Dragon Gate hasn’t really been working for me in 2021 the way I hoped it would after the last few months of 2021.
(Really it hasn’t been working for me the way it used to since like 2017, but that’s another story to tell entirely.)
Chalk it up to the Shun reign not being handled super well, a lot of these guys still developing, or maybe most realistically, DG still being in front of clap-crowds and running much shorter shows full of much shorter matches than usual in response to COVID. An admirable thing to do, but one that doesn’t lend itself to the best wrestling shows when matches are now too short a lot of the times to really develop.
However, this works.
More importantly is that it works in the way Dragon Gate used to, through the proper application of the Dragon Gate Classic, the 3v3v3.
The talent here isn’t all perfect, and the match is slightly flawed in what it chooses to focus on, opting to highlight things like Shimizu’s routine at the end instead of that of either teammate, or allowing too much of BxB Hulk. Each team has at least one weak spot, if not more than that. Shimizu and BxB Hulk are the obvious ones, but Ben-K hasn’t really turned out to be anything more than solid and the Bad DG Heel Act impedes what everyone on R.E.D. is capable of at that. Jacky Kamei is one of Dragon Gate’s most promising youngsters of the whole lot to come out in recent years (wait until I get to write about Ryu Fuda and the Iihashis when covering early 2022), but is still very young.
Kzy is really the only wrestler in this match who I’d call great, truly, with Okuda, Kamei, and Dragon Kid somewhere on the outskirts.
It doesn’t matter.
The formula works as well as it always has, and shows that it’s still the way. Virtually everyone is plugged in to only do what they’re good at (the exception being Shimizu who does power spots, but isn’t especially good at those either), they run in and out, only play the hits, and that’s that. Ishida and Okuda don’t get bogged down with limbwork like they do in one on one settings, it’s just frantic striking. BxB Hulk only does a few set spots, and otherwise cedes the floor to his teammates. Even the Dragon Gate Heel Routine is largely kept to a minimum, with the action moving too fast and not allowing a break for much in the way of stomp-and-pose work that you usually get from R.E.D. members (or VerserK before them or MAD BLANKEY before them or etc. etc.) in matches like these.
What’s left over is a bunch of very talented people being put in the best possible positions to succeed. This match doesn’t belong to him, sadly, but Kzy lights up every frame of the thing he’s in. Ishida and Okuda are can’t-miss in small doses, Kamei again follows much in Kzy’s footsteps and shines in all the same ways, and even Eita gets to return to form in the closing moments just a little bit. The match is full of fun great little bits and miniature payoffs, all leading to a surprisingly positive ending for Dragon Gate, as Our Heroes win out via a Shimizu splash off the top rope to Ishida.
Everything doesn’t run as smoothly as it should, but it’s still just such a delight to see that the old machine still runs as well as it does.
A fun slice of classic-style Dragon Gate madness, even if it’s far from the best application of the talents involved or the formula used.
The classics are classics for a reason.
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HANDWERK 