The Magnus Analysis – Chikara King Of Trios Night 1

The King Of Trios tournament is Chikara’s replacement to the now finished Tag World Grand Prix tournament. It comprises teams of six wrestlers in a tournament of six man tags similair to the TWGP. I’m a big fan of six man tags and of Chikara, so I’m already looking forward to the show.

Various wrestlers did commentary on this event as is always the case, with the commentary team rotating between Bryce Remsburg, Ultramantis Black, Crossbones and Larry Sweeney.

The Order of The Neo Solar Temple (Crossbones, Ultramantis Black and Hydra) are out first for a promo, disrespecting the crowd and promoting his stable mate Hydra (who has painted on muscles, which makes him awesome on so many levels) who is undefeated in his ‘Hydralock Challenge’. The winner of the challenge apparently gets a t-shirt and $50,000 in cash.
Robbie Ellis comes out to take the challenge. I’m not entirely sure whether he actually broke the hold or not but he didn’t have enough money to cover the cost. So his tag partners Larry Sweeney and Mitch Ryder come out and cut a promo ripping into the stable, and challenging them to a Posedown. Could this get any better.
Hydra went first and the crowd didn’t like it, then Larry Sweeney went and the crowd enjoyed it. So I think they won that.
So we get a tiebreaker, a six way Posedown. Larry Sweeney’s team go first and do a good enough job, then The Order of The Neo Solar Temple run away, saying that the audience was planted. That was a very entertaining segment and an enjoyable way to start the show.

Bryce Remsburg is on commentary to start us off.

Match 1
The New Jersey All Stars (Lucky and JC Ryder) vs Cheech and Cloudy
I haven’t seen Lucky since the Tag World Grand Prix 2005, although he seems to have gotten into better shape since then, the same for JC Ryder. Cheech and Cloudy are now technicos in Chikara, I do prefer then as rudos though. Anyway, a good opening bout, these teams seemed to have improved a lot from their earlier days and they are both very fun to watch (well, at least when they aren’t in a CZW ring), they seemed to have slowed themselves down a bit and hit more moves than they miss now. There was a mix of high flying and old school style tag action, plus good team work with a few nice double team moves. Cheech and Cloudy pick up the win when Cheech pins Ryder with his finisher The Deluxe (basically an inverted version of the Go 2 Sleep)- **1/2

2.0 cut a backstage promo, saying that they have a grudge with Jigsaw and Shane Storm. Jagged goes insane in this saying that he has a bone to pick with Jigsaw due to a jigsaw puzzle he got in 1985 that he found in pieces when he got it. That was strange to say the least, but a good promo with lots of energy.

Match 2
2.0 (Jagged and Shane Matthews) vs Shanesaw (Jigsaw and Shane Storm)
This one is buildup for the six man tag tomorrow that features these two on opposite sides, with Max Boyer with 2.0 and Mike Quackenbush with Shanesaw. This was also Shane Matthews first match back from injury according to Bryce Remsburg. A fun little match, every move was hit well if not completely crisply, but the match entertained me a great deal and did what it intended to do: help build to tomorrow’s six man. Shane Storm got the pinfall and won the match with That Japanese Move (Shining Wizard). As a result, Shanesaw have won three straight matches and get a tag title shot- **1/4

Match 3
The Order Of The Neo Solar Temple (Ultramantis Black, Hydra and Crossbones) vs Los Ice Creams (El Hijo Del Ice Cream, Ice Cream Jr and A Very Mysterious Ice Cream)
Early on I was thinking the mysterious ice cream was in face Darkness Crabtree since he seemed to have the same shape of body and a comedic style like Crabtree has. But I soon realised that it was Claudio Castagnoli under the mask. He kept using the deadly tickle under the chin, and we also found out that Crossbones is lactose intolerant which may have caused some difficulties. I’m enjoying this match way too much.
So not only was this a good comedy match but a good wrestling bout as well. Just so entertaining and well done that I enjoyed every second of it, with both the wrestling and comedy done about as good as I expected it to be. The Mysterious Ice Cream wins it when he pins Hydra with a Chokeslam from which he almost hat the roof. Better than it had any right to be- ***

We get a promo from Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Robbie Ellis, and this was typically Ric Flair style old school stuff, and it was pretty good even if it was a little hard to understand what it was all about. But the whole point was to say how they were going to beat their opponents tonight and they did that well.

Ultramantis Black and Crossbones replace Bryce Remsburg on commentary

Match 4
The Iron Saints (Brandon, Sal and Vito Thomaselli) vs Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Robbie Ellis
I wasn’t expecting a lot from this one coming in, but this ended up being quite entertaining and decent overall. Sweeney is playing the technico, and I dislike it when he’s not a rudo, even though he is quite decent as a technico as well. Robbie Ellis was limited in what he could do but did some impressive high flying moves for a man his age (64 years old), and was extremely over with the crowd. Anyway, this ended up being a decent, old school style match. Brandon Thomaselli pinned Larry Sweeney with some kind of crazy triple team move where Sal and Vito held Sweeney in position for Brandon to hit the 450, but Brandon botched and landed knees first on Sweeney- **

The Thomaselli’s attack Ellis and Ryder after the match, before they are sent to the back by the referee, then are given a nice ovation from the crowd.

We get a promo with Kudo and Team Kaientai Dojo which is mostly in Japanese.

Before the match, the partner of Dino and American Balloon must be chosen from a hat. The first name drawn was Giant Gonzalez, who wasn’t here. The next name drawn was Masamune from Osaka Pro, and he was here.

