wrestling / Video Reviews
100 Percent Fordified: CHIKARA King of Trios 2016 Night 3
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Easton, PA – 9.4.2016
Championship Rundown
Grand Champion: Hallowicked
Campeones de Parejas: Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate)
Young Lions Cup Champion: ThunderFrog
Commentary is provided by Joey Styles, Bryce Remsburg, Mike Quackenbush, Trent Seven, and Leonard F. Chikarason.
King of Trios 2016 Semi-Final Round Match
The Warriors 3 (Princess KimberLee, ThunderFrog & Oleg the Usurper) vs. Team SENDAI Girls (Meiko Satomura, DASH Chisako & Cassandra Miyagi)
Miyagi distracts Oleg with her headbanging. It doesn’t work, as Oleg rams her head into the top turnbuckle repeatedly. He picks up speed on the ropes. Miyagi evades the corner splash and spits water in Oleg’s face before dropkicking him. Oleg tosses Miyagi outside. ThunderFrog knocks Satomura off the apron and brings Chisako into the ring. KimberLee dives onto Satomura and Miyagi while ThunderFrog Froggy Splashes Chisako’s bad leg. Oleg hits “Off With Her Head” on Chisako and KimberLee locks on the CHIKARA Special! Satomura comes to her rescue with a head kick. Chisako comes back with a rolling, low Blockbuster to KimberLee. ThunderFrog unloads with forearms to Satomura before giving her the Estonian Stampede. Satomura catches ThunderFrog on the turnbuckles and brings him down with a superplex. KimberLee ducks Satomura’s kick and and hits a roundhouse kick of her own. Satomura recovers and suplexes KimberLee. KimberLee dropkicks her to the apron. Miyagi and ThunderFrog trade forearm strikes. Miyagi snaps his neck across the top rope and hits a slingshot senton for two. ThunderFrog is able to take her down in the corner and land a cannonball senton. He calls for the Froggy Splash. Chisako dropkicks him to the floor. All three SENDAI Girls attack Oleg. This fires Oleg up, but he’s taken down with a combo of offense, ending with an assisted dropkick by Chisako that sends Oleg outside. KimberLee unloads a trifecta of German suplexes on Satomura for a two count. Satomura Pele kicks KimberLee. KimberLee avoids the Death Valley Driver and hits a bicycle kick. A sit-out powerbomb pin gets KimberLee two thanks to Miyagi making the save. Chisako comes off the top with a dropkick to KimberLee’s back. Chisako flips Miyagi onto KimberLee, then comes off the top with a double stomp, nursing her bad leg after the fact. Satomura hits a frog splash on KimberLee for two. She rolls KimberLee into a cross armbreaker, and KimberLee taps at 9:33! Starting off the night with an action packed bout with a (somewhat) surprising ending was a good call. Like last night, Chisako could have done a stronger job in selling her injured leg, and more damage could have been done to KimberLee’s arm before she tapped out, but the energy and quality of action cannot be denied. The Warriors Three make for an awesome team and I hope they remain associated with one another. ***¼
King of Trios 2016 Semi-Final Round Match
Team JWP (Command Bolshoi, Hanako Nakamori & Manami Katsu) vs. The heXed Men (Hallowicked, Icarus & Jigsaw)
UltraMantis Black is in the heXed Men’s corner. Instead of the heXed Men attacking the other team before the bell, Team JWP wisely attacks them during their pre-match seance! Katsu and Nakamori assist Bolshoi with a dropkick to Hallowicked. Nakamori lands a senton splash and Bolshoi double stomps on his stomach. All three JWP members attack Icarus in the corner, with Katsu bringing him out with a facebuster. She and Nakamori twist up Icarus’ arms while Bolshoi steps on his back. She crossbody’s onto Jigsaw. All three pummel his back before hitting triple dropkicks. Bolshoi London Bridges Jigsaw and Hallowicked to the floor, following them with a springboard crossbody. Icarus runs in, throwing Nakamori down by her hair and giving her a bodyslam into the mat. From there, the heXed Men take turns wearing down Nakamori. She takes down Jigsaw with a fisherwoman’s buster and tags in Katsu. Katsu blasts Icarus with forearm strikes, but is quickly kicked from the apron by Hallowicked. Katsu comes back with a running knee strike to Icarus’ chest. Icarus weaves her around, kicking Katsu in the arm. She rolls out so Bolshoi comes in with a