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       2015 Summer Adventure Tag League - 9/5 - 9/27  NEWS THE UNIT SHIFTS ARE UPON US!! In the wake of Kobe World and Dangerous Gate, the world of Dragon Gate is in turmoil! In a series of Loser Disbands matches matches both Millennials and Mad Blankey lost to the Jimmyz so there are a lot of wrestlers looking for new units. K-Ness joined Jimmyz as result of turning on Mad Blankey, which infuriated Naoki Tanizaki due to the amount of cheating attacks K-ness hit him with during their match. The next show Tanizaki reverted to Combat-Mode face paint so it looks like he's out. Kotoka and Eita cemented their rudo status turning on U-T and T-Hawk respectively, so it looks like Millennials will be pretty split amongst the new units. Perhaps the biggest shakeup surrounded Monster Express. Being in a bad mood dating back to KING OF GATE, Shingo Takagi has turned his back upon MX once and for all! Growing tired of this cross-unit madness with Yoshino and the weight of the loss post Shachihoko BOY, Shingo completely lost it after winning the Dream Gate against Yoshino at Dangerous Gate. Takagi declared himself a lone-wolf and that this be an era of self-reliance and the end to the friendship bullshit he's had to tolerate over the last few years. Meanwhile I, CIMA, have had it with all these drat kids. These young stars of Dragon Gate are perfectly apathetic and welcome their station. They don't want to lead. Shimizu even lost his singlet! You know what? I'm going to gather up Fujii and Gamma and smack the poo poo out of them. That'll get some sense in their head! You mean to tell me that T-Hawk doesn't seem bothered about how Kobe World went for him? Are you loving kidding me? Welp leave it to me, Super CIMA, I'll settle that loving poo poo. OH HO HO HO NOW MOCHIZUKI IS GETTING IN OUR TEACHING THESE LAZY-ASSES A LESSON! PERFECT! Also Summer Adventure Tag League is up! It looks like it's going to be a straight tournament rather than round-robin this year! Seven teams have already been announced (see above!) and one first round match up is set for Korakuen. Like KING OF GATE, some stuff won't make tape. We have a couple of cross unit teams and Takagi's partner should end up being a compass to the rest of the new units. I'd be surprised if Eita/Kotoka team doesn't round out the field and and we lead to a tweener affiliation for DoiYAMA as the tourney goes along. NEXT MAJOR/STREAMING CARDS INFINITY #385 - GATE OF GENERATION TOUR - HAKATA STAR LANES - 8/30/2015 THIS WILL MAKE TAPE OPEN THE TWIN GATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH 37th Champions "DoiYAMA" Naruki Doi/YAMATO v Shingo Takagi/T-Hawk - 3rd Defense INFINITY #386 - GATE OF GENERATION TOUR - SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE - TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL - 9/9/2015 THIS WILL BE ON NICONICO/MAKE TAPE 0. Mondai Ryu/Punch Tominaga v El Lindaman/Draztick Boy 1. Masaaki Mochizuki/Big R Shimizu [DIA.HEARTS]/Yosuke♡Santa Maria v Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!/Jimmy Kanda/Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin [JIMMYZ] 2. SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH Dragon Kid [DIA.HEARTS]/Flamita v BxB Hulk/Kzy [DIA.HEARTS] 3. T-Hawk v Eita 4. SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH CIMA/Gamma vs. Don Fujii/Ryo "Jimmy" Saito [JIMMYZ] 5. Shingo Takagi/Cyber Kong/Kotoka v Masato Yoshino/Akira Tozawa/Shachihoko BOY [MONSTER EXPRESS] 6. SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH K-ness/Jimmy Susumu [JIMMYZ] v Naruki Doi/YAMATO INFINITY #387 - EDEON ARENA OSAKA - 9/23/2015 THIS WILL MAKE TAPE SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH Jimmy Susumu/K-ness [JIMMYZ] v BxB Hulk/Kzy [DIA.HEARTS] SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH YAMATO/Naruki Doi v Eita/Kotoka SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH Shingo Takagi/Cyber Kong v Don Fujii/Ryo "Jimmy" Saito [JIMMYZ] SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE MATCH Masato Yoshino/Akira Tozawa [MONSTER EXPRESS] v T-Hawk/Big R Shimizu [DIA.HEARTS] INFINITY #388 - KOBE SAMBO HALL - 9/26 - 9/27/2015 THIS WILL MAKE TAPE 2015 SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE SEMI FINALS WINNER BLOCK A v RUNNER UP BLOCK B 2015 SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE SEMI FINALS WINNER BLOCK B v RUNNER UP BLOCK A 2015 SUMMER ADVENTURE TAG LEAGUE FINALS INFINITY #389 - HAKATA STAR LANES - 10/04/2015 THIS WILL MAKE TAPE INFINITY #390 - TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL - 10/08/2015 THIS WILL BE ON NICONICO/MAKE TAPE INFINITY #391 - KOBE SAMBO HALL - 10/17/2015 THIS WILL MAKE TAPE THE GATE OF DESTINY 2015 - EDEON ARENA OSAKA - 11/1/2015 THIS WILL BE ON NICONICO/MAKE TAPE RESOURCES The best dude for Dragon Gate info/news/knowledge is Jae. He runs iHeartDG and it has EVERYTHING and he's able to translate most of the interviews. He's also on twitter at @DragonGateJae. He lives in Japan and offers his services getting merchandise and tickets to overseas fans. Jae has been the major influence on western fans about the Dragon System dating to 2000. Dragon Gate has two online streaming services. The first is NicoNico. Their NicoNico events page is https://secure.live.nicovideo.jp/event/dragongate. The same rules that applied to New Japan apply to Dragon Gate's NicoNico page (timeshift/buying points/etc). NicoNico has every Korakuen Hall show live and the Five PPVs. Sometimes they'll have the larger capstone shows like MEMORIAL GATE or SCANDAL GATE but I think that's venue to venue and what GAORA is carrying. An English guide to how to navigate the site (it's in Japanese) can be found HERE, however use https://secure.live.nicovideo.jp/event/dragongate for Step Two rather than the NJPW event page Alan4L provides. There is also Dragon Gate Studio. Each month, Dragon Gate tapes an hour show at their Dojo in Kobe called PRIME ZONE. It's usually completely outside of the current storylines and are often goofy (like Mondai Ryu loving with YAMATO's chef lessons before YAMATO joined Mad Blankey). All the events have an English subtitle option and the site is completely bilingual, which is really cool. They take Paypal and it's 1000 yen a month. It's absolutely not essential and I don't think many people subscribe to it, but they've been doing it since 2013 and all of the old PRIME ZONES are archived there. In August, Jae from IHeartDG did a podcast with Alan4L on Dr Keith Presents covering a lot of Dragon Gate topics. It is available for subscribers on the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly website. I enjoyed it immensely and consider it a must-listen. Alan is one of the big proponents of Dragon Gate amongst wrestling websites and asks a lot of interesting questions. IMPORTANT POSTS 7/20 - Kobe World Kinen Hall - PRO WRESTLING FESTIVAL IN KOBE 2015 - LIVE IPPV ON NICONICO Click the matches for my preview. 1. U-T/Kotoka/El Lindaman [MILLENIALS] v Shachihoko BOY/Mike Sydal [MONSTER EXPRESS]/Super Shisa 2. K-ness/Cyber Kong/Mondai Ryu/Punch Tominaga [MAD BLANKEY] v Jimmy Kanda/Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin [JIMMYZ]/Yosuke♡Santa Maria [MILLENIALS]/"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa, 3. Open the Brave Gate Championship Match: Akira Tozawa [MONSTER EXPRESS] (27th Champion) v Eita [MILLENIALS] (Challenger) - 5th Defense 4. Shingo Takagi [MONSTER EXPRESS]/Masato Tanaka [Zero1] v BxB Hulk/Big R Shimizu [DIA.HEARTS] 5. Open the Triangle Gate 3 Way Championship Match: CIMA/Gamma/Don Fujii (54th Champions v Masaaki Mochizuki/Dragon Kid/Kzy [DIA.HEARTS] v Ryo "Jimmy" Saito/Jimmy Susumu/Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! [JIMMYZ] (Challengers) - 1st Defense 6. Open the Twin Gate Championship Match: YAMATO/Naruki Doi [MAD BLANKEY] (37th Champions) v Ricochet [MONSTER EXPRESS]/Matt Sydal (Challengers) - 1st Defense 7. Open the Dream Gate Championship Match: Masato Yoshino [MONSTER EXPRESS] (21st Champion) vs. T-Hawk [MILLENIALS] (Challenger) - 1st Defense MY UNIT OUTLOOK FROM BEFORE DANGEROUS GATE (8/16) MAD BLANKEY -- IN MEMORIAM -- MILLENNIALS -- IN MEMORIAM -- NotQuiteQuentin fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Sep 5, 2015 |
