Here are Meltzer’s WON Awards for last year.  Not a fan of the guy but this is a big deal in a way.  Still hate the mixing of MMA and wrestling but for the most part I think this list is pretty solid.  There are some that I think are completely idiotic and is nothing but Meltzer trying to show off that he’s smarter than the average fan, but a lot of these make sense.  Your thoughts?  Awards listed below.

Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year)

1. John Cena (1,451)
2. Takashi Sugiura (802)
3. Masato Yoshino (754)
4. Prince Devitt (634)
5. Chris Jericho (551)
6. Davey Richards (473)
7. Shinsuke Nakamura (394)
8. The Miz (383)
9. Kurt Angle (340)
10. Mistico (322)

Honorable Mentions: Daniel Bryan (281), Rey Mysterio (278), Satoshi Kojima (268), Randy Orton (266), Daisuke Sekimoto (240), Naomichi Marufuji (178), Dr. Wagner Jr (164), Naruki Doi (142), L.A. Park (115), Tyler Black (113), Chris Hero (101), Shawn Michaels (100), Sheamus (96), Hiroshi Tanahashi (95), YAMATO (86), BxB Hulk (72)

MMA Most Valuable

1. Brock Lesnar (2,951)
2. Georges St. Pierre (2,609)
3. Cain Velasquez (543)
4. Quinton Jackson (274)
5. Anderson Silva (242)
6. Jose Aldo Jr (196)
7. Alistair Overeem (134)
8. Chael Sonnen (119)
-. Urijah Faber (119)
10. Frankie Edgar (90)

Most Outstanding Wrestler

1. Daniel Bryan (2,037)
2. Davey Richards (1,835)
3. Prince Devitt (1,525)
4. Naomichi Marufuji (758)
5. Shingo Takagi (515)
6. Chris Hero (509)
7. Kurt Angle (448)
8. YAMATO (209)
9. Chris Jericho (190)
10. AJ Styles (158)

Honorable Mentions: Shinsuke Nakamura (125), Daisuke Sekimoto (115), Rey Mysterio (87)

Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year

1. George St. Pierre (1,789)
2. Jose Aldo Jr (1,736)
3. Cain Velasquez (1,428)
4. Frankie Edgar (514)
5. Anderson Silva (411)
6. Alistair Overeem (244)
7. Ben Henderson (90)
8. Nick Diaz (72)
9. Dominick Cruz (57)
10. Urijah Faber (48)

Best Box Office Draw

1. Brock Lesnar (3,813)
2. Georges St. Pierre (1,667)
3. John Cena (1,542)
4. Mistico (348)
5. Quinton Jackson (199)
6. Chael Sonnen (155)
7. BJ Penn (151)
8. Rey Mysterio (136)
9. Josh Koscheck (35)
10. Urijah Faber (30)

Feud of the Year

1. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (2,004)
2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (1,036)
3. Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans (972)
4. Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck (713)
5. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (681)
6. John Cena vs. Nexus (643)
7. BxB Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi (402)
8. Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns (373)
9. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk (309)
10. L.A. Park vs. La Parka (255)

Honorable Mentions: Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji (210), Mistico vs. Volador Jr (187), New Japan vs. NOAH (127), Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe (116), Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (87), John Cena vs. Batista (86)

Tag Team of the Year

1. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli (2,506)
2. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (1,948)
3. Robert Roode & James Storm (780)
4. Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (733)
5. Mark & Jay Briscoe (396)
6. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (375)
7. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi (343)
8. Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards (214)
9. Shingo Takagi & YAMATO (153)
10. David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd (86)

Honorable Mention: Generation Me/Young Bucks (75)

Most Improved

1. Sheamus (1,053)
2. The Miz (976)
3. Dolph Ziggler (822)
4. Eddie Edwards (520)
5. Bobby Fish (432)
6. Alberto Del Rio (404)
7. Akira Tozawa (279)
8. Wade Barrett (277)
9. Ricochet (242)
10. Jack Swagger (207)

Honorable Mentions: Rhett Titus (150), Magnus (147), Cody Rhodes (118), Hiroshi Yamato (90), Claudio Castagnoli (81), Kenny Omega (74)

