Open The Voice Gate - Dragongate RDP 2026 Finals & Tokio Infinity Hectopascal Preview!

0:00Hi, I'm K Slow, co-host of The Open the Voice Gate Podcast. The one question I'm constantly asked when it comes to Draingate is how do I get into the promotion. We'll stop asking and start listening to The Open the Voice Gate Podcast released every Wednesday on the Voices of Wrestling Podcasts Network. For exclusive news and show reviews, look no further than the leader in Draingate coverage. Open the Voice Gate. Before I switched to Well-Front, my ABY was probably 0.1, like it was a joke. I was literally getting pennies. One size switch is chitching. With a Well-Front cash account, earn up to 4.2% APY on your cash. The high APY with Well-Front was a clear winner. There are no petty fees. Every month there's this much that I'm getting an interest and I didn't have to do anything. My money is working hard on its own and I can trust Well-Front is taking care of me. Earn more on your uninvested cash with a Well-Front cash account. No account fees, no minimums, and no strings attached. That started today at WellFront.com. Clients were paid $1,000 for their testimonials creating a conflict of interest.

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3:05I'm gonna fire. I'm gonna fire. Welcome back to Open the Voice Gate for September 8th, 2026. We are members of the Voices of Wrestling Podcast Network. You can find us on the Voices of Wrestling Podcast Network feed or on our own dedicated Open the Voice Gate feed wherever you get your podcast. You can follow us on social media, app and at Open Voice Gate. If you'd like to donate to the show, click the link in the show notes. It'll take you to our redcircle.com landing site. You click the red boxes to sponsor this podcast. And you said, one time, a reoccurring donation, no obligation whatsoever. But we would like to thank our previous donors.

4:06On one of your hosts, it's your old pal, Mike Spears, alongside your other host, Kate Slowing case. I've done some homework after our last week's episode. And I have three matches that I'm prepared to talk to you about just leading off on the show. How are you doing this evening, buddy? I'm nervous now. I don't know. I don't know what these are going to be. There's a chance that you said there's three matches. There's a chance that I just, there's a chance that I just watch two of them. We'll see. I don't know what you're going to throw at me. I know one of them because I talked to you about it last week and I want to make sure that you watched it. The other two, there's a chance that I also just watched and we did not discuss that, which would be fun. All right. Would you like A, B or C first? I'm a man of order. I'll go A. All right. Let's talk about a match from last week's great basement monster show, T Hawk versus Venn for Jack. We were talking about this YouTube upload on the show last week. It is up now.

5:07Did you watch T Hawk versus Venn for Jack? I just did. How frustrating is T Hawk that he's this good right now and no one's watching? Yeah, it is funny that T Hawk, when you go and look at his cage match, he had spurts in all Japan and he had that DDT run in 2019 and 2020 and even for a while, he was doing some 0-1. And now, I mean, he doesn't, he doesn't work at all. In 2026, he's wrestled 36 matches, all of which have been, Glate or Produce shows. I'm kind of shocked Glate has run 30 plus shows this year, but they have. But you know, outside of a car, Satoh Produce show and a Unigua Siyaki Produce show and a

6:08Sinyayaki Produce show, which I, it looks like this air and a little intrigued by this. El Lunderman versus Fumonari Abe on this show, among other things. You know, he's just, he's just in Glate now. He doesn't work any other indies. He's not working all Japan, which is a bummer because I think he'd fit like a glove in 2026 all Japan. Going back, I mean, he's only worked 100 matches total since May of 2024. That is nothing in the grand scheme of things. And you're right. I think you and I, over almost the last 15 years, you know, basically his entire career because you were there from the jump, but I wasn't much far behind. I think we've gone through a lot of ups and downs with this guy, but we are certainly in an up period, which is incredibly aggravated, given where he's working and how little he's working. Yeah. And this year, I would say outside of some stuff he was doing his champion in Glate has

7:09been easily his best work for the G-Class tournament. And then he's had other like highlighted just singles matches that have been very much like a back to basics kind of style for him. And this match they had with Amber, but Jack, just 10 minutes and 31 seconds on YouTube. And in front of 89 people, it kind of brought out the best of Jack. I felt like too, just because he has been like really gaining his bones as that high flying young Andy wrestler, Dejore right now and T-Hawk is just the way that he has really just decided that the chop is going to be the basis of everything. And then just the way that he is now starting to work his matches around it. Like it felt like a TV match in the best kinds of way, but I was excited going in for that match and coming out that was at least for me the best thing that was on that second

8:10episode of Glate Underground Pro Wrestling. I think I got really confused when VanVert Jack started making a little bit of noise because you know, as we discussed, probably a month ago, he's only 21, but he's been wrestling since 2012. And I feel like his name has started to come across my radar towards the end of last year. And I wasn't totally sure who he was and I was a little confused by it. And there was a part of me that thought that he was to come a Fujiwara under a new mask because he has the body type matches up. He has the body type, the gear is similar to what Fujiwara was wearing when he first went to Mexico. And he kind, you know, he's not where Fujiwara was in the only six or seven months that he was in Dragon Gate, but he does move around the ring with some spice in a way that reminds me of a younger Fujiwara. And that is, that is a little bit exciting for me. I mean, he's one of those guys we talked last week about how, about how it's exciting that I'm starting to see some guys in Japan that I worried we're just going to plateau

9:15and stay at a certain level. I'm starting to see some of those guys get better. I'm not sure in 2026 if there was a lane. And this is the same issue in America, mind you. I'm just not sure there's a lane for a guy like Van Ver Jack to get all that much better because of the talent that he is going to work, but that's a guy that I would like to root for. I'd like to have him in my corner. I enjoy him every time he's on tape. He is not close to being a great wrestler. He is by definition a good wrestler, but I would like to see him become great one day. Yeah, and I kind of in my just desire to, in 2026 of what I watch for fun now, I am so intrigued by my way. And I want to kind of see that the shows that his dad's Dojo puts on, that's like him and his sister and all of that, that I don't know if they ever really make tape suddenly,

10:16that's something that I want to definitely try to go out my way to see because he has been just a, just been really exciting to see as like this figure. And I mean, he's in that main event in the first Schema produce show with another guy I want to talk about. Ruyya, Massifusa and Kenot's and Kohai Kenosha that. Well, let me, let me throw this at you real quick. Yeah, I know. I think at least the last time we maybe heard some rumblings. And this was going on during a point in which there was a lot of negative stuff being thrown T Hawksway and I certainly understand it. I think it's more than likely justified, but. I don't know what the relationship status of T Hawking, Aita is at this point. But when you look at the Noah roster, don't you just feel like T Hawking, Aita is a tag team of Noah in a, in a hypothetical scenario would be a really good time. Yeah, and like given the fact that Aita is at the point of the career of his career with

11:20his body, he, him having someone dependable like T Hawking to lean on to, I feel like would be adding more time back into the clock. If I go and look at like, you know, they did this big, they did this big show in Kawasaki was headline by Winabusaia and Yuki Eno against Fujita and in a mora. And that could very easily be T Hawking, Aita on the next big show. You know, the six man tag second from the top that I'm actually morbidly intrigued by Alejandro de Kiyotashima and Dragon Bane versus Jun Masuoka, Kai Fujimora and Yohe. Those are guys that T Hawking, Aita would have good chemistry with. I would like to somehow, I mean, it's weird because we don't really talk about Aita ever. There's nothing he does that interests us enough to talk about on this show. Whereas like, I don't know what your temperature is on this, but Shun is going to start wrestling for New Japan tomorrow on their core can shows.

