedly by accident as Fire and Aries focus on each other. Fire goes for a wheelbarrow-based maneuver and Aries refuses to play ball.

As he laughs at this, Fire gets up and gives him a Stunner. Fire gets to the second rope and jumps off for a senton, completely missing. The ailing Dos is still on the top rope during all of this, so he does a Frog Splash onto Fire Ant immediately after the impact, giving him the pin. Now we’re down to two. Aries topes the hell out of Dos, garnering dueling chants from the crowd. After a second-rope bulldog, he does a variation of a Camel Clutch with a bridge. Dos makes it to the ropes to save himself. Once again, Dos is set up for a superplex, but this time he shoves Aries off and tries a Frog Splash. It misses. A Fireman Carry Slam sets Dos up for Aries’ 450 Splash. As Aries readies himself on the top rope, Dos pops up and delivers a brain kick to stun him. He gets up there with him, does one of his trademarks, the B13, which is like a top-rope Snapmare that lands on the opponent’s head. Dos picks up the win and advances to the finals on Night 3. Great start to the show.

Match 2
King of Trios Quarterfinals
Team FIST (Icarus, Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor) vs. F1rst Family (Arik Cannon, Darrin Corbin and Ryan Cruz)

Very funny backstage segment shows the F1rst Family note how “fist” and “first” are very similar words. Corbin explains that they have an “R” in their name, which stands for “respect, resilience and wrestling”. When Arik points out that “wrestling” doesn’t start with an “R”, Corbin backtracks and says it stands for “rasslin'”. He suddenly goes into a very loud and intense rant with a southern accent as his bemused partners walk off without him, eventually doubling back to drag him away.

So here’s another personal anecdote from me being at the show that sadly isn’t fully on camera. When FIST enter the ring, there’s a muffin on the mat that I guess somebody threw in there. Chuck Taylor punts it and as I’m not playing complete attention, I’m blindsided when said muffin nails me RIGHT IN THE FACE. Akuma is shown on camera, looking down at me and saying something, which I couldn’t quite hear but figured it was something along the lines of, “You just got nailed RIGHT IN THE FACE with that muffin.”

Icarus and Corbin start off and immediately, Corbin is moved into the FIST corner. Icarus and Akuma double-team him a bit. Corbin backdrops Icarus and runs right into an Akuma kick, but saves himself by rolling out of the ring. Arik steps in and palm strikes the hell out of Icarus before facing Chuck. Arik dominates the match until they start a pattern of sweeps, pin attempts and kickouts against each other. Soon referee Bryce gets involved unconsciously and tries to pin Arik as Chuck makes the count. Then they all do an indy standoff.

I love Bryce.

Akuma and Cruz tag in. Cruz and Corbin double-team Akuma, leading to Icarus rushing in to break a pin. The North Star Express deal with him by knocking him for a loop with the Shell Shock. Corbin applies headscissors on Icarus, followed by Akuma applying headscissors on Corbin. Everyone joins in until we have a full circle of headscissors.

Arik and Akuma get up and start striking back and forth. There’s no winner, as they start struggling against each other and fall to the outside. Icarus and Corbin, despite being on opposite teams, tope out at the same time, hitting their respective opponents. Cruz leaps over Chuck and lands on the others. At this point, Chuck is the only guy left in the ring and the crowd chants for him. He dives out of there… and proceeds to miss everyone, splatting against the floor.

Back in the ring, Cruz ends up in the FIST corner. As Akuma and Icarus hold him up horizontally, Chuck jumps off the ropes and double-stomps him. They punish him one at a time, usually in the form of submissions. Cruz gets a surge of offense where he knocks Icarus and Chuck off the apron, fights off Akuma one-on-one and knocks him out of the ring with a dropkick. That allows him the tag. Corbin comes in and fights off Chuck and Icarus, but the numbers are too much and Icarus catches him from behind with a Backstabber. Corbin rolls away. Arik steps in and gets kicked repeatedly by Akuma, opening him up for a springboard dropkick from Chuck. Akuma follows with a Frog Splash and the North Star Express break the pin. Corbin picks up Cruz, preparing the Cruz Control on Icarus, but Chuck kicks them into the corner. FIST do their triple dropkick into the corner, with Akuma following by giving Cruz a Spider Suplex. He does a moonsault, but it’s caught by Corbin and turned into an Ace Crusher. Arik gets him immediately after with a Glimmering Warlock and goes for the pin. Icarus pulls the ref out of there while Chuck breaks the pin for good measure.

