The Dragon Gate thread

[[nothing]]

I'll will be starting my voyage into Dragon Gate discovery at the start of next week, so all is good. However, I noticed this little bit of news and it made me a little bit sad.

CIMA announced today that he would be leaving Dragon

[JFFC]

Think his change was just a natural progression whilst with Crazy Max in that CIMA sounds cooler then Shiima Nobunga, also fits in with the other Crazy Max names (TARU, SUWA, JUN and errm, Don Fuji)Why CIMA would think DG doesent need him concerns me a bit, hes out and out their top draw and easily one of the most consistent in DG, what the young guys do need is someone like CIMA whose been around a while to guide them in the right direction, not jetting off to Mehico

[Gwailofilms]

,May 12 2005, 10:10] voyage into Dragon Gate discovery

Sounds like a combined PPV with NOAH.

[Carbomb]

Think his change was just a natural progression whilst with Crazy Max in that CIMA sounds cooler then Shiima Nobunga, also fits in with the other Crazy Max names (TARU, SUWA, JUN and errm, Don Fuji)Why CIMA would think DG doesent need him concerns me a bit, hes out and out their top draw and easily one of the most consistent in DG, what the young guys do need is someone like CIMA whose been around a while to guide them in the right direction, not jetting off to Mehico

As I understand it, it was when he made his debut in the US, and people didn't really get his name, so he changed it to CIMA to make it easier to remember.

[masstransit]

Think his change was just a natural progression whilst with Crazy Max in that CIMA sounds cooler then Shiima Nobunga, also fits in with the other Crazy Max names (TARU, SUWA, JUN and errm, Don Fuji)Why CIMA would think DG doesent need him concerns me a bit, hes out and out their top draw and easily one of the most consistent in DG, what the young guys do need is someone like CIMA whose been around a while to guide them in the right direction, not jetting off to Mehico

As I understand it, it was when he made his debut in the US, and people didn't really get his name, so he changed it to CIMA to make it easier to remember.

Wasn't Shima Nobunga the Tennage Mutant Ninja Turtles catchphrase ?

Why CIMA would think DG doesent need him concerns me a bit, hes out and out their top draw and easily one of the most consistent in DG, what the young guys do need is someone like CIMA whose been around a while to guide them in the right direction, not jetting off to Mehico 

You know a lot more than me and this makes little or no sense to me at all. Could there be more than meets the eye to this ?

[Spatular]

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.Fuck. Six months in Mexico my arse. I'll eat the hat of your choice if he's not in Korakuen hall on July 19th.

[JLM]

 

CIMA can't leave as well, this is horrible.

 

I finally finished 2004 last night anyway..

 

Infinity 9

 

1. Florida Brothers vs. Genki Horiguchi, Stalker Ichikawa

 

FloBro are funny, Genki rocks, everyone walks all over Stalker (literally at times).

 

 

2. Magnum TOKYO, Naoki Tanisaki vs. Milano Collection AT, YOSSINO

3. Naoki Tanisaki vs. Shingo Takagi

 

Naoki's still being a prick, great stuff. He doesn't like Shingo, oh no he doesn't. Their singles match is really good fun, nice little feud that.

 

4. Second Doi, HenoHeno Mask vs. Touru Owashi, Shogo Takagi

 

JET! JET! JET! JET! Ooooooooouuuuuw JET! Yeah, he's a grower. Owashi is in furious rage again. Am I the only one who began to feel really sorry for Owashi during this feud? He's just going about his angry tubby business and bastard Araken feels the need to sabotage everything he does because he lost a match to him. Owashi's the babyface here in my view.

 

5. Hair vs. Hair

Takuya Sugawara vs. Anthony W. Mori

 

Hatred, violence and trimming~! Takuya does another fake reconciliation, Antony is an utter moron. Takuya beats him savagely. Heheh.

 

6. K-ness, Susumu Yokosuka, Araken vs. Milano Collection AT, YOSSINO, Anthony W. Mori

 

Agh, I can't remember this. I'm sure it was quite good.

 

7. K-ness, Susumu Yokosuka vs. Don Fujii, CIMA

 

The end of CrazyMAX. Seriously, the people could have come up with more streamers than this. Best faction ever, 7 years and this is their send off? Bah. They win, everyone in the arena does Crazy Fucking. I'm disappointed.

