May 25, 2013 – Osaka, Japan
Open the Dream Gate Champion: CIMA
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Naruki Doi, Rich Swann & Shachihoko BOY
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Masato Yoshino
Open the Twin Gate Champions: YAMATO & Shingo Takagi
Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano
Open the United Gate Champions: Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson
Masaaki Mochizuki {Z}, Don Fujii {Z} & Kotoka {MG} vs. Jimmy Kanda {J}, Mr. Quu Quu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin {J} & Cyber Kong
Kong and Kotoka start. Kong hits a shoulder tackle. He hits a press slam to the floor. Kanda and Fujii trade chops. Fujii hits a shoulder tackle and a bodyslam. He clotheslines Kanda to the floor. Mochizuki hits Dolphin with a back kick. Dolphin hits a kneelift and a clothesline. He hits a facebuster. Mochizuki hits a chest kick. He and Kotoka hit a double chest kick for 2. Fujii works the neck. The Veterans and Kotoka stomp Dolphin for 2. Kong hits another press slam on Kotoka. He hits an avalanche for 2. Kanda hits a back elbow for 2. Dolphin hits a DDT for 2. Kong hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop for 2. Kotoka tries to slam Kong but Kong blocks it for 2. Kotoka hits a head scissor takedown. He hits a suicide dive. Mochizuki cleans house. Fujii helps. Kanda fakes the Jon Woo and gets a roll up for 2. Fujii hits a lariat and a chokeslam for 2. Dolphin hits the DH. Mochizuki hits a big boot. He hits a chest kick for 2. Kotoka hits a crossbody for 2. Fujii hits one for 2. Kanda stops Mochizuki from hitting one. Kotoka misses the diving double stomp and Kong hits a lariat. Kanda hits the Jon Woo. Dolphin hits the DH for 2. Kong hits the Pineapple Bomber. He hits the Cyber Driver for 2. He hits the diving elbowdrop for 2. Kotoka rolls him up after a Fujii lariat for 2. Mochizuki hits the Sankakugeri and Kotoka hits a hurricanrana for the win at 13:20. That finish was so much fun, and the match built spectacularly to it. Kong is such a jobber that it hardly feels significant to have him pinned, but he is a big man for Kotoka to beat.
Rating: ***
Shingo Takagi {A} vs. YAMATO {A} [Semifinal Match]
Takagi beat Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee. to get to this match, while YAMATO beat Fujii. YAMATO won’t shake Takagi’s hand before the match. Takagi powers him to the ropes. YAMATO hits a cheap elbow. He hits a dropkick. Takagi hits a shoulder tackle. He hits a kneedrop for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a pair of sentons for 2. He clotheslines YAMATO to the floor. YAMATO sneaks in from behind to hit a dropkick. He works the leg. Takagi gets to the ropes. He hits a dragon screw and puts on a leglock. Takagi gets to the ropes. YAMATO beats on him with a chair. Super Shenlong gets the chair away from him. Takagi hits the deadlift suplex. He hits a back suplex. He hits another for 2. He hits short-arm clotheslines. He goes for the falling elbowdrop but YAMATO puts on an armbar. Takagi gets to the ropes. YAMATO hits an exploder. He hits a running dropkick for 2. They trade high-impact strikes until Takagi wins the exchange with a lariat. Takagi hits the Sliding Bomber. He hits a powerbomb but YAMATO locks in a triangle choke. Takagi powers him into a DVD for 2. The Pumping Bomber doesn’t have much behind it. Takagi hits MADE IN JAPAN for 2. He hits another Pumping Bomber for the win at 14:44. The brilliance of heel YAMATO carried this one. Why was he ever a babyface? His mat tactics gave him the advantage for most of the match, but his arrogance cost him the win in the end. He hugs Takagi after the match, but after seeing this I’m figuratively holding my breath until the full-blown heel turn.
