Gate of Destiny 2007

November 25, 2007 – Osaka, Japan

Championship Rundown:
Open the Dream Gate Champion: CIMA
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & K-ness
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Masato Yoshino
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino

Anthony W. Mori {T}, PAC {T} & Super Shisa vs. YAMATO {NH}, BxB Hulk {NH} & El Generico {NH}
Shisa is replacing Lupin Matsutani, who was injured. He and Hulk start. They fight it out on the mat. YAMATO hits Mori with a shoulder tackle. He hits a back suplex. PAC hits a leg lariat. He hits Generico with a head scissor takedown. He hits another. He hits a third and Generico bails. He and Mori hit Hulk with a dropkick sandwich. He launches off Mori’s back to hit a corkscrew moonsault for 2. Hulk hits Mori with a back heel kick. He and YAMATO hit a double back elbow. YAMATO hits a DDT and a senton for 2. Hulk hits a senton for 2. YAMATO puts on a half crab. Mori gets to the ropes. He dropkicks the knee. PAC hits Hulk with an enziguiri. He hits Generico with a handspring DDT. Generico bails so PAC follows him out with a shooting star press. Shisa kicks Hulk across the ring. He and Mori work over Hulk as the commentators talk about the Pos.HEARTS. Hulk dropkicks Shisa for 2. PAC rolls YAMATO up for 2. YAMATO hits an exploder for 2. Shisa hits a head scissor takedown. PAC hits a funky senton for 2. Generico saves YAMATO from the Yoshi Tonic. He hits the Yakuza Kick and the Half & Half on Mori for 2. YAMATO hits a German suplex. Hulk hits a leg lariat for 2. He hits the Mouse and a leg lariat. Generico hits a brainbuster for 2. PAC hits a super reverse hurricanrana. He hits British Airways for the win at 10:05. This was just a series of spots, one in which a few awkward moments spoiled the whole thing.
Rating: **¼

Genki Horiguchi {MO} & Arik Cannon {MO} vs. Akira Tozawa {TJ} & Kenichiro Arai {TJ}
Tozawa and Arai attack before the bell. The Outlaw’z quickly gain control. Horiguchi hits Arai with the topé con hilo. The Outlaw’z work over Tozawa’s arm. Horiguchi hits a back bodydrop. Horiguchi hits a dropkick and Cannon hits a lariat. Cannon hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Horiguchi puts on a half crab. Tozawa gets to the ropes. Horiguchi hits a tiger driver for 2. Cannon hits a dropkick for 2. Horiguchi hits a double stomp. Tozawa hits a back suplex. Arai blocks a low blow and hits Cannon with a DDT. He hits Horiguchi with a dropkick. He hits a suicide dive. Tozawa hits the Apron Kara Tozawa for 2. Arai drops Cannon on an exposed turnbuckle. Tozawa hits a dropkick for 2. He misses a diving headbutt. He hits the Ganki for 2. Cannons shoves Arai off the top rope. Horiguchi hits a missile dropkick. Cannon hits a side slam. He hits Tozawa with a lariat. He hits a hanging neckbreaker for 2. Tozawa gets a backslide on Horiguchi for 2. Cannon hits the Shining Wizard. Horiguchi hits the Beach Break for the win at 8:22. Technically this was fine, but nothing to write home about. Things get weird after the match as Horiguchi steals Tozawa’s pants.
Rating: **

Magnitude Kishiwada {MO} VS. Cyber Kong {NH}
As the two power men for opposing factions Muscle Outlaw’z and New Hazard these two had a simmering rivalry brewing. Kong created the need for this match when he hit Dr. Muscle with Kishiwada’s Last Ride powerbomb. They lock up and Kong powers Kishiwada to the ropes. They are unable to knock each other down with shoulder tackles. Kishiwada eventually falls first and bails. Back in the ring Kong press slams Kishiwada. They trade chops. Kishiwada hits a dropkick and Kong bails. Kishiwada follows him out with a moonsault press off the second turnbuckle. Arik Cannon and Genki Horiguchi help Kishiwada put Kong on a table. Kishiwada puts Kong through the table (sort of) with a splash off the top. He climbs again to do a back flip in the ring. Kong gets back in the ring at 19. Kishiwada whips him into a chair in the corner and then hits an avalanche. He hits a standing moonsault for 2. He goes for a chair shot but Kong blocks it. Kong breaks the chair over Kishiwada’s head, but Kishiwada stands strong. Kong hits the Pineapple Bomber. He hits an avalanche. Kishiwada hits a German suplex but Kong powers through. Kong hits a clothesline but Kishiwada pops up and hits another German suplex. Kong pops up and hits a vertical suplex. Kishiwada does the same. Kong pops up for a moment before both collapse. Kishiwada breaks a chair over Kong’s head. He stands strong and hits a Michinoku Driver. He hits the Pineapple Bomber for 2. He hits the Cyber Bomb for 2. He climbs the ropes but Kishiwada cuts him off and hits a superplex. Kishiwada climbs the ropes and hits a big splash for 1. Kong is full of fire. Kishiwada hits the RiKishi Driver. He hits a brainbuster for 2. He hits the Last Ride for the win at 11:28. The match was fun, but lost a little steam after the no selling exchange.
Rating: **¾

