Date:  January 16th, 2015
Location:  Tokyo Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance:  1,850

I can never really keep up with Dragon Gate storylines.  They have lots of factions and wrestlers change factions on a regular basis, so unless you really pay attention it is hard to keep track of.  Because of this I tend to just enjoy DG for what it is but I don’t hurt my brain too much trying to figure out who is feuding with whom.  This event has a tournament to find the next contender for the Open the Dragon Gate Championship.  Here is the full card:

– Ryo “Jimmy” Saito, Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, and Jimmy Kagetora vs. Super Shisa, Mr. High Tension Kotoka, and Yuga Hayashi
– Jimmy Kanda and Mr. Que Que Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin vs. Mondai Ryu and Tominaga
– Open the Dream Gate Contendership Tournament: Big R Shimizu vs. Don Fujii
– Open the Dream Gate Contendership Tournament : Kenichiro Arai vs. Jimmy Susumu
– BxB Hulk, Masaaki Mochizuki, and Dragon Kid vs. Shingo Takagi, Akira Tozawa, and Shachihoko BOY
– CIMA, YAMATO, Gamma, Cyber Kong, and K-ness vs. T-Hawk, Eita, U-T, and Yosuke Santa Maria
– CIMA, YAMATO, Gamma, Cyber Kong, Dr. Muscle, and K-ness vs. T-Hawk, Eita, U-T, Yosuke Santa Maria, Mr. High Tension Kotoka, and Yuga Hayashi
– Open the Dream Gate Contendership Tournament: Big R Shimizu vs. Jimmy Susumu

Let’s get started!

Ryo “Jimmy” Saito, Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, and Jimmy Kagetora vs. Super Shisa, Mr. High Tension Kotoka, and Yuga Hayashi
Horiguchi and Shisa start off and Shisa slaps him in the Mexican Surfboard.  Kotoka and Kagetora run in but Kotoka dropkicks Kagetora back out.  Hayashi and Saito are next, boot by Hayashi and he hits an elbow, but Kagetora comes off the top with a missile dropkick.  Horiguchi comes in and pounds on Hayashi, then Saito hits a double stomp.  Horiguchi snapmares Hayashi and Kagetora hits a slingshot elbow drop.  Hayashi is assaulted in the corner, Hayashi chops Horiguchi but Kagetora kicks him from the apron.  Kotoka comes in to help but he is tossed out of the ring.  Kagetora goes off the ropes but Hayashi dropkicks him and tags in Shisa.  Horiguchi elbows Shisa but Shisa dropkicks him out of the ring.  Saito comes in but Shisa sails out of the ring with a tope suicida.  Kotoka and Saito square off and Kotoka hits a vertical suplex.  German suplex by Saito, kick by Kagetora and Horiguchi hits a tornado DDT. Brainbuster by Kagetora and he gets a two.  Judo throw by Hayashi and he applies a cross armbreaker to Kagetora, then Saito comes off the top with a diving body press.  Kotoka hits a swandive missile dropkick on him followed by a tope suicida.  Shisa comes in and he trades pin attempts with Kagetora.  Kagenui by Kagetora and he picks up the three count, winning the match for his team.   Fast paced, the ending was just sudden though as Shisa wasn’t really hurt, he just got ‘caught’.  But a flash pin in six man tag matches is logical, too long a setup and someone is going to break it up.  Decent opener for the event.  Score:  5.5

Jimmy Kanda and Mr. Que Que Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin vs. Mondai Ryu and Tominaga
They brawl to start things off and Tominaga is double teamed in the ring.  Ryu comes in to help and he throws Tanizaki to the mat.  Sliding dropkick by Ryu and he tags in Tominaga.  Tanizaki is double teamed in the corner, lariat by Ryu and Kanda hits a lariat.  Tanizaki gets away and tags in Kanda, flapjack by Kanda to Ryu, he goes to Tominaga but Ryu hits a Tiger Feint Kick.  Tanizaki hits a jumping knee on Tominaga, German suplex by Kanda but it gets a two.  Tombstone by Tanizaki to Tominaga and a cover, but Ryu breaks it up.  Low blow by Tominaga, he goes to hit Kanda with a box but Kanda dropkicks him.  Ryu’s by Kanda and he gets the three count.  A standard quick fast paced match from Dragon Gate, but I love wrestlers in masks (that’s my thing, don’t judge me) so a bonus point for Mondai Ryu.  Score:  6.0

