The CHIKARA Special 4.10.10: KOOOOOOONICHIWAAAAAAAAAA!

Welcome back readers to the CHIKARA Special! This week we’ll give the skinny on the King of Trios and the Jack of All Trios tournaments, and the newest CHIKARA DVD releases! So read on, and enjoy my ramblings.

Ladies and Gentlemen…it’s here. This weekend is AIW’s Jack of All Trios tournament, coming to you live from the West Park Party Center in Cleveland, OH. After a few alterations, the card is complete. Tonight (Day One) comprises all eight first-round tournament matches, as well as two non-tournament matches. Day Two features the second, third, and final round matches, as well as two non-tournament matches featuring five CHIKARA talents and the ever-popular Matt Classic who will be making his CHIKARA debut at King of Trios! Don’t forget, the trio that wins this tournament will get the coveted 16th and final spot in this years King of Trios tournament. Will The Soul Touchaz come back to Philly for the third year in a row? Will the LWA Showcase return to ruin CHIKARA fans biggest night of the year? Will guys like Mad Man Pondo, Toby Klein, Shiima Xion, or Johnny Gargano lead their respective teams to victory and return to CHIKARA? Or will a trio of wrestlers new to CHIKARA take the next step in their wrestling careers?

There’s only one way to find out: be there tonight and tomorrow night for the Jack of All Trios Tournament. If for whatever reason you can’t make it to the shows, be sure to buy the DVD when it is released. It’s the first AIW DVD’s shot in HD and is likely to be for purchase at King of Trios as well (the scoop daddy promised it himself).

To get more information on the show, Myself and Jerome Cusson had a Q&A with AIW representative Drew Cordeiro all about the show and King of Trios itself. In addition, AIW’s newest installment of Intense TV is up where Matt Wadsworth and Denver Colorado run down the entire show:

For those who don’t feel like watching the video, here’s the run down of both nights:

DAY ONE:

First Round Matches:
1. Alpha Beta Duke vs. LWA Showcase
2. Team No Mercy vs. Team IWA-EC
3. Latin Crime Syndicate vs. Homeless Handicapped Connection
4. Blackballed vs. Pleather Platoon
5. Soul Touchaz vs. Team CLASH
6. Young Studs vs. Mustache Militia
7. Jack of Love vs. Team Beyond
8. Aeroform vs. Psycho Sexual Panic

Non Tournament Matches:
Pinkie Sanchez vs. Davey Vega
Allysin Kay vs. JesSICKa Havok

DAY TWO:
Second Round Matches!
Third Round Matches!
Final Round Matches!

Non Tournament Matches:
Matt Classic & Sugar Dunkerton vs. Tim Donst and Pinkie Sanchez
Frightmare vs. Green Ant

Tournament Trios:
Team #1 – Soul Touchaz – Acid Jaz, Willie Richardson, Marshe Rockett
Team #2 – Jack Of Love – Jack Verville, Chest Flexor, Jefferson Saint
Team #3 – Alpha Beta Duke – The Duke, Nick Belushi, John Thorne
Team #4 – Da Latin Crime Syndicate – Luis Diamante, Joey “The Snake,” K. Fernandez
Team #5 – Team IWA-EC – Madman Pondo, Zac Vincent, ???
Team # 6 – Psycho Sexual Panic – Shiima Xion, Facade, ???
Team #7 – Aeroform – Flip Kendrick, Louis Lyndon, Johnny Gargano
Team #8 – LWA Showcase – Evan Gelestico, Pierre Abernathy, Gary Jay
Team #9 – Homeless-Handicap Connection – Hobo Joe, Gregory Iron, Robert Paulson
Team #10 – Young Studs – Bobby Beverly, Eric Ryan, TJ Dynamite
Team #11 – Pleather Platoon – Corey Winters, Ben FRUITH, Dave The Potato
Team #12 – Mustache Militia – Marion Fontaine, Super Oprah, South Side Sinclaire
Team #13 – Team Beyond Wrestling – Jonny Mangue, Chase Burnett, Zane Silver
Team #14 – Team CLASH – Cameron Skyy, Tommy Treznik, J. Miller
Team #15 – Blackballed – Lamont Williams, Shawn Blaze, “Kano” Josh Emanuel
Team #16 – Team No Mercy – Toby Klein, Chris Dickinson, Tommy Mercer

It’s sure to be a heck of a night of wrestling, so be sure to check it out if you’re in the Ohio area (and even if you’re not!)

