In a weekend where so much was happening here in Chicago wrestling wise, it’s tough to be able to really be able to contextualize everything into one tight neat package. I feel like I could write a book about this weekend alone. If you ask me, the most important story was indeed Johnny Gargano deciding to stay with DG USA. Why did he stay? Who knows? What sort of WWE developmental deal was he offered, if any? Does that even matter? The point is the man made an independent decision to stick with the promotion that helped elevate him from just another guy from Cleveland into one of the top independent wrestling superstars working going right now. Ironically, after deciding to stay with DG USA, he apparently wanted to cut his career short in a wild and crazy I Quit match with Chuck taylor.
Perhaps the most memorable bout from Enter the Dragon 2012 came just before intermission as Gargano and Taylor engaged in one of the more violent non-death match type matches I’ve seen this year. Who would have thought two of the goofier guys in wrestling could take things to the next level? The ladder and table were likely suspects in the “What objects are they going to use to get this match over” scenario, but thumbtacks, barricades, and barb wire? Oh my. For 20 minutes this was one of the best matches of the year. All the credit in the world to both men for changing things up drastically and legitimately surprising me in a good way. Two moments really stand out. Gargano going through the barricade that was hanging between the apron and barricade being one. Just a crazy crazy move. Then it was Taylor taking a superkick with thumb tacks in his mouth. I can honestly say I’ve never seen that before, and it was indeed sick. Gargano winning with the Gargano Esccape wrapped in barb wire reminded me of a number of matches where guys have used objects to enhance their finishers, but it totally worked in this scenario, and the match had a truly satisfying conclusion. That being said, considering the shape these two guys appeared to be in after the match, I would much prefer if these two were never involved in something of this ilk ever again.
The other big story to come out of the show from a wrestling standpoint was that we have new Open the United Tag Team champions as CIMA and AR Fox won an incredibly entertaining main event over Rich Swann and Ricochet. Fox has been an outstanding performer this year, and things seemed to especially kick in for him during the Evolve doubleshot in North Carolina. CIMA is regarded as one of the best wrestlers in Dragon Gate history and is someone the American fans can easily identify. It’s a perfect team as far as stability for the division goes. Both teams showcased some great double team moves. My one criticism might be that this felt similar in some ways to a lot of what else was else going on the card. Not to say that a lot of the matches were bad but I think one of the fundamental issues facing DG USA is sense of similarity throughout the card. I think it may also be contributing to another one of their problems.
Yes folks, it’s that time in a DG USA review where I talk about the attendance. I’m terrible at estimating numbers, so I won’t even begin to speculate on that front. I can tell you that significant discounts were being offered the week of and day of the show. I myself was able to get second row for just 25 dollars, 10 dollars less than the original ticket price. That’s not even the biggest example. To be, this show and most DG USA/Evolve shows are 100% worth the 10 or 15 dollars for purchase. The shows are far from perfect, and I have issues with some of the booking, but there’s no reason this company should not be doing better. Drawing so few people in Florida is inexcusable. Having trouble bringing in people to Chicago, one of the best wrestling cities in Chicago, is ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not about piracy or laziness of the fans or people not wanting to support the product. It’s about advertising. Where is the on the street advertising? Where is the non-internet advertising? Social media is a wonderful free media tool, but it’s not a be all end all. Putting flyers up in the neighborhood is so easy, especially where DG USA runs. The area around the Congress is dripping with Hispanic families. These same families go watch terrible Lucha shows at that same building. I’m talking filling the sucker up. Floor and balcony. I don’t pretend to know the other business aspects of DG USA and Evolve. Who knows how DVD sales and buyrates are? Maybe they make up for the lack of a live crowd. However, to create a great atmosphere and make people invested in the product, it would be a significant help to have a lot of the people in the building. And those people should be as invested in the storylines as possible so what happens in the Yamato and Jon Davis match doesn’t happen again.
As much respect as I have for Jon Davis, the Chicago crowd was not reacting to him at all. If you were to ask me how many fans even knew the DG USA storylines, I would say 20%…maybe. Yamato was cheered for the entire match. Part of me thinks it’s because he’s a Japanese wrestler wrestling under the Dragon Gate banner and people are treating his return as something special. The match was good under the circumstances, but it should have been an even more significant moment for Davis. My issue isn’t with Davis or Yamato in this case. I think they did the best they could under the circumstances. Davis is another guy who’s been super impressive this year and has really stepped his game up. He was put in a no win scenario, and this continued after the match was over as he talked about becoming more active in the pursuit of an Evolve title. I just don’t understand how you have the Open the Freedom Gate champion right there. Jon Davis just beat a Dragon wrestler. You’re on a Dragon Gate show, and you’re talking about an Evolve title. It’s especially galling considering Gargano just resigned with the promotion and had an incredible weekend where he defeated a top Japanese star and conquered one of his greatest challengers. I’m not sure there is a correct scenario for introducing an Evolve championship right now. To me, I’d focus on getting Gargano and the Freedom Gate title over to the point where people are interested in the storylines, and more people are coming to the shows.
I almost feel like the tag team titles are in a similar situation. When a number of teams came out after the Super Smash Brothers picked up their second victory of the weekend, the lack of depth was exposed for the world to see. How can the Scene claim number one contendership when they lost to SSB and haven’t beaten anyone of note? How can SSB win two matches and be able to claim they’re the number one contenders. I guess if you count Evolve that doubles the win count, but they still haven’t had a high profile win. The match with Cannon and Sanchez was good for the most part except for a couple messy spots. Poor Player Dos looked like a mini car wreck with an injured left leg, a tweaked arm after an awkward landing on a splash, and a busted nose. Hope he’s okay. If SSB were to win the belts whenever DG USA runs next (November I believe), you would get no complaints from me. However, I’d like to see a lot more contenders established so SSB’s title reign can mean something.
It’s incredible to me that the El Generico and Akira Tozawa match is going to be one of the last things I talk about. Not to say that the match wasn’t really really good, but a couple of things took me out of the action in the beginning. Christina Von Eerie blatantly interfering right in front of the referee drove me nuts. For God’s sake, she headbutted him! Why wouldn’t she be tossed? Why wouldn’t Tozawa be disqualified? DG USA said this was a dream match. While I’m sure Von Eerie has been in many male wrestling fan’s dreams, her being such an integral part of this match likely played no role anyone’s dreams. I have an aversion to matches where the officials are made to look like such buffoons, and this happened a number of times on this night. In this match, it was the Von Eerie issue. In the tag team matches, it was a situation where rules would be changed mid-match, from the traditional rules to a more Lucha based set.
Other notes include a fairly funny opening to the show as Jake Manning was showing us how to make a campfire until he was rudely interrupted by Masada. He won a short squash and will clearly be making more appearances in the future. Jay Bradley won a good squash match against Mr. 450 on the bonus card. If there’s a role for Bradley in DG USA, I think it’d be great to see him there on a regular basis. The ever improving Samuray Del Sol had a short match with Shane Hollister. It’s too bad Hollister didn’t get more offense in, but at least DG USA is showing confidence in Del Sol enough to where he’s getting some somewhat dominant wins. The Scene beat Zero Gravity. Unfortunately I don’t get to see CJ Esparza and Bret Gakiya as much since their AAW departure, but they’re still great athletes and should be booked on more shows. The Scene… I just don’t get it.
Overall, this was a very good show with three matches well worth going out of your way to see. From an action standpoint, this is exactly what you want out of a DG USA show. Yes, I have some issues with the product, but I still had a fun time at the show, and got into nearly everything with minimal difficulty.
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