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DGUSA: Open the Ultimate Gate
by SamoaRowe

April 6, 2013

-From Secaucus, NJ, at Wrestlecon. Our host is Lenny Leonard and whoever happens to join him throughout the show.

-Rich Swann croons a parody of “All Night Long” on his way to the ring. Could be worse, he’s not trying to get “What’s up” over as a catchphrase or anything.

Rich Swann vs. Brian Kendrick

The crowd is still singing “All Night Long” as the bell rings. Many of these fans would go on to sing Fandango’s music on Raw the following Monday. Kendrick plays the cagey veteran and gets the best of Swann initially. Swann counters a hip toss and they trade quick near falls. The match restarts with more aggressiveness from both men. Kendrick gets dumped to the floor but catches Swann on his way back to take control. Standing hurricanrana by Swann sends Kendrick crashing. Swann continues to roll with a senton off the apron. Back handspring Ace Crusher by Swann gets a 2 count. Frog splash by Swann isn’t enough either. Kendrick bounces back with a BURNING HAMMER! Swann counters a Full Nelson but runs into a roll-up. Swann’s KO kick and standing SSP aren’t enough to end it. Sliced Bread is countered and another Swann KO kick finishes Kendrick at 10:18. Good opener here, **½.
Winner: Rich Swann

-The fans chant Kendrick’s name in the aftermath. Chuck Taylor comes to the ring to respond to Kendrick’s claims that The Gentlemen’s Club is pissing away their talent. Taylor is amused because no one has pissed more away than Kendrick, and now he can’t even beat Rich Swann. Taylor says he’s good at what he does and is better than Kendrick ever was. Kendrick says they’ll find out if Taylor is right tomorrow, and tosses the mic in Chuck’s face on his way out. Taylor remains in the ring for the second annual Chuck Taylor Invitational.

Chuck Taylor Kentucky Gentleman Invitational:
Chuck Taylor vs. Shane Strickland vs. Fire Ant vs. Anthony Nese vs. Jigsaw vs. Arik Cannon

Fire Ant and Taylor kick things off with a routine spotty sprint. Cannon and Jigsaw enter and exchange holds. Jigsaw connects with a dive over the ropes. Strickland and Nese take a turn showing off what they’ve got. Nese takes control with a springboard moonsault. Strickland, the least known wrestler in the match, finds himself on defense as the others make quick tags. Cannon and Nese show some animosity and Strickland makes a needed tag to Jigsaw, who wipes Cannon out with a dive. This sets up the rapid dive portion of the match as the others take their turns. Strickland sadly botches two dive attempts, which seems to royally amuse the fans. Cannon teases a dive, but enjoys a nice cold beer instead. Cannon tries to put Jigsaw away but misses a moonsault. Fire Ant manages to DDT Cannon off of a head scissors on Jigsaw. The match breaks down with everyone hitting finishers and breaking covers. The match really goes wild here. Nese hits a one-armed buckle bomb on Jigsaw. Strickland redeems himself somewhat with a crazy flip power driver, but it leaves him vulnerable to a 450 splash from Nese. The final minutes here were glorious, shameless, spotty mayhem, ***¼.
Winner: Anthony Nese

-Larry Dallas and Scott Reed come to the ring for a match. Dallas takes the mic and instructs Reed to kill the jobber.

Derek Ryze vs. Scott Reed (with Larry Dallas)

Reed delivers some clubbing offense in the early going. Ryze responds with some hard kicks. Reed delivers a spinning double pump power slam. Ryze gets a hope spot in and nearly scores an upset with a small package. Reed delivers the Smash Mouth for the win at 3:12. Squashtastic.
Winner: Scott Reed

-A grumpy Caleb Konley interrupts the post-match celebrating and tells Larry Dallas to STFU. Konley claims that he and Reed are through with The Scene. Reed then ambushes Konley from behind but eats a spinebuster for his trouble. Konley serves Dallas to Marti Belle, who puts a hurting on him. Konley plants Dallas and celebrates his newfound freedom.

Jon Davis vs. Trent Barreta

Davis is suspended from EVOLVE, but luckily this is DGUSA, which is so totally not the same company. Davis does his shtick where he stares down fans during his entrance and earns a “boring” chant. If they ever want Davis to get over, he needs to stop doing this tedious nonsense. The graphic introduces Barreta as “Trent ?” so they’re dancing around trademark issues. Davis overpowers Barreta and absorbs a chop. The crowd gives Davis “go away” heat as he takes control. Barreta comes back and nails a dive to the floor. Davis counters and nails a running boot. Davis works Trent over with a series of power moves, finding time to flip off the fans along the way. Barreta comes back with a twisting senton off the top rope. Barreta throws some enziguris and a missile drop-kick. A running knee to the face only gets 2 for Barreta. Davis explodes with a choke slam and Shining Wizard for a 2 count. Davis gets slapped and loses his temper by throwing repeated head butts in the corner. Davis is disqualified at 12:16. Holy crap, the booking of Jon Davis downright sucks right now, **.
Winner via DQ: Trent Barreta

