Susumu Yokosuka & Yasushi Kanda vs. Jason Lee & Keisuke Okuda
Nothing like a pedal-to-the-floor opener to kick off your professional wrestling show at a pleasingly crowded Korakuen Hall. The original M2K duo did their best to keep the youngsters in check with their veteran tricks but alas, the nunchaku prince Jason Lee was much too quick and the power of Okuda’s Big Mouth Loud tribute offense could NOT BE CONTAINED. Even in low-stakes undercard matches like this, the creativity is on another level in Dragon Gate. What with Kanda’s ode-to-SUWA John Woo into small package fakeout, or Susumu anticipating the inevitable Yokosuka Cutter escape by straight up DDT’ing fools. So rewarding. ***
Don Fujii & Kennichiro Arai vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Gamma vs. Kento Kobune & Taketo Kamei – 3-Way Match
ARAKEN ALERT! I love Dragon Gate’s open-door policy with former roster members. Anyone from the extended DGCU (Dragon Gate Cinematic Universe) can randomly pop up on the undercards. Except CIMA. The other big highlight here was young Kobune and Kamei continuing their war of attrition with the DG old men and WINNING. Kobune was particularly on point here and showed a lot of polished offense. The older gentlemen were surprisingly into it as well and didn’t completely rely on comedy tropes. Well-paced, enjoyable action. **3/4
Masato Yoshino & Madoka Kikuta vs. Genki Horiguchi & Kagetora
THE KIDS ARE ALLRIGHT. This seemed to be settling into perfectly acceptable midcard wrestling territory via filler leg work segments and Genki (lack of) hair comedy, but holy shit did the action ever pick up once Kikuta and Kagetora got into a KOBASHI/KENSUKE-sized chop war. A god damn fight. They’ve got something special on hand with Kikuta and the result here seems to indicate the office is well aware of the kid’s potential. Like in the previous match, they set up the upset finish perfectly with a veteran assist to make it a bit more plausible. ***
Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid & Shuji Kondo vs. KAZMA SAKAMOTO, Diamante & H.Y.O.
Gotta love Ultimo and Diamante going 100% authentic lucha and using the FOUL (low blow) as an actual finish. The rest of the match was decent if not a bit formulaic. These R.E.D. beatdowns sure can go long. I do need to mention that Dragon Kid and Kondo have the same kind of insane chemistry as partners than they had as opponents back in the early 2000’s. Their brilliantly orchestrated double team sequence was the clear highlight here. **1/2
Takashi Yoshida vs. Dragon Dia
Yoshida The GOAT and Dia were on their way to having a solid little midcard match here until this whole thing turned out to be an elaborate setup for the introduction of DIA INFERNO aka. My new favorite wrestler. The idea seems to be to give Dragon Dia his very own Darkness Dragon and to that I must say: Dragon Gate please take all my money. Not sure if this is Inferno’s final look, but right now he looks like the most dangerous Power Rangers villain imaginable and I am 100% here for this brilliant indie sleaze.
Naruki Doi, Ryo Saito & Ryotsu Shimizu vs. Yosuke Santa Maria, Punch Tominaga & U-T
Due to losing at Dangerous Gate, Shimizu had to revert back to his original 2013 comedy gimmick (inspired by the Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo anime). Here, he united with the Ryo/Doi comedy duo as Team Boku and we got a whole bunch of harmless tropey fun out of their unholy alliance. Hearing Korakuen laugh their asses off again was a pretty good time. **1/4
YAMATO, Kzy, Ben-K & Minoura Kota vs. Eita, BxB Hulk, Kaito Ishida & KAI
This one took forever to move past the R.E.D. extended beatdown of death, but it got pretty good once it did. Heel KAI already feels like a natural fit, even if the new look has officially condemned him to Midcarder 4 Life status. Eita and Kzy heat up their upcoming Dream Gate match in the best way, beating the shit out of each other with the tools that God has given them (forearms). If you’re into the faction shenanigans, the DOUBLE AGENT SWERVE finish was a fun bit of RAW is DRAGON GATE booking. Not a bad way to add more heat to the upcoming Okuda/Ishida Brave Gate match. ***