shoryuken punch to Icarus. Jigsaw blocks her German suplex attempt and gives her a pump kick. Bolshoi counters his brainbuster with a DDT. She takes him down with La Mistica into a modified Rings of Saturn. Hallowicked jumps in, pulling at the back of her mask and dumping her to the floor. Both Nakamori and Katsu come off the top with dropkicks to Hallowicked. Nakamori follows up with a top rope knee strike to the head and a Shining Wizard. Icarus pulls her by the hair. Bolshoi German suplexes Icarus. Nakamori and Katsu each kick Icarus. Katsu gets a nearfall but Jigsaw breaks it up. He and Hallowicked dump Nakamori and Bolshoi to the floor. They wipe out Katsu with a Total Elimination. Hallowicked hits Go 2 Sleepy Hollow, but yanks Katsu up by her hair before the three count. Jigsaw does the same after a brainbuster, and Icarus after a Pedigree. Troy Nelson disqualifies the heXed Men due to Castigo Excesivo at 10:03, giving Team JWP the win. I understand why the finish happened the way it did. You don’t want your strongest Rudo faction losing cleanly, and also want to portray the idea that they are much more ruthless and aggressive than they were prior to being “hexed.” You also have the story of Katsu being in bad shape as her and JWP head into the finals as the underdogs. In what universe, however, does it make sense for a team to purposefully blow the semi-finals just to beat someone up? Did Nazmaldun instruct them to do so? If so, how are we (or the live crowd) supposed to ascertain that? You could feel the audience roll their eyes at this decision and for many it took the wind out of their sails, which is a shame since an all Joshi trios match sounds delightful. **
Arik Cannon since it’s been a very long time since he has graced a CHIKARA ring. Despite that, he sees the changes the company undergoes from afar, but one change that has stuck out to him is the change Mark Angelosetti has underwent. Cannon himself has not changed, and his trusty right hand is going to put Angelosetti to sleep.
Mark Angelosetti vs. Arik Cannon
Cannon shoulder blocks Angelosetti. After a shoulder tackle, he armdrags Angelosetti and throws some shots to his face. Angelosetti headbutts Cannon to break a wristlock. Angelosetti avoids getting his neck snapped on the top rope and snaps the bottom rope into Cannon’s lower back. Angelosetti sends Cannon face first into the ring post. In the ring he drives his knee into Cannon’s head. Cannon ducks a clothesline. He goes for a sunset flip, but Angelosetti switches out and drops another knee for two. Cannon escapes a corner attack but eats a boot. Cannon swings Angelosetti into a neckbreaker for two. He chops Angelosetti five times in the corner. Cannon bandera’s to the apron and rams Angelosetti face first into the top turnbuckle. He comes off the top with a dropkick to the chest. A brainbuster earns Cannon a two count. Angelosetti gives Cannon a spinebuster as Cannon comes off the ropes. Cannon again bandera’s to the apron. This time Angelosetti avoids his face being rammed into the top rope. However, Cannon shoulder blocks Angelosetti and slingshots in with an Oklahoma Roll. When Angelosetti kicks out, Cannon transitions into a crossface. Angelosetti gets his feet on the ropes to break the hold. He blocks Cannon’s shoulder block attempt. Cannon slips out of the Colossal Bomb and reapplies the crossface! Angelosetti rolls him onto his shoulders to break it. Cannon blasts Angelosetti with a haymaker and a superkick before hitting Total Anarchy for two. Angelosetti slips out of a brainbuster attempt. He back elbows Cannon and hits the Flea Flicker. The Colossal Bomb pays off the second time around, giving Angelosetti the pin at 9:12. Hard to find much fault in two guys beating each other up for our pleasure. Any time Cannon is in a CHIKARA ring it’s a treat and this was no exception. ***
N_R_G is backstage. Race Jaxon has headphones on. Hype Rockwell says they’ve been on a losing streak of late, but they will get back on the right path in the tag team gauntlet. Rockwell can’t help but be distracted by Jaxon. Jaxon says he’s just trying to listen to his smooth jazz. Rockwell is paranoid that the jazz is what has messed them up, as it’s calmed Jaxon down, but Jaxon assures Rockwell that he’s fine.
