Here it is, the definitive list of the best Dragon Gate matches of 2013. Looking back, I found that my star based mathematical analysis didn’t really concur with my actual feelings about what made Dragon Gate so good last year. Attempts to make an objective list using that system proved futile; given that the nature of reviewing is subjective, I seemed to be doublethinking myself into some sort of Orwellian nightmare. Ultimately it was concluded that, for the sake of my sanity, the star ratings had to be Ryotsu-style giant swung out of the window, leaving a list formed purely from fond recollections on a bus journey home:
10) YAMATO of Mad Blankey vs Shingo Takagi
Open The Dream Gate Championship, Infinity 306 (August 23rd)
The Kzy box attack that led to YAMATO’s frankensteiner and shocking first-defence-title-loss for Takagi is the single greatest moment that has occurred while I’ve been a Dragon Gate fan. Genuinely mindblowing. YAMATO’s sly victory launched the whole promotion into a season of chaos where pretty much anything could happen in the title picture. Despite also being the first big grudge match between the two former best buds, it was kind of eclipsed by its own conclusion and the YAMATO defences that followed, so my memory of it is somewhat hazy. It actually charted in the top five of my super mathematic original list.
9) Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Super Shisa of Team Veteran vs Eita, T-hawk & U-T of the Milennials
Infinity 312 (October 10th)
Also known as the match where young U-T earned the coveted title of “Masaaki Mochizuki’s personal kicking post” (previous owners include Ryo Saito and Shachihoko BOY). The convoluted indy lucha of the would-be-young studs just didn’t fly with the angry old men, so this broke down into a wild fight even before the opening bell (the vets wiped out the Milennials with kicks off the apron during their entrance). Eita and co left a pretty vivid impression on Fujii’s chopped up chest, but the sick boston crab/head stomp finish to poor U-T was the lasting visual from this one. A killer match which kickstarted a pretty hot feud between the warring generations, Mochizuki and T-hawk especially…but that’s a story for the 2014 MOTY list.
8) YAMATO of Mad Blankey vs Masato Yoshino of Monster Express
Open The Dream Gate Championship, Infinity 312 (October 10th)
The abrupt end to YAMATO’s Dream Gate reign sent me into a rage that made me swear off Dragon Gate for…thirty, maybe forty minutes. By the time the match made it to TV, I was over it, and to my surprise the infectious enthusiasm of the deafening Korakuen faithful really drew me in. Tokyo’s uproarious joy at the Yoshino victory wasn’t something I shared, but the match was undeniably magic. It’s hard not to dig such a shocking result.
7) YAMATO & Shingo Takagi of -akatsuki- vs K-ness & Kenichiro Arai of Windows
Infinity 286 (February 7th)
With all the turns and title changes that came with the summer and beyond, it’s easy to forget that the best feud of the entire year happened right at the beginning. K-ness and Araken did the unthinkable when they won their theoretically one-off dream matches at the January Korakuen, against the far more mobile YAMATO and Shingo respectively, setting up this brilliantly dramatic battle of old vs young (a recurring theme in this promotion with its seemingly immortal veterans). The previously broken down, injury plagued K-ness Hikari No Wa‘d his way to another victory, an emotional high point of this intergenerational war. Not only did the feud provide four months of killer matches, but it rocketed K-ness back up the card for the spring and firmly planted the seeds of the looming YAMATO heel turn. Well, “planted the seeds” is a bit of an understatement, dude was pretty much a total heel opposite the Windows, while also berating and abusing his rookie stablemates, he just didn’t turn on Takagi til June.
6) Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & HUB of Team Veteran vs Naruki Doi, Rich Swann & Shachihoko BOY of World-1
Open The Triangle Gate Championship, Dead Or Alive (May 5th)
Doi, Swann and Shachi, aka TEAM HIGH TENSION will go down in history as…absolutely nothing, because the under-appreciation of TEAM HIGH TENSION is one of the great injustices of our time. The key to their greatness was their total lack of power; it was basically a former failed ace, the amusing American and the guy with the strange mask and gravelly voice who’s lucky if he makes it onto a card once a month, but they were such great buddies who were willing to sacrifice themselves for each other (Doi’s selfless dive into a Fujii lariat in an attempt to save Shachi is still my favourite thing that’s ever happened ever) in the face of super powered veteran teams. The finish was gold, with Doi managing to keep the titles with TEAM HIGH TENSION by the skin of his teeth via a V9 Clutch.
5) Masaaki Mochizuki, Jimmy Susumu & K-ness of M2K vs Naruki Doi, Rich Swann & Shachihoko BOY of World-1
Open The Triangle Gate Championship, Infinity 300 (June 5th)
Of course, Mocchy realised that the only way to overcome TEAM HIGH TENSION was to level up and reunite the most legendary of Dragon Gate units; M2K. Actually the reunion happened almost totally by accident and was actually arranged by K-ness, but let’s just ignore that for now. All the Mocchy-kicking-Shachi-into-oblivion and Doi-the-desperate-hero action from Dead Or Alive, along with the good time M2K callbacks and rejuvenated Kness-ness. Perhaps the ultimate example of the “super good times” description that surfaces in so many of my Korakuen reviews.
4) Mad Blankey (YAMATO, Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk, Kzy & Mondai Ryu) vs -akatsuki- (Shingo Takagi, Cyber Kong, Chihiro Tominaga & Super Shenlong III)
Losing Unit Disbands, Infinity 304 (August 1st)
I think “out of control” was how IheartDG‘s Jae described this one as he tweeted live from ringside, and I can’t think of a better way to put it. The strange sounding “Akatsuki just need a two count to win” rule led to madness like eternal underachiever Chihiro Tominaga almost winning the thing, while achieving crowd reactions the likes of which he never has before or since. Mondai Ryu kicking out of monster offence at one was pretty mind bending too. Rapid, chaotic action with a ton of drama given that each team was fighting to save their unit. If someone was to ask me “What’s a Dragon Gate?”, this is the match I’d show them.
