Dragon Gate USA – United: Finale – 30th January 2011
After three days of hard fought competition and outstanding matches, the United Gate tournament concludes tonight as World-1’s Masato Yoshino and Pac square off with the surprise package of the weekend – Ronin’s Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor – for the Open The United Gate Championship. The conclusion of the United weekend is also scheduled to see the new top heel group in the company (Blood Warriors) fight amongst itself with their two teams in the tournament, both sitting on zero points, competing in a dead rubber match. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that you shouldn’t expect that to go down as planned. Homicide is finally booked on a show after haunting Jon Moxley all weekend and those two rivals lock horns in a No DQ Match. BxB Hulks completes the Kamikaze USA gauntlet as he faces Akira Tozawa in a potential showstealer…and elsewhere the likes of Jimmy Jacobs, Sami Callihan and Rich Swann are all looking to round off a mixed weekend by making an impact. Lenny Leonard and Leonard Chikarason are in Union City, NJ.
First impressions of the show are that the Ace Arena is way uglier than BB Kings or The Arena. But at least Larry Legend is back doing the ring announcing. For some reason they are using a beaten up, sh*tty ring canvas with tape all over it rather than the plush, DGUSA red and black mat.
Brodie Lee vs Rich Swann
This continues the escalating war between Ronin and Blood Warriors. Ronin think they’ve done enough to earn a spot on the Dragon Gate Japan roster, but CIMA doesn’t agree. He has ordered his Blood Warriors crew to inflict a number of beatings – most memorably last night when the entire group fully committed to their heel turn. Tonight the big bad trucker’s job will be to shut the mouth of the most outspoken, cocky and (lets face it) annoying member of Ronin. Brodie will also be looking to rebound after a loss to Open The Freedom Gate Champion YAMATO last night.
Swann does all he can to stall his inevitable confrontation with Lee. He hides in the ropes, leaves the ring, and even runs off with Brodie’s bandana – successfully surviving the first 90 seconds without getting a glove laid on him. Unfortunately for him the Ace Arena really isn’t a big building at all and there isn’t anywhere for him to go…so he eventually walks into a massive superkick. Plenty of stiff strikes and a butterfly suplex have Swann well and truly on the back foot. Somehow he counters out of the Truck Stop though and tries to pepper Lee with kicks. Corkscrew enzi takes him down into the Leap From Swann Pond for 2. Rich Kick misses though, and he eats the Truck Stop. Lee wins at 04:55
Rating - ** - As far as squashes go this was entertaining. Swann got a few laughs, and Brodie played the ‘straight guy’ for his comedy act well. Unfortunately I don’t see why Swann was booked to get utterly squashed here. In what was supposed to be a breakout weekend for Ronin he is left looking really weak and inept...
The rest of the Blood Warriors join Brodie in the ring for his celebrations, with CIMA taking photos of the unconscious body of Swann on the canvas. Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor try to rescue their buddy…but can’t get near him until Lee CHOKESLAMS HIM OFF THE APRON AT THEM! Ricochet formally cancels the all-Blood Warriors tag tonight and gives them all the night off. CIMA wants to leave for sushi and karaoke apparently, but they get interrupted by Jimmy Jacobs. He thinks the Blood Warriors are scared of him (he has an open challenge against any Japanese talent) and demands one of them fight him tonight. Ricochet challenges him to find three partners in the back to face them in an 8-man tag…as CIMA laughs at Jacobs for having no friends. Jimmy accepts the challenge and heads backstage to get recruiting.
AR Fox vs Cheech Hernandez
This one pits two of the stand-out performers from last nights Six Way Fray against each other. Neither Fox nor Cheech won it (Sami Callihan defeated AR) but both displayed exceptional skill and earned a callback tonight. A victory will move one of them that much closer to a full-time roster spot.
