There appeared very much to be 500, give or take, in attendance packing the recreational center of John Anson Ford Park in Bell Gardens, California for the historic first Dragon Gate show to be held in the United States.  So we're talking BoLA heat in the building.  Virually every other seat had someone fanning themselves with either one of the Dragon Gate fans they bought at the merchandise table or making one out of the PWG flyers placed on their seats.

The show opened roughly ten minutes before 8pm with an exhibition triple-threat match courtesy of WPW.

0. Dragon Gate Invitation Match
Amazing Junior vs. Infernal vs. Lil' Cholo
The idea is that the winner could earn a future tour in Dragon Gate.  Nice little lucha-style match that had all three get some time to showcase their stuff.  Most of the fans were more familiar with Cholo than the others and were clearly behind him, though some of the aerials Junior did earned him some cheers.  One scary moment saw Cholo attempt a dive on the others on the floor, but did a bad rotation which nearly caused him to get clotheslined by the neck on the top rope.  The match itself was still fun nonetheless with Cholo getting the finish after nailing Junior with an interesting lucha driver that's kind of hard to describe.
Winner: Lil' Cholo

We are treated to the audio opening for the Dragon Gate show, similar to those heard during pay-per-views only this one was spoken in English.  After "DRAGON STORM 2007" was played, Dragon Gate ring announcer Naoto Kikuchi and resident Southern California wrestling ring announcer Jon Ian welcomed everyone to the show and ran down the card.  Naoto would speak normally in Japanese then Jon would translate.  They confirmed that Vampiro, who was replacing Dos Caras on the card, was indeed out.  They said it was due to unforseen circumstances.  What was funny was that when this was mentioned there was a big cheer.  They announced his replacement was another old name in lucha libre Kendo.  It was time to kick off the show.

1. Opening Match
El Generico vs. Genki Horiguchi
Generico was wearing his Tozawa-juku gear.  Genki was seconded by his Real Hazard unit parters Gamma, YAMATO and Yasushi Kanda.  Their presence was clearly felt during the match as when Generico was dominating the three would pull something to get the momentum swinging over to Genki.  Pretty good match to officially start the show and set the pace for what was to come.  Generico got the victory after nailing a Yakuza Kick and followed up with a Cradle Brainbuster.
Winner: El Generico

After the match, the rest of Real Hazard jumped in to beat down Generico until the WORLD-1 music played, prompting BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi to rush in and make the save.  Doi and Gamma then engaged in a verbal battle, beginning in Japanese.  Doi then demanded Gamma, "Speak English!"  Gamma refused, but finally told him in English that WORLD-1 would lose.  Doi got the crowd going with chants of "You go home!" at Gamma.  By this point, Gamma was generating so much natural heat he was just being as awesome of a heel as ever.  Once Real Hazard disappeared into the back, Doi welcomed everyone to Dragon Gate and told them to have a good time.

Before the start of the next match, Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa came out and introduced himself to the fans in English.  He noted that while Necro Butcher was a dangerous wrestler, he was going to show everyone that he was more dangerous.  This match already ruled even before it began.

2. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa Bosou 10 Match Series No. 5 - Dangerous Comedy Match
Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa vs. Necro Butcher
I should note that Naoto would do his normal announcements in Japanese.  When he was done introducing a wrestler or team, Jon would then make the same announcement in English.  So essentially guys were getting two sets of cheers.  Any way, the match began with Stalker slapping Necro across the face.  So Necro knocked him out with a punch in the face.  Put his foot on Stalker's chest and scored the pinfall.  Eighteen seconds!  It was brilliant.
Winner: Necro Butcher

Just was Necro was making his way to the back, Stalker got on the microphone and demanded an immediate rematch.  The fans were chantting for the match to be restart so Necro threw his hands in the air and jumped back in the ring to start again.

