DRAGON GATE USA: Open The Historic Gate

DRAGON GATE USA: Open The Historic Gate
July 25, 2009
The Arena, South Philadelphia
ENTER THE DRAGON PPV Taping


Hostess/Ring Announcer, Dawn Marie


The Arena looks great. The most proffesional production I've seen there. Lots of black curtains on the walls and several jumbo-trons up on the walls at the entrance and in the corners. It was pretty packed but not a sell out. A few empty seats here and there. Every match went between 15 and 17 minutes except for the main event, which went about 20.


BxB Hulk v YAMATO is the opening match. BxB came out with two blonde dancing girls and almost took one of them out when he did his flip off the turnbuckle entrance. Missed her by an inch. Started out with some fast chain wrestling. Some very stiff kicks by both. BxB hit a standing corkscrew moonsault, an incredible missle dropkick and a devastating clothesline. Yamato comes back and gets a sharpshooter. Driver slam by BxB. Then misses a 450 splash. Yamato laughs. Sleeper into german suplex! Winner: Yamato.


2 Cold Scorpio v Ken Doane is next. Scorpio looked pretty old. This was the slowest match of the night but Doane made it good with his heel charisma and work. Started out stalling Zybysko-style. Then got into some chops back and forth. Crowd started chanting "We want Ziggler!" Doane couldn't keep a straight face. Belly to belly and german suplex by Doane. All Scorpio could do was dance. Doane missed a leg drop off the top rope. Then went for a moonsault but Scorpio got his knees up. Winner: 2 Cold Scorpio.

I talked to Doane after the match. Said he isn't booked after tonight but is open to doing more with Dragon Gate. This kid is 23 yrs. old and is just loaded with talent and charisma. Scorpio cut a retro ECW promo to a little bit of a pop but not much.

CHIKARA Eight Man Tag Team Showcase

Fire Ant and Soldier Ant of the Colony, Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush v Amasis of the Osirian Portal, Gran Akuma and Icarus of F.I.S.T. and Hallowicked is the third match of the night. A very Pro-Chikara crowd. Quackenbush is over and the crowd chants "Quack,Quack!" This was a show stealer. Incredibly fast paced action. I couldn't even begin to call all the spots. It was like a stiff Lucha 8-man without the midgets and transvestites. Jigsaw is absolutely sick! Awesome high flying action! Jigsaw gets the pin. Winners: Team Chikara.

Quack cut a promo saying Dragon Gate and Chikara are like family but there's always some sibling rivalry. I like these two groups together.

Dragon Kid v Masato Yoshino is up next. Not as good as some of their matches I've seen but still very good. Tough following the eight man. They started a slow build and eventually got rolling. I've never seen two guys run the ropes faster than these two. Kid hit a moonsault off the top turnbuckle and caught Yoshino on the floor. Dragon Kid is like a Japanese Rey Mysterio. Huracanrana blocked by Yoshino into a massive powerbomb. Missile drop kick by Yoshino. Dragon Kid hits the rana standing on the top turnbuckle and gets the pin with a west coast (east coast?) pop. Winner: Dragon Kid.

Tag Team Challenge
CIMA & Susumu Yokosuka v The Young Bucks, Nick & Matt Jackson is next. The Young Bucks remind me of the Hardy Boys. Lot's of great double teaming and tag team specialist-type action. Cima hits a double foot stomp off the railing onto the floor. Lots of near falls. Cima goes coast to coast. A dizzying array of double moonsaults and the Young Bucks get the pin. Winners: Young Bucks.

Afterwards the Bucks cut a promo saying they are no longer "the tag team of the future. After tonight, they are the tag team of the present!"

Dawn Marie announces that Dragon Gate USA will be back at The Arena on November 28th. They will be holding a one night tournament to crown the first Dragon Gate USA Champion. The title will be called Open the Freedom Gate. No participants were named.

I spoke with Gabe Sapolsky during the intermission and he looked exhausted and happy. He said "As long as everything looks okay then I'm happy." Everything certainly looked good.

Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi v Shingo Takagi is the Main Event. Shingo is sporting a Rising Sun Mullet. Shingo dominates early. Nice build. Shingo hit a devastating powerbomb and a knee to the back of Doi's head off the top rope. Doi rallies and they trade chops. Shingo got Doi up for a vertical suplex and held him there while the crowd counted to 30! Lots of near falls. Doi hits a back suplex off the top rope and gets the pin. Winner: Naruki Doi.

Great show and a pretty hot crowd. Sayanora!