Wrestling Review: Evolve 2: Hero vs Hidaka

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Magnus

This review took me longer than expected, but finally I’ve gotten it up.

Also, something else I wanted to clarify about my wrestling review. My rating system is slightly different than others sites since I use an average rating based on all the matches to determine the overall show rating out of 10. Generally these rating may be lower than you see on other sites, but you have to remember for a show to get something like 8/10 would mean the show would need to be filled with **** matches as the average for a full show of **** matches is 8/10. So generally any show that ranks above 5/10 is what I would consider a must see show for the most part.

Evolve 2: Hero vs Hidaka

Chris Dickinson (0-1) vs Brad Allen (1-0): Now may be a good time to state that Brad Allen out of all the wrestlers he could remind me of reminds me of Billy Gunn, both in terms of style and the way he carries himself in the ring. It was a solid opener, nothing special, but the mix of power from Allen and fast paced wrestling from Dickinson was fun to watch. Allen won with the Sitout Facebuster- **1/2

Brodie Lee (0-0) vs Gran Akuma (0-0): Akuma has new tights and a ring jacket, and rips off the jacket before the match starts. A very hard hitting but short match as Brodie smashed Akuma with nasty chops as well as using his size to his advantage, while Akuma hat some hard kicks and had to use his speed to keep one step ahead of Brodie. Akuma nailing an amazing Death Valley Driver on his much larger opponent before making him tap to the L-13- **

Aeroform (Louis Lyndon and Flip Kendrick) (0-1) vs Up in Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) (0-0): I must admit that Aeroform have impressed me, they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I like them, especially Lyndon who’s a lot of fun to watch. This was a very enjoyable tag match, with lots of fun spots and great high flying throughout, and while again short they fitted a lot in with the time they were given. Death by Knee was enough for Up in Smoke to win this one with Cheech pinning Kendrick- **1/2

Caleb Konley (0-0) vs Kenn Doane (0-1): Another solid match here, and while Conley had his chances to shine, this was largely just a showcase for Doane to display his technical skills and work the crowd. The crowd was pretty small for this event, but Doane was able to get them fired up, which in turn helped get Konley over with the crowd who wanted to see him fight back and shut up Doane. Doane would win this one with the Doane Nation- **1/4

Hallowicked (0-0) vs Kyle O’Reilly (1-0): Hallowicked is wrestling in not 1 but 2 matches here tonight, which shows how dedicated he is to proving himself in Evolve. I like both of these men, and though this was a good match that went at a quick pace, with Hallowicked looking to end the match as quickly as he could while O’Reilly looked to wear down Hallowicked with kicks and submissions. Hallowicked fought for as long as he could, but a brutal assault by O’Reilly eventually saw him win with the Brainbuster- **3/4

Chuck Taylor (0-0) vs Ricochet (1-0): Taylor’s first Evolve match did not count towards his singles record, this match against his long time rival Ricochet is his first official Evolve match. And with these two knowing each other so well, they were able to put on a great match, being able to counter each others moves before they did them. Taylor looked to keep Ricochet grounded and wear him down, while Ricochet went for as many high flying moves as he could when the opportunities arose. Taylor won to go 1-0 with the Awful Waffle. I’m maybe overrating this slightly but i don’t’ care, I loved this one- ***1/2

Bobby Fish (0-1) vs Claudio Castagnoli (0-0): This was a little different than the other matches we got on the show in that it was a largely mat based contest, with lots of holds and counter holds exchanged between both along with hard hitting strikes. Castagnoli spent much of the match working over the back of Fish, which proved to be an effective strategy in keeping Fish grounded, as Fish was forced into brief spells of offence before his fightback towards the end. A Diving European Uppercut while Fish was on the canvas was enough to finally keep Fish down for 3, in an overall fantastic match- ***3/4

WSU Womans Title Match- Mercedes Martinez (1-0) vs Sumie Sakai (0-0): This wasn’t the best of matches, Sakai really wasn’t all that good in the ring and Martinez pretty much had to carry her here. Martinez retained her title following a Fisherman’s Buster- 3/4*

Johnny Gargano (1-0) vs Jimmy Jacobs (1-0): Out of all the new wrestlers I’ve seen in DGUSA and Evolve, Gargano is the one who has impressed me the most, he is a great wrestler and had charisma to go with that. These two put on a good contest, with the crowd really getting into it, and with the time they had they really impressed as they went back and forth. Jacobs made Gargano tap to the Guillotine Choke- **3/4

The Colony (Green Ant and Fire Ant) vs The Osirion Patrol (Amasis and Ophidian) vs Incoherence (Hallowicked and Frightmare) vs Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw: This match is under elimination rules. I pretty much love any multi-man match that involves the Chikara stars, there was lots of great high flying here with the match moving at a pretty much non-stop pace. The Colony were first to go when Hallowicked pinned Green Ant following the Go To Sleepy Hollows as he was coming off the top rope. Quackenbush then ties up pretty much all his opponents with a series of submissions as the match slowed down a bit, before Incoherence were eliminated by a Double Superkick from Quackenbush and Jigsaw. Amasis would pin Jigsaw with a 450 to score what could be considered an upset. Fantastic if spotty match- ***1/2

