By Pat McNeill, PWTorch columnist

No Respect, I Tell You: McNEILL previews DGUSA's Fearless 2012 iPPV!

Wake the pets and call the neighbors. It's time for our DGUSA internet pay-per-view preview column!

DISCLAIMER: Projections are made by myself and for myself with absolutely no assistance from Gabe Sapolsky or Sal Hamaoui. No one knows the contents of these projections, but I, in my divine and mystical way, will ascertain the finishes to these matches despite not being caught up on my Dragon Gate DVD's. Some of our departing contestants will receive the original Mr. Coffee and genuine Mr. Coffee filters. Joe DiMaggio says it's the greatest automatic coffee brewing system ever. Many of our contestants are chosen from our studio audience. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope and mail to "Tickets, CBS Television City, 7800 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90036." Remember, this is only an exhibition. This is not a competition. Please, please, no wagering. This lineup is based on the best available information as of this writing.

For those of you who willfully ignore anything that isn't WWE or TNA, Dragon Gate USA is the Cirque du Soleil of professional wrestling. DGUSA booker Gabe Sapolsky manages to find diamonds in the rough that is independent wrestling. You're going to see some incredible athleticism. But it is the Japanese style of main event wrestling, not the WWE style. And yes, some of us here at PWTorch have given DGUSA flak over its failure to properly market its top wrestlers. But when DGUSA does get someone with superstar potential, that wrestler usually gets snapped up by a company that pays better.

Everyone at DGUSA is probably excited to be talking about wrestling this weekend, instead of Hurricane Sandy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who are recovering from the storm.

By the way, if you missed Wednesday's PWTorch Livecast, where Sean Radican and I interviewed Ricochet, you can find it here.

Before we get to our picks, let's do today's Wrestling History Lesson. Let's take a look at one of the headliners of "Fearless." From the DGUSA United: Philly show last year, here's Ricochet teaming with Naruki Doi against Masato Yoshino & PAC.



And, as your free gift for viewing this column, let's take you back to EVOLVE 6 from Union City, New Jersey on November 20th, 2010. Here are three fellows who are on the card for "Fearless." (and the fourth one will be showing up on Sunday night's "Freedom Fight" event) It's A.R. Fox vs. Rich Swann vs. Scott Reed vs. Tony Nese in a four-way match!



Everyone here at the Torch offers our condolences to the family and friends of the late Brad Armstrong. Armstrong wrestled for over twenty years, the bulk of it with NWA/World Championship Wrestling. Many of our younger readers might not have seen Brad at his peak. Here's one of my favorite Brad Armstrong matches. On June 6, 1988, NWA Clash of the Champions II took place in Miami, Florida. The opening match saw Armstrong challenge Barry Windham for the United States title. Windham's manager is James J. Dillion. Your referee? Teddy Long.



Enough of that. Now on with the projections!

The Scene (w/ Larry Dallas & Trina) vs. Arik Cannon & Pinkie Sanchez: Konley and Reed's act is a lot of fun to watch. Perhaps not as fun as Trina's act. Your mileage may vary. Projection? Konley gets hit with a double team burning hammer, and the Dirty Ugly Freaks pick up another win.

Johnny Gargano vs. Eita Kobayashi (Non-Title): Eita is quick and agile, and might earn the "Best Moonsault Ever" title in a couple of years, but he's not the champ. Projection? The champ survives a fast-paced onslaught and wins with the Hurts Donut.

Samuray Del Sol vs. Sami Callihan: So, the night before Sami Callihan has his big two out of three falls showdown with El Generico, he's taking on Generico's tag team partner? I know how I'd book it. Projection? Callihan wins after hitting the lariat, and probably gives Del Sol a good postmatch beatdown.

Akira Tozawa vs. Jon Davis: Both of these wrestlers are getting a big push in DGUSA/Evolve. The thing is, even though this might not look like a great bout on paper, I'll bet it works. Projection? Tozawa gets the victory with the Tozawa Driver.

Rich Swann, CIMA & ACH vs. Chuck Taylor & The Gentlemen's Club (Captain's Match): A captain's match means you must pin the captain of the other team to win. Projection? Mr. Swann catches Taylor with the Swann Pond Leap to pick up the fall. World-1, baby!

Super Smash Brothers vs. Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito: The winning duo gets a tag team title shot on Saturday night's show. What's more, we're having a Do Fixer reunion in Massachusetts. Projection? Saito hits the Double Cross on Player Dos, and the Jimmyz are headed to the pay window.

A.R. Fox vs. Ricochet (Respect Match): This is obviously based on the epic Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam from ECW in 1996. The question isn't so much who will win, but will Ricochet shake A.R. Fox's hand afterwards? Projection? I suspect Ricochet will be turning face in DGUSA, much like he has in Dragon Gate. So, let's say Fox gets the win in a hard-fought contest and Ricochet finally shakes hands with his rival.

Aftermath: On Saturday night in New Jersey ("Uprising 2012"), let's go with ACH joining the Scene, The Gentlemen's Club winning anyway, Jigsaw & Fire Ant over the D.U.F.'s, Tozawa over Del Sol, Generico over Callihan, Super Smash Brothers over World-1 and CIMA & Fox to beat the Jimmyz. On Sunday night in Long Island ("Freedom Fight 2012"), we'll pick Jon Davis, The Scene, Arik Cannon, Super Smash Brothers, Sami Callihan, El Generico & Samuray Del Sol, and Ricochet wins the DGUSA Title after Jon Davis knocks out Johnny Gargano.

***
Pat McNeill of Richmond, Va. has been a Torch columnist since February 2001. He's happy about the birth of his latest nephew, Liam Joseph. Yes, another nephew.

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