10-Team Gauntlet Match
The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch) are the first team in the Gauntlet. Before the second team can enter, Sidney Bakabella comes to the ring and says they need to talk. Two years ago the Devastation Corporation won King of Trios, and last year they were the reigning Campeones de Parejas. Bakabella says that this year they’re relegated to the Tag Gauntlet. He believes they’ve fallen because they got weak and lost their killer instinct. He says it’s like they want to be funny, like wearing a stupid wig for four years was (and he throws the wig at Blaster.) Max Smashmaster enters the ring and attacks Blaster! He gives puts the boot to Blaster all the while Flex asking Bakabella what Max is doing. After Max gives Blaster a tombstone, Bakabella and Max leave without giving Flex an answer. N_R_G then enters as the second team.
N_R_G (Race Jaxon & Hype Rockwell) vs. The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch)
Jaxon dumps Rumblecrunch to the floor and Rockwell pins the incapacitated McMassive, eliminating the Devastation Corporation at 0:03. The crowd boos heavily.
N_R_G (Race Jaxon & Hype Rockwell) vs. The Closers (Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice)
Jaxon launches himself off of Rockwell’s back onto Roland and Caprice, overshooting and landing hard on his ribs. Rockwell kicks Caprice in the corner. Caprice bandera’s Rockwell to the floor. N_R_G pummel on Roland until Caprice comes off the top with a somersault senton. Team Big Deal toss around Jaxon until Rockwell enters and boots Caprice to the floor. Roland and Rockwell exchange running shoulder blocks, ending with a Frankensteiner from Roland. Jaxon top rope dropkicks Roland to the corner. N_R_G hit him with an enzuigiri/dropkick combo in the corner. Caprice gets caught in Rockwell’s arms. Roland wipes out Jaxon. N_R_G fall to the Deal Breaker in 5:11.
The Gentleman’s Club (Drew Gulak & Orange Cassidy) vs. The Closers (Rick Roland & Sloan Caprice)
Gulak charges and is pounced by both of Team Big Deal as Cassidy takes his time getting to the ring. Gulak does an admirable job fighting on his own. Team Big Deal have Gulak in their arms when Cassidy schoolyard trips them. Both Gulak and Cassidy gets separate two counts with lateral presses. Gulak nails Roland with a diving lariat. He tries a sunset flip on Caprice, but Roland holds onto his arms. Cassidy gives Roland a wet willie, causing him to let Caprice fall into Gulak’s sunset flip for the pin at 7:52.
Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo)vs. The Gentleman’s Club (Drew Gulak & Orange Cassidy)
Cassidy baits Exo into an overhand chop. He holds on as he walks the ropes, but Exo pulls him down and gives her own overhand chop. She uses the ropes for a double wristdrag and gets two with a facebuster. Vox runs through Cassidy’s left arm. She lands a crossbody and takes down Cassidy with a tornado DDT for two. Gulak shoves Cassidy to the floor. Gulak knocks them down with a double dropkick and slams Vox onto Exo. Vox is worn down by Gulak, and kinda sorta worn out by Cassidy, until she headscissors Gulak and Exo enters. She gets in her licks on Gulak, but he remains steadfast. Exo gives him an inverted atomic lock and a vertical suplex. Cassidy breaks the pin. He puts on the Orange Squeeze. Exo fish hooks Cassidy’s mouth to escape. Gulak grabs her hand and manipulates her fingers and shoulder. Vox saves her by throwing a fishnet on Gulak! Cassidy superkicks Vox. Exo powerslams Cassidy. Gulak falls back onto them to break the cover, all the while captured in the net. He’s able to pull of a jawbreaker on Exo. Vox sends Gulak out. Cassidy spits orange juice in Vox’s face and schoolgirls her for the pin at 19:09.
The Gentleman’s Club (Drew Gulak & Orange Cassidy) vs. Sonny Defarge & Cornelius Crummels
Gulak, still in the net, Crummels chops Cassidy a few times, including one after sneezing in his hands. Defarge knocks him down with a clothesline. Great Expectations on Cassidy gets Defarge and Crummels the pin at 21:00.
Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr.) vs. Sonny Defarge & Cornelius Crummels
Jr. throws Defarge outside. Hijo monkey flips Crummels twice. When he goes for a third, Crummels sneezes in his face. Defarge assists Crummels with a super Frankensteiner. Defarge uppercuts Jr. into a back cracker from Crummels. A flubbed Great Expectations still gets them the pin at 23:03.
