DGUSA show, dgusa=ecw?, Nicks Bday. Schedule

Nick and I were at LAX International Airport on route to Tokyo, Japan when I received an email on my BlackBerry (which I'm typing on currently) from Dragon Gate's American booker OJI, who works out of Houston, Texas. He told us the plans to run a company that will hold events every two months in the states, and wanted to see if we would be interested. He already had a date and building, July 25th at the famous building originally known as the ECW Arena in Philadelphia. Of course we were thrilled.

A few days later, Dragon Gate announced this new company known as Dragon Gate USA to the public. Nick and I nearly walked into the press conference that was taking place that day at the Korakuen Hall. We were coming from downstairs where the locker room is located and noticed how quiet the area where the ring is. We loudly made our way towards this area and then saw Cima, Yoshino, Doi and most of the Dragon Gate office sitting at a long table. Several members of the media stood in front of the boys with flashing cameras. Without hesitation, Nick and I hurried back downstairs because we didn't want to interrupt. We soon realized that this new company might be a big deal when DGUSA was all over the next weekly wrestling magazine. Eventually Gabe Sapolsky who was appointed Vice President, sent us an e-mail saying he was excited to work with us and came across as a very genuine human being. Nick and I had always dreamt of one day working with Gabe, as we are long time ROH followers. The debut show was scheduled, but was over three months away. Nick and I were SO anxious to say the least. We didn't want to wait THAT long!

July 25th would finally come. Most of the crew hung in the back right before showtime. I stood by one of my true best friends in this business, Doi, my brother Nick and the awesome heel, Yamato. We all looked up at the big screen and watched along with the fans (little did they know), as a countdown occured. As the number got lower, the roars got louder and the anticipation grew stronger amongst the fans in attendance, along with all of the boys in the back. The number would eventually reach 3, than 2 and finally 1... Then the place erupted! I don't think I've ever heard anything like it. Excitedly, Doi grabbed me by my shoulders and started to shake me. He looked at me with big eyes, a smile from ear to ear and said, "Matt! You hear!?" I responded, "Hei! Crazy crowd!" I looked around, and the rest of the boys were sharing the same enthusiasm.

In 2001, I was a 16 year old kid who wanted to be a professional wrestler one day. I was so very disappointed that very year when Extreme Championship Wrestling had just closed down. I used to watch and be mesmerized by how loud, excited and passionate ECW's fans were. These people truly loved professional wrestling and knew what good wrestling was. I was bummed because I knew my chance of working in front of a crowd like that, in an environment like that, were pretty slim - either way, it wouldn't be ECW.

Working for Paul Heyman's assistant in the very building they ran, in front of many of the same fans: It doesn't get much closer. Although DGUSA is much different that ECW in many ways, it's also very similar. DGUSA had an ECW-like crowd. A crowd that knows what they like. A crowd that knows what they want: Good wrestling. And I believe Gabe when he states that DGUSA is "your wrestling haven." Dragon Gate has produced what I believe to be the greatest wrestlers in the world. Bringing Dragon Gate up close and personal to America along with a mixture of the top independent wrestlers in this country is ground breaking. The Young Buck's are fully behind this new company.

All in all the experience was tremendous. The show was awesome, the fans were hot, and the boys had a wonderful time. It was so great to see the Dragon Gate guys and to grab dinner afterward. Cima is an absolute animal, ordering more food than anyone. "Everytime I come to America, 5 extra pounds!" Lol.

Oh and one more thing. People have to realize that the boys are the biggest fans of them all. We ACTUALLY liked wrestling so much, we decided to get into the business! The only difference between us and you is, we watch the show from the back while we stand in our tights.

Nick said that our match against Susumu and Cima was our best of the year. We were both very proud of our performance and will be holding a DGUSA ppv party on September 4th when its released on demand! Lol. Speaking of Nick, today is his birthday so wish him a happy one! www.myspace.com/hrwslick

Dana (who I fall in love with a little more every day) and I will be heading up the hill to celebrate his 20th birthday with him and the family later tonight. In my opinion Nick is the best 20 year old wrestler on the planet. It's just crazy to think of all that he has accomplished at such a young age.

