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100 Percent Fordified: Dragon Gate USA Open The Southern Gate

September 27, 2011 | Posted by Kevin Ford
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100 Percent Fordified: Dragon Gate USA Open The Southern Gate  

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Burlington, NC – 4.1.2011

Commentary is provided by Lenny Leonard and Leonard F. Chikarason.

Backstage, Ronin cut a goofy promo involving Rich Swann underneath a silver lucha mask.

Jon Davis vs. Brodie Lee

Lee laid out a challenge and Davis accepted. The big man trade strikes to start. Lee comes off Davis’ shoulders but gets caught with a powerslam. Lee rolls to the floor. Davis comes off the apron with a forearm. Davis slams Lee’s face into the apron. Ricochet grabs Davis’ leg, allowing Lee to nail a superkick and a suplex. Lee chokes him on the middle rope. CIMA and Ricochet attack Davis behind the referee’s back. Lee suplexes Davis for two. He throws few uppercuts and Davis responds with some forearms. Lee rakes his eyes and delivers a running double overhand chop in the corner. Lee steps on Davis’ chest in a sign of disrespect. Davis and Lee exchange chops mid-ring. Davis side steps the big boot. He blocks a chokeslam and kicks Lee in the shoulder. Lee ducks a leg lariat and pitches Davis to the floor. Davis kicks Lee from the floor to block a dive. Davis nails a clothesline and the Pounce for two. Lee avoids a corner splash and big boots her. He hits the Truck Stop for two, which surprises Lee. Davis hits a weird pump-handle suplex for two. Lee connects with the Big Boot and a powerbomb for the pin at 7:42. Davis looked timid and slow, which is not at all what we usually see. What could have been a really good big man slugfest was just a sloppy fight. *3/4

AR Fox reminds us that he won the last time DGUSA was on PPV and that he plans to be the one to breakout tonight.

The Breakout Challenge – Match #1
Jimmy Rave vs. Lince Dorado vs. Sugar Dunkerton vs. Kyle Matthews

Dunkerton slaps Dorado before the bell. Dorado kicks him in the head and delivers some chops. He hits a backspring elbow and springboards into an armdrag. Dunkerton goes to the floor, bringing in Matthews. Dorado headstands into a headscissors. Rave drops Matthews with an STO on the apron. Dorado Asai moonsaults onto Rave. Dunkerton sets up for a dive. Dorado jumps in, so Dunkerton headbutts him in the chest and overhead suplexes him. Dunkerton delivers some right hands to Rave. Rave knocks him down with a clothesline then chops Matthews. He jackknife pins Matthews for two. Rave drops Dunkerton with a lariat. He catches Matthews on the top rope and superplexes him. Dorado hits Matthews with a shooting star press for two. Dorado gives Rave a headscissors and a spinwheel kick. Dunkerton breaks Dorado’s pin. Dunkerton drops Dorado with a piledriver, but Matthews breaks the pin. Dunkerton nails Matthews with the Bow Chicka Wow Wow for two. Matthews Saito suplexes Dunkerton and dropkicks Rave off the apron. He sentons off the apron onto Dunkerton. Matthews nearly kills Dorado with a huracanrana in the ring. He dropkicks Rave and Dorado breaks the pin. Matthews and Dorado knock each other down with superkicks. Dunkerton rolls up Rave, but Rave hits the Doppler Effect for the pin at 5:03. Matthews didn’t come off so hot, but everyone else looked good. Dunkerton and Dorado really worked hard and Rave’s basic offense kept things together. The finish was a bit abrupt, but this was fun while it lasted. **1/2

Jonny Fairplay comes out to the ring. Yes, THAT Jonny Fairplay. Fairplay says he’s going to sign the winner of the Breakout challenge. To what? Not a clue. He tells Jimmy Rave that he’s his personal favorite, but Rave walks away from a handshake.

The Stable Shootout – Match #1
Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan

