May 5, 2009 – Nagoya Japan

Akira Tozawa {K}, Kenshin Chikano {K}, & Anthony W. Mori vs. RYOMA {W5}, Nick Jackson {W5} & Matt Jackson {W5}
The WARRIORS-5 bring their B-Team to the ring and CIMA cuts the longest promo ever. Mori is still sporting a wig, even though his hair has started growing back. He starts with RYOMA. Tozawa starts freaking out so Mori tags him in. He hits Nick with a butt butt and a dropkick. Matt hits Chikano with a dropkick. He throws Nick into the air for a dropkick. They hit a double dropkick for 2. RYOMA tags in and Chikano levels him with a kick. Mori hits a neckbreaker for 2. Tozawa hits a senton for 2. RYOMA comes back with a vertical suplex. Nick tags in and cleans house. Matt hits a dropkick and poses awkwardly to distract his opponents while Nick to gets a running start for his dive. Matt and Mori trade roll up s for 2. Tozawa hits the Apron Kara Tozawa for 2. Chikano goes for a cross armbreaker on RYOMA but Nick makes the save. Mori hits a Regalplex and Tozawa hits a German suplex for 2. Mori misses the Eleganton. Matt hits a spear, Nick hits a splash and RYOMA hits a standing moonsault for 2. The Young Bucks double-team Mori for 2. They hit a double superkick and RYOMA dives onto the others on the floor. The Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck for 2 when Tozawa makes the save. Tozawa hits RYOMA with a backdrop driver for 2. RYOMA counters the German suplex to a roll up for 2. Tozawa rolls back and hits the German suplex for the win at 11:08. Gotta love how the Kamikaze and WARRIORS-5 B-Teams easily matched the 6-man tag between the marquee players from Infinity 131. This got the crowd good and excited for the rest of the night.
Rating: **¾

Syachihoko Machine vs. Jackson Florida vs. Stalker Ichikawa
Ichikawa is accompanied to the ring by a Terminator, complete with Terminator theme music. The Terminator stays on the apron, despite Ichikawa asking him to stand on the floor. Florida smacks Ichiakawa with his cane, seemingly by accident. He almost strikes the Terminator but thinks better of it and hits Ichikawa again. Machine dropkicks Florida’s knee. Ichikawa does some fancy ropewalking, but Florida knocks him down with his cane. He calls on the Terminator who cleans house on both opponents. Terminator slams Ichikawa onto Machine for 2. Florida tries to charge Ichikawa but falls out of the ring. Machine traps himself in the corner and Ichikawa smacks him around. Terminator hits Machine with a vertical suplex. Ichikawa hits Terminator by mistake. He hits Terminator with the flying chop. Terminator turns on him, hitting a chokeslam, and then leaves. Florida follows that with a top rope splash that I think he was supposed to overshoot but he actually connected. Machine rolls Florida up for the win at 5:22. The sad thing about these comedy matches is that they tend to be very slow and ultimately quite lame. Not sure what the Terminator’s deal was, except that the fourth movie in the series came out around the same time.
Rating: DUD

