Thanks very much for the comments Bookerbill and Pariah. Night One was a lot of fun with some great bouts. Coming up now is Night Two and with any luck I will have Night Three posted tomorrow to wrap up King of Trios weekend. I'm two matches away from finishing it all up so I should be able to get it done. Anyway, enjoy the Night Two action...IWA King of Trios - Night Two - Goodwill Fire Association Hall - Reading, PA (Card #1209)Quick Results:
1) Rey de Voladores – Match One: Sabu (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Darby Allin and Paul London
Order of Elimination:
* Paul London pinned Darby Allin – Shooting Star Press
* Sabu pinned Jushin Liger – Triple Jump Moonsault
* Sabu over Paul London by submission – Camel Clutch
2) Ron Hutchison defeated Cheeseburger
(Pinfall – Snake Eyes - Kiwi Roll)
3) Rey de Voladores – Match Two: “Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay defeated ACH, Chri$ Ca$h and Brian Kendrick
Order of Elimination:
* Will Ospreay pinned Chri$ Ca$h – Corkscrew Shooting Star Press
* Brian Kendrick pinned ACH – Tornado DDT
* Will Ospreay pinned Brian Kendrick – Springboard Cutter
4) King of Trios – Second Round: The Mack, Moose & Dante Fox defeated Brian Christopher & PG-13 (J.C. Ice & Wolfie D)
(Moose pinned Wolfie D – Lariat)
5) King of Trios – Second Round: Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Gran Akuma defeated The Warlord, Rhino & “The Wrench” Conor Claxton (with Jimmy Hart) by DQ
6) “Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare” Kevin Steen defeated “War King” Eddie Kingston
(Pinfall – F-Cinq, a Fireman’s Carry Face Buster)
7) King of Trios – Second Round: Mil Mascaras, The Destroyer & Tiger Mask defeated Pac 3 (Dicky Mayer, Dylan Bostic & Dan Joseph, with Coach Flexo & Clarence)
(Mil Mascaras pinned Dicky Mayer – Slingshot Plancha)
8) King of Trios – Second Round: Adam Cole (Bay-Bay!), Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Trent Barreta, Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov
(Kyle O’Reilly over Alex Koslov by submission – Armageddon)
Match Highlights:
Second round action in the King of Trios tournament kicked off with the Big Mack Attack (The Mack, Moose & Dante Fox) of Lucha Underground taking on the free agent team of the Memphis Mafia (Brian Christopher, J.C. Ice & Wolfie D). The action was explosive in this match as the Big Mack Attack used their size advantage to overpower Memphis Mafia but Christopher and PG-13 hung in there taking the fight to them. One highlight saw Christopher execute the sunset flip power bomb to the floor on Fox. That set up PG-13 delivering the Back breaker and Elbow combo on Fox for a big near fall. The Mack led his team in a late rally taking Wolfie D out with the MDX. Moose took over and blasted Wolfie D with the Pounce before connecting with a Lariat for the pin as The Mack and Fox cut off a save attempt by Christopher and Ice. It was a big win for the Big Mack Attack who, as the Lucha Undergrounded representatives, have the added pressure of Catrina hanging over them as she demanded that they return to The Temple with the medals.
The popular F.I.S.T. (IWA J-Crown champion Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Gran Akuma) had a tough draw in taking on Pacific Coast Wrestling representatives the First Family consisting of The Warlord, Rhino & “The Wrench” Conor Claxton. The massive size of The Warlord alone presented plenty of problems for F.I.S.T. as did the pure physical power of Rhino. There was some levity pre-match as First Family manager Jimmy Hart got in the faces of F.I.S.T. before Taylor goosed him and chased him to the back much to the delight of the crowd. It was no fun from there, though, as F.I.S.T. were dealt some serious pain. Rhino blasted Icarus with the GORE! but the pin attempt was broken up by Taylor and Akuma. Claxton, who is often called the “secret weapon” of the First Family by Hart, took great delight in taking the match to the outside several times. That proved to be the undoing of the First Family, however, as Claxton refused to listen to the referee and was disqualified for using a weapon on Taylor. F.I.S.T. moved on to the semi-final round in what would some would call an upset victory over the First Family team.
Legends of the Mask (Mil Mascaras, The Destroyer & Tiger Mask) took on Pac 3 (“American Thunder” Dicky Mayer, Dylan Bostic & Dan Joseph) in a highly entertaining match. Coach Flexo and team water boy Clarence were out at ringside for Pac 3 who scored early with Mayer getting a two count on Mascaras with a Bridging German Suplex. Mascaras bounced back quickly, though, and hit the Crossbody Attack on both Mayer and Joseph for near falls. The Destroyer and Tiger Mask also helped turn it around with some great offense including The Destroyer using a dizzying airplane spin on Bostic for a two count. A wild turn of events saw Mascaras hit the Flying Bodypress on Joseph for what should have been a three count but Flexo interfered by tossing his penalty flag into the ring as a distraction. Pac 3 then struck with the PAC Back on Mascaras for a big near fall. Mascaras would not be kept down long, however, and as The Destroyer and Tiger Mask took out the rest of Pac 3 he hit a Slingshot Plancha from the ring apron into the ring on Mayer to score the pin moving Legends of the Mask on to the semi-final round.
