The long and winding month of October has finally come to an end. All 3 branches of the Dragon system were active this month, with majour happenings across the board.
El Dorado held bookend shows on the 1st and 31st. They culminated the focus stories of El Dorados' first chapter. The Sugawara/Aagan-iisou/STONED saga came to a puzzling end, when instead of siding with his either of his friends, he turned on both. He stole the remainder of STONED from KAGETORA, and outright betrayed Aagan-iisou. Kondo was rescued by Dick Togo of all people, forming an internet dream team. KAGETORA appealed to Touru Owashi of all people, who accepted.
The Manjimaru vs. Shimizu feud screeched to a halt on 10/1. Mr. Kawabata stopped their match, telling the 2 that they have racked up over 600,000 yen in property damages during their brawls. Kawabata ordered them together for the tag tournament, where they could use the winners' prize money to pay off their debt. Shimizu seemed ready to accept the team on 10/31, but Manjimaru attacked him yet again.
Finally, the Minami-Kyoto High School wrestling team reunited. On 10/1, Hino, YASSHI, and Okimoto had their 3 way was interrupted by STONED. In response, they put on their amateur singlets and beat the Brahmans' and Manjimaru. YASSHI told Okimoto he was finally graduating after the match. However, YASSHI has chosen to team with Hino in the tag tourney.
The other point of interest could revolve around Ken45. Ken recently went to "Sexy Storm" Ricky Fuji for some advice on how to become a rock and roller. He gave Owashi some drum sticks and Jet a triangle to play backup to his air guitar for their 10.31 tag. He appealed to King Pocota to be his tag tourney partner. He asked Pocota, who is Toryumon system dropout Masa Takanashi to come as he true self, not the comedy character. He refused though, and will compete as the King of Dorado.
The tag tournament is the focus for November and December. 11/22 and 12/27, both times in Shinjuku Face. The announced teams are as follows:
Shuji Kondo & Dick Togo
KAGETORA & Touru Owashi
Takuya Sugawara & X (an amazing partner)
brother YASSHI & Yuji Hino
Ken45 & King Pocota
Manjimaru & Mototsugu Shimizu
Outside of Dorado, there was a lot of activity. Kondo and YASSHI invaded Pro Wrestling NOAH under the Voodoo Murders banner. They aligned with TARU and SUWA on the SEM offshoot show, and promised more invasions. They also were active in New Japan, on their Wrestleland brand. They will also be reuniting the Italian Connection with Milano on 11/11 for the Ring Soul Live finale. The match will be full Dragon system, meeting TARU, SUWA, and Owashi.
Sugawara will have some higher profile matches. He main events both the Indy Summit December show, and the GPWA 11/14 debut. For the Indy Summit, Suga teams with Kengo Mashimo of K-Dojo, and GAINA of Osaka Pro to take on NJWs' Daisuke Sekimoto, HARASHIMA from DDT, and Billyken Kid of Osaka. The theme of the main event is up and coming stars who aim for the top of their company, or have reached it. The GPWA main follows a similar theme, and will be: Suga, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Go Shiozaki vs. KAZMA, HARASHIMA, Ryouji Sai.
KAGETORA meanwhile was injured at Differ, and has canceled his November bookings.
Dragon Gate had several points of interest in October, and goes into November with a lot of intrigue. Not all of it is from the in ring end of things.
Don Fujii fought through injury to defeat MO'z gaijin assassin Kevin Steen and earn a shot at Susumu and the Dream Gate.
Naruki Doi returned from his WRESTLE-JAM injury. He came out in a full suit and announced his retirement. He asked Dragon Kid for a handshake, since they were great rivals. Of course it was a trick, and Kid took a MO'z assault. Doi will make his formal return on 11/8.
The October Korakuen was headlined by a Tozawa-juku vs. Muscle Outlaw'z 6 man tag. On both sides were 2 Toryumon system trainees who never made it to the wrestler level. Referee Kinta Tomoaka and Hatamochi Oyaji Kouji Shishido. The stipulations were if MO'z lost, Kinta would return to being a clean ref. If Tozawa-juku lost, Shishido would have to dress as a female flag bearer. Tozawa-juku won, allowing Shishido to live his dream. Whether or not he will again be active isn't known. Kinta followed the stipulation, and has already made his peace with CIMA. This could come up again in the Gamma/CIMA rivalry though.
Gamma and CIMA have reignited their feud in a big way this fall. It will culminate in a Falls Count Anywhere, no DQ, No Ringout Hair vs. Hair match on 11/23.
Stalker Ichikawa Bom Ba Ye will happen on 11/12. I'll post the card later in this post. The main event will be Stalker vs. Akira Tozawa in a 2 out of 3 falls retirement match. The obvious result is a Stalker loss and retirement, given his diminished role in recent times. Both men appear on cards after 11/12, but Tozawa-juku overall have a decreased presence in November, so the result may not necessarily be that obvious.
King of Gate will happen in December, from 12/10 through 12/22. Some of the participants will be fan voted this time, the entire roster will not be in this time.
