Finishing out the Trios!

Now to finish off the festivities, let’s go match by match through Chikara King Of Trios 2009 Night 3 (3/29/09). Again, spoilers aplenty, consider this your final warning.

-The opening match, a semi-final of the tournament, is easily the best match for The UnStable all weekend. Guess that isn’t too hard to pull off going against Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, and Dave Taylor. Good way to start the night. Especially enjoy that Danielson is now selling an injury that started the previous night and made worse by Vin Gerard and his goons. That’s dedication to a story.

-Second semi-final contest, F.I.S.T. vs. The Future Is Now, and this continues F.I.S.T.’s strong showing over the three shows. The Future Is Now looks great too, but Chuck Taylor, Icarus, and Gran Akuma have been solid gold all weekend long. And I must say officially now, commit this to what we’ve replaces paper with in the future, Chuck Taylor’s Awful Waffle is my favorite finishing move today, period.

-Arik Cannon and El Generico are great, just great. And their match here is great, really great. But what I love most about these guys is how obvious it is that they have different levels of greatness achievable at any time. They can be mid-card great, they can be main event great, it all depends on what is being asked for. Great as this match is, you just know they could have one even greater if they wanted to. And that’s awesome.

-The Tag Team Gauntlet is a mixed bag, but ultimately it is entertaining. Getting essentially eleven mini-matches never hurt anybody, and when some of those minis include The Young Bucks vs. Da Soul Touchaz, The Young Bucks vs. Cheech And Cloudy, and Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw vs. Brodie Lee and Grizzly Redwood, you really can’t complain. It runs long, and begins to feel predictable, but overall it is a good time.

-Lots of amusing action and moments in the eight-man tag with Kudo, Michael Nakazawa and The Osirian Portal taking on The Colony and the North Star Express. If you ever wondered how many baby oil spots can be worked into one match, you will have your answer here.

-Don’t want to call it an indie scene dream match, but I will admit to salivating when I read that there was an Austin Aries and Eddie Kingston clash here. The bout is everything any fan of the two would expect – well paced, well worked, and well served by the intensity of both men. Well done.

-Kota Ibushi already earned his money printing status during the four-way on the previous show, and here he pays it forward by helping to make Player Dos look better than he ever has before! Dos always had tons of potential, but on this night his star is realized. Ibushi and Dos move at a lightening-quick pace and bust out some completely unpredictable spots and moments to make for a really amazing match. If you remember only one thing from Trios weekend, remember how grand these two proved themselves to be.

-At last we’ve reached the end, and what an ending it is. F.I.S.T. is relentless, and Team Uppercut is suddenly on a whole new playing field. Claudio and company’s dominance throughout the tournament has led to this moment, battling the homegrown team that arguably wants the win more than anybody else. I love the work F.I.S.T. does on Danielson’s injury, again playing off the story that has grown throughout the weekend. The finish is perfect, and generally speaking this is one of the best trios matches of the weekend. What an excellent finish to an exceptional set of shows.