Dragon Gate 4/5/2023 The Gate of Passion 2023 Day 3
It's been a while since I've done some DG here. DG lost a lot of ground in the west over the years. It was the biggest Japanese promotion here at one point. What happened? Meltzer started getting into NJPW and everyone followed. Jae stopped doing his iheartdg website too and that meant there was no more english source for DG. DG has also always kind of been in its own universe which makes it hard for people on the outside to get in. Nobody online really talks about it and even for myself, it's hard to keep up. DG's style isn't the best to follow longterm either as with so much of it being focused around tag matches, you don't feel like you are missing stuff like you do with other companies and big singles matches.
Natural Vibes (BIG BOSS Shimizu, Jason Lee & Kzy) vs. GOLD CLASS (Ben-K, BxB Hulk & Minorita)
Hulk cartwheels out of an armlock and rolls Kzy into a pin. Kazy gets out of an armlock and puts Hulk in one then Hulk kick combos him. Hulk legsweeps him and misses a kick then they stand off. BBS and Ben go at it. They lock up and shoulder battle and BBS shoulders him over. Minorita headscissors BBS then tries to do it to Lee but Lee headflips out.
Kzy backbreakers Minorita then BBS stands on Minorita. Minorita headscissors BBS out of a samoan drop. Hulk cartwheels through a double team then spin kicks Lee. Hulk 2nd rope dropkicks Kzy. Ben backdrops Kzy into an axe kick from Hulk then runs him over with a shoulder.
Ben takes offense from Vibes then is knocked over with a euro. Vibes all does cartwheels and dances around Ben then drops elbows on him. BBS then does a worm into a splash. Lee tornado ddt's Hulk off of Minorita. Lee runs at Minorita, Minorita leapfrogs him then Ben hits a spear on Lee to get the win.
It was an okay opener though it didn't pick up until a little later. The leapfrog into the spear spot was cool.
Kondo is double shouldered early then Kage step up enzugiri's Kai. Ishin grabs Kage by the hair then strike combos him. Ishin lays down and dares Kondo to come in then kicks the rope into his crotch when he tries. Kage has his crotch pulled into the post.
Ishi dropkicks Kage in the back then Kai ddt's Kage for 2. Ishin bulldogs Kage for 2. Kage step up enzugiris him then flying shoulders Kai. Kai bulldogs Ishii and lariats Kai at the same time. Kondo then overhead throws Kai. Kage gets in and hits some straight punches then Kondo hits his lanzarse spear on Kai.
Kondo is pulled outside while running the ropes then Kage hits palm strikes on Kai. Kai superkicks and enzugiris him then lariats him for 2. Kai hits a cradle shock on Kagetora and wins it.
Kind of the usual DG heel vs face match with the heels cheating and bringing the match to a slower pace then the faces making their comeback and picking things up. I've never been a big fan of heel Kai in Dragon Gate and this was the usual from him.
Don Fujii, Eita & Naruki Doi vs. Daiki Yanagiuchi, Kaito Nagano & YAMATO
Kaito is doing a soccer gimmick and plays around with the ball. Daiki is doing a janitor gimmick and comes ot the ring with a broom and dust pan and janitor gear.
The feed cuts out during the early part of this. Nagano rolls and frankensteiners Eita who is sitting on top. Don punches Daiki right in the mouth and slams him. Don indian deathlocks Daiki. Eita back elbows Daiki for 2. Daiki makes his comeback and goes under Eita's lariat to tope Done outside. Nagano hits nice dropkicks on Eita then Doi takes running corner moves.
Don takes a shot at Daiki then Daiki slaps him on the apron. Don slaps him back and hits a big lariat. Doi suplexes Daiki for 2 then taps him out with the camel clutch.
Pretty standard vets vs rookie stuff. Daiki mostly got beat up here and got a small comeback before being put down. Daiki gets beat up by Don after and Don slams Nagano on Daiki. Nagano's got a good look and story as he used to be a staff member at Korauken Hall and probably will be someone someday.