Masaaki Mochizuki © {Z}, Don Fujii © {Z} & K-Ness © {Z} VS. Gamma {MO}, Yasushi Kanda {MO} & NOSAWA Rongai {TG} [Open the Triangle Gate Championship Match]
Everyone brawls to start, but the Outlaw’z have weapons so they take control. Rongai pokes K-ness’ eyes. He hits a flapjack. K-ness hits a leg lariat. Mochizuki and Gamma trade strikes. Gamma foolishly hits a back kick and Mochizuki responds in kind. Mochizuki hits Kanda with the apron kick. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. Gamma hits Fujii’s leg with the blue box. Kanda hits it with a dropkick. He hits a dragon screw. Gamma stays on the leg. He, Kanda and Rongai hit a triple dropkick for 2. Kanda hits the Manhattan drop and the Jon Woo. He dropkicks the knee. Gamma gives Fujii the Osuikougeki. He hits a dropkick for 2. He hits another to the face. He clotheslines Kanda by mistake. Fujii comes back with a shoulder tackle. Mochizuki hits a missile dropkick. He and K-ness hit a double enziguiri. He hits the Sankakugeri. He hits the Topé Masaaki. Fujii hits Rongai with short arm chops. The Zetsurins put the Outlaw’z in double chicken wings until Gamma gets hold of his cane and saves everyone. Mochizuki kicks the cane out of his hands. He hits a chest kick for 2. Fujii hits a chokeslam for 2. Rongai hits a thrust kick and a facebuster on K-ness for 2. Gamma hit a superkick and the Gamma Special. K-ness comes back with the rolling cradle for 2. The extraneous Outlaw’z run in and attack Fujii. Gamma hits a low blow and gets a small package for 2. He hits a back suplex. Rongai hits a Michinoku Driver. Kanda hits the flying elbowdrop for 2. Gamma hits a lariat. Rongai hits the Shining Wizard. Kanda hits a German suplex for 2. He hits the Ryus for 2. Gamma stops the Sankakugeri with a blue box attack. K-ness hits the Shouryuukyaku. Gamma powders Fujii. Mochizuki blue box attacks Kanda. Fujii clotheslines the box into Kanda’s face. He hits the Nice German for the win at 14:26. This was about as exciting as you’d expect, which is to say it was a far cry from the fantastic matches the Zetsurins had been having as champions. The finish was rather fitting, though.
Rating: **¾

The Intermission match is from the November 2004 Italian Revolution PPV. Click on that link to check out my review of the match, in which Shingo Takagi and CIMA team up back when they were both in the final incarnation of Crazy Max against Final M2K’s Second Doi and an unaffiliated (but dying to get into Do Fixer) Naoki Tanisaki. The story of the match was that Doi and Tanisaki were trying to impress Crazy Max’s Don Fujii by doing their hair like him and letting him abuse them. The match is nothing special, and was at its best when Takagi and CIMA were in control.

