Dragon Gate 7/2/2023 Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023

Dragon Gate 7/2/2023 Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023

Here's what I saw:

Kagetora, Taro Nohashi & U-T vs. Dragon Dia, Eita & La Estrella

Dia takes down Kage and hits an nice armdrag. He dropkicks him out. Estrella topes Kage on the outside then Dia tope con hilos three people. Eita goes for a dive and gets tripped and pulled out by Taro.

Estrella takes running corner movesa then Taro 2nd rope dropkicks Estrella. Eita pump kicks Kage then pulls U-T off the 2nd rope. Dia running ssp's U-T for 2. U-T slides under Dia for a pin attempt then rolls him around the ring for another 2. Dia elevated ddt's U-T then 2nd rope diving ddt's him for the win.

This was pointless. I don't know why this was under 3 minutes long. It was waste of time and I guess just a way to get these guys on the card.

Open The Brave Gate Title Match - Jason Lee (c) vs. ISHIN

They trade forearms to start. Lee misses an enzugiri and hits a back enzugiri. He is bulldoggeed and takes a headlock takeover. Lee then tope con hilos him outside. Ishin hits a knee to the face then ddt's him. Ishin suplexes him on the floor. Ishin slams and splashes him inside then does some lazy kicks on him. Ishin slaps him around.

Lee double legs him and pounds on him with forearms. Lee forearm flurry and stomp flurries him in the corner. Lee hits a dropkick. Lee flips out of a german and cutters him then takes a full nelson bomb for 2. Ishin release germans him then Lee dropkicks him in the back of the head. Lee forearms him and hits a spinning ki krusher for 2. Lee misses a skytwister press and they trade pin attempts. Ishin hits a cobra clutch suplex then does a Komata chokeslam for 2 then does a nasty scrapbuster for the win.

It was short at only 6 minutes or so and the last half of it was action packed. They did a little too much for the time they had but they did do as much they could with it. Some of those moves though were nasty.

Don Fujii & Shuji Kondo vs. Kenoh & Masaaki Mochizuki

Kondo shoulders over Mochi and ducks his high kick. Don and Ken trade chops for kicks. Ken spin kicks him then is shouldered over. Don rakes Mochi's eyes from the apron then Mochi back elbows him. Kondo accidentally knocks Don off the apron. Mochi suplexes Kondo.

Ken facekicks Mochi and chest kicks Don over. Ken hits kicks on both opponents with a nice spinning high kick on Kondo. Kondo is kicked by both Mochi and Ken at the same time then takes PK's from both for 2. Kondo overhead throws Mochi. Kondo lariats Don again on accident then Mochi spin kicks Don in the gut. Ken top rope double stomps Don and wins it.

This was short and rushed. It was far from anyone's best work and was a waste of Ken.

Open The Twin Gate Title Match - M3K (Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda) (c) vs. GOLD CLASS (Ben-K & BxB Hulk)

 

Ben headlock takeovers Kanda then shoulders him over. Susumu shoulders over Hulk then is armdragged. Hulk hits the mouse on Susumu and upkicks him. Kanda is tripped into a Ben elbow then Hulk axe kicks him. Kanda then takes a 2nd rope dropkick + suplex combo. Kanda atomic drops and eye rakes Ben then Ben does a hard shoulder into the post.

Ben is rolled up the ramp and fights with Kanda on it while Susumu fights Hulk on the floor. Susumu hits a stiff lariat on Ben then Kanda is lifted for a john woo on Ben. Ben takes a finlay roll into a top rope Kanda elbow.

Hulk cartwheels through a double lariat. He hits a uranage on Susumu then Hulk reverse axe kicks Susumu. Hulk then legsweeps him into a buzzsaw kick and a standing corkscrew moonsault. Ben backdrops Susumu, who is then axe kicked by Hulk. Susumu hits a stiff lariat on Ben and Ben headbutts him. Ben hits a nice spear then Hulk 2nd rope emerald flowsion's Susumu. Susumu avoids a double team and Ben takes a john woo off the apron. Kanda then tope forearms Ben.

