Paid Members gadge Posted November 21, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted November 21, 2012 As already mentioned in the DVD bargains thread, all DGUSA and EVOLVE DVDs are $10 until Monday at DGUSA.tv  I finished Freedom Fight 2011 this morning. Bring on the 2012 shows finally! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted November 26, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted November 26, 2012 Dragon Gate USA: Freedom Fight 2011- 13/11/11 Â DGUSA's final show of 2011, which much like Final Battle in ROH attempts to close out the year with some storyline resolutions and major developments to lead into the all singing, all dancing new year that is... um, 2012. There's some really good stuff on offer here, but if you like your wrestling in a well lit arena, you might be tempted to look elsewhere.. Â BJ Whitmer vs Brodie Lee - This one has only been building over this triple shot of shows, but it still feels like it means something. It's a hard hitting affair, which at 7:40 in length never threatens to outstay its welcome. Brodie wins, but BJ takes a whole bunch of power moves before being kept down for the three count, so looks strong in defeat. Simple but effective. Lenny Leonard then embarasses himself by announcing Whitmer as the winner, which Brodie Lee reminds him of repeatedly when he joins him for commentary on the the rest of the first half of the show. Â The Scene vs Uhaa Nation & John Silver - Standard, but watchable tag team action for the most part, though the Scene boys are clearly grateful to make it onto the main show after being dumped in the bonus match the night before. They actually get the win this time as well, which probably means they'll get a bit more of a push in 2012. Â Chuck Taylor & Rich Swann vs Akira Tozawa & BxB Hulk - Good stuff here for the Ronin duo, as they have a pretty spectacular match with the excellent Blood Warrors tandem of Tozawa and Hulk and get a big win, Swann pinning Tozawa with the jumping 450 splash after an Awful Waffle from Taylor at 15:50. The BW faction don't take kindly to that, but Johnny Gargano and Masato Yoshino are around to make the save and, such is the norm, we quickly move on... Â CIMA vs Masato Yoshino - A tremendous pure DG main event style singles bout, apart from a fourth wall breaking point in the middle of the match where Yoshino gets kicked in the gut and lays there in obvious agony for about a minute, then suddenly recovers and continues on as if nothing happened. It's worth noting Lenny Leonard is excellent at putting over the long standing rivalry between CIMA and Yoshino in Japan here. Yoshino gets a submission win, having to stretch CIMA with the Sol Naciente Kai to earn the duke at 21:38. Â PAC vs Ricochet - This is listed as the last one-on-one match between the two, and they obviously knew this was their last chance to go all out here. It certainly delivers more than any of the DGUSA bouts between them so far. There is a mid-match minute which doesn't translate well to DVD for the second match in a row, but this time it's because they take their high flying beyond the ringside area into the rest of B.B King's - which means you can't see a bloody thing. Surprisingly, it's not the high flying moves that decide the winner in the end, as Ricochet nails Pac with a backslide driver followed by a snapmare driver for a somewhat excessive two count, then hits a Regalplex followed by a kick to the head for the pin at 22:37. Â Open The Freedom Gate Championship: YAMATO vs Johnny Gargano - The video package on Johnny Gargano's journey from bonus card wrestler on the first ever DGUSA show to title shot here is excellent, but (along with how far behind I am!) kinda telegraphs the title change a bit too much. The bout itself reminds me quite a lot of old school ROH title matches, which right now I consider a good thing, though on the other hand you could say you won't miss much by skipping the first 15-18 minutes or so. There's certainly a lot of hold for hold work that establishes the two guys as more or less equals, though neither man really makes much headway towards their crossface submission variations. It's all about the last ten minutes, and the ride the mostly pro-Gargano crowd go on during the twists and turns leading to the conclusion. I was surprised by the ref bump at first, though it needed to be done to set up Chuck Taylor's appearance with the Open The Freedom Gate belt after he ran off with it following his own title match on the previous show. In the first major twist, Taylor accidentally hits Gargano with the belt, though Gargano kicks out. The crowd are well and truly into the false finishes after that, with Gargano also kicking out of a blatant low blow into a rollup and later the Gallaria. Eventually of course Gargano gets his big moment, tapping YAMATO with the Gargano Escape at 26:50 to become the 3rd champion. A really nice moment, with Chuck Taylor eventually handing him the belt and the usual speeches and that. Â Extreme Warfare: Sabu, AR Fox & Jon Davis vs Sami Callihan, Arik Cannon & Pinkie Sanchez - It seems a bit weird having another match after the title change, but I guess I do see the idea that a Hardcore match isn't for everyone so people could leave if they wanted. While Extreme Warfare seems a bit of an excessive title considering what happens in the match, the fact they restrict themselves to the ring and ringside area at least means you can just about make out everything that's happening. In a bizarre first, Gabe actually commentates on the match as himself alongside Lenny Leonard, basically because he wants to mark out for Sabu and shout "Oh My God!" when Sabu legdrops Arik Cannon through a table. I guess when you're the boss, you can do what you want. It's the D.U.F. who go over though, Sami Callihan breaking a bottle over the head of AR Fox for the pin at 14:02. That was brutal. For what it was, this was a good end to the show. Â Overall - As the closing show of the year, there's loads of stuff here that's essential viewing in terms of wrapping up the old and bringing in the new, and more than enough genuinely top in-ring action for your money. Shame about the lack of light, though. DVD run time is 2 hours, 53 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted December 8, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 8, 2012 I don't suppose anyone is watching EVOLVE 18 on iPPV right now? before CZW Cage of Death later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Nope. I am interested in seeing the show at a later date tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted December 15, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 15, 2012 I didn't even look for EVOLVE 18 results in the end, oh well..  EVOLVE 10: A Tribute to the Arena  EVOLVE begins 2012 by moving into the same universe as Dragon Gate USA, which means DGUSA titles can now be defended in EVOLVE (Johnny Gargano defends the Open The Freedom Gate title in the main event) and DGUSA factions now cross over as well. In theory, that means stories can move forwards without waiting for the Dragon Gate talent to make one of their half a dozen trips to the states a year, and generally both promotions can some momentum. Like I said, in theory.  This is also the last show ever in the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia, following on from an afternoon CZW show, which means we have a 'Tribute to the Arena' segment at the end that doesn't really fit in the DGUSA/EVOLVE universe at all. The plus side to this is there's a big crowd in, though we'll see if what EVOLVE has to offer them here meets their appetite for what they want out of a wrestling show.  There's a hot start to proceedings at least, though you can't really call Larry Dallas' muscleman Ahtu being destroyed by the debuting-in-EVOLVE Low Ki a match. In fact, . Ki then cuts an extended promo about saving the business, or something. The relaunch of his pure fighter gimmick feels like 2002 again here, not really a good thing. Also: how come Ki gets his own music? Cheech Hernandez vs Cloudy in the battle of former tag team partners gets us under way proper, though it's been months since the last EVOLVE show where the split happened, and everyone seemed happy with Up In Smoke as a team anyway. There's not the intensity you might expect from tag team partners going against each other, as instead we're treated to moves sequences to polite applause. Yay! Cheech does show some cockiness at the finish before pinning Cloudy with a second Go 2 Cheech at 10:14.  