From The Shelf- Dragon Gate Dead or Alive 2010

Dragon Gate Dead or Alive 2010
5-5-2010
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

WARRIORS and World-1 come out and have a face to face confrontation to hype up tonight’s Dead or Alive elimination match. They hold a lottery to decide who will have the advantage during the match, and World-1 wins the lottery. I don’t know why this went so long.

Takuya Tomakomai vs. Super Shisa
Both men look for control early and Shisa grabs a cravat. Tomakomai fights out and they battle on the mat for control. Shisa catches Tomakomai in the half crab but he makes the ropes to break. Uppercuts by Shisa but Tomakomai fights back with chops. Running chop in the corner by Tomakomai and he hits a slam for 2. Arm drag by Shisa and he grabs a cross arm breaker. He makes the ropes to break so Shisa hits a butterfly suplex for 2. Suplex by Tomakomai gets 2. Atomic drop by Tomakomai and he hits a flying head butt for 2. Shisa escapes a slam attempt and catches Tomakomai with a dropkick. Piledriver by Shisa gets 2. Camel clutch by Shisa and Tomakomai taps.
Winner- Super Shisa ** ( Tomakomai made his pro debut just a few months early so this match was just there to give him a chance to work with a veteran in Shisa. The man that is now known as T-Hawk looked good in one of his early matches. )

Tokyo Gurentai (NOSAWA Rongai and MAZADA) vs. K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka
Tokyo Gurentai attack at the bell and NOSAWA chokes away on Yokosuka in the corner. Jabs by NOSAWA and they trade chops. NOSAWA rakes the eyes to stop that but Yokosuka comes back with a lariat. Their partners come in and MAZADA hits a reverse atomic drop. K-ness comes back with a spinning heel kick but eats a knee to the back from NOSAWA. MAZADA rakes the face of K-ness and tags NOSAWA. Snap mare and NOSAWA hits a kick to the back for 2. Rear crucifix submission by NOSAWA and he coverts it into a roll-up for 2. Crossface by NOSAWA but K-ness makes the ropes to break. Tokyo Gurentai double team K-ness, ending in a basement dropkick from NOSAWA for 2. MAZADA tags in and K-ness chops away. MAZADA comes back with a chop of his own and he toys with Yokosuka. Tokyo Gurentai work over the arms of K-ness and they lock in a chinlock/Boston crab combo. NOSAWA goes for a brainbuster but K-ness blocks and reverses to his own. Enzuigiri by K-ness and Yokosuka tags in. Release Saito suplex by NOSAWA and he goes up but Yokosuka follows. Super exploder suplex by Yokosuka gets 2 as MAZADA saves. MAZADA charges in the corner but eats boot and K-ness hits a Tornado DDT for 2. Bow-tie crossface by K-ness but NOSAWA breaks it up. Corner lariats by Yokosuka and K-ness and they hit a doomsday knee drop to MAZADA for 2 as NOSAWA saves. DDT by NOSAWA to Yokosuka and Tokyo Gurentai hit a double flapjack to K-ness. Double suplex to Yokosuka and NOSAWA hits an enzuigiri into a German suplex from MAZADA for 2 as K-ness saves. Lariat by MAZADA and he hits the 2K1 Bomb for 2. Yokosuka clips the leg of MAZADA into a kick to the chest from K-ness. Mugen by Yokosuka gets 2 as NOSAWA saves. Jumbo No Kachi by Yokosuka gets 3.
Winners- K-ness and Susumu Yokosuka **1/2 ( One of my biggest pet peeves with Dragon Gate is their need to go with crazy false finish sequences in almost every match. NOSAWA and MAZADA where no threat to K-ness and Yokosuka as they were being built up as future tag title challenges so it should have been a nice solid win. Instead, they had a mostly heatless match where they gave NOSAWA and MAZADA too much and made some of the fall finishes feel super awkward. )

