Dragon Gate USA – Uprising 2011 – 4th June 2011
Looking around I’ve seen some pretty scathing reviews of this show, which is weird because the card seems decent considering this event is the DGUSA equivalent of a B-show. The ‘Freestyle’ match format is the order of the day – with three of them included in this evening’s line-up. The headline act sees three of the top aerial artists in the world today lock horns as Junction Three’s Pac takes on Blood Warriors’ Ricochet and Ronin’s Rich Swann. There’s also a main event level four man Freestyle as YAMATO, CIMA, Masato Yoshino and Johnny Gargano are put in the same ring together…and at the bottom of the card eight US-based talents share the same ring looking to make an impact. Elsewhere Arik Cannon looks to succeed where his DUF partner Sami Callihan failed yesterday as he looks to defeat Open The Dream Gate Champion Masaaki Mochizuki. Austin Aries has orders from CIMA to carry out in his match with Susumu Yokosuka, and AR Fox has his biggest DGUSA bout to date as he collides with the outstanding Akira Tozawa. Lenny Leonard and Rob Naylor are in Deer Park, NY. I think is the same intimate little venue ROH ran a couple of times…
Rich Swann can’t wait to be to shine brightest in the ‘night of the Freestyle’.
Sami Callihan vs Jon Davis vs Caleb Konley vs Pinkie Sanchez vs Scott Reed vs Flip Kendrick vs Louis Lyndon vs Alex Colon
This is the first of our three Freestyle Matches, with eight up and coming talents looking to make a splash. Callihan is presumably the favourite as the most established name in DGUSA. Sanchez will not only be looking for a good performance, but also wants to impress Sami so he can become a member of the DUF. Davis has suffered mixed fortunes in his Dragon Gate USA career thus far so knows he needs a solid showing. Kendrick and Lyndon team regularly as ‘Aeroform’, so will potentially be working together to thin down the field. Konley and Reed would go on to form controversial tag team ‘The Scene’ but I’m not sure if they were actually together at this point. Colon has been in CZW (from memory) but didn’t do much to impress in his main show debut yesterday in Revere.
Pinkie REALLY wants to be pals with Sami…so it’s unfortunate that the match starts with Callihan beating the sh*t out of him. Colon puts a boot into Sami’s head, only to eat a colossal spinebuster from Davis. Lyndon is way too fast for Konley…but then Reed is too powerful for him. Flip lives up to his name by flipping all over the ring, into a DOUBLE ROTATION STANDING SENTON! BACK DROP DRIVER from Callihan to Pinkie! Sami is f*cking MURDERING Pinkie! RUNNING TOPE INTO THE GUARDRAILS! ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR by Caleb! TOP ROPE CORKSCREW DIVE BY COLON! SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT UP THE AISLE BY LOUIS! Sanchez lives! EVERYONE PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE! DOUBLE MOONSAULT TO THE FREAKING FLOOR BY KENDRICK! The ring is falling apart this is so mental! Bodies start clambering up the turnbuckles…DAVIS POWERBOMBS THEM ALL INTO A TOWER OF DOOM! Amusingly Pinkie then sneaks in unsuccessfully trying to pin every one of them! HEAD DROP REVERSE RANA from Kendrick to Sanchez! Lyndon dusts the same treatment off to hit a dead-lift bridging German. SANCHEZ LANDS ON BOTH OF THEM WITH A SPRINGBOARD SEATED SENTON! ‘I love you’ – Sanchez to Callihan…right before Sami mows him down with a running elbow smash. Colon spins Sami into a knee to the face, before eating a buckle bomb from Reed. Konley attempts a springboard. MID-AIR POOOOUUUUUUUNCE BY DAVIS! Pinkie tries to save Sami Callihan from Davis’ clutches…so Jon powerbombs the little fella right on top of his idol. HE THEN THROWS COLON CLEAN OVER THE TOP ROPE! SLAPS BY PINKIE! 3 SECONDS AROUND THE WORLD! CALLIHAN SAVES! STRETCH MUFFLER ON KONLEY! WITH KICKS TO THE HEAD! KONLEY IS DEAD! Callihan wins by ref stoppage at 11:25
Rating - **** - Where the hell did this come from? Outside of Callihan I really didn’t have a lot of interest in any of these guys, but they went out there and damn near killed themselves to get over. I imagine some of the more established guys in the locker room weren’t thrilled, but these guys were given carte blanche to do what they wanted – and most of them relished the opportunity. Kendrick and Lyndon brought amazing athleticism. Colon and Reed were perhaps the least interesting talents but even they delivered a few decent spots. But the kicker for me, and what convinced me to move this into a 4* rating range, was that as well as providing a ballistic spotfest this one actually advanced pre-existing storylines. The Callihan/Sanchez thing was fantastic to watch. Pinkie was the star of the match in fact, whilst Sami surviving this carnage to pull out the win makes him look great after a number of high profile losses recently. Hell, this match even made Jon Davis look good for the first time in his DGUSA career thus far. I feel burnt out and it’s the opening match!
