Dragon Gate USA Freedom Fight Review
This show is all about crowning the first ever Open the Freedom Gate champion.
We kick the show off with six wrestlers already in the ring. It looks like Gran Akuma, Hallowicked, Johnny Gargano, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Lince Dorado in a six way. Apparently this is a one fall finish match. Hallowicked does a Hurricanrana and for a man of his size that's both impressive and dangerous. Gargano hits an ace crusher on Nick Jackson who was on his knees. Young Bucks do their signature tag spots and end up alone but before they can wrestle Akuma and Gargano interrupt. Bucks end up in the ring alone again but Dorado and Hallowicked interrupt this time. Hallowicked hits the Go to sleepy hollow. Dorado hits a shooting star press. Akuma hits a nice looking Tombstone position into a gutbuster move on Dorado. Gargano sends Akuma's teeth into the front row with a super kick. More bang for your buck but Nick pulls Matt off the pin. Bucks fight each other now. These two beating the hell out each other. Lots of near falls and interrupting of potential finishes. Dorado breaks the guardrail with a flipping dive. Bucks connect with the crazy dive. Gargano reverse awesome bombs Akuma into the second turnbuckle. Akuma connects with the spider exploder and the moonsault for the win. Good booking choice here putting Akuma over considering that 1) he's a heel and 2) in the past two shows they've kind of built him up as being anti DGUSA in some ways. This was a very good match with everybody getting the chance to look impressive. Interesting to see the Young Bucks wrestling against each other. This was a great way to open the PPV and get the crowd hot.
Rating: 3 and 1/4 Grenades
BxB Hulk is out next. No dancing this time. BxB Hulk is mad over with the crowd. He's taking on Drew McIntyre's little brother. Owait that's Brian Kendrick. I'm really shocked they never did anything with Kendrick and McIntyre together in WWE. Chain wrestling to start. Kendrick starts to lose the momentum and bails out to the floor. I had forgotten how good Kendrick could actually be when he's motivated and not being limited by TNA or WWE. Story of the match is Kendrick's submission attempts vs. Hulk's kicks. Kendrick goes for sliced bread but Hulk just dumps him outside. Kendrick nearly breaks Hulk's neck trying to pull him down into a small package from the top turnbuckle. No idea what they were trying to do there. Hulk sends Kendrick's nose into the back of his head with a kick. Hulk gets the win with a crucifix rolled over into the pin. Good match with good psychology.
Rating: 2 and 3/4 Grenades
Funny moment after the match as some bald suit wearing dude is talking to Kendrick who snaps at him to give him a minute and some girl in the crowd shouts "Oh my God Spanky be nice. Kendrick says something about his neck. Kendrick cuts a very good heel promo. Kendrick is doing everything to get heat but the crowd is just completely disinterested. Jon Moxley comes out (no introduction from the commentators like we're all just supposed to know who he is), cuts a promo that is drier than a Nun's twat, and we get Moxley and Kendrick attacking people out of nowhere. This segment had a lot of potential but after a while it started to just drag.
Cima vs. Mike Quackenbush vs. Jorge Rivera vs. Super Crazy is our third match. Super Crazy is definitely pushing the limits of his outfit's fabric. This is being billed as a salute to Rivera. Cima and Quack start it out with chain wrestling. The only thing I don't really like about Quackenbush is I think he could do a little more in terms of selling and his facial expressions. Crazy and Rivera end up in the match. Crazy is (sort of) working as a heel here. You wouldn't know it to look at Rivera but he's an agile sumbitch. Rollups, rollups and more roll ups end in a four way dropkick attempt. Double stomp gets two for Cima. This match seriously needs to take it down a gear and let people digest what's happening. Crazy working over the leg of Rivera. Rivera locks in the pendulum swing on Quack. Cima gets the win with the Rivera Special out of nowhere. Literally, no comeback and certainly no real finisher sequence. This match was...ok. Just ok. Not good, not bad. They wasted a good opportunity to tell a really good story with Super Crazy acting heelish against Rivera and Quack and Cima trying to remain respectful against Rivera and actually wrestle a clean match. After the match Quack gets pissed at Cima for rolling up Skayde to win the match. Uhh, Quack, it's wrestling, the goal is to try to win.
