146

Sandwiched between the best pro wrestling TV show of the year the week prior and a Korakuen show the next week, Infinity 146 looked to be a pretty low key show. However it turned out to be one of the most solid episodes of the year from start to finish. The show featured the two main matches from the tour show at the always lively Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2.

Shingo & YAMATO vs. Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanisaki
This match pitted the company’s current singles champs (who did a lovely double belt pose pre-match) against the #1 contenders to the tag titles. If you didn’t get enough Tani last week, there was plenty more for you here. The KAMIKAZE team isolated him early and he did what he does best – create sympathy. Doi eventually got his usual hot tag and we got a very fun finishing stretch which came down to Shingo and Naoki. They laid it in hard, including some sick headbutts which Naoki busted himself open with. The finish was awesome as Shingo turned him inside out, and I mean INSIDE OUT with an insane lariatoooo and then put him down with the Made In Japan. Good match.

RealHaz attacked post-match to build to the Twin Gate match at Korakuen and also Tani’s first Brave Gate defence against “Mr. Brave Gate” Genki Horiguchi.

Non-title Match: Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk & PAC vs. CIMA, Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka
Crowd was H.O.T. for this from the get go. Lots of things going on here. Yoshino and PAC were having a personal game of one-upmanship for the title of GREATEST WRESTLER ON PLANET EARTH AT THIS VERY MOMENT, Gamma appeared to have taken the last protein bar at lunch and BxB was NOT happy about it so he was all uppity at him, CIMA was working his ass off as he usually does in multi-mans and Susumu was just being Susumu – keeping everything flowing as it should, catching flying dudes and throwin’ some choice lariats.
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145

Yup, we haven’t had too many of these in recent weeks, due to pesky real life issues clogging up my time, but I have been INSPIRED to write a new review this week. That inspiration has come from one man named Naoki Friggin Tanizaki, my absolute favourite wrestler in the history of the world (this week). Infinity 145, eminating from Hakata Star Lanes, was the Naoki show. Well actually it was the Naoki & His Daughter Show. The show centered around the Open The Brave Gate tournament to crown a new champ. We had two semi final three ways with the winners meeting in the final.

Naoki Tanizaki vs. Kzy vs. Super Shiisa

I’m not the hugest fan of three ways and triple threats anymore, but this was fun and kept nice and short. Kzy heeled it up with the help of his Real Hazard buddies at ringside (he’s really fitting into the rudo role nicely) and I think most of the crowd expected him to advance past veteran lower carder Shiisa, and the man who Kzy beat at World, Tanizaki. They were right as far as Shiisa went, as he was pinned after a mask-jacking by Kzy. However they were very wrong as far as Naoki went. He battled past the RH interference to snatch a win and move to the final. Post match he was beatdown bigtime by chair shots and a Kzy-Time (Canadian Destroyer from the corner).

KAGETORA vs. Tozawa vs. Super Shenlong
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First a quick look at the Warriors-5 Produce Infinity 140. I haven’t watched the Mochi Produce 141 yet, but there’s no real rush on that.

The W-5 show was bags of fun.

-Rocker/Wrassler Ricky Fuji did an awesome concert with all the wrestlers at ringside and Great Sasuke doing awesome air guitar and air drums.

-Pretty solid tag with KAGE and Susumu taking on some of the M-Pro guys.

-Main event was one of the funniest matches of the year. I had a smile on my face the whole time. Good action too! I really like OMEGA.

142

Susumu Yokosuka & KAGETORA vs. CIMA & Gamma

Teammates collide in wonderful wonderful gear!!!! Seriously CIMA and Gamma’s get-up needs to be seen to be believed. Fun brawling, and plenty of W-5 antics which have really grown on me. “OOOOOO!”. Nice action down the stretch, CIMA was going for the kill on KAGE and he got caught with an AWESOME cradle that I’ve never seen before. Good match.

Highlights

Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki{W} (6:52 Implant) Akira Tozawa{L}, Dragon Kid

Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai{W} (10:03 Low Blow->Samson Clutch) Masato Yoshino{L}, BxB Hulk

Two fun looking matches here. Would have like to see non-clipped versions. Points of note include Naoki de-pantsing himself for the finish (his unique way of debuting new gear) and Araken attacking a BxB dancer (which is a first to my knowledge).

YAMATO & Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Katsuhiko Nakajima

This is like as saliva inducing a match as I could have fathomed. And it lived up to the hype. Awesome, hard hitting match. Really great chemistry between the teams and they busted out lots of cool stuff like the TOPÉ MASAAKI (which I adore). Came down to Shingo and Kats with the time limit ticking down. Great finishing stretch, with brutal forearms from Takagi and kicks from Nakajima. Big pull apart after the time limit expired.

Funny skit with Speed Muscle in Philadelphia trying to rent a car closed the show.

Overall a really fun episode. One of the best of the year.

