The card is finally completed for the Open the Freedom Gate event on November 28th at the
Main Event #1
Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino vs. Shingo and Dragon Kid
This match should be a barnburner, and given what went down at the first two events, I'm thinking there'll be a lot of emotion and stiffness mixed in. It won't be an exhibition in MOVEZ~! and head dropping, which is what excites me most about it.
Open the Freedom Gate Title Tourney
I was a bit skeptical of the format when it was announced, but the matches announced thus far look really, really intriguting. Here they are:
Brian Kendrick vs. BxB Hulk
Very good high-energy bout. I'm thinking this should be the proper show opener, although I'm thinking they'll really open with one of the multi-man matches, like...
Johnny Gargano vs. Matt Jackson vs. Nick Jackson vs. Jigsaw vs. Gran Akuma vs. Lince Dorado
This will most likely open, and I think it'll be a dazzling spotfest. I'm looking forward to seeing Gargano, who is really big in the Midwest and about whom I've heard plenty of good things. The others in the match all have solid pedigrees.
Mike Quackenbush vs. CIMA vs. Super Crazy vs. Jorge "Skayde" Rivera
Holy Lucha Libre, Batman! This could steal the show, as long as Super Crazy isn't blown up and Quack is fully recovered from his bad back that's hampered him all year long.
YAMATO vs. Davey Richards
It's a bit odd that they'd pair up two of the biggest heels from the first two shows in one of the matches. I was kinda hoping for a Richards/Doi or YAMATO/Quack for a tourney match for sense-making purposes, but I have no doubts about the quality here.
The second part of the main is the four-way elimination match for the belt itself. The only match I really think is easy to call is Richards going over YAMATO. I really think they're going to strap DR here, and I don't blame them. He's hot property right now. If I were a betting man, I'd say that we're going to see DR, CIMA, Kendrick and Akuma in the finals with DR pinning CIMA to take the title.
Golden Circle/VIP Bonus Match
Eddie Kingston vs. Hallowicked
This could be fun, but alas, I won't be able to see it.
The card looks stacked on paper. With how good the first show was and the rave reviews the Chicago show is getting (I'm gonna try to catch it on PPV this week), there's no reason to believe that this won't deliver.
One final note, Gabe Sapolsky and Richards are getting behind a new promotion called EVOLVE, which is still in the developmental stages. The Site That Shall Not Be Linked has the story. This is interesting since DR is a big player in ROH, and ROH and DGUSA/Sapolsky are rivals in the indie world right now. EVOLVE will be set to compete with ROH directly as it'll be based in the Northeast. I wonder what this'll mean for Richards going forward.
