Dragon Gate UK : Shingo v Yokosuka 2 DVD Released!

[TNAguy]

So, yeah, where to start with this one really? I may begin at the Travelodge in Harlow when I'd already checked in, had a little dinner at the Toby Carvery and then when I was walking back to my room, I passed a guy in a Beer Money t-shirt and a guy walking behind me was wearing an El Generico mask. Yep, wrestling is going to happen tonight.

 

That guy in the Beer Money t-shirt would be me! Had no idea anyone else was staying at the same place, could have given you a lift mate. Were you also parked next to me in a red car yesterday? I had the white Veterans shirt on...

 

Results from Open the German Gate 2010 (today's DG show in Germany) courtesy of Einstein on the Moonsault.de messageboard.

 

Bad Bones o. Brodie Lee by Ace Crusher

Masato Yoshino o. Emil Sitoci by Sol Naciente

Tommy End o. Dragon Kid by Owari submission hold

Pac o. BxB Hulk by Corkscrew SSP

CIMA o. Mark Haskins by Meteora

Big Van Walter & Susumu Yokosuka o. Shingo & Cyber Kong (Susumu pinned Cyber Kong)

WXW Unified World Title: Zack Sabre Jr

[oaktree500]

See now ive heard he did it in the USA and in germany now...............WHY NO DANCE FOR US? Althought to be honest i was looking forward to see him in is non BxB Hulk persona i saw on the infinity shows a while back. Although i laughed at the bald chants, and his panto style reaction!

 

A friend of mine came with me (a girl who generally likes wrestling) and said BxB showed her not to judge on looks alone, as she said "He looked shit, although at the end of that match............i loved him!".

 

Also, as its been mentioned we also saw CIMA doing a spot of jogging..........and i really wanted to say something, but couldnt think of words! Although a car full of guys went past and did the warrior OOO! Comedy Gold!

[cobystag]

I do believe I was! I ended up driving home from the show yesterday so wouldn't have needed the lift, but thanks for the offer regardless.

 

And I do believe there were a fair few people in that Travelodge, specifically the ROH guys who may or may not have been the ones dicking around at 3am a couple of doors down from me. I didn't mind cos I was still up at that time.

[Tommy!]

I enjoyed both nights and the meet and greet.

 

Night two didn't feel as huge an atmosphere some how, but I wasn't drinking and the place didn't feel as "grand" if you will so it may have been that.

The matches both nights were fun, the post break matches and the last pre break matches on both nights were huge fun I thought and allowed to me really enjoy them with how the other matches before went, hyping me up good. The weekend was what I expected from the hype. I wouldn't want to watch Dragon Gate all the time but I'd go to another show for sure.

Hello to any one and every one I met too.

[Sixteen Degrees]

I do believe I was! I ended up driving home from the show yesterday so wouldn't have needed the lift, but thanks for the offer regardless.

 

And I do believe there were a fair few people in that Travelodge, specifically the ROH guys who may or may not have been the ones dicking around at 3am a couple of doors down from me. I didn't mind cos I was still up at that time.

 

Yeah, all the guys except me were in that Travelodge: I was close enough to home to drive back for the night and save a few quid on a hotel room. Can't guarantee if they still up at 3am though.

 

As for DK vs. Pac, they are definitely having A match soon over the Brave Gate title, hence the post match stuff. Don't know where but it will likely be in the next month or so.

[TNAguy]

Also, as its been mentioned we also saw CIMA doing a spot of jogging..........and i really wanted to say something, but couldnt think of words! Although a car full of guys went past and did the warrior OOO! Comedy Gold!

 

Aha, I saw him when he was just about to start jogging proper like, we sort of pointed at each other (had a DG shirt on) and we both said hello I think. Very strange moment, especially as I was on the way up to the meet and greet to see him and he was going in completely the opposite direction! Also met him at the merch stand on night 1, I looked up and he'd just come out with Dragon Kid and Mochi and wanted to shake my hand. Ah man, great weekend!

 

I do believe I was! I ended up driving home from the show yesterday so wouldn't have needed the lift, but thanks for the offer regardless.

 

And I do believe there were a fair few people in that Travelodge, specifically the ROH guys who may or may not have been the ones dicking around at 3am a couple of doors down from me. I didn't mind cos I was still up at that time.

 

Fair enough man, you could have come in the car on the way to the first show though, could have discussed wrestling, my Dad's not that hot on it.

