DG USA Open the Ultimate Gate 2014 review

Dragon Gate USA, the imaginatively named spin-off of Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, has not been having an easy time securing talent over the last several months. Their shows in February saw CIMA pulled due to an injury, something which also prevented him from appearing here. On top of that there was some sort of issue with getting other names from the Japanese main roster, either a conscious decision or a visa issue depending on who you believe. Whatever the reason it’s a problem if DG USA is to be seen as an extension of the Japanese league.

This isn’t to knock the non-Japanese DG USA regulars. The company has a talented roster who are capable of putting together enjoyable matches and shows. But as talented as they are the DG USA name implies that Japanese talent, who can’t be seen live anywhere else outside of Japan, will be appearing. It’s those imports that are Dragon Gate USA’s biggest selling point.

Gabe Sapolsky has done what he can to combat the injuries and his partners’-slash-bosses’ reluctance or inability to make big names available. He rejigged the February cards to feature bigger matches (most notably Gargano versus Barreta) and made the best possible use Yosuke Santa Maria, the lone mid-card performer sent over to provide a “legitimate” presence on the cards.

For these WrestleMania weekend shows Sapolsky had a little more time to piece something together. He used it to secure the services of Low Ki, a man capable of turning out a cracking match, someone who wrestling fans will pay to see, and a man who’d been absent from the wrestling scene for nearly a year, making his appearance here particularly noteworthy. Booking him for these shows was a smart move on Sapolsky’s part. It went a fair way to making up for the absence of an Akira Tozawa or a Tomahwak TT. But long-term Dragon Gate are going to need to look at what they’re doing with their US branch or risk driving away fans they’ve worked hard to attract.

Sapolsky also signed Masato Tanaka to appear. While he fits the bill of a foreign talent he is not a man especially linked to Dragon Gate. If anything he’s still marked as an ECW guy in the minds of many. Still, it was another good get for Sapolsky, another man people would accept as a big deal. Pitting him against Chris Hero was another good move, their styles mirroring one another so closely.

The night kicked off with the Bravado brothers defending their Open the United Gate tag team titles against Anthony Nese and Caleb Konley. It was a peculiar match, what with the two teams being DG USA's two most effective heel units. It was a strange opener too. Generally it's good form to have a clear act to cheer at the start of a wrestling event.

The audience started off slightly favouring Harlem and Lance but ultimately treated the action like it was an all babyface encounter. Saying that, as soon as Harlem started playing to the crowd he heard boos. He proved he was capable of playing the good guy role moments later when he gingerly (AR Fox and The Young Bucks have nothing to worry about) cannonballed off the top rope to the floor, sending Nese and Konley sprawling.

The match was very enjoyable. The Bravados are an underrated unit, partly because they get overshadowed by the shenanigans they're booked to employ. Nese and Konley worked well in their first match together. They were never going to win, the match was more about getting something different onto the show and giving the Brand some practice time as a team ahead of the following night’s trios tournament, but they strung together some impressive double teams (the highlight was a pump handle bomb and neck breaker combo) that provided convincing near falls. Speaking of which it was a double team move that got the Bravados their win. Moose speared an interfering Mr A and intimidated Nese long enough for Harlem and Lance to perform a Gentlemen's Agreement on him.

After the match Nese laid into Mr A, telling him he wouldn't leave the ring until he got something right. Su Yung followed up with some words of her own but the microphone troubles of the previous evening's EVOLVE show were still going and I couldn't understand a word she said. AR Fox came out to have a match with Mr A, and we were told by Lenny Leonard as that started that Yung had ordered A to destroy the former EVOLVE champ.

The match that followed was all over the place. A's offence was plodding, tentative and basic, although he did make a fabulous crash mat for 'The Whole Foxin' Show's' aerial manoeuvres. Bizarrely he proved far better at performing leg lariats than he did punches and power moves. It's always handy for a big lad to be able to leave his feet in a wrestling match but throwing a convincing haymaker is far more important. That's what they'll be doing far more of, after all.

Forget Okada and Raptor, it's all about Hart and Cat from now on

Eventually Su Yung involved herself which brought out Ivalisse to even the odds. The ladies brawled backstage, freeing ringside up for the arrival of Larry Dallas. He shouted something into a microphone (again, no idea what) and then Teddy Hart sauntered out to ringside dressed in an outfit that looked like something The Honky Tonk Man would wear. Two women and a cat then joined him. The cat was placed on a turnbuckle before Teddy performed a power bomb into a back breaker on Fox, posed, dropped Mr A with a neck breaker, moonsaulted him, and left. It was a weird sequence but it worked well. Presumably Teddy Hart v AR Fox will be happening in the not too distant future. It should be good.

The match continued despite what was technically interference. Fox blasted A with a bundle of flying moves before getting apron bombed and spinebustered. A lumbered up to the top rope, ostensibly to try a splash, but got caught out with Fox's Lo Mein Pain finish. That put him down for the three. For Fox this match was nothing special, but it wasn't meant to be. For A it was a decent showing. The issues mentioned above aside he looked promising.

Match three saw Rich Swann facing Biff Busick. It was a fast, mostly even encounter that benefited from an involved, interested audience. Busick did his blend of pseudo brawling and mat wrestling while Swann dazzled with his impressive leaping ability and great aim. It wasn't surprising that Swann, the more popular and useful of the pair, won but it was surprising that he did so after a lengthy exchange of pins and counter pins.

The first half ended with a tag match putting Gentlemen's Club members Drew Gulak and Chuck Taylor against The Colony's Green Ant and Fire Ant. The Ants were the unquestionable faces of the bout with Taylor reverting to the role of loudmouth comedy heel. It worked for a match that was more about fun than long term storylines. The match built up to a frenetic series of double teams and signature moves before Gulak and Green Ant were left along to exchange pin and submission attempts. Green Ant got the submission for his team with the CHIKARA Special.

After The Colony left Gulak turned on Taylor, viciously clubbing him to the mat and giving him a kicking. The reasons he gave for his actions couldn't be deciphered but Lenny Leonard helpfully informed us that The Gentlemen's Club was no more. Seems like a good move to me. The group had been around for a while and its members can do more things of interest as singles wrestlers than as a group. Taylor's popular enough for a singles run while Gulak is more interesting as a prospective aggressive heel than in his previous undefined role.

The show's second half kicked off with the hotly anticipated return of Low Ki to mainstream wrestling. He got the "Welcome back!" treatment while his opponent Trent Barreta heard "Low Ki's gonna kill you!" It was a battle of two men Gabe Sapolsky is very keen on. Ki was his selection to be the inaugural Ring of Honor champion back in 2002 and was a key part of Gabe’s early booking career. Barreta has been treated as a special commodity since joining WWN following his WWE release in January of last year. There is clearly something about the two that attracts Gabe to presenting them as headline attractions.

The early going was a feeling out process, Barreta keeping to the ropes for fear of getting caught in a hold or hit with a strike by 'The World Warrior'. That gradually gave way to a match which revolved around the two swapping the initiative and treating the crowd to submission holds and loud chops (the latter of which came mostly from Ki). The pace quickened after Low Ki slipped out of a German suplex from Barreta, landing on his feet and then smashing him with a double stomp and half a dozen hard kicks.