Rating: ***½
Ricochet {W1} vs. Jimmy Susumu {J} [Semifinal Match]
This is a pretty creative way to give us the rematch we all want. Susumu hits a lariat to start. He puts on a chinlock but Ricochet gets to the ropes. Ricochet hits a dropkick. He hits the corner face slam^2 for 2. Susumu blocks a standing moonsault. He hits a knee to the gut. He hits a double kneedrop for 2. He hits a lariat. Ricochet hits an enziguiri. He hits a corkscrew plancha. He blocks a lariat and hits the Ace Crusher. Susumu blocks another moonsault so Ricochet hits a running SSP for 2. Did you know Ricochet was amazing? No? Well, he is. He hits the Rickrack and the Regalplex for 2. Susumu hits a lariat in the corner. He hits the super exploder. Ricochet pops up and hits a dropkick. Susumu pops up and hits a lariat. He hits the Jumbo no Kachi. He hits it again for 2. Ricochet gets a sunset flip for 2. He counters the Jumbo no Kachigatame to a roll up for 2. He dumps Susumu on his head with a Regalplex and hits a 450 Splash. He hits a Shooting Star Press for the win at 10:55. Not only was this an endlessly entertaining match between two dynamic wrestlers, but Ricochet also left enough of his repertoire out of the match so that the main event still feels like it could be special. Cheers to both guys for putting on a match just as good as their PPV bout in only 10 minutes on TV.
Rating: ***½
Uhaa Nation {MB} vs. Ryotsu Shimizu
Shimizu doesn’t attack before the bell, which I think is a mistake. Nation overpowers Shimizu. He hits a dropkick. He hits a snap suplex for 2. He hits a back elbow for 2. He blocks a slam attempt by Shimizu and hits one of his own. He hits another bodyslam and puts on a chinlock. Shimizu gets to the ropes. Shimizu goes for another slam but Nation falls on top. Shimizu hits a shoulder tackle. He hits a bodyslam for 2. Nation hits a clothesline for 2. He hits the Uhaa CombiNation for the win at 4:40. Just a squash. Shimizu’s hope spot got the crowd excited, but nothing more. Kotoka attacks Nation after the match. He challenges Nation to a handicap match against himself and Shimizu. Nation says that will be too easy, but the match is set anyway.
Rating: ¾*
Akira Tozawa {MB}, BxB Hulk {MB} & Kzy {MB} vs. Naruki Doi {W1}, Masato Yoshino {W1} & Rich Swann {W1}
Mad Blankey attacks before the bell. Hulk and Tozawa double-team Doi. Doi and Tozawa trade shoulder tackles. Hulk kicks Swann’s face. Swann hits a head scissor takedown. Yoshino does the same to Kzy. Doi and Swann stretch Kzy’s groin. Yoshino hits a dropkick to the face. Swann hits a handspring splash for 2. Hulk and Tozawa double-team Swann. Hulk hits an axe kick for 2. Tozawa hits a senton. He hits a chair-assisted diving senton for 2. Swann hits the Frankensteiner. Doi hits Hulk with a dropkick. He and Yoshino double-team Kzy. Swann dives to the floor. Kzy misses the B-Boy on Doi. Doi hits a neckbreaker. He hits the hanging senton for 2. Yoshino dropkicks Tozawa. He hits a brainbuster for 2. Kzy hits the B-Boy for 2. He misses KZ Time. Swann hits the Ace Crusher. Hulk hits an axe kick. Doi hits a reverse DDT. Tozawa hits the running knee. Yoshino hits the Shotgun Dropkick. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick on Kzy. He and Swann hit the Die Sky for 2. Tozawa hits a German suplex on Swann for 2. Hulk hits an axe kick. He hits the First Flash for the win at 13:56. The home stretch was fun, and the rest of the match was serviceable enough. Both of these teams are actually more interesting when facing the Jimmyz or Akatsuki than they are facing each other.