Match 5
Kudo, Miyawaki and Yoshiaki Yago vs Dino, Masamune and American Balloon
Dino has apparently signed a release to ensure he doesn’t touch any of the members of the audience inappreciably (if you’ve seen Dino wrestle before you’ll know why). Well, this match was certainly something very different. Dino is very feminine to say the least, American Balloon is extremely overweight and American, and Masamune is a masked wrestler. Meanwhile their opponents all hit very hard. The result was a bizarre match that had the right mix of comedy, and hard hitting, fast paced wrestling action that Chikara is based on, and I highly enjoyed this match. Yago just punching and kicking everything that moved and Dino being himself was so fun to watch, plus the rest all contributed well to the match in their own ways as well, but it was Yago and Dino that were the stars in this one. I felt sorry for Kudo, he took a lot of ‘punishment’ from the other team, although the others arguably got worse than him. Kudo’s team advanced when Kudo pinned American Balloon with a Double Knee from the top rope- ***1/2

Dino chases referee Bryce Remsburg to the back after the match, then we get some replays of the best moments.

We get a promo with Chuck Taylor where he’s on the phone to Chris Hero, telling him about what they plan to do, then they talk about this isn’t about Chris Hero and that they will win this tournament without him.

Larry Sweeney now joins Ultramantis Black on commentary

Match 6
Team USA (USApe, The Patriot and Kid USA) vs The Kings Of Wrestling (Icarus, Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor)
I already can’t believe how many things on this show so far could only happen in Chikara, but this is another one. Team USA must be the most unique team in pro wrestling history: an muscley indy wrestler, an ape and a former WCW Tag Team Champion (although if this is Tom Brandi rather than Dan Wilkes then that isn’t true). This match was solid enough, but despite the ape and The Patriot being in it, the match simply didn’t stand out compared with what we’ve already seen on this show. Not to say that it was bad or anything, it was just average compared with the rest of the card. Icarus pinned USApe with the Pedigree to win this one- *3/4

Match 7
Shiima Xion vs Nobutaka Moribe
Shiima has changed his look since I last saw him wrestle, he has proper gear now. Moribe is another talented wrestler from DDT. This one was another decent math, if a little sloppy at times, between two wrestlers who are definetally on the way to becoming great wrestlers in the future. Shiima did some impressive high flying moves, while Moribe went for more of a submission and power based style with a few high flying moves as well. Moribe won this out of nowhere when he pinned Shiima with a variation of the Dominator. The quick ending wasn’t to my liking but overall a solid midcard match- **1/4

Match 8
Young Lions Cup- Max Boyer (c) vs Ricochet
A good Young Lions Cup match, I like both of these wrestlers and they were both on in this particular match. Max Boyer shows a lot more charisma than he did in previous events that I’ve seen him in, and he’s improving in the ring, doing more of the little things that make you a better wrestler. If he keeps improving at this rate he will likely be in ROH by 2008. Ricochet was decent, he hat most of his high flying moves and seems to wrestle a little less risky in Chikara than I’ve seen him do elsewhere, he’s much better when wrestling like this. Boyer would pin Ricochet with some kind of Pumphandle Driver variation to retain the cup- **1/2

Match 9
Los Ice Creams (El Hijo Del Ice Cream, Ice Cream Jr and ‘A Very Mysterious Ice Cream’ Claudio Castagnoli) vs The Kings Of Wrestling (Icarus, Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor)
The mysterious ice cream instantly runs into the ring and reveals himself as Claudio Castagnoli to a huge ovation. The bulk of the match early on saw the Kings team up on Claudio to keep him down, using submission and high flying moves while cheating at every opportunity. Claudio eventually tags in the Ice Creams, and we then saw some very interesting double team moves from them that got some near falls. Lots of big moves by all six men that got some near falls, and the match was really flowing well. The finish saw Icarus and Akuma pin the Ice Creams with each others finishers, i.e. Akuma used the Pedigree and Icarus used the Yoshi-Tonic, and they got the three count. I thought this was a good bout, one that worked very well although not the best match of the night- ***

Claudio attacks the Kings Of Wrestling after the match, running them all the way to the back.

Match 10
The Iron Saints (Brandon, Sal and Vito Thomaselli) vs Kudo, Miyawaki and Yoshiaki Yago
Sort of a rematch from the first round bout in the TWGP 2006 where Yago and Miyawaki defeated Sal and Vito in the first round, only now we have Kudo and Brandon Thomaselli thrown in. Very enjoyable match, the match of the night just ahead of the japanese six man from earlier. A lot like the match from 2006, the Thomaselli’s did everything in their power to try and keep their opponents down, isolating Miyawaki, but were dominated for large portions of the match through some very hard hitting offense and some nice double team moves. There were some close near falls and big, high impact moves by all six men towards the end, and the crowd were really getting into it. Miyawaki gives Sal Thomaselli a sickening Headbutt near the end, then hits a Lariat for a near fall. Miyawaki pins Sal with a Top Rope Powerslam of some kind. The match was just overall very enjoyable and excellent near the end- ***3/4

The Kings of Wrestling are looking on from the ramp as Kudo, Miyawaki and Yoshiaki Yago celebrate the win. They cut a promo thanking the fans and their opponents for the match, and saying they plan to win the entire thing (at least that’s what I think he meant, it was hard to hear what he said)

We gets some replays to close out the DVD of the big moves from the last match.

Several Chikara podcasts are on here as well, but I won’t go into those since I don’t usually look into bonuses on DVD’s.

The 411: Chikara has improved a good deal since 2005 from providing solid in-ring action with great entertainment, to providing great wrestling action and entertainment. This card is extremely good from top to bottom and there are lots of matches that you'll enjoy if your a Chikara fan or not. A good recommendation for this event.
Final Score:  7.8   [ Good ]