Best on Interviews

1. Chael Sonnen (2,783)
2. The Miz (1,036)
3. CM Punk (920)
4. Chris Jericho (690)
5. Kevin Steen (614)
6. Ric Flair (478)
7. Jon Moxley (454)
8. Wade Barrett (275)
9. Josh Koscheck (215)
10. John Cena (164)

Honorable Mentions: Batista (96), Alberto Del Rio (90), Frank Mir (72)

Most Charismatic

1. John Cena (1,959)
2. Brock Lesnar (1,162)
3. The Miz (763)
4. Alberto Del Rio (370)
5. YAMATO (367)
6. Georges St. Pierre (319)
7. Josh Koscheck (253)
8. Hiroshi Tanahashi (245)
9. CM Punk (208)
10. Chael Sonnen (167)

Honorable Mentions: Ric Flair (159), Jeff Hardy (142), Batista (119), Wade Barrett (83)

Best Technical Wrestler

1. Daniel Bryan (2,765)
2. Davey Richards (1,719)
3. Prince Devitt (1,205)
4. Kurt Angle (874)
5. Naomichi Marufuji (148)
6. Douglas Williams (96)
7. AJ Styles (87)
8. Mike Quackenbush (84)
9. Eddie Edwards (72)
10. Chris Jericho (69)

Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler)

1. Kevin Steen (1,174)
2. Jon Moxley (918)
3. Togi Makabe (647)
4. Masato Tanaka (467)
5. Necro Butcher (453)
6. Samoa Joe (388)
7. Brodie Lee (334)
8. Sheamus (300)
9. Abyss (298)
10. Jimmy Jacobs (220)

Honorable Mentions: Yuji Nagata (211), Daisuke Sekimoto (188), El Generico (150), Shingo Takagi (125), Steve Corino (88)

Best Flying Wrestler

1. Kota Ibushi (1,903)
2. Ricochet (1,591)
3. Pac (1,149)
4. Mascara Dorada (1,093)
5. Evan Bourne (994)
6. Prince Devitt (767)
7. Dragon Kid (398)
8. Rey Mysterio (292)
9. Jack Evans (215)
10. La Sombra (187)

Honorable Mentions: Aero Star (184), El Generico (175), AJ Styles (147), BxB Hulk (124), Volador Jr (91), Masato Yoshino (78)

Most Overrated

1. Kane (1,596)
2. Randy Orton (677)
3. Abyss (402)
4. Rob Van Dam (338)
5. Drew McIntyre (318)
6. Matt Morgan (301)
7. Mr. Anderson (299)
8. Jeff Hardy (289)
9. Big Show (206)
10. Tommy Dreamer (205)

Honorable Mentions: David Otunga (199), Rob Terry (150), John Cena (139), Michelle McCool (99), Team 3D (81), The Miz (75), Kevin Nash (75)

Most Underrated

1. Kaval (786)
2. Christian (683)
3. Evan Bourne (607)
4. Yoshi Tatsu (542)
5. Jack Swagger (418)
6. Desmond Wolfe (306)
7. Samoa Joe (258)
8. Tyson Kidd (255)
9. Daniel Bryan (229)
10. Dolph Ziggler (186)

Honorable Mentions: Zach Ryder (159), John Morrison (145), William Regal (123), Prime (116), Katsuhiko Nakajima (115), Goldust (114), Trent Baretta (99), MVP (96)

Promotion of the Year

1. Ultimate Fighting Championships (2,713)
2. Dragon Gate (1,293)
3. New Japan Pro Wrestling (1,089)
4. Ring of Honor (1,080)
5. World Wrestling Entertainment (851)
6. World Extreme Cagefighting (766)
7. Pro Wrestling Guerilla (268)
8. Consejo Mundial Lucha Libre (161)
9. Pro Wrestling NOAH (143)
10. CHIKARA (117)

Honorable Mentions: DDT (97), Big Japan Pro Wrestling (88)

Best Weekly TV Show

1. Ring of Honor on HDNet (2,129)
2. UFC Ultimate Fighter (1,422)
3. WWE Monday Night Raw (1,119)
4. Dragon Gate Infinity (867)
5. WWE Smackdown (634)
6. Bellator Fighting (489)
7. New Japan Pro wrestling (223)
8. WWE Superstars (206)
9. AAA (162)
10. CMLL (125)

