The weekend started on a somber note as Chikara paid their respects to Larry Sweeney. Fans were allowed to write their messages on a poster board as they came in each night. Many of the wrestlers wore pink and purple cloth straps on their person. To open the first night, a pair of sunglasses was placed in the center of the ring as nearly the entire roster, plus invited guests like Cary Silken and Hydra, surrounded the ring for a 10-bell salute and a moment of silence. Many of them, including Mike Quackenbush, Eddie Kingston, and Jigsaw, were visibly upset. A tribute video was played, followed by the crowd and talent erupting applause and chants for the Sweet & Sour one. A truly touching moment, and the love didn’t stop. In their First Round victory alongside Manami Toyota, Quack used Sweeney’s ’68 Comeback Special (a neckbreaker/DDT combo) on one of the Maximos, and Jigsaw finished him off with a 12-Large Elbow Drop. Kingston, in his first match of the weekend on Night 2 against Arik Cannon, wore a Sweeney shirt to the ring. Following his victory (a nearly 8-minute war of strikes and suplexes), he embraced Cannon and the two of them held up the shirt to the camera. Jigsaw also pulled out Sweeney’s DiBiase-esque fist drop in a singles match on Night 3.

The Colony advanced over Sinn Bodhi & The Batiri in the First Round, overcoming interference from Kobald (the goblin guy Sinn introduced in December) and the heel tendencies and incompetence of ref Derek Sabato. In the Quarter-Finals, they scored a big victory of the BDK team. In the First Round, the BDK overcame Da Soul Touchaz when Tursas interfered with a cross body and allowed Jakob Hammermeier (portrayed as a weakling and punching bag in his matches) to get the pin. They went for the same plan here on Green Ant, but he managed to duck and Jakob ate the crossbody. Then, continuing into his ode to Lex Luger (which began when returned from injury with a metal plate in his arm), he slammed Tursas to a massive pop and put Jakob in the Torture Rack for the quick submission. The slam spot was something carried over from the Tursas Body Slam Challenge. This wouldn’t be the only tribute to mid-90s WWF over the weekend.

In the Semi-Finals on Night 3, they met The Osirian Portal, another team thought to be favorites to win it all. They had advanced successfully over ¡3.Ole! and Team Dragon Gate. This opener for Night 3 saw a good, competitive match between two babyface teams that have met before, ending with a top rope neckbreaker by Soldier Ant. In the Finals, they met up old rivals F.I.S.T., who vanquished Team Australia in the First Round (they kept things basic, weren’t all that impressive, but still received a nice reception for making the trip) and avenged their loss last year to Team Osaka Pro in the Quarter Finals when Taylor rolled up Ultimate Spider Jr. with a handful of tights. In the Semi-Finals, F.I.S.T. were matched up with Team Michinoku Pro, who had been on fire all weekend. Limitations or no, Sasuke, Togo, and Shinzaki are still great friggin’ wrestlers and had excellent matches with Team Minnesota and Team Toyota. Togo is the one about to retire, yet he was probably moving the best out of all of them. Shinzaki looked really good and walked the ropes, and Sasuke was game for everything, including wrestling Darin Corbin in slow motion… twice! People were really rooting for them, but F.I.S.T. derailed them with a handful of powder to Sasuke’s eyes and a small package. It gave monster heat to F.I.S.T. and built some good tension going into the Finals, providing more drama than a face team vs. face team match would have provided. F.I.S.T., and especially Icarus, earned great scorn all weekend; fans rooted for Team Australia against them with chants of “Let’s Go Not F.I.S.T.” and Icarus was to every chant from “Worst in the World,” to “Please Retire,” to a chant to tap to a headlock.

So with the Finals set between F.I.S.T. and the Colony, they pulled out all of the stops. Green Ant fought back from weakened arm and a ripped antenna. A Chikara Special submission by Soldier Ant on Chuck Taylor was thwarted when Icarus pulled the ref out of the ring. They teased an Awful Waffle through the ringside table, a la the Hair vs. Masks Match from 2009. Fire Ant survived the Awful Waffle, Green Ant survived the Pedigree, and a reintroduction of the powder backfired on the heels. The Colony finally won when they pulled out the Super Ant Hill from last year’s tournament and finished off Icarus with it. A great ending to the weekend that made sense after last year’s screw job.

In addition to Team Michinoku Pro kicking ass, Sean Waltman made a believer out of people again. In addition to donning the role of the 1-2-3 Kid once more (old-fashioned gear, clean-shaven face, but no mullet), he also basically took on the role of Randy the Ram (except at the end, his heart didn’t explode). I was very worried in the beginning when he took forever to make his entrance on Night 1, but things were pretty much smooth sailing from there. He was overtaken with emotion by the crowd’s chants for them and didn’t let them down. Just as he stared down Shinzaki, fans broke out a chant of “1995,” which made Waltman laugh. That tournament match, which main evented Night 1, was indeed very good, and included Waltman hitting a crazy suicide flip to the floor. On Night 2, he had another good match as part of Rey de Voladores, outlasting Amazing Red, Obariyon, and Frightmare in a four-way elimination match, ending when he beat Frightmare with a Super X-Factor. In the Rey de Voladores Finals on Night 3, he pulled out all of the stops against El Generico (who got chants of “Uno, Dos, Tres” to counter the “1-2-3″ chants). This one had some rough patches (a turnbuckle brainbuster into a cradle attempt that had a clunky execution, and a Yakuza Kick in the Corner for which Waltman didn’t get all the way up), but otherwise it was quite awesome. Lots of nearfalls, including from another Super X-Factor and a regular brainbuster. In my favorite moment of the match, Generico even broke out the Razor’s Edge on Waltman. When he went for the pin, Waltman countered with a crucifix for another nearfall. Generico finally won with the successful turnbuckle brainbuster, earning him the Rey de Voladores plaque and his biggest win in Chikara. Waltman took the time to cut promos after all of his matches, putting over the fans for their support and his opponents. After this match, he said how much he was touched by the crowd response and how Philadelphia is a hotbed for the best wrestling. He also said this might retire this year, and that if this was his last match, he couldn’t think of a better opponent to have it with than Generico.

Generico, by the way, won his four-way elimination match over Pinkie Sanchez, Marshe Rockett (who dished out some Roderick Strong-level chops) and the impressive Englishman Zack Sabre Jr. (my first time seeing him live and second time overall). Sabato was the ref and was helping Pinkie throughout the match, eliminating Rockett and Sabre, but it was after Sabato helped Pinkie thwart an attempted turnbuckle brainbuster that Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur came out. He’s proven to be pretty aloof about what’s going on in Chikara, but the heavy influence over Sabato, against Sabato’s will, is very interesting. At this point, he made him exchange his white BDK ref shirt for a regular blue ref shirt. Pinkie’s confusion and frustration over this led to his demise, and Generico made some great faces toward Sabato as he counted the fall and raised his hand.

The teams from Dragon Gate and Osaka Pro really impressed all weekend. Akira Tozawa continues to his crusade of awesomeness, and his partners Super Shisa and Kagetora looked good too in their matches with the Spectral Envoy and the Portal. Fans around me thought that them defeating the Envoy was an upset, to which I say, “Really? It’s Dragon Gate.” UltraMantis Black, by the way, probably received the biggest ovation out of all of the Chikara regulars in his lone in-ring appearance. Tozawa also had an awesome match on Night 3 (the first in a trifecta that night) against Eddie Kingston. Kingston won it with a backfist and backdrop driver to win it, then showed respect to Tozawa. On the Osaka Pro side, Ultimate Spider Jr. had a good debut weekend with his spider antics (including some invisible webs used for offense), closing on Night 3 with a singles loss to Jigsaw. Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada also continued to win over fans. After their victory in the First Round over the Throwbacks (which had even better comedy than ¡3.Ole! vs. Portal, from an in-ring race between Kotoge and Sugar Dunkerton, to a penalty shot, to Dunkerton getting bullied by Matt Classic), fans chanted for them to please come back, then chanted for them to simply stay. Similar response after their loss to F.I.S.T. Then Kotoge and Harada entered the 10-Team Tag Gauntlet, earning three points with victories over the Rougnecks, 3.0, and Kagetora & Shisa. So it’s a matter of time before they come back to challenge for the Campeones de Parejas (or QuackSaw could head to Osaka Pro).

Also involved in the Gauntlet were Acid Jaz and Willie Richardson of Da Soul Touchaz, Cannon & Corbin, the Batiri, the Throwbacks (who advanced over the Batiri via DQ), Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze, and a team that must return: Matt Classic & Darkness Crabtree. Their bickering was hilarious, and the crowd stayed quiet for it. Classic didn’t think Death Haze were his opponents at first, giving them his jacket and towel as he prepared for his “real” opponents. Classic (a powerhouse on Nights 1 and 3 who left each of his matches in a huff when he lost) chastised the “dames,” and Crabtree came at them in lecherous fashion.

Classic’s apparent young boy and NWA World Champion, Colt Cabana, was selling merchandise all weekend (I bought The Wrestling Road Diaries from him), and he made a surprise in-ring appearance to open Night 2, answering the open challenge of Chikara newcomer Archibald Peck. Peck, who doubles as RD Evans, barrister for the Embassy in ROH, is an over-the-top marching band cadet with a wiry frame and a big hat. He is accompanied by a majorette named Veronica, played by a woman who went from being a long-time fan to a Chikara crew member/presumed student for the past few years. Together they are known as The Band, which I thought was asking for some Waltman crossover. I wasn’t sure about this act in their first appearance last month, where Peck lost his debut match to Kingston, but here I thought they were gold. Peck issued his challenge for a duel with Cabana with a glove slap, and Cabana answered it with a boot slap. A very funny opener for the second night, ending with a distraction by Veronica, a shot to the head with a baton, and a diving headbutt to give Peck the victory.

Amazing Red, who only competed on the first two nights before heading to Lockdown, looked good as usual, while the Maximos, despite huffing wind, pulled out some cool stuff and received a surprisingly strong ovation from the crowd following their First Round loss to Team Toyota. Their match was the shortest of Night 1 at around 10 minutes, but was some good fun. Toyota herself worked sparingly in the First Round, but still brought the goods. She got more involved on Night 2 against Team Michinoku Pro, from giving Sasuke the rolling cradle to getting beat to hell by Togo. On Night 3, she defeated Madison Eagles in a singles match, hitting the Ocean Cyclone Suplex for a nearfall before finishing her off with a brutal driver move.

Overall, this was an amazing weekend and my favorite King of Trios since 2009. It truly felt like an indy WrestleMania, and it felt like nearly everyone brought their A-game for the sake of weekend, and I’m sure many of them in honor of Sweeney. I had an awesome time and won’t forget seeing such legends and such great talent in person. The DVDs at Smart Mark Video have got to be must-buys, with Night 2 perhaps being one of the best shows of the year when all is said and done. If you’ve seen these shows in person or at home, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

I also took a lot of photos throughout the weekend (as did many other people), which can be found HERE!

Chikara returns to action with their debut in Burlington, NC on May 14th, followed by Easton, PA on May 21st and Union City, NJ on May 22nd (two of many indy shows in the span of that week). Those will be their Aniversario shows, closing their eighth year and beginning their ninth, as well as the beginning (and perhaps ending) of a 12-man tournament to crown Chikara’s first singles champion.

Following last year’s King of Trios, then-Director of Fun Dieter VonSteigerwalt retired the tournament, claiming the BDK trio of Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, and Tursas would be the final – and greatest – King of Trios champions. Fast-forward a year, Dieter is out, Wink Vavasseur is in, and King of Trios is back in action! This year’s tournament will follow the same format as the past two years, with the First Round on the night of Friday the 15th (16 trios, 48 wrestlers total!), the Quarter-Finals on the night of Saturday the 16th, and the Semi-Finals and Finals on Sunday the 17th in the afternoon. The Rey de Voladores tournament (two four-way elimination matches leading into one singles match) is confirmed to return, taking place over Saturday and Sunday along with other non-tournament matches. The eight opening round matches all offer some form of intrigue due to the varied participants. Hyperbole or not, this could very well be the most star-studded field yet.

