Gate of Destiny 2012

October 21, 2012 – Osaka, Japan

Open the Dream Gate Champion: CIMA
Open the Triangle Gate Champions: Akira Tozawa, BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanisaki
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Dragon Kid
Open the Twin Gate Champions: Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii
Open the Freedom Gate Champion: Johnny Gargano
Open the United Gate Champions: CIMA & AR Fox

Super Shisa {MG}, Shachihoko BOY {MG} & AR Fox vs. Jimmy Kagetora {J}, Kotoka {MG} & Super Shenlong {A}
So random it makes me rage! Shisa and Kotoka start. Kotoka must be frustrated by the uselessness of this match too because he screams in Shisa’s face. Fox dives onto Shenlong. Kagetora hits a lariat on BOY. Shenlong and Kotoka hit a double dropkick. Kotoka hits a back kick for 2. Kagetora hits a dropkick. BOY hits Kotoka with an enziguiri. Shisa hits a dropkick. He dropkicks Shenlong after taking the Kamehameha. Fox hits the Lo-Mein Rain. Kagetora hits Shisa with an enziguiri. Shenlong hits a dropkick. Shenlong hits the reverse Rocker Dropper for 2. Kotoka hits a suplex and Kagetora hits a flying elbowdrop for 2. Shisa and BOY get the Shachihoko Clutch on Kotoka for 2. Fox hits a dropkick and the Air Fox. He hits the Lo-Mein Pain for the win at 7:04. Whatever, this was fine but totally pointless. Fox didn’t do anything until the finish, and the point seemed to be to show him off.
Rating: *

Kenichiro Arai © {MG} vs. Stalker Ichikawa {Z} [Open the Owarai Championship Match]
They trade takedowns to start. Neither guy can do the kip-up. Ichikawa hits the ropewalk armdrag. Arai hits him with a fan. Ichikawa’s eyes fall out of their sockets, but Arai hits him again anyway. Arai hits the Giant Swing. He climbs the ropes but gets nauseous and falls. Ichikawa hits the 619 and gets la magistral for 2. Ichikawa hits a hurricanrana for 2. They trade pin falls. Ichikawa pins himself for a bit. Referee Yagi hits him with the fan to get him to stop, which gets 2 for Arai. Ichikawa hits a suplex for 2 but Arai catches him with a crucifix pin for the win at 7:49. Mildly amusing comedy here, that at least deviated a bit from the usual dreck. Arai wins the post-match audience poll and gets to keep the title.
Rating: *

Ryo “Jimmy” Saito {J}, Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee. {J} & Mr. Quu Quu Toyonaka Dolphin {J} vs. Kzy {MB}, Mondai Ryu {MB} & Cyber Kong {MB}
Mad Blankey attacks before the bell. Everyone brawls around the building. Kong and Ryu double-team Dolphin. Dolphin hits the FH to escape. MARAHA! ISAPPA! Dolphin hands out facebusters until Kong hits him with a side slam. Kong hits a press slam. The Salty Dogs triple-team Dolphin. Dolphin hits Kong with a miracle bodyslam. Horiguchi hits the topé con hilo. Saito hits Kzy with a German suplex. Kzy hits the B-Boy. Kzy goes for a Cycling Yahoo on Saito but Horiguchi makes the save. Ryu hits a low blow. Horiguchi and Dolphin block Kzy and Ryu so Saito can put Kong in the Cycling Yahoo. Ryu escapes and saves. Kzy hits the Beat Bomb and Kong hits a splash for 2. Dolphin cleans house. Horiguchi hits a swinging DDT. Kong cleans house. He hits Dolphin with the Cyber Driver for 2. Kzy hits KZ Time and Kong hits a flying elbowdrop for 2. Ryu accidentally salts Kong and Dolphin hits the Implant for the win at 9:14. This was more like it, with a good story that saw Kong getting ahead of himself as usual, Ryu ruining things as usual, and Dolphin getting a chance to come back from a beating and dominate.
Rating: **¾

Dragon Kid © {Z} vs. Eita [Open the Brave Gate Championship Match]
Eita’s entrance music has too many false starts. He does look like he belongs on PPV now, though. Eita confounds Kid with low armdrags to start. He hits an overhand chop. Kid hits the Déjà Vu. He hits the Bermuda Triangle. Eita dropkicks Kid’s bum in the corner. He puts on a leglock. Kid gets to the ropes. Kid hits the 619 in a very cool way that I’ve never seen before. He hits a springboard dropkick. He hits a pair of kneedrops. He puts on a leglock. He puts on the Mutalock. Eita gets to the ropes. He hits a dropkick. He hits a sick quebrada. He hits a dropkick for 2. Kid puts on the Christo. Eita hits a side slam to escape. He ties Kid in a knot. He hits the Diamond Dust for 2. Eita avoids the 619 and chops Kid’s back. He hits a legdrop for 2. Kid hits the Messiah. Eita hits a springboard elbow. He chops Kid off of the turnbuckle. Kid comes back with the Skyscraper Frankensteiner. Eita blocks the Ultra Hurricanrana and hits a powerbomb. Kid hits the Bible for 2. They trade roll ups. Eita hits the Vertebreaker for 2. He hits a moonsault. Kid blocks a bigger moonsault with his knees and hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for the win at 15:23. Eita performed alright in his first major singles match in Japan, but this paled in comparison to Kid’s matches against Ricochet, and was more on par with his match last month against Masamune. It had a few cool spots, but they weren’t connected by all that much.
Rating: ***

