DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2014

DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2014DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2014

By Big Red Machine
From April 04, 2014
Discussion

DGUSA OPEN THE UNITED GATE TITLE MATCH:
The Bravado Brothers(c) (w/Moose) vs. Premier Athlete Brand (Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley) (w/Mr. A & Su Yung) - 6.5/10


COLT CABANA of all people was on commentary for this match. That felt random. It turns out he was here to plug Wrestling Road Diaries 2.
This was meh for the time it got. The crowd was a lot more into it than I was. The Bravados won after Moose stooped Mr. A from interfering, then distracted Nese, allowing the Bravados to hit the Gentlemen’s Agreement for the win.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT - Fine. Nese berated Mr. A. Su Yung then told Mr. A that he had to make up for his mistake by winning…

A.R. FOX vs. MR. A. (w/Su Yung) - 4/10


They do their stuff for a bit with the story of the smaller athletic guy in Fox against the big lumbering giant… except that most of the big lumbering giant’s offense to the form of unexpected jumping kicks. That sounds weird, but Mr. A managed to do this stuff while still feeling like a slow, hulking giant.

Su Yung tried to get involved but Ivelisse came out to deal with her… via catfight. Yes, really. IVELISSE was involved in a catfight spot, complete with them rolling back and forth over the referee. Once they left, Larry Dallas came out and introduced “the most destructive man in professional wrestling,” who turned out to be Teddy Hart. Okay… that’s not the definition of destructive that I was expecting, but I guess it fits.

Two attractive females came out, and one of them handed Teddy Hart a cat. Teddy and the cat then got into the ring. There’s still a match going on, by the way. Larry Dallas distracted the referee, allowing Teddy to attack Fox and hit Project Ciampa (he put the cat down first. This is Teddy Hart we’re dealing with, so I feel like I should specify that). The fans then started to chant for Teddy, even though he’s out here with a heel manager and just attacked a babyface. Then Larry got into the ring and picked up the cat while Teddy shouted something at the crowd that resulted in the crowd chanting “F*CK TNA!” I have no idea why. I feel like I’m on drugs right now. This is all SOOOOOOOO random and ridiculous that it must be a trip.
Teddy hit Mr. A with a neckbreaker and a moonsault while the referee distracted himself checking on A.R. Fox. Teddy did a celebratory backflip off the top turnbuckle, then finally left.

Once Teddy left, the match between the actual participants started up again. A “FIRE RUSSO!” chant started. At a show booked by Gabe Sapolsky… and I definitely agree with the sentiment (this felt more to be like a bad ECW segment that it did something Russo would have booked, but the general gist that this is overbooked and ridiculous and helps no one other than the most unreliable person in wrestling is definitely one that should result in the booker’s competence being questioned). Fox won with a Lo Mein Pain that had me terrified that both men would wind up landing on their heads but fortunately they didn’t. Fans then randomly started to chant “WHOLE F*CKIN’ SHOW!” before loudly chanting for A.R. Fox. The stuff between Fox and Mr. A wasn’t bad, but seriously, WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT SH*T IN THE MIDDLE?!

BUFF BUSICK vs. RICH SWANN - 6.75/10


Good, solid professional wrestling.

THE COLONY (Fire Ant & Green Ant) vs. THE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB (Drew Gulak & Chuck Taylor) - 7/10


Great tag team action, with the story being the Gentlemen’s Club having some trouble getting along. Seeing the Colony on one side and Chuck Taylor on the other feels very CHIKARA… but Gulak being on Taylor’s side is kind of a mind-f*ck. Actually, until last night, Taylor’s stable also included Orange Cassidy, didn’t it? Do you think Chuck knows he’s severely outnumbered and probably in danger of being turned on?

POST-MATCH SEGMENT - Told you. Gulak turns on Taylor and stomps the crap out of him. He grabs a mic, gets in Taylor’s face, and declares that the Gentlemen’s Club is dead.

LOW KI vs. TRENT BARRETA - 8/10


An awesome hard-hitting match with a babyface who you wanted to see deliver the heel his comeuppance, and one heck of a finish.

CHRIS HERO vs. MASATO TANAKA - 8/10


Exactly the sort of hard-hitting match you’d expect from these two. And yes, there many rolling elbows.

DGUSA OPEN THE FREEDOM GATE TITLE MATCH:
Johnny Gargano(c) vs. Ricochet - 8.5/10


An excellent “big, long world title match,” starting off slow and building well over time. There were some good twists and turns towards the end, and the monster was finally slain and Gargano’s title reign ended.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT - A wonderful babyface celebration, complete with a great babyface speech by Ricochet.

Final Thoughts
This was a GREAT show from DGUSA, with an excellent top of the card making up for the rough start. That being said… maybe this is colored by hindsight, but it very much felt like the promotion had run it’s course by now, and this being the second to last show feels appropriate. The one thing we had left to do was end Gargano’s title reign, and we’ve done that. The people who overlap in EVOLVE can continue their stories there, but DGUSA really feels like it has run it’s course at this point, with the same guys on top for a while and the Japanese talent no longer coming in.

Join this review's conversation in the discussion board