Open The Puro Daily Gate: Episode II

Welcome to the second edition of the weekly Dragon Gate newsletter.  Before I get down to the business of Dragon Gate’s “Gate of Victory” tour, I would like to address in house business first.  It has come to the attention of this writer that what I titled this bad boy last week (Puro Newsletter: Dragon Gate News) is just flat out unacceptable.  Hell, I fall asleep even reading that title, so I would like to personally apologize to each and every single one of you for not bringing my “A” title game.

Bad titles in journalism are like careless turnovers that lead to odd man rushes in ice hockey; they’re bad mistakes that just shouldn’t happen.  The numbers do not lie people; last week’s snooze fest of a title drew 126 reads and ZERO COMMENTS.

That number isn’t terrible or anything, because at the very least it indicates that people were still willing to read the article in the event that doing so would save their life or the life of a loved one, or perhaps even spare them from having to watch C-Span or the local on the 8’s, only on the Weather Channel.

It also may indicate that people perhaps accidentally clicked on the article in an attempt to read the awesome writing of people like Scott Beeby, Keith Ensminger, Jordan Kessler, and Hayley Graham, just to name a few of the awesome writers we have.

We here at TWD want better than that though; there should be no accidents and you should want to click on something.  Generating that interest within you and galvanizing the readers all start with a stimulating and marketable title.  Mow-tote doesn’t pay us the big bucks to bore you to death.

Given Dragon Gate’s penchant for opening gates, I find it very apropos that this column open its own gate.  Ergo, this weekly Dragon Gate newsletter will now be entitled: Open the Puro Daily Gate. I now write this with the power of my YAMATO spirit, and you should read this with the same sort of intensity.  I’ll even give you some background music to go along with it.  Enjoy the theme of co-Twin Gate Champion and card carrying KAMIKAZE member, YAMATO.

We begin our coverage of the “Gate of Victory” tour in Hiroshima at the Hiroshima Green Arena.  890 fans attended Dragon Gate’s show at the arena on October 11, and the Hiroshimites were treated to some pretty solid action.  WORLD-1 continued their dominance of the tour, as Masato Yoshino, Brave Gate Champion Naoki Tanisaki, and WORLD-1’s UK import, PAC, defeated the KAMIKAZE trifecta of Shingo Takagi, Dragon Kid, and

KAMIKAZE’S own foreign import, El Generico (Whether he’s from Mexico or Canada is entirely up to you).  PAC scored the victory for his team after hitting Generico with a shooting star press.

WORLD-1 further flexed their muscles before KAMIKAZE later in the evening, when Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi teamed with BxB Hulk to defeat YAMATO and Akira Tozawa.  To this point, WORLD-1 has absolutely owned the tour, with the only team even coming close to matching them being KAMIKAZE.

It seemed that heading into their (and by their, I mean BxB Hulk, Yoshino, and PAC) defenses of the Open the Triangle Gate championship on October 14, and Doi’s defense of the Open the Dream Gate championship on October 25, that WORLD-1 had all of the momentum and that those matches were merely foregone conclusions in favor of WORLD-1.  That, though, is why they wrestle the matches.

The main event of the evening featured a struggling WARRIORS-5 faction taking on the Real Hazard faction in an 8-man tag team skirmish.  CIMA, KAGETORA, Susumu Yokosuka, and Gamma represented WARRIORS-5, with Ryo Saito, Kzy, Cyber Kong, and Genki Horiguchi representing Real Hazard.

It’s been a bit of struggle for Real Hazard lately; the RH have not been nearly as unfortunate as the W5, but RH definitely have not been as successful as WORLD-1 and KAMIKAZE on the GOV tour.

Keep the information just presented in mind, allow me to frame the story for you: Two desperate factions.  One main event.  Eight highly skilled wrestlers.  We had all of the ingredients for healthy serving of win on our hands, one that even Food Network’s Alton Brown would love.  Unfortunately for Real Hazard, there would be no win served for them.

WARRIORS-5 got a much needed win after about 25 minutes of action.  It isn’t quite enough for me to bump WARRIORS-5 up to number 3 on my in tour faction rankings, but it definitely cuts the gap in half between the last place WARRIORS-5 and third place Real Hazard.

