Dragon Gate USA iPPV results
"Mercury Rising 2014"
April 5, 2014
New Orleans, La.
Report by Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist

[ FYI: The iPPV can be found HERE at WWNLive.com. The on-demand version will be released soon. ]

1 - Masato Tanaka & Chris Hero & Roderick Strong vs. Ricochet & A.R. Fox & Rich Swann in a six-man Round One Tournament match

Nice triple suplex spot early with Strong, Tanaka, and Hero hitting it on their opponents. It's a match-up of speed vs. power so far. They went to a long heat segment on Swann. Swann made the hot tag to Fox, who ran wild and hit a flip five over the ringpost to the floor onto Hero and Tanaka.

Fox got cut off and took a sustained beating. Fox finally hit a double ace crusher on Hero and Strong. He rolled out of the ring and Ricochet ran wild. Hero caught Ricochet going for a running SSP and turned it into a cravat suplex. That was impressive. They went to a huge sequence where everyone hit moves and Swann capped the sequence wiping out Tanaka with a 360 enziguri. Swann ended up getting the pin on Hero with a rolling cradle.

WINNERS: Ricochet & Fox & Swann. Fantastic action. (***3/4)

Chuck Taylor came to the ring looking sad. The fans chanted please don't cry. Maxwell Chicago came down to the ring. He told Taylor he's only been in one group with mom and dad. He said he was here to cheer up Taylor. Maxwell told a bad joke and went backstage. He brought some crawfish into the ring for Taylor. He asked Taylor if he wanted a match.

2 - Chuck Taylor vs. Maxwell Chicago

Maxwell called for a Frankensteiner. He slowly tried to put Taylor up top, but them brought him back down into the corner. Maxwell eventually pulled off a sloppy Frankensteiner. The Premier Athlete Brand then hit the ring and took out Maxwell. Su Yung said they were supposed to meet The Gentleman's club tonight. She told Taylor to forfeit or fight. Taylor chose to fight.

WINNER: Maxwell via DQ. (n/a)

3 - Caleb Konley & Anthony Nese & Trent vs. Chuck Taylor in a Round One Tournament match

Trent did not want to wrestle Taylor, so Konley and Nese jumped Taylor. Biff Busick eventually came out to join Taylor. Busick got the hot tag and ran wild.

3a - Caleb Konley & Anthony Nese & Trent (w/The Premier Athlete Brand) vs. Chuck Taylor & Biff Busick in a Round One Tournament match

Busick got cut off and Larry Dallas came out with Teddy Hart to join Taylor and Busick.

3b - Caleb Konley & Anthony Nese & Trent (w/The Premier Athlete Brand) vs. Chuck Taylor & Biff Busick & Teddy Hart (w/Larry Dallas & Mister Money) in a Round One Tournament match

Hart brought Mister Money into the ring, but then he turned on Busick and Taylor. Hart wiped out Taylor and Busick and the crowd chanted, "This is stupid." The fans then chanted, "Fire Russo." Nese then covered Taylor for the win. Hart's booking is sponsored by TNA and Vince Russo.

WINNERS: Premiere Athlete Brand.

4 - Fire Ant & Green Ant & Lince Dorado vs. Lancelot Bravado & Harlem Bravado & Moose in a Round One match

Fire Ant got worked over of a long period of time during the early going. Dorado finally get the hot tag and ran wild on Harlem. The action picked up with the Colony and Dorado hitting several dives to the floor.

The action broke down and Green Ant got the Chikara special on Moose, but Harlem broke it up. Green Ant got Lancelot in the Chikara special a short time later for the win. The match was solid, but the crowd was flat.

WINNERS: Ants & Dorado.

Post-match, Green Ant said they wanted a title shot after beating The Bravados. Harlem said they would give them a shot at the next Evolve show in May. Harlem then challenged Bad Influence to a match for the live audience.

5 - SHINE champion Ivelisse vs. Mercedes Martinez

Good action early with neither lady able to gain a sustained advantage. Martinez got the upper hand and hit a long delayed vertical suplex for a two count. They had some good hard-hitting exchanges featuring slaps and big chops. Martinez had the upper hand, but Ivelisse ducked a running boot in the corner and went on the attack.

Martinez cut off Ivelisse up top and hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Ivelisse ended up getting the win by countering Martinez with a crucifix.

