May 19, 2012 – Osaka, Japan

Open the Dream Gate Champion: CIMA
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi & PAC
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Dragon Kid
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Jimmy Susumu & Jimmy Kagetora
Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano
Open the United Gate Champions: Masato Yoshino & Ricochet

The show starts with the CIMA Royale participants drawing entrance lots in pairs. Jimmy Kagetora and PAC get the dreaded #1. Kotoka and Cyber Kong get #2. “Naoki Tanisaki” and Eita Kobayashi get #3. Ryo “Jimmy” Saito & Jimmy Kanda get #4. Mondai Ryu and Don Fujii get #5. The angle going into the match has been between the two of them so I’d put plenty on one of them taking the whole thing. Everyone in the match is pulling double duty and wrestling elsewhere on the card as well.

YAMATO {A} & Chihiro Tominaga {A} vs. Jimmy Kagetora {J} & Ryo “Jimmy” Saito {J}
Kagetora and Tominaga start. Tominaga goes after the arm and Kagetora tries to keep him away from it. Tominaga puts on a headlock but Kagetora quickly escapes. YAMATO and Saito exchange shoulder tackles forever. Problem with Dragon Gate in mid-2012: the gimmicky spots get tired a lot faster. Just like in the last episode, it’s YAMATO that falls first here. Saito is exhausted however, and Tominaga pins him for 2. Saito hits a bodyslam. Kagetora hits a dropkick. He hits two more in the corner. He pulls out some of Tominaga’s precious remaining hairs. Saito hits a diving double stomp for 2. Tominaga hits Kagetora with a vertical suplex. YAMATO cleans house. He lets Tominaga’s face hit Kagetora’s boot and then charges the distracted Kagetora. Tominaga misses a moonsault. Kagetora hits an enziguiri. Saito hits the Superfly Splash. Kagetora hits the flying elbowdrop for 2. He hits another enziguiri. Saito hits a German suplex. YAMATO gets a roll up for 2. He hits the spear for the win out of nowhere at 8:27. I want to see a singles match between YAMATO and Saito real badly now. Aside from giving me that desire this had a cute spot with Tominaga getting to know Kagetora’s foot and a couple other fun moments.
Rating: **½

Jimmy Kanda {J} vs. Eita Kobayashi
Kanda insists on a handshake to start. He and Kobayashi fight over a wristlock. Kanda hits a shoulder tackle. Kobayashi hits a dropkick. He puts on a chinlock and gets 1. Kanda hits him with a bodyslam. He hits a back elbow. Kobayashi misses a dropkick. He hits an elbow. Kanda hits the Manhattan drop. Kobayashi blocks the Jon Woo. Kanda hits the drop again but Kobayashi blocks the Jon Woo again, with chops. He hits an inverted Olympic Slam for 2. He hits a double jump moonsault. He misses the big moonsault and Kanda hits the Jon Woo. Kobayashi blocks the Ryus and hits a few overhand chops. Kanda hits the flapjack and the Ryus for the win at 5:28. Kobayashi has the skills, that much is clear. This match had me longing for the old Infinity format, where we’d just get the finish. The show just doesn’t flow as smoothly as it used to. At any rate, it’s good to see Kobayashi improving so quickly.
Rating: **

