By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S DGUSA "FREEDOM FIGHT 2010" PPV REPORT
TAPED IN RAHWAY, N.J.
PREMIERS ON PPV JAN. 7, 2010

”Freedom Fight 2010” premiers this Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST on most cable systems, including The Dish.

1 - - JIMMY JACOBS vs. ARIK CANNON

They started with some chain wrestling. Cannon showed some good athleticism and stayed a step ahead of Jacobs during the early stages of the match. Jacobs fired back and hit Cannon with a dive to the outside. Cannon regained control a short time later and began working over Jacobs's neck. Jacobs tried to mount a comeback, but Cannon caught him with an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles. Cannon busted Jacobs's cut open that he sustained the previous night against Jon Moxley. This seemed to only fire Jacobs up, as he took Cannon down and nailed him with a senton for a nearfall. Cannon hit Jacobs with all of his finishers, but Jacobs kicked out each time. Jacobs managed to counter Cannon and caught him with the end time submission for the win.

Winner: Jimmy Jacobs

Star Rating: (***) - This was an exciting opening match, but the nearfalls at the end were a bit much with Jacobs kicking out of Cannon's finishers. Jacobs is being pushed towards a future title shot, so this was a good first step building towards that match down the line.

Chuck Taylor, Rich Swann, and Johnny Gargano cut a promo bragging about forming Ronin on the previous show. This wasn't a great promo, as all three men seemed silly as opposed to menacing heels, especially while kicking a vending machine throughout the promo.

2-- World 1 (Homicide & BxB Hulk) vs. KAMIKAZE USA (Jon Moxley & Akira Tozawa)

Homicide started the match, but ended up making the hot tag to Hulk, who took out Moxley and Tozawa with a springboard dropkick. Hulk then took down Tozawa several times during a fast pace exchange the set the pace during the early stages of the match. Homicide tagged into the match and showed some good teamwork with Hulk,despite them working together for the first time. Kamikaze USA got the heat on Homicide after a low blow from Tozawa. Homicide showed some good fire while attempting to make some comebacks. Hulk finally got the hot tag and the action eventually broke down with Moxley and Homicide going at in on the outside while Homicide and Moxley brawled on the outside. Hulk hit the E.V.O on Tozawa at one point, but Moxley broke it up. After a nice sequence, Hulk finished off Tozawa with the FTX for the pin.

Winners: BxB Hulk & Homicide

Star Rating: (***1/2) – This was a pretty darn exciting match that the crowd was into. I really like the pairing of Hulk and Homicide, as they both bring totally different styles to the table. Moxley & Tozawa did a good job of playing heels and cheating throughout the match, which got some heat on them from the crowd. Hulk is simply amazing to watch at times and Homicide looked much better here than he did the previous night against Swann.

After the match, YAMATO ran down and took out Hulk from behind. Hulk was helped to the back by several attendants. Moxley then taunted Homicide on the mic and Homicide charged the ring. The announcers could have added a lot to this segment, but they couldn't see the brawling so they stopped commentating. The crowd fell silent towards the end after Moxley gained the upper hand and went to work on Homicide's shoulder with a steel chair. Several people came out to break up the fight. Homicide got a nice pop after he recovered from Moxley's assault.

Austin Aries was shown backstage with Genki Horiguchi and Ricochet. He said Ronin had picked the wrong men to pick on. Aries said he was going to be an honorary member of Warriors for one night. The crowd popped when he said The Warriors and A Double were coming from Ronin. Good promo.