Rating: 2 and 3/4 Grenades
Davey Richards vs. Yamato is next. Expect a lot of strikes in this one. Chain wrestling to start out. Richards gets the cross armbreaker early but too close to the ropes. Richards working over the arm. Elbow exchange outside the ring. I'm beginning to think Richards has some type of grudge towards the crowd because he whips Yamato hard into the guardrail which collapses and lands on about 4 people nearly injuring them. Yamato tries for the submission with the single leg crab but rope break. Battle of arm work vs. leg work so far. Very good psychology here with Yamato taking away the leg of Richards limiting the effectiveness of Richards' kicks. Why does Richards constantly try to kill not only himself but the fans in the crowd with his dives? Richards locks in the kimura but Yamato reaches the ropes. Yamato grabs the ankle lock, Richards gets the ropes but Yamato pulls him away. Richards gets the ropes a second time and Yamato breaks it. Why? No sellius maximus by both men. Yamato no sells a superplex. Forearm exchange. False finishes a plenty here. Yamato gets the win with the Gallaria. Ok remember how in the first match I said the right person won? Well the wrong person won here. The last show had built up Richards as being the face of the promotion and he loses in the first round? Bad booking there.
Rating: 4 Grenades
Dragon Kid and Shingo vs. Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino is the break between the tournament matches and the finals. I seriously don't think there is an ounce of body fat on Masato Yoshino's body. Shingo didn't do anything crazy with his hair. Booo. Yoshino and Kid start it out. Apparently Dragon Kid has a title shot at the next show. Doi and Shingo in the match now. Dragon Kid gets a near fall after knee drops on Yoshino. Speed muscle take a page out of the Young Bucks page with the arm work with multiple tags and top rope strikes. Octopus on the mat by Yoshino. Dragon Kid isolated by speed muscle. Awesome figure four/abdominal stretch combo by Doi. Shingo gets the hot tag. Shingo counters a sunset flip attempt into a dead lift brainbuster. Shingo gets a near fall after a blood fall. Doi gets a near fall after the Rydeen bomb. Yoshino powers Shingo up with another space. Dropkick/Senton combo by Yoshino. Three shows in a row-three legit top rope frankensteiners. Seriously guys you're killing the effectiveness of that spot. Dragon Kid gets a very close near fall after a hurricanrana. Strikes, strikes, and more strikes ends with a Doi 5 on Dragon Kid. Yoshino hits a shitty looking lightning spiral. Selling is not a featured aspect of this match. Yoshino gets the submission victory with the Sol Naciente on Dragon Kid. Very good match, fast paced, lots of near falls. Another poor booking choice here as Kid should not have taken the loss here since he has a title shot the following month or whenever.
Rating: 4 and 1/4 Grenades
Another Jon Moxley promo. This time he's outside the ring. It's an introductory promo. Why the fuck didn't this air before the Kendrick/Moxley segment? Ok enough promo.
Yamato vs. Cima vs. Akuma vs. BxB Hulk in the main event to crown the inaugural Open the Freedom Gate Champion. Yamato and Akuma using team work. Backstabber by Cima on Hulk. Akuma and Cima in the ring now. You can tell that Yamato is wiped out after his match against Richards. Cima very quickly eliminated after a low blow and a roll up. Double team by Yamato and Akuma. I understand the psychology here putting two major heels in a position to win the promotion's title but I really feel that Cima or Richards would have been a better choice to be the fighting face here. Poisoned rana by Hulk. EVO by Hulk eliminates Akuma. I personally would have had Hulk eliminate him with a roll up but that's just me. Yamato vs. Hulk for the title. Elbow exchange from their knees. Hulk gets a very close near fall after EVO. Another EVO gets the win and the title for BxB Hulk. This match was good but not great as it should have been considering it's a match to crown the first champion.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 Grenades
Final Thoughts: This was a story of some good booking decisions and some huh? booking decisions. Akuma and Yamato should have been in the finals. They've basically been promoted as the top heels of DGUSA for the past two shows. I get that. However to compliment that you also need two good top babyfaces. Richards or Quackenbush would have been really good choices to put in the finals. Richards obviously because he was supposed to be the face of the company and Quackenbush because he already has a built-in storyline with Yamato and Akuma. Aside from that there were two very good matches on here but alot of matches seemed to end out of nowhere with no real buildup to the finishes.