Icarus tries a Shiranui on Corbin, but it doesn’t work and Corbin reverses it into a Backpack Stunner. Chuck grabs him by the hair and pulls him in for Sole Food. Stunned from the attack, Corbin is pulled in by Icarus and is smashed to the mat with a Pedigree. Icarus gets the pin and the F1rst Family is kaput.

Match 3
Lethal Wrestling Alliance Showcase Match
The Submission Squad (Pierre Abernathy and Evan Gelistico) vs. Davey Vega and Gary the Barn Owl

Hahaha, this match. CHIKARA decided to have a couple showcase matches of different indy organizations during Night 2. This one sticks out like a sore thumb and gets brought up a lot in an unflattering manner. The Submission Squad is the heel team here, with Vega and Barn Owl (a very skinny guy who communicates in hoots) are the faces. The Submission Squad attack from behind before the match officially begins, but Vega and Barn Owl turn the tables early on. Abernathy is put into position so that he’s got Gelistico’s head under his arm. Abernathy is kicked to the mat, bringing Gelistico with him in a reluctant DDT.

Vega and Barn Owl prepare moonsaults to the outside, but they’re both pulled off the ropes and dropped onto the apron. Barn Owl is worked over by the Squad and while the crowd is getting loud, it’s more in a non-caring way. They start a “BABA BOOEY” chant, pointing out Abernathy’s similar set of teeth. Barn Owl reverses a sleeper into a jawbreaker and tags Vega. Gelistico rushes him and Vega ducks while holding the top rope down, causing Gelistico to stumble over. The faces flip out of the ring and onto the Submission Squad. In a cool instance, Owl does a Tornado Flatliner on Gelistico.

That’s something, at least. Gelistico gets up and blocks a clothesline from Vega. He delivers a Pump-Handle Driver and grabs the tights despite having it in the bag anyway. The Submission Squad win and the crowd is vehemently against all four of them. These four wouldn’t be seen in regards to CHIKARA for years, but that’s a story for another day (next Thursday, to be specific)…

Match 4
King of Trios Quarterfinals
The Osirian Portal (Amasis, Ophidian and Escorpion Egipcio) vs. the Future is Now (Lince Dorado, Helios and Equinox II)

The fans are against the plucky face team of the Future is Now and based on their pre-match promo, it’s no wonder. They very robotically talk in unison about how, “The Future is us. The Future is Now,” and it sticks out how these guys as a unit have no unique charisma. They’re just good guys whose gimmicks are being good guys. The Osirian Portal, on the other hand, are really starting to catch on despite being rudos. Well, Ophidian and Amasis are, at least.

Helios and Amasis start it off with Helios shutting Amasis down when he tries to dance his way out of his holds. They begin reversing a series of hammerlocks against each other, then kick each other at the same time. At first, their shins collide and they act hurt, but they repeat it and soon they start doing the Kidd and Play dance. Amasis breakdances into a Spineroonie, causing a chant of, “YOU GOT SERVED!” Bryce nods to Helios and agrees that, yes, he did get served. Equinox steps in against Escorpion and makes fun of his appearance by blowing himself up like a balloon and pretending to be bulkier. Escorpion puts him in the corner and proceeds to miss every single strike he tries due to Equinox’s speed. Equinox sends him out of there with a headscissors takedown and then topes onto him and throws him with an armdrag.

Lince and Ophidian do some lucha back and forth until the ring fills up and Escorpion steps in and clears the ring. Ophidian sits on his shoulders and does a Fisherman’s Suplex off the top to Helios. Amasis begins to work on tearing off Helios’ mask, albeit Equinox runs in to attack him briefly. While Amasis was doing that to mess with Helios, Escorpion is tagged in and seriously tries to demask him. Ophidian has to step in and plead with him not to, as that would be an automatic disqualification. During this argument, Helios tags in Lince. Escorpion gets his hands on Lince and throws him by the ears of the mask, accidentally tearing off one of the cat ears. The crowd cheers for this. Lince is in peril at the hands of the Portal and they tear at his mask more and more. He gets a tag to Equinox, who cleans house.

Amasis fights back against Equinox, but is silenced with a sudden superkick. Lince and Equinox can’t quite lift Escorpion for a double suplex, so they turn it into a double DDT. Helios does a corkscrew headbutt off the top (the commentators don’t pick up on the intent and figure he missed) and they go for a triple pin, only for Ophidian and Amasis to dive in and break it up. Helios gets taken out by Amasis, setting up for the trademark double-team of Amasis doing a top-rope splash as Ophidian does a top-rope legdrop. The pin is broken. After the Osirian Portal pull off a rather messy-looking triple team, the Future is Now guys get back into it and send Amasis and Escorpion to the outside. Equinox jumps out onto Amasis and Lince topes Escorpion… a little too hard. Lince accidentally overshoots it and dives into the crowd.