Team Michinoku Pro (Great Sasuke & Dick Togo & Jinsei Shinzaki) vs. Team Minnesota (Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin & 1-2-3 Kid). Clearly the biggest attention grabber of the First Round. The Michinoku Pro contingent, in addition to all of their Japanese accolades, have roots in some of the brighter spots of the mid-90s U.S. scene, appearing in both ECW (with Sasuke and Togo on opposite ends of that trios match from Barely Legal) and WWF (Sasuke clashing with Taka Michinoku, Togo briefly working as a member of Kaientai, and of course Shinzaki’s run as Hakushi). All three are credited by Chikara as heavy influences of what they do, and they’ll certainly be the sentimental favorites of the weekend given the earthquakes that affected northern Japan (where the Michinoku Pro offices are located, and where Shinzaki lost his home and restaurant). Also, Togo’s participation is apparently part of a retirement tour. To my knowledge, he’s the most recent visitor to the U.S., having last been here in 2002 to team with Ikuto Hidaka at ROH Unscripted. On the opposite end, Sean Waltman (provided he shows up) is expected to flash back to mid-90s WWF himself, perhaps tangling with Shinzaki in something akin to Summerslam ’95 (which a lot of people are expecting and remember better than me). His teammates Cannon and Corbin have been crowd favorites the past three years alongside Ryan Cruz as The F1rst Family (word is Cruz has retired), but have never gotten past the Quarter-Finals. Should be a very good match, with big butterflies for all involved.

Team Dragon Gate (Akira Tozawa & Super Shisa & Kagetora) vs. The Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked & Frightmare & UltraMantis Black). Another exciting Japanese team, with Tozawa (The New Fucking Man) coming back to Chikara after previous competing in last year’s Young Lions Cup tournament. His partners both have at least one U.S. appearance under their belt, with Kagetora (a member of Kamikaze in Japan) competing in PWG’s DDT in 2008. Hallowicked and Frightmare (Incoherence) were shot down the First Round in the past two King of Trios tournaments, with Delirious and Mike Quackenbush as their partners. Now that they’ve aligned with Mantis in his war with Sinn Bodhi’s dark army, they have a new tournament partner and a new handle. Mantis’ past experience in the tournament has been in 2007 and 2008, with Crossbones and Hydra as his partners as part of the Order of the Neo Solar Temple, but their success rate was also low. They’re heavy fan favorites going in.

Amazing Red & The Maximos (Wil & Joel) vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Manami Toyota. My choice for the oddest First Round match, as the Campeones de Parejas and one of the best women wrestlers ever lock horns with a team that parties like it’s 2002. This is the first time Quack and Jigsaw have been on the same KoT team since the first one in 2007, which they won alongside Shane Storm (STIGMA). Toyota returns to Chikara following her successful and beloved visit back at the September shows (one of which saw her team with Quack. Amazing Red and the Maximos should be familiar to longtime fans of the northeast indy scene and TNA past and present. With Jose Maximo apparently retired though, a new Maximo takes his place, so we’re getting something a little more fresh. Red on his own should do well based on his recent work; it’d be even better if Don West tags along.

Team Australia (Tama Williams & Percy & Kabel) vs. F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano). The first trio announced for the tournament, this will be the first time F.I.S.T. goes in Garganofied. Alongside Gran Akuma, Icarus and Taylor conquered the mountain in 2009 but fell in the Quarter-Finals last year to Team Osaka Pro. Still, they should be a big force in the tournament. The three Aussies represent New Horizon Pro Wrestling, and I don’t know a thing about them outside of what they look to me: a generic indy guy, a poindexter, and a C-Grade Lord Humongous. Hopefully, they’ll do more than just walk away, and F.I.S.T. seems like a good barometer for their skills.

Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada & Ultimate Spider, Jr.) vs. The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield & Sugar Dunkerton & Matt Classic) Two returning teams from last year, albeit slightly modified. Kotoge and Harada (Blood & Guts) stole the weekend alongside Tadasuke, making it all the way to the Semi-Finals. They’re expecting to do better with the debuting Spider, a fellow babyface that might get along with them better. The Throwbacks lost in the First Round to F.I.S.T. last year. Dasher and Sugar have been on more of a roll lately, plus I’m sure they’ll have more confidence considering Dasher actually toured with Osaka Pro, Sugar has been gathering up more international experience, and Matt Classic is… Fucking Matt Classic (he has a low tolerance for those that don’t speak the language too).

Sinn “Kizarny” Bodhi & The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant & Green Ant). After coming so close to winning last year’s tournament before getting screwed by the Bruderschaft, The Colony are my sentimental favorites to take it all the way (finally). The rest of 2010 felt like kind of a down year for them due to Fire Ant and Soldier Ant’s injuries (broken face and broken arm respectively), but 2011 has been going pretty well so far. There is the possibility that first-timers Dark Army could unseat them and clash with Mantis and company in a later round, but that issue can be settled outside of the tournament brackets and shouldn’t come at the expense of The Colony’s comeback.

The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian & Hieracon) vs. ¡3.Ole! (El Generico & Scott “Jagged” Parker & Shane Matthews). Parker and Matthews haven’t taken part in King of Trios since the first one in 2007, where they formed a new Team Canada with Max Boyer and lost in the First Round to eventual winners QuackenShaneSaw. Four years later, following a stint in denim and a reboot in Zubas tights, they’re now teaming with ever-so-awesome Generico, last seen in January in a hell of a match with Eddie Kingston. Generico’s past KoT experience includes getting to the Quarter-Finals with the Super Smash Bros. in 2008, and not getting past the First Round with the Young Bucks (pre-GenMe) in 2009. Amasis and Ophidian, alongside the long-gone Escorpion Egipcio were responsible for beating Generico’s team that year before falling to The Future Is Now in the following round. Last year, they lucked into getting an entry, but unlucked into having the deck stacked against them by the BDK, with Sara Del Rey as their selected partner against Claudio and company. Now, they’ve been on a big role with the addition of Hieracon to their team, going undefeated in all of their other trios matches and placing them as pretty big favorites as well.

Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz & Marshe Rockett & Willie “Da Bomb” Richardson) vs. The Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Tim Donst & Delirious & Jakob Hammermeier). Feeling that he shouldn’t have to win it again (and because he’ll be on another NOAH tour), Claudio is sitting out this year, as are Ares and Tursas. He has put Donst in charge of captaining a BDK trio, and has decided to select Delirious (with KoT experience from ’08 and ’09) for his ruthlessness and Jakob as a partner he can mold. After being continuously injured for the second half of last year, Jakob has healed up, trained under Claudio, and made his debut match last month in Brooklyn a victorious one… thanks to everyone else helping him. So Donst, his apparent young boy, and the BDK’s ruthless puppet march into action against a team that wants their heads. Da Soul Touchaz first made their names in Chikara in 2008 and came back for more in 2009 (with an injured Jaz replaced by Trauma), making it to the Quarter-Finals each times. Now they’re returning after missing out last year, for the first time as roster regulars and for the first time with a grudge, still trying to avenge C. Red and Dymond being taken out by the BDK.

I’m still set to attend all three nights provided nothing more pressing comes up. Also of note is the annual Fan Conclave on the afternoon of the 16th. Among the activities planned are a dancing contest judged by the Osirian Portal, a Tursas Body Slam Challenge (so awesome), and a live concert by Stan Bush. I’ve always had a fun time at these, whether it be from seeing these activities or interacting with the wrestlers themselves. If you haven’t been exhausted by this past weekend, it should be a great time in just under two weeks.

Tonight’s card:

Main Event #1 – Open The Freedom Gate Title Match
YAMATO defends vs. Austin Aries

- Two of the most charismatic mofos battle it out for the top prize. As detailed in YouTube videos and news alerts, Aries has said he will leave DGUSA if he doesn’t win the title, as he doesn’t want to be around if he doesn’t have a serious purpose and leading the way.

Main Event #2 – Grudge Match – The Six Man Tradition Returns
Blood Warriors of CIMA, Naruki Doi & Ricochet
vs.
Ronin of Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann

- Hell yeah. They say it’s the first time the traditional Mania weekend six-man tag has been used for grudge match purposes, though I’m sure the first big one, Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer, had some manner of grudge behind it. Ronin look to rebound big time from being shut out in their Stable Shootout with the Blood Warriors at yesterday’s “Open The Southern Gate” show in Burlington, NC.

Main Event #3 – Open The Brave Gate Title Match
PAC defends vs. Akira Tozawa

- Hell yeah x 2. Not the first time the Brave Gate Title is defended in the United States (Matt Sydal did so in 2007), but it is PAC’s first domestic defense of it, with the recent free agent/hot commodity offering a challenge.

Special Attraction Match – Non-Title
Open The Dream Gate Champion Masato Yoshino vs. Sami Callihan

- Huge showcase spot for Callihan, and I’m happy he’s got it.

Elimination Match
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Brodie Lee vs. Stalker Ichikawa vs. Silas Young vs. AR Fox vs. Jon Davis

- Jacobs and Lee are the obvious focal points here. Jon Davis of the Dark City Fight Club is trying his hand as a singles star beginning this weekend. This will be Stalker Icikawa’s debut for DGUSA. A former Open The Qwarai (Comedy) Gate Champion, Stalker first popped up in the US for PWG in 2007 (the first DDT4 shows). Unless much has changed, his deal is he gets beat up for everyone’s amusement. Essentially the Santino Marella of Dragon Gate, if you will.

Special Challenge Match
Jon Moxley with Trina Michaels vs. Arik Cannon

- Cannon won yesterday’s Breakout Challenge yesterday in Burlington, capped off with a victory over Jimmy Rave and an ass-kicking to Johnny Fairplay. Good thing he did since this match against one of DGUSA’s top Americans was already booked. Moxley has invited adult film star Michaels with him to counter the actions of Reby Sky, who should also pop up again tonight.

A full report to follow tonight’s show.

====================================

The stream started about six minutes late, so boo-urns to that. Fortunately, the stream of the live show was clear for the rest of the night, but the default video window they use (an Adobe Flash player) is really small, about half the size of GoFightLive’s default. Fortunately again, it can be expanded to full screen with far less stress than what GFL has. The crowd looked quite healthy, and they were hot for everything. This Atlanta venue, the Presidential Ballroom, reminded me of the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, OH that ROH goes to.

1. Jon Moxley (w/ Trina Michaels & Valerie Malone) defeated Arik Cannon with a small package. So this match was perhaps two-thirds done by the time the stream came on, but what I saw was alright. Both guys bring the goods, so I’ll have to see the full match later on a replay or the eventual DVD. Moxley had Cannon in a sleeper, but he fought out of it before his hand dropped a third time. One of the women handed Moxley a chair, but Cannon ducked the chair shot, and the chair rebounded off the ropes into Moxley’s head for a nearfall. The finish saw Malone (who’s from the midwest scene and popped up before as a BxB Hulk dancer that turned to Moxley) get in the ring and throw a fit at the ref, causing a distraction. This allowed Moxley to kick Cannon low and roll him up. Boo-urns goes the crowd.

- Reby Sky came out, complaining to the ref about the shenanigans, then to Moxley and his harem. Malone was shoved into Sky (a la that “Teen Mom” fight video), so Sky got into a cat fight with her and gave her an impaler DDT. Then Michaels clocked her from behind with something, and she and Moxley celebrated mid-ring as Sky was helped to the back.