 

8. Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki

 

This was cracking stuff. Mochi doing his veteran thing, Shingo being fiery and growing in confidence with every match. Mochi busts out the Schwein to piss of CIMA. Takagi fights valiantly but is put away following a Twister. I liked it.

 

9. Second Doi, Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Don Fujii, CIMA

 

See now this... this is where they should have done the final CMAX show. To paraphrase a classic, this is CrazyMAX country. Absolute truckload of streamers for Fuji and CIMA, big cheers for everything they do... feel the love. They lose mind.

 

December PPV

 

[n]1. K-ness, Second Doi vs Shingo Takagi, Don Fujii[/b]

 

A very solid and enjoyable opener. Another spirited performance from Shingo, definitely an instant hit and a tough act to follow for Tozawa and Hulk. The plucky and increasingly mulleted one eventually goes down to the Doi 555 after surprisingly kicking out of the Bakatare sliding kick.

 

 

2. HenoHeno Mask, Susumu Yokosuka Touru Owashi, Shogo Takagi

 

So I'm rooting for Owashi by this point. Jet does the punch flurry, Owashi looks quite impressed and tells him to do it again.

 

Shogo actually carries a lot of this match and is really quite good, could still do with a few more moves in his arsenal but he's definitely more convincing than he used to be. Owashi rips off the HenoHeno mask and.. OH MY GOD... it's Araken. He gets the spit in the face then falls victim to a schoolboy. Why do the good guys always get the beer face?

 

3. Hair vs. Mask

Magnum TOKYO, Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito Michael Iwasa, Daniel Mishima, Kensuke Sasaki, Johnson Florida

 

Oh man this was great, I was really looking forward to it and it didn't disappoint. Big grand arena-wide entrance for FloXpress complete with new music. Akira Hokuto is Florida'd up too .

 

This is packed with top notch shenanigans. Magu being a pussy and the other DF members getting angry. Everyone failing to hurt Kenskee, Magu causing Kid to be crotched on the top rope and Kid giving him an earful. And this is all discounting the FloXpress brilliance.

 

One tremendous spot that had me laughing was the use of the biggest ever FloBro barrier. All four members set up the invisible wall. DF walk into it as one, then they have the ingenious plan of boosting Kid up and vaulting him over it. It works, he's in..... and outnumbered four to one. Cue Kid banging on the barrier trying to get out then receiving a four man stomping. Brilliant, just brilliant.

 

The DF boys manage to out-trick the tricksters in the end, catching Kensuke with a massive amount of deadly eye powder and pinning him with a pile on four man schoolboy roll up. Post-match Danny and Michael get their heads shaved and Johnson unmasks to reveal that he's Bakery Yagi.. no one is surprised obviously. He also says he has a loop hole, the stip was three shaved heads and one unmasking. He then shaves his own head and thus argues that Kenskee doesn't have to. After some thought Kenskee decides to honour the stip anyway and shaves his head. Then they do a big soppy make up/thank you thing and Kenskee credits joining FloBro as being key to his wrestling revival in 2004. Aww.

 

Then..THEN.. Stalker Ishikawa's music hits and we brace ourselves for another Hokuto/Stalker match. However, everyone has pretty much left and, as such, they start the interval music and dim the lights on the poor bastard mid way through his promo. Heheheheh. They were really spot on with the comedy on this show.

 

4. Open the Triangle Gate

Milano Collection AT, YOSSINO, Anthony W. Mori vs Shuji Kondo, Takuya Sugawara, brother YASSHI

 

YASSHI has a kewl new look complete with new long braids that he can whip people with. He just gets better and better. He also spends the duration of everyone else's introduction getting his hand all pubed and sweated up ready to blow in the opponents' faces in time for his own intro. Awesome.

 

Oh yeah, there's also a match, it's really rather good. Kondo brings the power, Takuya despises Antony, YASSHI is a dick. Yossino is ludicrously fast again, Milano always looks like the likely match winner and Antony does his spirited weakling act. Okamura interjects himself.. I don't like him being involved so much . YASSHi goes down to the Italian Revolution suplex. V1 for ItaConne, good stuff. Final M2K come out post match and make themselves the next challengers.