The finish wasn't far behind that. Low Ki took a trip up to the top rope. Barreta attempted a hurricanrana but got stopped with a headbutt and hung up in a tree of woe. The audience, expecting to see Ki's celebrated double stomp, rose to their feet and were perplexed when Barreta managed to reach up and send Ki flying back down into the canvas. Untangling himself Barreta sped across the ring and nailed Ki with a knee strike that put him down for three.

The fans told Low Ki he still had it as he headed to the back. He was in great shape and the match was far from bad, but it was not the level of quality that Ki's been associated with in the past. I wouldn't say he doesn't have it anymore but the "You still got it" chant wasn’t merited here. The fans, as is all too common now, simply chanted it because they felt it was the right thing to do and because they wanted to say they'd done so. The meaning has been drained from the chant.

The second guest star was next. Tanaka versus Hero started out with a handshake and some slick hold-counter-hold exchanges. A strike exchange was teased a couple of minutes in when both men went for rolling elbows and held off when they caught sight of one another. It was a nice moment, carefully playing upon audience expectations and foreshadowing what was to come.

We weren't kept waiting long. Tanaka was soon encouraging Hero to kick him repeatedly in the face, coming back with a few with chops of his own and leaving Hero reeling on the mat. 'The Knockout Artist' returned fire with elbow shots but was plastered with Tanaka elbows in return. The story quickly developed into Tanaka having the upper hand but Hero being a proficient enough striker to surprise his more experienced foe if he bided his time. Despite being little more than a lengthy period of strikes and signature moves (brainbusters, Awesome bombs, Diamond bombs and big boots) interspersed with selling exhaustion on the mat the match was engaging and compelling. They expertly increased the stakes and ramped up the tension, climaxing with Hero going down to a diving lariat and a diving elbow.

Afterwards the two men bowed, shook hands and raised one another's hands. It was a classy moment. The admiration Hero has for Tanaka was clear to see.

Going on last were Ricochet and Johnny Gargano. The match was a champion versus champion encounter, Ricochet being the Open the Dream Gate champion and Gargano being the Open the Freedom Gate champion. Only the latter's gold was up for grabs. Ricochet didn't even wear his belt to the ring, which struck me as a bit odd considering it's the top prize in Dragon Gate and he’s the first non-Japanese wrestler to ever win it. Whatevs. Maybe he leaves it in Japan for simplicity’s sake.

What followed was a wonderful match. Things started off evenly but Gargano was put off his game after almost being hit with Ricochet's Benadryller, which had knocked him out for over a minute the previous night. 'Chet controlled the pace for several minutes until 'The Cat's Meow' caught him playing to the crowd once too often and speared him. From there the pace slowed and Gargano concentrated on wearing down the challenger with blows and submissions holds.

That couldn't last forever. 'The King of Flight' got a comeback going with an ace crusher and followed up with a dive over the top rope and a springboard clothesline back into the ring. Ricochet got a convincing near fall with a northern lights suplex followed by a brainbuster. Gargano came back with a power bomb for a two of his own. Ricochet slipped out of a lawn dart attempt and dropped Gargano with a Pele kick. A shooting star press attempt missed, allowing Gargano to connect with his lawn dart after all. A lengthy series of super kicks and elbows saw both men fall down to the mat, briefly slowing the pace.

A foray to the apron led to Ricochet being kicked down to ringside. An attempted suicide dive by Gargano didn't pay off: Ricochet caught him on his shoulders and performed and Death Valley Driver. Back in the ring the Freedom Gate champ desperately fought out of a top rope Benadryller and countered into a hurricanrana, following up with a Hurts Donut. That didn't get him a pinfall but it left Ricochet stunned enough to be placed in the Gargano Escape. The challenger managed to roll through into pinning attempts and power out into a Regalplex but the 'The Whole Shebang' managed to keep the hold applied. An escape was eventually managed after Ricochet got to his feet, hold still applied, and flung the champion into a turnbuckle.

A 630 splash earned Ricochet a two count. Next he tried a drop kick into the corner but Gargano pulled the referee in front of him (a ref bump for the second night a row, there was a time when Gabe had strong feelings about this sort of thing). Ricochet hit a Bendryller. With nobody to count he was left with no choice but to check on the referee. That gave Gargano time to grab his title belt. His attempt to smack Ricochet with it failed but he'd be more successful seconds later: after he was hoisted up and dropped for a Bendryller Gargano held up his title for Ricochet’s incoming kick. With the challenger knocked for six Gargano was free to wallop him with the belt shot after all.  

When Ricochet kicked out of that the crowd erupted. The champion choked the challenger with his wrist tape (an act which had signalled his heel turn one year earlier during a match with Shingo Takagi) but still found himself hoisted up for another Bendryller attempt seconds later. He countered it again, this time into a Gargano Escape. Ricochet got close to the ropes so Gargano released the hold to pull him away and reapply it. That backfired on him with Ricochet rolled him up with a cradle for a sizzling false finish.

Ricochet celebrates his Open the Freedom Gate win

And then, just like that, it was over: Gargano leapt off the second rope and got caught and dropped into a Benadryller. The crowd gave the new champion a standing ovation and a chant of "You deserve it!" as the locker room emptied. Ricochet celebrated with his fellow wrestlers and then cut a show ending promo that, sadly, couldn’t be understood.

It may not have featured any Japanese Dragon Gate talent but that didn’t harm the quality of the show. I’m sure the final two matches will end up as contenders for match of the weekend honours, and the rest of the card was always at least good. Open the Ultimate Gate 2014 was one of the best DG USA shows in quite a while and I’d strongly recommend giving it a watch. That said I hope the talent issues get sorted out by the time the promotion next promotes shows. If they continue to omit parent company names for much longer the credibility and legitimacy of the company as a spin-off may begin to erode. And that’s not something DG USA deserves.

EVOLVE 28 review

EVOLVE 28 probably had the best placing of all the non-WWE events taking place in New Orleans across WrestleMania weekend. While WWE’s supershow would be going on last and providing a climax to a weekend of wrestling EVOLVE 28 was the first broadcast event of the weekend. Going on first meant that fans were still fresh and eager to watch and react to pro wrestling. An active, responsive and enthusiastic crowd never hurts a wrestling show.

It was also in a healthier position than its stablemate Dragon Gate USA’s cards. As I’m sure I’ll mention when I write about them they are suffering from a distinct lack of legitimate Dragon Gate Japan wrestlers. And as Japanese stars flown in from the parent company are part of the appeal of the entire DG USA package that’s a significant problem. EVOLVE is unconcerned with this. Its mandate is to showcase the best talent available, no matter their nationality. That creates less expectancy and grants more freedom.

Avoiding any annoying preamble EVOLVE 28 got underway as soon as the stream went live. The opener saw Biff Busick take on Drew Gulak. I'm not wild about either man and this match did nothing to convince me to change my mind. It was at least a spirited offering that kept us guessing as to the outcome. Busick won after applying a body scissored sleeper, giving him what we were informed was his first singles victory over ‘The Legal Eagle’.

Match two saw Maxwell Chicago, wearing his tuxedo onesie, take on Green Ant. Maxwell's usual comedic antics were curtailed when Green Ant drop kicked him out of the ring as soon as the bell rang. Chicago weathered the storm for several minutes and did eventually manage to begin his regular shenanigans. Here that took the form of asking to apply headlocks and performing overly safe “high risk” moves. Green Ant got the win, a result which most had to expect, with a Michinoku driver and a Texas cloverleaf.