Callihan was hand-picked by the Blood Warriors to take on Ronin member Rich Swann. Callihan charges Swann in the corner while Swann is talking to the camera. Swann sends Callihan to the floor with a superkick. Swann kicks Callihan from the apron. Callihan goes back in the ring to evade an Asai moonsault. He kicks and clotheslines Swann off the apron. Callihan slides out. Swann nails a moonsault off the ring apron. Swann backflips to avoid a dragonscrew, but Callihan suplexes Swann onto the entrance ramp. Swann gets back in the ring to avoid being counted out. Callihan powerbombs him for two. Callihan wraps Swann’s arms around his legs and slams his forearm into Swann’s neck multiple times. Callihan pulls on Swann’s face while applying a headlock. Swann drops into a chinbreaker to escape, but Callihan knocks him down with a clothesline. Callihan lights up Swann with chops and spits right in his face. Swann spits back and lays in a flurry of chops of his own. Swann backflips out of an Irish whip and nails him with a single leg dropkick. He spikes Callihan with a headscissors takedown for two. Callihan catches Swann’s cartwheel. He drops him with a Saito suplex, then hits the Forearm to Remember for two. Swann uses the Leap of Faith to bring Callihan off the top rope. He hits a standing shooting star press for two. Callihan gets his knees up to block Swann’s Standing 450 splash. Callihan delivers a headlock driver for two. Callihan chops Swann on the mat. Swann captures his arm and nails him with Kawada kicks. Swann then hits a superkick and a tornado kick. Callihan catches his huracanrana and applies the Stretch Muffler. Callihan applies a bodyscissors, causing Swann to tap at 9:42. Really entertaining stuff. It’s easy to see these guys have the work ethic, talent and support of the fans to climb to the top of DGUSA. The finish was pretty great too. ***

Jon Moxley says he’s all alone in the Stable Shootout tonight as he was picked by Ronin to take on Naruki Doi. Moxley plans to take out all the Blood Warriors, starting with Doi first. He talks smack about Reby Sky then brings in some random broad and gives her some back-handed compliments.

The Breakout Challenge – Match #2
AR Fox vs. Arik Cannon vs. Façade vs. Shiima Xion

Cannon is wearing his old Muscle Outlawz gear, which is awesome for us long time Dragon Gate fans. Cannon and Fox feel each other out. They pick up the pace going off the ropes. Fox sends Cannon to the floor with a dropkick. Xion knees Fox in the stomach. Fox hits a leg lariat, but Xion pops him up into a mule kick. Façade tags in. Façade and Xion have a timid exchange, ending with Façade delivering a spinwheel kick. Xion bounces off the ropes into an armdrag. Xion throws Façade down by his hair and baseball slides Cannon on the floor. Façade springboard plancha’s onto Cannon and Xion. Façade snaps Fox’s throat on the top rope. Façade walks the ropes into a back elbow. Façade slingshot legdrops Fox on the second rope. Façade springboards into a bulldog on Fox, then rolls out into a headscissors on Xion. In the ring, Cannon snapmares Fox into a dropkick for two. Fox springs back into an ace crusher on Cannon. Façade hits a quebrada on Fox for two. Xion twists Façade’s hair and superkicks him. He hits a Mad Scientist Bomb for two. Cannon knocks Xion off the top rope. Xion counters Cannon’s brainbuster. Fox however hits a springboard Code Breaker. Façade German suplexes Xion and Fox breaks the count. He hits a stalling boot to Façade, and Cannon turns Fox inside out with a lariat for two. Xion drops Façade with the Hostile Makeover. He DDT’s Cannon and hits a springboard moonsault. He applies a crossface on Cannon. Cannon lifts Xion up into the Total Anarchy. Fox dropkicks Cannon to the floor. Fox drops Façade with a Michinoku Driver. Fox hits a springboard 450 on the floor to the other three participants. Fox misses a legdrop on the ring apron. Xion moonsaults onto him. In the ring, Cannon blasts Façade with a haymaker. He hits the Saito Suplex and a brainbuster for the pin at 9:25. Cannon and Fox looked great here. Xion had his moments, and Façade just looked relatively sloppy to the other crisp high-fliers on the show. Cannon vs. Rave has potential. **3/4

Speaking of Rave, he’s backstage. He’s fired up for his match with Cannon later tonight and vows to take him out.

The Stable Shootout – Match #2
Naruki Doi vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley was hand-picked by Ronin to take on Blood Warriors member Naruki Doi. Blood Warrior member Brodie Lee attacks Moxley as Moxley makes his entrance. Doi and Lee put the boots to Moxley back in the ring. Lee chokeslams Moxley and finally leaves. Doi covers him but only gets two. Doi focuses his attack on Moxley’s knee. Moxley goes for an attack in the corner, but Doi drops him out of the ring right onto his feet. Doi follows Moxley out and delivers a few strikes. In the ring Moxley chops Doi. Doi kicks his leg and overhand chops him. He traps Moxley in the corner and hits a dropkick. Doi sentons off the top onto Moxley who’s hanging on the middle rope. Doi puts Moxley in a figure four. Moxley gets to the ropes. Moxley ducks a clothesline and crossbody’s Doi. Moxley bites Doi after laying in some forearms. Doi dropkicks Moxley’s bad leg. Doi applies a sleeper hold. Moxley escapes but gets hit with a back elbow. Moxley retaliates with a clothesline, leaving both men down on the mat. An exchange of strikes is won by Moxley. Moxley O’Conner rolls Doi for two. Moxley backslides Doi for two. He transitions into a Fujiwara armbar. Doi escapes. He drops Moxley with a neckbreaker and lands a senton for two. Moxley counters the Bakatare Sliding Kick with a roll-up. He drops Doi with an ace crusher and a DDT for two. Doi elbows Moxley in the corner. He connects with Dai Bosou and picks up Moxley. Moxley blocks the Doi 555 and hits the move himself. He delivers a flurry of open hand strikes. Doi then this the Doi 555 and open-hand strikes of his own. Moxley flips Doi off so Doi slaps him some more. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick for the pin at 10:47. Moxley and Doi both looked very good in this encounter. It wasn’t the most exciting of bouts, but this was Moxley’s best singles match not involving Jimmy Jacobs he has had in DGUSA. The ending exchange was excellent too. ***

