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Dragon Gate USA Mercury Rising: Open the Ultimate Gate 2011 PPV
Johnny Gargano vs. Jimmy Rave.
They did some nice back and forth wrestling early on. Gargano, on the apron, speared Rave through the ropes. He scissored Rave in the corner and nailed a series of elbows. Rave charged him but Gargano faked him out and Rave went to the floor. Gargano hit a nice tope and turned it into a DDT. They battled on the apron where Rave nailed him with a Uranage on the mat. Rave is really motivated.
Rave nailed a snap superplex off the top. Rave went for the shining wizard but Gargano ducked. Rave nailed a headscissors into a Crippler Crossface but Gargano fought out of it. They charged each other with clotheslines. Good stuff.
Gargano finally locked in the Gargano Lock for the submission after a great back and forth sequence.
Your winner, Johnny Gargano!
Really strong opener and probably the best Rave PPV match ever. Nice pace and some good sequences.
Six Way Freestyle: AR Fox vs. Arik Cannon vs. Silas Young vs. Lince Dorado vs. Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan
Cannon and Dorado started out. Dorado hit a springboard into an armdrag. Cannon caught him with a kick but Dorado turned it into a rana. Swann and Young tagged in and went back and forth with chops. Swann was caught in an exploder. Young picked him up for a slam and dropped him into a kick. Fox tagged in and had a hot sequence until being kicked by a Cannon superkick.
Dorado hit a springboard moonsault for a two count on Young then nailed a dropkick in the corner. Fox hit a nice frog splash. Dorado cut him off on the ropes for a superplex but was caught with a Russian leg sweep off the ropes. They had an incredible dive sequence culminating into a 450 springboard splash by Swann and a twisting dive off the ropes.
This left Callihan and Cannon going face to face and back to back. Swann got involved and they drilled him with a series of moves. They continued doubling up on Young. They then looked at each other and said the hell with it and walked out on the match, So we are left with four.
Dorado hit a flipping piledriver on Swann. He went for a shooting star legdrop but missed. Swann superkicked him and hit his leaping 450 splash for the pin.
Your winner, Rich Swann!
Total insanity with some awesome dives. AR Fox is one to watch, trust me.
They introduce Stalker Ichikawa. CIMA came out with the Blood Warriors and told him that if you want a fight, you can face Brodie Lee.
Stalker Ichikawa vs. Brodie Lee
Stalker tried to chop away at big Lee but there was no effect. Lee shoulderblocked him and he nearly flew out on the ring. Stalker tried to German suplex Lee and he was drilled. Lee hit him with the runng boot and killed him. All comedy.
Your winner, Brodie Lee!
The Blood Warriors continued beating Ichikawa, joking that a bug landed on him, so Lee “kicked it off” with a Lee boot to the head. This brought out Ronin with Swann rapping their theme song. Lee grabbed the mic and said that he came for a fight and Stalker didn't get the job done, so he said let's fight now.
Brodie Lee vs. Chuck Taylor
Lee went for a powerbomb but it was turned into a rana. Taylor hit a dive to the outside. Lee caught him with a superkick. Lee took him to the outside and continued the beating. He set up Taylor against the ringpost and chopped him. He went for another but Taylor moved. Lee cut off Taylor and rolled him into the ring.
Lee continued beating on Taylor and scored a two count. Taylor came back with a kick to the head, a missile dropkick and a swinging DDT for a two count. Lee nailed the Black Hole Slam but Taylor kicked up. Lee nailed him with the running boot in the corner.
Lee drilled Taylor with a big back suplex for another two count, so the story is that Taylor has a lot of resiliency. Lee went for a powerbomb but Taylor slipped out and drilled him with his knees to the jaw. Taylor hit a quebrada for a two count.
Taylor went to the top but was cut off and nailed with a butterfly suplex by Lee. Lee drilled him with a big boot and a sitdown powerbomb for the pin.
Your winner, Brodie Lee!
Good stuff here. Taylor showed some fighting spirit while Lee showed his prowess as a monster. He’s extremely underrated as a performer.
CIMA ripped on Ronin and called out the Tag champions.
CIMA & Naruki Doi vs. Open the United Gate champions Masato Yoshino & Pac
Some great back and forth tag wrestling here early. CIMA and Doi began beating on the champs, including a spot where they dropkicked Pac's head into Yoshino's midsection. Doi nailed a sick dropkick to Pac, who was against the ropes.
The kept working on Pac with double team moves. He finally made the hot tag to Yoshino, who went back and forth witb CIMA. Yoshino nailed a Tarantula like move, hanging outside the ring. Yoshino then charged down the aisle towards the ring, hitting a big leaping kick to the head.