Chris Hero (0-0) vs Ikuto Hidaka (0-0): Excellent main event here, it lived up to its billing as it was a fantastic pure wrestling contest. We saw lots of good back and forth mat wrestling as both exchanged holds and counter holds for much of this contest. However Hero had a size advantage, and as well as wrestling could outpower Hidaka, who was able to use his speed to hit some big high flying moves on Hero. Hidaka scored a major win here after a series of kicks- ***3/4

Overall this was another solid Evolve show, with 4 fantastic matches, though not MOTY candidates. You can always expect top to bottom good wrestling on an Evolve shows, as well as seeing lots of guys who can and will be the future of the business. Much like Dragon Gate USA, if you liked the first show, you’ll love this one.

Overall Rating (based on average star rating)- 5.4/10 (2.7 stars)

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Fearless (bonus disc)

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Magnus

Dragon Gate USA: Fearless (bonus disc)

Elimination Rules- Arik Cannon vs Kyle O’Reilly vs Jon Moxley vs Lince Dorado vs Johnny Gargano vs Brad Allen:. I like the idea this better than the Fray concept, getting all the wrestlers out there at once works way better, and it made for a solid if spotty match. Jon Moxley was first to go when he got DQ’ed for having Brian Kendrick interfere on his behalf. Brad Allen was next to go when Gargano rolled him up, grabbing the trunks to get 3. A quick exchange between Cannon and Dorado sees Dorado eliminated after a Glimmering Warlock, and Cannon would eliminate Gargano with exactly the same move. O’Reilly and Cannon exchanged stiff strikes as well as near falls, before O’Reilly nailed the Brainbuster to win the match- **3/4

AAW Heavyweight Title Match- Silas Young vs Hallowicked: A decent little match here, both men looked good and got time to impress, with AAW getting a real chance to showcase itself with this match. It was a largely a mat based contest, with holds and counter holds exchanged, along with a few high flying moves to. Young retained his title after the PeeGee Waja Plunge- **1/2

FIP Heavyweight Title Match- Davey Richards vs Masaaki Mochizuki: This is the match from Dragon gate I mentioned in the review of the main show, and I like how the FIP title is treated like a big deal here, on par with other titles in Dragon Gate. This match was easily on the same level as the match they would have in Dragon Gate USA, and much like that match Mochizuki worked over the leg of Richards, and Richards worked on the arm of Mochizuki. And as mentioned in the last review, Mochizuki won the title here after an exchange of kicks saw him hit Richards with the Shin Saikyou High Kick, which was enough for the 3 count- ***3/4

Open the Freedom Gate Title Match- BxB Hulk vs Susumu Yokosuka: This is from the same show as the FIP Title match, and while I’m not 100% certain, I’m guessing this is Hulk’s first title defence. A good and long title defence for Hulk here, as he had his leg worked on for much of the match by Yokosuka before making his big comeback in the second half. My only issue with the match is that Hulk seemingly forgot about his leg being injured towards the end and didn’t sell it, but that is a minor criticism of a really fun match. Hulk retained his title after the E.V.O- ***1/2

There’s two great singles matches on this bonus disc that are well worth a look in Richards/Mochizuki and Hulk/Yokosuka. Therefore out of all the bonus discs that have come with Dragon Gate USA shows so far, this is the best of them, I recommend giving this a watch.

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Fearless

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Magnus

I now have a Twitter, which will be updated every time I make a new post. Follow MagnusDReviews here- http://twitter.com/MagnusDReviews

Dragon Gate USA: Fearless

TJP vs Gran Akuma: I’m a fan of both of these guys, they have very similar styles in that they are good strikers who can also take to the air and wrestle well on the mat. As a result their styles meshed well, and this made for a solid, back and forth opening contest. TJP got the win via submission to the Figure Four Deathlock, and hopefully he will return to the promotion at some stage- **3/4

Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush vs CIMA and Super Crazy: This one came about based on CIMA making some unkind comments about Chikara, with a potential Chikara vs Dragon Gate feud being teased. Crazy is in this because Quackenbush is angry at how he attacked Jorge Rivera when he was supposedly injured at the last show. A fun lucha style tag match here, the action was fast paced and I enjoyed the double team work by Jigsaw and Quackenbush, as well as some of the comedy aspects that Crazy brought into it. Quackenbush ended up rolling up Super Crazy to score the victory- ***

Jimmy Jacobs vs Brian Kendrick: Kendrick to get into the head of Jacobs brings out Lacey to be his valet, acknowledging the past they had in ROH. This added an extra dimension to the match, but Kendrick again simply wasn’t able to keep my interest, despite the match being fairly solid from a wrestling standpoint. Jacobs had the Guillotine Choke locked in, but Lacey came in and distracted him before Kendrick hat the Sliced Bread #2 which was enough for the 3 count- **1/4