The comedy was followed by the newest member of The Premier Athlete Brand, Caleb Konley, taking on former EVOLVE champion AR Fox. This was the match which brought the show to life, a combination of Fox's popularity, his array of aerial moves, and the genuine heat that the Brand bring with them.

In storyline terms both men needed the win. ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ needed to regain the momentum he’d lost along with his title in February. Meanwhile Konley needed to win to start his time in The Premier Athlete Brand off with significance. In practical terms this meant both needed to make the match the best on the show. There were a handful of awkward moments, most notably an overly long pause for Konley and henchman Mr A as they waited for Fox to hit them with a flying move, but for the most part the bout was a rousing effort.

The surprise ending saw Fox roll up Konley with a small package as the clambered back into the ring. Considering both competitors needed to win for storyline purposes the ever reliable small package finish was a smart move. It allowed the more prominent member of the roster to go over without making Konley look weak or easy to defeat.

The result triggered an assault from Konley, A and Su Yung. Nobody made the save for Fox. That surprised me as Chris Hero has also been engaged with the faction and Fox had come to his rescue at the DG USA shows in February. A tag match pitting Hero and Fox against two Brand boys seems likely and linking Fox and Hero here would have been a simple way of leading to it.

The Bravado brothers were next. It was tough to make out what they were saying due to poor audio quality. It was something about The Young Bucks and holding tag ropes. While I don't think EVOLVE and DG USA shows need top of the range production values it would be a nice idea to make it possible for viewers to understand things wrestlers were saying in their promos.

As was the case at Way of the Ronin they had a jobber accompany them to the ring. Moose destroyed him in a squash before the Bravados competed in their scheduled match. That was followed by the first WWN Live tag match of the weekend, Lance and Harlem defending the Open the United Gate tag titles against Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor of The Gentlemen's Club. After some ringside brawling (which the brothers have supposedly banned) Cassidy found himself isolated for several minutes. 'The Kentucky Gentleman' eventually came in off a tag and singlehandedly turned the tide in favour of his team.

The Gentleman's Club hit some double team moves, including what we were led to believe should have been a match winning DDT-wheelbarrow combo. The reason it wasn't a match winner was that the referee got yanked from the ring before he could count the three. This caused some brawling at ringside involving Gulak and Moose while back in the ring Taylor rolled up Harlem only to be shoved off and into Cassidy. That Gentlemen's miscue was enough of a distraction for the Bravados to performer their elevated neck breaker finish on Taylor. With his teammates incapacitated he went down for the three.

The loss meant that The Gentlemen's Club would never get another tag title match. Taylor and Gulak looked dejected while Orange Cassidy walked out of the building. Taylor and Gulak stared after him before heading backstage. A big deal was made of this by the commentary team. Cassidy didn't even go to the back and get his gear you know!

After a lengthy intermission (they had technical problems to sort out) Lenny Leonard introduced Larry Dallas. The microphone problems once again meant nothing the pair said could be understood. It seemed to be about the downfall Larry Dallas has experienced over the previous year (but he's got a nice new haircut so that's something). Leonard talked about nobody liking Dallas and then left. Dallas stayed in the ring, ranted, then left. I assume this will lead to something as Dallas’s unpopularity has been a theme on a few recent shows. Unfortunately, not being able to understand what was said made it a frustrating experience.

In the ring the second half began with Anthony Nese versus Ricochet. The story behind the bout was that Nese had been selected as Ricochet's opponent by Johnny Gargano as part of the build for the Ricochet v Gargano bout the following evening. The same backstory would apply to the later Gargano v Swann match and would also be used as an excuse to add Gargano to commentary here.

The match was smooth throughout, as all Ricochet matches are. He dazzled with crisp kicks, textbook flying moves, and rag doll-like selling. Particularly impressive was a dive over the turnbuckle on to Mr A and Nese. This is not to gloss over how good Nese is. He does a very good job mixing flying moves with power moves, and routinely sells more than others on the roster (including Ricochet). Nor is it an attempt to gloss over Ricochet’s shaky relationship with the concept of selling. The idea of a comeback being gradual, as opposed to instantaneous, seems impossible for him to grasp. He’s not the only person on the EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA rosters to do this but he is among the most prominent.

With 'The King of Flight' going into a title match with Gargano the next night it made sense for him to get the win over Nese, and he did. After failing a springboard attempt Nese fell to Chocolate Rain and a Benadryller. Ricochet talked on the mic after the match. Johnny Gargano turned up provided some words of his own. Once again nothing could be understood but it's safe to assume they were talking up their title match. The talking ended when Gargano clotheslined Ricochet from behind. Rich Swann dashed out to make the save, segueing us into the penultimate match of the evening.

The story of the match was that Gargano was not fully focused on Swann, having to resort to extreme measures, dropping Swann neck first on to the apron for example, and rule breaking to gain the initiative. The match was lively, energetic and enjoyable, a perfect example of why Gargano's been one of the most heavily pushed acts of Dragon Gate USA for years. It was also a great match for fans of super kicks. From around the halfway point the pair were throwing them around like they were The Young Bucks.

The finishing sequence was a highlight of the evening. After Swann missed a frog splash Gargano applied the Gargano Escape. A submission was teased but Swann made it to the ropes. Taking the action to the apron the pair exchanged super kicks before 'The Whole Shebang' sent Swann head first into the mat and lawn darted him into a turnbuckle. Back in the ring Swann kicked out of a second lawn dart before going down to a title belt shot.

After the match the champ blasted the man he claims is his best friend with the title again before being drilled with a Benadryller by a returning Ricochet. Gargano sold unconsciousness in the ring for well over a minute. That was a great decision. It built the move up as something Gargano would need to avoid during his match with Ricochet. A credible threat to Gargano's title was made even more credible.

The main event saw Trent Barreta challenge Chris Hero for the EVOLVE championship. Lenny Leonard was on hand to provide in-ring intros for challenger and champion that could only be understood because we already knew what to expect from him (hashtag mic problems, right?).

After Barreta agreed to send Su Yung and Mr A to the back the pair started their match with some mat wrestling. Hero got the better of that, Baretta eventually turning the tables when he brought his knees up as Hero tried a senton. Minutes later Hero hit a release suplex. Barreta came back with a double stomp before being sent scurrying to the outside by a flurry offence from Hero. At this point Hero went for a fake plancha and wound up choking himself between the second and top ropes, something which could have proven incredibly serious. Thankfully no serious damage appeared to be done and the bout continued as planned. Time for that spot to be dropped from the repertoire though.

Barreta hit an enziguri and a German suplex for two. A tornado DDT also failed to get him the victory he desired. Hero hit a drop kick to the face and a cravat suplex. Barreta got a two count from a backslide. Hero got a two count of his own with a la magistral. Barreta attempted a float over pinning predicament but found it countered into a hangman's clutch by Hero. Barreta made it to the ropes and the two headed outside for a WWN favourite: an exchange of blows on the apron. Barreta got the last word on that with a double stomp.

