Masato Yoshino, Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs. Jason Lee, Keisuke Okuda & Strong Machine J
Only the Dragon Gate crew could pull off this type of match. One minute, you think you’re watching an easy going house show opener with Ryo Saito pleasantly trolling everyone. Then you blink and you’re in the middle of a rapid fire LUCHARESU WHIRLWIND. Jason Lee was your babyface in peril of the match – his brave sacrifice leading to all sorts of cool shit once the hot tag was initiated.
Okuda straight punching people in the mouth, a double 619 from Yoshino/Kitto, DK bringing back the springboard Diamond Dust. More than anything, these guys are just absolute pros at keeping a crowd engaged even with all the restrictions. You’ve got comedy seamlessly blending with intricate sequences, wrestlers constantly calling for clap-alongs and seconds at ring-side adding noise wherever they can. It’s a COVID party and everyone’s invited, baby. Please wear your mask. ***1/4
Kzy & Gamma vs. KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Diamante
This seemed to be going nowhere fast but picked up nicely for the finish. There was something charmingly bad about the first half: Gamma being unable to do the simplest double-teams with Kzy, Kzy screaming ‘’CABRON’’ at Diamante. You gotta find the comedy in the bland midcard wrestling, man. SAKAMOTO ripped off Marufuji’s True Tiger knee for the finish and I think it looked more convincing than Maru’s version? Faster, less of the victim waiting around like a dummy. You go, KAZMA SAKAMOTO. **1/4
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. U-T
Look at young U-T trying to win me over. First with that fun comeback performance at Korakuen and now with this midcard banger of a match with Mochi. They worked the old Dueling Leg Work Special, added some salty hierarchy-based logic and there you have it: a very good professional wrestling match.
U-T thought he was a real clever with those shooty kneebars in the opening, but M’S ALLIANCE’S OWN Masaaki Mochizuki has been spending all of his free time with Keiji Muto and now knows every dragon screw variant in the book. Checkmate. Both guys came up with some impressive counters for the ending stretch: I popped big time for Mochizuki turning the slingshot Codebreaker into a half crab. Also dug how it all came down to a fighting spirit showdown, as it brought out U-T’s underdog appeal before Mochi got tired of it all and knocked his head clean off. ***1/4
YAMATO & KAI vs. BxB Hulk & Takashi Yoshida
My love for Takashi Yoshida knows no limits, but that heel beatdown on YAMATO felt long even for me. Thankfully, things improved drastically once we got to the other side of the hot tag. Hulk/YAMATO have some really impressive chemistry with YAMATO always knowing exactly when to duck under during Hulk’s ninja kick onslaughts. Everything moved along nicely for the ending stretch: YAMATOKAI’s enzuigiri-based double-teams colliding with Yoshida’s SCREAMING LARIATS and sweet diving elbowdrop. **1/2
Naruki Doi, Don Fujii, Susumu Yokosuka & Shuji Kondo vs. Kento Kobune, Taketo Kamei, Sora Fujikawa & Madoka Kikuta
There’s nothing better than angry rookies trying to prove their worth to hardened veterans. This was a super fun play on that trope with the Dragon Gate young boys aggressively going after the middle-aged men of Team Toryumon. The intensity on display made everything feel so much more real – even during the high speed sequences it felt like two teams legitimately trying to outwrestle each other.
This was my first time seeing Kikuta and it looks like DG have got another potential hoss badass on hand. Loved the heavyweight physicality he brought against Kondo. The only thing keeping this from reaching that Jumbo-Gun/Super Generation Army sweet spot was the recurring comedy bits. They stayed true to the Dragon Gate spirit by sticking to a somewhat lighter tone, but imagine how crazy this would’ve been if the veterans had showed half as much hatred as the rookies. Still pretty awesome – I popped huge for Fujikawa’s sunset-flip near-fall and Susumu just murdering kids left and right with Jumbo No Kachi’s. ***1/2
Ben-K, Kota Minoura & Ben-K vs. Eita, Big R Shimizu & Kaito Ishida
Another good match with a clear focus on Dragon Gate’s younger generation. As you’d expect, they kept a brisk space from start to finish and built nicely towards a fun ending stretch with a couple crunchy near-falls. Big R was the highlight for me: throwing bombs at everyone, having a delicious beef war with Ben-K and dropping those big Shimizu splashes all over the place.
Quick note on Ishida: I like the KICKBOY but his move-set is starting to feel a bit Leg Slap: The Movie. Leg slaps on kicks, leg slaps on low blows, leg slaps on everything. Kinda feel bad for his thighs, to be honest. Ben-K was at his most Ace-like here – he really comes off as the real deal when trading hard shots with bigger guys. Also, him still throwing that missile dropkick with that new muscle mass is wild. ***
