Break It Down: DGUSA Open The Untouchable Gate

Opening Match: Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino
This is a rematch from Open The Historic Gate. They trade control and try some quick pin attempts. Kid sends Yoshino to the floor with a headscissors and fakes a dive. In the ring, Kid connects with a corner dropkick. Yoshino responds with a backbreaker and takes control. Kid comes back with déjà vu and follows with a slingshot hurricanrana to the outside. Back in, Kid lands a springboard dropkick along with a springboard stunner. He adds another stunner and locks in the Christo. Yoshino makes the ropes and hits his shotgun dropkick. Kid lands Jesus Walks and hurricanranas Yoshino off the top. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for a nearfall. Yoshino avoids the Dragonrana and finds success with the Lightning Spiral. He adds the Torbellino but Kid plants him with the Bible for the win at 14:12. Although I preferred their previous match, this was still a great way to open the show. You really can’t go wrong with this pairing. Everything they do is crisp and some of the exchanges that they string together are amazing. I just felt that this encounter was harder to get into, maybe due to its increased back and forth nature. Kid has beaten Yoshino twice in DGUSA and I’m curious to see where the booking leads. ***¼

Match #2: Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw vs. YAMATO and Gran Akuma
The heels attack before the bell. They hit a backbreaker on Quackenbush and YAMATO takes Jigsaw down with a spear. Jigsaw’s left leg is targeted to the point where he collapses on an irish whip. Jigsaw tries to jump off YAMATO’s back into a hurricanrana on Akuma but he can’t quite get the height. He recovers by sending YAMATO to the floor and tagging out. Quackenbush hits a sit-out slam on Akuma along with a springboard elbow. Jigsaw catches YAMATO with a superkick but falls victim to a lungblower by Akuma. YAMATO lays out Quackenbush with a brainbuster and transitions into the CBV. Quackenbush makes the ropes but finds himself in the CBV again shortly after. This time Jigsaw breaks the hold. He hits a michinoku driver on YAMATO and Quackenbush adds a swantan. Akuma catches Quackenbush with a neckbreaker but misses a moonsault. The faces hit a doomsday knee strike on Akuma. YAMATO sends Jigsaw to the outside with a sleeper suplex but accidentally spears Akuma. Quackenbush lures YAMATO to the floor and hits the QD II on Akuma for the victory at 14:20. They had a pretty good game plan but ran into an unfortunate circumstance with Jigsaw’s injury. Had it not happened, I feel as though the finishing stretch would have been a lot more structured and less chaotic. Still, everyone put forth excellent effort and the match still managed to be productive in advancing the storyline. **¼

YAMATO locks in a sleeper hold on Quackenbush after the match. Hallowicked comes out to make the save and helps his mentor out of the ring.

The Young Bucks come to the ring for an interview. They aren’t the tag team of the future, they are the tag team of the present. Tonight, they wrestle the Open The Twin Gate Champions. Matt wants the match to be for the titles and calls them out. Instead, Jimmy Jacobs interrupts. Prince Mustafa Ali is with him. Jacobs says that he’s here to recruit and asks if the Young Bucks are with him. The Young Bucks decline and get jumped. They fight back with stereo superkicks and hit More Bang for Your Buck on Ali. Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi run out and attack the Young Bucks. The Open The Twin Gate Champions stand tall and Horiguchi says that there will be no title match tonight.

