VOW 2020 Match of the Year (9: RED vs. Toryumon Generation)

After nine years, Dragongate finally makes it into the Top 10 with this historical multi-man tag.

2020 MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• Introduction & Honorable Mentions: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/25/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-introduction-sadness-village/
• Matches 100-76: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/26/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-100-76/
• Matches 75-51: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/26/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-75-51/
• Matches 50-26: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/27/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-50-26/
• Matches: 25-11: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/28/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-25-11/
• Top 10 Audio Reveal & Analysis: patreon.com/voicesofwrestling ($5)
• 10: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/29/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-10-kenny-omega-vs-pac/

VOICES OF WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• 2019: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2019-match-of-the-year/
• 2018: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2018-match-of-the-year/
• 2017: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2017-match-of-the-year/
• 2016: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2016-match-of-the-year/
• 2015: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2015-match-of-the-year/
• 2014: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2014-match-of-the-year/
• 2013: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2013-match-of-the-year/
• 2012: voicesofwrestling.com/2012/12/20/top-10-matches-of-2012/

#9
RED vs. Toryumon Generation
12/20
Dragongate

Overall Points: 276
Total Votes: 37
% of Ballots: 21.9%
6 First-Place Votes

“This year, a big focus for me was getting back into Dragon Gate. As a fan since the Toryumon days who dropped off once it was WAY harder to get via tape trading, it was so cool to see that the masters of the “lucharesu” style are still doing it as only they can, and this match was a perfect encapsulation of the style. Crazy spots, huge drama, intense stable warfare. It ruled SO HARD.” -Marty Day

“It’s rare in life when something not only meets your expectations, but exceeds them. For years, I had been wanting to get into Dragongate. I would hear about the fast-paced action and the incredible building of drama. I watched THE six-man tag and loved it. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t like about the company. I would just never be able to find the time to get into it. Then 2020 gave me time to spare. I watched Kobe World and enjoyed the crowning of Shun Skywalker as the new top star, but nothing blew me away. Then came Final Gate and the Unit Disbands match. For the first time in what feels like forever, I felt like I wasn’t watching wrestling tainted by COVID. For the first time in forever, I got into a match just like it was old times. The drama of watching who would get eliminated built in such a compelling way, even with my lack of full context. A month after the fact, I sit here in awe at the brass balls of Dragongate to give two legitimate rookies in SB Kento and HipHop Kikuta every fall for the R.E.D. side in such an important match. And then the silence that fell over the crowd as Dragon Kid, mask limply hanging around his neck, tapped out to the SB Shooter was incredible. I’ve been to funerals with more life than that crowd had once the bell rang, as they sat in absolute shock that R.E.D. succeeded in killing off the Toryumon Generation. I will remember R.E.D. standing on that stage, with nothing but the sound of cameras snapping their picture filling the air, for a very long time. This was an absolute spectacle, and a match that will most likely go down as my favorite match of this cursed COVID-era.” -Suit Williams

“Perhaps the best Dragongate Disbands match of all time and my first five star match in Dragongate since 2015. With SB KENTo & Hiphop Kikuta, two then twenty year olds who weren’t even alive when the Toryumon landing occurred in 1999, as the focus of the Disbands match. Dragongate boldly stepped forward in a year where every other promotion was trying to survive. The two least experienced wrestlers, with a combined experience of a year and seven months, wiped clean the cornerstones of the Dragon System ending with SB KENTo submitting a nearly unmasked Dragon Kid.

The Disbands match embodied the company’s 2020: bold directions putting wrestlers below the age of 25 at the forefront, a satisfying conclusion to their overarching storyline in the Three Way Generational War, and a willingness to look at the necessary restrictions for wrestling in Japan in the COVID era and say “That is all fine, but we are Dragongate and we are going to be Dragongate, restrictions or not.”

