Dragon Gate returns to iPPV July 21, 2013 for the Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2013 taking place from Hyogo, Kobe World Kinen Hall. For reference, the Kobe Festival is Dragon Gate’s WrestleMania so this should by all accounts blow away their last live iPPV offereing which was essentially a house-show. We’ll have a larger preview as we get closer to the show but here’s the rundown of the card, ordering information and details about our live tweeting and coverage.
1. Super Shisa, Shachihoko BOY, Rich Swann vs. Kotoka, Super Shenlong III, Chihiro Tominaga
Standard opener. Swann is currently out of the major storylines, so he teams with frequent openers Shisa & the former Shisa BOY. Shenlong III & Tominaga are the young members of Shingo’s rapidly decaying -akatsuki- unit. Kotoka is a personal favorite of mine, who always shows fire.
2. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa Bosou 10 Match Series ~Submission Chapter~: Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Comedy match. Stalker, the Dragon Gate mascot of sorts, will face ten submission specialists, starting with this match against the inventor of the Fujiwara Armbar.
3. Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kagetora, Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin vs. HUB, Cyber Kong, NOSAWA Rongai
No backstory here. The Jimmyz facing a random pairing of a Team Veteran Returns dude, Cyber Kong the man without a unit, and the veteran outsider, NOSAWA.
4. Open the Triangle Gate Champion 3 Way 6 Man Tag Team Match: Ryo “Jimmy” Saito, Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Kanda (c) vs. Don Fujii, Gamma, Dragon Kid vs. Kzy, Mondai Ryu, Uhaa Nation
Three way for the Triangle Gate, which was originally Jimmyz defending against the Mad Blankey team, but Team Veteran Returns was added when Fujii & Gamma beat Kzy & Ryu at Korakuen.
5. Open the Brave Gate Championship Match: Masato Yoshino (c) vs. K-ness
The resurgent K-ness challenges for the Brave Gate.
6. No Disqualification Match: YAMATO vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
The no DQ stipulation was added after the main event in Kyoto. Tired of YAMATO’s cheating, the veteran Mochizuki used some underhanded tactics of his own against him, which did not please the newly turned heel. So, here we are. No DQ.
7. Open the Twin Gate Championship Match: Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk (c) vs. Naruki Doi, Ricochet
Could be the showstealer. Four of the world’s best right here.
8. Open the Dream Gate Championship Match: CIMA (c) vs. Shingo Takagi
Shingo has squashed everybody on his way to a title shot, including Tozawa in a mere 6 minutes at Korakuen. CIMA has held the title since beating Mochizuki December 2011 in what has become a legendary title reign. Shingo has a real chance here.
This show will be available to watch live internationally on USTREAM for $25. This is their version of WrestleMania. Dragon Gate PPV’s are typically off the charts good. This is the first time they have offered one of their “big four” PPVs worldwide via iPPV. – http://www.ustream.tv/DragonGate
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