Kenzo Suzuki {MO} VS. Dragon Kid {T}
Suzuki hits a big boot to start. He hits two bodyslams. He misses a kneedrop. Kid hits a swinging DDT. He hits a crucifix bomb for 2. He hits a tiger feint kick and Suzuki bails. Kid hits a moonsault press off the middle rope. Suzuki holds onto him and rams him into the post. He press slams Kid into the crowd. A hard clip leads to Suzuki slapping Kid in the ring. Kid dropkicks his knee. Another hard clip leads to Kanda holding the blue box over Kid’s face and Suzuki hitting it with a kneedrop. Kid ducks a box shot but Suzuki stays in control. Kid drop toeholds him onto the middle rope and gets his hands on the blue box. He “hits” Suzuki’s back with it, sending him to the floor. Kid hits a dropkick on the apron. He follows Suzuki to the floor with a springboard hurricanrana. A hard cut leads to Suzuki dropping Kid on the top turnbuckle and then hitting a spear for 2. Kid hits a stunner. Suzuki misses a charge and Kid puts on the Christo. Horiguchi breaks it up. The Outlaw’z gang up on Kid in the corner. Suzuki hits a clothesline for 2. He hits a brainbuster. He climbs the ropes but Mori keeps him from diving. Kid hits Suzuki with the blue box. Mori holds Suzuki on his shoulders and Kid hits a hurricanrana for 2. Gamma tries to hit Kid with a chair but hits Suzuki by mistake. Mori throws powder in Suzuki’s face and Kid hits the Dragon Rana for the win at 13:04. This was an overbooked mess. Suzuki has no business in the fast-paced world of Dragon Gate.
Rating: *½

Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino VS. Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka [Open the Twin Gate Championship Match]
Saito and Yokosuka defeated YAMATO & BxB Hulk to earn this title shot, while Doi and Yoshino had just unified the Twin Gate belts with the IJ Junior tag belts. This came during Speed Muscle’s most prosperous period, as they were also the GHC Junior tag champs and Yoshino was, as always, the Open the Brave Gate champ. Doi and Saito start. Saito powers Doi to the ropes. Doi returns fire with a cheap shot. Saito hits a head scissors takedown. Yoshino and Yokosuka tag into the match. Yoshino hits armdrags. Yokosuka hits a backbreaker. He hits an armdrag. Doi and Saito tag into the match. Doi goes to the eyes. They trade chops until Doi falls. Saito hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop for 1. Yokosuka tags in and puts on a chinlock. Doi escapes with a chinbreaker. Yoshino tags in and hits a legdrop for 1. He puts on a chinlock. Saito tags in and stands on Yoshino’s chest with some added weight in the form of Yokosuka. He hits a Tree of Woe dropkick for 2. Yokosuka tags in and hits a knee to the gut. Saito hits two double stomps off the top for 2. Yokosuka drops Yoshino into a gutbuster from Saito for 2. Doi hits a cheap shot on Yokosuka and Yoshino dropkicks the arm. Doi kicks the arm. He puts on an armbar. The champs work over the arm in the corner. Yoshino hits it with a double stomp off the top. Doi hits a drop toehold and puts on a vertical Mutalock. Yoshino helps out with a dropkick. Saito comes in and get stacked onto Yoshino in the corner. Doi hits both with the Dai Bosou. Yoshino dropkicks Doi by mistake. Yokosuka hits Yoshino with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Doi keeps Saito from coming into the ring. Yokosuka hits Doi with a vertical suplex. Saito and Yoshino come in and Saito hits a German suplex. Yokosuka clotheslines Yoshino off the apron. He dives onto the Outlaw’z on the floor. Saito hits Yoshino with an overhead suplex. He hits the Fisherman Express for 2. Doi slaps Yokosuka with a turnbuckle pad. Yokosuka slams Doi’s face into the exposed turnbuckle and then slaps him with the pad. Doi returns fire with a superplex. Yokosuka comes back with a super exploder. Yoshino hits Saito with a crazy springboard swinging DDT. The champs hit an elevated facebuster for 2. Yoshino hits Yokosuka with a sleeper slam for 2. He rams him into the exposed turnbuckle. He puts on the Coumori but Saito breaks it up with a dropkick. Yokosuka hits Yoshino with a second rope DVD for 2. Saito clotheslines him by mistake, getting 2 for Doi. Yokosuka hits Doi with a clothesline. Doi counters another to a sunset flip for 2. Yokosuka sunset flips Saito to help him German suplex Yoshino into Doi. Shockingly that looked totally organic and not the least bit contrived. The challengers hit Yoshino with the Genkai for 2 when Doi makes the save. Doi hits Saito with a spinebuster for 2. The champs hit a Doomsday Sleeper Slam for 2. Yoshino dropkicks Saito into the Doi 555 for 2. The challengers dismantle Yoshino with clotheslines. Yoshino and Yokosuka trade lariats for Torbellinos. Yokosuka counters the Sol Naciente to a roll up for 2. Yoshino pops up and locks in the hold. Saito makes the save with a splash off the top. Yoshino quickly puts the hold on Saito. Saito gets to the ropes. Yoshino hits the Lightning Spiral. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Saito pops up and hits a German suplex. He hits a dragon suplex for 2. Yokosuka hits a lariat. The challengers hit a Double Dragon Suplex for 2. Awesome. They set the champs up top. The champs fight back and hit the shotgun dropkick and second rope Doi 555 respectively. Yoshino hits Yokosuka with a suicide dive and Doi hits Saito with the Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2. Saito comes back with a dragon suplex for 2. Doi returns fire with the Muscular Bomb for the win at 28:50. This turned into a fantastic exchange of brutal moves to be sure and the fact that Yoshino exploited his early work of Yokosuka’s arm is appreciated. The only real downside was the way they changed the focus of the match a few times. I think shaving five or ten minutes off would have fixed that problem.
Rating: ***¾