Big, “HOLY POOP!” chant there.

Ophidian locks a Cobra Clutch onto Helios, but he is able to lift Ophidian onto his shoulders and knock him out with a Death Valley Driver. Immediately, the crowd boos, despite being a very good match.

Match 5
Rey de Voladores Qualifier
El Generico vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Jigsaw vs. Nick Jackson

When the announcer mentions, “Contestant number two…!” an audience member shouts, “BARN OWL!” and I have to laugh. Kota – who has Michael Nakazawa in his corner – starts against Jigsaw, where they supply each other with a couple surprise ankle kicks. Jigsaw holds Kota up in the Gory Special, Kota escapes and sends Jigsaw out of there with a spin kick. Kota and Generico have a quick exchange with Generico sending Kota packing with a dropkick. Nick takes it to Generico and sends him out with an armdrag off the top rope. The rapid changing of opponents keeps going on until Generico and Nick – both from the same team on Night 1, remember – decide to work together on Kota. They take turns working on Kota and Jigsaw. Kota is able to shove Generico into Nick, but then Generico does a Blue Thunderbomb. Although he has a chance of pinning him, Generico’s stopped by Nick, who wants the pin for himself. Or maybe he’s mad about having Generico shoved into him. Whichever.

Generico faces Nick and has him prone, ready for a top-rope assault. Kota suddenly appears and does a cartwheel into a flip kick, knocking Generico off the top.

Jigsaw topes into Generico and at the same time, Kota moonsaults Nick. Kickout. Jigsaw performs a Torture Rack into a powerbomb on Generico, then does a cool move where he double-stomps off of Nick and bounces over to Generico for a hurricanrana. Nick gets some moves in when he jumps over the apron and brings Kota down with an X-Factor, followed immediately by moonsaulting Jigsaw and Generico on the outside. He keeps the motion going and climbs to the top, where he performs a 450 Splash on Kota. A bitter Generico pulls him out of the ring before the ref can make the count. At this point, the crowd is chanting, “THIS IS AWESOME!” but they ain’t seen nothing yet. With Kota weak in the ring, Generico sends Nick to the outside and hits him with a running moonsault where he lands on his feet…

…then quickly races halfway around the ring so he can dive THROUGH THE CORNER ROPES and DDT Jigsaw…

…and slides back into the ring so he can Yakuza Kick Kota and follow with a half-nelson suplex.

This didn’t finish the job. Fittingly, the earlier chant is much more potent now. Kota gets up and starts laying strikes into Generico. He runs right into Generico’s boot, but stays steady with some fighting spirit, dodges another boot by arching his back, nails a German suplex and Generico kicks out. Kota goes to the top for a moonsault and although Generico rolls out of the way, Kota lands on his feet and backflips into a second moonsault that hits. Kota goes to the top and gets knocked silly by Generico before he can even perform his move. Generico prepares the Brainbuster, but Kota keeps kneeing him in the head to prevent it. He twists around for a reverse hurricanrana from the top and it’s enough to get us the first pin of the match.

Nick gets in there and clotheslines Kota out, making it just him and Jigsaw. Rather quickly, Jigsaw compacts him with the Jig ‘n’ Tonic and a three-count later, we’re down to Jigsaw and Kota Ibushi. They kick back and forth with Kota winning out. The crowd is split here as we get some amazing back and forth action. The Jig ‘n’ Tonic is reversed into a German suplex. After a second German, Jigsaw kicks out. Kota gets to the top and hits a twisting 450 Splash, getting him the much-deserved win.

Afterwards, there’s an even more deserved standing ovation as the four show respect. The crowd chants, “ONE MORE MATCH!” and “PLEASE COME BACK!” promptly forgetting that this is a tournament and he’ll obviously be there on Night 3. Duh.

Sometime later, CHIKARA put this entire match up for free on YouTube, so check it out.

