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.

A bit of backstory for this one. These two put together a classic earlier in McGuinness’ world title run at ROH’s Final Battle show in NYC in December. Nigel won, but was busted open badly from an Aries missile dive that sent him into the guard rail. Nigel has since gone full-fledged heel. On this Wrestlemania weekend show Aries gets his rematch. Having been at this match live I’m interested to see how I feel about it the second time around. I enjoyed it live, but there were plenty of distractions, so I wouldn’t say I was completely in tune with everything in the moment. This is the first time I’ve watched the DVD.

We start off with some very quick chain wrestling and reversals. Aries goes left right to Nigel’s shoulder, usually a Nigel target considering his London Dungeon submission hold. On Commentary Dave Prasak and Lenny Leonard do a nice job of getting over their signature spots to look for. Nigel has to bail once Aires goes for his Last Chancery submission. Aries tease his missile dive to remind us of what happened at “Rising Above” in December.

More Aries beatings once Nigel gets back in the ring. He gets the Last Chancery, knees to the head, and assorted other damaging moves. Aries offense while in control is quick, but not overkill. It’s effective modern stuff. He switches to working the neck and high back. We get his signature twisting elbow. One of the great things about the ROH main eventers like Nigel, Aires, and Danielson is they have a bunch of signature stuff, including a finisher and submission. Lots to work around and play off of.

Nigel reveres Aires into the turnbuckle shoulder first at about 8 minutes in. He starts working on the shoulder right away. I’m a mark/geek for focused work on a body part at a good pace at first that dovetails into submission and crowd taunting. Nigel’s cocky looks as he settles into his offense sets a good tone for me. Divorce Court single arm DDT. He gets two one count pin attempts. Crowd gets behind Aries, and we get a slight hope spot. Nigel starts getting on the fans, stealing Brian Danielson’s catch phrase. Aries recovers for a quick roll up attempt, but Nigel shuts him down again. Seems Aries is getting hope spot pins. Aries is still selling the shoulder and gets caught again.

Nigel sets up Aries for his Tower of London (a cutter from the top turnbuckle) big move, but Aires fights free. Good tease because you know it’s coming at some point. Aries is strike with the injured arm, and quickly loses control. Nigel gets the Dungeon. To close to the ropes. Aires back with the Last Chancery. Nigel gets free and beats down Aries some more. 14 minutes in.

The Tower of London is set up again, but Aries face rakes him. Another hope spot begins, but ends quickly with Nigel getting his boots up to the face of Aries. They’ve done a good job with the story here. Nigel wears down Aries’ arm/shoulder, but Aries is resilient and keeps coming back. Nigel is for the most part in control, but can’t close the deal.

Third time is the charm as Nigel finally hits the London Dungeon, but only for two. I’m surprised the crowd doesn’t react as much, but then they’re conditioned for longer matches with near falls. Nigel sets him up for a top rope closeline (another signature Nigel moves), but Aries reverses into a submission. Aries looks like a young Macho Man with the double ax handle to the floor. Aries continues with a barrage of vicious drop kicks. He gets a near fall. Brainbuster? Nigel blocks. Nigel’s headstand spot? Aries drop kicks him. Nigel recovers with a HUGE lariat. Double ten counts and the crowd are hot now!

Aries hits a soccer kick, then Brainbuster, and goes for the 450. He misses. Nigel puts him right in the London Dungeon. Fans beg Aries not to tap, as this is the first Dungeon that is really in the center of the ring. They fight back and forth for him to eventually reverse into a roll up near fall. We’re 20 minutes into the match.

They go back and forth on signature moves and reversals. A lariat is blocked and Aries again ends up going for the 450. This feels like the end of the match and a title change, and the crowd reacts accordingly. You can see the great Dr. Keith Lipinski talking into his recorder as the near fall occurs and Nigel rolls outside. What a pro (Nigel and the Doc).

Aries crashes and burns when Nigel moves and Aries hits a missile dive into the guard rail. Nigel lariats him to hell off the guard rail. The near fall when they get back in isn’t as hot as you think, but they get behind Aries right after. Aries plays dead well. A few more near falls, Aries with one big comeback giving him a crucifix bomb, but Nigel rolls through and hits the Jawbreaker Lariat for the pin. 4 ½ stars and 9/10.