Dragon Gate USA: Untouchable
November 6, 2009
Chicago, IL
Congress Theater
(Taped on 9/6/09)

Your hosts are Lenny Leonard and Phil Colvin.

• Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino
  

These two continue their rivalry with a rematch from the previous PPV where Dragon Kid picked up the win with the springboard rana. Wristlocks and flips to start. Dragon Kid teases the 6-1-9 and Yoshino head to the floor. When he tries getting in the ring, DK cheapshots him to take over. That’s SOOO messed up, Dragon Kid. DK hits a hesitation dropkick down in the corner, but Yoshino cuts him off and goes after the knee with a near vertical half crab. Déjà Vu sends Yoshino out for a pescado rana. Springboard somersault into a stunner connects for two. Yoshino hits a hurricane neckbreaker, but DK counters a suplex into a stunner. That stuns Yoshino for Christo, but Yoshino still manages to reach the ropes. Yoshino blocks a sunset flip and faceplants Dragon Kid. He gets crotched up top, but Yoshino avoids the hurracanrana and drills Dragon Kid with an awesome missile dropkick for 1-2-NO! Dragon Kid comes back with Jesus Walks for 1-2-NO! A fight up top ends with a SUPER HURRACANRANA from Dragon Kid! Cover, 1-2-NO! Looks like DK wants the 6-1-9, but instead he nails Yoshino with the slingshot dropkick to set up the ULTRA HURRACANRANA for 1-2-NO! This time he kicks out. DRAGONRANA? No! Yoshino sees it coming and hits LIGHTNING SPIRAL for 1-2-NO! He tries another one, but Dragon Kid spins out and hits Bible for the 1-2-3. (14:13) Apparently Dragon Kid is highly religious…for a dragon. Felt a little too one-sided to me. This was like 85% Dragon Kid and not enough Yoshino to make you believe that he actually had a chance of winning. Great action, though. ***

• YAMATO & Gran Akuma vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw
  

And now we get the inevitable tag match. YAMATO and Akuma jump Quackenbush and Jigsaw before the bell. They deliver a double-team backbreaker to Quackenbush to take him out. Jigsaw plays *your* face-in-peril while YAMATO and Akuma keep knocking Quackenbush off the apron. YAMATO applies CBV, but Jigsaw elbows out. I’m really digging this YAMATO guy. He’s such a great smug heel – smirking over at Quackenbush at every turn while he’s abusing Jigsaw. As YAMATO applies that inverted Indian deathlock, Quackenbush comes in and double-stomps his face! Jigsaw tries to double-stomp off YAMATO as he’s slumped over to use him as a springboard to rana Akuma over, but that fails. He blames his hurt knee. HOT TAG TO QUACKENBUSH! Black Tornado Slam to Akuma! That gets two. YAMATO ducks the springboard back elbow, but Akuma gets wiped out. Heel miscommunication occurs and Jigsaw stops YAMATO with a Superkick for 1-2-NO! I’m probably going to botch this terribly, but Akuma goes from a tombstone position and falls back driving both knees into Jigsaw’s stomach. It’s REALLY complicated to type out – if he has a name for it, I don’t know what it is – but it’s a pretty cool looking move. Anyways, Brainbuster from YAMATO to Quackenbush leads into the CBV! Quack makes the ropes, but he’s back in the CBV. Jigsaw saves and hits a Michinoku Driver on YAMATO as Quackenbush comes off the top with a flying senton bomb for 1-2-NO! In comes Akuma, he hits Quack with an arm trap swinging neckbreaker. Jigsaw stops a possible SUPER EXPLODER. Akuma elbows him off, but misses the Moonsault. DOUBLE STOMP DOOMSDAY DEVICE from Quackenbush & Jigsaw! Cover, 1-2-NO! Sleeper Suplex from YAMATO sends Jigsaw out. More heel miscommunication screws things up for YAMATO and Akuma. Out goes YAMATO, QUACKENDRIVER II on Akuma gets the 1-2-3! (14:18) This one just didn’t know when to end, leaving the final five minutes feeling a bit anti-climatic. Afterwards, YAMATO tries to choke out Quackenbush and Hallowicked stands up for CHIKARA by making the save. **½

