Dragon Gate USA Enter The Dragon II

Dragon Gate USA has been an interesting experiment for Gabe Sapolsky. With one year under his belt there have been a lot of positives and negatives to learn from moving forward. One of the things that was becoming obvious coming into this show was a need to have English speaking members of the key DGUSA stables so that angles could progress and feuds could be built with promos. Early on in DGUSA Dragon Kid and Masato Yoshino had a good feud which eventually included Shingo and Naruki Doi. But the problem with building feuds in DGUSA based solely around the Japanese wrestlers is that in Japan the stables in Dragon Gate seem to change every month. So all of the sudden in DGUSA Shingo was no long Dragon Kid's ally, and CIMA was. And without the ability to deliver promos to the American crowds, this all came off helter-skelter. There's certainly a need for DGUSA to feature great Japanese VS Japanese matches, but to build compelling feuds and new stars the American roster was going to have to get more involved. Putting Jon Moxley with Kamikaze USA was a great start, and it seemed a large focus on this show would be CIMA recruiting a member for WARRIORS International. One of the problems as the initial luster of DGUSA wore off was that a lot of matches felt lacking in purpose, and coming into Enter the Dragon it felt like the show was booked specifically to address that issue. I was pretty excited for this card all around.

Attendance was good and the ECW Arena was absolutely sweltering. It was over 100 degrees on the field for the Phillies game earlier in the day and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same in that venue for the show. Under the lights in the ring wrestlers were obviously laboring, as just minutes into a match someone was most likely soaked in sweat. The show started out with an intro video getting the crowd ready for the PPV taping to start. DGUSA has done a great job at both of the shows I've been to with these intro videos. They really bring the crowd to a fever pitch and make you feel like you're about to see something special. We saw multiple instances of Kamikaze USA kicking CHIKARA Sekigun members low, which made me feel good that the blow off to DGUSA's first feud would be done right. The show started with CIMA coming out and doing his best to greet and thank the fans in English. I admire CIMA's dedication to learning the language but he still isn't at the point where he can effectively work the mic in front of a live audience. Johnny Gargano comes out, they have an awkward exchange, and it leads to our opening match.

-CIMA VS Johnny Gargano. This was a good, exciting opener. I've seen a decent amount of Gargano at this point but I still don't have a great read on him in the ring. His goofy Chris Jericho as portrayed by the Nickelodeon generation living in his mom's basement shtick doesn't exactly scream "compelling wrestler" to me. But I will say that he sold more than most of the guys on the show. He seemed to have nerves early on in the match but after he got comfortable they worked very well together. They did a good job of working up the crowd and delivering an exciting match, but not going too long or getting too crazy. You can tell CIMA really cares about DGUSA and wants to see it succeed, as he continues to try to establish new stars for the American audience.

-Arik Cannon VS Chuck Taylor VS Ricochet VS Adam Cole. This four way was a very fun spotfest. I guess this was the second WARRIORS International challenge? I wouldn't know since CIMA wasn't involved in any way. My only real complaint with this one is I could have done without Adam Cole's Canadian Destroyer variation. That move just screams indy wrestling in the worst possible way. Otherwise though, this is everything you want from a demolition derby match. Ricochet keeps looking better every time I see him, I never thought he'd get this good but I'm really becoming a fan of his. Arik Cannon was the glue of the match though, and if it wasn't for the chubby hard hitting base he provided a lot of these spots would have blended together. I was disappointed that between this match and the opener we still don't know who will be joining WARRIORS International after all the build leading up to the show. Hopefully in the long run these two matches have some impact on that angle.

-Naruki Doi VS Drake Younger. So this was supposed to be Doi VS Dragon Kid, which was the one match on the card that didn't seem to have much purpose. I still wouldn't have minded seeing a typical Dragon Kid singles bout here, but unfortunately he was injured before the show and had to cancel. What we got instead is the "Psycho Shooter" Drake Younger against Doi. I've only seen one or two Younger matches before and I've never been impressed with him. It's not because he's a deathmatch wrestler or anything, there's just nothing I find particularly interesting about him. The match itself was a complete styles clash. Doi wore a shirt and it appeared his torso was taped up. Younger seemed very timid for most of the match, which is odd because I think he was trying to establish himself as the "hard hitter" of DGUSA. They started out with Doi working Younger's leg, and it felt like a good time in the card for a slower match like that, but they abandon it and have a completely lackluster second half. This one just didn't work.

-BxB Hulk VS Masaaki Mochizuki. It felt a bit early in the card for this match. They may have been better served doing the 8 man elimination tag before intermission, and letting that one go all out. That would have left two straight singles main events, but it would have at least made the Freedom Gate Title look stronger. Hulk's reign has been full of token defenses and as much as I would have liked this to be an exception, it wasn't. The fact that Hulk is as over as champ as he is is a testament to his charisma and hard work in DGUSA. He recently had his head shaved and he came out wearing a wig for his intro dance, and when he took it off it got a great reaction. Smart way to turn something that may have confused some fans into a fun reveal. He was as over as anyone on the card other than Danielson. Not surprisingly this was a battle of blown off leg work. For someone who thrives on psycho bumps, Hulk really needs to learn to sell at least a little bit at some point. Mochizuki I expect it from by now, and he actually tried to sell his leg longer than I expected, but still shruged it off eventually. He did throw the sickest kicks on the show. Despite its problems this match was still really enjoyable up until the finish, which was tremendously screwed up. I don't know if it was on the wrestlers or the ref or the time keeper, but man did it ever deflate the crowd. They follow up with an interesting Kamikaze USA angle involving some sort of geisha girl ghost (who may have been one of Hulk's dancers previously?). Weird but different in a good way.