They start with some basic, rather clichéd junior heavyweight exchanges until Cheech shows his conditioning by working Fox over in a bodyscissors whilst doing some cardio work at the same time. He then spikes AR on his neck with a running STO for 2. Fox buys himself some time with a rolling stunner combo…then dives into the crowd with a gorgeous somersault plancha. Reverse Frog Splash blocked with a boot to the face, before Hernandez delivers a pumphandle facebuster. Lo Mein Pain avoided with a cartwheel off the top so Fox hits a SPRINGBOARD CODEBREAKER to win at 04:34
Rating - * - The crowd couldn’t care less about this match, and if the idea was to get Fox over then they really shouldn’t have allowed Cheech to spend basically the whole match on offence. AR was clearly a talent and has looked good in both his matches this weekend – unfortunately here he only got about thirty seconds to spend on offence in the entire contest. Cheech has improved miles since his days as a waster in Special K, but if he was ever going to amount to anything it would have happened by now. Fox was the talent here, he should have been protected and given a much more emphatic performance…
Jon Moxley accompanies Akira Tozawa to the ring for his match…but their entrance is interrupted by Reby Sky. Mrs Matt Hardy barely wears anything, and admits that she misjudged Moxley. She charms him with her feminine wiles, and he walks out on Tozawa leaving him alone
Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk
This is the third leg in Hulk’s Kamikaze USA gauntlet this weekend. He lost his coveted Freedom Gate Title to YAMATO in New York, but rebounded with a resounding victory over Jon Moxley in a No DQ Match yesterday in Philadelphia. Tonight he faces Kamikaze’s rising superstar in the unpredictable and highly dangerous Tozawa. Akira knows a win over a Dragon Gate stalwart like Hulk immediately rockets his stock both in DGUSA and back home in Japan.
Lenny points out that Tozawa is extremely popular with DGUSA fans despite Kamikaze being a heel group. They work the mat early, with Hulk mounting the youngster for some surprisingly vicious knee strikes. Although Akira performs admirably, it is BxB’s veteran instincts which see him largely dominant in the opening minutes. He’s too quick for Tozawa and is continually able to out-manoeuvre the over-enthusiastic youngster, prompting him to leave the ring for a time-out on the floor. BOOTS TO THE HEAD! Hulk is venting months of frustration and an entire weekend of disappointment on young Tozawa at this point and just brutalising him. Tozawa has to absorb some of his best shots, but does eventually fire back with a tight flurry of kicks in the corner himself. Snug rear chinlock applied looking to do damage to BxB’s neck and also buy him some recovery time…and when the former Freedom Gate Champion fights out Tozawa rakes his eyes then PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE! Heel kick by Hulk in response, leaving both men on the mat temporarily. Tozawa delivers some VIOLENT elbow strikes, only for his opponent to cartwheel into another heel kick then a SPRINGBOARD SEATED SENTON! Akira bails again but this time Hulk simply chases him outside and starts choking him on the floor. Muay Thai knees next, followed by a dropkick to the neck and a standing corkscrew senton. Tozawa is really weakened now thus allowing BxB to execute more of his flashy offensive moves alongside the amazingly ruthless and hard-hitting approach he’s adopted thus far. RUNNING KNEE BY TOZAWA! ROLLING ELBOW SUICIDAS INTO THE GUARDRAILS! And then Tozawa basically collapses against the steps to sell the devastating beating he’s taken throughout this match. TOZAWA BACKDROP HOLD! He then puts knees into Hulk’s stomach as he tries a flying crossbody! Kick flurry by Hulk into the BxB Star Press for 2. EVO NAILED…FOR 2! Tozawa delivers a running bicycle kick to block the Phoenix Splash then splats him off the top rope into a superplex. ELBOW STRIKE DUEL! MOUSE CLICK! Hulk flips out of Tozawa’s German suplex, only for Akira to duck First Flash! SHINING WIZARD BY TOZAWA! BOTH MEN DOWN! ELBOWS! KICKS! BICYCLE KICK DUEL! MOONSAULT SLAM BY BxB! FTX SCORES! TOZAWA KICKS OUT! EVO countered to an inverted DDT then GANKI FOR 2! BRIDGING GERMAN SUPLEX! HULK KICKS OUT! DEAD-LIFT GERMAN! STRAIGHT-JACKET GERMAN! TOZAWA WINS! TOZAWA WINS! It’s over at 20:29
Rating - **** - A perfect example of why BxB Hulk is such a frustrating wrestler to watch. Sometimes (as with his match with YAMATO in New York) he is sloppy as hell, can’t be bothered to sell anything and just looks to be cruising through his high spots without much thought at all. Then other times he produces absolute scorchers like this. Make no mistake, Tozawa’s performance as the fiery underdog finally coming of age was outstanding…but Hulk was just awesome. The emotion he displayed as the bitter, devastated ex-champion looking to vent all his frustrations on what he perceived as the ‘whipping boy’ of Kamikaze USA just sucked me into this one. You could feel his motivation with every strike and every move he executed. There was NO WAY he was going to let Kamikaze get the better of him this weekend, or let this young punk make a name at his expense. His motivated performance makes Tozawa’s win (and 3-0 record over United weekend) all the more impressive. There have been some scintillating matches over the course of these three shows, but this is right up there with the best of them so far.
