Dragon Gate USA
Chicago, Ill.
Report courtesy of Dot Net Member Chris GST of PWPonderings.com

Minor technical issues as we’ve joined the feed a few minutes late and we hear the commentary team discussing things we’re probably not meant to hear. I think I can confirm the voice of one Dave Prazak! They’re cursing a lot by the way. OK maybe it wasn’t Prazak, but someone on the headsets sounded a LOT like him.

1. The Scene (Caleb Konley and Scott Reed) defeated Kentucky Buffet in a tag team discovery match. Caleb Konley and Scott Reed defeated Kentucky Buffet in a quick match that they dominated. I didn’t quite catch the individual names of Kentucky Buffet but one of them hit a big double missing dropkick at one point. Other than that it was all Reed and Konley and they finished the three or four minute affair with a wheelbarrow hold/Snap DDT/Wheelbarrow Suplex combination.

Brodie Lee attacked Kentucky Buffet after the match. Larry Dallas wisely escorted The Scene away from the ring as Brodie vowed we’d see a lot more of him.

2. Jon Davis beat Rich Swann. Jon Davis won an exciting and competitive match to go two for two in his personal challenge series. This was despite Rich Swann absolutely unloading on him late in the match, as Davis kicked out of a pair of Ace Crusher variants, the Standing 450, a step-up fameasser and a Frog Splash. As Swann attempted some kind of back handspring move he accidentally threw himself onto the shoulders of Davis, who hit a massive spinning Rack Bomb to get the victory.

Indeed the whole story of the match was Swann using his agility to hit and move, while Davis occasionally grounded him with his power. At one point Swann tried a small package but Davis dead-lifted him into a Jackhammer. Swann rapped his way to the ring and had the crowd give it up for BOTH Junction Three and Ronin, continuing to ride the fence from last night. Swann is essentially on tour this weekend as he’ll return to Japan with the native DG guys on Monday.
Brodie Lee hit the ring again after the match and gave Swann a Big Boot and Jackknife Powerbomb. Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor came to ringside and helped Swann to the back as Brodie demanded a match. Gregory Iron obliged and Brodie talked some trash, name-dropping Kevin Nash and sitting down like CM Punk at one point. Iron slapped Brodie and got a Boot and a Jackknife for his troubles.

Uhah Nation then hit the ring and proceeded to hit a series of huge power moves and then a Standing Shooting Star Press! Brodie mounted a comeback in this non-match but then fled the ring and walked to the back.

3. PAC defeated Ricochet. In a shorter-than-you-might-expect encounter of wrestling’s top two high flyers, PAC triumphed with British Airways after planting Ricochet into the mat with a massive powerbomb to counter a Ricochet rana. If you were hoping for an epic main event encounter here you’ll be disappointed, but this was still a really good match. I’m stunned they put it on third though. Ricochet being a heel slowed things right down, beating PAC down around the ringside area and faking a dive to the outside. Things picked up as PAC mounted a comeback and they took turns to reverse rana each other right on their heads.

Before long they took to the top rope and  PAC hit a huge german superplex and a Phoenix Splash off the second rope for two. He tried another flying attacking but Ricochet jumped up top and hit a massive spanish fly for a two count of his own. That was Ricochet’s last big move really as PAC just put him down and got the win in a match that went less than 10 minutes. Somewhat similar to the PAC/Tozawa match from April, this was more one-sided and formulaic than you might think.

Brodie Lee and Blood Warriors hit the ring after the match and beat PAC down with Ricochet proclaiming he was the best high flyer, hitting a Space Flying Tiger as Blood Warriors held PAC still. Ronin hit the ring and nailed a trio of dives onto BW though! And AR Fox joined in the fun, wiping everybody out with a dive of his own. This of course brought out D.U.F. and after running the ropes 5 times, Pinkie Sanchez got suplexed out of the ring onto the pile by Callihan and Cannon. Guess who came out next… yep, Sabu! He nearly botched his big dive. PAC ends the ruckus with a huge corkscrew Asai moonsault, allowing the next match to get underway.

4. A.R. Fox and Sabut beat Arik Cannon and Pinkie Sanchez. AR Fox and Sabu got the win over D.U.F. after Sabu drove Sanchez through a table with the Arabian Skull Crusher, followed by Fox laying the broken table pieces on top of Pinkie and hitting a Swanton Bomb and then a 450 Splash for the pin. Sabu and Fox dominated early, with Sabu busting Cannon open with a spike while Fox and Pinkie brawled on the stage.

The aerial specialists hit some old school Sabu and RVD tag moves before D.U.F. finally isolated Fox. After a while Sabu tagged in and started throwing chairs, taking full advantage of the "relaxed rules." The table soon followed, and despite Cannon’s best efforts to beat the hell out of Fox and Sabu on his own, Pinkie was left vulnerable and ended up losing the match for his team.

Intermission. They air a trailer for seemingly every DGUSA event from the last year, not a bad way to get people interested in the back catalogue.

5. Akira Tozawa defeated Johnny Gargano. Chain wrestling! Akira Tozawa picked up the win here in an extremely back and forth encounter, hitting a straight-jacket german suplex for the win. The pair spent the early goings feeling each other out, missing a lot of big moves and countering a lot. At one point Gargano had Tozawa trapped in a fantastic little Cima-esque hold. Tozawa took command before long however, beating Gargano down in the corners and on the mat, all the while jawing with the fans. While Tozawa was attempting his multiple suicide dives, Gargano saw his opening and hit a slingshot spear to reclaim control of the match.

