Naruki Doi

[Dylan Waco]

Discuss Here.

[InYourCase]

I think Doi is the only Dragon Gate guy nominated that I won't be voting for. Milano would be the only other one and I'm on the fence with him.

 

Doi, to me, is the best heel in wrestling. I think he's an incredible character, a great tag team wrestler, and a really fun midcarder. Where he struggles, however, is the main event scene. His Dream Gate run was a failure, both from a business perspective and from a match quality perspective. He lost the title to YAMATO in an excellent match, but other than that, his reign was really weak. It showed a lot of holes in his work. I love his SpeedMuscle stuff and occasionally he puts in fun singles matches, but he's not Top 100 quality.

[Quentin Skinner]

My thoughts echo Case's. Doi is a really great, charismatic character, but his main event stuff is very underwhelming for the most part. He won't be making my list.

[Luchaundead]

Doi is easy the cut off point for DG works when it comes to GWE or just great worker conversation, Doi is easily the best character worker in DG especially because he can actually switch much better than anyone else he is clearly better as heel but he is still almost as good as a face. His weak side being his in-ring it really comes down to what metrics take precedence in your derision making.

 

Doi has had very few truly great matches but, I could argue that he's second only to Cima in being greatly involved in DG execution and popularity outside of Japan by having SpeedMuscle matches in TNA, being a regular in the DG trios in ROH, working a few stand out PWG matches, (including having a decent match with Joey Ryan which should be seen as almost a miracle) and he was the dream gate champ when DGUSA was first starting which I think is historically over looked that he was being pushed as the top guy of the company while they were attempting to expand which I know could be seen as a plus or a minus.

 

I'm not sure I would put Naruki Doi but he's a guy that is definitely not outside of the realm of conversation.

[Makai Club #1]

Naruki Doi has improved as a singles wrestler in the last five years. Maybe not as good as Mochizuki, YAMATO or Shingo but he has some incredible singles matches against Ben K at the 2019 Final Gate show, YAMATO in the 2018 King Of Gate and Eita match where he lost the Dream Gate title. Everyone else has already agreed that he's a strong character worker and that shows in his wrestling, like it's supposed to. And while being a heel is his strength, he's just as compelling as a face as well. Even when there is a slight hint at another heel turn, he's good at feeding on that and subverting expectations, much to the benefit of the match. 

 

[The Man in Blak]

I don't know that he's anywhere near contention on my list, but I came across a match with KENTA at Dead or Alive 2008 (2008.05.05) that I think might be useful for others that have him on the bubble. If you're looking for a big main event style match for Doi back from his earlier days in Dragon Gate, I'd recommend checking it out.