12:22And I'm really intrigued to see how Shun looks in New Japan in a way that I was never that curious to see Aita in Noah. And I'm still not. I mean, there's Aita stuff this year that I've liked. There's stuff throughout Aita's, you know, now three full years as a full-time Noah wrestler that I've enjoyed. And I'm happy that he's landed there and has had the career that he's had as an incredibly respected and incredibly important junior heavyweight in Noah. But I don't really care. It's never anything that I'm invested in. But I do think that if T Hawking, it will never happen. But if T Hawking were to mosey on over to Noah and reform that tag team for as bad as the last incarnation of T Hawking Aitor in 2017 to 2018, I am into the idea of the 2026, 2027 version of that team. Yeah. And I mean, the question will be, of course, where, who you all pair up with them because like, you rattled off that semi-main event in my brain one, like, oh, yeah, that's team

13:252,000 X. So that can't be really any good. And it feels like that that's still such an overinflated part of that roster at this point that I don't know if I can count on Manabu Soy and Yuki, you know, as constant partners for them in that kind of way. Like, not the poke holes in your idea. T Hawking is an interesting person in a very unforgiving position. And Aita is someone that I mean, I was aware that he won his like, J.C. junior title earlier this year. But it just felt like it came and went and it was just his time with the belt in sort of way. So anything to provide him was just an ounce of interest at least enough to keep him on my radar in a way that he's he's not been on our radar. Like that's the wild thing about this and about this guy is that he goes to Noah and then we just don't talk about him ever again. And he's been a success in Noah. That's the crazy thing. But like, you know, I watched the the dragonbane match that people really like this year. And I also really liked it.

14:26He had a match against Kyfuch more than I haven't seen yet. But I know a lot of people really like that. He's doing wonders for himself. But I just and I think part of it is a Noah thing. And I think part of it is that I was never an Aita guy as much as some other people were. But I just don't really care. And I might, you know, I get the feeling that at least through this destruction tour, I'm going to want to talk about the way that Shun Skywalker looks because I think at the end of the month, I think they're going to put the TV title on him. I think to Kestel will lose up in New Japan. That will free him up to do something bigger at the dome. But I think Shun is going to be a New Japan champion by the end of the month, which is something that certainly has my attention. Now again, I have said since we talked about Skywalker leaving, if Shun went to Noah, I think he'd be a GHC heavyweight champion by the end of the year. And I don't really see that as a possibility in New Japan, which is why the Noah thing always intrigued me just a little bit because for all of the faults with that roster and there are many, I think Shun could very easily run that promotion. Out of the near future because we've seen that with Aita, you know, they're very, very

15:27similar situations. And although their outward approach to wrestling is very different, nobody would ever confuse the mannerisms of Aita with the mannerisms of Shun Skywalker. They do have a certain level of confidence. They do have a certain level of charisma. They do have a certain level of talent that for Aita immediately put him at the top of the junior's division. And I have no doubt that if Shun were to go there, it would be the same with the heavyweights. Now we're going to see in the case of Shun Skywalker again, you know, what he's sealing is going to be in New Japan because even with the House of Torture stuff, I'm still very bullish on him being pushed very heavily because I made this point to you when we talked about the G1 finals in his day view is, you know, you and I are used to it. You and I have watched this guy's entire career. We know what he's capable of. And this character that he's just transporting from Dragon Gate now to New Japan, I don't know if it's stale to us, but it's not new. Even just in the English speaking...

16:28English is kind of... ...failed to me to be right. Okay, and that's fair. And I, you know, I'm probably there as well. But even then, because I was ready for the baby face turn, but even then, just in the English speaking realm of things, he's going to hit people across the face. And I thought he had a killer debut. And I think what is old to us is going to be very novel to a very impressionable group of fans. And that's just in the English speaking realm. And I don't want to make any sort of predictions about how he'll do natively, but, you know, again, I think Shun will probably be a part of Forbidden Door next year. I think he'll be on those fantastic Mania shows and might get a future match for a slow as New Japan goes with some guys. It doesn't seem like they're going to be that slow as Shun out of the gate. I fully expect him to be to catch at the end of the month. So then I'm way more intrigued by, unfortunately, for ATA than anything ATA has ever done in Nella. Yeah, no. And I guess since we're talking about him, like my, I wasn't unaware that the Corkins were

17:32tomorrow. But like, I will turn on at least this tour, at least like the Corkins shows and absolutely, you know, the big show in Kobe and see like this because they are clearly like you don't bring in Shun Skywalker to have him sitting on the bench. Like I make my comment about him cooking PBJs, but like you want him in that lineup cooking the PB and J. You're not, not that it was a poach or anything like that, but you're not getting a guy from one roster at the time that should be approaching like his peak earning potential just to not utilize him. Yeah, I'll go sign with you. So I mentioned someone that is in part of one of the other matches that I did watch for homework. I just finished it up actually before we started recording from the Osaka Castle show, the Osaka Pro title, Riyuya, Massifusa versus Aronsano. I'm glad that I held out and waited until seeing the full version of that match.

18:33I mean, it was a half hour match, but it felt like a full, a full kind of indie modern epic in the kind of way, especially considering that the age and experience of Sano, the way that he treated that match was kind of breathtaking to me. Like he was put in a scenario where it was going to be a heavy selling legwork, or armwork, but he was going to have a lot of legwork of selling throughout this match. And I think that there's always that ongoing discussion about young wrestlers and selling the limbs. And if it actually really matters, but we had a near half hour match where it absolutely didn't matter in Osaka Pro. I'm glad that it took some time for that before the show tonight. Yeah. So this is, I think I mentioned this last week, but this is the full version of the July 20th Osaka Pro heavyweight title match between Sano and Massifusa. That is on archive dot org under the occupation of the Indies channel there.

19:38They have the guy or upload for this match. There's a version of it on YouTube that is the digest version you're missing. Essentially, the first half of the match. This is the full version. We did not talk about this beforehand. I think your thoughts on it are very interesting because they echo mine, which is I'm not sure we necessarily saw the best match that either of these guys have had, but for two young wrestlers under the age of 30, you know, Sano, especially grossly young. I thought they went out and had such a dangerously ambitious match. And as a viewer, I wanted to reward them with as much investment as I possibly could because it reminded me of maybe not 050607 Ring of Honor with Danielson and Nigel and that ilk of the roster really coming into their own.

