The last time that Dragon Gate challenged Ring of Honor Dragon Gate came up on the winning end, but that was two years ago as part of the Milestone Series. Can the stars of Ring of Honor compare to the stars of Dragon Gate this time around? Read on to find out.
The DVD starts with Rebecca Bayless trying to hype the show. She is interrupted by the Chasyn Rance, Sal Rinauro, and Kenny King collectively known as the Young, Rich, and Ready for Action or YRR for short. They proceed to be cocky and taunt Becky Bayless and Bushwacker Luke. Becky even gets a kiss from Sal Rinauro. Rather than react she sends the camera to the back and Erick Stevens who talks about how since RoH is now in his backyard he has to have a big weekend.
Nigel McGuinness vs. Delirious
Nigel starts the match on the mic to talk about how great he is and how unbeatable he is. Delirious comes out and does not fare well against the Ring of Honor champion. Delirious does put forth his best effort, though. After Delirious’ greatest hits, Nigel hit’s a sick lariat, attempts the Tower of London, it gets blocked but he counters a Shadows over Hell, and locks in the London Dungeon for the win. This was kind of a nothing match.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness via pinfall; **
The YRR of FIP Tag Team Champion Kenny King and FIP Florida Heritage Champion Sal Rinauro with “Not Cocky†Chasyn Rance and some chick vs. Ruckus and Jigsaw of the Vulture Squad
This is a high flying tag team formula match. Since this show Kenny King has earned a full time roster spot, and Sal Rinauro is coming up on 11 months as the Florida Heritage Champion. The Vulture Squad definitely have the double team goodness, and this is a pretty even match, and they get the win with the double stomp Jig’n’tonic. I still don’t get why that move is allowed when Low Ki and Homicide’s double stomp Cop Killa was banned….oh well it is one of the few logical gaps in RoH. The match was just kind of there.
Winners: The Vulture Squad via pinfall; **
We get to see Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn talk about how awesome Sweeney is.
RoH vs. Dragon Gate: Austin Aries vs. Genki Horiguchi
Since the last time Genki was stateside for RoH he has grown crazy blue dreadlocks and started wearing weird contacts. He has also made a name for himself as one of the top stars in the Dragon Gate promotion raising his stock even higher in the past two years. His stock just isn’t as high in the good old U.S. of A as Austin Aries. They have a pretty even match up, but Aries always seems to be just a step ahead of the balding Japanese star. Horiguchi takes short cuts to gain the advantage, but he cannot maintain it. Horiguchi does have several bright spots, but throughout the match it never seemed in doubt for Austin Aries. Aries gets the win with the kick to the head, the brainbuster, the knee strikes, and the Last Chancery. The match was good but predictable. RoH goes up one to nothing.
Winner: Austin Aries via submission; ***
After the match the lights go out and Jimmy Jacobs appears atop the scaffolding to continue his recruitment efforts into the Age of the Fall. Lacey meets him in the ring and continues the recruitment effort. This brings out Tammy Sytch who continues to offer her “services†to Aries. Austin is not interested in any of the offers and heads to the back. Lacey takes the opportunity to capitalize and taunt Tammy Sytch. They argue and Lacey attacks Tammy.
RoH vs. Dragon Gate: Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Speed Muscle of Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino
This is definitely a dream match for all fans of tag team wrestling. Both teams have similar dynamics, speed matched with power. Steen is definitely the strongest guy in the ring, and Yoshino is definitely the fastest so the pre-match advantage is pretty much a push for these teams. This is pretty even as tag team encounters go, which should come as no surprise. Generico is allowed to be his best spending a large portion of the match building sympathy by taking an hellacious beating from Doi and Yoshino. The hot tag to Steen and the following sequence is electric. The crowd is molten for pretty much this entire show. The flow in this match is just incredible, there is never a dull moment. The only downside is that the whole legal man thing kind of goes out the window, and there may be a few too many near falls, but nearly all of them are broken up rather than kickouts. Still, this match is just a ton of fun. The commentary on the match is interesting too because it is mostly Prazak and Leonard yelling out names for moves, and really, that is the only way to call it. The match does go into overkill overdrive after Yoshino kicks out of the Steenton/Superfly combo. Yoshino just refuses to be pinned kicking out of more crazy head drops than you can shake a stick at. He eventually succumbs to the package piledrive/brainbuster combo and Dragon Gate drops to 0-2. Yoshino kicked out of stuff he should have legitimately been concussed by, but other than that it is an amazing match.
