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CHIKARA Review: King of Trios 2009, Night Three
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Coverage of King of Trios 2009 continues today with the third and final night! In late March, 48 men converged into 16 teams in South Philadelphia for CHIKARA’s 2009 King of Trios tournament. These 16 teams will compete over the next three nights with on goal in mind: to be crowned the 2009 King of Trios. Tonight, we’re down to the final four teams: The Future Is Now, Team F.I.S.T., The UnStable, and Team Uppercut. Only one of these teams will go home as the King of Trios; whom will it be? The 2009 Rey de Voladores will also be decided when Player Dos and Kota Ibushi, both of whom won four-way elimination matches last night, meet one on one. In addition, the annual Tag Team Gauntlet match is back in full force, featuring wrestlers who were eliminated from the King of Trios tournament, and CHIKARA mainstays who weren’t on any of the two prior shows. All that and a lot more is coming our way, so off we go!
Commentary is provided by Bryce Remsburg, Ultramantis Black, Mike Quackenbush, Leonard F. Chikarason, Eddie Kingston, Steve “The Turtle” Weiner, and Louden Noxious.
King of Trios Semi-Finals Match
Team Uppercut (Claudio Castagnoli, Dave Taylor, & Bryan Danielson) vs. The UnStable (Vin Gerard, STIGMA, & Colin Delaney)
Team Uppercut take turns uppercutting a balloon before the match. No, I am not joking. The UnStable jumps Team Uppercut before the bell. Team Uppercut manages to take them all out. Each member of The UnStable takes a turn running in only to get greeted with an uppercut. Danielson is still favoring his bad leg that’s been worked on the past two nights. Claudio and Vin start this match with the fans calling Vin a chicken for not wanting to get in the ring. Claudio powers Vin in a lock up to the corner and to the top rope. Claudio tosses Vin down to the mat with a big snapmare. A diving European uppercut to the back of Vin’s head leads to Claudio tagging Bryan. Bryan uppercuts him down, then applies his signature surfboard, complete with “WHOA’S!” from the crowd. Bryan bends him all the way back into a headlock. Colin stomps Bryan to break up the submission. Bryan cranks Vin’s arm and tags in Dave. Dave knocks Vin down with an uppercut. Dave twists Vin’s neck and hooks his arm in a hammerlock to stretch Vin even further out. Dave applies a cravate to Vin’s neck. Dave elbows Vin in the neck, then reapplies to cravate. Dave repeats this process once more before snapmaring Vin down. Dave drives the point of his elbow into Vin’s neck and cranks on the cravate. Claudio tags in and takes over right where Dave left off. Vin goes to the eyes, forcing Claudio to release the hold. Vin pushes Claudio into the corner of the UnStable, and while Claudio is far larger than any of them, even he had difficulty with the numbers game. Claudio comes back soon enough with a hard uppercut to Colin. Claudio butterflies Colin’s arms and holds him up. Bryan comes off the top rope with an uppercut to Colin. Dave teases doing instead, but instead just uppercuts Colin from the mat. It’s still effective! Colin attempts a sunset flip, but Dave just punches him in the face. Dave stretches out Colin on the mat. On their feet, Dave slams Colin and tags in Bryan. Bryan pulls Colin by his legs, tying them up. Colin wraps his legs around Bryan’s arm and pulls back. Bryan picks up Colin and powerbombs him to the mat. Bryan flexes to show his muscles to the crowd. Bryan is pushed into the corner of the UnStable. STIGMA comes in and powers Bryan into the corner. Of course, STIGMA concentrates on Bryan’s bad leg. The UnStable make frequent tags to maximize the potential damage to Bryan’s leg. Danielson hits Vin with the Enzugiri, and Colin smartly pulls Danielson out of the ring so he couldn’t tag in, but threw him back in quick enough so Dave or Claudio couldn’t come in. Danielson is able to hit a jumping kick to STIGMA’s chest which gives Bryan enough time to tag in Claudio. Claudio hits an uppercut, but is quickly taken down by STIGMA’s forearms. Claudio blocks his facewash attempt, trips him up, and gives STIGMA the Giant Swing. Vin comes in and rolls up Claudio, but Claudio kicks out. Claudio pops up Vin, and Colin comes from behind with a backslide. The UnStable all attack Claudio, but Dave and Bryan make the save. Bryan and Vin are left in the ring, and Bryan kicks at Vin. STIGMA runs back in and chops Bryan’s leg. Vin applies an STF to Bryan! Claudio escapes from STIGMA’s grasp to break up the submission. Claudio lands the Sweet Schwinn Music on Vin. Dave Taylor and Colin Delaney end up the ring together. Dave hooks Colin with a butterfly suplex, rolls over and pins Colin! Team Uppercut advances to the finals! Excellent contest, with Team Uppercut giving The UnStable their best showing of the weekend. The story of Bryan’s leg continues to be told with good reason, and was the focal point of this match. Good stuff. **3/4
In the entrance way, Colin Delaney comes back to stand up for his team’s loss. Dave and Claudio go back and forth delivering uppercuts, and Bryan gets one in as well. Colin falls down, and Team Uppercut poses for the camera as he lay there. Goofy and awesome!
