Dragon Gate 3/2/2024 The Gate of Nostalgia 2024

Dragon Gate 3/2/2024 The Gate of Nostalgia 2024

Natural Vibes (Jacky Funky Kamei, Punch Tominaga & U-T) vs. MASQUERADE (Dragon Dia, Jason Lee & Kota Minoura)

Jason and Jacky go at it. They trade wristlocks then side headlock takeovers. UT and Kota go at it. UT crucifixes him then shoulders him over. Punch takes a double facebuster then a group basement dropkick. Dia standing moonsaults Punch for 2 then they trade forearms. Punch limbos out of a flying lariat.  then Jacky hits a nice dropkick on Dia.

Dia takes a triple team with a basement dropkick and a Punch headbutt drop. Jason avoids a double team then tornado ddt's UT. Jason rewind kicks UT then takes a slingshot headbutt from Punch.

Jason takes corner moves then Jacky hits his kung fu kicks on him. Punch is then catapulted into a headbutt on Jason. Punch goes for another slingshot headbutt but Kota basement dropkicks him. Dia handsping back elbows Punch then pushes Kota into a spinning backbreaker on Punch. Kota double underhook suplexes Punch for 2.

Punch takes a triple team for 2. UT is lifted up for a neckbreaker by Kota then Jason plancha's Jacky outside. Dia diving ddt's Punch and wins it.

It was a short trios match here. Nothing wrong with it as we got some creative spots 

Super Florida Brothers (Jackson Florida & Johnson Florida) vs. Renaissance (Don Fujii & Yasushi Kanda)

The finish

Jackson is using a cane in the ring and Kanda questions it. Johnson says Jackson's right leg is unusable, so it should be allowed. Jackson gets in the ring with his cane andtrips, flaling into the ropes and losing it. Jackson tries to stab Kanda with the cane but can't. Don chops Jackson then headlocks him. Jackson uses the cane to ropebreak.

Don leglocks the good leg of Jackson then Jackson hits him with the cane. Kanda armwringers Jackson with the cane and Johnson tags in. Johnson headlock takeovers him and loses his mask, revealing himself as Yagi.

Johnson puts the mask back on. Johnson takes a double back elbow. Don chops Johnson and they trade chest shots. Kanda eye rakes Johnson then Johnson lariats him. Jackson tries a running corner move on Kanda but falls out of the ring due to his leg. Johnson sentons Kanda. Jackson has a spotlight put on him as he goes up top and he misses a dive on Kanda. Kanda figure fours Jackson and Johnson breaks it up.

Johnson and the ref fight over a chair then Johnson sends Kanda into the ref. Johnson chairs Kanda and pretends Kanda hit him with it. Johnson tries to get the ref up then Kanda pretends to be hit with the chair. Don tries to grab the chair from Johnson, Johnson puts the chair on his head and the ref sees it. Don is DQ'd and the Florida Brothers win.

It was all comedy as expected. 

Real Hazard (Cyber Kong, Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. Dia.HEARTS (BxB Hulk, Dragon Kid & Masaaki Mochizuki)

Ryo and Mochi go at it. Ryo shoulders him over. Kong takes a double back elbow then hits a double suplex on Mochi and Hulk. The wrestlers all fight in the crowd. Back in the ring, Ryo put his chewing gum in Hulk's face. Kong corner lariats Kid, putthimg on the top rope with it.

Kong throws Kid off the top then throws him on a backdrop. Ryo chopes Kid with a whip then Kid takes a sequence that ends in a baseball slide. Kid is held up in the air for a Kong splash. Kid tilt-a-whirl armdrags Genki and Hulk cartwheels through a double clothesline. Hulk flatliners Ryo then Kong double lariats Hulk and Mochi.

Mochi hits kicks on Ryo then Ryo fisherman suplexes him. Ryo pops up Kid into a german then Genki tornado ddt's Kid. Kong running lariats Kid then Ryo hits a double cross straightjacket sitout dominator on Kid. Genki mists Ryo on accident then Kid 2nd rope moonsaults Genki outside. Hulk kick combos Ryo then Ryo is double superkicked by Hulk and Mochi for the loss. Hulk pins Ryo.

It was kind of a slower trios match. They tried to go fast but they just couldn't for the most part. It was fine for what it was but they didn't do their bigger offense here.

MaxiMuM (Ben-K & Big R Shimizu) vs. D'Courage (Madoka Kikuta & Ryoya Tanaka)

Kikuta slaps Big R and they shoulder battle. They mess with each others hair then Big R flying shoulders him. Ben and RT go at it. RT armdrags him then flying headscissors and dropkicks him. Ben shoulders him over then RT takes a double shoulderblock. Big R stands on RT then Ben and Big R take turns slamming RT.

Big R works RT's neck and RT takes a double team. Ben swinging gutbusters RT for 2. Big R misses a corner splash then RT runs up the buckles and twisting crossbodies him. Kikuta shoulders over Ben then back body drops Big R.

Ben and Kikuta trade forearms. Kikuta suplexes Ben then Big R hits a double flying shoulder on his opponents. Big R 2nd rope shoulderblocks RT. RT takes a back body drop and Big R splashes him.