 

5. Open the Dream Gate

Masaaki Mochizuki vs CIMA

 

CIMA is all about the big matches. I love how they make these matches a big formal occasion with the anthem playing and so forth, makes it seem special. Twenty two minutes of intense and hard hitting action, with CIMA having the upper hand for a lot of it. I think they cross the line into finisher overkill a bit though, Susumu vs CIMA beats this match quite easily for me, but that's not to say it wasn't good. Still a gripping main event with a definite main event aura about it, it's just that Susumu's challenge had more story behind it and Susumu is just so damn good... he made me want him to win so very badly.

 

After much finishering (including many Venus strikes, a Goriconoclasm, mad splash, dragon suplex hold, twister and more), Mochi gets the huge win with a True Saikyou high kick which, fairness, appears to cave CIMA's face in. The crowd seemed quite split on this so a win either way would prove fairly popular. Mochi has issues with the lock on the front of the belt.. then he is presented and celebrates and does his closing MC etc. No one leaves during it like they did for Magu's, which is a good sign.

 

 

So, December done and thus 2004 done. I have to agree with Spatular that the months after the take over were generally great. Aagan Iisou vs CrazyMAX lit up 2004 for me which is why it's doubly sad to see many of those involved in the feud leaving.

 

CIMA vs Susumu probably takes my MOTY honours, Shingo is a very very promising talent, Second Doi's performances throughout are starting to show how good he can be. The Florida Brothers have been consistently great since their debut, I haven't come close to getting tired of them yet, long may they reign. Naoki Tanisaki has been really entertaining despite having a horrible lack of success, his match with Genki still stands out in my mind and I really enjoyed his angry dickishness towards the end of the year. Kid winning ENU wasn't popular with me, and as predicted he's done a fat load of nothing since taking the honours. Rey de Parejas was outstanding, showcased multiman tags at their very highest standard, not a bad match in the tournament that I saw.

 

The fall out from the take over and all the departures have put quite a dampener on a year that, in my opinion, has produced some really good TV and some quality PPV matches.

[BurningHammer]

Think his change was just a natural progression whilst with Crazy Max in that CIMA sounds cooler then Shiima Nobunga, also fits in with the other Crazy Max names (TARU, SUWA, JUN and errm, Don Fuji)Why CIMA would think DG doesent need him concerns me a bit, hes out and out their top draw and easily one of the most consistent in DG, what the young guys do need is someone like CIMA whose been around a while to guide them in the right direction, not jetting off to Mehico

As I understand it, it was when he made his debut in the US, and people didn't really get his name, so he changed it to CIMA to make it easier to remember.

He used the Shiima Nobunaga name after his matches in WCW. Crazy Max renamed themselves after Toryumon was up and running for a while.

[BurningHammer]

From Jae's C-MAX History at Dragon Gate USA:

 

August 1999: Nobunaga changes his name to SHIIMA, then CIMA soonafter, Suwa becomes SUWA, and Fuji, sad he could not be named SUMO, becomes Sumo Dandy Fuji.

[Guest JPaCyN]

*WARNING: Angry rant coming.* Dragon Gate is really the only Japan fed I follow, and I've grown really attached to it - I read the DG USA site religiously and have stocked up on tons of DVDs from the earliest Toryumon era to now. But that said, other than Tenryu's appearance (which is really, REALLY cool), all these new developments are GIGANTIC steps backwards for the company. First, there's the continued presense of Nakajima, who does NOT fucking belong in junior-oriented feds, and now they're not only sacrificing one of their top uppercarders to fucking TAKA Michinoku, who looks like (and by all accounts is wrestling like) shit lately, they're going to headline the World show with TAKA vs. Mochizuki, who's rapidly reaching Shinzaki levels of laziness. Joy of joys. And now CIMA's leaving - even though CIMA has had a really reduced role the past couple of month, he is STILL their undisputed ace and is the closest thing to a deathblow the company can sustain at this point- with their #1 and #3 aces (CIMA and Milano AT) both gone, leaving it to Magnum (as much as I love his schtick) and Mochizuki to carry the company until Ryo, Yoshino and Doi turn into true ME guys is gonna be really rough going.