We will return to Philadelphia at The Arena on August 14th and 15th for ROH on HDNet television tapings that we are very excited for. Working for ROH has been incredible so far and we are only 6 matches deep thus far! Other then those August dates that I just talked about, we'll also be appearing for ROH on September 18th in Ohio, September 19th in Illinois, September 25th in Boston and September 26th in New York City. Check www.rohwrestling.com for more info!

We'll also be appearing in Chicago for AAW on September 5th and then DGUSA "Open The Untouchable Gate" will be held the following day in Chicago as well. Please check www.dgusa.tv for more info!

And tweet me @mattjackson13 !

-Matt Buck

The Tale of the Haunted Smoke Detector.

One night at our apartment, Dana and I had a terrible time trying to get a good nights rest. Why? Because of a certain beeping or chirping noise that came about through the apartment every 30 seconds or so. I honestly had no clue what this sound was coming from until morning came and Dana figured it out. I remember thinking during the night that maybe it was a cricket that snuck into the apartment or even a bird that was near the window or something. The noise is SO distracting, it's sure to keep even the best of sleepers awake with their eyes wide open. After Danas discovery that the chirping was coming from the smoke detector because of a low battery, we took the battery out and the problem was solved. After talking to the people in the leasing office, they assured us that they'd replace the old battery with a new one as soon as possible. Of course "as soon as possible" took longer than they said it would, but eventually we would come home to a fully fuctional chirpless smoke detector and slept like babies on that particular night!

A few days later, Dana and I packed our bags. We we're headed to Vegas! For those who don't know us, we work very hard and have been looking forward to a vacation SO bad. We cruised on over to Las Vegas without even stopping once. Dana who was driving, was on a mission. Three hours later (which is usually four), we walked into a gorgeous room at Homewood Suites. We both gave our selves our own tour and were shouting out lines to each other from across the suite about the cool features. "Check out the flat-screen babe!" "Look at the view!" "The bed is huge!" "Lovin' the kitchen!" I was the one talking about the view and the one talking about the kitchen by the way.

We then grabbed a bite to eat at Chipotle (my new favorite place to dine), saw the town a little bit and decided to go back to the room and crash. All in all, we were just happy to get away. It's so nice to spend some quality time together. Our heads hit the pillow and we are soon off to Snooze-Ville, Population: Dana and Matt... Until, Dana and I are woken by a familiar noise coming from above. At first, we were both in denial. We both layed there in the dark on our backs, with our eyes wide open. I remember thinking, "I'm just hearing something. Afterall, we're in Vegas! City that never sleeps, right!? Someone or something outside made that noise!" As soon as I thought that last thought, another annoying chirp happened, turning my optimism into disbelief. Dana quickly turned to me and said, "are you joking me?" A few minutes later I found my self in my boxers, on top of a table, on my tip-toes trying to reach for the smoke detector which obviously had a low battery that needed to be changed. After a few minutes of being involved in a balancing act that would make many circus performers proud and scaring Dana almost to death, I grabbed onto the smoke detector with a strong grip. With my tongue out (helps me concentrate like Michael Jordan), I turned the top off. And then the fire alarm went off! I scrambled to put the lid back on and saw Dana jump across the giant bed to get to the phone to probably call front desk. Within a few seconds, I had the lid back on and the alarm turned off. "Phewww... hopefully we didn't wake anyone up," I thought to my self. It was well passed 3 in the morning at this point. Dana put the phone down and was now a little more at ease. Then another chirp rang throughout the room. "Ugh! please call front desk! They need to send maintenance up here to fix this!" Said Dana as she picked the phone back up and handed it to me. I explained the problem to some guy down stairs but of course he said that the maintenance guy wouldn't be back at the hotel for a half hour. Dana and I waited, and waited and waited. We sat in silence as more than a half hour passed and the chirping continued. So much for "getting away," and "getting rest," we thought to our selves. More than an hour passed, so we called back and demanded a new room. This was getting ridiculous. In a hurry, we grabbed our bags and headed to the front, where a new key was waiting for us. Eventually, we found our selves in a different room, back in bed, but without the chirping noise! I looked at the clock and it was 5:30am. "Okay, it's late, but time to get a little sleep at least." I then remembered that I left my cell phone charger in the old room and almost shed a tear. I sat up in bed and told Dana the unfortunate news. I ran to the front, grabbed the old key from the guy working the desk, ran to the old room, grabbed my charger, ran back to the front desk with the old key, and finally back to the new room with my charger in hand. I jumped into bed red faced but excited nevertheless, to finally get a couple hours of silence. Dana and I slept for a 3 hours in peace until it was time to get our day started.

