Dragon Gate USA Fearless iPPV Review

-Taped from Revere, Massachusetts

-Your hosts are Lenny Leonard and Rob Naylor

-Wait a second. Jerome is reviewing an iPPV? He’s not forcing Matt Waters to do it like a slave? Nope, it’s all me. Why? Cause Waters is too busy producing awesome videos that you should be watching. And even though it’s not live, I’m still going to provide some extra content for the website by reviewing the latest DG USA iPPVs.

-As Cima and Austin Aries come out, the audio pretty much blows for the theme music. Rich Swann raps his way to the ring without a microphone, and you can basically make out what he’s saying. Wow.

-Cima vs. Rich Swann

Match in Five Words or Less:: Cima is a Jerk

Match Summary/Analysis: Cima attacks Swann before the bell even rings. He just treats Swann like a young boy in the first few minutes of the match. Swann hits a dropkick to come back. Aries CHEATS TO WIN by pulling Swann’s leg from the outside. Cima slows things down once again like a good heel should. I know some people were having trouble with the audio while the live show was going on, but they appeared to have cleaned it up for the on demand service. Aries has a pipe in his mouth on the outside, thus making him even more awesome. Cima is really enjoying his heel turn based on his behavior to the fans. Cima grabs the legs in some sort of odd submission hold, but Swann gets out of it. Kick to the head and a leaping rana by Swann. HUGE springboard drive off the second rope to the outside. Swann continues his comeback with a chinbreaker and pele kick that nails Cima. Kick and rolling senton by Cima. Pace sure has picked up. Series of strikes. Swann comes back with kicks. Superkick. Nagasaki roll. Up, up, Aries knocked off the apron. Cima with running knees. He drops Swann down awkwardly. Perfect driver for two. Music randomly plays for the first time of the night. Cima gives the music guy the universal sign for Up Yours. Schwien. Meteora. Done. Very fun opener and Swann made a good accounting of himself. If only the music guy didn’t spoil the damn finish by playing the Blood Warriors music early.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating:  Cima/8:50/**3/4

-Six Way Freestyle: A.R. Fox vs. Scott Reed vs. Tony Nese vs. Alex Colon vs. Brodie Lee vs. Arik Cannon

Match in Five Words or Less: FREESTYLE MADNESS

Match Summary/Analysis: You won’t find a more random assortment of guys than you will in this match. Cannon’s Mohawk looks epic tonight. Reed and the newest official signee of the company, Fox, start the contest. Fast start. Reed pulls Fox out of the ring. Lee and Colon in next. Lee beats him up for fun. Dropkick by Colon. Knee to back of Lee’s head. One footed dropkick as Cannon enjoys beer on the outside. Nese and Cannon go after Lee. That fails. Cannon gives up. LARIAT! Cannon knocks Lee out of the ring. Nese gets some offense in. Neckbreaker by Cannon. Splash misses. Elbow and running knee by Nese. Tope con helo. Reed slaps Nese right in the back as Colon dives on top of them. Lee boots Cannon in the back of his head off the apron. Lee LAUNCHES Colon over his head to the outside. SWEET JEBUS! Fox is ripped down by Cannon. Cannon and Lee get into it now. Dropkicks by Nese and Colon. Nese maintains the advantage until Colon hits an enziguri. Fox hits his second rope move that even the announcers don’t know what to call. Reed hits a splash mountain. Lee hits a truck stop. Finally, Lee and Cannon start going at it. Cannon assists Colon on an acecrusher. Right hand. Superkick. BRAINBUSTER! Cannon gets a huge win in another very fun little match. I love these freestyle matches because although there’s no psychology, everyone gets to showcase themselves and do a few moves to get noticed by the fans.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Arik Cannon/8:07/***

-Ricochet vs. Susumu Yokosuka

Match in Five Words or Less: Smooth

Match Summary/Analysis: Fun fact. Ricochet now has a Mohawk. Does he wants to be a D.U.F too? Yokosuka hasn’t been in DG USA since the Wrestlemania Phoenix shows. Feeling out process to start. Nice roll-up and rana by Ricochet. He fakes a dive, and Yokosuka has a seat. Back in for the ring for a beautiful dropkick by Ricochet. After a solid bevy of offense. Yokosuka drops Ricochet on his knees… thrice. That’s nasty. More work on the leg. Ricochet with weak punches. Yokosuka drops him knees first into the mat again. Figure four leg lock and Ricochet has to grab the ropes. Dropkick misses by Ricochet manages a rana. Space flying tiger drop to the outside. Some back and forth before Ricochet hits a DDT off the second rope. Up and over. Ricochet superkick into Yokosuka’s ear. Exploder into the corner by Yokosuka. The screen freezes for a bit. We come back with Ricochet hitting a standing shooting star press. Springboard kick to the knee. 630! Yokosuka gets his foot on the ropes and then kicks out of a pin. Double moonsault attempt. Battle on the top rope. Yokosuka nails him in the back. AIKATA OFF THE SECOND ROPE! 1-2-NO! Spinning enziguri while ducking the clothesline. JUMBO NO KACHI! AGAIN! 1-2-NO! Mugan gets three. I really dug this match. Great athleticism. Very smooth move-to-move. Yokosuka is someone I really enjoy seeing in DG USA, and it needs to happen more often. Ricochet seems to get better with every DG USA show.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Susumu Yokosuka/ 12:34/***1/2

