By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN'S DGUSA "MERCURY RISING 2013" iPPV BLOG
APRIL 7, 2013
SEACAUCUS, N.J.
AIRED LIVE ON WWNLIVE.COM

Top News: Ricochet pinned EITA in the traditional Dragon Gate six-man tag match to earn a future title shot. Ricochet indicated that he would face Johnny Gargano for the DGUSA Title after winning the match.

Gargano showed respect to CIMA after the match and teased a title vs. title match for CIMA's Dragon Gate Japan Title. Jon Davis then came out and took out CIMA. Gargano seemed to send Davis away, but then he kicked CIMA low and choked him while doing his new sarcastic heel "I do this all for you and I love you" speech.

Gargano also turned on Rich Swann, who asked him what he was doing. Gargano hugged Swann, then superkicked him before tossing him into the barrier on the outside. So, it appears there will be a U.S. vs. Japan Championship Challenge in the future, plus Ricochet is lined up to face Gargano.

(1) Tony Nese beat Soldier Ant (w/Fire Ant) in a one-sided match with a 450. Nese introduced Mr. A as part of the premier athlete brand after the match. Mr. A is the director of brand imaging. He took out Fire Ant with a choke slam and a splash off the top. (*1/4)

(2) Scott Reed (w/The Scene) beat Caleb Konley. Reed dominated early. Konley made a comeback and wiped him out with a nice dice through the ropes. Reed fired back a short time later with a nice powerbomb. Dallas got in the ring and Konley nailed him with a chair. Reed then hit the smash mouth on the chair with Trina distracting the ref for the win. (**)

(3) The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Player Dos) beat D.U.F. (Arik Cannon & Sami Callihan). The SSB hit a superkick/piledriver combination on Callihan right off the bat, but Cannon broke up the pin. Drew Gulak joined Lenny Leonard on commentary. Gulak touched on the rough weekend thus far the GentleMan’s Club. They did a spot where Callihan and Dos hit dives to the outside at the same time as their opponents. Callihan went for a leap frog a short time later inside the ring, but Dos dropped him with a DVD. Uno tagged in and tried to work over Callihan, but Cannon ran in and hit a DDT. The action broke down and the SSB eventually hit a tandem back stabber on Callihan for a 2 count. They went to a big sequence where Cannon ended up hitting a combination of moves capped by total anarchy on Dos for a 2 count. The ref didn’t even attempt to maintain control with all four guys in the ring for a long period of time. Callihan got the stretch muffler on Uno. Dos couldn’t make the save, but Uno eventually rolled up Callihan for a 2 count. Callihan slipped out of the fatality, so Dos came off the top with a frog splash for the win. It looked like Uno separated his shoulder again and they went straight to the finish. (*3/4)

Radican’s Analysis: This started fine, but then it was hard to follow the match with the ref making no attempt to maintain order in the ring. It also looked like they had to improvise the finish after Uno separated his shoulder.

(4) Brian Kendrick beat Chuck Taylor (w/The Gentleman’s Club). Kendrick worked Taylor’s arm early and got a cross-arm breaker. Taylor eventually forced Kendrick to break the hold by getting to the ropes. The pace picked up before Kendrick grounded Taylor and locked in another arm submission forcing Taylor to scramble to the ropes again to break the hold. Kendrick invited Taylor to slap him in the face. Taylor slapped him in the face and Kendrick tried to fire up on him before Taylor grabbed an arm submission. Kendrick dropkicked The Swamp Monster, but got tripped on the outside setting up for a dive by another member of the GentleMan’s club. The crowd chanted for both men while Taylor worked over Kendrick with a headscissors on the mat. Taylor continued to dominate the action for several minutes before Kendrick pulled the ropes on him and followed up with a dive that took out several members of the Gentleman’s Club. Kendrick then took out the Colonel and the Swamp Monster.

Kendrick went u top a short time later, but the Swamp Monster held his legs. Kendrick fought the Swamp Monster off and then kicked Taylor away before hitting him with a swinging DDT for a 2 count. Taylor ducked a shoulder tackle through the ropes and nailed Kendrick with a kick and an ace crusher. Taylor caught Kendrick with a big kick to the face a short time later, but only got a 2 count. Taylor locked in a half crab. The crowd chanted for both men until Kendrick managed to escape the hold by countering it into a rollup. They went back and forth and Taylor got the half crab again. Kendrick struggled, but forced the break by getting the ropes. Kendrick suddenly hit a superkick and sliced bread number 2, but the Colonel got up on the apron. Kendrick kicked him off and Taylor tried for a rollup, but Kendrick kicked out. Taylor smiled as he lifted Kendrick and went for sliced bread #2, but Kendrick countered him and hit his own version of sliced bread for the win.