 

Aha, someone was making loads of noise all night, didn't bother me, I was knackered!

 

EDIT: I tweeted to Cima saying come back next year, he just replied with "Of course!! Uuuu!!". Excitement......

[gadge]

Some thoughts on night 1, the bits in the quotes are C&P from my twitter which had all the results as I said it would, I've then added some more thoughts having had more time to think about things...

 

"All Stars BEAT the LDRS to become NEW IPWUK tag champions in 16:50. Dynamite brainbustered Marty on the apron then Zack was pinned after a double team DDT. I thought the dark match was good but the NOAH 6-man dark match, for example, was definitely better." - I went in expecting a really good match between these two teams, and to be honest I was a bit disappointed with this, as a lot of the Dragon Gate style sequences looked very choreographed and nowhere near as smooth and natural as the DG guys make everything look. The All Stars are great at being despicable heels. The LDRS were IPW:UK heroes when they dethroned the Thrillers for the IPW:UK tag titles. For their second straight IPW:UK tag title match, after the LDRS vs Haskins & Pac main event in Sittingbourne, I watched thinking how it just seemed like I was watching a bunch of spots and it'd be nice if I was really motivated to cheer one team over the other. A shame, and it should be noted the friend of mine who drove me to the show and used to attend IPW:UK quite regularly wasn't impressed at all.

 

"Joey Hayes put up a valiant effort, but Cyber Kong finally murderised him with a lariat and a powerbomb at 8:29" - There was a typo in the matchtime here, which was actually 8:19 if anyone cares. This was fun and told a simple story well, and got Joey into a position where the crowd could appreciate his performance. I liked this.

 

"Mark Haskins beat Lion Kid with a cradle tombstone in 16:30. I thought this was easily the best wrestling match so far." - I probably had an almost unique viewpoint on this one, as I've seen both these guys develop over several years now, and have seen them wrestle loads going right back to the FWA Academy. I've seen them develop their skills in Premier and develop their reputations especially in IPW:UK. I remember a rounds match between them in Premier either 2008 or 2009 that left me desperate to see them in a high profile encounter, and they then had a really good match in IPW:UK in November 2009 that was easily worthy of it's spot as a bonus on last year's Dragon Gate Invasion: UK DVD. What I saw here was the most rounded match I've seen from them yet, and both men should be very proud of their performance. There were, however, two big problems. Firstly, unfortunately, the majority of the crowd simply wasn't prepared to buy into Lion Kid. It's sort of understandable, sadly, as behind the mask this is the same guy who was not ready for the spot he was put in back at the Pro Wrestling NOAH show in 2008. While I personally see how much improved, I know how much effort he's put in since then, and there was literally nothing wrong with his performance here, it seems there's a portion of the crowd who see this small guy, and/or know it's the same guy, and just can't take him seriously. Secondly, the fact he's now a DG regular has turned Haskins into a de facto crowd favourite, especially on shows like this with a heavy travelling fan prescence, even though his bad guy persona is much more effective. With Haskins getting cheers, and no support for the Lion Kid, 16:30 was therefore also probably a bit too long for the match. Still, I really enjoyed it for one and as I said, both guys should be happy with their performance.

 

"SHINGO beat Susumu Yokosuka in 21:18. No clue if it's better or worse than part 1 but it was up there! I will say i was sure SHINGO was winning because Yokosuka won last time, and the match itself never really changed my mind." - Okay, so after that super-in-depth review of Haskins vs Lion Kid, I have a lot less to say about this! Simply because it was, once again, a fantastic match. I still have no clue if it was better or worse than the first match they had, and I probably won't until I get the DVDs of this years shows and can compare. I will re-emphasise the point that, being a rematch, I was convinced SHINGO would get his win back this time, which slightly took the suspense out of the OMG-that-has-to-be-it moments. I'm not sure I liked having Cyber Kong at ringside/messing with Chris Roberts either, as much as it fits with how DG is in Japan. Still, now it's 1-1 that means we need a decider where anyone can win, right??

 

"Naruki Doi pinned YAMATO in 19:36 with Doi 555 followed by the Bakatare sliding kick. Another real good match." - Both of these guys have been featured quite heavily on the Dragon Gate USA shows I've been watching recently, so knowing a lot of their trademark stuff, I was really looking forward to this one, and it delivered. It probably didn't have the emotional investment of the two SHINGO/Yokosuka matches, but it was still really good. One thing this one was perhaps lacking was death moves - no Muscular Bomb from Doi, or Galleria from YAMATO, but I really can't say I blame them! Another match I can't wait to see again on DVD...