Match 6
King of Trios Quarterfinals
The UnStable (Vin Gerard, STIGMA and Colin Delaney) vs. Da Soul Touchaz (Marshe Rockett, Willie Richardson and Trauma)

Colin gets to take control of the pre-match promo as Gerard silently twirls his mustache in the background. As it should be. After Da Soul Touchaz do their huddle and pre-match chant in tongues, Colin looks to Gerard, suggesting they do the same and Gerard glares at him until he backs off. Colin is set to face Trauma, but he demands Willie instead. Willie humors him and Colin goes for an Atomic Drop. Willie won’t budge and instead gives Colin an Atomic Drop. Colin oversells it, gets back up and tries a hiptoss. Can’t do it. Willie hiptosses Colin back and Colin decides to cut his losses by tagging Gerard in. Willie and Trauma make short work of Gerard with a double shoulderblock and then scare him out of the ring by sneaking up on him and screaming, “BOO!” when he turns around. STIGMA tries against Rockett and gets dropkicked out of there. Willie gets a hold of Colin and holds him up for a suplex, keeping him up there for over thirty seconds, as counted by the fans. Trauma and Rockett make sure to keep the other UnStable boys busy and as Rockett flips out of the ring onto Gerard and STIGMA, Trauma bounces off the ropes and helps spike Colin down during the suplex.

The UnStable eventually get Rockett down and take turns wearing him down, with STIGMA even bodyslamming Colin onto Rockett’s body. Rockett fights back and does a top-rope dropkick onto STIGMA and Gerard before making the tag to Trauma. Trauma drags Colin into the ring and soon the skinny wrestler finds himself trying to trade strikes with Willie. He cheeses it while STIGMA attacks Willie from behind. Colin tries his luck with a top-rope crossbody, but Willie catches him quite easily and is able to put both Colin and Gerard in a Boston Crab.

STIGMA makes the save. Willie and Trauma double-team Gerard as Rockett slams down Colin with an Ace Crusher. Again, STIGMA makes the save. Willie deals with this by POUNCING him out of there. Willie makes a run at Colin, Colin makes him tumble out by holding down the bottom rope and Colin keeps him away from the match with a senton. Trauma sets up Gerard for a Death Valley Driver, STIGMA clips his leg from behind, grabs him by the ankle while outside of the ring and the ref doesn’t notice as he counts Vin Gerard’s pin on Trauma. Da Soul Touchaz are out of there and once again get a, “PLEASE COME BACK!” chant.

Match 7
Inter-Species Wrestling Showcase Match
ISW Championship Defense
Player Uno (c) vs. Twiggy

Player Uno is a CHIKARA regular and former tag champ, while Twiggy has made enough appearances to be remembered fondly by the crowd, meaning we aren’t going to get another LWA situation. Uno does a promo backstage where he tries to break a piece of wood that he sees as Twiggy, but he hurts himself instead. Player Dos shows up and hands him a bag with a special gift inside. That gift turns out to be a pair of Mega Man-like red and black tights to go with Dos’ new look. Uno gets a remix of the Mega Man 3 theme to accompany this change in appearance.

Twiggy’s theme is “Living on a Prayer”, so the crowd is obviously split on who is the better one here. Twiggy gets the best of Uno at first by putting him in an armbar and then playing air guitar on that arm, but then he goes for a series of shoulderblocks and doesn’t fare well, citing, “You’re a very big man.” Twiggy hits a Dusty Rhodes punch/elbow combo, but Uno shuts him down with an Armpit Stunner. Uno holds onto the control of the match until a tilt-a-whirl move is reversed into a DDT. Twiggy lets loose with a lot of armdrag-based offense and then does a top-rope crossbody, which he refers to as “The Church of Al Bundy”. A superkick is caught, Uno holds him onto his back for a Gory Special and then falls down to his knees, causing a shockwave through Twiggy’s body. Twiggy still kicks out.

Uno sets up the Bubble Bobble Driver, but Twiggy knees him in the head and holds him down for a backslide pin. Uno kicks out. Twiggy pops back up and runs directly into a Boss Man Slam. Uno misses a moonsault, allowing Twiggy to take advantage with a top-rope senton. Uno puts a shoulder up and tries a crucifix pin, but it doesn’t work. Twiggy goes for another tilt-a-whirl into a DDT, but this time Uno turns it into a backbreaker. He finishes him off with the Bubble Bobble Driver and it’s over.

Afterwards, a chant picks up of, “I-S-DUB!”