Ben hits a stiff top rope dropkick on RT for 2. Kikuta fights off both opponents and takes a double shoulder. Kikuta gets suplexed and RT takes a fallaway slam. Ben karelin's lifts RT off a tornado ddt attempt. Ben running lariats RT.

RT gets out of Big R's shotput chokeslam. Kikuts and Big R lariat each other at the same time and Big R body blocks him. Kikuta hits an emerald flowsion then RT springboard swantons him. RT goes up top and is pushed off the top by Z-Brats. They then call this a no contest.

It was an interesting heavyweight style match and it's too bad we didn't get a finish on it. RT has gotten a lot better and gives me Shota Umino vibes. 

Z-Brats gets on the mic after. RT said Ishin ruined what was going to be a win for them. He said he will have to beat Ishin tomorrow.

Big Hug (Hyo & Luis Mante) vs. Jimmyz (Jimmy Kagetora & Jimmy Susumu)

Hyo looks like a completely different person than he used to with a new hairstyle, suspenders and long pants. Hyo and Kage trade wristlocks. Hyo hits a double chop. JS hits a lariat on Luis then back body drops him.

JS hits corner spears on Hyo then knees him. Kage slingshot elbow drops Hyo for 2. Hyo flying leg lariats Kage and Kage is beat up on some. Hyo sentons Kage then does push-ups and poses. Kag hits a flying lariat on Hyo.

JS and Luis go at it. JS exploders him and Luis back body drops him. Luis tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Luis throws Hyo into a headscissors on JS. JS takes a double splash twice.

Kage fights off a double team and step up enzugiri's Hyo. Hyo takes a 2nd rope exploder into a top rope elbow drop. Luis and JS trade chest slaps. Luis face kicks him then takes a lariat. JS lariats Hyo.Hyo takes shots from both then a yokosuka flatliner for 2. JS hits a jumbo no kachi lariat on Hyo and wins it.

It was a shorter tag and nothing too special. It had a slower pace to it that didn't really pick up until the finish.

Susumu gets on the mic after and talks about wanting Luis' title. Luis says good luck to him. Kanda gets on the mic and said he's ready for the match tomorrow. Hyo said today's results don't matter and he's going on the hunt tomorrow.

All of the former Jimmy'z, minus CIMA then do their dance together and pose.

Five On Four Handicap Match - Gianni Valletta & Z-Brats (ISHIN, KAI & Shun Skywalker) vs. MAD BLANKEY (Kzy, Mondai Ryu, Naruki Doi, Punch Tominaga & YAMATO)

The heels attack before this starts. Everyone fights outside and both teams get counted out. Kai says bye bye and says everyone should go home. Yamato said everyone here came to see Mad Blankey and the match restarts as Mad Blankey attacks.

They go back into the crowd and fight. Doi chokes Shun with a chair and Gianni goes into the post. Ishin takes a 5 person low dropkick. Punh hits people with a box then dropkicks it into Gianni's face. Punch asai moonsaults outside.

Yamato baseball slides Punch when Ishin moves. Punch is pulled crotch first into the post then Shun beats up on Punch. Punch and Shun slap each other then Shun eye rakes him. Punch ducks a pump kick then hits his own face kick.

Kzy criss crosses Ishin and forearms him off of it. Yamato does a nice single leg dropkick on Kai. Gianni takes a double dropkick to the knee and a running euro from Kzy. Kzy grabs Ishin and Kai by the crotch then grabs Shun's crotch with his mouth in a gross moment.

Ryu tries to low blow Ishin and fails, then Ishin throws Ryu's foot into the ref. Ishin then throws the ref into Ryu. Kai lariats Ryu. Don Fuji comes out as a member of Mad Blankey and beats up the Z-Brats crew. This makes this a 6-4. Don lariats his partners on accident then runs off on his own/gets booted out. Ishin brainbusters Punch. Ishin gets hit with a box and salt. Doi sliding kicks Ishin then Yamato hits gallaria on Ishin.

Gianni bites and lariats Yamato. He bangs Doi and Kzy's heads together and double lariats them. Gianni hits a double claw slam then a knee drop for the win.

Gianni chokes Punch with a chain after then beats up people who try to help.

The match was chaotic from start to finish and technically, there were two matches here as the first one ended up in a double countout a minute in. There were throwsbacks to the various factions here and Don Fuji getting involved was fun. It was nonsense though with ref bumps, weapons usage, interference and more people being added to the mathc.

Shun's team is given a years worth of insect repellant for winning and they beat up the sponsor who gave it to them.

Overall thoughts: This was a pretty neat and rare concept show in wrestling. Dragon Gate/Toryumon has been around a long time and has its own history with the various factions and wrestlers. They were able to capitalize on it here by bringing back old groups and gimmicks. It's a cool idea. I wish they would have done it 10 years sooner though when some of the original and universally loved factions like M2K, Do Fixer and Crazy Max could have been uninvolved. Interestingly, M2K's original core is still enact and doing M3K, but for some reason, they didn't do do M2K on this show. 

As for the wrestling, it was mostly average all around. There was nothing must see here and there was a lot of comedy and cheating. I don't think people who don't follow Dragon Gate too much would like this but I'm sure hardcore Dragon Gate fans would enjoy this though.