18 months. CIMA, from December 2011 through June 2013, dominated the Dragon Gate landscape. He went through Tozawa, PAC, YAMATO, and K-Ness, among others, and was still atop the mountain. Shingo Takagi, who has been groomed for success since his first day in the company, was looking to prove himself as the ace of the company. You could make an argument that this match, Takagi vs. CIMA, was the most important Dragon Gate match to date. Elsewhere, K-Ness is getting a chance to shine for the Brave Gate Championship, Tozawa and Hulk try to defend their titles against Ricochet and Naruki Doi, and YAMATO and Mochizuki unleash ruthless aggression on each other.
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Dragon Gate Presents:
Kobe World Pro-Wrestling Festival, July 21, 2013
Kotoka, Super Shenlong, & Chihiro Tominaga vs. Rich Swann, Super Shisa, & Shachihoko BOY
This was excellent for an opening match. The experienced team kept the match together while giving the younger trio a chance to shine. Swann is such a pro and he's still so young. I really hope he returns to Japan soon. He really stood out in this match.
Rating: ***1/2
Stalker Ichikawa vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Dylan Hales dream match right here. This was insanely entertaining and it wasn't just because of Ichikawa. Fujiwara played his part perfectly. This was a lot of fun. Something about seeing Fujiwara take an ass-attack from Ichikawa brings a smile to my face.
Rating: NR
Cyber Kong, HUB, & NOSAWA vs. Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kagetora, & Mr. Quu Quu
HUB, pronounced "Hub-o", I believe, is not very good, NOSAWA is not very good, and Kong was at the stage in his career where he couldn't do anything right. That left The Jimmyz to do most of the work and they tried, but this was just a match. Even though Kong was largely terrible at this point, he and Susumu have really good chemistry.
Rating: ***
Genki Horiguchi, Jimmy Kanda, & Ryo Saito vs. Kzy, Mondai Ryu, & Uhaa Nation vs. Don Fujii, Gamma, & Dragon Kid
It's so funny to see Uhaa Nation as a heel. Like, has there ever been a more likable person in the wrestling business? Horiguchi put in another fantastic performance here and held together what was largely a dull match. Believe it or not, the Kzy/Ryu tandem (with Uhaa) did not win the titles. Shame. One day, Ryu is grabbing the brass ring.
Rating: ***1/4
Masato Yoshino vs. K-Ness
Yoshino wore Ita-Con tribute gear which was freaking sweet. Both guys were on top of their game here. K-Ness is so great at creating exciting nearfalls and finishing stretches. It's hard for me to not be invested when he's in the ring. It's the same thing with Genki Horiguchi. Flash pins, when protected, are just the best. These two had a killer match. K-Ness just had a big singles match against Akira Tozawa and I really hope it's not his last big singles match of 2015. What a man.
Rating: ****
YAMATO vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
This was an all-time great performance by Masaaki Mochizuki. YAMATO was outstanding here but Mochizuki was just on another planet. This looked and felt completely different than anything else I've watched for this project and it was a refreshing change. Man, this match was so tremendous. The submissions, the kicks, and some incredible nearfalls really had me invested in this. Go seek out this match, especially if you're participating in Pro Wrestling Only's Greatest Wrestler Ever project. I was blown away by this.
Rating: ****1/2
Ricochet & Naruki Doi vs. BxB Hulk & Akira Tozawa
This was incredible. Not on the level of the big tag match from 2011, but still something that no other company can touch. Ricochet was outstanding here. He had grown so much from that 2011 match and was the best looking here. Doi is a really good tag match wrestler, as is Hulk, so those two looked strong here. Tozawa...does this guy ever look bad? Incredible stuff here.
Rating: ****1/2
CIMA vs. Shingo Takagi
Unlike previous CIMA main events where he tried to create epics, this actually felt like one, and because of that, a lot of this match worked. This had a big match feel that has lacked in previous CIMA main events. Shingo adds to his GWE case again as he was tremendous in this. This almost went 40 minutes which is absurdly long for a match with no Danielson, Kobashi, or Misawa in it, but I really enjoyed it. Takagi was supposed to look like a big deal here and he absolutely did. A really strong way to end World 2013.
Rating: ****1/4
Closing the Gate: Fantastic show. The second half delivered more than I thought it would with that YAMATO/Mochizuki match really being something special. Double thumbs up for this show. Next time, the series comes to an end with World 2014! BxB Hulk is in the main event once again, Flamita looks to prove himself to the wiser Dragon Kid, and Shingo is involved in another classic!
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