DRAGON GATE
FINAL GATE
DECEMBER 15, 2019
FUKUOKA KOKUSAI CENTER
FUKUOKA, JAPAN

Watch: Dragon Gate Network

YUKI YOSHIOKA & KEISUKE OKUDA DEF. KAI & KAGETORA 

Rarely in Dragon Gate do we see opening matches in the traditional tag format, both in terms of the number of participants and in the structure of the match. This is as Southern Tag as a Dragon Gate match could possibly get, even if by the end of the match, everything had broken down and the usual Dragon Gate style of action had taken over. 

Okuda and Yoshioka are a strange team. They have no chemistry as partners. I don’t feel like anything Yoshioka does correlates to Okuda’s success, happiness, or motivations, but with all that being said, I really liked seeing team up here. This combo is the most diverse in-ring pairing Mochizuki Dojo can currently put out there and I enjoy those two being in the same ring together. 

This was given quite a bit of time for an opener. KAI put the boots to Yoshioka for a good while before Yoshioka was able to make the hot tag to Okuda. From there, it was the usual Dragon Gate action that we’ve come to expect. Okuda brings the heat to everyone, KAI can fully hang with the youngsters, and Kagetora and Yoshioka have terrific chemistry, which led to the finish as Yoshioka used his signature rollup to secure the victory over Kagetora. ***1/2 

KOTA MINOURA WINS A 10-PERSON BATTLE ROYAL 

Last month at Gate of Destiny, Dragon Gate used their battle royal to elevate Dragon Dia. Dia won that match, then a tag match at the proceeding Korakuen, and then continuing his momentum from there. Kota Minoura now gets the win and I look forward to seeing how he follows up this victory. **1/2 

DRAGON DIA DEF. KAZMA SAKAMOTO 

Dragon Dia’s good luck continues. After a year of toiling away in the undercard with a lack of direction due to injuries and illnesses, he’s finally finding some footing and his arc is beginning to take shape. Just as I predicted, Sakamoto beat the masked man to a pulp, only for Dia to catch the bigger, stronger man in a flash pin for the win. This story was executed perfectly, even if the finish did feel a little abrupt. Dia is on track to have a huge 2020. ***

MÁSCARA CONTRA CABELLERA
NAOMICHI MARUFUJI DEF. STALKER ICHIKAWA

Marufuji agreed to the idea that Ichikawa would only need a two count to beat him, and that Marufuji only had to a count of five on the outside before he would be counted out. What ensued was one of the best Ichikawa matches of all time. This didn’t overstay its welcome and was tons of fun. 

MASATO YOSHINO, DRAGON KID, & MASAAKI MOCHIZUKI DEF. YASUSHI KANDA, RYO SAITO, & ULTIMO DRAGON  

While less spectacular than the Kobe World six-man that featured four out of these six men, this served as a welcome reminder that Ultimo Dragon still has some pep in his step. His feud vs. R.E.D. has largely been a disaster in my eyes, full of booking tropes and matches that I do not care for. I thought his match at last month’s Gate of Destiny PPV was an atrocity and one of the worst matches I’ve seen this year. This time around, Ultimo was free from the weight of that overbearing storyline and was free to just wrestle. 

Dragon is clearly the slowest of the six. Yoshino, Kid, and Mochizuki are all still operating at a very high level, Kanda and Saito can occasionally dip into the fountain of youth when need be, and Ultimo, at least in this context, is capable of hanging with them. That’s the best that he can do, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

This bout felt largely exhibitional, but I’ll take that over what we got last month. The interactions between Kid and Ultimo were quite exciting. Ultimo still being unable to hit the Asai Moonsault despite teasing it in every match is also quite spectacular. I thought tonight was the night he was going to do it, but Dragon Kid had other ideas in mind. 

Yoshino grabbed the victory by forcing Kanda to tap out with the Sol Naciente. ***1/2 

OPEN THE BRAVE GATE CHAMPIONSHIP
KAITO ISHIDA © DEF. JASON LEE 

Kaito Ishida makes his first successful defense of the Open the Brave Gate Championship. Jason Lee falls to 0-2 in his career in Brave Gate challenges. 

The build of this match was incredibly simple and satisfying. Kaito Ishida turned his back on his unit for a heel conglomerate and Jason Lee, loyal to MaxiMuM, took major issue with that. The English commentary crew did a great job of highlighting why this cut so deep with Lee, noting that when you are not a native speaker, your unit becomes your family, and Ishida turned his back on the family. 

The two came out slugging as soon as the bell rang. There were no dull moments between these two. This is everything that Jason Lee has been building two for the past two years. He’s taken his unique in-ring style, built a following, gained some charisma, and has slowly moved himself up each rung of the roster. He’s yet to hold a singles title yet, and the Brave Gate looks like it will ultimately be his peak. 

Ishida, the current Brave Gate champion, is convincing me that this current reign is only the beginning for him. For as much as I loved the plucky underdog Kick Boy that we saw throughout this year, I knew that as soon as he took off his Green Demon mask at the December 4 Korakuen, he’d thrive as a heel. He’s so vicious in this new role. Every kick that registered cheers for the first three-quarters of this year is now laid in with a smug arrogance that will make his defeat so much sweeter in the end. 

Tonight, however, Ishida reigns supreme. Lee was hit with a salt attack and then planted with a Bridging Tiger Suplex for the fall. Fast-paced, hard-hitting junior action at its best. These two could take this match on the road and blow audiences away with it, but in Dragon Gate, it’s merely just another great match. ****

OPEN THE TRIANGLE GATE CHAMPIONSHIP
DIAMANTE, HYO, & TAKASHI YOSHIDA DEF. STRONG MACHINE J, STRONG MACHINE G, & STRONG MACHINE F © and KZY, GENKI HORIGUCHI, & SUSUMU YOKOSUKA 

The Strong Machines fail to make their fourth successful defense of the Triangle Gate titles. This win marks the first time HYO and Diamante have held titles in Dragon Gate, and together the trio are the 67th Triangle Gate champions in history. 