'Trentylocks' trash talked the champ about being fat and his former tag partner Claudio Castsgnoli (heeeeeey!!) being at WrestleMania, which earned him a punch in the mouth. The pair swapped strikes, 'The Knockout Artist' ultimately getting the upper hand with a big boot. A power bomb attempt was countered into a Dudebuster for a two count. Barreta scored with a hurricanrana but seconds later found himself on the receiving end of a rolling elbow. He kicked out of that at two so Hero went for his Death Blow elbow. Barreta ducked and the referee took it instead.

Barreta snuck in a low blow before The Premier Athlete Brand strolled to the ring to lend a hand to their stablemate. Hero took some flying moves before avoiding a splash from Mr A and sending Nese and Konley packing. A rolling boot to Mr A got a solid reaction from the crowd but allowed Barreta to sneak in a running knee for a convincing false finish. Not done with the cheating Barreta stuck some brass knuckles in his knee pad and tried for another knee but was met with a big boot and a leg drop, providing another convincing false finish.

Giving us one falsie too many Hero managed to survive a blow from the loaded kneepad (a better name for the move would be Murray's Kiss as Barreta has a picture of Bill Murray on his kneepad). Barreta attempted a springboard manoeuvre but was met with kicks and a rolling elbow to finally end the match at just under half an hour. Fittingly, it was the best offering of the night, although it must be said that the show as a whole was far from a must-see affair. The second half of the show was very good but there was nothing that had to be seen on the first half. Still, as the opening card to a weekend filled with wrestling I think EVOLVE 28 was as good as it needed to be.

DG USA Way of the Ronin 2014 review

When writing about REVOLT! 2014 (read that here) I said that some of the matches could have had some time trimmed and that the show as a whole would have benefited from being a little shorter. Clocking in at over three hours, without the intermission, Way of the Ronin was actually longer than REVOLT! was. But it didn't feel it. A better selection of matches, a more aesthetically pleasing (though only slightly) venue, the presence of Chris Hero and Roderick Strong, and a livelier crowd (though the gang the night before had been perfectly fine) combined to make a superior show.

Tim Donst found himself in the opener for the second evening in a row. He was opposite perennial DG USA undercarder Caleb Konley. Konley won a spirited affair with the Au Face submission hold. Although he lost Donst was the more popular of the two. The fans booed the decision and chanted for Donst as he left.

Jay Freddie v Blake Edward Belakus was match two. It was another battle of the newcomers, part of the overhyped New Talent Initiative. Why overhyped? Because while it's a nice idea it didn't produce any stunning performances either on this show or at REVOLT! and none of the competitors seemed to have any buzz behind them. This was typified during the commentary for this bout when Lenny Leonard stated he didn't know much about Belakus and went on to mention that he was wearing "black tights and all black gear." Would it really have been that hard for him to speak to each newcomer to get some basics about each of them to use on commentary? You know, how long they've been wrestling, their influences, and their preferred in-ring styles? Apparently it was.

I thought the match was better than the opener. Belakus, who reminded me of comedian Joe Wilkinson, struck me as someone worth bringing back. He won after a Burning Hammer.

After the match Larry Dallas appeared. He told the two wrestlers that they belonged in Dragon Gate USA and told them the only way they'd get to the top would be joining up with him, as he had with Tim Donst and Chris Dickinson the previous evening. Jay Freddie walked off immediately. Belakus gave it a moment's thought but then followed suit. The crowd chanted "No one likes you!" as LD left.

There was more New Talent Initiative fun in match three as Yosuke Santa Maria took on Ethan Page (no relation to Adam). YSM was given flowers as he walked around the ring and an "Equal rights!" chant broke out before the bell sounded. The match they had was a comedy affair, as you'd expect. Yosuke does a better job than most of mixing humour with actual wrestling. He won with a crucifix bomb.

After that things got serious: a grudge match between Jigsaw and Fire Ant. They started out brawling into the crowd before returning to the ring to exchange dives, kicks and double stomps. Jigsaw took control with a bicycle kick and a Gory special. A double stomp on Fire Ant across the second rope got him two. ‘The Energetic Insectoid Grappler’ came back with a running knee, a bicycle kick of his own and a Burning Down the House.

Jigsaw regained control with a suplex, another double stomp and a dive to the outside. Back in the ring Jigsaw used a super kick and a brainbuster to get a two count. Fire Ant came off the second rope with a swinging DDT and a roundhouse kick, then recklessly dropped 'saw on his head with a Beach Break to gain a two count. Jigsaw performed a torture rack into a power bomb off the top rope. When that only got a two the crowd broke out in a "This is awesome!" chant.

Fire Ant dropped Jigsaw with a Beach Break on the apron, sending the wrestling puzzle piece sprawling to the concrete. Fire Ant scooped his foe up and rolled him back into the ring but got caught with a small package, giving Jigsaw the win in a fast-paced, spirited, and enjoyable effort. Afterwards he proclaimed himself the greatest wrestler in the world. That prompted a very brief CM Punk chant. I think it stopped after a couple of repeats because the fans got self-conscious. Bless 'em.

The first half's main event saw The Premier Athlete Brand take on Shane Strickland and Rich Swann. The Brand had Su Yung and Mr A with them. Swann and Strickland had Ivelisse. Presumably she was there to counter Su Yung more than Mr A. There was a lot of dancing before the match. The audience loved it. Who can blame them though? They're slick dancers are Swann and Strickland. The four men put on one of the best bouts of the weekend, a very nicely constructed tag encounter that drew the crowd in and made everyone involved look good and built to a red hot finishing sequence packed with signature moves, double teams and near falls.

It was The Premier Athlete Brand that got the win. They wiped out Swann with a top rope German suplex, then Barreta dropped Strickland with a running knee and Nese pinned him with a 450 splash.

After the match Nese talked up his plan to turn Mr A into the best big man in Dragon Gate history and Su Yung said they would be extending their brand. Swann was told he wasn't good enough for membership. His response was to sing about spending a night with Su Yung. That made her scream and Barreta and Nese flip out. Classic heel response.

The second half opened with the Bravado Brothers and two random wrestlers walking to the ring. For the second night in a row Harlem talked about his grandmother getting The Young Bucks suspended and Lance nearly getting paralysed at EVOLVE 27. Oh, and their zero tolerance policy on rule breaking.

They then brought out Moose, 'The Offensive Lineman of the Bravado Bandwagon' and had him job out the two randoms, who were identified as Earl Cooter and Xavier Fate. The fans chanted "Goldberg!" and "Feed me more!" as Moose obliterated both men in under two minutes. Strangely no mention was made of the New Talent Initiative even though none of the three were regulars.

The Gentlemen's Club, minus Orange Cassidy, hit the ring after the match and went face to face with the champions. They got jumped by the champions but made a comeback and had an even, back and forth match. The Bravados won via shenanigans. Lance distracted the referee, allowing Moose to spear Gulak. The brothers then followed up with a Gentlemen's Agreement. The match and the finish got the champions plenty of boos. The excessive outside interference team Sapolsky always seems to like to have on the books is something the Bravados would be well suited to. Stick another couple of guys with them and see what happens.

Chris Hero entered through the crowd wearing a balaclava for his EVOLVE championship match. There was no clear reason for this. Perhaps he just thought it would look and-or be cool. There were loud cheers for him. The same couldn't be said for AR Fox. His entrance was met with indifference. His in-ring announcement got a split reaction that eventually gave way to a chant for him. He had to work for his cheers in Brooklyn.