Susumu tries to lariat Hulk onto the top rope but the camera's and Hulk kind of both miss it. Kanda hits a top rope exploder then a canadian destroyer but Hulk just rolls with it and is okay. Kanda hits a nice lariat on Hulk then does another for 2. Susumu hits a yokosuka cutter and wins it.

They just did too much here and it's a shame because it was a rather inspired effort by everyone involved.  The ending stretch of this was really bad with nobody selling anything and Hulk being unable to be put down. 

YAMATO vs. Hiromu Takahashi

They tease each other with handshakes and Yamato shoulders him. Hiromu shoulders him back then headscissors him. Yamato goes under the ring and dropkicks him from behind. They trade chops and Yamato dragon screws him. Yamato footchokes him then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Hiromu then shotgun dropkicks him off the apron.

Hiromu falcon arrows him for 2 and piefaces him. They trade forearms and Yamato single leg dropkicks him. Hiromu sunset bombs him onto chairs outside. They trade forearms and Yamato enzugiri's him. Hiromu hits a lariat for 2 then takes a release northern lights suplex.

They lariat each other and Yamato hits a cradle shock for 2. Yamato enzugiri's and brainbusters him for 2. Hiromu hits Yamato's gallaria then hits a dynamite plunger for 2. Yamato hurricanrana's him for 2 then takes superkicks. Hiromu lariats him for 2 then hits a time bomb 2 to win it.

Anyone who comes here frequently knows I'm not real high on Hiromu and I didn't think this was anything special. It was short for kind of being a bigger interpromotional match. It wasn't bad early but it just ended up going into the big moves later on and wasn't much else.

Open The Triangle Gate Title Match - Natural Vibes (BIG BOSS Shimizu, Jacky Funky Kamei & Kzy) (c) vs. GOLD CLASS (Kota Minoura, Minorita & Naruki Doi)

Doi headlocks Jacky and shoulders him. Jacky hits a nice dropkick on him and they stand off after a headscissors.  Kota shoulders over Kzy then shoulders him over. Minorita helped with it and poses, then is grabbed by BBS. BBS has his foot stepped on but shoulders Minorita over still. BBS flying shoulder tackles two opponents then slams Minorita. BBS stands on Minorita then Jacky jumps on his back to make it worse.

Kzy slingshot sentons Minorita then Minorita hits chops on Kzy. Kzy then euros him down. Minorita takes a basement dropkick to the face and rotation headscissors BBS. Jacky ends up hitting a move on his partner then Minorita does a nice corkscrew dive outside. Doi comes off the 2nd rope and takes a euro from Kzy and hits Doi fives and a brainbuster on Kzy.

Minorita headscissors Kzy into a blackhole slam. Kzy running euros Doi then Jacky is lifted for a stomp flurry on Doi. Jacky does a bulldog off the ropes then Doi is swanton'd and splashed for 2. Minorita does a flatliner then double stomps Jacky for 2. Kota hits a falcon arrow then BBS takes a code red from Minorita. Minorita is popped up into a euro then takes a last ride sitout powerbomb. 

Minorita takes triple top rope attacks. BBS body blocks Doi then is taken over the top rope. Doi facekicks Jacky then Jacky rolls him up for 2. Jacky tornillos to the outside. Kota and Kzy trade forearms and Kzy ddt's him. Kota hits a nice jumping knee then package powerbombs him for 2. Kota hits a fire thunder driver on Kzy and wins it.

It was a fun match and everything you would want out this with some nice dives, a fast pace and some cool spots.

Open The Dream Gate Title Match - Madoka Kikuta (c) vs. Yuki Yoshioka

They shoulder battle and MK knocks him over with one. They evade each others moves and stand off. Yuki goes up and over and takes a hard shoulderblock. MK double chops him and hits a hard corner chop. MK headscissors him then hits a forearm. Yuki hits a dropkick and splashes his legs. Yuki single leg crabs him and MK ropebreaks.

