Lee here with thoughts on the latest episode of Dragon Gate Infinity. This is the Korakuen Hall show from the 10th of May, featuring the first round of King Of Gate (with two huge matches in YAMATO vs Mochizuki and Hulk vs Shingo!) and the KnesSuka reunion main event (they’re teaming with CIMA against Mad Blankey).
The show opens with Katsuya Ichikawa and K-ness running down the card and showing highlights from the Dead Or Alive PPV (results here). We got to see Yoshino’s awesome avalanche Lightning Spiral to Dragon Kid that won him the Brave Gate. We also saw YAMATO abusing his rookie stablemates Shenlong and Tominaga backstage after his Twin Gate victory. Dude is so turning heel.
Match 1: J Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino & Ricochet (World-1 International) defeated Jimmy Kanda, Ryo “Jimmy” Saito & Mr Quu Quu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin (The Jimmyz)
What a fantastic opener! World-1 are on fire at the moment, with Ricochet on god-like form and the previously stale Yoshino apparently rejuvenated by his recent Brave Gate win. We saw some wild stuff here, like Ricochet’s triple jump springboard shooting star and his springboard backflip over the Yoshino dive. Much love for the Jon Woo/german suplex combo that Saito and Kanda busted out too. This was so good, I’d say it’s my favourite World-1/Jimmyz match since Final Gate.
Match 2: Jimmy Kagetora (Jimmyz) & Cyber Kong defeated Dragon Kid (Team Veteran) & Kenichiro Arai (Windows)
Good match, though I admit I was still reeling from the opener too much to fully register it. Made me think there’s a hot Araken/Kagetora singles match waiting to happen down the line.
King Of Gate time! Kotoka’s hair is slicked back so you know he’s serious.
Match 3: King Of Gate A Block Round 1: Don Fujii (Team Veteran) defeated Kotoka (Windows)
Another awesome Kotoka match. He opened with such fire which ultimately cost him when Fujii blocked a second dive with a chair. Greatness ensued, with Kotoka fighting from behind (as always) and almost stealing the victory with a couple of roll ups. I was sad to see him lose, but CIMA and Fujii putting him over after the match (much like Shingo did last month) gave me hope. CIMA ended up carrying him to the back where they were interviewed together.
Time for Mochizuki vs YAMATO. I rewatched both of their Dream Gate matches (two of the best Dragon Gate matches ever) in preparation for this, so psyched.
Match 4: King Of Gate A Block Round 1: YAMATO (-akatsuki-) defeated Masaaki Mochizuki (Team Veteran)
Well that was brilliant. Mochizuki/YAMATO is quite possibly Dragon Gate’s best singles pairing (well, either that or Mochizuki/Shingo), the matches these two have are so intense. Like in their 2011 bout, YAMATO seemed to have the better of Mocchy on the mat, going for his legs throughout in an attempt to take away his kicks (even catching his foot when he went for the Sankakugeri!), but Mocchy still managed to overwhelm with a massive kick onslaught, only the last ditch frankensteiner managed to keep him down. Technical, hard hitting, just pure awesome stuff.
YAMATO tries to attack Mocchy after the match but his rookies stop him. He abuses them some more. Mocchy slaps and kicks him in the face for it. YAMATO is interviewed after the break, but of course I have no idea what he is saying. I really need to learn Japanese.
So that was probably the best first half to any show ever. Let’s see if the second can live up to it.
Match 5: King Of Gate A Block Round 1: Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee (Jimmyz) defeated Rich Swann (World-1 International)
Short but sweet. I thought it was pretty good, but I could have done with an interval (like the live crowd would have had) to recover from the previous match. Swann has definitely stepped up in recent months, and the reigning King Of Gate’s dream of winning it two years running lives on.
Next up is the latest instalment of one of Dragon Gate’s greatest rivalries!
Match 6 – King Of Gate A Block Round 1: Shingo Takagi (-akatsuki-) defeated BxB Hulk (Mad Blankey)
BxB Hulk or BJJ Hulk? His offence is usually 90% kicks, 10% flips, but here he busted out a rolling armbar that transitioned into a triangle choke. Granted, it was ultimately just so Shingo could one arm powerbomb him, but still. Anyway, much of this fell a bit flat. I dunno what it was exactly, just didn’t quite live up to my admittedly high expectations of a Shingo/Hulk match. Things heated up in the finishing stretch, but then they got salty when Mondai Ryu stepped in.
Hulk and his Batman voice challenge YAMATO after the match, pissed that he interfered (despite Mondai Ryu interfering first).
It’s main event time! I love how CIMA and K-nesSuka have had shirts made just for this match. All wearing matching gear too.
Main event: CIMA (Team Veteran), K-ness (Windows) & Jimmy Susumu (Jimmyz) defeated Akira Tozawa, Uhaa Nation & Kzy (Mad Blankey)
This was pretty much the Van Halen of Dragon Gate matches, just impossible not to enjoy. That analogy came from the CIMA/Susumu high five (that followed CIMA’s insane flippy-rolly thing and Tope Reversa ((thanks Jae))) reminding me of the live Van Halen video from 1986 (I half expected a Sammy Hagar esque “Man does this feel like summer or what?” from CIMA). This ruled, with the babyface team of course being awesome, and Mad Blankey actually being entertaining too. When BJJ Hulk isn’t around, Blankey are almost more like Eddie Guerrero cheating babyfaces than heels at this point. Maybe he and YAMATO should form an angry heel stable and just leave them to it.
Mad Blankey attack the winners afterwards. Uhaa challenges CIMA for the Dream Gate. CIMA declines, saying the King Of Gate will be the next challenger. He offers him a non title match for the next Korakuen, but Shingo comes out and declares that he’ll be the one facing Uhaa next month. Why? I have no idea. Maybe he reckons the winner will get a dream gate shot and considers himself more deserving since he and YAMATO beat Uhaa and Hulk at Dead Or Alive? I dunno. Uhaa claims Shingo will be “too easy”.
Oh, here’s Doi. He addresses K-ness, whom he now apparently hates, wanting a rematch since K-ness beat him at Sambo Hall. K-ness isn’t into that, but wouldn’t mind a shot at Doi’s Triangle Gate. He wants tonight’s team to be the challengers. Susumu is down, but CIMA says he’s too busy with the Dream Gate. Mochizuki steps up! He’s into a Triangle Gate shot. Yagi makes it official for next month’s Korakuen! K-ness points out that this is a M2K reunion! It is decided that new M2K costumes and everything will be made for this match. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I missed the original M2K…and Shin M2K…and Final M2K, so I pretty much feel like I did when I was 10 and I heard the nWo were coming to the WWF (I got into WCW just after they’d disintegrated).
Closing thoughts: Awesome, awesome episode. Best of the year? It’s a testament to how good Dragon Gate Korakuen shows have been in 2013 that I’m actually not sure. January’s was very good, then every one since has been awesome. Think I’m about to break a record for how many times “awesome” can be said in a single review. If Hulk vs Shingo had been hotter then I may well have cited this as the best show ever. Mochizuki vs YAMATO was outstanding, match of the year candidate for sure, then the main event was an absolute blast. Kotoka vs Fujii and the opener were great too. Shows like this are the reason I’m a Dragon Gate fan.
Thanks (as always) to IheartDG for help with translating the promos. If you want the full match times and finishes, you can find them there.
I’ll be back with a review of Infinity 296…next week I think. Thanks for reading!
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