-Davis attacks the referee and puts Barreta down with Three Seconds Around the World. The crowd chants “You still suck.” I hope this leads to Davis being suspended from DGUSA as well as he can take some time off so we can forget about how horrible his character direction has been. Davis cuts a promo saying he doesn’t give a sh!t about what the fans think and that he has nothing to lose. Davis issues an open challenge to anyone in the back. The fans chant “Super Dragon” and “Hogan.” No one accepts the challenge so Davis wanders off.

Tomahawk TT and EITA vs. The Super Smash Bros. (Player Unos and Player Dos)

Player Dos and EITA square off the way you’d expect them to. They run the ropes and EITA surprisingly scores a drop-kick to the head. EITA chops Dos so hard he needs a breather. Player Uno enters politely asks EITA to tag in his bigger partner, TT. They trade shoulder blocks until Tomahawk chops the life out of Uno. Player Uno hands TT’s leg to the referee for a neck breaker. The SSB double team TT and take control of the match. Tomahawk comes back with a suplex on Player Uno. TT drives Dos into the guard rail and helps EITA hang Uno on the ropes for a double drop-kick. The Dragon Gate rookies take control of Uno. Player Dos gets a hot tag and enters with a high cross body on EITA. Dos follows up with a big dive to the floor. TT counters a Dos springboard but Dos counters into a DDT. The SSB deliver a side slam/elbow drop combo. The DG guys regroup but Dos catches them with Pele kicks. Flying leg lariat by Dos saves Uno from Tomahawk. TT and EITA deliver a “Doomsday Lung Blower” on Dos but Uno breaks the cover! Dos suplexes TT onto EITA in the corner. The 450 splash/running senton combo by the SSB isn’t enough to end this! EITA nails a hurricanrana on Dos off the ropes. EITA moonsault onto Uno at ringside while TT plants Dos for the win at 14:20. The crowd gives the match a standing ovation. Another good spot-fest for the sake of having a spot-fest, ***¼.
Winners: Tomahawk TT and EITA

Ricochet vs. Akira Tozawa (with Christina Von Eerie)

They stick to the formula by exchanging holds in the early going. They come to a stalemate and quicken the pace. Ricochet scores with a head scissors and drop-kick to the floor. Springboard shooting star press to the floor by Ricochet! Standing SSP by Ricochet, who is now in firm control. Tozawa finds his second wind and nails a series of rapid fire suicide dives. Tozawa celebrates his own greatness while Von Eerie ambushes Ricochet, complete with a suplex onto the concrete. Tozawa takes control with his devastating arsenal of attacks. Ricochet absorbs 100 or so chops and nails a flying clothesline. Neck breaker and running SSP by Ricochet gets a 2 count. Brainbuster by Tozawa gets a near fall. Tozawa counters with a head kick but Ricochet blocks a superplex. Dead lift Regal-plex by Ricochet! Ricochet misses the Phoenix Splash and Tozawa sneaks in a Saito suplex. Ricochet manages to hit a nasty kick before collapsing. Tozawa wins a slugfest and they battle onto the apron. Bicycle suplex by Tozawa and a German suplex on the ring apron! Ricochet is fighting for survival but suffers a release German suplex. Tozawa nails a dead lift German but Ricochet somehow kicks out! Ricochet continues to barely hang in there but nails a backslide driver for 2. 630 splash by Ricochet ends it at 20:11. HELL of a match here, even if there was no rhyme or reason for it happening and nothing at stake, ****.
Winner: Ricochet

Uhaa Nation vs. Sami Callihan

They lock up and Nation shoves Sami off his feet. Sami spits his gum at Nation and gets launched into the turnbuckles. Callihan rebounds with a suicide dive. Nation looks for a power bomb on the guard rail but settles for slamming Sami onto the ring apron. Nation hits a second slam on the ring frame and continues to target the back. Callihan pops out of the corner with a clothesline but Nation shakes it off. Hard clothesline by Nation but he can’t put Sami away. Callihan begins targeting the previously injured leg. Sami abandons that sound strategy to go after the head. Sami locks on the Stretch Muffler but it’s countered into a small package. They put each other down with stereo big boots. Rolling German suplexes by Nation! Callihan super kicks the knee to trip Nation on the ropes. Dragon screw leg sweep by Callihan sets up a Figure Four. Nation escapes but suffers more kicks to the head and knee. Nation desperately hits a spinning backbreaker. Nation catches Sami for a slingshot sit-out power bomb! Sami plays dead to lure Nation in for a Saito Suplex. Nation absorbs a lariat and nails the Press Slam and a pair of standing Shooting Star Presses for the win at 16:13. This was a pretty interesting match to watch as Sami picked apart the big man but ultimately suffered defeat, ***.
Winner: Uhaa Nation