3) CIMA of Team Veteran vs K-ness of Windows
Open The Dream Gate Championship, Infinity 293 (April 4th)
Back from lower card obscurity and fresh off three straight wins over Akatsuki, K-ness challenged for the Dream Gate in what was the undisputed highlight of CIMA’s third reign. It was utterly captivating, with a similar dynamic to CM Punk vs Undertaker (which happened just a few days later) in that you knew there was no way the challenger could feasibly win, but disbelief was suspended due to the emotional stakes. K-ness was accompanied by his Windows buddies from the start, but it was when his classic tag partner Susumu (aligned with the Jimmyz at this point) emerged from the back to desperately encourage and support him that the match became transcendent. An instant classic which is without a doubt one of the finest matches I’ve seen in Dragon Gate.
2) YAMATO of Mad Blankey vs Ryo “Jimmy” Saito of the Jimmyz
Open The Dream Gate Championship, Infinity 309 (September 12th)
If K-ness vs CIMA was “the ultimate underdog vs the unbeatable ace”, then this was “the ultimate underdog vs the unbeatable asshole”. It was no surprise that the former was outstanding, but this one really snuck up on me. Saito pulled off a big match version of his underdog role that we saw most prominently opposite Mochizuki in the 2012 Veteran/Jimmyz feud, which combined with YAMATO’s trademark heel swagger and the red hot Korakuen crowd to create another instant classic. The play on the finish of YAMATO’s title win (Saito rolled through the box attack/frankensteiner combo that beat Shingo, nearly pinning the champion in the process) was this bout’s transcendent moment. In many ways the appeal was similar to CIMA vs K-ness, but this just has the edge for me, probably due to it taking place in the hot post-summer chaos where it seemed like anything could happen.
1) Windows (Kotoka, Kenichiro Arai) feat. Cyber Kong vs -akatsuki- (Chihiro Tominaga, YAMATO & Super Shenlong III)
Captains Match, Infinity 290 (March 7th)
Yes, I’m aware that I’m probably the only person in the world who considers this to be the match of the year, I may be the only person who actually remembers it, but even after the Dream Gate classics it still stands out for me over everything. A year or so into my fandom of Kotoka, after witnessing his fiery performances culminate in loss after loss (and occasional humiliation), he was finally given the chance to step up as he was tasked with carrying the Windows/Akatsuki feud on the non-Tokyo shows, since he was the only member of his unit that actually appeared on them. He rose to the challenge in Sambo Hall and was given the chance to lead a team against YAMATO’s crew in the semi-main event back at Korakuen…which he won. The match was twelve minutes of rapid action, glued together by YAMATO while the under-utilised rookies had a bigger spotlight than ever on them, with a killer finishing stretch that saw Araken tiger suplex Tominaga, ready for a series of double stomps that led to the biggest Kotoka victory to date. It’s a rare moment when you see a genuine underdog, someone who doesn’t seem to have the backing of the-powers-that-be or even most fans, come out on top, and even though it didn’t lead anywhere particularly big for him, “Live My Dreams” playing in celebration through Korakuen Hall towards the end the night was a huge moment for this Kotoka fan.
Honourable Mentions:
Naruki Doi & Ricochet vs Akira Tozawa & BxB Hulk
Open The Twin Gate Championship, World (July 21st)
Ok, so not including this in the top ten will be deemed heresy by many, but hear me out. It was the showstealer on the biggest show of the year, an outstanding tag match that also served as a great conclusion to Ricochet’s ridiculously good run from November 2012 onwards, and I wouldn’t dispute anyone who cited it as the match of the year, I just felt more of a connection with the stories in the matches that made the list. I appreciate great work in the ring, but it’s how a match makes me feel that’s the most important. Like Mad Blankey vs -akatsuki-, this would be a great recommendation for newcomers.
YAMATO vs Masaaki Mochizuki
Infinity 295 (May 10th) & World (July 21st)
YAMATO and Mochizuki are pretty much my favourite singles pairing ever. Their King Of Gate first round encounter and subsequent rematch at Kobe were awesome, YAMATO’s technical wrestling and Mocchy’s strike based style meld so well together. They didn’t reach the heights of their 2010/11 Dream Gate matches, nor did they need to given that there was no belt involved. Both bouts will sit nicely on the YAMATO vs Mochizuki compilation DVD that someone (probably me) will make if the format still exists in a few years.
So there it is, Dragon Gate 2013 in review. If you were to judge purely from this list, you’d probably gather that YAMATO was the MVP of the year…and in my opinion, you’d be correct. He was the villain of the two great stories, Windows vs -akatsuki- and Dream Gate chaos, a role which he totally backed up in the ring. Those with a keen eye will also spot that almost all of the matches that charted were from the monthly Korakuens; those Tokyo shows were killer all year round, August-October especially.
What would YOUR top ten matches of last year be? Let me know on Twitter @HellionLee. Also, I’m taking a hiatus from writing for PWP, so in case I never return, I’d like to thank Jerome for running such a great site, Chris GST and Des for being my favourite people I’ve never met, and YOU the readers, for taking the time to read my ramblings about the show that I love so much despite not being able to understand a word anyone says on it.
さようなら!
p.s It would out of character to end on anything but a cheap plug, so go watch the music video I made!