Dragon Gate USA 'Revolt': Results and Reactions (Jan. 26)

Dragon Gate USA put forth its first iPPV of the year with last night's (Jan. 26, 2013) Revolt from Huntington Park, California. Let's get right to reactions from the show:

• The show kicked off with god's gift to comedy, The Kentucky Gentleman Chuck Taylor, issuing an open challenge to the locker room for a game of beer pong. Yes, you read that right: beer pong. Arik Cannon would be the one to pick up the gauntlet thrown by Taylor, but was quickly defeated 3-0.
• Cannon didn't take his defeat all that well which lead to a brief but highly entertaining match with Taylor. High spots of the match included Taylor being suplexed onto some chairs on the outside and Cannon hitting the bar while Taylor recovered. The beer pong table had remained in the ring throughout the match and came into play at the end when Taylor put Cannon through the table and followed up with the pinfall.
• A big surprise would emerge on the card with the California FRAY! (a scramble type match). The match featured Brian Cage, Drake Younger, Johnny Yuma, Johnny Goodtime, Ray Rosas, and a surprise entrant (more on that in a bit) in a exciting match that kept a great pace throughout. None of the wrestlers really disappointed, but Cage and Younger contributed the most to the match. The final entrant to match was to be one of Brian Kendrick's student, but in a surprise twist Kendrick entered the match himself and took the victory.
• Rich Swann was in action next against the Mysterious Dragon Gate Wrestler, who was unveiled to be EITA. The two got off to a slow start but things picked up as they utilized the arena and stage to their advantage to put on a fun combination of stiff working and high flying action. Swann took the win after hitting a standing 450. After the match, Swann put all of the other high flyers on notice.
• The pace of the card was significantly stepped up with one half of the Open the United Gate Champions (tag team championship) AR Fox taking on Samuray Del Sol. The two put on a barn-burner of a match with a great work rate and excellent spots traded between the two. The fast paced affair came to an end when Fox was able to land Lo-Mein Pain for the pinfall. These two broke out big in the last year and if this match is any indication, they will continue their way to the top of the promotion.
• After the match, the Young Bucks made their way to the ring and attacked AR Fox to put the tag team champions on notice.
• There was a lot of hype coming into Revolt for the showdown between Sami Callihan and Akira Tozawa. The hype was well deserved, too, and the match lived up to it. Callihan and Tozawa worked each other stiff through the entirety of the match and provided great psychology throughout it. Callihan nearly ended the match with the Stretch Muffler but Tozawa was able to come back from the brink of passing out to hit the Bridged German Suplex for the pinfall.
• Making their return to Dragon Gate USA iPPV for the first time in a year, the Young Bucks were in action against the Jimmy's (Ryu Saito and Susumu). This was probably the biggest disappointment on the card. Don't get me wrong, it was a good match but not on the level of what the Young Bucks have been doing recently. Maybe my expectations were just too high. Any dissenting opinions on this match, Cagesiders?
• In the main event of the evening, Open the Freedom Gate Champion (top title in the promotion) Johnny Gargano defended his title against Jon Davis in a No Ropes and No DQ match. The match was top notch and the stipulations provided for some great moments. Gargano and Davis were not hindered by the lack of ropes; in fact it enhanced the work they were doing. Gargano's figure four on the solitary ring post was one of the great spots enhanced by the stipulation. They used the no disqualification stip to their advantage as well. The match was brutal throughout with Gargano taking some huge bumps onto various objects such as chairs and ladders. Gargano would fight back and take victory by utilizing his Garga-No-Escape in conjunction with a ladder to submit Davis.
• Unfortunately for Jon Davis the event demonstrated the biggest problem he has had with DGUSA -- he is just unable to get over with the fans. Despite going against DGUSA's top babyface, Davis had absolutely zero heat with the crowd. It's a continuation of the trend from 2012 and could lead to Davis falling down the card despite his talent.
• After the match, Kendrick came down to the ring to confront Gargano but the feed went out. I presume we will see them square off today on Heat.

Grade: A-

A thoroughly entertaining card from top-to-bottom. All the matches were quite good (although one was a disappointment) and if Dragon Gate USA can continue to put on cards of this quality, they are in for a banner year.