CIMA and Doi doubled on Yoshino, who came back to hit a big dive outside. Pac nailed a slingshot into a cutter for a two count. Pac tried to avoid Doi but was dropkicked facefirst into the corner. CIMA dropkicked Pac off the apron. He went for a dive but saw Yoshino coming. He turned to face him but was caught in the Octopus.
CIMA caught Yoshino with a dropkick as he rebounded off the ropes. He hit a sick looking double stomp out of the corner but Yoshinio kicked up. Yoshino came back to nail a DDT for a two count.
Yoshino and CIMA battled on the ropes. The two sides went back and forth with lots of cool stuff I couldn't even begin to recap. The improvement in Pac's work from the last time I saw him work live is incredible. CIMA and Doi tied the champs to the tree of woe and then CIMA nailed a cannonball into the corner at the same time Doi nailed a Van Terminator. Incredible.
Yoshino caught Doi in a submission. CIMA tried to make the save but Pac held him down. Doi tried to fight it out but finally faded and tapped.
Your winners and still Open the United Gate champions Masato Yoshino & Pac!
Excellent, tag team match performed as lightspeed. Some of the doubleteam and synchronized tag spots were out of this world.
They aired a history package on Moxley and Tozawa.
Jon Moxley and Trina Michaels came out with YAMATO. Moxley told Tozawa if he can beat him first in a No DQ, Moxley will make his match against YAMATO for the belt. Michaels and Moxley attacked Tozawa. Tozawa came back and hit a dive to the outside. They brawled into the crowd. Moxley tossed a few chairs from the crowd into the ring.
Back in the ring, Tozawa set up Moxley in a chair and kicked him in the face. Michaels got in the ring and slapped him several times. Moxley came back with a suplex but Tozawa nailed a German suplex into the corner where the chairs were set up. He then nailed another German and scored the pin, so it's a title match. Reby Sky hit the ring and had a catfight with Michaels, laying her out. So, it’s for the belt!
Open the Freedom Gate champion YAMATO vs. Akira Tozawa
They had a nice feeling out process. They exchanged shoulderblocks. Tozawa caught YAMATO with a deep armdrag takedown. They exchanged chops in the ring. Tozawa got the better of the exchange and nailed a back senton suplex for a two count.
YAMATO cut him with a rake of the face. Tozawa fired back with chops and YAMATO responded in kind. YAMATO cut him off with a tilowhirl backbreaker. YAMATO locked in the Camel Clutch. YAMATO continued to control him in the corner with punches and stiff shots. He measured YAMATO and drilled him with a backbreaker.
YAMATO measured him and nailed him with a suplex. YAMATO continued to work over Tozawa's back. Tozawa finally mounted a comeback with a series of leg lariats, followed by a pair of series of suicide dives out of the ring then a flip dive off the apron. Awesome stuff.
YAMATO cut him off after several minutes with a one legged Boston crab. Tozawa fought to get to the ropes. YAMATO began kicking him the back of the head but Tozawa pulled himself up and steeled himself against YAMATO's offense. They began battling back and forth.
YAMATO drilled Tozawa with a kick but he kept fighting unduaunted with series of kicks and several suplexes. He covered YAMATO for a two count. Tozawa hit a huge running kick to the face. He superplexed YAMATO off the top. He covered YAMATO again for a two count. Great match.
Tozawa went for a German suplex but YAMATO held onto the ropes. Tozawa kicked him in the head and nailed the suplex. YAMATO fired back and began exchanging strikes. Tozawa nailed a rana and a shining wizard.
The competitors, exhausted, made their way to their knees and then their feet, exchanging forearms. Tozawa got the better of the exchange and nailed a big runng kick in the face followed by a German suplex. He went for another but YAMATO fought free. Tozawa nailed it for aother two count.
Tozawa went for another but was hit with a forward rolling cradle for a two count. YAMATO locked on a choke sleeper into a suplex, then a kick and a brainbuster for a two count. YAMATO nailed a Snowplow but Tozawa kicked out at one, showing his fire. YAMATO finally nailed an inverted DDT for the pin.
SUPER MAIN EVENT. Tozawa is balls to the walls awesome.
A very good show, topped by two awesome matches on top. If you like this style, you’ll enjoy the hell out of this show. The top matches will be what makes the show memorable but the underneath matches are all a collection of very strong matches with good performances. You can see a lot of talents that are just about to break out who will be making waves in the next few years. One day, we’ll be tracing them back to this show. Absolutely a recommended PPV purchase.
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