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CURRENT UNIT RUNDOWN In Most Tecnico to Most Rudo Order Dia.Hearts [Established 9/9/2014] Members: BXB Hulk (leader), Masaaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid, Big R Shimizu, Kotoka (Unofficial Assistant) Colors: Silver and Gold Gimmick: Faces in Hulk’s image. Loves good times and pantaloons. Second stable with a design under Hulk’s image (first being Pos Hearts) History: Dia.Hearts was founded after Hulk won the Dream Gate and he was unaffiliated. During a Triangle Gate #1 contenders tournament Hulk teamed up with VTR members Mocchy and Kid. They found a mutual love of pants and had found quick success winning the dang thing. As Mad Blankey continued their relentless assault of Hulk, Mocchy and Kid ran in to save him and defected from VTR to form Dia.Hearts. Hearts is for Hulk’s courage and Dia for their combined diamond-like strength. Ryotsu Shimizu joined as Big R Shimizu after Dia.Hearts backed him up when Mad Blankey stole his crossing guard outfit. He’s become a stout strongman who has a devastating Shot Put Slam. Kotoka isn’t an official member but you’ll see him tag with them on the lower card due to he and Hulk’s history in World-1 and Unaffiliated Army. Monster Express [Established 10/6/2013] Members: Masato Yoshino, Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi, Shachihoko BOY, Ricochet (Gaijin, Inactive), Uhaa Nation (Gaijin, Inactive) Past Members: Mike Sydal (Gaijin Assistant), Anthony Nese (Gaijin Assistant) Colors: Orange and Purple Gimmick: We are the six best friends that anyone has ever had! History: Out of betrayals and destructions comes Monster Express. On August 1, 2013, akatusi dissolved after losing a Loser Disbands match with Mad Blankey. In the match aftermath, Mad Blankey turned on and ejected their founding leader Akira Tozawa as YAMATO took control of the group. Uhaa Nation, Tozawa’s best friend in Dragon Gate, refused to team with Mad Blankey and joined Tozawa and Shingo Takagi as an unaffiliated team. The next month had Naruki Doi turn on Masato Yoshino in the middle of the annual Summer Adventure Tag League and joining Mad Blankey. This forced the end of World 1 International, with Yoshino, Ricochet and Shachihoko BOY now without a stable. Tozawa, finding that he enjoyed wrestling much more while he was teaming with his best friends, proposed the united stable Monster Express and the six stood united as this group. Yoshino is the Speed Monster, Takagi the Muscle Monster, Tozawa the Long Face/Stamina Monster, BOY the Voice Monster, Ricochet the Aerial Monster and Nation the Power Monster. Since its founding, Monster Express has been one of the most dominant units in recent memory. Yoshino and Ricochet both enjoyed Dream Gate reigns and Tozawa/Takagi was one of the greatest Twin Gate teams of all time. Most gaijins find themselves in the friendly graces of MX when they come for training. Currently, much is up in the air as Takagi has expressed jealous of Hulk+Akira’s friendship reviving after Hulk left Mad Blankey and Ricochet and Nation being on hiatus with DG Japan. Jimmyz [Established 3/3/2012] Members: Jimmy Susumu, Ryo “Jimmy” Saito, Jimmy Kagetora, Jimmy Kanda, Genki Horiguichi HAGee.Mee!!, Mr. Kyu Kyu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin Colors: None but a poo poo-ton of eyeglasses symbols Gimmick: “Plain” Second-Gen Wrestlers who love crowd pandering. History: One of the oldest modern units in DG. The first seeds of the Jimmyz was planted during the Blood Warriors v Junction Three war that tore Dragon Gate apart in 2011 and early 2012. Hulk+Akira, the dominant Blood Warriors tag team, was constantly getting the better of the Junction Three top tag team KAGETORA and Susumu Yokosuka. Hulk+Akira would beat down the two and rub in their face that they were boring, plain and just the worst. This lead to a Name contra Title match between the four where Hulk+Akira took KAGETORA and Susumu’s names (the second time Susumu has lost his name). They would name the losers Jimmy Kagetora and Jimmy Susumu, choosing Jimmy due to its meaning of plain or boring in Japanese. As Akira Tozawa and BXB Hulk gained control of Blood Warriors, many members of their large stable ran foul of the Hulk+Akira regime. First the tag team of Maraha Isappa, Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi, were expelled followed by Yasushi Kanda. Kanda was too plain for them, so they decided to take his name and call him Jimmy Kanda as well. The five would unite the next month as Jimmyz and Ryo Saito became Ryo “Jimmy” Saito and Genki Horiguichi would adapt his HAGE nickname to his ring name as Genki Horiguichi HAGee.Mee!! They might be plain outside of the ring with their glasses and names, but they’d do the best to get everyone aboard the Jimmyz Train inside the ring. Blood Warriors would become Mad Blankey (more about that later) and an injured Naoki Tanizaki would return to find that he was seemingly replaced by an imposter Naoki Tanisaki (spelling intentional). He joined the Jimmyz and launched a war to take his name back. It wasn’t very successful, as Imposter Naoki Tanisaki won the rights to the name. Naoki then wanted to be called Naoki Jimmy, but Imposter Naoki claimed his victory rights to rename him Mr. Kyu Kyu Toyonaka Dolphin after how much the old Naoki cried over losing his name and old Naoki’s hometown. Mr. Kyu Kyu would win a second name match, and took Imposter Naoki’s claim to the name. Mr. Kyu Kyu decided he liked his new name so he just added back his proper name to now be called Mr. Kyu Kyu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin. It’s probably the longest name in wrestling history. Since then the Jimmyz have often stood united, often against their sworn rivals Mad Blankey. They’re rarely at the top of the card but you’ll often see them make challenges for the Triangle and Twin Gate and even Genki and Susumu won King of Gate. Sometimes when someone pisses off Jimmyz you’ll see Kanda, Kagetora and Tanizaki adopt “Combat” mode where they wear jumpsuits and smear themselves with all kinds of paint. In early 2014, Saito suffered a devastating hernia that forced him to the sidelines as the Jimmyz became more and more Combat oriented. The unit also was tearing itself apart as Kagetora, Kanda and Tanizaki could simply not get along. It took countless pleading from Saito and his return, but now the Jimmyz have abandoned their Combat side and are getting along for good. Millenials [Japanese Debut 8/23/2013] Members: T-Hawk (co-leader), Eita (co-leader), U-T, Yosuke Santa Maria, Flamita (Gaijin) Former Members: Rocky Lobo (Gaijin) Colors: White, Green and Red Gimmick: Tweener luchadores on a warpath with anyone born before 1990. History: There were a