King of Trios Semi-Finals Match
The Future Is Now (Lince Dorado, Equinox, & Helios) vs. F.I.S.T. (Icarus, Gran Akuma, & Chuck Taylor)
Helios and Akuma start for their respective trios. As most matches, they feel each other out looking for the advantage, mostly exchanging hammerlocks and wristlocks. Helios takes Akuma down with an armdrag. Akuma takes Helios out by the legs. Helios hops up, and sends Akuma out to the floor. Helios fakes a 619 then tags in the unpopular Lince Dorado. Lince and Icarus rolls around on the mat to try and best their foe. Lince turns over Icarus in a waistlock. They come back to their feet and Icarus goes to the eyes. Lince tosses Icarus in the corner, attempts a monkey flip, but Icarus seats Lince up top. Lince comes off the top, hits Icarus’ face into the turnbuckle, then backflips into an armdrag. Lince comes out with a hurricanrana off the apron to the floor (Icarus was already on the floor). Equinox and Chuck Taylor square off one on one. Chuck rams his shoulder into Equinox’s gut, then takes his forearm to Equinox’s back. Equinox armdrags Chuck to the mat. Taylor knees Equinox in the ropes and sends him to the ropes. Equinox evades an armdrags and dropkicks Chuck. Equinox gets Chuck down to the mat with a front chancery. Equinox hits the ropes and Icarus knees him in the back. Equinox replies with a chop then goes back to chopping Chuck. Equinox hits the ropes again, and this time Icarus grabs the legs. F.I.S.T takes their turns punishing Equinox for his hard shots. Lots of tandem offense which really took to Equinox’s right leg. Crabs, sharpshooters, shots targeting the leg; you name it, F.I.S.T. did it. Equinox reverses some chops from Chuck, giving Chuck some of his own. Equinox then SLUGS Chuck with a right hand in the face. Equinox crawls to his corner, but an angry Chuck cuts him off. Equinox comes back with forearms and ducks a Sole Food attempt. Equinox drops to the floor tagging in Helios. Helios cartwheels into a hurricanrana! Helios then hits a backslide driver on Chuck. Akuma comes in. Helios Tiger Walks up Chuck into a moonsault on Akuma, into a DDT! Akuma goes out to the floor. Helios knees Chuck in the face. As everyone thinks he’s going for the Cannonball Splash in the corner, Helios does an AMAZING dive over the turnbuckles onto Akuma on the floor, landing on his feet! Lince sends Icarus to the floor with a hurricanrana, then a dive to the floor. Equinox comes in and cracks Chuck with a superkick for the two count. TFIN triple team Chuck with a tandem dropkick. Akuma breaks up the pin attempt. Helios and Akuma end up alone. Akuma and Helios roll through a couple prawn holds. Akuma and Icarus hit a flapjack/ace crusher combo, and Lince breaks up the pin. Helios gets isolated again and hit with a double Enzugiri/dropkick combination. Chuck pins Helios for the two count. Equinox trips Chuck and hits the standing Shooting Star Press for two. Equinox locks the CHIKARA Special on Chuck! Akuma kicks Equinox in the chest, but Equinox refuses to break. It takes two more times before Equinox will break it. Lince hits the flipping Urinage on Icarus and counters the Blu-Ray DVD. Helios hits an amazing 630 splash on Icarus. Icarus freaks out, grabbing his mid-section and screaming. While everyone is distracted, Chuck comes in and low blows Helios! Chuck then hits the Awful Waffle on Helios for the two count! Wow, that was something else. These two teams really put on a hell of a show here with some really cool looking stuff. I really loved this match. Bravo to both teams! ***1/2
Both men shake hands. The fans have a battle of chants, yelling “¡Olé!” and “Oh Yeah!” to show respect to each of the combatants. Generico goes behind with a waistlock which Cannon turns into a wrist lock. Generico takes Arik down with a headlock. Cannon headscissors him, and both men jump up to their feet. Another lock up shows Arik grabbing the wrist. Generico takes Arik down with an armdrag, then poses for an “¡Olé!” Arik applies a headlock. Generico pushes Arik off the ropes, and Arik knocks him down with a shoulder block. Generico hits Arik with a series of armdrags, including his “around the world armdrag”. Generico continues to apply pressure to the arm. Arik and Generico exchange the advantage