Kings of Wrestling (independent circuit)

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For the short-lived TNA stable, see Kings of Wrestling (TNA)

Kings of Wrestling
(Left to right) Icarus, Gran Akuma, and Chuck Taylor of Team F.I.S.T., a separate faction aligned with the Kings of Wrestling
Stable
Members	Chris Hero Claudio Castagnoli Icarus Gran Akuma Chuck Taylor Max Boyer Mitch Ryder Larry Sweeney Shayne Hawke
Name(s)	Kings of Wrestling
Former member(s)	Arik Cannon
Debut	February 20, 2005
Promotions	Chikara CZW PWG ROH

The Kings of Wrestling was the professional wrestling stable of Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder, Max Boyer, Chuck Taylor, Icarus, Gran Akuma and Shayne Hawke from the Chikara wrestling promotion. As well as being a part of the Kings of Wrestling, Icarus and Gran Akuma regularly team together under the name Team F.I.S.T. both in and out of Chikara. Outside of Chikara, however, the Kings of Wrestling is known only as the tag team of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. Together, Hero and Castagnoli are former CZW World Tag Team Champions, Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, and ROH World Tag Team Champions, and at one point, held all three titles simultaneously.

[edit] History

This team came about at Chikara's Tag World Grand Prix 2005 show when Chris Hero turned on his Super Friends partner Mike Quackenbush and joined Claudio Castagnoli and Arik Cannon. Cannon has since left the group. Hero and Castagnoli continued teaming together, and in 2006, became the first ever Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas by winning the Tag World Grand Prix tournament, defeating Milano Collection AT and Skayde in the final round.

Hero and Castagnoli are also known for teaming in Combat Zone Wrestling. On September 10, 2005, they won the CZW World Tag Team Championship from Tough Crazy Bastards, Necro Butcher and Toby Klein. In 2005, Chris Hero became involved in a feud with Eddie Kingston. This feud involved Hero's partner Claudio as well as Kingston's stablemates from Blackout. At Cage of Death 7, Hero and Castagnoli defended the tag titles against Kingston and Sabian, and at An Afternoon of Main Events, they teamed with Super Dragon, with whom they formed an alliance, to face Kingston, Sabian, and Ruckus. In February 2006, the Kings of Wrestling lost the titles to Eddie Kingston and Joker.

In late 2005, Chris Hero began a war with Ring of Honor. Castagnoli, who was a member of the ROH roster at the time, said he would be loyal to ROH despite his relationship with Hero. However, at the 100th Show during a CZW vs. ROH six man tag team match, Castagnoli came to the ring and turned on ROH, helping CZW win the match, and uniting with Hero for the first time in ROH. They went on to team together as the Kings of Wrestling to face and defeat BJ Whitmer and Adam Pearce. During the final match in their feud against ROH, Hero and Castagnoli teamed together once again with partners Eddie Kingston, Nate Webb, and Necro Butcher to unsuccessfully challenge ROH's Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, Adam Pearce, Ace Steel, and Bryan Danielson (later replaced by Homicide) in a Cage of Death match.

In August 2006, the Ring of Honor tag title belts were stolen and later returned from champions Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Hero revealed on his LiveJournal that he and Castagnoli were the culprits and would be challenging for the titles. On September 16, they successfully defeated Aries and Strong for the championship with their new KRS ONE finisher, but only after illegally smashing Aries in his bruised ribs with Castagnoli's aluminum Zero Halliburton attache case.

On October 14, 2006, the Kings of Wrestling defeated three other teams in a one night tournament at the CZW show Last Team Standing to become 2 time CZW Tag Team Champions. They defeated Team Masturbation (Beef Wellington and Excalibur) in the first round, the BLKOUT (Ruckus and Human Tornado) in the second round, and the makeshift team of Justice Pain and Human Tornado (subbing for Pain's partner in the H8 Club, Nick Gage, who left the building before the match) in the third round. This has made the Kings of Wrestling the only Independent Triple Crown Tag Champions ever.