The Scene of Scott Reed and Caleb Konley must be delighted with the union of DGUSA and EVOLVE, as instead of opening the show for DGUSA, they get to be third up here against the duo of John Silver and Alex Reynolds. They're the only ones happy though, as the match is absolutely terrible. There's some head shakingly bad bumbled sequences here, and the 9:45 it takes for the Scene to get the win feels like twice as long with the Arena crowd sitting on their hands throughout. Ugh.  AR Fox (2-0) is he first guy on the card with an EVOLVE win/loss record of note, and actually gets a reaction out of some of the crowd in, which is much needed. His opponent is Jigsaw, a worthy addition to the EVOLVE undercard. Surpisingly the CHIKARA man gets the nod here, and uses his post-match promo to quickly mention CHIKARA as one of the promotions to get Arena time. A decent 11 minute match, but nothing too spectacular.  After a quick 4:00 squash of Pinkie Sanchez by the debuting Uhaa Nation, Chuck Taylor & Rich Swann bring the Ronin faction to EVOLVE for a match with the Super Smash Bros. The highlight of the show, this is a good contenders match for the Open the United Gate titles. It doesn't blow anyone's minds in the Arena, and there's plenty of DGUSA tags easily as good if not better than this, but it's a worthy effort. Ronin get the win at 15:08, Taylor pinning Player Dos after an Awful Waffle followed by a Swann jumping 450 splash.  Jon Davis gets his EVOLVE record back to 1-1 in another filler bout, a 4:30 win over Kyle Matthews with Three Seconds Around The World, before the first match pitting two guys who actually have EVOLVE records to speak of against each other. Sami Callihan (3-2) has been in more storylines in both DGUSA and EVOLVE, whereas Bobby Fish (1-4) has been in more exhibition style bouts against the likes of Bryan Danielson, which is why he's struggled for wins.  Fish is accompanied by Callihan foe AR Fox, who could really have done more at ringside to keep the crowd going, as while the hard hitting exchanges at the beginning of this get a reaction, the crowd are pretty much silent as the match becomes a battle for a leg submission. Callihan going for the Stretch Muffler and Fish going for the Fish Hook is fine in theory, just not very interesting in practice. Worse, Fox spitting at Callihan leads to the finish as Callihan releases Fish from the Stretch Muffler and then remains distracted long enough for Fish to get the Fish Hook for the submission at 15:56. So much for clean wins and losses. This really should have been better, as eighth match on the second card of the day the crowd needed something more exciting.  Open The Freedom Gate Title: Johnny Gargano vs Ricochet - The official main event of the show, this promises much in the early going, but unfortunately Gargano majorly messes his back up on what appears to be a simple neckbreaker bump some six or seven minutes in, and struggles his way from there to the end of the match, which even more unfortunately for him isn't until the 24:23 mark. It's a brave effort, but not one that can save what has been a real chore of a show for the most part. Gargano wins with the GargaNo Escape, and immediately stops making any effort to move around, at which point the crowd realise for the first time the state he's in. Eventually he's carried out with the help of several other guys. It's difficult to criticise the match itself, but it's not one I'd recommend, obviously.  The Tribute to the Arena segment that closes the DVD is worth a watch as a one off curiosity for the old ECW fan, for the random selection of names that appear including WWE employee Joey Styles, though I don't care enough about CZW either way to be bothered when a bunch of their guys from the afternoon show appear to claim the building for themselves. Somehow Gabe manages to book a ten minute match between Sabu and Justin Credible as part of this as well, though Sabu looks even worse than he did in his late-2011 DGUSA appearances. The very end, with Sami Callihan "turning the lights out" on the Arena is artistically interesting, but if Callihan was the guy Gabe wanted people to be talking about at the end, it might have helped if he won his actual match on the EVOLVE show itself...  Overall, EVOLVE 10 has a couple of novelties and a couple of solid matches, but as a whole is a bit of a mess. While the move to unify the DGUSA and EVOLVE brands makes sense, the shows without Dragon Gate talent need better undercards if they're going to stay on my watch list in 2012. Thankfully, there's four DGUSA shows before EVOLVE 11 from Toronto. Hopefully those will be better than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted January 2, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2013 Dragon Gate USA: Open The Golden Gate - 27/1/12 Â DGUSA takes over ROH's spot as the promotion other than PWG to do a show at the WrestleReunion convention in LA. I don't know if that says more bad things about ROH or good things about DGUSA. Commentary is handled by Lenny Leonard solo for the first half, and Leonard & Chuck Taylor for the second half. Â Low Ki vs BxB Hulk - It's hard to get excited about Low Ki matches in 2012, for as good as the action is, they only ever go to one conclusion. As one of only two former Open The Freedom Gate champions, you'd certainly expect BxB Hulk to be booked stronger than an opening match loss in just 10:52. It must be said though, this was still enjoyable enough while it lasted. Ki wins decisively with the Ki Krusher followed by the Warriors Way, then has a bit of a staredown with Akira Tozawa. Tozawa's extended time in PWG makes him a favourite in LA, so the anticipaton that generates is pretty high. Â The Young Bucks vs Chuck Taylor & Scorpio Sky - It's got to be tough enough as it is trying to book the tag division in particular in DGUSA, what with the changes in units happening in Japan shuffling the allegiances every few months, so Gabe must have been tearing his hair out when Rich Swann missed his flight here after Swann and Taylor beat the Super Smash Bros back at EVOLVE 10. On the other hand, the DGUSA redebut of the Young Bucks happening in PWG's territory makes getting them over as heels pretty simple. Scorpio Sky runs out to save Taylor from a beatdown, and while he is a decent enough choice to replace Swann, and the two teams have a pretty exciting 12 minute match, it's pretty obvious who's taking the pin in this one. I did actually bite on one nearfall when Taylor hit the Awful Waffle, but More Bang For Your Buck sees Sky pinned shortly after. A more than satisfactory effort in the circumstances. Â Naruki Doi vs Masato Yoshino - A solid all-DG bout, but not as good as their effort in the UK on what, to be fair, was a 2011 show of the year contender in Shingo vs Yokosuka 3 just three months earlier. The atmosphere isn't as good, they don't do as much interesting stuff here and there's the added problem of Doi being in limbo, as Blood Warriors is in a state of flux with CIMA having been kicked out by BxB Hulk and Akira Tozawa. Not to mention, Doi doesn't win much, does he? Sol Naciente Kai sees Yoshino get the submission at 17:52. That's still 3 out of 3 for good matches on the show, though, with a particularly good final few minutes here. Â Tables Match: AR Fox vs Sami Callihan - And now, as they say, for something completely different. This doesn't really come across as a match as such, more a case of what the hell is AR Fox going to do next? Callihan is basically there as crash mat for Fox's diving, except when he moves and Fox dives onto the ringside guard rail, for example... or in a mental finish, gets Awesomebombed over the top rope onto a guard rail bridging the apron and the ringside guard rails, then powerbombed through a table on the floor to give Callihan the victory in about ten minutes. A crazy stunt show in the vein of Fox's "mentor" Sabu, but he's pretty stupid if he keeps doing matches like this. Â Jon Davis vs Caleb Konley - For some inexplicable reason, Jon Davis spends the first couple of minutes of this post-intermission filler match showing he can do arm drags and stuff. Unfortunately, we then have to watch Larry Dallas provide distractions at ringside, and some crappy offense from Konley, before Davis finally hits his power stuff, ending in Three Seconds Around The World and a pinfall victory at 6:28. I just wish The Scene would go away, as once again their appearance was by far the worst thing on the show. Â Pac vs Akira Tozawa - These two had a belting match for the Open The Brave Gate title back at Mercury Rising 2011, though the vibe is different here without a title on the line and with Tozawa now leading Blood Warriors. That doesn't mean Tozawa's lacking in fan support, but he has slowed things down and makes more from less. Tozawa gets his win back from Mercury Rising with the Straightjacket German at 20:08. While the Mercury Rising match is