MY PERSPECTIVE OF DGUSA’s DEBUT SHOW
- 07/30/2009 (6:37:26 pm)
- Gabe Sapolsky
…..
by Gabe Sapolsky
Now that I've had a few days for things to settle in after last Saturday's Dragon Gate USA debut I feel like writing a blog. I'm not going to write "thank you" a million times or hype up how great everything was since you've read this kind of stuff countless times. I spent the last two days on a mini-vacation (so if I haven't responded to your email, text or message please be patient) and now a few "moments" from Saturday stand out to me. I'll write about them now.
Just waking up on Saturday was a moment. Looking back, I have to admit that for my final year or two at my old job I would wake up with a pit in my stomach on show day. I would just want the show to be over. I would just want the weekend to be over. I would just want to go home. I would just want the editing process to be over. Last Saturday I woke up with a pit, but it was completely different. It was fueled by anticipation, excitement and the desire for everything to go smoothly. I wasn't even concerned with the card, I have a lot of different responsibilities now. The most important of which was making sure the 800 plus crowd got into the building and into their seats hassle free. I wanted this to be a comfortable, smoothly run night. Except for the heat (and there is nothing we can do about that) I believe we accomplished that goal.
I won't bore you with all the pre-show details. After documenting my activity constantly on Twitter last week (www.Twitter.com/DragonGateUSA) I realized that a lot of this stuff really isn't really that exciting. Let's get to the fun stuff. Here are the moments from "Open The Historic Gate" that I'll always remember:
-I stood by the hard camera as the opening video played. I found my fist uncontrollably pumping into the air like I was at a Slayer show. I look to my side and see that CIMA is doing the same. We celebrate the birth of this new promotion together. He's calling his wife on his cellphone in Japan so she can hear the crowd reaction. The atmosphere and enthusiasm of the fans is giving us an incredible high.
-The high quickly becomes extreme tension in less than a second's time. My chest literally tightens with fear as I see BxB Hulk's feet heading right towards Daizee Haze's head. Fortunately, he misses her by inches avoiding disaster. I have to say that if he connected, and it would have destroyed Haze, I would have taken it as a sign that I wasn't meant to do this anymore and I would have looked for another line of work on Monday. Haze and Kelly deserve lots of credit for nailing the dance routine and really adding to the beginning of the show.
-I settle in behind the big screen in the back to watch BxB Hulk and YAMATO start the promotion off right. Towards the finish Scorpio turns to me and says in a serious voice: "We have to follow that?"
I laugh back at him thinking he's joking. His stoic facial expression doesn't change. He's not. I tell Scorpio this is his house and his match will be fine. He and Doane deliver a good match. Scorpio is a pro all the way through. Doane was a pleasure to work with and brought a great attitude to the locker room. I wouldn't hesitate to book either again.
-I go back up to hard camera position to watch the CHIKARA eight man tag. CIMA and Susumu Yokosuka are standing a few feet in front of me. They start popping for the moves almost as much as the fans. CIMA loves Akuma's moonsault.
-The top rope rana spot in Dragon Kid vs. Yoshino is incredible and might be my favorite spot of the night.
-At intermission I decide to walk around the crowd and see what the vibe is like. It was so tremendous not just seeing a lot of faces from recent years, but so many former Club ECW members. I'm really having fun at this point.
-It was such a great feeling watching the crowd explode as The Young Bucks cement themselves as DGUSA stars by pinning CIMA and Yokosuka. In my personal opinion I have to give this match a slight edge as the best of the night. Then the Bucks nail the postmatch promo. I'm really looking forward to working with them in the future.
-I stop by the merch table to watch the main event. The slap on the turnbuckle and the sweat flying is my lasting memory of a great main event. You'll see what I mean.
As the final pinfall is made I look down at my watch and see it is 11:03. We started at 8:00 and took a 25 minute intermission. I'm thrilled with how the six match format worked.