After drinking some coffee from Dunkin' Donuts (my favorite coffee on planet Earth) and walking around the Mall, Dana and I grabbed a shuttle to the airport. We had a flight to catch going to Montana only 2 hours away! Or so we thought.. After standing in line to check in our bags, we heard that a few unlucky strangers standing next to us just had their flights canceled. "What a bummer!" I thought to my self." "What would we do if that happened to us?" I said to Dana. After cruising through security, we were feeling a little better about our trip, both of us kind of anxious to go see our nieces! Then we looked at the departing monitor and saw that our flight was delayed two hours. "Ugh! Two hours!? Lame!" I thought. Dana and I both agreed that it could have been worse though. Afterall, those guys behind us just found out that their flight was canceled all together. We headed to our gate to confirm with our airlines that our flight was indeed delayed by a couple of hours. Turns out, our flight wasn't delayed by two hours. It was delayed by 4 hrs and 45 minutes. Great. Now, we're going to have to spend the entire day at the airport. Dana and I were soon in way less of a hurry as we walked in slow motion around the terminals trying to kill time. We spent our $8 dollar food vouchers within minutes of receiving them and had plenty of time to kill. Hours passed as we sat patiently, both feeling groggy from the little sleep on the night before. Finally around 9:00pm we were on a plane and headed to Montana. We arrived a little after midnight and did the 15 minute drive to Danas sisters empty (only for the night) house. Dana and I entered the house, turned the lights on, put our bags down and both breathed a huge sigh of relief. It felt good to FINALLY be here! Our vacation is about to begin. Danas nieces will be dropped off first thing in the morning. Awesome! But then I heard something. A noise that had been haunting Dana and I for the last several days. I thought to my self, "okay, this time I'm definitely hearing things." But then, I heard it again. "NO freaken WAY!" I said to a big eyed Dana who also heard the chirp. We both sprinted around the home, looking for a beeping smoke alarm but couldn't find anything. Finally, we opened the door to the guest room. The very room we would be sleeping in. Sure enough, as soon as that door swung wide open, we heard a chirp. Dana pointed up at the ceiling and spotted the faulty smoke alarm. What are the chances of this?! I grabbed a chair from the kitchen and ran it back into the guest room, peeling off the lid and agreesively taking out the old battery, tossing it onto the floor. But, like in any good horror movie, the monster would not die! It kept chirping away! I was now pissed. Dana and I began a wide spread search throughout the entire home for a new battery. Dana and I attacked every drawer and sight. I'd open one up, find nothing, hear a chirp in the background and slam the door out of anger. We were dead-set on not letting this evil piece of equipment ruin one more night of sleep! Finally, like spotting gold in a tray, I opened up a drawer with one single battery left and screamed the simple word, "Yes!" Dana snatched the battery from the drawer and sprinted it back into the guest room. She climbed the chair and stuffed the battery into the smoke detector like it was a bottle being fed to a crying baby. And... The chirping STOPPED! Miracoulously, it was all over. We had finally defeated the evil smoke detector!

Needless to say, Dana and I slept great that night. But the next night we were woken up several times by a crying baby.

Matt

Matt
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