Sami Callihan vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (Open the Dream Gate Champion)

Match in Five Words or Less: Mochizuki Kicks Hard

Match Summary/Analysis: For those who haven’t seen a lot of Mochizuki outside of his few appearances in the states, he’s had an unbelievable set of matches the last few months, including a match of the year contender with Yamato at Dead or Alive, the most recent Dragon Gate Japan PPV.  Incredibly, they don’t start out hitting each other really hard. Callihan talks trash. He may come to regret that. Pair of hard kicks and Calihan no sells. *sighs* Sweep of the leg and Mochizuki launches Callihan with a kick. No sell that dude. Callihan sent to the post. Mochizuki kicks the ring post. Callihan works the leg. See, at least when he goes for the stretch muffler, it’ll actually make sense. Back in the ring for more leg work. Mochizuki goes after Calihan’s right arm while selling his own injured limb. Interesting that they seem to be keeping with the theme of having Callihan challenge the Open the Dream Gate champion at these DG USA shows. First Yoshino in Atlanta and Mochizuki here. Mochizuki goes for a number of kicks. Dragon screw leg whip by Callihan. Forearm sends Mochizuki down. Flying lariat to the outside. Series of whips. Kick by Mochzuki. Bicycle kick and DVD by Callihan. Stretch muffler. No one is buying the potential submission. Mochizuki reaches the ropes. Cross armbreaker by Mochizuki. Callihan to the ropes. Whip and running enziguri by Callihan. Yakuza kick and running kick to the chest by Mochizuki. Hard exchange. Series of kicks as the screen freezes once again. Twisting brainbuster gets two. Callihan is dead weight. BACK DROP DRIVER! FOREARM IN THE FACE! 1-2-No! Stretch muffler! Quickly into the cross armbreaker. Back to the stretch muffler but Mochizuki out of it. Straight kick to the head finally gets Mochizuki a hard-earned victory. This was one of the best Sami Callihan matches I’ve seen in a while. Some of the flaws of his game were still very much prevalent, but there was at least some psychology involved with this match, and Callihan didn’t go over the top with the moves he was doing.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Masaaki Mochizuki/12:56/***1/4

-The D.U.F tease showing respect to Mochizuki before Cannon punches him right in the face. Double team until Yokosuka makes the save for his partner. A brawl erupts, and everyone in the locker room empties out to break it up. These four guys continue the brawl despite everyone trying to break them up. I liked this brawl taking place since the next iPPV has these same four men battling each other in a tag team match. Then it almost gets ridiculous as they battle forever and ever.

-Intermission features a match between BxB Hulk and Masato Yoshino vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masaaki Mochizuki.

-Jon Davis comes out for a promo and talks about starting from the bottom and moving up. He calls out D.U.F since we clearly haven’t seen enough of them tonight. Pinkie Sanchez enters the ring and claims to be all the things Cannon and Callihan are. He wants in on the group. Callihan blows snot on Sanchez. He eats it. Well, that’s lovely. Sanchez says Davis is dead as he uses a throat slash.

-Jon Davis vs. Pinkie Sanchez

Match in Five Words or Less: Poor Pinkie

Match Summary/Analysis: Davis lives up to his shirt by dominating early. Pinkie actually maintains a headlock for a tick before being caught in a crossbody. Backbreakers into a high press slam. Sanchez to the outside. He tries to get consolation from the D.U.F but no dice. Davis chops Sanchez…hard. Sanchez tries some of his own, but he fails. Davis clubbers away. One thing Pinkie Sanchez proved at Trios is he can take a fantastic beating. This is one of the more dominant performances you’ll see in this company. Sanchez is just being decimated. Sanchez shows some fight but quickly eats a hard back elbow. Sanchez grabs Davis’s leg and whips him over. Splash to the back. To the top but Davis hammers him in the back. Uh oh. Davis climbs upstairs. Sanchez drops Davis down head first. Ass to the face while Davis is in the tree of woe. 1-2-NO! Mule kick. He goes for a shining wizard but takes a powerbomb instead. Yeesh. Davis hits a jackhammer to finally… wait a minute. The referee just joined the music guy on the firing line by messing up the count. Slap exchange. Sanchez hits a dropkick. Davis hits a hard clothesline, SPINS HIM AROUND THREE TIMES, AND DROPS HIM DOWN! WOW! Despite the finish being messed up big time (all the ref’s fault for the record), this was a surprisingly good match that should earn both men future bookings. Sanchez took an incredible beatdown, and Davis looked like a beast.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Jon Davis/10:26/***