- Austin Aries cut a backstage promo, telling YAMATO he’s putting it all on the line. Larry Legend handled the ring announcing, with all of his information coming by way of iPad, while the regular commentary team was in place.

2. Brodie Lee won the elimination match. “Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa was hilarious in the early goings. He first tore off his velcro ears to use as fake ninja weapons, then gave AR Fox, Silas Young, and Jon Davis the run-around before coming up short on a crossbody. Then Fox, Young, and Davis dropped elbows on him, Jimmy Jacobs followed up immediately with a senton, but Brodie missed with his elbow. Stalker remarked how this was dangerous (Lenny Leonard: “I heard that from somebody before.”), and then lined up the five other wrestlers like they were his young boys and slapped them across the face. Brodie blocked his slap, but then Stalker pretended a mosquito landed on Brodie’s face and slapped it anyway. Stalker was taken down, but got back up a little later, only to come up very short on a cartwheel in the corner. Davis eliminated him with a lariat, and the crowd chanted, “You’re no fun.” Fox hit a few great dives that the crowd popped big for, then hit a flying Codebreaker on somebody. Jacobs invited Stalker back into the ring to a dive of his own, but he crashed and burned. Jacobs hit both Fox and Young with a tandem Contra Code, then he pinned Fox. Young got in some offense, as did Davis with a Pounce to Jacobs. Jacobs eliminated Young with the guillotine, then he pinned Davis with a crucifix following a boot to Davis by Brodie. Brodie only scored a nearfall after a boot. Jacobs gave him a Contra Code on the floor, then another one in the ring for a nearfall. Brodie finally put him down with a boot in the corner and the Truck Stop to win it, derailing Jacobs’ momentum after he already scored three eliminations. Plenty of fun to be had here. Match times care of Larry Legend’s detailed announcements (as Lenny said, he likely gets paid by the syllable). (13:54)

- Arik Cannon promo. He says sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you get fucked! So he’s going to go about things his own way now.

3. Masato Yoshino defeated Sami Callihan with the Sol Naciente. Callihan has new music that includes his maniacal laughter. Fast and furious early, but Callihan got the upper hand and pulled out some pretty cool stuff and ground work. Yoshino fought back with his trademark moves and Callihan certainly held his own with him. Good stuff. Now’s a good time to plug Callihan’s SMV compilation, which has a really good shoot interview with him. (9:28)

- Callihan took the mic after Yoshino left and laughed, but then said this isn’t a laughing matter and he’s done fuckin’ around. Second F-Bomb of the night after Cannon, and outside of those times Bryan Danielson came in and people did his soccer chant, things are at least kept PG-13 in DGUSA.

- Jon Moxley promo. He said he’ll be taken out like Reby Sky. He blatantly cribbed from Terry Funk (fitting given the setting) when he said after tonight, Aries would be gone FOREVER! I’ll blatantly crib from Bryan Alvarez and say Moxley is a great man, and is BUYS.

4. PAC (w/ Masato Yoshino) defeated Akira Tozawa with a German suplex to retain the Open The Brave Gate Title. Plenty of fans for Tozawa. They started out with some good stuff, with Tozawa trying to keep PAC grounded, but by the end they were going balls to the wall. A cut on the head PAC suffered last night re-opened during the match, but it never got Jay Briscoe bad. Lots of fast paced action. Tozawa survived a springboard 450. He hit PAC with two consecutive suicide dives and a somersault dive to the floor. The crowd shat apes for the breathless exchanges and nearfalls. Tozawa nearly won with the deadlift German. Plenty of people wanted Tozawa to win here, but they still reacted huge for the match itself. This was tremendous and my favorite match of the night, and even the entire day between this and ROH. (19:39)

- PAC and Tozawa showed mutual respect. All of the Blood Warriors came out afterward and beat down PAC and Yoshino. CIMA said they’ll take their United Gate Titles tomorrow.

- Ronin cut a promo, saying they’re going to give the Blood Warriors a fight.

- Intermission. Just before it, Legend mentioned that the New Jack and Terri Runnels were there signing autographs. The feed cut to a series of previously shown online promos.

- The second half began with what was supposed to be a tag team match with four guys from the afternoon seminar. Sami Callihan came back out however and suplexed two of the guys. He said he was in a bad mood, a shitty mood, and a fuckin’ pissed off mood. He began talking about the Callihan Death Machine (possible ties to the United States Death Machine, and perhaps his own personal Nation of Violence) when Arik Cannon came back out. He essentially told Sami to fuck off, and that he lost in the middle of the ring, not screwed over by two women (though he used more unsavory language). I was beginning to think this was a riff on the majority of CZW promos. Then Cannon remarked they were both fucked over and the fans don’t care, and he took out the other two guys. Then both Cannon and Callihan, who I assume would unite over their frustration and cursing, started fighting and took it to the back. Ref Bryce Remsburg declared this tag match a No Contest, and Lenny got a little lippy over the obvious announcement.

- Quick promo by PAC, who said the Blood Warriors have his attention.

5. YAMATO defeated Austin Aries with the Galleria to retain the Open The Freedom Gate Title. Big support for Aries from the crowd, and they were definitely pulling for him toward the end. Moxley came out with YAMATO, but YAMATO told him to go to the back because he’s a fighting champion. The announcers marveled at YAMATO playing it fair. A couple minutes in, after YAMATO honored a rope break in a corner, Aries gave him a brainbuster for a nearfall, then the 450 for another nearfall. Wild stuff, presumably to show how serious Aries means it, and they fought on the floor. A little YAMATO took a powder under the ring, came up behind Aries for a sneak attack to send him to the floor, and worked him over with a broom. Lots of mat wrestling back inside, followed by some big moves exchanged, including dueling brainbusters. Aries kicked out of a YAMATO brainbuster at a 1-count. The first Galleria couldn’t put him away, but the second one did. This ended up being really good and heated. (25:23)

- The crowd thanked Aries, then YAMATO, who gave Aries some props with a bow. “Please Don’t Go!” chant and a standing ovation for Aries, who simply walked to the back.

- Jimmy Jacobs promo. He’s going to pick himself back up after his loss. His match tomorrow will be against Aries, who requested it (be it a title defense or his farewell match). He commended Aries for his match, but tomorrow he’s going to burn out, not allowed to just fade away. It may be his farewell, but Jacobs will make the most of the opportunity to work his way into title contention and make it his End Time.

6. Blood Warriors (w/ Brodie Lee) defeated Ronin when Naruki Doi hit Rich Swann with the Muscular Bomb. Ronin has matching gear, baby! The Blood Warriors started with an attack while streamers were still flying. Pretty traditional at first, with young Swann getting worked over. Very good stuff overall, full of slick maneuvers by all involved. Gargano sat Ricochet on a kneeling CIMA’s shoulder and hit the Hurts Donut. Ricochet and CIMA flew from opposite corners with a corner dropkick. Swann showed off some cool stuff. Only hiccups were Swann slipping up in a minor way, and Ricochet slipping up in a major way when attempting a Sasuke Special onto Taylor and Gargano toward the end of the match. He just seemed to crash into the ropes and seemed to hurt his knee, but Taylor and Gargano still acted like they were taken out. Still, a good main event, but I enjoyed the previous two matches more. (29:51)

- PAC & Yoshino ran in afterward to get some shots in on the Blood Warriors, but Brodie broke them away. CIMA cut a another promo on them saying they’ll take their belts, then Yoshino cutting a promo saying World-1 will not die. Both were partially in Japanese. Then both PAC & Yoshino thanked the fans for supporting the show.

Overall: Outside of the late start, this was really fun stuff. Don’t press me in to picking my favorite of the three iPPVs this weekend. I will say this show offered very different content from what ROH offered, and though ROH had the better deal, I still felt I got my money’s worth here. I very much enjoyed the five matches I saw in full (with PAC vs. Tozawa on top for me), and there’s some interesting booking leading up to their Sunday afternoon show or the next set of shows in June (in New York and Massachusetts). Most of DGUSA’s shows, and perhaps all of EVOLVE’s shows, will now be available for live streaming, though I seriously doubt I’ll be able to catch them all as they happen.

A nice big crowd here, and the sound on them was good. The lighting of the ring (very bright) and the crowd (pretty dark) reminded me of footage of 80s house shows. The hard camera shot was a little wider than I wished, plus it would be partially blocked when people in front of it stood up. Kevin Kelly and Dave Prazak introduced the show from the start before the count down.

1. Michael Elgin defeated El Generico with a 360º sit-out powerbomb. These WM weekend crowds know what’s what, starting with this match, where Generico got a big ovation and Elgin got traditional heel heat. Fun back-and-forth stuff overall, though it felt a little shorter than their match on the 9th Anniversary Show. Generico hit his tornado DDT through the ring post to the floor for a big pop. He was about to hit the yakuza kick when a mystery man in all black and a ski mask grabbed his foot and dropped his neck over the top rope, leading to Elgin picking up the win. The ref did not see nor identifee the mystery man.

- By the way, during this match on commentary, it was mentioned that the All Night Express had a brawl with the Briscoes earlier in the day and were therefore thrown out the building. This explains away their lack of a match on tonight’s card.

- They aired highlights of Eddie Edwards’ World Title victory.

- They came back to Truth Martini in the ring with Caleb Konley. He gave his usual spiel and said tonight was Konley’s test to see if he belonged in the House of Truth. He said he’ll be watching and would give him the thumb’s up or thumb’s down afterward.

2. Four Corner Survival: Homicide defeated Colt Cabana and Caleb Konley (w/ Truth Martini) and Tommaso Ciampa (w/ The Embassy) when he hit Konley with the Cop Killa. Homicide and Cabana were very over (one fan even gave Colt his Israeli flag), and as was the case at Final Battle, Homicide came out to his real music. Homicide’s momentum was cut off when Prince Nana’s “princess” Mia Yim gave him a kick (though the camera shot of it was blocked) and Ernesto Osiris and R.D. Evans laid in a little clobbering. Konley and Ciampa took turns working over Homicide. Cabana gave a the Bionic Elbow to each of the Embassy members before pausing at the sight of Mia and planting a kiss on her. Homicide and Ciampa duked it out a little. Homicide proceeded to hit the Tope Con Hilo three times in a row on each of his opponents prior to his victory. Solid all around. Steve tweeted that Homicide looked like his old self, and I’m inclined to agree.

- Konley was alone in the ring as Martini re-entered. He teased making his decision before ultimately giving him the thumb’s up, saying that he had heart and is now a member. Then he said it was April Fool’s, and Elgin returned to destroy him with a lariat and powerbomb.

3. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ayumi Kurihara defeated Sara Del Rey & Serena Deeb after Matsumoto gave Deeb a backdrop driver. Nice stuff from the debuting Joshi talent. Matsumoto was the smallest woman here but showed off some good strength, while Kurihara took to the air a few times and pulled some submissions out of her sleeve. The Double Ds beat down Matsumoto for the heat. Daizee Haze and Tomoka Nakagawa came out a few minutes in to scout the match, sporting the SHIMMER Tag Team Titles. Deeb dished out some Punk-like fisticuffs. The Joshi team fired up enough to string some things together and isolate Deeb and win. Nice match with a good response from the crowd. When they came across the SHIMMER champs, Nakagawa spit water in their faces, so they were chased to the back. That was the gist of the build for tomorrow’s title match.

- They aired highlights of the Briscoes vs. The All Night Express from Manhattan Mayhem IV and the subsequent backstage scuffle.

4. Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly following a springboard Doomsday Device on Cole. Mixed reaction for the newly heel Briscoes, while Adam Cole received his own chant. Team O’Co held their own and looked good against the veteran team. A ringside camera man was taken down prior to O’Reilly’s apron-to-floor corner dropkick. One sequence, consisting of rolling butterfly suplexes on Mark from O’Reilly, an elevated DDT by both, and finally a wheelbarrow suplex into a bridging pin attempt, had the crowd go surprisingly crazy. Good action within the brief time frame.