FIP World Heavyweight Title Match- Davey Richards vs Masaaki Mochizuki: Mochizuki won the FIP Title from Richards at a Dragon Gate event in Japan in 2009, and this is the rematch. Mochizuki could be seen as an older version of Richards, as they both have very similar styles focused around kicks and submissions. Richards went to work on the arm of Mochizuki ruthlessly, while Mochizuki showed the same ruthlessness in working over the arm of Richards. In the end however Richards got Mochizuki into a Cross Armbreaker, which he transitioned into a Triangle Choke from which Mochizuki could not escape, forcing him to tap as we got a new champion. Fantastic match overall- ****

Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino vs The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) vs Shingo and YAMATO: This match is under elimination rules, and it also under triple threat rules so 3 men are in at a time until the 1st team is eliminated. This was a very fun match, with lots of great multi man spots (such as a spot where everyone got put in a Head Scissor submission and Shingo them locked in a Sharpshooter that hurt all 5 of the other wrestlers in the match) and fast paced offence. The Young Bucks were first to be eliminated after a Lightning Spiral from Yoshino, and Yoshino would also make Shingo tap out to the Sol Naciente- ***3/4

Open the Freedom Gate Title Match- BxB Hulk vs Dragon Kid: The main event saw a battle of two great high fliers, and as you would expect this match was wrestled at a quick pace for the most part, though in the early going Hulk decided to keep this match on the mat at a slower pace to slow down his quicker opponent. I highly enjoyed this match and thought it was a fantastic way to end the show. Hulk retained the title after the E.V.O.P- ***3/4

Yet another great Dragon Gate PPV here, with a bit more consistency throughout the card compared to previous shows. 3 matches rated ***3/4 or above is pretty impressive, and the Quack/Jigsaw vs CIMA/Crazy tag match is also well worth a look and so is the opener. Kendrick/Jacobs is the only lowlight really. My only criticism here is that crowd were not as red hot as they have been for other shows, they seemed dead at times, which may be because this crowd seemed to be a bit smaller than you’d usually get on a DGUSA show. Again if you’ve enjoyed Dragon Gate USA up to this you’ll again love this show.

Overall Rating (based on average star rating)- 6.5/10 (3.25 stars)

If you have any requests for shows to review, or you have any feedback on the shows I’ve reviewed, feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below, on Twitter @MagnusDReviews, or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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Wrestling Review: Evolve 1 – Ibushi vs Richards

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Magnus

Evolve 1: Ibushi vs Richards

Evolve is a promotion created by Dragon Gate USA vice president Gabe Sapolsky. Its a completely different concept to that promotion, as this one focuses very much on rules and having both a distinct singles and tag team division. In many ways its like a fresh take on what ROH has been, with the focus very much on the various young talents around the indy scene. Its a promotion I’ve been interested in from the beginning and I’m really looking forward to reviewing this show.

Kyle O’Reilly vs Bobby Fish: A solid opener here, with a quick pace to it and a great mix of high flying, hard hitting strikes and high impact moves. The match was fairly short, but this is what I expected from Evolve and the short match length gives wrestlers the chance to go all out for the time they are given. O’Reilly won this with the Brainbuster- **3/4

Chuck Taylor vs Cheech: This is a qualifying match, with the winner earning a spot in the singles division in Evolve. Compared to the opener, this match was a bit more focused on the high flying, with both men taking a lot of risks and the match maintained the quick pace the opener had. Taylor took the win with the Awful Waffle in a match that I enjoyed- **1/2

Ricochet vs Arik Cannon: Unlike the first 2 matches, this match involved wrestlers of completely different styles, with the hard hitting style of Cannon battling the high risk style of Ricochet. Ricochet has majorly improved since the last time I saw him a few years ago, he is crisper now and hits pretty much everything he goes for. As a result I really enjoyed this one, which again while short fitted a lot of power vs speed action into the time given. Ricochet hat a 630 which was enough to put down Cannon for 3- **3/4

Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis and Kory Chavis) vs Aeroform (Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon): Again we had a power vs speed battle here in Evolve’s first tag team match, and again it was a good one. The Dark City Fight Club are great fun to watch against smaller opponents like this, as they pretty much beat the hell out of Aeroform, who still managed to hold their own with their innovative high flying moves. Project Mayhem on Lyndon was enough for the DCFC to win this- **1/2

Niya vs Mercedes Martinez: This was just a squash for Martinez, who destroyed Niya here in roughly a minute. She ended this with a Fisherman’s Buster- *

Brad Allen vs Silas Young: Another fairly quick paced match, which much like the opener had a bit of everything. There were hard hitting strikes, high risk moves and some submissions, all packed into this short match which again I enjoyed. A scary spot saw Allen do a Moonsault to the outside which Young countered with a Dropkick, and Allen looked majorly hurt until he just made it back in the ring before the 20 count. Allen then managed to fight back and win with a Sitout Facebuster- **1/2

Jimmy Jacobs vs Kenn Doane: A great match here, the best on the show so far as it had a bit more time than the others, plus a strong face in Jacobs and great heel in Doane, something that hasn’t really existed on this show so far. In comparison to a lot of stuff on the show it felt more like something you’d see in WWE, with Doane wearing down Jacobs and playing to the crowd, and Jacobs making some big babyface comebacks as the match went on. I’ll also state that the match was great from a technical standpoint, there was a lot of great mat wrestling here. Doane won with the Doane Nation, despite Jacobs having his foot on the ropes.