-Callihan and Cannon continue the beating. Stop! Stop! He’s already dead!  They mockingly try to get the crowd to chant for Sanchez as the announcers make 80’s television references. Rob’s “Who’s the Boss?” line clinched that exchange as the corniest and best commentary moment ever. Well done Lenny and Rob.

-Johnny Gargano vs. Austin Aries (w/Brodie Lee)

Match in Five Words or Less: This Match Rules

Match Summary/Analysis: Music guy messes up again during Gargano’s entrance as he shuts the music off early. Austin Aries cuts a promo before the match. All he needs is to manage Titus and King and it’s like 2009 ROH all over again. Aries appears to talk some trash at Gargano, but I can barely understand it. The audio is very poor on that microphone. Aries sends Lee to the back. Gargano goes for the early submission, the same hold he beat Cima with earlier in the year. They take turns showing each other up. Feeling out process. Gargano puts Aries in a headscissors. He blocks the dropkick from Aries and mocks him by putting his junk in Aries’ face. Aries applies a headscissors, and Gargano dropkicks him! I’d call that a minor miracle. Gargano sends Aries into the second buckle. Aries powders outside. Strikes by Aries. Gargano comes back with strikes of his own in the corner. Once again for the submission, but Aries heads outside. Slap to the face. Gargano has enough and dives to the outside. They go all over the building to brawl. Aries head back in the ring. Gargano gives chase. Aries back into the crowd. Slugfest on the stage area. Gargano goes for a superplex on the floor. Aries suplexes Gargano onto some chairs! Shoulder first on the steel. Aries hits a double axehandle while Gargano is prone along the steel. Back in the ring at last. Aries goes to work. Series of clotheslines by Gargano. Aries hits an elbow to snuff that out. Sunset flip. Aries grabs the ropes. Mike Keener kicks the arms. Aries rolls through and finally hits the dropkick. More offense from Aries, including a powerslam into the corner. Gargano is put in the tree of woe. Gargano fires back with a kick. Springboard acecrusher. Series of rights and lefts. Gargano sends Aries over the top and back and forth into the buckles. Sling shots Aries over. Spear misses. Pair of kicks and a lariat. Hard kicks to the chest but only two. Double stomp to Aries’ back. Knee to the chest and a leaping neckbreaker. Again only two. Aries out of a rolling cradle and Gargano ends up outside. Gargano finally hits the spear. Aries drives Gargano into the second buckle. Lawn dart! Superkick! Aries is dead on the apron. Aries nails a DVD on the apron. Missile tope but Gargano gets his boot up. 1-2-NO! Gargano gets out of The Last Chancery. Strike exchange. Hertz Donut by Gargano for 1-2-NO! Aries counters out of the submission. Shinbreaker into the belly-to-back suplex. Dropkick in the corner. Brainbuster. Gargano kicks out. Aries heads to the top. 450 misses. Japanese armdrag into the corner by Gargano! Aries kick to the head. Gargano strikes Aries in the head. Another kick to the face. Brainbuster. Gargano finally stays down for three seconds. Whew. This was an incredible match. In one of the few matches to truly have the face versus heel dynamic working for it, you got to see what both men could do. Aries is showing why he still has it. Gargano is showing why he’s the most improved wrestler since DG USA’s debut show. One of the best matches I’ve seen all year and something we’ll look back on and say this was Gargano’s best singles match to date. This match makes Fearless an automatic thumbs up. If Austin Aries isn’t going to live up to the stipulation presented in Atlanta, I’m glad he’s at least going to have incredible matches instead.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Austin Aries/26:01/****1/4

-Open the United Gate Tag Team Championship: Masato Yoshino and PAC (Open the Brave Gate Champion) (United Gate Champions) vs. Yamato (Open the Freedom Gate Champion) and Akira Tozawa