Tozawa was locked briefly in the Gargano Escape but… well, escaped it and hit a huge series of kicks and a big saito suplex to subdue Gargano once more. Exhausted, the pair stood and traded elbows, superkicks and suplexes before collapsing again. Gargano appeared defeated after a massive german suplex on the apron but somehow survived. Likewise Tozawa kicked out of a combination of the Lawn Dart, a superkick and the Hurts Donut. From there the pair frantically countered each other until Tozawa finally caught Gargano with an Everest German, and though Johnny kicked out, he was left defenceless to the straight-jacket variant. Tozawa is an amazing heel, and how he never got this chance to shine in Dragon Gate before his US tour I don’t know. His new gear is pretty sweet too. Gargano got a standing ovation after the match.

6. Chuck Taylor beat Sami Callihan, Naruki Doi, and Masato Yoshino in a four-way freestyle match to earn the right to book a future match. Chuck Taylor used the Awful Waffle on Callihan to get the pin and earn himself the right to book any match he wants in the future. As is the nature of these freestyle matches, things were frantic and there wasn’t really much rhyme or reason to what happened, with each man taking turns to hit some moves.

Doi was evil, Callihan was stiff, Yoshino was fast and Chucky-T was Chucky-T. Doi and Yoshino hit some of their old double teams and teased a handshake but Doi of course attacked his former partner before any reunion could be had. Sami Callihan blocked Sole Food and turned it into a Stretch Muffler but Chucky quickly countered his way out and with Doi and Yoshino on the outside he took advantage and grabbed the win with his devastating finisher.
Chucky surprisingly asks for Rich Swann and Johnny Gargano to get a tag team title shot (perhaps to get Johnny out of his way so he can go after the Freedom Gate). Brodie Lee runs in again but Taylor and Yoshino fend him off. Yoshino agrees to the title match (not that he should have any say in it given the stipulation) but Taylor superkicks him! Rich Swann comes out and is torn between his two stables. Chuck tells him he just got him a title shot and leaves.

7. YAMATO defeated CIMA to retain the Open the Freedom Gate Title. Yamato successfully defended the Open the Freedom Gate against Cima with the Galleria in a methodical match which Cima controlled most of. Yamato got both the CBV and Ankle Lock early but gave both up to attack Cima’s legs. Weird logic if you ask me, but I’m not Yamato. Cima was sporting enough to limp a little when he got control of the match… or at least when he wasn’t sprinting, throwing dropkicks and double stomps or hitting a suicide dive. He maintained control for several minutes, fending off Yamato’s numerous attempts to fight back and destroying him with a big delayed guillotine DDT. Yamato eventually negotiated his way back into the Ankle Lock but Cima escaped and hit a Perfect Driver and the Schweinn for two counts.

Yamato again managed to lock in a surprise submission, this time the Choke Sleeper, but Cima carried him, climbed to the second rope and just fell backwards onto him, following it with the Meteora, but somehow Yamato kicked out. Yamato dodged a second Meteora and locked in the Choke Sleeper again, denying Cima’s first two escape attempts before hitting the sleeper suplex, kick to the head and a brainbuster for two. But just like the Tozawa/Gargano match, Cima was left unable to defend himself and fell victim to the Galleria. This wasn’t mind blowing or anything, but it was pretty darn good despite the limb work meaning absolutely nothing. These two more than any other DG imports just plain understand wrestling… selling a limb not withstanding. Yamato is just as brilliant as a face as he is a heel.
Cima shrugs off the loss and tells Yamato that BxB Hulk is coming for him, and he wants a No Rope, No DQ match. Yamato accepts, thanks us for watching and rolls out with his belt.

Notes: This was a decent outing for DGUSA on iPPV and they certainly delivered a tonne of action as always. The tag team discovery match was really just a vehicle to get The Scene over (much like the previous night from what I understand). Davis and Swann had a shockingly good match for the amount of time they had. Brodie Lee’s constant interference was a good way to get him back on the scene, and Uhah Nation certainly looked very strong by fending him off. PAC and Ricochet going third deflated me a little as I thought it would be the semi-main and was the thing that drew me to the event. It was short, and PAC won pretty easily, but if you like OMG! moments, you’ll enjoy it. Speaking of which, the dive-fest that led to the D.U.F./Sabu and Fox match was fun. The match itself was okay, though a little too long.

Coming out of intermission Gargano’s rise towards the Open the Freedom Gate got a nice boost as he got all the support against the former crowd-darling Akira Tozawa, and though he didn’t manage the victory, he looked great and the match was good. The freestyle was kind of just there, with each guy doing three or four moves and Taylor ultimately getting the win. His choice of match is pretty intriguing, as is Swann’s situation in the middle of Ronin and Junction 3.

Finally, the main event was a slow (by DG standards), methodical battle of wits that saw Yamato ultimately triumph. With PAC/Ricochet downgraded to undercard status it put more pressure on this match to be epic in my mind, and it didn’t reach that level, not even close. But if you didn’t share that mindset with me and look at it objectively it was an engaging and enjoyable bout even if it did seem to just end out of nowhere.

All in all I enjoyed all the action and look forward to see where several of the stories are going, even if it did feel like it was missing some of the special feel I was hoping for in advance. Though perhaps with tomorrow’s show being upgraded to an iPPV, this show became an inbetweener by necessity.

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