-Taped from Vorhees, New Jersey
-Your hosts are Arda Ocal and BRYCE Remsburg
-CHIKARA Sekigun (Jigsaw and Fire Ant) vs. D.U.F (Arik Cannon and Pinkie Sanchez)
Match in Five Words or Less: CHIKARA Reunion!
Match Highlights: Anyone else remember when Sanchez was an ant himself? Anyone? These four have all wrestled in CHIKARA, so there should be a fair amount of chemistry. Cannon and Fire Ant start off basic. Springboard armdrag. Cannon knees Fire Ant out of the ring. Jigsaw tosses Cannon out. Sanchez in. Remsburg describes the Scene/D.U.F dynamic in 20 seconds and thus does a better job than anyone else in this promotion. Jigsaw controls Sanchez on the mat. Dropkick by Sanchez. Jigsaw leaps up and over. Elbow. Jigsaw stretches Sanchez across his spine. Tag to Fire Ant. Stomp on Sanchez. Snapmare and a running senton. Standing flip for two. Remsburg rehashes Sanchez’s history in Chikara! Hooray! Jigsaw chops Sanchez. Moonsault misses for Sanchez. Jigsaw up and over. Boot on Cannon. Swinging neckbreaker by Cannon. Chop in the corner. Snapmare and dropkick to the head. Heat segment on Jigsaw. Jigsaw catches himself and heads out. Big kick by Fire Ant. Cross body on Cannon. Up and around for a DDT on Sanchez. Assisted dropkick on Cannon. Tope con helo. Jigsaw dropkicks Sanchez. 1-2-NO! Sanchez with back elbows. O’Connor roll blocked. Fire Ant hits Burning Down the House. Jigsaw German suplex. Cannon breaks the count. Chops by Fire Ant. Boot out of the corner. Cannon catches Fire Ant and hits a brainbuster. 1-2-NO! Fire Ant blocks a back suplex. Cannon tosses Fire Ant into the corner. Jigsaw in with a pele kick. Sanchez leaps off his partner and hits a DDT. Fire Ant breaks the count. Fire Ant misses a kick on Sanchez. Burning hammer. 1-2-NO! Double stomo by Sanchez misses. Jigsaw hits one. Right hand and clothesline by Cannon. Fire Ant with a running kick. Sanchez with a standing enziguri. Fire Ant taken up and over. Double superkick. Double stomp into the Jig ‘n’ Tonic. Chikara Sekigun picks up the victory.
Match Analysis: If nothing else, the openers to these shows have been good starting points. Everyone worked hard here to get the show off to a good start. I didn’t picture Jigsaw and Fire Ant as a potential team for DG USA, but considering the division, I’m almost begging for them to stick around. They injected some excitement into this show and the division overall. Very enjoyable.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: CHIKARA Sekigun/11:24/***1/4
-The Scene attack afterward. I groan. Marti Belle comes in the ring randomly… and the other Scene members exit. So let me get this straight. The Scene are supposed to be a top team in the promotion, but one woman can chase all three of them off. All right then.
-Samuray Del Sol vs. Akira Tozawa
Match in Five Words or Less: Where’s Christina?
Match Highlights: The most improved wrestler of 2011 versus arguably the most improved of 2012. Tozawa is still really over. Snapmare and sitting hammerlock. Tozawa with a hard forearm. Spin kick by Del Sol. Del Sol crawls through. Headscissors and a dropkick sends Tozawa into the corner. Choking along the bottom turnbuckle. Snapmare and kick to the back of the head. Stomp. Springboard splash hits. Chinlock. Right hand to the head. Tiger driver immediately into the armbar. Clubbering blow on Tozawa. Tozawa reverses a whip. Del Sol hits boots out of the corner. Tozawa catches him in a gutbuster. Stomp to the head. Del Sol tossed outside. He puts a hat on Del Sol and slaps. Del Sol sent into the ring post. Whip by Tozawa. Running forearm. Cover for two. Elbow to the side of the head. Bodyslam. Standing senton. Forearm exchange. Forearm by Tozawa. Del Sol with a standing sliced bread. Right hands by Del Sol. Tozawa misses a clothesline. Tiger suplex by Del Sol. Brainbuster by Tozawa gets two. To the top rope. Del Sol with a running kick. Quesa dora into a sort of rana as Tozawa gets dropped. Remsburg calls it a super victory roll. That’s as good a guess as any. Battle on the apron. Tozawa with a series of forearms. Superkick by Del Sol. Tozawa back in the ring. Forearm. Enziguri by Del Sol. Running bicycle kick. German suplex plants Del Sol on his hand. OUCH! Del Sol no sells and kicks Tozawa. Bicycle kick. Pair of topes. Forearm exchange. Superkick by Del Sol. Tozawa with one of his own. Del responds. Superkick by Tozawa. Bicycle kicks from both men and they are down. Springboard reverse rana by Del Sol. 1-2-NO! Tozawa shoves him and hits a bicycle kick. Back drop driver. 1-2-NO! Everest German suplex. 1-2-NO! Straight jacket German suplex and Tozawa is the winner.