20:39We now look at that as the prime of their careers. It reminded me a little bit of 020304 Ring of Honor where you knew you were watching really talented wrestlers. And the hope is that two or three years from now they have a rematch and you go, wow, they are so much better than they used to be because they're really good now and it feels like they're capable of more. Yeah. And you kind of saw both sides of it. Sano's only 23 years old. That's crazy. And the way that he conducted himself in it. And if you've seen, if you've not seen our in Sano before, he is there. He feels like a little bit out of time in that he is much more of a traditional power junior. And he wrestles like a power junior. He clubbers. He focuses with the lary. He uses a spear. He has lary. It's like those he has a power, Bob. Like those are kind of, you know, tried and true power junior kind of offense and Masufusa

21:42very early on targets it and focuses on the arm in pretty inventive ways throughout the match. And to a closing stretch where he then essentially to take out his own stable mate, he has to unload the full clips several times because Sano is a big strong boy and it's going to take that much to put him down. And it was one of those matches where I felt like that Masufusa is not someone that has jumped off the screen to me all the time. When I watch Osaka Pro, I've always enjoyed him. I think he plays young champion very well. But the command in this kind of match was exceptional. I was foreign a quarter on it. I thought that they absolutely killed it in this kind of scenario. And I'm just bummed that the rest of that cards or at least the rest of the title matches on that show still have not made tape and fold yet. Yeah, it sucks. So I'm with you there and I had the same rating. I know. I know you were a Osaka Pro viewing at the beginning of the year when we were getting

22:42a little bit more on tape was limited. Have you watched the February 22nd tag with Sano and Tiger's mass versus Masufusa and show Mizzuto who's the other under 30 guy who's absolutely incredible in Osaka Pro? No, I haven't, but I'm writing down that date right now February 22nd February 22nd. That one's on YouTube. Please watch that. I know I talked about it after it hit YouTube. And February early March, that to me is still a top 10 match this year. Now I might be a little bit higher on it than some other people because the junior heavyweight tag match and that just speaks to my sort of sensibilities. But I think you will be really into that. I think you'll like Mizzuto. I think you'll love what Tiger's mass does in that match. I love Mizzuto. Whenever I've seen him, like he has pulled off the kickboy stuff to such a shockingly well degree for a guy at that point of his career. As we now get deeper into the year and we really have some legitimate match of the year type matches, Omega Osprey is still going to be my number one.

23:46But as we now are post G1, post G1 final post all in Omega Osprey FTR versus the Bucks from Revolution, O'Cotta versus to Kesha from Double or Nothing. There's a Mark Davis versus Will Osprey match that might stick at my top 10. We've got the G1 final. There's a Shiazaki versus Zonz eye match that I love. Madoka, Kukuta versus Kaze from World in Kamen, Retinverse, Cagator and Tsusumo from Golden Coliseum. Nothing in CMLL right now. I have above four and a half stars and unfortunately I don't really know if that's going to change based on my recent CMLL viewing. But we're now at a point where we're in September and we've had some real heavy hitters. And I still think Sano and Tiger's Master versus Matsafusa Mizuno is on that second tier of not a contention for my number one match of the year but still comfortably a top 10 match for me. Yeah. And I have that on my notepad for stuff to go back and watch.

24:47But I have told people away from the show how much fun Osaka Pro has been and it has been such a breath of fresh air. I feel like into at least the wrestling that I've consumed this year and I've just slowly been going back through the shows like I've been going through like the junior tournament and with that with a goal to get through 2026 before match of the year time but I'll definitely fast forward to that one. Can I throw just really quickly? I don't want to throw off your order of operations too much. Can I just throw some big picture CMLL 2026 takes at you? Let's do it. Okay. I mean, we're coming up on anniversary next week, right? Yes, we are. Yes, we are. I would say with the year that Dragon Gate has had, with the year that CMLL has had, I am kind of amazed that I'm still watching any wrestling and doing this podcast.

25:50It has been my excitement level because the anniversary show always lines up with the music festival in Chicago riot fast, which for me is one of the more important weekends I have of the year for my job. I'm just trying to think of like 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. My excitement level for the anniversary show and kind of plotting my day around like, okay, then when do I have to leave riot fast, which is in Douglas Park, which is really far away from where I live? When do I have to leave riot fast to get home for the anniversary show? And granted this year Saturday night riot fest, Morris is playing. So I will be there. I will be staying for all of Morris and I will be leaving the second that tool hits the stage for Saturday night. I love that those are the two main stage finales this year because I'm really concerned

26:55that the tool fans are going to be super disrespectful to Morris and it's going to hurt my feelings on a personal level. But I love that I can watch all the Morris you set and then leave before I hear a note of that God forsaken band. So that's worked out nicely for me. But I have no interest in the anniversary show. I think that lineup sucks and I had gone most of the summer without watching any CMLL because I just fell off due to my schedule for a little bit. But I would, you know, I read the Kybread Cubs three times a week and I would get these cars. I would look at them and I go, God, there's just, there's nothing that I really want to see here. At least there's nothing that's calling out to me. And it's not like the reviews have been, oh my God, you have to go see this. So a week and a half ago, I was like, all right, for SFM 50 purposes, I really got to cut into the CMLL pile here. And so I went to the beginning of June until now and made a giant list of all the stuff that just caught my eye that had a positive review and that I felt like watching. And that was probably 20 matches or so.

27:55And I'm about 15 and I still have a few more to go. I've got to watch Grand Prix and then a few things from the fallout of that. But I am alarmed. There have been great matches. You know, I, there's, there's some certainly some positives in CMLL that I don't think have been talked about in a widespread manner that I can get into in just a second. But I am alarmed at how uninteresting this promotion is that even cherry picking and knowing what's going on through reading recaps, there's just nothing that I'm emotionally invested. It is just an uninteresting promotion. It is a promotion much like Draingate that is being programmed more than it is being booked right now. I think mascara Dorada is a huge issue with that. I don't think it's fair to say that Dorada has got a worse or has downcycled his talent in any way. I do think he's doing the same things that made him extraordinary in 2023 and 2024 and

28:55it's far less extraordinary in 2026. That is a little bit of an okay, I got it. I've seen it. There's still the little, the little things with him that I don't think he's fully grasped. I made this point during SFM 50 last year. I go, I think neon at this point is fully a better wrestler than Dorada is. Neon has the high spots that Dorada has, but I also think Neon is just far more capable of doing the basics in a way that Dorada is not. The positive for me in CMLL this year is that commander is such a better wrestler than I ever thought he would be. He is the bright spot. There's still great mysticos stuff. There's still great Dorada neon stuff. Hatchesera I think has been outside of just the Eddie Kingston match. I think Hatchesera has been dealt a really bad hand with the booking this year and I don't think he's been able to do a ton of interesting things. Commander to me, when I think about the guy that was on the glates shows four years ago, that I always liked that I always believed him, but I didn't really think he would be able

29:57to progress into a legitimate mainline talent in a major company. He has blown me away with the work that he did in CMLL this summer. That's the one positive story I think they have coming out of there. In the same way that you and I can latch on to Gucci or Kameh or Rita and Dragon Gate, I'm now into these CMLL cards. I'm like, I kind of want to see what commander is going to do because I think he's working struggles around a lot of different guys right now. Yeah, I mean, commander and I have not watched the CMLL stuff, but he has seems like the wrestler at least in AEW has been an AEW that has taken advantage of every possibility more so than anyone else. Yeah. I think given the opportunity, Commander always knocks at that. I mean, even at all in with the Mystico Snathu, him being able to go like, oh, I'm going to do my big dive at this point. It just was like a level of command, which yeah, no, maybe that was planned for it. It was like, find out that you do this dive here, but just it just felt like of the moment

31:01that he is a guy that is always capable of taking that big step whenever given the opportunity to. And so with what's been going on with visas and everything that he would be someone that would be able to really take take advantage of the situation and the he and those dealt with him with the MLL. You know, I thought he and Dorada on July 31st was incredible, but that was much more of a commander performance than it was in Dorada performance. I thought neon versus you, Tony on July 14th was superb. And then when I look at the other stuff that I've liked, it's a lot of either you, Tony singles matches or it's sky team trios matches, which you know, we've talked about this at various points. We're in the same way. Yeah. ZBrats, you know, it felt like they had a three and a half star floor where they were so conditioned and so locked in that they could sleepwalk through a pretty entertaining trios match. It's no different with sky team.