Masaaki Mochizuki {Z}& Don Fujii {Z} vs. Naoki Tanisaki {W1}& Super Shenlong
Not sure how this match came about, especially since Tanisaki and Fujii were chummy recently in their efforts against Real Hazard. Tanisaki attacks Fujii before the bell. Shenlong hits both opponents with dropkicks. Mochizuki kicks his face to stop his momentum. Fujii hits a bodyslam on the floor. He goes for a chokeslam from the ramp to the floor but has to settle for sumo slaps knocking Shenlong down some steps. In the ring Mochizuki stays in control with kicks. He tugs on Shenlong’s mask. Shenlong tries to sumo slap Fujii and gets smacked down for 2. Fujii goes after the mask, almost ripping it off. The chick on commentary is driving me nuts. For those more in the know, why do they have her on PPV commentary? Shenlong starts getting frustrated. He screams, and then takes his mask off in the middle of the ring. Tanisaki tries to calm him down and gets shoved for his trouble. Fujii isn’t fazed as he knocks Shenlong down, stomps on the back of his head and puts on a half crab. The crowd starts shouting “Kimata” at Shenlong, since he used to be Ape Kimata. Mochizuki stops short of a friendly fire shot on Fujii and slugs Shenlong. Shenlong dropkicks his knee. He hits Fujii with a dropkick. Now the crowd is chanting Kimata and the commentators are repeating the name. Tanisaki finally tags in and hits a hurricanrana. Fujii accidentally knocks Mochizuki on his back. Shenlong hits a dropkick to the back and Tanisaki hits a knee kick. He hits a suplex and Shenlong hits the double knee drop for 2. Tanisaki hits the Casanova and the Implant for 2. Shenlong “hits” a shooting star press for 2, but the camera thankfully covered the botch. Fujii knocks both opponents down with clotheslines and DDTs. Mochizuki follows with running kicks. Fujii hits Shenlong with a chokeslam and a lariat. He hits another chokeslam for 2. Shenlong blocks the Nice German but eats a STIFF lariat for 2. Mochizuki knees his face and kicks his head for 2. He hits his high kick for the win with a cocky cover at 11:46. Shenlong got to look tough, but in the end took quite the shitkicking here. I’m guessing he gets a character overhaul after this. The match was literally just Shenlong eating dirt, as Tanisaki was in there for maybe one minute overall.
Rating: **

Masato Yoshino {W1} vs. KAGETORA {W5} vs. Shingo Takagi {K} vs. Cyber Kong {RH} [Elimination Match]
The word on the street is that this match is sweet. Yoshino goes after Kong at the bell, and Takagi and KAGETORA pair up. Kong’s strength outmatches Yoshino’s speed. KAGETORA goes after Takagi’s arm. That’s what he gets for teaming with CIMA. Kong throws chairs into the ring and works over Takagi’s arm with them. Yoshino dropkicks one into Kong’s face. Kong press slams Yoshino onto KAGETORA and Takagi. He puts Yoshino in a bear hug and then slams him for 2. He hits a splash for 2. Yoshino dropkicks the knee and hits a miracle suplex. Takagi tries to sneak attack him but Yoshino is ready. Yoshino dives onto Kong, leaving Takagi and KAGETORA in the ring together. KAGETORA hits a jumping lariat for 2. He blocks the Pumping Bomber and kicks Takagi around for 2. Kong clotheslines KAGETORA and hits Takagi with the Cyber Cutter. Yoshino hits Kong with the Sling Blade. KAGETORA hits Yoshino with a brainbuster for 2. Kong powerbombs Takagi and KAGETORA out of the corner. KAGETORA and Yoshino hit a double dropkick. Yoshino kicks out of the Genkonitteki at 2 and hits the Lightning Spiral to eliminate KAGETORA.

Kong clotheslines Yoshino to the floor. Takagi hits Kong with a back suplex. He hits a powerbomb for 2. They trade clotheslines until the Pumping Bomber wins out. Yoshino double stomps Takagi’s arm. He puts on the From Jungle but Kong tears him off with a German suplex. Kong hits both opponents with an avalanche. Yoshino catches Kong with the Speed Star out of nowhere to eliminate him.

Takagi tries to superplex Yoshino but Yoshino attacks the arm to block. He hits an avalanche Sling Blade. He hits the Ude Yoshino and puts on the Sol Naciente. Takagi quickly gets to the ropes. Takagi hits the MADE IN JAPAN out of nowhere for 2. He goes for it again but Yoshino blocks it. Takagi hits the DVD and the Pumping Bomber for 2. He hits another clothesline but it aggravates his arm. He blocks the From Jungle and hits a powerbomb. He holds on and hits the Avalanche Falconry for 2. Yoshino counters the Last Falconry to a crucifix pin for 2. Takagi hits the Pumping Bomber but the pain brings him to his knees. Yoshino starts to fire back, putting on a hammerlock and hitting Another Space. He walks through the Pumping Bomber and hits the Torbellino. He hits the Lightning Spiral for 2. He hits two more Torbellinos and puts on the Sol Naciente. Takagi tries to power out of it but collapses and quits at 18:47.