lot of things that led to Millenials forming. One was Eita Kobayashi being surprisingly devastating at chops, which gave him the ability to become the 2012 KING OF CHOP, a tournament to decide who had the most devastating chop in Dragon Gate. As KING OF CHOP, he asked CIMA if he could accompany him on a Mexican excursion. CIMA acquiesced and Kobayashi decided to spend an extended time in Mexico, basing himself in DTU and IWRG and he called himself Eita. In 2012, Tomahawk TT capitalized on Naoki Tanizaki’s injury and decided to imitate his role on the Triangle Gate team as Naoki Tanisaki. Real Naoki came back later in 2012 and the two entered the name war talked about in the Jimmyz entry. Upon Mr. Kyu Kyu reclaiming his name Kyu Kyu forced the Mr. Pii Pii Tomakomai Penguin name upon him and Pii Pii would enter a downward spiral. Kyu Kyu would beat Pii Pii in a loser exiles match and Pii Pii found himself without a name and without a home. Kyu Kyu took pity on Pii Pii and offered to team with him in a match versus Hulk+Akira in Februrary 2013, forming the one-time “Aquatic Brothers” team. After they lost Pii Pii would leave for Mexico, renaming himself Tomahawk and basing himself in DTU and IWRG as well. On 4/12/2013, New Dragon Gate trainee Yuta Tanaka was to debut in his hometown in Nagoya. However, Eita and Tomahawk sent him an invite for him to train with him in Mexico. Taking the opportunity, Tanaka slipped away the week before and joined the two in DTU and IWRG. During the 14th Kobe World Wrestling Festival on 7/21/2013 a video played on the big screen. Eita, Tomahawk (now T-Hawk) and Yuta Tanaka (now U-T) announced they would be returning to Japan soon and they’d be bringing Mexican friends Rocky Lobo and Flamita. They believed that Dragon Gate lost its roots of Lucha Libre and these men would bring them back with their strong lucha. Not only that, but they formed such a tight bond in Mexico that they knew that they would only ally themselves with those born in the 90s. If you were older than them, you were on notice. The Millenials would be Right Here, Right Now. They made their debut in Korakuen on 8/23/2013 and were the second major part of the “Winds of Change” that started with Shingo Takagi’s Dream Gate win over CIMA at Kobe World. In November, Yosuke Watanabe, now unit-less and unmasked after akatusi disbanded and he lost a mascara contra, found themself envious of the strong lucha that its generational counterparts displayed. Eita and T-Hawk welcomed them into Millenials as he was born after 1990. Yosuke would also declare their love of Eita and their excitement at showing their true self. The next month they would redebut as Yosuke Santa Maria, an exotico character. The Millenials claimed their biggest generational victory when they won the Unit Disband contra Deportation match against WE ARE TEAM VETERAN on 11/6/2014. They’ve now set their sights on the remainder of Dragon Gate, but the Zombie Veterans that have bolstered Mad Blankey are unwilling to let the issue of eliminating the Millenials drop. Mad Blankey [Renamed 3/1/2012] Members: YAMATO (co-leader), Naruki Doi (co-leader, injured), Cyber Kong, Kzy (Injured), Punch Tominaga, Mondai Ryu, Don Fuiji (SP, Reinforcement), K-ness (SP, Reinforcement), Gamma (SP, Reinforcement), CIMA (SP, Reinforcement) Former Members: Akira Tozawa, BXB Hulk, Tomahawk T.T./Imposter Naoki Tanisaki/Mr. Pii Pii. Tomakomai Penguin, Uhaa Nation (Gaijin) Colors: Black, Yellow and Red Gimmick: Current Rudo Faction who loves cheating and sleaze tactics. History: Okay this one will be a long one. Mad Blankey is the current rudo faction in Dragon Gate, and you can trace their history back to Real Hazard, which started on 5/14/2008. So it’s both literally the oldest faction in Dragon Gate, and has the longest history. I frankly don’t have the time or patience to go through complete Dragon Gate Rudo history, so let’s just say it went Aagan Iisou -> Blood Generation -> Muscle Outlawz -> Real Hazard -> Deep Drunkers -> Team Doi -> Blood Warriors -> Mad Blankey and the longest tenured heel in Dragon Gate, Kzy, joined Real Hazard in 09 and he has been in each of those heel units since then. Okay? Okay. In early 2012 Akira Tozawa and BXB Hulk executed a coup over Blood Warriors and expelled the former leader CIMA. They would later kick out Naruki Doi, Gamma, Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito and Yasushi Kanda, the gaijin all defected to World 1 International, and they would add Cyber Kong to boister their ranks. Pleased with trimming the fat, Hulk+Akira recreated the unit in their image. Blood Warriors was no more and in its place was Mad Blankey. Super Shenlong II renamed himself Mondai Ryu, the Problem Dragon, and joined the group as did the ferocious gaijin Uhaa Nation. In 2012 it was either them or the Jimmyz as the top unit, however were unable to unseat CIMA, who was in the midst of the most impressive Dream Gate reign in Dragon Gate history. However Blankey Yellow, consisting of Hulk+Akira and Imposter Naoki Tanisaki, would win the 2012 Summer Adventure Tag League, the only trios tag league to date, in a clean sweep. Things would drastically change in 2013. Imposter Naoki Tanisaki, now Mr. Pii Pii Tomakomai Dolphin was ejected after losing a Loser is Exiled match. Fresh after defeating akatusi in Loser Disbands Match, YAMATO would turn on Shingo Takagi and Mad Blankey would turn on its founder Akira Tozawa. This would be a drastic gimmick shift from YAMATO as became the leader of Mad Blankey. Blessed by the Goddess, he was all-knowing and he would lead them in their next era. He would then beat Takagi for his second Open the Dream Gate reign. During this, Nation refused to fight his best friend Tozawa and left Mad Blankey. Later in 2013, during the Summer Tag League, Naruki Doi would turn on his Speed Muscle partner Masato Yoshino and join Mad Blankey, disbanding World 1 International in the process. 2014 has been the most turbulent year in Mad Blankey’s history. YAMATO became the first ever three time Open the Dream Gate champion at DEAD OR ALIVE 2014. BXB Hulk, after months of drama and dislike of how Mad Blankey changed with YAMATO and Doi at the helm, left the group after DEAD OR ALIVE as he won the Cage Escape Hostage Cabellera contra Mascara match. The win saved Cyber Kong’s mask but as Doi was the last person remaining, Kzy had his head shaved. Sick of his treatment, Hulk became his own man. Chihiro Tominaga, emboldened by his sweet new punch perm he was forced to get for losing a match against Kotoka joined the group as “The King of Cheating” Punch Tominaga. Even though Hulk lost the rights to Mad Blankey name in a gauntlet match, he held his head high as he beat YAMATO at the 15th Kobe World Wrestling Festival for his first Open the Dream Gate title reign. That was the first sign of a rough fall/winter for MB as Doi and Kzy both suffered horrible injuries that still has them on the shelf. Naruki Doi planned for this. And in his annual rendition of Doi Darts he introduced a second game: Miracle Doi Darts Mad Blankey Supplements Game. Since both him and Kzy were going to be out for a while, he was going to look out for his best bros and get them some temp members. Somehow K-ness, Don Fuiji, and Osaka06 of Gamma and CIMA were selected to the delight of Mad Blankey. K-ness and Don Fuiji, harkening back to the M2K and Crazy Max days, took to Mad Blankey quickly but Osaka06 was still stung by the Millenials disbanding WE ARE TEAM VETERAN. They were the Zombie