DGUSA REVOLT / HEAT 2013

Dragon Gate USA made its return to California for a couple of entertaining shows on January 26 and 27 in Huntington Park. The events' attendance, however, was not that big; the second show of the weekend (Saturday - the first of two iPPV shows) had a larger crowd than the Sunday matinee, perhaps understandably given that evening's Royal Rumble. However, in the spirit of the cliché that some wrestlers will work hard whether there's 20 or 20,000 in attendance, the DGUSA stars had an action-packed two days filled with great matches.

The main storyline involved the Open The Freedom Gate champion, Johnny Gargano, who has established himself as the top man in the company. He had himself two big challengers for the weekend, first facing off against Jon Davis in a No Rope match, which is a staple in Dragon Gate Japan, but has only been seen twice in DGUSA. It took this crowd some time to get into the bout, but the performers had electrified them by the finish, as Davis hit his spinning powerbomb finisher, only for Gargano to kick out. Gargano eventually got the win by wrapping a ladder around Davis' head, and applying his Gargano Escape crossface for the submission.

After the victory, Brian Kendrick came out to congratulate Gargano. Kendrick had won himself a match against the champion via an earlier Fray contest (participants enter at intervals and can be eliminated in the manner of any regular match), but this was only to be a non-title affair. Still, Kendrick made the request to change this to a title bout, and Gargano accepted. They had a good match, with Kendrick looking great working as a heel. He had control for most of the encounter, with the story being that Gargano had survived a brutal contest only 15 hours previously. They went almost 20 minutes, with Gargano once again submitting his opponent for the victory. The champion has done an excellent job of getting over his submission hold in this title reign.

NO BUCKING THE TREND Other action on January 26 saw The Young Bucks defeat The Jimmys (Jimmy Susumu and Ryo Saito) with the More Bang for Your Buck 450o splash/moonsault finisher. The Bucks worked great as heels in their home state, and the Jimmys once again justified their plane ticket to the States.
Akira Tozawa defeated Sami Callihan in a very hard-hitting match. The finish saw Callihan nearly submit Tozawa with his Stretch Muffler finisher, but the Japanese powered out, and came back strong with a series of kicks. He got a near-fall using a German suplex, with Sami getting out at the last second. Tozawa then hit another German, this time the straightjacket variation, for the win. Tozawa continuously gets the loudest reactions of any DGUSA wrestler, and by quite a margin.

In addition, AR Fox defeated Samuray Del Sol in a high-flying, fast-paced re-match of the 2012 Jeff Peterson Cup final. Rich Swann defeat EITA in a battle between two 21-year-old prospects who both have giant futures. Chuck Taylor defeated Arik Cannon, with some beer pong thrown in for fun. The table remained in the ring as Taylor threw a chair right at Cannon, who was standing on the top turnbuckle. Cannon went through the table, and "The Kentucky Gentleman" picked up the win.

Elsewhere on the January 27 show, AR Fox and Akira Tozawa defeated The Young Bucks in a thrilling contest. CIMA was not on the tour, even though he and Fox are the promotion's tag team champions, so Tozawa was the replacement. They worked very well together, and after many near-falls from both sides, Tozawa and Matt Jackson squared off, with the Mad Blankey leader hitting three German suplexes - two of which were near-falls, and the third being his straightjacket German suplex for the win.

The other Japanese stars had singles matches, although not to much success, as Ryo Saito lost to Samuray Del Sol, and Jimmy Susumu was defeated by Sami Callihan. Jon Davis also defeated Drake Younger by TKO, in a finish so obscure here that it took the crowd several moments to react. This was a very stiff contest, with Davis hitting a spinebuster on the ramp, and a powerslam onto a pile of chairs on the outside. He eventually finished Younger off with strikes from the mount. Chuck Taylor defeated EITA via an Awful Waffle that saw the latter get spiked dangerously atop his head.

In the opener, Rich Swann defeated Arik Cannon with a standing 450o splash. After the match, Swann dubbed DGUSA "The Home of the High Flyers". And after this weekend, who could argue?

DGUSA REVOLT 2013
Chuck Taylor def Arik Cannon (Pinfall / 6:00) - Brian Kendrick def. Ray Rosas, B-Boy, Johnny Yuma, Johnny Goodtime, Drake Younger, Brian Cage, and Famous B (Pinfall / 13:17 / FRAY!) - Rich Swann def. EITA (Pinfall / 15:48) - AR Fox def. Samuray Del Sol (Pinfall / 14:13) - Akira Tozawa def. Sami Callihan (Pinfall / 17:37) - Matt and Nick Jackson def. Jimmy Susumu/Ryo Saito (Pinfall / 16:49) - Johnny Gargano def. Jon Davis (Submission / 21:08 / No Rope match / Open the Freedom Gate championship)

DGUSA HEAT 2013
Rich Swann def. Arik Cannon (Pinfall / 11:09) - Jon Davis def. Drake Younger (Knockout / 9:23) - Chuck Taylor def. EITA (Pinfall / 12:12) - Johnny Gargano def. Brian Kendrick (Submission / 19:43 / Open the Freedom Gate championship) - Samuray Del Sol def. Ryo Saito (Pinfall / 9:23) - Sami Callihan def. Jimmy Susumu (Submission / 15:10) - AR Fox & Akira Tozawa def. Matt and Nick Jackson (Pinfall / 20:23)