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The Asylum Arena – Philadelphia, PA – November 12, 2011

Tonight!

BJ Whitmer recalls that last night he fought with Brodie Lee, and he will have no trouble doing so again. Elsewhere, Jon Davis reminds everyone that he has beaten all three members of the D.U.F. in singles matches, but due to their attack last night he is not able to compete tonight. Davis says he will get his revenge tomorrow night in a six-man Street Fight.

Lenny Leonard and BJ Whitmer are on commentary.

MATCH #1: DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 2 – AR Fox vs. Masato Yoshino {J3}

This match is likely to be fast-paced. They start with some chain wrestling. Fox sends Yoshino to the floor and after a series of reversals connects with the Kickflip Dive. Back in the ring Fox hits a high cross body off the top rope for two. It’s been almost all AR Fox in the opening minutes here. Yoshino fights back with Sling Blade and a low dropkick to the face. He goes up top and misses the double stomp. Fox is able to hit the leaping Ace Crusher for two. He tries a split-legged moonsault but Yoshino gets his knees up. Yoshino locks on From Jungle and Fox reaches the ropes. Fox hits an enziguiri and a Death Valley Driver. He goes up top and nails a beautiful 450 Splash for a two-count. Fox tries Lo Mein Pain but Yoshino shoves him down. Yoshino then hits the shotgun missile dropkick and both men are down. They rise and start trading strikes. Yoshino hits Torbellino and locks on Sol Naciente for the win at 8:16. That was a perfect opener – fast-paced, both guys looked good, fired up the crowd. Fox looked good in losing here and his stock continues to rise.
Rating: ***

The Spiked Mohicans, Open the United Gate and Twin Gate Champions Ricochet and CIMA, make their way out to taunt Yoshino. Ricochet says there is no way that Yoshino will beat CIMA tomorrow night, and then they beat him down. PAC runs out to make the save. Brodie Lee comes down with Akira Tozawa as backup to start the next match officially.

MATCH #2: DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 1 – Brodie Lee {BW} vs. PAC {J3}

PAC dropkicks Lee off the apron to start the match and follows him out with a dive over the ropes. Tozawa attacks PAC and rams him into a ringside table. Back in the ring Lee goes to work, even hitting a dropkick to the back that sends PAC hurtling into the turnbuckles. PAC comes back with a rana and Lee responds with one of his own. That sends PAC to the floor and Lee follows him out with a suicide dive! PAC fights back with a hard kick to the head from the apron. He misses a moonsault and Lee punches him square in the mouth. Tozawa takes more cheap shots while Lee distracts the referee. Back in the ring Lee keeps PAC on the mat and wears him down. Tozawa keeps interfering and PAC makes him pay for it with a baseball slide. Lee tries a German Suplex but PAC lands on his feet and dropkicks him to the floor. PAC follows him out with a huge springboard moonsault. Back in the ring PAC hits a springboard missile dropkick and a corkscrew 450 splash off the second rope for a one-count. PAC goes up top but jumps right into a big boot to the face. Lee tries a crucifix bomb but PAC slips out and hits a couple of enziguiris and the rebound German Suplex. PAC goes up top but Lee avoids him and hits a half-nelson suplex, which PAC no-sells. Lee hits the Truck Stop but only gets two. He follows with an Orton DDT (using the top turnbuckle) and PAC sells it like a million bucks but it only gets two. Lee goes for a powerbomb but PAC counters with a jackknife cradle for two. PAC avoids a charge in the corner and hits an enziguiri and then a back brain kick. He goes up top and hits a beautiful Shooting Star Press, and then follows with a corkscrew body press for the pin at 10:46. That was ridiculous fun and after watching that I can see why both guys got signed.
Rating: ***½

Tozawa gets in the ring but this time PAC is ready for him. Rich Swann and Johnny Gargano make their way out, since Swann is scheduled to battle Tozawa.