WINNER: Ivelisse to retain the SHINE Title. This was a solid match. The crowd wasn't into it much, though. (**3/4)

Martinez appeared to be hurt after the match and favored her leg. Ivelisse and the refs helped Martinez to the back.

Johnny Gargano got a big pop coming out for his match against Low Ki. Gargano got on the mic and told Ki he was going to address his people. Gargano claimed he beat Ricochet in a big match and retained his title. Gargano said Low Ki did not have a great match last night. He said Ki lost, but was a great challenger for his title tonight. Gargano said his title was on the line right now. Leonard said Gargano had lost his mind.

Ki said Gargano had lost his mind. Ki said something about being the NXT Season 2 winner that I missed.

6 - Low Ki vs. Johnny Gargano

Ki hit a big chop early and Gargano quickly bailed to the outside with a shocked look on his face. Gargano went for the Gargano escape a short time later, but Ki quickly escaped. Ki got the upper hand and began working over Gargano for a long period of time. Ki went for the Dragon Sleeper, but Gargano countered it into a lawn dart.

The fans are into Gargano tonight as they chanted for him after he got the upper hand. Gargano began working over Ki with an arm submission. Gargano then began working over Ki's fingers. The action spilled to the floor and Gargano dumped Ki face-first onto the apron. Gargano continued to hold the upper hand and went after Ki's arm. Ki eventually mounted a comeback and sent Garagno to the mat. Both men were down.

Ki went on the attack and nailed Gargano with a kick to the back of the head, but Gargano hit a superkick for a nearfall. Ki countered the "hurts don't it," and followed up with a double stomp for a two count. Ki went got a double stomp with Gargano draped over the ropes, but Gargano ducked it and hit a slingshot DDT. He then got the Gargano Escape. Ki struggled, but managed to get the ropes. Gargano didn't let go of the hold until after the five count, but the ref didn't DQ him. Ki fired back and not a springboard kick followed by the Ki Crush for the win.

WINNER: Low Ki. This was very good, but the finish was abrupt. (***1/2)

7 - Ricochet & A.R. Fox & Rich Swann vs. Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley & Trent (w/The Premier Athlete Brand) vs. Fire Ant & Green Ant & Lince Dorado in the Six Man Tag Team Tournament Finals Elimination match

The action was chaotic during the early going. Nese got booed breaking up a multi-man submission spot. Nese hit a one arm powerbomb to the outside on Swann sending him into several wrestlers. Great fast-paced action so far if you enjoy this style. Dorado and Green Ant tossed Fire Ant to the outside, but the pile of men caught him, so Green Ant and Dorado wiped out wet one with a double dive off the top. Konley eventually eliminated Dorado with a big Falcon Arrow variation for the first elimination.

Swann took a sustained beating as the Premier Athlete Brand took turns working him over. Ricochet finally got the hot tag and ran wild. Fox then wiped out everyone with Lo Mein Rain to the floor and the fans chanted for Fox. The action continued at a rapid pace with both teams going back and forth. Ricochet hit a crazy suplex and them dead-lifted Konley into a brainbuster, but the pin got broken up. The crazy action continued with some fantastic exchanges. Fox hit Lo Mein Pain on Konley, but Trent hit a running knee to the back of Fox's head for the win.

WINNERS: Trent & Nese & Konley. (***1/4)

The fans didn't like the finish and chanted, "Fire Russo," and "Super Dragon." That was a good match, but a really flat ending to the show. I don't think it was mentioned that everyone in the Premier Athlete Brand gets to pick their own matches of their choosing for winning the match.

Overall initial thoughts: (4.0) The show got off to a red-hot start with Fox & Swann & Ricochet vs. Hero & Tanaka & Strong. Things went down hill from there with a really bad segment starting with Taylor coming out and ending with Teddy Hart turning on everyone after Taylor eventually teamed with Biff Busick and Hart in a Six-Man Tournament match.

The Hart segment brought the show down and it was really hard to get back into the show after that. Gargano vs. Low Ki was very good during the second half of the show.

The Premier Athlete Brand won a fast-paced sprint in the Six Man Tournament finals, but it was a poor choice to go with the heels winning an the crowd wasn't happy with the end result as they chanted "Fire Russo" and booed.

There was some good stuff on this card, but the Chuck Taylor segment leading into the segment with Hart seemed to put a big damper on the rest of the show.

***

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Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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