The following night in Mie at the Tnin Messe Mie, WARRIORS-5 returned to their reverted to losing form, as KAMIKAZE’s YAMATO, Shingo, and El Generico defeated Susumu Yokosuka, Gamma, and unaffiliated Super Shisa in the show opener.  Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi scored a measure of

revenge on WARRIORS-5 when they defeated KAGETORA and Shisa Boy, who teamed with KAGETORA because the other members of the W5 were occupied in the main event.

It’s a strange booking practice, but it is a common occurrence for wrestlers who are not affiliated with any faction to team with wrestlers who are members of a faction that are left without a tag partner on the evening due to their teammates’ participation in other matches. For example, KAMIKAZE’s Dragon Kid also teamed with the unaffiliated Anthony W. Mori to defeat Real Hazard’s Cyber Kong and Kzy.

The Mie show was yet again the setting for WORLD-1 dominance.  Naoki Tanisaki defeated KAMIKAZE’s Akira Tozawa in singles action, and Doi teamed with Yoshino and Hulk to take down CIMA, and two headlining members of the Chou-Zetsurins faction, Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fuji, in the main event of the evening.

On October 13, the World became one, or more specifically, the WORLD-1 faction presented their own show entitled “The World is One,” from Tokyo.  The show featured the participation of one of puro’s all time great junior heavyweight wrestlers, Koji Kanemoto.  Kanemoto teamed with Doi to defeat the KAMIKAZE tandem of YAMATO and Akira Tozawa in the main event after Kanemoto used an ankle hold to force Tozawa to submit.  Afterward, Kanemoto let it be known that if there is another WORLD-1 show, he wants to face YAMATO.

The show also witnessed a wrestler join the WORLD-1 faction.  Shiiba joined WORLD-1 after teaming with PAC in a losing effort against Tanisaki and Bear Fakuda.  Shiiba will now be going by the name of Kotoka.  Doi mentioned in a promo after the match that having a Shiiba (pronounced shee-bah) and a CIMA (pronounced shee-mah) on the roster was just too confusing.  That makes more sense than the WWE thinking we won’t be able to tell the difference between Shane Helms and Shane McMahon.  The former scenario creates opportunities for mispronunciations, while you’d have to really be a moron to be confused by the difference between Shane Helms and Shane McMahon.

Dragon Gate invaded the celebrated Korakuen Hall in Tokyo the following night on October 14, drawing 2,000 fans.  The show featured a hot opener, with KAMIKAZE’s Dragon Kid, Akira Tozawa, and El Generico scoring a huge

victory over WORLD-1 members Naruki Doi and Naoki Tanisaki, who were teaming with Shisa Boy, an unaffiliated lower card wrestler who isn’t exactly the ace in the company, if you catch my drift.  To be fair to WORLD-1, Shisa Boy also took the loss in the contest for his team.  Even though WORLD-1 weren’t really defeated in this match, it set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Kotoka was officially unveiled to the world as the newest member of WORLD-1, and promptly lost to Cyber Kong.  Oops.

WARRIORS-5 picked up a big win of their own, as the mega talented tandem of Susumu Yokosuka and Gamma defeated Real Hazard top dogs Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi.  Unfortunately for WARRIORS-5, CIMA and KAGETORA were unable to defeat the Twin Gate Champions, Shingo and YAMATO, in a non-title tag team match.

The main event of the evening featured a defense of the Open the Traingle Gate Championship, which is a six man tag team championship.  The WORLD-1 trio of BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino, and PAC appeared to be the favorites heading into the match, given the dominance of WORLD-1 throughout the tour.  Their opponents, Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fuji, and legendary sumo wrestler Akebono (not to mention the Dragon Gate match makers) had different ideas.

Mochizuki and Fuji are no strangers to the Triangle Gate Championship, as both men have held the belts twice before with two different partners (the first time was with K-ness as their partner, the second time was with Magnitude Kishiwada).  On this night, Fuji and Mochizuki looked to turn the hat trick with the monstrous Akebono, who currently holds All Japan’s All Asia Tag Team Championship with fellow gargantuan Ryoto Hama in a tag team that TWD’s own Puro Dude compares to the Natural Disasters team from the WWF in the 90’s.