For more information on AIW, check out their AIW’s official website as well as AIW’s Twitter page.

Six of the Eight First Round Matches announced for King of Trios!

First announced was Team Frightning of Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked, & Frightmare taking on the Big Japan Wrestling team of Daisuke Sekimoto, Kankuro Hoshino, & Yuji Okabayashi. Sekimoto and Okabayashi are returning to CHIKARA, last seen in October of 2008 when they competed in the Global Gauntlet. Sekimoto and Okabayashi defeated Brodie Lee and Ultimo Breakfast (respectively) on Night One. Funny enough, in the Global Gauntlet, Mike Quackenbush defeated Okabayashi, and Sekimoto defeated Quackenbush! Hallowicked was also the only CHIKARA wrestler to win one of the “Best of 5 Series” matches against BJW on Night One, defeating Katsumasa Inoue. Frightmare was not around at the time of the Global Gauntlet and King of Trios will mark Hoshino’s debut in CHIKARA. Team Frightning first debuted in EVOLVE with a victory over CHIKARA mainstays Icarus, Gran Akuma, & Brodie Lee, but failed to follow up with a victory last month at “Dead Men Don’t Laugh” against the BDK triumvirate (and fellow King of Trios participants) Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, & Tursas. Big Japan is seeking revenge for losing the Global Gauntlet last year while Team Frightning continues bond as a formidable trio. Quackenbush of course has seen King of Trios victory before, as he was one-third of the winning team at the inaugural tournament in 2007. Will the big men of Big Japan be able to overcome the spooky ensemble?

Team F.I.S.T., the only trio to compete in every King of Trios, returns looking to reclaim their thrown. For those who don’t know. Team F.I.S.T. won last years King of Trios defeating Claudio Castagnoli, “Squire” David Taylor, and Bryan Danielson (now known as Daniel Bryan in the WWE) in the finals when Chuck Taylor forced Danielson to tap out to a heel hook. If their King of Trios victory didn’t put them as the odds on favorite, the rest of their CHIKARA accolades will. Between the three of them, they can boast two Cibernetico victories, a Campeones de Parejas steak, the 2007 Rey de Voladores, and a Young Lions Cup tournament victory. F.I.S.T. has truly done it all, and the only thing they have left is to do it all over again. Facing off from them is a newer tandem that has been looking to make their mark in CHIKARA: The Throwbacks. Create-A-Wrestler finally found solid ground as Dasher Hatfield, and even though he’s appeared in every King of Trios weekend of shows, this will be the first trios tournament he has participated in. Joining him is his tag partner Sugar Dunkerton, who first showed up in CHIKARA in October of last year. The duo has had inconsistent success, but always the admiration of their fans to lead them. Joining the fanatical sports duo is Matt Classic, a popular character from MTV’s now defunct Wrestling Society X promotion. Classic is a throwback in the sense of wrestling a very old school “catch-as-catch-can” style of wrestling while admonishing and stretching his opponents who differ from him. Although F.I.S.T.’s reign as a team destroys the Throwbacks, Matt Classic and Sugar Dunkerton will team up at AIW’s Jack of All Trios tournament this weekend in the hopes of getting the ball rolling two weeks before the King of Trios tournament. Will the covey of old-timers be able to shock the CHIKARA foundations and defeat last years Trios winners, or will the similarly-outfitted overlords run them over in their path to the finals?