Masaaki Mochizuki accuses DUF of not having enough respect for the Dream Gate Champion, and plans to ‘kill’ Arik Cannon by ‘kicking him hard’.
Tony Nese vs Brodie Lee
Just like the majority of the eight guys we just watched, Nese is another guy desperately fighting for a permanent spot in Dragon Gate USA. He is an extremely talented individual, but has a tough night ahead of him as he faces the bruiser of the Blood Warriors in Brodie Lee. His task becomes even more difficult when CIMA, Aries and Ricochet all accompany the Big Rig to ringside…
Lee doesn’t seem remotely impressed by Nese, and gives him some nasty strikes after he has the audacity to try a nip-up. TOPE SUICIDA by Nese! The intimate nature of the building means he almost ends up in the laps of several fans on that…but he finds himself unable to capitalise as the rest of the Blood Warriors surround Lee to protect him. Brodie finally emerges from behind them to poleaxe Nese into the guardrails. Back in the ring the trucker survives a couple of innovative combinations from his smaller opponent…then dumps him on his head with a close-range lariat. Wrist clutch suplex drops Tony again for a nearfall. Nese refuses to stay down though, and lands an explosive flurry of strikes to the approval of his hometown fans. He then BACK FLIPS out of a German suplex attempt to hit Brodie with a running DVD for 2! Slingshot quebrada nailed as well, and he has Lee rattled. Big Rig misses the Big Boot, stumbles all the way out of the ring and slumps against the rails as Tony hops to the top and dives straight over the ropes at him! Bridging German on the big man...before he allows himself to get distracted by Ricochet. ROPE RUN BUTTERFLY SUPERPLEX BY LEE! Truck Stop nailed for 2, and Nese’s endurance amazingly sees him hit a springboard frankensteiner. CIMA and Ricochet distract the referee whilst Aries makes it difficult for Tony to get up the ropes. Eventually he misses a 450 splash, and Lee finishes him with the Brodie Bomb at 09:51
Rating - ** - Somewhat of a comedown after the opening match, although this was still a perfectly solid showing for both guys. Of all the guys currently on the WWNLive side of the line in the sand, Nese is one of the talents I’d most like to see show in up ROH. I’m a real fan of his work, and this was a great little showing from him. He showcased his athleticism, he got the crowd behind him and he worked hard to make Lee look good too.
Austin Aries grabs the microphone and asks the rest of his Blood Warrior colleagues to head backstage. He doesn’t need any help to defeat Yokosuka here…which absolutely BURIES Brodie since he did just need help to beat a newbie.
Austin Aries vs Susumu Yokosuka
A-Double is aware that Yokosuka is one of the guys who has banded together in Japan to form Junction Three. He knows the group have formed with an almost sole purpose of bringing down the Blood Warriors. Tonight he is acting under orders from CIMA to teach Susumu a lesson…and as he said last night, that doesn’t necessarily mean he needs to win.
Aries appears to be in complete stall mode tonight, and kills more than two minutes of match-time before he even gets near Yokosuka. In fact, after their first grapple he bails again and hides in the ropes to eat up yet more time. Yoko has the headscissors escape dropkick scouted, and seems intent on keeping A-Double on the mat. Soon Austin flees again, leaving the ring and taking a seat on the floor whilst taking a drink. He has seemingly lulled Yokosuka into a false sense of security…and he doesn’t see it coming as Aries storms into the ring for the BRAINBUSTER! LAST CHANCERY! The Japanese competitor barely makes the ropes to survive that…but comes back strong by dodging a missile dropkick and hitting Aries with an exploder suplex. Mugen blocked into the HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Austin gets cocky and tries to steal the Mugen though…and gets punished as Yoko drills him with a BRAINBUSTER! Jumbo No Kachi ducked…Kick Of Death blocked, then countered to the Ashi Yokosuka for 2. As Aries struggles with his legs after that Susumu traps him in a Figure 4 to press home his advantage. JUMBO NO KACHI! Aries spun through the air, and still managed to get a shoulder up. He retaliates with the shinbreak back suplex – tossing Yokosuka back into the corner for the IED. 450 Splash misses! JUMBO NO KACHIIIIIIII! Mugen blocked…JUMBO NO KACHIIIIIII! MUGEN! Yokosuka wins at 11:59
Rating - *** - It’s disappointing that they only worked a fun midcard match rather than a high-end, high-quality main event level encounter that we know they’re capable of. It’s also annoying that we never found out what CIMA’s orders were. However, everything these two veterans did in the ring oozed quality. Aries entertained me with his stalling, and I loved that it led somewhere as he tried to steal a quick win with the Brainbuster at the halfway stage. The second half as the two just went back and forth dropping bombs and trading signature holds as a lot of fun too.