Highlights of the Homicide/Moxley feud are shown – including Mox jumping him from behind at a DGUSA show then controversially defeating him at Evolve 6 before receiving an Abdullah The Butcher style fork attack.
Austin Aries enters the arena for reasons which aren’t actually made clear. Jimmy Jacobs interrupts his entrance to reference their history together (namely their 2008 feud in ROH). Jimmy admits he has no friends in the DGUSA locker room and asks if A-Double will do him a favour tonight by joining with him in the fight against the Blood Warriors. Aries concedes that there is mutual respect between them and agrees to join his team. Jon Moxley comes out and does Jacobs a favour too. Since Blood Warriors are a threat to his plans for Kamikaze USA dominance he puts YAMATO on Jimmy’s team as well – before getting jumped from behind by the Notorious 187.
Jon Moxley vs Homicide – No DQ Match
As we just saw in the video package, this feud has been raging for quite a while across both DGUSA and Evolve. All weekend Moxley has made fun of Homicide for not showing up, only to be assaulted by various members of Homicide’s crew. Tonight they finally look to settle the score between them. Mox has Reby Sky at ringside with him…and I believe this technically counters as a cross-factional encounter as Homicide has been acknowledged as a member of World-1 in the past.
The venue is so small that Larry Legend, Austin Aries and Jimmy Jacobs all get chased around ringside by the two fighters as they start brawling. The battle immediately goes into the crowd and up to the top row of bleachers at the back of the building. X-FACTOR THROUGH A TABLE by Cide! Moxley responds by denting the wall with Homicide’s head! It’s a chaotic scene as Homicide flattens Mox under the guardrails then starts tossing chairs at him. A fan hands him a glass bottle, which he smashes around the ringpost then heads off down the aisle trying to GLASS Moxley! Somehow the Kamikaze leader evades that and scores with a running elbow smash against the wall of the arena. POWERBOMB into the wall nailed! That one clearly rung Cide’s bell and he can’t even make it back to his feet before Moxley drags him into the ring for a ‘Cincinnati Lariat’. Reby Sky hops into the ring for a rather obvious double cross – giving Moxley a nut shot and sending him into a back drop driver from Homicide for 2. Ace Crusher by Cide…no sold by Mox into a cutter of his own. He then snares him in the Crossface Chickenwing. Homicide somehow escapes that and hits a TOPE CON HILO INTO THE CROWD! That busts Moxley open (and gives Cide a lacerated elbow too) and he barely has enough about him to kick out of the Lariat. Ace Crusher/Lariat combo gets 2. Jon taunts his opponent, saying he can’t ‘put him away’…and proves his point by kicking out of an avalanche Ace Crusher. Homicide is effectively murdering the credibility of all his secondary finishers at this point. The Cop Killa is still over as f*ck though and he promptly dispatches Moxley with it. Then, rather than win the match, he drapes Mox’s unconscious body over his, giving Jon the win at 13:20
Rating - * - I found this one tough to rate. On the one hand I definitely liked the brawling portion of the contest. It felt like a genuinely wild and out of control spectacle as these two dynamic performers fought all over the building. Unfortunately the last five minutes were absolutely atrocious. Moxley is supposed to be one of DGUSA’s premier American performers. I don’t buy into the concept that you have to win EVERY match to look strong – but Moxley looks like a b*tch on basically every show. Hulk easily beat him last night, he struggled against Jigsaw in New York…and Homicide basically murdered him here. As I said on play-by-play, all the heatless ‘false finishes’ at the end did nothing to contribute to the match and simply destroyed all credibility of Cide’s secondary finishers (the Lariat and the Ace Crusher) too. Horrible booking, leaving neither man looking good at the end of it. This was during Homicide’s disastrous 2010/2011 return to the indies when his shoulder was still so bad that it basically left him a shadow of his former self. Moxley should have gone over here as Homicide has nothing to contribute to DGUSA or Evolve in the long term.