Open The United Gate Tag Team Championship:
CIMA and AR Fox © vs. The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson)

Matt Jackson and CIMA trade holds, true to formula. Matt spits in CIMA’s face, prompting CIMA to pretend to get sick. Fox and Nick make tags and run the ropes to put on a show. Fox misses a split legged moonsault allowing a double hip toss and drop-kick from the Young Bucks. CIMA and Fox hit a double drop-kick on Matt to retain control. Matt breaks out of some leg work and tags Nick for a springboard elbow drop. The Young Bucks attempt to isolate CIMA, who reverses a suplex. Fox delivers some rapid fire dives onto the Bucks. Nick accidentally wipes his brother out with a moonsault off the apron. Fox misses a kick flip and Nick super kicks anyone who comes near him. The match settles into The Young Bucks working over Fox. It’s always amusing when Matt back hand springs into a back rake. Fox takes an extended beating before countering with an Ace Crusher. CIMA gets a hot tag (to no pop) and cleans house on the Bucks. Fox delivers his nifty dive over the ring post onto Matt outside the barricade. CIMA destroys Nick with a double stomp and double knees off the ropes. Nick fights off the champs and nails a springboard face buster on CIMA. Nick suffers the Iconoclasm and Swanton Bomb but Matt saves him from a cover. CIMA holds Matt in place for a 450 splash from Fox! All four men throw hard shots until everyone goes down (for the obligatory “This is awesome” chant). Fox suffers multiple power bombs and a springboard-assisted Tombstone Piledriver but CIMA breaks the cover! Matt takes rapid fire flying attacks capitalized by CIMA’s “Meteora” double knees off the top. Nick delivers a blind low blow on CIMA! Fox gets overwhelmed by the Bucks, who deliver More Bang For Your Buck to finish him at 19:24! This was nothing short of four expert high-fliers doing what they do best, ****¼.
Winners and new Open the United Gate Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks

-Ricochet shows up to gloat over Fox’s defeat.

Open The Freedom Gate Championship:
Johnny Gargano © vs. Shingo

This one feels like a “big time” match with Gargano’s title reign well past the one year mark and Shingo making a long awaited return. They pace themselves in the early going with some mat wrestling. Gargano’s chops have zero effect and Shingo knocks him off his feet. Shingo overpowers with a suplex. Gargano tries to outmaneuver but gets countered into a crossface. The camera man falls asleep as Gargano delivers a head scissors takedown. Slingshot spear by Gargano, who is finally on the offense. Shingo counters GargaNo Escape and clotheslines the champ to the floor. Shingo controls the brawl into the first row of fans. Gargano super kicks Shingo and delivers a suicide dive. Gargano puts Shingo onto a standing chair and nails a second suicide dive! Gargano delivers a pair of running kicks to the head of a seated Shingo but the third one is countered with a Samoan drop onto the chair! Gargano’s slingshot spear is countered with a spike DDT! A diving lariat by Shingo gets the first near fall of the match. Gargano counters with a suplex into the corner. Enziguri by Gargano and slingshot DDT gets 2. Gargano gets caught with a Death Valley Driver and both men are down. Gargano absorbs some clotheslines and spits in Shingo’s face. GargaNo Escape but Shingo proves the name wrong. They trade counters on the top ropes until Gargano nails a hurricanrana! Shingo gets lawn darted into the turnbuckles for a 2 count. They sell exhaustion as they trade shots. Gargano absorbs the Saito Suplex and nails a super kick and they both go down. Shingo nails a DVD off the top rope! Gargano no sells and applies the Hurts Donut and GargaNo Escape. Gargano misses a drop-kick and suffers Made in Japan. Hard lariat by Shingo but Gargano kicks out! The referee takes a mild blow and is a second behind counting after another Made in Japan. Gargano accidentally clocks the ref again and delivers a low blow! Gargano hits a super kick and pulls some string out to choke Shingo! The string assisted GargaNo Escape finishes it at 33:18! Holy heel turn! The crowd goes from chanting “Match of the Year” to “Bullshit” within minutes. Fantastic main event here, with them pulling out all the stops and having a suitably epic contest. The Gargano heel turn raises my eyebrow as well, ****½.
Winner and still Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano

-Gargano asks for the mic. Gargano gives a really forced “thank you” speech to the crowd, pretending that he didn’t just win via heel tactics. Interesting.

Final Thoughts: This was a loaded show that provided a trio of ****+ matches and a big angle to close the show. That’s enough to make me forget how unimpressed I am by the misadventures of Jon Davis. This is definitely worth a purchase, thumbs up!

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