The Dragon Gate thread

[JLM]

I hope he's paying them a lot.I decided to read up on some of these guys a bit more as I was confused as to how I hadn't heard of them at all. I think you're right, Turboman is a seriously sub par luchador, possibly from the same place as Vangelis. I'm not sure where these DGUSA commenters will have seen so much of Turbo to claim that he's actually good though, I'm still none the wiser about that. As for the Arnie thing, I'm also hoping its true though there are various other pop culture Turboman references (Kinnikuman/Ultimate Muscle and "Turboman": The animated series) or maybe he just thought it was a cool name. His look is somewhat similar to the doll from the Arnie movie though so I'm going to choose to believe it.

[Spatular]

If that clip came from some shitty indy that I wished failure on instead of my favourite wrestling promotion on the planet, it would be the funniest thing I'd ever seen.

[PUNQ]

Man! That clip is awesome. It sums the guy up so perfectly!

 

 

Dragon Gate PPV - "M2K Reunion": March 17, 2006, Tokyo - (3 hrs)

 

 

March 17, 2006, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall - 95% full or something....

 

1. Kenichiro Arai & King Shisa -vs- Anthony W. Mori & Turbo [* 3/4]

--- This could have been a good match and in some way it was enjoyable, but this Turbo guy is really aweful. He did some spectacular moves, but is looking so like an amateur doing them. Almost like a backyarder with little or no idea of what to do except try big things and looking bad doing them. The others where so obviously helping him setting the spots up themself and trying to cover up misses that it came across bad most of the time Turbo was in. But his top rope moonsault to the outside and 450 splash looked fine even if he clearly has a problem with balance. Thankfully there where 3 others that did do some better wrestling with one of the main highlights being Arai blocking Mori's missile dropkick with his head kind of headbutting it. Some justice came when it was Turbo that did the job when Arai landed a diving headbutt while standing on Shisa's shoulders who again was standiong on the seconsd turnbuckle.

11:42 of 11.42 - Arai pinned Turbo after a diving headbutt off Shisa standing on the second rope

 

 

2. Naoki Tanisaki -vs- Super Shisa - (Open the Brave Gate League) [* 1/2]

--- Solid while it lasted, but it kind of ended before it got exciting with Tanisaki getting a very confident with with a running knee to Shisa's head.

5:03 of 5:02 - Tanisaki pinned Shisa after a Casanova/running knee to the face

 

 

3. Tozawa -vs- Naruki Doi - (Open the Brave Gate League) [** 1/4]

--- Tozawa looked 10 about times better then he really is and played strong up to that underdog look of his. Doi was wasn't scared one bit and played with him even getting some unneeded help from Shingo Takagi who delivered a couple of hard impact moves on the poor kid. But Tozawa was fired up for this show and tried his best with what he had like the running up the rops bodypress and various desperation cradles whenever he had the chance. Takagi tried to throw powder in Tozawa's face and ended up hitting Doi instead where Tozawa almost got the win. That didn't do it, but stealing the powderbag and throwing three full fists of the white stuff in Doi's face before putting the bag over his head and getting him down in a small package for 1-2-3 did the job for the ultimate happy ending! Lovely finish where Tozawa gets his first ever win! And to top it off Kenichiro Arai was thinking he was super nice and offered rookie Tozawa a place in the Final M2K stable which Tozawa nicely rejected for a awkward moment for Arai.

6:59 of 6:58 - Tozawa pinne Doi with a small package

 

 

4. Dragon Kid -vs- Masato Yoshino - (Open the Brave Gate League) [**]

--- Some good stuff here, but you expect so much from these two and they didn't have time to fulfill that before it just kind of ended prematurely and out of nowhere. But I guess that's the thing about these Open the Brave Gate League single matches that you just have to expect that. It teaches you that the many early pinfall attempts actually might matter which so often isn't the case and therefore these matches doesn't live up to the classics I hope they would become. Dragon Kid nails it with a snap cruicifix cradle.

10:06 of 10:05 - Dragon Kid pinned Yoshino with a Lightning Spiral Cutback

 

 

- They showed some clips from previous M2K matches from 2000 to 2002 including Yasushi Kanda last match from October 28, 2002 where he faced Stalker Ichikawa which was a M2K farewell tribute doing their spots for the seemingly final time. Kanda had to quit because of a bad neck, but is back on this show for a one-off M2K reunion.

 

 

5. Magnum TOKYO & BxB Hulk -vs- Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi [** 1/2]

--- A good long match where The DoFixer guys mainly had control over the two generations of exotic dancers. They did however not get it to the next level of excitement even if the wrestling was solid. Magnum & Hulk managed to slowly fight themself back and the young Hulk got the win with his second EVO. Not really sure what was missing, but it might be the lack of drama and that there wasn't really much of importance happening. Just a good match that wasn't designed to take away anything from the main event.

19:05 of 19:40 - Hulk pinned Horiguchi after a EVO

 

 

6. Yasushi Kanda & Masaaki Mochizuki & Susumu Yokosuka -vs- CIMA & Don Fujii & Shingo Takagi [***]

--- A M2K reunion with Kanda making his return to the ring and former members Darkness Dragon & Chocoflake also making their presence felt. This was more a feel-good match then anything else. CIMA worked a little on Kanda's bad neck, but this was mainly a M2K tribute match with them doing all their old spots fighting bravely against the Blood Generation. A crowd pleaser with little else booked in. Kanda did get his big moment getting the win when landing his elbow drop off the top rope on Don Fujii. After the match Yokosuka and CIMA set up a #1 contenders match.

19:57 of 19:56 - Kanda pinned Fujii after a top rope elbow drop

 

 

COMMENTS: A good Dragon Gate show, but this one lacked that really big important match as the main event wasn't really booked to be anything of the sort. Just one of those happy endings which longtime Toyumon fans might enjoy.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[JLM]

Putting all that Turboman nonsense behind me (or in front of me, as is unfortunately the case ), my catch uppery continues with Infinity 28

 

1. Florida Express vs. Ryo Saito, Magnum TOKYO, Naoki Tanisaki

 

Heheh, decent barrier spot involving invisible weaponry and another one of those chain of chops with the last guy screwing it up sequences. Good fun.