Homicide proclaims that he doesn’t care if he wins or loses (so why did he continually try to pin Moxley throughout the match?) then tries to CUT OUT MOXLEY’S TONGUE! Akira Tozawa rushes out to save his leader
Rexx Reed vs Pinkie Sanchez
Reed was another guy from the Six Way Fray yesterday who did ok. He is desperately unsuitable for the DGUSA promotion though. Sanchez is another ex-Chikara guy, who used to work under a hood as one of the ‘ants’ (this is four years ago, I can’t remember for the life of me which one it was!) but comes to DGUSA without a hood and looking to establish a reputation in his own right.
Sanchez is pumped, but only a fraction of the size of Reed and predictably soon finds himself on the business end of an ass kicking. He takes a NASTY bump on the floor attempting an ugly version of ACH’s Air Jordan dive. Another ugly dive moments later ends badly for him too as Rexx catches him for a slam into the side of the ring. Fatty senton gets 2. Pinkie then falls off the apron…possibly not intentionally. Eventually he recovers himself to land a springboard elbow drop…which probably wasn’t worth the amount of effort he put into it. Reed wins with a torture rack backbreaker at 03:40
Rating - DUD - Sloppy as f*ck (mostly on Pinkie’s part to be fair), and since Pinkie was the guy who ended up getting more of a permanent spot in DGUSA it made absolutely no sense to job him out here. The undercard on this show is absolutely painful to sit through (Hulk/Tozawa excluded obviously).
It’s time for the big 8-man tag. Jimmy’s team is completed just seconds before it starts as Sami Callihan marches to the ring looking to fulfil his promise to start taking down some of the big fish in Dragon Gate USA.
Jimmy Jacobs/Austin Aries/YAMATO/Sami Callihan vs CIMA/Naruki Doi/Dragon Kid/Ricochet
Originally the Blood Warriors were supposed to face each other in a dead rubber as part of the United Gate Tournament. Having both suffered back to back losses against both World-1 and Ronin neither are left with a chance of winning the new DGUSA Tag Titles. But when they decided to take the night off instead of fight – Jimmy Jacobs saw an opportunity. Jimmy is 0-2 thus far this weekend, and in desperate need of a big win if he is to get into the Freedom Gate Title picture. He has stepped up to the challenge of the biggest heel group in the company and, against all the odds, has put a squad together to face them. The Blood Warriors are looking to establish their dominance over DGUSA. They know a win over two independent scene veterans like Jacobs and Aries, as well as the Freedom Gate Champion immediately puts them at the top of the metaphorical pile.
