Break It Down: DGUSA Open The Global Gate

The first three matches on this DVD come from Open The Spanish Gate on October 30th, 2009. Lenny Leonard provides commentary.

Match #1: Matt and Nick Jackson vs. Shingo and Dragon Kid
Matt and Kid trade control of a wristlock. Kid snaps off an armdrag and takes Matt down with a headscissors. Nick hurricanranas Shingo and the Young Bucks utilize some double teaming. Shingo suplexes Matt and Kid adds a double stomp. Both teams trade control until the Young Bucks isolate Kid. He comes off the middle rope with a hurricanrana on Nick and makes the tag. Shingo spears Nick and lays out the Young Bucks with a flatliner-DDT combination. Matt answers with an ace crusher but falls victim to a powerslam. Kamikaze apply stereo submissions. Nick hits a backbreaker on Kid, who responds with a springboard stunner. Kid misses a 619 and eats another backbreaker. The Young Bucks catch him with the Worst Case Scenario. Kid hurricanranas Matt off of Shingo’s shoulders. Nick superkicks Shingo but gets laid out with a clothesline. Matt blocks a hurricanrana from Kid and powerbombs him into Nick’s knees. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Kid for a nearfall. Nick accidentally superkicks Matt. Shingo hits Made In Japan on Nick for a two count. Kid connects with a 619 on Matt and lands a moonsault. Shingo hits the Stay Dream on Nick for the win at 13:43. These two teams worked extremely well together and delivered a very good match. They definitely made the most out of their fourteen minutes and the offense displayed throughout was fluid. It’s matches like this that make me realize how many fresh opponents the Young Bucks had in DGUSA. Nevertheless, this was an excellent start to the DVD. ***½

Match #2: Elimination: PAC vs. Mandrill vs. Sean South vs. El Generico
Mandrill and South start with some chain wrestling and tag out. PAC snaps off a hurricanrana on Generico. Everyone trades control. PAC lands a standing shooting star press on Generico but runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. PAC handsprings into a tornado DDT on Generico. South adds a german suplex and catches Mandrill with a flatliner. PAC lands a dive to the floor onto Mandrill. South plants Generico with a DDT but walks into a michinoku driver. PAC hits a northern lights suplex on Mandrill and Generico follows with a corner yakuza kick. PAC pulls off standing corkscrew to eliminate Mandrill. Generico gets caught with a moonsault from PAC but recovers with a blue thunder bomb. PAC finds knees on a shooting star press attempt and Generico eliminates him with a brainbuster. South avoids a corner yakuza kick and hits an ace crusher. They trade kicks and South finds success with a jig n’tonic for the victory at 15:54. For the most part, this match was mainly PAC and Generico showcasing their offense while South added some impressive moves here and there. Mandrill had no business being in this contest and didn’t contribute anything of much interest. There were some slow parts in the early portion of the match but the action picked up nicely down the stretch. The crowd was strongly behind Generico and South’s win looked more impressive as a result. Solid match that accomplished what it set out to do. ***

Match #3: Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and BxB Hulk vs. CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, and KAGETORA
Doi and KAGETORA trade moves and find themselves at a stalemate. Yoshino walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Yokosuka. Hulk catches CIMA with an armdrag and adds a dropkick. WORLD-1 control until Hulk finds himself in the wrong corner. CIMA connects with his corner dropkick and stretches him with a submission. Hulk eventually tags in Yoshino. Both teams trade control until WARRIORS 5 start to work over Hulk again. He hits a uranagi on KAGETORA and makes the hot tag. Yoshino ties up Yokosuka in the ropes and Doi adds a dropkick. They lay out CIMA with a double team bulldog. KAGETORA catches Yoshino coming off the top with a dropkick and connects with a flying lariat. Yoshino responds with From Jungle but Yokosuka breaks the hold. Hulk connects with a missile dropkick on Yokosuka but runs into a lariat. CIMA double stomps Hulk into a dominator from Yokosuka. WARRIORS 5 catch Hulk with corner charges. CIMA hits an iconoclasm and KAGETORA follows with a diving elbow drop. Hulk lays out KAGETORA with a springboard spin kick and Yoshino adds a missile dropkick-senton combination. Yoshino hits the Torbellino on KAGETORA and Doi follows with the Bakatare Sliding Kick for the win at 20:38. Extremely solid main event for Open The Spanish Gate. Although the match became a little tedious at points throughout the middle portion, the action certainly accelerated in the last five minutes. KAGETORA definitely impressed and I would like to see him given a chance in DGUSA. ***½

The next six matches are from Open The German Gate on October 31st, 2009.

