DGUSA Open the Untouchable Gate 2009 Review

Hey guys it us Josh reviewing Dragon Gate USA’s 2009 show Open the Untouchable Gate. As most of you know WWN is my thing (aside from TNA) so I decided to start a series of old WWN show reviews, starting with this one. I will continue reviewing current WWN shows as I did with Style Battle and FIP but I’ll also be doing these occasionally. 

Dragon Kid vs Masato Yoshino

This was a little bit slower in the first half than you would expect but there were some good spots and cool exchanges. 

The last few minutes of the match really elevated it with lots of cool counters and a surprising finish. I always love watching these two as Dragon Kid is probably my all time favorite Japanese wrestler and Masato Yoshino is one of my favorite Dragon Gate guys. Good opener but nothing special. **1/2

YAMATO and Gran Akuma vs Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush

This started in true Dragon Gate fashion with the heels attacking the faces in the middle of their entrance. This was a decent little tag, not really special but somewhat enjoyable and not too long. Jigsaw is a guy who I always enjoy whenever I see him but he never had a really consistent run in a promotion I watch. All four guys did pretty well, it just kind of seemed like there was something missing and even when it got out of first gear it still seemed like something was off. **1/4

The Young Bucks came out and cut a promo about their match later that night, complaining that it should be a title match. Jimmy Jacobs and Mustafa Ali came out and after talking for a minute attacked the Bucks. The Bucks got the upper hand but soon after their opponents for later in the night, Saito and Horiguchi, came out and attacked them. 

Bryan Danielson vs Naruki Doi

This is my favorite era of Bryan’s career and Doi is always a lot of fun to watch so I was pretty excited for this. The first half was decent but I was hoping it would get better. It definitely did, with the last 5-10 minutes being great. There were many great nearfalls and it was just very good. This was the first match on this show that I’d really say is worth watching. ***1/2

Brian Kendrick vs CIMA

CIMA is, aside from Dragon Kid, my favorite Dragon Gate guy so it is always fun to see him, but Kendrick is a guy I’ve never been that big on. However he did impress me here, trying to prove himself after his recent WWE departure. He did well in his heel role and CIMA looked great as usual. Fun little sprint. ***

Davey Richards vs SHINGO

I was expecting this to be good as SHINGO is great and Davey is one of my all-time favorites, but it completely exceeded my expectations and is one of my favorite Davey matches ever. There was a good story early on with SHINGO realizing how devastating Davey’s kicks were and trying to destroy his legs. This story wasn’t as significant all the way through as it was early on but it still played a role and Davey did a good job at acknowledging the damage throughout. This was a fantastic hard-hitting match with tons of intensity. Davey was at his best here and both men had great performances wrestling-wise and showing frustration as the other man kicked out of everything they threw at them. Watch this match. ****1/4

After the match Davey showed respect for SHINGO and then Bryan came out to put over Davey. Davey shocked the crowd by attacking Bryan, getting a lot of heat from the Chicago crowd.

Young Bucks vs Real Hazard (Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito) 

Early on I was a ltittle scared that this match wouldn’t get over because of the fact that they had to go on after Davey/SHINGO. I still don’t entirely understand why that didn’t main event but regardless they proved me wrong and put on a really fun main event. Horiguchi and Saito did very well in their heel roles and the Bucks were really fun in this match. Very good way to end a very good show. ***1/2

Overall Review: This was a very easy show to get through, only going around two and a half hours and having three very good to great matches. Nothing on the show was bad at all and it was overall a fun show that made me miss seeing the DG guys interact with US indy guys. I love current Dragon Gate but I’d love to see DGUSA make a return, even if just for one night.
Overall Rating: 9/10