Dragon Gate ran a huge show at Korakuen Hall just prior to the Kobe World Hall PPV. The deal here is that the Kobe show was so stacked that certain long-running issues weren’t going to be addressed. As such Gaora aired this entire show, which features two pretty big grudge matches, amongst other things.

July 10, 2009 – Tokyo, Japan

All the titles are on the line on PPV, so nothing is up for grabs here. Still, I give you the championship rundown:
Open the Dream Gate Champion: Naruki Doi
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk & PAC
Open the Brave Gate Champion: CIMA

Shingo Takagi {K}, Dragon Kid {K} & Akira Tozawa {K} vs. Yasushi Kanda {RH}, Genki Horiguchi {RH} & Kzy {RH}
Real Hazard was hot at Kamikaze because YAMATO left their group to form a tag team with Takagi. This is Kzy’s first televised match as a heel, and he’s dressed like Kenichiro Arai with an urban flare. He and Tozawa start. Tozawa throws the Kamehameha but it doesn’t phase Kzy, who hits a dropkick. Kid easily keeps control over Kanda, and Takagi does the same to Horiguchi. These teams aren’t really fair. Kanda tries to even the odds with the blue box. Horiguchi suplexes Tozawa on a chair pile in the crowd. Kzy works over Takagi’s arm. He and Horiguchi hit a double suplex for 2. Horiguchi puts on a cross armbreaker. He hits the arm with a chair. Kzy dropkicks the arm. Takagi starts to fight back, hitting Horiguchi with the DVD and Kzy with a spear. Tozawa and Kid hit stereo dropkicks. Tozawa hits Horiguchi with the Apron Kara Tozawa. Kanda moons him but he comes back with a bare butt butt. Kzy disorients Kid and hits the Beat Bom for 2. Horiguchi hits a brainbuster, Kanda hits a flying elbowdrop and Kzy hits KZ Time for 2. Takagi catches Horiguchi in midair and pulls him up top for Kid’s super hurricanrana. Horiguchi gets the Backslide from Hell for 2. Takagi hits a powerslam for 2. He puts on the Manriki. He clotheslines the blue box into Kanda’s face. Tozawa hits the German suplex for 2. Takagi hits the Pumping Bomber for the win at 12:49. I love that Takagi made his comeback without the help of his partners. This was essentially a squash for Kamikaze as soon as Takagi was done humoring the Real Hazard B-team.
Rating: **¼

After the match Naoki Tanisaki rushes into the ring and attacks Kzy, who he’ll be fighting on PPV.

Kenichiro Arai {RH} vs. Anthony W. Mori
Arai starts the match laid out on the mat, presumably hung over. Mori takes advantage, stomping him into the corner. He hits a basement dropkick. Arai comes back with a couple sake bottle shots. He distracts the referee while Kzy attacks Mori. Arai tries to hit Mori with a pipe, but Mori moves out of the way. Arai puts on a sleeper hold. Mori gets to the ropes. Arai hits a headbutt off the top for 2. He misses a charge and falls to the floor. Mori follows him out with the Eleganton. Back in the ring he hits a dropkick off the top. Kzy hits a blue box shot and a low blow and Arai rolls him up for the win at 6:07. I mean, they did a two minute sleeper hold in a six minute match, what do you think I’m going to give this match?
Rating: *

Naoki Tanisaki {W1} & PAC {W1} vs. Taku Iwasa {K} & K-ness {Z}
This is kind of a throw away match. It would have been more interesting to see Iwasa try to get revenge on KAGETORA for injuring him here. SpeedMuscle vs. CIMA & Gamma would have been a good enough main event, and BxB Hulk could have teamed with K-ness here instead, since this match is nothing more than a novelty anyway. Either that or Kenshin Chikano should have gotten a little more exposure by teaming with Iwasa here, instead of K-ness who’s not important to DG storylines.

Iwasa and PAC start. They go back and forth to a stalemate. K-ness and Tanisaki have an exchange. Iwasa tags in and hits an elbowdrop for 2. Iwasa’s neck gives out on him and he collapses out of nowhere. PAC tags in and dropkicks it for 2. Tanisaki puts on a front facelock. He hits a legsweep for 2. PAC puts on a chinlock but Iwasa gets to the ropes. PAC hits a legdrop on the neck for 2. K-ness tags in and cleans house in the most contrived way possible. PAC and Tanisaki had to go to painfully obvious lengths to get in position for K-ness’s comeback. Tanisaki puts on an octopus stretch. PAC hits Iwasa with an enziguiri. K-ness dropkicks the ropes out from under PAC. He hits a high kick and Iwasa hits the Gouwan for 2. More contrived looking crap gets 2 for Iwasa. PAC hits K-ness with a shooting star press for 2. He dives onto Iwasa on the floor. Tanisaki hits K-ness with the Casanova for 2. He hits the Implant for the win at 11:27. That was really the only way this match could have ended, as only K-ness could afford to get pinned going into the PPV. Some silliness aside this was solid stuff. I’m thinking Iwasa’s neck costs Kamikaze on PPV.
Rating: **½

After the match Kzy returns the favor from before by running out and attacking Tanisaki. They brawl all over the building. A little while later Tanisaki tries to cut a promo but Kzy interrupts that as well.