They started out with some slow technical wrestling, slipping in and out of the ring with holds applied. The holds gave when to moves when Hero booted Fox as he jumped up for a leapfrog. Not to be outdone ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ hit a springboard drop kick and a moonsault. Outside the ring he tried a ring post assisted shooting star press but Hero avoided it and smacked him with a boot to the face.

Back in the ring Hero slowed the pace, dropping knees on Fox and winding him with kicks. Unwindable, Fox clotheslined and drop kicked 'The Knockout Artist' in a corner and attempted a running shooting star press, but Hero lamped him with a rolling elbow for a two count. A yakuza kick moments later only scored a one count. Hero pummelled the champion with chops and kicks but couldn't keep him down.

Fox managed to mount a comeback with an enziguri, a drop kick on the apron, a pair of suicide dives and a top rope dive. That only got him a two count and a split chant back in the ring. Hero tried a rolling elbow but Fox ducked and dropped him with a springboard Ace Crusher. A Lo Mein Pain attempt was countered with a crisp big boot, and followed up with a dragon sleeper. When his power bomb attempt was blocked Hero cracked Fox in the mouth with an elbow. That stunned the champ and allowed Hero to perform a Ricola bomb (a nice nod to Hero's former tag partner Claudio 'Cesaro' Castsgnoli).

Champ and challenger traded blows, culminating in a Hero Death Blow for a convincing false finish. Fox made a comeback and dropped Hero with Lo Mein Pain. The crowd cheered loudly when the challenger kicked out. A 450 splash was avoided and turned into a cravat suplex, followed up by a yet another big boot and a second Death Blow rolling elbow. Finally Hero slapped on a modified dragon sleeper for the tap out win and the championship. That was a surprise, and one that went down very well with the New York fans. Lenny Leonard's claim that the match would be talked about for years to come was ridiculous but it was a very strong effort.

Fox handed the new champion his title after the match and the two hugged to "Yes!" chants. Trent Barreta turned up (on a gantry) and told Hero that Claudio was main eventing for WWE while he was back on the indies. Which seemed a weird putdown because Trent got released too (and it didn’t do much for the prestige of the Hero’s newly won EVOLVE championship). Trent laid into Hero's diet and conditioning and called him a failure (again, the title’s standing wasn’t helped here).

Anthony Nese and Mr A snuck into the ring and clobbered Hero. Fox came back to make the save but Caleb Konley was seconds behind him to put a stop to that. He was, it turned out, the newest member of The Premier Athlete Brand. Mr A tried hitting a top rope splash on AR Fox but, somehow, managed to botch it and ended up falling on his face instead. Nese got things back on track with a 450 on Hero. The heel squad then posed and talked smack to end a very good segment. Hero and Fox versus The Premier Athlete Brand has a number of singles matches that could be interesting.

The evening ended with ROH regular Roderick Strong challenging Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate championship. This was Strong's debut for DG USA after his EVOLVE debut in January had to be postponed due to injury. For the record he wore a Camp Strong T-short to the ring. Decade merch isn't going to be appearing in DG USA anytime soon.

As with the EVOLVE title match Strong and Gargano started off exchanging holds and doing some mat wrestling. And performing chops. They would recur throughout the match. Because Roddy loves a chop. Gargano gained control with a well-timed boot and a slingshot spear. Several minutes later Rich Swann went to ringside and encouraged the fans to surround the ring and pound on the mat in support of Roddy.

That was the signal for Strong and Gargano to kick things up a gear. Strong took control with a suplex onto the top rope with a suplex and a back breaker. Running knees and an Angle slam didn't get the win for him. A slingshot DDT by Gargano didn't end things either. Strong hit a back breaker on the apron and applied the Stronghold. Gargano came back with the Gargano Escape. 'The Whole Shebang' hit a super kick and a lawn dart, then reapplied the submission hold. Strong escaped to the ropes. A Hurts Donut got a two for Gargano. A slingshot spear from 'The Bees' Knees' was turned into a butterfly back breaker by Strong, and was immediately followed by a half Nelson back breaker. Gargano survived the rolling elbow, a gut buster and the sick kick and then applied the Gargano escape for the third time to earn a victory by submission.

The Freedom Gate champ took a microphone and called himself a one man elimination chamber. I don't know what that's supposed to mean either, beyond being a terribly forced reference to the WWE show that occurred the same evening. As he blustered about being a hero to children (even going so far as to say his title belt is a cure for cancer) Rich Swann got into the ring and snatched the mic from him. He was there to hype the New Orleans shows and the defence Gargano will make against Ricochet. He did that and ensured that the card ended with cheers and the fans went home happy.

Way of the Ronin ended up being better than REVOLT! by a significant margin. But that was the plan of course. It was always intended to be the bigger event, with Roderick Strong and Chris Hero competing on it. Had CIMA been there for his scheduled match with Trent Barreta it would have been even better, but that was beyond Dragon Gate’s control and, as I said in the REVOLT! write up, they did a good job making last minute changes that resulted in worthwhile cards.

As well as they coped here let’s hope they don’t have to pull the same trick during WrestleMania weekend. Those shows are ones that have had a significant amount of work put into them as well as shows that are being relied on to entice new viewers into the fold. DG USA needs them to be big. Hopefully the Japanese parent company will recognise this and send over some big names. If they do I think New Orleans will see some hot DG action.

DG USA REVOLT! 2014 review

One night after ROH celebrated their twelfth anniversary and one night before WWE presented Elimination Chamber Dragon Gate USA hit the airwaves with REVOLT! 2014. Unlike the other two companies there were significant problems with the announced line-up for Dragon Gate’s show, and the one it would present the night after. CIMA and Ryo Saito had previously been announced for matches on both events but were pulled from the weekend because of injuries. Dragon Gate Japan (rightfully, I think) decided that enduring long plane flights before wrestling in lengthy matches was not the best thing for either man’s health.

As right as the decision was it left booker Gabe Sapolsky in the awkward situation of promoting Dragon Gate USA shows with no actual Dragon Gate talent on them. His response was to make some tweaks to the announced cards, the most significant of which saw CIMA replaced by Trent Barreta in the REVOLT! headline bout. Having to present DG USA shows with no Japanese talent was avoided by Dragon Gate flying over Yosuke Sante Maria. No, he’s not the biggest name they’ve got but he is and authentic Dragon Gate roster member. At short notice I think it was a suitable move.

The venue chosen to host REVOLT! was the Elk’s Lodge. It’s not the ideal venue for a televised wrestling show because it’s difficult to disguise how small time it looks. And because white walls and strong lighting that can’t be dimmed do wrestling no favours. The picture quality was above average though.

Tim Donst v Chris Dickinson faced off in the opener. It was part of the New Talent Initiative, something we’d hear about several times across the weekend. The idea behind it was to introduce some fresh faces to the DG USA roster in a way that didn’t seem incongruous.

At just over fifteen minutes they were out there for too long. The match was good but as neither were regulars and aren't big name outsiders they should have had a shorter match. Less is more and all that. There just wasn’t enough for the audience to react to. Hat the two did was proficient but nothing more. Donst won with a neck breaker.

Manager extraordinaire Larry Dallas hit the ring after that. He told them they were better than opening matches and that if they joined him he'd take them to main events as The New Scene. Donst and Dickinson said no, then left. In kayfabe terms I thought that was a poor business decision by the two of them. They don't even have contracts, so Dallas’s offer was a pretty good one. Lazza looked dejected as he meandered backstage.