Veterans and they were going to haunt the Millenials until end times. As YamaKONG won the Twin Gate title at FINAL GATE, Osaka06 saw what they need to in Mad Blankey and gave their ultimate allegiance to YAMATO. They were still the Zombie Veterans, but as Mad Blankey is willing to wage war on the Millenials, they are with them. UNAFFILIATED PEOPLE "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa - Was in WE ARE TEAM VETERAN. He's freakin' Stalker. When there is a vets unit, he'll be in it. If not, he'll just go and be Stalker and stuff. Kenichiro Arai - Was in WE ARE TEAM VETERAN. But isn't really around at all anymore and only shows up at Korakuens. Does a bunch of Indy Sleaze and I don't think that's going to change. Super Shisa - Was in WE ARE TEAM VETERAN. They made a reference that he was somewhat retiring. He's their trainer so it's not like he's full time anyways. He was in POS Hearts with Hulk, but I don't really think he's a fit for Dia.Hearts. Yuga Hayashi - Still a young boy. Probably is a few months away from getting a "true" gimmick, but it's on the horizon. "Mr. High Tension" Kotoka - He's sort of affiliated with Hulk but isn't a Dia.Hearts member. He's sort of fleshing out the assistant role. He's pretty garbage (imo) and the CIBA gimmick wasn't going to take off. They could have him join Dia.Hearts fulltime and be their "loss post" since it's clear they have plans for Shimizu. NotQuiteQuentin fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 00:28
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KungFu Grip posted:Who is Doctor Muscle? Historically it's someone who is about to turn heel. They've had people under the Doctor Muscle mask all the time, dating back to MO'z. He hasn't shown up recently. This time, I wonder if they are doubling up someone under 83 kilos in the tourney or if it's Flamita trying to exact his revenge on PT at Sambo Hall.
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Jan 2, 2015 02:26
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Lat time it was Punch Tominaga, right? I think so. He turned at the same Korakuen that he lost the Loser Gets a Punch Perm match with Kotoka. Man, we must be living in the benevolent timeline because PT has been amazing and Punch Kotoka would have been nothing.
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Jan 2, 2015 16:40
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OP updated with Dream Gate contender news, Resources, and full 1/16 Korakuen Card. Really interesting that Big R Shimizu is getting this sort of shot this early in his career. I personally expect Yoshino to take it, so they can continue Hulk v his Generation. Susumu was probably the most underrated person on the roster last year, and my fondness for Don Fujii needs no introduction. Should be a fun card! Hope NicoNico is picking it up.
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Jan 5, 2015 04:44
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ChampRamp posted:Unless they drag this to April, it's probably Susumu getting it. I don't think the next title defense is going to be on a big show. With Yoshino out, I can see it either being Susumu or Fujii. I can't really get a read on this title defense. I haven't heard anything about Hulk other than they expect him to defend 2/5 against the winner of the tourney. Also glad to see that both Korakuen and the show a few days later are both on NicoNico. Would love to see Dia.Hearts face MX. Those two teams matchup in a really intriguing way.
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Jan 7, 2015 03:58
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sticklefifer posted:K-Ness is Darkness Dragon, right? And is Magnum TOKYO still wrestling? Yeah K-Ness is Darkness. Although he's injured a lot, he really hasn't lost a step either. Kind of bummed he's not in the Triangle Gate lottery because I really like the Zombie Veterans trio. Last time I heard, TOKYO quietly retired again after HUSTLE died and he's now running a karate dojo in Tokyo.
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Jan 7, 2015 15:41
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wagnike2 posted:What is Infinity? A weekly show/something that doesn't matter? Came across it a few times in looking up Dragon Gate info but couldn't figure it out. Infinity used to be monthly and then weekly. When they signed their new GAORA deal a couple years back they changed it that Infinities are now all complete shows that they tape that they don't show live. Which is awesome because Infinity was closer to the New Japan TV show in that it was an hour clipped of recent shows. They usually make it online. Kobe is considered an Infinity but Korakuen and Osaka aren't because they're being shown live on GAORA/NicoNico.
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Jan 8, 2015 16:24
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Yuga Hayashi and Dr Muscle won their Block A matches today in Kyoto. They'll face off as the first semi-final on 1/12 in Kobe. Hayashi's win was pretty notable as he beat PT in 46 seconds with rolling Germans. Jae noted that Muscle a bunch of people's moves before hitting Doi 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick to beat Yosuke♡Santa Maria. EDIT: I feel weird triple posting in a thread so I'm just editing in that Eita beat Kotoka and Jimmy Kagetora beat Shachihoko BOY so the semi-finals and finals are as follows: Block A: Yuga Hayashi v Dr Muscle [MAD BLANKEY] Block B: Eita [MILLENIALS] v Jimmy Kagetora [JIMMYZ] 26th Brave Gate Champion: Winner Block A v Winner Block B NotQuiteQuentin fucked around with this message at 08:49 on Jan 11, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 17:59
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Your 26th Brave Gate Champion is Doctor Muscle. Long may be his reign and may there be no shenanigans involving him at Korakuen on Saturday. No sir, I don't expect any shenanigans at all! Stalker is getting a shot at the Owarai title on the 17th, and that's not going to get taped but that's okay because Owarai matches are weird and usually p bad. I also have my random Dragon Gate/Toryumon match of the month. I have to rip it from a DVD, but I'll host it somewhere (DM likely) and provide a link to it after the show from Osaka this weekend. Both Korakuen and Osaka are live on NicoNico for 1500 points each (about $12.70).
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Jan 13, 2015 18:42
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oatgan posted:Muscle has been hitting everyones signature spots lately so it could be anyine! My guesses are PT, a surprise returning Naruki Doi or (and I think this is out there) a heel turning Flamita. I haven't seen photos of this version of Doctor Muscle so I haven't seen his build/height. I also haven't checked IWRG or DTU cards to see if Flamita has been working back in Mexico, though. Dimebags Brain posted:I can watch the recent shows on Nico right? Or is that only for their "big" shows (bog hows). I kind of mentioned this in the OP, but their "live" GAORA shows and PPVs are on NicoNico. That's always Korakuen and larger venues like Bodymaker in Osaka. They tape other shows for GAORA for their show called "Infinity." 1/12 in Kobe had the Semi and Finals of the Brave Gate tournament and that'll be an episode of Infinity airing later this month. Those usually go up on DailyMotion relatively quickly. Venues like their smaller Kobe venue, Hakata Star Lanes and Hokkaido often consists of Infinities.