-Intermission. The first half had two fresh matches that seemed like they were taking steps to break up the segregated feel of the roster that was problematic during the first year of DGUSA. CIMA/Gargano was the perfect example of how to mix the American talent in with the Japanese roster. Doi/Younger was a nice effort to do the same but honestly I don't understand why Younger is even in DGUSA. The show was moving well and there were only 2 matches left so I was expecting them both to get some serious time.

-Scott Reed VS Rich Swan. Two indy guys I've never heard of have a match for a few minutes and then Brodie Lee comes out and demolishes them. Rich Swan looked very impressed with himself but I wasn't very impressed with him. I also don't really understand Brodie Lee in DGUSA but at least they're clearly building to something with him. What that is I don't know, but I like Lee and hopefully Gabe can pull this off.

-Kamikaze USA VS CHIKARA Sekigun. This was the match I was most looking forward to. It was fun as hell but kind of cut off at the knees. When Yoshino was announced as the fourth member of the Chikara team I thought it was an okay idea, as he was feuding with YAMATO and he added some credibility to the face side. I would have rather seen Fire Ant but otherwise I thought it was a decent booking move. What I didn't (but should have) foresee was that this would result in Yoshino, the Open The Dream Gate Champion, looking far stronger than anyone on the Chikara team. The Chikara faces, who have busted their asses to get this feud over for the past year, were super over but didn't come out of the match looking strong in the booking. Early on in DGUSA Gabe attempted to elevate one American wrestler and one tag team to the same level as the Dragon Gate roster: Davey Richards & the Young Bucks. Unfortunately, both ended up leaving him before he could complete whatever was in mind for them. Then it seemed he might try to push TJP, but unfortunately it appears that TJP is no longer working with DGUSA or EVOLVE. Through all that, the Chikara roster continued to deliver every time they were given an opportunity. Jigsaw and Hallowicked have looked particularly good every chance they've had. Yet the Chikara wrestlers, aside from Gran Akuma, have clearly been booked on a level below their fellow Japanese roster members.

This was the first match I had a real rooting interest in. YAMATO and Jon Moxley both did a great job on their side letting the faces shine and not stealing the spotlight. Akira Tozawa seemed more interested in popping the crowd with his antics than anything, but he's young and didn't have much else to bring to the match. Hallowicked looked to finally be cutting down his physique a little and for the first time I've seen he had some definition to his build here. Both he and Jigsaw looked really good when they had the chance in this one. I really hope that both of them get some better opportunities in the next year of DGUSA. Jigsaw getting a shot at the Open The Freedom Gate Championship? Hallowicked against some of the Dragon Gate natives? Those are matches I'd really like to see. I'm enjoying Jon Moxley's attempt to take over the indies right now but his "Parental Advisory" tights are painfully lame for a guy who comes across naturally edgy. Anyway this match was really good while it lasted, but felt rather short for the blowoff to the first major feud of the promotion. And as I already said, I wasn't exactly happy with the way it was booked. Still it was a lot of fun and probably my favorite match of the show.

-"American Dragon" Bryan Danielson VS Shingo. This delivered everything you want from a match such as this. The fans were so pro-Danielson that they gave Shingo very little reaction, which is surprising as he's been one of the most over wrestlers in DGUSA thus far. The early section seemed like the match might have been based around both guys working the arm, which would have been different and neat. Instead it ended up being more meaningless early match limb work. Shingo did make an effort for a while but I guess it's my own fault for looking for consistent selling on a DGUSA show. Still this was damn good and especially impressive considering how hot it was. After the match Danielson joined WORLD-1? This is strange to me on a few levels. First of all the whole thing with CIMA recruiting for WARRIORS International felt like it was going to help elevate someone lower on the roster to freshen things up a little. Instead we get Danielson joining a faction, and it goes without saying he needs no rub. Second, is Danielson even going to be around long enough to follow up on this? I doubt he's going to tour Dragon Gate, so what's the most they might get, one more DGUSA show to play off this angle? I can only assume that he's going to end up back in the WWE in a few months with how much attention his firing has received. The idea of Danielson as a member of WORLD-1 I think is pretty cool. I just don't see how anyone benefits from it in practice.

This was a good show that was well worth the money. I would recommend it on DVD although on PPV without Danielson/Shingo I'm not sure how it will flow. The 8 man elimination tag was a blast but after each PPV being based around at least one or two big workrate style matches, it would be an odd (although not necessarily bad) change of pace to put a storyline focused match such as this the main event. I can't see any other match really being a selling point for the PPV though, as Hulk/Mochizuki unfortunately will be remembered for the bad finish more than anything, and I doubt the opening two matches have the name power to convince anyone to buy. I do strongly recommend checking out both matches though. But personally even on DVD I wouldn't call this a must-see event. I know Danielson/Shingo will get that kind of talk, and it was a very good match, but it's nothing we haven't seen from Danielson or Shingo before. I was more encouraged by CIMA/Gargano than anything else on this show. I hope that the four way leads to actual opportunities in the promotion for the wrestlers involved instead of just another isolated match for the American roster members. Still Enter the Dragon II was a good show and a fitting way to end their first year that sent home everyone happy. One year is in the books for DGUSA and it seems like they are building to some fresh and exciting things for their next year. Here's hoping they continue in this direction and put the spotlight on some new faces and new feuds.