Match Analysis: Tozawa doesn’t have bad matches with anyone, and Del Sol is just another example of that. No major issues from Del Sol turned this into a really good match, bordering on great. Very enjoyable from start to finish.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Akira Tozawa/12:24/***1/4
-Jon Davis takes quite a long time to get in the ring. He points out how he’s not dressed to wrestle because he took out Open the Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano. Davis says Gargano will not be able to compete. Gargano will have to quit and re…. well, here he comes. So that’s a lie. Gargano comes in the ring. Davis shoulder tackles him down and sends Gargano into the side of the ring. Again goes Gargano’s back. Davis rams Gargano’s back again, and I guess we a have a match
-Jon Davis vs. Johnny Gargano (Open the Freedom Gate Champion)
Match in Five Words or Less: I Guess This Is It
Match Highlights: Back in the ring and the bell rings. Short clothesline. A second one. A third lariat and Davis wins.
Match Analysis: It’s bad enough Gargano has been relegated to openers and matches before intermission during his title reign. It’s bad enough more emphasis has been put on a potential Evolve title than the one that already exists. Now he gets to lose to someone he’s not even defending the title against any time soon in under a minute. This was a heavily advertised match, and got a whopping 57 seconds. No rating.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Jon Davis/:57/N/R
-Referees quickly get Gargano out of the ring. Davis is still in the ring but slowly makes his way out. Gargano jumps and the brawl continues. He tosses chairs at Davis’s head. Brawl continues around ringside. Back in the ring. Davis goes low. Gargano escapes being put through the table. Left hands. Davis drops Gargano on his back. Superkick and Davis goes through the table. Gargano’s back is still injured. This was a bizarre sequence. Gargano loses in under a minute but gets his heat back by sending Davis through a table?
–Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno and Player Dos) vs. Ricochet and Rich Swann
Match in Five Words or Less: Lighting Fast
Match Highlights: Ricochet talks some trash about CIMA and AR Fox. He’s the most spectacular performer on iPPV. Certainly improving his promos. Feeling out process between Uno and Ricochet. Uno hits a shoulder tackle. Running rana. Clothesline misses. Ricochet gets a headscissors. Leaping kick blocked. Haduken goes nowhere. Dos and Swann enter. Headlock by Swann. O’Connor roll by Swann flips out. Dos sends Swann off. Dropkick misses. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Dos. Drop toe hold by Uno into the knee drop by Dos. Swann with right hands. Uno with a blow to the back. Swann sent front first into the ropes. Bodyslam by Uno. Slingshot springboard splash by Dos. Back suplex. Double double axehandles. Fist drop/standing moonsault combination. Right hand by Swann. Uno claps his hands. Dropkick by Swann. Big splash off the ropes as World-1 goes to work. Heat segment on Uno. Uno catches Ricochet in a flatliner. Dos tag and a clothesline on Swann. Another clothesline and leg lariat. Swann leaps over. Kick and clothesline. Back elbow by Swann. Double boots. Double dives on each side of the ring. Dos hits a release tiger suplex for two. Ricochet comes back in with strikes. Chop in the corner. Whip across. Dos with a boot. Swann taken up and over. Enziguri. Uno with a spear. Ricochet with a corkscrew dive on Uno. Cross body but Dos powers out and swings Ricochet around in a flapjack. Uno catches his partner on a whip. Boot by Dos. Battering ram on Ricochet. Uno with a big airplane spin and big swing. Cover by SSB gets two. Swann ducks under and hits a double acecrusher. Ricochet with a diving double acecrusher. Backslide driver blocked. Spin kick. Dos with a running kick. Spin kick by Swann. Uno with a punch. Ricochet ducks. Back suplex. Dos splashes Ricochet. Unreal. Dos taken into the corner. Chops by Dos on Swann. Elbow on Swann. Swann and Ricochet double team on Dos. Dos with a pele kick on both men. GET OVER HERE! Ricochet sent into his partner. Alabama slam into the backcracker. 1-2-NO! Swann breaks the count. Swann with forearms on Dos. Clubbering blows. Swann up and over. Dropkick by Ricochet. Leaping kicks. Superkicks on Uno. Dos ranaed onto his partner. Shooting star press by Ricochet on Uno. 1-2-NO! Kick by Ricochet. Dos crotches Swann on the top rope. Ricochet leap frog. Kick on Dos. Forearm by Dos. Cross body but Dos catches him. Uno hits a moonsault! FATALITY! SSB WIN!
