wrestling / Video Reviews
Furious Flashbacks: Dragon Gate Open the New Year Gate Day 4
![Dragon Gate](https://411mania.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/dragongate-626x370.gif)
Dragon Gate Open the New Year Gate Day 4
16th January 2015.
We’re in Tokyo, Japan at the Korakuen Hall. I’d originally intended to give myself a nice long break from Dragon Gate and allow it to freshen up again but I was rather won over by Eita vs. Kagetora on the show before this and thought ‘what the hell’. This show aired live on GAORA TV and also on niconico.
Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi, Jimmy Kagetora & Ryo Jimmy Saito) vs. Kotoka, Super Shisa & Yuga Hayashi
Yuga is still in his teens so he’s probably taking the pin in this one. Which is probably a relief for ‘Mr High Tension’ who’s been an opening match jobber for about 6 years. I look forward to Yuga having an actual gimmick in 2020. The match, because this is Dragon Gate, is pretty spotty with poor officiating. The ref manages to count a near fall on Shisa while he’s applying the Mexican Surfboard on his legal opponent, which isn’t legal before counting another near fall on a guy who isn’t even being pinned. Like he’s throwing in 2 counts out of sheer habit. Everyone feels the urge to throw in ‘out of ring’ spots too and it’s like a competition to see who can fall out of the ring in the most dramatic fashion. Nothing quite matches Jim Neidhart’s Wrestlemania 2 battle royal elimination but it’s not far off. It’s Yuga that brings the psychology by working Kagetora’s arm, injured in a defeat to Eita four days beforehand. Kagetora and Shisa work a terrific near falls sequence in down the stretch until Super Shisa gets caught in the inside cradle for the surprise pin. Dragon Gate: where they don’t permajob their rookies! The match was largely a mess but it was an entertaining one.
Final Rating: **
Jimmyz (Jimmy Kanda & Mr Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin) vs. MAD BLANKEY (Mondai Ryu & Punch Tominaga)
This is more of the same, only with worse wrestlers. They don’t botch anything but it’s ugly wrestling. Only Punch really gets his personality across but gets so wound up bringing the ‘hands in pocket’ stomping spot that’s he’s picked off. MAD BLANKEY botch their cheating and Kanda finishes with his version of the Pedigree. This was a weak match all round.
Final Rating: ½*
Open the Dream Gate #1 Contender’s Tournament Semi Final:
Big R Shimizu vs. Don Fujii
Fujii recently joined MAD BLANKEY, which doesn’t suit the surly veteran at all. Big R is one of Dragon Gate’s biggest up and coming stars. He’s been booked as a destroyer of midcarders. Fujii tries all his tricks to get a win including powder from the bell and the yellow box of doom. Big R gets to show resilience by kicking out of everything Fujii brings and it’s interesting to see how much respect Don gives the youngster. He’s not noted for that kind of behaviour. Shimizu catches him with a chokeslam, his only offensive move, and gets the win. That chokeslam, usually with more theatrics, is called the Shot-Put Slam on account of Shimizu’s technique.
Final Rating: *1/2
Open the Dream Gate #1 Contender’s Tournament Semi Final:
Jimmy Susumu vs. Kenichiro Arai
This is the other half of the draw. Susumu is one of the level best wrestlers in Dragon Gate. He’s the guy who makes everybody else look good. Arai isn’t someone who’s able to be made to look good though. Susumu lets Arai do his thing, which amounts to him working the arm for the majority of the match. It’s sometimes jarring to see such a slow-paced match in Dragon Gate. This is one of those times. Arai feels like he dropped out of another, less entertaining, promotion. At least it all makes sense with Arai constantly going after the arm to block moves. Susumu even modifies his arm heavy offence to hit a headbutt. You know that’s when your arm really hurts, when you’d rather nut someone than use it. Susumu does use the arm down the stretch, which is more than a touch frustrating but does allow him to hit Jumbo no Kachi!-gatame for the win. I enjoyed the logic present during most of the match but the execution was a bit off.
