Shun Skywalker & Jason Lee vs. Susumu Yokosuka & U-T
On top of being a straight-up fun opener featuring four bros who could pull three stars out of a paper bag, this was also a match with some cool as fuck submissions. The llave-influence in Dragon Gate is something that’s often taken for granted these days. It adds such a unique flair to what could be otherwise-listless early-match-sections. See: Shun tying U-T into assorted DOS CARAS-esque knots and U-T retaliating with various funky leglocks on Jason later. The rest of the match was all gravy too – the usual fast-paced good time swiftly escalating into a big ol’ Jason upset. Wrestling is good. ***
Ultimo Dragon & Kennichiro Arai vs. Ryo Saito & Punch Tominaga
Guest commentator Susumu spent most of this talking about Saito’s new Sai Rocket-themed gear design and I was going to make a snarky comment about it being the sole highlight of the match UNTIL Punch busted out that sweet top-rope flying armbar into Triangle choke finish. Very 1999 Kendo Kashin. This man is your next Brave Gate champ. You heard it here first. **1/4
Masaaki Mochizuki, Takashi Yoshida, Don Fujii & Gamma vs. BxB Hulk, Kaito Ishida, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & H.Y.O.
My man Yoshida now has hair color that matches his sunny new disposition. Just beautiful. Also uuuuh, this ruled? They completely bypassed the usual R.E.D. heel beatdown structure and instead had the old guys beat the shit out of H.Y.O. Donald Fujii stole the show whenever he was in, mimicking Yoshida’s throat thrust rush and choke slamming a dude while being trapped in an ankle lock. A true legend. Elsewhere, Mochi/Ishida brought the dickishness and worked the beyond-epic legsweep-dodge-into-FACEPUNCH sequence from that killer Mochizuki/Kenoh 2018 NOAH match. ***
Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda & Yasushi Kanda vs. Kzy, Genki Horiguchi & Dance Hashimoto
Hashimoto is none other than Kagetora with a Natural Vices makeover for (presumably) one night only. The guy ingested Kento Miyahara-levels of cocaine before the match and partied like a rockstar for the whole thing. Well deserved. There was a loooot of house show comedy tropes here, but the action eventually kicked into high gear and reached the coveted Good Korakuen 6-Man plateau. The Kzy/Okuda section was so compelling that I’d be down for a Kzy Brave Gate challenge, even if it’d be an obvious downgrade for him at this stage. ***
Copyrights, schmopyrights. Muting Masahiro Chono’s theme should result in immediate jail time.
Bokutimo Dragon vs. Diamante – Mascarara Contra Mascara
A bit heavy on the R.E.D. shenanigans, but Bokutimo’s valiant babyface performance was enough to keep me hooked. I haven’t seen anything from Big R’s pre-heel run, so I was surprised by how well he was working the crowd here. A big lovable technico. He also provided large quantities of chunky high-flying and I felt truly nourished. Nourished by this man’s plus-size tope con hilo off the apron. Diamante played the rudo role well, but didn’t stand out as much as he does in tags. To be fair, the match was clearly designed to put Bokutimo over in defeat. Chef’s kiss to the overly-dramatic post-match unmasking ceremony. ***1/4
Naruki Doi, YAMATO & Dragon Kid vs. Eita, KAI & SB Kento
There was fun to be had here, even if it was more of an extended RAW is DRAGON angle than a proper Dragon Gate 6-man. They pushed two stories to the forefront: the will he/won’t he recruitment angle with High End and the returning Doi + R.E.D. tension between KAI and SBK. Both were handled well and had intriguing outcomes. I like the idea of Doi bailing on YAMATO to do his own thing with Yoshino and I like SBK as the wildcard who might turn on you at a moment’s notice. The match was all countout/restart and powder shot shenanigans, but it succeeded in making you want to tune in to the next episode. **3/4
