Dragon Gate 9/24/2023 Storm Gate 2023 Day 12

Dragon Gate 9/24/2023 Storm Gate 2023 Day 12 

They have Don Fuji and another wrestler on commentary here but it's mic'd so poorly that you would think it's just fans talking. You can't hear them at all. They also only showed them on screen once or twice here.

Don Fujii, Kagetora & TN Revolucion vs. D'courage (Dragon Dia & Madoka Kikuta) & Ryoya Tanaka

RT = Ryoya Tanaka

Dia and Kage trade wristlocks. Kage headlock takeovers him then Dia armdrags and single leg dropkicks him. TN double axe handles Dia. TN flips out of the corner and back body drops Dia over the top. TN shoulders over RT then Kikuta and Fuji get in.

Kikuta shoulders him over. Fuji hits chops then is chopped down. RT chops Fuji and takes a forearm. Fuji hits some straight punches then headlock punches him. Kage slingshot elbows RT.

TN and RT trade forearms. TN back elbows him, kicks him in the back then oddly rolls out in pain. Kage rakes RT's face and TN is clearly hurt outside. Fuji rakes RT's face with his wrist tape then drops him throat first on the ropes. Fuji kicks him in the back.

RT chops Fuji then is dropped with a slap. Fuji tries to kick Dia over the top rope and is leg is pulled down over the top. RT dropkicks Fuji in the knee. Kikuta and Kage get in. Dia cartwheel back elbows Kage then Kikuta side kicks him. Kikuta hits a legdrop and Dia standing ssp's Kage.  

Kage flying lariats RT. Fuji flips Dia with a lariat then throws him out. Kikuta hip attacks Fuji then is thrown out by Kage. RT wraps around Kage and cradles him. RT dropkicks Kage then Kage legsweeps and shotei's him. Kage then hits an abdominal stretch driver.

TN got injured here, oddly after booting Tanaka in the shoulder. They did a really good job of covering it up though as he just rolled outside an the match continued on. They did the best they could with the situation and it was an okay opener despite someone getting injured.

Dragon Kid & Takashi Yoshida vs. Mondai Ryu & YAMATO

Yoshida and Ryu go at it. Ryu hits chops that don't hurt him then eye rakes him. Yoshida shoulders him over. Kid and Yamato go at it. Yamato shoulders him overKid hurricanrana's him off the 2nd rope. Yoshida boots Ryu and falls over during it making everyone laugh. Yoshida chops Ryu in the head and claws him.

Kid knee drops Ryu then handstands into a knee drop. Kid puts Ryu in an indian deathlock and stomps him. They trade forearms and Ryu flying neckbreakers him. Yamato flying single leg dropkicks Yoshida then Yamato suplexes him. Kid gets tripped into the middle rope and is leg lariated by Ryu. Yamato brainbusters Kid for 2 then Yoshida accientally elbow drops him.

Yoshida uppercuts both opponents several times then chops both. Kid 619's Yamato in the back of the neck then 2nd rope moonsaults him outside. Yoshida enzugiri's Ryu then running lariats him for the win.

It didn't look like a good one on paper and it wasn't. Kid was really the only person with a few highlights here. 

Ryu Fuda vs. ISHIN

Fuda blasts him with a kick as he enters then kicks him while he's seated in the corner. Fuda runs the ropes and Ishin falls down on his face. Fuda hits kicks to the chest and back then step up enzugiri's him. Fuda PK's him for 2.

Fuda hits kicks to the chest and then one in the back. Fuda top rope dropkicks him for 2. Ishin gets some shots in then Fuda flying chest kicks him. Fuda puts Ishin's arm behind his head and knees him. Fuda slaps him and Ishin puts the ref in the way. Ishin kicks him in the crotch then cradles him to win it.

It only went about 2 minutes here. Fuda got all of the offense in minus the kick in the crotch, which pinned him.

Open The Triangle Gate Title Tournament First Round Match - Natural Vibes (Kzy, Strong Machine J & U-T) vs. GOLD CLASS (Ben-K, Kota Minoura & Naruki Doi)

J shoulders over Ben then headbutts him. Ben shoulders him over. UT and Kota go at it and UT armdrags him. They cris cross and UT hurricanrana's him. Kzy and Doi trade forearms. Doi face kicks him then Kzy running euros him.

Doi is tripped and takes a baseball slide to the face. UT grounds Doi with an armlock and chinlock in what seems to be a blown spot. J punches Doi then back elbows him. J corner lariats Doi then Doi dropkicks him in the knee. Kota gets in and double underhook suplexes Kzy. They trade forearms and Kota water wheel drops him.