Sure enough the superior experience, size, and strength of Mochizuki’s team was just too much for WORLD-1, as Akebono scored the pinfall victory for his team after choke slamming PAC, poor bastard, to win his first Dragon Gate Championship, not to mention the Mochizuki-Fuji alliance their third Triangle Championship.

The post match celebration for the group known as Chou-Zetsurins was short lived, as Gamma and KAGETORA came down to the ringside area and issued a challenge for the new champions, saying that they had a perfect partner that would enable them to quickly end the reign of the new champions.  Mochizuki asked the challengers for a hint, but the only information Gamma was willing to divulge was that the mystery man knew how to defeat the Zetsurins. Early guesses seem to revolve around Magnitude Kishiwada, who is actually still a member of the Zetsurins faction.

I have to say that I agree with those early guesses, though it would be somewhat amusing if they got another sumo wrestler to counterbalance the size of Akebono.  I wonder if either of Akebono’s sumo wrestling rivals, Takanohana and Wakanohana, are available.  One thing that isn’t a mystery, is that the match will be a part of Dragon Gate’s November 6 return show at Korakuen Hall.

The following night witnessed a WORLD-1 rebound with their victory in an 8-man tag team match in the main event.  The contest featured Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk, and PAC taking down the Real Hazard team of Cyber Kong, Ken Arai, Yashushi Kanda, and Kzy.  PAC made amends for taking the loss on the previous night by pinning Kzy after a shooting star press in a twenty minute match.

Elsewhere, Saito and Horiguchi scored a win over Yokosuka and KAGETORA, thanks to some under handed tactics, so to speak, which included a couple of low blows.  Damn cheaters.

Mochizuki and Fuji followed up their championship victory by defeating KAMIKAZE’s Tozawa and Shingo.

The fantastic opener witnessed KAMIKAZE’s YAMATO, Dragon Kid and El Generico defeat WARRIORS-5 members CIMA and Gamma, who were teaming with Anthony W. Mori since Yokosuka and KAGETORA were both busy elsewhere.  Mori took the pinfall in this match for his team.

After taking October 16 to run a charity event, Dragon Gate rolled into Gifu, Japan on October 17 to deliver a show before 880 fans.  The event played host to a number of stunning results, a theme that was established during the show’s opening match as Generico and Super Shisa defeated WORLD-1’s BxB Hulk and PAC.

In a mish mash of randomly affiliated talents, the Zetsourin’s Mochizuki teamed with WORLD-1’s Naoki Tanisaki to defeat WARRIORS-5 member Yokosuka and K-ness.

CIMA also provided us with some comedy, as he appeared on the show as Jushin “Thunder” CIMA to provide a good spirited mocking of legendary junior heavyweight, Justin “Thunder” Liger.  CIMA utilized the Liger bomb to defeat another comedy character that regularly appears for Dragon Gate, Stalker Ichikawa, playing the role of Stalker Masahiro.

Who the hell is Stalker Ichikawa, you ask?  Ichikawa is a highly popular comedy act in Dragon Gate, not to mention a graduate of Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon Dojo, whose raison d’etre in Dragon Gate is to entertain and send the fans into fit of laughter on an almost nightly basis.  He resembles, well, some sort of human insect and comes to the ring with the “William Tell Overture” blasting on the arena sound system.  His offense is basically innocuous and he’s usually defeated in less than five minutes.  Ichikawa is actually good friends with both CIMA and Don Fuji in real life, and on occasion, the three take the time to entertain the line of people waiting to enter the arena to take in a Dragon Gate show.

After the usual round of comedy (because there is ALWAYS a round of comedy in Dragon Gate), it was back to business, as Doi and Yoshino picked up a victory for WORLD-1 by defeating Gamma and KAGETORA, who aren’t exactly doing a great job of building momentum for their title shot on November 6.

The main event featured another stunning upset, as Real Hazard (represented by Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong, and Yasushi Kanda) defeated KAMIKAZE (represented by YAMATO, Shingo, Tozawa and Dragon Kid).  The playing field seems to have leveled off on the GOV tour since the October 14 show.

