Tokyo Korakuen Hall, August 1st 2013 (Aired on August 10th)
Lee here with thoughts on the post-World edition of Dragon Gate Infinity! We have a new champion in Shingo Takagi, Araken, Shisa and K-ness have vacated their window seats and joined Team Veteran v.2, then even more is going down tonight as -akatsuki- and Mad Blankey face off in a losing unit disbands match! As the babyfaces come out for the show opening promo, I fully realise for the first time what bad shape their unit is in.
They started off as “Shingo, YAMATO & Their Protégés”, now it's basically “Shingo & The Jobbers”. Mad Blankey interrupt just so Tozawa can show that he's seventy times more interesting than Takagi on the mic, but then he's stumped when it's pointed out how easily Cyber Kong could dispose of Monchan or Kzy given the two count rule. This one could go either way folks! But of course, that's the main event. Time for random Jimmyz Korakuen opener one hundred and fifty seven.
1) Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kagetora & Mr Quu Quu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin of the Jimmyz defeated Gamma, Super Shisa & Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa of Ore-tachi Veteran Gun/We Are Team Veteran [11:21, Mugen]
This had all the makings of a perfectly fine but perfectly forgettable semi-comedy match, but then actual storyline development happened as the Kagetora/Tanizaki tension continued! They argued, they brawled, they ignored Stalker's pitiful attempts of onslaught, it got to the point where even Gamma from the opposing team was trying to calm them down.
I recently predicted that this whole angle is a ruse, leading to Tanizaki, Kage and Kanda (who I was convinced had been booked to referee a difference-settling singles match between the two, but a scouring of IheartDG seems to indicate that it was a figment of my imagination) turning heel, so based on my recent track record of predictions it will lead absolutely anywhere but there.
Rating: DRAMA
2) Masaaki Mochizuki of Ore-tachi Veteran Gun defeated Kotoka [8:26, Twister]
Dragon Kid was originally scheduled to face Kotoka here but was injured in training, so Team Veteran put forward a mystery replacement…Masaaki Mochizuki! Regular readers may have already figured that my mind almost exploded at this, the first ever televised clash between my two favourite wrestlers. As you'd expect, Mocchy was in dickhead bully mode, brutalising Kotoka with kicks and inviting him to trade, even using a mockingly half arsed version of his own double stomp finisher, while Kotoka fought back and brought the fire in a way only he can. Not even just roll ups and dives, a vicious head kick almost took Mochizuki out of it. The Korakuen faithful were way hot for the youngster, exploding when he shockingly got straight up after taking a Twister, but his last ditch attempt to fight back was brought to a definite close when Mocchy nailed him with a second. An awesome match which continued the raising of Kotoka's stock, I'd love to see another down the line, maybe in King Of Gate 2014 when he's a bit higher up the totem pole.
Rating: ★★★1/2…and this is why I hate star ratings. One of my favourite matches of the year, and I can only realistically rate it at three and half despite it leaving more of an impression on me than others which I've rated higher. I'd scrap them if they didn't look so damn pretty on my World review.
Afterwards, Mochizuki took to the mic, proceeding to both insult and praise Kotoka, before handing him an official Dragon Gate carrier bag (I have one of those!) that apparently contained a gift from CIMA, which he instructed him to carry around until the next Korakuen.
3) Don Fujii of Ore-tachi Veteran Gun defeated Ryotsu Shimizu [5:17, HIMEI]
I was in such a good mood after match two that Fujii could have just sat on Shimizu for five minutes and I would have been fully appreciative. This was Dragon Gate's most recent debutant's first match back since injury, the last time we saw him was in his much raved about encounter with Katsuo (well, I didn't rave about it since I never bothered to finish my Sapporo reviews). They chopped and hit each other and stuff. It was a good time.
Rating: ★★★
4) Non title match: Masaaki Mochizuki, K-ness & Kenichiro Arai of Ore-tachi Veteran Gun defeated Open The Triangle Gate champions Jimmy Kanda, Ryo “Jimmy” Saito & Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee of the Jimmyz [11;34, Sankakugeri to the face]
Yep, two Mochizuki matches on one show. I confess, I'm the booker of Dragon Gate. This was his originally scheduled match, and it it turned out half comedy, half hot action. The former revolved around the apparently adamantium-lined skull of Kenichiro “Pleased to be doing something relevant again” Arai, with it doing so much damage to the attacking Saito that he ultimately volunteered to take a rubber band attack from his own teammate. Araken attempted to no-sell…didn't happen. Funny stuff. In the “hot action” section, we got a taste of the good stuff we'll be seeing from the new Team Veteran line up, with Mochizuki/K-ness double team kicks and an Arai headbutt into a Mocchy dragon suplex. I just wish they'd get new entrance music, they merely added the start of Stalker's theme to the regular Veteran theme. How does that even make sense? It's not like Stalker was part of the new union, he was already in there. But whatever, it was a good match, and the win over the triangle champions secured a title shot for the Veterans.
