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January 15, 2012 – Osaka, Japan
Open the Dream Gate Champion: CIMA
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki & Kzy
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Ricochet
Open the Twin Gate Champions: BxB Hulk & Akira Tozawa
Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano
Open the United Gate Champions: CIMA & Ricochet
The show starts by recapping how Akira Tozawa has been running down Maraha Isappa for being losers. On the Junction Three side, Masato Yoshino is mad at Masaaki Mochizuki for handing the Dream Gate belt over to CIMA, and for taking Cyber Kong under his wing.
They finally show a clip of the Doi Darts defending the Triangle Gate title against Shingo Takagi, Gamma & Super Shenlong. We get a good long look at Shenlong’s face after the match (not that we haven’t seen plenty of medium sized glimpses before) and he is indeed an ugly gentleman. Shenlong blames the loss on his partners, even though they lost after Tanisaki pinned him with the Implant.
[Dream Key Battle Royal]
For the first ten minutes of the match, eliminations will occur after a two-count, submission or ring-out. After ten minutes three-count rules are in effect. CIMA put this in place so the jobbers would have a better chance at winning the thing. Kong is lumped in with the jobbers in the pre-match graphic. That’s got to hurt. Takagi and Jimmy Susumu start. They trade lariats. Susumu hits a vertical suplex. He puts on a chinlock. Doi and Kong are out next. Doi rolls Kong up for 1. Tominaga and Ichikawa are out next. Tominaga dropkicks and armdrags Takagi. Doi rolls Tominaga up for 1. Shenlong and Gamma are out next. Gamma ignores Shenlong and no-sells his offense. Kid and Kzy are out last. Kzy takes his sweet time getting to the ring. Kid hits Shenlong with the Bible to eliminate him. Takagi and Gamma try throwing Doi over the top to the floor but fail. Takagi hits Ichikawa with a back bodydrop. Everyone goes for quick schoolboys while 2-count rules are still in effect and Ichikawa pays the spot off by pinning Gamma with la magistral just before the ten-minute mark hits. Kzy shoves Ichikawa into Takagi to upset the big man. The Blood Warriors feed Ichikawa to Takagi. Takagi goes for the STAY DREAM but Ichikawa blocks that. Takagi blocks Ichikawa’s attempt at the Gyrating Frankensteiner, but falls to the floor after a Pineapple Bomber and a projectile Ichikawa. Ichikawa hits the Koncho on Kong. He gets la magistral and everyone helps him pin and eliminate Kong. He gets la magistral on Kzy to eliminate him too. Doi counters la magistral on Ichikawa to pin him. That’s probably the winningest Ichikawa has ever been. Tominaga decides to align with Doi against Junction Three. They hit stereo dropkicks. The alliance blows up in Tominaga’s face when he ends up alone with Susumu. A ray of hope sees Tominaga put on the cross armbreaker (Takagi offers to throw in the towel) but Susumu gets to the ropes. Doi turns on Tominaga and hits him with a powerbomb. He hits the Doi 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick to eliminate Tominaga. Kind of serves Tominaga right. Doi almost gets Kid over and out but Kid low bridges him. They fight on the apron until Susumu accidentally hits Kid with a lariat. Doi hits Susumu with the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Susumu hits the Jumbo no Kachi. Kid counters the Muscular Bomb to the Bible to eliminate Doi. Susumu hits Kid with a lariat for 2. Kid hits the Messiah. He hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for 2. He misses a Dragon Rana. Susumu rolls through the Bible and hits the Jumbo no Kachi. He hits it again for 2. He dusts off the World Liner for the win at 15:24 shown of 18:38. CIMA looks concerned. This was pretty damn awesome for a battle royal. The Ichikawa stuff, the Tominaga stuff, the Doi stuff and the Kobe World 2006 rematch stuff were all entertaining as hell. You can’t ask for more from a battle royal.
Rating: ***¾
Shingo Takagi {J3} & YAMATO {J3} vs. Cyber Kong & Dragon Kid {J3} ended when Takagi pinned Kong after a Pumping Bomber and a punt-assisted powerbomb. Takagi and YAMATO show Kong no love after the match.
CIMA {BW}, Kzy {BW} & Naruki Doi {BW} vs. Jimmy Kagetora {J3}, Jimmy Susumu {J3} & Gamma {J3} ended when Kagetora pinned Kzy with the Kuruma Gakari. After the match Kagetora promised that the Jimmyz would do big things in 2012.
BxB Hulk © {BW} & Akira Tozawa © {BW} vs. Masaaki Mochizuki {J3} & Masato Yoshino {J3} [Open the Twin Gate Championship Match]
Hulk and Tozawa attack before the bell. They beat the challengers around the building. In the ring they sandwich Yoshino with dropkicks. Yoshino hits Tozawa with a supercharged dropkick. Mochizuki hits the apron kick. Hulk hits a big boot. Yoshino hits a head scissor takedown and a suicide dive. Mochizuki gives back kicks to both opponents. Hulk hits Yoshino with a spin kick for 2. He hits the axe kick for 2. Yoshino powerbombs Tozawa. He hits Hulk with the Sling Blade. Mochizuki cleans house with chest kicks. He boots Hulk over the turnbuckle. He blocks the axe kick and puts on the anklelock. Yoshino puts Tozawa in From Jungle. Kzy interferes to save his boys. Gamma canes him because Rich Swann is in the States. Hulk hits Yoshino with the Complete Shot for 2. He hits an enziguiri. Yoshino blocks a dropkick. Mochizuki hits a capture suplex. Yoshino hits a swinging DDT for 2. Hulk and Mochizuki daze each other with high kicks. Tozawa and Hulk hit the Darkside Tension Combo for 2. Mochizuki counters the First Flash to a legsweep. Hulk hits the Mouse. He hits the axe kick. Tozawa hits the running knee and Hulk hits the First Flash for 2 when Yoshino makes the save. Hulk and Tozawa sandwich Yoshino with kicks. Mochizuki fights back with chest kicks. He hits Tozawa with the Ikkakugeri. Yoshino hits the shotgun senton for 2. Tozawa blocks the Lightning Spiral and hits the bicycle kick. Yoshino hits the Ude Yoshino and the Lightning Spiral for 2. He hits the Torbellino. Mochizuki hits the Illusion and the Shin Saikyou High Kick for 2 when Hulk makes the save. Tozawa has the Sankakugeri scouted. Mochizuki boots Yoshino by mistake. Hulk dropkicks Mochizuki and hits Yoshino with the axe kick. Tozawa hits a German suplex for 2. He hits the High Tension Suplex for the win at 15:17 shown of 20:13. This made the tag champs look like world murderers, which was sorely needed after they backed into their title win. I actually really loved this, for the reasons I just mentioned and because it gave Yoshino something to do for the first time in forever (be a frustrated weak link in a tag team).
Rating: ****
Kzy jumps on the microphone and suggests they have another Loser Leaves Unit match. It’s going to be Mochizuki, Yoshino & Gamma vs. Doi, Yasushi Kanda & Kzy in six days in Kyoto. That’s in addition to the Loser Leaves Unit match that’s already booked for three days from this show in Tokyo, where ten men from Junction Three and the Blood Warriors will fight to keep their spots.