However Tommy Dreamer comes out and says Jacobs foot was on the ropes, meaning the match is restarted. Jacobs then makes Doane tap with the Guillotine Choke- ***

Chris Dickinson vs Johnny Gargano: Another decent if short match. Dickinson is a very intense wrestler, looking to hit hard and take down Gargano with strikes, while Gargano tried to outwrestle Dickinson and wear him down with submissions, as well as taking advantage of any mistakes. Gargano took the victory with Hurts Donut- **1/2

TJP vs Munenori Sawa: Sawa is a freelancer in Japan, and has wrestled a lot in Zero 1 and BattlArts, as well as in the Keiji Mutoh parody gimmick Lingerie Muto. This was really good stuff here, the match was wrestled at a quick pace and mixed high flying and mat wrestling well, as well as lots of stiff strikes. In many ways it felt like a match you’d see in the junior heavyweight division of any promotion in Japan. Sawa made TJP tap to the Octopus Stretch- ***1/2

Akuma’s Army (Icarus, Gran Akuma and Brodie Lee) vs Team Frightening (Hallowicked, Frightmare and Mike Quackenbush): I must admit I was not expecting a 6 man tag on this show, with the designated singles and tag team divisions, but it was a nice surprise. With 6 Chikara regulars in this one, this was very much your regular Chikara 6 man tag, with the added dynamic of Brodie Lee’s power battling with the speed of the other team. I always enjoy these matches and this one was no different, it built well before all the big spots at the end. Hallowicked won it for his team with the Rydeen Bomb- ***1/4

Davey Richards vs Kota Ibushi: Two of my absolute favourite wrestlers on the indy scene, Richards and Ibushi put on a classic here which despite all the good wrestling on the show before this, proved to be the best match of the night. Richards worked more of a ground based style in this one, working on the arm of Ibushi, which was a good strategy to counter the crazy high flying style of Ibushi. At the same time however Richards was no afraid to take some chances himself, and Ibushi also showed he can keep up on the mat as well as being able to hit just as hard as Richards. Ibushi would eventually tap to the Kimura- ****

Overall I have to say that I really enjoyed this debut event from Evolve, and it surpassed my expectations/ As mentioned earlier, it feels a lot like watching Ring of Honor, only with a greater focus on win/loss records and on putting on a great show with young talent which doesn’t need any gimmicks or backstage skits. While some are being critical of the short match length, I personally see it as a good thing, since it means the talent must work hard to impress with the time that they have in order to keep their spot and earn future opportunities. Hopefully the promotion continues to grow, I’d love to see them doing more regular shows. I recommend this DVD, even though it doesn’t have as high a rating as Dragon Gate USA, its well worth a look if only for the main event and TJP/Sawa matches.

Overall Rating (based on average star rating)- 5.5/10 (2.75 stars)

Next up will be a review of the 4th Dragon Gate USA show.

If you have any requests for shows to review, or you have any feedback on the shows I’ve reviewed, feel free to leave a comment or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Open The Freedom Gate (bonus disc)

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Magnus

Dragon Gate USA: Open the Freedom Gate (bonus disc)

Kyle O’Reilly vs Adam Cole: One of 2 matches that didn’t make it to the main portion of the DVD, a battle here of two young stars who would subsequently sign for ROH a few months down the line as a tag team. You can see why they were signed as both clearly have loads of potential, putting on a really fun if spotty match that I enjoyed way more than I expected to. With more time they could have had an even better match. O’Reilly pinned Cole with the Brainbuster- **3/4

B-Boy vs Jon Moxley: The second bonus match on the show, again both of these guys are making their DGUSA debuts. B-Boy wrestled his usual hard hitting style, while Moxley used his size and power advantage to wear down B-Boy, also using some submissions to work on the arm. It was a decent match and Moxley impressed me, but it wasn’t anything special. Moxley made B-Boy tap to the Fujiwara Armbar- **1/2

BxB Hulk and YAMATO vs Roderick Strong and Jay Briscoe- This match is from Full Impact Pro’s 3rd Anniversary Show in 2007, with Strong being the FIP Champion and Jay Briscoe one half of the Tag Team Champions. I really enjoyed this one, these four are all great wrestlers, and the action was very quickly paced, exactly the way I like it. BxB Hulk pinned Briscoe after the E.V.O- ***1/4

You again have the option of watching the highlights of the PPV as well as the original preview, neither of which I need to cover here.