DUF are outside drinking. Callihan is psyched with his win, and backs Cannon to succeed where he failed with Mochizuki last night.
YAMATO vs CIMA vs Masato Yoshino vs Johnny Gargano
It’s time for our second Freestyle of the evening – and this one chucks together four of the top names in DGUSA. YAMATO has a target on his back as the Freedom Gate Champion…but then again so does CIMA since nobody in this match likes the Blood Warriors.
Cima makes a beeline for Gargano, but gets attacked by Junction Three’s Yamato and Yoshino before he can do much damage. In the end all four have to retreat back to their corners in a stalemate. Cima calls for a ‘Japanese combination’, urging all the core Dragon Gate guys to target the American. Unsurprisingly that doesn’t last very long…so Cima suggests he joins forces with Gargano instead. Of course it’s another cheap trick and leads to him punting Johnny in the ribs. Yoshino lands the Sling Blade on the Freedom Gate Champion, only to get his face double stomped by Cima for 2. With everyone else feeling the heat it means Yamato is free to take his time, looking to pick apart Cima with a variety of submission holds. Gargano profits as well since he gets to nail Cima with the Slingshot Spear. He climbs into the ‘icon’ again with a cannonball senton off the apron. Baby Lungblower on Yamato gets 2! Hurtz Donut blocked though, as Yamato dumps him on his neck with a Saito suplex. From Jungle on Cima…who escapes to put his boots through Yoshi’s chest with a double stomp. Perfect Driver blocked…Torbellino blocked…PERFECT DRIVER gets 2! Colmillo leaves Cima slumped over the ropes, and Yoshino literally goes all the way back to the locker room for enough space to run up into a sliding dropkick on the apron! Lawn Dart on Yamato, into the GARGANO ESCAPE! TOKAREV BY CIMA TO BREAK IT! SCHWEIN! YAMATO KICKS OUT! METEORA! Cima pins the Freedom Gate Champion at 12:14
Rating - *** - Not the showstealer or the awesome match people may have expected. In fact, much like Yokosuka/Aries, it’s almost disappointing that they worked this as an entertaining undercard battle rather than aiming a little higher. Having said that, watching four men of this calibre toss spots around is still incredibly entertaining. CIMA, in particular, was a riot throughout. Him pinning YAMATO sets up a juicy Open The Freedom Gate showdown somewhere in the future too.
CIMA wastes no time in pointing out he now feels due a Freedom Gate title shot. He even promises to take it from Pac if he beats YAMATO tomorrow. ‘I’m next’ – CIMA.
Alex Reynolds vs Papadon
These are two local talents, so presumably they earned this spot by impressing in some kind of try-out or training seminar. Papadon has been bouncing around the New York indies for years without ever really threatening to make it onto a national stage. Reynolds is slightly newer on the scene, but competes for recognisable promotions like CZW – and makes up one half of popular tag team ‘The Beaver Boys’ which I know a lot of people are really into.
How come these two get entrances, but all the main event talent in the fourway Freestyle before intermission had their intros clipped out? Papadon seems to be the more powerful of the two and uses that strength to control proceedings. Reynolds hits back with a couple of nifty strike sequences (knee drop in the ropes, or a double stomp coming out of the corner) but simply can’t keep the ‘Greek God’ grounded for a significant length of time. Papadon crunches him with clotheslines and elbows, then a diving European uppercut for 2. A jumping piledriver puts Reynolds on the brink of defeat, only for Papadon to take too long and miss a flying headbutt. Reynolds wins with a fisherman cradlebreaker at a lengthy 04:44
Rating - * - There was nothing drastically wrong with this in terms of execution, but it felt frightfully out of place on a DGUSA show. I don’t think either man comes out looking particularly good either. Papadon dominated basically the entire match, so the fact that he subsequently failed to win makes him look like a chump. Likewise, having basically had his ass kicked for five minutes, Reynolds managing to hit one big move and snatch a victory makes him look like a fluke – not a prospect. This one could (and should) have been laid out far better if we were expected to take either talent seriously.