The Young Bucks made their first big splash on the East Coast at last years King of Trios. From there, it seemed as if everybody wanted a piece of the Young Bucks. They became mainstays for Ring of Honor, traveled back to Dragon Gate and wXw, and are now full-time members of the TNA roster as Generation Me. Unfortunately for the Young Bucks, they didn’t make it past the first round of King of Trios, lost in both Rey de Voladores qualifying matches, and failed to win the Tag Team Gauntlet. Luckily, they have a second chance. Last year they teamed with PWG cohort El Generico, but this time around they’ll be teaming with their youngest brother Malachi “CK” Jackson. Collectively they’re known as “The Jackson 3”. Their first round opponents will be the Future Is Now of Jigsaw, Helios, and Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen. All three members of the Future Is Now are former Young Lions Cup champions, won the “Golden Dreams” trio match back in August during the Young Lions Cup weekend, and made it to the semi-finals of last years King of Trios (although Lince Dorado was in the trio instead of Jigsaw). However, it was Equinox and Helios who scored the victories in their matches, and Jigsaw has much more experience than Lince does and was a 2007 King of Trios winner. Also, Jigsaw and Nick Jackson were across from each other in the Rey de Voladores qualifying match last year with Kota Ibushi and El Generico that many considered to be the best match of the entire weekend. Jigsaw pinned Nick with the Jig N’ Tonic and could do the same once more this year. While the Future Is Now discover some new found success without Lince Dorado, or will the Jackson 3 Mmm-Bop their way into the second round? (Note to CHIKARA: Please have the Jackson 3 come out to Mmm Bop).

Aside from F.I.S.T, the F1RST Family are the only other team from last years of King of Trios to return to action this year. Arik Cannon, Ryan Cruz, and Darin Corbin have made it one step closer each year. They went from not being in the 2007 tournament to the first round in 2008, then from the first round in 2008 to the second round in 2009. The F1RST Family look to continue that trend and make it to third round, or even the finals this year. The F1RST Family have always impressed the fans, giving the performance of the weekend at the 2008 King of Trios against Player Uno, Stupefied, & El Generico. Standing across the ring from them will be three men who have proven their worth in CHIKARA lately, the first of two Brüderschaft teams in Lince Dorado, Tim Donst, and Pinkie “Pink Ant” Sanchez. Donst is the current Young Lions Cup, defeating Player Dos for the Cup back in Janaury. Since winning the cup, Donst has not lost a match in CHIKARA. Pinkie won the 2009 Cibernetico under the guise of Carpenter Ant, by forcing former Campeon de Parejas Soldier Ant to submit to the inverted CHIKARA Special. Lince Dorado also has yet to be pinned since joining the BDK (his only loss was a DQ back in February) and won the 2008 King of Trios tournament. The F1RST Family may have the team advantage, but the Brüderschaft have rapidly become a solid and daunting unit. Individually they work well, but together they have been unstoppable. Will the F1RST Family be the first to halt the Brüderschaft, or will the BDK maneuver ahead looking to add the King of Trios title to their stack of accomplishments?

The Brüderschaft is the only team with the privilege (and the member numbers) to have two teams in the tournament. Current Campeones de Parejas Claudio Castagnoli and Ares team up with the newest (and largest) member of the CHIKARA roster, Tursas. Opposing them is perennial CHIKARA favorite Jorge “Skayde” River, his student Turbo (who has been in CHIKARA twice before), and CMLL high-flying superstar Valiente, who is making his CHIKARA debut. The most interesting not in this match is that in two past CHIKARA tournaments, Claudio’s team has ousted Skayde’s team. In 2006, Claudio and Chris Hero defeated Skayde and Milano Collection AT in the finals of the Tag World Grand Prix. Last year, Claudio’s Team Uppercut defeated Skayde’s Masters of A Thousand Holds in the semi-finals of last year’s King of Trios tournament. Claudio rarely lost in 2009, and has been unstoppable since 2010 began. Claudio, Ares, and Tursas recently defeated Team Frightning in a trios match as well to build momentum into this tournament. It’s very likely that BDK will run through the smaller luchadores of Mexico, but do not discount their speed an agility to be used to their advantage. Could Team Mexico upset one of the favorites of the tournament? Or will the newly crowned Campeones and their hefty cohort run through Team Mexico as expected?