Big R Shimizu vs. Don Fujii
This match is part of the Open the Dream Gate Contendership Tournament.  Fujii throws powder in Shimizu’s face and hits a powerbomb for a two count.  Outside the ring Fujii slams Shimizu on the mat but Shimizu throws him into the post.  Fujii regains the advantage and hits Shimizu with a chair.  Back in the ring, bearhug by Shimizu and he hits a vertical suplex.  Fujii rolls up Shimizu for a quick two count, low blow by Fujii and he gets another one.  Chokeslam by Shimizu, and he picks up the three count.  Quick match, but Shimizu has another match coming up so probably for the best.  They stayed hard at it though which is a plus and both showed a lot of urgency in trying to win.  Score:  6.5

Kenichiro Arai vs. Jimmy Susumu
This match is part of the Open the Dream Gate Contendership Tournament.  Susumu beats Arai to start the match but Arai rakes his back and kicks him in the corner.  Arai works over Susumu’s arm for a bit, he hits an Alabama Slam and drops a knee on Susumu’s arm.  He does it again, but Susumu hits a back breaker.  Lariat by Susumu but Arai gets away and hits a piledriver.  Diving headbutt by Arai but it gets a two count.  Arai goes for the 450 Splash but Susumu moves, he goes for a lariat but Arai applies a crucifix pin for a two.  Arai goes off the ropes but Susumu catches him with the Jumbo Kachi!gatame and he gets the three count to continue on to the final.  The arm work was solid but I didn’t see what the end game was there, and then Susumu won with his quick finisher.  Again, a shorter match since the final is on the same event and not that great.  Score:  4.0

BxB Hulk, Masaaki Mochizuki, and Dragon Kid vs. Shingo Takagi, Akira Tozawa, and Shachihoko BOY
Shachihoko BOY and Mochizuki are the first two in the ring, which doesn’t really matter since any moment wrestlers will just randomly start running in and out.  Strike battle and Takagi hits a swinging headscissors but Mochizuki pulls him out of the ring.  Dragon Kid and Takagi are up next and Dragon Kid hits a swandive hurricanrana.  Hulk and Tozawa are the last pair and Tozawa kicks him out of the ring, Mochizuki comes in and eats a double shoulderblock.  Dragon Kid and Shachihoko BOY are in the ring but Tozawa comes in to help and he stays in the ring to battle Dragon Kid.  Hulk stomps down Tozawa and kicks him in the head.  Mochizuki chops Tozawa in the corner but Tozawa chops him back.  Kick by Mochizuki and he kicks Tozawa in the back before tagging in Dragon Kid.  Handstand kneedrop by Dragon Kid and he tags in Hulk.  Jumping kick by Hulk and he applies a chinlock.  Mochizuki comes back in and assaults Tozawa some more.  Tozawa catches Mochizuki with a big boot and he tags in Takagi, Hulk runs in but Takagi hiptosses him and clotheslines him out of the ring.  Tozawa has recovered, he comes in and dives out onto all his opponents.  He then runs in and does it a second time, then Shachihoko BOY hits an Asai Moonsault.  The beatdown segment means nothing if 15 seconds later Tozawa is running around doing topes .  Back in the ring Hulk kicks Takagi and hits a scissors kick followed by a legsweep, but Takagi gets his knees up for the moonsault.  Swandive missile dropkick by Hulk but Takagi elbows him but Hulk hits a dropkick.  Lariat to the back of the head by Takagi and both Dragon Kid and Shachihoko BOY are tagged in.  High kick by Shachihoko BOY but it gets a two.  Shachihoko BOY goes up top but Dragon Kid avoids the moonsault.  Tozawa comes back and hits a superplex onto Dragon Kid.  Lariat by Takagi to Dragon Kid and Dragon Kid is triple teamed.  Shachihoko BOY goes up top, so does Hulk, Hulk puts Shachihoko BOY on his shoulders and Dragon Kid hits a Frankensteiner off the top of the tower.  Kicks by Mochizuki to Shachihoko BOY, cover, but it’s broken up.  Brainbuster by Mochizuki but it gets two, Hulk comes in and they both kick Shachihoko BOY.  Shachihoko BOY fights back and Takagi runs in to help and everyone takes turns hitting their signature moves.  Shiranui by Shachihoko BOY to Mochizuki but Mochizuki nails him with the Shin Saikyou High Kick for the three count.  They should have just cut the first five minutes, the beat down of Tozawa meant absolutely nothing right after it happened.  Make this a 12 minute exciting people flying around match, I am there, but with that tacked on it was just solid overall even though I loved the last few minutes.  Score:  6.5