Rating: ★★★
5) Open The Brave Gate Championship: Masato Yoshino of World-1 International retained against Naruki Doi of World-1 International [14:55, Avalanche Lightning Spiral]
Doi and Yoshino have wrestled each other on approximately EVERY SHOW since I started watching Dragon Gate. Not a matchup I'd usually lose my mind over, but World-1's recent awesomeness, Yoshino's Brave Gate rejuvenation and the setting (for the uninformed, Korakuen Hall is basically the ECW Arena or Madison Square Garden of Japan) upped my expectations a bit. They managed to keep it interesting in the early going and it got really good down the stretch, though Doi may have killed his best buddy's signature Sol Naciente submission by enduring it for what felt like twenty minutes without dying. Good thing Yoshino has the greatness that is the Avalanche Lightning Spiral. I hope he never loses the Brave Gate, though that's almost entirely because I love his big match entrance with the piano intro to Speed Star.
Rating: ★★★1/4 [Edit: I've been fondly reminiscing about this match today, thinking that I may have slightly underrated it. I'm not going to change the rating since it's the one I originally jotted down during the show, but maybe it should have been three and a half.]
Main event – 5 on 4 handicap match
Stipulations: Losing unit disbands, loser of the fall loses their mask or hair, -akatsuki- only need a two count to win
Mad Blankey (YAMATO, Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk, Kzy & Mondai Ryu) defeated -akatsuki (Shingo Takagi, Cyber Kong, Chihiro Tominaga & Super Shenlong)[28:06, Package German Suplex Hold]
AMAZING. We haven't seen a match like this since Blood Warriors vs Junction Three concluded. Going in I thought the Akatsuki-can-win-by-two-count rule was kind of stupid, which may have been the most inaccurate assumption in history. This was confirmed about two minutes in when Korakuen was going insane for Tominaga rolling up Kzy, damn near winning the thing. Just read that sentence again. Tommy hasn't managed to achieve that kind of reaction…ever, this stipulation was a stroke of genius and made it look like the underpowered and understaffed babyfaces could win it at anytime. Tozawa continued his Kobe World form and was the clear MVP of what may well have been the match of the year (off the top of my head I think it actually comes in about second for me). The new generation have often been outshined by the older wrestlers in the past year, but this showed that the future of Dragon Gate is in safe hands.
Rating: ★★★★1/2
As per the stip, -akatsuki- disbanded and the loser of the fall, Super Shenlong, was unmasked, revealing…Yosuke Watanabe! Y'know, the rookie who hung out with Tominaga asking YAMATO and Shingo to let them join their crew, who mysteriously disappeared when Super Shenlong III showed up. What are the chances. This was totally eclipsed by what happened next; YAMATO put the choke sleeper hold on Tozawa then Hulk gave him the First Flash! YAMATO took to the mic and cited multiple reasons for the betrayal, including Tozawa's loss of the Twin Gate at World, his pinning of Super Shenlong instead of Shingo and his constant playing to the fans (like I've been saying for a while, it got to the point where he was basically a babyface in a heel stable). YAMATO then began arguing with Shingo. Actually, so much talking happened in the following half hour that I'm gonna sum it up in bullet points:
* Shingo offered to put the Dream Gate on the line against YAMATO at the next Korakuen!
* World-1 saved Tozawa from a further Blankey beatdown, ended up arranging an elimination match for the next show.
* Veteran Gun came out, Mochizuki offered to team with Tozawa in the hope that Akira would regain his spark and remember how fun pro wrestling is meant to be. Korakuen was so hot for Tozawa at this point, dude is gonna be huge as a babyface.
* Shingo gave the customary show closing speech, accompanied by his former -akatsuki- stablemates for the final time.
Here's the card for the next Korakuen Hall show (from IheartDG, since only three of the matches were announced here), on the 23rd of August (yeah, two in one month!). I think this will be Infinity 306 as yesterday's Aichi show is going to be 305.
0. Chihiro Tominaga vs. Cyber Kong
1. K-ness, Gamma, Ryotsu Shimizu vs. Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Kanda, Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin
2. Jimmy Kagetora vs. The Former Super Shenlong III Yosuke Watanabe
3. Dragon Kid, Kotoka vs. Jimmy Susumu, Ryo “Jimmy” Saito
4. Masaaki Mochizuki, Akira Tozawa vs. Don Fujii, Kenichiro Arai
5. MAD BLANKEY vs. WORLD-1 INTERNATIONAL 4 vs. 4 Naniwa Elimination Match: BxB Hulk, Kzy, Mondai Ryu, Uhaa Nation vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Ricochet, Shachihoko BOY
6. Open the Dream Gate Championship Match: Shingo Takagi vs. YAMATO
Closing thoughts: A thoroughly newsworthy episode, complete with the end of a unit, the face turn of a major star, a match of the year contender and KOTOKA VS MOCHIZUKI. Dragon Gate Korakuen shows are the best thing on TV in 2013. BUT HOLD IT THERE. We need to talk about the new World-1 shirt.
It's the best.
Thanks as always to IheartDG.com for the translations and photos. You can check out Jae's full set here.
Want to discuss the intricacies that made Kotoka vs Mochizuki an instant classic, the sheer heat that Chihiro Tominaga managed to generate for the first time in his life or the greatness that will be babyface Akira Tozawa? I'm on Twitter @HellionLee