| The next show takes place September 6th in Chicago at the Congress Theatre with Naruki Doi vs. Bryan Danielson in a non-title match, Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. Young Bucks in a non-title match, Brian Kendrick vs. CIMA, Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino in a rematch from the first show, Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. YAMATO & Gran Akuma in a grudge match from the only angle shot on the first show, and Davey Richards vs. Shingo in a "battle of the hard hitters." Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross will also be doing only their third-ever autograph appearance on the show. Dawn Marie was ring announcer for the evening. She did OK but didn't add anything to the show. 1. BxB Hulk vs. Yamato. Hulk came to the ring with two dancing girls, Daizee Haze and the 18-year-old sister of Bobby Dempsey (seriously). Haze physically looks incredible, in the best shape I've ever seen her. Lenny Leonard and Chikarason did commentary. A great wrestling match. I watched this after Raw so it was even better. Great highspots early, then Yamato went to work on his leg. Crowd was going nuts for everything and they had those thunder sticks that I first saw live at the K-1 show in LA a few years back. Yamato chopped the shit out of him. These guys weren't holding back on the strikes. The one criticism is that Hulk was selling it like he couldn't even run the ropes his leg was so bad, and then suddenly he just made a full-fledged comeback running and jumping and flying around. It was a hell of a comeback. Lots of nearfalls and submission attempts and chants of "PLEASE DON'T TAP!" Hulk hit his finish, the EVO, but Yamato got his feet on the ropes. He tried a Phoenix splash but missed, then Yamato hit a flying elbow and a great brainbuster. Hulk kicked out. Yamato dropped him on his head with a sleeper suplex for a nearfall, then hit the gallaria, which is a variation of the Michinoku driver, for the pin. I'm with 2 Cold Scorpio in that I would never have ever wanted to follow this match. You could argue that they did way too much for the opener, but this is what these people wanted. (****) They had personality profiles on Naruki Doi and Shingo, which was pretty cool for first-time viewers. 2. Chikara Showcase: Amasis & Icarus & Gran Akuma & Hallowicked vs. The Colony (Fire Ant & Soldier Ant) & Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw in an eight-man. Place went ballistic for the babyfaces. This was basically an eight-man lucha showcase. All-action, pretty much impossible to make heads or tails of or keep track of, but wildly entertaining. Quack physically looks like every indy guy you've ever seen, but his wrestling was fantastic and he was the star of the show here. They finally slowed down and got heat on Soldier. Quack got the hot tag and ran wild, but then the heels cut off Jigsaw, who is masked again. He finally hit a big dive onto three guys outside, which allowed Fire Ant to come in and make a comeback. Everyone hit a wacky move that had an even wackier name, then everyone hit a huge dive, then Jigsaw hit the gin and tonic on Icarus, who happened to be the most hated man in this match, for the pin. Big "CHIKARA! " chants afterwards. Another excellent match. (****) Quack did a promo afterwards putting over the guy who trained many of them, Jorge Rivera, aka Skayde, who also helped train many of the Dragon Gate guys. They showed a short video of him in action. He said Chikara and Dragon Gate came from the same mold but there was a sibling rivalry growing. He issued a challenge for a Dragon Gate vs. Chikara match. Yamato came out, said a few words in Japanese, then kicked Quack in the balls. Jigsaw ran out to make the save, followed by Gran Akuma. But then Akuma turned on Jigsaw and the heels stomped a mudhole in the tecnicos. So I guess we have a tag match for the future. 3. Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid. Yoshino is so fast not only hitting the ropes but in all of his movements that I have no idea how people keep up with him. Yoshino went to work on his arm with various wacky lucha submissions. Kid made a comeback with a multi-revolution headscissors spot, then hit a moonsault off the post to the outside. This was one of those matches similar to, I guess, John Morrison vs. Tyson Kidd on Smackdown two weeks ago, where it was a good match but you just know they could have an awesome match. Lots of nearfalls and such. Kid hit a super frankensteiner as both were standing on the top rope, but Yoshino kicked out. Kid finally hit the springboard huracanrana for the pin. Really good, but missing something. (***1/2) 4. CIMA & Susumu Yokosuka vs. Young Bucks. CIMA has bulked up a bit since going down with his neck injury. I don't know if the Bucks gimmick is designed to be a young version of the Hardy Boys, but that's essentially what it is, with two young high-flyers, one blonde, one brunette, and both brothers. Bucks ran wild early, then Matt got cut off. Matt even looks like Matt Hardy. Some great double-teams by CIMA and Yokosuka. The best was when they did a combo footstomp spot on Nick outside, then Yokosuka hit him with a thunderstick for good measure. Matt finally made a one-man comeback and roll ed into the hot tag. Great high-flying comeback by the Bucks with a bunch of hot double-teams by both teams. Too much stuff to call. Yokosuka hit an exploder superplex on Matt but Matt kicked out. Matt followed up with a dive into a stunner and went up top, but CIMA hit him with his palm strike and iconoclasm, and went for the frog splash. Matt got his knees up. Yamato turned Matt inside out with a lariat and CIMA hit a perfect driver, but Matt kicked out. They tied Matt in the tree of woe and CIMA hit a coast-to-coast dropkick. Nick broke up the pin. "DRAGON GATE!" CIMA accidentally superkicked his partner, sending him outside. The Bucks proceeded to kill Yokosuka with death for the pin. Finishing sequence was pretty spectacular. (****) 5. Open
the Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi vs. Shingo in a non-title match.
Doi went to work on his leg and put on a figure four. A very different
match than anything else on the show as they worked a slower-paced heavyweight
style early. Doi went for a cannonball in the corner but Shingo caught
him in midmove and delivered a huge powerbomb. Good back and forth action
with loud chants for both guys. Shingo, unlike Hulk earlier, did an
awesome job selling the leg. This was one of those matches that was
awesome, but probably will be more awesome to people who watch Dragon
Gate regularly and know everyone's usual maneuvers. It was one reversal
after another, most of which probably meant more to hardcores than to
me. But the work was still tremendous. Doi hit his cannonball and hit
a back superplex, dropping Shingo right on his head, but Shingo kicked
out. Shingo hit a backdrop into a DVD and a lariat for an awesome nearfall.
Shingo got nearfalls with moves I not only have never seen, but cannot
even describe. Doi hit his running sliding kick but Shingo got his foot
on the ropes. He hit it again and followed it up with the Tiger suplex
but Shingo kicked out. He hit two more sliding kicks but Shingo kicked
out. He finally hit his muscular bomb for the pin. Awesome main event
to close the show. (****1/4) |