MATCH #3: DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 3 – Rich Swann {R} vs. Akira Tozawa {BW}

Swann is in Junction Three in Japan, but he’s a member of Ronin in DGUSA. Tozawa says everyone wants to hear him sing, which he does, beautifully. Swann cuts him off with a superkick just to be a dick. This one starts off fast as Swann knocks Tozawa to the floor and teases a dive. Tozawa takes a moment to catch his breath before getting back in the ring. When the action does resume in the ring, Swann takes control and starts wearing Tozawa down. Tozawa fights back and hurls Swann to the floor. They fight on the floor and Tozawa gets the better of it by dropping Swann face-first on the steps. Tozawa then throws a chair at Swann and chases Gargano away. Back in the ring Tozawa hits a back senton for two. Tozawa continues the abuse, wearing Swann down. He goes to the second rope and Swann takes him down with a hurricanrana. That sends Tozawa to the floor and Swann follows him out with a beautiful dive over the ropes. Back in the ring Swann gets a two-count. Swann tries a cross body block but Tozawa gets his knees up. Tozawa hits a running bicycle kick in the corner and a release German Suplex for two. Swann comes back with the handspring Ace Crusher for a near-fall. He misses the standing 450 but is still able to avoid the German Suplex. Swann executes a La Magistral cradle for two and then lands a spinning enziguiri. He cartwheels into a 450 Splash and gets two. Tozawa catches Swann with a big boot and the German Suplex and Swann surprisingly kicks out. They trade some pinning combinations and Swann gets a crucifix for the upset pin at 8:11. I assumed Tozawa would go over so that surprised me a great deal. What didn’t surprise me was the match was another fun encounter very similar to the opening match. I’d like to see more Tozawa versus Swann.
Rating: ***

MATCH #4: DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 4 – Johnny Gargano {R} vs. BxB Hulk {BW}

Hulk makes his way out and he wants to start his match RIGHT NOW. Gargano of course is happy to oblige. Hulk dominates to start, using kicks to his advantage. Gargano comes back with an STO into the turnbuckles. He hits a neckbreaker and a vertical suplex with a bridge for a two-count. Gargano uses a variety of submission holds and strikes, but Hulk is able to cut him off with a low blow behind the referee’s back. Hulk dropkicks Gargano to the floor and follows him out for more abuse. Back in the ring Hulk stay sin control but can’t quite put Gargano away. Hulk hits a BxB Star Press for two. Gargano fights back with a hard kick to the head that sends Hulk to the floor. He follows with the Superman Spear. Hulk tries a hurricanrana but Gargano catches him with a powerbomb for two. A dazed Hulk rolls to the floor and Gargano wipes him out with a dive and then a senton off the apron. Back in the ring Gargano covers for two. Hulk fights back with kicks and the Burnout for two. He lands more kicks and a standing corkscrew senton splash for two. Gargano comes back with a step up enziguiri but then runs right into Mouse. Hulk follows with a clothesline but Gargano pops up and hits a release German. The selling ceases to exist for a moment and then comes back when Gargano drills Hulk with a clothesline. Both men are down. Back on their feet Gargano traps Hulk in the ropes and hits a superkick. Gargano goes up top and Hulk knocks him down with a kick. Hulk goes up and hits the Super EVO but Gargano kicks out! They trade moves back and forth a bit. Gargano hits the IED followed by the Lawn Dart. He hits a superkick and the Hurts Donut for two, but he turns that into the GargaNO Escape for the win at 15:52. That was a really good back and forth contest and another huge win for Gargano going into his title shot tomorrow night. Hulk did a great job as a heel and ensured that Gargano (who is extremely over anyway) got lots of sympathy from the crowd.
Rating: ***½

WWNLive.com

WWNLive.com is the home for DGUSA and EVOLVE live on iPPV and on demand IPPV.

BJ Whitmer Promo

BJ Whitmer recalls that Brodie Lee lost to PAC earlier tonight. Whitmer says he’s still going to keep an eye on Lee tonight, and that he’ll for sure see him tomorrow night in New York City.

Uprising 2011

At Uprising 2011, PAC took on Ricochet and Rich Swann in a triple threat main event; Akira Tozawa battled AR Fox; plus so much more with Brodie Lee, Masaaki Mochizuki, Johnny Gargano, Austin Aries, and more!