Cyber Kong vs. Akira Tozawa
In a unique stipulation, the loser of the match is regulated to dark matches on future shows. Kong overpowers Tozawa to start and he crotches Tozawa to break a headlock attempt. Tozawa bails but Kong follows and he hits a knee breaker on the apron. Back in, Kong walks on the bad leg of Tozawa and he hits another knee breaker. Chop block by Kong and he hits an elbow drop to the leg of Tozawa. Kong works over the leg of Tozawa but Tozawa makes the ropes to break. Kong presses Tozawa to the mat and he hits an Avalanche in the corner. Kong grabs a variation of a half crab and he swings Tozawa around by one leg!!! Tozawa makes the ropes to break and he falls down on an irish whip attempt. Kong charges but gets drop toe hold into the corner. Saito suplex by Tozawa and Kong bails. Suicide dive by Tozawa and back in, Tozawa goes up and hits a diving head butt. Back senton by Tozawa and he goes for a slam but Kong blocks. Chops by Tozawa and he hits a dropkick to the leg of Kong. Slam by Tozawa and both men are down. Kong blocks a German suplex attempt and he hits another Avalanche in the corner. Big splash by Kong gets 2. Kong LAUNCHES Tozawa onto the top rope and he goes up. Flying elbow drop by Kong misses and Tozawa hits the German suplex for 2!!! Hurricanrana by Tozawa gets 2. Lariat by Kong gets 2. Powerbomb by Kong gets 3.
Winner- Cyber Kong *** ( Tozawa makes such a great underdog babyface. He got tortured by Kong and got the crowd rooting for him by the end of the match. This was a good big man vs. little man match and this lead to Tozawa having his yearlong US stint which included his epic PWG run.)

Open the Brave Gate Championship- Tigers Mask © w/Osaka Pro vs. Dragon Kid w/Warriors
Mask is from Osaka Pro who did an angle with CIMA during the first half of the year. Spinning heel kick by Kid to start and he hits a snapmare but misses a basement dropkick. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Kid and Mask bails. Back in, Kid snapmares Mask into a knee drop for 2. Dropkick in the corner by Kid and again Mask bails. Mask pulls Kid to the floor and he sends Kid into the post. Snap suplex on the floor by Mask and he nails Kid with a chair on the floor. Back in, they trade forearms and Kid hits a spin kick. Christo by Kid but Mask counters into a rear Achilles lock. Kid makes the ropes to break and Mask works over Kid in the corner. Mask charges in the corner but eats boot and Kid hits a second rope hurricanrana. 619 to the back by Kid and he hits a springboard Asai moonsault to the floor. Springboard dropkick back in by Kid gets 2. Kid looks to springboard but Mask kicks him in the head to block. Springboard summersault stunner by Kid but Mask comes back with a lariat. Dropkick by Mask gets 2. Ankle lock by Mask and he grabs the Grapevine. Kid makes the ropes to break. Dropkick to the head by Kid and he botches a springboard attempt. Heel hook by Mask but Kid fights out with forearms. Kick to the head by Kid and he hits the springboard split legged moonsault that was almost botched again for 2. 619 misses and Mask hits a superkick. Mask looks for a weapon from one of his Osaka Pro comrades but the ref prevents it from being used. High kick by Mask and he hits a second one for 2. Mask puts Kid on top and follows up. Kid blocks a superplex attempt and he hits a super Ace Crusher for 2 as one of the Osaka Pro guys grabs the ref’s leg. They trade counters and Mask shoves Kid into the ref. Brainbuster by Mask and he grabs the nightstick. He puts it in his pant leg and goes for the high kick but Kid catches him with a roll-up for 2. An Osaka pro guy trips up Kid, allowing Mask to hit the high kick with the nightstick attached to his leg for 3!!!
Winner and Still Open the Brave Gate Champion- Tigers Mask ***1/4 ( Solid match, with lots of good action for a good majority of the match. Kid had some bad slip ups down the stretch and there was no real heat for the finish, so the match fell flat toward the end. )