The October 18 show in Aichi at the Nagoya Telepia Hall featured a load card that kicked off with Saito, Horiguchi and Kong defeating CIMA, Gamma, and Super Shenlong in the opener.  The openers have a habit of dictating what will happen later in the show, so keep this in mind.

Don Fuji defeated Jackson Florida in the comedy match of the show.  For those of you who do not know, Jackson Florida is a member of the Florida Brothers, a comedy act composing of two pro-American Japanese wrestlers who dye their hair blonde, wear red, white, and blue, and are from, you guessed it, Florida.  Check out their antics here.  Yes, that is puro legend Kensuke Sasaki getting in on the act.

Purists tend not to appreciate the comedy acts presented by Dragon Gate, but I (and I would call myself a purist) appreciate both a break from the norm and hilarity.  Do I want to see an entire show of it?  No, but a break like this always adds something to the show.

Elsewhere, Mochizuki defeated the hapless Kotoka via submission, Doi teamed with Tanisaki to defeat Yokosuka and KAGETORA, and WORLD-1 (represented by Yoshino, Hulk and PAC) scored a victory over KAMIKAZE (represented by Dragon Kid, El Generico, and Anthony W. Mori, who filled in for other members of KAMIKAZE that were otherwise occupied. Dragon Kid, a local hero in Aichi, took the fall in the match.  That had to be a bummer for the crowd.

The original main event scheduled for the evening featured Shingo and YAMATO defending their Open the Twin Gate Championship against Real Hazard’s Ken Arai and Yasushi Kanda.  In a strange, non-sensical plot twist, Kanda decked his own partner Arai.  YAMATO capitalized and locked Arai in a sleeper hold, which lead to the members of Real Hazard coming to the ring, causing the referee to disqualify Arai and Kanda.  KAMIKAZE members ran down to save the day in response.  Arai, who appeared to be going after Kanda, instead decided to attack Shingo, revealing that Kanda decking him minutes ago was a ploy.  I’m confused as well.

The skirmish between the two factions lead to an impromptu 5 on 4 contest pitting Saito, Arai, Horiguchi, Kong and Kanda against Shingo, YAMATO, Dragon Kid, and Generico.  In a stunning turn of events, Dragon Kid took the fall, his second fall of the night, before his hometown crowd.

Following the match, Shingo challenged Arai and Kanda to a no DQ match in lieu of the fact that Real Hazard keeps getting themselves DQ’d in matches against YAMATO and Shingo.  The match will occur on November 8 at the Fukui Sun Dome and the Twin Gate Championship will be on the line.

The GOV tour will now take a break heading into the big show on October 25 in Fukuoka at the Nagata Star Lanes.  That show will feature Naruki Doi defending the Open the Dream Gate Championship against WARRIORS-5 member Susumu Yokosuka.  The match figures to be one hell of a contest, given that both men are perhaps the two most skilled workers in Dragon Gate this side of CIMA.

It would be an absolute stunner to see Yokosuka win this match, given that he’s in a faction with CIMA, and it would be interesting to see what a Yokosuka victory would mean for the WARRIORS-5 faction, which has been struggling to get victories of late.  Yokosuka is a former Dream Gate Champion, and a victory over the dominant Doi would be a huge boost to his career and standing in Dragon Gate.

Yokosuka is a skilled technician who is known mostly for his tag team exploits in Dragon Gate, but the man can flat out go.  Puro Dude compares Yokosuka to a more entertaining version of Dean Malenko, a comparison I very much agree with.

Doi has been the Dream Gate Champion since December 28 of last year and has not lost a singles match he has been involved in for Dragon Gate this year.  Doi has become the man in Dragon Gate, something that needed to happen given the worn down physical condition of the injury riddled CIMA, whose back isn’t exactly in grade A shape.

Doi has even managed to get a good title match out of the massive and immobile Akebono, an accomplishment akin to getting a good match out of The Great Khali.  Yes folks, Doi is THAT good.

Here now is a look at both Yokosuka and Doi.