Dez Peloton (Jasper Tippins & Donald Kluger) vs. Sonny Defarge & Cornelius Crummels
Tippins and Kluger are cycling enthusiasts, collectively known as Dez Peloton. Defarge and Crummels knock Tippins off the apron. Defarge helps Crummels with a headscissors takedown on Kluger. Kluger evades Great Expectations and takes both of them out with a double clothesline. Tippins FInlay Rolls Crummels into a slingshot knee drop from Kluger, who has a bicycle bell on his glove. Knees to the back and front lead to the Broken Arrow on Crummels. Tippins uppercuts Defarge before slamming him. Tippins bicycle kicks him from his back into a wheelbarrow slam from Kluger. Crummels saves Defarge from a top rope maneuver from Tippins. Kluger hops off of Tippins back with a splash onto both Crummels and Defarge in the corner. Kluger monkey flips both of them separately. Crummels sneezes in Kluger’s face and hits a dropkick. Kluger escapes their grasp when he hooks Defarge and Crummels together and drops them both with a neckbreaker. Tippins cleans house with clotheslines. He sends Crummels to the floor with a jumping chest kick and DDT’s Defarge out of the corner. Kluger takes down Defarge so Tippins can land “Climb the Summit”, a delayed top rope falling splash, for two. A double pump-handle suplex on Defarge gets Dez Peloton the pin at 32:06.
Dez Peloton (Jasper Tippins & Donald Kluger) vs. Hermit Crab & Rock Lobster
Crab sends Kluger out so he and Lobster can each hit kicks to Tippins in the corner. They put him in a Flat Crab/Last Chancery combo, but are forced to let go. Crab and Lobster isolate Tippins in their half of the ring. He ends up jumping to the floor whilst snapping Lobster’s throat on the top rope, bringing in Kluger as the legal man. Lobster quickly cuts him off with a clothesline. Kluger low bridges the top rope. Lobster fails to skin the cat, but gets in the ring. Crab clotheslines Tippins to stop their Broken Arrow attempt. Lobster headscissors Kluger to the floor and jams Tippins neck across the middle rope. A Naniwa elbow from Crab to Tippins gets a two count. Tippins escapes a chokeslam and hits a back cracker on Crab. Lobster misses a moonsault. Kluger crucifix pins Lobster for the pin at 38:17.
Dez Peloton (Jasper Tippins & Donald Kluger) vs. The Bloc Party (The Proletariat Boar of Moldova & Prakash Sabar)
Sabar kicks out Tippins’ legs. He drives him face first into the middle turnbuckle and kicks it into his face. Boar powerslams Kluger. Sabar hits the Busted Bronco to Kluger and feeds him to the Boar for the Gore. Boar powerslams Tippins. Sabar hits him with the Busted Bronco as well. Sabar hits the X-Factor on Tippins for the pin at 40:11. We think the match is over, but a bonus eleventh team emerges…
D-Generation X (X-Pac & Billy Gunn) vs. The Bloc Party (The Proletariat Boar of Moldova & Prakash Sabar)
X-Pac wipes out Sabar with a spinwheel kick. Gunn takes out Sabar. Gunn pops Sabar up into an X-Factor for the pin and the win at 41:50. Not done yet, X-Pac spinwheel kicks the Boar. Gunn splashes Sabar and the Boar in opposite corners so X-Pac can give them both the Bronco Buster. Gunn breaks CHIKARA’s family friendly rule by yelling “Suck It!” before hitting the Fame-Asser on the Boar. He does it again with Sabar. X-Pac apologizes on Gunn’s behalf, stating he forgot to warn him that CHIKARA is family friendly. They joke around on the microphone some more before thanking the crowd and X-Pac proclaiming how much he loves CHIKARA.
When I watched this live, I truly felt this was the worst match in CHIKARA history. It’s a contender, but the experience of watching it at home was far less agonizing, as I could pause the video if need be and knew what to expect from the match ahead of time. I really liked the Devastation Corporation angle at the top, had a lot of fun watching Dez Peloton, and think having X-Pac and Prakash Sabar finally wrestling one another. What I didn’t like were some of the newer teams being exposed, especially when the majority of the audience was seeing these teams for the first time, no CHIKARA team saw any benefit from participating in this match, and the match’s overall tedious and pointless nature. It is time to retire the tag gauntlet. Getting twenty people on the show in one match is admirable, as you want to expose as many of your wrestlers as possible on the biggest weekend of the year, but there has to be a better way to do so in a much less exhausting and frustrating manner. ¼*
“Juke Joint” Lucas Calhoun says Chuck Taylor™ move out of the way the freight train coming for him, because he can’t be stopped.