I like the way they brought Takagi down to everyone else’s level by injuring his arm early, and since Yoshino is a top player he was able to put Takagi down being at full health himself. I also think this is the first time that working Takagi’s arm has ended in a submission victory, which is pretty huge. So Yoshino comes out of this looking incredibly strong, defeating the strong men from three stables in one match. Perhaps it’s time to take on the muscle from his own stable.
Rating: ****

BxB Hulk {W1} vs. YAMATO {RH}
This really should have been a match between Dark Hulk and Ryo Saito, but YAMATO was inserted into the match instead because Saito got shifted to the Twin Gate division. Hulk comes out as Darkside Hulk, because that’s who Real Hazard is trying to recruit, and how else could he fight the man he brought into New Hazard? YAMATO is no nonsense tonight, with his hair tied back and his signature smirk absent. This is only YAMATO’s 2nd singles match on PPV ever. They size each other up to start. YAMATO’s initial offense has no effect. Hulk opens up with kicks. YAMATO plays possum and puts on a leglock. Hulk gets to the ropes but YAMATO stays on the leg. He hits a shinbreaker and a dragon screw before putting on a figure 4 leglock. Hulk gets to the ropes. YAMATO blocks a kick, ties Hulk’s leg in the ropes and kicks it. Hulk hits a springboard dropkick. He tries to kick YAMATO down but he doesn’t put much power behind them. YAMATO walks through the Mouse and puts on the sleeper hold. He clubs Hulk from the apron to the floor. Hulk gets a chair from under the ring and smacks YAMATO with it twice. He beats him over the head with a wrench. He hits an avalanche powerslam. He hits a springboard kick. He goes for more kicks but YAMATO catches one and puts on an anklelock. Hulk kicks YAMATO to escape, though it missed by a mile. YAMATO goes back to the hold but Hulk gets to the ropes. YAMATO unloads with forearms. They fight up top where Hulk hits a low blow and the EVO to the apron. He tries for the count out victory but YAMATO gets back in at 19. A few kicks later (some of which blatantly miss) and Hulk is knocked out at 16:44. Darkside Hulk matches are never much fun, as Hulk wrestles a style that doesn’t suit him well and everyone else has to slow down to compensate. After the brilliant psychology in the last match, Hulk’s no-selling fell flat here. At this point I think YAMATO deserves better than to be destroyed by Darkside like the rest of Real Hazard, especially since Hulk hasn’t done anything significant individually since this.
Rating: **¼

Next up is a bonus match! CIMA takes on Dragon Kid back in 2003. The match begins with CIMA claiming he can beat Kid in three minutes, and Kid attacking him in response. I believe (but could be wrong) that this match was one of many, many matches to crowd the first UDG Champion.

CIMA {Crazy Max} vs. Dragon Kid {Shin M2K} [Toryumon - 4/15/03 – Osaka Japan]
Kid attacks at the bell. He hurricanranas CIMA to the floor. Back in the ring he hits a missile dropkick for 2. CIMA comes back with a backdrop driver. Kid hits another hurricanrana. CIMA hits a superkick. Kid gets a crucifix pin for 2. CIMA hits a dropkick to the knee and goes to work on it. He hits a senton for 2. Fujii holds Kid against the ropes and CIMA jumps from the floor to hit a dropkick. A blatant clip job sends us to CIMA holding Kid in the Sharpshooter. Kid gets to the ropes. He puts on a pumphandle abdominal stretch but Kid gets to the ropes. Kid hits the Déjà Vu, dropping CIMA on his head!!! Another blatant clip leads us to CIMA hitting a piledriver. He hits the Venus and the Iconoclasm for 2. He hits the Perfect Driver for 2. Kid blocks a second attempt and puts on the Christo. CIMA hits a facebuster to escape and gets 2. Kid hits an Ace Crusher for 2. He puts on a guillotine choke and hits a hard DDT. CIMA is getting MESSED UP in this match. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for the win at 9:07 shown of 13:03. They are just so much better at seamlessly clipping matches now than they were back then. Further research says that the win did not count toward the tournament. CIMA and Kid would tie in their block, with CIMA winning the tiebreaker and going on to take the entire tournament. I know, shocking. Not much interesting in this match except what might have been the start of CIMA’s neck problems. Also Kid’s gear was awful.
Rating: **