Arik Cannon says he’s looking to breakout tonight, and also plans to break Jimmy’s Rave teeth.

Reby Sky makes her way to the ring. She hypes up the show until Moxley limps his way out to the ring. What a champ! He thinks Reby came to North Carolina to be with him, but insists he would never date her. He insults her and tells her to go home. Moxley’s chick from earlier in the show attacks Sky from behind. Sky drops her with a DDT and calls Moxley a coward. She promises Moxley is going to get what’s coming to him.

The Stable Shootout – Match #3
Johnny Gargano vs. CIMA

Gargano is representing Ronin while CIMA represents the Blood Warriors. CIMA boots Gargano after grabbing the ropes to break a wristlock. CIMA gets the ropes to break a front facelock on the mat. Gargano drops all his weight on CIMA’s arm and stomps on his hand. CIMA kicks Gargano away and once more in the chest. Gargano delivers a sole butt and doublestomps CIMA in the back. He follows up with a knee strike and jump-up neckbreaker. Gargano stomps on CIMA’s chest before hitting a slingshot splash. CIMA blocks a dropkick. He blasts Gargano with a running boot. CIMA scrapes his boots on Gargano’s face and kicks him in the chest for two. Brodie Lee chokes Gargano on the middle rope. CIMA rakes Gargano’s eyes as he tries to recover. CIMA looks to attack Gargano on the apron, but Gargano catches him with the slingshot spear instead. Gargano ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own. Gargano traps CIMA in an Anaconda Vice in the ropes. He breaks on five and rolls CIMA into a kick. A low ace crusher gets him a two count. Gargano suicide dives onto CIMA, then comes off the apron with a senton. CIMA catches Gargano with Venus as he comes back in. He throws him down with the Iconoclasm for two. CIMA doublestomps Gargano out of a sunset flip, lands a senton and an elbow drop for a two count. A diving knee also gets him two. Gargano blocks the Perfect Driver and prawn holds CIMA for two. He hits an enzuigiri. He lawn darts CIMA and superkicks him for two. CIMA avoids a corner attack. He hits double knees in the corner. He drops Gargano out of an Electric Chair for two. Gargano and CIMA trade slaps once Gargano gets to his feet. They nail each other with stereo superkicks. Once again they trade slaps, but this time on their knees. They continue once getting to their feet. CIMA headbutts Gargano in the chest. They counter each others’ moves until Gargano hits the Hurts Donut. CIMA gets up and drops Gargano with Schwein. Another exchange of strikes is spoiled by CIMA kicking Gargano in the groin. He drops Gargano with the Perfect Driver and Gargano kicks out! CIMA hits Schwein again. He finally hits Gargano with Meteora for the pin at 20:10. This match put Gargano on a whole different level in DGUSA. Having him go toe-to-toe with the company’s top guy made him seem like a bonafide main eventer. This was also a nice call back to their match back in July where CIMA won with the Meteora there as well. This was the textbook definition of breaking a guy out of the pack. ****

The Breakout Challenge Finale
Jimmy Rave vs. Arik Cannon

An exchange of wristlocks sees Rave bring Cannon to the mat by tripping him. Jonny Fairplay is watching the match from the aisleway. Cannon stomps on Rave’s elbow. Rave does the same to Cannon. Rave brings Cannon to the corner and breaks cleanly. Cannon brings Rave to the other corner and chops him. Cannon gets in a couple armdrags. Rave keeps grabbing a wristlock after Cannon snapmares him. Cannon pokes Rave in the eyes to stop him. He lights up Rave with chops. Rave shoves Cannon the corner and lands some chops of his own. Cannon ducks a knee strike, and Rave’s momentum sends him to the floor. Cannon misses a chop and hits his hand on the ring post. Cannon stomps Rave as Rave re-enters the ring. He chokes Rave on the mat. Rave drops Cannon with an STO clothesline. Cannon sunset flips Rave, but Rave hits him with the Doppler Effect for two. Cannon blasts Rave with a haymaker. He hits a Saito suplex and mid-air Total Anarchy for two. Cannon misses a second rope moonsault. Rave spears him for two. Cannon hits another haymaker and Total Anarchy. The Glimmering Warlock gets him with win at 8:57. This was fairly bland for the most part, but the big moves by Cannon helped things pick up by the finish. Thrilled Cannon won this, as he deserves a chance in a major company. **1/4

Jonny Fairplay says he doesn’t care if Cannon won, he will never be a breakout star. Some more blabbing and nonsense ends with Cannon giving Fairplay the Total Anarchy. Say what you want about Fairplay, dude sold the move like a pro.