Match #3: Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi
They do some chain wrestling to start and are pretty evenly matched. Doi finds an opening to start working over the left leg. Danielson responds by targeting the left shoulder. Doi hangs him in the ropes and connects with a dropkick. He follows with a senton and a back suplex. Danielson answers with a missile dropkick. They trade strikes and Doi catches Danielson with an elbow. Danielson synchs in an ankle lock but Doi makes the ropes. Doi hits a dragon screw leg whip and locks in a figure four. Danielson breaks the hold and they trade quick pin attempts. Doi gets caught with a running knee strike and Danielson applies Cattle Mutilation. Doi makes the ropes. They exchange forearms and Danielson counters the Bakatare Sliding Kick into an ankle lock. He turns it into a german suplex and reapplies the ankle lock. Doi rolls out of it and hits a corner cannonball. He adds Doi 555 and a tiger suplex. Danielson catches him up top with a superplex and goes back to Cattle Mutilation. He transitions into MMA elbows but Doi won’t stay down. Danielson wins a strike exchange and goes up top. Doi tries to stop him but Danielson peppers him with elbows. Doi recovers and hits Doi 555 from the top. He follows with the Bakatare Sliding Kick for a nearfall. Doi finally hits the Muscular Bomb for the win at 22:23. Everything about this match is fantastic. It was no secret at this point that Danielson was headed for the WWE. So he went out there and put Doi over in a big way. The early body part work was fun to watch. Both men were good at targeting each other’s hurt limb and the selling was nearly flawless. From there, the action picked up but it heightened in a logical way. The action down the stretch was exciting yet smartly worked. That is truly what sets this match apart. Danielson made everyone realize how much he will be missed and Doi proved that he was the Open The Dream Gate Champion for a reason. ****¼

Danielson gets on the microphone and thanks Doi for giving him the toughest match possible. He challenges everyone on the independent scene to be the best in the world. He mentions Davey Richards and asks him to prove to everyone that he is the best. He thanks the fans and tells them to keep supporting DGUSA.

Match #4: Brian Kendrick vs. CIMA
They trade control early. An exchange of armdrags result in a stalemate. Kendrick sneaks in a cheap shot and takes control. CIMA blocks a charge and hits a backcracker. He follows with a corner dropkick but Kendrick responds with an enzuigiri. CIMA catches Kendrick with the Venus and hits an iconoclasm. Kendrick gets his knees up on a Mad Splash attempt. CIMA connects with a basement dropkick and adds a superkick. CIMA continues with the Schwein and the Meteora for the victory at 10:05. This match was clipped on the pay per view but shown on the DVD release in full. They worked a fine match given the ten minute duration and included some crisp action down the stretch. I understand why some may have expected more, especially considering this was Kendrick’s debut in DGUSA. **½

Match #5: Davey Richards vs. Shingo
Shingo doesn’t give Richards a clean break and almost pays for it. Richards wins a strike exchange but gets caught with a dragon screw leg whip. Shingo starts working over the left leg. He back suplexes Richards to the floor, who lands on his bad leg. Shingo kicks Richards’ leg into the guardrail. They battle on the apron and Richards hits an arm wringer. Richards starts targeting the left arm and lands a diving headbutt. He locks in a cross armbreaker but Shingo quickly makes the ropes. Shingo finds strength and hits a german suplex. He catches Richards with a death valley driver and adds a big lariat. Richards comes back with a saito suplex and follows with a dive to the outside. Of course, Richards sends himself flying into the third row. In the ring, Richards connects with his handspring kick. Shingo hits a flatliner but gets caught with a knockout kick. Richards dazes him up top and snaps off a hurricanrana. Shingo falls victim to a german suplex and Richards locks in a cross armbreaker. Richards transitions into a triangle choke but Shingo powers out and hits the Stay Dream for a nearfall. Richards tries another handspring kick but gets caught with the Blood Fall. Shingo adds a lariat for a two count. Richards connects with the Alarm Clock and follows with the DR Driver for a nearfall. Shingo answers with Made In Japan for a two count. Richards avoids a charge and finds success with a missile dropkick. Richards lands a shooting star press and synchs in the Kimura for the win at 25:42. This was absolutely incredible. There might not have been a feud going into the match, but the intensity they showed was a story in itself. As with Danielson/Doi, the body part work here was terrific. Richards was especially proficient at selling his leg. When the action picked up, these two knew how to bring it. There were numerous believable nearfalls down the stretch and there was a realistic chance that either man could win. All of the variables were here for an intense and suspenseful encounter. I also loved the finish, which incorporated the arm work done to Shingo. Richards also foreshadowed the finish earlier in the contest. This could be a candidate on anyone’s match of the year list. ****½

Richards gets on the microphone after the match. He puts over Shingo and calls out Bryan Danielson, who makes his way to the ring. Danielson starts a round of applause for Richards and calls him the new face of independent professional wrestling. Richards kicks Danielson and declares that his time is now. This segment worked extremely well and garnered a lot of heat for Richards.

