The Offical American Indys Thread

[TDubRaiders]

Quick question to whomever...Has anyone ever been to a Dragon Gate USA show? I'm asking because I was debating on going to the show in Fall River, MA since I live in Massachusetts. I have caught a few DGUSA shows but wondered if anyone has been there live. Let me know guys

[Self]

Quick question to whomever...Has anyone ever been to a Dragon Gate USA show? I'm asking because I was debating on going to the show in Fall River, MA since I live in Massachusetts. I have caught a few DGUSA shows but wondered if anyone has been there live. Let me know guys

 

I went to a pair of Dragon Gate UK shows, which I'd imagine is 66% the same thing, only with less Moxley, Jacobs and Sami Callihan and more PAC, Mark Haskins and Lion Kid (rawr).

 

Once upon a time, I was convinced I didn't like physically attending wrestling shows. This was an actual thought I had. When I went to a TNA show, I sat there thinking "This is good, but I'd rather be watching it on TV". Dragon Gate changed my mind big time. Those core Dragon Gate guys are awesome live. Watching them, "Uhh" ing along with CIMA, clapping along with BxB Hulk's music, standing on my chair is applause for Susumu Yokosuka's valiant struggle against incredible odds... It was the happiest I've been in years. It should be noted I wasn't a huge Dragon Gate fan going in (other than Doi, Yoshino & BxB I couldn't pick the dudes out from a line-up given my prior knowledge) but seeing them live turned me into a gigantic DG-mark.

 

So I say you should attend. I'm half tempted to hop on a plane and go myself. As long as Gabe gets the ring there in time, it'll be awesome.

[The Celt]

While we're on the subject of DGUSA, GoFightLive are now giving away the first ever DGUSA PPV away for free at the following link:

 

http://www.gofightlive.tv/Events/Fight/Wrestling/Dragon_Gate_USA__Enter_the_Dragon_/860/?refCode=GFLA111

 

Having watched it yet but I will when I get the chance. Many critics lauded it as one of the best PPVs of the year when it originally came out in 2009 so my exceptions are high.

 

Edit: Damn...one hitch, it's not any time viewing, it's a free encore presentation.

[TDubRaiders]

I went to a pair of Dragon Gate UK shows, which I'd imagine is 66% the same thing, only with less Moxley, Jacobs and Sami Callihan and more PAC, Mark Haskins and Lion Kid (rawr).

 

Once upon a time, I was convinced I didn't like physically attending wrestling shows. This was an actual thought I had. When I went to a TNA show, I sat there thinking "This is good, but I'd rather be watching it on TV". Dragon Gate changed my mind big time. Those core Dragon Gate guys are awesome live. Watching them, "Uhh" ing along with CIMA, clapping along with BxB Hulk's music, standing on my chair is applause for Susumu Yokosuka's valiant struggle against incredible odds... It was the happiest I've been in years. It should be noted I wasn't a huge Dragon Gate fan going in (other than Doi, Yoshino & BxB I couldn't pick the dudes out from a line-up given my prior knowledge) but seeing them live turned me into a gigantic DG-mark.

 

So I say you should attend. I'm half tempted to hop on a plane and go myself. As long as Gabe gets the ring there in time, it'll be awesome.

 

 

Yeah I'm def going to head there then. I've been to a couple ROH shows in Massachusetts and I've loved them so hopefully DGUSA is just as good. Thanks for letting me know how your experience was. I need to catch me some PAC I've heard some good things about him.

[Self]

PAC's pretty awesome. I'd barely heard of him before, but he was crazy over at the DG-UK shows. A real hometown hero. Amazing agility. Ripped to shreds. Current Open The Brave Gate champion and member of World 1. Did an inverted 450, amongst other awesomeness. He recently showed up on the "Open The Northern Gate" and "Uprising" shows, so maybe he'll be at the Fall River show too.

 

In other indy watching news, I'm half way through CHIKARA: "Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line". For the first hour, I thought it was the best wrestling show I'd ever seen. I loved all of the first 4 matches. Not in the same way I love Dragon Gate, but in a different, wackier, more colourful way. The Osirian Portal (currently my favourite tag team) against Delirious & Daizee Haze (no gender or species bias in CHIKARA ) rocked my world. I still think Haze is too skinny to be believable, but she's a great performer. Sadly the rest of the show didn't light my world on fire. Characters I'm not interested in. One too many trios matches. Nothing 'bad' but nothing that touch my special place. The main event really disappointed me. Claudio Castignoli & Sara Del Ray vs Manami Toyota & Mike Quakenbush. Bit awkward. Bit plodding. Again, not bad, but I wasn't feeling it.