Now for a look at some upcoming cards for Dragon Gate:

10/24/2009 Yamaguchi, Kaikyou Messe Shimonoseki
1. CIMA, KAGETORA, Gamma vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong
2. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Kotoka
4. Kenichiro Arai, Yasushi Kanda vs. Don Fujii, K-ness
5. Naoki Tanisaki, PAC vs. YAMATO, Super Shisa
6. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi, Akira Tozawa, Dragon Kid

10/25/2009 Fukuoka, Hakata Star Lanes
1. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi, Super Shisa vs. Don Fujii, K-ness, Kotoka
2. Jackson Florida vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Masaaki Mochizuki, Naoki Tanisaki vs. KAGETORA, Mentai☆Kid
4. 3 Way Match: CIMA, Gamma vs. Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai vs. Akira Tozawa, Dragon Kid
5. Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk, PAC vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong
6. Open the Dream Gate: Naruki Doi vs. Susumu Yokosuka

10/26/2009 Kagoshima, Kagoshima Citizens Gym
1. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk vs. Ryo Saito, Yasushi Kanda, Genki Horiguchi
2. Don Fujii vs. K-ness vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kotoka
4. Naoki Tanisaki, PAC vs. Kenichiro Arai, Cyber Kong
5. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi, Dragon Kid vs. CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, KAGETORA, Gamma

10/27/2009 Miyazaki, Nobeoka Citizens Gym
1. BxB Hulk, Naoki Tanisaki, PAC vs. CIMA, Gamma, Mentai☆Kid
2. K-ness vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai vs. Don Fujii, Super Shisa
4. Susumu Yokosuka, KAGETORA vs. Dragon Kid, Akira Tozawa
5. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Yuki Sato
6. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Kotoka

10/31/2009 Barcelona, Spain
1. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. Zack Sabre, Ronin Rider
2. Shingo Takagi, Dragon Kid vs. Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson
3. PAC vs. El Generico vs. Sean South vs. Madril
4. CIMA, Susumu Yokosuka, KAGETORA vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshno, BxB Hulk

10/31/2009 Oberhausen, Germany
1. Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson vs. Tommy End, Mark Haskins
2. KAGETORA vs. Bad Bones
3. Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino vs. Susumu Yokosuka vs. El Generico
4. CIMA vs. Mike Quackenbush
5. Naruki Doi, BxB Hulk, Zack Sabre vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Steve Douglas

10/31/2009 Toukai TV Festival 2009 ~DRAGON GATE Special Match~
~First~
1. Syachihoko Machine vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
2. Masaaki Mochizuki, Naoki Tanisaki vs. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa
~Second~
1. Akira Tozawa vs. Jackson Florida
2. Super Shisa, Shisa BOY vs. Gamma, Super Shenlong

11/1/2009 The Regal, Cowley Road, Oxford, UK ~ Dragon Gate Invasion:UK
1. Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito vs. Johnny Storm, Marty Scurll
2. KAGETORA vs. Mark Haskins
3. Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid
4. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Shingo Takagi
5. Naruki Doi, BxB Hulk, PAC vs. CIMA, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson

11/1/2009 Toukai TV Festival 2009 ~DRAGON GATE Special Match~
~First~
1. Jackson Florida vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
2. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa vs. Gamma, Super Shenlong
~Second~
1. Naoki Tanisaki vs. Syachihoko Machine
2. Masaaki Mochizuki, Super Shisa vs. Cyber Kong, Kzy

11/3/2009 Dragon Gate Arena ~ NEX PREMIUM Vol.11
1. Super Shisa vs. Shisa BOY
2. Jackson Florida vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Yasushi Kanda vs. Kotoka
4. Super Shenlong 50 Match Series #20: Don Fujii vs. Super Shenlong
5. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa vs. Kzy, Cyber Kong

11/6/2009 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
-CIMA, Super Shenlong, Abdullah the Butcher vs. Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai, NOSAWA Rongai
-Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk, Kotoka vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong, MAZADA
-Masaaki Mochizuk, Don Fujii, Akebono vs. Gamma, KAGETORA, X

11/8/2009 Fukui, Sun Dome Fukui
-Open the Brave Gate: Naoki Tanisaki vs. Akira Tozawa

-Open the Twin Gate Hardcore Rules Match: Shingo Takagi, YAMATO vs. Kenichiro Arai, Yasushi Kanda