Dragongate USA capped off the first day of HighSpots’ Wrestle Reunion convention in Los Angeles. The convention consists of three consecutive days of live pro wrestling, autograph signings, and video and photo ops.
The crowd was maybe 50 percent full at the start of the show.
This show also aired live on WWNLIVE.COM.
1. Lo Ki vs. BXB Hulk.
Lo Ki goes for a waistlock to start, but Hulk stacks him up for 1.
Hulk has Lo Ki in a half crab.
Lo Ki sends Hulk into the ropes and then chops him in the chest. He follows up with a snapmare into a head scissors. Lo Ki puts Hulk in a headlock before hitting him with a European uppercut. Double chop to the back of the neck by Lo Ki followed by a stomp to the back of the head.
Hulk hits a low dropkick, then kicks Lo Ki in the shoulder.
Hulk chops him, then Lo Ki chops him three times. Lo Ki mounts Hulk. He goes for a few quick covers in succession.
Lo Ki goes for a full nelson but takes an enziguri from Hulk. Hulk takes Lo Ki down with a series of rapid kicks.
Hulk gets an armbar on Lo Ki before the referee breaks it up.
Lo Ki hits an ax kick to the head. Spinning heelkick into a bow and arrow submission by Hulk, which transitions into a half crab.
Hulk holds on to the crab while stomping Ki in the head. Ki hits an enziguri, taking both men down.
Ki charges with a kick to the chest. He hits a series of chops and forearms. He scores a kick to the back but only picks up a two-count.
Ki drills Hulk with a running double-boot to the chest. Ki hits a powerbomb and his Warrior’s Way double foot stomp from the top for three.
Winner: Lo Ki
2. Scorpio Sky and Chuck Taylor vs. The Young Bucks
Chuck Taylor came to the ring on his own and announced that travel issues had prevented Rich Swann from making it to Los Angeles. Taylor calls out either one of the Young Bucks for a singles contest.
Both Bucks come to the ring and attempt to stack the odds against Taylor by double-teaming him. Scorpio Sky runs out to make the save, and Sky takes Swann’s place in the tag match.
Taylor and Sky work on Nick Jackson. Sky whips Nick into the corner. Backbreaker by Sky. Taylor dropkicks Nick Jackson.
Matt hits double sledges to the back of Taylor while Nick holds him down.
Taylor hits elbows to the head, but gets swept by Nick Jackson. We see a sequence featuring a wheelbarrow into a cutter, but the Bucks only get two.
Chuck Taylor nails a missile dropkick and hits a fireman’s carry.
Nick and Sky come in. Belly to belly suplex over the top by Nick.
Nick gets kneed in the face. Taylor hits a springboard moonsault. Rolling back elbow by Nick.
Matt kicks and then double stomps Sky. Suicide dive by Nick on to Sky.
Taylor gets a half crab on Matt. Nick kicks Taylor in the face. Everybody exchanges superkicks. Sky locks in a variation of the dragon sleeper. Double tombstone for 2, but Taylor breaks it up.
Matt and Nick take turns with right hands. Matt goes for a fireman’s carry but gets crotched by Taylor.
Taylor kicks Nick multiple times. Matt with a low blow to Sky and Nick rakes the eyes.
450 splash by Nick and moonsault by Matt, also known as the More Bang for Your Buck, for three.
Awesome high flying match. It was a spot fest with no real story to it, but still plenty of fun to watch.
Winner: Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Bucks
3. Masato Yoshino vs. Naruki Doi
Both men reverse each other’s waistlocks to start. Yoshino lands a head scissors and then both men square off.
Yoshino ducks a clothesline before hitting one of his own. Yoshino dropkicks Doi in the arm. Yoshino begins to systematically work over Doi’s arm with six consecutive arm wringers into a modified armbar.
Yoshino rolls up Doi for 1. He rams Doi’s arm into the turnbuckle to do more damage.
Yoshino runs into a boot to the face. Doi hits a running neckbreaker and a half moonsault to swing the momentum back into his court. He lands a swinging neckbreaker for 2.
Doi works on a rear chinlock until Yoshino gets the bottom rope.
Doi dropkicks Yoshino and hits a second half (180) moonsault.
Doi and Yoshino exchange chops in a “boo, yay” spot until Doi rakes the eyes.
Yoshino goes back to weakening the arm with a double footstomp.