 

2. Magnum TOKYO vs. Geni'chiro Tenryu

 

Magu tries again. Apparently he went 17 minutes which is pretty impressive. Tenryu nails him with the 53 years old for the win. I loved Naoki's attempt to try and buy Magu some time, getting up in Tenryu's face and shouting in his shouty Naoki way before being lobbed into some chairs.

 

3. Magnum TOKYO vs. Geni'chiro Tenryu

 

A similar story here, though Tenryu doesn't take as long to put him away and rather unsportingly uses a chair. I like the finish, Tenryu just clobbers Magu til he doesn't move any more.

 

4. Open the Brave Gate

Naruki Doi vs. Dragon Kid

 

Much better than their last singles effort and generally a good match. I like how they differentiate between title and non title matches in terms of intensity and how much punishment people can take. The Doi555 of the second rope looked stunning, DK took it like a man. Oh, and credit to Genki at ring side as DK's second, his reaction after the first Bakatare sliding kick with his hands on his head and the subsequent dash into the front row to get everyone behind Kid when he kicked out added a lot to the finishing stretch. Even when he's not in the match he rules. I think this feud has been handled quite well. Backtrack a couple of months and I couldn't have seen the crowd so hyped for a Dragon Kid brave gate title shot. I know I wouldn't have been rooting for him like I was against Doi anyway.

 

5. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Genki Horiguchi

 

Susumu vs Genki. A singles dream match tucked away on a TV block. Honestly, if I was in the crowd for this I'm not quite sure who I'd favour. Susumu's years of being the ever-likeable nearly man and the way he seems to pour his very soul into his matches make me root for him in almost any given match, but then Genki is better than most people in most ways. A dilemma indeed.

 

Unfortunately we're only given 12 minutes before Shingo runs in and spoils it. Still, what's here is good, with Genki destroying Susumu's knee and Susumu being intense and bringing the lariats.

 

6. CIMA, Magnitude Kishiwada, Shingo Takagi, Masato Yoshino vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, K-ness, Susumu Yokosuka, Katsuhiko Nakajima

 

This match is fantastic, I can't overstate how much I enjoyed it. Susumu is the star, both through the booking that makes him look like a million dollars and through his performance that would have anyone not made of stone 100% behind him. Some of the near falls were terrifying in this one. I knew full well that this was just before his big four way match and thus there was no way in hell he was going to lose to anyone other than

Shingo/Magnitude and it was extremely unlikely that he would lose at all. So why did I still think he was done for when Yoshino caught him in that flashy crucifix pinning cradle? Because he's great, and DG is great.

 

Oh, and I am now firmly in the liking Nakajima camp following some of his performances in my catch up run. I never actually had anything against the guy to begin with, but his little cameo appearances in these matches are always good and he's a very welcome part time member of Final M2K in my opinion. He also has a beeeautiful German suplex. I mention this a lot, but then it seems to look a bit better every time.

 

7. Key Hunting 4 Way

Shingo Takagi vs. BxB Hulk vs. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Genki Horiguchi

 

Shingo is the fucking man. How the hell is this a guy who made his debut in 2004?

 

This starts as a cagey, tactical affair as Genki and Susumu both fall victim to the lure of checking the turnbuckles. Genki takes a huge gamble by opening three and is eliminated early, which was silly of him but then that's Genki for you.

 

But when those two are gone, that's when it starts to get good. BloodGen seconds at ring side tear away some of the turnbuckles to reduce the number of checks, Shingo and Hulk go hell for leather for the pin whilst checking the corners every so often until there's just one turnbuckle left, which means that the prize has been located.

 

Hulk finds himself in a position to secure the biggest match of his short career when a chair flies in out of nowhere and he is mugged. An absolutely world class piece of wrestling robbery, with the timing and the camera work making it a genuine shocker. You sense that this has knocked the stuffing out of Hulk and, coupled with the fact that Antony and Shisa are bloody useless seconds who are too noble and utterly gay to interfere,it becomes clear that this is to be Shingo's victory.

 

But oh my does he take it in style, emerging as a full on bad ass arrogant monster and looking like a threat to anyone's title. He murders Hulk, then decides not to go for the key despite a fairly gruelling match because he's that confident he'll beat Hulk. Hulk, to his credit, bumps like an absolute loon and makes Shingo's already impressive offense look all the more deadly. After hitting the last Falcony, Shingo takes the cockiness a stage further by refusing to take the three count, a move so brazen that even CIMA is angered by it. Then he hits the Blood Fall and takes the three count.

 

However,that's not all. He also orders Hulk to come back into the ring, take the key that he was seconds away from claiming for himself and place it in the hand of the man who just robbed him. It's just a bit too good. Then he poses on the turnbuckles with the key in his teeth and snarls as his kick-ass Goldberg-esque music blares and for a minute you really think he's going to kill Mochi and laugh heartily as he does it.

 

8. Open the Dream Gate

Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Shingo Takagi

 

Heh, I like the little video claiming that the blood fall was picked up on Shingo's learning excursion, more specifically when he wrestled Curry Man as it's a variation on the Spicy Drop. The Sapporo Taisen hall shows look like they've been filmed using CCTV cameras sometimes, some very odd angles for wrestling.

 

Anyway, this is an excellent match, Shingo doesn't look at all out of place at this level. The match is reminiscent of a Shuji Kondo/Mochi encounter: brutal, hard hitting and much closer to a heavyweight match than a juniors one. They trade advantage for the whole match, no one really dominates for a significant length of time and it just comes down to who has that bit extra to put his opponent away. That Shingo is almost Mochi's equal in status after such a short time is phenomenal, but you couldn't possibly argue that he doesn't deserve it.

 

Again, it's worth getting hold of this match as it's easily PPV quality and shouldn't be missed.

 

As for Mochi, his title reign has been a good one so far. A very dependable guy to hold the top title: he's well respected by the fans, always looks strong when he takes part in tag matches and definitely carries himself like a champion. Won it off CIMA in an excellent match and has produced four high quality defences. Oh, and the Shin Saikyou high kick is a great finisher, it looks nasty.

 

And they round of the show with some AJ Styles/CIMA highlights, ending with CIMA picking up the win with the LA Mart. I swear the ROH ring didn't look like a trampoline when I watched Shingo vs Curryman. Maybe its just the contrast after watching DG rings for two hours.

 

What a stacked show this was. The two main singles titles up for grabs, a number one contendership match, Magu vs Tenryu twice, FloBro doing their thing. A great variety on offer and a two final matches that deserve to be seen. Another top drawer TV episode with a set of matches that would have made quite a PPV.