- Immediately afterward, Kenny King and Rhett Titus showed up behind the commentary table, dressed in street clothes but with their fists taped. They ran into the ring and brawled with the Briscoes, continuing to do so as a bunch of shemps ran down to unsuccessfully break it up. An attempted spiked piledriver on the floor by the ANX on Mark was thwarted when Jay gorilla pressed a shemp onto them. Fans chanted, “Fuck the Briscoes!” as they were hurried to the back and King and Titus stood tall.

- Intermission. No videos played during this.

5. Davey Richards defeated Roderick Strong (w/ Truth Martini) with the ankle lock… grapevine style! The match started slowly and built up steam considerably. Good exchanges early before Strong began working over Davey’s back by ramming it into the edge of the ring Davey Boy style. Davey gained the momentum with a suicide dive that made the crowd shit apes. A big extended exchange of chops and kicks led to both men falling in a heap and a “Fuck WrestleMania” chant. Strong targeted Davey’s back some more with a backbreaker onto the top turnbuckle and later a second one to the outer apron, nearly leading to a count-out. Strong dished out all of his big moves, but Davey kept kicking out. The Stronghold was reversed into the ankle lock, and then (maybe at this point) reversed by Strong into the LeBell Lock! Davey slapped on the ankle lock a second time. Truth’s interference was kept to a minimum, ending when Davey booted him out of the ring. The finish came after Davey gave Strong a superplex, held on to give him a Falcon Arrow, then transitioned that into the submission. Not quite at the level of their Final Battle match, but still really good and the best thing on the show up to this point.

6. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli w/ Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) after Haas made Claudio tap to the Haas of Pain to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles. If anyone says the crowd was killed by Richards-Strong, they’re dead wrong. Split reaction for both teams throughout. The Kings were only two days shy of holding the titles for a full year. WGTT were more dominant early, even working over Claudio’s leg (foreshadowing!). The Kings gained the edge and worked over Benjamin before Haas got the tag (he was looking better than ever). Lots of tandem moves. A slight bit of homo-erotica (both Kings sandwiched together and leaning on the ropes) led to both of them getting WGTT’s trademark leapfrog spot at the same time. In the end, in a moment that mirrored the two prior Kings-WGTT matches, Hero went to the top with his loaded elbow pad to break up the Haas of Pain. Benjamin, however, saw it coming, leaped up to Hero like a cat, and chucked him overhead just before Claudio tapped. Huge ovation for the title change, Haas & Benjamin celebrated with the belts, and they were congratulated by Cary Silken and Jim Cornette. My favorite match of the night.

7. Eddie Edwards defeated Christopher Daniels with a Super 2K1 Bomb, followed by a regular one, to retain the ROH World Title. Edwards has new music, which the jury is still out on. Extended handshake and some words before the match. This one had a slow start as the two of them traded holds, and the crowd had to be a little tired by this point. Daniels attempted using Edwards’ own Achilles Lock early. They fought to the outside apron, where Edwards attempted his backpack chinbreaker, but Daniels escaped and, in a spot that caught me off guard, gave Edwards a urinage through the timekeeper’s table. A few moments later, Daniels set up two chairs together and slammed Edwards on to him, showing a lot more aggression. Crowd: “Fuck TNA!” Daniels took Edwards back into the ring to work him over, but Edwards fought back. He dished out some Kobashi chops at one point. The Achilles Lock was countered into the Koji Clutch. Daniels scored two huge nearfalls in succession with the Angel’s Wings and Best Moonsault Ever, and he sold the shock of the two-counts well. Edwards got his feet up on the second BME attempt (making it a Best Moonsault Never) and turned it into another Achilles Lock. Daniels tried to fight the hold with kicks, and Edwards responded with stomps to the head while still holding on. They fought into the corner, where Edwards avoided the super Angel’s Wings to lead to the win. I’d probably consider this second best match of the night.

- Edwards offered the handshake, but Daniels just stared at him angrily and walked away. Edwards took the mic and said he enjoyed that match a lot, even if Daniels didn’t. He gave the obligatory good night promo, thanking the Atlanta crowd for their support and also saying he wishes ROH comes back here year after year.

Overall: Up North Radio’s Cal Burnside ordered this show as well. “Very, very good show. 20 minutes too long overall, but I thought the last four matches were all good to great and the first three were perfectly acceptable.” That just about sums up things for me as well. A good night of action with a great second half. The bargain of ordering this weekend’s doubleshot together is made even sweeter considering the matches we got out of it already, including a momentous tag title match that will undoubtedly, undeniably be better than the tag team offerings on WrestleMania.

Expect some more timely results for the Saturday afternoon card. I plan to watch that one as well, as well as watch and report on the Dragon Gate USA card – “Mercury Rising 2011″ – being offered Saturday night through WWNLive.com. What a weekend this is already.

I can go through things pretty quickly from Philadelphia’s main card since it’s readily available through GoFightLive.tv, but I had a fantastic time live. My only issue from the night were a couple guys behind me (may have been inebriated, who knows) incessantly trying to get Brodie Lee’s attention during the last two matches. Not sure how the crowd came off from home obviously.

Parking at the Asylum Arena was fucking horrible this time around because of the snow and nobody caring enough to call Mr. Plow. I ended up chatting well with a few people before the show, including the same guy I sat next to in Rahway in October (big Jimmy Jacobs fan who incidentally ended up going to the New York show on Friday) and a couple guys who may have also been inebriated, but we bonded over our boredom with WWE’s main event players and our love of PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2007 (seriously, Night Three from that year was top-to-bottom excellence). If you caught the live stream (which aired on the Asylum’s stream), the dude who gave the double thumbs up during the opener was one of those guys. If he visits this site… hey dude, thanks for checking it out! You’ll love Up North Radio, and yeah I’m on Facebook too.

Mike Quackenbush sighting early. In dress clothes, just helping out with the show.

Two things occurred for the live crowd that the rest of the world didn’t see (a little bit for good reason). The first was a FRAY! match, the first time I saw one of these matches live (I was oddly excited for it). Royal Rumble format with a small group of guys (in this case, nine), with eliminations coming from pin or submission. EVOLVE and JAPW regular Chris Dickinson (his trunks this time reading SEX MURDER ART) came out on top when he eliminated the last guy in his path, Pinkie Sanchez (who scored a few eliminations and was the most over with the crowd). Both of these guys looked good. Other competitors included Chikara’s own Obariyon, Ryan Eagles (husband of Madison), an impressive dude from Ohio named Dave Cole, another impressive dude from South Jersey (further south than me) named RV1, and a guy I never heard of before, sporting furry boots and a passing resemblance to David Otunga, but he had some skills. This was more good than not.

This was followed by a mini-show put on by Kaiju Big Battel, with Gavin Loudspeaker reverting back to Louden Noxious to announce and narrate everything and a fake city set up within the ring. This all its charm, but kind of wore out its welcome for this type of crowd. This was likely taped for one of Kaiju’s own DVDs. The highlights were Dr. Cube coming back from the dead (Burnside will be happy to learn that), Sami Callihan making a cameo to help a Kaiju babyface win a match, and the most over character here: Steam-Powered Turbo Boulder.

Onto the main show, which had a more traditional layout than New York. Each match had plenty of time, with lots of big moves and nearfalls, reverting back to that “each match is a main event feel” that was kind of the format of the early shows. Everyone got plenty of cheers, including Kamikaze USA, so there was no real heel heat during matches, but I didn’t mind that too much because the action was so damn good, and this is just a different kind of promotion in general where the draw is clearly the matches. Of course, the promos of Jon Moxley and others certainly don’t hurt. Moxley was still a dick throughout, badmouthing Homicide more while Homicide’s friends jumped out of the crowd after him on two occasions. He also again encountered Reby Sky (very attractive in person and clearly being groomed to be the next Tammy Sytch), who sent him to the back to care for his nether region when he tried to cost Austin Aries his match against Akira Tozawa. The Velvet Revolver-esque Blood Warriors super-stable, after heeling it up in Japan earlier in the month, fully turned heel here in America when they denied respect to – and beat up – the increasingly popular Ronin, who kept saying they belong in Japan and backed it up with fair victories.

PAC & Masato Yoshino defeated Naruki Doi & Ricochet in the main event, and Ronin’s Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano defeated CIMA & Dragon Kid in the semi-main, so that gave Union City its match to decide the first Open The United Gate Champions. Both matches were really good (outside of the annoying Brodie fans I previously mentioned), with the main event perhaps being the best of the night. PAC was flat-out awesome, as was the interplay between the former Speed Muscle partners. I can’t discount Aries vs. Tozawa though. Great back-and-forth action combined with great character work, and after plenty of close calls, including a seduction/kiss by Reby Sky that would have been the finish in other places, Tozawa finally scored the fall with a straitjacket suplex to a huge ovation. If he wasn’t already made a star through PWG, he should be after this weekend.

YAMATO, being the new Open The Freedom Gate Champion, was the first guy to come out, with Moxley introducing him to the world. By hook or crook, he managed to defeat Brodie Lee in the chaotic opener by making him pass out to the choke sleeper. The one other Japanese star, former champ BxB Hulk, took it to Moxley in their match, made No DQ the night before, and ultimately won with his flash superkick. Rich Swann continued to impress with a competitive victory over Jimmy Jacobs, continuing to derail Jacobs’ quest for the title. Swann had yet to sing the Ronin theme song at this point in the show (he did for Taylor & Gargano’s time to wrestle), but that song was still over and he even got some chants of “Sing the Song!” Sami Callihan gained more momentum with a victory in a Six-Man Freestyle. Other guys in that match, full of total action in a nonstop fashion, were Jigsaw, fellow Chikara regular Frightmare in his DGUSA debut, Cheech Hernandez, CZW regular AR Fox (also debuting, and pinned by Callihan after a sliding forearm), and that big lug Rexx Reed. Reed first popped up back in July after taking part in the Dragon Gate seminar. Other guys from that seminar, Scott Reed and Tomasso Ciampa, were supposed to be on this show, but Scott was MIA for some reason and Ciampa joined ROH the previous weekend.

So there was much fun and excitement to be had Saturday in Philadelphia. The show ended earlier than I thought at around 10:25 PM, but that was good for my sake. I was way too busy (and too far away, even at home) to attend Union City’s taping, but it sounded aces based off the report at PWInsider (read if your computer can handle it). The most I’ll spoil here is that the Open The United Gate titles went the way of World-1. Also of note: the two Blood Warriors teams that would have fought each other joined forces instead to fight the odd quartet of differing circumstances that was Jacobs, Aries, YAMATO, and Callihan (it was explained fairly well). Homicide and Moxley had their No Rules match that aped what they did at EVOLVE 6 in November. Tozawa battled Hulk in what sounds like another standout match. Swann ran into Brodie’s convoy, and Cheech, Fox, Reed, and Pinkie got more attention in their own matches.

They announced a return to Philadelphia for June 6th, coinciding with the return to Manhattan.

Things worked out to where I was able to view this show live at its 7PM start time. The stream went very well, despite a few pauses and the volume of the crowd being low at times. I thought the picture quality was strong. The venue – B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill in Time Square – looked small and intimate. Interesting atmosphere for a show, but I probably would have preferred a bigger one. The fans were pretty much into the action all night, so that’s a plus. The show itself lasted about two hours and seventeen minutes, as there was no intermission, and each match flowed right into the other. The only matches to receive proper introductions were the two tag tournament matches and the opener.

I’ll keep this report pretty brief.

- Larry Legend from CZW was the ring announcer; prior to the picture coming on, he could be heard reading the guidelines and announcing a return date of June 5th. Lenny Leonard and Leonard F. Chikarason handled commentary again. Reby Sky came out to show off the Open The United Gate title belts.