Match #4: Matt and Nick Jackson vs. Mark Haskins and Tommy End
Matt and End trade armdrags and avoid each other’s kicks. Haskins snaps off a hurricanrana on Nick and lands a springboard crossbody. Nick responds with a spin kick and double stomps his arm. The Young Bucks connect with stereo superkicks on Haskins and follow with their backbreaker-neckbreaker combination. The momentum shifts when End blind tags into the match. Matt is isolated until he flips out of a back drop and makes the tag. Nick lands a springboard crossbody onto Haskins but gets caught with a clothesline. Matt hits a standing sliced bread on End, who answers with a back suplex. The Young Bucks land their frog splash-moonsault combination on End. Nick dives to the floor onto Haskins while Matt hits an ace crusher on End. In the ring, Haskins and End lock in stereo submissions. Matt survives a superkick battle but walks into a lungblower from Haskins. Nick superkicks End and the Young Bucks follow with More Bang for Your Buck for the victory at 13:25. This was a good showcase for both teams and a pretty effective opener. The wXw crowds are definitely a lot of fun and their energy helped out the match. Haskins looked fluid and End seemed like a useful big man. The Young Bucks were solid as always and the crowd reacted even better to their offense due to a lack familiarity. **¾

Match #5: KAGETORA vs. Bad Bones
Bones showcases his power advantage early on. He hits a suplex and even lays in some MMA elbows. KAGETORA blocks a charge but falls victim to a spear in the corner. He eventually comes back by reversing a suplex into one of his own. KAGETORA connects with an enzuigiri but walks into a big boot along with a spear. They trade strikes and Bones hits a powerslam. KAGETORA catches him with a rollup for the win at 6:27. These two had good chemistry and I wish that the match received more time. KAGETORA once again impressed on this DVD release and managed to make himself look ultra resilient in only seven minutes. **¼

Match #6: Susumu Yokosuka vs. Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino vs. El Generico
They tease a four-way knucklelock but Yokosuka just stomps on Kid’s foot. A four-way wristlock ensues followed by a four-way waistlock and headlock. Kid snaps off déjà vu
on Yoshino and takes Yokosuka down with a headscissors. Generico lands a standing moonsault onto Kid. Yoshino and Yokosuka form an unusual alliance to work over Kid. Generico catches Yoshino with a leg lariat. Yokosuka ties his mask around the middle rope and toys with him. They do the multiple boston crab spot and Yokosuka makes it to the ropes to break the hold. A four-way abdominal stretch follows. Kid connects with a dropkick on Generico with assistance from Yokosuka. KAGETORA helps Yokosuka win a suplex battle. Kid comes off the top with a hurricanrana on Yokosuka. Generico hits a michinoku driver on Yoshino and a blue thunder bomb on Yokosuka. Generico catches Yokosuka with a boot but runs into a brainbuster. Kid hits a springboard stunner on Yoshino followed by another stunner. He locks in Christo on Generico while Yoshino synchs in From Jungle on Yokosuka. Kid and Yoshino slap each other while they still have the holds synched in. Generico and Yokosuka hit stereo tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Yokosuka overhead suplexes Generico into the corner. Kid hurricanranas Generico off the top. Yokosuka falls victim to a half nelson suplex, Torbellino, and hurricanrana. Kid walks into the Jumbo no Kachi. Yokosuka rolls through a hurricanrana from Kid for the victory at 16:08. I wasn’t a huge fan of this match. The four-way submission spots in the beginning portion grew old quickly. I also didn’t like the blatant teamwork between rival factions. There was some solid action in the latter stages once all of the silliness wore off. A slightly shorter and more focused match would have been a great benefit here. **½