on the arm, then Arik smashes Generico with a shot to the face. Outside the ring, Arik chops Generico against the guardrails. Arik mares Generico over and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Arik gets a two count. Arik chops Generico in the corner, and Generico responds with one of his own. Arik smacks Generico so hard it hurts his own hand. Arik suplexes Generico for another two count. Arik punches Generico hard in the face. Generico fires back with some more punches, and gets cut off with another hard punch from Cannon. Arik wrenches Generico’s arm and whips him to the ropes. Generico kicks Arik when he ducks down then lights Cannon up with chops. Arik pushes Generico off and runs at him. Generico catches Arik with a leg lariat to the floor. Generico hits a split-legged Asai moonsault from the top rope onto Arik. Generico throws Arik back in and heads up top. Generico catches Arik with a high crossbody for a two. Both men get up to the fans applause. Generico blocks the punch, and does his run-up the ropes into a DDT. Arik stands up in the corner. Generico goes up and over and Arik catches him. Arik places Generico on the top rope, then twists him off with a swinging neckbreaker! Cannon gets another two count. Arik throws some more hard shots Generico’s way. Generico catches him off the ropes with a forearm. Arik catches Generico and spins out into a slam. Cannon gets a very close two count. Arik clotheslines Generico in the corner twice. The third time, Generico runs out and tries for the Yakuza Kick. Arik moves, but Generico catches him with the Exploder Suplex right in the corner! Arik gets up and eats the Yakuza Kick from Generico. Generico hits a half-nelson on Cannon and only gets the two. Generico signals for the Brainbuster. He sets up for it, and Arik drops to a knee to prevent it from happening. Generico kicks Arik in the head three times. Generico hits the ropes and is caught with a lariat. Arik hits Generico with the Back Drop Driver and the Glimmering Warlock, which is enough to put Generico away. Fabulous singles contest, though I find it funny that Generico went 0 for 3 this weekend. Still, both these guys shined on all three nights and I hope to see them back in CHIKARA soon. ***
12-Team Gauntlet Match
Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare) vs. Team EPIC WAR (Tony Kozina & Ryan Drago)
Drago knocks down both of Incoherence, throwing Hallowicked to the floor. Drago kicks Frightmare in the back after maring him down to the mat. Frightmare takes Drago down with a headscissors takedown and a dropkick. Hallowicked tags in and kicks Drago. Hallowicked and Frightmare hit a tandem sidewalk slam/leg drop combination. Drago tags in Kozina, escaping Hallowicked. Tony grabs the arm of Hallowicked who reverses into a headlock. Tony gets knocked down with a shoulder block, but then responds with a dropkick to Hallowicked. Hallowicked drops down when Tony leapfrogs for a two count from a school boy. Tony comes off the ropes with an armdrag but then eats the Big Boot of Wicked. Wicked hits the ropes, and Drago knees him in the sole of the back. EPIC WAR try to double team Wicked, but he evades the attack and gets some help from Frightmare. Incoherence land tandem step-up hurricanrana’s on EPIC WAR. Hallowicked launches Frightmare over top rope onto both men. Hallowicked tosses Tony and Drago back in the ring. Frightmare wastes time cheering with the crowd. He jumps back in but is caught with a gut buster from Ryan Drago. EPIC WAR traps Frightmare in the ring and work over his back and head. Hallowicked stops them from hitting a double superplex on Frightmare. Frightmare comes off the top with a hurricanrana on Drago, and Wicked hits the Go Too Sleepy Hollow on Kozina. Frightmare follows up with a standing moonsault into the double knees. Drago lands a Tiger Driver on Frightmare, which he calls “Brock Samson’s revenge.” A Venture Brothers reference? What a nerd. Hallowicked breaks up his pin. Drago gets sent to the apron. Drago drapes Wicked over the top rope, and Kozina comes off the top with a hurricanarana to the floor! Drago blocks an Enzugiri from Frightmare then lands a German suplex. Kozina hits one of his own and bridges to pin Frightmare. Incoherence is eliminated.