Masaaki Mochizuki {Z} & Super Shisa {Z} vs. Don Fujii {Z} & Super Shenlong
Shenlong is sporting a see-through mask here, which makes sense since we know what he looks like now. Mochizuki wants a handshake from Fujii, but he sumo shoves him instead. Then Fujii slaps his partner. Fujii and Mochizuki beat the crap out of each other. Shenlong nails Shisa with a dropkick as Fujii and Mochizuki fight around the building. Shisa comes back with a Mexican surfboard. Fujii dives off of a barricade onto Mochizuki. Shisa works over Shenlong’s leg. Shenlong gets to the ropes. Fujii and Mochizuki are still brawling through the crowd. Shenlong hits a monkey flip into the turnbuckle. Shisa bails so Shenlong dives onto him. Mochizuki and Fujii finally get back to the ring. Mochizuki hits an axe kick. He puts on a cross armbreaker. Shenlong makes the save. Mochizuki kicks the crap out of Shenlong. Shisa puts on a stranglehold but Fujii makes the save. Fujii hits a chokeslam. He and Mochizuki stiff the crap out of each other. Fujii clotheslines Shenlong by mistake and eats a dropkick. Mochizuki puts Shenlong in an anklelock but Fujii saves with a chokeslam. Mochizuki powers through and hits the Twister for the win at 9:10. It seems silly for Fujii and Mochizuki to be beating the crap out of each other before their number 1 contenders match on PPV, but that’s just what they did here. The rest of the match was perfectly fine. After the match the Zetsurins throw stuff at Shenlong.
Rating: **¾

Susumu Yokosuka {W5} vs. Ryo Saito {RH}
Yokosuka has been chasing Saito for months. Saito turned on him when they were challenging Cyber Kong and YAMATO (more on this team in a bit) for the Twin Gate belts. The two had a singles match on the WARRIORS-5 vs. Real Hazard show in which Saito cheated to win. Saito then took the Twin Gate belts from Yokosuka (who’d won them with Gamma when WARRIORS-5 started) by cheating like made again. This is, presumably, the satisfying blow off we’ve been waiting for.

They fight before the bell, brawling into the crowd. CIMA fights off Kanda, Arai and Kzy. Yokosuka and Saito try to throw each other over a balcony, but thankfully that doesn’t happen. Saito suplexes Yokosuka onto a chair pile. Yokosuka barely beats the count at 19, and it’s only because Shenlong runs out from the back to keep Saito from shoving Yokosuka out. Yokosuka thanks him by shoving him to the floor where CIMA demasks him. Saito hits blatant low blows. He hits a bodyslam and works the neck. Horiguchi runs in and helps Saito hit their double-team sequence for 2. Kzy distracts referee Yagi while Saito chokes Yokosuka with the whip. Kanda, Arai and Horiguchi rush the ring and help Saito throw Yokosuka into the air. This Real Hazard stuff is so played out. Saito drops some phlegm on Yokosuka. Yokosuka comes back with a vertical suplex. He hits an exploder. He hits a lariat. He hits a clothesline from the apron. He hits a nasty lariat in the corner. He props Saito on the turnbuckle and clotheslines him down. Saito hits a German suplex for 2. Yokosuka hits an avalanche exploder. Horiguchi powders Yokosuka, but it doesn’t stop him from hitting the Jumbo no Kachi. Gamma canes Saito and gives Yokosuka the Osuikougeki to clean the powder off his face. BRILLIANT! The WARRIORS-5 gang up on Saito. Yokosuka hits the Jumbo no Kachi for 2 when Horiguchi takes out Yagi. Yagi hits him with a clothesline. Kanda hits Yokosuka with the blue box and Saito hits a German suplex for 2. Yokosuka blocks the Premium Bridge and hits the Jumbo no Kachi. Saito hits a dragon suplex but Yokosuka pops up and hits another Jumbo no Kachi for 2. He hits it twice more, and then hits the Mugen for the win at 15:55. The overbooking finally worked in a match because Yokosuka and the WARRIORS were giving it back as good as they got it. I also appreciate that we finally got a satisfying end to this feud.
Rating: ***¼

Kamikaze comes out to the ring. Takagi introduces YAMATO, who comes out as an official member of the group. He even has a Kamikaze themed skirt thingy.