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Jan 13, 2015 22:18
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so I completely spaced and the Korakuen show happened this morning/last night and it was a banger. It's on NicoNico as a timeshift and from the results, it looks like it's worth the purchase. Going to edit my thoughts into this as I watch it and I'll update the OP later. EDIT: I love love love love the match ups for the Dream Key tourney. Fujii Heya collides and an Final M2K match? You're really improving your #brand, DG booking committee. Really Fun opening trios match! Kotoka wasn't absolute garbage for once! Saito really decided to become the sleaziest man in DG when he returned from his hernia. I really can't say enough about how good Yuga Hayashi is already. I'm not as up on my lucha as I should be, but I struggle to think of anyone better him in wrestling under the age of 20. World's Saltiest Tag Team v Kanda/Tanizaki was what you'd expect and really short. I also want a pair of Cyber Kong's sweatpants. I love how they book Shimizu. The Shotput Slam is put over like a loving monster. The announcers spazzing out during the finish was great. Don Fujii continues to be the greatest man and Punch Tominaga's weird uncle. Araken/Susumu was alright. Felt like it was only getting started. The closing moments were fantastic though. MX v Dia.Hearts was incredible. Tozawa might be DG's Mr. Korakuen (please don't hit me for calling him that, Ishii). It's kind of clear Hulk is still hurting. Whenever Tozawa and Moochy is in the ring, magic happens. Worth going out of your way to see. I thought the first all out war match was fun and alright but it really picked up after Yuga's promo. Muscle's botch was hilarious and the move that Eita hit on him after that was just gross in how dangerous it looked. I didn't expect Kzy whatsoever. It's a weird fit for him in Dia.Hearts as I thought Kotoka would have more made sense with Hulk. Kzy and Hulk do have World 1/MB history which works I guess and Kzy going back to his rasta b-boy would be a cool look. Yuga really helps Millenials if he's a full member; they need someone better on the mic and he apparently tore CIMA to shreds in that in between promo. The main event's fantastic and probably the best match Shimizu's ever had. Susumu is fantastic like always. Some actual limb work and selling, which effectively sets the tone and theme of the match. Crowd was electric for the near falls. All and all a very good show with two great matches and a lot of storyline movement. February's show has potential to be a special one with the Dream Gate match and a 3 way 6 man tag. NotQuiteQuentin fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Jan 16, 2015 |
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Jan 16, 2015 18:25
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Biosys posted:Spoilers if you haven't seen the show yet: Kzy was a face back in World-1 in 2009 when he was m.c.KZ. He was actually the longest tenured heel in the roster since he was the only one that went Real Hazard -> Deep Drunkers -> Team Doi -> Blood Warriors -> Mad Blankey. I think the longest tenured heel is Cyber Kong now (longest tenured face has to be Mocchy). I completely forgot that him and Hulk were "Northern Tribe" in Mad Blankey. So the face turn makes since. He looks a lot like former Toryumon-er Brother YASSHI with his dreads.
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Jan 16, 2015 22:31
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OP has been updated with the events of 1/16. Since DG isn't as "live" as NJPW, I'm going to as a policy spoiler the events of NicoNico cards for a few days after each one. I'm removing the tags on 1/21.
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Jan 17, 2015 07:57
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Osaka felt more like a house show, save the debut of the new unit members. It's going to take forever to adjust to Yuga Hayashi being El Rindaman, but he's such a good fit for Millenials. Kzy is growing on me in DH and Kotoka wasn't as garbage as usual! It also seems like we're going to MB vs Dia.Hearts It's still an enjoyable show with lots of good matches and the Triangle Gate match was MOTYC HM quality. Nothing's going to be taped until 2/1 at Hakata, which has the second in the series of Hulk tagging with his generational adversaries and the next Brave and Triangle defense. It'll be a busy start to Feburary.
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Jan 19, 2015 01:18
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Hey Quentin, I figured if anybody would know this here, you would: Why did Ultimo get pushed out of DG? It was reallly two things: 1) Ultimo Dragon revoked all of the Toryumon trademarks from Okamura/CIMA/Magnum as he wanted to start training folks again in Mexico, and promote shows in his own image. 2) The workers were really poorly paid. When the majority (not your CIMAs/Magnums) of workers were still living in young boy conditions and weren't seeing money, they were really willing to split. Just in general, Okamura's image of Toryumon and Ultimo's were different when Ultimo came back from WWE. The Toryumon Japan and T2P wrestlers didn't have as much of a connection/reverence to their trainer as the Toryumon X wrestlers and arguably, they had more of a connection to Dos Caras and Skayde (who did the lion share of the training) then Ultimo. You had CIMA and Magnum, who were 7 year vets, and Mocchy, who wasn't even trained by Ulitmo, who didn't really want to be in Ultimo's image. It was real easy with the money Toryumon Japan was making for Okamura to find investors/"friends" who were willing to put money into the company.
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Jan 19, 2015 03:02
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El Gallinero Gros posted:I assume the investors were Yakuza, given their ties to puro and MMA? There have been mentions that President Okamura has connections but nothing verifiable. He did come from Koji Kitao's dojo, which has it's own rep in of itself (to be fair, Mocchy trained at Buko Dojo as well and teamed with Okamura in WAR and other mid 90s indies).
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Jan 19, 2015 05:39
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Match of the Month – 01/2015 – TITLE CONTRA UNIT DISSOLVES – Masaaki Mochizuki/Don Fujii/Magnitude Kishiwada [ZETSURINS] (21st Champions) v Akira Tozawa/Taku Iwasa/Kenichiro Arai [TOZAWA-JUKU] – 2nd Defense – Gate of Destiny – 11/16/2008 LINK TO MATCH ON DAILYMOTION Why This Match? This might be my favorite match in Dragon Gate/Toryumon history. MochiFujii and AraIwa were two cornerstones of the early Twin Gate/I-J Tag division and they had fantastic chemistry. Magnitude Kishiwada was a great chubby dude who was a former Dream Gate champion who was able to gel with MochiFujii. This is also one of the first matches that Akira Tozawa was allowed to go all out and he already had an incredible connection with the crowd that night in Osaka. It’s only 12 minutes, but the action is frenetic, emotional and bookended by amazing pre and post-match segments. Backstory Akira Tozawa’s early career is rather interesting. The third graduate of the Dragon Gate Dojo, he didn’t get brought into late Crazy Max and be mentored by CIMA, like Shingo Takagi was. He didn’t even get dance routines and his own unit given to him by Magnum Tokyo, like BXB Hulk. You take the modern career of Tomoaki Homna, give to an immature college-age kid, and then have all your seniors do their damnedest to humiliate you and make you want to quit. That’s what Tozawa was before his great American Excursion. The junior of Kenichiro Arai, Tozawa was offered membership into Final M2K in late 2005 after aborted debuts, a disastrous trial series and a lot of backstage trouble. Showing the egomania that would later dominate Blood Warriors and Mad Blankey, he refused the offer stating he would create his own unit