Match Analysis: Swann was acting like a heel in this match, yet he’s a babyface in the Taylor feud. I need a scorecard on every show to see who the heels and babyfaces are in this company. Nonetheless, this was SSB’s best effort in DG USA. These two teams took the shackles off and went crackers the final few minutes. Quality action all around. Ricochet’s wrestling has made an improvement, but his personality is really starting to come out. Great stuff all around.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Super Smash Brothers/20:13/***3/4
-AR Fox calls Ricochet by his shoot name and says he can’t win the big one. He said one sentence and I hated like three things. Ricochet hasn’t won big matches? Ummm. Here’s a short list. Brave Gate. Triangle Gate. Twin Gate. Brave Gate. I could go on, but I’ve proven my point. And the shoot name? Mind numbingly stupid.
-The Scene (Scott Reed and Caleb Konley w/Larry Dallas and Trina) and Cheech vs. The Gentlemen’s Club (Chuck Taylor, Drew Gulak, and Orange Cassidy w/Swamp Monster and Dr. Colonel Nolan Angus)
Match in Five Words or Less: UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!
Match Highlights: Just to think. Someone in DG USA thought more people wanted to see this versus ACH and Eita. Yeah, this is totally worth it. Reed and Gulak start. No physical contact. Konley tags. Then Cheech tags. That’s what this match needs, stalling. Konley comes back in. Reed misses a charge. Duck and dodge. Reed catches. Gulak brings him over and gets a nearfall. Reed maintains control of his legs. Roll-up by Gulak for two. Dropkick sends Reed in the corner. Double chops. Reed rakes the eyes. Cassidy sleepily walks in. Kick and left hands from Konley. Cassidy holds onto the ropes. Headlock. Cassidy holds on again. Atomic drop. Vertical suplex blocked. Konley hits one of his own. Cheech wants Angus for whatever reason. Taylor makes a Cloudy reference. Series of strikes. Taylor comes back. Whip but Taylor gets his boot up. He takes a swig of alcohol and staggers to the top rope. Boot as Cheech charges. Double axehandle by Taylor. Double back elbows. Cassidy hits a lazy splash and gets two. Whip in the corner. Triple teams. Cartwheel kick by Swamp Monster. Clubbering blows by Taylor. Cheech takes up and over. Konley misses a charge. We get a token gay spot involving the Scene. Taylor points at Trina. Colonel and Swamp Monster stalk Trina. Monster humps her. Reed with a boot on Gulak. Flapjack by Konley. Boot. Forearm by Konley. Powerbomb by Reed. Bulldog into the other corner. Heat segment… I guess…on Gulak. Cheech has Gulak prone on his back while also applying a Boston crab on Cassidy. Konley with a vertical suplex as Reed hits a chop. Back for forth go Konley and Gulak. Scene and Cheech maintain control. Cheech shoulder blocks his own partner and gets into a shoving match with Konley. Reed takes out the other two members of the Gentlemen’s Club. Gulak crawls underneath and tags Cassidy. Cassidy is asleep at first. Shoulder blocks from the Scene. Taylor comes in with right hands for everyone. He even punches the air. Gulak with a tope con helo on Cheech. Cassidy blocks a Taylor dive before springboarding on Reed. Swamp Monster dives as well. Taylor doesn’t know what to do. Everyone gathers. Taylor goes to the top rope but Trina distracts him. Dallas tosses Taylor off. Colonel comes in. Cassidy spits whatever in Cheech’s face. Awful Waffle. Taylor covers and gets the victory.