more explosive, this one is pretty much as good, though I was surprised to see it has made the nominations for DGUSA/EVOLVE match of the year. Â Open The United Gate Title Match: CIMA & Ricochet va Masaaki Mochizuki & Jimmy Susumu - Lots of storyline goings on in this one - CIMA recently beat Mochizuki for the Dream Gate title, then a couple of weeks after that got kicked out of Blood Warriors as mentioned earlier. Ricochet, meanwhile, wasn't in Japan at the time, so still does the BW mannerisms despite CIMA's protests. The team of Mochi and Susumu seems a bit randomly chucked together into this United Gate main event, which at 24:05 seems to have time given to it because it's the main event rather than because the match really needed it. The first two thirds certainly could have been condensed down a bit, though there's some particularly nice exchanges between Mochizuki and Ricochet. The final third then picks up and delivers plenty of the top class tag action you come to expect from Dragon Gate. CIMA pins Susumu with Meteora, then immediately gets jumped by Tozawa and Hulk, who also attack the Junction Three duo and dump Ricochet to the outside before Low Ki (who else?) makes the save. Ki talks up singles matches with CIMA, Mochizuki and Ricochet, though his promo style doesn't do much for me, before CIMA gets to do the traditional show closing. Â Overall - I've done quite a lot of nitpicking during this review, so at this point I'll just say this is a quality card of action. A much better beginning to the year for DGUSA than EVOLVE had earlier in the month for sure. Â DVD run time is 2 hours, 26 minutes, plus the bonus features include a well produced five minute feature on Johnny Gargano following his back injury at EVOLVE 10, a package documenting the EVOLVE 10 show closing angle, and the usual highlight reel of the show itself, including three different angles of AR Fox getting powerbombed over the top to the guard rail by Sami Callihan. Mentalist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted January 20, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted January 20, 2013 I apppear to have become this thread's Dexter, but I've written the review of DGUSA Heat, so I guess I may as well post it.. Â Dragon Gate USA: Heat - 29/3/12 Â DGUSA start their WrestleMania weekend excursion with a Thursday evening stop in Hollywood, FL. It's a building that I'm sure they billed as "intimate" (read: small) but while the crowd is smaller in number than the one that included me at NWA Ring Warriors in nearby Fort Lauderdale the same evening, it is still enough to fill the venue and generate a reasonable atmosphere. Â Low Ki vs Bobby Fish - A decent opener in the usual style of most Low Ki matches, which to be fair is pretty similar to most of the bouts Fish has had in EVOLVE. The fact Ki always wins and Fish has a terrible win-loss record doesn't hamper the action itself. Ki hits the Ki Krusher at the second attempt for the win at 10:52. Â Ricochet vs Mike Cruz - Cruz is billed as Florida's hottest prospect, and comes close to matching Ricochet in a series of exchanges here. While he makes a reasonable accounting of himself, he lacks the personality of Ricochet, is slightly smaller and not quite as good. He does take a couple of nutty face first bumps for some of Ricochet's key moves like the snapmare driver, which will probably earn him another look as a jobber to the stars. Ricochet wins with a shooting star press at 7:12. Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk, now representing Mad Blankey, jump Ricochet afterwards, but are run off by CIMA and Mochizuki. Â Masato Yoshino vs Samuray Del Sol - The second of the card's "Breakout Chance" matches is a good one for Samuray Del Sol for the most part, with some very athletic stuff from the masked man. Unfortunately he almost kills himself at the 6:30 mark when he springboards to the top rope, only to slip and land in a heap on the floor. It works in his favour though, as his recovery from that unscheduled bump and the fact he doesn't let it faze him is impressive and only gets the crowd more behind him. Del Sol even gets a clean pinfall, as he reverses Sol Naciente into a rollup at 10:20. Yoshino was a base for Del Sol for much of the match and let the new man shine, but in the post-match is angry with the referee, claiming it was two, though evidence is against him on that one. Then Johnny Gargano, who was at ringside scouting Yoshino ahead of their Open The Freedom Gate title match at Mercury Rising, gets on the mic, and Yoshino shoves him as he feels Gargano is trying to embarrass him. It'll be interesting to see if any tension between Gargano and Yoshino carries over to their actual match. Â CIMA & Masaaki Mochizuki vs The Scene - I don't know what CIMA & Mochizuki did to be saddled with the Scene duo, though they drag Konley and and Reed to a solid ten minute bout here. Mochizuki and Reed have some good exchanges, actually, which possibly shows why DG took Reed over to Japan later in the year. Any chance of the Scene taking momentum from a good performance in defeat is hindered by the double Meteora into double pin finish, though. One other thing: the type of ring entrance the Scene have here went out of fashion with ECW. CIMA and Mochizuki get jumped by Hulk and Tozawa afterwards, and Ricochet's attempt to pay back the earlier save is cut off by Uhaa Nation, the newest member of Mad Blankey. Â Pac vs AR Fox - Lenny Leonard has spent most of the card referring to this as a high flying dream match, but there's not much high flying in the first ten minutes, and it isn't until they kick in with the big moves that the crowd get into it. I'm still not completely convinced by Fox either, as some of his big moves are too reliant on recklessly throwing himself about in a fashion that seems certain to end in disaster. Pac is seemingly more restrained nowadays, but at least when he does break out his impressive spots he doesn't look like killing himself. Pac wins with a nasty looking German suplex counter to Lo Mein Pain followed by a reverse 'rana and then a Liger bomb for the three count at 14:55. That was quite the finish, and we get a "That Was Awesome" chant from the crowd. I could have taken or left this until the final five minutes, but in the end it delivered I guess. Â Johnny Gargano, Chuck Taylor & Rich Swann vs Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk & Uhaa Nation vs Sami Callihan, Arik Cannon & Pinkie Sanchez - DGUSA main event time, as Ronin, Mad Blankey and the D.U.F. collide in a Dragon Gate speciality match that hasn't made it to the States before now, the three-way trios match. It's elimination style, and the first fall is reminiscent of the classic ROH Scramble match, with action all over the place and more than enough going on to keep you glued to the screen. This is bad for Arik Cannon, who is clearly the worst wrestler there, and worse for Uhaa Nation, who catches his leg on the top rope trying a dive to the floor at the 11:00 mark and severely injures his knee. The D.U.F. are eliminated first when Hulk hits Sanchez with a combination of kicks ending in First Flash at 14:18 and things settle into a regular six man, with the reduced MB team isolating Rich Swann. The final segment is decent but not blowaway, with Tozawa pinning Gargano to a fairly flat reaction with the Straightjacket German suplex at 23:15. I liked the story of Mad Blankey winning both falls, and OTFG champion Gargano losing to Tozawa should set up a title match at some point, but Chuck Taylor not looking impressed at Gargano losing went unnoticed on commentary. Â So ends the main portion of DGUSA Heat. It's a fun six match card, albeit lacking the one big must-see match or happening that really would have made it essential viewing. DVD run time is just 1 hour, 53 minutes for this, but that's because while the live event didn't finish here, on DVD the last two matches are filed in the extras - though the DVD does auto play them if you leave it running. On we go then, into CZW Death match territory... Â Lucky THURTeen vs Danny Havoc - Firstly, Kevin Steen joins Lenny Leonard on commentary for these CZW matches. The DGUSA canvas has been removed too, which is understandable. Secondly, what kind of name is Lucky THURTeeen? Thirdly, this appears to be a Use All The Lighttubes deathmatch, albeit with some dodgy wrestling at the beginning, and then the first lighttube spot involves Havoc blocking Lucky THURTeen attempting to hit him with a lighttube by BITING THE LIGHTTUBE. Gross. More standard wrestling moves adapted to add lighttubes follow, with both men bleeding and generally leaving glass everywhere. It seems a bit random, then, when Havoc wins with a wrestling move at 13:28. It