BxB Hulk, Pac and Masato Yoshino vs Akebono, Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki: Another match from Dragon Gate in Japan, this time from 2009, and is for the Open the Triangle Gate Titles (held by Hulk’s team). Akebono is a bizarre choice to have in this match, he really isn’t your regular Dragon Gate wrestler, but at the same time his size would be effective against 3 much smaller opponents so it makes sense in a way. he didn’t detract from the match too much, as we still saw the fast paced wrestling we have come to expect, along with the added factor of Akebono’s power and how the champions would deal with it. Yoshino made Fujii pass out in the Sol Naciente Kai- ***

Fray: Arik Cannon vs Brad Allen vs Chris Jones vs Dave Cole vs Drake Younger vs Flip Kendrick vs Marion Fontaine vs Scotty Vortekz: A fray from the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup 2009 held by FIP, this time the match has 2 minute intervals in-between entrants. Much like the previous Fray matches, this was pretty much a spotfest, and with less time in-between entrants the match went at a quicker pace which I felt helped things somewhat, but I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the last Fray. Eliminations went as follows-
Arik Cannon by Flip Kendrick
Dave Cole by Drake Younger
Marion Fontaine by Brad Allen
Flip Kendrick by Brad Allen
Chris Jones by Scotty Vortekz
Brad Allen by Drake Younger
Scotty Vortekz by Drake Younger- **1/2

Much like the other bonus discs, while this has some solid action, there’s not really anything here that’s must see, though the FIP tag match and Dragon Gate match are well worth a look.

If you have any requests for shows to review, or you have any feedback on the shows I’ve reviewed, feel free to leave a comment or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Magnus

Dragon Gate USA: Open the Freedom Gate

Open the Freedom Gate Qualifier- Gran Akuma vs Johnny Gargano vs Nick Jackson vs Matt Jackson vs Lince Dorado vs Hallowicked: This is the first of 4 qualifying matches for the 4 way main event to determine the Open the Freedom Gate champion. A complete spotfest of a match, but it was a good one as the action was pretty much non-stop, and everyone had their opportunities to shine. I also liked that they had the Young Bucks fight against each other when the opportunity raised itself, rather than just having them be a tag team in a singles match. Akuma pinned Gargano following a Moonsault to advance- ***

Open the Freedom Gate Qualifier- BxB Hulk vs Brian Kendrick: This match is billed as redemption, with both having lost their first matches in DGUSA. Again it was a decent match, but a little disappointing based on what I expected from both of them, and Kendrick just hasn’t been at his best in DGUSA for whatever reason. Hulk’s high flying was really the only thing of note here, he was the only one who brought any real excitement into this contest. Hulk hat a big kick to Kendrick’s head and then rolled him up for the 3 count- **

Open the Freedom Gate Qualifier- CIMA vs Mike Quackenbush vs Super Crazy vs Jorge Rivera: Apparently Rivera was requested to be put in this match at the request of the other 3 competitors, meaning it would have been a 3 way match originally. it should also be noted that Crazy looks quite a bit bulkier than he has in the past, but he still has it in the ring. It was an enjoyable contest between these 4, a little shorter than I expected, but the action was fun and fast paced throughout. CIMA won by rolling up Rivera- **3/4

Open the Freedom Gate Qualifier- Davey Richards vs YAMATO: Both men are 1-0 in singles competition, and therefore this was as a Next Level contest to determine who can step up and main event. YAMATO and Richards were pretty well matched opponents, both being skilled submission wrestler and also even in terms of strikes, with YAMATO being a little more aggressive and Richards having better flying skills. A great match overall, but not quite on the same level as the Richards/Shingo match from the previous show, there was just a bit too much downtime in the early stages despite a crazy final few minutes. YAMATO won it with Gallaria- ***3/4

Our main event will see Gran Akuma battle BxB Hulk, CIMA and YAMATO in an elimination match in order to crown the 1st Open The Freedom Gate Champion.

Jigsaw vs Eddie Kingston: A battle of two of the graduates of the 2nd class of the Chikara Wrestle Factory. I’m a fan of both men and I liked the match, it was a fun battle of power vs speed, though I feel it could have been better. Jigsaw won with a Top Rope Double Stomp- **3/4

Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino vs Dragon Kid and Shingo: After their two singles encounters on the first 2 DGUSA shows, Dragon Kid and Masato Yoshino’s rivalry has gotten more heated after a backstage confrontation, leading to a tag team match. Doi and Yoshino easily had more experience as a tag team and thus the crisper double team moves, but Kid and Shingo complimented each other well with a speed and power combination. As a result I thought this was a great tag team match, and I actually thought it was even better than their singles matches all thanks to the addition of two more fantastic athletes, the match of the night for sure. Yoshino finally got his win over Dragon Kid by making him tap to Sol Naciente- ****