Honorable Mention: TNA Impact (108)

Worked Match of the Year

1. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels 3/28 Phoenix (1,885)
2. Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards 6/19 Toronto (1,711)
3. Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi 7/24 Philadelphia (1,099)
4. BxB Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi 7/11 Kobe (695)
5. Chris Hero vs. Akira Tozara 9/5 Reseda (566)
6. Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji 6/19 Osaka (365)
7. Koji Kanemoto vs. Fujita Hayato 12/20/09 Tokyo (321) (Why is this included?)
8. Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shelton Benjamin/Charlie Haas 9/11 New York (282)
9. Chris Sabin/Alex Shelley vs. Robert Roode/James Storm 8/12 Orlando (277)
10. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler 10/24 Minneapolis (189)

Honorable Mentions: Prince Devitt/Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kota Ibushi/Kenny Omega 10/11 Tokyo (182), Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji 1/20 Tokyo (178), Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson 4/18 St. Charles (165), Naomichi Marufuji vs. Koji Kanemoto 3/5 Tokyo (145), Volador Jr vs. La Sombra 8/30 Mexico City (122), LA Park vs. La Parka 6/6 Mexico City (94), BxB Hulk/Masato Yoshino/Naruki Doi vs. GAMMA/CIMA/Dragon Kid 3/27 Phoenix (87), Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi 6/13 Sapporo (83), Naruki Doi vs. Masato Yoshino 3/22 Tokyo (70)

SHOOT MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. LEONARD GARCIA VS. CHAN SUNG JUNG 4/24 SACRAMENTO (1,834)
2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 8/7 Oakland (1,794)
3. Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama 7/3 Las Vegas (1,302)
4. Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin 7/3 Las Vegas (847)
5. Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez 12/19/09 San Jose (736)
6. Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki 8/22 Tokyo (463)
7. Michael Zambidis vs. Chahid 10/3 Seoul (365)
8. Yves Jabouin vs. Mark Hominick 6/20 Edmonton (205)
9. Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez 10/23 Anaheim (182)
10. Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis 8/18 Las Vegas (91)

HONORABLE MENTION: Jose Aldo Jr. vs. Urijah Faber 4/24 Sacramento (72)

Rookie of the Year

1. Adam Cole (2,189)
2. Green Ant (989)
3. Rich Swann (805)
4. Kazuki Hashimoto (703)
5. Tama Tonga (694)
6. Percy Watson (388)
7. The Usos (271)
8. Naomi (173)
9. King Fale (149)
10. Christina Von Eerie (139)

Honorable Mentions: Kyosuke Mikami (120), Hiromu Takahashi (108), Tamina (77)

Best Non-Wrestler

1. Vickie Guerrero (1,935)
2. Jim Cornette (1,072)
3. Ricardo Rodriguez (698)
4. Michael Cole (679)
5. Mike Briscoe (342)
6. Ric Flair (285)
7. Eric Bischoff (273)
8. Paul Bearer (198)
9. Truth Martini (16)
10. Teddy Long (156)

Honorable Mentions: Hulk Hogan (147), Dana White (135), Vince McMahon (84)

Best TV Announcer

1. Joe Rogan (1,912)
2. Michael Schiavello (784)
3. CM Punk (525)
4. Mike Goldberg (480)
5. Josh Matthews (477)
6. Mike Hogewood (442)
7. Taz (313)
8. Michael Cole (302)
9. Dave Prazak (279)
10. Stephan Bonnar (270)

Honorable Mentions: Mike Tenay (217), Jimmy Smith (158), Kevin Kelly (142), Dr. Alfonso Morales (120), Mauro Ranallo (115), Matt Striker (100), Jim Cornette (96), Jerry Lawler (75)

Worst TV Announcer

1. Michael Cole (2,167)
2. Matt Striker (1,645)
3. Todd Grisham (726)
4. Jerry Lawler (448)
5. Mike Tenay (313)
6. Mike Hogewood (292)
7. Taz (185)
8. Dave Prazak (157)
9. Josh Matthews (106)
10. Maruo Ranailo (99)