YAMATO {K} vs. Cyber Kong {RH}
These two were the longest reigning Twin Gate champions ever, holding the belts for 147 days. YAMATO turned on Real Hazard shortly before this to team with Takagi, in the process attacking and insulting his tag team partner Kong. Kong overpowers YAMATO to start. YAMATO can’t successfully execute a shoulder tackle against the big man. He does successfully hit a miracle bodyslam. Kong clotheslines him to the floor. YAMATO gets on the apron so Kong clotheslines him back down. He puts YAMATO in a seat and chops him. YAMATO pops up and puts on the sleeper hold. In the ring Kong hits a lariat. He puts on a chinlock. He hits a double-armed chokeslam. He press slams YAMATO’s throat onto the top rope. He works the neck. He puts on an inverted triangle choke but YAMATO gets to the ropes. Kong hits a bodyslam and squishes his pineapple over YAMATO’s face. They trade elbows until YAMATO hits a spear. YAMATO starts working the arm. He hits a miracle vertical suplex for 2. He puts on a kimura and then floats into a cross armbreaker. Kong powers out. YAMATO gets a takedown and puts the armbar back on. Kong powers out again, this time setting YAMATO up top. He runs across the ring to clothesline YAMATO to the floor. YAMATO catches his knee in the ropes on the way down, so Kamikaze spends the count out time icing it. He beats the count at 19. They trade strikes for a while. YAMATO starts to fade, but proves resilient and comes back until Kong is weak-kneed. Kong comes back with a lariat for 2. He hits a powerbomb for 2. He goes for another but YAMATO counters to a guillotine and then floats into the sleeper hold. Kanda hits YAMATO with the blue box and all hell breaks loose, causing Yagi to throw out the match at 19:14. While it was cool to see Kong try to beat YAMATO at his own game, and to see YAMATO use some new skills he picked up in his time away to beat Kong at that game, the finish completely sucked the wind out of my sails and really, really spoiled the match. I usually don’t let one part of a match overshadow the whole thing if everything else was good, but this was just complete nonsense, and Real Hazard is starting to get annoying in general.
Rating: ***

Naruki Doi {W1}, Masato Yoshino {W1} & BxB Hulk {W1} vs. CIMA {W5}, Gamma {W5} & KAGETORA {W5} 
This exists to hype the PPV’s huge title unification main event between CIMA and Doi. They shove their belts in each other’s faces during CIMA’s intro. They start the match, each trying to get the crowd’s support. Doi gives CIMA a clean break against the ropes and CIMA returns the favor. KAGETORA and Yoshino tag in. Yoshino hits a hurricanrana. Hulk and Gamma tag in. Gamma spits in Hulk’s face so Hulk kicks him around. CIMA tags in and gets the same treatment. Doi tags in and dropkicks CIMA’s knee. CIMA counters a figure 4 to a roll up for 2. KAGETORA eats a back elbow. Yoshino works KAGETORA’s arm. Hulk follows suit. Gamma tags in and scraps with Hulk until CIMA helps his partner get the advantage. Doi and Yoshino double-team KAGETORA for 2. CIMA hits Yoshino with a bodyslam and legdrop for 2. He and Gamma hit a double back elbow. He puts on a half crab. KAGETORA stays on Yoshino’s leg. CIMA hits a big double stomp. He and KAGETORA hold Yoshino upside down and Gamma hits his crotch with the cane for 2. Yoshino dodges the Venus and puts on the Coumori. Doi hits a dropkick. He cleans house, with a little help from Hulk. CIMA catches Yoshino with the Venus and Iconoclasm. Yoshino dodges KAGETORA’s flying elbowdrop. Doi hits a dropkick for 2. He whips CIMA into the crowd. Hulk and Doi sandwich KAGETORA with submission holds. Hulk hits a dropkick for 2. Doi hits a big senton. Yoshino hits an elevated facebuster for 2. KAGETORA kicks Hulk around and hits a leaping lariat on Yoshino. Everyone rushes the ring. CIMA and Gamma gain control with some stereo offense. Yoshino dropkicks CIMA. He hits the Sling Blade for 2. He dodges a double stomp and puts on the From Jungle. Hulk hits Gamma with the Mouse and a roundhouse kick. Gamma blocks a standing moonsault with his knees. World-1 hits a triple kick. Yoshino hits the shotgun dropkick. Hulk hits a standing shooting star press for 2. Yoshino and Doi hit the Doomsday Sling Blade for 2. CIMA and Gamma hit a double superkick. Gamma hits the Blitzen for 2. He and CIMA hit the double Tokarev. KAGETORA hits the Ikkitousen for 2. Yoshino rolls through the Crossfire and gets a sunset flip for 2. Doi hits the Dai Bosou and the Doi 555. Gamma canes him, and then canes CIMA by mistake. Yoshino hits the Torbellino and Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2 when KAGETORA makes the save. CIMA blocks the Muscular Bomb twice and rolls Doi up for the win at 27:10. So CIMA is dangerous because he has a counter for the Muscular Bomb. The first half of the match was fine, but the second half was the usual fast-paced action out of Dragon Gate that American fans have come to worship.
Rating: ***¾

I’d say this did a good job of blowing off certain feuds and garnering interest for the Pay Per View. I just with the Kong vs. YAMATO match had a real finish.