MATCH #5: South Philly Street Fight – Sabu vs. Pinkie Sanchez {DUF}{

The lights go out and Sabu appears in the ring. Sabu foolishly turns his back and Sanchez starts slugging away. They take it to the floor and Sabu gets control. Sabu throws a chair in the ring and throws Sanchez in after it. Sanchez wedges the chair in the turnbuckles but is the one who gets whipped into it. Sabu hits the slingshot legdrop for two. He uses the Camel Clutch briefly and then they go back to the floor. Sanchez is able to wipe Sabu out with a dive. He sets Sabu on a table but nothing happens. Back in the ring Sanchez hits a missile dropkick for two. Sanchez throws Sabu to the floor. He goes for a dive but Sabu throws a chair into his face. Sabu then hits Air Sabu. Back in the ring Sabu tries to set up a table but Sanchez cuts him off with a DDT. Sanchez tries setting up the table but Sabu throws another chair at his face. Sabu sets Sanchez on the table and this him with a chair. He goes up top but Sanchez throws the chair at him, and then does it again. Sanchez goes up top and Sabu slams him down, but not through the table. Sabu hits the Arabian Facebuster off the second rope for a two-count. He follows with a chair-assisted legdrop to the back of the head to break the table. Sabu locks on the Camel Clutch but Sanchez won’t quit. Finally Sabu cracks a chair across Sanchez’s back and uses the chair to help him reapply the Camel Clutch and this time Sanchez taps out at 8:42. That was dreadfully dull and Sabu looked old.
Rating: *¼

Fellow Dirty Ugly Fucks Sami Callihan and Arik Cannon run out to attack, and AR Fox tries to make the save. He fails though, since it’s still three on two. Jon Davis then runs out and cleans house on everyone, setting the stage for tomorrow night’s six man tag team match in New York.

Taylor Occupies DGUSA

This is a five-minute promo in which Chuck Taylor discusses his history in DGUSA, and how the Dragon Gate veterans like CIMA and Naruki Doi are the one percent. This was at a time when the “Occupy” movements were big, so this is a cool idea for a promo. He wants to defeat YAMATO and win the Open the Freedom Gate Title to prove his point.

MATCH #6: Open the Freedom Gate Title Match – YAMATO {J3} vs. Chuck Taylor {R}

YAMATO has been the Champion since 1.28.11, and this is his sixth defense. Taylor earned this title shot by beating Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Sami Callihan in a Four Way Freestyle at Untouchable 2011. Taylor is accompanied by Johnny Gargano.

They start with some chain wrestling, trading armbars back and forth. This continues with other holds like headlocks, front facelocks, and rear chinlocks. Taylor starts going after the leg, trying to keep YAMATO on the mat. YAMATO tries to counter by going after the arm but Taylor is ready for him, and he turns a cross armbreaker into a Figure-Four Leglock. The champ is able to turn it over and Taylor reaches the ropes immediately. Taylor keeps up the pressure, working on YAMATO’s leg. YAMATO withstands the attack and starts working the neck. He throws Taylor into the corner and hits an IED for two. Taylor fights back with Sole Food and a dropkick that sends YAMATO to the floor, and then wipes him out with a dive. Now Taylor chokes YAMATO with an extension cord, and the referee is giving some latitude by not disqualifying him. Back in the ring Taylor hits a missile dropkick for two. Taylor grabs another leglock and YAMATO reaches the ropes. YAMATO fights back with a kick to the head and the brainbuster for two, and then he locks on the Crossface. Taylor reaches the ropes. YAMATO charges into the corner but Taylor cuts him off and hits a powerbomb into a jackknife cradle for two. Taylor hits a uranage slam for another two-count. He goes up top but misses a moonsault and appears to blow out his knee. Taylor was playing possum though and gets an inside cradle for two. He gets a La Magistral cradle for another close near-fall. Taylor goes for the Awful Waffle but YAMATO slips out and hits an enziguiri. YAMATO goes for Galleria but Taylor counters and hits the Awful Waffle! Taylor covers and gets the three-count at 16:56, but the referee didn’t see YAMATO’s foot on the bottom rope!

The referee asks Gargano if YAMATO’s foot was indeed on the rope and Gargano says that yes indeed it was so the match restarts. Taylor is not happy. YAMATO quickly hits Galleria but Taylor kicks out. Now YAMATO locks on a Crossface and Taylor has to tap out at 1:02. I understand what they were going for with the finish, but it’s not exactly protocol to ask other wrestlers what happened in the finish of a match. As far as the match itself goes, it was not so exciting up until the last couple of minutes, and I thought YAMATO and Taylor would have more chemistry when they did. Still, they did a good job of setting up tomorrow’s title match and furthering the tension within Ronin.
Rating: ***

DGUSA.tv

www.DGUSA.TV, the official site of Dragon Gate USA & EVOLVE.

