The Dragon Gate thread

[JLM]

Firstly, yes I'd certainly be up for that Voodoo murders comp. Their antics on the Feb PPV were as good as ever and TARU seems revitalised in his new role. Second, I watched infinity #11 today and I'm also going to watch the January PPV. I'll probably get through two more shows tomorrow too. I'm back at home after one of my UK relative and friend visiting tours and I have about a week of nothing to do. I will use it to catch up with DG and eat Wine gums. Saying that I still don't have the June/July shows as JFFC is still waiting on them, his order for them was just at the wrong time as it clashed with Niall's trip to Japan. Spatular, I'm still unspoiled on TAKA/Susumu by the way, as soon as I've watched the June show I'll dig up your thread on it, it will not go to waste!Infinity 11 then..Opens with a flurry of clipped up multiman tags that seem pretty good. Part of a one day tournament apparently. The fourth one with ItaFrolida vs Final M2K is the pick of the bunch as it sows the seeds for the Doi/Yossino rivalry. Special mention should also go to Dragon Kid's uber-swanky pink and black look, Milano's jacket also looks cool in those colours. As for Yossino, his attire in black and pink looks like something that didn't quite make the Ann Summers Spring collection. Quite a few changes are covered during the show too. Second Doi formally changes his name to Naruki Doi in preparation for big things in 2005, Waku Waku Fuji land make TV and model bizarre horsehead masks and Ryo begins to develop his main event aspirations. The Florida Brothers also undergo some change, from their very amusing mobile phone antics in the first matches to Danny wrestling as Raimu Mishima again and Iwasa busting out some old school moves (including a really swanky Goliath bird eater into backslide pin thing). Doi vs Yossino is a good singles match and their exchanges in the multiman tags later in the show have signs of their rivalry developing. They do all that cool stuff I like, coming up with reversals specifically to counter trademark moves and constantly trying to outdo one another, trading victories as they go. I get the impression from the December/January shows that Doi is adopting Doi555 as his finisher rather than the Bakatare sliding kick. It's a shame if this is the case as I thought the kick was a nice high impact finisher. Mochi and Dragon Kid's DVD feud was fun enough if a bit pointless. I guess it served a marketing purpose though. Their singles match was decent enough but you'd expect something a bit more epic considering it was between the ODG champion and El Numero Uno. The Do-Fixer/Waku Waku Fuji land six man is ok, mainly noteworthy because Ryo gets a huge pinfall victory over CIMA, setting off a chain of events that leads to Ryo/Milano being booked for the upcoming PPV to determine the next challenger for Mochi's ODG title. Nothing absolutely essential on the show but I did really like the main event sixman for the Triangle gate titles.The match is all about Yossino and Doi, who have some top notch exchanges. Doi countering the Torbellino, Yossino kicking out of the Bakatare kick and reversing the Doi555 into a DDT and other great rivally moments. They tease the finishes of their two previous matches as well, Doi failing to hit the Doi555 and Yossino trying his quick crucifix pin for a near fall. Although the booking is formulaic it can't be denied that it works, they did the same thing for Susumu/CIMA and they'll probably use it plenty more times. Logical, methodical building up of a rivalry that sets the scene perfectly for a climactic encounter later on. The finish sums this up well too, with both of the previous encounters' finishes failing to get it done, Yossino busts out the "Another space" and gets the win, establishing it as a dangerous move and one that will figure again before the feud ends. The only thing that can scupper a feud like this is if the final battle between the two doesn't provide a sufficient pay off. For me it remains to be seen whether or not they delivered, but their matches on this episode leave me optimistic.EDIT: There's also a nice extra bit where the Italian Connection lads pay a visit to the Dragon Gate prestige shop. It was quite interesting to see what the shop is actually like after visiting the site. I still need some of those t shirts and possibly some DG socks.

[Famous Mortimer]

Hey, I've got all the recent Dragon Gate / dragondoor stuff and am super-fast, so I recommend myself. I just made a fantastic Florida Brothers comp as well

[JFFC]

I'm starting to wish I had ordered off you Morty

[Famous Mortimer]

I did suck for a while back in the day, because I stretched myself too thin with big trades and my PC kept fucking up. But now I'm at top speed and getting my orders out way quicker- so think of me in the future for your Dragon Gate / dragondoor needs.(and all the other new puro, all you other fans out there )

[Spatular]

I can certainly recommend Morty, but Niall's generally been a bit quicker lately too. I got my order in before he went to Japan and had the July PPV over a week ago. Just bad timing for you guys, I guess.

 

Saw the dragondoor debut show last night. I didn't think that much of it, to be honest. Extreme Tiger vs Joe Lider was a sub-ROH spotfest, with huge head-drops being no-sold all over the place. Not good. Owashi & Jet vs Shinzaki & Nohashi was OK, mainly down to Nohashi (TAFKA Koichiro Arai) and Owashi. The Jet punches are looking extra hot lately - the final punch is now a big downward blow, and it actually looks quite good. (No really, I mean actually quite good.) Owashi's improved a bit but I still can't see where the rave reviews he was getting at RIM were coming from. That'll teach them to drink beer and watch wrestling. Or maybe not. Shinzaki sold nothing - not even Owashi's chops.