Akira Tozawa © {MB}, BxB Hulk © {MB} & Naoki Tanisaki © {MB} vs. Gamma {Z}, Magnitude Kishiwada {Z} & HUB {Z} [Open the Triangle Gate Championship Match]
Mad Blankey attacks before the bell. Gamma and HUB hit stereo dropkicks and suicide dives. Kishiwada and Tanisaki trade shoulder tackles. Hulk kicks HUB’s face. HUB smacks him back with his mask tail. Gamma gives Hulk and Tozawa the Osuikougeki. Kishiwada hits a back bodydrop on Hulk. Gamma hits an enziguiri. Hulk hits the Mouse and an axe kick. He and Tozawa pepper Gamma with kicks for 2. Tozawa hits the senton and elevated chair-assisted senton for 2. Tanisaki hits a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Hulk hits a roundhouse kick. He puts on an abdominal stretch. Tozawa hits a chair-assisted dropkick. Hulk hits an axe kick for 2. Gamma boots Tanisaki to the floor. He hits Hulk with a lariat. Kishiwada follows suit. He hits a dropkick. He hits a double jump moonsault for 2. HUB hits a senton. He hits the DH and the Black Magic. He hits the Jackhammer for 2. Tozawa hits a bicycle kick. He hits the running knee for 2. He hits the side suplex for 2. Kzy hits a yellow box attack. Gamma canes Tozawa. Kishiwada hits a superbomb for 2. He hits the Superfly Splash for 2. HUB hits the Armageddon. Gamma rolls Tanisaki up for 2. He hits a superkick. He hits the Gamma Special. He hits the Flashback for 2. Tozawa hits a chair shot. Tanisaki chops him and hits the reverse Michinoku Driver. Tozawa hits a German suplex for 2. Hulk hits the First Flash for 2. Tanisaki hits the Razor’s Edge for 2. HUB blocks the Night Ride and hits the Shining Wizard. Kishiwada hits a brainbuster for 2. Gamma hits a lariat. The Salty Dogs run in but Gamma still catches Tanisaki with the G9 Clutch for the win and the titles at 12:24. This was heatless and pretty well unexciting save for HUB’s ridiculous finisher.
Rating: **½

Shingo Takagi {A} & YAMATO {A} vs. Naruki Doi {W1} & Johnny Gargano {W1}
YAMATO and Doi start. They do their usual business on the mat. They trade shoulder tackles until Doi gets a surprise roll up for 2. A roll up catches Takagi and his read ombre hair from Gargano. Gargano hits a Mushroom Stomp. YAMATO hits a cheap shot. Gargano hits Takagi with a DDT on the floor and Doi hits a neckbreaker on YAMATO in the ring. Takagi suplexes both opponents. He and YAMATO double chop Gargano. YAMATO hits a vertical suplex for 2. He puts on the crossface. Doi gets to the ropes. Doi hits a Stun Gun and a dropkick. Gargano hits an elevated neckbreaker on YAMATO. He hits a dropkick for 2. Doi hits a senton for 2. Doi hits the Dai Bosou of Woe. He baits YAMATO into failing a spear attempt. YAMATO tries again and spears Doi. He avoids the Lawn Dart and hits a dropkick. Takagi cleans house. He suplexes Doi. He does the same to Gargano. Gargano hits the Complete Shot in the corner. He hits a DDT for 2. He blocks the Blood Fall and hits a neckbreaker for 2. He puts on the GargaNo Escape but YAMATO makes the save. YAMATO puts Doi in the sleeper hold. Doi avoids the Galleria. Takagi hits the DVD. He hits the Alabamaslam for 2. Gargano kicks his face. He hits the spear and a suicide dive. Doi hits a dropkick and a senton. He hits another senton for 2. YAMATO hits a dropkick. Gargano hits a superkick. He hits an enziguiri. He hits YAMATO with a lariat. He hits the Lawn Dart. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick, the Doi 555, and another Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2. He hits Takagi with a suicide dive. YAMATO blocks the Hurts Donut and hits an enziguiri. They fight over a crossface. Gargano hits the Hurts Donut and puts on the GargaNo Escape. Takagi makes the save. He cleans house with lariats. He hits Doi with the Sliding Bomber for 2. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick to the back. YAMATO puts on the sleeper hold and hits the Galleria for 2. Takagi hits MADE IN JAPAN for 2. He hits a lariat. Gargano hits a superkick for 2. YAMATO hits a suicide dive. Takagi hits the DVD. He hits the Pumping Bomber for 2. He hits the Last Falconry for the win at 23:15. Things looked shaky for the first little bit there, but this match got the crowd back into the show thanks to good chemistry between Gargano and Doi, and a sick extended home stretch. Gargano should really cut the superkick out of his repertoire though, because it’s the only weak point in his game that I saw here.
Rating: ***½

Masaaki Mochizuki © {Z} & Don Fujii © {Z} vs. Jimmy Kanda {J} & Jimmy Susumu {J} [Open the Twin Gate Championship Match]
The pre-match video plays up the M2K history here and makes me very happy. Kanda and Fujii start. They lock up and Fujii hits a cheap shot. Kanda goes for a shoulder tackle but Fujii one-ups him. Mochizuki hits Susumu with a missile dropkick. Fujii and Kanda brawl around the building. Mochizuki hits Susumu with a back kick. Susumu hits a lariat. He hits a back elbow for 2. Kanda gets back to the ring and hits Mochizuki with elbows. Susumu hits a kneedrop. He and Kanda hit a double exploder. Fujii and Mochizuki target Susumu’s arm. Fujii hits a shoulder breaker. He dropkicks the leg. Mochizuki kicks the arm. Susumu hits an exploder. He cleans house with lariats. Kanda hits the Jon Woo on both opponents. Fujii returns the favor. Susumu hits a chokeslam. He hits the Sankakugeri on Mochizuki. Mochizuki hits a lariat. Kanda hits a dragon suplex. Fujii hits a bulldog and Mochizuki hits chest kicks on Susumu. Kanda hits the Jon Woo as Susumu hits a lariat. Jon Woo no Kachi? I love that this duo is back together! Susumu hits the super exploder and Kanda hits the flying elbowdrop for 2. Susumu murders Mochizuki with lariats and hits the Jumbo no Kachigatame for 2. Kanda misses the Tornado de Acapulco. Mochizuki kicks his face off. Fujii hits a lariat and the avalanche chokeslam for 2. Susumu hits a lariat to block the Sankakugeri. Kanda hits a pair of exploders. He hits a German suplex for 2. He hits the Tornado de Acapulco for 2. Fujii chokeslams Susumu on the apron and hits Kanda with a lariat and a German suplex. Mochizuki hits a buzzsaw kick. He hits three high kicks and an ax kick for 2. He hits the Sankakugeri for the win at 20:33. It actually pained me to see Susumu and Kanda lose here, because they were absolutely amazing as a team! Their double-team maneuvers were so exciting, and their long-standing chemistry had no rust on it at all. I really hope they become the new default Jimmyz duo in the place of Susumu and Kagetora.
Rating: ****¼

CIMA © {Z} vs. Masato Yoshino {W1} [Open the Dream Gate Championship Match]
I used to love this match up, but I’m going to be honest up front and admit that I’ve seen it enough for one lifetime before this even begins. Yoshino powers CIMA to the ropes to start. He gets a roll up for 1. CIMA hits a shoulder tackle. Yoshino sends him to the floor and hits a quebrada. Back in the ring, Yoshino works the arm. CIMA hits the X-Factor. He hits a chest kick. He puts on the Romero Special. Yoshino gets to the ropes when CIMA modifies the hold too man times. CIMA hits a Stun Gun. He rams Yoshino’s back into the apron. He ties Yoshino in a knot and pins him for 2. Yoshino blocks the Schwein and hits an armbreaker. He dropkicks the arm. He hits more armbreakers. He puts on a weird armbar but CIMA gets to the ropes. He hits a dropkick. CIMA hits a superkick and a suicide dive. He hits a senton for 2. Yoshino puts on the Coumori. CIMA hits a dropkick. Yoshino puts on From Jungle. CIMA hits a double stomp. Yoshino blocks the Superdrol and hits the shotgun dropkick for 2. CIMA blocks the Lightning Spiral and hit a high kick. He the Tokarev to the leg. He hits a double stomp to the leg. He misses a Tokarev but hits a high kick. He hits the Neji to Hashi for 2. He hits a powerbomb and the Miniora for 2. He misses the Meteora and Yoshino hits the shotgun dropkick. Yoshino hits the Torbellino. He hits it again and puts on the Sol Naciente. CIMA stomps him but Yoshino just makes it the Sol Naciente Kai. CIMA gets to the ropes. Yoshino goes for the avalanche Lightning Spiral but CIMA blocks it and hits the Schweinsteiner for 2. He hits the Nakayubi and the Meteora for the win at 27:02. Yoshino was a lame duck challenger and the crowd knew it, so even though he performed well, he never captured their imaginations. Had this been a fifteen-minute match it would have been absolutely stellar, given the very creative home stretch and finish. But nearly thirty minutes was way too long for this match. These two need to learn that not all of their matches need to be as long as an episode of Wilfred.
Rating: ***½