2b. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa Bosou 10 Match Series No. 5 - Dangerous Comedy Match
Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa vs. Necro Butcher
Stalker slapped Necro across the face again and this time ducked the punch.  Stalker attempted the Kanchou, which only confused and irritated Necro at first.  After a back an forth series of Stalker trying to complete a Kanchou that would harm Necro and Necro hitting Stalker about, Stalker finally managed a leaping Kanchou that caused Necro pain.  Nothing short of brilliant.  From here on was comedy wrestling of the finest, managing to even eclipse Necro vs. Kikutaro from last month.  The finish saw Necro put Stalker away with the Tiger Bomb on a pile of chairs for the win.  This match was a thing of beauty.
Winner: Necro Butcher

3. Special Attraction Tag Team Match
Dragon Kid and Kendo vs. Tozawa-juku of Keni'chiro Arai and Taku Iwasa
So according to Luchawiki, Kendo was a lucha wrestler from the seventies, eighties and nineties who had quite a confusing career in both Mexico and Japan.  About the best I could do at the moment.  Much of the action centered around Arai and Iwasa double teaming on Dragon Kid since Kendo apparently blew up rather quick at the start, though it might've been a combination of that and the heat in the building.  Essentially from then on Kendo moved real slow, forcing Dragon Kid to take the brunt of the action.  Seeing the double team moves Arai and Iwasa perform was awesome and it earned a lot of cheers and applauds from the fans.  The finish saw Dragon Kid and Kendo mount a comeback, with Kendo actually digging deep to perform a suicide plancha onto Iwasa on the floor.  One really cool spot was Iwasa and Arai attempting to do a move in the corner until Kendo stopped them and had Arai perched on Iwasa's shoulders, who was already sitting on the top turnbuckle, for Dragon Kid to leap up and hit Arai with a super hurricanrana.  Dragon Kid later scored the win pinning Arai with the Ultra Hurricanrana.  Alright match for what it was.
Winners: Dragon Kid and Kendo.

After the match, Genki suddenly hit the ring and jumped Kendo.  Then a man wearing the Dos Caras mask rushed in to make the save.  It was obvious who was under the mask when he nailed a superkick and followed with the Schwein.  With Genki laid out, he took off his mask and sure enough it was CIMA.  This told me that he was getting closer to being ready to go to return to the ring after being on the shelf for so long with the bad neck.  CIMA got on the microphone to give his thanks to everyone for coming and telling them to continue to enjoy the show.

4. PAC vs. Shingo Takagi
This match was booked weeks ago.  Just over the weekend, Shingo joined the Typhoon unit which PAC is a part of.  They played out the match like Shingo was not yet officially representing the unit.  Let me just say that PAC had an absolute fantastic week in his return to Southern California.  He had two great nights for PWG over the weekend and now he was in an awesome match with Shingo for the Dragon Gate show.  How awesome was the match?  It was the only match of the night to elicit the "This is awesome!" chants from the fans.  Both men really went out there and showed their stuff from start to finish in such fast paced, high impact manner that the fans were jumping to their feet at every pin attempt.  Shingo finally got the win after nailing PAC with the Made in Japan.  Both were giving a well deserved standing ovation.  It truly was a fantastic match.
Winner: Shingo Takagi

Intermission took place for a brief period.  It was at this point that those who bought the T-shirt designed specifically for the tour by FMW superstar Hayabusa would get to have their picture taken with him.  Hayabusa was also selling silver jewelry he himself designed.  A very pleasant man to meet.  He was joined at the merchandise table by CIMA, Arai, Iwasa and Shingo while Dragon Kid appeared at the table for one of the tour sponsors.

5. Open The Twin Gate Championship
Typhoon of Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka © vs. The Young Bucks of Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson
The Young Bucks made a big splash in their last Dragon Gate tour, making an impressive run during the Summer Adventure Tag League.  Over the weekend, they made a successful return to PWG with a great showing on night one and winning the PWG World Tag Team Championship on night two.  Now they had a shot at adding another pair of titles to their waists.  The match itself was very good with both teams showing off their stuff in high fashion.  The Bucks were certainly giving the champions a run for their money, but Saito and Yokosuka showed in dominating fashion why they had the belts in the first place.  One of the big moves was Saito hitting Matt with a fisherman's suplex off the top.  After a series of back and forth action, Saito got the win after nailing Matt with the Premium Bridge to retain the belts.  Just a great match from start to finish.
Winners: Typhoon, STILL Champions

The announcers take a moment to put over the appearance of Hayabusa, who was cheered and applauded by the fans.  I should note that there were points in the last few matches where he managed to stand on his legs while holding crutches so that he could get a better view.  He's still a ways away from ever walking again and needed assistance to stand, but the man was as tough as they came.  All the more wonderful it was to meet him.

