CHIKARA KING OF TRIOS 2011: NIGHT 2 ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS
APRIL 16, 2011
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Mike Roe, Torch specialist (6.5)

A fun show, but definitely the middle chapter of a larger epic.

The main event was fantastic; I love Quackenbush's team in particular, and the first two shoes in this trilogy made me want to go buy a Best Of Manami Toyota DVD. I'd put it a notch below their match from Night One, but still excellent.

The Rey de Voladores tournament matches were good. I particularly enjoyed 1-2-3 Kid's work in the second tournament match and Zack Sabre Jr. as the ground technician heel in the other tournament match. I was worried about Obariyon's involvement, but he was a perfect foil for 1-2-3 Kid.

The Colony vs. BDK was fun, and a nice move as part of the continuing feud between these groups. Green Ant impressed me on the mic in their pre-match promo.

Arik Cannon and Eddie Kingston's match, despite their sweet Larry Sweeney tribute, was my biggest disappointment of the night. It started as unstirred brawling before breaking down into a nothing-happening wrestling match. One star.

Osirian Portal versus Team Dragon Gate was good, but a little long. It would have been better if they would have wrapped it up a few minutes earlier.

F.I.S.T. vs. Team Osaka Pro was a good match, though the announcers pointing out how similar Ultimate Spider Jr.'s style was to Rob Van Dam was a bit distracting and felt a bit like exposing a weakness rather than building a guy up. I also thought the finish was completely out of nowhere in a bad way, which took this match down a peg in my book.

Archibald Peck is a fantastic man. I found Colt Cabana's comedy a bit annoying in their match, as I felt it was the same old stuff from Colt while Peck felt fresh. In the end, this led me to cheering for Peck even though he was the heel. A fun comedy match.

Jimmy Eaton, Torch specialist (8.0)

Wow, this was another great show. Not as full of comedy as the first night, but it more than made up for it with some great matches. Getting right into it, the first match almost brought tears to my eyes from laughter. Why? Because it was freaking Colt Cabana against a drum major, also known as Archibald Peck! Oh, and for the record, I mistakenly put in Night 1 DISC 2, instead of Night 2 and watched the entire Team DGUSA match against the Spectral Envoy and thought it was awesome. Although it was awesome, apparently I didn't realize that I already saw it. I blame the fact that I've been gearing up for a move that's finally done and that I wasn't in my right mind. Sean had to retract the idea that I must have had the wrong DVDs or that some crazy, mystical force swapped around my discs. Nope, just a full-on fail on my part. But, back to the wrestling!

Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck may not have been that funny to some, but coming from a former drum captain and "band geek" I really dug it. Yes, a band geek who has a passion for wrestling. Done with your giggles and jokes yet? Alright, moving on. The little mannerisms that Peck did were priceless and Cabana was a perfect fit for his opponent. Both were funny and I give Colt major props for putting a guy like Peck over. Little things like shouting "THIS IS MY FINISHER!" off the top rope were hilarious and the commentary was great with the Band puns. Over the top? Maybe to some, but the match length was fine at just under ten minutes I believe, so this was a really hot way to start the show in my opinion. (**1/2)

F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor/Johnny Gargano/Icarus) vs. Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge/Daisuke Harada/Ultimate Spider Jr.) was outstanding. One of the better matches I've seen for the entire tournament for sure up to this point. The action was tough to follow and the near falls were a plenty by the match's end, yet it didn't feel over the top. These guys put on probably what was the best match of the night in my eyes. Incredible spots, dives to the outside, and some stiff shots. Really enjoyed this one and I was gasping and wincing at some of the moves they did. Icarus did a lot more for me in this match than in Night 1 by a mile. One of the best reasons to watch this show. Wish both teams could have moved on, but alas, I won't complain when I get to see more of Friends In Similar Tights in action again. Just found out that was what F.I.S.T. stood for. Awesome. (****1/4)

El Generico vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Pinkie Sanchez vs. Marshe Rockett in a Rey de Voladores Qualifying Elimination Match was a bit of a low point on the show, but it was still solid so it's not like it was horrible by any means. Just doesn't stick out as much as I recall. But the action was good and El Generico going over really popped the crowd. This was a solid match, but Generico is the only guy that really sticks out to me. The other guys weren't bad by any means, but nothing really stuck out. The crowd was glad Generico went over of course, and that leads up to a great singles match on Night 3 to my understanding. (**3/4)

