Dragon Gate USA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013: Results and Reactions (April 6)

After the card that SHIMMER put on (April 6), I didn't think anything could match it (much less top it) but Dragon Gate USA proved me wrong. Open the Ultimate Gate 2013 put on an outstanding show with a plethora of great matches.

Results:

• Singles Match: Rich Swann def. Brian Kendrick via Enzuigiri. I wasn't able to catch the early part of the match because of stream issues and a reboot of the stream on DGUSA's side. The stuff I did catch was pretty decent and was a good way to kick off the show. After the match, Chuck Taylor came out to cut a promo on Kendrick due to Kendrick's ill will towards the Gentlemen's Club. In a good promo, Taylor attacked Kendrick for being a waste of talent and ruining the opportunities he had been given. This all led us to the next match.
• Chuck Taylor Invitational: Anthony Nese def. Chuck Taylor, Shane Strickland, Fire Ant, Jigsaw, and Arik Cannon via 450 splash. The match got off to a bit of a slow start but hit it's stride quickly and was very entertaining. It wasn't much on story and psychology but delivered a lot of amazing spots.
• Singles Match: Scott Reed w/ Larry Dallas def. Derek Ryze via Smashmouth. There wasn't much to this match but at least it was short. After the match, Konley (Reed's partner in the Scene) came out and attacked both Reed and Dallas. I am happy with this development because the Scene are consistently the low point of any DGUSA's event.
• Singles Match: Trent? def. Jon Davis via disqualification. Davis worked over Trent? in a solid and methodical match that ended with Davis getting disqualified because of a series of headbutts. After the match, Davis took out both Trent? and the ref. He got on the mic and asked who the fans wanted to see him wrestle. They chanted for Superdragon and Davis responded that no one wanted to deal with Superdragon in the back. The fans then chanted for Hogan and Davis said he would, "Kick the shit out of him".
  
• Tag Team Match: EITA and Tomahawk T.T. (CIMA's secret weapon) def. the Super Smash Brothers via Nightride. This match was a great coming out party for Tomahawk and all parties involved put on a great show. They match was really entertaining and had a lot of great spots. Everything came together to show why tag team wrestling is excellent.
• Singles Match: Ricochet def. Akira Tozawa w/ Christina Von Eerie via 630. This match was simply amazing. It had great psychology, great story, and a lot of great action. This is a must see match and on any other night it could have easily been the match of the night.
• Singles Match: Uhaa Nation def. Sami Callihan via Uhaa Combination in his return to DGUSA. This match was an excellent demonstration of a power match. Both men worked a lot of great power spots and sold for each other like champs.
• Open the United Gate Championship Match: The Young Bucks def. CIMA and AR Fox (c) via More Bang for Your Buck to become the Open the United Gate Champions. The match is another must see match, especially if you are a fan of tag team wrestling. All of the men involved delivered outstanding performances and a lot of exciting spots. After some methodical work, the action became fast and furious all the way up to crazy finish.
• Open the Freedom Gate Championship Match: Johnny Gargano def. Shingo via Gargano Escape. The only thing that really needs to be said about this match is HOLY SHIT! This match exceeded my already extremely high expectations for it. Everything you could want in a professional wrestling match was present in this one- great spots, selling, psychology, and story. This is my front runner for Match of the Year as of right now. Yes, I think it was better than Punk-Cena from Raw earlier this year. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the match and there was a few moments where I thought the match was going to end. To top off all of the great action, the finish involved a well executed heel turn from Gargano. When it seemed like Shingo was about to end the match, Gargano hit him with a low blow and used a string to strangle Shingo with while putting in the Gargano Escape. After the match, Gargano cut his usual thanks for coming promo like nothing had happened. It was pretty great.

This is a must see card and I highly recommend you go buy the video-on-demand or pre-order the DVD immediately. This was an absolutely outstanding showing from Dragon Gate USA.
Grade: A+