The Crucible wins CHIKARA King of Trios

The dominant villainous stable currently reigning over CHIKARA took home another big win as Ophidian, Kimber Lee and Lance Steel won the annual King of Trios tournament.

CHIKARA is an independent promotion that was founded in 2002 and has been a staple of the American indie scene for just as long. The company has a long history of wrestlers coming out of their school and doing big things in the industry. Some notable graduates of the CHIKARA school are Ophidian, Eddie Kingston, Lince Dorado, Tracy Williams and AEW referee Bryce Remsburg. The promotion has an extensive background of intricate storylines and complex characters over its nearly two decades of events. One of their most ambitious storylines is currently in effect as King of Trios weekend just came to pass.

King of Trios is an annual three-day event that pits 16 groupings of three competitor teams against one another in a single-elimination tournament. It brings teams from all over the world to compete against each other in what has become one of the most prestigious tournaments in modern wrestling history. Past winners of this tournament have been British Strong Style, Team Sendai Girls and Team AAA.

This year the tournament was stacked to the gills with trios including Team Pump (Scott Steiner, Jordynne Grace and Petey Williams), The Carnies, The Embassy, The Velocities and two teams representing the stable The Crucible.

The Crucible is an interesting wrinkle in CHIKARA’s long and storied history. The Crucible is a stable led by Ophidian, the former head trainer of the CHIKARA wrestling school, and is a mix of newer CHIKARA students and established wrestlers like Lance Steel, The Whisper and Kimber Lee.

Ophidian and the owner of CHIKARA, Mike Quackenbush, made a plan to push the next generation of students harder to make them more resilient and more prepared in case another villainous faction invaded CHIKARA like several groups had done in the past. But Ophidian took this plan and went way overboard, as he turned the wrestling school into a cult-like group where he broke trainees down and basically created a fight club.

When Quackenbush found out he fired Ophidian, but at that time it was too late to stop what had been created. Ophidian then fought and defeated Quackenbush, thus proving that his methods of teaching were superior to the more careful and sympathetic approach that Quackenbush takes. Ophidian then divided the six strongest members of his group into two teams to compete in King of Trios. He joined a team with the ace of his group, Lance Steel, and the newest member (who he had guilted into joining), Kimber Lee, and he had his top three students form the second team.

Both teams advanced to the quarter finals but ended up being placed against one another in the bracket. Fans were excited to see the group implode but instead, the trio of trainees laid down for Ophidian’s group and took the pin much to the dismay of the live audience. Ophidian’s group then advanced to the semi-finals where they defeated last year’s winners, The Colony, to move on to the finals.

The team facing off against Ophidian and his cronies in the finals ended up being The Four Nations. The Four Nations is an Australian stable featuring PWA Black Label regulars Jack Bonza, Adam Hoffman and Battle of Los Angeles competitor Mick Moretti. The Nations made their King of Trios debut last year and made it to the finals before losing a close contest to The Colony. In the second year in a row the group made it to the Trios finals and they looked to take down The Crucible.

The match ended up being an explosive affair with The Crucible targeting Hoffman’s worn down shoulder while trying to keep the juggernaut Bonza out of the ring. Their strategy ended up working out because after a long back-and-forth affair, Ophidian was able to hit his patented Gory Special flatliner to keep Hoffman down for the three count.

The show ended with the entire Crucible all kneeling behind their leader Ophidian, who stood tall amid a shower of boos.

The replay will be up on CHIKARAtopia in the near future and is also available via IWTV.