The Osirian Portal (Amasis/Ophidian/Hieracon) vs. Team Dragon Gate (Akira Tozawa/Super Shisa/KAGETORA) was another really, really solid Trio match. All six men really put it all out there and while this wasn't the top match on the card, it was still a blast and Team Dragon Gate got the well-deserved chants of "Please come back!" after their loss. The Osirian Portal are a blast to watch and just like much of the stuff in Chikara, I see some of the gimmicks as painless and clever as something as simple as a guy basically playing a snake character doesn't put it too over the top. Another great example of trio wrestling. (***)

Eddie Kingston vs. Arik Cannon was one of the most emotional parts of the show due to the tributes to Larry Sweeney. There wasn't a ton to the match and honestly it was pretty forgettable for me personally despite the fact that both guys worked hard and Cannon shows a ton of atheticism in the ring for a guy his size. The finish seemed a bit blah but the effort was there and quite frankly, the emotions were running high. Kingston placed a Larry Sweeney shirt over the top rope before a hug from Cannon as the crowd chanted "Sweet and Sour" if memory serves me right. It's stuff like this that makes wrestling more real than the media and any other person for that matter gives it credit for. Kudos to both guys either way. (**1/4)

The Colony (Fire Ant/Soldier Ant/Green Ant) vs. Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Tim Donst/Delirious/Jakob Hammermeier) didn't do a ton for me, but I really like the Colony and like how they got promo time before the match. I have to give a shout out again to the commentary team who gave me a good summary of their entire angle, and the older team of BDK from last year. I feel like I was caught up to speed and when the crowd popped, it felt great to see a storyline progress and get that kind of reaction when Green Ant slammed Taurus. While I didn't think this match was over the top fantastic, it really excelled more as a story enhancement and it showed just how over the Colony is. That certainly bodes well for them entering Night 3. The anthill is a great name for their finisher too, yet a cool looking torture rack submission win with the crowd going nuts was how they got the win to move on to Night 3. (***1/4)

The second Rey de Voladores Qualifying Elimination Match of the 1-2-3 Kid vs. Amazing Red vs. Frightmare vs. Obariyon was a step above the first with Kid really over with the crowd. The action was really good and Obariyon played a good chicken heel, especially to Kid, which got the crowd in an uproar. Kid was in top form here and while I had known he wins due to his Night 3 match-up I heard great things about with El Generico, the match was good enough to suck me in with great near falls. I like elimination style matches when their used for this purpose so guys really get the chance to shine, not just hit their high spots and be done for the remainder. Great action with the crowd absolutely loving it when Kid got the win. Frightmare shined here too and really put on a show with Red for guys their size. Obariyon didn't do a ton for me, but he played the necessary heel throughout. Can't wait to see Kid vs. El Generico on Night 3! (***1/4)

Team Michinoku Pro (Great Sasuke/Dick Togo/Jinsei Shinzaki) vs. Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw/Manami Toyota was a fantastic way to close the show, it was an incredible match that really made me happy to call myself a wrestling fan. The ring psychology was especially superb in how the veterans all worked together to make this "main event caliber". Toyota was just as good in Night 2, if not better than in Night 3. Some awesome spots from her and great triple-teaming from both trios. Too many fun parts of this match to count in my opinion, but given how I thought that Team Michinoku Pro may not be able to go deep into the tournament, I was sorely mistaken. Believable near-falls and every participant in that match proved they belonged in this profession. Fantastic job by everyone. (****)

Overall, I really enjoyed Night 2 and I am still growing into a new found love for Chikara Pro Wrestling. However, that being said, I think the crowd was a bit hotter for Night 1 and the matches seemed to flow a bit nicer throughout the night. Like Night 1, Night 2 didn't have a terrible match, but it just had more that seemed in the middle of obscurity as opposed to Night 1. But still, you have to get all three nights to enjoy the experience and I say that without even seeing Night 3 yet! But again, everyone worked super hard and really went out of their way to push the product and give the fans a show well worth their time and money. Believe me, after Night 2, they've more than succeeded.

Brian Leahy, Torch specialist (7.5)

Using a wrestling methaphor to describe a wrestling tournament; If King of Trios Night 1 was a quick series of holds and counter-holds followed by an “indy-stand-off”, Night 2 can be likened to the middle stretch of a match, more disciplined and orderly, with slightly less buzz but more substance than what preceded it.

To give credit where it’s due, the wrestling action is more serious and as a whole, possibly of a higher standard than the first night of the tournament, but the spirit of the Philly crowd is not comparable to that of Night 1 and the show suffers from what seems to be slight fan burnout.

