10th of October 2013
Another month, another Korakuen. The Tozawa/Shingo/Yoshino/Uhaa/Shachi unit reveal themselves as MONSTER EXPRESS to kick off the show, and I feel robbed that the Tominaga dark match didn’t air! I need my monthly dose of Dragon Gate’s least promising rookie in front of the only crowd who almost cares about him. Oh well.
1) Gamma & Kenichiro Arai of Team Veteran defeated Ryotsu Shimizu & the former Super Shenlong III Yosuke Watanabe [6:28,Hanshin Tiger Suplex]
Watanabe continued with the Gamma disrespect we saw back at Sambo Hall, frustrating Gamma to the point that he abandoned his patented spitting-from-the-corner thing and just threw his water bottle at him. I was grateful to see my least favourite spot in wrestling skipped over. We saw some fire from the unmasked Shenlong when he was opposite Mochizuki last episode, and we saw it again here; perhaps there is a future for him without a mask. I was fine with him becoming Dragon Kid v2, but maybe “Watanabe the hot fighter” will work out better. Either way, dude still needs some new gear, those shorts are sooo drab.
Rating: Typical good times Korakuen opener
Watanabe shoved Ryotsu when he tried to help him up. He really isn’t very friendly lately.
2) Ryo “Jimmy” Saito & Jimmy Susumu of the Jimmyz defeated K-ness of Team Veteran & CIBA [9:27, Mugen]
Seeing KnesSuka fight each other is always a good time, while Kotoka and Saito are a pretty good pairing too. This was great, highlighted by a nifty sequence where Susumu stopped CIBA from going for the Caldera on Saito, so K-ness slid in for a Hikari No Wa nearfall. Best CIBA match since the original (at the August Korakuen).
Rating: ★★★1/4
3) Mr Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin & Jimmy Kagetora of the Jimmyz defeated Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee & Jimmy Kanda of the Jimmyz [7:45, Implant]
This one was set up to help Tanizaki and Kage finally resolve their issues, and it seemed to work. The duo showed even more chemistry than they did last month at Korakuen, but without the in fighting. Tanizaki had a pretty uneventful summer, but he’s looking awesome lately.
Rating: ★★★
4) Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Super Shisa of Team Veteran defeated Eita, T-hawk & U-T of the Milennials [15:41, HIMEI]
This was HOT, from the Veterans-kick-the-Milennials-off-their-apron-pose opening all the way to one of the nastiest finishes I’ve ever seen in a pro wrestling match; young U-T was desperately trying to crawl out of Fujii’s tight boston crab…only to be straight up stomped on the head by Mochizuki. Poor kid. The nearfall that played on last month’s Milenials-in-Korakuen finish was great too, with Eita trapping Shisa in the Numero Uno just like he did Horiguchi…but Horiguchi didn’t have a Mocchy to back him up.
I said in my last review that the Milennials needed something to get their teeth into since their new-ness was wearing off, and this was it. The story of the Veterans trying to snuff out the young punks took this way beyond what the youngsters have done so far. Just awesome.
Rating: ★★★★
Edit: The video skipped a couple of times during my initial viewing. Upgraded to ★★★★1/4 after watching the full version.
Midway through Mocchy’s typical half praise/half insult speech to his fallen opponents, Kagetora and Tanizaki, who are now apparently best buds, showed up dressed in wild body paint and sprayed poison mist at Eita.
Explanation pending.
5) Handicap match: Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi & Uhaa Nation of Monster Express defeated BxB Hulk, Naruki Doi, Cyber Kong, Kzy & Mondai Ryu of Mad Blankey [22:24, Package German Suplex]
Well this ruled. Monster Express were absolutely on fire, which made for a super good times heroic battle against evil in the red hot Korakuen Hall. Excellent official debut for the new unit. Mad Blankey deserve some love too for the Bakatare/First Flash combo Doi and Hulk busted out.
Was that something they ever did back in the original World-1? Someone enlighten me. Anyway, Monster Express are awesome, this match was awesome, and Akira Tozawa’s german-suplex-into-oblivion onslaught may be the best finish in wrestling today. Also, CIMA replacing the bumped referees and running down to count the winning fall was a nice touch, the place erupted for him.