Susumu Yokosuka © {W5} & Gamma © {W5} vs. Ryo Saito {RH} & Genki Horiguchi {RH} vs. Kenichiro Arai {RH} & Yasushi Kanda {RH} [Open the Twin Gate Championship Elimination Match]
Saito and Horiguchi got this rematch by winning a number one contenders tournament, and then used the win to leverage their teammates Kanda and Arai into the match. So it’s essentially 4-on-2 to start. Saito and Arai lock up until Yokosuka lets his guard down and then attack him. Everyone brawls in the crowd for a while. Saito and Horiguchi double-team Yokosuka in the ring. Gamma fights them off, even playing through a distraction from Kanda. Arai finally stops his momentum. He tries to give Gamma the Osuikougeki with beer but Gamma puts Horiguchi in front of it at the last second. Gamma doesn’t like beer, so he grabs his water bottle and spits all over Horiguchi and Arai. Arai low blows Yokosuka with a headbutt. Saito hits a double stomp off the top. Arai hits one off of Kanda’s shoulders up top. All four heels throw Yokosuka high into the air. Saito chokes Yokosuka with a whip and the rest of Real Hazard hits a triple dropkick. Yokosuka regains control after Real Hazard hits a series of friendly fire attacks. Gamma tags in and cleans house with the cane. He and Yokosuka run around the ring to keep all four opponents down. More Hazard-on-Hazard violence keeps our heroes in control. Yokosuka hits Arai with a super exploder for 2. The referee keeps Arai from attacking with his sake bottle and Yokosuka stays in the driver’s seat. Kanda and Arai hit a double backdrop on a chair. Real Hazard hits a three post massacre for 2. Gamma and Arai introduce the cane and blue box into the match, respectively, but Real Hazard can’t keep their hands on their weapons. Kanda eats the blue box and Yokosuka hits the Jumbo no Kachi to eliminate him.

Horiguchi gets the Backslide from Hell on Gamma for 2. Arai goes for a powder throw but hits Horiguchi. Gamma hits the Gamma Special for 2 when Saito and Kanda attack the referee. Real Hazard gangs up on Gamma in the corner until the referee wakes up and hits Kanda with a spear. Hilarious. That should be the end of Kanda and Arai in the match. KAGETORA rushes in and hits Horiguchi with the Ikkitousen. Gamma hits the Gamma Special and Yokosuka hits the Mugen for 2 when Saito makes the save. Saito hits Yokosuka with a German suplex for 2. Horiguchi mists Yokosuka and Saito hits a dragon suplex. Yokosuka pops up and walks through Saito’s elbows to hit two Jumbo no Kachis for 2. Gamma cane’s Yokosuka by mistake but he powers through to hit a lariat on Saito. Saito hits the Premium Bridge for 2. Real Hazard piles on Gamma, allowing Saito to hit the Double Cross on Yokosuka for the win and the titles at 20:33. This could have been the satisfying blow off to the Saito/Yokosuka feud that the WARRIORS-5 vs. Real Hazard show failed to deliver, but again the heel went over with the deck stacked in his favor. However, it was interesting to see a well structured tag handicap match, especially one that served to make the losing babyfaces look strong. The match wasn’t the most exciting, but it was structured quite well.
Rating: ***¼