6. Open The Triangle Gate Championship
Real Hazard of Gamma, YAMATO and Yasushi Kanda © vs. WORLD-1 of BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi
BxB Hulk's entrance was grand, but he was missing the girls!  Oh well.  It should be noted that the Young Bucks came out to second WORLD-1 and were wearing their shirts, telling me that they are apparently the gaijin members of the group.  The match played up the dislike the two units had for one another while at the same time just being wonderfully crafted.  Gamma was the star of the match, just really heeling it up like no one else could.  His disgusting spit attacks really got him over as the man everyone loved to hate.  I managed to yell out to him "You're a sick man, Gamma!" and he replied something in Japanese.  Other times, he was on the receiving end of "You sick ****!" chants.  The action went back and forth with kendo sticks, the plastic box and powered rice added to intensify the drama of a potential pinfall success.  Finish came when Gamma took out Hulk with a sick Nadreshiki Tombstone Piledriver from the top rope, scoring the win and retaining the belts.  Fans were not happy Real Hazard won.  Aside, just a fantastic match overall.
Winners: Real Hazard, STILL Champions

Doi tried to convince Gamma into having a one-on-one match right then and there.  Gamma, instead, tried to attack everyone with his kendo stick only to be fought off by Doi and eventually ran off with the rest of Real Hazard into the back.  Doi then thanked the fans for attending the show and made note that they will be looking to run return show next year.  At the end, virtually the entire roster minus Real Hazard came into the ring for one big group picture.  From there, they all migrated to the merchandise table to sell off the remaining goodies, sign autographs, and take pictues.

This show was an overwhelming success.  An awesome singles match, an excellent main event, a really great tag title match and some good to decent undercard matches really made for just an incredible evening of wrestling.  Fast pace and high impact from start to finish, Dragon Gate had really set their mark on those in attendance.  And the whole experience of watching wrestling and meeting the wrestlers made for just a fantastic night.  Can't wait for their return next year.

It's official.  Mick Foley will be replacing Jonathan Coachman as a member of the SmackDown announce team beginning tonight at Backlash.  This can only mean nothing but fantastic news.  Granted, Foley is not an announcing genius like Jim Ross, he's still tons of fun better than The Coach.  And that's about as nice as I'm going to be when regarding The Coach's commentary skills.  Almost as bad and annoying as Don West, really.  I refuse to talk about the horror that is Mike Adamle's commentary at the moment.

Now, on to brighter things.  Mick Foley announcing SmackDown with Michael Cole.  Cole isn't perfect, I know.  He's acceptable, in my opinion.  Could be better, but has been worse in the past.  Cole generally knows what to do and how to get by.  When paired with great announcers, it's obvious who is the weaker man on commentary.  When paired with the right announcers, he and his partner can help further enhance a great match with good commentary.  Which was why he and Tazz did so well during those years they announced SmackDown together.  It also helped that they got to announce some top notch matches during the period Paul Heyman was booking, but Cole was able to hang in there.

Cole and Coach was just a bad combination.  Coach did not compliment Cole very well and the two ended up making SmackDown hard to watch because we had to deal with their commentary.  My hope is that Foley doesn't end up doing the same.  Though Foley is a much better person to listen to than Coach, even if he's hardly the ideal commentator in wrestling.  As long as Cole and Foley compliment one another when they announce, this will prove to be a good enough partnership that will at least bring Cole near the level he was at with Tazz.

Dave Meltzer has reported that Elevera Anoai Fatu passed away on Friday after a seven-year battle with cancer.  Elevera was the mother of past and present WWE superstars Ed Fatu (Umanga), Solofa Fatu (Rikishi) and Sam Fatu (Tonga Kid).  She was also the sister of the original Headshrinkers Afa and Sika.  Georgiann Makropolous added that the funeral will take place a week after Sunday in Las Vegas.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Fatu family.

What happens when Y2J meets one of the top independent wrestlers in the country? Especially when the latter speaks rather... articulately.