Moving right back into the second half of...
King of Trios 2009, Night 1
Wooo!
- Match #5 - F.I.S.T. Vs. The Death Match Kings
F.I.S.T. = Gran Akuma, Chuck Taylor, Icarus
The Death Match Kings = Necro Butcher, Brain Damage, Toby Klein
Right off the bat, this match up looks scary on every concievable level. You really want to have these guys in a Chikara ring? Um, ok. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a good bloody brawl and I'm actually a pretty big fan of Necro ever since I meet him in NY (nicest guy in the world!), I just don't feel that they really mesh with the Chikara style, but hey, what do I know? At the very least, it makes for a very interesting match up.
F.I.S.T. out first and sporting some new, spiffy looking matching gear, nice touch, really makes them look like a solid team. Kings out next and all three members of F.I.S.T. bail as soon as they hit the ring. Match takes a bit to get started since not only are F.I.S.T. reluctaant to fight, but there seems to be some confusion with the Kings and the ref as he attempts to explain to them the concept of 'only one man in the ring' and 'tagging' which are foreign to the Kings. Match finally gets started with Chuck Taylor starting out against Toby Klein. Toby really impresses with some surprising agility and various counters to Taylors offense, showing off that he is more then just one dimensional brawler. The displays of wrestling skills quickly come to an end as an all out brawl begins with various members inside and outside the ring. During the brawl, Necro works over the cowardly Icarus outside the ring while Akuma is pelting the monster Brain Damage with some vicious kicks in the ring. While still outside the ring, for some odd reason, Necro grabs the ring bell and begins to ring it leading to some confusion. I suppose he was trying to imply that the match "might as well be over" due to the beating that F.I.S.T. was taking but it didn't really seem to come across that way. Out of nowhere, Gran Akuma grabs two chairs from the outside, sets them up inside the ring, and demands a sit down with any of the Kings, a bold as fuck move to make and it really gets a reaction from the crowd. Necro accepts the invite and they proceed to lay into each other with some vicious stiff punches and kicks. As the match progresses, F.I.S.T. begins to gain control and begins to feel like a regular tag match. In what can only be described as an unwise move, Icarus sucker punches B. Damage while he was on the apron, a move that noticable agreed the big man. Toby locks back up with Taylor and locks him into some sort of leg submission only to have Akuma to run in and lock a submission onto Toby (I know where this is going), next to follow is Necro who puts a cravat on Akuma only to have Icarus jump on Necro's back and put him in a head lock, yes, we currently have a five man chain submission. Brain Damage is the odd man out and attempts to put a hold on Icarus, but decides to just say "Fuck it!" and stiff punch Icarus right in the face causing the whole chain to fall apart, very cool spot! After some quick back and forth offense, Toby climbs the turnbuckle to go for a move only to have Akuma stop him with a quick kick. Stuck on the top turnbuckle, Taylor attempts to hit Toby with his signature finisher, and after some initial difficulty is able to hit a brutal looking Omega Driver. Toby goes completely rag doll and is easy pray as Taylor scores the 1-2-3 on him for the win.
As soon as the bell rings, F.I.S.T. bolts to the back to avoid the wrath of the beaten Kings. As the Kings slowly leave, B. Damage is noticably the most angry, even blurting out "We let those douche bags beat us!?" and seems to want a rematch, something he still hasn't recieved to my knowledge. To be honest, this match was so much better then I thought it would be, I'm not really sure what I expected, but I got a solid brawl with some great characters and a very impressive finish. I really enjoyed this one, and I almost the Kings do get a rematch as some point.
- Match #6 - Team DDT vs. The Future is Now
Team DDT = Kota Ibushi, KUDO, Michael Nakazawa
The Future is Now = Jimmy "Equinox" Olson, Lince Dorado, Helios
A little explanation on one of the teams. DDT, which stands for Dramatic Dream Team, is a Japanese wrestling promotion that have recently grow in popularity with their unique mix of american style sports entertainment and traditional Japanese puroresu, a mix of acting and ability. DDT is out first, and leading the group in Nakazawa (a regular when DDT stars come to america since he speaks very good english) and just he comes out from the curtain he begins to cover him self in a ridiculous amount of baby oil which is his gimmick, he believes it will make him an undefeatable wrestler since no one will be able to apply a hold to his slippery frame, seriously wacky shit to say the least. FIN out next, and for what ever reason Helios and Lince haul ass out from the curtain, around the ring, and then back to the back, only to come back out again this time joined by their stable mate Olson, odd and seemed pointless, but whatever.