has become apparent to me that I don't really know how to review this kind of wrestling, as I don't go out of my way to follow it, but I can watch it without being turned off, and this didn't outstay its welcome with me. Â DJ Hyde vs Drake Younger - Unlike the previous match, where the lighttube spots were preceded by some dodgy wrestling, the lighttube spots here are preceded by staple gun spots. I guess that makes this match... better? Lenny Leonard and Steen do a good job of covering the violence, until Hyde kicks out of Drake's Landing at one and both guys no sell everything for about a minute, at which point they're reduced to laughing. Hyde pins Younger with a lariat (through lighttubes, of course) at 11:39. Once again, I watched this and quite enjoyed it, but two death matches is enough for me for a while, I should think. Â AAW Heavyweight Title Match: Silas Young vs Gran Akuma vs Samuray Del Sol - This dark match from Untouchable 2010 in Chicago is included to show an early example of Samuray Del Sol, though the couple of spots he hits here are also in his match with Yoshino. Silas retains the AAW title in just 5:04, so I don't know why they bothered including this really. Â Overall - A decent DGUSA card, followed by two CZW deathmatches that will either complete the package or make it a turn off, dependent on your wrestling tastes. You probably know the answer to that one already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted March 12, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted March 12, 2013 With the recent news that ROH have sold out the Hammerstein Ballroom for their Friday night show on WrestleMania weekend, I've been thinking that Gabe's efforts at WrestleCon in Secaucus could suffer in comparison, attendance-wise. The fact that their flagship DGUSA events still have third row tickets available is another indicator. Still, I have a GA ticket to EVOLVE 19 before the ROH show on the Friday, and one of those third row tickets to DGUSA on the Saturday, so may as well look at what's on offer...  EVOLVE 19 April 5th - 4pm Meadowlands Expo Center 355 Plaza Drive Secaucus, NJ 07094  Tickets now on sale at WrestleCon.com or by calling 267-519-9744  This event features a one day tournament to crown the first EVOLVE Champion. Each wrestler was given a seed based on their Record and standing on the Leader Board. Their seed is stated before their name and their Record is in parenthesis. The #1 and #2 seeds receive first round byes. The format for the tournament is:  Bracket A:  First Round Match - Four Way Freestyle #5 Rich Swann (3-2) vs. #6 Samuray Del Sol (2-3) vs. #7 Sami Callihan (3-7) vs. #8 Jigsaw (1-3)  Semi-Final #1 Chuck Taylor vs. Winner Of First Round Match  Bracket B:  First Round Match #3 AR Fox (7-6) vs. #4 Jon Davis (5-4)  Semi-Final #2 Ricochet vs. Winner Of First Round Match  Tournament Finals To Crown The First EVOLVE Champion Bracket A Winner vs. Bracket B Winner  Signed For Non-Tournament Action:  Tag Team Main Event The Young Bucks vs. The Super Smash Brothers  More To Be Signed With: -Open The Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano -Brian Kendrick -Uhaa Nation -Arik Cannon -Orange Cassidy & Drew Gulak of The Gentleman's Club -The Scene of Caleb Konley & Scott Reed with Larry Dallas -Plus others!!!  I quite like the look of the title tournament on this show, and Young Bucks vs SSB should be plenty of fun. Whether the show will be finished by 6.30 so I can make it to ROH at 8pm is a bit of a worry, but I plan on finding out how long the journey into the city takes in practice the day before as a dry run.  Dragon Gate USA presents Open The Ultimate Gate 2013 April 6th - 8pm Meadowlands Expo Center 355 Plaza Drive Secaucus, NJ 07094   Tickets now on sale at WrestleCon.com or by calling 267-519-9744  This event is part of the WrestleCon convention!!!  Open The Freedom Gate Title Match Johnny Gargano defends vs. Shingo  Open The United Gate Title Match CIMA & AR Fox defend vs. The Young Bucks  Special Attraction Match #1 Akira Tozawa vs. Ricochet  Special Attraction Match #2 Sami Callihan vs. Uhaa Nation  Special Attraction Match #3 Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann  Grudge Match Jon Davis vs. Samuray Del Sol  Six Way Freestyle Chuck Taylor vs. Arik Cannon vs. Jigsaw vs. Tony Nese vs. Fire Ant vs. Shane Strickland  Plus more to be signed with: -The Super Smash Brothers -EITA -The Scene -Plus others will be added!!!  The top half of this show looks very worthy indeed, with the undercard matches announced also looking pretty fun. The talent announced but not in matches make the card look long, again, however.  There's also this show on the Sunday that I'm not attending, meaning no DG six man for me this year...  Dragon Gate USA presents Mercury Rising 2013 April 7th - 1pm Meadowlands Expo Center 355 Plaza Drive Secaucus, NJ 07094  Tickets now on sale at WrestleCon.com or by calling 267-519-9744  Main Event #1 - The Six Man Tradition Continues CIMA's Team vs. Johnny Gargano's Team participants will be announced soon!!!  Main Event #2 - Battle Of The Best Shingo vs. Akira Tozawa  Ladders Are Legal High-Flyers FRAY! Two competitors start. Another enters the ring every two minutes. Eliminations can take place at anytime by pinfall, submission or DQ. Ladders are legal once all participants enter. Already entered: Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Samuray Del Sol, Facade with more to be added!!!  Special Challenge Match Brian Kendrick vs. Chuck Taylor  Tag Team Attraction The Super Smash Brothers vs. Sami Callihan & Arik Cannon  Plus more to be signed with: -Ricochet -AR Fox -Jon Davis -Rich Swann -Uhaa Nation -Christina Von Eerie -EITA -The Scene of Caleb Konley and Scott Reed w/ Larry Dallas -Tony Nese -Plus more to be added!!!  I'm sure I've seen a more filled out version of some of these cards, but couldn't find them when compiling the post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted March 12, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yes, me again. I will get myself up to date with the DGUSA/EVOLVE stuff I own before going to NYC, so I may as well continue to share thoughts... Â Dragon Gate USA: Open The Ultimate Gate - 30/3/12 Â Nearly a year after attending live, I finally get around to the DVD version of Dragon Gate USA's Friday night before WrestleMania spectacular from the site of the WrestleReunion convention in Miami Beach. How I'd like to be back there rather than the snowy old England I'm in as I type this. Â Incidentally, this show was done as a special, where you could watch the live showing of the iPPV for just $1.95. Big Benny HG did just that, and his review from back then in this very thread can be found here. Â Rich Swann vs AR Fox - A good choice of opener, with Swann getting the already hot crowd going with his entrance rap. Aside from a couple of iffy moments early on, such as Fox nailing Swann with a tornado brainbuster inside the opening two minutes without even going for a pin, and a cringe-inducing "We Love Wrestling" chant, this develops very nicely into more of a high flying spectacle than the Pac vs Fox match from the night before, though it might be a bit too flippy for some people's tastes. Oh look, there's the back of my head in the second row. Fox wins with Lo Mein Pain at the eleven minute mark. Standing ovation, "That Was Awesome". I sicken myself. Â Open the United Gate champions CIMA and Ricochet are out next. CIMA announces he hurt his neck the night before, though I must say it wasn't obvious in the match itself. The upshot is that he's unable to defend the titles. Chuck Taylor comes out celebrating, seemingly assuming that makes him and Johnny Gargano champions by forfeit, but Gargano's not interested in that. He likes to work for his titles in DGUSA, see. Somehow Masato Yoshino manages to make himself substitute for CIMA, so our main event is now Yoshino and Ricochet vs Gargano and Taylor for the vacant belts. An effective enough angle, but man, the DGUSA tag division has been a mess since the Twin vs United Gate unification match in late 2011. Â Even worse for the tag division, The Scene are next. Larry Dallas' men are accompanied by three "beauties", though even Shelley Martinez looks less than appealing here. Bobby Fish comes out then reveals his surprise partner Tommy Dreamer, who apart from a nostalgia pop at the beginning quickly loses heat as the Scene beat him down for most of the match in a non-violent fashion. His answer is to nail one of the other ladies with a piledriver for an anachronistic ECW-style "moment", before Fish mercifully puts the match out of its misery by making Caleb Konley tap to the Fishhook at 8:35. Just awful overall. Â BxB Hulk vs Sami Callihan - This looks much better on paper, with the sort of DG star vs top chosen native matchmaking usually seen on the excellent DGUK events. However, the psychology is all over the place here. Callihan jumps Hulk before the bell and controls early, so when Hulk makes an explosive kick-driven comeback, he gets crowd pops not fitting his role as an evil Mad Blankey member. There is some solid action in the middle, but the crowd aren't particularly reactive, especially when Callihan is on the attack. Then comes the finish, which sees Christina Von Eerie align herself with Mad Blankey by spitting Hulk's drink in Callihan's face, which Hulk follows with First Flash for the pin at 11:25. Â Annoyingly, Callihan gets on the mic after his match and announces he doesn't actually care about the result. Fuck that. Anyway, what he actually wants is dear old Sabu, who obliges with a run-in. Arik Cannon and Pinkie Sanchez join their D.U.F. stablemate in attacking Sabu, with Jon Davis and AR Fox making the save, and wouldn't you just know it, there's a tag team Streetfight scheduled... Â Arik Cannon & Pinkie Sanchez vs Sabu & Jon Davis - Not much to report in this one, really. The four competitors pair off, then taking it in turns to be in the ring or brawling on the floor. Sabu ends up putting Cannon through a table with a legdrop, which leaves Davis to pin Sanchez with Three Seconds Around The World at just 7:16. Sami Callihan returns to again attack Sabu afterwards. We'll see if their match tomorrow is worth sitting through all this, I guess. Â Masaaki Mochizuki vs Akira Tozawa - Now, this is what you want when watching Dragon Gate, and what DGUSA frequently lacks, in proper Dragon Gate action giving you a cracking match. The only slight problem I had watching this back was that the Miami crowd were quiet for long stretches of action, as good as it was, though they then react big time for certain spots and the closing stretch. The possible reason for this is that Mochizuki seems very underrated by the Miami crowd, though he certainly wins them over in the end - and wins the match with the Sankakugeri in 19:50. Top stuff. Â Samuray Del Sol vs Johnny Vandal - It's a bit weird that Del Sol has been moved into squash match action here after an upset victory over Yoshino the night before. Anyway, this was an alright start to the second half of the show, but at 3:15 didn't really give either man much chance to really impress. Del Sol wins with a messy reverse 'rana. Â Low Ki vs Pac - Anticipation can be a wonderful thing, and going in to last year's WrestleMania weekend this was certainly one of the most anticipated matches of my trip. Unfortunately living up to the anticipation of a dream match is another thing altogether. The first fifteen minutes or so would have made a fine feeling out process if the match had gone on to be a half hour classic. Just after the said mark, however, Pac hits his only dive to the floor, and Ki takes almost the entire 20-count before making it back into the ring. From there on, you're just waiting for them to get out of second or third gear, and it never really happens: Ki misses a Phoenix Splash, and Pac retailiates with one of his own off the middle rope for a good nearfall, but then there's more laying around before going to the next thing. The finish was also a bit weak to say the least: Pac misses the British Airways, and it takes Ki more than 30 seconds to get across the ring and hit the Warriors Way, but that's still enough for the pin at 23:45. Ki again goes on about great wrestling and wanting an EVOLVE championship afterwards. Whatever. Â Open The United Gate Title Match: Ricochet & Masato Yoshino vs Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano - Thankfully, we get just what the show needs here, in a fun, exciting main event that is enjoyable from the get go. Everyone gets plenty of time to shine here, with Ricochet particularly getting to show off his high flying arsenal, Chuck Taylor bringing the character, Johnny Gargano looking in good shape after his back injury of earlier in the year, and Yoshino operating at top level as well. Taylor and Ricochet have particularly nice exchanges as you'd expect given their history, while Gargano and Ricochet make you wonder what their Freedom Gate title match at EVOLVE 10 would have been like if Gargano hadn't been injured. Yoshino is also aggressive with Gargano ahead of their Freedom Gate title match the next night. Â In the end, the much hinted at tension in the faction costs the Ronin duo the match, as Taylor pulls Gargano off a pinfall attempt so he can go for the glory for himself at just after the 17 minute mark, then tries to use the Freedom Gate belt only for Rich Swann at ringside and then Gargano himself stopping it. A minute or two later Taylor finds himself trapped in Sol Naciente and is forced to give up to Yoshino at 19:42. Â As World-1 International celebrate their victory, and Yoshino reiterates that he's coming for Gargano, CIMA finally endorses Gargano with a handshake, only to get clubbed in his injured neck by Chuck Taylor. Taylor then completes the break up of Ronin with a superkick for Gargano and leaves to a chorus of boos. Yoshino then does the traditional "Did. You. Enjoy. The. Show?" closing speech, and that's our show. Â Overall - A real mixed bag of a show, with two really good matches in Mochizuki vs Tozawa and the main event, the latter of which finally delivers the breakup of Ronin and sees new champions crowned. There's also the fun opener, but Ki vs Pac is a massive disappointment and the rest of the undercard is mostly dross. It really depends on whether you are prepared to put up with the mediocre for the amount of good on the show. DVD run time is 2 hours and 45 minutes, though sadly the dark match featuring FCP's MK McKinnan and Trent Seven doesn't make the extras, as I also missed it live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted March 24, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted March 24, 2013 WrestleMania weekend 2012 indie show catch-up: complete  Dragon Gate USA: Mercury Rising 2012 - 31/3/12  The concluding part of DGUSA's WrestleMania weekend festivities from last year. I wasn't in attendance at this one, as I was at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony instead. Was that a good choice? We'll find out..  Bobby Fish vs Jon Davis - Fish gets a good response on his way out here, despite his generic EVOLVE music. Davis also has pretty generic music, and gets a mild, mixed reaction. It doesn't help Davis that, in his wrestling trunks compared to the Streetfight attire of the previous show, his flabby belly looks terrible. Several hecklers get on his case and the match drifts along with Davis in control. Fish gets the crowd going with his comeback, and gets a popular submission win with the Fishhook at 9:33. As openers go, this wasn't a patch on Swann vs Fox the night before, and Davis didn't look comfortable out there at all. Not a great start.  Like the previous night, we then get a segment to explain card changes due to CIMA not being 100% with his bad neck. Here, Pac nominates himself to move into the main event, then Chuck Taylor takes over the Invitational gimmick Pac was originally scheduled to be doing (and which was supposed to be high flyers themed...)  Arik Cannon vs AR Fox - While this is billed as a Grudge match, this actually benefits from not having Streetfight rules, as Cannon has one of his best DGUSA performances to date, and Fox, who is over plenty with the live crowd here, brings the acrobatics well. It's almost too good to be true for these two, in fact, and then Sami Callihan runs out from the back and throws a chair at Fox as he goes for Lo Mein Pain, and that draws the DQ at 11:03. A shame, as it was all going rather well to that point. The D.U.F. beat down Fox, Jon Davis makes the save to a predictably muted reaction, then we go into the climax of the feud no-one has actually wanted to see..  Sami Callihan vs Sabu - The DVD case bills this as a "No Rules Fight", whereas it's merely announced as a Streetfight to the live crowd. Sabu looks particularly knackered here, at one point crotching himself for no apparent reason, and the violence between the two men is lethargic at the best of times. Sabu does bleed a whole bunch, but it doesn't appears to have been caused by anything deliberate and fails to get the crowd behind him. After what feels like about an hour, AR Fox and co brawl back to ringside, and the crowd reacts far more to Fox hitting the Lo Mein Pain on Callihan than anything up to that point. Sabu follows that up with an Arabian Facebuster through a table for the pin at 18:02. Thank goodness that's over. I actually spent half the time I was watching this simultaneously browsing Twitter for something to keep me entertained.  