After all this my favorite part of the night was the crowd. You were respectful of the wrestlers and each other, but still loud and enthusiastic. We promoted DGUSA as "OUR Wrestlng Haven" and you made it exactly that. The result was a night that no one in attendance from the wrestlers to the fans to the staff to me will ever forget. The best part is that this is only the beginning. See you in Chicago. I look forward to sweating through another suit then.
Just waking up on Saturday was a moment. Looking back, I have to admit that for my final year or two at my old job I would wake up with a pit in my stomach on show day. I would just want the show to be over. I would just want the weekend to be over. I would just want to go home. I would just want the editing process to be over. Last Saturday I woke up with a pit, but it was completely different. It was fueled by anticipation, excitement and the desire for everything to go smoothly. I wasn't even concerned with the card, I have a lot of different responsibilities now. The most important of which was making sure the 800 plus crowd got into the building and into their seats hassle free. I wanted this to be a comfortable, smoothly run night. Except for the heat (and there is nothing we can do about that) I believe we accomplished that goal.
I won't bore you with all the pre-show details. After documenting my activity constantly on Twitter last week (www.Twitter.com/DragonGateUSA) I realized that a lot of this stuff really isn't really that exciting. Let's get to the fun stuff. Here are the moments from "Open The Historic Gate" that I'll always remember:
-I stood by the hard camera as the opening video played. I found my fist uncontrollably pumping into the air like I was at a Slayer show. I look to my side and see that CIMA is doing the same. We celebrate the birth of this new promotion together. He's calling his wife on his cellphone in Japan so she can hear the crowd reaction. The atmosphere and enthusiasm of the fans is giving us an incredible high.
-The high quickly becomes extreme tension in less than a second's time. My chest literally tightens with fear as I see BxB Hulk's feet heading right towards Daizee Haze's head. Fortunately, he misses her by inches avoiding disaster. I have to say that if he connected, and it would have destroyed Haze, I would have taken it as a sign that I wasn't meant to do this anymore and I would have looked for another line of work on Monday. Haze and Kelly deserve lots of credit for nailing the dance routine and really adding to the beginning of the show.
-I settle in behind the big screen in the back to watch BxB Hulk and YAMATO start the promotion off right. Towards the finish Scorpio turns to me and says in a serious voice: "We have to follow that?"
I laugh back at him thinking he's joking. His stoic facial expression doesn't change. He's not. I tell Scorpio this is his house and his match will be fine. He and Doane deliver a good match. Scorpio is a pro all the way through. Doane was a pleasure to work with and brought a great attitude to the locker room. I wouldn't hesitate to book either again.
-I go back up to hard camera position to watch the CHIKARA eight man tag. CIMA and Susumu Yokosuka are standing a few feet in front of me. They start popping for the moves almost as much as the fans. CIMA loves Akuma's moonsault.
-The top rope rana spot in Dragon Kid vs. Yoshino is incredible and might be my favorite spot of the night.
-At intermission I decide to walk around the crowd and see what the vibe is like. It was so tremendous not just seeing a lot of faces from recent years, but so many former Club ECW members. I'm really having fun at this point.
-It was such a great feeling watching the crowd explode as The Young Bucks cement themselves as DGUSA stars by pinning CIMA and Yokosuka. In my personal opinion I have to give this match a slight edge as the best of the night. Then the Bucks nail the postmatch promo. I'm really looking forward to working with them in the future.
-I stop by the merch table to watch the main event. The slap on the turnbuckle and the sweat flying is my lasting memory of a great main event. You'll see what I mean.
As the final pinfall is made I look down at my watch and see it is 11:03. We started at 8:00 and took a 25 minute intermission. I'm thrilled with how the six match format worked.
After all this my favorite part of the night was the crowd. You were respectful of the wrestlers and each other, but still loud and enthusiastic. We promoted DGUSA as "OUR Wrestlng Haven" and you made it exactly that. The result was a night that no one in attendance from the wrestlers to the fans to the staff to me will ever forget. The best part is that this is only the beginning. See you in Chicago. I look forward to sweating through another suit then.
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