 

... and yes, if you're at your computer at 9pm EDT on October 22nd, do yourself a favor and check out the Dragon Gate show on Go Fight Live. It's a great show, and it's free. You can't lose.

[The Celt]

PAC is F'N amazing. Seriously, the guy could have been a Olympic gymnast is he had wanted to IMO. His invented 450 is nothing, you should see the rest of his arsenal; In PWG versus Kevin Steen this maniac pulled off a Corkscrew Shooting Star TO THE FLOOR, a 630 splash, and cartwheel handstand into a invented franken-steiner, and a Shooting Star Senton all in the same match!

 

But he's not just some flippy Jack Evans spot monkey. He's very careful to always always always start his matches out with serious mat wrestling to show the audience he's been properly trained and knows how to work outside all the aerial stuff.

 

PAC is one the world's most amazing wrestlers to watch, and being selfish I hope he makes it big in North America one day so I can see him regularly on TV>

[Self]

PAC is great. He did all sorts of wacky flips, but the Inverted 450 stood out to me as a "Holy cow, I didn't even know that was possible" thing.

 

Watched 'Open The Ultimate Gate' earlier. Really playing catch-up on my Dragon Gate recently. Not sure what I'm gonna do when I run out of shows. Anyway, I was disappointed. The show didn't live up to the excitement I got when I read the card. Solid show. Didn't quite deliver. Crowd didn't seem too psyched.

 

Lenny Leonard is the commentary version of a spot monkey. He spent the entire show saying movez. A guy would hit something wacky and impressive, and he'd say the name. That's pretty much it. He did very little to convey emotion or excitement. He didn't add to the story being told in the ring. He just named moves. Maybe it's just because he was going solo here, but he stood out to me as a detriment.

[Anderz]

does anybody else love 3.0?

 

It might just be me, but I think theyre a brilliant underdog team.. nothing better than Shane Matthews throwing headscissors around.. and they were the first team to take a fall from the evil BDK.. that means theyre awesome..

[Self]

does anybody else love 3.0?

 

It might just be me, but I think theyre a brilliant underdog team.. nothing better than Shane Matthews throwing headscissors around.. and they were the first team to take a fall from the evil BDK.. that means theyre awesome..

 

They're a bit generic for my tastes, you know, normal looking dudes with typical indy gear, but I like them. Loved the opener of "Through Savage Progress". The Boston Crab spots were fantastic.

[Anderz]

They're a bit generic for my tastes, you know, normal looking dudes with typical indy gear, but I like them. Loved the opener of "Through Savage Progress". The Boston Crab spots were fantastic.

 

Id definately agree that they were generic.. but after they donned the denim and then received the upgrade theyve been brilliant.. and the tiger-print tights arent typical

[Self]

I guess it's a comparison thing. They're pretty generic when compared to ancient egyptians, evil insects, blokes in halloween costumes and dancin' 80's black guys. Whitemeat babyfaces in a world of wackiness.

[masterded]

I guess it's a comparison thing. They're pretty generic when compared to ancient egyptians, evil insects, blokes in halloween costumes and dancin' 80's black guys. Whitemeat babyfaces in a world of wackiness.

 

Speaking of the Evil Insect him and Excalibur have been my two favorite announcers for the last few years now. Though I would say Mantis is better then Excalibur due to how I hated Excalibur for quite some time then one day I just loved him (kind of like ATHF). I would love to see them together one day (unless it has already happen then my only question is when and where).

[The Celt]

Speaking of the Evil Insect him and Excalibur have been my two favorite announcers for the last few years now. Though I would say Mantis is better then Excalibur due to how I hated Excalibur for quite some time then one day I just loved him (kind of like ATHF). I would love to see them together one day (unless it has already happen then my only question is when and where).

 

Someone hits a Falcon Arrow

 

Excalibur: OH MY GOD HE'S DONE THE DEAL! X HAS DONE THE DEAL COLOUR COMMENTATOR! NO-ONE KICKS OUT OF THE FALCON ARROW!!!

 

Opponent kicks out of the Falcon Arrow

 

TWO COUNT ONLY?????

If you're ever seen any PWG DVD all the above will make sense

[TDubRaiders]

I bought a few PWG's to check it out and I am now a huge PWG fan. I got DIO, DDT42010, Seven and Pre-ordered BOLA2010. I very much enjoy Excalibur and I very much enjoy PWG now. Seven's ME was fricking incredible. It was the Young Bucks against the Cutlers against Peligro Abejas in a 3way Guerilla Warfare match. It was great as was the other DVD's I bought. If anyone has any suggestions on other PWG DVD's I should buy let me know. I wanna stick to 2009-2010 stuff

[Anderz]

Ive got Seven and still havent watched it.. I really need to find the time to watch it..