Like all Dragongate Disbands Matches this most recent one builds on the past, which is remarkable given the relative youth on one side. Toryumon came out in the gimmicks that they were when they were the R.E.D’s team age. Even Konomama (formerly Stalker) Ichikawa got in on the act running in and hitting his Ina Bauer German Suplex. The weapons that became R.E.D. trademarks turned against them as Eita went through yet another barbed wire board. Dragon Kid had his mask practically ripped from his face and was more unmasked than any time in his apuestas matches against the likes of SUWA, Darkness Dragon and Eita. As I said earlier, this Disbands match embodied Dragongate’s 2020. It’s the best match company has had in over five years. For old fans like myself the layers of backstory along with watching the youth on the R.E.D. side flourish given the opportunity was the most satisfying response I’ve had in wrestling a long time. For newer fans, the spectacle and excess makes it so it is impossible to turn away. No other match in 2020 gave me the chills that the Disbands match did, and no other match compared to it. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was my Match of the Year.” -Mike Spears

“This match played into all the strengths Dragon Gate had exhibited throughout 2020 as the year’s most consistently well booked promotion that had just been lacking an undisputable example of their quality until this perfectly structured elimination match. From the opening entrances, Masato Yoshino’s blue contact lenses sold the emotional weight of the unit disbands stipulation. The layout was truly fearless, with the most established combatants the first to fall. No elimination was cheap, the match didn’t drag at any pointed and weapon spots were not permitted to become gratuitous. The callbacks and pay-offs were pertly placed, none more so than Kono Mama Ichikawa’s German suplex, which was the best spot of the year. Dragon Kid making a desperate last stand for not just his team, but his era of wrestling had tremendous weight. SB KENTo and HipHop Kikuta proved themselves worthy of being major stars for years to come. The result was genuinely upsetting, but absolutely the right call.” -Jack Groom

“Not only was this one of best elimination matches I ever seen ever, but this was my match of the year. This match had such great storytelling, and provided a lot of surprises. Like for example, with Eita and Masato Yoshino being the first ones eliminated from their respective teams. This match also established this next generation of Dragon Gate, as the potential of next big stars are clearly on display in this match. This match had me captivated through the entire over 30 minutes of the match and because of all these reasons that is why this match is MOTY for 2020.” -Filip Pejic

“I got into Dragon Gate in October of last year after the insistence of Joe’s to “Get in on the ground floor!” takes and the general good will surrounding the promotion on social media. I value high-calibre ring work and I also value high-calibre storytelling, and DG seemed to be offering both in spades at a time when no one else is. I’m so glad I did the work and caught up with a few shows heading into Final Gate because I was fully-invested in this, and it felt like I haven’t been taken on this sort of rollercoaster since the big shutdown. It was great having pro wrestling back, even for one match.” -Shane

“When a wrestling fan gets fully invested into a promotion, and fully into the story be it a 20 year plus long background to even simple heel vs. face dynamics, it becomes something truly special. Not to mention, this could be one of the most fascinating cases of long term booking on a decade(s) scale of storytelling to the one year story telling of heel RED vs. veterans Toryumon. Every step of the way in the match had so many call backs across the Dragon Gate generations with details all the way down to Yoshino’s blue contacts to the weapon choices each person used in the match. The best part, the match capitalizes on Dragon Gate’s strongest story coming out of 2020…. It’s pushing of young talent. The top talents of Eita (RED) and Naruki Doi (Toryumon) both former Dream Gate champions in 2020, going out first respectively for their teams. One by one members fell, but more particularly Toryumon fell to the rookies on RED; Kikuta eliminated Yoshino and the rest fell to SB Kento at 20 years old. The ending stretch of Dragon Kid’s mask being ripped exposing the prized student of Toryumon’s founder Utlimo Dragon grasping on until the end was emotional and chair gripping. As Dragon Kid tapped to the SB-shooter, a hush came over the crowd. In the covid-era, as us wrestling fans long for screaming yelling wild cheers, this seemingly death-like reaction that came over the arena like a miasma fog as team Toryumon realized their loss and fate was something that even covid couldn’t stop from happening. This truly was a perfect match.” -Jacob Wooley

“The history, the stakes, the drama, the deathly silence after the match, the elevation of SB Kento” -Ben Fox

“No one does stories like this like Dragon Gate. Stalker Ishikawa/Komo Mama Ichikawa’s run in. That is all.” -Sarah Flannery

“I don’t know if this match will translate to people “parachuting in” to check out the big match. I honestly don’t care. I think the narrative that Dragongate is an incredibly complex promotion to follow is slightly overblown as anyone with a basic knowledge of good guys and bad guys would be able to follow this match. The layers in this bout, however, might be lost on many, but they were not lost on me. This is one of the greatest feats of storytelling I have ever seen. The only word that can summarize what this was is perfection. It will go down as one of the greatest matches in Dragon System history.” -Case Lowe