CIMA, YAMATO, Gamma, Cyber Kong, and K-ness vs. T-Hawk, Eita, U-T, and Yosuke Santa Maria
There are lots of people in this match and I’m not going to kill myself with the play by play like I usually do.  Lots of brawling!  In the stands, on the floor, with weapons, CIMA and company just being eeeevil.  In the ring T-Hawk is assaulted by all five, then it is U-T’s turn.  We finally become a normal tag match with Gamma assaulting U-T in the ring.  K-ness and CIMA continue wearing down U-T and Gamma spits water on him.  U-T is dumped out of the ring and YAMATO works him over before CIMA rolls U-T back in.  I most feel sorry for U-T, as Kong hits an elbow drop for a two count.  U-T’s teammates aren’t overly helpful.  U-T is blinded and kicked by CIMA, Gamma, and Kong.  They continue on U-T until finally he kicks back K-ness and CIMA and tags in T-Hawk.  T-Hawk hits a double vertical suplex on K-ness and CIMA, Kong comes in with YAMATO but T-Hawk chops them both.  T-Hawk gets leveled by Kong so Eita comes in, YAMATO throws him in the corner, Eita goes for a springboard move but he slips, so YAMATO kicks him.  Eita dropkicks YAMATO and they trade pin attempts.  Gamma runs in and lariats T-Hawk, but Gamma gets isolated in the ring.  T-Hawk chops and elbows Gamma but Kong comes in with a lariat on both of them.  He then lariats Yosuke and U-T as well, then all of MAD BLANKEY stomps on Eita.  K-ness runs in and kicks Eita, then YAMATO hits a brainbuster for two.  Galleria by YAMATO, and he gets the three count.  This was intentionally an unfair match, as it was 5 vs. 4 and the five were better anyway.  It was more just a storyline beatdown, leading up to…..

After the match MAD BLANKEY keeps beating on people, leading to Hayashi and Kotoka running down for the save.  After some chatting they decide to have a new unannounced match, with Hayashi and Kotoka joining the Millenials in their fight.  To make the teams even, Dr. Muscle came down to help MAD BLANKEY, making it six vs. six.

