Dragon Gate USA Freedom Fight 2012

The trilogy of shows climaxed with an outstanding main event in Deer Park, New York, as Johnny Gargano defended his Open The Freedom Gate title in a blistering four-way elimination match opposite Akira Tozawa, AR Fox, and Ricochet. After brutal assaults at the hands of Jon Davis throughout the weekend compounded his back problems, Gargano headed into the bout with the odds stacked against him. Davis also assaulted him before this defence could start, further hindering his chances. After AR Fox had tapped to a Ricochet Texas Cloverleaf, and Ricochet himself had succumbed to a straightjacket German suplex from Tozawa, the Japanese ace tapped out to the Garga-No Escape (Crippler Crossface).

Meanwhile, much of the scheduled action was breathtaking. Fox took an especially wild spill into the ringside fans off a crazy dive. Inside the ring, the foursome also combined in numerous high-impact spots, in addition to various twists on all of their signature moves. Ricochet used a chair to damage the leg of Fox, compromising him for the first elimination. The two remaining heels then briefly collaborated to punish Gargano, who bled from the mouth, but he fought back valiantly before his ordeal was over.

Despite the high-flying action, what really made the encounter so rewarding and dramatic was the weekend-long peril that the champion had found himself in. It was a near-perfect tale, and Gargano played the role magnificently, entering one of the finest performances of his career.

Davis himself made short work of EITA in a clash that few fans of the latter would have wanted to see. EITA did enjoy delivering a couple of his impressive moves, but this was a largely a squash showcase for Davis, who won with a lariat. In a similar vein, ACH was dominated by Arik Cannon, in a fair effort.

Elsewhere, the undercard took a while to warm up, with two respectable tag matches occurring before Chuck Taylor and Rich Swann served up an engaging hardcore feast, which was won by the latter with an enzuigiri. Better yet was a cracking win for CIMA over Sami Callihan, which saw the Dragon Gate favourite pick up the win with his Meteora knee-drop. Samuray Del Sol and El Generico also bested Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito in a tremendous slice of action that ensured that the top three matches here were among the finest triumvirate seen anywhere in 2012.

It was only fitting that in completing the weekend's proceedings, DGUSA produced such an unmissable conclusion.

Results Jon Davis def. EITA (Pinfall / 6:18) - Tony Neese & Papadon def. Scott Reed & Caleb Konley (Pinfall / 9:45) - Arik Cannon def. ACH (Pinfall / 6:22) - Super Smash Brothers def. Jigsaw & Fire Ant (Pinfall / 14:29) - Rich Swann def. Chuck Taylor (Pinfall / 13:03) - CIMA def. Sami Callihan (Pinfall / 15:01) - El Generico & Samuray Del Sol def. Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito (Pinfall / 15:20) - Johnny Gargano def. Akira Tozawa, Ricochet, & AR Fox (Submission / 30:42)