In the Ronin locker room Johnny Gargano is devastated. He thought he was on the brink of making the Freedom Gate Champion tap out. He wants YAMATO again, and he knows he can beat him. Rich Swann agrees…and likewise Gargano backs his partner to win his Freestyle tonight.
Arik Cannon vs Masaaki Mochizuki
Last night Sami Callihan put up a hell of a fight against the Open The Dream Gate Champion Masaaki Mochizuki. It appeared that he’d earned the respect of the veteran, as Mochi led the crowd in a standing ovation for his efforts. However, the DUF shunned his respect – leading to a huge brawl between Callihan, Cannon, Mochizuki and his fellow DG veteran Yokosuka. Tonight it’s Arik’s turn to see if he can upset the Dream Gate Champion.
MAFIA KICK ON CANNON! Mochizuki wastes no time in trying to fulfil his vow to kill his opponent with hard kicks! Cannon does his best to cover up but he just gets pummelled in the first minute. In the end he gets kicked all the way out of the ring and left on the floor in a bit of a mess. Just like Sami last night, he goes after Mochi’s legs in a desperate attempt to stop his devastating kicks. TOTAL ANARCHY! It’s too early to grab a win, but with his brains scrambled and his leg hurting Mochizuki is in real trouble for the first time. He drives another kick into Cannon’s chest, but this time is unable to follow up immediately such is the damage done to him. Eventually he does capitalise, with more kicks across Arik’s chest which quite literally echo through the building. Cannon does his best to defend himself and breaks out a flurry of dragon screws on the veteran. Even on the ground, on his back, with his legs being worked over Masaaki is deadly with his kicking ability. A Yakuza Kick in the corner, then a Buzzsaw kick to the side of Cannon’s head get 2. Twister blocked, into Cannon’s SPINNING BRAINBUSTER! Springboard moonsault misses, then Mochi lands on his feet as his opponent looks for a German suplex. IKKAKUGERI! SANKAKUGERI! Mochi wins at 09:02
Rating - *** - Not quite as good as Mochizuki/Callihan last night, which I felt had more drama and a significantly better sell job on the leg injury by Mochi. However, we were still treated to another ultra-stiff war which held my attention from start to finish. I love the use of Mochizuki to legitimise the DUF faction, and can’t wait for the final Callihan/Cannon vs Mochizuki/Yokosuka bout tomorrow.
Sami Callihan hits the ring and attacks Mochizuki from behind, but again Susumu Yokosuka makes the save. Pinkie Sanchez tries to help DUF…and EATS the Jumbo No Kachi. His presence gives DUF the edge though, meaning Callihan and Cannon get to lay out the Dragon Gate veterans. A little kid asks Sami what ‘DUF’ means, and Callihan cracks me up by giving him a straight answer. Pinkie gets beaten up by Sami and Arik for no good reason too.
AR Fox vs Akira Tozawa
This is a huge opportunity for Fox to cement his spot in Dragon Gate USA, and he knows it. He’s impressed whenever he’s been booked thus far, and even earned himself a contract with WWNLive. However, thus far he’s been restricted to undercard spotfests and filler contests in DGUSA – and he desperately needs both a breakout performance, and a big victory. Tonight he finally gets a chance to step into the ring with one of the big Japanese imports, and the pressure is on him to deliver. Tozawa has been killing it of late, earning himself legions of American fans after delivering amazing matches with the likes of BxB Hulk, Austin Aries, YAMATO and Pac. In many ways he is now cast in the unfamiliar role as the ‘veteran’, so I’m intrigued to see how he copes with that.