Best Major Wrestling Show

1. UFC 116 7/3 Las Vegas (1,312)
2. ROH Death Before Dishonor 6/19 Toronto (1,264)
3. WWE Wrestlemania 3/28 Phoenix (762)
4. PWG 7 7/30 Reseda (626)
5. New Japan 10/11 Yokyo (624)
6. Dragon Gate USA: Enter the Dragon 7/24 Philadelphia (536)
7. WEC 48 4/24 Sacramento (533)
8. Strikeforce 12/19/09 San Jose (294)
9. New Japan 1/4 Tokyo Dome (291)
10. WWE Money in the Bank 7/18 Kansas City (267)

Honorable Mentions: Dragon Gate Uprising 5/8 Mississauga (255), K-1 World Grand Prix 12/5/09 Tokyo (235), CMLL Dos Leyenadas 3/19 Mexico City (175), Dragon Gate 7/11 Kobe (163), UFC 117 8/7 Oakland (163), ROH Big Bang 4/3 Charlotte (158), ROH Glory By Honor 9/11 New York (114), Dragon Gate USA Mercury Rising 3/27 Phoenix (81)

WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

1. TNA HARDCORE JUSTICE 8/8 ORLANDO172
2. TNA Turning Point 11/7 Orlando126
3. WWE Bragging Rights 10/24 Minneapolis72
4. WWE Survivor Series 11/21 Miami37
5. TNA Destination X 3/21 Orlando33
6. WWE Over the Limit 5/23 Detroit18
7. TNA Bound for Glory 10/10 Daytona Beach17
8. Strikeforce on CBS 4/17 Nashville17
9. TNA Sacrifice 5/16 Orlando15
10. Impact Fighting Championships 7/18 Sydney14

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

1. RICOCHET DOUBLE ROTATION MOONSAULT178
2. Daniel Bryan LeBell lock117
3. Justin Gabriel 450 splash57
4. Prince Devitt Bloody Sunday DDT56
5. Kota Ibushi Golden star press40
6. Shinsuke Nakamura bom a ye39
7. Randy Orton DDT37
8. Naomichi Marufuji Tiger frosien27
9. Evan Bourne shooting star press24
10. Pac 360 shooting star press20

HONORABLE MENTION: Generation Me More Bang for Your Buck 19, Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli KRS-1 17,
Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley Skull & Bones 15

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC

1. STAND UP FOR WWE CAMPAIGN168
2. Rob Terry chair shot75
3. Tommy Dreamer bloodbath in front of his young daughters57
4. John Cena firing angle46
5. Vickie Guerrero constantly promoted as fat and ugly39
6. Eric Young concussion angle comedy19
7. TNA making Jeff Hardy world champion while indicted17

WORST TELEVISION SHOW

1. TNA IMPACT402
2. WWE NXT184
3. WWE Smackdown25
4. WWE Raw22
5. AAA18

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. KAITLYN VS. MAXINE 10/19 EDMONTON223
2. Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart 3/28 Phoenix197
3. Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia 4/10 Abu Dhabi53
4. Undertaker vs. Kane Hell in a Cell 10/3 Dallas51
5. Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz 8/28 Boston32
6. Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop 9/25 Indianapolis26
7. Konnan vs. Cibernetico 3/12 Aguascalientes10

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

1. EDGE VS. KANE296
2. Undertaker vs. Kane113
3. Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff vs. Dixie Carter62
4. EV 2 vs. Fortune55
5. John Cena vs. Nexus41
6. Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes25
7. Team 3-D vs. Nasty Boys19

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. TNA562
2. IWA Mid South38
3. WWE25
4. AAA18
5. Strikeforce11

BEST BOOKER

1. JOE SILVA298
2. Gedo & Jado161
3. Mike Quackenbush119
4. Gabe Sapolsky67
5. Adam Pearce58
6. Sean Shelby49
7. Konnan36
8. Hunter Johnston31