Infinity 142 – 8.5/10

138

Dragon Kid, Taku Iwasa & Akira Tozawa vs. Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk & Naoki Tanizaki

Short and sweet trios action designed to get Taku over on his big return. It did just that as he looked like a beast finishing Tani with a series of lariats and a Noshigami. The interaction between Kid and Yoshino in this was as friggin awesome as ever, and made my pants just a tad moist in anticipation of the DGUSA show in Philadelphia. Post match saw Iwasa challenge Yoshino for the Triangle at World. He accepted. Tozawa screamed…. alot.

Akebono vs. Gamma

Well this ruled, but honestly would you expect anything different. Highlights include Akebono getting the Evian Treatment with an assist from KAGE, Gamma beating Bono over the head with the water bottle, Gamma attempting a big scoop slam on Bono, Bono returning the Evian Treatment in kind, a kendo stick tug of war (which Gamma lost), many squishings, sarcastic clapping by Bono and many more squishings.

Phenomenal match. I demand a Best Of 51 Series between the two.
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This weeks Infinity featured action from the 6/11 show eminating from Korakuen Hall. The main event was the much anticipated Open The Dream Gate match between partners Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino.

137

1. Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. CIMA & Gamma

Real Hazard’s Twin Gate wasn’t on the line here, but the story was that if the boys from W-5 won then they’d be getting a title shot soon. Match was pretty decent. Lots of interference as one would expect. I feel like I haven’t seen CIMA and Genki wrestle in ages, and I had forgotten how well they mesh. The action down the stretch was alot of fun as DR. MUSCLE of all people hit the ring seemingly to attack CIMA, but suddenly he laid out RH with lariats and unmasked to reveal Susumu Yokosuka. Gamma rolled up Ryo for the pin. Post match Saito and Susumu set up a single match for the next Korakuen.

2. Naruki Doi (c) vs. Masato Yoshino – Open The Dream Gate

Easily the biggest match on Infinity this year, as SPEED MUSCLE EXPLODES. Let’s hope they’re not calling each other out in raps 20 years from now.

The early stages were tentative, telling the story that both wrestlers knew how dangerous the other was. Doi was the first one to raise the pace by hitting a huge topé to the rail. Yoshino hurt his leg in the process and Doi went to work for the next several minutes. Yoshino was looking in trouble until he saw an opening to attack Doi’s arm. So we had both guys selling injuries and taking turns of having control. It was good stuff so far.

Things got more heated as it started to come down to strike exchanges. The crowd sensing the difference in the action started to get more and more into it and popped big for some close nearfalls. They were both attempting signature moves, but being partners, each guy knew what was coming and had a counter. Doi was the first one to bust out something new, countering a Lightning Spiral by hitting a BIG running turnbuckle Powerbomb. As he looked to finish Yoshi off with his Muscular Bomb, the Speed Star regrouped and finally hit his Lightning Spiral for a big nearfall.

They were at a stalemate when they met on the top turnbuckle to duke it out. Yoshino surprisingly outstruck the more heavy hitting Doi and went for his spring board Sling Blade but Doi caught him and hit a huge Avalanche Doi555. Yoshino, fueled by adrenaline, jumped right back to his feet saying “COME ON PARTNER, IT’LL TAKE MORE THAN THAT”. They traded more nearfalls with Yoshino coming scary close with various Torbellino cradles. He then locked in the Sol Naciente submission but Doi fought out and hit an awesome Release Tiger Suplex. He followed it up with a Bakatare Sliding Kick, a series of slaps and another Bakatare for the pin.

Phenomenal match. Really smartly worked in the early stages and out of this world action down the stretch. ****1/2 if I’m to put a rating on it.

As the show went off the air we got brief clips of mcKZ and Naoki Tanizaki miscommunicating and then making up, and then we had our weekly visit with the Open The Handsome Gate champions plugging various happy fun things to us.

Infinity 137 – 9/10 (Best of the year, pretty much all due to the main)

132

Dragon Gate USA Inc. Commemoration Bonus Match: BxB Hulk & PAC vs. Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanizaki

If like me, you like THE MOOOVS, then you’ll love this match. All four guys are crisp as hell doing all this mind blowing stuff. PAC is the star in my opinion. He’s easily become the best flyer I’ve ever seen. The stuff he does is unreal. Tanizaki was the glue of the match, holding things together and making sure everything transitioned right. BxB and PAC won after a Shooting Star Kneedrop followed by an E.V.O.P followed by an Inside Out 450 Splash. Got all that?

Cyber Kong vs. Masato Yoshino

Oh what a glorious match this was. These two have the best big man/little man chemistry in wrestling right now. Kong attacked before the bell and squeezed a pineapple all over Yoshi. Awwwwesome. He fired some pineapple debris at the crowd which I would think would hurt if it dinged me in the face. Kong controlled most of the match but Yoshino exposed the weakness of the big man’s often injured arm to gain openings for himself. After some nice exchanges down the stretch, Yoshino trapped Cyber in the Sol Naciente Kai for the submission and the giant killing.