Star rating: (***1/4) – This was a well-worked match by both men telling a good story leading into the finish. The crowd was dead at times, but ended up getting into the match during the second half. The crowd seemed to enjoy Kendrick overcoming the stacked deck.

(5) Uhaa Nation won a Ladders Are Legal Fray match. Ladders are legal in this match once everyone in the match is entered into the ring. A.R. Fox and Samuray Del Sol were the first participants in the match. Fox and Del Sol had an awesome exchange before coming to a stalemate during the early stages of the match. Matt Jackson was out next. The fans chanted for the Young Bucks and Matt went for a splash off the top, but Fox and Del Sol simply moved out of the way. Del Sol and Fox engaged in a Lucha vs. Pro Wrestling battle until Matt ran into the ring and dumped them to the floor. Matt did a hand spring and teased a dive, but simply rolled under the ropes and raped Fox’s back. The fans started another Young Bucks chant while Jackson played air guitar while straddling the top rope. He really should be turning the crowd on him if he’s a heel.

Christina Von Eerie, another heel, came out to a positive reaction. She pulled the top rope down on Matt as he charged at her and then wiped out everyone with a springboard to the outside. Von Eerie then hit an enzuguri on Matt for a 2 count. Jackson fired back and sent Von Eerie outside before wiping her out with a springboard. Matt tossed Fox into the guardrail and pain brushed his head, but Del Sol cut him off. Nick Jackson came out next to a mixed reaction. The crowd fired up as the Young Bucks went at it with Fox and Del Sol. Matt and Nick worked together and wiped out Fox with a head scissor/dropkick combination on the apron. Von Eerie got back in the ring and Matt offered her a handshake and Nick superkicked her. The Young Bucks hit several more superkicks on Von Eerie before eliminating her. The crowd booed, but then cheered when the Young Bucks played air guitar. This crowd is like Sybil. Uhaa Nation was out next. He cleaned house on the Young Bucks. Nation tossed Matt over the top to wipe out everyone on the outside. He set up for a dive, but Fox cut him off and hit the inverted 450 to take out everyone on the outside. The crowd exploded as Fox stood tall on the outside. Matt went up top and wiped out everyone with a moonsault and the crowd chanted for the Young Bucks.

Facade was out next to boos. He came out and hit an insane springboard reverse rotation dive to wipe out everyone. A ref bought a ladder out and the fans chanted “Yes, yes, yes.” Facade did a crazy evade when the Young Bucks tried to nail him with a ladder and then wiped them out with a springboard. Del Sol and Fox went at it and Del Sol hit a reverse hurricanrana on Fox for a nearfall. After a big sequence with Nick, Del Sol, and Fox, Fox ended up getting the pin on Del Sol with Lo Mein pain to eliminate him. The action continued at a frenetic pace. Fox climbed the ladder and Facade tried to jump onto the ladder, but it collapsed under his weight. Fox then jumped off the working side of the ladder onto Facade with the meteora to eliminate him. The action continued to escalate with the Young Bucks working together against Fox and Nation. They went to a big exchange and Nick stood tall after taking out Fox and Nation with a pair of kicks. The fans chanted for the Young Bucks with Fox and Nation unable to get up. The Young Bucks got a ladder and wiped out Nation with it on the outside. Nick Slammed Fox and climbed the ladder. Fox tried to push him off, but Nick jumped to the top rope and wiped out everyone on the outside with a flip. He did it again! Unbelievable!

Fox fought off the Young Bucks near the apron. A ladder was bridged between the apron and the guardrail. Fox hit a kick flip off the ringpost onto Matt on the ladder and the fans went nuts. The crowd was split between Fox and the Young Bucks. Fox set up Matt on a ladder, but Ricochet ran out and pushed Fox onto the ladder set up in the ring. Ricochet then hit a 630 and left the ring. Nick crawled over and eliminated Fox from the match. Nation went after Nick, but Matt tossed a ladder at him. The Young Bucks tossed Nation into the ladder several times. The Young Bucks continued to dominate Nation for several minutes using the ladder to their advantage. The fans rallied behind Nation, who tossed Nick and then Matt into the ladder in the corner. The Young Bucks took turns hitting superkicks on Nation, but he no-sold them and hit a double clothesline. Nick saved Matt with a superkick and the Young Bucks hit the buckle bomb/enzuguri combination in the corner. Uhaa countered more bang for your buck and rolled up Matt for the win. He then hit the Uhaa combination on Matt for the win.

Star rating: (***3/4) – This was a very exciting match; especially with some great sequences involving the Young Bucks. Nation needed this kind of performance after the last two nights when he didn’t get much of a response. Fox really shouldn’t be losing so much after winning the EVOLVE title.

