May 19th, 2018
Opening Match: Naruki Doi and Hyo Watanabe vs. Ryo Saito and Don Fujii
Saito is being super polite and getting laughs from the crowd. He trades armdrags with Watanabe and they reach a stalemate. Doi and Fujii exchange strikes. Doi keeps trying to forearm Saito, but he headbutts them away. The referee is cracking up at Saito. Doi slows him down with a basement dropkick and works him over. Saito hits a suplex on Doi and makes the tag. Fujii military presses Watanabe and sends Doi to the floor. Saito wipes out Doi with a plancha. Back in, Saito connects with a flying double stomp on Watanabe for a nearfall. Watanabe responds with a split-legged moonsault. Doi and Fujii go back to trading strikes. Fujii dodges a Bakatare Sliding Kick and almost rolls up Doi. Saito and Fujii double team Watanabe. Saito comes off the top rope with a splash onto Watanabe for the win at 10:16. Most of the match was played for comedy, which seems like a fine strategy until Saito is firmly established in his new role. I’m quietly confident that Saito and Fujii can take things in a serious direction when needed, but Watanabe eating the pin here was a pretty safe result. **½
Match #2: Masaaki Mochizuki and Shun Skywalker vs. Kagetora and Oji Shiiba
Skywalker hits a backbreaker on Shiiba after a fast-paced exchange. Mochizuki blocks a dive from Kagetora and punts his back. Skywalker lands a nice slingshot senton onto Shiiba and he gets isolated. Shiiba leapfrogs over Skywalker to make the tag. Kagetora cleans house with a series of strikes. He connects with a shining wizard on Skywalker and Shiiba adds a nice hurricanrana for a nearfall. Shiiba missile dropkicks Mochizuki but eats a kick. Mochizuki continues to lay in the strikes. Skywalker lands a springboard splash onto Shiiba for a two count. Skywalker hits a gourdbuster on Shiiba and follows with Ashla for the victory at 8:41. Much like the opener, I think everyone knew who was taking the fall here. That, combined with a few awkward exchanges, hurt the action’s ability to draw me in. Skywalker continues to be an intriguing wrestler to watch given his size and style. **¼
Match #3: ANTIAS (Shingo Takagi, Takashi Yoshida, and Yasushi Kanda) vs. Over Generation (Gamma, Problem Dragon, and Kaito Ishida)
Shingo attacks Ishida from behind to start the match. The action quickly devolves into a brawl around ringside. Back in, Gamma repeatedly tries to shoulder tackle Yoshida to no avail. He finally succeeds after using his spitting tactics. Over Generation isolate Shingo in their corner until Yoshida interjects himself. ANTIAS then work over Gamma until he hits a bulldog-headscissors combination and tags out. Ishida connects with a missile dropkick on Kanda and lands a dive to the floor. Dragon tries to powerslam Yoshida but falls over. Yoshida hits a black hole slam but Gamma and Ishida are able to suplex him. Kanda atomic drops Gamma and Ishida into lariats from Yoshida. Shingo connects with short-arm lariats on Ishida and hits a powerbomb for a nearfall. Yoshida connects with a flying elbow drop on Ishida for a two count and follows with the Cyber Bomb for the win at 12:06. The action was entertaining, but this contest would have been taken to the next level had Over Generation played to their strengths at all. Instead, they tried to match power and strength with ANTIAS, which played out in an extremely predictable way. A bit disappointing given the potential was there for a much better outing. **¾
Match #4: King of Gate Block B: Jason Lee (0-0) vs. Big R Shimizu (0-1)
Shimizu lost to Takeshi Yoshida thus far in the tournament. Shimizu asserts his power advantage to start. He hits a delayed vertical suplex and takes control. Lee hits a desperation back drop and connects with a series of strikes. He plants Shimizu with a DDT but runs into a powerslam. Lee intercepts a top-rope splash with an ace crusher and applies a guillotine choke. Shimizu powers out of the hold but gets taken over by a hurricanrana. He blocks a second hurricanrana and hits a powerbomb for a nearfall. Lee counters the Shot-put Slam into a code red for a two count. Shimizu is able to hit the Shot-put Slam on his second attempt for the victory at 10:11. Shimizu was in control for most of the match, but Lee’s comeback was excellent. They were able to string together some tense nearfalls down the stretch and turned this into a fun contrast of styles. Ten minutes also felt like the ideal duration for them to get their point across. ***
Match #5: King of Gate Block D: Susumu Yokosuka (1-0) vs. Masato Yoshino (0-1)