Su Yung was accompanied by Mr A and Anthony Nese when she came out for her non-title match with Ivelisse. You may remember her from her impressive performance on TNA’s Gut Check a year or so ago. Instead of signing her they went with Lei’D Tapa. She was good but she wasn’t a patch on Ivelisse. It’s all worked out well for Ivelisse: she’s now the Shine champion… and doing a gangster gimmick.

As showcases go, it was good. They wrestled well and there was an impressive spot which saw Yung cannonball off the apron onto Ivalisse propped up on a chair. It gave a good taste of what Shine is like to watch. Hopefully it will have encouraged some people to buy a Shine show. That was part of the point of promoting it on a more prominent card, and it's a company that deserves to be watched more (I say that having never written about it).

The finish saw Ivelisse survive a(n Orton style) rope hung DDT and then roll up Yung as she charged her in the corner. Nese and Mr A shouted at the referee after the finish. Then Nese gave Yung a mouthful too.

Match three saw Caleb Konley (who has some of the weirdest hair in wrestling) take on Dragon Gate Japan's Yosuke Sante Maria. If you're unfamiliar with YSM his gimmick is basically a cross between a Adrian Street, a transvestite, and Hard Gay Razor Ramon. He's a low card comedy wrestler in Japan and was used as such here. The match was basically an excuse for Yosuke to place himself in various questionable positions. He ended up submitting to a Konley hold. The predictable gags about submissive positions were present and correct.

After that Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy of The Gentlemen's Club challenged the Bravado brothers for the Open the United Gate championship. Before the match Harlem reminded everyone that his grandmother had had The Young Bucks suspended and announced that the tag titles would no longer be defended under Dragon Gate rules. People now have to hold the tag rope and there is no longer any leeway for fighting outside the ring.

The match gave us more comedy for the first several minutes but took on a serious tone after Harlem demanded Orange Cassidy take the match seriously. Not only that but the pace picked up. The end of the match was sudden. Moose ran in and speared Taylor then gave Cassidy a GTS. The challengers won by disqualification but the champions kept the belts. Lancelot said that Grandma Bravado had hired Moose as a bodyguard for the Bravados before the heel unit mugged and posed their way backstage. Meanwhile Drew Gulak turned up to help Cassidy backstage.

The first half ended with Rich Swann taking on 'Premier Athlete' Anthony Nese. They played up Nese's power against Swann's speed, throwing in some singing too. That came from both Swann (to Su Yung) and the crowd (All Night Long by Lionel Richie). Easily the most impressive, though unintentionally so, moment was Swann getting back body dropped onto the ring apron and landing directly on his head. Amazingly he was okay. Nese was reckless there.

They also threw in a dragon camel clutch from Swann (which looks like it'll become a regular thing), a tombstone from Nese, and a one arm buckle bomb and a dead lift German suplex to Swann. They ended with Nese getting hurricanranaed from the top rope and Swann pinning him with a moonsault into a 450 splash. The finish was pretty sudden. In hindsight the moves that led up to it seemed designed to ratchet up the tension and draw the crowd in but it didn’t work. This is something I’ve noticed in Swann matches before. He’s very good at performing the mvoes but, like many men who work his style, is less skilled at making it clear his match is reaching its conclusion.

On the subject of Swann seeing him face someone who has the physique of Nese really illustrated how thin he is. I appreciate that he's all about being fast and using flying moves but he could still do everything he's known for with ten pounds more muscle on his arms and shoulders. It would help him to look more like a wrestler and less like a stunt performer. This is a problem with guys like Fire Ant too, but it’s less obvious with them as they have the masks to help disguise their flaws.

After the match Nese announced he was going to put Mr A on a special training programme to become a killer in the ring. He threw in some cheap heat comments about the crowd being overweight too. It was standard heel stuff.

The first match after intermission was supposed to see Fire Ant take on Shane Strickland. The schedule was changed when Nese and Mr A returned to ringside. 'The Premier Athlete' said that A’s training would begin with entering the match and eliminating both Ant and Strickland.

The original opponents worked as a team to take the big man out of proceedings (so he could save his energy) then wrestled one another. Surprisingly Fire Ant was the first man eliminated from the match, falling to a roll up from Strickland. Mr A then pounced 'The King of Swerve' and gave him a crisp spinebuster. Had he won then and there I think the fans would have accepted it and he'd have been on his way to being a dangerous monster. They instead went on to have a competitive exchange which saw Mr A selling far too much. He absorbed a leaping DDT, a sunset flip bomb, and a top role double stomp to the face. Having him take so much from a smaller man didn't do much for him: he should be able to take this sort of punishment from a man smaller than him. That he only managed to hit his match-winning top rope splash after a distraction by Nese didn’t help either.

I like the idea of Mr A being used as a regular wrestler: he's a lot larger than the majority of the roster and that, along with the fact that he wrestles in a shirt and tie, helps to set him apart from everyone else. I also thought he wrestled well. I hadn’t expected him to. I still would have liked to see the original singles match. From the brief exchanges we got they would have had the best match of the evening until that point without Mr A's involvement.

The Style Battle winners match between AR Fox and Drew Gulak (originally set to include Ryo Saito) saw the show finally hit its stride. The only bad thing was that 'The Whole Foxin' Show's' "impromptu" decision to make it a title match gave the result away: there was no way Fox versus Hero the next evening wasn’t going to happen for the title. The spot of the match saw Gulak block a Lo Mein Pain and hit the champion with a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. Unsurprisingly Fox kicked out. He's very much of the RVD school of wrestling psychology: the bigger the dive he takes the more impressive it is when he kicks out. Eventually he did connect with Lo Mein Pain. It got him the victory.

Johnny Gargano and Trent Barreta both being heels could have made their Open the Freedom Gate championship match awkward. Barreta playing the good guy for the evening meant that didn't happen. That change was established when he started the match with a dive onto the cowardly Gargano, before Gargano had even gotten into the ring. In fact it was arguably established even earlier when Barreta was kept apart from his Premier Athlete Brand teammates.

The two fought around ringside for several minutes before Gargano rolled Barreta into the ring and scored with his leaping DDT, officially starting the match with a pinfall that got two. Gargano was on offence for the next several minutes. He used an exploder belly to back suplex and a finger-breaking attempt to wear the challenger down. Barreta eventually levelled the playing field with a double stomp from the corner, an enziguri and a clothesline. A tornado DDT and a top rope double stomp got him a two count.

Gargano blocked a concrete slam with a move that was part hurricanrana, part Canadian Destroyer, and followed up with a lawn dart for another two count. 'Trentylocks' pulled Gargano off the top rope with a run-up belly-to-belly suplex and followed up with a running knee. Gargano came back with a Hurts Donut and the Gargano Escape, but neither brought him the victory he wanted.

Barreta hit a Dudebuster from the top rope and earned himself a three count, but Gargano's foot was on the ropes so the match continued. As Barreta wandered around looking miffed 'The Whole Shebang' made a quick recovery and pulled him down into a Regal Stretch for a successful defence via submission.

