Dragon Gate was back in Kobe World Hall to celebrate the joy of pro-wrestling in the summer of 2005. In one year, the landscape of the company had drastically changed. Blood Generation, the group of young, brash, iron pumpers, were dominating a majority of the roster. Things only looked bleaker for opposing units Final M2K, Pos. Hearts, and Do FIXER, as the addition of MAGNITUDE KISHIWADA (more on him later) seemed to be Blood Generation's final step before claiming all of the gold in the promotion. In the main event scene, the grumpy prick, also known as Masaaki Mochizuki, was in the midst of his first Open the Dream Gate Championship reign. Mochizuki would be opposing one of the few people that can out-grime, out-grump, and out-prick him, as K-Dojo's own TAKA Michinoku set his sights on Mochizuki's title. Sit back and relax as Dragon Gate puts on a true show of the year contender.
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Dragon Gate Presents:
Kobe World Pro-Wrestling Festival, July 3, 2005
K-Ness, Kenichiro Arai, & Susumu Yokosuka vs. BxB Hulk, Anthony W. Mori, & Super Shisa
Susumu Yokosuka gets stuck in the opener after losing a #1 Contenders match to TAKA Michinoku. Sometimes life isn't fair. He makes up for it, however, by KILLING IT in this opener. Everyone did, actually. Final M2K put the boots to the young BxB Hulk for what seemed like an eternity, but once Mori and Shisa were able to fire up and land offense, this turned into a tremendous trios match. Super Shisa is one of those guys that makes Dragon Gate standout from nearly all promotions. I'm not clamoring for Shisa to get even the slightest of a push, but it's matches like this that remind me that he's an excellent professional wrestler. Shisa impressed me more than anyone else in this match with his crisp offense and fluent transitions. This was even better than last year's opener. An awesome way to kick off the show.
Rating: ***3/4
El Hijo de Iwasanto (Michael Iwasa) & Mishi Mascaras vs. Florida Express (Jackson Florida & Johnson Florida)
Remember last time when I said I don't get the Florida Brothers/Express? Yep. Well, I still don't. I have no clue what was going on here. Super Shisa should've wrestled twice. I didn't enjoy this.
Rating; NR // NO GIFS!
Masato Yoshino & Shingo Takagi vs. Yuji Hino & SUPER-X
Yoshino and Shingo are probably the two most jacked dudes in Blood Generation. Combating them is Japanese indie standout Yuji Hino and his speedy partner, SUPER-X (Madoka in Voices of Wrestling's favorite promotion, UNION). I was expecting a nice hoss battle between Shingo and Hino, but the real entertainment in this came from Yoshino and SUPER-X. Hino was almost a non-factor, which is a bummer, because I've really enjoyed his work in 2015. A hot finishing stretch between the two juniors saves this from being a major disappointment.
Rating: ***1/4
Magnitude Kishiwada vs. Naoki Tanizaki
Magnitude Kishiwada...oh, what a man. Pushed as the massive muscle of Blood Generation, he would end up dethroning Masaaki Mochizuki for the Dream Gate title four months after this. Kishiwada has never been good, but he certainly looked like he had potential to be something in this match. This was nothing more than a long squash to put Kishiwada over as a killer. Tanizaki had a few hope spots hindered by some weak looking offense, but this was largely inoffensive and by default, some of the best work Kishiwada has ever done.
Rating: **3/4
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Magnum TOKYO
Oh, this was wonderful. I was dreading the idea of having more Magnum TOKYO matches but the Kensuke Family just decided to beat the piss out of him. In the last review I mentioned that Nakajima didn't show the fire that I'm used to seeing from him. That changed here. Nakajima looked confident, he looked focused, and he showed such great fire in the ring. So much fire, in fact, that he decided to take a few cheap shots at Tenryu on the apron. TENRYU DOESN'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT SHIT. Seeing the then 55 year old Tenryu throw wild punches at the 17 year old Nakajima was nothing short of a hoot. I also find it interesting that in this match Sasaki seemed bound and determined to have a chop battle with Tenryu. Keep in mind that three weeks later, Sasaki had his chest rearranged by Kenta Kobashi in their Tokyo Dome classic. Magnum TOKYO takes the fall, as he should, because he's a geek. Really fun match.
Rating: ***3/4
Blood Generation (CIMA, Don Fujii, & Naruki Doi) vs. Do FIXER (Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi)
This is a masterpiece. It's so, so great. Genki Horiguchi comes into this match with a bad back and Blood Generation does everything they can to exploit it. Horiguchi fights and fights and fights but even with Saito and Dragon Kid by his side, Blood Generation is just too strong. I mentioned last time that Horiguchi is my ultimate guilty pleasure. I like him probably way more than anyone else does. For 25 minutes, he was the ultimate babyface. This was flawless, one of the closest things to perfection in a wrestling ring. Up to this point, it's the best Dragon Gate match I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and watch this now.
Rating: *****
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. TAKA Michinoku
This wasn't the classic they were going for, but it was still a very good match. TAKA attacked Mochizuki's leg mercilessly while Mochizuki targeted the arm of K-Dojo's leader. My main issue with this match is while the action was entertaining and for the most pat, Mochizuki worked well around his knee injury, I never felt like Mochizuki was in true danger of losing. Granted, I knew the result going in, but there's a bigger point to make in that I never felt like TAKA was truly dangerous enough to beat Mochizuki. The finish also caught me by surprise. I'm used to seeing Mochizuki land a big flurry of kicks before putting down his opponent, but it only took one big kick to the head to put TAKA away. I guess, in hindsight, that plays into Mochi's leg injury and him only being able to muster up one big kick, but it caught me by surprise when watching the match. Still, with two wrestlers this good, the good outweighs the bad. A fun way to close out an excellent show.
Rating: ***3/4
Closing the Gate: I liked this show better than the 2004 edition of Kobe World. Both had killer six-man openers and while the 2004 show had a really solid undercard with the two UDG Championship semi-finals matches, this card was much more balanced. The Kensuke Family tag match delivered way more than I thought it would and the Triangle Gate match sets this apart from last year's installment. Both are great shows, but I give the edge to this one. Up next, we head to 2006 where MINORU SUZUKI debuts in Dragon Gate, Dragon Kid and Susumu Yokosuka clash for the Open the Dream Gate title, and Blood Generation EXPLODES as CIMA and Magnitude Kishiwada battle in a No Rope Match in the main event!
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