DRAGON GATE
TRUTH GATE
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
KORAKUEN HALL – TOKYO, JAPAN

Watch: Dragon Gate Network

TRYOUT MATCH
SUPER SHISA & HO HO LUN DEF. MARTIN KIRBY & MICHAEL SU

Michael Su wrestled once for Dragon Gate during their Hong Kong shows last year and has been wrestling dark matches since the beginning of February this year. He’s from Hong Kong and similar to his partner, the British import Martin Kirby, spends most of his time on the mat grappling. This was a fine exhibition. I enjoy anytime Shisa rolls around with people. Sans Zack Sabre Jr, Shisa is still my favorite guy to watch apply holds. He’s a master. He tapped out Su, but Su held his own and I hope he’s used more in the future. **1/2 

BEN-K, JASON LEE, & PROBLEM DRAGON DEF. GAMMA, KENTO KOBUNE, & TAKETO KAMAI 

I don’t love the optics of Ben-K working the opening match and taking offense and deep two counts from young boys. Kobune and Kamai continue to impress me, and it’s clear with the case of Kobune, who already has his own t-shirt, that he’s impressing the Dragon Gate office. They have bright futures ahead of them. They don’t need to be nearly pinning Ben-K, especially as Ben-K is still looking to rebound from losing the Dream Gate belt. After kicking out of a flash pin, Ben-K speared Kamai into oblivion for the win. **3/4 

MASAAKI MOCHIZUKI DEF. KOTA MINOURA 

A year and a half ago, Kota Minoura marched to the ring and was kicked into oblivion by the Iron Man of Professional Wrestling. Minoura would go onto join Mochizuki Dojo after that and proceeded to spend a full calender year under the guidance of Mochizuki. That came to a head here, as he battled his mentor once again in Korakuen Hall. 

This match lasted four times longer than their first bout did, but the result was the same. Mochizuki once again turned out the lights of the youngster with a high kick and a disrespectful pin. It’s not fair to call this a squash. Minoura was never in a position to win, but he got in a fair amount of offense. Mochizuki has had better matches like this. He never let loose and unleashed his full fury on Minoura. Instead, he kept his cool and paced himself, which is the smart thing to do, but it led to a less exciting match. Still, any Mochizuki singles match is worth watching. This was fun. ***1/4 

DRAGON DIA & YUKI YOSHIOKA DEF. YASUSHI KANDA & SUSUMU YOKOSUKA 

Dragon Dia’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. He was treading water for most of last year, doing nothing after coming in with one of the most hyped debuts in Dragon System history. I liked the raw skills he came into the company with, but I feared that he would struggle progressing. Whatever changed in November has led Dia onto a path of destruction. He wins on TV every month, he pins big names constantly, and with this match, Dia showed that he can be the most dynamic part of a match even when he’s in there with bigger names. 

Yoshioka is simply a younger version of Yokosuka. The latter has made a career off of killing it quietly for the past 20 years, and all signs point to the former being a carbon copy of that. On this night, however, my attention went straight towards Dia. I thought he was excellent against Yokosuka (who isn’t?), but what caught me off guard was how good Dia looked against Yasushi Kanda. If Dia is getting good matches out of Kanda, then he’s really onto something. Similar to the prior match, this was well worked, but it never made me jump out of my chair. ***1/4 

KAITO ISHIDA, BIG R SHIMIZU, & KAZMA SAKAMOTO DEF. ULTIMO DRAGON, DON FUJII, & GENKI HORIGUCHI 

We get a version of this match on almost every taping. I happened to enjoy this match more than most of the Ultimo six-mans we get. Horiguchi and Fujii bring an energy that Ultimo lacks, and it immediately makes his matches more engaging. On the other side, Ishida, Shimizu, and Sakamoto bring the heat on a regular basis. That’s a fun trio to watch. 

Like the rest of this undercard, nothing stuck out in a big way until the finish. Mochizuki knocked out Minoura, Dragon Dia hit his big move on Kanda, and here, Sakamoto flipped Ultimo’s pin to give Ishida the edge. Ishida pinned Ultimo which was truly shocking, giving this match an added boost of energy late that raises this match a quarter star. ***

OPEN THE TRIANGLE GATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
KENICHIRO ARAI, DRAGON KID, & RYO SAITO DEF. TAKASHI YOSHIDA, HYO, & DIAMANTE, KEISUKE OKUDA, STRONG MACHINE J, & YOSUKE SANTA MARIA 

The R.E.D. trio of Diamante, HYO, & Takashi Yoshida fall in their first defense of the Open the Triangle Gate titles. Kenichiro Arai, Dragon Kid, & Ryo Saito become the 67th incarnation of the Triangle Gate champions. This is the first time the trio has held the titles. 

This show was becoming so average that I was starting to get annoyed. Then R.E.D. put on an endless heat segment on Kenichiro Arai that was actively bad and I got annoyed. Then, as the Dragon Gate trio was eliminated and headed to the back, the action suddenly became way more interesting. Kenichiro Arai, who had been dragging down the match up to this point, made a valiant comeback that completely hooked me in. R.E.D. and Toryumon kicked the match into a higher gear and delivered some much-needed excitement to this show. 

