Dragon Gate USA: Freedom Fight
January 22, 2010
Philadelphia, PA
The Arena
(Taped on 11/28/09)

In order to crown the first-ever Open the Freedom Gate champion, there will be four qualifying matches – one will be a six-way match, one will be a fatal four way match, and also two singles matches. The winners of these four matches will be included in a four-way elimination match in the main event of this show and the last man standing will be crowned the Open the Freedom Gate champion. USA! USA! USA!

Your hosts are Lenny Leonard and CHIKARA-san.

• Gran Akuma vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Matt Jackson vs. Nick Jackson vs. Lince Dorado vs. Hallowicked – Open the Freedom Gate Tournament Qualifying Match
  

They call this type of match ‘Generation New’ which means it will probably be devoid of any story and will be all spots. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong. Under Gabe, ROH has been doing these scramble matches since the beginning, so it’s nothing new. Hallowicked takes Akuma and Gargano to the floor and suicide dives out. Lince Dorado (who takes after Puma) headscissors Matt Jackson to the outside, but Nick Jackson nails Dorado with a roundhouse kick! Gargano stops a dive from Nick with a spear through the ropes. Matt saves his brother and clears the ring of the other four so they can EXPLODE! But not really. Gargano and Akuma put a stop to it and they go one-on-one. The Young Bucks pull them out and we’re back to square one. Dorado and Hallowicked attack with missile dropkicks. Hallowicked delivers Go 2 Sleepy Hollow followed by Sky High gets 1-2-NO! SSP from Dorado to Hallowicked takes him out. Akuma comes in and gives Dorado the REALLY COOL LOOKIN inverted gutbuster variation. Nick Jackson delivers the slingshot X Factor to Akuma and flies out onto Dorado with a moonsault off the apron. Gargano tries to take advantage, but the Young Bucks stop him with the standing moonsault-springboard splash combo. In comes Hallowicked, Matt catches Go 2 Sleepy Hollow while Nick runs over with the superkick. STEREO SUPERKICKS on Hallowicked set up MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! Nick breaks up the cover! Now the Young Bucks come to blows. They do some “one step ahead” games and trade superkicks, but Matt delivers some wheelbarrow faceslam on Nick for 1-2-NO! Akuma breaks up the pin. Dorado and Hallowicked head back to the floor where Dorado wipes him out with a springboard somersault senton and BREAKS the guardrail. Crazy Dive by the Young Bucks! Once Akuma dropkicks Matt out to the floor, Gargano slips out of the Rubik’s Cube and delivers a running Snake Eyes to the bottom turnbuckle. They head to the top rope where Akuma brings Gargano down with a Spider Exploder and deliver a Flying Moonsault for 1-2-3! (9:30) Okay, so I was proven wrong. The build of the Young Bucks exploding on each other was pretty cool, but their high risk offense ultimately cost them a victory here.**¾

• BxB Hulk vs. Brian Kendrick – Open the Freedom Gate Tournament Qualifying Match
  

Where’s the ladies, BxB? Both men have suffered losses in DGUSA, now they need redemption. Some chain wrestling on the mat to start. Lenny Leonard says Kendrick is PISSED that his match was so heavily edited during the last PPV. They go to the floor where Hulk eats the ringpost. Back inside, Kendrick applies the camel clutch. Hulk comes back with kicks and drills Kendrick with a standing powerslam for two. Kendrick goes for SLICED BREAD #2, but Hulk pushes him off to the floor. He jumps the rail to avoid a dive from Hulk. Back in, Kendrick crotches Hulk up top and slides him down into a small package. Ha, never seen that before. Kendrick slips out of EVO, but can’t prevent the Rolling Rana from happening for a nearfall. EVO gets 1-2-NO! Kendrick counters another pumphandle move with a rollup for two. Now Hulk just decides to kick him in the face and roll him up crucifix style for the 1-2-3. (12:34) Kendrick REALLY has some WWE stink on him that he needs to lose. Much like the last show, he just looked second-rate out there compared to BxB Hulk. **½

Afterwards, Brian Kendrick shows us all that he’s not going to do or say whatever THE MAN tells him to. He’s a freethinker and you people don’t question anything. “WHAAAT?” See? They do too, Spanky! As Kendrick continues to talk, various officials come out and try to get him out of the ring for more wrestling. That is until the unnamed HWA star Jon Moxley enters the ring and tells Kendrick he agrees with his stance…as together they begin to beat up the establishment!

