Dragon Gate Infinity 243 or Jimmies at the Twin Gate

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December 1, 2011 – Tokyo, Japan

Open the Dream Gate Champion: Masaaki Mochizuki
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Naruki Doi, Kzy & Naoki Tanisaki
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Ricochet
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Vacant
Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano
Open the United Gate Champions: CIMA & Ricochet

PAC {J3} & Prince Devitt {NJ} vs. Genki Horiguchi {BW} & Ryo Saito {BW}
PAC brought in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion to help bridge the gap from the midcard to the main event. Devitt & Horiguchi start. They trade holds on the mat. PAC hits Saito with a basement dropkick. Devitt follows suit. PAC hits Horiguchi with a standing SSP. He hits a corkscrew moonsault off of Devitt’s back for 2. Horiguchi and Devitt brawl through the crowd as Saito chokes PAC in the ring. Horiguchi suplexes Devitt on the floor. PAC hits Horiguchi with a springboard dropkick. Devitt dropkicks Saito and clotheslines Horiguchi. He dropkicks Horiguchi to the floor. PAC dives onto Horiguchi. Devitt hits Saito with a double stomp off the top for 2. Saito hits PAC with a German suplex. He hits one on Devitt. Horiguchi hits PAC with the brainbuster for 2. PAC blocks the Beach Break and hits a German suplex. Devitt gets caught with the Backslide from Heaven but PAC makes the save. PAC hits Saito with the Ace Crusher. Devitt hits the Bloody Sunday. He hits Horiguchi with one as well. He hits Saito with a topé con hilo. PAC finishes Horiguchi with the 360 Shooting Star Press for the win at 7:37 shown of 13:02. Devitt really didn’t get to do much here. The match was about as bad as could be expected, which is to say they just went out and had a standard good match and not a mind-blowing one. Here’s hoping that’s not the last we’ve seen of Devitt in Dragon Gate.
Rating: ***

Naoki Tanisaki {BW}, & Uhaa Nation {BW} & Yasushi Kanda {BW} vs. Rich Swann {J3}, Don Fujii & Gamma {J3} ends when Nation nails Swann with the Uhaa CombiNATION.

Shingo Takagi {J3} & Dragon Kid {J3} vs. Kzy {BW} & Naruki Doi {BW} ends when Takagi murders Kzy with the DVD and the Pumping Bomber. After the match Doi gets on the microphone and runs down Kenichiro Arai, K-ness & Taku Iwasa. They come out to the ring. After some back and forth a match is made between the Doi Darts and Arai’s trio on the December 20th live show.

Masaaki Mochizuki {J3} & Masato Yoshino {J3} vs. CIMA {BW} & Ricochet {BW} gives us a preview of the Final Gate main event. CIMA controls with kicks for a minute. Mochizuki shows him how it’s done. Ricochet picks up the win by rolling through the Torbellino to pin Yoshino.

YAMATO {J3} vs. Cyber Kong
Kong shaved YAMATO’s head. YAMATO got Kong kicked out of the Blood Warriors. This will settle things once and for all. Simple, effective, awesome storytelling is what makes Dragon Gate the best. YAMATO grabs a headlock to start. He sends Kong to the floor and hits a suicide dive. Back in the ring YAMATO works the arm. They trade strikes in an exchange that Kong easily wins. YAMATO’s selling here is unparalleled. Kong stands on his stomach. He puts on the sleeper hold. YAMATO gets to the ropes. YAMATO hits the spear but Kong is too strong to go down. Amazing. YAMATO sneaks away and a second spear puts Kong on his back. He hits a dropkick. He slams Kong for 2. Kong crotches YAMATO up top and clotheslines him to the floor. He brings YAMATO back into the ring with a side suplex. YAMATO hits a dropkick but Kong rebounds with the Pineapple Bomber for 2. Kong hits the flying elbowdrop for 2. YAMATO puts on a guillotine choke. He hits a vertical suplex. He hits a powerbomb and a frog splash for 2. Can’t think of another time he’s used that move. They trade strikes until YAMATO dropkicks the knee. He hits the brainbuster for 2. He hits the Galleria for the win at 10:50 shown of 15:22. A lot of this match was Kong trying all his old tricks, realizing they weren’t working and quickly losing his confidence and edge. I dug the story, dug the finish, and loved the aftermath.
Rating: ***½

After the match Nation runs out and attacks Kong. He finishes the masked man off with a press slam. In the back Kong announces his Final Battle match against Kensuke Sasaki. Also announced is the match between Kong and Nation at the December 20th live show.

BxB Hulk {BW} & Akira Tozawa {BW} vs. KAGETORA {J3} & Susumu Yokosuka {BW} [Open the Twin Gate Championship Match]
If KAGETORA & Yokosuka lose they have to change their names to Jimmy Kagetora & Jimmy Susumu, an homage to the vanilla insults that the Blood Warriors constantly hurl at them. Tozawa and Yokosuka avoid each other’s signature strikes to start. Yokosuka cleans house with lariats. He hits Hulk with an exploder. KAGETORA hits a basement dropkick. He smacks the crap out of Tozawa. Yokosuka hits a back kick. Tozawa comes back with the double suicide dive and somersault off the apron. Hulk dropkicks KAGETORA for 2. He and Tozawa hit a dropkick sandwich for 2. Tozawa hits another dropkick for 2. He and Hulk pepper KAGETORA with kicks for 2. KAGETORA hits Hulk with an enziguiri. He hits Tozawa with the leaping lariat. Yokosuka hits Tozawa with an exploder into the corner. He hits Hulk with a lariat. KAGETORA hits a DDT for 2. He smacks Tozawa’s face off. He hits an enziguiri. Tozawa elbows him to the mat. He blocks a crossbody with his knees. He hits the bicycle kick and Hulk hits the Complete Shot for 2. Yokosuka hits Tozawa with the half nelson suplex. He hits Hulk with a super exploder and KAGETORA hits the flying elbowdrop for 2. Hulk blocks the Hangetsu and hits an enziguiri. Tozawa suplexes KAGETORA after a dropkick from Hulk for 2. Hulk hits the axe kick and Tozawa hits the German suplex for 2. Hulk hits Yokosuka with the EVO for 2. Tozawa hits a bicycle kick and a superplex for 2. KAGETORA hits an enziguiri and Yokosuka hits the DVD. Yokosuka hits the Jumbo no Kachi for 2. KAGETORA hits the Hangetsu and the Ikkitousen for 2. Yokosuka hits a cross-armed Mugen for 2. Hulk hits KAGETORA with the EVOplex for 2. Tozawa hits Yokosuka with a side suplex. KAGETORA counters the First Flash to the Kagenui for 2. He gets it again for 2. Tozawa and Yokosuka trade strikes. Yokosuka hits the Jumbo no Kachi. Tozawa hits a German suplex. Hulk hits the First Flash. Tozawa hits another German suplex for 2. He hits the High Tension Suplex for the win and the titles at 16:45 shown of 23:46, giving Tozawa his first title ever. No, I’m not counting his nonsense Texas title run, even if a couple of the matches were quite good. As for the match, some of it was just absurd, with Tozawa kicking out of finisher strings he had no business being able to beat. The finish was outstanding however, and made me want to see a Tozawa vs. Yokosuka singles match in a big way.
Rating: ***½

Tozawa makes fun of the newly dubbed Jimmy Susumu & Jimmy Kagetora after the match. Takagi gets frustrated and lays Tozawa out with a lariat. YAMATO chokes out Hulk, because he’s a thug. The two of them lay out a Twin Gate challenge for Final Gate, in case anyone didn’t know who the real tough bastards in Junction Three are.