Rating: ★★★★
Main event) Open The Dream Gate Championship: Masato Yoshino of Monster Express defeated YAMATO of Mad Blankey [26:35, Sol Naciente Kai]
– YAMATO fails in his second defence, Yoshino is the new champion
Masato Yoshino is not my favourite wrestler. In fact, there have been times when I’ve felt he’s actively sapped my interest from a match. That said, there’s no denying that he’s had a return to form this year, from his challenge against CIMA in Osaka (which other people liked way more than I did) onwards. This takes the place of Shingo > YAMATO just two months ago as the the most shocking Dream Gate title change ever; I would have bet pretty much everything I owned on YAMATO retaining. Yoshino’s victory seemed totally out of the blue when I first read the result (I rarely get to watch DG spoiler free), but thinking about it, he was the sole survivor in the World-1/Blankey match at the August Korakuen, vacated the Brave, was the victim of a big heel turn last month etc etc.
The match itself was excellent, lifted way beyond my expectations by the deafeningly loud Korakuen crowd. SaiRyo is a fantastic underdog so I wasn’t surprised by the heat for his challenge, but didn’t realise people still had so much love for Yoshino. Their enthusiasm took this beyond, making it seem like a huge occasion and adding a lot of fire to his comebacks. I love how they did the “put a spin on the finish of the previous defence” thing again, with Yoshino surviving the Bakatare/sleeper/Gallaria combo that took Saito down. The people EXPLODED when YAMATO gave in to Sol Naciente Kai, it was a hell of a moment.
At risk of sounding like I’m going out of my way not to give Yoshino credit…I still reckon YAMATO is 70% of the reason these title defences have reached such greatness. His heel persona is absolute gold, and when coupled with his in-ring ability it makes him the perfect opposition for any babyface challenger. Obviously I can’t write Yoshino’s second reign off at this point, but I can say that I think they’ve made a mistake on the grounds that YAMATO was headed for the best reign ever; you could have put ANYONE opposite him on every Korakuen for the next year and the heat would have been on a similar level. Tozawa, Uhaa, Mocchy, Fujii, Susumu, Kanda, so many potential classics. Of course, at thirty two years old he still has at least another decade left to become ace of the universe, but lightning doesn’t always strike twice.
Rating: ★★★★1/4
Doi unsurprisingly attacked the new champion afterwards and issued for the challenge for the belt, favouring the Gate Of Destiny PPV in Osaka (November 3rd) rather than the next Korakuen. Since Tokyo Dream Gate matches have become a monthly tradition in 2013, CIMA booked a Key Hunting four way for the next show there (November 7th), with the winner going on to challenge for the title in the main event. A representative from all but the Veterans will be in the match; Tozawa for Monster Express, Hulk for Mad Blankey, Susumu for the Jimmyz, T-hawk for the Milennials.
Sounds to me like the belt will continue to be hotshotted…I’m saying Doi takes it at the PPV, then loses to either Tozawa (since he’s the hottest babyface in the company still, Korakuen reaction to Yoshino aside) or Hulk (taking the belt from a fellow MB member would be a catalyst for Hulk’s excommunication and face turn). I can’t fault them for getting the belt to Tozawa if that is indeed the plan, but if anyone else is holding it by the end of November 7th I’ll still be mourning YAMATO’s reign.
Closing thoughts: The jury is out on whether Yoshino winning the title was a good idea, but both the match and the overall show where excellent. Dragon Gate Korakuen shows are the hottest thing in wrestling today, but they don’t get the love that Daniel Bryan, New Japan pay per views and PWG do in the corners of the internet that I frequent. I shouldn’t be surprised really, since Dragon Gate has always been the Iron Maiden of puroresu; eternally followed by the same consistent, hardcore fanbase, while other promotions experience dizzying highs and crippling lows. So if you’re fed up of watching Bryan repeatedly lose the WWE title, sick of New Japan’s logical booking or waiting for the next DVD to be released from Reseda, you should check out this show.
Also, go watch my band’s music video, read my Gate Of Destiny preview here next wednesday, pre-order the show, join me here for live coverage (if I’m not at work) the following sunday and follow me on Twitter @HellionLee!
p.s Thanks as always to IheartDG for match times, translations etc