[JLM]

October 2005 PPV

 

1. Don Fujii vs. Tozawa/Katsuo

 

Katsuo is making his debut under his real name of Yuki Ono here. Fairly standard rookie squashing from Fujii. Katsuo doesn't get to show much, he goes for Tozawa's fiery rookie approach and gets some early support going. They get a fun double schoolboy near fall but the Don soon decides its time to finish them off. He does it in some style, making them both submit together with a double half boston crab. It did its job, Katsuo looked a bit nervous and unsure of what to do when he got his little bit of offense in but it was an ok debut. Post match, Don Fujii does some renaming.

 

2. Michael, Daniel vs. Apple Miyuki, Makoto Oishi

 

I forgot Apple Miyuki was part of the K-Dojo influx. And yay, Oishi is here again.

 

Bakery Yagi is clearly the star here, with his sleazy shades and busy hands. What a guy. Oishi clearly has the time of his life too, he has a big grin on his face the whole time. They do a good few new spots and make Yagi do bad things, then they make Apple Miyuki cry and everyone bails. . I liked Apply Miyuki leaving her dirty sneezed on towel with Oishi, only for Oishi to leave it with the DG timekeeper and do a runner. Lots of fun.

 

 

3. Masaaki Mochizuki, Keni'chiro Arai vs. Magnitude Kishiwada, Naruki Doi

 

A fairly average match that's only really here to set up Mochi vs Magnitude for the dream gate. Fittingly enough, the best parts are the very brief teaser confrontations between the two. It is certainly a tantalising prospect. Doi continues his run of being a destructive prick by having this match thrown out for ref violence. Arai makes up the numbers. Not in a bad way you understand, his performance is fine and all, but he doesn't have much of a role in the BG/Everyone feud.

 

4. Anthony W. Mori, BxB Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi, Masato Yoshino

 

This was pretty good in the end after a slightly fillertastic opening reversal exchange between Shingo and Hulk. It could have done with more hatred from Hulk. Shingo continues with his swaggery shit eating grin thing but Hulk didn't quite seem like he wanted to kill him. Mori and Yossino on the other hand, well they clearly aren't the best of friends. Lots of bitch slapping and anger, I liked it.

 

The finish was absolutely stunning, to pull that off in one shot live on PPV was impressive. Shingo on his back, Antony rolls him over into a triangle choke with one arm locked. In the same motion Shingo lifts him up for that one arm power bomb he does, then Antony, again in the same fluid motion, turns it into a small package elegant magic style and gets the win. It looked incredible in real time and deservedly got a replay. Post match and Yossino is still putting himself about. Someone really needs to teach him a lesson. I suspect Antony would like to, though I'm not sure he's the man to do it.

 

They needed Apple Miyuki to dance it up with Pos.Hearts. A tragically wasted oppurtunity.

 

5. Susumu Yokosuka, K-ness, Magnum TOKYO, Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid, Naoki Tanisaki

 

Ehh. It was good I guess, but nothing special. A bit "DG multiman by numbers", but then it was going to be as everyone is a face. Still entertaining enough with a pacey closing stretch which holds the attention. The reaction when Susumu and Genki were paired up was spine tingling. Those two remain scarily over, and rightly so.

 

 

6. TAKA Michinoku vs. CIMA

 

Passport vs Passport! Could the stakes be any higher????

 

Ugh, this wasn't great. Not great at all. CIMA tried, TAKA didn't. That's about the size of it. How many years has TAKA been doing the Michinoku Driver 2? How did he manage to botch it so badly? He also made the Schwein look crap and kept applying the Just Face lock, which also looks crap. The Dick Killer is decent at least. The whole thing was very flat and they just seemed to kill time until they went to the finish, which TAKA ballsed up. Dear oh dear. I don't expect every match to be a sprint, and in fact I appreciate variety on a card, but this wasn't slow and methodical building up to a climax, it was just plodding, time wasting and sloppiness from a lazy, lazy veteran.

 

On the plus side, the post match shenanigans were all kinds of fun, with Mochi and Magnitude mixing it up a bit and the BG guys stealing back some of CIMA's lost stuff. They also set up the tag match between CIMA/Magnitude and Mochi/TAKA, where the losers have to face each other.

 

The PPV is far from essential then. Nothing is offensively bad (though the main event is fairly shoddy and disappointing) but the September show and the last few TV episodes were far superior to this effort.

[JLM]

Infinity 30

 

1. Syachihoko Machine, Stalker Ichikawa vs. Jackson Florida, Johnson Florida

 

Holy crap! A win for Stalker! This wasn't too good. Only funny bit for me was Stalker setting up Jackson for an aerial move only for the Syachihoko machine to do the Syachihoko corner pose and leave him stranded.

 

2. Magnum TOKYO, Naoki Tanisaki vs. Anthony W. Mori, Super Shisa

 

Decent little match, and I mean little, shown in full and less than five minutes. Magu continues his unit hopping. Naoki is the most over man at the venue. Magu's Tenryu style close range standing lariat looks awful.

 

3. Geni'chiro Tenryu, Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Yokosuka vs. Magnum TOKYO, Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi

 

This ruled very hard. Watch this if only for Ryo's epic one on one battle with Tenryu mid way through. Oh, and the bit where Magu is covering someone and Tenryu steps in and kicks him right in the face. Poor Magu suffers a bloody nose. Tenryu just does not care. He brutally punches, slaps and kicks the piss out of anyone silly enough to be in the ring with him. A really entertaining spectacle, Saito deserves another crack at Tenryu!

 

4. Geni'chiro Tenryu vs. Magnum TOKYO

 

Magu actually gets a fair bit off offense in this time, though this is marred by an embarrassing slip at ring side. He has Tenryu sat in a chair on the front row and throws a water bottle at his head, which goes all over the already shiny floor at ring side. Magu goes over to him, grabs a chair, falls on his arse. Gets up, then inexplicably charges at Tenryu over the exact bit of floor he just slipped on and.. surprise surprise... he falls again but actually hurts himself fairly badly this time and has to stall for time. When it eventually gets back to the ring its another fun and overly stiff encounter. Tenryu wins with an old school Indian deathlock after Magu kicks out of the 53 years old~.