Open the Freedom Gate Finals- Gran Akuma vs BxB Hulk vs CIMA vs YAMATO: One of these doesn’t belong, and that was Akuma, he just wasn’t on the same level as the other 3 in this match. I did however think this was a good main event match, I enjoyed it and it did a good job at establishing the new champion. YAMATO eliminated CIMA after Akuma nailed him with a blatant Low Blow and YAMATO rolled him up for 3. Hulk was dominated by YAMATO and Akuma until he was able to make a fightback, and eliminate Akuma with the E.V.O. BxB Hulk would then go to eliminate YAMATO with another E.V.O to win the title- ***1/4

Another great PPV from Dragon Gate USA here, but it was a step down from the previous two events in overall quality. The Dragon Kid/Shingo vs Doi/Yoshino tag match and Richards/YAMATO matches were excellent, but were the only real standout matches on the card and were not on par with the standout matches from the last show. The opener and main event were also good, and the rest was decent. Again I can easily recommend this to those of you who enjoyed the first two shows, though don’t expect to be blown away in the same fashion you were.

Overall Rating (based on average star rating)- 6/10 (3 stars)

Again the bonus disc is next on the review schedule, and I may even do that today. After that I plan to take a look at the first EVOLVE event, and Blackadder Series 4 is also set to be reviewed sometime soon.

If you have any requests for shows to review, or you have any feedback on the shows I’ve reviewed, feel free to leave a comment or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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TV Review: Blackadder Series 3

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Magnus

Blackadder Series 3

E. Blackadder Esquire (Rowan Atkinson) is the head butler to the Prince Of Wales (Hugh Laurie), a complete buffoon who can’t do the simplest of tasks on his own. Blackadder’s only allies are his loyal dogsbody Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and Mrs Miggins (Helen Atkinson-Wood), who runs the local pie shop.

S3E1: Dish and Dishonesty- Prime Minister Pitt the Younger wants to bankrupt the Prince by taking him off the civil list, so Blackadder rigs a local election to have Baldrick get a seat in parliament and defeat the bill. A funny start to the series, with the parody of TV election coverage being especially good, but I have seen better episodes.- 75/100

S3E2: Ink and Incapability- The Prince decides to endorse the dictionary invented by Dr Johnson (Robbie Coltraine), but matters are complicated when the dictionary is supposedly accidentally burned by Baldrick. They must then write a new dictionary before Dr Johnson returns, and so that Blackadder can have his novel published (written under the pseudonym of Gertrude Perkins). Another funny episode here, with humour coming from Blackadder having to rush together the dictionary, including a bizarre dream sequence, and the eventual realisation that it was Blackadder’s novel and not the dictionary that was burned- 78/100

S3E3: Nob and Nobility- With the recent craze of the Scarlet Pimpernel running around London, Blackadder tries to cash in by rescuing a French aristocrat in a cunning scheme. However his plan goes awry when a French revolutionist (Chris Barrie) assassinates the ambassador and takes them prisoner. A fantastic episode here, the guests in this episode are utterly brilliant in their roles: Chris Barrie showed his wide range of acting skill by perfectly pulling off the French revolutionist role, and Tim McInnery and Nigel Planner are also fantastic as the Scarlet Pimpernel. A must see episode- 85/100

S3E4: Sense and Senility- After an anarchist attempts to assassinate the Prince, he hires two actors to teach him how to improve his image and deliver better speeches. Blackadder grows increasingly angry based on the actors and Prince’s attitude towards him, and then hatches a cunning plan to tie the actors to a potential assassination attempt on the Prince so that they will be executed. One of the weaker episodes in the series, its still a fun watch with Blackadder’s mentioning of MacBeth to the actors and their reaction to that being a nice running gag- 70/100

S3E5: Amy and Amiability- Blackadder attempts to marry the Prince off to Amy Harwood (Miranda Richardson) after he loses all his money playing cards. When it becomes apparent Amy is also broke and is in fact the highwayman The Shadow, Blackadder hatches a scheme to make himself rich. Another decent episode here, but probably my least favourite in the series, there isn’t quite same level of laughs to be had in this one, but seeing Blackadder as a highwayman as well as the twist at the end were both highlights- 68/100

S3E6: Duel and Duality- After the Prince sleeps with the nieces of The Duke Of Wellington, the duke (Stephen Fry) challenges him to duel. Blackadder takes the place of the Prince in the duel in exchange for getting everything that he has. This is undoubtedly my favourite episode of the series, Stephen Fry is brilliant in the role of the duke, and seeing him and Blackadder beat up Hugh when he is posing at the butler is hysterically funny. The end also provided a surprising twist, with Blackadder surviving the duel and taking the Prince’s role, while the Prince gets shot and killed by the duke. A must see episode, possibly the best of the entire 4 series- 90/100

In terms of overall quality, this series is a tad below the second, but the 3rd and last episodes of the series are amongst the best that the show ever produced, and can be put right up there with the greatest episode in sitcom history. The quality of guests must also be credited, the like of Stephen Fry and Chris Barrie add so much to the episodes they are in. Percy is absent from this series, and while that obviously was a loss, Hugh Laurie as the Prince may arguably be a better and funnier character, so its not a major loss as a result.Another must see series overall, if you like the previous series you’ll love this one.

