Dragon Gate "Open the New Year Gate" 01/15/17

First Dragon Gate show i've watched in absolutely ages, and like always, they have new factions and I have no idea whats going on.  

- Gamma, Punch Tominaga & Hyou Watanabe vs. Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Jimmy Kanda & Jimmy Kagetora

I have no idea on who is which faction, what the factions are and who is heel or face. I've always had a cursory interest in DG because they do have some ridiculously good matches (speed muscle were amazing) so this is going to be a learning experience. DG is one that i'm aiming to try and keep relatively up to date with too.

This match featured a group called Jimmyz, where everyone in it seems to have a variation on the name Jimmy. Interesting idea. Pretty standard opening six man tag but it did have some sections where the flow broke down and some people got lost on what to do. One of the Jimmyz tried a flying shoulder block with his hands in his pockets though, which redeemed it quite a bit. 

Lots and lots of near falls (lots) and one of the problems I've always had with DG is that each match just goes at 100mph with everyone spamming their moves over and over again until the finish, and this seemed to follow that pattern. Match ends with Kagetora hitting the Gurumakakari on Tominaga. I couldn't even describe this move, but it looks amazing. [OK]

- Eita & Takehiro Yamamura vs. T-Hawk & El Lindaman

This match was a load of fun, again it went at a ridiculous pace but some of the moves are really inventive and you kind of only see some of this stuff in DG. I've not seen any of these guys before, was impressed with Eita and Lindaman. It loses imaginary Internet points for ending with a screwy finish (infuriating), but DG kind of does screwy finishes a lot. This match did draw me in the longer it went on and by the end I would have been happier if it had gone another 5-10 minutes.

Lindaman pinned Eita after a Tiger Suplex Hold. The one thing which did cross my mind at the end was has Lindaman ever done mma? He's got two cracking cauliflower ears going on [Good]

~ Lindaman with the win over the current Open The Brave Gate Champion after he had a face off with Eita at yesterdays show
~ Eita will now defend vs Lindaman in March in Osaka

- Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fuji vs. Kotoka & Ben-K

If there's one thing I do know, is that Don Fuji is a grumpy old bastard who loves to chop people. He really does look like the odd one out as he's not the quickest and he's got the old man barrel chest going on. He's been around since the Toryumon days. I used to know a chap who'd put compilation VHS tapes together and one of the best ones he ever did was called 'M2K vs Crazy Max'. I've been trying to hunt down a match listing of that tape forever.

I looked up Mochizuki too as he's been around forever too and amazingly he wrestled in the Super J Cup '95. He's 47 years old (3 years older than Otani!) and looks and moves like a young guy.

This match was OK, not as good as the previous one and kotoka and Ben-k definitely looked like rookies compared to the old guys. Some nice kick exchanges and it ends when Mochizuki finishes with a Shin Saikyou High Kick on Kotoka [OK]

- Big R Shimizu & Kaito Ishida vs. Shingo Takagi & Cyber Kong

Shingo is one of the greatest DG wrestlers in the history of the company. When I would dip in and out it was usually a match involving Shingo and you were guaranteed a 4+ star match. Definitely looking forward to watching him more consistently. Cyber Kong is their strong man who weirdly has painted on muscle definitions. Big R and Ishida are the new generation wrestlers. 

This features a lot of big guy moves with cyber and Big R but also Ishida getting beaten up by both cyber and Shingo. He's only a little runt so cyber just flips him over and piledrives him into the mat. Scary how quick he does it. Ishida gets some fightback going and it verges on the possibility of him getting a pin until shingo and cyber overpower him. Shingo makes him submit with a Boston Crab.

This was a good match, it never really felt in doubt that shingo was going to win, but they did a good job of teasing the upset [Good]

- CIMA & Dragon Kid vs. Kzy & Yosuke ♡ Santa Maria

CIMA and Dragon Kid are the old guard and Kzy and Yosuke are the up and comers (there's a theme here) I was always surprised that CIMA didn't have more crossover appeal as he's really charismatic, good in the ring and a good looking dude. Dragon Kid is kind of like what would have happened to Rey if he'd have stopped putting on weight and blowing his knees out.

Yosuke is a cross dresser and does the whole kissing angle. They need to have a match with Yosuke, Dino from DDT and Maximo from CMLL. The world would probably turn gay. I'm always in two minds about guys who have gimmicks which are forever going to keep them out of the top spot. Do they accept that they'll always be a lower to mid card guy or does it eat them up inside. Stalker Ichikawa has had a 20 year career being a joke for example. 

Anyway, this match was OK. Lots of bum jokes, which does start to get old after a while, and this is the first match i've seen of Yosuke. Felt like it dragged in the middle and the end came out of absolutely nowhere, which hurt it. Yosuke hit a move called the Neraiuchi, which is like a jumping roll up, on Dragon Kid for the win.

~ Kzy and Yosuke called for a shot at the Open The Twin Gate Championships after pinning the champions which also looks to be a match set for the show in Osaka in March

- YAMATO, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi vs. Masato Yoshino, Jimmy Susumu & Ryo Jimmy Saito

Main event has more jimmyz and everyone's favourite heart-throb, BxB Hulk. This match was DG in a nutshell for me, when everyone is on point it is absolutely amazing, the speed at which they all move is incredible. But when you take a step back, it doesn't feel like a wrestling match. For example theres a part where Yamato hits his move on Yoshino, who rolls out of the ring, then Saito hits Yamato, who then rolls out of the ring. And you know this is going to happen until everyone has performed a move. And this happens multiple times.  

Yoshino is massively over and does look really good throughout. I'm guessing there is history between him and Doi as they used to be a tag team (Speed Muscle!). Match ends with Yoshino applying the Sol Naciente on Hulk [Good]

~ Hulk takes another fall
~ Yesterday YAMATO tried to inspire Hulk to a win, this obviously didn’t work. Can Tribe Vanguard bounce back and do better in the one day 6 man tag team tournament on 1/18?