Around this time, it was announced that Claudio would be going to World Wrestling Entertainment. At Night of Infamy 5, the Kings lost the CZW tag championship to Sabian and Robbie Mireno after Eddie Kingston eliminated Hero from the match and the Blackout outnumbered Claudio for the win. On November 17, they lost the Campeonado de Parejas to F.I.S.T.. Afterwards, Hero turned on Castagnoli and kicked him out of the stable. They lost the ROH Tag Team Championship to Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels on November 25. On December 22, 2006, Larry Sweeney debuted in ROH to help the Kings of Wrestling defeat the Briscoe Brothers. The following night at Final Battle 2006, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli lost a rematch to the Briscoes. After the match, Claudio announced that he would not be going to WWE, but Sweeney said he was only representing Chris Hero, and the two walked out on Castagnoli.

In February 2007, Chikara held the first ever King of Trios tournament. Originally, the Kings of Wrestling team was made up of Hero and F.I.S.T., but Hero was replaced with Chuck Taylor. They lost in the semifinals of the tournament. On April 22, Hero defeated Claudio in a match where if Hero won, then Claudio would have to rejoin the team. Internal problems within the Kings of Wrestling lead to a division of the stable into two teams: the team of Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, and Larry Sweeney, and the team of Icarus, Gran Akuma, and Chuck Taylor. The two teams faced off on May 26 at Chikara's Aniversario! event. Icarus, Akuma, and Taylor were victorious, and after the match, all six men joined forces. Also joining them were new members in Mitch Ryder, Max Boyer and Shayne Hawke. The stable broke up in late 2007 when Hero left the company after losing his feud against Castagnoli, with Team F.I.S.T. continuing as its own faction.

[edit] In wrestling

• Finishing tag team moves
  • Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli
    • Hero's Welcome Kings of Wrestling Edition (Aided rolling cutter)
    • KRS ONE – Kings Reign Supreme Over Nearly Everyone (Hero and Castagnoli flip the opponent in the air before dropping them into a sitout scoop slam piledriver)
    • KRS TWO – Kings Reign Supreme The World Over (Hero and Castagnoli grab the legs an opponent seated in the corner before flipping them in the air and dropping them into a release powerbomb)
    • Royal Bomb (Double straight jacket sitout powerbomb pin)
  • Chuck Taylor and Gran Akuma
    • Dinner 'n Drinks (Sole Food by Taylor followed into a Yoshi Tonic by Akuma)

• Finishing triple team moves
  • Hero, Castagnoli and Super Dragon
    • Super Curb Stomp (Hero holds the opponent in a reverse Indian deathlock with Castagnoli holding the same opponent in a surfboard while Dragon hits a diving double foot stomp to the trapped opponent)
  • Taylor, Akuma and Icarus
    • Shooty McGee (Taylor holds the opponent in a backbreaker rack while Icarus hits a diving double foot stomp onto the prone opponent followed by Taylor hitting an inverted Death Valley driver onto Akuma's knees)

• Signature tag team moves
  • Hero and Castagnoli
    • Aided senton splash
    • Double big boot
    • Double Cravate Cutter (Elevated corkscrew neckbreaker)
    • Double elbow drop
    • Electric chair (Castagnoli) / Cravate (Hero) combination
    • Hero performs a monkey flip Castagnoli, who is propelled into either a splash or a spear

• Entrance themes
  • "We Are the Champions" by Queen (Kings of Wrestling)^[1]
  • "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top (Kings of Wrestling)^[1]
  • "Blue Monday" by Orgy (Team F.I.S.T.)^[1]

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

• Chikara
  • Campeonatos de Parejas (2 times) – Hero and Castagnoli (1) and Icarus and Akuma (1)
  • Tag World Grand Prix (2006) – Hero and Castagnoli
  • Young Lions Cup IV – Boyer
  • Young Lions Cup V – Taylor

• Combat Zone Wrestling
  • CZW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Hero
  • CZW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Hero and Castagnoli
  • CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Taylor

• Ring of Honor
  • ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Hero and Castagnoli

[edit] References

• Kings of Wrestling at Online World of Wrestling
• Chikara Results
• ROH Results
• Anniversario Yin and Yang