Here's a short video of DDT member Kota Ibushi, who is probably their most well known wrestler due to frequent trips to the US to compete for various american indy feds. Not much of a video, but gives you an idea of what he can do (and it's not obnoxious, like most youtube vids) He's the one in the blue and white shorts:
Match begins with Nakazawa and Lince. Before they even lock up, crowd begins to chant for more oil which Nakazawa gladly gives them to the point where he begins to look like a horrific, shiny monstrosity. Lince tries time and time again to put Nakazawa only to slip right off, growing frustrated, Lince grabs a towel and proceeds to attempt to clean some of the oil off of Nakazawa to which the crowd responds with some heavy boos, philly fans seem to really love the oil. Olson now in against KUDO, things start simple only for KUDO to begin to unleash some vicious kicks all over Olson. Helios in next to go against Kota. These two seem to 'click' better then any one else in this match as we are greeted with some amazing, lightning-fast, back and forth action from the two. Match begins to go all over pretty quickly as FIN begin to break out multi-man moves that actually come kinda sloppy and poorly timed. DDT regain control and gives Nakazawa a chance to hit a sort of "slip and slide" back senton on a couple members of FIN, crowd is really loving Nakazawa's wacky gimmick. DDT really in control at this point, both Kota and KUDO break out some great hard hitting offense, especially a sick "handstand into double knees" from KUDO on Olson. All six are in the ring now as all three members of FIN are able to german suplex each member of DDT at the same time for a very spiffy looking spot. FIN try to follow it up by each of them hitting SSP's (Shooting Star Press) on the downed members of DDT, Lince and Helios miss. Things are really breaking down at this point as various wrestlers are on the outside trying to regather themselves from the flurry of offense they've had to endure. Kota takes this opportunity to pull of a huge moonsault to the outside on Lince while Helios does a dive of his own on KUDO. Inside the ring, Nakazawa hits Olson with an amazing looking roll through spear for a pin attempt (the spear was awesome looking, I wish I had a video of it to share). Now things get a little goofy, Nakazawa fills his mouth with oil in an attempt to spit it on Olson, only to have it back fire as hits him in the throat before he can spit it causing him to fall to the mat and begin to choke. Olson looks concerned and proceeds to stomp on Nakazawa as he then geysers up the oil. Not being a fool to pass up such a golden opportuinity, Olson locks in the Chikara Special submission manuever and gets the win. Crowd is pissed.
After the match, solid show of respect from everyone as they begin to exit. Crowd is noticably unhappy to see DDT lose in only the first round. Match was alot of fun with some really great athletcism and various well done spots and some great preformances from the likes of Kota, Nakazawa, and Helios. What hurt this match was some of the sloppy looking multi-man moves and various bits of bad timing. Still, a pretty good match all around.
- Match #7- Incoherence vs. Masters of 1000 Holds
Incoherence = Delerious, Hallowicked, Frightmare
Masters of 1000 Holds = Mike Quackenbush, Jorge 'Skayde' Rivera, Johnny Saint
Incoherence out first and this will my first chance to check out the abilities of their newest member, the rookie, Frightmare. I've heard good things, very exctied to see what he brings to the table. Next out are the 'Masters of 1000 Holds', a name earned due to all three members mastery of various forms of wrestling. Rivera comes out wearing his signature lucha mask, but removes it before the match. A Good crowd reaction all around for all three members of the Masters, especially for Saint who is a legit legend in the world of British wrestling. Saint, a man in his mid sixties at this point, looked to be in pretty good shape for his age, even though you could clearly tell that the decades of wrestling has clearly given him kind of a "tough" apperance.
