Dragon Gate 8/20/2023 Dangerous Gate 2023

Dragon Gate 8/20/2023 Dangerous Gate 2023

I skipped one match here.

Daiki Yanagiuchi, Dragon Dia & Kaito Nagano vs. Natural Vibes (BIG BOSS Shimizu, Kzy & U-T)

UT and Dia start us off. UT kicks him in the gut then they try to dropkick each other at the same time. UT takes a double basement dropkick then Boss double shoulders them. Boss bodyblocks Dia then does a cartwheel and a pose. Boss gets three people on his shoulders and does a triple samoan drop.

Kazy gutbusters Daiki then Daiki takes a triple team ending in a double elbow and basement dropkick. Daiki top rope meteora's Kzy. Kaito botches a srpginboard then Dia hits a cartwheel back elbow on UT. Kaito rolls into a hurricanrana to a top rope seated UT then UT takes a meteora.  Dia armdrags Kzy then we get stereo plancha's outside from Kaito's team. Boss pop-up pounces Daiki then hits a nice sky high for 2. Boss hits a top rope splsh on Daiki and wins it.

It was a fast paced opener with quick action. You got a little taste of each wrestler and not a lot else. There was nothing wrong with this.

Open The Brave Gate Title Match - ISHIN (c) vs. Mochizuki Jr.

Jr pump kicks him to start then hits kicks in the corner. They trade forearms and Jr fosbury flops him outside. Jr hits more kicks then takes a neat looking backdrop. Ishin sliding dropkicks him in the corner. They fight outside and Jr takes a suplex on the floor. Jr then suplexes him on the apron.

They hit running corner moves on each other then Jr hits kicks with one of them being a downward brazilian kick. Ishin superplexes him into a suplex for 2. Jr pumping knees him then spinning corkscrew kicks him. Jr hits a very high german. Ishin hits a forearm flurry then is punched in the face. Ishin backdrops him and Jr hits a sloppy twister brainbuster.

They trade forearms on their knees and Ishin headbutts him. Ishin backdrops him into a chokeslam then does a tazzmission suplex on him. Ishin puts him in the tazzmission/redrum then wins via submission.

They had a lot of sloppy moments here and they rushed towards the end with a sudden finish. This was not good.

Don Fujii, Masaaki Mochizuki & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Ben-K, Strong Machine J & Yuki Yoshioka

Mochi = Mochizuki

Ben wore banana's on his gold chains. Mochi and Yuki start us off and they evade each others moves. J and Don go at it. J hits kicks and forearms then kind of slaps him. J shoulders him over then misses a senton. Don hits an elbow but J was supposed to move on it. They say J's weight and height are unknown, and I think Genki Horiguchi asks, "why don't they just measure him?" in a funny moment.

Ben and Ishii trade forearms. Ben shoulders him and they shoulder battle. Ishii shoulders over Yuki and J and all 3 of Ishii's opponents are down. Ishii takes a 3v1 then Ishii chops him in the seat aisle. Don chokes J with a cord then Don puts Yuki in a WAR special. Ishii and Mochi then also do WAR specials on theur opponents.

Mochi and Yuki chop each other then Yuki dropkicks him. Ishii is pushed into the Don then J powerslams Ishii. Ben drops down and has Don on his shoulder then Yuki dropkicks Don. Ishii germans Ben then Mochi running facekicks Ben. Ishii running lariats Ben for 2. Ishii sliding lariats Ben for 2. Ishii headbutts him then hits a nice spear.

Don lariats Ben then J and Don lariat each other. J flying back elbows Don then Mochi kicks him. Yuki comes off the top and is kicked then Yuki brainbusters Mochi. All six men are down. Mochi back body drops Yuki and J to the floor then running knees Ben. Ben spears Mochi for 2. J and Ben hit stereo spears on their opponents. Yuki goes for a frogsplash but Mochi gets his knees up. Yuki hits forearms on Mochi then Mochi high kicks him. Yuki rolling forearms him then hits a flying lariat for 2.

Ben jackhammers Mochi then J underhook suplexes Mochi. Yuki top rope frogsplashes Mochi and grabs the win.

This didn't really click until the end. The clash of styles and old guys mixing with the faster younger guys was just too hard to work around.

YAMATO vs. Fujita Jr. Hayato

They got to the mat and trade leglocks. Yamato shoulders Hayato over. They trade forearms and Hayato hits chest kicks. Hayato puts a sleeper on him and they trade forearms. Hayata drops him with one and they trade more strikes. Yamato dragon screws him then exploders him for 2. Yamato puts him in a figure four. They trade slaps while its on then Hayato headbutts him. Hayato flatliners him and thits a stiff basement dropkick.

Hayato PK's him on the apron and they trade forearms. Yamato hits a brainbuster then flying single leg dropkicks him. Yamato hits another brainbuster for 2. Hayato germans him then does a running knee. They trade forearms then Hayato hits high kicks. Hayato puts him in a king crab hold then Yamato ties up both of his legs.

They trade forearms and headbutts. Yamato hits triple enzugiri's then hits a galleria for 2.  Yamato grounded chokes him and taps him out.