Chuck Taylor vs Rich Swann vs Samuray Del Sol vs Lince Dorado vs El Generico vs CIMA - In contrast to the last match, the setup to this one fall six way is a lot of fun, with The Chuck Taylor Invitational starting with him interrupting Dorado vs Del Sol before they even start, CIMA and Swann making the save after the events of the previous night, and Taylor explaining why he hates everyone in the ring including hating luchadores. That brings out El Generico for a surprise debut, which the crowd understandably go pretty nuts for.  The actual match itself is good if not exceptional fare. It never goes completely over the top, with Taylor repeatedly heeling on everyone, and CIMA taking it fairly easy, though there's a choice sequence between Generico and Del Sol which obviously switched a lightbulb on for the future in Gabe's head. The match is also perhaps a little too long, as there's only so many spot-spot-spot sequences you can do before everyone gets bored. Not a bad effort at all though, Generico gets the pin with the turnbuckle brainbuster on Lince Dorado at 17:17.  The Scene vs Los Ben Dejos - Another DGUSA/EVOLVE card, another waste of time Scene match, this time filling the post-interval graveyard spot. The entrance of the Scene almost goes as long as the 6:27 of match, but while the entrance is bad, I don't need any more match. The DDT/wheelbarrow German suplex combo gets the Scene the win. Next...  Open The Freedom Gate Title Match: Johnny Gargano vs Masato Yoshino - Despite everyone's best efforts, there's something about the OTFG title that so far hasn't produced the sort of classic matches you'd hope for from the top title in the promotion. Gargano starts this one out like he has something to prove, which to be fair he does on his comeback from the back injury sustained at EVOLVE 10. Yoshino, however, doesn't do anything to make it clear this is a bigger bout than any other one-on-one match he's had so far in DGUSA. The end result is that while the match is perfectly adequate, and at times has some really good individual sequences, it's just lacking the must-see factor. Colour commentary from Chuck Taylor adds a little depth after he turned on Gargano the previous night, and Lenny Leonard tries to put over how Yoshino has won 17 DGUSA matches with the Sol Naciente, but you still don't feel a title change coming. Gargano retains with the Gargano Escape at 20:22, only to get a beating on his bad back from Taylor afterwards.  Pac, Ricochet & Masaaki Mochizuki vs Low Ki, BxB Hulk & Akira Tozawa - or, if you prefer, "The Dragon Gate Six Man Tradition Continues!!!". Obviously, that's plenty of hype to live up to, with some excellent bouts from the DG crew on previous WrestleMania weekends. Credit where it's due, though, as this one comes very close indeed to the top end of those matches. Pac replacing CIMA makes the match feel more relevant to the now, with the previous evening's Pac/Ki and Mochizuki/Tozawa bouts reprised at different points in this one, with the Pac/Ki exchanges here being much more enjoyable than their hugely disappointing singles encounter. The Mad Blankey duo of Hulk & Tozawa give the bout storyline flow with some nefarious tactics and double team sequences, while Mochizuki giving Ki a kicking at points is a good laugh. It's also worth mentioning that the crowd are hot throughout this one, which pumps up the atmosphere watching it back compared to the rest of the show. Tozawa gets his pin back on Mochizuki from the night before with the Straightjacket German suplex at 21:24. A tremendous main event to end the show on.  Low Ki closes the show out with his usual spiel about the sport of professional wrestling, and we're done.  Overall - While the main event is really, really good, and there's some fun to be had from parts of the undercard, it has to be said there's plenty of work to be done on DGUSA/EVOLVE to generate the kind of self-sustaining hype an indie promotion needs. It's telling that, a year on from these shows, we're only now getting an EVOLVE title tournament, for example, and the guys being hyped as the players in that picture back then (Ki, Pac, Generico, hell even Bobby Fish) have all moved on to pastures new. It's difficult to recommend Mercury Rising 2012 at this point despite the positives, then, even though the good matches on this show are good enough in themselves. DVD run time is 2 hours, 41 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted May 27, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 27, 2013 EVOLVE 11: Finlay vs Callihan - 13/4/12 Â EVOLVE run for the second time in 2012, which in theory is also the follow-up to the Dragon Gate USA shows from WrestleMania weekend. Similarly to the shows in Miami, this is tied into a WrestleReunion convention, this time in Toronto, Canada. Unfortunately, the convention side of things was reportedly a bit of a disaster here, but while the crowd isn't nearly as large as DGUSA in Miami (or any of the 2013 WrestleCon shows), there's still a reasonable number in, especially by the standards of this promotion. Â The Super Smash Brothers (1-2) vs The Gentleman's Club (0-0) - The Gentleman's Club are Drew Gulak and Jake Manning, accompanied by Chuck Taylor. I really don't like the way Taylor has suddenly gone from breaking up Ronin to leading a comedy faction. Still, the actual match itself here is a fun opener that the crowd are very much into. The SSB go to 2-2 with FATALITY! in 10:47 and look to be moving up in the EVOLVE/DGUSA tag team scene, such as it is. Taylor meanwhile claims he "doesn't care" about wins and losses, which completely goes against the whole point, doesn't it? That's a nonsensical piece of storytelling when Taylor getting jealous of Johnny Gargano was/is a ready made story waiting to be told. Â Josh Alexander (0-0) vs MK McKinnan (0-0) - I really wanted to feel sorry for McKinnan here. The youngster from Wolverhampton was never going to get much from a four minute bout for his EVOLVE debut, and crowd support was with Josh Alexander, who is local to the Toronto area. He found time to do his own cause no favours by slipping on the ropes en route to his 4:03 loss, however, in such a way that he had to be a bit embarrassed. The match was okay otherwise, with the crowd responding while it lasted. Alexander wins with a double underhook piledriver, which was a nasty looking finish. Â Mike Rollins (0-0) vs Ashley Sixx (0-0) - Another pair of Canadians, with the card having to be rearranged due to a couple of the EVOLVE regulars not making it across the border. I really struggled with this one, mainly due to the ridiculously bad character work of 'Psycho' Mike, though Sixx wasn't actually much better on that front. Rollins wins with an over the shoulder sitout tombstone at 7:02, making this the second match in a row with a crazy finish for an undercard filler bout. Â John Silver (1-0) vs Alex Reynolds (0-0) - These two teamed up for an absolutely absymal match with The Scene at EVOLVE 10, but get trusted with 12:21 here, a long match by EVOLVE undercard standards. Thankfully the standard here is much better, with some decent indy sequences and a good feeling of a contest going on. The crowd seem to get behind John Silver, who I still can't believe isn't doing a pirate gimmick, especially with the screaming he does. There's a bemused reaction when Reynolds then gets the win with a cradle breaker, though his performance was solid if characterless. Reynolds gets promo time with Lenny Leonard afterwards, so maybe this is the beginning of something. I'd describe this as solid but unspectacular overall. Â Johnny Gargano (6-3) vs Chuck Taylor (6-3) vs Samuray Del Sol (0-0) - Gargano adds himself to this one due to AR Fox's border issues, though his promo on Chuck Taylor is pretty bad, and the crowd are pretty much taking the piss out of his whining until he mentions actually making the match a three-way. So, it's elimination rules, with the deciding fall counting towards the records. The opening segment is a lot of fun, with Gargano trying to go after Taylor, only for Del Sol to get between them in a series of creative ways. Del Sol is so impressive that the crowd are not impressed at all when Taylor eliminates him with a roll-up, capitalising on some Gargano offense, after just 5:49. Gargano gets his hands on Taylor after that, but his injured back ends up letting him down, as Taylor works and works and works on it, including some deliberately, erm, deliberate offense, so the crowd has no reason to cheer him. A half crab then (eventually) sees Gargano pass out from the pain at 19:15. This wasn't bad as rushed rewritten booking goes, but the end was definitely