 

Tiger Mask Sayama & Gran Hamada vs Solar & Ultraman was pretty bad. Only Hamada and to an extent Solar looked good. When I think what Tiger Mask vs Ultraman was like 20 years ago, and that I have it on tape somewhere, why would I want to watch this?

 

Tiger Mask Asai vs Ultimo Guerrero was a lot better. Still not really worth going out of your way to see, though. Guerrero won with the help of Masao Orihara (I love that guy ) and some other dude. Asai expressed his dissatisfaction and asked for a mask vs mask rematch, which Guerrero accepted and promised for a future dragondoor show. Can't see Asai winning that one either.

 

Kondo, YASSHI and Sugawara vs Ishimori, Kota, Little Dragon and Milanito was very good, but again not up to expectations given the reviews. Pretty much what you'd expect from a DG elimination match, except not as smooth. Most of the face team wasn't over, and that made it difficult to turn myself against the reformed Aagan Iisou. I suspect the live crowd were the same. The closing Kondo vs Ishimori stretch was the best bit, especially when Ishimori blew a split-leg moonsault and landed on his head. Guffaw. Afterwards Milano and Kondo stared each other down.

 

The only other thing worth noting that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread was that JUN was the ring announcer. Jae had this covered on DGUSA, but since JLM and JFFC are probably still avoiding it...

 

Finally, I didn't spot the RIM guys in the crowd but there was a small but vocal contingent chanting Gue-rre-ro and somehow able to pronounce the Rs. Hmm.

[Famous Mortimer]

I doubt very much if Guerrero is going to drop his mask on a dragondoor show, but it sounds like a decent event. I've still not seen it myself yet, I've got a big spindle full of discs I've been promising to watch for a while. I'm really glad Aagan Isou are back together, it sucked that they got fired from DG (or left, I forget).And Ultraman? I was just watching a match of his last night from 1978 I think. But if it gets good nostalgia pops, more power to them.

[Spatular]

Also stolen from DGUSA: the dragondoor debut show main event is available from their website! So now you don't have to buy the show at all. :smug:300kbps stream here.

But if it gets good nostalgia pops

Nope The UDG fangirls are aaaaall about the young manliness. Whatever reaction the old guys got, Solar had to really work for.

[Famous Mortimer]

How dare they deprive me of money by offering it for free? Mothafuckas!

[JLM]

Thanking you for the stream link. :DAlso, JUN~! Ring announcing or not, all the old reports suggested we'd never see him anywhere near a wrestling ring again, great to hear that he's involved in some way as his retirement was one that I was really gutted about. I like the sound of the new and improved Jet punch flurry, Asai vs Ultimo Guerrero and the main event. I also enjoy Shinzaki a lot more than most so I'm sure I'll get something out of the show.

[JLM]

So the January PPV.

 

Blood.. Blood generation, Blood.. Blood generation etc etc. Best placeholder interim stable music since, well, Waku Waku Fujiland.

 

This will be the third review of the show in this thread but what the heck...

 

Mochi/Doi vs Magu/Kid

 

Passable opener that was there to set up the main and little else. Magu bullying Kid was quite amusing, the finish was fantastic. I knew Doi was going to turn and it still surprised me when he kicked Mochi's face off. Beautiful.

 

Flobro vs Araken

 

Usual funny stuff from FloBro. I thought the 'coolest way to get into the ring' competition was quite good.

 

As for $tew's intense hate, I can see your point but I agree with Spatular that it's really one of the worst matches you could watch as an introduction to the FloBro schtick as it's based almost entirely on the audience having a knowledge of the FloBro/Johnson/Yagi saga. Finish was as nutty as ever and totally unexpected. I'd rather have seen them use it on Antony after a few failed Diving Cross attempts though.

 

As for the business exposing bit, the Florida Brothers refer to themselves as comedy wrestlers, they acknowledge it and as such their opponents do the same. Their matches are more like comedy sketches where everyone is expected to be in on the joke. As their run has gone on the opponents' reactions have gone from "what the.." to "OK I get it" with them trying to outdo Danny and Michael's devious schemes.

 

It's as if the FloBro's opponents suspend their disbelief as much as the fans at times, a point emphasised by the fact that it's almost always the faces they have the most fun with and by the match with Aagan Iisou where the heels refused to buy into the invisible barrier trick and other silliness and instead opted to beat the crap out of them. All that said though, when I first saw them I knew the reaction would be split between a cult following (including myself) and those who think it's a giant crock of shit, so fair enough.