[Self]

Best wrestling show I've ever seen (not including ones I've been to live, which is a totally different animal). Seven ruled. I wasn't as big a fan of the main event as some, but a great all-around show.

[masterded]

I bought a few PWG's to check it out and I am now a huge PWG fan. I got DIO, DDT42010, Seven and Pre-ordered BOLA2010. I very much enjoy Excalibur and I very much enjoy PWG now. Seven's ME was fricking incredible. It was the Young Bucks against the Cutlers against Peligro Abejas in a 3way Guerilla Warfare match. It was great as was the other DVD's I bought. If anyone has any suggestions on other PWG DVD's I should buy let me know. I wanna stick to 2009-2010 stuff

 

PWG just has the right beat now. It still has its fun atmosphere and I would say the highest quality wrestling of any American promotion (don’t know enough about Japan wrestling). It seems everyone goes out there trying to put on the best matches they can. It is like a more fun ROH late 2005 to 2006.

[TDubRaiders]

Best wrestling show I've ever seen (not including ones I've been to live, which is a totally different animal). Seven ruled. I wasn't as big a fan of the main event as some, but a great all-around show.

 

Chris Hero vs. Davey Richards was my second favorite match on the card. They hit eachother with everything it was a damn good match. Also don't know if people agree but I love me some Johnny Goodtime

[smurphy1014]

I bought a few PWG's to check it out and I am now a huge PWG fan. I got DIO, DDT42010, Seven and Pre-ordered BOLA2010. I very much enjoy Excalibur and I very much enjoy PWG now. Seven's ME was fricking incredible. It was the Young Bucks against the Cutlers against Peligro Abejas in a 3way Guerilla Warfare match. It was great as was the other DVD's I bought. If anyone has any suggestions on other PWG DVD's I should buy let me know. I wanna stick to 2009-2010 stuff

 

I picked up PWG Sells Out Vol 1 and it is pretty awesome, mostly older stuff but it is well worth the money. My favorites on it are:

 

Arrogance vs. Aerial Xpress

Super Dragon vs Kevin Steen (Guerilla Warfare Match and the end of their epic fued)

El Generico vs PAC

Kevin Steen vs PAC

Joey Ryan vs. Human Tornado

[The Celt]

I picked up PWG Sells Out Vol 1 and it is pretty awesome, mostly older stuff but it is well worth the money. My favorites on it are:

 

Arrogance vs. Aerial Xpress

 

Then though I barely even knew who Scorpio was when I first watched that match I (the following is in white to avoid giving people spoilers)

almost cried watch Arrogance unmask him. I mean, Jesus, he's just gone through all of hell to win that match, overcoming incredible odds, including losing his partner and all that his identity is ripped from his procession. A truly heart-breaking moment, but I guess that's part of what makes wrestling great: the theatre of it all

 

 

Super Dragon vs Kevin Steen (Guerilla Warfare Match and the end of their epic fued)

 

Probably the most brutal match I've ever seen in my life; and I'm including ECW, CZW and BJPW in that as well. But it makes so much sense for the storyline. That match was the conclusion of a year-long feud where first Steen took Super Dragon's entire life (wrestling-wise) away from him before Super Dragon did the same to him. In the end you have this too fallen men with nothing left but utter hate in their hearts for each other...and boy does it show when they go to town on each other. Another great example of the theatre of wrestling

 

Kevin Steen vs PAC

 

A great showcase match for both men. Steen gets to show how funny he can be as well as being a great wrestlers and PAC shows how he earned the moniker "The man gravity forgot".

[The Celt]

CZW's Cage of Death 2010 will be an I-PPV. The promotion will partner with Hybrident.tv for the event. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

 

Honestly, I'm starting to respect the hell out of DJ Hyde. For those that don't know, DJ Hyde was a poor midcarder for years and years in CZW. About a year and half ago he legitimately bought CZW from John Zandig who wanted out of the game. Since then Hyde has shown through his actions he is a man is highly up-to-date with where Independent wrestling is moving. While he has rushed out and brought a whole lot of talent in, he has made several wise business moves, such as taking a number of CZW shows out of the super-saturated Philadelphia market, putting a number of talent on contracts that tie them closer to CZW and now he's getting CZW on iPPV, which ROH and DGUSA have shown can be a profitable venture for smaller wrestling companies. And since CZW actual has a fairly good brand name (hey, people might not like CZW but at least they know who they are) and actually very good production values I think CZW could do well out of iPPV with the right hype.