• CIMA vs. Mike Quackenbush vs. Super Crazy vs. Jorge “Skayde” Rivera – Open the Freedom Gate Tournament Qualifying Match
  

Lenny says this was originally supposed to be a triple threat match, but then out of respect they decided to give Jorge Rivera a chance. YAY CIMA~! He’s super! He’s crazy! He’s…fat? Quack and CIMA start the match. Lots of technical Quackenbush-type stuff. CIMA gets tossed out with an armdrag and that brings in Super Crazy. As Super Crazy turns his back on Quack, he ducks out as Rivera goes to work. This just generates into a four way free-for-all that ends with everybody going for dropkicks at the same time. Crazy shows Rivera some disrespect with a slap across the chest, but then goes flying to the floor. CIMA and Quackenbush attempt a double-team, but Rivera takes care of CIMA with a headscissors and an armdrag for Quack. CIMA comes back with a double stomp on Rivera for 1-2-NO! Some HIGHLY choreographed lucha stuff continues. It’s happening too fast to transcribe. Eventually, Crazy catches Rivera with a basement dropkick on the knee. CIMA tries to stop the match thinking that his mentor Rivera is really injured. Super Crazy tries to keep Quack and CIMA out so he can work over Rivera. That is until Rivera comes back with armdrags and a headscissors. In comes Quackenbush, Rivera gives the swinging surfboard move we’ve seen from the luchadores. CIMA misses a dropkick on Rivera and gets caught in an inverted Scorpion Deathlock. Super Crazy makes the save. He avoids a clothesline from Quack with a slide to the floor, but then gets nailed with a somersault plancha anyways from Quack! In the ring, CIMA gives Rivera one wacky rollup into a pinning situation for the 1-2-3. (9:19) Glad to see CIMA win, but did he have to beat the oldest man in the ring? This was just too much choreographed lucha stuff for me to get too invested in it. **½

• Davey Richards vs. YAMATO – Open the Freedom Gate Tournament Qualifying Match
  

If WWE pays attention to Davey Richards, I predict he’ll be in their company being mentored by the Miz by 2012. Richards shows off his mat skills against YAMATO who has MMA training. Shoulderblock battle leads to Richards taking YAMATO down into a crucifix armbar. Some neat Anderson family-style arm work begins. They head out to the floor where Davey kicks YAMATO through the barricade. That gives Philly all the fodder they need for a “He’s hardcore!” chant. Back to the ring, YAMATO sneaks around ringside and dropkicks Richards in the leg from behind. He works the leg and segues into the Anklelock. Richards reaches the ropes and starts to HULK UP. He pulls YAMATO off the top turnbuckle into the Alarm Clock. Back on the floor, Davey delivers his crazy tope con hilo into the crowd. It’s like he has to do that at EVERY DGUSA show. Maybe it’s in his agreement. In the ring, Richards hits the Damage Reflex (handspring enziguri) for 1-2-NO! Northern Lights leads to the KIMURA, but YAMATO reaches the bottom rope. YAMATO blocks a German suplex and reapplies the Anklelock. Richards gets the break. Forearm shots fail on Davey. He starts unloading with kicks and YAMATO dares him to bring some more. He nails an enziguri, but YAMATO no-sells and unleashes a Saito Suplex. FIGHTING SPIRIT~! Richards jumps back up and drills YAMATO with a lariat. They hit each other with running boots and exchange running forearms in the corner. YAMATO goes up top, but he gets crotched and brought down with a top rope superplex! FIGHTING SPIRIT~? Richards finally nails that German suplex with a bridge for 1-2-NO! Davey delivers the Shooting Star Press, but YAMATO brings the knees up to block the impact. CHOKE SLEEPER by YAMATO! Richards fights out, but finds himself right back in it. YAMATO gives Davey the Sleeper Suplex and field goal kicks him in the face. Cover, 1-2-NO! Brainbuster gets 1-2-NO! DAVEY WILL NOT DIE! GALLARIA connects and Davey actually can die as YAMATO covers for the 1-2-3. (21:24) No doubt, a huge win for YAMATO. I don’t think he’s even on the level of Davey Richards right now though, which made this feel like Davey wasn’t really giving this 110%. It turned out for the best though since he’ll only be appearing for one more DGUSA show. ***½