 

"PAC pinned Dragon Kid to win the six man main event for World-1 in 20:30. Great stuff. " - This was my match of the night, with everyone looking great. Getting behind the World-1 team was nice and easy, not just because of CIMA wanting to do in PAC in his home country, but also with the connection I've made with BxB Hulk through his DGUSA stuff, and because Yoshino is just cool. CIMA/Kid/Mochizuki made more of the period they had working over members of World-1 and PAC in particular than the equivalent period of last year's six-man, which was good. I had no idea what the hell the thing was Pac used for the finish, but now I see it's a 450 splash with backwards movement, and he's calling it a Flaming Star Press? Yikes. Insane finish.

 

Overall, even though I wouldn't say any of the matches were bad, I think it could be looked at that the matches with the full fledged DG roster clearly surpassed the matches with the UK talent, and that left the show a bit unbalanced - like three proper matches and the Cyber Kong match designed as an opener, and oh here's some UK talent too. Now, while I like my British wrestling, and will continue to support it, I'd be a little less excited about future DG shows in the UK if presented in quite the same fashion. There's room for matcches with UK talent - Jonny Storm and Marty Scurll vs Real Hazard was a lot of fun last year - but it has to be done in the right way...

 

Kinda gutted I couldn't go to St Ives, as it sounds like it might have been an even better show, but seriously, what's with the running places in the middle of nowhere? Here's hoping for a Saturday night at The Regal in Oxford next year. There has to be a next year... RIGHT?

[kostan]

DK vs Pac also took place a few years ago in wXw, they've had two matches (one in Germany and one in Japan) during which they've traded the wXw lightweight title.

[xdaviex]

Night 1 was exellent, my first dg experience and I loved it, cant wait for it to come back.

 

Some thoughts..

 

- Yokosuka/shingo was my favourite match of the night, I always thought shingo would win but that didnt take anything away from the match.

 

- Really enjoyed the 6 man tag, Pac's new finisher is insane!

 

- Masaaki Mochizuki is awesome, I'll admit when he was announced I was like "cool, hes good but would rather gamma" but since watching the past few infinity shows and watching him on friday, I'm now glad he was over here instead, his kicks are brutal.

 

Thanks mark and the rest of the team for a great show, infact it was so enjoyable that if the next show is around the same time its gonna feel like years away from now. Maybe have 2 shows a year eh? One can dream

[rubbafish]

Really enjoyed last night with the exceptions of some bells in the crowd although there were some class chants as well. I really liked the venue too. Didn't get too many great pictures from where I was sat but here are a few I liked

 

 

 

[SpiralTap]

I honestly thought Cima was running away, he strikes me as the kinda guy that given the opportunity would make a random break for freedom.

 

Agreed Yokosuka was the standout guy on this tour, as much as I loved the lariats vs kicks aspect on night 2, the exploder war on night 1 wins it for me.

[Snitsky's back acne]

Results from Oberhausen tonight....

 

Tommy End beat Dragon Kid

 

Masato Yoshino defeated Emil Sitoci

 

Bad Bones pinned USA's Brodie Lee

 

Pac beat BxB Hulk

 

Cima defeated Mark Haskins

 

Big Van Walter and Susumu Yokosuka beat Shingo and Cyber Kong

 

Zack Sabre Jr defeated Masaaki Mochizuki

 

Yamato defeated Naruki Doi

[Magnum Milano]

Results from Oberhausen tonight....

 

Tommy End beat Dragon Kid

 

Masato Yoshino defeated Emil Sitoci

 

Bad Bones pinned USA's Brodie Lee

 

Pac beat BxB Hulk

 

Cima defeated Mark Haskins

 

Big Van Walter and Susumu Yokosuka beat Shingo and Cyber Kong

 

Zack Sabre Jr defeated Masaaki Mochizuki

 

Yamato defeated Naruki Doi

...for those of you that may have missed them on the previous page, or failed to see them again when they were posted in a quote at the top of this page...

[nate]

I went to night 1 and wanted to say a big thanks to Mark and everyone involved because it was an excellent show. The atmosphere was great all night long and I enjoyed every match I saw. I just hope they come back next year.

[lightningxlock]

Any news on when the DVD's are out? I sure hope it's ASAP seeing as I couldn't attend