1. Akira Tozawa (w/ Jon Moxley) defeated Sami Callihan with a deadlift German suplex. Fun opener with good intensity shown throughout by both guys. Late in the match they hit each other with multiple Saito suplexes.

- Moxley told the crowd this (Tozawa) is what a winner looks like. Not the Giants or the Mets or any of these other New York teams, and not Homicide either, who he claimed was home in Brooklyn whining about Vince Russo. Reby Sky came back out, wearing a Giants jersey (because she’s the New York Giants girl) and defended New York. Moxley brushed her off in an amusingly heelish fashion, Reby slapped him a few times, and Moxley grabbed her by her hair. He demanded Tozawa hit her, but he refused. Jigsaw made the save.

2. Jon Moxley defeated Jigsaw with the crossface chicken wing. Pretty brief. YAMATO came out toward the end, attacking Jigsaw on the outside while the ref was busy with Moxley, leading to the win.

- Moxley talked more trash about Homicide and YAMATO said his opponent BxB Hulk, would be “no problem.” Hulk came out and told Moxley to shut up, but then was jumped by YAMATO to kick off their match.

3. YAMATO defeated BxB Hulk with the Galleria to win the Open The Freedom Gate Title! Lengthy match up to this point and quite good as well with lots of close calls. YAMATO worked over Hulk’s leg a lot, using a high angle heel hook at one point, but Hulk (as usual) recovered quickly and put his agility to good use. The Galleria had a weak landing, so the finish maybe caught fans by surprise. Nevertheless, YAMATO’s title win makes this newsworthy.

[1/29 Edit: It slipped my mind when I was writing this, but Julius Smokes made a cameo during this match early. He jumped out of the crowd to fight with Moxley all over ringside and to the back, and then he made a cameo on commentary (as only he could) promising Homicide will kick Moxley's ass in Union City.]

- Jimmy Jacobs came out, said he’ll be coming for YAMATO now that he has the title, but still congratulated him.

4. Brodie Lee (w/ the Blood Warriors) defeated Jimmy Jacobs with a sit-out powerbomb. Jacobs fought back pretty damn well, even breaking out the guillotine choke out of nowhere and hitting a top rope senton, but Brodie had the match in hand against his former AOTF leader. It’s fun seeing Brodie all buddy-buddy with these smaller Japanese dudes.

5. Open The United Gate Tournament: Ronin (Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano w/ Rich Swann) defeated Blood Warriors (Naruki Doi & Ricochet) when Taylor hit Ricochet with the Awful Waffle. Format of the tournament is four teams wrestling one another all weekend in a round robin style, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Damn good match here, and Ricochet looked especially awesome. One spot saw him hitting a Sasuke Special in effortless fashion, but then Ronin took him down with a Doomsday Device on the floor (Gargano flying off the three-foot high stage to hit it). Great Dragon Gate tag action, with Ronin picking up two points in what was announced as a pretty surprising victory. Before and after the match, Taylor and Gargano said how they can handle the best that Dragon Gate has to offer and deserve to go to Japan.

6. Austin Aries defeated Rich Swann (w/ Taylor & Gargano) with a top rope brainbuster followed by the Last Chancery. Fun stuff overall, but things slowed down considerably when Aries injured his right shoulder on a bad bump. He still soldiered on, and even performed a 450 that he rolled through on when Swann moved. Swann showed a lot of good agility and hung in there with Aries. By the end, the cocky young man was wiped out, but still tried to talk on the mic with Taylor’s assistance.

- CIMA told Ronin this proved why they did NOT belong in Japan. The two sides built up their match for tomorrow, but for tonight, Masato Yoshino & PAC came out to take on the Blood Warriors.

7. Open The United Gate Tournament: World-1 (Masato Yoshino & PAC) defeated Blood Warriors (CIMA & Dragon Kid) when PAC hit Dragon Kid with a springboard 450 and a German suplex in succession. Really good main event. Lots of good stuff between PAC and Kid, as well as Kid and Yoshino of course. There were teases of a budding rivalry between PAC and Ricochet (who was at ringside) through both the commentary and some brief interactions before and during the match. CIMA did a few heelish tactics, including catapulting PAC neck-first into a chair, and the commentators acted surprised by these actions. So World-1 picked up two points, Blood Warriors are in a deep hole, and Ronin (with Taylor and Gargano in dress shirts) looked on from the entrance to taunt Blood Warriors and close the show.

Overall: Mighty fun night with lots of good action. The two tag matches were the best. I don’t think the format of no intermission and one match flowing into another hurt anything, as the matches had their own pace. I think this is by far the shortest Gabe Sapolsky-booked show I’ve ever seen though. This should be available for replay on GoFightLive.tv pretty soon. Tomorrow night’s show from Philadelphia will also be streamed live for all with a good internet connection to see, while Sunday afternoon’s show in Union City, NJ will be taped for regular PPV. I plan to attend tomorrow’s show (which will have a FRAY! match and a Kaiju Big Battel show (!) prior to the main show), but because I’ll be busy most of Sunday, I’ll likely check in on Monday or so with a catch-all article on the remainder of the weekend.

This is the third time I’ve attended a JAPW show. The first show of theirs I went to was actually the first independent show I ever attended: Seaside Heights in 2002. I was on vacation there with my family and found out about it by accident (it was being held and and promoted right on the boardwalk). The marquee bout was Jerry Lawler vs. Steve Corino, while the undercard featured Jay Lethal vs. current Smackdown announcer Matt Striker (in the opener) and Slyk Wagner Brown (who I guess was made out to be a big deal) vs. Mike Quackenbush (who I didn’t know what to make of at the time). The Briscoes, Da Hit Squad, and various Special K alumni were among those that filled out the card. The second JAPW show I attended was (I think) their second excursion to Philadelphia, in February 2006. The top matches were the Briscoes (just before their ROH return) vs. Sonjay Dutt & Sabu (yep), Charlie Haas (just before going back to WWE) vs. Homicide, and a three-way title match of Rhino vs. Jay Lethal vs. Teddy Hart. Contrary to what you may think, all of these matches were good. Their show this day was held in the afternoon, the first half of a doubleheader with CZW’s annual Cage of Death show.

- Parts of the Cage of Death were hanging on opposite sides of the ring. Crowd was pretty big, and their were LOTS of vendors were here. Raven was here, though I didn’t find out why. The ring announcer for JAPW, much as he was back in 2006, was Stephen DeAngeles. He warned the crowd that some portions of the show might be for mature audiences. He still starts his introductions for wrestlers walking to the ring with, “Ladies and gentlemen,” but at doesn’t do that for in-ring introductions. As for the refs, I wasn’t familiar with them.

1. Devon Moore defeated Josh Daniels, Bandido Jr., and Azrieal when he hit Daniels with a Shooting Star Press. I’ve seen Moore, the Philadelphia native and CZW regular, on occasion on DVDs and live shows since 2004. Bandido Jr. is a JAPW original I first saw back in 2006, and he’s vastly improved his look since. Daniels and Azrieal, both ROH alumni, look about in the same good shape they did five years ago, but have longer hair (with Daniels, who’s always been a bit of a Benoit clone, sporting Benoit-style hair circa 1995). This was a perfectly fine opener, with all four keeping the energy up. Bandido hit a moonsault off the top onto two or three guys on the floor. Azrieal and Bandido seemed to have an issue going into the match based on Azrieal’s language toward him. At the end of the match, Daniels had Bandido in a figure four, leaving him susceptible to Moore’s SSP. Fairly short. Bandido and Azrieal brawled to the back afterward.

2. Joe Hardway & Mia Yim (w/ Mo Sexton, Jonny D, and three random broads) defeated Corvis Fear & Annie Social (w/ Myke Quest) after Yim superkicked Social. Mixed tag action involving two tag wrestlers (Hardway and Fear) whose partners (Quest and Sexton respectively) were relegated to ringside due to leg injuries. Fear and Quest form the Garden State Gods, while Hardway & Sexton team up as the South Side Playaz Club, with Jonny D as their fairly sleazy manager. I’ve seen Yim before on Pro Wrestling Respect shows, and I’ve seen Social (a northeast regular) as a manager on SHIMMER DVDs. The entrance of the South Side Playaz Club should be seen to be believed. The whole entourage came out, Jonny D threw glow sticks into the crowd, a stripper pole was brought to ringside by crew, and the three random broads (from whom Yim kept her distance) began to dance on it while the guys sprayed champagne on them. All of this coupled with the music and lighting made this the new Best Entrance Ever, so of course the batteries on my camera were dead at that point. Honestly, this entrance was better than the match itself, which felt like it was going too long. It was by this point in the show I had trouble telling who were supposed to be heels and who were supposed to be faces, as the fans just cheered for whoever they liked. The men and women were treated as equals in the match, so they were chopping each other. The men together were decent. The women together were pretty clunky but worked hard. So the finish involved Sexton tripping up Social (guess that makes the Playaz Club the heels), which lead to one of the random broads distracting Social even further by kissing her and/or giving her a motorboat, which left her open for a superkick. I wasn’t crazy about this match, but holy shit, they’ll always have that entrance.

3. Eddie Kingston defeated B-Boy with a backfist. Stifftacular, with both guys really laying into each other. B-Boy was the more popular of the two with this crowd. They chopped each other a lot, one of them by Kingston sounding like a thud. B-Boy blocked the first attempted backfist with his forearms, and scored a nearfall with two Jimmy Rave-style running knees. B-Boy also laid into Kingston with basement dropkick in the corner, right into Kingston’s face. It looked insane and got the biggest pop of the match. Kingston avoided a second one, attempted a suplex that B-Boy escaped from, but then successfully hit the backfist as B-Boy charged into him. Quite a battle outside of a few slow moments, and Kingston showed respect to B-Boy afterward.

4. Sara Del Rey defeated LuFisto (w/ her doll Pigaboo) with the LeBell Lock to retain the JAPW Women’s Championship. Del Rey became the inaugeral Women’s Champion last year and hasn’t lost it since. LuFisto, the Montreal-based wrestler, suffered a stroke earlier this year, but has amazingly returned to action since, and this was her first match back in the Arena in two years (she used to be a CZW regular). This match was originally going to happen in Chikara nearly two years ago, but the the US-Canada border patrol thwarted that one. So I finally get to see it here and it didn’t disappoint. Del Rey laid into LuFisto good and worked over the leg a bit. LuFisto fired back. The action was taken to the outside briefly. The crowd really took notice after LuFisto nailed Del Rey with a cannonball into the corner and Del Rey immediately countered with a rolling kick. I popped for Del Rey using the LeBell Lock. My favorite match of the first half.

5. The United States Death Machine (Sami Callihan & Chris Dickinson) defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe following a chop into a tiger suplex on Jay. The Death Machine (cool name for an odd team) were the JAPW Tag Team Champions until the previous night, when they lost them to the reunited Hit Squad. I’ve only seen Dickinson (whose trunks asininely read “Win Dicky Win”) on EVOLVE shows and am not familiar with his history prior to those. He looked okay outside of some pretty weak offense. It was cool seeing Callihan mix it up with the Briscoes. Callihan and Dickinson warmed each other up by chopping and headbutting each other prior to the match, to which a few fans chanted, “What the fuck?” The Briscoes got the upperhand on chop battles with Dickinson. Lots of back and forth prior to the finish. After Dickinson hit the tiger suplex on Jay following a chop by Callihan, the ref counted to one, Callihan joined in on the pin, and then the ref restarted his count and counted to three quickly before Mark could make the save. The fans booed this finish and chanted “This ref sucks.” Jay agreed with this assessment and said the ref should get his ass whooped, so the Briscoes chased him to the back. Needless to say, this particular ref didn’t appear again until the main event, which wasn’t so reliant on competent reffing. Aside from all of that, pretty good match.

