April 6, 2013 – Secaucus, New Jersey
Eita & Tomahawk TT vs. Player Uno & Player Dos
TT is called something different in every country. Eita and Dos start Eita hits a dropkick. Dos hits a head scissor takedown. Eita chops him. Uno and TT trade shoulder tackles. TT hits a gnarly chop. Uno can’t handle it. TT hits a shoulder tackle. Uno hits a neckbreaker. He and Dos double-team TT. Dos hits a back suplex for 2. Uno hits a couple chops like an idiot. TT suplexes him. He chops Dos into the crowd. He and Eita hit a double dropkick on Uno for 2. They hit a double chop. They dump Uno on his face (with some difficulty) and hit a double dropkick. Uno hits Eita with the Complete Shot. Dos cleans house. He hits TT with a DDT for 2. He and Uno double-team TT for 2. Dos hits the Skyhigh and Uno puts on a Sharpshooter. TT hits Uno with the reverse Michinoku Driver for 2. He and Eita chop Dos. They hit a Doomsday Superdrol for 2. Dos hits his Scorpion Suplex for 2. He and Uno hit the Die Fly for 2. TT hits Uno with a lariat. Eita hits Dos with a hurricanrana. He moonsaults onto Uno on the floor (watch for that spot tomorrow night), and TT hits Dos with the Night Ride for the win at 14:26. This was a little spotty down the stretch, but it was fun for days and a great way to get the fans acquainted with Tomahawk.
Rating: ***½
Akira Tozawa {MB} vs. Ricochet {W1}
They fight over a wristlock to start. Ricochet shows off why he’s a worthy successor to the amazing PAC, finishing the sequence off with a crazy dive and getting 2. He hits a standing moonsault for 2. He hits the Turnbuckle Slam^2. Tozawa hits the running knee. He hits the triple suicide dive. Christina Von Eerie attacks Ricochet on the floor. Tozawa hits a pair of sentons for 2. He hits the Machine Gun Chops and the jab for 2. Ricochet hits a springboard clothesline to cut off Tozawa’s momentum. He hits an Ace Crusher and a standing SSP for 2. Tozawa hits a brainbuster for 2. He hits a running knee for 2. Ricochet hits a Regalplex for 2. Tozawa hits an elbow. He hits a bicycle kick and a side suplex but Ricochet hits a back flip kick on his way down. This is pretty stellar. Tozawa blocks a Regalplex. They end up on the apron where Tozawa hits a German suplex. He hits another German suplex in the ring. A third German suplex gets 2. Ricochet gets a roll up for 2. Tozawa hits an ebow. Ricochet hits another fade-away kick. He hits the Backslide Driver for 2. He hits the 630 senton for the win at 19:51. This reminded me of the kind of match that got everyone excited about DGUSA back when it started. Both guys fought their asses off, it wasn’t obnoxiously long, and the crowd reacted with excitement and appreciation for the exhibition that was given to them (us, because I was there!). At the time it was surprising to watch Tozawa lose, but in retrospect both guys were getting pushed and one of them had to lose. Tozawa looked great in defeat, and Ricochet looked incredible in victory.
Rating: ****¼
CIMA {Z} © & AR Fox © vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson [Open the United Gate Championship Match]
CIMA and Matt start. CIMA gets a roll up for 2. Fox hits Nick with a dropkick. He misses a moonsault. The Jacksons hit a double dropkick. CIMA and Fox return the favor for 2. CIMA works Matt’s leg. Matt hits a double stomp to CIMA’s arm. CIMA hits a snap suplex. Fox hits a dropkick. He hits a suicide dive on both Jacksons. He hits a topé con hilo on Nick. Nick hits a quebrada on Matt by mistake. He regroups with superkicks to both opponents. He and Matt go crazy with back rakes. Matt hits three kneedrops for 2. Nick puts on a chinlock. He hits a dropkick for 2. Matt stomps Fox for 2. He hits another dropkick for 2. Nick hits the DH. Fox blocks a splash. He hits the Assisted Slided Bread and the Thug Bait for 2. CIMA hits an enziguiri. He suplexes Matt while holding Nick in a leglock. Fox hits his nutty dive over the post. CIMA hits a dropkick. He hits a double stomp and double kneedrop for 2. Nick hits the X-Factor for 2. CIMA hits the Venus and Iconoclasm. Fox hits the Swanton Bomb for 2. He hits a 450 Splash over CIMA’s knees for 2. Everyone hits superkicks until Fox hits an enziguiri. The Jacksons hit a double superkick on CIMA. Matt powerbombs Fox three times. He and Nick hit a Spike Tombstone Piledriver for 2. Fox hits a dropkick. He hits the Dai Bosou and the Lo Mein Pain. CIMA hits the Meteora for 2 when Matt saves Nick. Nick hits a low blow for 2. He and Matt hit a double superkick. They hit More Bang for Your Buck for the win and the titles at 19:19. This match certainly had enough dropkicks. It didn’t have enough (or any) selling of anything at all, but I can’t deny that it was exciting. The Bucks do a lot of very cool movez. After the match, Ricochet comes out to taunt Fox, because they’re feuding I guess. The storylines are harder for me to follow now that I only watch the Japanese guys’ matches.