3 - - SHINGO vs. CIMA

They did some chain wrestling early and came to a stalemate. The action picked up and Shingo grounded CIMA with a shoulder tackle. Shingo applied a head scissors on the mat and the crowd tried to rally behind CIMA, who eventually got the ropes. CIMA fired back and went after Shingo's leg with a kick, but Shingo countered him on the mat and hit him with a knee drop to the head. Shingo nailed CIMA with a uranagi backbreaker. CIMA rolled to the outside, but Shingo nailed him with a chairshot to the back. CIMA fired back after Shingo had worked over his back for several minutes and nailed him with a doublestomp to the chest. CIMA nailed Shingo with a series of kicks and a big senton, but he kicked out at 2. CIMA caught Shingo with a front choke, but Shingo dead-lifted him into a suplex. CIMA countered the blood fall and nailed Shingo with a kick. Shingo fired right back and hit a backbreaker, but CIMA fired up and hit a lung blower that left both men down. The crowd erupted at this point. CIMA was up first and hit Shingo with a flurry of offense capped off with the perfect driver for a 2 count. CIMA hit a super perfect driver and went for the meteora, but Shingo got out of the way. Shingo took CIMA up to the top rope on his shoulder and hit a super stay dream, but CIMA kicked out at the last second, which forced the crowd to erupt again. Shingo hit a huge clothesline after a blood ball, but CIMA kicked out. CIMA countered made in Japan, but Shingo caught him with it moments later and CIMA kicked out again. The crowd chanted for CIMA as Shingo sold frustration. CIMA barely caught Shingo with a springboard flip legdrop after slipping. He hit the top rope double knees to the chest moments later for the pin.

Winner: CIMA

Star Rating: (***3/4) – This was a really good singles match showcasing two of the best in Dragon Gate. The crowd gave both men a standing ovation after the match and the action was really good, although the finish was a little disjointed after CIMA slipped going for a springboard. They did a ton of nearfalls here, which need to be scaled back a bit to mean anything in the big picture, but it wasn't overkill.

CIMA got on the mic and thanked the crowd for their support. CIMA announced DGUSA would come back soon with a tournament to crowd DGUSA Open the United Gate titles.

Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo backstage. He said his name wasn't the first to come to mind when it came to who would be the next Open the Freedom Gate Champion. Jacobs said his comeback wouldn't be complete until he won his first ever major singles championship. The crowd applauded. Jacobs said it was only going to get harder from here. Jacobs said at the end of the long road, he saw himself as the next Open the Freedom Gate Champion. This was a good promo.

4 - - RONIN (Rich Swann & Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano) vs. WARRIORS INTERNATIONAL (Austin Aries & Ricochet & Genki Horiguchi).

Ricochet wiped out Taylor with a dropkick during the early stages of the match. Horiguchi and Gargano entered the ring and went at it. Aries tagged in against Swann, but Swann tagged himself out of the match right away. Aries forced Gargano to tag in Swann. Swann hesitated, but finally engaged in combat with Aries. They did some chain wrestling on the mat and Swann initially got the upper hand. After a fast exchange, Swann went for a dropkick, but Aries simply pushed him away. Aries out wrestled Swann and tagged in Horiguchi. Swan fired back and pushed Horiguchi into Ronin's corner. Gargano and Swann pounded on Horiguchi while Taylor distracted the ref. Horiguchi countered Taylor and tagged in Aries, who ran wild on Ronin. Aries went for a dive, but Gargano caught him with a spear. Taylor then nailed Aries with a springboard moonsault. Swann capped off the attack with a frogsplash, but Aries kicked out at 2. Ronin isolated Aries in their own corner. Gargano distracted the ref so that Taylor and Swann could choke Aries from the outside.

Aries finally made the hot tag to Ricochet, who ran wild on Ronin. At one point Gargano had a standing SSP blocked, but Ricochet rolled off his knees and hit a standing moonsault. Taylor cut off Ricochet moments later. They did a five man submission spot that popped the crowd, but Swann broke it up. Taylor went for a dropkick to the outside, but Horiguchi moved the rope so it crotched him. Aries wiped out Gargano and Swann with the heat seeking missile. Ronin fired back moments later and got a nearfall on Horiguchi with a triple kick in the corner. Ronin got the numbers on Aries and Swann came off Gargano's back with a SSP press while Taylor held him in place. Gargano then hit him with a dropkick and Taylor made the cover, but Aries kicked out. The crowd chanted for Aries as Ronin continued the 3 on 1 attack. Horiguchi and Ricochet finally recovered and came to Aries's aid.

The action broke down and Swann capped off a breath-taking sequence with trouble in paradise on Aries. Ricochet then wiped out all three members of Ronin on the outside with an insane twisting dive. Gargano tossed Ricochet into the corner moments later. Ronin then hit a series of moves on Ricochet capped by Gargano's hurts don't it finisher for the pin.