Yoshino goes up to the top and hits a double footstomp to the chest for 2.
Doi hits a sit-out powerbomb for 2. They exchange chops again. Doi hits repeated forearms.
Sit-out face buster and low dropkick by Doi. He only gets 2, despite holding the tights.
Both men end up on top. Springboard into a clothesline from the top for 2.
Yoshino traps Doi’s arm in some sort of triangle. Doi hits a double chicken wing suplex.
Doi hits a series of palmstrikes. Tilt-a-whirl by Yoshino.
Yoshino makes Doi tap to the triangle variation.
This was hands down my favorite match of the whole show. There was just some great storytelling here with Yoshino working over Doi’s arm, and the injury coming back to lead to Doi’s loss. I’m a sucker for that kind of logical ring psychology. I did not understand, however, the roles these men were playing. The crowd seemed really hot for Doi, though I believe he’s supposed to be a heel. Yoshino created and then exploited Doi’s injury throughout the match, which is generally a tactic reserved for a heel. But that’s just me being picky. This match was great.
Winner: Masato Yoshino
4. A.R. Fox. vs. Sami Callihan
Fox comes out and talks about Sami Callihan’s attack on Sabu. He wants an anything goes table match tonight to exact a little revenge.
They start out with some brawling. Callihan takes a forearm to the jaw. We see a springboard 450 splash over the top by Fox. Fox sends Callihan into the guardrail, then misses a suicide dive. Callihan throws the table onto Fox twice. Callihan powerslams Fox onto the table twice. He follows them up with forearms to the back of Fox’s head.
Fox dropkicks Callihan in the knee. Fox sommersaults over the table onto Callihan. Fox misses a toprope legdrop. Callihan uses a chair on Fox. Fox takes a backdrop onto a piece of the guardrail. Fox defiantly spits in Callihan’s space and ducks a clothesline. Fox hits a moonsault off of a pole in the “oh my god” spot of the match.
Neither men seem to know how to set up this table. Callihan is on the table. Fox goes up but he gets crotched. Callihan sends Fox over the top rope onto the guardrail.
Callihan powerbombs Fox through the table for the win.
This was the “crazy hardcore spot” match of the night. It didn’t do much for me, but it certainly built up Callihan as a killing machine, which I think was the intent. The crowd seemed to respond well to it as well.
Winner: Sami Callihan
During the intermission, Colt Cabana promoted Five Dollar Wrestling later that night with himself and Marty Derosa.
Back from intermission.
5. Caleb Konley vs. Jon Davis
I understand the internet feed went out during this match. Viewers didn’t miss much. This match was put in an ideal spot to get the live crowd back into the show after intermission.
Davis works on the neck of Konley. Davis hits an armdrag. Konley blocks a hiptoss but takes a snapmare.
Davis powerslams Konley and follows up with a short arm clothesline.
Konley drops an elbow on Davis for 2. Konley applies a rear chinlock. They exchange forearms as Davis tries to fight out of the hold. They exchange chops.
Davis hits an atomic drop and throws Konley into the corner. Konley rolls him up for 2, followed by a superkick and a running leg lariat and moonsault.
Konley hitts a clothesline, but Davis comes back with a running shoulder block. Spinning sit-out powerbomb by Davis for 3.
Winner: Jon Davis
6. Akira Tozawa vs. Pac
Tozawa has Pac in a modified armbar to start but turns it into an arm wringer. Pac responds with an arm wringer of his own until Tozawa takes Pac down into a crossface.
Armdrag by Tozawa. Pac uses the ropes to hit an armdrag of his own. Tozawa goes up but Pac backs away. Both men meet with shoulder blocks. Tozawa takes a running head scissors takedown from Pac. Pac slams Tozawa’s head into the turnbuckle. He follows it up with some chops and a stomp to the chest. Pac gets a springboard double foot stomp to the stomach for 2.
Pac drops stomach first into Tozawa’s knees. Tozawa is busted open from the eyebrow at this point. Tozawa hits a powerslam.
Tozawa delivers kicks to Pac’s midsection. Forearms take Pac to his knees. Pac gets to his feet and they exchange until Tozawa rakes the eyes. Tozawa transitions from a bow and arrow submission into a half crab. Pac makes it to the ropes. A slingshot attempt is avoided by Pac. Tozawa hits a dropkick.