The Donsters waste no time delivering hard blows to EPIC WAR. Drago catches Hydra. Donst helps him out and then tosses Hydra onto Drago. Kozina attacks Donst from behind. Kozina looks for a suplex, but Hydra helps him. Hydra picks up Donst. Drago takes out the knee causing Hydra to drop Donst. Hydra eats some hard kicks. Donst explodes out of his corner, ramming Drago into Kozina. Drago hits a hard german suplex and Kozina gives him another. Donst kicks out of the bridge. EPIC WAR then double teams. Drago runs at Donst and gets crotched in the corner. Kozina misses a clothesline and gets a clutch lariat from Hydra. Hydra dives onto Kozina on the floor as Donst locks in Tazzmission of sorts. Drago taps, and EPIC WAR is eliminated.
The Order immediately gets in the ring and lay waste to the Donsters. Mantis takes care of Hydra on the floor while Crossbones hits a splash from the second rope onto Donst in the ring. Mantis gets whipped into the barricades as Crossbones stands on Donst. Hydra and Mantis get in the ring and continue their battle. Crossbones attacks Hydra then goes back to Donst. Donst chops at Crossbones and takes him out with an STO. Donst picks up Mantis for a Manhattan Drop. Hydra comes off with an assisted whoopee cushion. Donst jumps on Crossbones from the second rope to the floor. Hydra applies the Hydralock, but Mantis steps on his toe. Mantis hits the Cosmic Disaster for the pin, eliminating the Sea Donsters.
Ugh, Turtle is back! He is so beyond awful. Beef and Crossbones start for their teams. The fans chant for Beef and he pokes Crossbones in the eyes. He blocks many shots from Crossbones but then gets a forearm to the face. Beef gets whipped to the corner, and blocks a splash. Beef comes off top with a dropkick. Turtle gets tagged in as does Mantis. They have a dialogue which has to be heard to be believed. Mantis asks who Turtle is to step in his ring, and I completely agree. The fans boo him, which rules. Turtle hip tosses Mantis. Crossbones runs in, and he hip tosses The Order a few times then runs around. Mantis gets taken out with a dropkick to the leg from Mantis. The Order double teams Turtle. Turtle gets the tag to Beef, who comes in a house of fire. He’s cut off from a knee to the gut but comes right back. Turtle comes in and hits a backsplash to both of them. Beef slams his crotch into Bones’ face. Beef hits the Ass Punch on Mantis! He turns around into the Friggin’ Sweet Driver from Crossbones, scoring the Order the pin and eliminating Team Animal House.
The Slam Masters slide in only to be immediately pounced on by The Order. Uno is able to hit a double standing Shiranui on The Order however. Uno delivers some hard shots to Crossbones. Bones smacks him in the head with a kick. CAW runs in and almost gets a Friggin’ Sweet Driver. CAW comes in and catches Uno. Uno dives onto Mantis on the floor. CAW small packages Crossbones for the win! In an expedient fashion, The Order have been eliminated.
What an odd pairing Mitch and Pinkie are. CAW and Uno knock down Pinkie as he charges at them. Pinkie eats some offense from the Slam Masters. CAW hits a wheelbarrow suplex and bridges for a two. CAW puts Pinkie in a powerbomb position. Pinkie hops onto CAW’s shoulders then onto Uno with a hurricanrana. Pinkie evades a clothesline from CAW, then dropkicks his leg out from him. Pinkie hits the Shiney Hiney and rolls out of the ring. Mitch comes in and misses a couple elbow drops. Uno comes in as CAW rolls out. Mitch catches Uno with a spinebuster. Uno chops Mitch and lands a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Pinkie. The Slam Masters hit a tandem back elbow, and CAW follows up with a flip legdrop for two. Mitch comes in and he and Pinkie hit a double side Russian leg sweep on CAW. Mitch and Pinkie double team CAW. CAW kicks Pinkie in the posterior as he tries for a butt bump. Uno tags in and chops Pinkie down. Uno hits the arm-capture stunner for the two count. Uno hits the ropes and kicks Pinkie in the posterior as well. Uno punches him in the face and lands an elbow to the neck. Mitch catches Uno with a kick. Pinkie sunset flips Uno, Mitch grabs the leg, and he and Pinkie get the pin to advance and eliminate the Slam Masters.
Mitch and Pinkie attack The Soul Touchaz from behind. Pinkie chops away at Marshe, but Marshe comes back with a big chop of his own. After many leapfrogs Marshe big boots the piss out of Pinkie. Willie tags in and delivers a big cross-legged piledriver. Mitch tags in and applies a headlock while poking the eyes and biting Willie. Willie comes back with some shots to Mitch’s gut. Willie knocks him with the Dusty Elbow. Mitch catches Willie in the mid-section as Willie jumps off the second rope. Pinkie and Mitch work on Willie till Willie comes back with a big atomic drop. Marshe gets the tag and chops both Rudos down. Willie and Marshe work on the Rudos in the corner. The Touchaz whip Pinkie and Mitch at each other. Even though they do-si-do to escape. Mitch gets caught with a clothesline and Pinkie eats the M-80. Willie heads up top and “drops da bomb” (top rope legdrop) to score the pinfall on Pinkie, eliminating him and Mitch.