Yokosuka defeated Ryo Saito thus far in the tournament whereas Yoshino lost to Shingo Takagi. Yoshino connects with a dropkick and applies a headscissors in the ropes. Yokosuka responds with a death valley driver. He follows with a neckbreaker and seems to be targeting Yoshino’s neck. Yoshino creates some space with a series of chops and hits a sling blade. Yokosuka responds with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. They battle up top and Yokosuka hits an exploder for a nearfall. He connects with a Jumbo no Kachi but Yoshino won’t stay down. They trade Torbellinos and Jumbo no Kachis. Yoshino withstands a final Jumbo no Kachi and catches Yokosuka with a quick pin for the win at 11:44. This was very similar to the previous match in that Yokosuka controlled out of the gates, but Yoshino’s comeback elevated the action into something worthwhile. Their excellent chemistry together showed itself down the stretch and these King of Gate matches have gotten this card back on track. ***
Match #6: Natural Vibes (Genki Horiguchi, Punch Tominaga, and “brother” YASSHI) vs. Tribe Vanguard (YAMATO, BxB Hulk, and Yosuke Santa Maria)
Santa Maria and Horiguchi begin with some comedy. Tominaga boots YAMATO to win a strike exchange. Hulk catches YASSHI with a series of kicks. Horiguchi takes down Hulk with a hurricanrana. Natural Vibes’ slingshot tactic backfires and Tribe Vanguard isolate Tominaga. He comes off the middle rope with a headbutt to Santa Maria and makes the tag. They do some groin-based comedy and then the action picks up. Hulk connects with a knockout kick on Horiguchi but almost gets caught by the Backslide from Heaven. Santa Maria accidentally kisses YAMATO, but YAMATO recovers with a quick hurricanrana on YASSHI for the victory at 7:04. These trios had an entertaining match for the time given, but the action never really got off the ground. There was likely too much comedy in seven minutes for this to ever be anything worthwhile. **½
Match #7: King of Gate Block C: Eita (0-1-1) vs. Dragon Kid (0-0)
Eita has a time limit draw with Punch Tominaga and lost to Naruki Doi thus far in the tournament. Eita attacks before the opening bell and they brawl into the crowd. In the ring, Eita takes over, using chairs behind the referee’s back to work over Dragon Kid’s left leg. Dragon Kid fights back with a tiger feint kick but gets caught by a yakuza kick. He recovers with a tornado DDT. Eita blasts him with a superkick. Dragon Kid hits Bible but ANTIAS pulls the referee out of the ring. Eita delivers a low blow, attacks the bad leg with chair shots, and applies an indian deathlock for the win at 7:48. ANTIAS and Over Generation get into it after the match. Eita was desperate for a win in his block, so he attacked before the bell and wasted no time decimating a limb. That story made sense in context, of course, although it meant that this wasn’t going to be an overly exciting match. However, the shorter duration was the right call. **
Match #8: King of Gate Block A: Ben-K (1-0) vs. Kzy (0-1)
Ben-K defeated Shun Skywalker thus far in the tournament whereas Kzy lost to YAMATO. They trade counters until Kzy hits a blockbuster. Ben-K prevents him from diving with a shoulder tackle. The action goes to ringside where Kzy sends Ben-K into the ringpost. Kzy reenters the ring with a slingshot senton and takes over. They battle over control on the apron. Ben-K spears Kzy from the apron to the floor. Kzy makes it back into the ring at nineteen. Ben-K takes control until Kzy knocks him to the floor and follows out with a kick-flip dive. Back in, Ben-K hits a series of overhead suplexes along with a spinning back suplex. He connects with a shotgun missile dropkick. Kzy hurricanranas out of a powerbomb attempt but finds himself in a crucifix submission. Ben-K transitions into a dragon suplex but Kzy answers with a tornado DDT. Kzy lands a top-rope splash and follows with a frog splash for a nearfall. They exchange strikes and Ben-K hits a spear for a two count. Ben-K hits another spear but Kzy won’t stay down. Kzy lays in forearms and an uppercut but Ben-K is up at one! Kzy lands a swantan and a frog splash for a nearfall. Time runs out and the match is ruled a draw at 20:00. This was on a different level than anything else on the card and good evidence that Kzy and Ben-K will be leading Dragon Gate into the future. Kzy in particular has improved greatly since the last time I followed the promotion closely. It never felt as though they were working towards a draw, but you could sense their urgency increase dramatically once they neared the twenty-minute mark. A proper finish would have put this contest into the four-star range. ***¾
-Show Grade: C+
–You Need to See:
–You’d Enjoy Watching: Kzy/Ben-K, Shimizu/Lee, Yokosuka/Yoshino
–You Should Avoid: