Puroresu Show Reviews

This was of course the big one night, eight man single elimination tournament to crown the first ever Brave Gate champion, whis is a secondary title to the Dream Gate title.

OBG Tournament: YOSSINO VS K-ness
This was a lot more technical and grounded than I would have liked it to be. They did do some quick spots since YOSSINO is called the “Speed Star”, but most of the match was mat based with YOSSINO working K-ness’ bad shoulder, and it went longer than I would have liked. I also think this is the first time I’ve seen a match end in one of those quick sequences where the two guys counter each other’s pin attempts into pins of their own. I sorta made the ending look a bit like a lucky fluke win for YOSSINO when he should be on the level enough with K-ness to beat him like he did in the past.
Match Rating: *1/2

OBG Tournament: PSYCHO VS Naoki Tanisaki
Tanisaki showed a lot of animosity to the outsider earlier in the show when he tried to attack him during the wrestler introductions at the beginning of the show. This was a really fast paced match and PSYCHO was really impressive the way he zipped around and delivered some great acrobatic offense and kicks. Tanisaki was able to rebound back and the two put on an enjoyable, but short, contest. The only error you could probably find was at the end when PSYCHO botched his finisher and they redid the spot after.
Match Rating: *1/2

OBG Tournament: Super Shisa VS Naruki Doi
I actually found this match to be rather boring. Something about seeing Doi as the arrogant heel just didn’t sit right with me. I know it’s not the first time it’s been done, especially in Dragon Gate, but I also wasn’t a big fan of the Blood Generation interference which led to the No Contest and consequent restart. After seeing and knowing they were going to cheat, why didn’t President Nakamura just bar them from ringside?!?
Match Rating: *1/2

OBG Tournament: Daniel Mishima VS Genki Horiguchi
These two easily had the best match of the opening round! And I’m not just saying that cause I’m a big fan of Genki. These two worked a solid match that was well paced and well structured, and it really helped that they built up a mini-feud leading into the match. They worked the match in a way that kept you interested and not something you had to watch to get to the next match like some of the other matches so far were. Genki only had to work one match tonight, but luckily for all of us he gave us his best and did a great job putting Daniel over as a serious competitor. There were some things I didn’t like, like I believe no one should kick out of a move as sick as the Beach Break, but I loved Daniel’s cradle-backdrop as well as the killer dangerous backdrop he gave Genki.
Match Rating: ***

Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Yokosuka & Kenichiro Arai VS Ryo Saito, Dragon Kid & Syachihoko Machine
The fans LOVE Syachihoko Machine here! Despite his comedic antics throughout the match, the golden dressed deity really was entertaining and the crowd SO wanted to see him pull out a win! Heck, he had me on the edge of my seat rooting for him, so that tells you how good the match was at pulling you into it. ODG champion Mochizuki was fun to watch as well, as the Machine actually started off by taunting the champ. Another note on the match was the great chemistry Dragon Kid and Susumu showed when they worked against each other, either one of the two could make credible contenders for Mochi’s title. Saito is also showing the leadership qualities of a future champion, and I do hope he gets the belt one day as he’s truly deserving of it. This was the best non-tournament match of the night as it had great ring work and crowd heat. I haven’t seen any Syachihoko matches, but I definitely agree with the announcer that this would be his “best bout”.
Match Rating: ***1/2

OBG Tournament Semi Finals: PSYCHO VS YOSSINO
PSYCHO is making the best of his time in Dragon Gate as he sure seems to be up-showing the DG competitors as far as his abilities go, he’s even more impressive than in all the K-DOJO matches I’ve seen him in. He just seems to be moving at full speed compared to everyone else so far in the tournament, which is really what I usually expect most DG matches to be like. Both guys have similar a submission move, and it was fun watching them roll around the ring trying to lock it on each other. A fun match that was given good time to play out, and I would seriously like to see PSYCHO make more appearances outside K-DOJO since I see a lot of potential in the kid.
Match Rating: **1/2

OBG Tournament Semi Finals: Naruki Doi VS Daniel Mishima
They seemed to be building up to something until the infamous chair incident. They were doing some good ground work up until that point, with Doi desperately trying to avoid taking Daniel’s dangerous backdrops. When the chair incident struck, I really wasn’t sure if it was the chair, or the really bad fall Daniel took after the shot that knocked him out for a while. Bare in mind there were no protective mats around the ring area and Daniel’s whole body weight landed on his head. I honestly believe there was a chance the whole thing was worked since Daniel did indeed looked like he could still continue the match and was rather upset when President Nakamura ended the match and awarded it to Doi. The fans of course hated the decision and gave it a rightful round of boos.
Match Rating: *

Stalker Ishikawa VS Akitoshi Saito
I’ll honestly admit I don’t really find Stalker’s matches to be all that funny, but it is always interesting to see what kind of offense his opponents would allow him to get in and if Stalker could shock the crowd by kicking out when everyone thinks he’s down for the count. Now on an entertainment level, this was a really fun match with Saito of course dominating for the most part. Saito even delivered one of the longest delayed vertical suplexes I’d ever seen. Stalker did manage to get some comedic offense in, like his trademark two-fingered butt-poke, and he got good reactions from the crowd for avoiding some of Saito’s offense and kicking out of the big suplex, but we all know how it goes in the end.
Match Rating: *
Entertainment Rating:

CIMA, Don Fujii & Shingo Takagi VS Magnum TOKYO, Anthony W. Mori & BXB Hulk
Most of the match was Hulk getting a pounding from the Blood Generation crew. I don’t understand why Shingo is put on a level so high up above Hulk when he himself is new to the Dragon Gate roster. I didn’t seem right to see Shingo as a no selling senior to Hulk’s strikes. I liked the opening sprint between Magnum & CIMA where they traded moves at breakneck speed. The rest of the match was standard six-man fare, leading to the big sprint ending with everyone involved. It was good, but I’ve seen it been done better in the past, take the other six-man on the card for example. As for Hulk, the kid will definitely be a big name player in a few years. He’s already been given a look as well as a good move set to build on. I also find myself really liking Shingo Takagi since he’s got some good moves on him as well. His Last Falconi finisher is pretty cool too, and if you haven’t seen it before, it’s a wrist-clutch Olympic Slam. I also have an interest to see what Tozawa can do after seeing him escape the Blood Generation beat down and give Don Fujii a dropkick.
Match Rating: **

OBG Tournament Finals: Naruki Doi VS YOSSINO
Given the time and worked like a main event should be, but Doi is seriously lacking the offense to work a long match where he’s not the underdog. I do think it could have been done a little better to get the belt on Doi, but I did like the ending where the two were fighting at the top rope to try and hit their finisher. One thing I didn’t like though is how Blood Generation were still allowed at ringside after their interference earlier. If President Nakamura can come out and restart a No Contest due to their interference, why no bar them from ring side so Doi would have to win the match on his own?
Match Rating: **1/2

Overall: Just a good show overall, but overly outstanding. They REALLY should have started to push Michael and Daniel as serious competitors from here as it would have fit right in with the “new” Dragon Gate era. Not the best I’ve ever seen from Dragon Gate, but I’ve seen worse.

Labels: Dragon Gate