CIMA © {W5} vs. Dragon Kid {K} [Open the Brave Gate Championship Match]
This is your real main event. CIMA bullies Kid into the ropes to start. He hits basic moves like bodyslams and snap mares, but when he tries to repeat any maneuver Kid dodges them. CIMA bails to regroup and then rushes in to hit a dropkick. He brings Kid to the floor and works over his back. Kid hurricanranas him into the front row. Back in the ring Kid goes to work on CIMA’s leg. He puts on a crazy leglock but CIMA gets to the ropes. CIMA dropkicks Kid’s knee and then zeroes in on it. He slams it into the mat, then pulls Kid out of the ring and slams it to the floor. He hits a dragon screw through the ropes. Kid can’t get to his feet so he tries to crawl into the corner. CIMA puts on the Gory Special and pins Kid for 2. Kid starts to come to on the apron so CIMA kicks him to the floor. Kid tries to get back in so CIMA hits a baseball slide. Not willing to win by count out CIMA puts Kid back inside. He dodges the 619 and hits a dropkick. He runs up the ramp to hit a spin kick on the apron. He goes for the Iconoclasm on the apron but Kid fights him off and dropkicks him to the floor. Kid hits the Bermuda Triangle. Back in the ring Kid hits a dropkick and the DDT he hit in their match from 2003 for 2. CIMA comes back with a facebuster. He hits the Superdrol. Kid hits a stunner on the ropes and the Jesus for 2. He goes for the Tokarev but CIMA avoids it and hits the move himself for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a double stomp for 2. He hits the Neji to Hashi and goes for the Meteora but misses. He hits the Schwein for 2. Kid hits a super hurricanrana for 2. CIMA hits a superkick and the Perfect Driver for 2. Kid hits the Bible for 2. He counters the Perfect Driver to a stunner but CIMA blocks the Ultra Hurricanrana with a kick. They fight up top where Kid hits an Ace Crusher. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for 2. He goes up top so CIMA throws the referee into the corner to crotch him. He hits a superkick, an avalanche Schwein and the Meteora for the win at 26:37. CIMA wrestled smart, slowing things way down to stay in control. I wouldn’t call this the Dream Gate style match I expected them to go with (to compensate for Akebono being in the actual Dream Gate match) because rather than spend 10 minutes doing stuff on the mat they literally spent 15 minutes just throwing big moves at each other with no rhyme or reason. So while the match was never boring, the only part of the match with any actual personality was the finish, where CIMA finally decided he had to cheat a bit to beat the Kid.
Rating: ***

Naruki Doi © {W1} vs. Akebono {Z} [Open the Dream Gate Championship Match]
Doi circles Akebono to start, seemingly unsure of where to begin with the big man. Given Akebono has never been taken past the 5 minute mark in Dragon Gate this seems like a smart strategy. Doi tries to smack him but Akebono just shoves him away. The go-to for big guys doesn’t work when dropkicking the knee does nothing. A bodyslam attempt is just embarrassing. Akebono hits a huge bodyslam. Doi avoids an elbowdrop. He tries a dropkick which does nothing, and Akebono hits an avalanche. The big man hits another bodyslam for 2 with a cocky cover. He puts on a pair of bodyscissors. He stands on Doi’s chest. He hits another avalanche and an elbowdrop for 2. Akebono goes for another slam but Doi sneaks around and puts on a sleeper hold. Akebono takes out the referee and smashes Doi against the post. He hits another bodyslam and the splash but the referee is still out. Doi hits a low blow and throws a table into the ring. He sets up the table in the corner, but Akebono regains his composure and sets him up for an avalanche. Doi avoids it dropkicks Akebono into the table. He breaks a chair over his head and hits another dropkick and the Dai Bosou. He hits a miracle back suplex for 2. He hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2. Akebono slaps him down. He hits a chokeslam. He hits a bodyslam but can’t connect with the splash. Doi goes back to the sleeper hold. He hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick again. They go up top (why would Akebono ever do that?) and Doi goes back to the sleeper. Akebono tries to get him in place for a Samoan drop but Doi gets out of the way and Akebono falls on the mat. Doi hits 3 flying elbowdrops for 2. He hits a dropkick off the top and a dropkick to the knee. He hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick from 3 angles for 2. He hits it 3 more times head on for the win at 15:24. What do you want? It’s Akebono in Dragon Gate. There’s a reason we don’t see Nathan Jones in ROH. The finish was actually pretty clever, but Akebono has no business being in a match longer than 10 minutes. Doi looked strong here though, and not just lucky like he did at the last PPV.
Rating: *¾

So overall call this show a failed experiment. The main event should be the big draw, not the Brave Gate match. Had CIMA and Kid not had to pull extra weight their match could have been shorter and more focused, and the main event was a joke. As it stands the elimination matches were the best on the show. Yoshino comes out looking like a killer, and Doi was able to beat an outsider with skill instead of luck, so it’s certainly not a total wash. I’m thinking better things will be ahead for the big show in July.