32:02You know, they're able to do it against anybody that they throw their way. And that's just a style of match that is very palatable for me. And it's a thing that I'm very into, but we don't even have the high level sky team trios matches this year. And the same way that we had in 2025 and 2024, it's just, it's a really down year for the promotion. And in a way, I don't know if disappointed is a fair thing to say, but I'm like way more disappointed in the year they've had than the year that Dragon Gate has had. I mean, they've both been fair. I think that's fair. I think that's fair. I think that you look at hands that have been dealt on not to pull the same phrase I just kind of said, but you look at hands that are dealt and CMLL, I mean, they should be getting a full house with a sand, you know, like, and I know that tourism drives so much of like their just the variable income that comes in through them and how much that was

33:03easy to capitalize upon the tourism over this year with World Cup and other events and programming that in that sort of direction. But they have, but I would say they would have a lot better opportunity to take what they are dealt and to produce winning hands out of it versus the gas leak and everything that's happening in Dragon Gate. Yeah. And I just, you know, I look at a lot of Dragon Gate as, we're just doing really uninteresting things, but I don't have long term reservations about Dragon Gate, at least from an in-ring standpoint, the business as a whole other ballgame and certainly the news that Corke and Hall is going to be under construction for the entirety of next spring is that is not helping any reservations. I have about Dragon Gate's business. Also the advanced tickets for, uh, to get into the Hectom Pascal. Yeah. Not exactly. Now look, Kobe World had a great walk up. Well, once was dangerous game might also have a great walk up, but that still might be

34:07a bad house. That is a rough looking ticket website right now. Um, but Dragon Gate is still like, I'm not worried about. Backing gate, just to the Corke and things just so much. Yes, but Dragon Gate has at least right now on their reds their website in this. And I know the situation with Corke and Hall is that there will be a couple of times it's open and a couple of times it's not. They have dates for January 17th, February 10th and March 3rd, 2027 on their website. And do we, I got to pull up Jay's blue sky here real quick, just to confirm when Corke and was going under construction. But this could very easily be the website lagging behind. To be fair. So Corke and closing for renovations and late January to early February and the entire month of April. Well, hopefully we don't lose that January Corke and show because that's on a Sunday. And that's that's always exciting. It's not the Sunday afternoon show that they did, but it is on a Sunday. But yeah, no attendance going into this and we will be breaking down the car for 10.

35:07We're going to get to it. Just give us a second. It's worth it. But, you know, when Dragon Gate has been at its best this year, I still feel the spirit of this promotion. And coming and Rita and especially Gucci, some of the work KZ's done, some of the works assume I'm a cagator of done, you know, when this promotion has been good this year, it's like, all right, this is what I'm here for. I've had to we throw a lot of bullshit this year, but this is what I'm here for. The promise that even the good CMLL stuff feels tonally different from the last three or four years. And for the worse, I think. It's really interesting to like, you know, they're using shell wall like shell was push. He's a guy on the roster, but he's not the same guy that he was a year ago, and especially not the guy that he was two years ago, and that sort of sucks. And now we're seeing less three fall matches and I'm not seeing the toothpaste putting being put back in the tube with CMLL.

36:07So in a way, it's just it's been a far more disappointing year than Dragon Gate has been. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. I get your point of perspective with that. The last match I watch and we'll get to this real quick. I did watch the 823 UeA Oki versus Musaki Mocha Zuki match. And I always like UeA Oki wherever he pops up, like he pops up a lot and glates and he's great in that, that kind of context. But boy, it felt like that it was like your standard big Mocha Zuki match or working like a standard Mocha Zuki match. And I just appreciated the fact that those matches are still happening in some places in 2026. Like I was three and a half on it. I thought it was great. Yeah, no, the Mocha Zuki stuff in all Japan has been really, really fun. And it's the second year on a row now that Mocha Zuki, as we talk about this story, but career now 30 plus years deep, you and I have covered so much of it. And we've tried to cover it from so many different angles. One of the things that he's added now in this late stage of his career, I guess you could

37:12say starting with the all Japan run with Shun in 2018, but really when he was in IMS Alliance in NOAA, 2020 and 2021, when he was working as much if not more NOAA than he was Dragon Gate, is that from that NOAA run to his run last year is the Gombare Pro Champion, which I told everybody to check out. I was so into what he was doing there. So now that's all Japan run, he's become a superb outside wrestler. And in the case of Gombare Pro and in the case of all Japan, he's working like an outside of which is really exciting for the NOAA thing. He was more integrated into that roster. And I always go back to that match he had during COVID in the end one with Goshio Zaki, where you saw this glimpse into this other life for a Mocha was a part of one of the respected big time Japanese promotions and would have had the same or close to equal output that he's had as a member of Dragon Gate.

38:12Like the guy has just been able to go everywhere and always find a way to blend and always find a way to succeed. And there's all Japan run has been no different. Everything he's done there has been really enjoyable. Yeah, no. And it's definitely something as I get towards the end of the year, I'm going to go back and check out what all he's done inside of the all Japan ring. And because he he still has it. And like that's kind of like one of the frustrating things a little bit with the promotion is the way that they kind of use him or he uses himself here versus outside ways at least in 2026, but it's nice that he is still capable of pulling that out here. But I have I have zero Mocha Zuki matches in Dragon Gate at four stars or higher this year. Three matches of his at four stars or higher outside of Dragon Gate to an all Japan that you a aoki match and the Dan Tamora match from the 15th and then the Mocha Zuki versus Mizuki Watase match from Gumbari Pro on February 22nd. So it's a little concerning because it's not like we can go, oh, well, Dragon Gate

39:16hasn't knew them. They've been lighting the world on fire. It's a little concerning that Mocha Zuki hasn't really done anything of note in his home promotion, but he's been so good elsewhere. Yeah, no, for sure. I think with that we need to get into the home promotion. They had the finals to the Ray Day Paray House tournament on Thursday from a cork win hall case. Your written review has been up for a couple days on a voices of wrestling.com. Yeah, the tournament ends kind of with a whimper after such a strong block play on a finals at least for me that was maybe one guy's best performance of the entire tournament, but then his partner's absolute worst, I felt. I hated the show. I thought this was a terrible way to close out the tournament, even if the matches themselves within a Ray Day Paray House were fine. I thought this show, just big picture, was a massive step backwards.