Rating: ***½
Johnny Gargano © vs. Shingo Takagi {A} [Open the Freedom Gate Championship Match]
Gargano goes after the arm to start. Takagi slams him by his head. He works the arm. Gargano returns the favor. You can tell this match is going to be long because of how long they stay on the mat before striking each other. Takagi wins the first exchange of blows. He hits a shoulder tackle. He hits a dead lift suplex. He hits a senton for 1. He puts on the waistlock, then works the neck. Takagi counters the GargaNo Escape to the Anaconda Vice. Gargano gets to the ropes. The crowd was dead for all of that because Takagi never uses the Anaconda Vice anymore. Gargano hits a hurricanrana that the hard camera almost missed. It seems like the ringside camera lost its feed. Gargano works the arm. He hits a neckbreaker for 2. He gets a roll up for 2. He goes back to work on the arm. Takagi hits a side slam but Gargano puts on the GargaNo Escape. Takagi powers out and clotheslines Gargano to the floor. He hits a big boot. Gargano hits a superkick and a suicide dive. He puts Takagi in a chair and hits another suicide dive. He hits two big boots, but makes the mistake of going for a third and Takagi catches him with a DVD on the floor. Takagi blocks the spear and hits a DDT. He hits a neckbreaker. He hits the Sliding Bomber for 2. Gargano hits a suplex into the corner. He hits a slingshot DDT for 2. He kicks Takagi’s face and poses like a dork. Takagi hits a lariat.
Gargano blocks the Blood Fall but Takagi hits a DVD. Gargano counters the Pumping Bomber to the GargaNo Escape. Takagi gets to the ropes. Gargano blocks the STAY DREAM and hits a Frankensteiner. He hits a running dropkick and the Lawn Dart for 2. They trade strikes in the first really exciting moment of the match. Takagi hits a side suplex. Gargano hits a superkick. Takagi hits the Pumping Bomber. Three moves in quick succession and the crowd now thinks this is the best match ever. Takagi hits the STAY DREAM for 2. Gargano hits the Hurts Donut for 2. He puts on the GargaNo Escape. Takagi gets to the ropes. The crowd chants “please don’t stop,†but I just wish they’d gotten started with the fun stuff earlier in the match. Takagi ducks a superkick and hits MADE IN JAPAN for 2. He hits the Pumping Bomber for 2. A ref bump is rendered meaningless when the referee no-sells it and counts 2 off of a Last Falconry. Lenny Leonard tries to say the referee hesitated, but he didn’t. Gargano elbows the referee and hits Takagi with a low blow and the First Flash. He chokes Takagi with his wrist tape and the crowd totally turns on him (good for them). He puts on the GargaNo Escape and Takagi passes out at 31:37. People praised this match when it happened, but the first ten minutes were kind of a bore. Takagi didn’t stat looking like a threat until halfway into the match, which made the story of Gargano being desperate make a lot less sense. The finish called by many a black-mark-on-an-otherwise-amazing-match, but I though it was one of the more interesting aspects of the match. My only issue with the finish was that Gargano showed absolutely no signs of evilness, so the sudden decision to be a prick out of nowhere felt tacked on. This wasn’t a bad match, but my expectations were high thanks to the hype, and this was decidedly not epic. I’d rate it higher, but I feel like there really weren’t much more than five or six really exciting minutes in it, which isn’t enough for the main event.
Rating: ***¼