• Speed Muscle (Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi) vs. Dragon Hawk (Shingo & Dragon Kid)
  

This three-show long feud has brought us to this point. Mike Quackenbush replaces Chikara-son here. DK and Yoshino start the match. Some fast-paced chain wrestling to start from those two. In comes Shingo and Doi. Shingo controls Speed Muscle for a while with his ability to overpower. With Naruki Doi the legal man, Dragon Hawk cut the ring in half on him. Just great tag team work from Shingo and DK. However, Doi blocks a suplex on Dragon Kid and slams him away. Speed Muscle tag in and out as they drop double sledges on DK’s elbow – ending with a huge double stomp. They deliver the drop toe hold/sliding leg drop combo to DK. Sort of an octopus stretch on the mat gets DK in trouble, but he finds the ropes. Dragon Kid tries to fight back, but Doi flapjacks while Yoshino slam dunks him for two. During all this, the other member of Speed Muscle keeps Shingo at bay. DK starts spinning on Doi as he takes him over with an armdrag and then a satellite headscissors! HOT TAG TO SHINGO! Doi tries to stop him and charges in the corner, but Shingo catches him with an overhead suplex to send him out. Bermuda Triangle takes out Doi, leaving Shingo all alone with Yoshino. A pair of running clotheslines sets up a DDT for two. So much for that sunset flip by Yoshino, Shingo powers him up into a suplex! Incredible. Now Yoshino goes on the move and clotheslines Shingo down. Yoshino locks in the Octopus Stretch on Shingo, as DK applies the Octopus Stretch on Doi! STEREO OCTOPUS STRETCHES~! DK and Yoshino start to chicken fight (with the holds still applied, mind you!) until they decide to give up on the hold and just pound each other. Shingo and Yoshino head to the floor. Meanwhile, Doi avoids the 6-1-9 and hits DK with the running dropkicks in the ropes. Cover, 1-2-NO! DK shoots out to the apron off a corner whip and springboards back in with a somersault stunner on Doi for 1-2-NO! Shingo comes in to double-team Doi. He holds Doi in place for the double-stomp from DK! Doi elbows out of Blood Fall and knocks Shingo away. Nevertheless, DK counters a suplex into a stunner – setting Doi up for Blood Fall! Cover, 1-2-NO! Made in Japan is blocked as Doi presses Shingo up into a Rydien Bomb for 1-2-NO! Yoshino attacks Shingo and tries Another Space (spin-out side powerbomb) and gets it on the second try. WHOA. Speed Muscle sets it up for Yoshino to missile dropkick DK and land on Shingo with a flying senton for 1-2-NO! Shingo catches Yoshino charging in the corner with a boot and takes him to the top rope on his shoulders. Yoshino fights that off. Meanwhile, DK knocks Doi away so he can give Yoshino a DOOMSDAY SUPER FRANKENSTEINER! WHAT. Cover, 1-2-NO! Yoshino avoids the LAST FALCONRY and tries to apply an Octopus Stretch, but Shingo fights it off and tries to powerbomb Yoshino. No good! He counters with a sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Yoshino comes off the ropes and gets launched into the air by Shingo into a Death Valley Driver! Hurracanrana by DK to Yoshino gets 1-2-NO! Yoshino moves out of the way of the ULTRA HURRACANRANA, but Shingo takes out Yoshino with a spinning gutwrench powerbomb. In comes Doi with the palm strikes, but Shingo shrugs them off and absolutely blasts him with a clothesline. ULTRA HURRACANRANA by DK to Doi, but he’s caught for DOI 555! Wild sequence there. Yoshino spreads DK out using the ropes while Doi hits a flying senton bomb on him. Doomsday Device on DK gets 1-2-NO! LIGHTNING SPIRAL is countered with Bible by DK for 1-2-NO! Oh, but he still charges into LIGHTNING SPIRAL anyway. BAKATARE SLIDING KICK by Doi gets 1-2-NO! Shingo gets tripped into the corner and takes the CANNONBALLLL by Doi. Meanwhile, Yoshino hits the Torbellino on DK and applies SOL NACIENTE! Yoshino moves DK to the center of the ring and gets the submission. (19:55) Holy crap that was the best tag match I’ve seen in years. A little much on the nearfalls in the last few minutes, but everything about it was just completely insane and 200mph the whole way. Even though it’s a tag match and not a singles, Dragon Kid still suffers his first loss in DGUSA. Now that Yoshino beats Dragon Kid, he wants a handshake. Shingo shoves him away. GET THAT CRAP OUTTA HERE. Hey, I’m loving this rivalry. ****½

