Kzy vs. Dragon Kid – King of Gate (DG 5/15/2021)
420 Ace Kzy is the only man in Sports Entertainment who could throw THE WORM in the middle of a chain wrestling exchange and make it somewhat tolerable. This was actually a match that took a bunch of wacky hip hop tropes and turned them into cutting edge shit. Like Kzy countering Dragon Kid’s breakdance kneedrop into a submission? Amazing spot. So yes, they had the high workrate banger you wanted them to have – Kitto once again turning back the clock and Kzy working like the best guy on the roster. It didn’t have the intensity of the Kzy/Susumu match from the day before, but it made up for that with creativity in spades. I popped big time for Kzy’s brutal 619/forearm counter and the transfixing top-rope rana spot later on. Some mighty fine gate-opening. ***3/4
Shun Skywalker vs. Kaito Ishida – King of Gate (DG 5/16/2021)
A redux version of their Dream Gate epic from March – a real good one at that. They hit the same beats as before: evil leg destruction from Ishida, big superhero babyfacing from Shun, explosive one-legged comebacks in the third act. And they hit those beats with the same kind of forward-thinking and attention to detail, but with a less sprawling, more tournament-friendly approach. We’re now entering the Liger/Sano stage of their rivalry where callbacks are integrated wisely to seduce all true WRESTLING OBSERVERS out there. Spoiler alert: they brought back the top-rope German suplex spot, this time with Shun landing on his feet – but his bad leg gave out! I’m all about Shun’s inner-conflict in this series, as his one true love (sweet flips) brings him nothing but pain and will very likely lead to a big Ishida win some day. ***3/4
Susumu Yokosuka vs. SB KENTo – King of Gate (DG 5/21/2021)
This seemed like a good opportunity to gauge the progress of my turbulent son SBK. He did allright against Dragon Kid on opening night, but some of his heeling felt a bit flat in a crowd-less setting. It worked better here, with a polite clap crowd and hordes of R.E.D. and Natural Vibes members at ring-side to bounce off his shtick. Susumu also seemed to be having a lot of fun throwing his trolling right back at him (‘’SBK!’’ rhythmic spanking) and it made for an entertaining match. As with all Yokosuka singles matches, the pacing was right on the money and the action built nicely into a satisfying ending stretch where Kento got to show off some more of his offense (shoutout to that big Arn Anderson Spinebuster). This kid will do just fine. ***1/4
Kzy vs. Jason Lee – King of Gate (DG 5/21/2021)
Super fun match between two dudes who can go really fast and slap their leg with laser-sharp precision. I don’t fully buy Jason as a main event guy who should be going Even Steven (or even beating!?) Kzy, so there was somewhat of a ceiling to my enjoyment – BUT, they went hard enough to make the kung fu boi earn that win. They did the Big Match DG dueling limb work thing to fill up the first half and it didn’t amount to much other than Kzy selling his neck after that one suplex. Bless this man and his desire to please the nerds.
The real fun came in the second half when both guys just unloaded on each other with blistering, highly-polished movez trading. Kzy has the most visually-pleasing uppercut in the game and he will pull that shit on you out of every possible angle. Meanwhile, Jason upgraded his arsenal for the occasion (2nd-rope JASON CUTTER~!) and did his best to live up to big main event expectations. Cool moment for the Jason Believers. ***3/4
PSA – Be sure to check out Rob’s deep dive on this match as it really adds to the story.
Kzy vs. Eita – King of Gate (Dragon Gate 5/23/2021)
Some healthy redemption after these guy’s disappointing Dream Gate match from last year. I’m pretty sure they’re destined for even better, but this still did the trick. Love me a classic heel/babyface structure, so I was quite happy with how they laid this thing out. Kzy, the absolute legend, went out there taking Shawn Michaels cornerpost bumps to get over Eita’s beatdown and it brought a tear to my eye. I truly wish this crowd were allowed to boo because Eita was suuuuch an asshole here. His incessant ‘’Ganbare Kzy!’’ trolling was top-tier heel work. They built up Kzy’s comebacks like two old pros and managed to sneak in some fairly mild ref bump shenanigans that somehow led to a Canadian Destroyer on a pile of chairs!? All the chair damage could’ve been sold a little more but that rollup finish was perfect. ***1/2
Asuka, Hagane Shinno & Shinichiro Tominaga © vs. Katsuzaki Shunosuke, Moehiko Harumisawa & Shu Sakurai – GWC 6-Man Tag Team Titles (GanPro 5/29/2021)
I’m a big supporter of GanPro’s GWC 6-man scene, but this didn’t grab me quite as much as the previous two defenses. The Halfee’s dollar store karaoke act seemed tailor made for a HARUKAZE-style underdog story and this was not that kind match. I mean, Harumisawa did get roughed up for a bit but the babyface team almost got off too easily? They had a competitive match with a lot of cool moments, but not much in terms of story arc you could sink your teeth into. The TASSLE-SHOOTER Shunosuke was a constant highlight for most of this – first schooling the champs on the mat, then showing great chemistry with Asuka and some genius flying armbar counters near the end. As for his partners – I’m not 100% sold. Is this the end of the GWC 6-man tag straps’ run as professional wrestling’s HOTTEST BELTS? ***1/4
Yuki Ueno © vs. Akito – DDT Universal Title (DDT 5/29/2021)
Life is nothing but a long journey where one must determine if Akito is good or bad. Is he a submission genius or a total bore? After watching this match, which featured his best performance since the King of DDT banger with T-Hawk from last year, I am ready to issue an official statement on the issue. Akito is GOOD. This man put wholesome Yuki Ueno through the damn wringer and gave him a match that rivaled the beloved Yusuke Okada defense from March.
Ever heard of a novel concept known as ‘working the leg’? Apparently, Cyberfight EVP Akito knows a thing or two about this shit. He kept a 28 minute leg match compelling by pulling off some of the most inventive knee attacks you’ve ever seen and forced Ueno to work for every little thing. The guy was just relentless. From the constant leg takedowns to the mind-expanding KINNIKU KNEE BREAKER – he was on the champ like a shark smelling blood.
None of this would’ve worked if Ueno hadn’t kept his end of the bargain and he DID. This nice young man knows that Wrestling Twitter thinks about one thing and one thing only. Consistent leg selling. He took the Shun Skywalker approach (self-sacrificing comebacks) and pushed it to new method acting heights, adding little details like nearly tripping on the Best Moonsault Ever because of the bad leg. Yuki Ueno is the new Marlon Brando.
The high-complexity New Japan counters that Ueno keeps trying to pull off since the Sakaguchi defense? They actually worked here and came off as totally organic. Akito constantly blocking the WR until Ueno finally broke his face with the shoot dropkick was probably the most satisfying way you could end this match. Two brilliant performances and another high point in Ueno’s lovely Universal title reign. ****1/4