Overall Rating: 4 and 1/4 Grenades
This show is all about crowning the first ever Open the Freedom Gate champion.
We kick the show off with six wrestlers already in the ring. It looks like Gran Akuma, Hallowicked, Johnny Gargano, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Lince Dorado in a six way. Apparently this is a one fall finish match. Hallowicked does a Hurricanrana and for a man of his size that's both impressive and dangerous. Gargano hits an ace crusher on Nick Jackson who was on his knees. Young Bucks do their signature tag spots and end up alone but before they can wrestle Akuma and Gargano interrupt. Bucks end up in the ring alone again but Dorado and Hallowicked interrupt this time. Hallowicked hits the Go to sleepy hollow. Dorado hits a shooting star press. Akuma hits a nice looking Tombstone position into a gutbuster move on Dorado. Gargano sends Akuma's teeth into the front row with a super kick. More bang for your buck but Nick pulls Matt off the pin. Bucks fight each other now. These two beating the hell out each other. Lots of near falls and interrupting of potential finishes. Dorado breaks the guardrail with a flipping dive. Bucks connect with the crazy dive. Gargano reverse awesome bombs Akuma into the second turnbuckle. Akuma connects with the spider exploder and the moonsault for the win. Good booking choice here putting Akuma over considering that 1) he's a heel and 2) in the past two shows they've kind of built him up as being anti DGUSA in some ways. This was a very good match with everybody getting the chance to look impressive. Interesting to see the Young Bucks wrestling against each other. This was a great way to open the PPV and get the crowd hot.
Rating: 3 and 1/4 Grenades
BxB Hulk is out next. No dancing this time. BxB Hulk is mad over with the crowd. He's taking on Drew McIntyre's little brother. Owait that's Brian Kendrick. I'm really shocked they never did anything with Kendrick and McIntyre together in WWE. Chain wrestling to start. Kendrick starts to lose the momentum and bails out to the floor. I had forgotten how good Kendrick could actually be when he's motivated and not being limited by TNA or WWE. Story of the match is Kendrick's submission attempts vs. Hulk's kicks. Kendrick goes for sliced bread but Hulk just dumps him outside. Kendrick nearly breaks Hulk's neck trying to pull him down into a small package from the top turnbuckle. No idea what they were trying to do there. Hulk sends Kendrick's nose into the back of his head with a kick. Hulk gets the win with a crucifix rolled over into the pin. Good match with good psychology.
Rating: 2 and 3/4 Grenades
Funny moment after the match as some bald suit wearing dude is talking to Kendrick who snaps at him to give him a minute and some girl in the crowd shouts "Oh my God Spanky be nice. Kendrick says something about his neck. Kendrick cuts a very good heel promo. Kendrick is doing everything to get heat but the crowd is just completely disinterested. Jon Moxley comes out (no introduction from the commentators like we're all just supposed to know who he is), cuts a promo that is drier than a Nun's twat, and we get Moxley and Kendrick attacking people out of nowhere. This segment had a lot of potential but after a while it started to just drag.
Cima vs. Mike Quackenbush vs. Jorge Rivera vs. Super Crazy is our third match. Super Crazy is definitely pushing the limits of his outfit's fabric. This is being billed as a salute to Rivera. Cima and Quack start it out with chain wrestling. The only thing I don't really like about Quackenbush is I think he could do a little more in terms of selling and his facial expressions. Crazy and Rivera end up in the match. Crazy is (sort of) working as a heel here. You wouldn't know it to look at Rivera but he's an agile sumbitch. Rollups, rollups and more roll ups end in a four way dropkick attempt. Double stomp gets two for Cima. This match seriously needs to take it down a gear and let people digest what's happening. Crazy working over the leg of Rivera. Rivera locks in the pendulum swing on Quack. Cima gets the win with the Rivera Special out of nowhere. Literally, no comeback and certainly no real finisher sequence. This match was...ok. Just ok. Not good, not bad. They wasted a good opportunity to tell a really good story with Super Crazy acting heelish against Rivera and Quack and Cima trying to remain respectful against Rivera and actually wrestle a clean match. After the match Quack gets pissed at Cima for rolling up Skayde to win the match. Uhh, Quack, it's wrestling, the goal is to try to win.