The main event saw the Roppongi Hooligans (Trent Barreta, Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov) take on the Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) in a match that stole the show. Just incredible action throughout and the battles between Barreta and Cole were standouts. That’s not to take away from the other four men, however, as both teams pulled out all the stops in this match attempting to claim the final spot in the semi-final round. Romero nearly pulled off a huge upset when he trapped Cole in the Diablo Armbar for a submission chance that was broken up in the ropes. Cole then got revenge on Romero hitting the Panama Sunrise on him for a big near fall. Fish and O’Reilly, the formerly branded reDRagon, put their tag team skills to use hitting the backbreaker and flying kneedrop combo on Barreta for a near fall. The finish was intense as O’Reilly survived Romero’s Diablo Armbar and trapped him in Armageddon, his version of the cross Armbreaker, to score a submission win for the Undisputed Era. Although they lost a hotly contested bout, the Roppongi Hooligans got a well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd afterward and a nod of respect from Cole, Fish and O’Reilly.
In other action…
The brief union of “Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare” Kevin Steen and the “War King” Eddie Kingston, which resulted in a loss to Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page during WrestleCade 12 weekend, led to a highly anticipated one-on-one showdown. It wasn’t pretty, but it did not disappoint in terms of action. This was intense from the opening bell with Kingston dominating early before Steen took over with a vicious assault. He delivered three consecutive fisherman busters onto the knee before leveling Kingston with a power bomb on the ring apron. A 450 Splash followed resulting in a big near fall for Steen. Kingston, who was busted open during a brawl on the floor, rallied back striking with the Yakuza Kick and a brutal Lariat. Steen was in trouble but another power bomb on the ring apron turned it around. Steen then hit F-Cinq for a big near fall and quickly followed up with another dose of his finisher to score the pin. The bloody Kingston took the loss, but he was far from finished as he jumped Steen post-match with the two brawling to the back. It’s safe to say that these two are likely to meet again in the IWA.
The Rey de Voladores matches are always a highlight of King of Trios weekend with eight of the best high flyers from throughout LOW competing to determine the best. Match One featured seven-time LOW Junior Heavyweight champion Jushin “Thunder” Liger in against Darby Allin, Sabu and Paul London. There was a little controversy before the match as Sabu’s manager Jimmy Hart insisted on remaining at ringside but he was ejected by the referee and escorted to the back by IWA officials. This was an all action contest with all four men having time to shine. The underrated Allin put in a great showing but was eliminated first via pinfall courtesy of a Shooting Star Press from London. With three men left things picked up even more and featured some spectacular moments including Liger sending London to the outside and hitting the Fisherman’s Buster on Sabu for a big near fall. Unfortunately for Liger he fell victim to a bounce back attack by Sabu who scored a pinfall elimination after delivering the Triple Jump Moonsault. That left Sabu against London and what a battle they had. London hit a hot streak that ended with both men down on the floor after Please Don’t Die! Sabu weathered the storm, however, and took advantage of the no disqualification rules as he hit the Arabian facebuster on London before trapping him in the Camel Clutch for a submission victory. An ecstatic Hart returned to ringside blaring his megaphone siren to celebrate with Sabu.
Match two of RDV featured ACH, Chri$ Ca$h, former IWA J-Crown champion Will Ospreay and Brian Kendrick squaring off to see who would be facing Sabu in the tournament final on night three. The action was off the charts in this one as well with all four men putting in great performances. Ca$h, a member of Extreme CHIKARA Wrestling, looked good although he was the first one eliminated when Ospreay pinned him with the Corkscrew Shooting Star Press. Ospreay lived up to his nickname of the “Aerial Assassin” taking to the air many times, especially against ACH and Kendrick in the three-way battle. Ospreay also showed great resilience kicking out of both ACH’s Big Bang Attack and the Sliced Bread #2 of Kendrick. The next to go was ACH when Kendrick survived Air Jordan and hit a Tornado DDT for the pin. That left Ospreay versus Kendrick in a spectacular finish to the match. Both men hit their key moves but it would be Ospreay getting the win when he caught Kendrick with the fireman’s carry Gutbuster followed by the Springboard Cutter for the pin. The crowd applauded the efforts of both men who shook hands afterward. Ospreay will now go to the finals on Night Three facing the “Homicidal, Genocidal and Suicidal” Sabu in what should be one for the ages.
The popular Cheeseburger took on his good friend and sometimes tag team partner Ron Hutchison in what was Hutchison’s final match with the IWA as he has signed a contract with LOW All-Star Wrestling. The two had some differences during WrestleCade 12 weekend when Cheeseburger eliminated Hutchison from a Battle Royal in Hutchison’s hometown of Toronto resulting in this match being signed. Cheeseburger nearly won it by submission with the cobra clutch but it was broken up in the ropes. Hutchison came back and surprised Cheeseburger snake eyes style with a Kiwi Roll to score the pin. Cheeseburger was upset over the loss and teased jumping Hutchison but instead shook hands with him and the two embraced drawing cheers from the crowd. It was a fitting departure for Hutchison after his time spent in the IWA.
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IWA King of Trios – Night Three - The 2300 Arena - Philadelphia, PA (Card #1210)
KOT - Semi-Final Round: Big Mack Attack (The Mack, Moose & Dante Fox) vs. F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Gran Akuma)
KOT - Semi Final Round: Legends of the Mask (Mil Mascaras, The Destroyer & Tiger Mask) vs. Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly)
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Drew Galloway vs. Jon Moxley
IWA Tag Team Titles - Triple Threat Match: Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano vs. Ringkampf vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe©
“A Double” Austin Aries vs. Jay Lethal
Rey de Voladores Finals: Sabu vs. “Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay
IWA Heavyweight title: Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson©
King of Trios - Final Round: ? vs. ?
