February 27, 2010 – Kyoto, Japan
Championship rundown:
Open the Dream Gate Champion: Naruki Doi
Open the Twin Gate Champions: CIMA & Gamma
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Akebono
Open the Brave Gate Champion: K-ness
Open the Freedom Gate Champion: BxB Hulk
The show starts with a video package of K-ness winning the Brave Gate belt and his claims of being at 100% health. Super Shisa also claims to be at 100% health, and has challenged for a shot at the title. K-ness accepted the challenge after successfully defending the belt against PAC.
K-ness © vs. Super Shisa {Z} [Open the Brave Gate Championship Match]
K-ness has Susumu Yokosuka and Genki Horiguchi at ringside, but all of them are currently out of Real Hazard and without the support of a larger unit. They trade holds on the mat to start. Shisa puts on an armbar. K-ness gets to the ropes. Shisa hits a dropkick and a suicide dive. He hits a missile dropkick for 2. He hits a butterfly suplex for 2. K-ness blocks a splash with his knees. He hits a Michinoku Driver for 2. Shisa goes for the STF but K-ness counters to the Aoki Hikari. Shisa puts on an inverted Aoki Hikari, but K-ness gets his hold back on. He hits a hangman neckbreaker without releasing the hold. That was cool. They trade roll ups until Shisa hits a piledriver. That gets 2. He hits a Tombstone Piledriver and a splash out of the corner for 2. K-ness hits an enziguiri and slams Shisa off the top. He blocks a hurricanrana and hits a double stomp. Shisa ducks the Kaishaku and gets a jackknife pin for 2. K-ness hits the Shouryuukyaku for 2. He hits the Kaishaku for 2. He hits the Darkness Driver for 2. Shisa blocks the Darkness Buster and absorbs K-ness’ elbows. He hits European uppercuts and chops. K-ness hits a high kick. Shisa hits the Yoshi Tonic for 2. He hits a missile dropkick from each corner for 2. He hits a twisting Yoshi Tonic for the win and the title at 15:17 shown of 22:37. This was Shisa’s best singles match in years, and a nice rebound for K-ness after the bad showing against PAC (I know it was supposedly Gaora’s fault, but go with me here).
Rating: ***½
CIMA {W5}, Gamma {W5} & Dragon Kid {W5} vs. Shingo Takagi {K}, YAMATO {K} & Akira Tozawa {K}
Winner gets KAGETORA. Before the match the two teams had a tug of war over KAGETORA, which KAGETORA found amusing. CIMA and Takagi start. They don’t do anything of note. YAMATO hits Kid with a shoulder tackle. Kid hits a head scissors takedown. Gamma hits Tozawa with a shoulder tackle. Tozawa comes back with a dropkick. Gamma spits in his face. They scream at each other until Gamma hits a dropkick. Kid and CIMA attack Takagi from behind. Tweener Kid rules! Takagi slugs Gamma. He and YAMATO make a wish. CIMA hits YAMATO with a senton. He puts on an abdominal stretch. Takagi works CIMA’s back. He hits an atomic drop. Kid hits Tozawa with a pair of dropkicks in the corner. Takagi hits Kid with a press slam. He and YAMATO hit a double hiptoss and a double atomic drop. Tozawa hits a senton for 2. He avoids the 619 but gets caught with a head scissors takedown. Gamma chases YAMATO around the building with the cane. He misses a swing and hits KAGETORA with it by accident. In the ring CIMA gets 2 on Tozawa. Gamma gives Tozawa a very close-up Osuikougeki. He asks KAGETORA to forgive him for earlier, which KAGETORA seemingly does. Tozawa hits Gamma with a dropkick. Takagi cleans house with clotheslines. He hits CIMA and Gamma with a double suplex. YAMATO and Tozawa hit Kid with a double dropkick. Tozawa hits a suicide dive. CIMA hits YAMATO with the Superdrol. YAMATO dropkicks the knee and puts on an anklelock. CIMA misses an enziguiri and YAMATO locks in the sleeper hold. Kid makes the save. Takagi blocks the Messiah but eats a stunner. Takagi and Tozawa hit a Doomsday Device for 2. Kamikaze gangs up on Kid in the conrer. Takagi hits the Gallon Throw. YAMATO hits a brainbuster for 2. CIMA saves Gamma from the Apron Kara Tozawa. Gamma canes Tozawa. KAGETORA takes the cane from Gamma. Kid hits the stack hurricanrana. CIMA hits a double stomp. He hits the Perfect Driver for 2. He and Gamma hit a double Tokarev. Takagi hits Kid with the DVD. CIMA and Gamma hit a double dropkick. They hit a double superkick. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for 2. He hits YAMATO with the Messiah. Takagi powerbombs Kid. He hits Gamma with a lariat. CIMA hits the Perfect Driver. Tozawa hits the Ganki for 2. He gets a sunset flip on Gamma for 2. Gamma hits a lariat. Takagi hits Tozawa with the Pumping Bomber by mistake. Gamma hits the Gamma Special for 2. CIMA tries to give Gamma the cane. KAGETORA rips it out of his hands and hits Gamma with it by mistake, allowing Tozawa to hit a German suplex on Gamma for the win at 18:23 shown of 22:27. If you’re coming into this cold without having followed the angle there’s plenty to enjoy here. Everyone brought their A game and put in a great performance. If you have been following the angle then it’s even better, because the right guy got the winning pin and KAGETORA’s involvement made sense.
Rating: ****
After the match KAGETORA celebrates his entrance into Kamikaze. This is a much better fit for him than WARRIORS-5 given the generational lines that exist between stables now. After Kamikaze leaves the WARRIORS lament the loss. Horiguchi comes out wearing a Dragon Gate shirt and starts cleaning up the ringside area. Kid suggests they absorb Horiguchi, since it would get them closer to being a five-man stable again (they’re called the WARRIORS-5 after all). CIMA and Gamma are on board. Horiguchi agrees as well, and goes as far as to say that when Ryo Saito returns he’ll bring him into the group as well. The crowd couldn’t be happier that Horiguchi is a babyface again. He does the WARRIORS WOOOO, and the group points at his HAGE head to end the segment!
A look ahead at the future: Now that KAGETORA is in Kamikaze it’s time for the group to help YAMATO get an early edge over Naruki Doi and World-1 heading into the Dream Gate match on March 22nd. They’ll meet in an eight-man tag on March 14th.
Earlier in the show Yasushi Kanda {RH} & Kzy {RH} vs. Masato Yoshino {W1} & BxB Hulk {W1} ended after a red box attack from Takuya Sugawara gave Kanda the pin over Hulk. A few matches later Takuya Sugawara {RH} vs. Susumu Yokosuka went to a no contest when Darkside Hulk ran out and attacked Sugawara. He fought off all of Real Hazard and let Sugawara know that he’s coming for him. In the back Real Hazard attacked Hulk from behind, making this the first time Darkside Hulk has been on the losing end of an exchange. On March 20th Darkside Hulk will wrestle Sugawara one-on-one.
Two days later CIMA and Dragon Kid were talking backstage. Kid lets CIMA know that he’s bringing Juventude Guerrera into the WARRIORS as their gaijin ally now that the Young Bucks are out of Dragon Gate. A week later BxB Hulk and Masato Yoshino challenged Kid and Guerrera to a match on March 22nd.