Post match Yoshino challenged his partner Doi for the Dream Gate at World. The crowd went banana, and as Doi was about to accept Gamma hit the ring saying he should be getting the shot. Thus Yoshino/Gamma was signed for #1 Contendership.

YAMATO vs. Don Fujii

As great as these two men were here, they were trumped by the greatest man of the day – SUPER SHENLONG. Yes you heard that right. After Yamato forced a double countout two minutes in, Shenlong hit the ring and got all firey and demanded a restart. So the match resumed and there was much interference from Real Hazard and Shenlong. The highlight of this was a series of EPIC FAILS by SS on everything he tried. It was glorious. Needs to be seen to be believed. Eventually it was a screwup on the heel side (Genki hitting Yammy with protein powder) that led to Don getting the cradle pin.

Tremendously entertaining show. You get a great fast paced match, a great big man/little man match, and a …… well I don’t know what to call YAMATO/Don but it was most definitely great.

Infinity 132 – 8/10

A boat load of Infinitys surfaced recently so I’m gonna blast through all of them now so as to not get behind.

127

1. Dragon Kid & Akira Tozawa vs. Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka

This match concerned me. Warriors-5 were waaaaaay too schticky for my liking here. I have no problem with Gamma being a part of the group but I don’t want the group to become a “Gamma Group” per se. They need to tone down that stuff, it really took from this match alot.

2. Akebono vs. Masaaki Mochizuki

Fun squash to get BIG BABY ‘BONO over. Mochi won’t be hurt by this whatsoever. No problemo.

3. YAMATO, Yasushi Kanda & Ryo Saito vs.
Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk

Your average good DG 6 Man with the focus on building Hulk vs. Yamato. Kanda took the fall after some Speed Muscle double team offence. Post match Doi called for a Dream Gate challenger that has never fought for the belt before. Much to his surprise, out walked Akebono. OH SHIT SON! Doi initially looked petrified but then manned up and got all up in the giants face.

What a weird title match we have on our hands.

Weaker than usual Infinity but still perfectly acceptable pro wrestling.

Infinity 127 – 6.5/10

128

YAMATO & Ryo Saito vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii
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And now we’re into post-Gate Of Anniversary stuff, and on the road to the “DEAD OR ALIVE” PPV.

126

Fukui City Gymnasium
1,250 Fans

Cyber Kong & Yasushi Kanda vs. Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanizaki

First time I’ve ever seen DG in this building. Pretty cool looking and the crowd rules. So anyway, yeah A NAOKI TANIZAKI MATCH~!, let the greatness roll. Kong looked good being all powerhousy and Kanda was good in the general type roll for his team. Naoki sold his ass off and brought the charisma and energy. The hot tag to Doi was awesome as he’s up there with Roderick Strong when it comes to great houses of fire. Real Hazard won after a PINEAPPLE BOMBER, and a newly bald Anthony Dubyah Mori hit the ring to get him some but he was overwhelmed. The save was made by Masato Yoshino of all people, and the crowd went nutrageous.

YAMATO & Ryo Saito vs. Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk
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So yeah, this Infinity came along, and I guess due to timing there was really nothing major to show so instead we got a bunch of crap that we’d NEVER normally see and it ruled the earth!!

125

Open the Owarai Gate Title: Jackson Florida © vs. “Hollywood” Stalker Ichikawa

For those unfamiliar, Jackson’s gimmick is that he’s the broken down, crippled remains of the 2004/2005 Florida Brothers faction. And he’s so crippled that he falls all over the place in dramatic fashion. He wrestles with a crutch that he never lets go of and does many crutch related spots. Perfect for a comedy match such as this. If you don’t know Stalker then get the hell out of my column, I don’t wanna associate with your kind.

Anyway, the match was hilarious and Jackson took his usual TERRIFYING bumps (eg Undertaker rope walk -> slip -> bounce off ropes -> land head first on apron). A crutch assisted backslide got the duke and Mr. Florida takes home da gold!

Masato Yoshino, PAC & m.c.KZ. vs. Dragon Kid, Taku Iwasa & Kenshin Chikano
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122

1. Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Title: YAMATO & Cyber Kong (c) vs. Susumu Yokosuka & Ryo Saito

The story going into this was that Ryosuka may not have had a stable anymore, but they still had each other and they felt that was all they needed to get another run with the Twin Gate. YAMATO and Kong have been the most dominant champs in many months so they were gonna be hard to knock off. The match was as good as you’d expect when you’ve got the two best sellers in the company and two of the best heels beating their asses down. When it looked like Susumu and Ryo had things going their way, we were dealt with a huge shock. As Susumu had the pin, the referee was pulled out of the ring by RYO! The crowd gasped but the genius was that Susumu didn’t know what happened. He called his partner back into the ring for a double team. Everyone in the building but Susumu knew Ryo was dirty and then with his back turned we got this awesome visual as HEEL RYO was about to strike:

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