CIMA © {T} VS. Shingo Takagi {NH} [Open the Dream Gate Championship Match]
They trade holds to start. CIMA slams Takagi’s knee to the mat. They lock up and CIMA chops Takagi against the ropes. He hits a knee to the gut. Takagi comes back with a bodyslam. He hits a fistdrop for 2. He puts on a chinlock. CIMA regains control by tying Takagi’s arm up in the ropes. He puts Takagi’s arm on the turnbuckle and presses his knee against it. He keeps pressure on the arm on the mat until the fight spills to the floor. He rams Takagi’s arm into the post. He puts a chair on the apron and slams the arm into it a couple times. He hits an armbreaker over the turnbuckle. Back in the ring CIMA wraps a chair around Takagi’s arm and hits it with another chair. Takagi bails and rests his arm on the apron so CIMA dives off the top onto it with a double stomp. Takagi goes for a lariat but misses CIMA and hits the post. CIMA rushes him but gets caught with a short clothesline. They both beat the count at 19. Takagi hits a hanging DDT. He comes off the second rope with a kneedrop. He hits a double stomp to the back. He hits CIMA with a loose turnbuckle pad. CIMA comes back with armbreakers. Takagi stops the assault with the YO Throw. He puts on the Manriki and hits another kneedrop. He hits a gutbuster and a DDT. He hits a hanging neckbreaker for 2. He hits a spinebuster for 2. He puts on a crossface but CIMA gets to the ropes. CIMA comes back with a Lung Blower. He hangs Takagi on the middle rope and hits a double stomp and a dropkick. He follows Takagi to the floor with a dive, taking out the entire New Hazard in the process. He drags Takagi up the ramp and hits a running dropkick. Takagi comes back with the DVD on the ramp. Takagi goes back to the ring where Generico squirts him with a water bottle. CIMA beats the count at 19. Takagi hits a lariat in the corner. He hits the Gallon Throw for 2. CIMA flushes the toilet for 2. He hits a hammerlock toss. He puts on the cross armbreaker. Takagi tries to power out but CIMA pulls him back to the mat. Takagi gets to the ropes. CIMA tries to counter a lariat to the cross armbreaker but Takagi quickly counters that to a powerbomb. He hits a sit-out powerbomb for 2. He sets CIMA up top and goes for a superbomb but CIMA blocks and hits a superplex. He hits the Perfect Driver for 2. He hits it again and climbs the ropes. A frog splash hits knees. CIMA goes for a roll up but Takagi counters to an ocean cyclone suplex. He hits the gutwrench toss for 2. He hits a lariat and the original Last Falconry for 2. He goes for another power move but CIMA blocks it with a backdrop. Takagi hits a backdrop driver. CIMA counters a lariat to a guillotine DDT. He stomps on Takagi’s arm. He sets Takagi up top and then climbs up behind him to hit a double stomp to the back of the head. Takagi hangs down from the turnbuckle so CIMA hits the Tokarev. He hits it again and then hits the Schwein for 2. He hits a springboard Tokarev and another Schwein for 2. He hits it again but Takagi pops up and hits the Last Falconry. He hits a pair of lariats for 2. He hits the Blood Fall and powers through a superkick to hit a lariat. He hits another lariat for 2. He three more but CIMA counters a fourth to a roll up for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. A third roll up gives him the win at 31:31. Takagi dusting off some old moves was a nice touch. That plus the fact that both men pulled out their big match arsenal made this feel special. I loved the finish too, as CIMA realized his arm punishment wasn’t getting the job done after getting hit by more lariats than anyone should ever have to, so he tired out his larger opponent with a series of flash roll ups. Sadly they couldn’t get the crowd into the match.
Rating: ****