The Indie Corner: You Gotta Be There for Chikara's 'King of Trios Weekend'

Chikara's signature event, King of Trios is this weekend, Sept.14-15-16, 2012. This means countless droves are going to be converging upon The Palmer Center in Easton, PA. The belltime will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday & Saturday and on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

A sixteen-trio tournament, King of Trios, is perhaps the most notable wrestling show on the calendar, except WrestleMania. For me anyway, there's no other event that carries the anticipation.

For the past two years in a row, I have attended all three nights of the event. However, this year, circumstances dictate I'll only make it to Night 3. Also, you can meet me, as well as Brandon Stroud, DDS site photographer Gregory Davis and other Chikara fans beforehand at the "WithLeather.com 'King of Trios' Pre-show Picnic". Still, if I could, I would prefer to be there all weekend long, of course.

Although attendance this weekend is bound to be spectacular, many more people have been clamoring on Twitter for Chikara to telecast the event on internet pay-per-view (iPPV). The company has just started to dabble in Internet streaming, to great success.

On the surface, there's no reason why they shouldn't have King of Trios getting the same treatment. Then again, outside of potential logistical problems of equipping the Palmer Center for telecast, there are other - more artistic reasons - why the weekend doesn't belong on iPPV; reasons that far outweigh the monetary gain from broadcasting it.

See, King of Trios is a weekend that HAS to be experienced -- LIVE!

Chikara's King of Trios Weekend is more than just a wrestling event; it's a communal experience. People trek from all over North America to get together with fellow Chikara fans and watch the best of what the company has to offer.

Plus, at no other event on their calendar are the wrestlers more accessible. At no other event on any calendar will anyone find the amount of bang for their buck in terms of wrestling. The surprises they drop on their fans don't carry the same weight when only experienced in the solitude of one's room, watching on a laptop.

Would Dragon Dragon's return in the "Tag Gauntlet" in 2010 have been as epic for someone watching on a small screen as it was for the hundreds at the ECW Arena who saw it live? I honestly think not.

Don't get me wrong here; watching wrestling on TV, DVD or through the Internet has opened it up to companies in disparate locations and to fans in even more remote locales. Fans in Texas, California, Florida and even Alberta couldn't as readily know about Chikara, if not for things like Smart Mark Video's excellent turnaround on DVD production or the company's willingness to delve into the iPPV market. However, those remote means can only convey the experience so much.

Chikara, more than any company I have experienced, both through video and live, is enhanced so much more when seen in person.

In a way, King of Trios is their way of forcing people to get up off their rear ends and take the leap. They'll give you the taste, but the full meal is only available for the people who want to be there, who want to commune with wrestler and fan alike. Sure, the shows are available on DVD, but at the same time, what other event has the same grandeur of King of Trios? Or the importance of it, which makes it begged to be seen live and not on tape delay? I can count on one hand.

If you can't make it to Easton, PA this weekend, then that's one thing. However, while I hate to seem insular, you're not going to get anything extra from viewing the events on iPPV than you would by waiting for the DVD. The real-time happenings are for people who can make it there, who can soak-in the atmosphere.

There just isn't much else to say except that it's something you have to experience at least once in your life, if you're a fan of wrestling. It can't be replicated by watching on a computer screen or a Roku Box. Period.