Check out the card:
Open The Freedom Gate Title Match
YAMATO defends vs. Akira Tozawa
No DQ Match
Akira Tozawa vs. Jon Moxley
Open The United Gate Title Match
Masato Yoshino & PAC defend vs. CIMA & Doi
Special Challenge Match
Brodie Lee vs. Chuck Taylor
Six Way Freestyle
Arik Cannon vs. Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann vs. AR Fox vs. Silas Young vs. Lince Dorado
Special Attraction Match
Jimmy Rave vs. Johnny Gargano
Plus more with Reby Sky, Trina Michaels, Stalker Ichikawa and others!!!
No joke, Charter hosed me for the third straight pay-per-view in a row and it didn’t start on time. I came in at about 10:15 so I’m not sure what happened in that time.
MATCH #1: Jimmy Rave vs. Johnny Gargano
I come in with Rave and Gargano slugging away at each other. Gargano hits the Roll of the Dice for two. Rave comes back with a running knee strike for two. Gargano fights back with a German Suplex, superkick, and the Hurts Donut for two. He rolls it right into the Gargano Escape to get the submission win at an announced 16:32. Obviously I can’t rate that since I saw less than five minutes, but Rave looks to be in good shape and Gargano getting a win is A-OK with me.
WINNER – Johnny Gargano
MATCH #2: AR Fox vs. Rich Swann vs. Arik Cannon vs. Sami Callihan vs. Lince Dorado vs. Silas Young
Dorado and Cannon start it off with some fast paced action, as I predict all of this match will be. Cannon goes to the floor so Young comes in. Young knocks Dorado to the floor so Swann replaces him. Swann is a member of Ronin, but Young is not impressed so he hits him with an exploder. Young tosses Swann up into the air and kicks him in the gut. Callihan comes in and knocks Young to the floor, and then Fox attacks him. Cannon replaces Callihan and punches Fox right in the face and kicks him in the head for two. Dorado comes in to replace Fox and hits Cannon with a DDT and a quebrada for two. Young comes in and this Dorado with the Finlay Roll and the Pee Gee Waja Plunge for two. Callihan comes in for Dorado and gets slugged. Even so he comes right back with a Saito Suplex. Swann replaces Young and hits a headscissors piledriver. Fox comes in for Callihan and hits a Frog Splash on Swann for two. The action is coming pretty fast and furious now and I don’t have DVR so this is hard to call. They start hitting dives to the floor on everyone, and Dorado takes a particularly nasty bump on the barricade. Callihan and Cannon make it back to the ring and come face to face. They trade forearm shots and fend off the other competitors. Fox comes in and Cannon blasts him with a punch to the face. Young tries to get his shots in but Cannon and Callihan dispose of him. I like that they’re getting rid of everyone so they can fight each other. Just as I say that, both guys apparently reach some kind of agreement and walk to the back? Swann and Dorado end up back in the ring and they trade kicks to the face. Dorado is really sloppy tonight. He goes for a guillotine legdrop but Swann avoids it and lands a kick to the face. Swann hits the standing 450 to get the win but they don’t announce the time and that makes me sad. This was the usual fun spot fest. Keep an eye on Rich Swann.
WINNER – Rich Swann, **¾
Lee is accompanied by fellow Blood Warriors CIMA, Ricochet, and Naruki Doi. This is an obvious mismatch from the get-go. Stalker makes a game effort but Lee simply overpowers him. He tries a German Suplex but that just goes nowhere. Lee hits a running boot in the corner and the Truck Stop to get the pin.
WINNER – Brodie Lee, *
Blood Warriors attack Stalker after the bell, bringing out the Ronin trio. Rich Swann puts R-Truth to shame with his rapping. Brodie Lee is not impressed, so he challenges Taylor to a match RIGHT NOW.
MATCH #4: Brodie Lee vs. Chuck Taylor
Taylor is on fire right away, knocking Lee to the floor and wiping him out with a dive. Back in the ring Warriors interfere to give Lee the advantage. Lee works Taylor over both in and out of the ring. He drops Taylor throat-first on the guardrail. Back in the ring Lee continues to dominate. He goes for the running boot in the corner but misses and tumbles to the floor. Taylor dropkicks him down and hits a moonsault off the apron. Back in the ring Taylor hits a springboard missile dropkick and a big boot in the corner. He follows up with a leaping DDT for two. Lee fights back with the Truck Stop from out of nowhere but Taylor kicks out! He hits a clothesline for another two-count. Taylor comes back with Sole Food, a Superkick, Plants Him, and a quebrada for two. He goes up top but Lee takes him down with a butterfly suplex. Lee hits a boot to the face and a sit-out powerbomb to get the win. The finish was a bit sudden but the action was solid all the way through.