Winners: Kevin Steen and El Generico via pinfall; ****¼
We go to intermission with Beck Bayless and she interviews Steen and Generico who celebrate their win, and Steen is his cocky best.
RoH vs. Dragon Gate: BxB Hulk and Shingo vs. The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black
This is another dream match as BxB Hulk and Shingo are a top team in Dragon Gate, and one Black and Jacobs are of course former tag team champions. Like the previous match this is lightning quick with huge moves and not a lot of logic, but a ton of flow. The spots in this match may top the previous encounter as BxB Hulk is one of the most impressive flyers going. Shingo has some of the best power moves for a guy who is probably only about 5’6â€. The only downside of the spots being more impressive is that the overkill is also a little bit moreso. The problem often encountered in putting on super shows like this is trying to pace the card without having a ton of one upsmanship. This show sets a really high bar of spotfest-itude, and each successive match has to try to top it. It makes for entertainment no matter how you slice it though, you just have to suspend your disbelief a little bit more. Shingo gets the win with the crazy pump handle head drop extravaganza aka the Last Falconry. Dragon Gate improves to 1-2.
Winners: Shingo and BxB Hulk via pinfall; ****
RoH vs. Dragon Gate: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito
The Dragon Gate team is small and fast. The Briscoes are crazy brawlers and probably a little drunk. That pretty much lays the groundwork for the match. Both teams have outstanding double teams, but team Dragon Gate needs to try and use their speed to counter the vast striking advantage of the Briscoes. The match is a lot of fun, but it suffers from some of the same stigma as Aries vs. Horiguchi in that Saito and Dragon Kid never really feel like they are going to win. The match also lacks some of the flow of the other Dragon Gate tag matches. The only thing it does have going for it is the complete lack of overkill as the Briscoes pretty much dominate. Still, it is probably the least of the three tag matches. The Briscoes win after the springboard doomsday device.
Winners: Jay and Mark Briscoe via pinfall; ***½
We get more of Larry Sweeney having a disturbing phone call with Sara Del Rey which he did not expect to be filmed. He yells at the camera man and then goes into the promo the way he wanted it to be.
The Briscoes are unintelligible celebrating their win and hyping their match for the next night.
The No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, and Rocky “Azucar†Romero vs. Dragon Gate’s CIMA, Pro-Wrestling NOAH’s Go Shiozaki, and RoH’s Erick Stevens
Before the match can start Larry Sweeney follows the No Remorse Corps to the ring and offers them a spot in Sweet and Sour Inc. Roderick declines the offer, but Davey Richards takes one of Sweeney’s business cards and hides it in his pants leading to countless paper cuts on his dong.
The match starts with your standard six man run through of the match ups, and surprisingly the “Dream Team†gets the early advantage putting the hurt on the FIP Champion. The No Remorse Corps regains control and the heat gets returned to the Mohawked Marauder that is Erick Stevens. The wrestling in this match is very crisp and solid. The No Remorse Corps were really able to cement themselves as a solid unit, and while they have run their course now, it is nice to go back and appreciate one of the best pure heel stables in RoH. The match is very good, but very formulaic. This match had a lot working against it though as it had a team of guys who never really worked together before and they had to follow some of the craziest tag team matches RoH had seen (until the next night). It did however have the advantage of the experience of the No Remorse Corps as a unit and the heat of the Stevens/Strong rivalry, not to mention the impressive offense of CIMA. The end of the match is pretty much all the combatants alternating finishing moves before CIMA finishes off Roderick Strong with the Crossfire Bomb.
Winners: CIMA, Go Shiozaki, and Erick Stevens via pinfall; ***½
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: With two four star matches this show is an easy recommendation. The rest of the card is solid but unremarkable. This is a show that will no doubt get slept on due to the absolute awesomeness of the following night. It may not be the best show for a new fan since it is not an accurate representation of the product with all of the Dragon Gate stars involved, but it is definitely a must have for the RoH or Dragon Gate fan.
