Dragon Gate USA REVOLT! 2013 Review

Johnny Gargano & Jon Davis go to WAR!!!

Dragon Gate USA REVOLT! 2013

Huntington Park, California 1/26/13

The show starts off in a very unique way. We have a table set up in the ring, and Chuck Taylor comes out. He says he wants to celebrate locking up the #1 Seed in the Evolve Title Tournament (which he did the night before at Open The Golden Gate 2013). Since he spent seven years in college, he's going to celebrate with a staple of college party life: Beer Pong! He has cups but no beer, so he asked for beer. Of course Arik Cannon comes out, and he & Chuck Taylor actually play Beer Pong in the middle of the ring! Taylor cleans house on Cannon, beating him 3-0. They then throw the Beer Pong Balls at each other, and things escalate after Cannon stomps on the Beer Pong Ball! It's on!

1.) Chuck Taylor vs. Arik Cannon: **

This was a fun little brawl. They did some cool spots. Cannon bought a drink from the bar, then Taylor did a dive off the bar. The match ends when Taylor puts Cannon through the table for the victory. Again, a fun match for what it was.

2.) FRAY! – Ray Rosas vs. B-Boy vs. Johnny Yuma vs. Johnny Goodtime vs. Drake Younger vs. Brian Cage (with The Scene) vs. Famous B vs. Brian Kendrick: **3/4

The order of the entrance is the order I have them listed as above. For those who don't know how FRAY! works, two men start off, then another enters 90 seconds later until everyone has entered the match. Eliminations can occur by pinfall or submission. Basically this is a showcase of the PWG undercard with the winner facing Johnny Gargano the next night. Not going to go over every elimination, since their are eight wrestlers in this match, but it came down to Younger, Cage, and the final entrant who was supposed to be a student from Brian Kendrick's Wrestling School. Younger eliminates Cage but Kendrick is still undecided on which of his two students he wants to send in. He gets them to distract Drake so that Kendrick can come up from behind and hit Sliced Bread #2 for the win. It had some good action in it for the most part but the eliminations came a bit too quickly in some cases, plus I don't feel like Brian Kendrick should have won here, when someone like Drake Younger or Brian Cage could have gotten that opportunity instead.

3.) Rich Swann vs. EITA: ***1/4

Here we have another showcase match for EITA. I thought this was a pretty good match. If not for some awkward spots at a number of points, I think it could have been even better. This was definitely one of EITA's best performances in Dragon Gate USA to date, and has quickly won me over. He has a very bright future ahead of him for sure. Rich Swann would get the win.

After the match, Swann puts over EITA as a future star and then turns to himself, saying that Dragon Gate USA is the home of the high flyers and issues an open challenge, saying that he is the standard.

4.) AR Fox vs. Samuray del Sol: ***3/4

It is mentioned on commentary how this is a rematch from the finals of the 2012 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup, which del Sol won. This was a really great match. These two definitely had chemistry and their effort paid off in this one. Lots of great fast paced action from start to finish. AR Fox eventually gets the win with a unique variation of the Lo Main Pain.

Afterwords, The Young Bucks come out and attack AR Fox. They lay him out with a Spike Tombstone Piledriver.

5.) Akira Tozawa vs. Sami Callihan: ***3/4

The story here is that these two wrestled in the opening match of United: NYC, which was the first Dragon Gate USA Show of 2011, and that they've come very far in two years time. This was another very good match. It was just as good as the previous match but for different reason. Tozawa & Callihan put on a very hard hitting match. They just went at it right for the very beginning and never let up. Tozawa eventually gets the win in a very physical match.

6.) The Young Bucks vs. The Jimmy’s (Jimmy Susumu & Ryo Saito): ***

Both teams were victorious the night before, so one of these teams is going to suffer their first loss of the weekend. The match itself was fine, but it just wasn't up to the usual quality one expects from a Young Bucks match, but I think that falls more on The Jimmy's than it does on The Young Bucks. Again, a good match, but not much more than that. The Young Bucks get the win, and remain undefeated on this weekend of shows.

The Young Bucks cut a promo after the match, basically saying that they're coming for the Open The Untied Gate Tag Team Titles.

7.) Open The Freedom Gate Title – No Rope Match – Johnny Gargano vs. John Davis: ****

There has been one No Rope Match in Dragon Gate USA before, but this is the first one I have seen. This is the culmination of the....rather interesting feud that Gargano & Davis have been having over the past few months. I gotta say though, this was a really great match. It was a very violent affair that had some sick stuff, and it also told a good story with the underdog champion in Johnny Gargano fighting off the brutal force of a heel that is Jon Davis. The ring steps, chairs, and a few ladders all become involved in the match, until Gargano finally puts away Davis with a Ladder-assisted GargaNo Escape! Again, really great match. Probably the best thing to come out of this whole feud. Enjoyed the No Rope Stipulation very much and I'm surprised it hasn't been explored elsewhere.

After the Main Event, Brian Kendrick comes out and cut a long promo, but basically wants his match with Gargano the next night to be for the Open The Freedom Gate Title. Gargano, being the fighting champion that he is, accepts Kendrick's challenge to close the show.

Overall: 8.25/10

This was a really good show from Dragon Gate USA. You had a brutal No Rope Match for the Open The Freedom Gate Title that certainly delivered, plus two great matches in the undercard in the form of Fox/del Sol & Callihan/Tozawa. The opening bit with the Beer Pong and the match between Chuck Taylor & Arik Cannon was actually entertaining for what it was. With the rest of the undercard being relatively solid (albeit with its own issues), I'd have to say that this show is one worth checking out.