Despite the more serious tone of the night overall, the opener was all fun, and may be more fittingly described as pure comedic gold. Archibald Peck’s open challenge was answered by Colt Cabana making a “surprise” appearance, and ten minutes of decidedly hilarious action ensued. What Peck lacks in experience (and what he’s lacking is not obvious), he more than makes up for with buckets of charisma. Ordinarily I don’t have a lot of time for pure comedy matches, but this match was absolutely perfectly crafted and struck the right balance as the comedy didn’t compromise the wrestling action in the match.

The four Trios matches on Night 2 ranged from good, to excellent, and even the “weakest” match of the four (BDK vs. The Colony) provided its share of both thrills and payoff and the finishing sequence featured a reaction akin to that of a WrestleMania moment as Green Ant slammed the giant Tursas. On the other end of the scale, F.I.S.T. vs. Osaka Pro was the match of the weekend so far as the 6 men literally didn’t put a foot wrong for twenty minutes. Team Dragon Gate vs. The Osirian Portal was solid, but not entirely spectacular and suffered slightly from being overly long for the action it contained.

The main event of Michinoku Pro vs. Quack, Jigsaw & Toyota was a slight disappointment, despite the optimistic cries of “Match of the Year” from the Chikara faithful on-hand. The action was good, even great in points, but the crowd burnout I mentioned earlier was really evident here, and the finish fell completely flat as Sasuke powerbomed Quack and scored the pinfall in relative silence.

Night 2 also saw the start of the “Rey De Voladores” mini-tournament in the form of two-highflying 4-way elimination matches. In the marginally better match, aided by the BDK/Wink Vavuesseur storyline, El Generico outlasted Pinkie Sanchez, Marshe Rockett and Zach Sabre. The heat on Sanchez in this one was great, and the crowd was typically hot for El Generico as he successfully performed as the final barrier to the advance of the BDK.

In the second RDV qualifier, Sean Waltman continued to turn the clock back as he outlasted his three younger opponents, while keeping admirably in step for much of the action. Whatever Chikara paid Waltman for the weekend, they definitely got their moneys worth over the first two nights as The “Kid” seemed to be intent on pushing himself to his limits over the entire weekend, with the spotlight to fall on him once again on Night 3.

All in all, Night 2 was not quite the show that Night 1 was, but it flows really well as a package and sets night 3 up perfectly. It’d be difficult not to recommend such a solid night of action, and impossible not to recommend the purchase of Night 2 as part of all three nights of KOT 2011.

Sean Radican, Torch columnist (7.0)

This was another strong show from the KOT tournament. It wasn’t as strong as night 1, but it was close. The show had a number of really good matches and nothing was bad. The crowd seemed tired at times and weren’t as electric as they were on the first night.

The show started out really strong with a hilarious match between Cabana and Peck. Peck really plays his role well and Cabana was the perfect foil for him here. The second match featuring Team Osaka Pro vs. F.I.S.T. was simply electric. It was the best match of the show and the crowd really came unglued for the incredible action.

I enjoyed both matches in the Rey De Voladores tournament, but I didn’t like the heel ref getting involved in the first match, although he was forced to count the three on Sanchez in the end. Sabre was impressive, but he needs to add more to his arsenal to vary his offense.

The card slowed down for a bit, but picked up for some great moments during the Colony vs. B.D.K. match. CHIKARA really does a good job of paying off long-term storylines and when Green Ant slammed the giant Tursas CHIKARA’s careful booking paid off as the place totally became unglued for the spot. Green Ant also cut a really good promo backstage setting up the match against their B.D.K. rivals.

Once again, 1-2-3 Kid put in a game effort in the other Rey De Voladores match. It was great watching the fans react to him. I’m not big on Obariyon, but the rest of the men involved kept the pace going well. The match seemed to lose a little steam once Red was eliminated first, but it picked up for a really good finish involving 1-2-3 Kid beating Frightmare to advance to the finals against Generico on Night 3.

The main event was really good and the crowd was hot for most of the match, but the finish seemed to fall flat. It’s a lot of fun to see Team Michinoku Pro in action and the crowd was really hot for Quackenbush and Toyota going at it with the likes of Togo, Shinsaki, and Sasuke. Toyota is a treat to watch and she shined here going toe-to-toe with the male wrestlers while hitting some huge spots.

The first two shows have tied together nicely. I really like the intensity Green Ant showed during this show and I’m looking forward to see how the Colony fares on the third night.

[Torch art credit Marco D'Alfonso (c) PWTorch.com]

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