Ricochet and Swann came out clapping their hands to “All Night Long.” I guess Ricochet has turned face or just really likes Swann’s theme. Johnny Gargano came out separately to boos from the fans. Gargano smiled big and clapped hands with the fans as he made his way around the ring. CIMA got the biggest pop making his own entrance apart from EITA and Tomahawk.

Jon Davis got boos and boring chants coming out for his match after intermission

(6) Orange Cassidy (w/The Gentleman’s Club) beat Jon Davis. Neither man wanted to start the match after the bell rang. The crowd started chanting “this is awesome” with both men still sitting in the corner. Davis walked over to Cassidy and tried to drag him out of the corner, but he wouldn’t move. Davis told Cassidy to get in the middle of the ring. Davis went for a lariat and Cassidy sat down and shook his head at Davis. Davis went for another lariat, but Cassidy just sat down. Cassidy dodged several strikes and went for a sunset flip. Davis lifted him up, but Cassidy countered it into a hurricanrana. Cassidy bounced off the ropes and slowly landed on Davis for a 2 count. Cassidy went for a hurricanrana off the top, but Davis blocked it and eventually tossed him over his head. Davis hit a huge lariat on Cassidy and then turned around and hit a huge lariat on the ref.

Gulak got into the ring after the match, but ate a buckle bomb. Chuck Taylor tried his luck, but took a big lariat. The crowd booed as Davis stood tall in the ring. The Swamp Monster got into the ring to check on Taylor, but Davis turned around and saw him. Davis picked up Swamp Monster and hit 3 seconds around the world. The fans booed as Davis held his hand up in the ring. The crowd chanted “Get the f—k out” at Davis as he left the ring.

Leonard announced Cassidy as the winner and Taylor smiled for the hard camera.

Radican’s Analysis: Cassidy not wanted to engage with Davis and then lethargically avoiding his strikes was funny. The match was fun while it lasted. Davis still doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of heat even though they’ve turned up the heat on his gimmick. Something needs to be done to get the crowd turned fully against him instead of the majority of fans being indifferent.

(7) Ricochet & DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann beat CIMA & EITA & Tomahawk T.T. - Dragon Gate Six Man Tag Team match. The rules were the person that gets the winning pin is able to get a shot at any title he chooses in DGUSA or EVOLVE. Swann got the better of CIMA during the early going and sent him to the outside. He faked a dive, but EITA cut him off right away because the match was being held under Dragon Gate Six Man rules, which allow a new wrestler to enter the ring if the legal man exits the ring. Tomahawk no-sold a chop from Swann and nailed him with a chop of his own moments later. CIMA’s team began working together to work over Swann. Swann fired back on EITA and tagged in Ricochet. Swann and Ricochet then worked together to hit a nice sequence of moves on EITA capped by a double dropkick to the back of his head. EITA quickly fired back on Ricochet and tagged in CIMA, who hit a doublestomp on him while EITA held him up on the second rope.

CIMA cut off Ricochet and tagged in Swann, as neither team could get the upper hand for very long during the early going. Swann finally got cut off and CIMA and EITA crotched him on the ringpost before Tomahawk began working him over inside the ring. The action picked up with Swann avoiding a double team from EITA and Tomahawk only to eventually wind up taking a double dropkick. CIMA applied a submission while EITA and Tomahawk took turns chopping him. CIMA let go and covered Swann, but he kicked out at 2. The crowd tried to rally behind Swann, but CIMA continued to work him over. EITA and Tomahawk hit a doomsday lung blower on Swann, but he kicked out at the last second. Swann finally hit a double handspring stunner on CIMA and Tomahawk. Swann tagged in Ricochet and Swann, who ran wild in the ring. The action broke down and Swann hit a spear on EITA and then wiped out Tomahawk with a dive through the ropes.

Ricochet got cut off and took a combination of moves capped by a moonsault from EITA, but Gargano made the save as the crowd fired up. EITA hit a nice face buster on Gargano out of the Drake’s landing position for a 2 count. Gargano fired back with a DDT from the outside in on EITA, but Tomahawk made the save. The action continued at a rapid pace and the crowd fired up after Ricochet hit a SSP on Tomahawk for a 2 count. They went to another rapid-fire sequence between all six men that ended with Ricochet hitting a big lariat off the top on Tomahawk. The crowd fired up with a “Dragon Gate” chant after that sequence. Ricochet took a series of moves capped by shwine, but Ricochet kicked out at the last second. EITA faked out Ricochet and went for a moonsault to the floor, but landed head-first on the top turnbuckle. That was really scary. CIMA and Gargano went face-to-face in the ring and the crowd fired up. Both men traded strikes and then went for their signature moves until Gargano hit hurts don’t it and then applied the Gargano escape. Tomahawk eventually made the save. Gargano ended up cutting EITA off and hit hurts don’t it. Swann followed up with a standing 450 and then Ricochet finished him off with a 630.