[Carbomb]

Has TAKA gone shit recently? Damn - my second favourite Japanese wrestler too. I'd have thought he'd fit perfectly in a fed like Dragon Gate.Ah well.

[Spatular]

Hmm. Well, it sucks a lot, but I'm not quite that pessimistic.It's a huge, huge blow, obviously. But they can survive without him. Maybe not at the same level, but they can survive.Six or so years ago, CIMA was a nobody. All of the guys CIMA mentioned as having the potential to 'step up' are bigger names now than he was then. If they play their cards right, scale back if necessary, pick the right guy to throw their weight behind and book him like they have a pair, then their problems are temporary. (My first pick would be Genki, followed by Yoshino and then Kid and K-Ness. Ryo and Susumu are great but top draw material they ain't.)Am I being naive in thinking that TAKA vs Susumu isn't a forgone conclusion? TAKA's not exactly well-off for challengers himself...Nakajima I can take or leave. As far as his DG matches go, I've still only seen the Ultimo and Mochi matches from 2004, and I liked them well enough. He's not a perfect fit but at least he's going to try hard and look OK and not overshadow any of the homegrown guys. Plus, he's freelance, and can therefore do jobs. I've no objection to him being around.Edit:

Has TAKA gone shit recently? Damn - my second favourite Japanese wrestler too. I'd have thought he'd fit perfectly in a fed like Dragon Gate.

He's not that bad. It's not like he's had a huge amount to work with in All Japan.

[jae]

He used the name Shiima Nobunaga in Mexico because taking on a recognizable Japanese name such as Nobunaga helped Mexican fans to identify him a little better. Notice now when most Japanese wrestlers go to Mexico they have some sort of name alteration (Ryusuku Taguchi becoming just TAGUCHI for example). Once he was in Japan full time there was no need for that name. As for him leaving....No one else can step up enough. There is no way Ryo, Genki, K-ness, Dragon Kid could carry like CIMA did. Genki is a joke, Ryo needs at least the rest of this year to establish himself, K-ness is on his downside, and DK is a repeated failure. Susumu has hope, but I don't think his microphone performances are good enough. Doi or Yoshino would be the same situation. The way this year has played out, it looks basically like CIMA stepping back, not winning much, and dropping falls that help aid growth, such as multiple times to Ryo, Shisa, and Susumu. Now that he has accomplished it, he is moving on. It's a fatal blow if he leaves, on the heels of Milano. DG just won't have the top end name value. Magnum is in his downside due to the poor care he has taken of himself, Mochi is aging. Just not good. Life will go on, but it won't be good, no.As for TAKA. Whatever, Mochi or TAKA as champion sucks either way. TAKA is just a pile of shit, and Mochi has no interesting challengers. Susumu winning is the only interesting thing, but I just can't see TAKA doing that job. TAKA is basically the jr. hevayweight Keiji Mutoh. Repetitive matches done as lazy as possible, whether it be AJPW, his stuff with Sasuke, or the K-Dojo stuff. I would take him over Nakajima any day though. Nakajima needs to go back to school and stay the hell away.

[MoChatra]

I've had the first three DG PPVs of 2005 for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't had the chance to watch them. I won't have time to watch everything from all three shows, so I'm hoping one of you kind and lovely DG fans can help a brother in need.Could you recommend two or three of the best matches from each of the January, February and March PPVs for me? I'd be ever so grateful. I really need to get back into DG (and dragondoor, when it launches). I was following everything until December 2003, and then I just stopped. I still have a bunch of stuff from last year, but in trying to follow everything else and all the TWC work, my Toryumon/DG viewing reduced to nothing. This isn't right, as DG rules and stuff (judging by a quick skim through a few pages of this thread) and I need to be watching and following it. Yes.Gracias.

[jae]

January, you can watch the last 2 matches. Milano v Ryo, and BG vs DFFebruary, eh, the main is really the only thingMarch, watch the whole thing, really, it's such a good show.April, eh, nothing is amazing. The main is great, and Dino sticking his thumb up BxBs' ass is fun enough.May, will edit post later tonight after I watch it.