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All 16 Teams Vying To Become King of Trios

The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant)
F.I.S.T. (Icarus, Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano)
The Osirian Portal (Amasis, Ophidian & Hieracon)
¡3.0LÉ! (Scott Parker, El Generico & Shane Matthews)
Team Dragon Gate (Akira Tozawa, KAGETORA & Super Shisa)
Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett & Willie Richardson)
The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield, Sugar Dunkerton & Matt Classic)
Joshi & The Luchadors (Manami Toyota, Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw)
Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Ultimate Spider, Jr.)
Team Michinoku Pro (The Great Sasuke, Dick Togo & Jinsei Shinzaki)
The Spectral Envoy (UltraMantis Black, Frightmare & Hallowicked)
The Bruderschaft (Tim Donst, Delirious & Jakob Hammermeier)
Team Minnesota (Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin & 1-2-3 Kid)
The S.A.T. (Amazing Red, Wil Maximo & Joel Maximo)
The Dark Army (Sinn Bodhi, Obariyon & Kodama)
Team Australia (Percy T, Kabel & Tama Williams)

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King of Trios 2011 (Night 1)

Friday, April 15th – Philadelphia, PA

Full Results ~ 7:30 Bell Time

Preshow-A-Go-Go: Dr. Keith is host once again. He welcomes out The Great Sasuke, who puts over his team and tells the fans not to miss this tournament. A video for Manami Toyota plays and then Sinn Bodhi comes out, talking bout cinnamon muffins, hating on UltraMantis Black and then saying something about bipolar disorder. NOT. SMART. Steve “The Turtle” Weiner is JACKED and his energy is absolutely infectious. They pimp the call-in line (609-473-0479) where you can talk to the stars of Chikara live during Night 1. Another video airs and Jakob Hammermeier comes out with Tursas and Delirious. He puts over Team BDK and then Tim Donst comes out to take over. He insults the fans and they leave. Next out live: The Colony! Scattered boos for the ants…because people are dumb. Green Ant takes the mic and cuts a very passionate promo and Keith stealthily plugs some of his own stuff. A “Turtle” chant breaks out! The Doctor recommends stealing a car! They plug the Night 2 Fan Conclave and Wiener says he’s gonna be the man to slam Tursas. Another video airs and the camera is now on the ring. The entire locker room empties as they do a ten-bell salute to “Sweet N’ Sour” Larry Sweeney. It’s really power stuff; you could hear a pin drop in the Asylum Arena. A short but great Sweeney video airs on the big screen and the whole crowd chants for Sweeney. Not a dry eye in the house. Quack & Kingston are said to be very emotional. Hell, I’m choked up just watching it on a computer screen. I can see a lot of Sweeney shirts and purple arm bands, too. A final, amazing Trios hype video airs. Holy God. It’s like the beginning of a movie! It honestly gave me chills. The show begins and the video’s still on! Gavin Loudspeaker introduces the guys around the ring, gears us up for the first match and we hear Bouncing Souls! It’s ¡3.0LÉ! versus The Osirian Portal to open the show! The video finally ends about three minutes into the match. Awesome stuff.

1. King of Trios 1st Round Match: The Osirian Portal d. ¡3.0LÉ! (18:12). A dance party breaks out. This…really shouldn’t surprise you. The Portal win an incredibly fun match after they hit The Osirian Sacrament on Shane Matthews to advance in the tournament. In their fourth Trios with their fourth different partner, Amasis & Ophidian advance to round 2 for only the second time.

2. King of Trios 1st Round Match: F.I.S.T. d. Team Australia (11:13). Like a lot of groups in Chikara this year, F.I.S.T. has new, in-house produced music. Gearing up for TV? You betcha. Icarus has added more to the tattoo as well. Ick, G-Man & Chucky T advance after Gargano pins Tama Williams following a big triple team move. Trios has been around for five years now and all five of them saw F.I.S.T. advance past round one.

3. King of Trios 1st Round Match: The Bruderschaft w/ Tursas d. Da Soul Touchaz (11:23). Jakob comes out first to introduce the rest of the team, and himself of course. Donst is out wearing a “C” on his shirt for Captain…or Cumbersome. Because he’s fat. Tursas runs in and hits a crossbody on Acid Jaz, allowing Hammermeier to pin him for the victory. Da Soul Touchaz fail to get out of the first round for the first time after trips to round two in 2008 & 2009. BDK teams now have FIVE straight tournament wins. Beastly.

4. King of Trios 1st Round Match: Joshi & The Luchadors d. The S.A.T. (10:11). Quack apparently did some dancing…which makes this must-see. Toyota, Quack & Jigsaw advanced in a really great match when Quack hit Larry Sweeney’s ’68 Comeback Special and Jigsaw hit a top-rope elbow drop on Wil Maximo for three. Gabe Sapolsky called the match “something special” live. Quack avenges his loss with Team Frightning last year with his fourth trip to round two. In his three Trios tourneys, Jigsaw had always made it out of the opening round. This is Manami Toyota’s first King of Trios. So…there’s that.

5. King of Trios 1st Round Match: Team Dragon Gate d. The Spectral Envoy (14:34). The makeshift DG team gets the job done against Mantis, Wicked & Frights. Super Shisa pinned Frightmare with the Yoshi Tonic for the first real upset of the tournament! For the THIRD straight year, Frightmare & Hallowicked fail to get out of the first round…and with three different partners no less: Mantis, Delirious, and Mike Quackenbush.

6. King of Trios 1st Round Match: Team Osaka Pro d. The Throwbacks (17:04). Hilarious match that, for some reason, got a “Race of the Year” chant. Daisuke Harada ended up taking foul shots, too. Said to be the greatest match in the history of professional wrestling. Ultimate Spider catches Matt Classic with La Magistral to advance on to Night 2.

7. King of Trios 1st Round Match: The Colony d. The Dark Army (16:32). Rudo referee Derek Sabato is overseeing the contest, which is NOT good for the Ants, as he was the man that screwed them in the finals of last year’s tournament. They persevere though and advance after Fire Ant pins Obariyon following the Ant Hill!

8. King of Trios 1st Round Match: Team Michinoku Pro d. Team Minnesota (22:51). Dueling “Mi-chi-no-ku” and “Mi-nne-so-ta” chants break out! Great Sasuke & Darin Corbin go slo-mo! SLO-MO! DREAMS DO COME TRUE! Togo pins Corbin with the top-rope senton for the win. The entire crowd stands and applauds Team M-Pro to end an incredible and emotional night of wrestling. This is the first time three Japanese teams have advanced past the first round of the tournament.

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Overall Thoughts

This sounds like exactly what you want out of a first round: lots of laughs, a few tears and all the right people win. Yeah, I went 8 for 8 with my picks. I am, in the words of Boris Grishenko, invincible! Seriously though, not one match here sounds bad. The Preshow was unquestionably a success and I felt absolutely GUTTED I couldn’t be there live. That’s the goal of every one of these they do. They make you wanna hop a train tonight to see a show tomorrow. The tributes to Sweeney sound well thought out and very tasteful. I want this show in my hands right now, it sounds that fun. We have three reporters in Philly, so you can expect even more detailed comments from Jerome Cusson, Kevin Ford & JP Nichols very soon!

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