Fox looks seriously pumped up for this one. He is made to work hard in the opening exchanges, but uses all his athleticism, speed and flexibility to escape the powerful, intense and unpredictable clutches of his opponent. It’s clear Tozawa realises he needs to ground and slow his opponent, who is wrestling with a major point to prove. Be it through strikes, stretches or even downright dirty chokes in the ropes, Akira does everything possible to make sure Fox stays on the deck. AR is desperate to quicken the pace, but has taken a real beating. It’s demonstrated as he springs off the top rope into a missile dropkick, but at first is too worn out to get back to his feet to capitalise. Finally he does, hitting a split-legged moonsault for 2. SPLIT-LEGGED TWISTING SENTON! Having used some aerial stuff to put Tozawa on the back foot, AR is now able to show what else he brings to the table too – including absolutely PELTING the Japanese wrestler with some surprisingly crisp strikes. Interestingly, just as he starts matching Tozawa at one of his strong suits (i.e. striking), Akira switches it up, cranks up the pace and takes flight with ROLLING TOPE SUICIDAS! And he follows it with a cannonball senton up the aisle too. BACK DROP DRIVER! Fox kicks out strongly at 2 though. AR retaliates with a Stunner, then a SPRINGBOARD AR-KO! KICKFLIP DIVE TO THE FLOOR! GUILLOTINE LEG DROP ON THE APRON! Tozawa is completely rattled after that flurry and very nearly succumbs to defeat, before exploding back out of the corner with a bicycle kick. German suplex blocked…BICYCLE KICK TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! GERMAN SUPLEX STILL BLOCKED! SHINING WIZARD TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! Fox is dead…but he’s taken so much out of his opponent that he collapses to the ground as well. They gradually return to a vertical base and lay into each other with more strikes…until AR hits LO MEIN PAIN! FOR 2! Back to the top rope he goes, with Tozawa desperate to protect himself. GERMAN SUPERPLEX BY TOZAWA! HEAD DROP GERMAN! FOX KICKS OUT! And he still keeps fighting! He throws elbows to block the Everest German, and drills him with the Codebreaker. NO SOLD! DEAD-LIFT GERMAN! EVEREST GERMAN! STRAIGHT-JACKET GERMAN! TOZAWA WINS! The battle is finally over for Fox at 17:41
Rating - **** - These guys had the small crowd absolutely rocking. WWNLive have been hyping Fox all year, but this was the first time they’ve really put him in a position to steal a show. He looked SO focused and determined when he stepped into the ring – and he absolutely delivered. Of course it helps that he’s in there with Tozawa, who is having an incredible 2011 in DGUSA, but AR’s performance in it’s own right deserves praise. His striking was crisp, the execution of his more athletic spots was perfect, and the way he timed and pulled off all his stuff really worked. For a guy who has only really worked the undercard spotfest matches to step into a high pressure, main event level bout like this and totally ‘bring it’ is an outstanding achievement. I loved the story they told too, with Tozawa looking to ground the high-flier, Fox finally escaping his clutches and really proving his worth as the match wore on. In the end Akira had to basically murder him to get the win – with countless German suplexes and brutal kicks to the head.
Tozawa hugs and shows Fox respect, as the crowd gives both of them a deserved standing ovation.
Rich Swann vs Ricochet vs Pac
It’s now time for our main event and final Freestyle of the evening. Pac and Ricochet are entrenched in a lengthy rivalry to prove which one of them is the world’s greatest high flier. Swann is the x-factor here, since he’s a pretty athletic and exciting talent in his own right…and he also has beef with Ricochet since he is a member of Blood Warriors. Likewise Rich knows a victory over Pac could earn Ronin a shot at the United Gate titles…
Ricochet immediately wipes Pac out with a running dropkick…and is surprised when Swann turns around and chases the Englishman to the floor with a CRAZY TOPE ATOMICO! Rich seriously ate some guardrail on that. Ricochet tries to put the boots to the Ronin member, but of course turns his back on Pac…who springs back into proceedings with a missile dropkick. Leonard and Naylor praise Swann’s psychology as he tries to ground a superior aerial artist (Pac) – choking him to the mat then giving him the Leap From Swann Pond. Somersault pescado (somewhat) connects with Ricochet…who retaliates by wiping Rich out against the guardrails. That temporarily incapacitates Swann, allowing the great rivals Pac and Rico to battle uninterrupted. Ricochet gets a nearfall with an effortless standing moonsault, then gets up to DROPKICK SWANN INTO THE GUARDRAILS! SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY PAC! He escaped Ricochet’s clutches and took out Swann in the process! HANDSPRING