D'courage (Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka) vs. Natural Vibes (Jacky Funky Kamei & Strong Machine J)
J and Yuki start us off. They do some basic moves then stare down. Dia runs the ropes fast and does a nice armdrag on Jacky. Jacky hits a high dropkick then J double axe handles Dia's arm. Dia is tripped and takes elbows from both guys. Dia hurricanrana's Jacky in the corner. Dia grabs Jacky's leg then does a rocking chair submission.
Dia standing moonsaults Jacky. Yuki back body drops Jacky for 2. Dia and Jacky trade chops then Jacky is popped-up but hits a dropkick off of it. J back elbows Dia then spin kicks Yuki. J powerslams Dia then corner lariats him. J holds up Jacky to do a kick flurry on Dia then Jacky top rope la silla's Yuki for 2.
Yuki hits a nice dropkick on J. Yuki codebreakers and suplexes Jacky for 2. Jacky takes an irish whip into kicks and a chop + legsweep combo from D'Courage. Dia then running ssp's Jacky for 2. Dia hits a nice swinging ddt onto Jacky and Jacky rolls up Dia for the win.
It was fine. It was a fast paced match where they kept the action moving.
M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki & Mochizuki Jr.) vs. M3K (Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda)
Jr. leg kicks Kanda then running chest kicks him. Sr. and Susumu go at it then Susumu lariats him hard on the ropes. Sr. spin kicks Susumu then kicks him in the back. Susumu lariats Sr. then Kanda stomps on Sr. Sr. does a hard chest kick on Kanda then Sr. takes a sandwich lariat. Sr. kicks Kanda and Susumu then Jr. kicks both opponents.
Susumu knees Jr. in the gut then Kanda slingshot elbows Jr., who then hits chops on Kanda. Kanda runs into a pumping knee. Sr. and Susumu go at it. Susumu blocks a kick with a lariat then lariats him. Sr. suplexes him then whips his own son into corner moves on Susumu. Jr. pushes Sr. into a face kick on Susumu then Jr. pumping knees Susumu.
Susumu and Sr. trade strikes then Kanda hits Sr. with the blue box. Susumu finlay rolls Sr. into a top rope Kanda elbow. Sr. topes both opponents outside then Jr. 2nd rope moonsaults everyone. Jr. and Sr. accidentally kick each other outside and Kanda/Susumu go into the posts. Jr. and Sr. try to get in but Kanda swings the box at them and we get a double countout in typical M2K fashion.
This dragged a little and it was an odd match with no real clear face or heel alignments here.
Open The Dream Gate Title #1 Contendership Match - Kota Minoura vs. Madoka Kikuta
They shoulder battle to start and trade forearms. Madoka shoulders him over then back elbows him. Madoka slams Kota then headscissors him. Madoka hits chops then Kota gets some offense in. Kota hits elbows and steps on his face. Kota puts him in a strangle hold alpha and Madoka ropebreaks.
Madoka hits a stiff hip attack. Madoka then hip attacks him off the apron. Madoka sliding hip attacks him in the ring and legdrops him for 2. Madoka hits a stiff harlem sidekick and a suplex. Kota exploders him in the buckles.
Kota sliding forearms him against the ropes then does another sliding forearm to the face. They trade forearms then Kota his a nice mid-air clothesline. He double underhook suplexes him then Madoka hits a big lariat. They meet in the middle with lariats and Madoka wins that battle.
Madoka running hip attacks him in the corner then side michinoku drivers him for 2. Kota takes a sitout last ride but gets out at 1 then side slams him out of a lariat. Kota lifts him up and drops him on his chest. Kota then falcon arrows him for 2.
Madoka pump kicks Kota then then hits a stiff lariat. Kota does a nice-roll out of nowhere into a pin attempt then takes a hip attack and a stiff lariat. Madoka hits another stiff lariat for 2. Madoka spinning lariats him and wins it.
I didn't expect much going into this, but I liked this. Madoka really stiff the crap out of Kota here and looked very good in this one. This was much better than you would think and who knew Madoka of all people was such a good strong style wrestler?
Overall thoughts: I skipped 2 matches here. Despite that, it was a bit of hard to show to get through. Not sure why but the matches for the most part just felt like they dragged. The main was shockingly good and was the highlight of this show.
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