Arai, looking to capture his first Dragon Gate title in 12 years, went all out and attempted a Firebird Splash. HYO moved out of the way and on landing, Arai was very clearly roughed up. Dragon Kid saved the day with a flurry of offense, given Arai a moment of recovery before nailing the Tiger Suplex for the win. 

The first half of this match was so stale. I hated the approach and I hated the way R.E.D. beat down Arai. The last five minutes were so exciting, however, that it changed my thoughts on the entire match. I hope Arai heals up and is able to defend the gold come Champion Gate. ***1/2 

MASATO YOSHINO & SHUJI KONDO DEF. EITA & BXB HULK, YAMATO & KAI 

No other company is able to throw this many guys in a match and still tell a coherent story. On top of the obvious generational warfare storyline, you have Hulk and YAMATO squaring off, KAI wanting revenge on Hulk, Yoshino and Eita continuing their feud, and the rogue Shuji Kondo making his presence felt in a non-nostalgia driven match. It’s truly amazing that Dragon Gate is now existing in a universe where they are using both Shuji Kondo and KAI. I mention quite often how I’m amazed that KAI has been able to slip into the Dragon Gate universe and not only exist, but succeed, and that’s because it truly blows my mind. He works his ass off and is now a major player at the top of the card. 

BxB Hulk had a very good night. A year ago we were talking about how he needed to retire because he was so broken down and was spending so much time on the sideline plagued with injury. His R.E.D. gear is still actively bad, but it’s so great seeing Hulk being able to dial up a performance like this. He never missed a step and looked great squaring off against YAMATO and KAI. 

I have no idea if Shuji Kondo will be back soon, but I sure hope he is. Even at age 42-years-old, Kondo can still bring the goods. There are better opponents for him in this company, but I was delighted by what he and YAMATO were able to do in their brief time in the ring together. 

After the usual train run-in spots from both Toryumon and R.E.D., Yoshino ducked a lariat from the interferring Shimizu that caught Eita, giving the Speed Star a chance to roll Eita up for the win. ***3/4 


OPEN THE DREAM GATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
NARUKI DOI (c) DEF. KZY 

Naruki Doi makes his first successful defense of the Open the Dream Gate title with this match. Kzy falls to 0-3 in Dream Gate challenges, all of which have come in the month of February. 

If the Yankees had not won the 1977 World Series, Reggie Jackson would likely not have gone down in history as Mr. October. Sure, he would’ve been a fun anecdote and his successes would’ve gone down as a “remember when” conversation starter, but the aura and the legacy that surrounds Jackson is present because the Yankees pulled off the series victory. Kzy is hitting a lot of home runs. He’s doing the best work of his career in February, specifically. This is the third year in a row he’s challenged for the top prize in Dragon Gate, it’s the third time he’s had a MOTYC while going for the belt, and it’s, unfortunately, the third time he’s failed at securing the title. Kzy is playing like an all-star, but he has none of the accolades to show for it, so dubbing him “Mr. February” would be an insult. 

Kzy took an ungodly amount of punishment from the champion, Naruki Doi, in this match. Doi trimmed the usual fat that plagues Dream Gate matches and instead went right after Kzy’s neck. The story of the match was simple. Doi targeted Kzy’s neck, trying to immobilize him. Kzy did everything in his power – every big move he had, to fight back. Doi’s Muscular Bomb, however, remains the most protected move in the company, and not even Kzy can escape that. 

There was a certain viciousness to this match that is absent from a lot of Dragon Gate encounters. Everything looked to be a little snugger than the average bout. I’m not sure if that’s intentional, nor do I really know if they actually were working stiffer or if it just looked like that. All I know is that I bought into the idea that these two really started pounding on each other at one point. The Avalanche Doi 555 that led straight into the finish looked particularly nasty, like Kzy was thrown full force, face first, into the mat. 

For the third year in a row, I’m saying that Kzy has had a match that is absolutely required viewing. This is a clubhouse leader for Dragon Gate MOTY and is not far behind the highest highs we saw at Wrestle Kingdom this year. Kzy vs. Naruki Doi was one of the best matches of the year, no doubt. ****3/4  

Final Thoughts

The first half of this show was so average that it started to annoy me. The second half of this show featured the most consistent company in the world excelling at their craft. Any wrestling fan that chooses to skip the main event is doing themselves a disservice as a fan. 

The English commentary provided by Dragon Gate Jae and Larry Dallas continues to be a successful venture. On this show, there was a noticeable “hiss” that was admittedly a slight distraction. It’s disappointing that two of Jae’s outings in the booth have been marred by technical issues, because in a very short time, he’s become a very confident-sounding announcer. He and Dallas particularly came alive in the main event and it was a delight to hear. 

The effort displayed in the latter half of this show earns it a thumbs up. Go watch the main event!