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

1. DANA WHITE709
2. Sanshiro Takagi49
3. Cary Silkin27
4. Vince McMahon12

BEST GIMMICK
1. ALBERTO DEL RIO259
2. Nexus79
3. C.M. Punk Straight Edge Society47
4. Santino Marella29
5. Batista25
6. Dashing Cody Rhodes21
7. Pope D’Angelo Dinero18
8. Chael Sonnen12

WORST GIMMICK

1. ORLANDO JORDAN148
2. Mystery General Manager55
3. Eric Young concussion angle52
4. Robbie E51
5. Abyss49
6. Michael Cole32
7. Winter30
8. Hornswoggle26
9. Jeff Hardy heel16
10. EV 215

BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK

1. COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN BY MICK FOLEY286
2. The World According to Dutch by Dutch Mantel23
3. Heart for the fight by Brian Stann19
4. 101 Strangest matches by Oliver Hurley16

BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD

1. CHRIS JERICHO BREAKING THE CODE274
2. Ricky Steamboat Life Story of the Dragon75
3. Hart Family Anthology62
4. Shawn Michaels My Journey43
5. Best of Raw 1993 & 199432

?

Thanks to X who I totally copied and pasted this from.

Sorry for not having anything up yesterday as I fell asleep watching football.  Here you are.

Enter the Dragon
Date: September 4, 2009
Location: The Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Chikarason, Mike Quackenbush

Ok, so a lot of you likely don’t know what this is. In short, this is my latest attempt to shut X up. He’s raved about this Dragon Gate USA company for months now and it’s been the hottest thing on the indy scene for like 8 months or something so I figured I’d pop in the first PPV and see if it’s worth anything. I should note that I have no idea who most of these people are so don’t expect an incredibly in depth analysis. Also it’s less than two hours long so I can’t review much since there isn’t much to review. Let’s get to this.

Dawn Marie is the hostess/ring announcer. Well at least it’s nice to look at. We go straight to the first match.

BxB Hulk vs. YAMATO

Now Hulk is the main guy from this promotion it seems as he won the title at the next PPV. He has thunder sticks and fairly hot dancing girls. Ok then. Apparently the x is silent or something. Makes no sense but whatever. The production values are pretty good actually which is a nice surprise. Yamato (Not doing the stupid capitalization thing. It’s pronounced the same) looks pretty clearly to be the heel here.

Nice technical sequence to start us out which is nice. The whole lack of lights does little to give me confidence in the attendance, but for a debut show I can understand that. This is definitely a smart promotion as they list off a ton of Japanese stables that we’re just expected to recognize. Yamato goes for the leg so maybe that’ll gives us something in the area of psychology. Hey let’s brawl on the floor a bit. No one has ever seen that before!

Hulk gets caught in a leg lock and the BB HULK chants are rapidly getting annoying. So he can’t run across the ring on his bad leg but he can do all kinds of kicks and flips. Got it. Yeah all the knee work is just gone now with no apparent question about it. In a nice cover, Yamato hooks the legs so that after the kickout he can go straight to a cloverleaf. And now he TICKS ME OFF by using a crossface because it’s his finisher.

Pay no attention to the total lack of back or neck work. It’s his finisher so instead of using all the leg stuff, let’s go for the finisher that isn’t softened up at all. That my friends is what gets on my nerves about a lack of psychology. If he’s going to use the crossface that’s fine but WHY WORK ON THE LEG IF YOU’RE GOING FOR A NECK SUBMISSION? Oh and his leg is fine all of a sudden again.

EVO, which is an Emerald Flosion, gets a 4 or so as this referee has a weird style of counting. His foot was on the rope though so it’s not like it matters. A big flip splash misses but it would have missed by AT LEAST five feet. He was in the corner and the splash landed in the middle of the ring. That looked awful. Plus Jimmy Wang can do a much better looking one of those.

Hulk gets a big spin kick to the back of his head. Naturally Yamato just shakes it off and puts on a sleeper. The lack of selling is getting old. A reverse sitout piledriver (How Owen broke Austin’s neck) with a different kind of lift gets the pin for Yamato.

Rating: D+. This was a spotfest and not a very good one. Was it exciting? Yes it was. Was it back and forth? Yes it was. Did it make much sense? Nope. Was it overrated as hel;? Yes it was.

