CHIKARA King of Trios: A Guide to Who’s Who in 2018 Tournament
By Bryan Heaton
Photo Source: CHIKARApro.com
CHIKARA’s King of Trios tournament is the biggest show for the Pennsylvania-based independent promotion. 16 teams of three will descend on Easton, PA, over Labor Day Weekend, including WWE alumni, guests from other promotions around the world, and ants. There’s ALWAYS wrestling ants in CHIKARA.
How many of you are fans of New Japan, and the G1 Climax every year? Or maybe you’re more of an old timer, and you like the idea of WWE determining the King of the Ring. Whichever your preference, we’re talking about professional wrestling tournaments. And there’s perhaps none in the United States as big as King of Trios, hosted annually — and always for the last time — by CHIKARA.
King of Trios is a single elimination tournament, featuring 16 three-person teams. The event takes place over a three-day weekend — for the past several years, it’s been Labor Day weekend. The first night features the eight opening round contests. Night Two features the second round, and Night Three opens with the two semi-finals matches and closes with the finals.
CHIKARA usually has a theme for the event rooted in pop culture; in the past, Transformers, Harry Potter, and Pokémon have all been used. Last year, King of Trios traveled to England, and everything was based on Game of Thrones. This year, as the event returns to Easton, Pennsylvania, Star Wars is the flavor of the moment.
Many notable grapplers have participated in King of Trios over the years — it’s basically CHIKARA’s WrestleMania. WWE performers like Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, and AJ Styles have all taken part, as well as cruiserweights Drew Gulak, Cedric Alexander, and Lince Dorado. (Believe it or not, Dorado was part of a winning team in 2008 that also included the man who would go on to become Sin Cara.)
Others who have attempted to become a King of Trios over the years include The Young Bucks, X-Pac, Meiko Satomura, Tatanka, Candice LeRae, and British Strong Style. If you go through the entire history of the tournament, which began in 2007, you’ll find an impressive roster of talent.
With the eleventh edition of the tournament getting under way this weekend, let’s take a look at the teams vying for those elusive medals, organized by first round matchups. There’s also more to the weekend than just the King of Trios tournament, so we’ll touch on that as well.