From The Shelf – Dragon Gate King of Gate 5-8-16

Dragon Gate King of Gate 5-8
5-8-16
Osaka, Japan

I’m trying to change up the formatting of my reviews a little bit, reducing the play by play to basic, important details and following the recap with more breakdowns and opinions. It’s going to be a work in process for a bit so let me know what you guys think!

Kaito Ishida vs. Mondai Ryu
This was a pretty simple and basic opener. Ishida was on the attack early but Ryu quickly caught Ishida with a dropkick to the leg and began a sequence of leg work on Ishida. Ishida came back with flying kick to the chest (using the bad leg) and caught Ryu with a couple of near falls before Ryu cut him off and nailed the Problem for the win. It was your typical veteran vs. young boy opening match, the likes of which you would see from New Japan. Ishida got a couple of moments to shine but basically his role was to job out to Ryu. It was inoffensive outside of Ishida not selling the leg in the final stretch, something he’ll need to work on going forward.
Winner- Mondai Ryu *1/2

Don Fuji, Masaaki Mochizuki, and U-T vs. Over Generation (Dragon Kid, Eita, and Takehiro Yamamura)
The action was hot and heavy right from the get go, going at a face pace and everyone coming in within the span of a minute or so. Mochizuki started throwing kicks and working over Yamamura so Yamamura responded with weak chops. Mochizuki raked his back and Fuji gets a cheap shot in to teach Yamamura a lesson. Despite taking a beating from the veterans, Yamamura is able to fight back and dives onto Fuji and U-T on the floor to bring in Kid. Over Generation triple team U-T but a missed Swanton Bomb by Yamamura sets up yet another stiff beating from Mochizuki and Fuji . Yamamura catches Mochizuki for some near falls but it just pisses off Mochizuki and he destroys him with kicks again. Crucifix Bomb by Kid gets a near fall as Fuji saves. Fuji drills Eita with a lariat but U-T misses a follow up big splash. Eita makes U-T tap to Numero Uno. This was a super fun match. Yamamura was fantastic here, taking a vicious beating from the grumpy veterans and showed tremendous fighting spirit. U-T should’ve been more involved early if he was going to play into the finish, as you had the great story of Mochizuki and Fuji taking it to young Yamamura to teach him a lesson but their own youngster that was making mistakes and cost them the match, but they kind of ignored the U-T aspect. Still, match was a great six man sprint and seeing Mochizuki and Fuji beat the hell out of young guys is a blast.
Winners- Over Generation ***1/4

King of Gate Block C- Ryo “Jimmy” Saito vs. Cyber Kong
Kong attacks Saito during his entrance and drives a chair into ribs. Kong uses his strength to control Saito, squashing him with big back senton for a near fall and pounding away at the injured ribs. Saito comes back with a hurricanrana and a fisherman’s buster. Kong catches Saito with big corner clotheslines to retake control and when they fight on top, Kong takes him off with a hard lariat. Flying elbow drop misses from Kong misses and Saito answers with a flying splash for 2. Quick near fall exchange leads to a screwdriver by Kong for near fall and he hits one more lariat for 3. A short match that got to the point. Kong uses his power and while Saito got the occasional round of offense, Kong wasn’t going to be stopped here.
Winner- Cyber Kong **1/2

King of Gate Block A-YAMATO vs. Punch Tominaga
YAMATO overpowers Tominaga in the early going but Tominaga catches him back with dropkick. Punch works over YAMATO on the floor butYAMATO sends Punch into post to cut him off. YAMATO toys with the idea of using a chair but eventually refuses to use it, allowing Punch to attack and regain control. Back in, YAMATO hits a springboard dropkick for 2.STO by Punch and he follows up with a second rope dropkick for 2. Enzuigiri on the apron by YAMATO but Punch answers back with a slingshot battery ram head butt. BME misses and YAMATO catches Punch with a corner dropkick. Brainbuster by YAMATO gets 2. Punch actually digs into YAMATO’s tights to block Gallarea and catches him with a cradle for 2. Gallarea by YAMATO gets 2 and a second one gets 3. Verserk attacks YAMATO after match but Hulk, Santa Maria, and Kzy save. This was a good showing for Punch, getting more offense in than expected. They didn’t need to have him kick out of YAMATO’s finishes to get the point across that he’s a tough customer as matching YAMATO blow for blow and even getting the upper hand was already getting the job done.
Winner- YAMATO **3/4

King of Gate Block D – Gamma vs. Naruki Doi
Doi fires away to start but Gamma answers back with a lariat. Basement dropkick by Gamma but Doi dumps to the apron to block the water gimmick. Summersault guillotine senton by Doi followed by a swinging neck breaker by Doi gets 2. Doi works over Gamm but Gamma eventually cuts him off with suplex. Inverted electric chair by Gamma gets 2. Super kick into the Air Raid Crash by Gamma gets 2. Doi is able to nail the Bakatare Sliding Kick and he follows up with Doi 555. A second Bakatare Sliding Kick gets 2. Enzuigiri by Gamma and he gets a backslide for 3!!! This was probably the least fun of KOG matches to this point in the show. Gamma can’t match the speed and pace that Doi normally works at, taking away from spots designed exciting and thrilling. It slows down near falls and reduces the heat that they were supposed to have. It just seemed they wanted to work their own style, and the result was a match that seemed solid in theory and didn’t meet expectations in execution.
Winner- Gamma **1/2