 

5. Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Yokosuka, K-ness, Keni'chiro Arai vs. Ryo Saito, Naoki Tanisaki, Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid

 

Good god, this one was manic. A top notch sprint that was almost impossible to keep up with. Bodies everywhere, split second timing on everything and impossible to call the finish. This one was the main event of the show it was on, and was thus of much higher quality than when virtually the same match has been in a PPV midcard slot. Oh, Genki hits the Tope Morimoto! That's the first time he's ever hit that move. He's as shocked as anyone. That damn dirty Doi runs in for some cheapshots on Kido post match but the green one is able to see him off this time.

 

6. Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi, Masato Yoshino vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid

 

Another fine match with plenty more Kid vs Doi. Yoshino put in a lot more in terms of offense than I've seen in a while. He turned on the speed, busted out the comori and even did that flip into the ropes arm drag thing. Despite the little feud with Antony he's another of those who don't have specific motivation in the BloodGen feuds and maybe lacks motivation because of it. Of course, this doesn't stop Genki turning in consistently world class performances. Then again, Yoshino hasn't been bad as such, he's really taken to the arrogant heel persona beautifully, I just don't think he's as involved in some of the multiman tags as you'd expect him to be.

 

 

7. CIMA, Magnitude Kishiwada, Masato Yoshino vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Yokosuka, K-ness

 

And another very good tag match ends the show. Again, a small preview of Mochi/Magnitude, the two trading near falls on this occasion. Yoshino continues to add to the list of returning moves, this time using the From jungle. That Bloodgen triple team with the falling rib breakers from a wheelbarrow position is very cool. Susumu is the man who will not die in this one, he survives a hell of a lot of punishment and even forces CIMA to use the Schwein Redline to get the job done.

 

Once again, a TV episode that was better than the recent Pay per view overall. Get this for the Tenryu six man and the last three matches.

[JLM]

I'm on quite a roll. Not long til I reach 2006 shows! The holy grail, watching shows that took place within the current calendar year.

 

November PPV

 

The play by play guy is rocking the very worst shirt and tie combo of all time tonight.

 

Genki Horiguxhi/Tozawa vs BxB Hulk/Katsuo

 

Oh Genki, you outdo yourself once again. He's not happy with how the initial H-A-G-E chant comes off, so he strolls out to the crowd and co-ordinates everyone so they get it right the second time. Katsuo doesn't seem to have much about him yet, he lacks the fire of Tozawa and he doesn't appear to have any offense yet except his back drop suplex thing. Hulk and Genki have some alright exchanges, nothing really of note except the finish. Genki busts out the truly evil "hot spicy" modified half nelson suplex for no good reason to beat Katsuo. He just loves murderising the rookies. Oh, and Tozawa pulls the old hit and run on Genki post match, giving him a slap and bolting as fast as he can. Interesting.

 

Florida Brothers vs Naoki Tanisaki

 

Ehh, not close to their recent matches and very missable. Naoki's plan to simply not catch the Florida chair (or Handsome chair in this case) is good in theory, but those devious Americans naturally find a way round it.

 

Magnum TOKYO/Antony W Mori vs Dragon Kid/Ryo Saito

 

Serious card filler here, though at least all of the matches that follow are part of the FM2K vs BG war. Kid looks ballsy kicking out of stuff and all, but was there really any benefit to having Magu pin Kid in a nothing match? Best bit was Magu intercepting an Ultra Huracanrana with his own springboard tackle. Otherwise nothing of note.

 

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Shingo Takagi

 

Wow, I did not see the finish coming at all. Shingo is great here, dominating the youngster and letting him have little flurries of offense to keep everyone interested. Nakajima does everything with a crispness and quality and gets the crowd behind him with his fighting spirit. He also unleashes a flurry of middle kicks in the corner that goes on for so long that it must have had M2J seething with rage. A good, solid match with a genuinely surprising result. I'd rather have seen Shingo win, but what can you do?

 

 

5. Naruki Doi/Don Fujii/Masato Yoshino vs. Kenichiro Arai/K-NESS/Susumu Yokosuka

 

Excellent match, only really marred by the fact that no one cares about Araken. He doesn't do anything wrong either, it's just that when he takes a sustained beating early on, no one gives a toss and they're just waiting for him to tag out. I think its because his persona is generally unsympathetic. "Oh, so little Yoshino is beating you up? Well hit him back you grizzly drunken man, we won't cry for you". See?

 

On the plus side, K-Nessuka~ remain a magnificent team. Also we get a couple of K-Ness/Yoshino exchanges, those two could produce some dazzling sequences together with blindfolds on.

 

 

6. Losing Team Faces Each Other: Masaaki Mochizuki & TAKA Michinoku vs. CIMA & Magnitude Kishiwada

 

Before this starts, a bunch of refs, rookies and Kanda attempt to solve the problem of a bizarre growth that's formed towards the edge of the ring. After stomping on it for several minutes which makes no difference at all, they decide to just get on with it. Strange.

 

Anyway..

 

TAKA IS COMING MOTHERFUCKERS. Hey, Mochi/TAKA blended theme music! He's really into this "Final M2K with T" thing.

 

This is much better than TAKA/CIMA. TAKA works jsut fine as a tag guy and he's generally on much better form here anyway. As much as I dislike the Just face lock, it is certainly over with the people and is perceived to be a match winner. Mochi vs Magnitude is awesome again and the match is just getting good when Doi pulls out the under-canvas growth - which is a bag of whey protein powder - and blows it into TAKA's face allowing CIMA the screwjob victory. However! Kanda steps in and reverses the decision, and Doi grovels as his stablemates get very pissed off with him. Very funny stuff,as it appears CIMA wasn't aware of Doi's protein plan, and to rub it in, Doi used CIMA's on supply of powder to do the deed.

 

CIMA seems none too keen on wrestling Magnitude. He's talked into it though, I *think* there was something about CIMA getting a dream gate shot if he won but I can't be sure.

 

CIMA vs Magnitude Kishiwada

 

A great spectacle but only a short (8 minutes) taster of Magnitude in a singles main event. CIMA is the fans' favourite, they want to see *someone* beat this guy, even if it is his own stablemate. CIMA hits a perfect driver on him, which looks very impressive indeed, and even teases the Schwein to a huge response. Inevitably though, the big man wins, this time with something new. Locomotion german suplexes into a dragon suplex. Swank.

 

Not a bad show, the last two matches provide a good spectacle and are worth watching. The undercard is undeniably fairly weak, though Shingo and Nakajima put on a good show. The main event tag match is a star studded affair and a perfectly decent match to boot.