Rating: 2 and 3/4 Grenades
Davey Richards vs. Yamato is next. Expect a lot of strikes in this one. Chain wrestling to start out. Richards gets the cross armbreaker early but too close to the ropes. Richards working over the arm. Elbow exchange outside the ring. I'm beginning to think Richards has some type of grudge towards the crowd because he whips Yamato hard into the guardrail which collapses and lands on about 4 people nearly injuring them. Yamato tries for the submission with the single leg crab but rope break. Battle of arm work vs. leg work so far. Very good psychology here with Yamato taking away the leg of Richards limiting the effectiveness of Richards' kicks. Why does Richards constantly try to kill not only himself but the fans in the crowd with his dives? Richards locks in the kimura but Yamato reaches the ropes. Yamato grabs the ankle lock, Richards gets the ropes but Yamato pulls him away. Richards gets the ropes a second time and Yamato breaks it. Why? No sellius maximus by both men. Yamato no sells a superplex. Forearm exchange. False finishes a plenty here. Yamato gets the win with the Gallaria. Ok remember how in the first match I said the right person won? Well the wrong person won here. The last show had built up Richards as being the face of the promotion and he loses in the first round? Bad booking there.
Rating: 4 Grenades
Dragon Kid and Shingo vs. Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino is the break between the tournament matches and the finals. I seriously don't think there is an ounce of body fat on Masato Yoshino's body. Shingo didn't do anything crazy with his hair. Booo. Yoshino and Kid start it out. Apparently Dragon Kid has a title shot at the next show. Doi and Shingo in the match now. Dragon Kid gets a near fall after knee drops on Yoshino. Speed muscle take a page out of the Young Bucks page with the arm work with multiple tags and top rope strikes. Octopus on the mat by Yoshino. Dragon Kid isolated by speed muscle. Awesome figure four/abdominal stretch combo by Doi. Shingo gets the hot tag. Shingo counters a sunset flip attempt into a dead lift brainbuster. Shingo gets a near fall after a blood fall. Doi gets a near fall after the Rydeen bomb. Yoshino powers Shingo up with another space. Dropkick/Senton combo by Yoshino. Three shows in a row-three legit top rope frankensteiners. Seriously guys you're killing the effectiveness of that spot. Dragon Kid gets a very close near fall after a hurricanrana. Strikes, strikes, and more strikes ends with a Doi 5 on Dragon Kid. Yoshino hits a shitty looking lightning spiral. Selling is not a featured aspect of this match. Yoshino gets the submission victory with the Sol Naciente on Dragon Kid. Very good match, fast paced, lots of near falls. Another poor booking choice here as Kid should not have taken the loss here since he has a title shot the following month or whenever.
Rating: 4 and 1/4 Grenades
Another Jon Moxley promo. This time he's outside the ring. It's an introductory promo. Why the fuck didn't this air before the Kendrick/Moxley segment? Ok enough promo.
Yamato vs. Cima vs. Akuma vs. BxB Hulk in the main event to crown the inaugural Open the Freedom Gate Champion. Yamato and Akuma using team work. Backstabber by Cima on Hulk. Akuma and Cima in the ring now. You can tell that Yamato is wiped out after his match against Richards. Cima very quickly eliminated after a low blow and a roll up. Double team by Yamato and Akuma. I understand the psychology here putting two major heels in a position to win the promotion's title but I really feel that Cima or Richards would have been a better choice to be the fighting face here. Poisoned rana by Hulk. EVO by Hulk eliminates Akuma. I personally would have had Hulk eliminate him with a roll up but that's just me. Yamato vs. Hulk for the title. Elbow exchange from their knees. Hulk gets a very close near fall after EVO. Another EVO gets the win and the title for BxB Hulk. This match was good but not great as it should have been considering it's a match to crown the first champion.
Rating: 3 and 1/2 Grenades
Final Thoughts: This was a story of some good booking decisions and some huh? booking decisions. Akuma and Yamato should have been in the finals. They've basically been promoted as the top heels of DGUSA for the past two shows. I get that. However to compliment that you also need two good top babyfaces. Richards or Quackenbush would have been really good choices to put in the finals. Richards obviously because he was supposed to be the face of the company and Quackenbush because he already has a built-in storyline with Yamato and Akuma. Aside from that there were two very good matches on here but alot of matches seemed to end out of nowhere with no real buildup to the finishes.
Overall Rating: 4 and 1/4 Grenades