Hayato had some health issues and is clearly limited right now. Dragon Gate isn't really the place for shoot style wrestling and Yamato isn't my first choice for someone to have in one of those kinds of matches. It started off slow and had some good points in the middle but just wasn't that good. I also didn't like Yamato choking out the shooter here.

Open The Twin Gate Title Three Way Tag Team Elimination Match - M3K (Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda) (c) vs. Natural Vibes (Jacky Funky Kamei & Jason Lee) vs. Z-Brats (H.Y.O & KAI)

SM = Susumu Mochizuki

SM, Lee and Hyo start us off. Hyo slides out and SM nails Lee from behind. Lee cutters SM. Kanda, Jacky and Kai get in. Jacky dropkicks Kai and then pounds on him as he argues with Kanda. Jacky headscissors Kanda then is lifted up into the air and hits some stomps on everyone. SM lariats Lee on the apron then Lee dropkicks SM out. Everyone ends up outside. Lee and SM's heads are banged into each other tne Kai beats up SM in the stands. Hyo sentons Kanda and Jacky off the apron with chairs on top of them.

Hyo does push-ups in the ring and people nearly get counted out. Hyo claws Jacky then Kai ddt's Jacky. Lee tornado ddt's Hyo off of Kai and we get a criss cross and corner attacks. Lee and Jacky hit stereo dropkicks then stereo tope con hilos. Kai double clotheslines Lee and Jacky then Kai takes a double exploder. SM does a yokosuka cutter and turns it into a ddt, which Lee headstands on the sell for. Lee hits a seated senton on Kanda then Kai hits a release wheelbarrow suplex on Lee.

Lots of fast action follows. Hyo grabs a chair and hits people with it then Lee is duct taped to the buckles. and fights off a 2v1. Jacky does a spinning headscissors then is rolled up by Hyo for 2. Jacky is chaired in the back then cradled for the pin. Jacky and Lee are eliminated.

Hyo 2nd rope sentons Kanda for 2. Kanda eye rakes Kai and cradles him. Kai superkicks and enzugiri's him then hits a lariat for 2. Kai cradle schocks Kanda for 2. SM lariats Hyo and Kai. SM is pushed into the ref then Ishin runs in and eye rakes Kanda. Mochi Sr. and Jr. come out to help. Hyo is powerbombed onto Kai on a table but it doesn't break. Kanda then top rope elbows Kai but there's no ref for the pin.

Kanda hits an assisted john woo dropkick then SM lariats Hyo for 2. Ishin trips Kanda from the outside then SM is hit with protein powder in the face. Hyo backdrops SM for 2 then Kanda hits Hyo with the box. SM throws powder in Hyo's eyes then lariats him for 2. SM rubs power in his own eyes for some stupid reason then does a yokosuka spinner for the win.

It went long at 22 minutes. A lot like ladder matches, these suffer a lot of times because the best version of these matches has already been done. It started off and finished kind of slow instead of being the 100MPH scramble that these matches should be. Susumu putting powder in his own eyes was also really stupid because there's no way you can fake that it doesn't irritate your eyes.

Open The Dream Gate Title Match - Madoka Kikuta (c) vs. Kota Minoura

Kota boots him in the gut and Kikuta shoulders him over. Kikuta takes some basement dropkicks then Kota neckbreakers him. Kota steps on his neck then goes for the crossface but Kikuta ropebreaks. Kikuta pump kicks him then slams him. Kikuta headscissors him then hits a big chop. Kikuta butt drops him while he stnds then sitting butt drops him for 2.

Kota flying lariats him then hits a nice release double underhook suplex. Kota crossfaces him. They criss cross each other and avoid moves. Kikuta harlem sidekicks him and legdrops him for 2. Kikuta spinning lariats him and lariats him over the top. Kikuta then running hip attacks him off the apron. Kota water wheel drops him on the apron.

Kota does a backdrop into a neckbreaker then sliding d's him. Kota crossfaces Kikuta then Kikuta does a stiff running hip attack. Kota exploders him into the buckles then Kikuta does a side emerald flowsion. Kota then misdirection running elbows him.

Kikuta collapses as Kota runs the ropes. Kikuta lariats Kota's jumping knee then lariats him. Kikuta hits lariats to the front and back then Kota hits a victory royal. Kota black hole slams him then jumping knees his lariat. Kota hits a falcon arrow for 2. Kota goes for a jumping knee and is buckle bombed out of it. Kikuta straightjacket sitout powerbombs him. Kota rolls him up for 2 then Kikuta hip attacks him. Kikuta lariats him then piledrivers him. Kikuta spinning lariats him and wins it.

It went long and maybe on paper it was going to be great, but it was just average. They needed some big moves here and they just didn't sell this like it was a huge, important match.

Overall thoughts: The main was passable, just not anything that good or memorable. The three-way tag started off and finished slow. I didn't expect much out of Yamato/Hayato and it wasn't much. The trios match with Ishii didn't work due to the older guys not being able to keep up with the pace and the Brave Gate match some sloppiness issues. It was a weak card for a bigger Dragon Gate show, in front of a half-full and somewhat quite crowd and it just did not impress.