The Bucks hit a tandem dropkick on the Touchaz. They double team Willie with a pop-up dropkick, with Nick doing the dropkick. Willie clothelines them both down. Matt gets nailed with an elbow, then the Soul Touchaz hit a sweet lungblower/side Russian leg sweep combo. Willie lands a backpack stunner on Nick, and Matt immediately hits Willie with a kick to the face. Marshe hops in and hits another M-80 on Matt! Nick breaks up the pinfall attempt. Willie looks to pounce Nick, but Matt spears Willie to the mat. Nick dives over the top onto Willie. Marshe rolls up Matt and Matt kicks out. Marshe gets hit with the Big Boot. The Young Bucks hit their impressive More Bang For Your Back series to score the pinfall, eliminating the Soul Touchaz.
Holy crap this should rock. The Bucks and the surfers exchange shots. Matt gets sent to the floor leaving Nick to be double teamed by Cheech and Cloudy. They hit a tandem Hero’s Welcome, then the Tidal Wave for the two count. Matt comes back as Nick slips out. Matt does well fending for himself, and Nick is able to hit a step up to knee to Cloudy’s face. Cheech and Cloudy are on the arena floor. Nick hopes over Matt to dive onto Cloudy. Cheech comes back in and stops Matt from hitting a reverse hurricanarana. Cheech drops Matt right on his face and stomach. Nick comes back and attacks Cheech with a flurry of kicks. Cloudy comes in and turns a rotation into a DDT. Matt kicks Cloudy in the face and comes off with the tumbleweed neck breaker. Nick uses the ropes to hit a hurricanrana on Cheech from the top rope. The Bucks hit a tandem Shiranui, and Cloudy breaks up the pin. They try for the More Bang For Your Buck again. Cloudy reverses into the O’Conner Roll and eliminates The Young Bucks.
The Roughnecks steamroll in and attack Cheech and Cloudy. The fight all around the outside of the ring and Brodie shoves The Young Bucks for good measure. Brodie and Grizzly come in with Cloudy. Cloudy ducks Brodie’s Big Boot, but runs into Grizzly’s not-as-big boot! Cloudy kicks out of the nonchalant pin. The Roughnecks bully Cloudy in their corner. Cloudy grabs Grizzly’s beard to escape and tags in Cheech. Cheech dropkicks Brodie to the floor and does well against Grizzly. Grizzly gets tossed stomach first into the middle of the ring. Cheech keeps Brodie outside the ring, kicking him every time he attempts to get in. The surfers hit Grizzly with the Partly Cloudy with a chance of Cheech. Brodie has seen enough and runs in to cut them off. Cheech powerbombs Brodie down for the two! Brodie kills Cheech with a lariat and the Big Boot, eliminating them.
Quack and Jigsaw slide in and reverse the Roughnecks offense. Quack palm strikes Brodie after he blocks Jigsaw’s attack. Jigsaw hurricanrana’s Brodie off the top rope! Quackenbush follows with a top rope Senton, but Grizzly breaks the pin. Grizzly sends Jigsaw to the floor an attacks Quack. Quack throws Grizzly in the corner. Grizzly rana’s Quack head first into the corner. Jigsaw breaks up that pin. Jigsaw biels Grizzly to the floor, but then eats the Big Boot and Black Hole Slam from Brodie. Quack chops Grizzly and Grizzly takes off his shirt to show business. Quack delivers more chops. Grizzly floats over a suplex attempt, but is then taken down with a clothesline. Quack signals for the Quackendriver 1. Brodie notiches and runs at Quack for the Big Boot. Quack drops down, which causes Brodie to Big Boot Grizzly instead! Jigsaw rolls up Brodie, and Jig and Quack hit a double superkick which sends Brodie to the floor. Jigsaw dives on Brodie. Quackenbush then hits the Quackendriver 2 on Grizzly to get the win, and their third point! Quack and Jigsaw win the Tag Guantlet and now have a future title match against The Osirian Portal!