 

Some very appealing things coming up, oh yes. Mochi goes one on one with Magnitude, the King of Gate tournament isn't far away, Kid gets another shot at that dastardly Doi. Looks good to me.

[Spatular]

Some very appealing things coming up, oh yes. Mochi goes one on one with Magnitude

Would this be a good time to mention that that match wasn't televised at all? Jae reckons it was either pisspoor or had no heat or both. :(King of Gate rocked hugely, though, especially the CIMA vs Araken QF.

[$tew]

So, I've watched the April 2006 PPV. Am I right in thinking this is the last PPV until the World show next month, and I'm gonna have to get TV blocks until then?

[GIB]

What's the most reliable and updated website(s) that sells Japanese wrestling DVD's? It doesn't have to be just Toryumon. I'm interested in NOAH, Dragon Gate, Japanese Compilations and AJPW mostly. A couple of guys off this forum helped me out with amazing events from years gone by, so I know what I'm looking for.

[JLM]

Would this be a good time to mention that that match wasn't televised at all? Jae reckons it was either pisspoor or had no heat or both.

I just noticed that. I was scratching my head checking through my listings, thinking I'd missed a show again or something. But no, there it was, in depressingly brief highlight form in the middle of a TV episode. If they picked the distinctly average elimination match ahead of it then it must have been bad. I prefer my theory that the crowd was 100% behind Kishiwada because it was in Osaka and thus they chose not to show it. Almost certainly not the case, but it makes me happier.

So, I've watched the April 2006 PPV. Am I right in thinking this is the last PPV until the World show next month, and I'm gonna have to get TV blocks until then?

That's correct. Most of the major happenings in May and June seem to have been included on episodes of Infinity, with World obviously expected to be the next PPV.

What's the most reliable and updated website(s) that sells Japanese wrestling DVD's? It doesn't have to be just Toryumon. I'm interested in NOAH, Dragon Gate, Japanese Compilations and AJPW mostly. A couple of guys off this forum helped me out with amazing events from years gone by, so I know what I'm looking for.

Famous Mortimer on this here forum provides a good, quick service and tends to be well up to date. He posts updates in the classifieds forums regularly. http://www.purodvd.com is good, though is Niall still missing?http://www.wrestlingdvd.co.uk/ is another option.Infinity 331. Michael & Daniel & Kenskee (Kensuke Sasaki) vs. Susumu Yokosuka & K-ness & Keni'chiro Arai (11/06/05)I suspect Flobro may have peaked in September. Even Kenskee can't stop this being very average. Susumu can't keep a straight face in these matches, the joker. 2. Magnum TOKYO & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Don Fujii & Shingo TakagiAsaism ace dream team or Tenryu's bitch and a champion on borrowed time? Somewhere in between most likely. Either way, this is 15 minutes of first rate clubbering. Revolution Magu is a sensible idea, he's basically given up on making any effort at getting back into high flying shape and has instead focused the majority of his offense into his lovely strikes. He still does most of his more flashy stuff, but his pace is much more geared towards toe to toe strike exchanges, which he's getting quite good at. The full length leather pants aren't the best for mobility mind. Shingo and Fuji are ideal opposition for such a style, and Mochi is no slouch in the striking department either. I liked it. 3. Genchiro Tenryu & Magnum TOKYO vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Masaaki Mochizuki (11/13/05)Tenryu is Barry White with a sore throat on the microphone. Magu is getting a bit more convincing each time, he's able to take Sasaki down on a number of occasions, and kicks out after a flurry of vicious short lariats. He goes down to the Northern lights bomb eventually but it's certainly a strong showing. 4. CIMA & Magnitude Kishiwada & Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino vs. Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Naoki Tanisaki (Elimination Match, 11/06/05)Not bad, bit of a mess early on but when it comes down to Doi/Kid/Ryo/CIMA it gets good. You know your near falls are good when someone actually throws a premature celebratory orange streamer into the ring for a Ryo 2 count. Araken jumps Magnitude during his entrance, making himself ODG number one contender in the process. 5. Open the Brave Gate: Dragon Kid vs. Naruki Doi (11/13/05)Dragon Kid's second challenge, on home turf in Nagoya after a lengthy build up. This was going to be his night, and a fitting way to do it to. This was like a 2001/2002 Toryumon match, complete with lots of outside interference and even an appearance from the blue box~! The reaction for Kid's win is huge, the whole Doi/Kid feud has been enjoyable in my opinion. Doi has matured into an excellent heel and a fine wrestler, Kid has been a very sympathetic challenger and has proved once again that he can produce the goods in the ring provided he's given sufficient motivation. He tends to flounder in between his major feuds, which is something that Genki and Susumu don't do, and as such he comes accross much worse than them, but he can usually put on a good show when it counts. It had to end with a dragonrana, they've been building it up the whole time and they've really got accross how badly BloodGen want to stop him from hitting his big match winning move. I like how the unease starts to show in Doi and his seconds as the match wears on and as each of their plans to put Kid away are foiled. Doi does the right thing and respectfully hands over the belt. Then he decks Kid with the belt and it becomes clear that these two aren't quite done. 6. Open the Dream Gate: Magnitude Kishiwada vs. Kenichiro Arai (12/04/05)Given Araken's recent role of Tozawa beater and M2K multiman extra, he's not the most interesting challenger at this point. He does have a great way of drawing the fans into his big singles matches though and I can see why he's often used as a nice mid-range defence for ODG/UDG champions. For instance, there's the simple fact that if the crowd starts chanting his name, he lets them know that it makes a difference. Magnitude is dominant from the outset here though, even hitting the last ride in the first few minutes to look for an early win. I like the mildly hardcore edge he's started bringing to the matches, inviting his opponents to take part in chair duels and the liuke. In this match he even hits a body press to the outside through a table, provoking a truly surreal "EC-DUB!" chant from the crowd. Never thought I'd hear that from a DragonGate audience. I've been consistently impressed since the first time I saw him in Osaka Pro with the measured distance he gets on all his aerial moves. Every moonsault and splash hits with crisp, devastating precision, which can't be easy for a man of his size. He should stop doing that cartwheel elbow thing though, it's too much of a fancy babyface move to pop the crowd and not befitting of a monster heel champion. As impressive as Magnitude is, and as little chance as anyone realistically gave Araken, it still takes a hell of a lot to put him away. Magnitude never looks remotely troubled by Arai's kicking out though, and always seems to have one more move of death in store to get him finished off. That said, his few moments of vulnerability produce some classic near falls, Araken's dragon suplex in particular has everyone believing for a few seconds. He still hits one of of the sweetest firebird splashes in wrestling too. When that doesn't get it done though, you know he's finished. And shortly afterwards he is. A bold challenge from Arai and a convincing first defence from Magnitude.