Yuki ties up his legs and they trade forearms. Yuki avoids a butt bump and MK holds his knee. MK suplexes him then hip attacks him off the apron. MK splashes him then sliding butt bumps him. They trade chops and forearms then Yuki suplexes him and takes an emerald flowsion variation out of it. They both forearm each other at the same time and go down.

They lariat each other at the same time multiple times and MK's butt bump is turned into a back suplex. Yuki death valley drivers him then hits a nice orange crush. Yuki hits a stiff flying clothesline then top rope crossbodies him for 2. MK gets his knees up on a top rope frogsplash then hits an electric chair drop.

MK hits lariats and short piledrivers him. Yuki hurricanrana's him and MK lariats him as he's in the air. They then lariat each other. Yuki hots forearms and a headbutt then takes a butt bomp. MK hits another butt bump then spinning lariats him for 2. MK spinning lariats him again and wins it.

Kikuta was stiff as usual and is always a pleasure to watch. Yuki was mostly along for the ride here. Not a classic and the crowd was either not mic'd well or not into it, but it was a good hard-hitting match. The selling could have been better.

Mask vs Mask Five Way Steel Cage Survival Match - Dragon Kid vs. Ultimo Dragon vs. Diamante vs. Shun Skywalker vs. Strong Machine J

UD = Ultimo Dragon, J = Strong Machine J, DK = Dragon Kid, Dia = Diamante

UD is jumped as he enters and everyone starts fighting each other. Dia double lariats UD and DK then Shun lariats J. Diamante and Shun then later UD and J all climb for the mask and get stopped. Dia gorilla presses DK into the cage. Shun and Dia put the star on UD and J after banging their heads together. DK goes for the mask while all are tied up but fails to get it. J is gorilla pressed and has his back thrown into the cage. DK gets all the way up to the top of the cage as Dia rips off UD's mask and pounds him. DK climbs down to help him instead of escaping.

Dia is put on Ultimo's shoulders up top and DK super hurricanrana's Dia. UD then grabs his mask and they let him escape through the door because he's old. The heels (Z-Brats) use this to throw weapons into the cage. DK is beat with a chair and turnbuckle pad by Dia and J is hit with a chair too. A table is then brought in and DK is swung around by his mask by Dia. Natural Vibes then run in and chase off Z-Brats.

Shun stands on a chair that J is under then DK dropkicks Shun while he's on the chair. Shun hits kicks on J and DK then J kicks him and DK tornado ddt's him. J then lariats DK. J single underhook suplexes Dia onto Shun. J goes up, Shun follows and they rip each others masks up. They both fall down then DK hurricanrana's Dia. DK is popped up and climbs the cage. He kicks down Dia then grabs his mask to escape.

J, Shun and Dia are left and J is hit with and choked with chairs. J's mask is ripped up more then Shun facekicks him. J then takes a sandwich chair shot. Shun and Dia climb the cage at the same time. J grabs Shun then Dia ends up helping Shun, with both J and Shun taking hard falls down. Dia is popped up into a splash on J then Shun moonsault double knees a chair into J.

J is double foot choked in the corner. J rams the heels into each other and hits corner attacks. J hits a hard chair shot to Dia's face then Shun hits J with a box as he climbs. J powerbombs Shun through a table then climbs the cage and grabs his mask to escape. 

Shun thinks of letting Dia escape then pulls him down off the top of the cage. Shun beats up Dia with a table piece. Shun throws powder at Dia but misses. Dia hits Shun with the powder then Shun takes a michinoku driver on the chairs. Shun top rope double underhook suplexes Dia. Shun then moonsaults him off the buckles and chairshots him in the head. Shun then climbs the cage and grabs his mask to escape.

Diamante unmasks after and hugs with Ultimo Dragon.  His name is revealed to be Luis, but the rest couldn't really be heard.

The match wasn't that good. It was slower and it went 37 minutes. There weren't many big highlights and it was just a lot of people trying to escape and failing. DK tried to save UD and Diamante tried to save Shunma, but they ended up having to fight. The match wasn't awful, but half of this could have been cut easy and nothing would have been lost.

Overall thoughts: A good show overall from DG. The trios title match was good, the main title match was also good and while not great, the cage match was okay.