Match 8
King of Trios Quarterfinals
Team Uppercut (Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson and Dave Taylor) vs. the Masters of 1,000 Holds (Mike Quackenbush, Jorge Rivera and Johnny Saint)

Team Uppercut get a promo here, discussing who they each want a piece of. Claudio wants to face Quack, Taylor wants Saint and Danielson will settle for Rivera. As they get ready for the match to begin, everyone in the ring gets their own chant… even Bryce! Dave Taylor and Johnny Saint start it off and we see more of Saint’s neat escape tricks. Bryan is brought in and Bryan is able to hang in there with similar escapes, but Saint takes him to school. Then we get Quack vs. Claudio, who start off getting the fans to chant for them. Claudio puts his hand up for a Test of Strength and the crowd reflexively reacts with, “EH!” as the gesture looks so much like his taunt. Claudio turns and says, “No, Test of Strength!” and a lone voice in the crowd yells back, “Sorry!” He keeps trying to do this spot and each time the crowd yell, “EH!” to the point that Quack starts cracking up. Claudio grabs Quack by the legs and tries for the Big Swing, only Quack holds onto the legs and won’t budge. They go into some slow, calculated lucha exchanges, ending with Quack Monkey Flipping Claudio onto his face.

Taylor easily deals with Rivera by dropkicking him out of the ring, tags out and we get another round of Bryan vs. Saint. Again, Saint wins out. Team Uppercut make quick tags, but each time, the new guy in is quickly taken apart by Saint. Claudio’s second attempt shows the most progress as he’s able to at least put him in a leg lock for a moment. Saint gets the best of him once more, but at least he’s beginning to get some offense in there. Claudio and Rivera slowly grapple until a surprise uppercut from Claudio wakes Rivera up and he goes to work with some rapid-fire lucha offense, armdragging Claudio out. Quack and Taylor fight it out with Taylor knocking him down with a couple uppercuts. Bryan comes in and after all this scientific wrestling, Bryan finally breaks out of the pattern by stomping down on Quack’s elbow. Quack gets him back by stomping on Bryan’s ailing knee, which causes Bryan to snap. He and Quack unload on each other with lots of strikes and chops, ending with Bryan doing a Fujiwara Armbar. Quack gets the ropes, Bryce counts to four and Bryan lets go, letting him know, “I have until FIVE!”

God, I miss that little catchphrase.

Quack rolls out of there and Rivera offers a handshake to Bryan. He shakes and Bryan pulls him in for a forearm to the face. Claudio steps in and Rivera is able to use his lucha skills to oust both of his opponents at once. Taylor goes up against Saint once more and suckers him with a boot to the stomach and an uppercut, momentarily losing his cool by yelling, “Shut up!” at the crowd. Saint still wins their exchange due to his in-ring mastery and Taylor walks off in frustration, tagging in Claudio. The crowd gives their stamp of approval with a, “THIS IS WRESTLING!” chant. Claudio can’t find a way to keep Saint down, which makes me wonder why other than Taylor, nobody’s tried HITTING HIM at this point. He had no defense against that! Quack comes back in and Bryan uppercuts him. Quack immediately attacks the knee, tags in Rivera and the lucha legend locks on a leg submission. Saint comes in and Bryan appears increasingly mad as he keeps getting up and keeps getting taken down by his hurting leg. Lots of slow targeting on the leg is contrasted with Quack tagging in and quickly dropkicking the knee. Bryan lands an enziguri and in an act of rage, knocks Rivera and Saint off the apron before making the tag.

Claudio gives Quack a taste of his own medicine. Since Quack was working over Bryan’s weak point, Claudio bombards him with multiple backbreakers. Quack’s in peril and tries fighting back, only Claudio catches him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. The two duel back and forth with uppercuts from Claudio and palm strikes from Quack. Bryan gets in there and gets taken down. Quack puts Bryan in the Cattle Mutilation and when Bryan begins to escape, Quack turns it into the CHIKARA Special. Taylor makes the save. He faces Saint again and Saint does this cool turtle-in-its-shell trick where he balls himself up, Taylor has nowhere to grab him for a grapple and he instead gets grabbed in for a counter. Once again, this looks really cool and all, but WHY WOULD YOU NOT JUST KICK HIM? HE’S COMPLETELY DEFENSELESS UNLESS YOU’RE TRYING TO GRAPPLE HIM! Taylor finally gets the best of Saint by kick-shoving him over the top rope.

Bryan endures Rivera’s lucha moves and turns the table by putting him in the Cattle Mutilation. Rivera reaches the ropes, gets up and knocks Bryan out of there with a dropkick before flipping out onto him. Quack enters the ring by grabbing Claudio and hitting a flying DDT. Claudio kicks out, so Quack sets him up on the top rope for a hurricanrana. Claudio stays put and then turns it into a second-rope Ricola Bomb.

One, two, three, it’s over. Everyone shakes hands afterwards and Bryan is really reluctant to shake with Quack due to his hurting knee. He does give in and the crowd ends the show with a chant of, “THANK YOU!” to all six. Well, seven if you count Bryce.

With that excellent match out of the way, let’s look at our standings.