- Intermission, at which point Jushin Liger was available for photos and autographs.

6. Kenny Omega defeated Jay Lethal with Croyt’s Wrath. Good, even matchup put in the post-intermission slot. Omega, who was JAPW Heavyweight Champion for nearly a year and is now essentially a full-timer for DDT and New Japan, looked as good as he did the last time I saw him. He did not do his stop sign spot. Lethal played it straight but did break out the Flair strut early. The action between the two was very hot and heavy in the early going. By the time they slowed things down and were working each other over, the crowd was just dead unfortunately. I’m not blaming the guys themselves though, as they worked quite well together. Lethal got a nearfall following the Lethal Combination and avoided the first attempted Croyt’s Wrath before succumbing to it the second attempt. Omega was able to roll through on the bridge into a victorious pose while getting the pin. Omega gave credit to Lethal for his efforts, as did the crowd.

7. Brodie Lee defeated Rhino (w/ Jonny D) with the Big Boot to retain the JAPW Heavyweight Title. Brodie is actually a double-champ in JAPW, also holding a secondary title called the New Jersey State Title. He came to the ring wearing a confederate flag as a cape, as he’s part of a faction called the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew. Rhino went after him in the aisle way and fought with in and out of the ring. Brodie managed to get a nearfall after a surprising execution of the Truck Stop, and Rhino was able to throw Brodie around with a couple of suplexes. One of Brodie’s Hillbilly Wrecking Crew stablemates – Necro Butcher – attempted interference, but Rhino gored him. Right afterward, while the ref dealt with Necro, another one of Brodie’s stablemates – CZW regular Nick Gage, coming out to a huge reaction from the CZW-heavy crowd – ran successful interference by dropping Rhino’s neck over the ropes. This led to the finish. Quite short, but better than Brodie’s match with Akebono in DGUSA.

8. Jushin “Thunder” Liger defeated “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush with a series of palm strikes to retain the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship. Liger won the title the previous night in Rahway – it was a multi-man match with defending champ Azrieal, Kenny Omega, B-Boy, El Generico, and Bandido Jr. – so the title stip were added for this previously scheduled dream match. His retaining of the title is pretty exciting in that not only does this mean he would return after this, but it also ties into JAPW joining forces with New Japan to hold some New Japan-branded shows in the US. On top of that, Tiger Hatori from New Japan was brought in to officiate this match. Lots of submission work here, with Liger wearing down Quack with various holds and Quack working over Liger’s leg. This was all really good stuff. Quack hit Liger with a tope con hilo to the outside right in front of me, and he followed it up with a swanton inside for a nearfall. Liger took to the air when he leaped off the top onto Quack on the floor. Quack and Liger scored nearfalls with the Black Tornado Slam and the Liger Bomb respectively. Just a highly enjoyable match that delivered on the expectations I had for it. It was the reason I went, so I’m glad it didn’t disappoint. Outside of a few guys shouting insults at Quack (I have no clue why and don’t wish to deal with such people), the crowd was highly respectful of this match and gave Liger a huge ovation before and after the match. Great respect shown by both guys afterward. Huzzah and kudos to both men.

And now for something completely different…

9. No DQ Match: The Hillbilly Wrecking Crew (Necro Butcher & Nick Gage) defeated Da Hit Squad (Dan “Mafia” Maff & Monsta Mac) after giving Mac a double superplex onto a pile of chairs to win the JAPW Tag Team Championship. I presume this was No DQ, even though it wasn’t announced, since Da Hit Squad threw a few chairs into the ring before their opponents came out. Maff heeled on the Philadelphia crowd with his mic work. Then out came the challengers, and it was Brawly Brawl Brawl time. The crowd was shitting apes as all four guys brawled at ringside, dislodging the guard rails and hitting each other with chairs. I honestly couldn’t give a damn and was contemplating leaving if not for the sea of people. Necro and Gage took the majority of the match. Big CZW chants, even though this was supposed to be a JAPW show. At least when Maff was hit by chairs, he put his hand up. Mac did not, so nuts to him. Mac challenged Necro to sit down for a bar fight (just punching each other while seated in front of one another), and Necro got the better of it. Necro started throwing in a bunch of chairs into the ring, some of them hitting a downed Mac. He even threw in a tool box of some kind. The most entertaining moment of the match for me was that he was getting so carried away, he attempted to throw the heavy ring steps inside and failed in a comical way. Necro slammed Mac onto the chairs and Gage gave him a piledriver. Then came the finish and this one was mercifully over. I am definitely not the audience for this type of match anymore. I’ve already seen it done several times in the past with better wrestlers. The rest of the Hillbilly Wrecking Crew – Brodie Lee and the Briscoes (!) – came out to celebrate and pose with their titles. They now have three of JAPW’s five championships, so maybe one of the Briscoes can go after the Light Heavyweight Title and the other can cross-dress and go after the Women’s Title.

Overall: The show overall was alright, though Liger-Quackenbush was essentially on a different planet compared to the rest of this show. That match, Lethal-Omega, and Del Rey-LuFisto made me happy I went to this show. The tag title match did not, so to close the show with it left a damper on my experience. It worked for the rest of the audience, the majority of whom were sticking around for CZW, so whatever. I’ll just look forward to Chikara and Dragon Gate USA next month.

The Rahway Recreation Center, which has played host to many Jersey All Pro shows and the majority of EVOLVE shows, is a very nice establishment in a clean and safe area (it’s right next to the police station even). They have a good concession stand that rivals that of the Arena (no alcohol, but they do have hamburgers), and the show itself was based in the spacious gym. Advance ticket sales for this show must have been low based on the ticket pack sales they offered, so seating was kept low. There were only three rows of floor seats (constituting the Golden Circle seats) on all four sides, plus two small sets of bleachers on opposite ends. Fortunately, nearly all of these seats were filled for the main show, and the crowd was very hot and into everything throughout the show. I had a third row seat that allowed me to get in early for the bonus card and the chance to meet some of the Dragon Gate stars. I met YAMATO briefly, who was very mellow. My seat was on the hard camera side, with the hard camera and commentary table set up right behind me, so I got to hear most of the commentary being done by Lenny Leonard & Leonard F. Chikarason. The refs, like last night, were Bryce Remsburg and Jason Harding. The Bonus Card consisted of two matches.

1A. Rip Impact defeated Derek Ryze with a sit-out TKO/F5. I presume both of these guys were from the Seminar held earlier in the day. I thought they did well for themselves and the crowd gave them a nice reaction.

2A. Freestyle: Sami Callihan defeated Amasis and Ophidian and Cheech and Silas Young and Caleb Konley when he made Konley tap to the Stretch Muffler (horse collar). This match was given a good amount of time with each guy given a chance to shine. Most of it was one-on-one action while the other four stayed on the apron. Of course, it broke down into craziness later on. They all looked very good except for Conley, who had some rough moments including a scary landing following a dive to the outside. This was followed later on by Young and Cheech hitting stereo dives. The Osirian Portal worked together throughout the match, but after they hit the Osirian Sacrament, they argued briefly over who would get the fall. Sami was the most over guy coming out, so his path to victory, which included giving both Portal members back suplexes at once, was quite apt. Good stuff.

- About an hour later came the main card, taped for a PPV to likely air in January. The lighting in person looked great.

1. Jmmy Jacobs defeated Arik Cannon with the End Time. The guy I sat next to and chatted with the whole night was a big Jimmy Jacobs fan, so he was going crazy for him here. The moment of his night came when Jacobs had Cannon in a standing surfboard hold, the guy yelled out to give Cannon a curb stomp, and Jacobs acknowledged this and indeed gave Cannon a curb stomp. Cannon threw some good strikes as usual and even busted open Jacobs hardway with a bunch of headbutts (essentially reopening Jacobs’ head wound from the I Quit match). Jacobs got a nearfall with a senton off the top, while Cannon came close with both Total Anarchy (his rope-assisted spinning neckbreaker) and the Glimmering Warlock, which usually puts ‘em all away. Very hot opener and a good start for the show.

- A backstage promo by the new group Ronin (Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano, and Rich Swann) aired on the screen. set up over the entrance. I love that DGUSA is doing these now, and it looks like they’re taping them live. They just reiterated their points from last night, saying they can rise to the top on their own.

2. Brodie Lee defeated Akebono with a barrage of offense. Both giant men exchanged blows before ref Bryce Remsburg got crushed in the corner. From there Brodie Lee hit Akebono in the back with a steel chair, splashed him in the corner a couple times, and took him down with his big boot. Brodie scored the three-count but Akebono kicked out right after three and the two continued fighting until guys from the back, including Brodie’s fellow Warriors stablemates and members of Kamikaze USA, pulled them apart. Very short as hoped for and just whatever as expected.

- Sami Callihan cut a backstage promo. He was never given a chance when he was a little kid, he was never given a chance in middle school to take a girl to the prom, and nobody’s giving him a chance in his wrestling career. So give him a chance already!

3. World-1 (Homicide & BxB Hulk) defeated Kamikaze USA (Jon Moxley & Akira Tozawa) when Hulk hit Tozawa with the FTX. The show really picked up from here after the last match. When all was said and done, the combination of great action and four unique characters working so well together probably made this my favorite match of the night. Homicide & Hulk in particular were a very effective team, hitting a Speed Muscle-like double team at one one point. As I watch more and more of the Dragon Gate stars, I’ve learned they shine the brightest in tag team situations. Tozawa continued being great, putting his hip attack to great use and yelling at the crowd when they chanted for the babyfaces. Homicide and Moxley fought at ringside, throwing one another into the guard rails that made horrific sounds, when the fall went down. Excellent stuff.

- Afterward, Moxley got in the ring with a mic and told that World-1, and Homicide specifically, wasn’t anything special because they just beat a 12-year-old kid (referring to his own partner Tozawa, which was hilariously dickish of him to say). He challenged Homicide to fight him one-on-one right now. Homicide accepted just as YAMATO came out and jumped Hulk from behind. Homicide and Moxley commenced fighting, first in the ring and then into the crowd. They through each other around and Homicide hit Moxley with some plastic trash cans. This lasted for a good long while, so I can see it being left off the PPV but kept on the DVD later. It ended when Moxley wrapped Homicide’s left arm in a guard rail and hit it with a chair. Homicide sold his injury and frustration afterward. This was okay stuff, fun for the live crowd but likely nothing more. It might come off a little amateur on television.

- Austin Aries cut a backstage promo with Genki Horiguchi and Ricochet by his side, promising to beat some respect into Ronin.

4. CIMA defeated Shingo with the Meteora (double knees off the top). Fantastic first-half main event. CIMA was his usual awesome self, hitting some springboard-based moves, and Shingo was a beast. Shingo got close near falls with Made In Japan and the Original Falconry off the top. CIMA came close himself with the Schwein. Shingo had CIMA on the ropes quite a bit. Lots of big moves within the lengthy match.

- CIMA cut a promo afterward, seemingly indicating that he wants the Open The Freedom Gate Title. He then announced that next year, Dragon Gate USA will get its own set of tag team titles: the Open The United Gate Titles!

- Just before Intermission, Lenny Leonard announced that these new champions would be decided in a tournament starting (and ending?) on the first show of 2011: January 29th back in Philadelphia. Also announced for this show is the DGUSA return of current Open The Brave Gate Champion and Dragon Gate’s resident Brit, PAC! In other news, Homicide vs. Jon Moxley was announced for EVOLVE 6 next month in Union City, along with the previously announced Austin Aries-Chuck Taylor match.

5. Sami Callihan defeated James Small (?) with the Stretch Muffler. Post-intermission squash, with Small (another Seminar guy maybe) hitting one move but Callihan taking the bulk of it. They definitely have plans for Callihan now, especially since he went 3-0 this weekend (hey, like his obsession over the number 3 a little while ago for EVOLVE).