40:18We came off of August where I was so excited for all of this Ray Day Paray House footage to hit drinking network. I was so excited to dive into this stuff. This show set me back so much in terms of where we're headed for Tokyo and Fintany Hectopast Scal. I'm now not really looking forward to that show at all. It's a Saturday morning show that I'm not planning on watching live. I'll catch it later that day. Plan is for the written review to be up Monday morning, voices of wrestling.com. We'll podcast at the same time we always do next week. My under a different set of circumstances, if this was a white hot cork and show, I might have hit you with a text of like, hey, Saturday morning show, do you want to record Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening? Let's do a little emergency pod for the weekend pay-per-view, especially because Kobe World was on a Monday this year. Not happening now. I thought this show was just a waste of time. A waste of time on a number of levels.

41:18That has been the problem this year is that we continue to put so much time and energy into what Jiro Shinbashi is doing next. We ignore the fact that there's a Dreamgate match coming up in a week and a half. We ignore largely a bravegate run that should be the talk of the Japanese wrestling world that is now limped into the next defense after the success that was Kobe World. We have completely ignored the trianglegate division and there's a chance that we lose my fucking mind based on the result of the trianglegate match next week. Then we have this twingate scene where I guess to some degree, unfortunately I predicted Ray Day, Pre-Has correctly. I really expected Cello and Monta to grab this tournament by the horns and be the talk of the town. Instead, all I can think of is how much I enjoy this menorah and Yoshiyoka tag team and

42:22yet they won't be getting the title match at Tokyo in front of the Hechtopascal. Yeah, for me, it's just lack of a... It's not taking advantage of the opportunity on this show. You had throughout the tour and especially looking back to the August cork and you already took the big first step in your singles title fuse and you kept them going during a tournament that your guys, that your champions and challengers were out of and they made sure that they were doing what I think we both say was essentially a solid, maintaining build. But you come home on this show and Yamato is fucking around with his karate trainer as an exhibition. He cuts a promo on Kaze. That's it. And then for your dream gate scenario and then, yeah, you did need to have Dragon Kid get some sort of televised one over Tanaka and the lead up to just to build up and be like, okay, now that there's a little bit of anticipation here but it was a fine enough match that he hits

43:27the Ultra Herk Karana. The Ultra Herk Karana looks great. It's the greatest looking at Ultra Herk Karana that I feel like Dragon Kid has done in years. But that's kind of all that you did to build those matches and then you're right, you go to the other title situations and on this show that you have a two minute backslide from the Tori Mod Generation team over your heel stable and then they just come out after a storyline match that had a storyline promo afterwards and say, yeah, we want the triangle gate here. How is that supposed to really build up your show in eight days? It doesn't. And then the twin gate situation, it might be me and it might be just my personal preferences case. But why should I care about Cello finally getting his hands on Yoshiki Kato? Like why should I care and why was this whole entire tournament in service of Cello finally

44:28having the right opportunity to face Yoshiki Kato? Does this feud deserve that level of attention? I don't think so. So it just feels like that it was a tournament that now ultimately was in service of an angle for a feud that hasn't felt hot since the beginning. I mean, even going back to a King of Gate last year when he got kicked off, like it was like, okay, we got stuff going on here and then it's simmered and then it's simmered and then Cello says, I want Yoshiki Kato. Yoshiki Kato said, no, you haven't done anything. And then you had a cage match and then you had a Kobe World Challenge for Cello where Cello was challenging KZ for that dream key and was that supposed to be the thing to get Kato's attention? I don't know because we didn't bring it up for another couple months until, you know, right after this tournament. And it just makes me frustrated that you have a tournament where a lot of interesting stuff was going on on the under cards. A lot of the tournament matches you had some stuff going on to that didn't feel like

45:31Cardiff will learn it. We talked about how the roster actually felt deep during Ray Day playoffs because really every team outside of Strong Machine J and Leona, which very easily could have been Strong Machine J and UT and that would have fixed its problem. It's so, you know, by itself, but every team kind of felt vibrant and felt like they were being utilized and then we turned that off immediately on this show. Yeah, we turned it off immediately because Cello has to face Yoshiki Kato. Okay. Has Cello and Yoshiki Kato as a few done anything for you at this point? It's apparently been a few since last November. Yeah, that's the frightening part is I guess when you look at it with a, with a bird's eye view, you go, oh, yeah, I guess this has been like a cornerstone feud of the promotion for nearly a year now. But that's the thing is that it didn't register with me as I was watching where I was like, oh, here's Cello comes. He's finally going to get his on Yoshiki Kato. That wasn't what was going through my mind as I was watching the finals and I was watching

46:33the finish. And now I don't think we're going to be in a situation where come Saturday, Eishin and Monterey are going to start and do their thing and then both guys will tag out. It will get some Cello Kato stared out where the crowd is all of a sudden really invested in the match. We're not, we're not getting a bell pop with Cello and Kato. It's just not going to happen. Yeah. So why was this all the vote to it? Cello has, and I think it was pretty clear he got shaken up partway through the match. But maybe his worst match since they beowing and then you follow it up with that. And that is your fortunately, they're putting this match down on the card that this is going to be fifth. This is going to be before Uha Nations return match. So you spent this entire tournament building up the eventual Yoshiki Kato versus LCLO face off that it has been on the back burner since November since King of Gate 2025.

47:35And as it's, and as it's phase, the twin gate match, if it's booked the way it's supposed to be booked and the shows are format the way that they're usually format in case that's the intermission match. That was this whole entire service. This whole entire tournament case was in service of the go to intermission match on this pay-per-view. Well, you know, the way these shows are laid out, it was in direct competition with the Bravegate match for what was going to be second from the top. And I think luckily the Bravegate match is going to be second from the top because even, because we're really at Tannaka's Bravegate champions. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, even with Tannaka and Dragon Kid. And I think rightfully so, taking a back seat during Great A. Preah's and not being the focus, I mean, it really being, you know, third share behind the little bit of build they did with Yamato and KZ. It speaks to how the whole thing that we'll get into it. We'll get into it. We'll go from the opener to the main event because I have critiques on pretty much everything on this show. But it speaks to what Tannaka's been able to do as champion.

48:38We're even after a Raid A. Preah's tournament that I liked. Even after a Raid A. Preah's tournament where I predicted the outcome. It still feels like Tannaka versus Dragon Kid is the bigger match. And so while I understand the point you're making, I think I would have been way more annoyed had the Twingate match been semi-main event because I don't feel like it's a semi-main event match. And that is, I think Yosuke Minora versus Kato and Ishin would have been. I think that would have felt like a semi-main that wouldn't have bothered me at all. This match is in the right spot. And that is both a gift and a curse. Yeah, because you've spent this entire tournament to put this right poor intermission. Like it's bizarre to me with that. So I guess let's get into the semi-finals and the finals and of themselves right now. A semi-final one kicked off the main show. The opener was Rio Fuda versus Tristan Moody. Fun enough, Moody looked impressive.