We go to the back to see one of the main event guys. We get some mini bios on the two guys. THIS is what is needed here. This is the debut PPV. We more than likely don’t know who most of these people are, so short bios of who they are and their history is NICE. Short version: Naruki Doi is a young kid that has taken the company by storm and Shingo is the top star over there.

Doi took Shingo’s title and tonight is a non-title rematch for respect more or less. FINE. That right there is all I need. I know their names, I know a little bit about each guy, and I know why these two are fighting and why they’re in the main event. WHY IS THIS SO COMPLICATED???

2 Cold Scorpio and Ken Doane had a dark match at this point. Yes, the Kenny Dykstra that so many people want back in WWF is in a dark match at the debut of an indy PPV. That’s just amusing.

Soldier Ant/Fire Ant/Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw vs. Icarus/Gran Akuma/Amasis/Hallowicked

This is all CHIKARA here which is a promotion that appeals to me as it’s so over the top and insane that it stops trying to be real wrestling which makes it awesome. I have no idea who most of these people are, so I’m really not going to try to keep track of who is who. I know the main storyline in CHIKARA that came after this and it involves mind control with a mystical object so there you are.

Quackenbush is more or less God in that company so he’ll be the focus of the match. I kind of like Dawn Marie’s style. She just says the names. Simple yet effective I suppose. This is the home promotion for this arena so these guys are very familiar. All four of the faces, the first team listed, get chants. For example, two of these people are insects and one of the heels dances a lot.

Mike trained all of them so that’s fun. CHIKARA seems like a show that is pure fun. Looks like lucha rules as when you hit the floor your partner can come in. This is more acrobatic stuff, meaning not a lot of actual pain but rather high spots. Or as Lawler called it, psychological damage. Scratch that as Soldier Ant takes a massive powerbomb. That works. Soldier Ant is taking a freaking beating.

Mike gets the hot tag and we crank it up a bit. Jigsaw and Icarus do some solid stuff which is nice looking indeed. In the words of a wrestler more famous than all 8 of these guys, this is the part where we crank it up, let’s crank it up. High spots a go-go begins and the fans are way into it all of a sudden. After about a dozen near falls (likely too few), the faces just go insane with dives and flips before Jigsaw hits the same kind of piledriver that Kazarian uses to get the pin. He calls it the Jig and Tonic. Clever.

Rating: B+. This wasn’t technically sound, it wasn’t coherent, it wasn’t logical. What it was though was FUN. What you had here was 8 guys just going out there and having a blast. They weren’t trying to have a traditional match, they weren’t trying to be the best wrestlers in the world or have some big deep storyline. They were having fun and giving the crowd something to cheer for. THIS is what TNA needs if it wants to be competitive. Not everything has to be so serious and of epic proportions. I’d watch this again.

Quackenbush gets on the mic and says that CHIKARA and DGUSA works really well together, but we should really thank Jorge Rivera, who trained everyone here tonight. Cool. He issues an open challenge: anyone from Dragon Gate vs. any guy from CHIKARA. Again, this is something that there needs to be more of.

Yamato, the guy from earlier comes out. He says something in Japanese (apparently more or less saying screw Rivera, it’s our time) and kicks Mike low. Jigsaw and Akuma make the save but Akuma helps Yamato and it’s a big beat down. Faces come out to make the save. Naturally there was a tag match at the next PPV.

Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino

Ok then. Yoshino is popular. Very popular actually. Both have people with them. Ok then. Oh the guy with Dragon Kid is Shingo. Got it. Apparently this is a big rivalry and has been for a few years. Dragon Kid is on a three match losing streak and broke Yoshino’s neck in the last match. See what a little exposition gives you? That information took 8 seconds to say and I’m perfectly satisfied with it.

Oh and the other guy in the corner is Shingo’s opponent tonight. This is another fast paced one. If nothing else I like that they don’t try to make things about themselves as they regularly use common names for moves such as the 619. Everyone else is going to call it that so why over complicate things? Apparently these are the two most exciting guys in Dragon Gate. Good to know. Let them prove it. Yoshino goes for Kid’s arm. Better than the leg if nothing else. Kid hits a 619.