This Tag Gauntlet was pretty good, probably the best of all three. The last four pairings were really fun and made the match worth watching. **3/4
Soldier Ant and Amasis start for their respective teams. They lock up and Soldier powers Amasis to the ropes. Soldier Ant gets a waist lock on, and Amasis flutters his way out. Soldier Ant wrings Amasis’ arm. Amasis uses his funk to escape and brags about it. Amasis brags to Soldier Ant’s face, so Soldier Ant pushes him down, puts his foot on his back and forces him to do push-ups. Amasis fatigues quicker than one would think, and Soldier Ant gets him in La Magistral for two. Soldier follows up with a small package for two. Soldier Ant wheelbarrows into a mouse trap pin for two. Amasis smacks Soldier Ant in his chin to stop his momentum. Amasis kicks Soldier Ant’s left leg twice. Soldier Ant grabs the leg and flips him over to his back. Soldier Ant does a bit of jiving into a salute. Fire Ant gets the tag and The Colony hit a tandem boot, then their headbutt/senton combo. Amasis rolls out to tag in Ophidian. Some hot back and forth between these two ends with Fire Ant reversing an electric chair into a flying mare. Ophidian chops Fire Ant down, but Fire Ant comes back with a headscissors from the mat. A fireman’s carry follows with Darin Corbin tagging in. The North Star Express hit the sandwich lariat and shellshock. Fire Ant hits the wheelbarrow stunner and Ophidian decides to roll to the floor. Fire Ant turns to hit the ropes only to see the uber oily Michael Nakazawa. Fire Ant applies a headlock, but Michael uses the oil so that Fire Ant can’t maintain a grip. Each man tries a headlock takedown but fail. Fire Ant ducks a leapfrog but trips on the oily mat. Michael sprays some more on the mat and throws Fire into the oily canvas. Fire Ant trips. Michael sprays oil on Fire Ant’s mid-section, jumps on Fire Ant, and slips into a senton for the two count. KUDO gets tagged in and hits a barrage of kicks at Fire Ant. He follows with a headstand double-knee drop for the two. Fire Ant feels the brunt of the Rudos offense for awhile, as they decide to cut Fire Ant off from the rest of his teammates. More oil based offense occurs including Nakazawa spitting oil onto Fire Ant. Michael oils himself up and looks for a German, but it backfires as the oil releases Fire Ant before he can be taken over. The Rudos come in to cut off Fire Ant but all of them slip on the oil. Soldier Ant comes in when Fire Ant rolls to the floor. All four Tecnicos hit dropkicks on the four Rudos sending them to the floor. Cruz and Soldier Ant hit the floor, and Corbin and Fire Ant look to dive. KUDO and Ophidian cut them off, then jump in with tandem flying knees. Their pins are broken up by Cruz and Soldier. Cruz hits a Blue Thunder Driver on Ophidian while Soldier Ant lands a TKO on KUDO. Amasis and Nakzawa break up the pin attemps. Amasis and Michael oil themselves up then double team Ryan Cruz with a spinebuster and a splash. Cruz kicks out and Corbin comes in. Corbin throws Amasis out to the floor. Corbin runs at Nakazawa, but Ophidian runs in to hypnotize him with the Snake Charmer. Cruz comes in and hits the Code Breaker on Ophidian to stop him. Cruz then monkey flips Corbin into Nakazawa and Ophidian in the corner. The Colony joins the NSE in the ring. The Tecnicos set up for double Cruz Contol’s and hit them. Amasis and KUDO break up both pins. Fire Ant wipes out Amasis with an Enzugiri. The NSE step on the backs of the Portal. They lift up Fire Ant and hit a HUGE Antapult onto Team DDT on the outside! Ophidian takes out Fire Ant on the floor with a headscissors take down. Amasis heads up top and is caught with a big kick to the chest from Fire Ant. Soldier Ant climbs up top and dives onto Team DDT and Darin Corbin on the floor. Cruz attacks Amasis on the top, and hurricanrana’s Amasis onto the pile of people on the floor! Cruz and Ophidian end up in the ring together. Ophidian lands the Egyptian Destoryer and Corbin luckily breaks up the pin. KUDO hits some lethal kicks onto Corbin and Corbin manages to kick out just in time. KUDO slams Corbin and heads up top. Darin cuts him off and heads up top as well. KUDO pushes him down in a spider position. KUDO hits the double knees from off the top as Darin hangs from that position. Nakazawa rolls in, creates a circle of oil around Darin so no Tecnicos can save him. KUDO hits a big double knee press from off the top onto Darin Corbin, scoring the Rudos squadron the victory. This was so fun. I wondered what the heck some of these duos weren’t doing in the tag Gauntlet, but I am glad they were saved for this awesome Atomicos Especial. They really put on quite the spectacle here and everyone did a fine job in their rolls. A big thumbs up. ***1/2