Final Rating: **1/4
Dia.Hearts (BxB Hulk, Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid) vs. Monster Express (Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi & Shachihoko BOY)
With the undercard crap out of the way we kick into higher gear with the champ, BxB Hulk, and his rivalries with both Shingo (heated) and Tozawa (respectful). Tozawa and Mochizuki are probably my two favourite Dragon Gate natives. Tozawa for his never-ending pluck and Mochizuki because he’s an asshole. His belittling of BOY is fine work. First taking him way too lightly before stepping up his game with heavy lumber. Shingo brings a similar level of bullying to Dragon Kid. Shingo’s gimmick being that he hates weaklings (and everyone else). Tozawa is one of the best underdogs in the world because unlike some other underdogs, the crowd actually respond when he wins as well as when he loses. It’s a shame he’s stuck with BxB Hulk as champion. A challenge series against a better wrestler could make him a main event star. Not only that but Tozawa, despite being a pure babyface, can also heel it up like a champ when required. He shows flashes of that until Dia.Hearts work him over for heat. The last 7 minutes or so are batshit crazy, like most Dragon Gate matches, a super-extended finishing sequence loaded with ridiculous spots. Shingo’s multi-Tombstones spot on Dragon Kid is particularly insane. Selling goes completely out of the window, along with tagging. Hulk setting up a finish on BOY only for Shingo to run in and murder him with a lariat is one example of the spot-countering but it’s followed by a sequence of spots, one after another in perfect organic fashion. It’s madness and impossible to do play by play on. It’s concluded by Mochizuki picking off BOY, who he’d bullied all match, with the Shin Saikyou High Kick (a big roundhouse to the head). The finishing sequence alone makes this great, as it is a breathless sequence, perfectly executed. At times Dragon Gate makes these sequences look so straightforward that it’s easy to overlook how hard they are to put together.
Final Rating: ***3/4
Millenials (T-Hawk, Eita, U-T & Yosuke Santa Maria) vs. MAD BLANKEY (YAMATO, Cyber Kong, K-Ness, CIMA & Gamma)
This is a 5 on 4 handicap with Millenials originally having Flamita on their team but he walked off in a huff at the end of last year and has yet to reappear. All because Punch Tominaga pulled his mask off during a match in December. MAD BLANKEY’s numbers advantage is bigger than one as they also have guys at ringside and they’re prepared to cheat. As is evidenced when all 5 guys do a circuit of strikes on T-Hawk in the corner to put the Millenials top guy out early. Millenials have no comeback and just take a shoeing for an eternity. It’s bordering on uncomfortable viewing, especially for a comedy face like Santa Maria having Cyber Kong stand on his throat. Eventually Eita gets a bit of parity working YAMATO, which would be a killer singles match, and the Millenials briefly look like mounting an unlikely comeback against the odds. Cyber Kong looks especially great for MAD BLANKEY as he powers through all four of the Millenials in succession. YAMATO picks off Eita, with help from a flying K-Ness kick to the face, and hits Gallaria for the win. This was extremely one-sided, deliberately so, and really only exists to set up the following storyline…
Final Rating: **
Post Match: The MAD BLANKEY mugging continues until Kotoka and YUGA HAYASHI run out here for the save, wearing Millenials colours! They’re probably not good enough to be in Millenials, considering how good everyone in that stable is, but at least they’re doing something with them. The young punks challenge for an immediate rematch and YAMATO brings out Dr Muscle (Kzy in a mask) to level the numbers and make it official. Yuga makes a big splash here verbally jousting with CIMA calling him a “40 year old zombie”.