Match #7: CIMA vs. Mike Quackenbush
The first five minutes are spent trading holds on the mat. Neither man seems to be able to gain a significant advantage. Quackenbush catches CIMA with a few armdrags and applies an octopus hold. CIMA makes the ropes but Quackenbush predominantly controls, working over CIMA’s legs. Quackenbush hits a butterfly suplex but falls victim to a backcracker. CIMA uses the ropes to connect with a double stomp. Quackenbush rolls through an iconoclasm and synchs in an indian deathlock. Both men nearly find success with a quick rollup. CIMA connects with another double stomp but gets caught with a springboard back splash. Quackenbush hits the BTS along with the QD III for a nearfall. CIMA comes back with an enzuigiri and the Schwein for a two count. Quackenbush blocks a lariat and locks in the Chikara Special. CIMA escapes and applies a horse collar stretch but Quackenbush makes the ropes. He dazes Quackenbush with a superkick and connects with a coast-to-coast dropkick. CIMA finds success with the Meteora for the win at 21:09. Due to them keeping the action largely on the mat, this match won’t be for everyone. However, the heavy mat-based action put over their familiarity with each other nicely. The action was also clean and fluid as the crowd never lost interest. Additionally, the crowd truly bit on the nearfalls down the stretch and these two knew how to turn things up a notch when the time was right. I hope there is a rematch down the line in DGUSA as these two know how to mix up their offense and I think that they could provide us with a totally different style of match next time. ***¼

Match #8: Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito, and Emil Sitoci vs. BxB Hulk, Naruki Doi, and Zack Sabre, Jr.
Hulk and Horiguchi trade control to start. Doi wins a lengthy shoulder block battle against Saito. Sitoci takes Sabre down with a bodyscissors. Sabre uses Horiguchi’s ponytail to back him into the wrong corner. Hulk lands a standing corkscrew onto Horiguchi but walks into a back elbow from Saito. Hulk is worked over, with Horiguchi even utilizing Real Hazard’s blue box. Hulk finds success with a dropsault onto Horiguchi and makes the tag. Sabre dropkicks Sitoci and adds an overhead suplex. He follows with a springboard kick to the back of the head. Sitoci comes back with a moonsault but finds himself in a cross armbreaker. Saito breaks the hold but gets caught with a powerbomb from Doi. Saito tries for rolling fisherman suplexes but Doi breaks it up with a suplex of his own. Hulk connects with a springboard spin kick on Saito. Real Hazard lay out Sabre with a powerbomb and Sitoci follows with a top rope splash. Hulk finds knees on a standing moonsault attempt. Sabre connects with a running knee strike on Horiguchi and lands a dive to the floor onto Saito and Sitoci. Doi hits Doi 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick on Horiguchi for the victory at 17:37. Pretty much a tamer version of the usual Dragon Gate six-man tags. Sitoci and Sabre didn’t look terrible, but they didn’t stand out enough to make an impact. Thankfully, Real Hazard and WORLD-1 were on point and they provided some solid exchanges throughout the contest. This is worth giving a look but it can’t compare to the other trios matches on the DVD. **¾

Match #9: wXw World Heavyweight Title: Absolute Andy © vs. Shingo
Andy offers a handshake but Shingo refuses. Shingo tries a cheap shot but Andy avoids it. Andy takes Shingo down with a back elbow but Shingo comes back with a shoulder tackle. Shingo blocks a charge but misses a flying knee drop. They trade chops and Andy resorts to an eye poke. He targets Shingo’s left leg, applying a figure four. Shingo turns it over and catches Andy with a spear. Andy responds with a side slam but gets pressed slam off the top. Shingo connects with a knee drop from the middle rope. He follows with a flatliner and the Blood Fall. Andy snaps off a hurricanrana and lands a plancha to the floor. Back in, Andy locks in a sharpshooter but Shingo makes the ropes. Shingo connects with a lariat but runs into a superkick. Andy comes off the top with an elbow drop. Shingo hits a saito suplex and adds a death valley driver. He follows with a lariat for a nearfall. Andy falls victim to Made In Japan for a two count. He blocks the Stay Dream with a hurricanrana and hits a spinebuster. Andy locks in a sharpshooter to retain his title at 21:32. I don’t know much about Andy or what he is capable of. If this match is any indication, (a) he should not be wrestling for over twenty minutes and (b) he needs some work. Shingo was solid as usual and generally good at selling his leg. He used his energy to create some legitimate nearfalls towards the end. Andy didn’t bring much to the table and dragged this match down with his plodding offense. This was technically a “fine” contest, but nothing that I would ever consider watching again. **

The final five matches are from Dragon Gate UK Invasion on November 1st, 2009.

