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THOUGHTS FROM DGUSA'S OPEN THE ULTIMATE GATE SHOW

By Richard Trionfo on 2012-03-30 22:21:07

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Since Mike Johnson is doing the live coverage of Open the Ultimate Gate, I will be providing live thoughts for the show.

The crowd is very lively for the open to the show.

Rich Swann did a good job following up the open to keep the crowd hot.

Rich Swann versus AR Fox: Coming off Fox’s strong match against Pac on Thursday night as well as the work I have seen from both men before, this is going to be a match that will keep the crowd hot. Both men are very athletic and dynamic in the ring. They are both able to take basic escapes and add something special to it.

The crowd was very appreciative of the work of both men. As the match progressed, it became a battle of who could one up the other. The inward springboard shooting star press to the floor is a great move to watch live and got the first ‘Holy S***’ chant of the night, which was deserved. Fox got the win with Lo Mein Pain which was my pick for finisher of the year in 2011. Even in defeat, Swann looked strong.

I really liked the way that the crowd reacted to CIMA’s promo about having to vacate the Open the United Gate tag titles.

Chuck Taylor’s reaction coming to the ring was fitting for his character with his laid back style. It made sense for him to expect to be handed the titles. Johnny Gargano brought things back to a more serious tone where he refused to be handed the title and that he wanted to earn it for the fans and to show that he belongs in the ring with the Japanese talent.

Ricochet did a good job making a case for Yoshino and him to work together because of Yoshino’s issues with Taylor and Gargano.

It is a shame that CIMA cannot wrestle, but Yoshino is definitely a good substitution.

The reveal of Tommy Dreamer as Bobby Fish’s tag team partner got a good reaction from the fans and it looked like a wave coming onshore.

The Scene versus Tommy Dreamer and Bobby Fish: The match told a good story of The Scene showing little respect for Dreamer and working him over and double teaming him. Then Bobby Fish came in and it was time for him to kick the life out of Reed and Conley. While the crowd went crazy for Dreamer kissing two of the girls while the third was distracted, the building exploded when he gave one a piledriver. It was good to be sitting next to Mike when an iconic image from the days of ECW took place.

Then after the match, we get more Classic Tommy Dreamer when he spanked the third girl.

Sami Callihan versus BxB Hulk: I liked how Sami worked on the leg and used the entire ring to add to the damage. It appears that the work on the leg did not succeed because Hulk was able to hit a nice T-Bone suplex which he held onto to turn it almost into a power slam. Hulk nailed Callihan with a ridiculously vicious kick to the head and Callihan wanted Hulk to continue to kick him. Just like in the opening match with Fox and Swann, Hulk is taking things to another level. The kick to the leg by Callihan when Hulk blocked the sunset flip power bomb did a good job to bring things back to the early part of the match when Callihan worked on the leg. Hulk was still able to hit some kicks but he did a good job of favoring the injured leg. Then he tried one more time and the leg gave out. He did a great job with the move and the crowd did not do the ‘You F***ed up’ chant. The finish with the outside interference from Christina von Eerie was okay, but with the work during the match, I thought it took away a little.

So far they are three for three.

Sami did a good job with his promo about Sabu to set up the match for Saturday night. The lights going out was a great effect to bring in Sabu and to set up the tag match between D.U.F. and the team of Sabu and Jon Davis.

Jon Davis and Sabu versus Pinkie Sanchez and Arik Cannon: This was a decent brawl with Davis and Sanchez doing most of the work in the ring while Cannon and Sabu were on the floor. Then things changed and Sabu got the spike. I was a little worried about the chair because it is not the typical folding chair. Cannon hit a nice counter with the death valley driver into a slingshot twisting brainbuster. I love how Cannon and Callihan use Sanchez as a weapon and he doesn’t care. Davis did a good job doing the power moves to accentuate what Sabu did during the match. Davis hitting the pounce on Sanchez while Sabu sent Cannon through the table looked good. Then the spinning sit out power bomb was a good finish.

Callihan attacking Sabu after the match was a good way to add to his earlier promo about Saturday’s show. If you were on the fence about getting the show on Saturday, I think Sami Callihan got a lot of people to part with their $1.99.