Match #6: Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi vs. Matt and Nick Jackson
Horiguchi and Matt wrestle to a stalemate. Nick snaps off a hurricanrana on Saito and sends him to the outside with a dropkick. The Young Bucks connect with stereo dropkicks on Horiguchi. Both teams trade control, with Matt actually double stomping Horiguchi’s ponytail. The Young Bucks hit their neckbreaker-backbreaker combination on Horiguchi. He sneaks in a low blow on Matt and irish whips Nick into the crowd. Horiguchi suplexes Nick onto some chairs and Real Hazard isolates Matt in the ring. Matt hits sliced bread on Horiguchi and makes the hot tag. Nick dropkicks Saito off the apron and lands a moonsault to the floor. He hits a slingshot facebuster on Saito and Matt adds a flying elbow drop. Matt connects with a dropkick through the ropes on Saito and Nick follows out with a dive. Horiguchi catches Matt with a dropkick but Matt answers with a falcon arrow. Matt powerbombs Horiguchi into Nick’s knees and the Young Bucks hit their leg drop-swantan combination. Saito lays out Nick with a german suplex and delivers one to Matt as well. He lands a splash on Matt but gets caught with a running knee from Nick. Nick lands a dive to the floor onto Horiguchi while Matt hits an ace crusher on Saito. Nick accidentally superkicks the referee. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Saito but there’s no referee. Horiguchi sprays mist into Matt’s eyes and Saito hits the Double Cross on Matt for the victory at 17:02. It’s probably not the best idea to end a pay per view with a screwy finish, but I can’t fault DGUSA for wanting to put over its Open The Twin Gate Champions. In order for the eventual DGUSA titles to be legitimate, you have to believe that the original Dragon Gate titles are as well. Real Hazard stood out in this match as ruthless heels and their overall aggressive nature was a welcome change of pace. The action in this match was expectedly solid. However, the finish holds this one back quite a bit and it was going to be nearly impossible to follow Richards/Shingo. ***¼

BONUS Match: Davey Richards vs. Shingo
This is from FIP Impact of Honor on June 10th, 2006. They trade control to start. Richards snaps off a headscissors and catches Shingo with a few armdrags. Richards starts targeting the left arm and that is just incredibly ironic. Shingo pulls off a giant swing out of a sleeper hold. He maintains control until Richards connects with his handspring kick. Shingo is lured to the floor and Richards follows out with a plancha. Back in, Richards lands a missile dropkick but gets caught with an STO. Shingo reverses a tornado DDT attempt into a brainbuster. Richards escapes the Blood Fall and locks in a horse collar stretch. He purposely breaks the hold due to the damage done to his neck. Shingo crotches him up top and hits an exploder. Richards answers with some kicks but walks into a lariat. Shingo hits the Blood Fall for the win at 12:35. These two were already showing that they had great chemistry in 2006. They packed a lot of action into thirteen minutes and the crowd was extremely responsive. Add in some nice psychology touches and this is a smartly worked thirteen minute match. ***¼

BONUS Match: Davey Richards vs. Shingo
This is from FIP All or Nothing on November 10th, 2006. Richards snaps off a few armdrags. Shingo doesn’t provide a clean break in the corner and pays for it. Richards starts targeting the left shoulder, much like their previous match. He sends Shingo to the floor with a headscissors but gets draped across the apron. Shingo takes over back in the ring. They trade forearms and Richards connects with an enzuigiri. He follows with a plancha to the outside and a missile dropkick back in the ring. Shingo falls victim to a northern lights suplex but fights out of the DR Driver. Richards comes off the ropes with an armbar and kicks away at the bad shoulder. Shingo catches him with the Blood Fall and adds a lariat for a two count. Richards answers with an overhead suplex and a DDT. Richards applies the Kimura for the victory at 12:40. A step below their Impact of Honor match. This contest featured much less storytelling and seemed to cater towards the “FIP style”. There’s still some worthwhile action considering the competitors, but the previous bonus match is simply a better version of this encounter. **¾