Match #10: Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito vs. Jonny Storm and Marty Scurll
Scurll gets the better of Horiguchi early, grabbing his ponytail when necessary. Saito takes Storm down with a shoulder block. Storm hurricanranas him to the floor and sends Horiguchi outside as well with a dropkick. He follows out with a corkscrew dive. In the ring, Storm hits a michinoku driver on Horiguchi. Scurll tags in and Real Hazard begin to isolate him. They target his left leg until he back suplexes Horiguchi and makes the tag. Storm hurricanranas Saito to the floor and Scurll follows out with a dive. Horiguchi gets planted with a DDT from Storm but responds with a brainbuster. Scurll hits Graduation on Saito but misses a top rope leg drop. Saito german suplexes Storm into Scurll. He lands a top rope splash onto Scurll. Real Hazard go up top but Storm armdrags them to the canvas. Scurll blocks a charge and hits a neckbreaker on Horiguchi. Storm is elevated to the top by Horiguchi but jumps off and hurricanranas him. Storm lands a dive to the floor onto Horiguchi. Scurll connects with a clothesline on Saito for a nearfall. Saito low blows Scurll twice and rolls him up for the win at 16:01. Storm and Scurll were impressive and just knew how to draw the crowd into the match. Real Hazard contrasted them nicely as opponents and these two teams worked well together. They received sixteen minutes and managed to fill their time with solid action. The finish put a small damper on what was an otherwise effective opener. ***

Match #11: KAGETORA vs. Mark Haskins
Haskins shows his cockiness to start and isn’t interested in clean breaks. KAGETORA catches him with some armdrags and connects with a dropkick. Haskins’ valet trips up KAGETORA and Haskins lands a springboard crossbody. He controls until KAGETORA avoids a shooting star press and hits a brainbuster. KAGETORA catches Haskins coming off the middle rope with a dropkick and connects with a lariat. He adds an enzuigiri but Haskins comes back with a lungblower and a neckbreaker. Haskins connects with a superkick but runs into another enzuigiri. They trade strikes and Haskins hits an ace crusher. KAGETORA counters another ace crusher into a side slam. Haskins’ valet interjects herself from ringside so the referee can’t count the pin attempt. Haskins hits a cradle tombstone piledriver for the victory at 11:15. When talking about impressive showings on this compilation, KAGETORA is three for three. He really needs to make his way into DGUSA sooner rather than later. Although Haskins looked better in his previous match, he was passable here. The ending was tolerable, but the fact that it’s the second unclean finish in a row made it worse. They worked hard and this was a fine showcase. **½

Match #12: Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino
They trade control of a wristlock and find themselves at a stalemate. Kid snaps off a headscissors and connects with a corner dropkick. Yoshino blocks a springboard attempt and hits a backbreaker. He takes over until Kid comes back with déjà vu. Yoshino retreats to the floor where Kid lands the Bermuda Triangle. Back in, Kid connects with a springboard dropkick. Yoshino dodges a 619 but finds himself in the Christo. Kid hits a springboard stunner but gets crotched on the top rope. Yoshino tries a sunset bomb but Kid hurricanranas out of it. Kid connects with a 619 but gets caught with a powerbomb. Yoshino falls victim to another stunner. He recovers by finding an opening to connect with his shotgun dropkick. Kid pulls off a nice hurricanrana. Yoshino avoids the Dragon Rana and hits the Lightning Spiral. He follows with the Torbellino for a nearfall. Kid comes back with the Bible for a two count. They trade pin attempts and Kid finds success with a rollup for the win at 18:01. I’ve been reviewing a lot of DGUSA recently, so I’ve seen three incarnations of this match. This was their usual affair, which isn’t a bad thing at all. They know how to keep the action exciting down the stretch and the crowd certainly appreciated it. I’m waiting for these two to offer something different and hopefully they will do just that in their upcoming 2/3 falls match in DGUSA. Nevertheless, this is still worth watching, especially if you haven’t seen these two wrestle each other yet. ***¼