Match in Five Words or Less: Fast

Match Summary/Analysis: This is part of the championship challenge. Yamato gets a tag team title match tonight, and PAC gets the Freedom Gate title match at the anniversary show. Yamato is trying to be a respectful singles champion, similar to his run with the Dream Gate title. Great opening sequence from Yamato and PAC. Leaping boot from Yamato. Tag to Yoshino and Tozawa. Quick armdrag and senton from Tozawa. The crowd is very much into everything Tozawa does. Double team work from the challengers. Champions take their turn as well. PAC and Yamato back at it. Heat segment on Yamato. Tozawa picks up the aggressiveness on Yoshino. Champions double team. PAC hits an easy standing shooting star press. Amazing. Kicks in the corner and Tozawa screams in his face. Boots to a charging Tozawa. Shooting star press off the second rope is met with knees. Yamato knocks Yoshino off the apron and goes to work on PAC. Challengers work over PAC. Naylor does a great job putting Tozawa over and what the last year has meant for him. They battle over a brainbuster. Yamato wins and applies an ankle lock. He transitions into a half crab. Yoshino comes in the ring, but Tozawa deposits him. Crossface but Pac makes the ropes. Strike exchange. Yamato hits a headbutt. PAC flips out of the corner and hits a leaping enziguri. Here comes Yoshino. Torbelino. Headscissors in the ropes. Yamato and Yoshino go at it. Drive of Yamato’s shoulder into the mat hard. Kick to the elbow and a northern lights suplex by Yamato. Yoshino submission but Tozawa breaks it up. PAC dropkicks Tozawa out of the ring. Big dive. Quickly back in the ring for crossbody and two. Yakuza kick sends Pac down. Back drop driver. 1-2-NO! Double team from the challengers. Yamato hits a brainbuster for two. Sleeper but PAC drops down. Another attempt but PAC rams him in the corner. Missile dropkick right into the senton combo. Corkscrew splash by PAC … off of Yoshino’s back. Dropkick by Yoshino misses. Elbow by Yamato. Yakuza kick by Tozawa. Yoshino fights the champions off. Springboard shining wizard doomsday device gets two! Tozawa goes for the German suplex. Yamato kicks Yoshino in the head, but PAC still breaks the count. Yamato goes for Gallaria. Yoshino dead weights him. Stomp of the foot and an enziguri by Yamato. Yoshino collapses. Chop exchange. Yoshino works into a reverse DDT.  All four men battle. Too quick to call anything. Yamato does manage to nail one of the sickest spears I’ve ever seen on PAC. All four men are down. forearm exchange between Tozawa and PAC. Snap German suplex by PAC. More doubling up the champions. Springboard 450 by PAC. 1-2-NO! Series of counters. Torbelino by Yoshino. Lightning spiral gets 2.9. Yoshino dives on Yamato as PAC comes off the top with a spiral tap to get his team the victory. Once again, the screen froze. That would be the second time we almost missed a finish on this show.  Nonetheless, this was another in a long line of incredible tag team matches that Dragon Gate and Dragon Gate USA have produced over the years. The finish also made a lot of sense since PAC will be challenging for the singles title just two nights later. I’d also say this was PAC’s best performance in the United States since his early PWG appearances as well. I know some might disagree with me on that last point. Fantastic work from all four men involved.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating:  STILL Open the United Gate Tag Team Champions- Masato Yoshino and PAC/24:27/****

-PAC threatens Yamato in a post-match promo before thanking the crowd. Finally, someone who speaks English (well sort of, he is British) thanking the crowd.

Line of the Night: Rob Naylor… congrats on your first time winning this award. “This is like child abuse man. It’s just difficult to watch.”

Finish of the Night: Austin Aries was a straight-up heel for his match…yet won clean and on his own with a brainbuster to win a hard fought match. Ring of Honor… take notes.

MVP: Gotta give it to Aries for having another incredible match. This time with a guy who seems to be on the brink of becoming one of the best wrestlers in the company.

The Verdict: Dragon Gate continued the momentum of the Wrestlemania weekend shows with a spectacular evening of action. Not every match was four stars, but they all seemed to service a storyline or had a purpose for happening. It’s amazing how many guys DG USA has lost since they first came to be in 2009, but it’s equally amazing that they can continue to deliver on quality shows. Austin Aries has been the biggest addition for the company this year. He’s now had two match of the year contenders in 2011 alone. Yamato as the lead champion is a major improvement over BxB Hulk. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the main events of the shows have improved since Hulk has lost the Open the Freedom Gate belt. Fearless 2011 is a show well worth your fifteen dollars, and I could recommend this show more to the fan who wants wrestling and also wants to support pro wrestling.

To order a replay of this show or establish a free account with World Wrestling Network, go to their website (and help support Pro Wrestling Ponderings in the process). For more information on Dragon Gate USA in general, check out their website.

Brad Garoon is a bigger Dragon Gate fan than anyone I know. To learn more about the company and see reviews of every other DG USA show, check out what he has to say on his blog.

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