MOONSAULT ONTO BOTH OF THEM BY RICOCHET! Backslide Driver blocked by Swann, so Rico gives him a Mind Trip instead. Ricochet misses a springboard corkscrew moonsault, and as he lands Pac flattens him with the SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH! Swann misses the Tornado Kick, and gets BACK FLIPPED INTO A SUPERKICK by Ricochet! TORNADO KICK ON PAC INSTEAD! All three are down! Rich refuses to back down, taking the fight to the Blood Warrior even as Ricochet continually tosses strikes his way. Handspring by Pac, COUNTERED into a Regalplex by the Future Of Flight! Once again Swann pursues Ricochet, refusing to let him hit the 630! MISSILE DROPKICK DOOMSDAY DEVICE ON SWANN…WHO COUNTERS TO A HEAD DROP REVERSE RANA ON PAC! Ricochet came off best on that, but gets too cocky about it and eats a standing SSP by Pac. RED STAR PRESS BY RICH! Swann misses/messes up on a double springboard Arabian press, so Pac gives him a German suplex. RICOCHET JUMPS TO THE TOP ROPE IN ON MOTION TO KICK PAC TO THE FLOOR! 630 SENTON! Rico pins Swann at 12:13
Rating - **** - We started the night with utter spot-based mayhem, so it’s fitting that we end the night in the same way. Of course this was pretty brainless, but the sheer quality in what these guys were doing (particularly Pac and Ricochet) made it a seriously memorable encounter. Pac and Rico are genuinely on another level to most high fliers in the business right now, and watching them run through their skills with few limitations put on them was obviously going to be great. Rich Swann was interesting too. He’s not as polished or as developed as the other two, so he made a few mistakes. But he also produced some exceptionally memorable moments, and the fact that he has charisma to burn arguably made him the fan favourite over the more established guys. The fact that everything the trio did had extra levity and gravitas thanks to the Ricochet/Pac and Ronin/Blood Warriors feuds really helped too.
Ricochet gloats at Pac because he won, then takes a few cheap shots at him. Masato Yoshino runs him off, which sets the stage for their scheduled match in NYC tomorrow. Pac calls Ricochet ‘pathetic’ and turns his attentions to YAMATO and his Freedom Gate title shot.
Tape Rating - *** - As I said at the top of my review, I’ve seen some rather unenthusiastic reviews for this show. Personally though, I felt it was really solid. In many ways this event really indicates where the DGUSA concept is working – in that the Dragon Gate name and brand has now been cultivated overseas and is starting to produce DG-style workers in other countries. Of the thirteen (yes, thirteen) wrestlers in the show-stealing, 4*-level matches tonight, only two of them weren’t based domestically. And only ONE (Akira Tozawa) was a core Japanese Dragon Gate roster member…and even he has been on an American excursion for the past year and has had his stock immeasurably boosted by what he’s done in DGUSA. We’ve seen the likes of Jon Moxley and Johnny Gargano rise to the top. And now we’re seeing the next generation – with Ricochet, Rich Swann, Arik Cannon, Sami Callihan, AR Fox and so forth now poised and ready to deliver show-stealing bouts when called upon. Gabe deserves a lot of credit for the strength of this event, because it is the strength of the domestic talent that carries it – not the high profile fly-ins. And in many ways that’s also the weakness of the show. There is a prevalence of decent, north-American indy promotions out there who deliver a solid in-ring product. Fans are used to seeing that. It’s almost a GIVEN that DGUSA provides decent matches. Fans also come to this promotion because they want to see the stars of Dragon Gate. So on a show like this where, in truth, none of the big name DG talent really shine and are only featured in punchy, brief midcard bouts it inevitably leaves some feeling underwhelmed. Aries/Yokosuka, Mochizuki/Cannon and the YAMATO/CIMA/Yoshino/Gargano Freestyle all looked like potential main event classics on paper. The fact that none of them really delivered (although all were perfectly decent) is probably why some were left disappointed by this. If you can though, I urge you to look past that and embrace this show as a real success for the Dragon Gate USA brand and concept. Home-grown talent comes to the fore. The 8-man Freestyle is a little gem at the bottom of the card. The main event Freestyle is a thrilling watch as three top class junior heavyweights chuck spots around for fun. And AR Fox’s break-out battle with Akira Tozawa in the semi-main is worth tracking down and checking out at any cost. Set your expectations accordingly and you’ll find plenty to enjoy with Uprising 2011
Top 3 Matches
3) Sami Callihan vs Jon Davis vs Caleb Konley vs Pinkie Sanchez vs Scott Reed vs Flip Kendrick vs Louis Lyndon vs Alex Colon (****)
2) Ricochet vs Rich Swann vs Pac (****)
1) Akira Tozawa vs AR Fox (****)