[alexander]

King of Gate rocked hugely, though, especially the CIMA vs Araken QF.

Hell yes. They should show that match to students to teach them how to work tournament matches. Shingo/Hulk was great as well.

[JLM]

Dragon Gate LIVE Gaora TV 12/26/05

 

The King of Gate tournament,covered from the start up to the end of the quarter finals, with undercard randomness thrown in. Should be a really fun show.

 

First round highlighty goodness to open:

 

Danny Mishima vs Dragon Kid

Mask swapping is fun. DK looks ridiculous, Danny tries a Dragonrana. He fails.

 

Johnson Florida vs Naruki Doi

Wearing a spare mask when you face Doi is a wise move. Where does Yagi find these obscene loaves of bread? Almost a shock update after a FloBro powder assault into a schoolboy. Doi wins after a Bakatare sliding kick that penetrates Johnson's bread shield. What a sentence.

Antony W Mori vs Magnitude Kishiwada

Holy crap! Squash, splat, Antony is dying, splat, splat... Antony Wins!! Elegantoh Majeek!

 

CIMA vs Naoki Tanisaki

Wow, this looks like it was something special, shame we couldn't see more of it. Naoki is busted open and refusing to die. The crowd are white hot and right behind him, but unfortunately a referee stoppage/TKO ends it. Tantalising highlights indeed.

 

Susumu Yokosuka vs K-Ness

Knessuka explodes! These two went 25 minutes and we get 15 seconds.

 

Syachihoko Machine vs Stalker Ishikawa

They pound each other for a bit, then both withdraw from the tournament angrily.

 

Ryo Saito vs Jackson Florida

Jackson is firmly in control until his dodgy knee is yet again his undoing. A figure four leglock is reversed and he taps immediately. Aww.

 

Tozawa vs Genki Horiguchi

Hey, some fancy new moves from Tozawa. Genki with the Hot Spicy and the beach break. Nasty, nasty moves. This looks like it was fun, though only went four minutes.

 

Shingo Takagi vs Masato Yoshino

Wouldn't have minded seeing more of this one either. 15 minutes plus and a rare inter-bloodgen encounter.

 

Magnum TOKYO vs Masaaki Mochizuki

Looked like a decent match, not as heated as some of the others though. Mochi proceeds with a dragon suplex.

 

Antony paid for his upset victory over Magnitude, BloodGen destroy him in a tag match and put him out of the tournament. Bastards. Araken gets a bye, and as this is being explained they come and give him a beating too. Double bastards.

 

Shingo Takagi vs Super Shisa

Ahahah. Shisa got his arse handed to him in six minutes, the furry softy.

 

Masaaki Mochizuki vs Katsuo

Katsuo gets taken to school, Mochi is one of the best to do it. Twister and Twister 2 in succession. There's just no need.

 

Michael Iwasa vs CIMA

Heh, this looks like it was funny. He tries the Florida chair ploy but comes undone because Yagi isn't the ref. Unlucky. Camel clutch brings back the memories of his glorious trial series of defeats.

 

Dragon Kid vs Naruki Doi

These two just can't stop meeting. Seems like it was pretty good. DK wins with the Bible.

 

Ryo Saito vs Genki Horiguchi

Whaa? The on screen postmatch timer thing says this went less than two minutes?? Very strange if that's accurate.

 

Susumu Yokosuka vs Don Fuji

Susumu fighting for himself and for the increasingly close to retirement (at the time) K-Ness. Happily, he wins!

 

So, the King of Gate Quarter finals are as follows:

 

Masaaki Mochizuki vs Ryo Saito

 

Shingo Takagi vs BxB Hulk

 

Araken vs CIMA

 

Susumu Yokosuka vs Dragon Kid

 

Which is a pretty mouth watering line up.

 

 

1. Magnitude Kishiwada, Don Fujii, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi vs. Magnum TOKYO, King Shisa, Super Shisa, Katsuhiko Nakajima

 

So reading up on it, I get the impression that King Shisa is actually Super Boy. I was very much hoping this is true, because Super Boy was a favourite during my trawl through late 90s Michinoku Pro and beyond as a member of SuperCurryMAX.Looking at him, seeing his ring introduciton pose and watching the match, I'm fairly sure it is Super Boy, so yay. The King Shisa mask is pretty swanky, as are his new power moves. Other than that this is fairly standard fare. Super Shisa is on good form with some funky reversals, King Shisa does his best to impress and tag team fun is had by all. Oh, and Magnitude Kishiwada makes me look foolish by botching the positioning of his standing moonsault and giving Shisa nothing but knees, mere posts after I just praised him for never doing that. Git.

 

 

2. Florida Brothers vs. Vangelis

 

I hear bad things about Vangelis, bad and scary things. He has a very cool name though. Say it yourself, sound good? Yes it does. So here comes then. Oh, he's a poor man's Latin Lover with Nazi overtones. Of course. Ehh.. he does some generic rope based arm drags then hits everyone with a chair. Very much a throwaway match.

 

3. Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Genki Horiguchi & Naoki Tanisaki

 

I've seen this before so I'll keep it short. You know why DG rules? Because for all of Evans and Strong's crazy moves, the biggest pop in the whole match is reserved for Genki's backslide.

 

4. CIMA vs. Kenichiro Arai

 

It's been said already, but this is an exemplary tournament style singles match. CIMA absolutely destroys Arai's leg and tries to get him beaten as quickly as possible to save his energy, all the while putting on a short match that milks the drama and crowd heat for all its worth and thus doesn't seem rushed in the slightest, which is where early El numeruo uno matches have fallen short in the past. Araken's expressions are amazing, CIMA is brilliantly ruthless. Great stuff.

 

 

5. Shingo Takagi vs. BxB Hulk

 

The heat for this was insane. It's scary the calibre or match that these two can put on at this stage in their careers. If Shingo doesn't get lured away to America full time he'll be a company ace for sure, and given how over he is you wouldn't even bet against Hulk at this stage, which is crazy considering he hadn't even been wrestling for a year.