Winners: Rich Swann & Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor

Star Rating: -(****) - Ronin really went a long way towards establishing themselves as a serious threat in DGUSA. The match started slowly and built to a fantastic finish. Ronin's work as a unit was incredible, as was the teamwork of Warriors international. The finishing sequence was simply awesome with Ronin putting away Ricochet after a series of moves capped by Gargano's finisher. If you order this show, you'll be more than happy watching this match. It told the story it needed to tell and the crowd got hotter and hotter as the match went on.

Jon Moxley cut a promo backstage. He said he always knew he would cross paths with Homicide. He said Homicide isn't very tough. Moxley said he put Homicide on the shelf in one night. Moxley told YAMATO to end the night on a high note. This was a good promo.

5 - - Open the Dream Gate Champion MASATO YOSHINO (w/BxB Hulk) vs. YAMATO – non-title match

The story here is that Yoshino has promised to finish World 1's business with YAMATO once and for all after his attacks on BxB Hulk. YAMATO caught Yoshino with a surprise rollup. The crowd chanted for Yoshino and YAMATO simply smiled. The pace picked up and Yoshino took down YAMATO with a head scissors. Yoshino began working over YAMATO's arm. Yoshino locked in a nasty arm submission on YAMATO. He struggled, but eventually got the ropes. YAMATO fired back and the action spilled to the outside. YAMATO sold his arm after chopping Yoshino. YAMATO began working over Yoshino's legs and the announcers discussed how that would nullify his speed advantage. YAMATO continued to work over Yoshino's leg and stalked him before stomping on it. Yoshino tried to fire back, but YAMATO dropkicked his legs.

Yoshino avoided a charge in the corner and hit the sling blade, which left both men down on the mat. Yoshino set up YAMATO's head on the apron on the outside and nailed him with a running dropkick. Yoshino missed a doublestomp and YAMATO took him down with a clothesline. Yoshino fired back and caught YAMATO in a modified abdominal stretch. He then turned it into a pinning combination for a nearfall and the crowd clapped. YAMATO fired back and went for a superplex. Both men battled up top. Yoshino ended up hitting Yoshino with a sling blade off the top, but could only get a two count. Yoshino fired back and went for his signature arm submission, but YAMATO caught him in an abdominal stretch. Yoshino managed to counter the stretch into an inverted DDT and both men were down again. Yoshino hit a missile dropkick and the lightening spiral for a nearfall. The crowd got to their feet and chanted “this is awesome.” Yoshino went up top, but YAMATO dropkicked the top rope to crotch him. YAMATO hit a superplex, but Yoshino kicked out. YAMATO hit a sleeper suplex and a brainbuster, but didn't hook the leg Yoshino kicked out. YAMATO caught Yoshino with the galleria, but Yoshino kicked out and the crowd popped huge. YAMATO countered sol naciente into a pinning combination for a nearfall. Yoshino countered YAMATO again and applied sol naciente. YAMATO tried to fight it, but ended up verbally submitting.

Winner: Masato Yoshino

Star rating: (***3/4) – This was a very good main event. YAMATO worked over Yoshino's leg during the early stages of the match while Yoshino worked over YAMATO's arm. They built up to a really good finish with a lot of nearfalls that got the crowd into the match.

Overall thoughts: (8.0) There were no bad matches on this show and everything clicked. DGUSA is starting to launch a lot of interesting storylines, which were highlighted on this show. I'm excited to see where things are going in DGUSA now that there's a concrete direction here.

The highlight of the show was the awesome Warriors International vs. Ronin six man tag that featured some great sequences after a slow build to star. I really enjoyed the main event as well. The show presented two singles matches featuring Dragon Gate talent with Shingo vs. CIMA and Yoshino vs. YAMATO. The rest of the show featured a lot of American talent mixed with Dragon Gate talent.

I'm excited to see where Jon Moxley goes from here. He had a really good brawl with Homicide and I like how he's getting into the heads of the members of Kamikaze USA. The backstage segments were also a great addition here, as there were several promos cut that the crowd could hear and react to. I recommend purchasing this show on Friday. It's an important chapter in the new storylines being developed in Dragon Gate and sets the stage for 2011 nicely.

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