Claudio had some very German words for this team:

Our next match could be the comedy smash of the first round. The Perros del Mal organization has sent the unique trio of Alebrije, Cuije, and a man who’s returning to CHIKARA after a 5 and ½ year absence, El Oriental to take on Team Delicioso of Los Ice Creams and the debuting Curry Man! The team captain of Team Delicioso, Cassandro, unfortunately broke his tibia in a match with Rhett Titus at Ring of Honor’s “Big Bang” iPPV last weekend. Here’s what he had to say about his injury in a recent blog:

4/8/2010: Hola,

Besos,
CASSANDRO

And with that, Curry Man was hand-picked by Cassandro to fill his shoes. Curry Man made his name in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but most fans know him for his 2008 stint in TNA Wrestling where he teamed with Shark Boy and competed in the 2008 World X Cup. Now he teams with the dairy deviants Los Ice Creams in the hopes of King of Trios glory. Los Ice Creams competed in the 2007 and 2008 King of Trios tournaments, teaming with an incognito Claudio Castagnoli (posing a Mystery Swiss Ice Cream) and Glacier, respectively. While they only made it to the second round in 2007 and the first round in 2008, they were thwarted by two teams that would become King of Trios winners. This year they face three men who have never been the tournament. Oriental made a handful of appearances for CHIKARA in 2004 facing favorites like Mike Quackenbush and Skayde. Oritental was supposed to wrestle in CHIKARA’s 2008 Midwest debut, but reneged on the commitments in order to return to the AAA promotion in Mexico. He teams with Alebrije and Cuije, a full sized and miniature luchadore combination. Cuije is one of the smallest competitors ever to grace CHIKARA standing in at only 3 ft. 7 inches tall and weighing only 70 pounds. He left a blog on CHIKARA’s website in Spanish, but here it is translated in English:

I am Cuije, the mascot of the Great Alebrije. I want to tell the public that I am very happy to take part in King of Trios! But, I’m worried because there are so many great fighters. Along with the Great Alebrije and Oriental, we can defeat the Americans and Japanese trios!

Salutations,
Cuije

Who will win this wacky lucha-influenced skirmish?

In addition, we have four teams still in the outfield. They are…

1) The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, Green Ant) (3rd King of Trios for Fire Ant & Soldier Ant, 1st King of Trios for Green Ant)
2) The UnStable (Vin Gerard, STIGMA, & Colin Delaney) (2nd King of Trios for Vin Gerard and Colin Delaney, 4th for STIGMA who was a 2007 winner)
3) Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada, & Tadasuke) (1st King Of Trios)

…and a fourth, which as mentioned, will be decided in the Jack Of All Trios Tournament

On top of all that, CHIKARA will be holding their 3rd Annual Fan Conclave the afternoon of King of Trios Night 2. It will be at The Arena from 2:30 to 4:30 PM, and will feature most of the stars participating in the Trios tournament, plus more. All the events that will be occurring are listed above in the graphic.

Tickets for the Fan Conclave are $10. Tickets can ONLY be purchased at the door, and not in advance. However, CHIKARMY members get in for free with a valid membership card (i.e. if you’ve paid your dues any time in 2010). Sadly, no guests are allowed in with a CHIKARMY member (they have to pay the $10). But, as someone who was there last year, the Conclave was one of the highlights of the weekend and is worth every penny. If you’re an autograph/picture fiend or just love chattin’ up some wrestlers, this is the place for you to be Saturday April 24th.

We’re TWO WEEKS away from King of Trios, and it looks to be a heck of a weekend thus far. I’ll be back next week to give you the scoop on the tournaments as well. But before we go, we have the usual business to take care off.

Just added to Smart Mark Video are the newest CHIKARA DVD releases. Their March shows “Wit, Verve, & A Bit O’Nerve” and “Dead Men Don’t Laugh” are available for purchase! Buy, buy, buy!