Jon Moxley cuts a promo from under the bridge outside the Arena. Anybody else think he sounds like Raven?

• Gran Akuma vs. BxB Hulk vs. CIMA vs. YAMATO – Elimination Match to crown the first-ever Open the Freedom Gate Champion
  

I’d like to start this match mentioning five great things about America…freedom, justice, America, and uhh…what was that last one? Right. Taco Bell. OPEN THE FREEDOM GATE. The Akuma-YAMATO alliance shines through here and now the booking all makes sense. CIMA thinks he’s going to make this a 3-on-1 against BxB Hulk when he chops him down, but Akuma and YAMATO have other ideas. Hulk comes back with a Rock Bottom on YAMATO as CIMA and Hulk begin to work together. Spider Exploder from Akuma to CIMA sets up a Moonsault for 1-2-NO! While Akuma doubled over with his neck cramped in the corner, CIMA gives him a dropkick on the butt. CIMA rolls through a sunset flip and double stomps Akuma on the shoulders for two. Meanwhile, Hulk legsweeps YAMATO, but the standing moonsault hits knees. YAMATO hits a Spear and tries for GALLARIA, but CIMA breaks it up with a kick to the back. Akuma trips up CIMA from the outside, so YAMATO gets rid of Hulk with a flapjack. While YAMATO distracts the ref, Akuma kicks CIMA in the balls as YAMATO rolls him up for the 1-2-3 at 5:13. That’s bad news bears for the fan favorite BxB Hulk. Pretty much a five minute beatdown ensues until Akuma and YAMATO suffer some miscommunication issues. Dropsault gets two on Akuma, as Hulk moves away to avoid an elbow drop from YAMATO, which nails Akuma. Hulk kicks YAMATO to the floor and counters Akuma’s RUBIK’S CUBE with a reverse hurracanrana! PHOENIX SPLASH connects on Akuma for the 1-2-NO! YAMATO makes the save, but gets thrown out. EVO on Akuma gets the 1-2-3 after all at 12:27. Now we’re down to Hulk vs. YAMATO. They trade forearms, but then Hulk runs into a powerslam. They head up top where Hulk brings YAMATO down with a SUPER POWERSLAM! Delayed cover, 1-2-NO! They trade elbows from their knees to their feet. Hulk catches YAMATO charging with a back flip kick and a clothesline. EVO gets 1-2-NO! Another variation of the EVO gets the win and the title. (16:00) If you’ve got a Dragon Gate heel champ, it’s probably best to have a fun-loving DGUSA champ that’s a face to balance it out and BxB Hulk definitely fits that category. It’s happy way to end the show, too. ***¼

Final Thoughts: It’s certainly the weakest of the first three shows, but boy that tag match is awesome. I’ll go with a mild thumbs up overall because the show REALLY picked up in the middle to a good ending with BxB Hulk’s big moment. Everybody in Philly seems to love that guy. The next DGUSA that you can order on PPV starts Friday March 5 at 10pm, so just want you to be aware of that.