- Jimmy Jacobs cut a backstage promo. He’s on a comeback trail, and that comeback is going to end with him getting the Open The Freedom Gate Championship, his first MAJOR singles title (so I guess the IWA Mid-South World Title is nothing).

6. Ronin (Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann) defeated Austin Aries & Warriors International (Genki Horiguchi & Ricochet) when Gargano hit Ricochet with the Hurts Donut (full nelson twistaround facebuster). Really fun trios match that started with the basic tag formula (heels working over the faces) and ended with a lot of big moves, big dives, and nearfalls. Ronin used a few simple double team and triple team move to good effect. The goofiest doubleteam was a tandem ground-stomping utilized by Taylor and Gargano, which Taylor ended with a “Boom Shaka Laka!” Horiguchi had a brief dance-off with Swann and had his hair worked over for his troubles. Ricochet was isolated in the end, hit with a Swann double stomp to the back while Taylor and Gargano held him up, then Gargano held on to the wheelbarrow and transitioned into the Hurts Donut. The right team won at this juncture.

- Moxley cut a backstage promo while YAMATO stood next to him looking creepy. Moxley matter-of-factly said Homicide wasn’t that tough and that he put him on the shelf for just a day. He then told his boy YAMATO to take care of Yoshino.

7. Non-Title Match: Open The Dream Gate Champion Masato Yoshino (w/ BxB Hulk) defeated YAMATO with the Sol Naciente. No Moxley at ringside, though I did notice him watching the match from the back, his head poking out over the curtain. Longest match of the night and my second favorite behind the World-1 vs. Kamikaze USA tag. The two of them started things off slow. YAMATO worked over Yoshino’s leg a little while – using the ankle lock among other things – to cut down on his speed, but Yoshino managed to overcome it. Yoshino countered a superplex attempt that YAMATO called out for with a top rope Sling Blade. Huge moment late in the match saw Yoshino kick out from YAMATO’s patented Galleria, which has scored victories every time prior to this. After two countered attempts earlier, Yoshino locked on the Sol Naciente successfully to make YAMATO give up. A great end to the show, and Yoshino thanked everyone for coming afterward. He asked the crowd if they wanted DGUSA to return to Rahway, to which they replied in the affirmative. Yoshino said he’d come back and that he’ll see everyone next year.

Overall: Absolutely one of the best shows I’ve been to all year, and a great way for DGUSA to go out with a bang for 2010. Outside of Brodie-Akebono and the post-intermission squash, the rest of the card delivered big time. A stronger card than the iPPV, with Yoshino-YAMATO being even better than Hulk-Shingo.

- As usual in DGUSA, Lenny Leonard and Leonard F. Chikarason handled commentary. The webcast opened with a highlight reel video, then CIMA came down to the ring with Ricochet, whom he recruited into WARRIORS International last month in Chicago. The crowd from Fall River looked pretty small to me, but they were pretty hot all night. The building included a balcony that wasn’t too high up and looked like it was right on top of the action; it came into play later. CIMA welcomed everyone to the show, and said that after acquiring Ricochet, WARRIORS International will add one more American to their ranks thanks to tonight’s stable draft. Then came the entrances for Ricochet’s three opponents in the opening match. I’d be remiss without mentioning that the picture and sound were terribly out of sync from the start, with the picture maybe a minute behind the sound.

1. Four-Way Freestyle: Chuck Taylor defeated Ricochet (w/ CIMA) and Arik Cannon and Johnny Gargano when he hit Cannon with a top cornbuckle-assisted Awful Waffle. The sound remained a out of sync as a message above the window on GoFightLive’s site alerted viewers that it was being dealt with. Towards the end of the match, their method of fixing this included slowing down the speed of the picture and even cutting a moment out of the match once in a while. If I was any of the four wrestlers working their ass off in this match, I would be pissed to learn about this. Hopefully the replay (which starts Sunday) will have those issues resolved during this match. I watched most of the match with the sound turned down so that the commentary from the future wouldn’t spoil spots to me. What I did hear of the commentary mentioned something I expected to happen: Homicide, making his DGUSA debut this weekend and already set to team with BxB Hulk tomorrow, was drafted into World-1 earlier this afternoon. As for the match here itself, it was really fun balls-to-the-wall action. The rules of these Freestyle matches, first established after that four-way in July with three of these four guys, are just that all the participants would be able to be in the ring at once and try to score the fall. The action was pretty comparable to that match in July, which had Adam Cole instead of Gargano. Taylor and Ricochet both dived to the floor early, clearing the guard rail. Plenty of close nearfalls, including some potential finishers being broken up at the last second. Ricochet and Gargano were left on the floor, allowing Taylor to pick up his third straight win in this type of match.

- Afterward, CIMA got into the ring, said he was impressed by Taylor, and asked if he would like to join WARRIORS International (he had the next pick in the draft order). Leonard and Chikarason thought that he would surely say yes, so of course Taylor said no. He said he had withdrawn from the draft earlier in the day, so he’s off the market. Then Gargano, who’s been begging to join WARRIORS International for months, got into the ring and begged once more. CIMA left him hanging as he helped Ricochet to the back.

- Backstage promo by Jon Moxley. The promos tonight could be seen by the live crowd based on their reaction. Sadly, Moxley couldn’t be heard, and the fans briefly chanted, “We can’t hear you.” He had a woman by his side – likely the former BxB Hulk dancer who appeared as a ghostly bride in July – and Moxley face-palmed her out of frame as he continued to cut his silent promo. Cue the failure bullhorn.

2. Homicide defeated Rich Swann with a lariat. Everything was back in sync just in time for these guys to make their entrances! BxB Hulk came out with Homicide and gave him a World-1 bandana to wear to the ring. The commentators mentioned Naruki Doi in Japan recently turning his back on World-1 in Japan, joining up with another band of wrestlers. This match was okay. Swann went toe-to-toe with Homicide, using some slick agility to get the better of things, but Homicide came through in the clutch. Swann managed to kick out of a pin after taking an Ace Crusher. This might be worth a second look down the line. Swann had a pretty strong following tonight. Homicide gave a World-1 hand signal followed by the LAX hand signal.

- After Homicide left and Swann struggled to his feet in the ring, another big name made his DGUSA debut: Austin Aries. He was wearing trademark A-Double gear (fluffy pink vest and Skittles-esque trunks) but he was decidedly straightforward here, akin to how he was from 2004 to 2008 in ROH. In addition to his match, a big draw for the show was that Aries would have a live mic following his recent departure from ROH. He wanted Swann to stick around for it. He mentioned that he was doing some soul-searching at this point in his career, and in doing so searched the soul of the wrestling business. He acknowledged that MMA was all the rage, but said many aspects of pro wrestling were real (the athleticism, the risk, the excitement, and the injuries). He said there was no respect for pro wrestling because pro wrestling had no respect for itself, as all of the negative aspects of wrestling were seen as “just the way it is” and accepted as the norm. Aries said he was tired of that way of thinking and spoke out about it, in turn giving him a locker room rep as a trouble-maker. He said he was a man of honor and of honesty, telling it like is and thinking all wrestlers and fans should strive for honor. He then turned his attention to Swann, saying he doesn’t want to form a new group or anything, but would like to take him under his wing as a protege. He let Swann stick around at ringside and think it over as Aries had his match. Nice segment.

3. Non-Title Match: Open The Dream Gate Champion Masato Yoshino defeated Austin Aries with the Sol Naciente. Very good match lasting about 20 minutes. Aries wrestled very straightforward without the heelish tropes. In other words, the Fucking Man is back. Fun sequence early on where Aries did a criss-cross with the Speed Star and perhaps bit off more than he could chew. Leonard mentioned that Aries was working on some new submission holds, and he introduced a new one tonight called the Figure Eight “because it’s twice as good as the Figure Four.” It was essentially a sit-out cloverleaf. Yoshino survived that as well as the Last Chancery, and even kicked out from a brainbuster. Business definitely picked up from here tonight.

- Afterward, Rich Swann applauded Aries’ efforts and gave him a hand to help him up, but then let go to let him drop again. Leonard & Chikarason were appalled as Swann’s fans chanted, “You Got Swanned!” Aries looked pretty pissed, but also like he was a guy that’s dealt with jerks like that before.

- Backstage promo by Johnny Gargano. He had a mic with him and could be heard, to which the crowd went “YAY!” in a funny moment. Gargano simply asked that CIMA give him one more shot at joining WARRIORS International. It was here that I noticed Gargano’s kooky new haircut, not that far off from CIMA’s, but longer.

- Video package for the Jimmy Jacobs-Jon Moxley feud.

4. I Quit Match: Jimmy Jacobs defeated Jon Moxley via railroad spike to the groin. Jon Moxley cut a very brief promo after his entrance, hindered by a faulty mic. Jacobs made his entrance by popping up in the balcony and diving from it into the ring onto Moxley! Then he revealed a belt and began whipping Moxley’s back. Moxley fought back and introduced the railroad spike (which he took from Jacobs in Chicago), but it ended up stuck in a cornbuckle after missing Jacobs’ head. They brawled at ringside. A second railroad spike came into play, which Moxley used to bust Jacobs open. He was bleeding like Jay Briscoe from this point on. Jacobs managed to draw a little bit of blood from Moxley with the other spike, but nothing compared to the Grade-Whatever Muta he had experienced. Moxley got the upper hand again and tied Jacobs’ hands behind his back with the belt. Moxley was about to hit him with a chair at this point – “Shades of the Rock vs. Cactus Jack!” exclaimed Leonard – but Jacobs avoided it and locked on the End Time with his hands still bound. Moxley broke free, sat on Jacobs’ chest, and laid into him with some spike-assisted ground and pound! The ref pulled Moxley off and asked Jacobs if he wanted to quit, but Jacobs refused. He escaped from the belt and showed babyface fire, using a chair along the way in route to the finish, which I’d consider shades of Dreamer vs. Spicolli. Awesomely gruesome and gruesomely awesome match.

- Jacobs cut a post-match promo, saying he knows fans have seen him overcome some pretty heinous things recently. He said he was now on a mission to make his life complete and win the Open The Freedom Gate Championship.

- Sami Callihan cut a backstage promo! He’s very upset that nobody’s giving him the respect he thinks he deserves (Fans: “AWWWW…”). If he doesn’t get that respect and doesn’t get drafted, he’s going to start hurting people. I just learned that he won the FRAY! match that took place for the live crowd earlier, so he’s moving on up.

- Intermission. Leonard plugged tomorrow’s show and the DVDs available on the web site just before this.

5. Akebono & Brodie Lee defeated the Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) following a double pin after Brodie Lee’s Truck Stop (Black Hole Slam) and Akebono’s World’s Strongest Slam. Yes, this team was fucking huge. It was acknowledged that this was Akebono’s first appearance in the US since WrestleMania 21 in 2005 (accidentally identified as 2004 on commentary). This match is simple to recap. The Portal mostly avoided the big men using their speed. Brodie had his way with Ophidian a bit before Akebono tagged himself in to Brodie’s dismay. Then the Portal put Akebono in a trance using their Snake Charmer shtick (I haven’t seen them do this in a long time, and it made me laugh). Apparently this was a form of hypnosis, as they convinced Akebono to give Brodie a Pounce. Then the Portal danced like MC Hammer, and Akebono followed suit. Then they mistakenly attacked Akebono in the corner, breaking him out of the trance. They got out of the way of Brodie’s big boot, which ended up in Akebono’s grill and lead to an argument and shoves. The Portal attempted to capitalize by coming off the ropes onto both men, but this lead to their downfall. After the match, Brodie and Akebono began fighting again, leading to the locker room (including Yoshino) pulling them apart. Brodie grabbed a chair before ultimately leaving. Fun for what it was, basic, and harmless.