Ricochet indicated that he would face Johnny Gargano for the DGUSA Title after winning the match.

Gargano showed respect to CIMA after the match and teased a title vs. title match for CIMA's Dragon Gate Japan Title. Jon Davis then came out and took out CIMA. Gargano seemed to send Davis away, but then he kicked CIMA low and choked him while doing his new sarcastic heel "I do this all for you and I love you" speech.

Gargano also turned on Rich Swann, who asked him what he was doing. Gargano hugged Swann, then superkicked him before tossing him into the barrier on the outside. So, it appears there will be a U.S. vs. Japan Championship Challenge in the future, plus Ricochet is lined up to face Gargano.

Star rating: (***3/4) – This was a really fun match. The crowd was dead for the first half of the match, but really came alive once the action picked up during the second half of the match. EITA botching his moonsault to the outside and landing head-first on the top turnbuckle was really scary, but he looked to be alright. It was odd how Gargano’s heel turn never played into the match while it was in progress.

(8) Shingo beat Akira Tozawa. Shingo dominated during the early stars of the match. Tozawa began his comeback after hitting a shining wizard and both men were down. Tozawa hit a series of dives to the outside capped by a flipping senton and both men were down. Shingo fired back and took control after tying up Tozawa in the corner and nailing him with a big chop. They battled up top and Tozawa eventually hit a superplex for a 2 count.

Shingo caught Tozawa going for a dive and hit a powerbomb on the apron. The feed went out briefly and we came back to a big strike exchange. Both men no-sold suplexes, but Shingo finally grounded Tozawa with a Saito suplex. They went to another big exchange and Shingo no sold a German and hit a huge clothesline and both men were down.

Tozawa hit a bicycle kick and 2 German suplexes for a nearfall. Tozawa went for another German but Shingo blocked it. Shingo hoisted up Tozawa and hit made in Japan for a nearfall. Shingo hit another made in Japan, but Tozawa kicked out again. Shingo then finished off Tozawa with a jumping bomber clothesline.

Star rating: (****) - This was a very good main event. It started off a little slow at the begging with Shingo dominating on offense. Once Tozawa began his comeback they took the match to another gear building to a great finishing sequence. Shingo catching Tozawa going for a dive and powerbombing him onto the apron was a highlight.

Both men shook hands after the match to close the show.

Overall thoughts: (8.0) – The show started out very slowly, but there’s more than enough action on the second half of the card to make this worth ordering after you watch “Open the Ultimate Gate 2012.” None of the matches came close to the level of Ricochet-Tozawa or Shingo-Gargano, but there were some really good matches on the card.

The card picked up beginning with the Taylor-Kendrick match, which was short, but very enjoyable with a solid story behind it. The Fray match was also good if you like matches of that style. Nation looked really good in that match after two less than stellar outings on the previous EVOLVE and DGUSA iPPV events during the weekend. The Young Bucks need to do something to get the crowd to fully turn on them, as they draw boos for some of their antics, but also draw an equal amount of cheers.

Fox had a rough weekend after winning the EVOLVE Championship and something needs to be done to give him some credibility for the title to not come off as a secondary title. Fox took the pin the previous night when he and CIMA lost the DGUSA Tag Titles and he also lost in the Fray match. Fox seemed to hint at a heel turn at times, but didn’t do anything that would signal that he’s sure to turn heel anytime soon.

The Six Man Tag started slow and the crowd didn’t get into the match until the second half when the action picked up. It was strange for Gargano’s heel turn not to play into the actual match itself until the match was over. I liked the post-match interaction between Gargano, CIMA, and Swann, but it was strange that his partners would trust him during the match after what he did to Shingo. It’s also unclear whether or not Ricochet is a face or a heel. He seemed to be playing for cheers during the Six Man Tag.

The main event was the best match of the night. It started off with Shingo working over Tozawa for a long period of time, but once Tozawa began his comeback, things picked up and the crowd got into the action. They had some great sequences leading into the finish and the match is definitely well-worth going out of your way to check out.

DGUSA and EVOLVE have some work to do going forward. Anthony Nese and Jon Davis aren’t clicking as heels right now, although Nese is just getting started with his new gimmick. A.R. Fox needs to be built up as well if the EVOLVE title is going to be a draw going forward as well.

On the other hand, DGUSA set up Gargano nicely to generate some buzz for the company. It seems they’ve set up Gargano to potentially face Ricochet and CIMA in the future for the Open the Freedom Gate title. In the meantime, the roster is heavily stacked with heels, so it will be interesting to see who takes Gargano’s place as the top face of EVOLVE/DGUSA this year.

***

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