This was for Tozawa’s Open the Brave Gate Title.
It’s a lovely little match between two of Dragon Gate’s most likeable wrestlers.
Neither man is especially immune to DG Brain Sickness — which is to say a predilection for filling matches with meaningless limb work which is either totally ignored and/or has no bearing on the rest of the match — but miraculously, neither shows a sign of that here. It’s less of a sickness with Eita since his finish, El Numero Uno, is a double arm hold, but even then, Tozawa’s real likely to botch the landing there if it gets too complex. Thankfully, Eita keeps it very minimal and Tozawa does a great job with the more minor responsibilities of something like that, and they’re free to go wild. A poor foundation can absolutely kill a match like this, but on a simple foundation like the one laid in the first half of this match, it’s a much easier thing to love.
Beyond just being very likeable, Tozawa and Eita each have some really spectacular pieces of offense, and happen to fit together perfectly. Eita tries to avoid being caught and Tozawa tries to catch him and throw him on his head. Eita comes close a few times, but lacks the impact arsenal that the Stamina Monster does. Tozawa blocks El Numero Uno and rolls over into a GORGEOUS Everest German Suplex, before following up with the Package German Suplex hold to hang onto his title yet again.
I’d call it the rare Dragon Gate title match with crossover appeal, but virtually every great Akira Tozawa match is bursting with that. One of many, and it’s why this winds up being Tozawa’s second to last Kobe World ever.
Not the best of its kind and involving wrestlers who can do much more than this, but an ideal undercard Dragon Gate match.
***
HANDWERK 