too long and I think I'd have been inclined to make it a one fall match. Â Caleb Konley (0-1) vs Adam Page (0-0) - Apparently Page is a "tobacco farmer from Virginia", and that's just what he looks like (along with looking a bit like Kenny Omega). My disdain for the Scene faction is well documented, though Konley isn't terrible in singles, and this is alright, uncomplicated action to kick off the second half. Konley wins by submission in 7:29, just before the match begins to outstay its welcome. Â Johnny Gargano then cuts a promo backstage on Chuck Taylor. I mention it becuase it's much better than the one in the ring before their match, and Gargano's clarity of expression of how he wants Taylor in the ring again makes you want to see it. Â Low Ki (1-0) vs El Generico (0-0) - Talk about two sides to every story. I enjoyed this a whole bunch for the most part, coming from the El Generico fan side, with the story that he was trying to prove to Ki that he was a worthy 'serious' competitor coming in at the top end of the EVOLVE card. On the other hand, Low Ki is a dick, and everyone (everyone else, anyway) knows how good Generico is. Still, the exchanges they had as they built and built were always good, and the match was heading towards the very good until it just fell apart in the final seconds, knocking it down a fair bit. Generico randomly falls off the top when he was possibly maybe looking for the top rope brainbuster, and Ki climbs the ropes, not very quickly I may add, then comes off the top with the Warrior's Way for the pin at 16:41. To add insult to that finish, Ki then grabs the mic and tells Generico he's "not as good as he thinks he is" and storms out. What an arse. Â Finlay (1-0) vs Sami Callihan (3-3) - Another really good match between the two - it didn't have the shock factor of the EVOLVE 9 bout, where everyone was stunned by the war unfolding in front of them, but still well worth tracking down. The finish is a bit of a surprise, as Callihan kicks out of multiple Celtic Crosses and the Finlay-stone, only to then be forced to tap to a cross armbreaker at 20:43. Poor Sami can't buy a DGUSA/EVOLVE win at the moment. Â The DVD then finishes with a hype video for Finlay vs Jon Davis at EVOLVE 12. If Finlay puts Davis over after beating Callihan twice, I won't be impressed. Â Overall - Probably my favourite EVOLVE event since E7, with two good matches on top, the three way that almost works, and a fun opener.. you have to worry for EVOLVE though, as the trips to North Carolina and Florida after this don't promise bumper crowds. For what it's worth, EVOLVE did pretty well out of what appeared to be a mess of a convention here. DVD run time is 2 hours, 28 minutes, with 37 minutes of bonus material including part 2 of the Finlay vs Callihan trilogy from wXw Germany - another bout very much in the same vein as the others, but not quite as good for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted May 27, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 27, 2013 Looking forward in this thread for once - EVOLVE has a triple shot from Florida this upcoming weekend. It'll be interesting to see if they can capitalise on any of the momentum from the big crowds at WrestleCon, or if it will be back to the usual.  EVOLVE 20 - May 30th - Orlando, FL - 7:30pm EST. Belltime Live To VOD iPPV With May 31st Premiere At WWNLive.com - Tickets & Info At DGUSA.tv   Witness The First Ever EVOLVE Title Defense!!!    EVOLVE Title Match AR Fox defends vs. Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks    Champion vs. Champion Non-Title Attraction Freedom Gate Johnny Gargano vs. United Gate Champion Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks    Dragon Gate Showcase Match  EITA vs. Tomahawk T.T.    Special Challenge Match #1  Samuray Del Sol vs. Anthony Nese    Special Challenge Match #2 Chuck Taylor vs. Brian Cage    FRAY!  (starts with two competitors, another enters every 2 minutes, eliminations can take place anytime by pinfall, submission or DQ until one competitor is left)  The Participants Are:  Andrew Everett, Caleb Konley, Jon Davis, Lince Dorado, Shane Strickland, Tommy Taylor   Comedy Attraction The Bravado Brothers vs. Sugar Dunkerton & Maxwell Chicago    EVOLVE 21 - June 1st - Jacksonville, FL - 8:00pm EST. Belltime  Live iPPV At WWNLive.com - Tickets & Info At DGUSA.tv    It's USA vs. The World Live On Saturday Night!!!    USA vs. Japan #1  AR Fox vs. EITA   USA vs. Japan #2 Johnny Gargano vs. Tomahawk T.T.    USA vs. Mexico Shane Strickland vs. Samuray Del Sol    USA vs. Europe Caleb Konley vs. Tommy Taylor   Bonus Tag Team Main Event The Young Bucks vs. Anthony Nese & Brian Cage    Special Challenge Match Jon Davis vs. Chuck Taylor    Special Attraction Match Lince Dorado vs. Jonny Vandal    Tag Team Attraction The Bravado Brothers vs. Andrew Everett & Derek Ryze    EVOLVE 22 - June 2nd - Ybor City, FL - 8:00pm EST. Belltime  Live iPPV at WWNLive.com - Tickets & Info At DGUSA.tv   See Two DGUSA Title Matches In The Traditional Sunday Night PPV Timeslot!!!    Open The Freedom Gate Title Match  Johnny Gargano defends vs. Samuray Del Sol    Open The United Gate Title Match The Young Bucks defend vs. EITA & Tomahawk T.T.    Heavyweight Clash Jon Davis vs. Brian Cage    EVOLVE 16 Rematch - 1 Year Later AR Fox vs. Lince Dorado    Newcomers Showcase Six Man Tag Match The Bravado Brothers & Andrew Everett vs. Dos Ben Dejos & Shane Strickland    Special Challenge Match #1 Chuck Taylor vs. Caleb Konley    Special Challenge Match #2 Anthony Nese vs. Tommy Taylor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted August 4, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted August 4, 2013 Once upon a time, in a "TV studio-like atmosphere" in Charlotte, NC.. Â EVOLVE 12: Fox vs Callihan - 11/5/12 Â Presumably by "TV studio-like atmosphere", Lenny Leonard means that there isn't much room for an audience, as there can't be 100 people in the crowd here. I was even wondering if WCW could have filled one of their World War 3 battle royals with this lot. Anyway, those in do make some noise as we start the show... Â Caleb Konley (1-1) vs Adam Page (0-1) vs Jake Manning (0-0) - Three-way action to start out here. I've no idea why EVOLVE would want triple threats, but hey. I remember thinking Page looked alright in singles defeat to Konley at E11, and was pleased to see he'd moved on to ROH when I watched their 11th Anniversary Show from this year, so naturally he loses the fall here to Manning (of Chuck Taylor's Gentlemen's Club faction) at 7:25. Not much else stood out apart from the fact Konley was managed by Johnny Fairplay instead of the equally bad Larry Dallas. Â Alex Reynolds (1-0) vs Mike Cruz (0-0) - Two more guys with limited history, I remember Mike Cruz showing some potential at DGUSA Heat, while Reynolds seemed to be getting the beginnings of a push with his win at E11. Typical undercard fare ensues with the two guys against each other, Cruz in particular definitely still needs some polishing, though they build to a nice finishing sequence. As I thought, it's Reynolds who is getting the push, as a reversal sequence sees him score the pin at 7:26. Â Low Ki (2-0) vs Jigsaw (1-0) - Both men get good reactions from the crowd such as it is, though Lenny Leonard pushing this as two guys with undefeated records seems a bit much with just three wins between them. I was really enjoying the matwork in the early going, but then Ki starts being a dick, stomping particularly hard and throwing nasty looking european uppercuts at Jigsaw for no obvious reason. It throws Jigsaw off, as there's a couple of timing issues, but then he recovers and there's some good stuff towards the close. Ki goes to 3-0 with the Ki Krusher at 14:27, and tells Jigsaw afterwards to "stop playing luchadore and be a man in this ring". Stupid Low Ki. Â Dave Finlay (2-0) vs Jon Davis (1-1) - The build to this encounter has been pretty good, and the video package put together for it gets the story across really well. Shame next to no-one was there to see the match itself. That said, they don't hold back, and though the match is very mat-based throughout and much longer than I would have anticipated at 23:47, it remained pretty engrossing. Davis hits a middle rope moonsault just before the end, but there's no sign of the Pounce or Three Seconds Around The World before Finlay gets a pinfall victory with the tombstone. Finlay puts Davis over nicely on the mic after (Low Ki should take note..), as well as Sami Callihan, though the latter then emerges to tell Finlay to mind his own business, Ooooh! Â Johnny Gargano & Samuray Del Sol vs Chuck Taylor & Silas Young - Pick Your Partner action for the feuding Gargano and Taylor here. Del Sol impressed in his