Pac with a springboard moonsault from the top to the outside.
Both men back to their feet. Pac with an arm wringer. Tozawa delivers the Kobashi chops to Pac’s chest. Tozawa with a lariat for 2. Tozawa with a double forearm to the jaw. Pac responds with a german suplex. Pac goes to the top but Tozawa grabs the leg. Tozawa runs into an enziguri by Pac. Both men go off with a superplex for 2… Pac goes for the Phoenix Splash but hits Tozawa’s knees. We see a tremendous sequence as Pac counters a German suplex. They exchange nearfalls and German suplexes.
One more German for 3 by Tozawa.
That match was so much fun live. I really have nothing negative to say about this, so I’ll move on.
Winner: Akira Tozawa
7. Open the Freedom Gate tag team title match.
Ricochet and Cima C. vs. Jimmy Susumu and Masaaki Mochizuki.
Mochizuki and Cima start off. Mochizuki chops Cima’s chest. Shoulder block by Mochizuki. Cima goes over the ropes. Susumu and Ricochet are in.
Ricochet springboards and lands on his feet. Mochizuki tags in. Ricochet takes a kick to the back of the knee. Susumu has a one-arm double heel hook in at one point. Cima is in a modified toehold until he gets the arm up and reverses. Cima stomps the leg of Susumu. Cima rolls up susumu for 2. Double dropkick by the champions for 2.
Susumu puts Cima in a low abdominal stretch. Cima hits a powerslam and tags in ricochet.
Dropkick to Mochizuki. Ricochet tags in Cima. Droptoehold and a snapmare. Cima has Susumu in a leg submission. Susumu makes it to the bottom rope.
Enziguri by Ricochet. Bulldog on Susumu by Cima. Susumu hits a fisherman’s suplex to both Cima and Ricochet. Mochizuki takes a standing backflip. Mochizuki takes Ricochet down with a kick. Mochizuki has an ankle lock, but Cima comes in and gets dropped. Ricochet hits an enziguri, making it Susumu and Cima. Cima rolls up Susumu for 2. Susumu turns a gut wrench into a DDT. Sunset flip by Susumu into a double footstomp and a moonsault by Ricochet. Back breaker by both champions, followed by a moonsault by Rikochet for 2. Cima hits a running knee to the jaw of mochizuki. Mochizuki throws kicks to the chest and head. Mochizuki hits the yakuza kick on Rikochet. Mochuzuki hits the top rope enziguri. Susumu goes over the top, springboards in, and sends Cima’s head into the top turnbuckle. Ricochet hits the 540 splash but Susumu breaks it up.
Susumu crotches Ricochet on the top. Ricochet goes up again and hits a dropkick. Cima goes for the cover but it’s broken up again.
Susumu rolls through for two. Rikochet with an enziguri. Cima with another nearfall. Cima hits a leaping DDT followed by a double knee drop to the jaw for 3.
Champions retain.
Winner: Jimmy Susumu and Ricochet
BXB Hulk and Tozawa attack the challengers after the match. Lo Ki makes the save. Ki talks about pro wrestling having to set the bar every time for the fans. He says he’s here to “compete against the best in the world.” He wants to prove that he’s one of the “elite competitors in professional wrestling.” He calls out everyone in the ring and says he wants to beat everyone. He says he and Cima never crossed paths in their time in Japan, but they’ll do it in DGUSA. They shake hands. After a little more talking and thanking the crowd, the show concluded.
With this being my first Dragongate USA experience, everything felt solid. As mentioned at the beginning of this report, the venue was just over half full, but the people who were there seemed pretty into what they were watching. They had their low points, of course; they were pretty much dead for Konley and Davis. The crowd was incredibly hot for Lo Ki, Pac, and Yoshino.
If the lack of attendance discourages Dragongate USA from returning to Los Angeles, the reaction will be understandable, albeit disappointing to the fans who actually enjoyed it last night.
I’ll be back with you late tonight or tomorrow morning with my recap of tonight’s Pro Wrestling Superstars show. It’s part two of the Wrestle Reunion. We’re just getting started. If you can’t wait until then, follow me on Twitter and I’ll try to update live from the convention.
Finally, I’d like to thank my best friend Rudy Chinchilla for being my eyes for everything this weekend. The accuracy of these reports would not be possible without his contributions.