BONUS Match: Magnum TOKYO, BxB Hulk, and Matt Sydal vs. Gamma, Naoki Tanisaki, and Jimmy Rave
This is from Dragon Gate Wrestle Jam on July 9th, 2006. TOKYO catches Rave with a headscissors. Sydal does the same to Gamma and connects with a spin kick. Tanisaki dropkicks Hulk in the corner and the heels work him over. Sydal stops the assault with a hurricanrana on Gamma. Hulk catches Tanisaki with a springboard spin kick and follows with a dive to the floor onto Gamma. TOKYO adds a dive of his own. Tanisaki low blows Hulk, who answers with a tornado DDT. Sydal takes Rave down but gets caught with a spear. Rave follows with a spinning neckbreaker. Gamma uses his pole to attack Sydal and Rave hits a northern lights bomb. TOKYO clotheslines Rave to the floor. Tanisaki hits a jig n’ tonic on Sydal for a nearfall. Tokyo connects with a missile dropkick on Tanisaki. Hulk hits the EVO on Tanisaki and Sydal adds a shooting star press for the win at 10:04. Just a fairly quick spotfest and that’s all it was intended to be. This was also a good introduction to Gamma, who will be making an appearance on future DGUSA shows. **½

BONUS Match: Fray: Arik Cannon vs. Hallowicked vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Flip Kendrick vs. The Great Malaki vs. Shiima Xion vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Louis Lyndon
Hallowicked and Cannon start. They have a nice back and forth sequence before Cannon sneaks in a cheap shot. He adds a swinging neckbreaker but gets caught with a hurricanrana. Lyndon enters next. He finds success with his karate offense until Cannon lays in some chops. Okay, Lyndon has shown in two minutes that he deserves to be on pay per view. Cannon plants him with a spinebuster and hits a rope-assisted neckbreaker on Hallowicked. Xion joins the match. Cannon misses a moonsault and Hallowicked rolls him up to eliminate him. Xion connects with a missile dropkick on Hallowicked and catches Lyndon with a powerslam. Hallowicked tosses Lyndon into a spear from Xion. Hallowicked is impressively sent to the floor with a hurricanrana from Xion. Ali is the next participant. He superkicks Lyndon up top and hits a senton. Lyndon is eliminated when Ali lands the Weapon of Mass Destruction. Xion blocks a moonsault from Ali, who recovers with some kicks. Gargano enters next and receives a boot from Hallowicked. Xion lands a corkscrew dive to the outside but gets caught with a spin kick back inside. He recovers with a superkick and hits From Lust to Dust on Ali. Gargano eliminates Xion with the Hurts Donut. Ali applies a sleeper on Hallowicked. Hallowicked powers out and drives Ali into the turnbuckles to send him packing. Malaki comes out next and I just don’t know what to make of him. He hits a northern lights suplex on Hallowicked and lands a moonsault. Gargano tries a crossbody but Malaki slams him down. Kendrick reveals himself as the last participant. He lands a dive to the floor. Back in, Kendrick tornado DDTs Hallowicked. He pulls off a spiral tap on Malaki to eliminate him. Hallowicked plants Kendrick with a rydeen bomb. Kendrick goes up top. Gargano crotches him and covers him for the elimination. The final two are Gargano and Hallowicked. They trade chops and Gargano finds success with an enzuigiri. He adds a spear but falls victim to Go 2 Sleepy Hollow. Gargano avoids a charge and hits a flatliner. Gargano follows with a superkick and Hurts Donut for the victory at 25:33. An improvement over the first Fray, as this incarnation was much more fluid. I think that twenty-five minutes is too long for this format, as the continuous slew of moves is a little overkill for that amount of time. The positives are that Lyndon continued to impress and Xion made a good first impression. Also, even though I said the constant fast pace was too hectic, there were some unique sequences and visibly stunning moves performed. **½

The 411: Open The Untouchable Gate keeps up the momentum that Open The Historic Gate created. While this show isn’t as consistent, it features two must see matches. Danielson wrestles a tremendous match on his farewell tour against Doi while Shingo and Richards put together a contest that will make your jaw drop at points. Elsewhere, Yoshino/Kid provide a good follow-up encounter and the main event is a fun tag team match. The bonus matches leave a little to be desired, but it’s interesting to see how far Richards and Shingo have progressed. If you didn’t order the pay per view, there is absolutely no reason not to buy this DVD. Even if you did, Shingo/Richards is a match that you want in your collection.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]