The Warriors give all their opponents the universal ‘up yours’ gesture…but find it countered into four-way tandem arm wrenches in the ropes by Team Jacobs. Callihan displays his desire to make an impression early by demanding to be allowed in the ring with Cima. He goes right for the Stretch Muffler on the veteran, then clocks him with a sliding lariat to drive him out of the ring. Aries and Doi in next, running through a really crisp back and forth exchange which ends in stalemate. Ricochet is the next to make a statement – by getting the better of Yamato. This time though the Blood Warriors have seen enough, with Cima attacking Yamato from behind and hauling him back to their corner for a 4-on-1 beating. Yamato is able to tag out to A-Double there, so when he comes in even Brodie Lee gets involved to make sure the Warriors don’t lose their victim for a second time. Ricochet MISSES something in the corner and lands right on his neck though. It looked brutal and it allows both Aries and Callihan to capitalise by assaulting the neck. With the high flier now carrying an injury he is easy prey for the thrown-together Jacobs squad for the next few minutes. He eventually needs Cima and Doi to come to his rescue – with them barging into the ring for a vicious assault on Sami’s legs. They then haul him out of the ring and, behind the referee’s back, repeatedly smash his crotch into the ringpost. DOUBLE CURB STOMP FLURRY ON CALLIHAN! Cima is being absolutely ruthless with him here and has rendered him almost motionless on the canvas. BACK DROP DRIVER out of nowhere!
Callihan lunges into a hot tag to the Freedom Gate Champion…who nearly spears Kid out of his mask. Doi escapes Aries’ Brainbuster…so Austin slaps the Last Chancery on DK instead. STRETCH MUFFLER ON RICOCHET! DOUJIME SLEEPER ON DOI! END TIME ON CIMA! Cima manages to power Jimmy off him, dropping him on top of Aries to break the Last Chancery too. Watching old pros like Cima and Aries trade counters and strikes with each other is an absolute joy. Elsewhere Callihan is doing his best to cave in Rico’s chest with some horrific chops. Ricochet amazingly absorbs them and retaliates with a standing moonsault senton for 2. DEAD-LIFT NECK DROP DRIVER BY SAMI! Doi saves his partner…and is punished with a brainbuster from Yamato. Galleria blocked, with Naruki setting Yamato up for the Dragon Stunner, then a Red Star Press from Ricochet. Ulta Rana ducked with Yamato feeding Kid into the KICK OF DEATH from Aries! Impact Explosion Dropkick on Kid! CONTRA CODE! Cima pulls Callihan up to the top rope on his shoulders, setting up for Kid’s SPRINGBOARD SUPER RANA! CANNONBALL SENTON BY DOI! All the Blood Warriors pile in for strikes on Jacobs in the corner – culminating in a TRIPLE MISSILE DROPKICK! PERFECT DRIVER! ARIES SAVES! HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Wrestlers are spilling into the crowd, which works out well for Ricochet since he can hit the HANDSPRING MOONSAULT OVER THE GUARDRAIL! END TIME ON DOI! COUNTERED TO DOI 555! BAKATARE SLIDING KICK! Doi pins Jacobs to finally win the match at 24:33. Jimmy ends the weekend 0-3.
Rating - **** - I’ve seen some lowball ratings for this one, but I loved it. I enjoy multi-man matches like this, which get plenty of time and really allow all the participants a chance not only to get their sh*t in (I love that Brian Cage-ism) but also to really demonstrate their motivations. Guys like Callihan and Ricochet, arguably the lowest ranking members of their respective teams, really shone for instance - with Sami damn near stealing the show with his fiery underdog act. The heel beatdown segment on Callihan drew some genuine heat from what has been a rather unresponsive and low key crowd – and watching them slowly move through the gears in the second half of the match was such fun. The reality is that they held quite a bit back so as not to take heat from the main event, but this was still a blast and something totally different from the rest of the United weekend shows.
SIDENOTE – I really enjoy watching wrestling when you can visibly see the performers having a good time. The Blood Warriors may not necessarily be the most innovative heel group of all time. Hell, half the time they can’t even remember to BE heels at all, and do the old-school Warriors ‘HOOOO’ pose instead of their new ‘up yours’ version. However, watching them it’s clear that CIMA, Doi and Kid are having a blast playing pantomime villains in another country. The fact that they were enjoying themselves so much really did add something to this entire segment.
