Before I get into discussing Saturday night’s Dragon Gate USA card, major props to AAW for not only putting on their own show but for also handling what happened on Saturday night. The AAW ring also serves as the Dragon Gate USA ring when they’re in Chicago. Many of the production aspects were handled by AAW staff. AAW announcer Phil Colvin announced the entire card and a couple of the wrestlers were also featured. It was a long tough weekend for everyone involved with the company and major props to them for getting it together.
-One of the biggest disappointments of DG USA over the first two shows was the FRAY being a major disappointment. As a concept, it was an interesting idea, but taking a bunch of individuals who may or may not be familiar with each other and having them roll around the ring did not work in practice. Instead we got a six man mayhem to open the bonus card. This was much better even though Brad Allen was involved in the match. Arik Cannon finally got some love by eliminating two people. Kyle O’Reilly once again came out looking strong by winning the match.
-Silas Young and Hallowicked has a solid match, although it was odd seeing Silas Young just have a regular wrestling match after such an epic match with Jimmy Jacobs the night before. A solid wrestling match led to a clean finish. Young retained with a Finlay roll into a springboard moonsault. I heard CIMA, who was watching the match up in the heavens, marked out for the finish. I seriously doubt he tries to steal it with the poor shape his neck is in.
-Jon Moxley had been disqualified quickly from the six way contest, but he came out for another match at this point with Darrin Corbin. Moxley won in expedient fashion, and the rumor was Corbin suffered a concussion.
-Brian Kendrick and Moxley came out to allegedly start the Pay-Per-View. They cut a promo about whatever. When it comes to promos in DG USA, they come off really bad. It’s even worse considering the monumental failure that was these two cutting a promo in Philly two months ago. Now here they are again to start the show. Moxley essentially challenges Tommy Dreamer to come out and face him. They leave.
-Kevin Harvey comes out to announce that this isn’t the way to start a Pay-Per-View, so it’s time for one more dark match. TJP and Gran Akuma had a very solid match. I can’t believe how much TJP has improved over the last few months, and he really needs to be booked more on the east coast. Akuma’s positioning on the card was a bit of a disappointment considering he was on the main event of Freedom Fight and even got pin CIMA. Still, this was an excellent match for two highly underrated athletes.
-Next up, CIMA and Super Crazy took on Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw. I think this ended up being my favorite match of the night. This turned into a slightly different match than a lot of other Dragon Gate USA matches. Some early hijinks were combined with the CIMA/Quack issue to turn inot a well-executed tag team match. Quack and Jigsaw won the match, but I get the sense we’ll see more from these two. If CIMA and Quack meet in Phoenix, I’ll be giddy with excitement. I’d say this was a four star affair.
-If I never see Brian Kendrick in a wrestling ring ever again, that would be fine with me. His half-assed effort in this match was noticeable. I love Jimmy Jacobs as much as the next guy, but even if he can’t drag a good match out of someone who has no willingness to put on a good match. Lacey coming out was an interesting twist, but unless you’re a Ring of Honor fan (and at this point you need to be a fan more since Jacobs and Lacey haven’t interacted in over a year), this also felt out of place. Jon Moxley was the highlight here as he clotheslined Lacey after the match. The only positive about Kendrick in DG USA is the rub he potentially gives Moxley.
-I know some people were not a fan of Tommy Dreamer being in DG USA and while I certainly never want to see him take on a Naruki Doi or CIMA, I think him being on this program and having a brawl with Moxley was a nice surprise. I’m assuming Dreamer came cheap or free based on his promo in EVOLVE one week earlier where he said he was there for free. He also signed autographs and posed for pictures. From what I understand, he was very generous with his time.
-I thought intermission would have come after this major brawl, but Davey Richards against Mochizuki came next. What made this different from a lot of other matches in DG USA was the ending sequence featured more matwork than usual, and they lost the crowd a little bit. I enjoyed what they did and thought the matwork made sense within the context of the match. I believe this will come off better on television and DVD. I don’t think it was as good as their Infinity match though.
-Intermission. Since this doesn’t fit anywhere else, I’ll point out that the Congress Theater was really cold. Either they didn’t turn the heat on or the place has very poor circulation. Either way, sheesh. At least I didn’t have to worry about the close quarters causing me to sweat.
-What made the three way elimination match interesting was that the crowd didn’t respond to The Young Bucks. It’s not that they got booed, but there were a few catcalls, and the crowd wasn’t nearly as into them as they were back in September. Honestly, I’d be content the Bucks not being a part of DG USA anymore. I’d rather see some of the newer PWG guys and even some CHIKARA guys come back instead f seeing the Bucks anymore. Doi was also apparently banged up for this match, so everyone else had to pick up the slack. Shingo and Yamato are pretty much my two favorite guys as far as DG USA goes, and I definitely want to see these two team up some more. Also, I didn’t realize this until I read it on a messageboard, but Shingo has yet to win a match in DG USA. Kind of a nice twist since he’s the one guy who took an extended tour in the United States. Not as good of a match as I expected, but still excellent.
-After everything we’d seen, I got the sense the crowd was a bit burned out for the Freedom Gate championship. Hulk and Kid started out slow but picked up the pace toward the end to turn this into a fine ending to the night. And God bless Nikki Meidei and Valerie Malone. I’m sure they’re both wonderful girls who donate to charity and live a good Christian lifestyle, but their attempt at dancing with BxB Hulk failed big time. I don’t even blame the girls, but the company for putting them in an awkward situation. To me, if you’re going to have Hulk’s entrance as part of the show, do it right. Prepare local girls thoroughly for the routine or bring the girls from Japan. Since the local option is the cheaper one, I’d say find a dance school, say Columbia College Chicago, and find some girls who like to dance. Either that or don’t attempt the entrance.
– The ending was spectacular. Shingo turning on Dragon Kid was an interesting moment, and I’m very curious to see how this ends up. The big massive brawl usually serves as a means of making people forget what just happened. Thankfully, this was just a good old-fashioned brawl to get Shingo’s turn over and give CIMA an opportunity to clean house with a broom. Yes, a broom. I certainly hope CIMA didn’t stiff any of the poor bastards brawling all around the ring. In addition to Akuma, Richards, Yamato, and Shingo beating up Hulk and Dragon Kid, a bunch of CHIKARA guys also joined in on the fun. I think Arik Cannon and Brad Allen ended up out there as well.
-CIMA cutting a promo in English was also a fun moment. As much as I think there needs to be a commitment from Gabe Sapolsky to put this company together, it’s also going to take the commitment of the Dragon Gate stars to fly across the Pacific and put on these great shows. This really is a unique set of circumstances for a wrestling company. WWE does not have a separate Japanese company. New Japan Pro Wrestling (arguably the biggest company in Japan) isn’t trying to run in the United States. I’ll be interested to see how this whole deal works out, but I sincerely hope we continue to see DG USA shows. WWE and TNA are mixed bags at best. Ring of Honor leaves me disinterested every time I watch one of their shows. DG USA is a beacon of light in a wrestling world full of darkness.
-Oh and GAMMA is coming to Phoenix. Oh, and Davey Richards is wrestling BxB Hulk for the Freedom Gate title. Wrestlemania weekend will be even better now, and I’m ecstatic to have the chance to go there.
So a stable with Yamato, Shingo, Akuma and Richards? I can get behind that:)