Spoiler free cards

“Wit, Verve, & A Bit O’Nerve”
1. Sara Del Ray & Daizee Haze vs. Los Ice Creams
2. Tursas vs. Green Ant
3. The UnStable vs. The Osirian Portal
4. Lince Dorado vs. Equinox
5. 2.0 vs. The Badd Boyz
6. Tm Donst vs. Dasher Hatfield
7. F.I.S.T, Crossbones & UltraMantis Black vs. Jigsaw, Mike Quackenbush & Incoherence
8. Ares & Claudio Castagnoli vs. The Colony

“Dead Men Don’t Laugh”
1. 3.0 vs. Crossbones & UltraMantis Black
2. Pinkie Sanchez vs. Equinox
3. STIGMA vs. Dasher Hatfield
4. Tim Donst, Daizee Haze & Sara Del Ray vs. The Colony
5. Vin Gerard vs. Jigsaw
6. Brendan Michael Thomas vs. Frankie Arion
7. F.I.S.T. vs. The Osirian Portal
8. Lince Dorado vs. Eddie Kingston
9. Ares, Claudio Castagnoli & Tursas vs. Incoherence & Mike Quackenbush

Youtube Fun!

object>

The 207th episode of the CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go is on the air! Matches covered are from the “Throwing Life’s Instructions Away” show back in November. It also features some promos with wrestlers talking about King of Trios.

Here’s a preview of the newly released “EVOLVE 2: Hero vs. Hidaka” DVD. It features a four way tag featuring Quack/Jigsaw, Incoherence, The Colony, and The Osirian Portal, as well as Brodie Lee vs. Gran Akuma.

This is a match brought to my attention by one Bradley Garoon: Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa. It’s from a ZERO-1 show earlier this year, and my goodness is it great. It’s a match I personally thought was four-stars and is worth your time watching.

Shills (I wish) paid the bills

My CHIKARA blog, The CHIKARA Special, is still going strong. I have tons of new reviews of matches from 2002, and entire 2003 shows up there right now. Also, CHIKARA matches from Dragon Gate have been reviewed! Go there, subscribe to the blog (on the right) and continue reading my sweet CHIKARA related reviews. Subscriptions are good because: A) They let me know you’re reading and B) They get delivered right to your inbox. Its good times, so check it out and tell your friends about The CHIKARA Special.

Check out all the new podcasts with myself and/or Jerome Cusson at Pro Wrestling Ponderings. This week, a plethora of podcasts have been put up. I’ve already plugged the newest J & K Fun Hour on the AIW Jack Of All Trios tournament, but we had another big podcast this week. Myself, Brad Garoon, and ALAN4L of Dr. Keith Presents fame discuss a plethora of Dragon Gate in the newest Cool Kids Table podcast. We talk the latest Japenese PPV, King of Gate 2010, The WARRIORS in diapers, and oh so much more. It’s a must listen for any fan of Japanese wrestling. HREF=http://www.prowrestlingponderings.com/>Pro Wrestling Ponderings.

Oh yeah, we’ll also be interviewing Mike Quackenbush and Bryce Remsburg next week. And we’re taking questions at [email protected] No big deal, right?!

Brad Garoon’s blog, Open The Garoon Gate is all about Dragon Gate and Dragon Gate USA. He reviews every Infinity, PPV, appearance of a Dragon Gate wrestler in the U.S. and other Japanse promotion, etc. You owe it to yourself to check out that blog, as well as his Toryumon and dragondoor/El Dorado/Secret Base blogs which you can find links to on his Dragon Gate blog. Jake Ziegler also blog, JZ Says, which has WWE, TNA, ROH, and even film reviews. Make sure to check out and enjoy both!

If you have not begun listening, Mike Quackenbush and Clayton Morris (of FOX News & Friends) host a pop-culture podcast known as The Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe. Clayton and Mike talk about all things geek such as movies, music, television, comic books, tech stuff, and wrestling here and there. I find it wildly entertaining, as Clayton and Mike play off each other very well. It’s also really cool to hear Mike talk about non-wrestling stuff as well. So please, check out The Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe and subscribe to their podcast on iTunes.

Thanks so much again for reading this weeks CHIKARA Special! Next week I’ll be back to talk more King of Trios happenings, the fallout from Jack of All Trios, and whatever else I feel like. Definitely keep checking my blog, as updates are happening all the timez. See you in seven!

Links!
The CHIKARA Home Page .
The brand spankin’ new official CHIKARA message board.
CHIKARA Fans
Buy CHIKARA DVD’s at Smart Mark Video
Follow CHIKARA on Facebook
Follow CHIKARA on Twitter
Follow CHIKARA Fans on Twitter.
CHIKARA on MySpace
CHIKARA on YouTube
CHIKARA 101 on YouTube