BxB Hulk {MB} & “Naoki Tanisaki” {MB} vs. Shingo Takagi {A} & Super Shenlong {A}
“Tanisaki” and Shenlong start. “Tanisaki” hits a shoulder tackle. Shenlong hits a dropkick. Hulk hits a dropkick. Takagi hits a shoulder tackle. Hulk hits a chest kick. Takagi hits a vertical suplex. Shenlong hits a back elbow for 1. He puts on a chinlock. Hulk goes to the eyes. “Tanisaki” hits a chop and the Casanova. Hulk hits the BxB Star Press for 2. He hits a roundhouse kick and a senton for 2. “Tanisaki” hits an elbowdrop. Hulk hits an axe kick for 2. Things get loose, and not in a great way. Hulk hits a big boot. Shenlong hits the inverted Rocker Dropper. “Tanisaki” chops Takagi. Takagi hits a lariat. He throws Hulk across the ring. Hulk hits the Mouse and an axe kick for 2. Takagi ducks the First Flash. Shenlong hits a diving legdrop for 2. “Tanisaki” chops him inside out. Takagi hits a lariat. Shenlong hits a dropkick. Takagi hits a senton. Shenlong hits a handspring moonsault for 2. “Tanisaki” hits a leaping shoulder tackle on Takagi. He hits a powerslam on Shenlong for 2. Hulk hits the axe kick for 2. Shenlong blocks the EVO. Hulk hits an enziguiri. He hits a big boot and another axe kick. He hits the running EVO for 2. He hits another axe kick and the First Flash for the win at 8:26. I was distracted through the finish by “Tanisaki” unconvincingly keeping Takagi from making the save. It was just a lazy way to keep the strong man out of the ring. Aside from that this was a perfectly competent match.
Rating: **¾

CIMA and Gamma come out to the ring. Gamma isn’t ready to return from injury yet, so he’s brought out an old Veteran Army ally. Magnitude Kishiwada is looking more colorful than ever. Gamma doesn’t believe it’s him because he’s in such good shape. Kishiwada assures him he’s just a fitter version of the same guy. Gamma’s new shirt is awesome, by the way.

Cyber Kong {MB} & Mondai Ryu {MB} vs. CIMA {Z} & Magnitude Kishiwada
Kong and Ryu attack before the bell. Kishiwada and Kong trade chops on the floor. In the ring Ryu stomps CIMA. CIMA hits a dropkick. Kong and Kishiwada trade shoulder tackles. They make it more dramatic than the shoulder tackle exchange earlier. Kishiwada wins the exchange. He hits Ryu with a butterfly suplex. CIMA hits a senton. He break dances into a head kick. Gamma runs in to help Kishiwada hit his shrieking kicks in the corner. Ryu hits a Tree of Woe dropkick for 2. Kong hits an avalanche. He hits a lariat to the leg and an elbowdrop for 2. Ryu misses a dropkick. CIMA kicks his head off. He hits a back bodydrop. He slams Kong with ease. Kishiwada hits a lariat. He hits one on Ryu. He hits Kong with a vertical suplex. He hits Ryu with a shotgun dropkick. He hits a double jump moonsault for 2. CIMA counters a Kong Powerbomb to a hurricanrana. He hits the Meteora off the second rope. Ryu hits a low blow. He hits the Panic Attack. He hits a weak dropkick. CIMA hits a superkick. Larry Dallas trips CIMA. Kong goes for a salt attack but Gamma blocks it with the cane. Gamma salts Ryu and Kishiwada hits a lariat and the Last Ride. CIMA hits the Meteora for the win at 8:38. That finish was pretty sick, and everything Kishiwada did had the power of a truck behind it. It’s too bad that Mondai Ryu is death to crowd heat.
Rating: **¾

After the match Gamma announces that he will return in June, and then in July he, CIMA, and Kishiwada will all team.