brief involvement at E11, while Silas Young's falling off the wagon storyline from the beginning of EVOLVE explains his role against Gargano. The tag scenario certainly makes storytelling between Gargano and Taylor easier than the bizarre E11 three-way, and Young is good in his pissed off veteran role. Taylor naturally is very selective of his spots, which allows him to be the opportunist and pin Gargano with the Awful Waffle at 10:19. This was solid while it lasted. Â Ricochet (3-2) vs El Generico (0-1) - A dream match on paper, but when you're watching more than a year behind and see that PWG did the same bout a fortnight later, it's going to take something quite special to make you sit up and take notice of the one fought in front of next to no-one in the promotion no-one really cares about. Annoying colour commentary from Mr Deadly Serious, particularly whining about Generico again, makes it even more of a struggle. There's decent action as you'd expect, you can't accuse either Generico or Ricochet of lack of effort here. Unfortunately there's then a phantom three count after a Phoenix Splash by Ricochet, so when the end comes shortly after from a 630 splash, there isn't the reaction there should be. Ricochet goes 4-2 at 16:33 and challenges Ki afterwards. Â Evolution's End: AR Fox (2-1) vs Sami Callihan (3-4) - The EVOLVE version of the Fight Without Honor, except in Evolution's End, the no rules/weapons are legal stip only applies outside the ring. Yep. A worthy conclusion to what has been a reasonable feud with a couple of overpushed angles, though the brawling sections in the crowd look a bit silly with there being so few. Johnny Gargano on colour commentary is much more interesting than Low Ki in the previous bout, and though him pushing the idea that Fox is a mix of Sabu and RVD is a bit much, you can at least see where the idea comes from. Some of the things Fox does are completely mental, especially as they actually achieve so little in terms of the company pushing him. Still, to anyone who is paying attention, the reward here is a logical conclusion to the feud and Sami Callihan being forced to admit that Finlay is right when he says Callihan getting into feuds is distracting him in the long run. While Sami kicks out of Lo Mein Pain, a springboard 450 by Fox then gives him the victory at the 18:52 mark. It's onwards and upwards for him from here, you have to feel. Â Overall - While the top five of the seven matches here can only be described as at least good, it's hard to recommend this or say it's a good show, as the small crowd, hell even the generic entrance music thing, don't make it feel like much of a show when you look at the complete package. Unless the Low Ki show is what you're after, I guess. For my money, the best bout here is Finlay vs Davis, thogh it was Evolution's End that got the nod when it came to an online vote to determine the bout that the show would be named after, and that was definitely worth the watch as well. DVD run time is just seconds shy of 2 and a half hours, with a Bobby Fish fight from Cage Wars XII also included, though Fish didn't have a match on the wrestling card here. Weird, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 4, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted August 4, 2013 Lo-Ki's EVOLVE run was an unqualified success; came in, had everyone put him over, then left. That said, Ki's always been a dick; it's Gabe's fault for letting him get away with it. Â For me Finlay vs. Davis was better than the Finlay/ Callihan match from EVOLVE 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted August 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted August 16, 2013 EVOLVE 13 - 12/5/12 Â Another tiny, surely sub-100 crowd for EVOLVE in what looks like a warehouse in glamorous Concord, NC. Credit to the few in for making the best of it, though.. Â AR Fox (3-1) vs Jigsaw (1-1) vs Samuray Del Sol (0-1) vs Ricochet (4-2) - Four way action to start to determine who gets a shot at Johnny Gargano and the Open the Freedom Gate belt in the main event. Much like the main event the night before, Gargano adds to the product with his colour commentary, as the four guys break out the CHIKARA-lucha in the early and middle parts of the bout. There's a period of Fox getting his arm worked over that subsequently gets completely ignored in the second half of the bout, though the hot closing sequence features plenty of action to distract you from those kind of details. Fox goes to 4-1 and bags the title shot with Lo Mein Pain on Del Sol at 16:52. Well above average opener by EVOLVE standards, but you'd expect that due to the stip involved. Â Silas Young (3-1) vs Adam Page (0-2) - a double quick squash win for "Wrestling's Last Real Man" Silas Young here, as he gets a referee stoppage win in just 2:39. Poor Adam Page has shown promise in his previous two losses, but didn't get the chance in this one. Silas cuts a heel promo afterwards. Â Caleb Konley (1-1) vs Kyle Matthews (0-1) - The Scene boo. Johnny Fairplay boo. While Matthews has no discernable personality, he's still preferable to Konley with his Fake Spanky hair and Fake Calvin Klein trunks. 6:49 of generic but vaguely acceptable indy-style wrestling ends with a submission win for Konley. Next.. Â Jake Manning (1-0) vs Alex Reynolds (2-0) - Credit to them for pushing this as a battle of the undefeated, ala Ki vs Jigsaw the night before, but these two guys don't deserve 12:04 and the match had outstayed its welcome well before the end - especially Reynolds, who had one or two really dodgy moments. Reynolds could use some character as well, as the crowd turn on him as he scores the victory to go an unlikely 3-0. Â Low Ki (3-0) vs Jon Davis (1-2) - For once, the sight of Low Ki is more than welcome, as the last three matches have been dull in the extreme. This is probably the best and most exciting of Ki's EVOLVE matches to date, as they tell an engrossing story of the battle between Ki's skill and striking ability against Davis' sheer power and determination. The small crowd love it, and so did I for the most part. Ki gets the win of course, but does actually have positive things to say about Davis after his tree of woe variation of the top rope double stomp keeps Davis down at 14:02. Real good match. Â Chuck Taylor (7-3) vs Mike Cruz (0-1) - As much as I find Chucky T entertaining, young Mike Cruz is never going to get to prove himself when faced with Taylor's antics and a crowd that just wants to chant for the S-S-S-Swamp Monster. So, the jobber to the stars role I foresaw for Cruz at DGUSA Heat it is then. A slightly extended squash sees Taylor move to 8-3 with the Awful Waffle at 7:10. Â Sami Callihan (3-5) vs El Generico (0-2) - You know, if you fast forward to now, it's Generico who's got the ring name Sami, while Callihan could yet end up with anything from the WWE Name Generator. Low Ki once again joins us for commentary so he can pick apart Generico's performance, but he doesn't have much to criticise here, as the two assemble a cracking match that gets a lot of noise out of the small crowd in. Generico finally gets off the mark in EVOLVE with a brainbuster at 22:15, which after losing his feuds to Sabu and AR Fox and the lectures from Finlay, is finally enough to send Callihan off the edge, as he nails Generico after the match then chokes an official, which will earn him an EVOLVE suspension just in time for a CZW tour of Japan the following month. How convenient! Â Open the Freedom Gate Title Match: Johnny Gargano vs AR Fox - Funny how, despite this being EVOLVE, Gargano and Fox get their proper entrances for this OTFG title match. This one struggles slightly to feel like a main event after the match prior, and the crowd don't really get into the idea of AR Fox dethroning the champ, but this does develop into a really nice, tight matchup in the second half in particular. I really like the number of ways Gargano has developed for working his opponents into the Gargano Escape, but in the end here it's a simple matter of outlasting Fox, as a second Hurts Donut into the third or fourth go with the Gargano Escape sees Fox forced to tap out at 18:04. I liked this overall. Gargano brings a girl from the crowd into the ring afterwards, because he's her hero or something. Â Overall - While E12 the night before was a tighter show, with less undercard dross than here on E13, I would say I got quite a bit more out of the four way opener, Ki vs Davis and the top two matches on this show than I did from the top four matches on E12, so if I had to recommend one of the two shows, it'd be this one. DVD run time is 2 hours, 31 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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