Remember kids: this is NEVER BEFORE SEEN STUFF. It’s so never before seen we already have names for the stuff! Apparently Dragon Kid has a move called Jesus. Nothing tricky there or anything. It’s just called Jesus. That’s either very stupid or awesome and I’m not sure which.

The difference here with the first match though is that while we had arm work earlier, Dragon Kid is having trouble with his offense because HIS ARM HURTS. See? Is that too much to ask for? Seriously? They hit a ton of high spots and we get an arm bar. I think it was on Dragon Kid but I’m not sure. Kid hits an Ultra Hurricanrana (West Coast Pop with a front flip) for the pin. Yeah he used a 619 and a modified West Coast Pop for the pin. Yeah he’s really innovative.

Rating: B-. Not bad but not the classic they tried to make it seem like. It’s far better than the first match if nothing else. If nothing else the arm injury stayed around this time which is one of my biggest issues with most wrestling, either indy or mainstream. This was fine for what it was though.

Young Bucks vs. CIMA/Susumu Yokosuka

Heard of CIMA, not so much on the other guy. Young Bucks are more commonly known as Generation ME in TNA. CIMA gets in a fight with some streamers. That’s rather amusing. Four faces here it seems. Quackenbush is on commentary now. THANKFULLY Quackenbush says it’s not about him and it’s about the four guys in the ring. Wow that’s nice to hear. The Bucks go insane with tags. They’re just fun to watch.

The non-Americans are in control at the moment. Matt gets the heck beaten out of him for a good while. He tries to Hulk Up but gets kicked down. That was nice. They bust out some of the stuff you would see Generation ME do at Destination X. Nice to see them adapt it. After a few tons of near falls, More Bang For Your Buck (450 followed immediately by a moonsault) ends it.

Rating: B+. Another match that was just about getting people excited. There’s no flow or structure to it and there wasn’t supposed to be. There were some great double team moves in there. It’s very entertaining. It’s not great wrestling at all, but it’s great entertainment which is what this was supposed to be so I’ll give it that.

We go to the main event guys’ dressing rooms. The title isn’t on the line. Is there a reason that it’s not?

Naruki Doi vs. Shingo

I still don’t get the whole lack of title on the line here, but I’m sure it has something to do with some overly complicated system of earning a title shot and tradition or something like that. Shingo is strong. Good to know. Long feeling out process which is fine as they have a lot of time to play with. I like Shingo to an extent I think.

Doi works over the knee and we get a Figure Four. In a nice move after getting out of the hold he grabs a fast powerbomb and immediately falls with his knee. It was fast enough to buy I guess, but it was a bit shaky as far as psychology goes. They chop the living heck out of each other and they might be the loudest sequence of them I’ve ever heard. Great ones indeed. Shingo shakes his leg a bit to sell the injury. Nicely done.

In a cool moment, he hooks a British Bulldog suplex and the fans count the seconds he holds him for, which winds up at 30. According to Mike, the chops that are quiet that hurt worst. Why should I listen to that? Because Quackenbush is a wrestler. Lawler and Taz need to let us know that more often. We’re into the segment of let’s do big moves over and over again until we get to a pin.

Shingo kills him with a lariat but it just gets two. Doi hits his finisher, a running boot to the face when the guy is on one knee. It’s better than it sounds. Another one sets up a Tiger Suplex for two. Shingo starts no selling kicks to the FACE. How is that possible? The Muscular Bomb, which is like a wheelbarrow slam into a rollup where the guy lands on his head, ends this. Solid ending. Oh Doi got the win. Might be important information.

Rating: B. This was a different kind of match but it worked all the same. There was far more of a slow build here and that made things work much better for me. The ending was great with Doi just beating the heck out of Shingo until he finally went down. Solid match, although I have no clue why it was non-title if Doi was going to win.

Overall Rating: B. First match aside, this was fun. See what happens when you explain what’s going on in Puro to fans like me? It gets a lot better. Now this isn’t something I’d want to see weekly, but once in awhile would be fine. This came off pretty well I think though and they did a good job of introducing things to the audience. I liked it and it could work well for an every other month thing. Not bad at all.