Masato Yoshino/Pac vs Johnny Gargano/Chuck Taylor – Open The United Gate Title Tournament Final
In New York and Philadelphia we got two nights of incredible tag team action. These two teams have gone undefeated all weekend thus far, both scoring victories over two different Blood Warrior duos. Ronin of Gargano and Taylor are the surprise package of the tournament – coming in as outsiders but scoring back to back victories over their arch rivals in Blood Warriors and now seemingly on the cusp of forcing their way onto the Dragon Gate Japan roster. They know that a win in this tournament will give the DG office little option but to send them to CIMA’s homeland. Yoshino and Pac, meanwhile, have wowed the American crowd all weekend with their dazzling offensive manoeuvres. They are the top two singles wrestlers in Dragon Gate (the Dream Gate and Brave Gate Champions respectively) and will now look to bring DGUSA tag team gold home to World-1 as well.
Yoshino shows his class in the opening minute, but gets cocky with Johnny Gargano and falls victim to the Baby Ace Crusher – emphasising that despite Ronin’s lack of experience they always have a puncher’s chance here. Pac further emphasises the skills gap between them by being MILES too fast for Taylor to handle, giving World-1 a serious advantage for the first time. They isolate Gargano and watch as Chuck gets more and more angry from his vantage point on the apron. Pac gets a nearfall with a STANDING CORKSCREW MOONSAULT off Yoshino’s back. Finally Chucky forces his way in and tosses Pac face-first into a double boot from Johnny. ‘I’m quite fast too’ – Gargano as he smears Pac into the canvas. Ronin don’t have the speed or dazzling moveset of their opponents, but use their cunning and street smarts to do a decent job cutting the Englishman off from his partner. They can’t keep him away from the Dream Gate Champion forever though and Yoshino explodes into the ring with the Sling Blade on Taylor. Sole Food back at him, into a chokeslam for 2. From Jungle applied briefly whilst Pac and Gargano go at it on the other side of the ring. SECOND ROPE SSP gets 2 for Pac. Johnny retaliates with the Lawn Dart then a Black Superkick for 2. Slingshot spear/lionsault combo on Yoshino! Ronin then counter Ude Yoshino into a tilta-whirl backbreaker/knee strike combo which I absolutely love. Pac comes to his aid with a STANDING RED ARROW. Taylor steps off Gargano’s back into a blockbuster on him though as the match continues to go back and forth. Splash Mountain Cutter has Yoshi diving in to save the match for his team. AWFUL WAFFLE ON PAC! GETS 2! SPIKE DDT/HURTZ DONUT COMBO! GARGANO ESCAPE! This is how Ronin won in Philadelphia! Yoshino has to fight like f*ck with Taylor, eventually dropping him with Ude Yoshino. SOL NACIENTE! Why isn’t he saving his partner, who is still the legal man? This makes no sense! Gargano breaks the hold, when he had Pac on the brink of tapping, to rescue his partner from a move the ref was paying no attention to. Lightning Spiral on Gargano for 2! SECOND ROPE PHOENIX SPLASH BY PAC! RUNNING KNEE STRIKE OFF THE GUARDRAIL BY TAYLOR! DRAGON SUPLEX BY GARGANO! PAC NO SELLS! He wins with an anticlimactic German suplex at 17:25
Rating - *** - A real shame that such an entertaining tournament has it’s worst match (by far) in the final. Something about these two teams just never clicked. I liked how they established Pac and Yoshino as the superior competitors early. Ronin were clearly the underdogs, which made their eventual comeback to the brink of victory particularly enjoyable. It was the highlight of the match for me (other than Pac’s phenomenal aerial ability). However, there were a number of issues with this. Firstly – this crowd and this building suck. Compared to the hot crowd and intimate little venue in New York, and awesome crowd in the historic ECW Arena in Philadelphia this just looked horrible. The finals of your prestigious tournament