“An outstanding year in Dragongate was capped off with a masterful Unit Disband match. A new, young and hungry generation of wrestlers took over from the legendary Toryumon generation in a match brimming with excitement, twists and storytelling details that rewarded all the passionate fans of this wonderful promotion. Also, THAT suplex by Stalker Ichikawa. Spot of the year.” -Ricardo Gallegos

“There’s so much about this match that I love and I don’t know if I can do it all justice. You have the generational war between the iconic DG veterans and the cocky young upstarts in R.E.D., and the symbolism behind that. Yoshino wearing the blue eye contacts. Nasty bumps and weapon shots galore. Ichikawa, a career-long fool, hitting the Ina Bauer German at a pivotal moment. Dragon Kid fighting for his unit’s survival even while his mask was practically torn off. The skyrocketing rise of SB KENTo. Everyone was at the top of their game, every spot felt like it mattered, the Fukuoka crowd was as into it as a clap crowd could be. It was all perfect. When we look back at the next generation of stars in Dragongate, this match will be the spark that lit the fuse.” -Andrew Rich

“This match is the perfect encapsulation of Dragon Gate in 2020. The generational warfare story was used to establish the future making the younger wrestlers way more prominent. The story of the match was the old generation trying to prove the sands of time wrong while the younger generation attempted to cement themselves as the top of the pack. It was a brutal fight with an incredible final scene as a beaten and unmasked Dragon Kid is finally put down by EITA and the rest of his young hooligans. This felt like a proper passing of the torch, only growing for me in affinity as time passes.” -Christopher Duarte

“There is nothing I can say about this match that hasn’t been said more eloquently by more educated Dragongate fans than me but, for what it’s worth, here goes. At the start of the year I had Kota Minoura, Shun Skywalker and Yuki Yoshioka earmarked as stars to watch and while they have succeeded to varying degrees nobody has come close to the emergence of SB Kento. The early eliminations of EITA, Yoshino and Doi showed that this wasn’t just about units disbanding, this was a statement of intent that Dragongate has a slate of youngsters that they believe can carry the company for the next 10 years. As it came to the final fall and the ring was swamped with wrestlers trying to save their faction there was a brief flicker of doubt, but eventually the ring cleared and SB Kento (after only a year in the company) ended up with Dragon Kid locked in the Shooter. The veteran struggled but succumbed and a new star was anointed.” -Mike Daysley

“The action. The story. The callbacks and the context. If you’re a long-time fan of DG, even a lapsed one trying to keep up with the current product, this match has such deep meaning and enjoyment to it.” -WH Park

“A year-long feud between beloved veterans and scumbags culminates in a ten-man elimination match where the losing factions must disband. What plays out like a reverse-War Games match culminates in phenomenal finishing sequence where a rookie SBKento submits the legendary Dragon Kid, setting up the company hierarchy for years to come.” -J.D. Oliva

“The old guard’s final stand as they had fought valiantly against the younger generation of Dragon Gate. An absolutely chaotic and wild elimination tag that felt like a big time war. SB KENTo was made into a star with a dominate showing. Dragon Kid had a phenomenal underdog performance that was fitting considering his past as Ultimo Dragon’s heir. It made new stars in the young RED members while being an appropriate tribute to the Toryumon generation and their enormous history. Also, Stalker Ishikawa’s German suplex spot near the end is the most satisfying moment of 2020.” -ScorpioCorp

“I’m not a Dragongate fan, I went into this show with basic knowledge, and I was left impressed and awestruck at this match. Nonstop action, great storytelling, and with having basic knowledge, I was even surprised at who was first eliminated from the match. Each of the eliminations was awesome and smart, and I was yelling at the TV at the end. I can’t even imagine how it must have felt like for longtime fans. If a Dragongate newbie loved this, I think that anyone else would love it. Probably the best multiman tag of the year.” -Abraham Delgado

“Dragon Gate outdid themselves with this one, proving why they deliver the best multi-man tag matches. Lot of stories, details, fast paced action, shocking moments, surprises, etc, it had everything and more. The younger generation had its time to shine, with SB KENTo leaving a big impression. I can’t talk enough about how much I love this match, an instant classic.” -Gin Malkavar

Voices of Wrestling 2020 Match of the Year
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Voices of Wrestling 2020 Match of the Year
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