49:40Fuda got the one here, kept it short. Tristan Moody is still here for another couple of weeks. So that's nice to see. I wish they would use it more. I would like to see him on the main card. No, I am with you on that. So the semi-finals, the first one, A-blocks number one, the original Jimmy, Sasumi Okosuka and Kaga Toro versus B-blocks number two, LCLO and Luis Monte. Luis Monte gets the win with a sudden super T-Grey to get the advancement onto the final. And what I thought was a fine enough opener. If everything else on this show picked up from this moment, I would have much more of a different opinion on this quark. And then I do right now. I think the tough thing is between the four finalists, Cielo Monte, Kaga Toro Sussurmo, Ishin Kato and Yoshio Kominora, and then you factor in Kamehrita, Hamare Komora,

50:41for the sake of the argument, we'll leave young vibes out of this, because I think they would have been maybe a little bit in over their head in this scenario. But those six teams that I just mentioned, the promise that Cielo and Monte by the time we got to this point, were the least interesting of the bunch. And I think Kaga Toro and Sasumi win the finals, although I certainly get the argument for, hey, maybe the team that won Summer Adventure Tag League 2014, and are known as the original Jimmy's, which is now ancient history. Maybe they shouldn't be going to the finals of your tag league. I get that. But it's a sumo, your coast, go. It's a sumo, your coast, go. And it's Kaga Toro and a tag league, which holds the same weight as you saying it's a sumo, your coast, go. It's a very funny thing to think about. Fair fair. You know, I was way more impressed with what Kaga Toro is. The sumo we're doing in this match. And I felt, and maybe this is me just, you know,

51:43hyper-analysing things after a bad show, but Monte got that pin on Yucoska, and it felt like the audience went for it a little bit. Like that wasn't the result that they were hoping for. And I, I just, I don't know what to do with Monte. You know, I don't know what to do with him. The guy doesn't feel over. He's not as impressive as he used to be. He's obviously lost a ton without his mask. I think his gear does him no favors. And very, very quickly, we're going to be hitting two years of him not being in a unit. I think that has been really, really detrimental. We talk about this all the time. There is just a certain feng shui in this promotion that's been instituted since day one. I mentioned all the time. You know, they tried to put Magnum Tokyo in two different units in 2005. And it was just weird. And Bin K won the Dreamgate belt in 2019. They just had him and Shun Skywalker as a tag team without a name, without a unit name. It wasn't like decourage.

52:44And it was just weird. And now Monte is like, you think about Dragon Gate and just the importance of the units and what that can mean, what being in a unit can do for your push. And now they're trying to push Monte, but he doesn't have a unit. And it's just weird. And it comes across as weird. And this whole thing just sucks. And I think Cagatoran Tsushima would have been way more interesting. Yeah, the Monte of it all, like nothing this tournament does has served any of his issues. You know, I mean, he still feels adrift. Him and Cello as a team, it was cool that they wrestled mask and it felt like, okay, we had a guy now that Monte can kind of latch onto but then with the Cello and you a Shiki Kato thing. It's like, oh no, you're, you're just here because Cello needs to have a partner. So this isn't a pairing that I should probably put a long-term investment into. And I just like, I came out of this show with like a big problem with Cello too.

53:45And I want to save those thoughts for when we're talking about the finals itself. But this was a fun enough match that it felt like that it was a Tsushima show. So Monte sold for a long time into the closing stretch where he goes for a well to finale onto Tsushima that he turns into a huge destroyer. And I jumped out of my seat went hell yeah, because Tsushima Yako's got did a destroyer. And I thought that was a great near fall. And then we went straight into the Super Tigray. I like the closing stretch. I want more Tsushima Yako's got destroyers because they're kind of funny. But they're also great because Tsushima Yako's got doing wrestling moves. But it was another case of Tsushima making a guy look really good, which is not not always the most accurate way of analyzing a wrestler. But right. But then the guy you're looking good is a person that's now superfluous because this is about a ten-month-latin feud.

54:46Like that's the thing is like if it was going into like a Cello finish, then it would be like a service of the guy that feels like it's actually getting pushed in the stack. And that is another way that I think the company is not showing the care that they once would. But they did show some care in the other semi-final match in the finish. Zenith B block group winner versus team 204, the Twingate champions, but A block second placeers. And this grouping with Rhea Fuda and Ishin has taken a couple turns, especially within the end of the match in the closing. And then also the post match. So Fuda delivers a box attack. The camera stays too long onto Fuda to miss that the cradle was reversed. So Zenith wins on a a-a-errant heel attack. And they advance onto the finals. Fuda then gets the formal offer from Ishin,

55:47but he turns it down and says, you know, I need to think on this offer and it seems like the rest of this unit doesn't like me. So the trial's the tribulations of Rhea Fuda continues. So my final this one was great. The thing that the thought that really got me was I really want to see Zenith versus Jackie Rita. That was kind of my big takeaway during this match. Because Zenith feels like that over this month, like, sadly they didn't win this tag league, but they come out of this tag team now as like the team that can maybe push Jackie Rita in my opinion for the claim of the top tag team in the comp. Because they they've been excellent. And I felt like this match was such a display of what they have really learned over the last months together. Premiere hosts on Verbo deliver quality vacation rental stays with fast responses and clear instructions. So you don't have to worry about surprises. I asked our host a question about the house last night and he got back to me super quick.

56:47See, that's the Premiere host move right there. I'll wish I had a Premiere group chat. I asked them where we should have dinner last night and they left me on red. I know you saw it. It says it. Classic group chat move. Don't walk into a surprise. Book a top rated Verbo stay with a Premiere host. If you know, you Verbo. We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The game time app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included. So what you see is what you pay. And the game time guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy and more with game time. Download the game time app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. You know, I'll preface this with you and I were both massive fans in real time and still are of Yoshioka's Dreamgate run in 2022. And I find a lot of the analysis surrounding Yoshioka to be really.

57:51I just find it odd. I just disagree with it. I disagree with it very, very strongly. I think I think Yoshioka. Even post eye injury and we're talking about a different human and a different wrestler at that point. I'm still very into Yoshioka post eye injury. I would argue that it's lowered his ceiling to some degree, but it's still a pretty high ceiling. It is tough to look at this team because I love them, but it's also a little concerning just how comfortable these guys are being a rung below main event here. When the pressures just slightly lower than it is for these guys in a main event storyline, it's sort of shocking just how good they are. And I would argue to some degree that's an issue that is plugging Japanese wrestling as a whole right now is it is a lot of guys are good at being good and not a lot of guys are good at being great.

58:53I do. To some degree worry about that with Yoshioka manure. I think the manure thing is largely played out. Will he be dream gate champion one day? Yes, will it be a massive deal? What happens? No, Yoshioka. I think will be a dream gate champion again one day. I hope it's a massive deal when that happens. That is all to say I adore this tag team. I think they are great. We'll talk about the future of this team when we get into the Hectopascal preview because I have some thoughts on where they go from here and a chance for Drainye to actually do some interesting booking. We'll see if that happens or not. But God, they were great in Yoshioka in particular is just jumping off of the screen right now. Some of my favorite individual performances Radei Prejas. Yes, you had to go to stuff. Yes, you had to come a stuff. You had some really good cocoon and Lee stuff. But Yoshioka just show after show right now was really humming along. Yeah, this feels like the with the way that Yoshioka came back and it was immediately plugged into teaming with Daya with expectations and they kind of play off that Yoshioka was going to take a long time to get back to it.