Mochizuki versus Tozawa: The crowd is split at the start of the match so this should be fun. Just like the Swann/Fox match, this is going to be a battle between kicks from Mochizuki and chops from Tozawa. There was a good sequence on the apron with Mochizuki trying to suplex Tozawa to the floor but Tozawa blocked it. Mochizuki turned it into a DDT on the apron and then continued to work on the arm. Great dive sequence from Tozawa that even included a kick to the head from Mochizuki. Tozawa did the rapid fire chops a la Kobashi but Mochizuki came back with a kick. That set off a ridiculous sequence of kicks from both men. When you thought they had done everything, they throw in a German suplex from the turnbuckles. The reaction from the crowd after the kimura and arm bar submissions from Mochizuki and the German suplexes was great.

It was a match like that when I am thankful that there is someone else doing the live coverage because of the closing sequence.

Johnny Vandal versus Samurai Del Sol: As someone who has seen Johnny wrestle all over Florida, it is good to see him on the pay per view. Del Sol hit a number of nice high impact moves including a flipping Fosbury Flop. Vandal got in some offense but it was a showcase for Del Sol. The fans are definitely behind Del Sol. It was a good way to get the crowd back into the show after the intermission.

Low Ki versus Pac: I wonder if the crowd will be more winded than the wrestlers after this one is over. The crowd was mesmerized by a Greco Roman knuckle lock sequence at the start of the match. Low Ki with the kicks to the thigh was a good idea to counter some of the high flying moves we will probably see later. Just like last night with Pac and AR Fox, the first few minutes were so methodical that when Ki connected with a kick, the crowd erupted like he hit a Ki Crusher from the turnbuckles.

I liked the crowd starting the dueling chants, but with the way this match has developed for the first ten minutes, it almost took away from the match. With the silence of the crowd, it feels like they have cloned me and I am the entire audience.

The crowd could anticipate that when they started battling on the apron that they were going to take things to the next level. Pac’s corkscrew splash to the floor was awesome and since there weren’t that many high spots so far so the place exploded. Then the crowd gave a ‘That was splendid’ chant for Pac.

They have probably wrestled for fifteen or twenty minutes and they are hitting moves like it just started. Pac missing the move from the top was a good way to set up the double stomp finish.

Low Ki’s promo over the match was a great way to put over Pac. I did not expect Ki’s reaction to the fan who asked for them to wrestle again right now after he offered to wrestle Pac again.

The promo also did a good job to set up the next Evolve show.

Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor versus Yoshino and Ricochet: Yoshino and Ricochet worked very well together and did a good job working over Gargano. The focus on Gargano also helps Yoshino for their match on Saturday night. After working on Gargano and being methodical with the work, they did a good thing with the spear and suicide dive spot by Gargano followed by the lionsault.

I liked the way that Taylor winced whenever anyone hit him on the chest since it looked like he might have spent too much time in the ring. Gargano’s counter of kicking Ricochet on a standing moonsault was unique. While Ricochet works at a fast pace, Yoshino works at an even faster speed that is fun to watch especially since he is so sound in the ring. The crowd was into the main event, but when Yoshino and Ricochet hit a series of moves on Gargano that teams that have been working for years would have trouble hitting, the crowd exploded. The sequence of Yoshino and Gargano trying for submissions only to counter was insane to watch. Then Gargano and Ricochet matched it with the forearm sequence.

They had a good mix of wrestling and comedy in this match. The crowd was into everything that these guys did. But at the right time in the match, things got serious.

I was wondering if they would explain why Chuck Taylor pushed Gargano off on a cover when it appeared that they had won the match. I guess we didn’t have to wait long. When CIMA shook Gargano’s hand first, I thought that maybe Taylor would refuse, not attack Gargano.

This was another very good show from Dragon Gate USA. At this point, it is hard to say which night was better, but both are worth getting on DVD when they are released.

I am really looking forward to see how the Triple Shot ends tomorrow night.

We will be back with coverage from tomorrow night’s show.

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