CIMA and Mochi both have outside of DG endeavours. Mochi will go to New Japans' 11/18 Lock Up. He teams with, now with the Dorado development interestingly enough, Dick Togo to face Jyushin Lyger and a mystery man. CIMA will go Hakata based scummy indy Kageki 11/14, teaming with their owner Azteca vs. Diablo and Kurokage. As the lineups show, Kageki wrestlers will be on the 11/19 Hakata show.
Here is the gaijin schedule for the remainder of the year:
Jack Evans is staying through the end of 2006 on all shows.
Matt Sydal will be around from 11/8 to 11/23
Kevin Steen is staying until 11/26 Takamatsu
Pentagon Black arrives again on 11/5, and will remain through King of Gate on 12/22 in Korakuen
Cyber Kong, who is the first project out of the Dragon Gate USA dojo, will arrive on 11/5, and remain indefinitely. If you haven't seen him yet, click here
Here are the announced lineups for November:
11/4/2006 Tokai TV Matsuri
12:00~
1. Tag Match!
Magnitude Kishiwada, Dr. Muscle vs. Nacho Libre, Shachihoko Machine
2. 6 Man Tag Match!
Ryo Saito, Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi vs. Susumu Yokosuka, Yamato Onodera, Keni'chiro Arai
14:00~ Fan Event, 12/10 King of Gate brackets revealed, and other attractions
15:00~
3. Tag Match!
Takayuki Mori, Taku Iwasa vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii
4. 6 Man Tag Match!
CIMA, BxB Hulk, Jack Evans vs. Masato Yoshino, Gamma, Kevin Steen
11/5/2006 Mie, Yokkaichi Australia Commemoration Hall
1. Anthony W. Mori, Super Shisa, BxB Hulk vs. Masato Yoshino, Pentagon Black, Dr. Muscle
2. Akira Tozawa, Taku Iwasa vs. CIMA, Jack Evans
3. Magnitude Kishiwada vs. Yamato Ondera
4. Gamma, Kevin Steen vs. Susumu Yokosuka, Keni'chiro Arai
5. Ryo Saito, Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda
11/8/2006 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
1. Masato Yoshino, Gamma, Kevin Steen vs. CIMA, Jack Evans, Matt Sydal
2. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. Keni'chiro Arai, Yamato Onodera
3. Pentagon Black, Dr. Muscle vs. Anthony W. Mori, Super Shisa
4. Ryuukon 10 Match Series #9
Geni'chiro Tenryu vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
5. K-ness, Susumu Yokosuka vs. Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda
6. Naruki Doi Return Match: Naruki Doi, Magnitude Kishiwada vs. Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk
11/11/2006 Saitama, Katsura Studio
-Pre Stalker Bom Ba Ye Special Match: CIMA, BxB Hulk, Stalker Ichikawa vs. Naruki Doi, Gamma, Kevin Steen
-Cyber Kong vs. Yuki Ono
-3 Way Tag Match: Yasushi Kanda, Don Fujii vs. Susumu Yokosuka, Yamato Onodera vs. Ryo Saito, Dragon Kid
11/12/2006 12:11 Kickoff Time, Tokyo, Shinjuku FACE~Stalker Ichikawa Bom Ba Ye
-Yamato Onodera, Don Fujii, Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Gamma, Ishinriki, Chocoball Mukai
-Kevin Steen vs. Shinobu
-Mister Pogo, Touryu vs. Masayoshi Motegi, Katsunari Toi
-CIMA, BxB Hulk, Onryo vs. Kota Iibushi, MIKAMI, Daichi Kakimoto
-2 out of 3 Falls, Loser Retires: Stalker Ichikawa vs. Akira Tozawa
11/19/2006 Fukuoka, Hakata Star Lanes
-Super Shisa, Shisa Boy, Azteca vs. Keni'chiro Arai, Stalker Ichikawa, KAZE
-IJ Tag: Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii vs. Magnitude Kishiwada, Pentagon Black
-Open the Triangle Gate: Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid vs. Susumu Yokosuka, K-ness, Yamato Onodera
11/23/2006 Osaka, Osaka Prefectural Gym Main Arena (PPV)
1. Akira Tozawa, Taku Iwasa, Takayuki Mori vs. K-ness, Yamato Onodera, Keni'chiro Arai
2. Dr. Muscle, Kevin Steen vs. Jack Evans, Matt Sydal
3. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. Shingo Takagi, Cyber Kong
4. Ryuukon 10 Match Series #10
Yasushi Kanda vs. Geni'chiro Tenryu
5. IJ Title: Pentagon Black vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
6. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Magnitude Kishiwada vs. Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk, X (Revealed on 11/8)
7. Hair vs. Hair: CIMA vs. Gamma
8. Open the Dream Gate: Susumu Yokosuka vs. Don Fujii
11/23 is also the 6 year anniversary of ToryumonDragonGateDG USA, so to commemorate I may do some sort of news flash/live chat event, if their is any interest at all. Thanks for reading, as always. |