Overall Rating (based on average rating of all episodes)- 77/100

If you have any comments on how I can improve my reviews, or you would like to write for this site, please leave a comment below or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Open The Untouchable Gate (Bonus Disc)

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Magnus

Dragon Gate USA: Open the Untouchable Gate (Bonus Disc)

Again the PPV highlights and preview are available to watch on this DVD if you wish.

Davey Richards vs SHINGO- This is from FIP Impact of Honor in 2006. Looking back on this match, its easy to see how both men have changed in appearance and how both have evolved as in-ring performers. This match was nowhere near the level of their match in Dragon Gate USA, since neither man was at the level of skill they were then, but this was still a lot of fun to watch and you could see the potential in both of them. Shingo won with the Bloodfall- ***

Davey Richards vs SHINGO- A rematch of the above match, this time from FIP All or Nothing again in 2006. This match was around about the same level as their previous match, it was entertaining but it doesn’t compare to their DGUSA match where both men were at a different level than they were at this stage. Richards made Shingo tap to the 14:59 to even the series- ***

Magnum Tokyo, BxB Hulk and Matt Sydal vs Gamma, Naoki Tanisaki and Jimmy Rave: This one is from Dragon Gate’s Wrestle Jam event in 2006, which was a show where top indy talent from American competed with talent from Dragon Gate. It was a fun little match, though not especially memorable, and none of the talent in this match were actually part of the main DGUSA show. Tanisaki was pinned by Sydal after the Shooting Star Press- **1/2

Fray- Arik Cannon vs Flip Kendrick vs Great Malaki vs Hallowicked vs Johnny Gargano vs Louis Lyndon vs Mustafa Ali vs Shiima Xion: This was a bit better than the previous Fray, the match went at a much better pace and there wasn’t any downtime like there was in the previous one, though I do still think it was a little too long and cutting a minute in-between entrants would help. So as a result I like this even though it was largely a spotfest, I was especially impressed with Great Malaki’s crazy entrance where he set his hands on fire, and Flip Kendrick’s 630 to the outside. Eliminations went as follows-
Arik Cannon by Hallowicked
Louis Lyndon by Mustafa Ali
Shiima Xion by Johnny Gargano
Mustafa Ali by Hallowicked
Great Malaki by Flip Kendrick
Flip Kendrick by Johnny Gargano
Hallowicked by Johnny Gargano- **1/2

The bonus disc is a fun watch, but there are no must see matches on this one unless you want to look back at the history between Davey Richards and Shingo before watching the DGUSA match.

Expect reviews of Blackadder Series 3 and the next DGUSA shows to be up this weekend.

If you have any requests for shows to review, or you have any feedback on the shows I’ve reviewed, feel free to leave a comment or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Open The Untouchable Gate

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Magnus

Dragon Gate USA: Open the Untouchable Gate

Masato Yoshino vs Dragon Kid: A rematch from the first Dragon Gate PPV, Yoshino was looking to get his win back here. This was once again an excellent match between the two, easily on par with their first encounter, as while it was a bit slower in the early going, it got better and better as it went along, and the final few minutes were insane. Yoshino went for the Lightning Spiral, but Dragon Kid reversed it into a Crucifix Bomb which was enough to get the win- ***1/2

YAMATO and Gran Akuma vs Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush: This match was based on events from the last show, where YAMATO and Akuma disrespected Jorge “Skayde” Rivera and Quackenbush before attacking them. The majority of this match saw YAMATO and Akuma work on the knee of Jigsaw, before he got the hot tag and Quackenbush cleaned house. Both teams then exchanged a series of near falls before Quackenbush pinned Akuma following the QD2. The match was solid, but a bit long and slightly below what I expected- **3/4

The Young Bucks come out and cut a promo, before they are interrupted by Jimmy Jacobs and Prince Mustafa Ali. Jacobs and Ali attack The Young Bucks before they fight back, and then Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi run in to beat them down.