Masato Yoshino {W1}, PAC {W1} & Rich Swann {W1} vs. Masaaki Mochizuki {Z}, Don Fujii {Z} & Dragon Kid {Z}
Fujii and Swann start. The crowd is behind World-1 International, so Fujii threatens a walkout until the crowd supports him. They do. Swann and Fujii try to psych each other out in hilarious fashion. Swann goes for a shoulder tackle but Fujii won’t be moved. Fujii hits a shoulder tackle. He hits a double stomp. Kid hits Yoshino with a head scissor takedown. Yoshino hits a dropkick. Mochizuki hits a big boot. PAC hits a missile dropkick. He hits a plancha. Swann hits Mochizuki with mounted punches in the corner and then goes to the eyes. Mochizuki thinks about returning the favor, but then realizes mounted punches are dumb. Fujii chops Swann around the ring. He works the neck. Kid hits a pair of kneedrops for 2. Mochizuki hits a shinbreaker and then kicks out Swann’s leg. Fujii works the knee, attacking it with his heft. He puts on a leglock. Mochizuki hits leg kicks. He puts on an anklelock. PAC makes the save. Swann hits Kid with a spin kick. He dropkicks Mochizuki. PAC and Yoshino beat the crap out of Mochizuki. PAC hits a standing SSP. Yoshino puts on From Jungle. Fujii makes the save. Swann hits the Ace Crusher for 2. Fujii hits a lariat for 2. PAC hits Kid with the Ace Crusher. He hits a corkscrew moonsault off of Yoshino’s back for 2. Yoshino hits the shotgun senton. Swann hits a Frog Splash. PAC hits the springboard 450 Splash for 2. Kid hits a Frankensteiner. Mochizuki hits a big boot. Fujii hits a chokeslam for 2. PAC hits an enziguiri. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana out of nowhere for 2. Mochizuki and Fujii beat the tar out of Swann. Mochizuki hits the Ikkakugeri. Swann hits Kid with a superkick. They trade roll ups until Swann comes up on top for the win at 13:41. Swann took the heat well. I really like how they took typical spots and turned them on their head in this. Even the finish saw Mochizuki and PAC avoiding each other’s signature stuff and Swann cutting back on the Bible for a finish of a different ilk.
Rating: ***½

After the match Kid motions to Swann that he should challenge for the Brave Gate title. That Dragon Kid has honor for days. That’s another good thing about Dragon Gate. Kid lost to a guy who is normally the fall guy for his team, so to redeem himself he puts his grandest prize on the line, rather than making excuses. That’s a great character that people will get behind.

[Dream Key Battle Royal]
PAC and Kagetora start. They flip around until Kagetora hits a dropkick. Kotoka and Kong come out. Kotoka goes after Kong, trying to capitalize on his upset win over the big man on the last episode. His roll up only gets 1 (but only needs 2 at this point in the match). Everyone stands around like a dork waiting for Kobayashi and “Tanisaki” to come to the ring. Then they keep standing around like dorks while the two of them trade chops. “Tanisaki” loses his patience and goes to the eyes. Kanda and Saito come out next, finally getting everyone else involved again. They go for stereo Jon Woos, but can’t get them off. Then they go for stereo Cycling Yahoo’s but Kong and “Tanisaki” block it from happening. Ryu and Fujii round out the field. Ryu attacks Fujii on the floor. They fight to the back. Kotoka clings to the bottom rope to stay in the match. Fujii slams Ryu on the floor. Kong goes over the top and Kobayashi chops him until he falls to the floor, eliminated. Saito and Kanda hit a double elbow on Kotoka. Holy crap there’s not a lot going on here. I’m seriously sending text messages because it’s been so long since anything of note happened. Maybe they should stop doing the CIMA Royale to pick challengers. Kotoka rolls Saito up for 1. PAC does the same to Kotoka. Kagetora does it to Saito. Kanda does it to Saito. Saito flips out on his teammate.s Kobayashi pins Kotoka for 2, eliminating him. PAC goes over the top for a springboard and “Tanisaki” shoves him to the apron. PAC low-bridges “Tanisaki”. They fight on the apron. PAC hits a hanging double stomp and a dropkick to send “Tanisaki” to the floor. The Jimmyz gang up on Kobayashi. Kobayashi comes back with chops. Saito baits him to the ropes and tosses him to the apron. Kanda hits the Jon Woo to eliminate him. Fujii and Ryu are finally into the ring. Fujii blocks a Shooting Star Press and gets the Gedo Clutch to eliminate PAC. Ryu sends Kagetora to the apron. Kong hits a lariat from the floor and Ryu kicks Kagetora to his elimination. Kanda hits Ryu with the Jon Woo. Saito and Kanda hit the double flapjack on Fujii. Saito hits the Superfly Splash. Kanda misses the flying elbowdrop and Fujii gets the Gedo Clutch to eliminate him. Saito blocks Ryu’s low blow and low bridge. Fujii gets a sunset flip on Saito for 2. He gets the Gedo Clutch to eliminate him. The crowd is totally behind Fujii as he’s left alone with Ryu. Fujii hits a lariat. He hits a chokeslam and a splash for 2. CIMA is at ringside praying for Fujii to win. “Tanisaki” hits a yellow box attack. Fujii toughs it out and gets the Gedo Clutch for 2. Ryu salts him and gets a roll up for the win at 16:16. The camera got a great look at CIMA’s stunned face during the pin. Given that this match was originally established to give the jobbers a better chance at winning, I can get behind the result in theory. Aside from that TERRIBLY dull middle portion, this was actually reasoably saved by the Jimmyz and SuperFujii.
Rating: ***¼