• Open the Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi vs. Bryan Danielson
  

You could say this was part of Danielson’s ‘Final Countdown’ tour as he does Gabe a favor and leaves his mark on Dragon Gate USA before heading off WWE. By the way, “Daniel Bryan” will be mentored by the Miz starting February 23 on the new NXT show. Now don’t get me wrong, the Miz has come a long way since being the obnoxious guy who shouts HOORAH and couldn’t wrestle his way out of a paper bag, but shouldn’t the teacher be BETTER than the student? Is this some way of humbling the independent wrestling fans? Why would they feel the need to do that? They are less of a threat than TNA and that is pretty small potatoes, folks. When I saw that announced, I just couldn’t help but laugh. I mean at least put him with somebody like Chris Jericho. That would at least give us an interesting possibility of a Sammartino-Zbyszko payoff. Anyways, enough of that.

Extended feeling-out process to start. Pretty much classic Danielson stuff. They exchange strikes, but then Doi goes after the knee. He hits one dropkick to the knee in the ropes, but Danielson avoids a second one and snaps Doi’s arm over his shoulder. YOU DONE MESSED UP, SON. Danielson tries to dislocate the shoulder by STEPPING DOWN on the arm into positions it shouldn’t be going. As Bobby Heenan says, you don’t bend that way. “Best in the world” chants all around. With the arm bent towards the mat, Danielson STOMPS the elbow and then bends the arm again in directions it shouldn’t go. That leads to the cross armbreaker, but Doi makes the ropes. I hate to say it, but this is vintage Danielson. Doi finally gets an opening as he backdrops Danielson to the apron and ties him up in the ropes for the running back elbow followed by the running dropkick and adds the exclamation point with a somersault senton to a doubled over Danielson. Hotshot sets up a back suplex for two. Danielson comes back with a round kick and hits the missile dropkick. He still manages to kip up. Slugfest ends with a running back elbow by Doi. Danielson lands on his feet during Doi 555 and hooks on an anklelock. Doi makes the ropes, hits a dragon screw, and locks on the figure-four. After a rope break, they trade nearfalls off a rollup sequence. Danielson manages to lock in CATTLE MUTILATION, but Doi reaches the ropes. Just as it appears Danielson is out during another stiff slugfest, Danielson avoids the BAKATARE SLIDING KICK and finds the anklelock. As Doi reaches for the ropes, Danielson pulls Doi up into a bridging German suplex for 1-2-NO! Back to the anklelock, but Doi flips him off into the corner and hits the CANNONBALLLLL. Doi 555 gets 1-2-NO! MUSCULAR BOMB fails, but a Tiger Suplex does not for 1-2-NO! A battle up top leads to a Back Superplex from Danielson for 1-2-NO! CATTLE MUTILATION! As Doi turns the pressure over, that leaves him open for the elbows! Doi is not even trying to protect himself, but the ref won’t call for the bell. After about ten elbows, Danielson covers for 1-2-NO! Danielson continues to sell the knee from 15 minutes ago, which is great. They trade blows, but Danielson wins that with a running kick to the chest. Ahh, and he takes time to sell the knee. Doi catches Danielson up top. Danielson fires off the elbows to the head, but Doi brings him down with SUPER DOI 555! Cover, 1-2-NO! BAKATARE SLIDING KICK gets 1-2-NO! MUSCULAR BOMB gets 1-2-3! (23:25) Another awesome uphill battle for Naruki Doi – last time it was Shingo, now Bryan Danielson. ****¼