 

6. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Dragon Kid

 

An emotionally charged performance for Susumu, who again is competing for K-Ness as much as anyone and everyone, including me, desperately wants him to win. He busts out several K-Ness signature moves towards the end, which is a nice touch. DK and Susumu is always a winning combination, and Kid's faith in Susumu as an awesome catcher seems to make him willing to do more adventurous spots, like the flying huracanrana from the top to the apron, and of course the finish where they do something that's close to the old DK/SUWA classic suite bomb spot. Another superb match, again boosted by the molten heat from the crowd that refuses to be burned out despite this being the third back to back match that has everyone on the edge of their seats and with an equally charged main event still to come.

 

The fact that I'd forgotten who won this, coupled with my Susumu bias and subsequently my happiness at his victory makes this my favourite match of the night, but only just. Oh, and for BloodGen to run in and beat everyone up after an emotional match like that is downright evil. I wanted someone to kick CIMA's arse, but nobody did.

 

7. Ryo Saito vs. Masaaki Mochizuki

 

They start slowly as if this crowd actually needs any recovery time. By the finish everyone is behind Ryo. Everyone. They might be split early on but Ryo really is the hero of the people now. Ryo gets all fired up, Mochi kicks him a lot. Ryo gets more fired up. And so on. The finish is incredible, the sheer speed and fluidity of it is stunning and yet again the crowd can barely stand it. Best reaction of all is Genki's though, you'd be convinced that he hadn't been told who was going to win this when the three count goes down.

 

All four King of Gate tournament matches are top drawer stuff, an excellent show and one that needs to be seen. The undercard is pretty mediocre, with the FloBro match in particular being very missable. Other than that though everything ranges from watchable to fantastic.

[Spatular]

Doi wins after a Bakatare sliding kick that penetrates Johnson's bread shield. What a sentence.

Bread shield as hymen metaphor. Ich. Maybe it's the beer but I laughed very hard at this.

(various first- and second-round KoG matches didn't get enough shown on TV)

Yeah, that annoyed me too.

So reading up on it, I get the impression that King Shisa is actually Super Boy.

Sweet, I never twigged. Fat flyers are always good value. :)I did quite like Vangelis though. But it might have been the gimmick more than the matches...

If Shingo doesn't get lured away to America full time he'll be a company ace for sure

Someone on the DGUSA comment board the other day made the excellent point that had Shingo not gone to the USA, he would have been the most senior current DG wrestler who'd never wrestled or trained abroad. Looking at it in those terms, I'm much more confident that his time in the US is only temporary. And I'm sure a change of scenery will benefit him. Even if it is ROH.

[JLM]

December PPV - King of Gate finals

 

Tozawa/Katsuo vs BxB Hulk/Katsuhiko Nakajima

 

Bit of a rookie showcase, though Hulk really doesn't seem like one any more and neither would Nakajima if he wasn't so humble and deferent. Katsuo looks better than he has, Tozawa is Tozawa, he still can't quite nail that second rope 'rana every time. I'm really looking forward to seeing his Akira Tozawa character though, he seems like he could be quite charismatic if he was given something to work with. Decent match anyway, some fun near falls for the real rookie team and a couple of unexpected saves from Katsuo when things looked to be over. Not bad.

 

Ryo Saito vs Shingo Takagi

 

Saito appears to be accidentally busted open, which is unfortunate for him but makes for a great visual throughout the match. Shingo is monstrous again, including one fantastic bit where he flings Ryo about with just one arm. He's also added the Chris Masters touch to his entrance with the rhythmic flexing. Good match, Ryo seems to be more over with each show now, his rise to the top is being received well by the live crowds. Shingo is the ideal opponent for him at this stage. A big, bad evil roadblock for the fans to rally behind Ryo to take down.

 

Susumu Yokosuka vs CIMA

 

You always get drama with Susumu's big matches and this one doesn't disappoint in that respect. I did get a slight feeling that this was a 30 minute main event match shoe-horned into this slot though. Maybe it's because both of these guys have a 'big match style' that's more suited to your long, epic encounters, as opposed to Mochi who leans towards performing a solid singles main event in 20 minutes. There's a nod to their previous matches with the sequence where Susumu can't do the JUMBO NO KACHI because his arm has been destroyed and CIMA taunts him by allowing him to try it repeatedly. The excellent twist in this case is that Susumu counters the problem using the Shouryuukyaku, a K-Ness trademark. I liked that a lot. The crowd explosion for Susumu's win was huge. I guess this would be the best way to gauge Ryo's popularity, pairing him against Susumu, fighting for K-Ness in a big singles main event.

 

Vangelis/King Shisa vs Roderick Strong/Jack Evans vs Naruki Doi/Masato Yoshino

 

Jesus, could you have imagined a match like this in 2004? Surreal stuff, Super Boy and Jack Evans in a DG ring together.

 

This is a fun little match and is a nice change of pace from the more serious King of Gate encounters. The opening three-way stand off is great to watch; Strong delivers a mean chop and a sweet drop kick, I'll give him that. Evans totally misses one of his moves on Vangelis, which is a bit embarrassing, but Strong coolly bails him out by putting Vangelis away with one of his own painful looking efforts. I'll give him that too.

 

King Shisa is all kinds of fun, his moonsault to the floor with perfect landing on his feet, his splat-tastic power moves and that fact that I'm now 100% convinced he's Superboy. Oh, and the mask really does rock. Evans tries to interact with the crowd with mixed results, though you can tell they're definitely warming to him generally. One thing him and Strong did that I did enjoy was the moonsault onto one opponent using his torture racked partner as a platform. Decent idea and pulled off quite well. In fact, most of their better stuff involved Strong using Evans as a weapon rather than allowing Evans to fling himself about, missing and hitting things in equal measure. He bumps well, I'd like to see Shingo killing him please. I somehow can't shake the impression that they're the extremely poor man's Yasshi and Kondo.

 

Doi and Yoshino are the stars. As much as I'm liking King Shisa, Doi in particular is the best performer in the match by some distance.

 

One question, that BloodGen wheelbarrow rib breaker thing, Super .... What do they say? It's bugging me!

 

Protein attack screwjob gets it done for team nippon. It was strange using BloodGen to represent Japan as they'd end up as the face team by default, but they did make good foils for their eclectic opponents.