59:56And this felt like in some ways when they took the titles off of D courage at the end of the run with Daya and Yoshioka was feeling like that he was finally going to become the not the ace because the ace and Dragon Gate is a topic that we might wanted to vote a slow week for a talk before like a long discussion for. But Yoshioka felt so much better at that point before things got weird with Daya. And then this tag team has felt like going back to where he felt with Daya at that time. It has done such a good job and it's been really affirming as someone like like as you said, like I I still think the world of Yuki Yoshioka. The one thing that I it does kind of get me about not being in Vegas this year was not seeing Yuki Yoshioka that would be a fun guy to have off to check off my list, especially considering it like this because I I think the whole

1:00:59conversation around Yuki Yuki Yoshi is sometimes this genuine isn't a lot of times on there because I think that as we have seen around the company that there's a lot more things that were to play and are in play in these kinds of situations than people that kind of dive and make the observation off of the big show because they don't look they were act like Shima. You know, like I think that he has been the person that has been targeted more by that than anyone else. I will I will die on my on my hill of Yuki Yuki Yuki of Yuki Yoshioka. Phantom. I got so worked up about thinking about how people are unfair to Yuki. It happens again. I mean, I thought the guy, you know, I thought when we did the Dream Gate rankings at the start of this year, I mean, we thought he had one of the best Dream Gate runs of all time and I don't think there's any shame in being the excellent tag team wrestler that he is. It is a career. It's a career arc that to some degree reminds me a little bit of joy. Yeah.

1:01:59And that is like, all right. You know, I mean, look, Yoshioka had to completely transform his life and his wrestling style because of this eye injury and it took him a long time to get there. And I don't think the build with Kakuuta to their match in February this year that either of those guys any favors and it's certainly I think set the company back to some degree. But that was as much booking malpractice as it was Yoshioka's individual performance. And and now we're at a point where he just he looks the most comfortable. He looks since returning from injury. I think even more so than when he was teaming a lot with Tanaka or some of the rehash stuff they were doing with Daya. He looks really comfortable right now and it's really exciting. So again, I will circle back to them in just a little bit because there's they have a chance to do some cool stuff, which they probably won't do. But I would like to see more of this. I thought this was a three and three quarter star match. Of course, you should in Kato once again, topping out of three and three quarters. Yeah. No, that's kind of their place right now. Any takeaway on the food angle really? I still think he's going to end up in Zina. I think he's the third guy for that unit.

1:02:59I wouldn't. I don't think he's the fit in Zino stall Nova. And he hasn't really been involved with those guys. Whereas he stole the pin from menor at the last quirk and it as I said, I would I tweet. It's not the right word. I blew sky to J. I would just have. I would have Zina. Be Yoshioka, menorah, fooda, celamata. I would just put those five guys together, leave Zino stall Nova as is for the time being. We'll see how that unit develops as things go on. But I think that could be a really interesting five piece unit. But I think fooda ends up there. I think this is all. I think the show next week and send I that food a homecoming show. I think that ends with him not as brave gate champion, but as him standing tall against Gajadokoro and will get. You know, more Yoshioka menorah, fooda, six man against Gajadokoro and quirk and hall to close out the year.

1:04:00No, I think that's an entirely possible scenario there. Not to make it a whole thing case. I had the loss in pages open right now for both a tohoku dragon gateway, the former gate of origin, the show that you were referring to and for Tokyo infinity, Hectopascal and fooda, some coming show at least with the way that they do the circle triangle in X's case has a lot more triangles on it than would award right now. But I would only be. I would only be. Yeah, I would only be impressed by that if they were running the old setup that they were doing the first few years of that send I show because that I mean, we we this was like a whole thing we talked about in 2021 and 2022 with with Jay, yeah, with Jay and with the emergence of Takuma food to our and food. So we are like, well, all of a sudden they, you know, they have a real. It's almost like their new IE. Where they just had a real. It looks like they're going to have a real stronghold in Northeastern Japan again.

1:05:01And then that just did not pan out the way it did and now they've down greeted that show from what once was. You know, the sixth biggest show of the year to now it's a small show with a fancy name and that's a little disappointing to say. Yeah, no, that's an entirely fair way to portray all that case. For the next few matches, do you want to get angry or should we speed through them to get to other stuff? Well, okay, let me, let me just say this. This show happened. What eight days, 10 days before a paper view. Correct. Yeah, there was there was objectively more time spent on Giro Shimbashi comedy stuff than there was on the dreamgate match. And when you go through the corkins this year, month after month, I know what Giro's doing in October. And the same way that I knew what Giro was going to do, you know, when it was February, I knew what he was going to do in March. When it was March, I knew what he was going to do in April, but it's April,

1:06:03I knew what he was going to do in May. I made the reference in my written review. I go, this is like when TNA and I couldn't find the clip. But I always remember Brian Alvarez freaking out about this. When TNA had the beer drinking world championship between James Storm and Eric Young. And they made this hype package that was all about what it means to be a champion. And when you're a champion, you stand alone at the top and you have to train and you have to fight. And being a champion means that you're the best in the world of what you do. And then it cut to the beer drinking and championships that they had in Alvarez lost its money. He's like, they're parading what good pro wrestling is. And the way Giro has been handled this year reminds me of that where they are so focused on what his next comedy match is when he's largely been thrown a bunch of post prime acts that don't draw anymore, and especially don't draw

1:07:04with a drain gate crowd. And there's there's just nothing for the dream gate, the brave gate build is minimal. The trial gate build is not existing. They are parading pro wrestling with Giro Shimbashi. And it drives me absolutely crazy. And you know what's going to make you even more mad is that they spent more time on the angle of getting the a war a gate back into dragon gate or an attempt to do that with having Shen secure her Haka or her Rota come out as Menoros Suzuki building up spending time building up his match at Ode Award and doing that. But like there was more time basically setting up an a war a gate match. Then you had between KZ and Yamato like and this can also be seen as like not to completely defend this because I think it's a bad way to do this. But it kind of it with this building this string gate feud.

1:08:05It's such a different experience. If you're not following along Yamato on Twitter versus what is on screen on your programming that you're actually people pay to subscribe to or buy tickets. Well, let's talk about this now. You know, the because the Giro thing like okay, they set up him versus Shins secure her Rota come in. I don't care. I that's not that does nothing for me. I'm talking about it. I don't know who that is. I don't care that they're addressed like Menoros Suzuki that a whole thing sucked. I'm not interested. I have said since KZ won the belt and we all assume they were going to go in the direction of Yamato versus KZ for the first offense, which makes sense. I that's fine with the right thing to do. So what I think to do the point I've made since July is this is great because you have Raid A. Prehaas in August. It's going to pull focus away from the dream gate naturally and they didn't put Yamato and KZ in the tournament, which like all right, fine. I get it. I said the beauty of Yamato versus KZ is that you don't have to do a ton of

1:09:09booking to get us there because it's a story that has been in the work style for literally 20 years. It's a 20 year story that is paying off this Saturday in Tokyo. You shouldn't have to do a lot, but you should do something. You should do anything. And if you're not up on Yamato's Twitter, which I would imagine even a lot of the people listening to this are not then there's been no bill. There's been nothing whatsoever. And somehow we have a cold Yamato versus KZ Dreamgate match. How do you do that? These are reasons that if you ask me the first thing that needs to happen in this company is whoever is in the room other than Rio Saito, they all need to be taken a power away from because this is such an easy thing to do. It's a layup. It's on real how they fuck this up.