• CIMA vs. Brian Kendrick
  

Here is Kendrick’s first PPV appearance since leaving the WWE in July 2009. Apparently this was edited on the airing of the PPV, but I’ve got the full match. Spanky gets a big welcome from the crowd. Mike Quackenbush joins the commentators. Various armlocks to start. Once CIMA gets going, Kendrick ducks out, which allows Kendrick to nail him from behind. Kendrick rolls to the ropes and kicks CIMA in the face to back him away. To the floor, we see some guardrail action from Kendrick. Back inside, CIMA fights off a sleeper and hits a Superdrol (lung blower). CIMA hooks Kendrick up in the corner with sort of a full nelson onto the middle turnbuckle and ropes. That leaves him in prime position for a spanking and a running dropkick to jar the spine and neck! Kendrick comes back with an enziguri, but gets caught up top for the Iconoclasm. Mad Splash hits knees and Kendrick rolls him up for 1-2-NO! SCHWEIN is countered with a rollup and a handful of tights, but CIMA kicks out. Kendrick runs into a Superkick out of the corner and the SCHWEIN (WWE’s Celtic Cross) sets up METEORA (diving double knees to the chest) for the 1-2-3. (10:20) It wasn’t that bad. Evidently it was just edited for time constraints? **¾

• Davey Richards vs. Shingo
  

Richards and his obsession with emulating Dynamite Kid and Chris Benoit kind of scares me. Hopefully it will turn out better for him than it did them. Shingo shaved off his signature mullet and now he’s completely buzzed. Boy that sentence could really be taken out of context. Hard tie-up to start. That leads to stiff exchange of kicks and chops. Shingo dragon screws the knee to hopefully stop those kicks. To the floor, Shingo tosses Davey from guardrail to guardrail. Back inside, Shingo works the knee for a bit. We see Dragon Kid is out to merely motivate Shingo. Richards tries to kick Shingo back, but he uses the bad knee. He charges Shingo who is up against the ropes and gets flipped out to the floor! Of course, that’ll hurt your knees. Back on the floor, Shingo hooks Davey’s leg in the guardrail and running boots the knee. Shingo tries a shinbreaker on the apron, but Richards elbows out and rips Shingo down across the apron by his arm! Now Richards wraps the arm in the guardrail and (he hobbles to sell the knee!) running boots the elbow. That’s dedication to selling. Back inside, you can bet what Davey is about to do. He tears away at the arm, but then goes for the high impact moves as he hits a snap suplex to set up a Swandive Headbutt for 1-2-NO! He maneuvers right into the cross armbreaker. Shingo desperately reaches the ropes and starts challenging Davey to kick his arm some more. Perhaps Davey wanted him to say he loves pancakes? Nah, he catches a kick and absorbs an enziguri so he can give Richards a release German suplex! Great facial expressions by Davey. Big chop exchange leads to a Death Valley Driver from Shingo. Lariat by Shingo gets two. Ugh, he just used the worked over arm. Saito suplex from Davey sends out Shingo for a TOPE CON HILO. Richards brushes by Shingo and lands himself in the third row! And the crowd chants in unison for Davey. Back inside, Richards delivers a kick combo and hits Damage Reflex (handspring enziguri) for 1-2-NO! Shingo comes back with a flatliner and tries Blood Fall, but Richards lands on his feet and kicks Shingo in the face for 1-2-NO! They fight up top where eventually Davey brings Shingo down with a hurracanrana! Running knee strike leads to a bridging German suplex for 1-2-NO! Shingo backdrops out of the DR DRIVER, but gets caught into the cross armbreaker again! He starts to fade away once Davey changes over to a triangle choke of sorts, but Shingo powers him up anyway. He walks up the ropes and delivers SUPER ORIGINAL FALCONRY! Cover, 1-2-NO! Richards elbows out of Made In Japan, but handsprings into BLOOD FALL followed by another Lariat for 1-2-NO! Made In Japan is blocked again as Richards delivers the Alarm Clock to set up the DR DRIVER for 1-2-NO! Shingo gets a wide base to avoid a second DR Driver, so Davey delivers Kawada Kicks instead. The DR Driver gets blocked again as Shingo finally hits Made In Japan for 1-2-NO! Shingo just can’t believe it. Up top, they give each other headbutts. Davey stops that with a jumping enziguri. Shingo misses a corner charge and runs into the ringpost with his bad arm. Missile dropkick to the arm! Shingo collapses to the mat and takes the Shooting Star Press for 1-2-NO! As Shingo lifts the bad shoulder off the mat, Richards busts out some ju-jitsu and locks on the KIMURA for the submission victory. (25:43) Just a real testament to how good Davey Richards is right now. He turned the intensity level up to 11 in this show stealer and delivered quite the amazing MOTYC. When it comes to live viewing drama, HBK-UT from WM25 still has it beat, but only by a VERY thin margin. ****¾