Lucas Calhoun vs. Chuck Taylor™
Taylor™ holds onto the microphone as the bell rings. Calhoun shows off some karate moves. Taylor™ quotes Chuck D and says “Elvis don’t mean nothing to me”, and that he’s here to wrestle, not do karate. Calhoun gets angry when Taylor™ tussels his hair. Taylor™ tries to attack with the microphone but Calhoun strikes him tot he floor. Calhoun chops Taylor™ around ringside. After some rapid fire chops, Calhoun gets the idea to hook Taylor™ in the ropes and get the fans to chop him in a conga line. The conga line lasts for three minutes and 40 seconds and includes, in addition to the Chikarmy, Bryce Remsburg, Gary from Smart Mark Video, Vlad Radinov, Leonard F. Chikarason, Joey Styles, Moustache Mountain, Yolanda, and the cameraman. After all the damage, Taylor™’s arm only drops twice. As he slowly recovers on the mat, Taylor™ informs us that it is Beyonce’s birthday, and sings a song he wrote for 1995: “Say My Name.” He takes a seat on the top turnbuckle and says he’s pretty sure he has internal bleeding. Taylor™ states he and Calhoun could be partners. Calhoun is touched and hugs Taylor™. Taylor™ tries to hit Calhoun with the microphone, but Calhoun has it scouted. He hip tosses Taylor™ off the top and gives him a karate punch to the stomach. A falling chop to the chest gets Calhoun the pin at 12:07. What’s there to say? After the debacle of the Tag Gauntlet, this was exactly the levity the crowd needed. *
Rey de Voladores 2016 Finals
Tony Nese vs. Aero Star
Due to injury, Frightmare could not compete in this match. Since Nese was the runner-up in the match Frightmare won to get into this match, Director of Fun Mike Quackenbush has decreed that he takes Frightmare’s place. They trade arm holds, armdrags, and pin attempts to start, reaching a stalemate. Nese takes Star to the corner with a flying Frankensteiner. Star responds with a corkscrew splash off the top turnbuckle, which busts Nese open over his right eye. Nese kicks Star in the chest before slamming him for a two count. Star comes to the apron and jumps back in with a double springboard armdrag. Star fakes Nese out before drilling him with a suicide dive. In the ring, Nese counters a vertical suplex by dropping Star on the top turnbuckle. Star avoid running knee and powerbomb, but Nese gives him a kick and knee strike before sweeping out his legs for a nearfall. Nese follows Star on the floor and slams him face first into the apron. Nese comes back in only to Fosbury Flop back out onto Star. Star outmaneuvers Nese back into the ring. He captures Nese on the top turnbuckle, then tightrope walks the middle rope before bringing Nese down with a super Frankensteiner for two. Nese escapes a corner splash. He gamengiri’s Star before hitting a split-legged moonsault. Star kicks out, so Nese tries his signature pump-handle reverse piledriver. Although Star escapes, Nese catches him with a one-armed buckle bomb and a running knee strike. Star again escapes to the apron. From there he sweeps out Nese’s legs and jumps in with a corner dropkick. He springboards off the top into a backwards splash. Star misses a springboard splash inside the ring. Nese pulls off the pump-handle reverse piledriver, but Star kicks out! Nese ascends the ropes. Star looks to bring him down, but Nese flips off backwards and rocks Star with a shoryuken. Nese misses a kick. Star kicks Nese from the apron and springboards in with a Code Breaker. A back cracker gets Star the win at 11:24. It’s cool to have Aero Star on record as a Rey de Voladores winner. The truth is, the match was little more than pedestrian. Sure, Star does some really impressive things, but there was nothing new in this match we didn’t already see yesterday. The same could be said for Nese. It was a fine back and forth match, but I was hoping for a more ambitious bout. **½
Team SENDAI Girls introduce themselves. We’ve seen them three times already and we’re just about to watch the finals, so now is a GREAT time for them to do that. They speak Japanese for the remainder of the promo. Cassandra Miyagi is fired up.