This was a traditional triple threat trios match that Dragon Gate regularly offers, it just lacked the excitement that is typically present. This never kicked into the next gear. Natural Vibes came across as subdued this evening. I can’t chalk it up to low effort, there were just very few windows for Kzy, Horiguchi, and Yokosuka to run wild and do what they do best. 

After they were eliminated, the interactions between the Strong Machines and R.E.D. felt clunky and slow. There were no great flash pins. No big moves were busted out. The closing stretch was rudimentary and uninspiring. Strong Machines finally lost, putting an end to their undefeated streak that dates back to April. A disappointing way to end what has been a confusing, albeit important reign. ***

OPEN THE TWIN GATE CHAMPIONSHIP
YAMATO & BXB HULK DEF. BIG R SHIMIZU & EITA © 

Big E fall in their fourth defense of the Twin Gate titles. This is the second time YAMATO & Hulk have held the Twin Gate titles together. 

YAMATO and BxB Hulk didn’t win this match as much as they simply survived. At this time last year, Hulk was out of commission. The former Dream Gate and Freedom Gate Champion had been on a downward trajectory for quite some time due to age and injuries catching up to him. I speculated early on in the year that Hulk might even retire. He simply was not the same wrestler that he once was, and he hadn’t been since he was forced to vacate the Twin Gate belts a year ago. 

When Hulk first returned, he looked fat and out of shape. He was fat and out of shape. He’s spent every day in the dojo since, has shed weight, put on muscle, and is back to the level he was at two years ago. He took a beating in this match, but it wasn’t big enough to kill him. It wasn’t even big enough to keep him down. Hulk thrived as the valiant underdog. 

Since Final Gate 2017, which marked the end of the CK-1 Twin Gate reign due to injury, Twin Gate reigns have been held by these teams: 

T-Hawk & Eita 

Ben-K & Big R Shimizu 

YAMATO & BxB Hulk 

Ben-K & Big R Shimizu 

YAMATO & KAI 

Eita & Big R Shimizu 

YAMATO & BxB Hulk 

Dragon Gate has clearly found who they like to use in Twin Gate situations and for two years now, they’ve exploited those opportunities. For post-Dream Gate YAMATO and current state-BxB Hulk, this role works perfectly for them. As I’ve said before, I think Eita is destined to be a tag team ace. The important name to me is Big R Shimizu. I still think Shimizu’s ceiling is much higher than the second best guy in a Twin Gate team, and now is the perfect time to elevate him. We’ll have to see how Dragon Gate handles his next few months. ***1/2 

OPEN THE DREAM GATE CHAMPIONSHIP
NARUKI DOI DEF. BEN-K © 

Ben-K falls in his fourth defense of the Dream Gate title. This is Naruki Doi’s second official reign as Dream Gate Champion. He entered the decade with the belt and will leave the decade with the belt.

I am absolutely stunned at this result. It’s not a bad thing, I just can’t believe Dragon Gate is ending Ben-K’s reign now, and that Naruki Doi, who had lost his last eight Dream Gate challenges, is the one to defeat him. The more time passes since I watched the finish, the more I’m convinced this is a brilliant move, even if I can’t entirely explain way. I’m fully on board with this. 

Ben-K’s reign should not be looked at as a failure. From a match quality perspective, he was performing at a ridiculously high rate. The matches with PAC, Mochizuki, and Yoshino are some of the best bouts I’ve seen all year. He proved that he can hang on this level, and that he should be featured in the main event scene from here on out. This was a masterful performance by him. Ben-K managed to look incredibly tough while giving just enough to Naruki Doi. It was the perfect balance of give and take. 

In the end, Doi’s Muscular Bomb put the young champion down for the count. This is after an onslaught of Doi 555’s, Bakatare Sliding Kicks, and brutal slaps. Ben-K threw everything he had at Doi. He landed a huge spear, a Ben-K bomb, and had his submission locked in at one point, but Doi escaped it all. Doi’s career has largely been built on failure, and he took every lesson he’s learned along the way and somehow Muscular Bombed his way to a second Dream Gate title reign. ****1/2 

Final Thoughts:

Final Gate completely reset the future of the company. The booking of this show was unpredictable and shocking, but given their twenty-year track record of booking greatness, I have complete faith in them to keep Ben-K, Big R Shimizu, Eita, and Strong Machine J in the mix as relevant commodities in Japan’s second-biggest wrestling company. 

This felt like a big show in presentation and the match quality backed that up. The English Commentary of Lenny Leonard and Larry Dallas continues to add a new element for western fans. Their commentary continues to be on point and is lightyears ahead of the English commentary that New Japan was providing when they first adopted an English speaking team. Larry Dallas has proven that he knows the product well and is able to add insight from the time he spends backstage with the wrestlers and Lenny Leonard continues to be the best play-by-play man in the industry. This is a winning combination for Dragon Gate and I hope they continue to invest time and energy into the English crew. Their call of the main event is one of the most enjoyable listens I’ve ever had when it comes to commentary. The genuine excitement those two had for the action that was going on in the ring clearly came through and their reaction to the finish put it over the top.

On top of a stellar main event, Final Gate delivered a great Brave Gate challenge and a handful of fun, engaging matches. Thumbs up for Dragon Gate’s Final Gate.