in his image. Enter Tozawa-juku. In a company with a lot of bizarre stables, Tozawa-juku is arguably the most bizarre. Akira Tozawa formed a cram school where wrestlers would receive polish. It was supposed to be based off some manga or anime but I don’t remember which one. The first member to join was Taku Iwasa, fresh out of the dissolution of the Florida Brothers (more about them next month!). He wanted to be a serious singles wrestler so he quickly signed up. Araken, realizing his young boy was a numb-skull, begrudgingly joined to make sure he didn’t gently caress up too bad. Yuki Ono, or Katsuo, another dojo grad, joined up as Tozawa’s best friend/fellow troublemaker and drummer. Kouji Shishido, who was most certainly was not Jackson Florida, was their flag bearer. They didn’t have too much success initially and they kept an role in the low-card and were the main comedy stable after Florida Brothers dissolved. In Late 2006 and 2007, things started to change as Iwasa and Arai gelled as a tremendous tag team and faced Speed Muscle in the Twin Gate/I-J title unification match. Shishido was the fan-voted entrant into the King of Gate 2006 tourney. Tozawa-juku would even get exchange students, as indy mainstay Shinobu and gaijin El Generico joined the unit (the most  thing ever is El Generico in his Juku costume). In the summer of 2008, Tozawa-juku would post their greatest accomplishment as AraIwa and Shinobu would win the Open the Triangle Gate title.Things weren’t so hot for Tozawa. Even though he was the unit namesake, he was their jobber/loss pole. He was placed in an infamous comedy match against Danshoku Dino on a Byuuden card. When Katsou gained about 80 pounds and the crowd responded positively, then Dragon Gate seniors forced Tozawa to do the same. They became known as the Metabolic Brothers, and traded their pants for embarrassing silver tights. Eventually Katsou disappeared and AraIwa talked sense into Tozawa, and he underwent a successful diet, and Diet Series of matches. This gave Tozawa a lot of confidence and he boisteriously challenged the Triangle Gate champions, Zetsurins, for a Triangle Gate match with AraiIwa. Mocchy, half-bemused/half-irritated, agreed, but he had one stipulation: Tozawa it is time for you to fuckin’ grow up. If Tozawa-juku lost, they would dissolve and all the members would “graduate.” Aftermath Zetsurins would make one more defense before dropping the title. Moochy entered a rivalry with Iwasa and would continue fighting on general grounds until the Blood Warriors v Junction Three feud. Don Fujii would continue to Don Fujii; lots of beating up rookies, drinking with middle-aged women, and continuing the righteous path of Fujii Heya. Kishiwada would drift out of Dragon Gate, making his return in Veteran Army Returns. The graduation of Tozawa-juku was a short-term success, middle-term failure, and now in 2015, finally realized. Arai would join up with Real Hazard and turn heel for the first time since the 90s, returning to his drunkard character. As Real Hazard turned into Deep Drunkers, he became the spiritual leader of the group. I say spiritual, because that was the start of his decline in Dragon Gate to where he is now. Tozawa and Iwasa would join Shingo Takagi in forming KAMIKAZE. Iwasa had a lot of initial success, he had a Dream Key/Open the Dream Gate shot and held the Triangle Gate with Takagi and Dragon Kid. However, the match that they lost the Triangle Gate against CIMA/Gamma/KAGETORA ended up being his undoing. As a result of taking a botched Genkonitteki form KAGETORA, Iwasa would announce his temporary retirement. He made a short return in 2011 but has all but retired as he hasn’t had a match since 2012. Tozawa didn’t improve his station with KAMIKAZE. In 2010, he lost a member banishment match against fellow member Cyber Kong and went on an extended excursion. This excursion gave him loads of confidence and convinced Dragon Gate brass to believe in him, and since his return in 2011, Tozawa has redefined his career as a member of the “Big 6” alongside Takagi, Hulk, YAMATO, Doi and Yoshino. NotQuiteQuentin fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 21:18
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Dimebags Brain posted:Thanks for this. I know almost nothing about DG prior to 2014 so it's always fun and weird to see older stuff. So what changed between 2008 and now where Tozawa went from constant loser to coolest guy in the company? Tozawa's return from the excursion was also a part of a shocking angle that was one of the biggest moments in the BW v JIII feud as his surprise return was coupled with BXB turning heel at Korauken Hall by viciously bloodying Shingo Takagi. The booking committee held total faith in Tozawa due to his excursion and pretty much kept him in the main event/upper mid card ever since.
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Jan 22, 2015 19:55
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The Kobe Infinity (and Niconico cards) are up on streaming sites. I haven't watched Infinity yet but the two Niconico cards are a lot of fun.
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Jan 27, 2015 05:52
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Full card for Korakuen is out: 2/5 - Tokyo Korakuen Hall - NicoNico 0. Kenichiro Arai/Super Shisa v Mondai Ryu/Punch Tominaga [MAD BLANKEY] 1. U-T/Yosuke♡Sanata Maria/El Lindaman [MILLENIALS] v Jimmy Kanda/Jimmy Kagetora/Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin [JIMMYZ] 2. K-ness [MAD BLANKEY] v Big R Shimizu [DIA.HEARTS] 3. Shingo Takagi/Shachihoko BOY [MONSTER EXPRESS] v Ryo "Jimmy Saito/Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! [JIMMYZ] 4. Akira Tozawa [MONSTER EXPRESS]/Doctor Muscle v Cyber Kong/Don Fujii [MAD BLANKEY] 5. 3-Way 6-Man Tag: YAMATO/CIMA/Gamma [MAD BLANKEY] v Masaaki Mochizuki/Dragon Kid/Kzy [DIA.HEARTS] v T-Hawk/Eita/Kotoka [MILLENIALS] 6. Open the Dream Gate Championship: 20th Champion BXB Hulk [DIA.HEARTS] v Jimmy Susumu [JIMMYZ] - 5th Defense Pretty great card up and down. My guess for Doctor Muscle is Yoshino but no clue why he's under the hood. MX NEEDS more members though. So maybe a debut . Both of the CHAMPION GATE cards on 2/28 and 3/1 will be on NicoNico, I'd expect every belt defended across those two cards. Dragon Gate's traditional Golden Week PPV, DEAD or ALIVE, will be on 5/5 from Aichi. It's considered the fourth biggest event after KOBE WORLD, FINAL GATE and CHAMPION GATE.
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Jan 30, 2015 23:53
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Dimebags Brain posted:When did a new Dr. Muscle show up? Didn't they just do a Dr. M reveal with Kzy? Korakuen will be the first appearance of this Dr. Muscle. Yeah they just did, this is the quickest turnaround of a Dr. Muscle since the Blood Warriors days when it seemed each week someone was turning under a Dr. Muscle/Metal Warrior costume.
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Jan 31, 2015 01:02
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Updated the OP with the results/recap of the Infinity taping in Hakata. That show airs in Japan on 2/10 so I expect it up soon thereafter. I'm going to update the unit rundown after next Korakuen. It looks like that this Dr. Muscle will be a new member of MX with the comments that Tozawa and Shingo made at the taping about the weakened state of the unit. Then again, MX is so weak right now that I could see it just as well dissolving and the members joining MX save Shingo.
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Feb 1, 2015 17:18
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Dimebags Brain posted:Tonight's Korakuen show is live at like 2 am right? Really like that card and want to watch it live. According to NicoNico it's an 1830 Japan start time which puts it at 4:30 EST. Also Santa Maria made an impromptu challenge of the Owarai Gate and won it via Fan Decision last night. I can't remember the last Owarai defense to make tape.
