May 29, 2009 – Osaka, Japan
The Open the Brave Gate Championship is on the line! Here’s the championship rundown:
Open the Dream Gate Champion: Naruki Doi
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: CIMA, Gamma & KAGETORA
Open the Brave Gate Champion: CIMA
Gamma {W5} vs. Masato Yoshino {W1} [Dream Key Match]
Gamma had a couple of pin victories under his belt before he asked for a shot at Naruki Doi’s title, and Yoshino beat just about everyone on his way to this match. In a Triangle Gate match a few days before this Gamma cracked Yoshino with a chair. They will rematch for those belts soon, but for now all eyes are on the Dream Gate.
The commentators remind us how Yoshino ended the Gamma Gate fiasco last year, just before Yoshino hits Gamma with a suicide dive. He rams Gamma’s arm into the post. In the ring he stays on the arm. Gamma hits a back suplex. He works the back with elbows. He whips Yoshino’s back into an exposed turnbuckle for 2. He shoves a mouth guard in Yoshino’s mouth. That’s just nasty. Gamma dodges a dropkick. Yoshino puts on the Comouri with authority. He hits a dropkick to the face from the floor to the apron. He hits the Sling Blade for 2. He hits a double stomp to Gamma’s arm. He puts on the From Jungle but Gamma escapes and hits a dropkick. Yoshino hits the shotgun dropkick. He hits it again to the arm for 2. Gamma hits a clothesline. He hits a powerbomb. He hits a superplex. He hits a superkick and the Gamma Special for 2. The block each other’s signature moves and spit in each other’s faces. Yoshino gets the Speed Star for 2. He hits the Torbellino. Gamma blocks the Sol Naciente with a low blow and gets 2. He piles chairs in the ring and hits the Tombstone Piledriver on it for 2. He tries for the piledriver off the top but Yoshino blocks it. Gamma goes for a chair shot but Yoshino blocks that and cracks Gamma. He hits the Lightning Spiral for 2. He hits the Torbellino twice and puts on the Sol Naciente for the win at 17:08 shown of 25:24. Best singles match out of Gamma I think I’ve ever seen. Yoshino is just on fire lately. I love that his played off the Triangle Gate match from the last episode, and that Yoshino’s arm destruction paid off yet again.
Rating: ***½
So now Speed Muscle will explode in a match for the Open the Dream Gate Championship.
May 31, 2009 – Kobe, Japan
KAGETORA {W5} vs. Shingo Takagi {K}
This has been an interesting sub feud in the WARRIORS-5 vs. Kamikaze rivalry. KAGETORA has generally had Takagi’s number so far, so the Kamikaze leader has a lot to prove here. They charge each other at the bell. KAGETORA hits a leaping knee and a suicide dive. Takagi pops up but KAGETORA stays in control with a brainbuster. He hits a flying elbowdrop for 2. Takagi finally slows things down with a DVD. He hits a pair of lariats. KAGETORA hits the Ikkitousen for 2. Takagi sets him up top and hits the Avalanche Falconry. KAGETORA pops up and hits a lariat. He hits the Ikkitousen again for 2. Takagi hits the Last Falconry. He hits the Pumping Bomber for 2. He hits the Last Falconry again for the win at 5:19. I didn’t expect much because KAGETORA’s offense is pretty limited, but I dig the way they built to the Pumping Bomber and I’m glad Takagi won in a big way. He needed it.
Rating: **
CIMA © {W5} vs. Akira Tozawa {K} [Open the Brave Gate Championship Match]
Tozawa hits a dropkick to start. He hits another and a baseball slide. He hits a suicide dive. CIMA comes back with the Superdrol. He blocks Tozawa’s butt butt with a dropkick to the butt. Tozawa hits a vertical suplex. CIMA blocks the Apron Kara Tozawa with a dropkick. He hits a suicide dive. He hits a spin kick for 2. Tozawa comes back with dropkicks. He hits a German suplex. He gets High Tension crazy, biting CIMA’s face. CIMA blocks the headbutt again, this time hitting a double stomp. Tozawa avoids the Tokarev but misses the Apron Kara Tozawa. He tries over and over, eventually connecting with a senton. He hits another off the second. He misses one off the top. CIMA a pair of nasty double stomps and the Perfect Driver for 2. Tozawa hits a hurricanrana for 2. CIMA hits a superkick and the Schwein for 2. He hits the Venus and Iconoclasm. He goes for the Mad Splash but Tozawa gets his knees up. Tozawa hits the Ganki for 2. He hits the German suplex for 2. CIMA blocks a second attempt and gets a roll up for 2. Tozawa rolls through and hits another German suplex for 2. The crowd totally bought into that one. CIMA blocks another attempt and hits a DDT. He hits an implant DDT for 2. He hits the Schwein for 2. He hits the Crossfire for the win at 16:24 shown of 22:21. This was special, if for no other reason than I actually believed Tozawa had a shot at winning the belt. This actually would have been a fantastic place to put Tozawa over, but my feeling is Dragon Gate was very worried about drawing for their upcoming big show in Kobe, so they wanted CIMA as Brave champ going into that show. This match was still worthwhile, and just seeing Tozawa give CIMA a hard time was a treat.
Rating: ***¼
Real Hazard storms the ring after the match. Kenichiro Arai gets on the microphone and demands a shot at CIMA’s title. Makes sense, since CIMA’s only pin fall loss in the last five months was to Arai. He will get his shot in a no ropes match on June 21st. Also that night Gamma will take on Akebono.
Next week both tag belts are on the line, as World-1 gets their rematch against WARRIORS-5 and Dragon Hawk returns to take on Real Hazard for the Twin Gate titles.
If we’ve learned nothing else from this show, it’s that Dragon Gate seriously needs to book more singles matches and show them on TV. This show was so much fun to watch, and such a nice change of pace. Though, given the matches booked for June 21st I may end up eating my words. I just don’t understand Dragon Gate’s fascination with Akebono.
