April 30, 2009 – Kobe, Japan
Summer is starting, and that means it’s time for PPV. Here is the current championship rundown:
Open the Dream Gate Champion: Naruki Doi
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: CIMA, Gamma & KAGETORA
Open the Brave Gate Champion: CIMA
The show starts with hype for the PPV. Here’s the card as it stands:
-Open the Dream Gate Championship match between Naruki Doi and Akebono.
-Cyber Kong vs. Masato Yoshino vs. Shingo Takagi vs. KAGETORA.
-BxB Hulk vs. YAMATO.
-Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka vs. Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. Kenichiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda for the Open the Twin Gate Championship.
-CIMA vs. Dragon Kid for the Brave Gate Championship.
Susumu Yokosuka {W5}, Matt Jackson {W5} & Nick Jackson {W5} vs. Naruki Doi {W1}, Masato Yoshino {W1} & BxB Hulk {W1}
I’d say this match existed to remind Dragon Gate fans who the Jacksons were before the PPV, but I’m fairly certain that this episode of Infinity aired after the big show. Matt and Doi start. Matt does a sumo pose to psych Doi out, and Nick assures us that Akebono will be taking the belt. They trade holds and Doi does the sumo pose back to show he’s not affected. Nick overwhelms Yoshino with armdrags and a dropkick. Yokosuka casually avoids Hulk’s dropkicks and hits a knee to the gut. The Young Bucks work over Hulk’s arm. Yoshino returns the favor on Nick. The Bucks hit a double dropkick on Doi and do the WARRIORS-5 pose. They hit a double-team sequence for 2. Matt, Yoshino and Doi have trouble executing a complicated reversal spot. Nick tags in and cleans house to remove the memory of the botch. Yoshino hits Yokosuka with the Sling Blade for 2. He puts on From Jungle but Nick makes the save. Nick hits Hulk with a facebuster for 2. Hulk comes back with a dropkick for 2. He hits a springboard kick for 2. Yokosuka puts him down with a lariat for 2. Nick hits Yoshino with a superkick. The Jacksons hit More Bang For Your Buck for 2. Nick clotheslines Matt by mistake, then Yokosuka does it to Nick. Yoshino hits Nick with the shotgun dropkick. Nick hits Hulk with a superkick and rolls him up for 2. Hulk kicks the crap out of Nick and hits the EVO for the win at 12:51. It took a long time to get going, but the home stretch was a lot of fun and featured a couple innovative spots.
Rating: **¾
Next up we see a replay of the WARRIORS-5 defeating Kamikaze for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship. Tonight Kamikaze gets non-title a rematch to determine whether or not they are deserving of a shot at the belts. The belts however take a back seat to more pressing issues here because on PPV Dragon Kid wrestles CIMA and Takagi wrestles KAGETORA.
CIMA {W5}, KAGETORA {W5} & Gamma {W5} vs. Shingo Takagi {K}, Dragon Kid {K} & Akira Tozawa {K}
CIMA sneak attacks Kid to start. Kid comes back with a hurricanrana. CIMA hits a dropkick so Tozawa attacks him from behind like a mad man. KAGETORA saves CIMA, which draws in Takagi for an intense exchange. Things slow down for a while as Tozawa is in control. Eventually Takagi and KAGETORA clear everyone from the ring to trade shots again. Takagi hits a vertical suplex for 2. Tozawa hits KAGETORA with a senton for 2. CIMA keeps Tozawa down with kicks. He starts getting silly with his offense, so much so that he must either be referencing something I’m unaware of or getting sloppy because this isn’t a particularly big crowd. He crotches Tozawa in the corner, puts a wrench in his trunks and hits the meanest low blow I’ve ever seen. A bell rings but the match doesn’t seem to be stopped for the offense. Tozawa comes back with headbutts to the gut. CIMA takes him down and stomps on his face repeatedly for 2. Gamma gives him the Osuikougeki. Tozawa hits a butt butt and tags to Takagi. Takagi and Kid clean house. Kid hits CIMA with a moonsault. Takagi hits KAGETORA with a powerslam and a DVD for 2. KAGETORA blocks MADE IN JAPAN and dodges a senton. He kicks Takagi’s head for 2. He hits a jumping lariat. Tozawa hits Gamma with an enziguiri and a back suplex (that he fought good and hard for) for 2. Kid hits a stunner but Tozawa can’t find his headbutt. Kid blocks the Superdrol by grabbing the ropes and hits a stunner. CIMA hits the Superdrol out of the corner. He hits a double stomp for 2. KAGETORA hits a flying elbowdrop for 2. Takagi can’t hit the Avalanche Falconry but Kid hits the super hurricanrana. Gamma hits Tozawa with the cane. CIMA and KAGETORA hit a clothesline with a ladder. CIMA hits the Perfect Driver for 2. CIMA and Gamma hit KAGETORA with the double superkick by accident. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for 2. Takagi hits the Pumping Bomber and gives KAGETORA to Tozawa who hits a German suplex for the win at 17:39 shown of 18:22. The first half of the match was more CIMA testing out new offense than anything cohesive. The second half of the match was all finishers and nothing holding them together, but it was at least entertaining. The finish was also fantastic, with everything getting dumped on KAGETORA to the point that Takagi was able to trust Tozawa with finishing the match.
Rating: ***
The show ends with about ten minutes of clips from the PPV, but you can read all about that in my upcoming review of Dead or Alive 2009.