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Feb 4, 2015 20:20
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Doing my usual thing where I post my thoughts about the iPPV as I watch it. Will do spoilers for results until Saturday. The preshow match was really nothing. I liked PT more when he wasn't just cribbing Shinsuke Nakamura's moves. Mad Blankey should form Shin Fujii Heya where he takes Mondai Ryu and PT and teaches them the true ways of drunkenness and sleaze. Few things are more then Santa Maria being proud of winning the Owarai Gate. That opening trios match was the truth. Millenials and Jimmyz mesh so well, KAGETORA doesn't gently caress around and a great finishing rush. And they protected Lindaman which is surprising since he's the low man on the roster. They must really have designs for the dude.I dig what they're doing with Shimizu and K-ness was a fun match up in this impromptu Mad Blankey singles series. Christ Shachi is hitting MIDBREATH hard. Good for him I guess but he's starting to look like Masked Yoshino. WAS NOT EXPECTING UHAA!!!!! I remember last year he saying he would be back in 2015 but I thought that was dashed when he signed with WWE. I guess they are letting him finish up his agreed upon tours before reporting to NXT That 3-Way was insane. This might be the show of the year behind WK9 right now. I loved playing up how Kotoka is garbage but he tries so hard and bringing back Metal Warrior for Doi's swerves. I guess all of the Veteran Zombies are sticking around, which is nice to have a monster heel stable for the first time since Blood Warriors. The Dream Gate match is even better. WHAT A loving WAR. Susumu always upholds his end of the deal and him and Hulk have a very distinct match with various phases and a brutal conclusion. I'm glad Uhaa's getting a Dream Gate shot as a "going away" present and Tozawa versus Kzy should be a lot of fun. I don't know how much longer Hulk's reign has, but it seems like we'll have this Uhaa defense, then nothing due to KING OF GATE and if he get's past Uhaa he'll defend at DEAD OR ALIVE NotQuiteQuentin fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Feb 5, 2015 |
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Feb 5, 2015 17:52
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Both Infinity 364 with the last Triangle Gate and Brave Gate defense and the February Korakuen are up on DailyMotion. IMO the Korakuen is the best non-WK10 show of this year and the opening trios, 3-way 6 man, and Dream Gate matches are must watch. I haven't watched Infinity yet. Santa Maria made her first defense of the Owarai Gate against Stalker on the 11th. It, of course, didn't make tape. It's been decided that the Triangle Gate defense of Dia.Hearts v Salty Dog/Doi and the Brave Gate defense of Kzy v Tozawa will headline 2/28's CHAMPION GATE show and YAMAKong's first Twin Gate defense (they've shaken it up, I don't know if Shachihoko BOY is still an option, Jae has it listed as TBD) and Hulk's 6th defense of the Dream Gate versus Uhaa Nation will headline 3/1's CHAMPION GATE show. Both shows are on sale for iPPV/VOD at https://secure.live.nicovideo.jp/event/dragongate for 1500 Points/Yen. I'm going to try and find Alan4L's guide to NicoNico to help those whom haven't gone through NicoNico before.
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Feb 13, 2015 19:20
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ChampRamp posted:Not DG-specific, but anyone should be fine with these instructions regarding NicoNico ordering: http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/102-japan/39771-how-to-order-tomorrow-nights-new-japan-ippv-from-osaka Awesome. I'm going to add this to the OP. sticklefifer posted:Yeah, the February Korakuen show was great. Jae'll often tweet the live results from the show but the schedule page is how he'll list what each show is. If the show is either in Hakata, Osaka, Kobe or Tokyo, it'll often be an Infinity and if it's Osaka/Tokyo it'll likely be on NicoNico.
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Feb 13, 2015 23:57
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Dimebags Brain posted:So Dragon Gate has to have the most kayfabe incompetent refs in wrestling right? The amount of poo poo Mad Blankey blatantly gets away with is a bit ridiculous at times. hey yagi has a lot of responsibilities such as baking bread in his father's bakery, booking matches, and putting up with my countless emails begging for a florida brothers return, i can't blame him being distracted every once in a while.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:37
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sticklefifer posted:Who takes the Dream Gate from BxB Hulk at this point? Tozawa, Takagi and Susumu have each failed in the most recent high profile attempts, and I don't see Uhaa taking it since he's just finishing up his contract dates before apparently heading off to NXT. Dia.Hearts is enjoying their "all the gold" thing lately, but once that dissolves do they just put it back on YAMATO? I think it's whomever wins KING OF GATE. He's now the longest reigning champ since CIMA's insane reign. If he gets past Uhaa, he'll get his sixth key, and I think it's about to time to end this reign. Yoshino had rather severe tonsillitis. I'm super surprised we haven't heard a single thing about him since he got pulled from the Dream Key tourney last month.
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Feb 15, 2015 23:52
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Dimebags Brain posted:The story of Hulk's reign has kind of been Hulk vs. his generation, so maybe someone from the Millennials? Santa Maria's got this in the bag! Yoshino is the only member of the Big Six that he hasn't faced yet. If he were to return/win KING OF GATE I'd think he'd take it. That way Hulk doesn't go 5-0 against his contemporaries. But 3 title reigns in 18 months for Yoshino is a bit much. The more I think about it, the more I don't think T-Hawk is ready yet. He hasn't been in major singles matches since KING OF GATE 2014, though I thought his against Tozawa was super underrated. A big problem with DG and the Millenials is that they get poo poo on CONSTANTLY by folks like CIMA and Mocchy for how bad their promos are. The crowd really knows it and that's why Lindaman's rebuttal in January was such an oh poo poo moment to the Korakuen crowd. Genki/CIMA are really big on stringing out someone's career/Dream Gate challenges until they have the huge big successful moment. I personally think the next person for that moment is Tozawa, but I don't know if having him win the Brave Gate against Kzy of all people deflates that. I've been racking my brain over this the last few days; I don't know where they go from here. I really like the Hulk vs Big Six storyline, but there isn't much farther they can go with it. It's really for the best that KING OF GATE 2015 is fast approaching.
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Feb 16, 2015 06:19
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Dimebags Brain posted:How much does Dragon Gate book around business/financials? like, if BxB Hulk is drawing really well as champion would they keep the belt on him until they see stuff starting to drop or do they not care about that stuff with regards to booking? Or is their upper card relatively equal in terms of drawing power so they feel free to move the belt around as story demands? Short Answer: They don't have to, but they would in the past. Long Answer: I wanted to take a couple of days to compose my thoughts before giving this a reply. Since November, I've been looking into CIMA's candidacy into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in terms of Japanese "indie" wrestlers and overall legitimacy of the Toryumon system. Funny enough, a lot of what I've been going through (show attendance, booking trends vs other Japanese companies) applies here. Dragon Gate/Toryumon used to book around financials. The key to those financials were if CIMA was on the top of the card, they'd do well, and if not, then things looks rough. Things started to change during BW v J-III and the Big Six were able to assume the role that CIMA held at the top of the card. It has been different/weird now that CIMA is no longer considered the Dragon Gate Ace. Consider this: CIMA was the true Ace of Dragon Gate/Toryumon since 2000 and finally relinquished it when Shingo ended his epic reign in 2012. That's longer than Tana has been ace in New Japan (and more consistent if you really want to get into it.) Since then, the Big Six inherited the role of being the draws. They attempted to have this fourth generation/Big Six (that's at least how I count it, 1st Gen was VTR-Gun, 2nd Gen was Jimmyz/T2P, 3rd Gen was Toryumon X, 4th Gen is early Dragon Gate trueborns and the Big Six, 5th Gen are Millenials) take control when CIMA had his horrible neck injury in 08 and tried Shingo as new Ace and it just failed. He didn't have the charisma, he got bogged down soon after by the monkey scandal, and he just wasn't ready/never reached the role that he was hinted towards. Dragon Gate financials seem to be pretty stable nowadays. They are one of three companies that will sell out Korakuen every month, regardless of card or champion. Kobe World sells somewhere between 9300-9650 over the last five years, and that's with an assortment of different Dream Gate champs. Before then, you could see fluctuation, but things always looked good with CIMA headlining. They have a deep roster that will age well and they don't have the problems of looking for new stars that the traditional Japanese Major Feds do. Being completely realistic, I don't know how or where Dragon Gate grows and expands in the future. They don't do the big yearly shows at Sumo Hall or Saitama Super Arena like DDT has and their international interest has dwindled due to the irrelevance of DGUSA. They became #2 in Japan solely due to attrition/the destruction of NOAH/AJPW. I think a good question looking towards 2015 is where Dragon Gate goes from here, or are they happy with their current piece of the pie?