- Homicide cuts a backstage promo, happy to be back on the independents. He feels Dragon Gate USA is on the rise, and now is not only a one-man LAX, but has a new crew in World-1. Jon Moxley jumped him from behind and told him he wasn’t scared of him being with World-1.

6. Kamikaze USA (YAMATO & Akira Tozawa) defeated WARRIORS International (CIMA & Genki Horiguchi w/ Ricochet) when YAMATO hit Horiguchi with the Galleria. My favorite match of the night, with lots of great action between these two fantastic teams. I’ve seen even more of Tozawa recently since first seeing him back in July, and he is the MAN! YAMATO compliments him well. The heels worked over the ponytail that is the remainder of Horiguchi’s hair, then a little later worked over CIMA’s leg. They kept things slow before really picking things up toward the end. A lot of close calls, including a Horiguchi doing the Backslide from Heaven and CIMA rolling forward with an additional bridge. Also, YAMATO hitting a release German suplex and Tozawa following up with his dead lift German. The crowd gave this match a standing ovation.

- Horiguchi was helped to the back following the match. Gargano came out to talk to CIMA once more. Gargano asked him to give him one more shot and recruit him. Just as CIMA was about to speak, Gargano kicked him and beat him down, then Chuck Taylor and Rich Swann ran out to beat up Ricochet. Gargano said he never wanted to join WARRIORS, to which Leonard wondered why he would ask to join ten times. Taylor grabbed the mic, saying none of them ever wanted to be drafted. Taylor had enjoyed CIMA’s broken English long enough and remarked he began learning Japanese. He revealed that he, Gargano, and Swann have now formed their own stable, Ronin. So this is essentially a recreation of the current incarnation of F.I.S.T. from Chikara, with Swann standing in for Icarus. Just as Ronin was about to leave, a weakened CIMA took the mic and revealed the actual draft pick for WARRIORS International: Brodie Lee! He and Ricochet chased Ronin through the crowd and presumably out of the building.

- Video package on the history between Shingo and BxB Hulk.

- Aries popped up by Leonard immediately afterward and condemned Ronin as a bunch of Punks. As a free agent, he offered to be a member of WARRIORS International for just one night, making a match for tomorrow night: Ronin vs. himself, Ricochet, and Horiguchi in a trios match.

7. BxB Hulk (w/ Masato Yoshino) defeated Shingo with H-Thunder (Emerald Frosion) to retain the Open The Freedom Gate Championship. Really good match, perhaps the second best of the night, and definitely better than Hulk’s match against Masaaki Mochizuki back in July. Hulk’s hair is thankfully growing back. Shingo worked over Hulk early at a slower, methodical pace, including dropping him ribs first onto the guardrail. Hulk fought back with his agility and strikes. Things picked up really well toward the end. Shingo got a close nearfall with a superplex that flowed into an Emerald Frosion. This was followed by another nearfall from Made In Japan, which he really had to work for as Hulk resisted. Hulk came close himself using a seated superkick. He hit another one toward the end, followed by a successful Phoenix Splash for another nearfall just before the finish. I was pretty surprised in that I thought for sure Shingo was going to win the title going in.

- So we were told that this was Hulk’s last defense of the title (at least in the US) and he’ll make it full year as the champion. YAMATO jumped Hulk from behind as he celebrated, but then Yoshino came in and fought him off. Yoshino took the mic and said he’ll take care of him at tomorrow’s show, then he thanked the fans for coming. Fans chanted for DGUSA to come back as Yoshino and Hulk celebrated the show went off the air. However, wasn’t Kamikaze USA supposed to make a draft pick on this show? Nevermind then.

Overall: Outside of the terrible glitches that hurt the beginning of the webcast, this was a damn fine show on the support of four very strong and distinct matches: Aries-Yoshino, the I Quit Match, and the final two matches. The storyline developments, essentially putting an end to the US representative story, were a nice touch for a show being aired live. Provided the issues during the beginning can be fixed, it’s definitely worth checking out the replay (available Sunday), plus Gabe Sapolsky in a recent interview said that the DVD version would feature different camera edits and better presentation. The show Saturday will be a traditional PPV taping from Rahway, NJ, and I will be attending it in person.

Amazingly, this show is available for purchase on DVD right now as you read this. The announcement was made during the show that Smart Mark Video would get it out the next morning, and sure enough they worked all night to do so. The live show itself opened with a video introduction done in the style of a movie trailer. Very well done like all Chikara videos of this sort.

1. Tim Donst & Pinkie “Pink Ant” Sanchez & Lince Dorado & Tursas defeated The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant & Green Ant) & Frightmare after Pinkie gave Frightmare the Burning Snicklefritz. Jakob Hammermeier was sporting a neck brace after he was laid out by Eddie Kingston and Tommy Dreamer in May. Very fun match to kick things off. Frightmare did a sprint around the building after hitting a dive. Tursas remained nigh immovable and at one point plowed down everyone else while they were involved in a headlock chain. Frightmare nearly had it won with the Kneecolepsy on Dorado before Pinkie broke it up and finished him off.

- Right after the match ended, the lights flickered, the video screens went to static, and out came someone dressed like Vokoder, Donst’s old persona leading up the BDK unveiling. Only Pinkie seemed to notice him while everyone else, especially Donst, acted oblivious to it.

2. Shingo defeated Jimmy “Equinox” Olsen with a lariat. This was a special unannounced match that was teased days prior to the event. Many people including myself thought it might include Bryan Danielson, but I’m not complaining. This was a fun match that Shingo mostly dominated, working as the heel and even attempting to remove the Equinox mask (does that really matter though considering his identity isn’t a mystery?). The one down note was Jimmy taking a scary landing after doing a suicide dive. He seemed pretty out of it but still worked onward before Shingo finished him off with Made In Japan and one of his monstrous lariats.

- Eddie Kingston came out and introduced Tommy Dreamer, inducting him into the Arena’s Hardcore Hall of Fame. Dreamer gave a nice speech, during which he didn’t cry nor say that he promised himself he wouldn’t cry. He mentioned how the building may have changed in some respects but the spirit of the Arena is still strong thanks to places like Chikara. He also recalled a funny story of how he and Taz drove for two hours from New York to Philadelphia to work for ECW the first time, but then spent another hour driving trying to find the Arena. He closed by saying he was born in Yonkers, NY, but when he’s no longer living, it’ll be written that he was born here. Very nice segment, angle-free.

3. Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze defeated Amazing Kong & Raisha Saeed when Daizee pinned Kong with a bridging German suplex (!) following momentum by one of Del Rey’s rolling kicks. Someone in the crowd shouted out to Kong to “do it for Haiti.” The women of BDK demanded this challenge, but Haze was quite intimidated by her opponents. In addition to Kong, it was nice to see Cheerleader Melissa wrestle in person for the first time, despite working under this goofy gimmick and at one point wailing to her Middle Eastern gods. Del Rey acted surprised that her shoulder tackles weren’t taking down Kong, despite these two wrestling a number of times, including the previous night. Fun match with a simple story, and the finish (both the outcome and the actual offense) was a big suprise that the crowd exploded for.

4. CIMA & Masaaki Mochizuki & Super Shenlong defeated F.I.S.T. (Icarus & Gran Akuma & Chuck Taylor) when CIMA gave Akuma the Schwein followed by double knees off the top. Shenlong was filling in for the injured Dragon Kid; I don’t believe he’s affiliated with CIMA and Mochizuki in WARRIORS. Just like at King of Trios (which I didn’t notice) and talked about in a blog battle with F.I.S.T. on Chikara’s site, Johnny Gargano popped up at some point to watch F.I.S.T. wrestle in person. One of Mochizuki’s kicks sent Icarus scurrying off the apron and into the crowd, during which he crawled over me. Akuma was the recipient of alternating kicks from Mochizuki and CIMA. F.I.S.T. got the majority of their offense on Shenlong before CIMA and Mochizuki could get back in. One of the heels received a massive Mochizuki axe kick to the lower regions. Fantastic stuff right up there with the F.I.S.T. vs. Osaka Pro match at King of Trios.

- Johnny Gargano entered the ring after the match with a disappointed look. Icarus attended to the fallen Akuma while Gargano and Taylor exchanged a few words and largely silent body language. Icarus took part in a little of this, and then he gave Akuma a pedigree, kicking him out of the group and replacing him with Gargano. Icarus and Taylor even removed the F.I.S.T. gauntlets from Akuma’s wrists and gave them to Gargano. Pretty big heat, and fans chanted for Akuma as he slumped away.

- Intermission. Right after it ended, another video announced that Manami Toyota, the acclaimed female wrestler from Japan, would make her U.S. debut on the Chikara shows in September (Baltimore and Brooklyn). That’s huge. On top of that, fans were handed exclusive (?) Chikara trading cards of Toyota.

5. The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) & Drake Younger defeated The UnStable (Vin Gerard & STIGMA & Colin Delaney) when the Portal gave STIGMA the Osirian Sacrament. Colin wore a neck tie for whatever reason (Danielson-related?). Younger, who looked better here than the previous night, wore an Osirian Portal tunic over his usual shorts. Largely a three-on-three brawl around the ringside area with lots of chaos and a crazy dive sequence right in front of my section. The crowd loved it. Smartly, all six made sure to avoid the count-out at one point. Younger’s forehead cut from the previous night opened up again at some point. Younger dumped Gerard headfirst into a garbage can outside and did an Ole Kick into it. Shortly after this, Younger was taken out by STIGMA’s tombstone piledriver onto the ringside steps. After the finish, the Portal celebrated by dancing and convinced Younger to do his goofy white boy dancing for a big pop. Fun stuff once again, very different from everything else on the show.

6. Claudio Castagnoli & Ares (w/ Delirious) defeated Eddie Kingston & Tommy Dreamer after Claudio gave Dreamer a Ricola Bomb. BDK-affiliated ref Derek Sabato officiated this match and was terrifically dickish in this role (slow counts for Kingston and Dreamer’s pin attempts, fast counts for his buddies, etc.). Still under control of the Eye of Tyr in Ares’ possession, the zombified Delirious in cool new BDK gear was lead to the ring on a chain and remained motionless in the BDK’s corner. Ares has grown a beard, and Claudio has grown an unfortunate mohawk. Not to be outdone, Dreamer now wrestles with goofy-looking MMA gloves. Basic match that served its purpose. Dreamer did some of Kingston’s strikes like the Kobashi chops and the backfist. Delirious only got involved right after the end, attacking Kingston. He was straddled on the ropes as Claudio celebrated over the fallen Dreamer.

7. Chikara Sekigun (Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Hallowicked) defeated World-1 (Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi & BxB Hulk) when Quackenbush hit Doi with the Quackendriver 2. Yoshino and Hulk came out with their titles (and in Hulk’s case, his wig again for the entrance). Great main event with lots of crazy moves within its 17 minutes. Everything you could possibly hope for from these six guys. At the very end, Doi peppered Quack’s face with about three dozen slaps and went for his sliding kick, but that was avoided and countered into one pin attempt, followed by another counter, followed by the finish. The Chikara team invited World-1 back into the ring to shake hands, and they did so for the ultimate crowd-pleasing ending.

Overall: One hell of a super card. I actually thought this was a more satisfying overall show than Dragon Gate USA’s show the previous night, and I still really enjoyed that show. The two six-mans with Dragon Gate talent delivered big time, some good upper-midcard angles began, and Tommy Dreamer was used better than he probably will be in TNA. The best part is that everyone who wasn’t there can see it on DVD sooner than they could have before. Buy this sucka. Chikara returns to action at the end of August for the three-night Young Lions Cup VIII tournament in Reading, PA, then Baltimore on September 18th and Brooklyn on September 19th featuring Manami Toyota.