The Stable Shootout – Match #4
PAC & Ricochet vs. Chuck Taylor & Akira Tozawa

In this match, the stable’s got to pick each others’ partners. Ronin chose PAC because Ricochet hates him. The Blood Warriors chose Tozawa to team with Taylor…because? I don’t know why. PAC and Tozawa’s aggressive lock-up is broken in the corner. Tozawa knocks him down with a hard shoulder block. Tozawa kicks him in the chest. PAC responds in kind. A Northern Lights suplex gets him two. Ricochet blind tags in, which upsets PAC. Taylor also tags in. They go through their usual back-and-forth you have come to expect. Taylor hops off the ropes into a pin attempt for two. Ricochet drops him with Déjà vu. PAC hits a twisting tope con hilo onto Taylor. Tozawa attacks Ricochet from behind. He hits a senton for one. Tozawa and Taylor simultaneously choke PAC in their corner. PAC continues to get double teamed until he takes Tozawa to his own corner where Ricochet hits a delayed senton on the top rope. PAC and Tozawa fight on the floor, allowing Taylor to forearm Ricochet from behind. Ricochet snapmares Taylor into a low enzugiri for two. Ricochet brings Taylor to his corner where PAC stomps on him. PAC forearms Tozawa off the apron. PAC misses a tornado splash off Ricochet’s back. Taylor holds Ricochet in a Camel Clutch where Tozawa dropkicks him for two. Ricochet shoves Tozawa to his corner. PAC and Ricochet wear Tozawa down. Tozawa fires up and trades strikes with PAC. Tozawa knocks him down with a tornado enzuigiri. Tozawa gets his knees up to block a shooting star from Ricochet and sentons onto PAC. Taylor comes in with a springboard dropkick to PAC. He powerslams Ricochet, sending him to the floor with PAC. Taylor and Tozawa hit two pairs of stereo dives. Back in the ring, PAC’s speed allow him hit a springboard crossbody on Taylor. Taylor delivers the sole food and a uranage. Ricochet breaks the pin. Tozawa goes for the Apron Kara Tozawa on Ricochet. He misses but scores with a senton. Ricochet drops Tozawa with a reverse STO. He nails a standing moonsault senton. PAC doesn’t assist Ricochet in an Irish whip. They argue while continuing to beat down Taylor. A standing corkscrew splash gets PAC two. Tozawa bicycle kicks Ricochet to the floor. PAC flips out of the corner but eats stereo boots. Tozawa delivers a Saito suplex for two. Tozawa hits another bicycle kick. He goes for a third but PAC blocks it. Ricochet accidentally tornado kicks PAC into a German suplex from Tozawa. Ricochet breaks the pin. Taylor drops him with a fireman’s slam for two. Ricochet fights Taylor off the top rope. PAC slams Taylor. Ricochet hits a 450 splash and PAC hits British Airways for the pin at 20:43. I liked how this match continued to show Ricochet and PAC’s tension, built up PAC vs. Tozawa for tomorrow night and continued Ricochet and Taylor’s everlasting rivalry. This was a lot of fun and managed to hold together very well. The fact that the Blood Warriors swept the Stable Shootout is very interesting. ***3/4

Ricochet is upset that PAC got the winning pin instead of him. PAC doesn’t seem to mind much, and instead has a stare down with Tozawa. PAC defends his Open The Brave Gate championship against Tozawa tomorrow night in Atlanta. PAC thanks the fans and says it would be an honor and pleasure to come back.

The bonus section of the DVD includes a highlight reel of the show, a video package of the Blood Warrirors kicking ass, and this Jon Moxley promo.

The 411: I was concerned that since this was a show right before DGUSA's Atlanta Wrestlemania weekend and only featured a few of the Dragon Gate Japan regulars that the quality of the show overall would suffer. I am thrilled to say that I was wrong. Gargano vs. CIMA and the main event were two excellent matches, while other matches like Callihan vs Swann and Doi vs Moxley rounded out the undercard very well. While the Breakout Challenge didn't blow me away I was pleased to see many deserving guys get a chance on the card. Don't sleep on "Southern Gate"; there's a lot of quality matches that are worth watching.
 
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]  legend

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Kevin Ford

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