• Open the Twin Gate Champions Real Hazard (Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi) vs. The Young Bucks
  

Young Bucks defeated Warriors-5 at the first PPV, which earned them this shot at the champions. Not a title shot, but a chance to wrestle the champs. Let me just say that Genki is one freaky looking guy. Genki and Matt exchange headlocks and headscissors that goes nowhere. Once they tag out, Saito drops Nick with a shoulderblock (and a loogie!). Nick has enough of that and ranas Saito to the floor. N’Sync to Genki! As Genki backs Nick into his corner, Saito keeps him there with a handful of hair. Back over to the Young Bucks corner, they double stomp Saito’s arm a few times. Genki tags in and grounds Nick, but then he breaks free and the Young Bucks double-stomp his pony tail! Swinging neckbreaker across the knee double team to Genki, but he goes low on Matt to take control. Now Genki goes after Nick. Remember that DGUSA tag matches are fought lucha rules, which means your partner replaces you when you leave the ring. He gets thrown into the third row for a suplex on some chairs. Meanwhile, Saito is working over Matt in the ring. Back inside, Real Hazard does a neat sequence on Matt ending with a sliding dropkick to the face. Saito sets Matt up in the tree of woe and looks for a hesitation dropkick, but instead stops to spit on him. Oh, YOU! Saito holds Matt’s hair while Genki gives it a flying double sledge. More face in peril stuff as Genki keeps Nick off the apron. Flying double stomp on Matt from Saito. Nick comes in the ring to protest, allowing Saito to find his whip to CHOKE MATT OUT with it. He’s not a marriage counselor, but he’s got this whip! Real Hazard tries a double clothesline, but Matt ducks and runs Genki into Saito. Sliced Bread #2 to Genki leads to a HOT TAG TO NICK! Whoops, almost said Jeff there. He flips and flops everywhere. Slingshot X-Factor from Nick to Saito sets up a flying elbow drop from Matt. Cover, 1-2-NO! As Saito goes out with a dropkick, the Young Bucks give him the Crazy Dive. Genki runs in and dropkicks Matt while he’s still on the ropes. Matt throws off the tornado DDT and hits a Falcon Arrow for 1-2-NO! In comes Nick, Genki gets driven into the knees up in the corner and then take a Buckle Bomb into Nick’s knees! Jumping legdrop-flying senton bomb combo gets 1-2-NO! Saito enters the ring and catches Nick with a release German suplex as Genki lifted Nick up in the air. Matt superkicks Saito, but takes a release German suplex into his brother’s junk. Brainbuster-flying splash from Real Hazard to Matt gets two. Nick dumps out Genki and saves his brother from Saito before hitting Genki with a suicide dive! Meanwhile, Matt nails Saito with a flying somersault cutter for 1-2-NO! Nick comes back in to superkick Saito, but he pulls the ref in the way! The Young Bucks deliver MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK anyway. With the ref still down, Genki sprays Matt with the BLUE MIST~! If my Muta Mist conversion chart is correct and applies here, the blue mist renders your opponent to fall asleep! For the record, I don’t actually own a Muta Mist conversion chart. I’m not quite that big of a loser. Saito delivers the DOUBLE CROSS to Matt for the 1-2-3. (17:04) Sucks having to follow Richards-Shingo. The crowd was into this somewhat, but probably would have been more so had it came after CIMA-Kendrick. Pretty typical Young Bucks match from my vantage point. I did enjoy Real Hazard acting like huge douches though. ***¼

Final Thoughts: As a full show, it’s not on par with the first PPV. However, it does include two MOTYC’s that the other PPV didn’t produce. It’s getting a thumbs up from me, but not everything was quite as good as it was on the previous PPV. On the next PPV, they crown a ‘Open the Freedom Gate’ champion, which I guess is called that because we live in Amurica where we’re all free – to choose between eating at Burger King or Taco Bell every day. Anyways, another great show. It just leaves you wondering how long they can keep this streak of ‘great PPVs’ going.