 

Seriously, in my mind there's nothing stopping CZW from becoming a true leader in the indie scene again in the next couple of years. I mean, take this for example; Adam Cole, one of ROH's recent signings, has actually been with CZW for a number of years, which kinda goes to show that sometimes CZW taste for developing it's own stars does payoff sometimes.

 

I can honestly say that I hope CZW not only survives, but thrives in the coming years and gets back to the sweet spot they were in in about 2006/2007. And trust me, I didn't always feel that way, because I, like a lot of people, did have my reservations about their focus on Ultra-violence. But they seem to be balancing everything out at the moment.

 

tl;dr? CZW might just become a contender again on the indie scene under DJ Hyde's leadership.

 

 

Edit: Just want to tag on two more things; just looked at the CZW website there, turns out that CZW actually trained Adam Cole from scratch, and if he makes it big like I have the feeling he will, that'll be a great feather in the cap of CZW.

 

Also, in more of Hyde's business savviness, Hyde appears to have healed the rift between BJPW and CZW; as it seems BJPW will be sending a team to compete in one of CZW's biggest shows, the aforementioned Cage of Death. That's a big coup for Hyde, because CZW fans tend to be BIG fans of the Japanese promotion and that could net him some nice profit as well as pleasing the fans.

[Self]

iPPV is the way to go for indy promotions, it seems. I know I prefer to watch my wrestling without knowing the results, and when waiting for indy DVD's it's next-to-impossible to avoid spoilers, so I'm far more likely to watch a show live, or at least a replay showing at a reasonable time over here. The Globalization of the medium is also pretty awesome. Being nestled in the dragon-infested caves of Wales, I couldn't order first few Dragon Gate USA PPV's, and I totally would have. With iPPV available worldwide, I'm totally psyched for Bushido, which will now feature my favourite tag team, the Osirian Portal, taking on Brodie Lee and sumo legend Akebono.

 

CZW... I've thought about checking them out. They're on my list. I'm not a huge fan of hardcore wrestling, and that's the image they project, so it may take some time for me to give them a chance.

[Anderz]

iPPV is the way to go for indy promotions, it seems. I know I prefer to watch my wrestling without knowing the results, and when waiting for indy DVD's it's next-to-impossible to avoid spoilers, so I'm far more likely to watch a show live, or at least a replay showing at a reasonable time over here. The Globalization of the medium is also pretty awesome. Being nestled in the dragon-infested caves of Wales, I couldn't order first few Dragon Gate USA PPV's, and I totally would have. With iPPV available worldwide, I'm totally psyched for Bushido, which will now feature my favourite tag team, the Osirian Portal, taking on Brodie Lee and sumo legend Akebono.

 

CZW... I've thought about checking them out. They're on my list. I'm not a huge fan of hardcore wrestling, and that's the image they project, so it may take some time for me to give them a chance.

 

The Portal vs Brodie Lee and Akebono? thats.... erm... Akebono? ok...

[Self]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="|Anderz|" data-cite="|Anderz|" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="29036" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The Portal vs Brodie Lee and Akebono? thats.... erm... Akebono? ok...</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Not the ideal match for the Portal, but I'm just glad to see them on the card. Also signed for the iPPV. Masato Yoshino vs Austin Aries. Aww yeah.</p>

[Self]

I watched EVOLVE 2; Hero vs Hidaka, and I've come to the conclusion that I don't like EVOLVE all that much. It's like they've gone for a stripped-down, 'real' feel with the basic entrance-way, and lack of individual ring music, and the basic ring introductions, but it seems low rent to me. They strip the fighters of their personallity, and make them seem really unimportant compared to how they appear in their home promotions. The CHIKARA guys in particular. In CHIKARA, they get these great ring introductions, the 'Bruce Buffer' treatment. In EVOLVE it's just "with a record of 0-1, Amasis". They're trying to give wrestling the importance over the presentation, but when I watch a show, I want to believe I'm watching something important. With such basic and bland presentation, EVOLVE doesn't feel important.

 

Still, the wrestling is pretty good. Bobby Fish and his fighting spirit is growing on me. The four-way CHIKARA tag is tons of fun. Kenn Doane's match was an unexpected treat.

 

On the flip side, Hero/Hidaka didn't float my boat, with too much mat work early, and Chuck Taylor vs Ricochet was painful to watch in places. Neither man moves with purpose. You could tell they were putting on a performance, and opposed to being in a fight.

 

Self's Favorite Indy Promotions

1) Dragon Gate - I love them so much

2) CHIKARA - It's grown on me.

3) PWG - Got 'Dio' to watch this weekend

4) SHIMMER - I like women, but the crowds are a bit depressing

5) EVOLVE - Good wrestling, shoddy atmosphere