 

Akira Hokuto vs Stalker Ishikawa

 

This was amusing enough but I've seen it before. Hokuto got a great reception, Stalker did what he's been doing forever and The Dangerous Queen dropped him on his head far too dangerously for my liking.

 

4. K-ness & Susumu Yokosuka vs. YOSSINO & Anthony W. Mori

 

Midcard tag affair with the added spice of triangle gate holders versus prospective challengers. This had the advantage over similar matches in that one of the teams was Knessuka, who are outstanding. DG, I beg of you, if there's an third Differ cup, send them as your team. Anyway, good match, my favourite bit was probably the double team version of the Blue Light.

 

5. Ryo Saito vs. Milano Collection A.T.

 

$tew and Carbomb have covered this pretty well, outstanding stuff. As for Milano looking a bit half arsed, I think the impression I got was a bit different. The match was built on Ryo's previous crushing defeats against Milano in which the then T2P ace demolished him with ludicrous ease. Milano slowly applying a range of holds said to me that he was arrogant and thought he could beat Ryo the same way he used to and was going through the motions in a kayfabed sense. I'll certainly agree that Ryo was the star of the show though, tremendous underdog performance aided greatly by him having a counterpunch to everything that had Milano had used to beat him before.

 

Milano decides to put him away... paradise lock, nope, fair enough. OK I'll use the AT Lock, nope... hmm... he's less of a walkover than I remember. Fine, my new ace in the hole, Italian Revolution... oh crap.

 

The look of desperation on Milano's face as he grabs for the ropes to try and save himself at the end is awesome and my reaction to the three count was much like $tew's. Go Ryo~!

 

 

6. CIMA & Shingo Takagi & Don Fujii & Naruki Doi vs. Magnum TOKYO & Genki Horiguchi & Dragon Kid & Super Shisa (2/3 falls)

 

Firstly, best Dragon Kid performance in recent memory, haven't seen him look so genuinely pissed off since his feud with Darkness Dragon. Second, well, it was another great multiman tag of intensity and hatred. The babyface team here is selected to perfection. They've got two of the cleanest cut babyfaces on the roster in Kid and Shisa, the ever-popular Genki and grizzled veteran Magu to bring a bit of big match impact. I thought Magu's input was pretty good here, his "who the hell do you think you are boy?" exchange with Shingo was a great moment.

 

I didn't remember the result of this, was pretty much ceretain that BG would win, was a huge CMAX fan, don't consider Shisa or Kid to be close to my favourites and still I was quite upset when BloodGen got the win. Simple heels vs faces wrestling executed brilliantly.

 

I really enjoyed that show, a very bright start for Blood Generation and two excellent matches backed up by a solid tag match and the usual FloBro/Stalker silliness. Thumbs up.

[Spatular]

Couple of FloBros notes:

 

I'm pretty sure they announced Hokuto as 'the iron housewife' at that show. Brought a smile to my face, anyway.

 

Mortimer done gone made a comp. Moj's reaction to Johnson losing his mask is priceless.

 

And just when you thought it couldn't get any bigger or better, they've announced a 5-on-5 Florida Express vs Do FIXER match for the next big Odaiba show. And no, the fifth Florida isn't Akira Hokuto. His 'identity' should be obvious if you've seen the 6/22 results...

[masstransit]

How much Dragondoor stuff is out there Mort and how much for the lot of it ??

[Famous Mortimer]

So far, a grand total of one show. When a bunch of guys from RIM went to Japan, Niall (paltaper) may well have done a fancam recording of a house show, but I'm not 100% sure of that. I'm getting a new shipment from Japan soon, and there'll probably be another dragondoor show in with that.

[Carbomb]

Just a few questions:1. Now that JFFC's no longer running x2v, which is where I got my DVDs from, where can I buy DG DVDs from? I know it's been mentioned throughout the thread, but there's been no concrete statement saying who. I went to SiMania's site, but I want DVDs, not tapes.2. Who's the best source for Osaka Pro DVDs?3. I assume the Viagra Driver is Magu's compensation for not being able to do the SSP any more?4. Has Paltaper gone for good, or just for a holiday?5. What's the whole big insider thing about RIM (I assume it does stand for Real In Memphis)? What does it have over this place, and is it worth me joining?

[Spatular]

1. Both Famous Mortimer and paltaper are very good and get everything. Si is very good and he does do DVDs but doesn't get DG stuff with any regularity.

 

2. Pass. PM Terje Rindal and ask him nicely!

 

3. He's been doing the Viagra Driver (aka Egoist Driver) for ages! I don't think he formally packed in the AV Star Press, but I haven't seen him do it for a while either, so I guess the VD is his main move now. Edit: In any case, the Erect Smash remains the best-named move ever.

 

4. I think he's back but he's notoriously slow about answering mails and PMs...

 

5. Decide for yourself. Beware that the place has its own sense of humour and that fools and pedants aren't suffered gladly. Be prepared for a bit of namecalling if you admit to liking Dragon Gate...