The Chikara product is not always booked to my sensibilities but I have liked what I have seen in season 10. However, the main storylines take somewhat of a backseat during the promotion’s biggest weekend of the year: King of Trios! Chikara has brought talent from all over the world for this one huge event where 16 trios team compete to be called the King of Trios (although Kings of Trios would probably be a more accurate title unless the three winners fight for supremacy in some unknown battle). Some of the top performers brought in were Sean “1-2-3 Kid” Waltman, El Generico, Manami Toyota, Amazing Red, Akira Tozawa, Colt Cabana, and plus some of the top talent from Michinoku Pro,, Osaka Pro, and Dragon Gate. The biggest professional wrestling tournament of the year got a lot of hype from the live reports so my expectations for this ‘trio’ of shows (see what I did there?!) were very high. Let’s see how the first night worked out.Match Ratings:
The show started with the Larry Sweeney tribute video that was seen on the Pre-Show-a-Go-Go…then they cut to the wrestlers surrounding the ring paying tribute to Sweet ‘n’ Sour. A nice moment.
Production and graphics are hugely improved for this show…kudos to Chikara
Osirian Portal (Amasis, Ophidian, & Hieracon) vs. 3.0le (El Generico & 3.0 [Shane Matthews & Scott Parker]): **1/2…3.0le had a real fun backstage segment where they argued about who was captain…crowd was red hot at the start of this match…a dance contest broke out in the middle of the match which lead to Generico doing the Macarena…match was real fun when they were doing dancing and fan interaction but it became a clusterfuck-riffic mess by the end…solid opener though…3.0 were not pleased with Generico after the match
FIST (Chuck Taylor, Icarus, & Johnny Gargano) vs. Team Australia (Kabel, Tama Williams, & Percy T.): **1/2…Fist has gotten rid of their entrance music which is a failure because some ‘Blue Monday” is always a good thing…crowd did not really react to Team Australia, but they did eventually do a “Let’s go NOT FIST,” which is practically support for Australia…Tama had some talent but the other two guys did not really standout…an okay match but it set up FIST has strong heels for the rest of tournament
Da Soul Touchaz (Willie Richardson, Acid Jaz & Marshe Rockett) vs. BDK (Tim Donst, Delirious & Jakob Hammermeier w/ Tursas): **1/2…Donst cut a promo where he declared himself captain of the 2011 BDK team…Jakob once again (as with his first match) came out to announce the BDK and then ran back to come out again with the team…Tursas flattened Jaz to get the win for the BDK while the ref was distracted by Donst…match was methodical and mostly driven by the character work…another solid match..the Spectral Envoy came out to try to reach Delirious which lead to a skirmish
Amazing Red & The Maximos (Joel Maximo & Wil Maximo) vs. Joshi & the Luchadores (Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Manami Toyota): ***3/4.…Red is the cousin of the Maximos…Toyota was brought back after a great weekend last Fall…this was a super fun match and I can’t wait to see Red in the King of Flyers tournament for Night 2…Quack & Jig did a Larry Sweeney tribute to finish off one of the Maximos which got another “Sweet ‘n’ Sour” chant from the crowd
Team Dragon Gate (Super Shisa, Akira Tozawa & Kagetora) vs. The Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked, Frightmare & UltraMantis Black): ***1/4…Ultramantis is incredibly over with the Philly crowd…Quack put over Shisa by mentioning Jorge Rivera’s opinion of him which was interesting to say the least (although he qualified it with “during happier times”)…this was a very fun match…Tozawa was his usual awesome self and the other Dragon Gate guys looked good as well…I see Frightmare as one of Chikara’s main players going forward, but that may just be me…too bad Tozawa has not made more appearances in Chikara during his American excursion
Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Ultimate Spider, Jr.) vs. The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield/Sugar Dunkerton) & Matt Classic (Colt Cabana): **1/2…if you are ever wondering how much bigger Colt is than most indy guys, then look at him in his Matt Classic gear: he is a big boy…Hindu Squats~!...Sugar challenged Kotoge to a ropes race, which led to the fans chanting “Race of the Year”…Bryce Remsburg called a foul on Sugar, so Kotoge gave him a foul shot; Classic tried to show him granny’s style…Kotoge hit him in the head with the second shot: that sequence automatically made this my Match of the Year…Ultimate Spider caught Dasher and Sugar in webs as if he was spiderman: BUYS…Classic reversed the spider web into a bearhug: this is the greatest match ever…a little too long but the comedy throughout the match was very entertaining
Sinn Bodhi & The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama w/ Kobald) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant): **3/4…the major story of this match was actually the fact that the BDK ref was reffing the match after he screwed the Colony out of the King of Trios final last year, but he called it down the middle instead…this match was generally well worked but rather methodical; the match was just missing a spark
Team Michinoku Pro (Great Sasuke, Dick Togo & Jinsei Shinzaki [Hakushi]) vs. Team Minnesota (1-2-3 Kid [Sean Waltman], Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin): ***1/2…Waltman’s entrance was built up really well…he even shaved his beard so he looked more Kid-like (although, he did not go mullet, which he at least apologized for)…Chikara was probably the best place to re-debut the 1-2-3 Kid gimmick because almost everywhere else would have gotten him “X-Pac heat”…the Michinoku guys look in great shape for their age…”1995” chants broke out when Kid and Shinzaki were in the ring…slow motion wrestling with the Great Sasuke was hilarious…during the second slow motion sequence, Sasuke did a top rope senton onto a standing chair…the match was a lot of fun and a worthy main event but it was missing that “tear the house down finishing sequence” to be considered great...cool stuff though for sure and the crowd recognizes that with a “Thank You All” chant…Waltman put over the Michinoku Pro guys huge after the match
Overall DVD thoughts: a very strong show to kick off the biggest professional wrestling tournament of the year…2 more to go!!!
Buy this show here: http://www.smartmarkvideo.com/Chikara-DVD-April-15-2011-King-Of-Trios-Night-1-Philadelphia-PA/
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