 

Survival Gate battle Royal (It's still a Dragon scramble to me

 

:D :D

 

Is basically my review of this. I was grinning and laughing constantly. Loved it. Karaokoe machine, Okamura taking on Magnitude, Syachihoko Machine, Naoki with the biggest feel-good win ever, Antony W Mori low-bridgning Kishiwada. Every second of this was gold.

 

So yeah.

 

King of Gate final: Susumu Yokosuka

 

Whew, well this was a bit heavy. Susumu's arm not quite right from the start, so Ryo goes for that. Susumu bailing to ring side and repeatedly stalling for recovery time was a really nice touch. They slow burn this one for quite a while, and the grounded nature and Korakuen setting has led some to compare it to a Kings road AJ heavyweight match. It's all nice and progressive, but my main criticism is that the breakneck finishing stretch overdoes it with the near falls.

 

I loved Ryo's expression when Susumu's lariats started failing as his arm gave out. You could see it all in his face "he's got nothing left, this is my chance". And then of course Ryo knew to avoid what Susumu did against CIMA and the continuity makes us all smile. But still, on the whole I think both could have done without one or two of their respective two counts and the drama of the match could still have been preferred. I'm not one to pick holes in matches for one too many rest-holds or inconsistent selling and so forth, but the fact of it is I found my suspension of disbelief slipping after Ryo's umpteenth near escape.

 

The near fall that did count though was the one off Susumu's Aikata. You knew that if his new K-Ness tribute finisher didn't get it done then he wasn't going to win, and I thought it was a great way to represent the tide finally turning and the winner being decided. Ryo using the PREMIUM BRIDGE finisher to finish Susumu off was good too, that move is looking nice and deadly given the matches he's won with it.

 

Essentially a very good match and the culmination of a stellar year for Ryo Saito and yet another year of best bridesmaid ever for Susumu.

 

So, 2005 then...

 

So we lost Aagan Iisou. I still miss them from the shows, Yasshi and Kondo in particular, but we all knew that we'd keep watching anyway and things haven't turned out all that badly for either party. Their adventures elsewhere mean that they can be kept up with at will, along with SUWA and TARU. Hearing that Takuya Sugawara found new work after his depressing post-dismissal interview was one of the year's happier moments. The emergence of Blood Generation, particularly Shingo Takagi as the new musclebound monster has softened the blow more than we could have imagined at the start of the year, but there will always be that vacant moment on the show where someone should be getting Yasshi's ball sweat blown in their face.

 

We also lost Milano COllection AT, and it's perhaps fitting that the year ends with his rival and former multiple squash victim winning the tournament that will see him propelled into a company ace role. Again, Milano is missed from the shows, not nearly as much as Aagan for me, but it's certainly a shame that much of his work since has been fairly obscure.

 

Then there's what Jae calls "The emergence of Ryo Saito and the theme of "No Mochizuki, No CIMA, No Magnum".

 

With CIMA focused largely on multiman BloodGen wars and putting people over and Magnum undergoing his rather isolated Revolution and the fact that the dream gate is only defended sporadically, we saw plenty of big matches in 2005 that didn't involve the three traditional company aces. In Ryo Saito and Magnitude Kishiwada the company has two new top line stars, then there's Shingo, Doi and even Hulk who have breathed new life into the promotion's upper card spots.

 

Blood Generation as a unit was the story of 2005.

 

The faction saw the growth of CIMA into an authoritative leader figure, the emergence of Shingo Takagi as a truly special talent and the reinvention of Naruki Doi into someone who could feasibly become a company ace himself. Masato Yoshino has been revitalised in his cocky heel role, Magnitude Kishiwada arrived as an instant new main eventer and the feud with DoFixer produced the best matches of the year.

 

On the other side, feuds with BloodGen saw Dragon Kid and Ryo reap the rewards. Kid found some motivation in his feud with Doi and turned in some of his best work, and Ryo went from strength to strength, starting with a pinfall over CIMA in January and ending with his King of Gate victory at the end of December. He made himself a star with his performances, but CIMA and co. helped him along every step of the way. On top of all of that, it was against BloodGen that BxB Hulk gradually made the transition from fiery rookie to a true fan favourite and yet another potential main eventer of the future.

 

2005 also saw an unprecedented number of outsiders: some great, some good, some Danshoku Dino~.

 

The K-Dojo influx brought pleasing results for the most part. Oishi and Asahi were a lot of fun, Apple Miyuki should be on every show and TAKA brought his star power if not 100% consistent performances. Not forgetting PSYCHO, who added some spice to the Brave Gate tournament and looked good aside from one unfortunate botch. Katsuhiko Nakajima joined the roster for all intents and purposes and turned in some very watchable performances in six man tag matches. Genichiro Tenryu vs Magnum TOKYO was a bizarre feud but one that has produced some memorable TV and appears to be revitalising Magu by giving him something focused to do. King Shisa, Vangelis, Strong and Evans are closer to 2006 additions, but of that lot I'd only like to see King Shisa regularly. Then of course there were excursions outside of DG for BloodGen and DoFixer into K-Dojo, independent Japanese shows and beyond.

 

For the likes of Asahi, Oishi, Evans and Strong to be regular roster members for entire tours is a radical departure from Toryumon under Ultimo Dragon, but the thinned out roster and desire to move away from almost anything traditionally associated with Ultimo's promotional style has made this a necessity. Personally I welcome it, though I would like to see far greater quality control enforced when selecting these outsiders. I shudder to think that I'll be watching Turboman matches soon after seeing those clips.

 

More Asahi and Oishi! Wishful thinking but Masao Orihara (The best Aagan member never to be involved with Aagan in the slightest), Minoru Fujita, Ikuto Hidaka, anyone from Osaka Pro, Hayate, more Jinsei Shinzaki! But more fourth rate alleged luchadores? No thank you.

 

Now, at last, I can move onto 2006! My aim is really, really ambitious now and could send this thread into a bizarre cycle that sees it starting at page 1 again with a "NO WORLD SPOILERS" request that remains valid for months.

 

However, the aim is thus: Catch up to May/June as soon as humanly possible, then go into the World show unspoiled and try and keep up to date from there. The speed with which I made it through Autumn/Winter and the fact that there are no May or June Pay Per views make me fairly confident that I can do it. So I'm going to try.