Ben does a gutbuster on his shoulder to Kzy and Kota basement dropkicks Kzy. J corner lariats and corner dropkicks Doi and Ben then powerslams Ben. Kzy hits a nice corner spear on Ben then J single leg dropkicks him. Kota then takes a triple attack for 2. Kzy gets pushed off the top then Kota black hole slams UT. Kota sliding lariats UT for 2.

UT is sent into a Ben lariat for 2. Kota flying lariats J then Doi and UT try pins on each other. Kota hits a nice spear on UT for 2. UT rolls up Kota for 2. Doi hits Doi fives on UT and then sliding knees him to win it.

It was okay. The flow wasn't the best here and they didn't do anything too crazy. It was super hard to tell Ben and Kota apart here with the camera being further away and both having similar bodies and looks.

Open The Triangle Gate Title Tournament First Round Match - Z-Brats (H.Y.O, KAI & Shun Skywalker) vs. M3K (Mochizuki Jr., Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda)

Jr and Shun start us off. Jr is nailed from behind and triple teamed. Jr takes a double back elbow and a standing moonsault double knee from Shun. Kanda and Susumu are whipped into each other, do a dosey do then corner forearms. Hyo takes a snapmar into a slingshot elbow.

Susumu chinlocks Hyo. Kanda and Hyo chop each other then Kanda flying forearms him. Jr hits kicks on Hyo then Hyo leg lariats him. Kai uses a chair on Kanda and Shun throws a chair on Jr. They brawl around the arena and Susumu throws Hyo into a door. Hyo dropkicks Jr back in the ring.

Shun stomps Jr then whips him with something. Shun pump kicks Jr then kicks him in the gut. Shun chops Jr then Jr suplexes him. Susumu and Kai go at it and Susumu epxloders him. Kanda john woos Hyo then Susumu lariats Hyo. Shun takes double clubs to the back then Shun kicks all 3 opponents. Shun hits a tiger driver variation on Susumu. Kai lariats Susumu for 2.

Hyo is pushed off the 2nd rope then Shun is pushed off the top rope. Kai is pulled over the top then Susumu sends Hyo into the door again as everyone fights outside. Jr tries to get in, Ishin grabs him then Ryu Fuda comes out and face kicks then beats up Ishin. We then go to a double countout in true M2K/M3K fashion. Ishin and Fuda trade forearms outside.

I would have liked to have seen a winner here. It was just average for the most part. The brawling around the ring wasted a lot of time and wasn't that good. I thought they could have also maybe pushed Ishin/Fuda more during this since they were an important part of the finish here.

BIG BOSS Shimizu vs. Yuki Yoshioka

Boss running shoulders Yuki to start. They trade forearms and Yuki dropkicks him. Boss shoulders him over then hits stands on his gut. Boss slams him and cranks his neck. Boss misses a corner splash then Yuki backdrops him. They trade chops. Yuki clips him and double knee drops him.

Yuki legdrops him over the back of the neck then grounded sleepers him. Yuki stands on Boss' neck. Boss boots him from the corner then misses a 2nd rope move. Boss flying shoulders him. Yuki gets caught off the 2nd rope then takes a fallaway slam. Boss splashes him.

Boss hits a nice sky high. Yuki hurricanrana's him then dropkicks him. Boss powerslams him and Yuki death valley drivers him back. Boss hits a nice uranage. Yuki blocks a sky high then sliding lariats him. Yuki suplexes him then hits a spinning forearm for 2. Yuki misses a top rope splash and Boss hits a la magistral for 2.

Yuki flying lariats Boss then jumps up and is lariated. Boss hits another lariat for 2. Yuki tries to hurricanrana out of a chokeslam but is just powerbombed. Boss then chokeslams him and wins it.

I've never really gotten why Dragon Gate pushes and uses Yuki like a heavyweight. Maybe he technically is, but he doesn't look  it and it's weird seeing him basically go toe to toe with a true heavy like Boss here. They had a high impact, heavyweight match here. I thought it would have been better if Boss had put Yuki in the sleeper instead of the other way around and if Yuki had to be the face here. I did like most of this though and I'd give it a positive rating, just it could have been a little better.

Overall thoughts: The opener had an injury during the match, but they covered it well. The 2nd match wasn't good. Ishin and Fuda had an entertaining 2 minutes with a bad finish. The Natural Vibes tag was okay and the M3K was average with a dirty finish. The main was a good heavyweight match with Yoshioka, who I wouldn't consider a heavyweight. This was one was really all over the place here with a crowd who wasn't that interested until the main event. There was also commentary but the sound was so low that you couldn't hear it. I wouldn't recommend this but having a decent main often does make the other issues on the show seem like less of a problem.