Monster Express (Masato Yoshino, T-Hawk, Big R. Shimizu, and Shachihoko Boy) vs. The Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kagetora, and Jimmy Kanda)
Yoshino and Hogiuchi start. Yoshino gets the early advantage with a series of dropkicks, forcing Horiguchi to bail. This leads to everyone coming in for a series of one on one exchanges and The Jimmyz gain the ability to work over Boy. In a really clever spot, Yoshino tricks Susumu into giving him his strap and Boy helps Yoshino whip the strap into the face of Horiguchi!!! Monster Express take turns working over Horiguchi but Horiguchi catches Yoshino with a hurricanrana, leading to the hot tag to Kagetora. Everyone runs wild, leading to a great intense sequence between T-Hawk and Susumu. Horiguchi counters Shimizu’s choke slam into a DDT and Kagetora follows up with a corner 619. Super Exploder by Susum into a flying elbow drop by Kanda gets 2. Yoshino hits a double missile dropkick/back senton combo onto Kagetora for 2. We hit another wild sequence with everyone getting their signuature stuff in and at the tail end, Boy gets some close near falls on Kagetora. Kurumagakari by Kagetora on Boy though ends up getting the 3. What an incredible fun match between the antics and the frantic action taking place in the ring. Big R. is awesome, a stand out in the promotion with his raw strength and being an awesome base for some of the faster workers. Shachihoko Boy was also terrific here and has tons of potential once he moves from jobber status. He plays such a great underdog role, his near falls are belivable and shows such guts and heart it’s hard to not like the guy.
Winners- The Jimmyz ***1/2

BxB Hulk, Kzy, and Yosuke Santa Maria vs. Verserk (Shingo Takagi, Naoki Tanizaki, and Kotoka)
Verserk attacks at the bell after the streamers flow for the in-ring return of Hulk. Kotoka works over Kzy but Kzy rips off his Kotoka’s hair piece, revealing his newly bald head. Santa Maria takes care of Tanizaki and we get the first Hulk/Shingo face off. Hulk gets the advantage but Kotoka attacks from behind. Hulk cuts him off with an enzuigiri and his team takes turns working over Kotoka. Tanizaki regains control and Verserk toys around with Santa Maria. Kotoka again becomes the victim of a triple team effort however, culminating in Santa Maria rubbing his ass in Kotoka’s face for good measure. Shingo takes out Maria and Kyz with a double clothesline and clears the ring of Hulk. Shingo drills Hulk with a chair and Versek beat down Hulk’s squad on the floor. Tanizaki drives Hulk’s head through a chair and they hit a backbreaker/top rope knee drop combo on Hulk for 2. Hulk fires back with a series of kicks and he catches Shingo with a springboard dropkick. Kzy cleans house and Santa Maria dives onto Tanizaki and Kotaka on the floor. Crossbody by Kzy to Shingo gets 2 and Shingo cuts him off with a power slam. Maria gets the better of Kotaka and hits a Falcon Arrow for 2. Rough Rider by Maria gets 2 as Shingo saves. Tanizaki prevents Kzy from coming off the top and Shingo tosses him off. Sit-out power bomb by Shingo gets 2. Shining Wizard by Tanizaki and he hits a Cradle Tombstone for 2 as Hulk saves. Springboard dropkick by Maria to Kotaka. Shingo lays waste to everyone but Hulk is able take care of him. Hulk fires kicks at Kotoka, finishing him off with First Flash for 3!!! Another fun and enjoyable six man tag team match. This match had an awesome dynamic of the dirty brawling heels who have distain for the group of misfits. Verserk just hates everything about Hulk’s squad and everything they did looked like it had more malice to it that it normally would. This was a good first match in the feud giving the misfits a strong first win and Hulk looked tremendous in his return. Loved the story and the action in this one.
Winners- BxB Hulk, Kzy, and Yosuke Santa Maria ***3/4

King of Gate Block B- CIMA vs. Akira Tozawa
CIMA catches Tozawa with a second rope dropkick right from the bell and immediately catches him with suicide dive to the floor. CIMA works the leg of Tozawa but Tozawa eventually makes the ropes to force a break. Basement dropkick to the back of the head by CIMA but Tozawa comes back with bicycle kick knocking CIMA to the floor. Tozawa with springboard summersault plancha that just catches some of CIMA’s head and almost kills himself on the apron!!! Slam into a series of back sentons by Tozawa gets 2 as he goes back to working on the head and neck of CIMA. Tozawa charges at CIMA in the corner, hits Saito suplex for 2. Tozawa goes up and hits a back senton off the top for 2. Tozawa continues to fire away but CIMA catches him with the Backstabber to come back. Double stomp TO THE FACE by CIMA!!! Slingshot double stomp into a double knee drop gets 2. Brainbuster by Tozawa gets 2. Inside cradle by CIMA gets 2. Venus into the Nagoya Castle sends Tozawa crashing into the mat. Missile dropkick off the top by CIMA gets 2. They go up and Tozawa hits a superplex for 2. They trade blows and CIMA cuts him off with an enzuigiri. Release German suplex by Tozawa and he hits a snap German suplex for 2!!! Deadlift German by Tozawa gets 2!!! Crucifix by CIMA gets 2!!! Super kick by CIMA and he throws a high kick. Impailer DDT by CIMA and he hits Meteora for 3!!! Man this was incredibly vicious. This had such great intensity, right at the opening bell they were laying into each other. I loved how CIMA progressively got more pissed and just brutalized the head and face of Tozawa. Tozawa is the master of building up the German suplexes, creating great drama and making it look like a killer finisher once it hit. An awesome match to close show.
Winner- CIMA ****1/4

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a fun little show coming off the heels of Dead or Alive. With the exception of CIMA/Tozawa, the King of Gate matches were fun but nothing memorible. However, the multi-man tags tonight were all really good. They all had their own good, unique stories and the Verserk/Hulk squad tag really helped get the ball rolling on the promotion's biggest feud. The CIMA/Tozawa is a must see, a brutal affair that saw poor Tozawa get obliterated and CIMA showed that he's not messing around. This was an easy and very enjoyable show to sit through, so you should all check it out.