shouldn’t be held in a crappy little black box of a building in front of about 50 silent fans. There was zero ‘big fight’ atmosphere to this, which probably contributed to my lack of enjoyment of it. Secondly – that Gargano Escape/Sol Naciente exchange was incredibly stupid. Why on earth did Gargano break his hold? The ref was paying no attention to Yoshino and Taylor, and he’d already had Pac in the submission for close to a minute. He was on the brink of victory and let go for NO REASON...which really aggravated me. Thirdly – was that finish ever a buzzkill or what? These four have so many amazing moves…especially Pac. After three nights of amazing competition, and after things like the Awful Waffle have been used as nearfalls – the tournament ends with a German suplex? This is still a decent match but doesn’t come close to touching the excellence of the bouts that preceded it on the first two nights
Tape Rating - *** - This one barely scrapes into 3* territory for me. It was comfortably the worst show of the United weekend (although I'm aware the limitations of my star rating system mean they all have the same rating). Compared to NYC and Philly this felt like a B-show – and considering this one is supposed to be the big final chapter that’s quite a disappointment. The undercard is flat-out terrible at times, some of the booking is really questionable (Swann getting crushed, the finish to Homicide/Moxley, Reed going over Pinkie etc), and the final of the United Gate Tournament, whilst still entertaining, is undeniably a bit of a disappointment considering the talent involved. Thankfully this is DGUSA and even for this, one of their weakest shows thus far, there is still some REALLY good stuff to be found. Hulk/Tozawa was my favourite match from the entire weekend. Watching a talented up and comer spectacularly break out, alongside a surprisingly fantastic performance from the veteran BxB was simply awesome and well worth checking out. The Blood Warriors 8-man entertained the hell out of me too. On the whole the United Weekend is still an easy recommend. All three shows are worth picking up for different reasons. As a trilogy of shows they all feed well into each other and it’s hard to pick a show to ‘skip’. Even a ‘lesser show’ like tonight has the finals of the tournament and the ‘match of the weekend’ in Tozawa/BxB.
Pac promises that the United Gate belts will come with World-1 to Japan and they will represent DGUSA with pride. Yoshino pays lip service to a rather undeserving crowd and confirms that Dragon Gate will be back in New Jersey.
Backstage it’s supposed to be time for a Kamikaze USA promo. Jon Moxley complains to YAMATO that Akira Tozawa is late. Tozawa walks in, and is berated by Mox for ‘screwing up all weekend’ (despite going 3-0 including wins over Aries and BxB Hulk). He tells Moxley to shut up and tries to get YAMATO to leave with him…only for the Freedom Gate Champion to turn on his countryman. Mox and YAMATO kick Tozawa out of Kamikaze then assault him. This would have been better if anyone was ever in the shot properly…
SIDENOTE – If you get this DVD make sure you check out the Doi/Yokosuka match from DG Japan in 2009. It is absolutely phenomenal.
Top 3 Matches
3) Masato Yoshino/Pac vs Johnny Gargano/Chuck Taylor (***)
2) CIMA/Naruki Doi/Dragon Kid/Ricochet vs Jimmy Jacobs/Austin Aries/YAMATO/Sami Callihan (****)
1) Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk (****)
Top 7 United Weekend Matches
7) CIMA/Naruki Doi/Dragon Kid/Ricochet vs Jimmy Jacobs/Austin Aries/YAMATO/Sami Callihan (**** - Finale)
6) Akira Tozawa vs Austin Aries (**** - Philly)
5) Johnny Gargano/Chuck Taylor vs Naruki Doi/Ricochet (**** - NYC)
4) Masato Yoshino/Pac vs CIMA/Dragon Kid (**** - NYC)
3) Johnny Gargano/Chuck Taylor vs CIMA/Dragon Kid (**** - Philly)
2) Masato Yoshino/Pac vs Naruki Doi/Ricochet (**** - Philly)
1) Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk (**** - Finale)