Aries gets a hammerlock and Eddie reverses. Aries takes out Kingston’s leg, spins around his back into a side headlock. Back to a vertical base Aries turns out into a shoulder hold. Aries rolls into an armdrag takedown. Eddie puts back on the headlock. Aries shoves Kingston off to the ropes and Eddie pushes him down with a shoulder block. Eddie runs the ropes and Aries does a leapfrog and four dropdowns. Eddie stops as he’s tired. Aries mocks him by running the ropes multiple times with no issue. Aries wants to shake hands but Eddie slaps him away. Aries slaps Kingston in the face. Aries ducks a slap and hits a forearm. Aries ducks a lariat and does a few victory laps around the ring for doing such. Kingston rolls out to attack but Aries comes back in. Aries tries the Heat Seeking Missile. Kingston stops him with a forearm shot to the head. Kingston comes in and slaps the bajeesus out of Aries in the corner. Kingston slams Aries into the corner and tries a suplex. Aries works out of it. Kingston tries with a Urinage suplex. Aries drops down and heads to the floor. Kingston follows and brings to slap Aries some more. Kingston delivers some more shots to Aries before he Aries rolls back in. Kingston follows. Aries catches Kingston on the apron with a twisting neckbreaker. Aries finally hits the Heat Seeking Missilie, sending Kingston into the guardrail. Aries brings Kingston back in and sets up for the pendulum elbow. The fans booing and cheering distracts him allowing Eddie to get back up. He throws Aries in a Northern Lights position then drops Aries with belly to belly suplex. Eddie ducks a clotheline and turns it into a Urinage suplex. Aries kicks out and ducks a Yakuza kick. Eddie gets his leg stop on the top rope, so Aries dropkicks the leg out. Kingston fights back with a hard elbow to the head. Aries catches the knee, drops it down on his own knee, the tosses Eddie back with a suplex. Aries hits the dropkick in the corner for the two count in a folding press. Aries applies a front facelock and knees Eddie in the head. Aries locks on the Last Chancery. Eddie gets his foot on the rope to break the submission. Aries punches Eddie in the corner and pulls down his straps to deliver a hard over-hand chop to Kingston. Aries sets Eddie up top and follows. He looks for a top rope bulldog. Kingston places Aries on his shoulder and drops him off the top with a gut buster. Eddie quickly follows up with the Sliding D, securing his victory and letting Aries join Generico in the 0 for 3 group. This was a damn fine firs time singles encounter for these two, and who would’ve thought it would be in CHIKARA? Both men worked hard and looked great and delivered exactly what you would expect. ***
Player Dos vs. Kota Ibushi
The two men feel each other out with some back and forth. The two reach a stalemate and we’re right back to where we started. Kota and Dos exchange some kicks to each others legs. Dos evades some kicks by doing some flips and the fans dig it. Dos throws Ibushi to the ropes, and the two enter a sequence which ends with Dos rolling up Ibushi for two. Dos goes back to the arm. Ibushi throws Dos in the corner. Dos sends Kota to the apron. Kota jumps in with a beautiful springboard dropkick. Kota gets a rear chinlock which Dos turns into a top wristlock. Kota knees Dos in the chest for a two. Kota chops Dos in the corner. Dos climbs up the ropes and flips to the apron. Dos lands a tornado DDT for two. Dos now chops Ibushi in the corner. Ibushi gets sent to the other corner. Dos comes at him with a leaping forearm. Dos hits a backdrop for the two count. Dos slams Ibushi then goes to the top rope. Ibushi comes at him with the cartwheel double back kick sending Dos to the floor. Ibushi then comes at Dos with a springboard moonsault. Ibushi brings Dos back in and covers him for two. Ibushi delivers a flurry of strikes and misses a standing moonsault. Dos hits one of his own for the two count. Dos pushes Ibushi into the corner and chops him. Dos throws Ibushi to the corner. Dos follows and eats the turnbuckle. The two come out and Dos is met with a flying kick from Ibushi. Ibushi pins for the two. Ibushi hits a flurry of forearms. Dos ducks a kick and hits a Dragon Suplex for two. Dos hits some forearms of his own, and Ibushi hits a Dragon Suplex of his own, also for two. Back to their feet the men trade forearm shots. Ibushi has had enough and hits another flurry of strikes. Ibushi tries for the Golden Star Press. Dos moves but Ibushi rolls right back up. A sequence leads to Ibushi hitting a German Suplex with a bridge for the two count. The fans clap for the