Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2022 - Day One & Two

Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2022 - Day One - 30/07/2022

Open the Brave Gate Championship Match: Dragon Dia (c) vs H.Y.O

The first interesting thing of the night. A new champion is crowned and it's now HYO vs SBK on night two. Z-Brats vs Z-Brats. What stakes and consequences will that bring to the Unit? The match was decent. HYO isn’t a particularly great wrestler but Dia is on his way there so they are able to construct a decent match out of their arsenal. ***

Open the Triangle Gate Championship Match (Special guest referee: Yasushi Kanda): Los Perros del Mal de Japon (Eita, NOSAWA Rongai & Kotaro Suzuki) vs M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki, Mochizuki Jr)`

Mochizuki Jr is fine. He’s a rookie and it shows but he rarely detracts from the match. Nosawa went out of his way to sell his strikes and work with him, allowing that weight not to fall on the better wrestlers, Eita and Kotaro Suzuki. All I’ll say about the lad is that he should spend more time doing Karate or Kickboxing if he wants to work like his Dad. Otherwise this is a disappointing match. A waste of one, really. The count out win was a nice nod to the old unit, M2K, but in a title match - a title CHANGE - it was nothing short of an odd finish. **1/2

Open the Twin Gate Championship Match: Z-Brats (Shun Skywalker & Diamante) (c) vs Natural Vibes (Jacky “Funky” Kamei & Jason Lee)

Out of all the things on the show, this is the one match that I was hoping would deliver and he needed to deliver. And it delivered on a great tag team bout that had people crying for the title change. I feel glad that I took a break before watching this after being thoroughly annoyed by the rest of the show. Skywalker and Diamante are too good right now. Natural heel work with fantastic wrestling to compliment it. Jason Lee and Kamei were the smaller, faster duo and they were able to keep up with their speed and beat them in skill early in the match before isolating Kamei and double teaming on him. What Kamei lacks in-ring - I’m not saying he’s a bad wrestler - Jason Lee makes up. His offence is done with more conviction and technique, all while being fluid at the same time whereas Kamei’s offence is too light and has a credibility issue, such as the Hadouken. Although I will credit his performance in the match, I was speaking generally. The match bends the rules a bit, so both teams were in the ring for a considerable amount of time but all the tag team sequences worked very well. I found many of the moves to be creative and innovative on both sides. The most important aspect about this style of match is that it all flows, as not to derail the match thus preventing the type of drama they want to present, and it did flow well. Of course, the best wrestler of the match was Shun Skywaler, for the same reasons I always praised him. Shun hasn’t been in MOTYC after MOTYC this year but his performances haven’t reflected that whatsoever. He is fantastic, and was in this match. Hopefully he gets put back in the Dream Gate title scene after this. ****

Open the Dream Gate Championship Match: KAI (c) vs Yuki Yoshioka

Not the best crowning of Yuki Yoshioka it could’ve been. This would have fared better with a more action packed, faster paced match. Something like the Yoshioka v YAMATO from May which was one of the best matches of 2022. I’ve found that suits Yoshioka more. KAI as well. The awkward pacing poked holes in what was otherwise good performances in a good match. KAI’s title reign was good. I could’ve done without Takesh Yoshida challenging but for feuds and general character work, I thought he did well in a spot no one ever saw him in a year ago. ***1/2

Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2022 - Day Two - 31/07/2022

Open the Brave Gate Championship Match: H.Y.O vs SB KENTo

This was a much better version of the Brave Gate title match from the night before. HYO had a bit more confidence and poise as champion and came off much better than he usually does. He did his usual tricks, such as the clap distraction into a roll-up, survived the SB Shooter and looked like a proper champion. Solid title match. SBKENTo is off to the US to train a little and get some more reps before he inevitably gets pushed to the moon, putting in a good effort before he does so. ***1/4

Open the Triangle Gate 3 Way Championship Match: M3K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Mochizuki Jr) (c) vs HIGH-END (YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Ben-K) vs Natural Vibes (Kzy, Big Boss Shimizu & Strong Machine J)

M3K retain. On another big show, this would be a good triangle gate match that doesn’t stand out but on this set of shows, this is one of the highlights. The match had some decent sequences between the usual suspects, such as Susumu and Dragon Kid. Without being adventurous, this was a solid but still exciting match that they could do in their sleep. Ben-K looks to be one his way out of HIGH-END, which is for the best because it’s not a good unit. ***1/2

Open the Dream Gate Championship Match: Yuki Yoshioka (c) vs Kota Minoura

This was pretty significant for many reasons. The new generation main events Kobe World. On both sides of the ring. It’s not just Ben-K or Shun Skywalker in the main event against a veteran. A class of 2016 graduate  vs Class of 2018 graduate. Plus it culminates the rise of Yuki Yoshioka throughout 2022. At the start of the year, he’s stuck doing the Dia Inferno gimmick and now he main events both nights of Kobe World. Everyone likes to point to guys like Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta as rising stars but Yoshioka has blown them out of the water looking at what he has accomplished in a short space of time. 

I could complain about the formulaic main event style of Japan but I thought this was a strong example of that. They didn’t rest on the bare basics, instead crafting smart sequences that’ll undoubtedly be used for years down the line in future main events between the two. Kota Minoura, for once, came off like a real main event act with some spark and individuality behind his offence. His crossface submission hold was a credible drama builder that he was able to get from plentiful positions, even from mid-air, countering Yoshioka’s frog splash. Yoshioka worked from beneath in the match, always one step behind Minoura in the match but his selling was strong enough that the fans were hooked into his performance. Yoshioka’s confidence and sense of toughness consistently came through his facial expressions and body language. He smacked Minoura for an elbow hard but his expressions told all the story before it manifested into that one strike. The finish didn’t go for the “kick-out” route either, preferring to put over Yoshioka’s Darkness Buster and Frog Splash as big, main event level moves. Yoshioka knowing not to rush the final Frog Splash, instead preferring to soak the moment in before hitting it, gives me all the confidence that Yoshioka will do just fine as Dream Gate Champion going forward. ****