The match was the best of the night but would have benefited from another five minutes or so. That’s something that could have been given to them easily considering the surplus time in other matches lower down the card. That was in many ways the story of the show: poor time management. Long matches aren't always good. Good matches aren't always long. The first two bouts on the bill were the most obvious offenders. They both could have had their times halved without losing anything. The show would have started off with a brisker pace which would have helped keep the crowd interested, and there would have been time left free for the main event to go longer. The show as a whole could have been fifteen minutes shorter without being any worse for wear too. It lagged at points.

All that said I think the Dragon Gate USA crew put on as good a show as possible. I think a commendable job was done making up for the lack of CIMA and Saito. Yosuke Santa Maria was a decent last minute replacement who turned out to be very over. Barreta challenging for the Freedom Gate championship was not as big a deal as CIMA doing so but it was making the best of a bad situation. And they turned out a very good match. Most importantly REVOLT! was always intended to be a setup event for the more important Way of the Ronin the following evening. There were no all-time classics, but there was more than enough good for a show of its type.

EVOLVE 19 review

Before this I'd watched only one EVOLVE event. I can't remember many details although I do recall Chuck Taylor wrestling barefoot and Johnny Gargano being a heel. He possibly wrestled Ricochet but I could be wrong. Arik Cannon was on the card too. I'm not overly familiar with the promotion's current storylines but I know the main players. Be aware of this as you read this review.

Taking place during the biggest wrestling weekend of the year and hosting a tournament to crown an inaugural champion EVOLVE 19 struck me as a pretty good jumping on point. I wasn't wrong. There were various references to past shows and events but they were easy enough to follow. For the most part the wrestlers all did a good job of getting over their characters, which always helps make a show more enjoyable.

The tournament was set up using a seeding system. The top eight competitors in the company were determined by looking at win-loss records. The top two guys were given byes to the semi-finals on opposite sides of the bracket. Seeds three and four tangled in a singles match with the winner progressing to face the favourite. Seeds five to eight wrestled in a four-way match, the winner of which met seed two in the semi-finals. Sound complicated? It wasn't. It was a refreshing approach for a pro wrestling championship tournament.

I didn't watch the show live. If I had I'd have been one of a large number of people unable to view the beginning of the opening contest. Purchasing it as a VOD from the WWN website sadly means you miss this too, although I was aware of that before purchasing. The same can't be said for anyone who watched (or, more accurately, tried to) on Friday.

I'm not going to criticise the people in charge of EVOLVE for this. They've apologised and offered free access to any past event for anyone affected by the streaming failure. I was irritated by the similar problem ROH had during their Friday show but they're a bigger outfit which should make such occurrences less likely. Plus they've got a history of flogging iffy iPPV streams. As this is the first time EVOLVE have failed in this area (that I'm aware of at any rate) they deserve a bit of leeway.

Neither of these two would leave with the new belt

The match already in progress as the show started was a one fall four-way affair. The competitors were Sami Callihan (seed seven), Rich Swann (seed five), Samuray Del Sol (seed six) and Jigsaw (seed eight). The action got a little sloppy in places and for the most part the psychology was awful. Guys would sell during sequences they weren't required for and make a superhuman comeback the moment they were up for a spot. The sequences were pretty good but these flaws detracted from the match.

Sami Callihan was the star. For the most part he avoided those psychology failings and paced himself well. He advanced in the tournament when he got Del Sol to submit to his Stretch Muffler hold.

One man announce team Lenny Leonard entered the ring next. He was there to introduce new signing 'The Premiere Athlete' Anthony Nese. Yep, that guy who used to work for TNA. He cut a heel promo saying that wrestling is no longer about wrestling. It's become about trying to out-brand others. He told us he's going to introduce a support team that will take him to the top... whether we like it or not. I don't know about anyone else but I'm okay with this. His support team have my blessing.

Lenny Leonard was joined by Colt Cabana when he got backstage. This was a blessing: Leonard is awful doing commentary alone. Sadly, Colt didn't stick around for the rest of the show. He did a couple of stints, neither of which took in the main event. That really would have benefited from his input.

Match two was the battle between seeds three and four, AR Fox and Jon Davis respectively. Davis got some boos before the match, though not many. Disappointing for someone who’s meant to be one of EVOLVE's lead antagonists.

'The Whole Foxin' Show' controlled the earliest portion of the match but Davis eventually gained control after turning an attempted springboard attack into a spinebuster. They went outside the ring and AR took a hip toss onto the apron. After some further ringside scuffling they headed back into the ring and AR took further punishment from a Davis Buckle Bomb.

Back on the apron (yeah, they were all over the place in this one) the former Dark City Fight Club member went for a choke slam to the concrete floor. AR countered with a spike DDT onto the apron, following up with a springboard Whisper in the Wind. That was a very impressive move that took a great deal of skill to pull off and was a great risk for Fox. Sadly the audience barely reacted. So many wrestlers perform similar but less risky feats on a regular basis that genuinely impressive moves like this don't get the reactions they deserve. It's the law of diminishing returns.

Back in the ring (again) Fox went for a Swanton but was met with knees. Davis leapt up and kneed his opponent in the face for a close two count. A lively sequence of big move attempts and counters followed that, culminating in Three Seconds Around the World from Davis. Fox kicked out.

A frustrated Davis slipped under the bottom rope and yanked a table out from under the ring. He set it up in the aisle as Lenny Leonard reminded us (or told newcomers like me) about him hitting an Awesome Bomb on someone at a recent show. AR Fox was hoisted into position for the move but the referee made the save.

Yes, the referee made the save. That annoyed the crowd and triggered a "Kill the ref!" chant. Davis was understandably irked and went to take his frustration out with a stiff clothesline on Fox who ducked, Matrix style, and also avoided the second attempt that whistled his way seconds later.

The referee was not so lucky. The ref bump got a massive cheer from the fans who were annoyed that the official had denied them the chance to witness an Awesome Bomb. The bell rung, signalling a David loss, although we were left in the dark as to who had ruled the match over. The timekeeper maybe?

A second ref arrived on the scene to tell Davis he'd be suspended if he continued his angry ways. Davis took a microphone and asked the audience if he should Awesome Bomb the ref and skip the rest of the weekend. They wanted to see that. Davis said they were stupid but he wasn't ,then left to mild heat. Someone needs some sessions with Dr Shelby.

Up next was (The) Brian Kendrick and Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate champion Johnny Gargano against Gentlemen's Club members Orange Cassidy and Drew Gulak. I liked the Gentlemen's Club. They've been gifted with the always entertaining entourage gimmick. At ringside they had The Swamp Monster (who received one of the loudest cheers of the night) and the Colonel. The former was dressed a monster from a swamp (obvs) while the Colonel was wheelchair-bound and had a US flag draped across his lap. All of this is probably standard stuff for a lot of people reading this but it was a first for me and I thought it was great. I love this sort of stuff in wrestling.

The match started out as a comedy affair but got serious after Kendrick grew tired of the Club's silliness and shouted at them to take a shot at him. They did and the match transitioned into a more serious contest (although they were still some odd moments involving Cassidy and the entourage). Kendrick and Gargano won when Kendrick pinned Gulak off a Sliced Bread Number Two.

The EVOLVE roster has less use for this guy's belt now they have their own

We were back with the tournament next. 'Kentucky Gentleman' Chuck Taylor (seed one) took on Sami Callihan. 'The New Horror' tweaked his knee leaping over the top rope into the ring. It seemed genuine but was revealed to be a work when Chuck Taylor targeted the leg as soon as the bell rung.