King of Trios 2016 Final Round
Team JWP (Command Bolshoi, Hanako Nakamori & Manami Katsu) vs. Team SENDAI Girls (Meiko Satomura, DASH Chisako & Cassandra Miyagi)
Katsu is still in rough shape from the semi-finals and is helped to the ring by Bolshoi and Nakamori. Team JWP attack the SENDAI Girls at the bell. Nakamori and Miyagi hair mare one another. Nakamori boots Miyagi in the corner. Miyagi responds with a facebuster and running boot to the side of the head. Nakamori snapmares her into a back and front kick, getting two with a legdrop. Bolshoi pops up after Miyagi’s dropkicks and throws Miyagi to her corner. Satomura and Bolshoi trade holds. Satomura takes down Bolshoi with knee strikes, ending with a hard knee strike out of a headstand to the mid-section. Satomura wins a test of strength. She gets in some shots to Bolshoi’s legs before Miyagi flings Bolshoi across the ring and delivers two running dropkicks. Bolshoi cuts her off with a running forearm and suplex. Fed up, she double stomps Miyagi. Katsu and Miyagi trade shots, with Katsu getting the better of Miyagi, turning her into a half crab. Bolshoi adds to the pressure with a Camel Clutch. Miyagi escapes a bulldog from Katsu. Chisako wastes no time coming in with a dropkick. Miyagi hits a slingshot senton for two. Her and Katsu go back to trading blows. Katsu stops a quesadora with a wheelbarrow suplex for two. Nakamori throws boots to Miyagi. Chisako knee strikes her from the apron. Chisako and Miyagi’s double clothesline attempt is thwarted by Nakamori’s own double clothesline and a London Bridge. Nakamori wins a running boot exchange and gets two with a fisherwoman’s suplex. Miyagi avoids Nakamori’s flying knee and deposits her with a Cradle Shock for two. Chisako enters with a missile dropkick to Nakamori, which accidentally hurts her knee. That said, she’s still able to dropkick Nakamori in the corner. Chisako gets two with an Ace Crusher. She tries a frog splash, but Nakamori gets her feet up. Nakamori taunts Chisako as she throws an assorted arsenal of kicks. Miyagi stops Nakamori on the top rope while Satomura clears the apron of her partners. Chisako comes up top and brings Nakamori down with an Avalanche Ace Crusher! Bolshoi miraculously jumps in from the floor to break the cover. She German suplexes Chisako. Nakamori hits a Shining Wizard for two. Although Bolshoi kicks Chisako’s bad knee, Chisako is able to string a Northern lights suplex into a Gourd buster. Bolshoi evades an attack and cinches on an Achilles Lock, transitioning into an ankle lock. Katsu and Nakamori hold Satomura and Miyagi back. Bolshoi transitions into a leg-capture Dragon sleeper. Satomura fights Katsu off with a forearm and saves Chisako. Satomura blasts Bolshoi with a spinwheel kick after sending Katsu and Nakamori to the floor. Bolshoi counters Satomura’s Death Valley Driver into a grounded Octopus. Satomura gets the ropes to escape. She accidentally forearms Chisako. Nakamori and Katsu knee strike Satomura on the ropes before Bolshoi hits the tiger feint kick. A tiger suplex rom Bolshoi only gets two. Katsu also gets two with a flying elbow drop, thanks to Miyagi’s assistance. Satomura cracks Katsu with a kick to the back of the head and goes for a sleeper. Nakamori kicks Satomura, but Satomura holds on! A kick to the head saves Katsu, but Satomura kicks Nakamori in the head right back. Katsu forces herself off the mat after a chest kick from Satomura, so Satomura throws a few more for good measure. Satomura DDT’s Katsu and hits the cartwheel double knees to the back for two. Bolshoi and Nakamori stop Satomura from hitting Katsu with the Death Valley Driver. Team JWP triple German suplex the SENDAI Girls. Katsu does the deal with a Falcon Arrow on Satomura for two. Katsu admirably throws forearms to Katsu, but after getting crushed by two dropkicks from Chisako and Miyagi, as well as them clearing out Bolshoi and Nakamori for Satomura, Satomura gets the pin with a Death Valley Driver on Katsu in 23:12 to become the first ever Queen of Trios. The story here was simple: each team member had someone in bad shape going in, each team was aware of that, and did their damndest to exploit the frail opponent while protecting their own weakened teammate. SENDAI Girls did a better job in doing so, and won. This is a match most people wanted to see somewhere in the tournament and thus were hot for the entire thing. Things got really heated in the end and the build to Satomura’s finisher was really well executed. I have a lot of issues with zero CHIKARA talent winning anything of note this entire weekend, and the whole Queen of Trios concept feels incredibly ham-fisted, but there’s no denying the quality of this bout. ***¾