MATCH #7: Open the United Gate Title Match – CIMA {BW} & Ricochet {BW} vs. Sami Callihan {DUF} & Arik Cannon {DUF}

CIMA & Ricochet have been the Champions since 9.11.11, and this is their first defense. They’re accompanied by fellow Blood Warrior Brodie Lee. It appears as though the Champions want to walk out on the match, so Callihan calls them pussies. CIMA retorts with something Japanese and Callihan gets all “Murica” on him. Things get heated before the bell even rings so the referee just rings the bell and away we go.

CIMA and Cannon take it to the floor while Callihan and Ricochet battle in the ring. Callihan knocks Ricochet to the floor and Lee sneaks in and drills Callihan with a big boot that sends him to the floor. Ricochet takes everyone out with a dive. BJ Whitmer doesn’t appreciate Lee’s interference so he comes out and runs him off. Now it’s Callihan’s turn to wipe everyone out with a big dive. The match barely slows down back in the ring, with the D.U.F. first taking control. The champs cut the off and isolate on Callihan in their half of the ring. After a few minutes Callihan fights back on CIMA and makes the tag. Cannon is a house afire but Ricochet cuts him off with a springboard missile dropkick. Ricochet charges into the corner but Cannon catches him with a t-bone suplex into the buckles. Cannon tries a moonsault off the second rope but misses. Ricochet hits a Zig Zag and a standing shooting star press for two. The action is getting too fast to call. CIMA and Callihan end up in the ring and CIMA hits the Perfect Driver for two. Callihan fights back with a Saito Suplex and a hard superkick right to the knee. He locks on the Stretch Muffler and Ricochet breaks it up. Cannon hits CIMA with Total Anarchy and Ricochet breaks that up too. Ricochet this Cannon with a reverse rana, and then nails Callihan with one too. Back on their feet Cannon hits Ricochet with a Buckle Bomb and a huge lariat. Cannon calls for the Brainbuster but CIMA cuts him off with Superdrol. Callihan hits CIMA with the Death Valley Driver but misses the splash. Ricochet hits Callihan with a quebrada for two. He tries a hurricanrana but Callihan drops him with a powerbomb for two. Callihan locks on a leglock and CIMA breaks that up by hitting Cannon with the Iconoclasm. CIMA hits Callihan with a senton for two. The action continues to be too fast for me to entirely keep up with. The champs send Callihan to the floor. CIMA hits Cannon with the Schwein and Ricochet follows with the 630 Senton and the champs retain at 17:56. I didn’t expect much from that and I thought initially that Taylor versus YAMATO should have gone on last, but this turned out to be the right choice. It was a red hot tag team match with wall-to-wall action and great work from everyone involved. This is easily my favorite D.U.F. match ever.
Rating: ****

~BONUS FEATURES~

BONUS MATCH: The Scene vs. BJ Whitmer & Uhaa Nation

Earlier today Larry Dallas gave The Scene shot glass necklaces as a reward for attacking Uhaa Nation last night. That leads to this match in which Nation enlists the help of BJ Whitmer to seek his revenge. Nation and Scott Reed start the match and Nation is just dominant. Whitmer tags in and the domination continues. He takes Konley to the floor and throws him around a bit but gets distracted by Dallas, allowing the Scene to take control. Back in the ring Konley and Reed isolate Whitmer while the crowd tries to get behind him. Whitmer catches Konley with an exploder and makes the tag. Nation is a house afire, throwing the Scene around with ease. He hits Reed with a standing shooting star press and then nails Konley with the Roll of the Dice. Nation and Konley fight to the floor. Whitmer hits Reed with the Flatliner and then locks on the Peruvian Necktie for the win at 7:10. That was mostly a squash but in that case it was the right match to have. Whitmer and Nation are fun together.
Rating: **

- Alternative Angle Highlight Video

The Pulse: This is a huge step up from the night before and an all around awesome show, probably one of the best shows DGUSA did in all of 2011. The opening four matches are all a lot of fun and did a good job putting over the American talent, and the last two matches either advanced a storyline or were just plain great so that ended the show on a high note as well. You can purchase this show and should do so over at the DGUSA Store.

Tags: Arik Cannon, Bushido, Chuck Taylor, Cima, Code of the Warrior, DGUSA, Ricochet, Sami Callihan, YAMATO