Match Analysis: This match felt like a waste of time. I like Taylor, Gulak, Cassidy, and Cheech, but it doesn’t feel like they’re going anywhere in DG USA/Evolve. If the Gentlemen’s Club aren’t going to take themselves seriously, why should I? Yes, there are comedy matches, but you can still take yourself seriously as a comedy wrestler. Lots of silliness from the GC. The Scene… well, they had the same match they always have.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Gentlemen’s Club/15:32/**1/4
-Marti Belle comes out and brawls with Trina. This all came about because of a Twitter feud, always a successful way of drawing an audience.
-2 out of 3 Falls: El Generico vs. Sami Callihan
Match in Five Words or Less: Disappointing
Match Highlights: Each man stands in their respective corner for a bit. They talk some garbage at each other. Shove from Callihan. Immediate yakuza kick. Callihan small package eventually gets three to win the first fall in just over a minute.
Callihan pie faces Generico. Body slam and right hand. To the corner for some stomps. Callihan sent into the top turnbuckle. Snapmare into a cover. To the chinlock. Callihan drags him by the mask. Another pie face. Boot to the midsection and a front facelock. Bodyslam. Short knee drop. Headbutt. Elbow to the back of the neck. Callihan takes him down by the leg. Into a modified submission. Stomp on the leg. Chop by Callihan. Slap by Generico. Headbutt by Callihan. Headbutt by Generico. One more sends Generico into the corner. Series of headbutts. Into the cover for two. Generico grabs the front facelock again. Small package nearly gets three. Generco favors his left knee. Running forearm. Generico whipped in the corner. Callihan up and down on the knee. He sends the knee into the apron. Generico rammed hard into the barricade. Generico has his knee rammed into the post. Running kick to the knee. Generico sent back in the ring. Callihan goes back to twisting the knee. Callihan transitions into the trailer hitch. To the corner. Boot to the knee. Slam into the bottom two ropes. Taunting slaps from Callihan. Forearms. Callihan tosses Generico to the floor. Generico comes back in. Callihan tosses him outside. Diving forearm to the floor. Callihan is fine with a countout. Callihan tosses Generico a third time. He stalks around. Right hands. Big chop. Exploder puts Callihan on the timekeeper’s table. Callihan heads back in the ring at 19. Generico gets the feeling back in his knee but misses the yakuza kick. Enziguri by Callihan. Face wash number one. Face wash number two. Generico has an exploder countered into a victory roll. Exploder into the corner connects. Callihan takes Generico in the corner. Clothesline. Generico comes around and sells the knee. Yakuza kick. Brainbuster! 1-2-3!
Callihan with a series of elbows to the back of the head. Blue thunder powerbomb gets two. Callihan quickly grabs the Stretch Muffler. Generico kicks him away. Figure four leglock. Callihan with strikes on Generico’s knee. Callihan goes to the top rope. Generico follows him in. Callihan shoves him. Yakuza sends Callihan down to the floor. Cross body. Callihan hits a leaping kick on Generico. Top rope brainbuster teased. Sunset bomb blocked. Callihan with right hands. Generico with a yakuza to the knee. Stretch muffler. Callihan reverses. Generico cannot counter out. After sitting down, Generico taps/
Match Analysis: The lack of a crowd really hurt what these two were doing in the ring. Generico feeds off energy, and there was none. This match never felt like it really hit that third gear. Callihan worked over Generico’s knee and then just won with his finisher. Nothing wrong specifically, but there wasn’t a lot of heat nor was there ever a sense Generico had a chance of winning the third fall. Also, while I love psychology, having two matches over the weekend with extended knee work is on the repetitive side.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sami Callihan/20:37/***1/4
-Callihan says he’s back and better than ever. It doesn’t matter where he is because Callihan says it’s his first step towards him becoming a champion. He’s not the biggest dog in the fight, but he’s the scariest.