WINNER – Brodie Lee, **½
MATCH #5: Open the United Gate Championship Match – Masato Yoshino & PAC vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi
World-1 has been the champions since 1.30.11 and this is their first defense. CIMA and PAC start it off with some fast-paced back and forth. PAC shows off his incredible agility and strikes first with a dropkick to the chest. Doi tags in and Yoshino follows suit. Speed Muscle explodes! Yoshino hits a headscissors but Doi fights back with his power. Doi tries to slow things down but Yoshino fights him off and tags PAC. Blood Warriors come back and start going to work on PAC’s legs. That doesn’t last long before the champs are back in control on CIMA, working on his arm. CIMA is able to make a tag to Doi with his foot. PAC didn’t realize it, allowing Doi to take an advantage. The champs quickly come back on Doi and try double-teaming him, but CIMA comes in the ring illegally and takes out both champions, throwing Yoshino to the floor. CIMA stacks up the champs in the corner and hits the running dropkick to the ass. Blood Warriors keep PAC isolated and work him over. After several minutes of abuse PAC makes a tag, and Yoshino comes in to battle CIMA. Yoshino drapes Doi over the bottom rope and hits a super fast running dropkick to the face. He goes up for a missile dropkick but Doi cuts him off. The action is getting out of control. PAC hits Doi with a high cross body block off the top rope. He follows with a springboard Ace Crusher and a bridging Northern Lights Suplex for two. Moments later Yoshino locks CIMA in From Jungle and turns it into a sunset flip for two. CIMA comes back with a hard double stomp on Yoshino for two. He goes for the Perfect Driver but Yoshino counters with a hammerlock DDT for two. Yoshino hits the missile dropkick/senton combo. The champs are in control now. Yoshino hits Doi with Sling Blade and PAC hits a corkscrew body press for two. Now Yoshino goes up top and CIMA hits Venus, but Yoshino comes back with a super Sling Blade. I lose track briefly and Doi hits PAC with a Rydeen Bomb for two. CIMA hits him with Schwein for another two-count. Blood Warriors stack World-1 up in the corner and hit a simultaneous Cannonball and corner dropkick. Doi hits Yoshino with the Bakatare Sliding Kick for two and the crowd loves it. He goes for the Muscular Bomb but Yoshino counters to an inside cradle for two. Yoshino then hits the Lightning Spiral for two. He hits Torbellino twice and then locks on Sol Naciente! CIMA tries to fight it but he is forced to tap out and the champs retain! That was awesome nonstop action from four of the best guys in the company.
WINNERS – Masato Yoshino & PAC, ****
Ronin comes out to talk some trash to their Blood Warrior adversaries. Gargano gets the crowd to chant “she-male†at CIMA.
MATCH #6: Non-Title Match – YAMATO vs. Akira Tozawa
They show a video package to explain how Moxley and YAMATO got sick of Tozawa and booted him out of Kamikaze-USA, setting up for this match. Before it can get underway, Moxley offers Tozawa a match against him, and if he can win, YAMATO will put the title on the line.
MATCH #6: No DQ Match – Akira Tozawa vs. Jon Moxley
Trina Michaels attacks Tozawa from behind, allowing Moxley to take control. Moxley wastes no time in leveling referee Bryce Remsburg. Tozawa knocks Moxley to the floor and wipes him out with a dive. They fight out into the crowd for a bit and Moxley takes control. Back in the ring Moxley hammers away. Tozawa comes back with a big boot to the face. Michaels gets back in the ring to distract Tozawa, allowing Moxley to regain control. Moxley hits a suplex. Tozawa comes back with a German Suplex onto a couple of chairs, and then a bridging German Suplex to get the quick pin.
WINNER – Akira Tozawa, *3/4
Michaels comes in to abuse Tozawa and Reby Sky comes to his aid and hits Michaels with a DDT.
MATCH #7: Open the Freedom Gate Championship Match – YAMATO vs. Akira Tozawa
YAMATO has been the champion since 1.28.11, and this is his second defense. The champ takes first advantage, working on the challenger’s arm. The crowd is rabidly in support of Tozawa. Moments later, Tozawa comes back and goes after the arm, and then this a bodyslam. He fends off YAMATO’s comeback attempts and uses the cravat. Tozawa hits a big senton for two. YAMATO comes back this time with some kicks and tries to keep Tozawa on the mat. He hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then locks on a Camel Clutch. The champion is firmly in control and looks ultra confident about it. YAMATO hits three backbreakers. He mercilessly attacks the back, hitting a vertical suplex for two and then locking on a single leg crab. After several minutes of abuse Tozawa comes back with a low dropkick and then knocks YAMATO to the floor and wipes him out with a dive. Tozawa follows up with a somersault off the apron and both men are down. Back in the ring Tozawa hits a nasty Saito Suplex for two. The pace quickens and I think this one is going to get hard to call. YAMATO avoids a running kick and locks on the half crab again and Tozawa has to reach the ropes. Back on his feet Tozawa trades strikes with the champion and won’t back down from him. They trade kicks to the face and then enziguiris. Tozawa hits another Saito Suplex but it only gets two. He hits a big running boot in the corner YAMATO fights off a superplex but still gets kicked in the face. Tozawa hits the superplex this time and gets a near-fall. He hits a hard kick to the head and a German Suplex but YAMATO shrugs it off. The action comes fast and I lose my place, but we’re back with Tozawa hitting a Shining Wizard and both men are down. They get back up and trade forearms again and Tozawa wins that battle and then hits a huge kick to the face. Tozawa hits a German Suplex and then another one for two. YAMATO comes back with a couple of pinning combinations for two-counts. He locks on the Choke Sleeper and turns it into a suplex. YAMATO then hits the Brainbuster for a two-count. He hits Galleria and Tozawa kicks out at one! YAMATO hits Galleria again and this time Tozawa is down for the count. Wow, what an unbelievable match. These are the two best guys in the company right now and they went out there and blew away anything from WrestleMania XXVII. YAMATO is so much fun to watch right now it’s sick, and Tozawa isn’t too far behind him. This is a definite Match Of The Year Candidate.
WINNER – YAMATO, ****½
THE PULSE
The main event and the Open the United Gate Championship matches are both four stars or higher, and on a two-hour, seven-match show that’s enough to warrant a recommendation right there. Also, the undercard has some fun stuff on it with the Ronin vs. Blood Warriors angle especially. The bottom line is that this show cost me $20, while WrestleMania XXVII cost me $55. Dragon Gate USA’ s “Open the Ultimate Gate†was a much better use of my money.