After the match Kimata promises to bore us worse that Kong did in his Dream Gate title match at Dead or Alive. CIMA, frozen like a statue, takes forever to say, “no comment.” CIMA made this segment brilliant.

Akira Tozawa {MB} vs. Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee {J} [Tournament Finals]
Tozawa hits the bicycle kick to start. Mee hits a dropkick. He hits a back elbow. He hits a dropkick to the knee. He puts on a leglock. Tozawa gets to the ropes. Mee puts on the Figure 4 Leglock. Tozawa gets to the ropes. He blocks a crossbody with his knees. He hits the double suicide dive. He works the neck. He hits a back kick and the running knee for 2. He puts on a seated abdominal stretch. Mee hits a hiptoss to escape. Tozawa goes back to the neck. Mee gets to the ropes. Tozawa hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a senton. He hits another with a chair. He hits a chair shot to the head. A brawl breaks out between the Jimmyz and Mad Blankey. Tozawa hits Mee with a DDT for 2. He chops and jabs Mee in the corner. Mee hits a head scissor takedown. He hits the topé con hilo. He hits a springboard dropkick. He hits a butt attack and the swinging DDT for 2. Tozawa hits the running knee. He hits the bicycle kick. He hits a side suplex for 2. Tozawa dusts off the Ganki but Mee cuts back for 2. Mee hits a brainbuster. Tozawa hits another bicycle kick. Mee tries to counter a superplex to an avalanche Beach Break, but that would be madness so Tozawa hits the superplex for 2. Mad Blankey runs in to attack Mee. Saito and Kanda hit their awesome tadem stuff on Tozawa. Susumu hits the Jumbo no Kachi. Mee hits the Beach Break but Mad Blankey won’t let him go for the pin. The referee physically ejects Ryu, but that allows Kong and Hulk to destroy Mee. Mee absorbs a bicycle kick and hits a German suplex. Ryu trips him but Saito blocks the salt attack. Saito salts Mee by mistake but Mee gets the Backslide from Heaven anyway for 2. Tozawa hits a German suplex. This just got crazy. Tozawa hits the deadlift German suplex for 2. Mee blocks the High Tension Suplex. Tozawa blocks the Backslide from Heaven. Mee powers through a yellow box attack to block another High Tension Suplex and get the Backslide from Heaven for the win at 18:08. The overbooking was an incredibly welcome distraction from the straight-forward matches we’ve gotten almost ad nauseum lately. Sometimes you just have to go with what made you famous in the first place. The stretch got absolutely insane, and the crowd reacted to it more than they’ve reacted to anything in a while. The finals were better than anything else in the tournament, to be sure.
Rating: ***¾

Tozawa tries to cut Mee’s celebration incredibly short, but he only rambles on for a minute before Mee puts him in his place. He then tells Ryu that he doesn’t deserve to also be a contender for the Dream Gate Championship, and that CIMA should make a match between the two of them to decide the next challenger. Ryu doesn’t like it, but CIMA wants no part of Ryu in a Dream Gate title match, so Mee and Ryu will meet for the Dream Key after all. Tozawa challenges for the Twin Gate titles. Susumu and Kagetora tell him he can have a title shot if Kong is his partner. Kong may be in a slump, but he’ll take on the challenge. Mee emotionally closes out the show to send the fans home happy.