-Open the United Gate Championship: CIMA and AR Fox (champions) vs. Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito
Match in Five Words or Less: Good But Not Great
Match Highlights: Horiguchi and CIMA begin. Armdrag by Horiguchi. CIMA rolls him up for two. Boot and a headlock from CIMA. Shoulder tackle. He makes the Blood Warriors call. Clothesline by Horiguchi. Armdrag and dropkick by CIMA. Boot and double axehandle on Saito. Kick to the upper body. Fox comes in and works the arm. Saito grabs the same left leg that Ricochet worked on the previous night. O’Connor roll blocked. Fox dropkick. Springboard moonsault to the floor hits. Saito sent back in the ring. Double dropkick by the champions. CIMA covers for two. Roll-up on Saito for two. CIMA with a hairmare on Horiguchi. Elbow to the back by Fox. Split-legged tumbleweed hits. Abdominal stretch and Fox tries hold onto the arm. Horiguchi breaks hold and grabs the rope. Boot by CIMA. Dragon screw legwhip. Fox sends him down. Knee to the back. Modified camel clutch. He stomps on Horiguchi’s hand. Back to the abdominal stretch. Horiguchi hip tosses him over. CIMA prevents the elastic band shenanigans. Instead CIMA and Fox turn the tables on Horiguchi. Saito’s head meets the same fate. Back elbow by Fox. Boot from CIMA. Drop toe hold. Surfboard. Leg drop across the head. Double flapjack and dropkick from the champions. Back and forth with forearms. Low dropkick by Horiguchi. Saito enters and begins going back to the left knee. Heat segment on Fox as the challengers focus their attack on the knee. Fox comes back. Sliced bread on Saito. Springboard acecrusher on Horiguchi. Tag to CIMA. Boot on Horiguchi. Into the corner. Saito sent in. Backcracker. Vertical suplex into his partner. Lo Mein Rain as Fox’s back hits the rail. Uhhhh, ow. CIMA and Saito back in the ring. Sunset flip countered. Pair of kicks and senton by CIMA. Springboard double stomp gets two. Boot. Saito with an overhead throw. Fishermen’s suplexes hit. CIMA reverses a whip. Boot by Saito. Venus hits. Iconoclasm. Swanton by Fox gets two. Twisting forearm by Fox. Leaping kick. Horiguchi hits a dropkick off the middle rope. Double clothesline but Fox ducks. Enziguri on Saito. Rolling death valley driver on Horiguchi. Sliced bread countered. Stalling German suplex by Saito. CIMA breaks the count. Back elbow by Saito. Elbow by Horiguchi. Snap suplex leads into the splash by Saito. Tiger suplex. Horiguchi spikes CIMA. Another tiger suplex. 1-2-NO! CIMA hits a superkick. Schwein. 1-2-NO! Fox hits a 450. Horiguchi breaks it up. Horiguchi whipped. CIMA with knees. Clothesline by Fox. Springboard dropkick by Fox. Running knees by CIMA. Cannonball. Superkick as Horiguchi is on the top rope. Lo Mein Pain. METEORA! Champions retain.
Match Analysis: A better crowd would certainly have enhanced this contest. Fox’s knee work didn’t go all that far, which also didn’t help the proceedings. Good action for the most part but not nearly as good as a lot of other DG USA main events.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL Open the United Gate Champions-CIMA and AR Fox./21:03/***1/4
-CIMA puts Fox over. Sami Callihan comes out and says CIMA should be concerned about him. Callihan talks about CIMA being stepping stone to the Open the Freedom Gate championship. Fox says Callihan will have to go through him. Didn’t they just feud for like… a year? CIMA says he cannot understand Callihan.
The Verdict: This was a slightly better show top to bottom. Del Sol and Tozawa is certainly worth checking out given the time constraints and position on the card. The tag team match before intermission was outstanding and well worth checking out. The last two matches were good, albeit on the disappointing end of the spectrum. A more solid thumbs up for this show than Fearless.
For more information on Dragon Gate USA, please check out their website. To purchase this show and so many other shows from DG USA, Evolve, CZW, etc. on-demand, check out WWN’s website.
For supplemental information on DG USA, including reviews and the chance to watch episodes of Infinity, check out these great resources: Open the Garoon Gate, Open the Tumblr Gate, and Open the Dragon Gate.
Contact Pro Wrestling Ponderings!
E-mail: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pwponderings
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pwponderings
Youtube: www.youtube.com/pwponderings
Contact ME!
E-mail: jcusson07@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepwpeditor