YAMATO Spirit - Open The Dream Gate Title Reign
July 24th 2016 - September 9th 2017
YAMATO vs Shingo Takagi - Dragon Gate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2016, July 24th:
"One thing that stood out to me was how quiet the crowd was at the beginning of the match. They picked up by the end but jesus, they were silent aside from women screaming for YAMATO. Anyway, this was a real good match. Both are great wrestlers and they worked the match pretty well. They built to the ending great, upping the ante with every second. YAMATO being a great babyface, selling all of Shingo's offence well. Great finale with Shingo finally losing the title after a long reign and YAMATO getting his revenge after being kicked out of VerserK. Awesome match. ****¼"
YAMATO vs Akira Tozawa - Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate 2016, September 22th:
"Typical YAMATO title match. Starts of with some slow but very solid mat work, around the leg in this instance, and builds to a climactic finish. I don't say that in a bad way though, that was the match and it was excellent. Tozawa and YAMATO going back and forth in a struggle to win the title, Tozawa not staying down, trying to win that seemingly elusive title from YAMATO. Both selling fairly well and create great drama and fan anticipation (mostly Tozawa). They did overdo it with the finisher kick outs though. Did Tozawa really need to kick out of the Galleria at one? I think not. But that comes with the DG style and in that context it doesn't bother me as much as it would in any other company. To finish off, Tozawa pulled off a tremendous babyface performance and looked awesome in the match. YAMATO was great in his wrestling, even if he lacked that extra crowd connection to make what he did that extra level. Well worth watching. ****¼"
YAMATO vs Naruki Doi - Dragon Gate Final Gate 2016, December 25th:
"Very good match between the two best wrestlers in DG today. They had a nice back and forth for most of it and built to a great finish but I can’t help but think that it lacked something. Don’t know what it was but it was missing that spark to make it a great match. Very good math though, very enjoyable. YAMATO with another very good title defence on the books. ***¾"
YAMATO vs BxB Hulk - Dragon Gate Truth Gate 2017 Day 2, February 2nd:
"BxB Hulk matches can generally be hit and miss. Sure if you get past the non-exist selling, they are always a bunch of fun but this was really good from a full wrestling context. The selling wasn't great but good compared to BxB Hulk’s usual selling. They took some real big bumps including a wicked superplex to the outside. The finish was really good too. ***¾"
YAMATO vs Cyber Kong - Dragon Gate Champion Gate In Osaka 2017 Day 2, March 5th:
"Cyber Kong ain’t the most talented in the world but he fits a purpose and that purpose was fulfilled and it made for a really good match. YAMATO fighting from under all match, just trying to survive the relentless onslaught from Cyber Kong. The crowd was fully behind YAMATO in this match and that caused YAMATO try to everything he can to beat Cyber Kong and only just surviving with that great finish at the end with YAMATO having to choke out Cyber Kong with all his might to get the win. Very dramatic ending and a good match with some great big man work from Cyber Kong. ****"
YAMATO vs BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong and Naruki Doi and Shingo Takagi - Dragon Gate Dead Or Alive 2017, May 5th
"Even though the rules may be confusing on a paper, this match was really simple in its execution. At first I was confused as to way Kong making it to the end has the most to lose but then I saw it as, the closer you get to the title, the bigger the risk and that makes perfect sense to me. The match itself was incredible, so chaotic, so much fun to watch, very creative and exciting. Doi was fantastic throughout the match, YAMATO was pretty good also. This was a war and it looked like it by the end of the match. ****¾"
YAMATO vs T-Hawk - Dragon Gate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2017, July 23rd:
"First thing I want to point out is how much YAMATO looked like a star in his entrance. His look, the music (which is awesome), the pyro, everything. It does matter especially when you want to position someone in that top level and YAMATO had that in his entrance in my opinion. The match was great. The opening few minutes was fine. They were doing that big match style of being slow and methodical but it got a bit more interesting when they went to the ramp. Then from then on this turns into a pretty great back and forth match. I liked what T-Hawk did in this match, he did some nice looking submissions to YAMATO’s legs. That and his chops which both looked and sounded vicious which will always get points with me. In response to his chops, YAMATO started to work on T-Hawk’s arms leading to T-Hawk eventually failing to properly cop YAMATO near the end of the match and eventually led to the finish. The finish of YAMATO having to hit three Gallaria’s was a bit over the top but I see what they were going for. They wanted T-Hawk to come out of the match looking great and showing lots of fire and it worked. At least for me it did. Overall a well worked match with some great pacing which was vital considering that they went near 30 minutes. This could’ve easily been a bore but it turned out to be a great match. ****"
YAMATO vs Masaaki Mochizuki - Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate 2017, September 18th:
"Great match with what I assume would’ve been a very surprising finish at the time. YAMATO losing to the 47 year old Masaaki Mochizuki? Still, the match was excellent. Started off with YAMATO targeting the legs of Mochizuki but kept on getting hit with those kicks. And that would continue for most of the match. YAMATO couldn’t deal with Mochi’s kicks. Everytime he thought he had the match won, BANG. That was the saving grace of Mochizuki. All match Mochizuki was trying to prove he can still go and go he did. I really like it when matches end on KO blow because it makes every hit matter and they did that here very well. Relentless kicks to the skull before Mochizuki hits Sankakugeri for the three. YAMATO was good here but this was more about Mochizuki and his fight and his story as it should’ve been. Great match to end YAMATO’s reign ****½ "
YAMATO Best Defences Best To Worst:
- Dead Or Alive Steel Cage Match (Dead Or Alive 2017)
- Masaaki Mochizuki (Dangerous Gate 2017)
- Shingo Takagi (Kobe World 2016)
- Akira Tozawa (Dangerous Gate 2016)
- T-Hawk (Kobe World 2017)
- Cyber Kong (Champions Gate 2017)
- BxB Hulk (Truth Gate 2016)
- Naruki Doi (Final Gate 2016)
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