Wednesday, September 11, 2019

King of Trios Is DRAMA

The reluctant trio is in
Graphics via ChikaraPro.com
So when last the King of Trios updates were, uh, well updated, the field was at a lucky 13 teams with an offer hanging in the balance for a 14th. In that time, the offer was accepted, an existing team was shaken up, and perhaps the most fun team in the tournament, well, second most-fun after the Quack Pack, was announced. Also, another wrestler was announced for Rey de Voladores, and a cult leader used his one Golden Opportunity to try to become head trainer, failed, and won another one. That's a lot of info to take in. Come and dive in with me.

So, Dasher Hatfield and Molly McCoy had a standing offer to Boomer Hatfield, who is already entered in Rey de Voladores, to compete in Trios with them as a family. The story with that family is that dad got corrupted by the power of holding the Grand Championship in an interim capacity. He rebuffed his brother-in-law, Mark Angelosetti, and then legitimized his reign in a ladder match WrestleMania weekend. Over the time between last season's finale, when he first turned to the rudo side, and then, Dasher became colder and meaner towards Boomer, who also was opposed to dad's cheating. So son challenged dad for his mask at Aniversario in Chicago and won, and Cousin Molly said she'd never forgive Boomer for the act of aggression, even though it was Dasher clearly in the wrong. One could maybe not blame Boomer if he didn't want to accept the offer, but he did so, possibly at the behest of whatever family member he was speaking to on the phone in this video (his mother?). Now, the raw talent on this team is unquestioned. Dasher is still the Grand Champion, Boomer is an up-and-coming future Chikara ace, and McCoy, well, she's a wild card but also a Broad Street Bully. However, one cannot discount the dysfunction. Also, if this team wins night one, and Boomer has to pull double duty night two, well, you might see things really get testy.

Trio number 15 is a lot less steeped in drama and much more trained in the art of ROCK N ROLL, BABY. Stray Kat (Allie Kat elsewhere) and "That Ol' Juke Joint" Lucas Calhoun will shake their hips and bring cat scratch fever to Trios with the straitlaced bruiser, Missile Assault Man. While the Kat and the Juke Joint were unsuccessful in their attempt at Los Campeonatos de Parejas, they will look to forge ahead with the former member of Colony: Xtreme Force. Missile Assault Man has had quite the career trajectory, but he's found a niche as a no-nonsense tecnico brawler lately. The chip on his shoulder should pair well as a foil to the other two's carefree, rocking party attitude.

Another already-announced team decided it would make a change on the fly. The Crucible's A-team contained the group's leader Ophidian, its consigliere Whisper, and stalwart member Lance Steel. Well, at Chikarasaurus Rex, Ophidian made a substitution on the fly, replacing Whisper with former Grand Champion Kimber Lee. While the reasons for the substitution are unknown, Whisper is not taking it lightly.
Yeah, sounds like someone taken by surprise. With one team left, could Whisper slink his way back into the tournament with Joshua Wells and perhaps another disgraced Crucible exile? Or will he just screw with Ophidian's team and ensure that they won't win? It should also be noted that Lee and Whisper held the CdP as and odd couple tandem after being rivals. I wonder if she had some dirt on him. Time will tell.

Ophidian was busy outside of Trios stuff too, as an aside. For those who don't know, he won Chikara's answer to the Royal Rumble, the Infinite Gauntlet, earning him a Golden Opportunity, i.e., three points in service of a title shot that could not be lost the way points normally are. However, instead of choosing Dasher's Grand Championship or Team FIST's CdP, he made a quite unorthodox challenge to Chikara patriarch and head trainer Mike Quackenbush for his latter position this past Friday. He lost the match, but he made up for it by winning the Johnny Kidd Invitational at C-Rex, getting that Golden Opportunity back. Does this have ramifications for Trios? Perhaps, as if he has another shot in his back pocket, perhaps that telegraphs his Crucible team may not win the whole thing. Will he use that Golden Opportunity on Quack for the trainer title again, or will he upend the Grand Champion, whoever that is when he challenges? Time will tell.

Finally, while his master Oceanea and cohorts Merlok and Hermit Crab will look to take home Trios glory, Cajun Crawdad will enter his name into the Rey de Voladores tournament. He is the third announced competitor, along with the aforementioned Boomer and Kentucky's former best kept secret Alex Zayne. I don't expect the entire field to be announced in advance of the tournament given it will certainly contain some night one losers, but so far, it's a strong field.

The other 13 teams for the tournament have been announced already and are as follows:
  • Team Pump (Scott Steiner, Jordynne Grace, Petey Williams)
  • The Ancient Order of Nations (Mick Moretti, Adam Hoffman, Jack Bonza)
  • The Carnies (Kerry Awful, Nick Iggy, Tripp Cassidy)
  • The Embassy (Prince Nana, Jimmy Rave, Sal Rinauro)
  • The VeloCities (Mat Diamond, Jude London, Paris DeSilva)
  • Team FIST (Icarus, Tony Deppen, Travis Huckabee)
  • The Crucible (Ophidian, Kimber Lee, Lance Steel)
  • The Creatures of the Deep (Oceanea, Merlok, Hermit Crab)
  • The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant, Thief Ant)
  • The Crucible II (Matt Makowski, Devantes, EM DeMorest)
  • Three Queens (Solo Darling, Willow Nightingale, Freddie Mercurio)
  • The Quack Pack (Mike Quackenbush, Rob Killjoy, Lance Lude)
  • The Nightmare Warriors (Hallowicked, Frightmare, Kobald)
With one more team left to announce, Trios this year looks like an amazingly stacked bracket with several winners and even more potential crowd pleasers. You can catch the action October 4-6 at the Goodwill Beneficial Association in Reading, PA. All information and ticket sales can be found at ChikaraPro.com. Night one will have all the first round matches. The middle day, Saturday, starts with King of Brunches, then later on Fan Conclave, and finally with the second show, featuring the four quarterfinal Trios matches, two Rey de Voladores four-way qualifiers, and just announced, master and student colliding with BLANK taking on Still Life with Apricots and Pears. Night three will contain the semifinal and final matches of Trios, the Rey de Voladores final, and the always crowd-pleasing Ten Tag Team Gauntlet. Get your tickets now.