[2005-07-03-Dragon Gate] CIMA & Naruki Doi & Don Fuji vs Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[dawho5]

This was better than the other Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation for a few reasons. First is, the useless power guy was replaced by Don Fuji, who is passable. Second reason is Genki Horiguchi seemingly came in with a bad back, which BG works over pretty well. Horiguchi does a great job as FIP for that segment and puts in some excellent work during the finishing sequence as well. The more I see of Ryo Saito the more I like watching him. He's got his flashy stuff, but he's got a good base of Japanese style suplexes that make him more than just another Toryumon/DG high flier/fast rope-runner. Same goes for Nauruki Doi. He's really athletic, but seems more strike and power based on offense. I can do without the overdoing of CIMA-led triple teams. Especially the ones that inlvove wrestlers not in the match. The finishing sequence starts out with a bunch of triple teams by both sides, but actually coalesces into a well-wrestled, hot finishing run. Horiguchi looks to be getting his comeuppance on BG before he gets overrun and put away with a mad splash (which makes all kinds of sense given the way the match played out). I'd give it right around 50 or so.

[Superstar Sleeze]

You totally hit the nail on the head. Don Fuji made a huge difference. Horiguchi is so amazing. He takes the match to another level with his great work. Would love to see him out of the DG setting. He is definitely my favorite DG guy.

 

Open The Triangle Champions Do Fixer (Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Don Fuji, Naruki Doi) - Pro Wrestling Festival 2005

 

The more I watch Horiguchi, the more I think he was wasted in Dragon Gate. Now, I do not how much better he would have fared elsewhere as he is such a unique performer. I would say All Japan Juniors with their more American angle based storytelling would have done him well. He could have teamed and then feuded with fellow ex-Toryumon alum, Shuji Kondo to great results. He was probably too weird to get anything out of KENTA and New Japan Juniors just seemed non-existent since like 2002. The reason I say this is he is consistently the best wrestler in these Toryumon/Dragon Gate matches. In the Toryumon, we saw how amazing he was as the dick heel that would stooge for all the babyfaces, Now he played the great sympathetic underdog with bad back. He single-handledly took what I would say was a very good Dragon Gate match and made it best one I have seen so far.

Dragon Gate is kicking ass drawing 7500 to Kobe for their first big, annual show, which was consistently doing 9,000 up until this past July. Interesting that Dragon Gate has been such a hot product up until very recently. The heels jumpstart the match and they do their standard crowd brawling opening. Once they get back in the ring, you already get the feeling that these guys won't disappoint on their big show as the spots seem bigger and crisper. CIMA blasts Saito with a foriegn object and that begins a pretty good FIP. Then when Saito gets out, Blood Generation decimates Horiguchi and his bad back. CIMA starts why stepping on his nuts and they just destroy the back. I really enjoy the Blood Generation triple teams as they look innovative and desvastating. Anytime you work a new way to get a double stomp into a match I approve. From there, they go into full Dragon Gate match mode. What helps this portion compared to last one is the spots are bigger and more innovative. They are eye-popping rather than just slams. The match elevates to another level when Horiguchi hits the home stretch. Don Fuji is also a big addition because he is their best power guy. Horiguchi and Fuji gel really well with Fuji dominating early only for CIMA to accidentally superkick Fuji. Horiguchi is able to hit his weird piledriver thingy, but it hurts his back and he can't capitalize. From there, Blood Generation destroys Horiguchi and eventually CIMA secures the victory with his shitty frogsplash. Great spotfest that Horiguchi makes into an incredible match. ****1/4

[Jmare007]

It's been a long, long time since I saw this match for the last time. My taste have changed greatly, and the style I've soured the most is the one Dragon Gate has...but this was still pretty damn great. Blood Generation did a really good job as the heels in this, and made their control sections compelling enough for me to keep myself engaged - a hard task nowadays for matches of this style that go past 20 minutes, like this one - Horiguchi did his thing as the FIP too, I agree he was the standout of the match. I thought this was going to have some spots that would make cringe for being too choreographed, but I was gladly mistaken, CIMA went a little too early a couple of times but it was barely noticeable. All in all, flippy shit at it's best.

 

I'm glad I saw this again, Secret Santo is a blessing.