Frightmare and Rivera to start things off, a good test of skill for the rookie. Rivera breaks out his usual array of unique submissions in an attempt to slow down the quickness of Frightmare. It only works for so long until Frightmare is able to catch Rivera with a dive to the outside. Already very impressed with Frightmare, he's amazingly quick and has great timing. I was afraid he was just going to be another "small guy" wrestler with limited offense, but he really seems to be something special, I seriously can't believe this kid's a rookie. Both men tag out and in come come two men who have been around Chikara since the beginning, Quackenbush and Hallowicked, and proceed to show how well they know each with a great series of back and forth offense. Tags are made and we now have Delerious in the ring against Johnny Saint, quite possibly the most bizarre match up off all time. They begin to trade a series of various submissions and counter for quite a stretch without barely even leaving the center of the ring, it's a very different style of wrestling then I am use to seeing, but I'm digging it, and so is the crowd. Frightmare gets a chance to shine some more, this time against Quackenbush, I'm starting to dig this kid! We get another series with Saint, but this time against Hallowicked. Before they lock up, Delerious warns Hallowicked that Saint "Has tricks!", funny stuff. Saint shows off some agility as he goes against the big man and is able to stay in control with his long list of holds, he keeps the man down, but at no time does he resort to any strikes, impressive stuff. The Masters begin to take control of the match as they are able to keep Delerious grounded and keep up with quick tags, Saint is able to lock in a Mexican Surfboard submission, crazy! Quick tags all around now as all men are in and out of the ring, as this is going on, Rivera is able to roll up Delerious with a schoolboy for the win.
Delerious seems angry at first with his loss, but quickly calms down and then we get a nice show of respect from all men as handshakes and hugs abound. An amazing match, a great mix of styles and a great display of all the wrestler's abilities. Frightmare really impressed big time, and seeing Saint wrestle was a blast.
- Match #8 - The UnStable vs. The Cold Front
The UnStable = Vin Gerard, Colin Delaney, STIGMA
The Cold Front = Al Snow, Glacier, ?????
Pre-Match promo from The Cold Front explains their lack of a third member:
Al Snow is still a good talker. Still a big fan of his, loved his short run in ECW.
The Unstable come out looking as greasy and unpleasant as usual, and now Colin and Vin are sporting matching mustaches (kinda hard to tell if STIGMA has facial hair under the mask, hmmmm....). Colin with quite possibly the second most cocky ring entrance I have ever seen (first still goes to McGuiness) as he able to slide under the ropes and lazily pose at the same time, impressive. Glacier out first for the Cold Front and he comes out with his full entrance (minus perhaps the blue lasers, but I think we'll live) full costume, Mortal Kombat music, blue lights, and even fake snow, wow, makes you wonder why this gimmick bombed back in WCW (sarcasm). Wait, didn't he sell his whole gimmick to Kaz Hayashi anyways, ugh..... Al Snow out next and he gets a great reaction from the crowd which should come as no surprise since the event is being held in the former ECW arena. Before the match can start, Chikara's commisioner, Leonard F. Chikarason, comes to the ring and says the The Cold Front MUST have a third member to compete and decides to just pick one from a hat. The drawings start as a way to tease poor Al Snow by pulling out former gimmicks of his such as Avatar, Shinobi, and the dreadful Leif Cassidy. Drawings start to get a little more serious as Amazing Red's name is pulled, referee Bryce Remsburg runs to the back and then back to the ring to proclaim that Red is not in the building. Next up is one of Chikara newests wrestlers, Green Ant, but he isn't there either, which actually seems really strange. Next name is former WWE superstar D' Lo Brown, and wouldn't you know it, he's in the back. We have ourselves a match!
Right off the bat you can't help but notice the HUGE size difference between the two teams, seriously, the Unstable look like a bunch of kids out there in comparrison. After some fairly lengthly stalling from the Unstable, the match starts between Glacier and Vin who apparently have a history since last years King of Trios. Going to just blaze through this a bit since I want to finish this before I pass out. All and all, the match moves fairly slow with some back and forth between the two teams, pretty flat. After a fairly long and mediocre match, Colin is able to pin D' Lo with a surprsie back slide from nowhere. Weak finish to a weak match, seems apt.
Holy crap, this took forever to write up, yikes! I still have two more nights of the event to work through, lord only knows when I'll get to those!
All and all, I do recommend this DVD, by no means the best I have ever seen, but still really good. A great variety in characters, wrestlers, and styles. Can't wait to check out night 2.
Probably going to hold off on night for the time being. My next blog will probably be me sharing my thoughts on the Dragon Gate USA event I caught in Chicago, crazy night!
Oh, please comment away!
All CHIKARA events can be purchased on DVD at www.SmartMarkVideo.com
(too damn tired to proofread, take care of it later, sorry)
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