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Feb 18, 2015 07:10
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sticklefifer posted:How much of a draw was Magnum TOKYO? I know CIMA was the Ace but there was a good amount of time when the two of them were feuding in Toryumon where they were booked as contemporaries. It was sort of an early "tecnico" ace in Magnum and "rudo" ace in CIMA that really turned into CIMA being the full ace. One of the biggest moments in early Toryumon was CIMA getting the final win over Magnum and that went straight into Crazy Max v M2K where CIMA moved into the pure Ace role against the invading/obstructioning Mocchy-led M2K. So Yoshino came back this weekend from his severe tonsillitis to be Shachihoko BOY's Twin Gate partner at CHAMPION GATE. The first show is on the 28th and the second show on the 1st. Both shows are live on NicoNico from Osaka for 1500 yen at https://secure.live.nicovideo.jp/event/dragongate.
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Feb 23, 2015 05:44
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Dimebags Brain posted:That all sounds super fun. Are there any choice matches from those story lines to try and find? It's kind of hard to find early toryumon (pre-t2p) stuff on the internet, Though I found a 1999 CIMA v Magnum match. I'm not certain if this one is the feud ending match, however. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x65y0a_cima-vs-magnum-tokyo_sport Also Yosuke made her 2nd defense of the Owarai Gate a couple of days ago, long may be Maria-chan's reign.
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Feb 26, 2015 18:31
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Just finished up both shows. Champion Gate Nt 2 was the most consistent big show of the year. I wonder how Uhaa's going to do in NXT. He certainly has the athletic prowess to make it, but I wonder if his charisma/mic skills might hold him back. Eita's been suspiciously exempt from shows. I've heard both discipline reasons and an undisclosed injury as rumors why he's been absent. ANYWAYS KORAKUEN ON THURSDAY NIGHT! gently caress YEAH 4 WAY SIX MAN WITH NO SCRUBS! Really those top three matches should be bangers. 1) Yosuke♡Santa Maria/U-T/El Lindaman [MILLENIALS] v K-ness/Gamma/Mondai Ryu [MAD BLANKEY] 2) Kenichiro Arai/Shachihoko BOY [MONSTER EXPRESS] v Super Shisa/"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa 3) Kotoka [MILLENIALS] v Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin [JIMMYZ] 4) Ryo "Jimmy" Saito/Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! [JIMMYZ] v CIMA/Don Fujii [MAD BLANKEY] 5) T-Hawk/Flamita [MILLENIALS] v Masaaki Mochizuki/Dragon Kid [DIA.HEARTS] 6) 4 Way 6 Man Tag Team Match: Akira Tozawa/Masato Yoshino/Shingo Takagi [MONSTER EXPRESS] v BxB Hulk/Big R Shimizu/Kzy [DIA.HEARTS] v Jimmy Susumu/Jimmy Kanda/Jimmy Kagetora [JIMMYZ] v YAMATO/Naruki Doi/Cyber Kong [MAD BLANKEY] LIVE ON NICONICO
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Mar 3, 2015 02:24
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Dimebags Brain posted:Does the full Blood Warriors/Junction III Loser disbands match exist anywhere, or do we only have the cut down version that showed up on Infinity? Given time period, it's from infinity. I got a newer/hq version of it from Jae during the sale so I'll check it later to see if it's the Infinity or another release.
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Mar 6, 2015 01:33
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Dimebags Brain posted:I'm going through shows from this period and I found the match on Infinity 250, but it's a cut down version and from reading the comments on the video the full match is like 70 minutes long or something like that, and I'd like to see the full thing rather than the cut down 40 minute version on Infinity. no dice. the one I have is from 250. unless it's on a "2012 season" dvd, that's probably the only version that exists. i'm so glad we get complete live korakuens (like tonight) now on. ChampRamp posted:Dragon Gate shirt listings: http://shop.dg-pro.jp/products/list.php?category_id=9 yeah i'd ask jae. he has made mentions before about being willing to help out plus he's a real good dude. and if you don't want a yamato licensed food coordinator kitchen apron then you are loving goofing. http://shop.dg-pro.jp/products/list.php?category_id=83
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Mar 6, 2015 02:07
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anyone feeling like crying again? jae uploaded pac's graduation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqTLM-_mE1E
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Mar 6, 2015 03:28
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sticklefifer posted:I get the whole exotico thing, but sometimes I can't tell how they're playing Yosuke♡Santa Maria. It's somewhere in a huge grey area between jokes about gay panic and actual progressive trans recognition, depending on the show. I guess the tonal shifts can just be written off as "Dragon Gate is alternately serious and silly as hell" like everything else? dg treats these issues with more respect and open mind than all the other companies. anthony w mori and ryo saito had a pretty open yaoi storyline for several years. maria-chan is interesting since there is a pretty prominent super-fan at korauken shows that cross dresses/might be trans and they used to no-show millenials matches when maria was involved. in recent months, i've noticed them back in their normal seat so i guess they don't view it as offensive anymore. or that it was during the gamma/maria love feud and they didn't want to watch that. i dunno. Dimebags Brain posted:I could CIMA taking over Mad Blankey himself to prove that he's still the best/most powerful guy in DG. doi is soooooo going into the dead or alive cage apuestas with cima and t-hawk. i can't see doi turning face because he makes no goshdarn sense joining mx, which he'd have to do because he has to be with yoshi if he's face.
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Mar 12, 2015 06:32
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sticklefifer posted:The shelf life of DG factions isn't exactly long, and MB has what, 9 people in it now? I could see a divide coming if the two challenge each other for the rights to the name. Both MB and Jimmyz had their 3 year anniversary this month, which is INSANE length DG wise. The only ones that existed longer were Crazy Max, Italian Connection and Tozawa-juku. I have a feeling that Nobuhiko and Tatsuki will sometime heed the warnings of Middle School Sancho Saito and join Susumu and his friends in an evolution of Jimmyz/Waku Waku Fujii Land. Which is a shame because I feel like Fujii has reinvented himself as Punch Tominaga's cranky uncle.
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Mar 12, 2015 21:13
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sticklefifer posted:I recently had to explain Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin to somebody. My girlfriend has recently got into Wrestling and specifically Puro and she wanted to see my favorite match of the last few years (Yoshino's Dream Gate defense against Mocchy from last year). I realized when showing it to her how intricate stories were in Dragon Gate because it took longer than the actual match to explain the storylines leading up to it. I think I'm going to give it a bit before I start showing her Jimmyz stuff. sticklefifer posted:Well yeah, you know the zombie-bros-4-lyfe aren't splitting up. It looks more like YAMATO, Kong, and maybe Kimata are on Doi's side since they keep defending him or pulling CIMA off him, and I'd assume Gamma & K-Ness would go with the rest of the zombies. I feel like there are too many Jimmyz to have them all join a mega-stable though, so maybe Saito leaves the rest? I really don't know, and an impending stable shakeup is getting me way more interested in the direction of several midcarders than I would otherwise. I think it's actually a good time to split Osaka 06 for a while, so I could see GAMMA and K-Ness staying with MB. I think the Jimmyz need more "major" guys because it really feels like it's Susumu and his buddies lately and having CIMA and Fujii could help bolster them. OR they could make sense in MX as they are the married tag team and that's bigger than being best friends.
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Mar 13, 2015 14:54
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