Open the Triangle Gate Championships- Akebono, Don Fuji, and Masaaki Mochizuki © vs. Deep Drunkers (Kzy, Takuya Sugawara, and Yasushi Kanda)
Deep Drunkers attack to start and they triple team Akebono. Akebono shoves them away and the Drunkers bail. Fuji and Kzy brawl in the crowd and Fuji chops away. In the ring, Mochizuki chokes Sugawara with his boot in the corner and he throws some kicks. Big boot by Mochizuki and he hits a running kick to the chest of Sugawara. Brainbuster by Mochizuki and he puts on the boxing glove he brought with his. Straight right hand by Mochizuki gets 2 as Kanda saves. Rights by Mochizuki but he tripped up by Kzy. Basement dropkick by Kanda and he goes to the floor to work over Fuji. In the ring, Kzy goes up and hits a fist drop to Mochizuki using the boxing glove. Kzy and Kanda choke Mochizuki in the corner and Kanda chokes Mochizuki in the ropes. Back elbow by Kanda gets 2. Tag to Kzy and Mochizuki pounds away. He walks into a knee to the back from Kanda but comes back with a springboard kick to the back. Yakuza kick to Kzy in the corner and he tags Fuji. Back suplex by Fuji gets 2. Double shoulderblock by Fuji and Akebono and Fuji hits a Chokeslam. Chokeslam by Akebono and he hits an elbow drop for 2 as Kanda nails the ref. He dropkicks the ref to take him out so Fuji dumps him to the floor. Akebono goes for the Avalanche in the corner but misses and nails his partners. DDT by Sugawara to Fuji and Akebono goes for a big splash but misses and nails Fuji. Sugawara spits in Akebono’s face to block a Chokeslam attempt but Mochizuki nails him in the back with a crate to come back. Akebono charges but misses and he knocks Mochizuki off the apron. Double clothesline by Akebono and he goes to the floor. He charges at Kzy but misses and hits the post. The Drunkers tie Akebono to the post using the chain he brought to the ring!!! Back in, Fuji nails Kanda with a lariat and he ducks an attempt by Kzy to throw powder. Fuji tosses powder in Kzy’s face and he hits a lariat. Chokeslam by Fuji gets 2. Sugawara nails Fuji in the back with a crate and he hits the Brainbuster. Flying elbow drop by Kanda gets 2. Akebono spits beer in Kzy’s face allowing Fuji to get a small package for 2. Sugawara nails Fuji in the head with the crate and Kzy hits a splash off the top. Kanda goes up and hits an elbow drop off the top using the chain for 3.
Winners and NEW Open the Triangle Gate Champions- Deep Drunkers **1/2 ( Not much in the way of great wrestling but the wacky antics of the Drunkers made for an entertaining match. I don’t care for the idea as champs though, considering Dragon Gate’ reputation with six man tag teams and this is one of their weaker teams. )