Bryan Danielson vs Naruki Doi: This was one of Danielson’s final indy matches before joining WWE. I really, really enjoyed this, Danielson as per usual went through his wide range of technical moves, working on Doi’s shoulder, but Doi managed to keep up and used his speed as a way to escape Danielson’s clutches, as well as working on his knee. Doi got the win after hitting the Muscular Bomb. Absolutely fantastic stuff, the best match in Dragon Gate USA so far- ****1/4

CIMA vs Brian Kendrick: A decent little match here, but it was a little on the short side and really didn’t hold my interest very much, so in someways a little disappointing. The match did go back and forth and they did do quite a lot in the time they had, so they did their best. CIMA won it with the Meteora after the Schwein- **

Davey Richards vs SHINGO: A very hard hitting contest, these two exchanged a lot of chops, forearms and kicks. But there was also mat wrestling here as Shingo worked on the knee of Richards very effectively, and Richards worked over Shingo’s arm. At one stage Richards nearly killed himself with a dive onto Shingo, sending himself three rows into the crowd. After an amazing exchange of near falls in the final few minutes of the match, Richards made Shingo tap to the Kimura. Amazing match, I enjoyed it even more than Danielson/Doi and that’s saying something- ****1/2

The Young Bucks vs Real Hazard (Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi): Personally I would not have had this match as the main event, while it was still an enjoyable and fun tag team match, it just wasn’t able to follow the previous one. It was a very quickly paced match, filled with high flying and great teamwork from both teams, and Real Hazard are brilliant cocky heels who are easy to hate. Horiguchi spit mist into the eyes of Matt, and Saito followed that with the Double Cross which was enough to win the match- ***

Another excellent Dragon Gate USA event here. You had two amazing singles contests in Doi/Danielson and Richards/Shingo, Yoshino/Kid was also great stuff, and the rest of the matches were all fairly enjoyable to. My only criticism would be that there were no multi-man tag team matches, a staple of Dragon Gate and matches that I simply can’t get enough of. This show is an easy recommendation, if you enjoyed the first show or even just like good wrestling, then you will not be disappointed by this show.

Overall Rating (based on average star rating)- 6.6/10 (3.3 stars)

The quality throughout the card based on the overall rating is a slight touch below the first, but I’d still say the shows are at least even quality wise.

The bonus disc will be reviewed next, and Blackadder Series 3 is being watched for a future review.

If you have any requests for shows to review, or you have any feedback on the shows I’ve reviewed, feel free to leave a comment or email me at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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Wrestling Review: Dragon Gate USA Open The Historic Gate (bonus disc)

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Magnus

Most Dragon Gate USA shows come with a bonus disc, which I will review separately from the main show review. These usually contain matches that didn’t make it to the original show as well as past matches from other promotions like Full Impact Pro involving Dragon Gate USA stars.

Dragon Gate USA: Open the Historic Gate (Bonus Disc)

There are highlights of the PPV available as a bonus here, as well as the original preview of the event. While its nice to have these on the DVD there’s no real need to watch them unless you haven’t watched the event first.

BxB Hulk, Jack Evans and YAMATO vs Delirious, Jigsaw and Hallowicked: This match is from Full Impact Pro on the 27th of September 2007, and is a battle of FIP and Dragon Gate stars. Its a fun enough match, though maybe not as fast paced and as crisp as I would expect from a match involving Dragon Gate talent. But it was still entertaining high flying style match and never dull. Though I must admit Dave Prazak’s commentary really grated on me here, he sounded completely disinterested in the action and it took away from my enjoyment somewhat. Evans pinned Hallowicked after a Moonsault Legdrop- ***

Jushin Liger, BxB Hulk, Jack Evans and Matt Sydal vs Magnitude Kishiwada, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Kevin Steen: This one is from Dragon Gate in 2006, and surprisingly the commentary is in English for this one rather than the original Japanese. This was excellent stuff, and not only did you get the incredibly quick, crisp high flying and double team moves that you would expect from this sort of match, you also got exchanges of power from Liger and Kishiwada and even a bit of mat wrestling, so there was a bit of everything. Doi would accidentally throw protein powder into the eyes of Yoshino, which allowed Liger to hit the Brainbuster, which Sydal followed with the Shooting Star Press to score the 3 count- ***3/4

Fray- Aaron Arbo vs Andy Harner vs Cheech vs Chris Jones vs Cloudy vs Johnny Gargano vs Lince Dorado vs Louis Lyndon: The rules of a fray match are that two wrestlers start off, then another comes in every 3 minutes until everyone is in, with the match being held under elimination rules. It was a decent match, but largely a spotfest and nothing you won’t have seen elsewhere on the indy scene, and I think the match could have been done better (such as not having such a long gap between wrestlers entering the match). Eliminations were as follows-
Andy Harner by Johnny Gargano
Aaron Arbo by Johnny Gargano
Louis Lyndon by Johnny Gargano
Chris Jones by Cheech
Cloudy by Lince Dorado
Cheech by Johnny Gargano
Johnny Gargano by Lince Dorado- **1/4

This bonus disc is a lot of fun. You get two good matches from FIP and Dragon Gate, as well as a decent (if flawed) Fray match that was cut from the main show. I won’t rate this one due to it being a bonus disc.

My next review will be of either Dragon Gate USA’s 2nd show, or Blackadder Series 3. I will likely review another sitcom soon, more than likely an American one, and I may also review some video games or Youtube videos. Keep your eyes peeled.

If you have any feedback on my reviews, feel free to comment or send me an email at donaldson_magnus@yahoo.co.uk

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