[2014-05-05-Dragon Gate-DEAD or ALIVE 2014] Ricochet vs YAMATO

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

I liked this but below most of the other high end Ricochet stuff I have seen from this year. Ricochet is someone that has really improved in my eyes and would for sure be in my top 10 for the year so far. He is able to combine his amazing athleticism and reign in some of the more common tropes that plague Dragon Gate matches. Unfortunately, this match made those tropes come to the surface more than I would have liked. I understand that Mad Blankey is a heel stable and as such, interference will occur but this did tread the line into excessive at times with the referee diverting his attention for minutes at a time to have a discussion with a second on the apron while a bevy of action is occurring in the ring. I also thought Ricochet relied on his leg offense too much. This eventually was his undoing so it played into the overall theme of the match and he did sell after each strike but I would have liked to have seen some new wrinkles added into his offense to counteract all of the damage that Yamato had done on his leg. I am interested to see where both competitors land after this.

 

*** 1/2

[xlynwoodx]

Ricochet shows off a little early, faking out Mad Blankey with a dive, instead bouncing off the ropes and doing multiple backflips in the ring.  YAMATO, sneaks under the ring and comes out the other side with a wrench.  He smartly uses it on Ricochet's knee, compromising him early.  Ricochet's knee became the story of the match, hampering him throughout.  Ricochet sold extremely well, annoyed at his body for not being able to cooperate.  He struggled with his offense, grabbing his knee and unable to follow up whenever he was able to hit a big move.  YAMATO was able to control most of the match this way, regaining the advantage easily.  The highlight was Ricochet kicking out of a Gallaria, then desperately wriggling his way out of a second attempt to hit YAMATO with his own Gallaria, then a Shooting Star Press for a near fall.  Sensing the tide turning, Mad Blankey started interfering which ultimately resulted in YAMATO getting the win with another Gallaria.

Great match that told a decent story.  It was slower and limb focused more than I expected.  Ricochet had the crowd strongly behind him and showed a lot of heart battling from behind for twenty minutes.  It took all of Mad Blankey for him to get pinned, leaving you wanting to see Ricochet get his revenge.