Naniwa-Style Elimination Match- World-1 vs. Warriors
Two men start and every two minutes another man enters the match. You can eliminate people either by pin fall, submission, or over the top rope. Doi starts for World-1 while CIMA starts for Warriors. CIMA overpowers Doi to start and he hits a kick to the chest. They grapple for control and they reach a standstill. Naoki Tanizaki is next for World-1 and they dive on CIMA in the corner. Doi goes up and hits the assisted summersault senton to CIMA. They choke CIMA in the ropes as Ryo Saito tries to come out early, his teammates drag him to the back. Double back elbow to CIMA and Genki Horiguchi comes out for Warriors. Tornado DDT to Tanizaki but Doi grabs Genki’s ponytail to come back. Hurricanrana by Genki and he chokes Doi with his boot in the corner. Springboard moonsault by Genki and Masato Yoshino comes out for World-1. Dropkick to Genki and he hits an arm drag to CIMA. Abdominal stretch by Genki to Tanizaki but Yoshino pulls the ponytail to break. Double stomp to the PONYTAIL off the top by Yoshino to Genki!!! Gamma is next for Warriors and Yoshino steps on his head as he enters the ring. Gamma wishbones Yoshino to come back and they send Doi and Tanizaki into each other. Sharpshooter by CIMA to Doi as BxB Hulk is the last entrant for World-1. Arm drag by Hulk to Genki but he misses a dropkick. He comes back with a spinkick and he grabs the chinlock. Double back elbow by Speed Muscle and Yoshino hits a basement dropkick to CIMA. Ryo Saito comes out as the final entrant for Warriors. Genki and Saito double team Tanizaki but Doi tries to dump Ryo to stop that. Genki charges but misses Doi and hits Saito but he hangs on. Slingblade Heart Attack by Speed Muscle and Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Genki comes back with the Backslide from Heaven and Saito rolls him up for 3!!1 Doi is eliminated.
Saito and Tanizaki end up on the apron as they try to eliminate each other but they hold out. Sidewalk slam/double stomp combo by Hulk and Tanizaki to Genki. Genki rolls Tanizaki up for 2 and he hits a double underhook facebuster. Shining Wizard by Tanizaki gets 2. Backslide from Heaven by Genki gets 2. Jig-a-tonic by Tanizaki gets 3. Genki Horiguchi is eliminated.
World-1 all triple team Saito in the corner and Hulk hits a spinning heel kick off the top for 2. They charge at Saito in the corner but CIMA and Gamma catch Tanizaki with a double superkick. They go up and hit stereo Coast to Coasts on Tanizaki. Meteora by CIMA gets 3. Naoki Tanizaki is eliminated.
Springboard dropkick by Hulk to Gamma but Saito hits a release Half suplex. Hulk comes back with Final Flash and he hits EVO for 3. Ryo Saito is eliminated.
Double spinebuster to Yoshino and CIMA hits an assisted inverted Lungblower. Hulk goes for a standing moonsault on Gamma but eats knees. CIMA puts Hulk on the apron and Yoshino goes for a dropkick but misses CIMA and hits Hulk. Baseball slide by Gamma knocks Hulk off the apron. Hulk is eliminated.
CIMA and Gamma double team Yoshino and Gamma steps on the midsection of Yoshino. CIMA and Gamma charge at Yoshino in the corner and CIMA hits a double stomp off the top into a Dominator by Gamma for 2. Yoshino escapes a second Dominator attempt and hits a basement dropkick. CIMA throws some elbows and he goes for the Perfect Driver but Yoshino escapes. He blocks a cane shot and ducks the second causing CIMA to get nailed. Gamma misses a dropkick and he hits CIMA by mistake. Lariat by Gamma but Yoshino comes back with a roll-up with the tights for 3. Gamma is eliminated.
CIMA is busted open from the cane shot and he goes for a knee strike in the corner but misses and falls to the apron. He drags Yoshino out with him but both hold on. Kick to the back by CIMA and he puts Yoshino in the tree of woe. Basement dropkick by CIMA and he goes up. Coast to Coast misses and Yoshino misses the missile dropkick. Lungblower by CIMA and both men are down. CIMA goes up but Yoshino stops him and follows up. Yoshino blocks a sunset flip powerbomb attempt and Yoshino hits a missile dropkick in the corner. CIMA catches him with the Perfect Driver for 2!!! CIMA puts Yoshino on top and he follows up. Yoshino blocks a super Perfect Driver attempt and he goes for the super Slingblade but CIMA blocks. Fisherman’s Buster off the top by CIMA gets 2!!! Yoshino catches CIMA with a sunset flip for 2 and he gets the crucifix for 2!!! Chops by Yoshino and they trade counters until Yoshino hits Lightning Spiral for 2!!! From Jungle by Yoshino and he goes for Sol Naciente but CIMA escapes. They trade counters and CIMA hits Schwein for 2!!! CIMA goes up but Yoshino stops him and follows up. CIMA goes for super Schwein but Yoshino blocks and HITS A SUPER LIGHTNING SPIRAL FOR 3!!!
Winner- Masato Yoshino **** ( This was such a fun match and easily the best match of the show so far. I loved the story of miscommunications leading to certain eliminations and the final sequence between Yoshino, Gamma, and CIMA was sensational. )