Match #13: Shingo vs. Susumu Yokosuka
Yokosuka offers a clean break but Shingo doesn’t follow suit. Shingo withstands a dropkick and takes Yokosuka down with a shoulder block. Shingo misses a knee drop and Yokosuka starts working over his left leg. Yokosuka locks in a figure four but Shingo is able to turn it over. Shingo hits an exploder and a DDT. He follows with a powerslam and synchs in the Manriki. Yokosuka makes the ropes and finds the strength to pick Shingo up for a suplex. Yokosuka hits an exploder from the middle rope but Shingo responds with a death valley driver. Shingo falls victim to the Jumbo no Kachi. They exchange forearms and Shingo hits Made In Japan for a huge nearfall. Yokosuka answers with another Jumbo no Kachi and follows with the Mugan for a two count. Shingo takes Yokosuka down with a lariat. He misses another lariat and Yokosuka hits a final Jumbo no Kachi for the victory at 18:49. The fans were going crazy for the action and they had good reason to. This was an excellent match and it provided more exposure for Yokosuka, another talent that I’d like to see more of in DGUSA. He was effective at targeting Shingo’s leg and would even go back to it at times down the stretch when he needed to gain the advantage. While there was a lot to love about this match, the strike exchanges are what brought it to a higher level. They had the crowd in a frenzy and Yokosuka’s reliance on the Jumbo no Kachi added more depth to the contest. The successful storytelling combined with the rabid crowd reaction makes this match worth going out of your way to see. ****

Match #14: Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and CIMA vs. BxB Hulk, PAC, and Naruki Doi
Matt and Doi trade moves and ultimately find themselves at a stalemate. Nick wins an exchange against Hulk by connecting with a spin kick. CIMA challenges PAC to a pushup contest but ends up just stomping him. PAC answers with a standing shooting star press. CIMA suplexes Hulk while snapping back on Doi’s leg. The Young Bucks connect with stereo dropkicks on Doi and follow with more double teaming. PAC runs through some of his offense but eventually finds himself in the wrong corner. Doi assists him with a suplex on Matt and WORLD-1 continue the attack with some fluid teamwork. Matt catches Hulk with a neckbreaker and WARRIORS 5 isolate him. He causes some miscommunication between the Young Bucks and makes the tag. Doi hits Dai Bosou on Matt, sending him to the floor. PAC follows out with an unexpected dive. Doi tangles Nick up in the ropes and connects with a dropkick. CIMA walks into a rydeen bomb from Doi. They trade control of a tombstone and CIMA hits an inverted pedigree. Matt catches Hulk with a stunner but gets tripped up. Hulk finds knees on a standing moonsault and falls victim to a moonsault-frog splash combination from the Young Bucks. PAC positions CIMA over the middle rope and Doi lands a senton from the top. PAC adds a standing corkscrew for a nearfall. Matt plants PAC with a facebuster and CIMA adds a lungblower. Nick finishes with another facebuster for a two count. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on PAC for a nearfall. WORLD-1 isolate Matt in the ring. They catch him with stereo kicks and PAC follows with shooting star knees. Doi hits Doi 555 as well as the Bakatare Sliding Kick for a two count. Hulk hits the EVO on Matt and PAC follows with a corkscrew shooting star press for the win at 23:09. This was the perfect match to end the DVD. If you haven’t seen a hectic Dragon Gate six-man tag (such as those during WrestleMania weekend), this contest is as good of an introduction as you will find. They smartly made PAC the focus of the action. His hometown crowd loved him and the action was structured in a way that made the crowd more vocal. Words can’t describe the continuous onslaught of impressive moves down the stretch. You just need to watch for yourself. Dragon Gate received their first substantial amount of exposure in the United States due to matches like these. The quality of this match was off the charts and it’s easy to see why Dragon Gate made this style of match their specialty. ****¼

The 411: Open The Global Gate is an incredibly worthwhile compilation of Dragon Gate's European tour. The match quality is high and I didn't find myself outright disliking anything except for the dullness of Shingo/Andy. The DVD closes with two excellent matches and I also had six other contests at three stars or higher. The compilation also highlighted the skills of wrestlers that we don't get to see in DGUSA very often such as Yokosuka and PAC. I was also pleasantly surprised with the effort that KAGETORA put forth in each of his matches. Don't think that the wrestling quality has decreased just because this DVD does not contain footage from an official DGUSA event. If you've enjoyed the promotion up to this point, do yourself a favor and purchase this compilation.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]