athleticism. Ibushi heads back up and hits the double moonsault for yet another two count. Kota throws Dos out to the apron. Dos hops back in with a flip kick to the head. Ibushi is on the floor, and Dos follows with a Cancun Tornado press from the top rope! Back in the ring, Dos hits a sidekick and again heads up top. Dos tries for a Golden Star Press of his own and misesses. Ibushi comes down with a hard frogsplash and Dos gets the knees up. Dos rolls up Ibushi for two. Ibushi fires up hitting some hard strikes and kicks to Dos. Dos tells him to bring it and gets knocked down with a kick. Ibushi heads up and lands the Golden Star Press for the win and the title of 2009 Rey de Voladores. The fans stand and applaude for what was another fine contest. Both of the four ways from the previous night were better, but these two still put on quite the match. Ibushi may very well be the MVP of the entire weekend, and I feel bad for his knees. They must be screwed. It’s odd that they chose an outsider to win, but why not? Dos is mostly a tag guy anyways and it’s adds worlds of credibility if Ibushi has the distinction instead. ***
2009 King of Trios Final Round
Team Uppercut (Claudio Castagnoli, Dave Taylor, & Bryan Danielson) vs. F.I.S.T. (Icarus, Gran Akuma, & Chuck Taylor)
F.I.S.T comes out first and decides to hide out by the entrance ramp. As Team Uppercut makes their way out, F.I.S.T. ambush them. The men brawl around ringside. Chuck goes right after Bryan’s leg, even slamming it against the timekeeper’s table. Icarus and Bryan officially start off with Icarus landing a KneeDT. The focus of F.I.S.T’s offense is all on Bryan’s leg, as they take turns tagging in and blocking him from rolling to the floor or tagging in Dave or Claudio. Chuck mocks Bryan by using Danielson’s elbows to head on him and applies a Cross Crab. Danielson turns and kicks Chuck away and then tags in Dave Taylor. Dave takes out F.I.S.T. with uppercuts then hits a butterfly suplex on Akuma. Icarus breaks up the pin. Claudio comes in to pummel Icarus. Claudio is diverted and eats the double Enzugiri/dropkick combo from all of F.I.S.T. Icarus hits a lungblower, then Chuck and Akuma land the Dinner N’ Drinks on Claudio! Dave Taylor breaks up the pin attempt but Claudio remains legal. Bryan jumps back in with a springboard dropkick to Akuma and Icarus. Bryan and Dave play ping pong with Icarus in a series of European uppercuts. Danielson and Claudio hit sandwich Europeans, and Dave knees him in the face. Akuma breaks up the pin. Claudio nails Akuma with the Sweet Schwinn Music and the Ricola Bomb. Icarus pulls the referee out of the ring to stop the count. Claudio throws Akuma to the floor and lands an awesome corkscrew plancha on him and Icarus. Chuck heads up top but Danielson follows. Bryan lands a big back superplex for the two count. Danielson then hits the elbows on Chuck, showing him how it’s done! Bryan pins Chuck for two as the other teammates fight outside. Bryan hooks the Cattle Mutilation on Chuck. Icarus comes in and KneeDT’s Bryan forcing him to release the hold. Icarus goes for the Shiranui. Bryan cuts him off and crotches Icarus up top. Akuma trups Danielson and traps him in a tree of woe. Taylor comes and lands Bryan with an Awful Waffle from the top! DANIELSON KICKS OUT! HOLY SHIT. Chuck reapplies the Cross Crab in the middle of the ring. F.I.S.T fends off Claudio and Dave. Bryan can’t hold on any longer and taps out! F.I.S.T wins the match and are your 2009 King of Trios! F.II.S.T celebrate in the middle of the ring and kick away all the streamers that fly at them. A fine, fine finals round for any tournament there is. Danielson’s knee being worked over all three nights in three previous matches added up to the finish of the finals which is something you very rarely see in pro wrestling. F.I.S.T absolutely deserved to win and showed everyone why they are the most dangerous trio in CHIKARA. Props go out to Team Uppercut, my personal favorite team of the entire tournament, for giving it their all in four awesome matches. Great stuff here, all six men should be very proud. ***1/4
The 411: Night 3 is great with some really fun action and a nice capper to the entire tournament with the Final Round. I highly recommend purchasing all three nights as they’re very strong and compliment each other very, very well. Plus, who wants one night of a three night tournament? Overall, this very much lived up to the hype and all the wrestlers and the CHIKARA staff should all be very proud of the effort they put into this weekend. |
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| Final Score: 8.5 [ Very Good ] legend |
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