CIMA, YAMATO, Gamma, Cyber Kong, Dr. Muscle, and K-ness vs. T-Hawk, Eita, U-T, Yosuke Santa Maria, Mr. High Tension Kotoka, and Yuga Hayashi
Needless to say this was even more of a brawl then the last match, with 12 wrestlers being in the ring.  Poor Yosuke is abused up in the crowd and has water spit on him.  CIMA and Hayashi get in the ring and CIMA taunts him on the microphone.  Jumping stomp by CIMA and he hits an armdrag.  YAMATO comes in and applies an ankle hold but Hayashi gets to the ropes.  Kotoka comes in with T-Hawk, and both kick YAMATO.  A trio dive comes up next but Kong gets things back in order.  T-Hawk gets Kong on his shoulders and Eita comes off the top with a Code Breaker.  Cover but Dr. Muscle breaks it up.  Eita kicks back Dr. Muscle but Dr. Muscle gets his knees up on the moonsault attempt.  Dr. Muscle goes for a handspring move but his leg gets caught on the ropes which I don’t think was intentional but was hilarious.  Eita drops Dr. Muscle but K-ness runs in to help.  Leg lariat by Yosuke but things break down again. Gamma is triple teamed until T-Hawk hits a powerbomb but CIMA breaks it up.  Kotoka runs around with Gamma but Kong and YAMATO run in and suddenly it is 6 vs. 1.  Lariat by Kong and he hits a diving elbow drop for a two count as Kotoka gets a shoulder up.  Kong picks up Kotoka and slams him, cover, but it is broken up by everyone.  Kotoka is again attacked by everyone in the corner, but the tides turn and suddenly it is CIMA getting attacked over and over and over by his opponents in the corner.  CIMA goes off the ropes but Dr. Muscle hits him from the apron and then throws powder in his face!  Traitor!  Kotoka rolls up CIMA and he gets a three count!  WTF Dr. Muscle.  But double swerve, as Dr. Muscle unmasks and it’s Kzy!  Both teams jaw in the ring but there is no further physical violence.   I am scoring these together as it was a long match, an impromptu rematch with no wrestlers inserted, a swerve, then another swerve.  Overall it was a lot fun, loved the quickness and insanity.  These types of matches should be like these, forget tag rules, just chaos, and the swerves were done well.  I mean I don’t like when a wrestler is attacking people one minute then joining them the next as Dr. Muscle did, but what can ya do.  Fun stuff from Dragon Gate all the way around.  Score:  8.0

Big R Shimizu vs. Jimmy Susumu
This match is the Final in the Open the Dream Gate Contendership Tournament.   Shimizu stomps on Susumu until Susumu bails out of the ring.  Shimizu goes out after him but Susumu rams him into the post.  They get back in the ring and Susumu works on Shimizu’s arm.  Fallaway slam by Shimizu and he applies a camel clutch.  Back up they trade chops and Shimizu hits an Oklahoma Slam for two.  Susumu elbows Shimizu off but Shimizu gets Susumu on his shoulders, Susumu gets away and suplexes Shimizu.  Lariat by Susumu but Shimizu hits a Samoan Drop.  Body avalanche by Shimizu and he hits a shoulderblock for two.  DDT by Susumu but Shimizu hits a chokebomb.  Elevated crab hold by Shimizu and he hits a powerbomb.  Lariat by Susumu and he hits another one.  Avalanche throw by Susumu, Shimizu goes for a chokeslam but Susumu lariats him in the back of the head.  Monster chokeslam by Shimizu and they trade elbows.  Waistlock by Shimizu and he hits a German suplex.  Susumu goes off the ropes and hits a lariat followed by another one but Shimizu is still up.  Finally Susumu knocks Shimizu down and he gets a two count cover.  Jumbo Kachi!gatame by Susumu, and he gets the three count!  Shimizu just seemed like the better wrestler here, Susumu didn’t do a lot of damage before he picked up the win and he had the tougher previous match as well.  Just seemed like Shimizu should have been worn down more.  The action itself was fine, Shimizu has some really good power moves, the structure just felt off and took me a bit out of it.  Score:  6.0

Final Thoughts:
There was definitely some good stuff here.  The nine man match into the twelve man match was great, not just from an in-ring perspective but from a storyline perspective as well (even for someone that doesn’t follow the promotion).  Most of the other matches were at least solid, with only a couple matches that were skippable.  Overall an entertaining show.

Grade:  B-

Kevin Wilson – PuroresuCentral.com