By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN'S DVD REVIEW SERIES
DGUSA "OPEN THE HISTORIC GATE"
JULY 25, 2009
THE ARENA
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

DGUSA's "Enter the Dragon" PPV will likely go down as my top choice for PPV. The show featured great matches up and down the card and showcased some of the best talent from the independent scene and the Dragon Gate promotion based out of Japan. DGUSA has released the "Enter the Dragon" PPV in an expanded deluxe edition as "Open the Historic Gate."

So the question many people might be asking is, "Why should I buy this show on DVD when I already saw the PPV?"

The answer is a resounding yes, as DGUSA has loaded up this DVD with an expanded edition of the "Enter the Dragon" PPV in this 2 disc set that is loaded with bonus features.

The first disc contains the entire "Open The Historic Gate" show that was taped in front of the crowd, angles that weren't included on PPV, and a great looking picture since it is the only material featured on the first disc. The second disc contains all of the bonus features.

So let's go over what's on the DVD set that you didn't get watching the PPV at home.

MATCHES

There are two matches included on this release that were filmed on the show, but did not appear on the "Enter the Dragon" PPV release. The Too Cold Scorpio vs. Kenn Doane match was the only one cut from the PPV that was filmed during the show. On this release, it's simply inserted in the place it appeared on the card.

I enjoyed the Scorpio-Doane match. It started out slow, but they built to a nice finish with Scorpio taking the win after nailing Doane with a moonsault legdrop off the top. The crowd was all over Doane here too and he got some good heat, but the match didn't fit in with the rest of the show, so it was a wise decision by DGUSA management to include it here as a bonus. On the DVD release, this match serves as a nice buffer between the red hot opener with BxB Hulk taking on Yamato and the CHIKARA 8 Man Tag match.

On the second disc, The Fray featuring Cheech, Cloudy, Johnny Gargano, Louis Lydon, Lince Dorado, Andy Harner, Aaron Arbo, and Chris Jones is included. This elimination match features the participants entering the ring every 3 minutes and doesn't end until there's only one wrestler left standing.

I really enjoyed the Fray once it got going after a slow start. The CHIKARA wrestlers featured in the match were fantastic. I especially enjoyed the parts of the match with Cheech and Cloudy working together. The last ten minutes of the match are really good and Johnny Gargano made a good impression despite not winning the match, which ultimately saw Lince Dorado take the win.

There are also two really good bonus matches. The first bonus match features BxB Hulk & Jack Evans & Yamato vs. Delirious & Jigsaw & Hallowicked from FIP's "Cage of Pain." The second match is insane and features BxB Hulk & Jushin Liger & Jack Evans & Matt Sydal vs. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino & Magnitude Kishiwada & Kevin Steen in front of a large crowd in Osaka, Japan.

EXPANDED ANGLES

Many of the angles taped in front of the live crowd were cut short in the PPV edit of this show, but they're all included on "Open the Historic Gate DVD. The entire Mike Quackenbush-Yamato confrontation is included in its entirety and features subtitles for Yamato's promo on Quackenbush. The CHIKARA post-match brawl, which was edited on the DVD is also expanded and makes a lot more sense here without the editing.

Too Cold Scorpio's speech after the Dragon Kid-Masato Yoshino match is included here and it's a nice touch as Scorpio puts over Kid and Yoshino's match as being part of the larger legacy of ECW many years ago when wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio wowed the crowd with their in-ring acrobatics and technical skill.

Finally, The Young Bucks cut a promo after their match declaring themselves as the tag team of right now and not the future after they defeated CIMA & Susumu Yokosuka. Matt Jackson's promo came across really well after the Young Bucks had just beat CIMA & Susumu Yokosuka in one of the best tag matches of 2009.

AUDIO OPTIONS

There is an option included to turn the commentary off for the "Open the Historic Gate" show and all of the bonus matches. I went back and watched the entire "Open the Historic Gate" show without commentary and the sound from the red hot crowd in Philadelphia was fantastic. It was almost like being at the show listening to the fans react to everything and I haven't heard many crowd hotter than the fans in Philadelphia for DGUSA's debut event back in July.

DELUXE PACKAGING

DGUSA put a lot of effort into making the packaging for this release appealing to fans. The packing simply looks fantastic with sharp photos on the front and back cover. The DVD opens up and the "Enter the Dragon" PPV poster is in the middle between the two DVDs. The pictures of Shingo and Naruki Doi that appear under each DVD look fantastic as well. This packaging is definitely something that will look fantastic when it is displayed prominently among your other wrestling DVDs.

Overall recommendation: (10.0) It just didn't get better than this show in 2009. This is my top choice for wrestling fans doing their holiday shopping. I loved the "Enter the Dragon" PPV and "Open the Historic Gate" is even better, as I feel this is a show that can be watched multiple times and it never gets old if you're a fan of this style of wrestling.

You can read my "Enter the Dragon" review by CLICKING HERE

You can purchase "Open the Historic Gate at DGUSA's ONLINE STORE If you didn't already buy this DVD, you can purchase "Open The Historic Gate" and "Open The Untouchable Gate" for just $35 for a limited time.

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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