Rating: ***
Gamma {Z}, HUB {Z}, Dragon Kid {Z} & CIMA {Z} vs. K-ness {MG}, Ryo “Jimmy†Saito {J}, Jimmy Kagetora {J} & Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee. {J}
HUB and Saito start. They fight over a wristlock. CIMA hits Kagetora with armdrags and a dropkick. Horiguchi clotheslines Kid. Kid hits armdrags. Saito forces CIMA to dropkick Kid. Gamma and K-ness go at it, as they are the centerpieces of this match. HUB dropkicks Saito and hits a senton for 2. Kid hits Kagetora with a pair of kneedrops. He and CIMA hit a double dropkick for 2. CIMA hits a senton. Saito saves Kagetora from the Osuikougeki. K-ness gives Gamma the Osuikougeki. That’s not much of a homecoming. MARAHA! ISAPPA! K-ness hits an elbowdrop. He hits a basement dropkick. Saito hits a diving double stomp for 2. Horiguchi hits a neckbreaker. Gamma hits an enziguiri. He hits a lariat. HUB cleans house with his tail. The Veterans hit a quadruple suicide dive. CIMA rolls Saito up for 2. He stretches Saito until he gets to the ropes. Saito hits an overhead suplex. CIMA puts on a Romero Special and HUB whips Saito. Horiguchi hits a head scissor takedown. HUB crotches him in the ropes. He hits a dragon screw. He hits a kneebreaker and puts on the anklelock. Kagetora makes the save. Kid hits a stunner. Kagetora hits the 619. He hits a dropkick. Saito hits a German suplex and Horiguchi hits a swinging DDT. Gamma breaks out the cane. Kid hits the Skyscraper Frankensteiner. Gamma hits the Gamma Special. He hits the Sky Twister Press for 2. K-ness blocks the Blitzen and hits the Shoryuuyaku. Horiguchi hits a brainbuster for 2. Saito hits the Superfly Splash for 2. K-ness gets the Hikari no Wa for 2. Gamma gets a roll up for 2. K-ness keeps the Hikari no Wa going for the win at 16:20. That match was nutty nutty nutty, nutty as hell. Why doesn’t Dragon Gate do more 8 man tag matches? That was so much fun. After the match Gamma asks K-ness for a handshake, then attacks him and brawls with him to the back.
Rating: ***¾
Shingo Takagi {A} vs. Ricochet {W1} [Tournament Finals]
Takagi powers Ricochet to the ropes to start. He hits a shoulder tackle but Ricochet pops to his feet. Ricochet hits a dropkick. He hits the Sasuke Special. He hits a clothesline for 2. He hits an enziguiri for 2. He hits a back heel kick for 2. Takagi hits a back bodydrop. He dumps Ricochet on the top rope. He hits a pair of double stomps. He beats Ricochet up in the corner. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. He works the leg but Ricochet gets to the ropes. He hits a kneedrop. Ricochet hits the Ace Crusher after a cool exchange. He hits a crossbody. Takagi hits the DVD. Ricochet blocks the Blood Fall. Takagi blocks a standing moonsault. He hits a powerbomb for 2. Ricochet avoids the Sliding Bomber hits and hits a buzzsaw kick. He hits a standing SSP. He blocks MADE IN JAPAN but Takagi catches him and hits the move anyway for 2. He hits it again for 2. He hits a lariat in the corner. Ricochet hits a spin kick. He hits a powerbomb. He hits Shooting Star Presses off of the second and top rope for 2. He hits a 630 Senton for 2. Takagi finally has enough of lying around and crotches Ricochet up top. He hits a lariat to bring him down, then drags him back up to hit the STAY DREAM for 2. He hits the Pumping Bomber for 2. Ricochet counters the Last Falconry to a reverse hurricanrana. He ducks the Pumping Bomber and rolls Takagi up to win the tournament at 18:42. Takagi’s control segment was pretty dull, and the crowd didn’t get behind Ricochet because of it. Other than that though, the match was actually pretty good. I was worried that it would end with Ricochet just continuously slamming Takagi and hitting him with moves off of the top, but the way it actually ended was a nice surprise that made logical sense.
Rating: ***½
CIMA comes out and calls Ricochet his brother. He accepts the inevitable Dream Gate match against his former Spiked Mohican partner. Ricochet accepts the preemptive challenge. CIMA wishes him good luck. Ricochet then tells Yoshino that Swann is going to win the Brave Gate Championship, and that the two Americans will be champions together. Yoshino takes that pretty well, and helps Doi congratulate Ricochet on his tournament win and his upcoming participation in the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Tournament.