The story of the match was that Callihan was disadvantaged because of his tweaked knee and ankle. Taylor targeted the leg on the outside, wrapping it in the crowd barrier and wrenching and kicking on it before throwing Sami back into the ring.

 

Taylor slapped on a figure four. Sami didn’t quit. Taylor went for a moonsault only for Sami to roll out from under it and come back with four belly-to-belly suplexes. Taylor slapped on a single leg Boston crab, one of his finishing moves, but Sami didn’t tap out.

It struck me that this would have been a good finishing point had Chucky T been booked to win. Sami could’ve tried to hang on through the pain, inched his way to the ropes only to get dragged back to the centre of the ring and be forced to tap out to a reapplied hold. Sami would’ve been kept strong in defeat and Taylor’s single leg crab would’ve been given a boost.

But that wasn’t to be. Callihan got the win out of nowhere when he reversed a pin attempt into the Stretch Muffler. Taylor gave up incredibly quickly considering Callihan was injured and he was the number one seed. It made him look pretty weak when, especially when Callihan had endured so much pain with his “injury”. Another case of questionable psychology.

AR Fox v Ricochet (seed two) was up next. We were told they are the top two high fliers in wrestling today. You wouldn’t have guessed from the first half of the bout. Ricochet slapped on a few submission holds and the pace was, for the most part, pretty sedate. Perhaps this was a part of their ongoing dispute but if that was the case Leonard did a lousy job of making new viewers like myself aware of it.

Things picked up considerably in the latter half of the match as the two started diving about all over the place. Eventually Christina Von Eerie showed up at ringside, presumably to continue or start another ongoing story. In the ring Ricochet went for his 630 senton off the top rope. He missed, which allowed AR to roll him up for the match-winning pin.

Ricochet and Eerie exchanged some words in the aisle afterwards, with Eerie turning her back on Ricochet and getting a shove for doing so. Trouble’s brewing there. Mark my words.

Next was another non-tourney bout. Scott Reed entered first, accompanied by fellow members of The Scene Larry Dallas, Trina Michaels and Caleb Konley. His opponent was Arik Cannon. He was a heel on the only other EVOLVE show I've watched but now seems to be a pretty popular face. They had a no DQ match which became a handicap match after a few minutes  thanks to interference from Konley.

Dallas and Michaels got involved after a bit too, prompting the return of Uhaa Nation to. Leonard informed us Uhaa had been out for a year with a neck injury and we would also learn that he doesn’t much care for Arik Cannon. Which sort of begs the question of why he came out to make the save. Strange guy.

Trina Michaels tried to work her charms on Uhaa which prompted Marti Belle (a female wrestler or valet I’ve never heard) to come to the ring for a random catfight. Leonard tried a Joey Styles impersonation. It failed.

Cannon won with a brainbuster. Officially it was a one-on-one match but it was actually the most packed segment on the show. Following the match Cannon had a beer and offered Uhaa a sip (or perhaps the whole can, it wasn’t clear). Uhaa slapped it into the crowd and dropped Cannon with a belly-to-belly suplex. This was the evidence of them not getting along that I mentioned above.

The penultimate match was the best of the night. A fast, spot-heavy exchange between The Young Bucks and The Super Smash Bros. The crowd, who had been quiet for a lot of the show, came alive during this match. Perhaps they’d been holding out for wrestlers who like to play air guitar all the time. If so they were spoiled rotten by Nick and Matt Jackson.

The SSB won with a Gory Bomb-Blockbuster combo. Afterwards Players Uno and Dos offered handshakes. The Bucks teased that they’d accept (it’s something they never do, apparently) but ended up super kicking the winners instead. They then shouted at the crowd and sneered their way backstage. What heels!

Lenny Leonard neglectfully abandoned his booth again moments before the main event. He was on aisle interview duty. Sami Callihan said he always gives everything in the ring but it’s never enough for the fans. He said he'll be the first EVOLVE champ whether people like it or not. Same sentiment as Anthony Nese earlier in the show really. Deliberate? Probably not.

AR Fox told Leonard that he may not look one hundred per cent but he feels it. He then started screaming and shouting so much that his words became indecipherable because of the shoddy audio. I think the gist was that he, not Mr Callihan, that would be the first EVOLVE champ.

The new belt was held up before the bell was rung. It’s far nicer than WWE’s new championship. Leonard was blown up when he got back to commentary. Yep, a play-by-play guy who gets blown up walking and talking. Extraordinary. That’s the level of quality available to EVOLVE and Dragon Gate.

 

A good-looking slice of belt

 

The audience was split throughout the match. ‘The New Horror’ was on offence early, targeting the damaged neck of AR Fox. Yes, it was his neck that was the worse for wear, even though Jon Davis had been focusing on his back for most of their first round contest.

Fox eventually got some offence in after hitting a cannonball and two running boots into the corner, followed up with an Ace Crusher and a Swanton for two. Callihan went back on offence, undoing his knee pad to cause greater pain to his opponent despite it supposedly being injured. Yeah, there were psychology problems in this match too.

The crowd, who had died down after the excitement of the Bucks v SSB bout, returned to life after Callihan hit a German suplex and a power bomb on ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ for two. That was immediately followed up with a Stretch Muffler. As that had taken him to his first two victories of the evening it made for a believable potential finishing sequence.

Ultimately the hold was ineffective. Fox got the win out of nowhere after he hit a Side Effect type move off the top rope to a seated Callihan. The crowd popped like The Swamp Monster had returned. Callihan grabbed the belt from the ref to boos, but redeemed himself by being the one to hand it over to the new champion. That got him a cheer. The two competitors shook hands and hugged. Callihan then left to let the new champ enjoy his moment, but not before he gave some hug action to Lenny Leonard.

Fox told Leonard that he dedicated his win to the “number two high flyer” Ricochet. He put over EVOLVE, saying it’s a company for wrestlers of all styles as long as they work hard. He’s looking forward to meeting guys of all styles, apparently. He also told us the EVOLVE roster shuts up and wrestles. As victory speeches go it was subdued. But that’s fair enough, considering the message it had to get across.

The Young Bucks came out to congratulate Fox and tell him he was going to lose the Open the United Gate championship he held with CIMA. There was no cheap shot, no intense rebuttal from the newly crowned EVOLVE champ, and no run-in from the other United Gate champ CIMA. It was simply an angle tacked on to remind everyone that there was a Dragon Gate USA show scheduled for the following evening. The highlight of the Bucks’ appearances was a fan shouting "Haters gon' hate!" as they left.

AR Fox then went back on the mic to shill for the Dragon Gate show. Personally I think that’s a fairly peculiar thing to have your new champion do. But what do I know? I’m just a member of the paying public.

I’m more familiar with Gabe Sapolsky’s Ring of Honor work so his approach here came as something of a surprise. It still has more in common with the average ROH show than it does with WWE or TNA with the emphasis more on the in-ring action rather than skits and angles. That said he takes a different route to get there, channelling the WWF’s Attitude Era and elements of ECW. Large entourages, random run-ins, ringside brawling and ref bumps anyone?

I thought it was a very enjoyable show and excellent value for money (ten quid for us Brits, fifteen dollars for Americans). Based on this I’ll be tuning in to EVOLVE 20.