MAD BLANKEY (YAMATO, Cyber Kong, K-Ness, CIMA, Gamma & Dr Muscle) vs. Millenials (T-Hawk, Eita, U-T, Yosuke Santa Maria, Kotoka & Yuga Hayashi)
The Millenials initially get a kicking again, thanks to the cheating of the heel group. CIMA looks to take revenge on Hayashi for running his mouth in particular and isn’t gentle. But then Yuga judo throws everyone and almost catches YAMATO in an armbar. There’s no promotion on the planet that knows how to make young talent look effective than Dragon Gate (and maybe DDT). It’s a shame that neither Yuga nor Kotoka can live up to the hype. Not like Big R Shimizu! Luckily the likes of T-Hawk and Eita know how to cover for those shortcomings and take over the match. Dr Muscle fucks up a springboard spot, as well as the transition before it, causing much embarrassment and, no doubt, a spot in a Botchamania comp. It’s a pity because the spot takes all the steam out of the match and Millenials have to work their asses off, beating up Gamma, to get it back on track. MAD BLANKEY do the isolation spot on Kotoka and he fucks that up, by moving slightly out of the corner. Literally all you had to do was STAND THERE. How can you fuck that up? CIMA covers for him by beating Kotoka down and they re-do the spot with a different finish; CIMA getting picked off for the same spot in reverse. I guess Kotoka was getting ahead of himself. It can’t be easy to remember all the intricacies of a Dragon Gate 12-man tag. Dr Muscle shocks the world by nailing CIMA with the yellow box and following with a handful of powder and Kotoka gets the roll up win on CIMA! This was a goddamn mess. The storyline is entertaining though.
Final Rating: *1/2
Post Match: More antics as Kzy reveals he was Dr Muscle all along, which pisses YAMATO off even more because one of MAD BLANKEY’s guys has turned on them. Kzy’s response is to say he wasn’t stupid enough to take on MAD BLANKEY by himself and he’s now aligned with…DIA.HEARTS! Mondai Ryu’s reaction is that he’s so angry he kicks the air so hard he falls over. It’s brilliant. BxB Hulk and the gang come down to hug it out with Kzy. Millenials, who just won, are a bit pissed off about being overlooked and everyone is about to get into it when the ref books a three-way three-man tag for the Korakuen Hall show in February. Despite what a cluserfuck the last two matches were, that might actually work. Less is more? Not in Dragon Gate. More is more!
Open the Dream Gate Championship #1 Contender’s Match:
Big R Shimizu vs. Jimmy Susumu
The winner gets a shot at BxB Hulk and Dragon Gate’s main belt. Susumu held the title before, back in 2006. His first title defence? BxB Hulk! Since then Susumu has assumed the role of ‘Gatekeeper’ and the man who judges how good wrestlers are in this promotion. Flamita had his best match with Susumu. That’s no coincidence. Shimizu is in Dia.Hearts so it’s unlikely he’ll win as that could cause dissention with the leader, BxB Hulk, but Dia.Hearts are out here to support him so perhaps they’re aiming to keep title defences ‘in house’. Big R’s transformation from cartoon character to main event badass has been startling. Shimizu shows impressive power to boss big chunks of the match. It’s a dominant display with Susumu throwing himself about to make Big R look like a powerhouse. Then they switch it up by having Susumu counter big power moves, like a satellite slam leading into a DDT. It shows how Susumu has learned from the early clashes and now recognises Big R’s methods of setting big moves up. It doesn’t stop Big R overpowering him in not one but two big sit-out powerbomb spots. Susumu recognises the Shot-Put Slam too and slips out of it once before being caught by it a second time. That looks like it until Susumu kicks out. The delay on the pin helps to preserve the move but the set up is so convoluted, maybe Susumu should have dodged the second one too! Susumu changes tactics and decides to show that a) he’s not intimidated and b) his conditioning is superior by effectively no-selling strikes. Shimizu survives one big lariat but the Jumbo no Kachi!-gatame finishes. Solid performance from Big R Shimizu in his first major singles match. Susumu helped him to get there with his standard MO; make the other guy look better than you. He might even have a good match with BxB Hulk. Stranger things have happened.
Final Rating: ***1/2
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