Open the Dream Gate Championship- YAMATO © vs. Shingo Takagi
Both men look for an early advantage to start and YAMATO misses a dropkick. Shingo overpowers YAMATO and he hits a slam, forcing YAMATO to bail. Back in, Shingo begins to work over the leg of YAMATO but YAMATO makes the ropes to break. Hammerlock by YAMTO but Shingo makes the ropes to break. They trade chops and Shingo knocks YAMATO down with one. They trade slaps and Shingo hits a hard right to the face of YAMATO. He clotheslines YAMATO to the floor and follows out with a summersault plancha to the floor!!! Back in, Shingo hits a release Saito suplex. He connects with a second one for 2. Shingo steps on the head of YAMATO but YAMATO takes him down and hyper extends the arm of Shingo, forcing him to bail. YAMATO follows and he nails Shingo in the shoulder and back with a chair. Back in, YAMATO works over the right shoulder of Shingo. YAMATO looks to grab an arm bar but Shingo makes the ropes to break. They battle for a suplex and Shingo gordbusters YAMATO into the ropes. Gutbuster by Shingo and he hits an elbow drop for 2. Bodyscissors by Shingo but YAMATO makes the ropes to break. Shingo steps on the abdomen of YAMATO and he hits a slingshot double stomp. Bow and arrow by Shingo and he releases to throw some kicks at the head of YAMATO. Head butts by Shingo and YAMATO grabs a sleeper. Shingo escapes and YAMATO catches him with a dropkick. Corner forearm by YAMATO and he hits an exploder suplex. He goes for a Brainbuster but Shingo blocks and YAMATO catches him in the crucifix for 2. Kick to the head by YAMATO and he hits a Brainbuster for 2. Saito suplex by YAMATO and he charges in the corner but Shingo catches him and hits an overhead suplex. Powerbomb by Shingo gets 2 and YAMATO catches him in the Triangle Choke. Shingo powers him up and breaks the hold with another powerbomb. YAMATO goes to the Fujiwara arm bar but Shingo gets his leg on the ropes to break. Corner clothesline by Shingo and he hits a Spear. Torture Rack by Shingo and he converts it into Blood Fall for 2. Knee to the gut by Shingo but YAMATO comes back with the Triangle Choke. Shingo powers him up again and they head to the second rope. Second rope DVD by Shingo and they trade forearms. Forearms by YAMATO but Shingo catches him with a hard right. He presses YAMATO into a Samoan drop and both men are down. Corner clothesline by Shingo and he hits Made in Japan for 2!!! Lariats by Shingo but YAMATO won’t go down. YAMATO throws elbows at the bad shoulder of Shingo and he catches Shingo in the sleeper. Shingo makes the ropes to break and YAMATO hits Gallaria for 1!!! Sleeper again by YAMATO but Shingo goes up and drives YAMATO down to the mat to break. Forearms by Shingo and he hits a straight right hand. Made in Japan again by Shingo gets 2. Lariat by Shingo and he hits the Pumping Bomber for 2!!! YAMATO catches Shingo in the Guillotine Choke and he converts it into the Sleeper. Shingo tries to roll out so YAMATO catchers him in the cross arm breaker!!! Shingo gives!!!
Winner and Still Open the Dream Gate Champion- YAMATO **** ( I loved that the unrelenting work on the arm of YAMATO played into the finish of the match, as he withstood all of Shingo’s raw power and made sure to work that arm until Shingo could not stand it any longer. The match was pretty damn good, as it was a more methodical and slow paced contest which is great to see in a company filled with fast paced and exciting workers. This was a great way to cap off the show.)

The 411: The majority of this show was not one of Dragon Gate's better efforts. Most of the matches ranged from mediocre due to wacky antics and doing too much to solid but it didn't blow me away like I expect most Dragon Gate shows to do. However, the final two matches were excellent with a great technical main event which is a breath of fresh air from the usual Dragon Gate affair and Masato Yoshino getting an enormous win to set him up as a future challenger to YAMATO. The final two matches are worth your time and helps me to recommend this show although Dragon Gate has produced far better.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]