The Broxbourne Civic Hall is definitely not the Tokyo Dome. Nobody could make that mistake. But as strange as I imagine it must be for the stars of Dragon Gate to travel to the sleepy town of Hoddlesdon, England, as low-key as the venue is, the sell-out crowd made the show feel far grander than one might expect at first glance.
After taking a year off in 2012, Dragon Gate UK returns with Festival of Fire, a triple shot that began with back-to-backs in Broxbourne, and wrapped up in Castleford. Yours truly attended Night 2, headlined by Akira Tozawa vs Shingo, and I had an absolute blast. Given those who organised and participated in the event, I can’t say I’m surprised. What I was pleasantly surprised by however, was that my girlfriend, not an established wrestling fan, also enjoyed herself despite having no real knowledge of the performers or their moves. So yeah, there’s that too!
Stixx def. Jonny Storm (Roll-Up): I saw Stixx in 2010 and he’s much better now, both in terms of his look and in-ring ability. This was probably the best pre-show match I’ve seen at a live event, with some comedy, some high-flying and dives to the outside, and the crowd supporting Storm and booing Stixx accordingly. Stixx rolled Storm up as he was going for his finisher.
Masaaki Mochizuki def. Noam Dar (Sankakugeri to the Face): Dar was voted the 2012 British Wrestler of the Year and his name has been associated with greatness for some time now, but this was actually my first time seeing him- live or otherwise – and I was impressed. He reminds me a great deal of Zack Sabre Jr., heavy on kicks and submissions. Know who else is heavy on kicks and submissions? Mochi. Dar took some major lumps in this one, and for once working the leg led to something, as Mochi kept blasting Noam in the thigh or knee whenever he got on a roll, stopping him in his tracks before finishing him off with his devastating array of kicks. Basically Dar showed promise but couldn’t hang with Mochi… yet.
Mark Haskins def. BxB Hulk, Naruki Doi & Lion Kid (Painkiller): This was basically a tag match with the Japanese stars ganging up on the Brits and Doi trying to work as a heel despite getting the best crowd reaction. Kind of a slow match, but things picked up towards the end with everybody hitting their biggest moves and the crowd buying every false finish. Haskins, the new golden boy for Team UK now that PAC is contracted to World Wrestling Entertainment, ultimately triumphed after having several of his previous pin attempts broken up. The biggest story here was Lion Kid though; when I first saw Lion Kid perform I rolled my eyes and felt bad for Masato Yoshino (at the time the Dream Gate Champion) for having to wrestle against him. His attire was bad and people were not always laughing with him. He improved in the ring a little between the 2010 and 2011 shows, but he’s now completely changed his look, patterning himself more after a luchador and looking all the better for it. He’s also much better in the ring, and overall I was very impressed.
Ricochet def. Genki Horiguchi (630 Senton): This was originally supposed to be Ricochet against El Generico, but Uncle Vince solved that one for us, and instead we got Genki Horiguchi. I won’t lie, I was disappointed when I heard the trade-off, but this was a lot of fun. Ricochet interacted with the crowd a lot and had a sense of humour about him that I haven’t often noticed. Genki was of course Genki. The insane array of aerial moves aside, the highlight of the match was Ricochet holding Genki in the ropes while Naruki Doi pulled back on some sort of pink rubberised bungie-like-object, walking way up to the back of the building before letting go and sending it hurtling into Genki’s face, or more accurately, Ricochet’s hands. The crowd adored this so much they did it again. 100% illegal, but never mind, eh? I wasn’t sure if we’d see a 630 or not as Ric seems to favour the Shooting Star more these days, but we got ourselves a treat from the Future of Flight.
Yamato def. Jimmy Susumu (Hurricanrana Flash Pin): Match of the Night. These two beat the ever-loving piss out of each other and everybody in the room ate it up. People were standing towards the end. Jimmy Susumu controlled most of the match, with Yamato getting sympathy for the insanely stiff looking strikes he absorbed, including several massive lariats that drew loud “one more time” chants. The human chest cavity is not supposed to make such loud noises when struck. They engaged in three huge chop battles in a row, threw massive elbows, lariats and dropkicks… just phenomenal stuff that they absolutely did not have to do given the setting, but everybody appreciated that they did it anyway. Yamato getting the win with a snap hurricanrana while Susumu attempted another Jumbo no Kachi! was a little bit deflating after witnessing the huge bombs they’d been dropping for several minutes, but my word what a match.
Cima def. Marty Scurll (Double Knee Drop): This match should have been better than it was. In fact it was better than it seemed. Its failings were not the fault of either man, but rather from the fact it was a slower affair following such an electric hard hitting contest, and the majority of the crowd didn’t seem to grasp the importance behind it.
Cima and Scurll have had a small rivalry going in DGUK, with both facing potential banishment from the promotion during their last tour due to their winless records. Scurll saved himself by pinning Cima during a 6-man tag, and Cima got a win back the next night in a tag team bout. Both were still in dangerous territory though, and to add to matters, Cima is now the Dream Gate champion, and Scurll has achieved national fame after appearances on two big television shows and a great deal of newspaper coverage.
I’m sure there were several people in attendance that remembered all of this, but for most it was either their first show or being tasked with remembering storyline implications from two years ago was a little much. Had this been DGUSA, with several events in one year and more emphasis on storylines, there might have been more drama. As it was, it was devoid of buzz, no matter what they tried. Scurll acted as the heel, which was odd given he was representing the UK and a large number of people were more than willing to cheer him and boo Cima. Marty even went as far as mocking Cima’s signature taunt and stole several of his key moves. Cima punished his cockiness though and put him down shortly after he missed a Meteora attempt. With Scurll flat on his back and Cima going up top I assumed he was going to use the Mad Splash, but instead he came down on Marty with both knees, a finish I haven’t seen before.
This put Scurll in a position wherein if he were to lose on Night 3 he’d be out of DGUK, causing him to lash out at his Team UK teammate Mark Haskins, his opponent for the final show and the two had to be separated. I’ve seen some reports that people feel this was a dull or even bad match, but I feel it was more a victim of circumstance and I’m extremely proud of my friend Marty for at least looking like he belonged in the ring with a name like Cima.
Shingo def. Akira Tozawa (Last Falconry): Before the bell rang the crowd were divided in this one, more so than in any other match, with both men incredibly popular. Tozawa got himself over a little more with his screaming in broken English and over the top facial expressions, but Shingo’s insanely high impact offense gets a reaction every time. It never reached the kind of fever pitch of the Yamato/Yokosuka match, but they hit each other very, VERY hard and on any other night it would have been the best match of the card. Tozawa hit three straight dives to the outside and Shingo destroyed Tozawa with a Death Valley Driver on the apron. They teased Stay Dream and the Package German Suplex, but in the end Shingo threw the biggest punch, dropping Tozawa with the Last Falconry when Made in Japan wasn’t enough to get the W.
All in all a fantastic show that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend when it becomes available on DVD. The Dragon Gate guys get to do what they do best, while Team UK continues to grow. Mark Haskins, Stixx, Marty Scurll and in particular Lion Kid have gotten better, while Noam Dar established himself as a future star for the promotion. High flying? Check. Stiff striking? Check. Comedy? Check. Crowd interaction? Check. Must-see DVD? Check.
You SOB thanks for posting man.