1:10:10Then in the result, by the way, the result is obvious because KZ is going to win. And we can discuss this. We're going to get to the show preview. But there's, I mean, there's, there's nothing. And this is another one of those times where it's like, you know, you and I, you and I might love Dragongate cheerleader Yamato. And I think in some ways over the last few years, he's been a real positive force as the undying face of this company. You know, the fact that that he won't go away and won't leave the top, I think has been a positive discussion. He is the ace. He is the end of discussion and has been since 2014. Yeah, at the very least since Yoshino's health took a decline. You know, some, yeah, sort of a bit of a two headed dragon there for a little bit, which really helps the promotion. But I, it's just, I don't know. I would love to understand what Yamato's influences and his own booking

1:11:12because we talked coming into Kobe World this year about the fact that Yamato lost a shun last year and I understand wanting to sort of back away from the top spot a little bit. That's fine. But Yamato has done absolutely nothing for the last year. And then they sort of stumbled into based off of the April 2025 bravegate match with with Daki, John Gucci and Yamato and then Gucci getting the repackage this year and the refresh where they sort of stumbled into a really interesting program between those guys that I thought I said this I said this on February ago. I think the triangle gate belts have booked themselves through Kobe World and I think we could go into world with a really heated vibes versus Paradox match with Gucci and Yamato and I said I go if it ends at Kobe World with the Yamato pinning Gucci in the middle of the ring. I don't think that's the worst thing in the world. It's Yamato. He should still be a leg up on a lot of these guys. That's fine. But I think that would be really interesting booking and as soon as I pitched that the belts went into oblivion.

1:12:15Yamato went into hiding and now we're at a point where how do you not have any memorable angle whatsoever to build up this dreamgate match? And I think that's one of the issues this year. I was thinking about it with Dragon Kid versus Tanaka and look, it's the forever baby facing Dragon Kid against a guy who throughout his career up to this point has been the forever baby face in Tanaka. And I don't expect Dragon Kid to low blow Tanaka. I don't need him to hit him with a kendo stick. I don't need mist coming from his mouth. But I was a little surprised at just how sterile some of the interactions were. And I do think one of the main issues in this promotion right now is they have lost. I don't know the artist the right word, but they've sort of lost the art of the road to match. They're not telling stories in these six man tags and Corkin that

1:13:15lead to something greater. I mean, we were talking about eight at the start of the show and you think about the groundwork that they laid in 2014 when we knew it was going to be T.O.K. and H.A. versus Tozao and Shingo at world and how they got it as arm submission so over and it was so deadly and that was coming off of the work they were doing in Kobe and Osaka and at Corkin and we're not doing that now in the Yamato versus K.A. thing is crazy because how fucking hard would it be to have some sort of tag on this show. I mean, they very easily could have done Yamato and Dragon Kid versus K.A. and Tanaka. I'm shocked. They didn't do that. Where Yamato, you know, Diggs is healing the K.A. Z.I. and it looks like mad blanky area Yamato and really roughs this guy up before the dream game match, but they didn't even do that. I mean, there's nothing memorable that has happened between those two guys from July when K.A.

1:14:16Z won the belt until now, but hey, we know what Giro's doing next in the last two months. Yeah, so after the Giro match, we had Arakin, Yuzushi Kondo, Ginkihara Gucci versus Madoka, Kuda, Jason Lee and Kai. It was a beat down than a backslide attempt and a second backslide attempt gets the win for the Toriyo Montereo. It was two minutes, nothing to this kind of just writes off K.A. Lee and Kai for the show after this point. I mentioned this in my written review. I'll just mention it here quickly. This is I don't know. I don't know what they're doing with Gajadou, Kuro and Korkin because January 18th, there is Jason Lee and Coach Manor was LCLO and Humara. That was a three minute 35 second match. February 5th was Kai and Kato versus Cielo and Humara. That was a five minute 49 second match. April was menor and Kato versus Cielo and Humara. That was a Cielo and Humara. That was a one minute 58 second match. May was Jason Lee, Kai coach Manor and Madoka Kuta versus Don Fuji

1:15:20Ganky Horaguchi, Musaki Mochizuki and Yosushi Kanda. That was five minutes. June was those same guys against Hulk, Doi, Susumu and Yamato. That was four and a half minutes. July was Ishin Kai, Kukuta and Kato versus Fuji Ganky, Mochi and Kanda. And that was five and a half minutes. This match Jason Lee, Kai Madoka Kukuta and Ganky Horaguchi versus Horaguchi, Arakin and Kanda 240. I'm Mike unless I miss something and I guess there was a chance that I did. There's no dedicated storyline to Gaja Doikoro wrestling under six minute matches in Korken, right? No, no, no, I think that's just how they're booking them in Korken is that they have six minute matches. And look, rock in a hard place because I don't need Jason, Kai and Kukuta wrestling these old guys who I'm sick of seeing. I don't need them to have a super long match. I would have been equally annoyed had this gone 15. I would rather just not have Ganky, Arakin and Kanda on the cards anymore

1:16:20or at least in any sort of visible position. But what it like, what it what's happening with this other than the Ishin and Kato stuff for the all Asia belts or I guess now for the twin gapelts and the Jason Lee versus Tanaka match from earlier this year. The heel units getting nothing in Korken. And I just think it's so, so weird. I can't figure out what this is. It's weird and I think that's helping that's helping the serility of these cards, you know, because like you're and I think we're also still adjusting from going from a heel unit like Zee Bratz that like their presence was felt in the the show and there was a vibe to Zee Bratz that I feel like was a lot better than the vibe that got you docker and that's I think also an aspect of it too. I I just think it's I think it's really strange and I had my eye on it for a while I started noticing this in June where I was like, man, I just feel like through rushing through there's like a guy to docker.

1:17:22Imagine on every Korken that is just being rushed through and I don't really understand why and then you had it in June, you had it in July. And I mean, there's a two minute match. There's nothing and it's not like Ganky, Arakin and Kanda who are now going to challenge for the Trungle gate belts. It's not like I left this match and went, wow, that's a dominant trio. They took care of business in two and a half minutes. It's there's some match accomplished nothing. Yeah, and there was nothing to it. This was after this was to celebrate Yamato's 20th anniversary. We had a special exhibition with Yamato versus his MMA trainer, Hei-Di Thaka, Monma and it was a 10 minute time limit draw that was pretty boring until they started doing wrestling stuff in Yamato. Did a go to hospital on the guy and the guy got mad. I mean, what a colossal waste of time this was. And it's that could have been that. I'm going to draw it's fucking insane that this went to a draw. It is absolutely insane that this match went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

1:18:31And normally I would expect this level of treatment from, you know, to Kame or Recha because it's obvious this promotion hates the Mochizuki Junior same boat. But this is your model and he went to a draw against a pain crease trainer. It 10 days before a fucking dream table. What are we doing? Yeah, no, I mean, this could have been 10 minutes that you could have used with him in KZ like you completely rebook part of this show of how you should have done this with because having a match out one Yamato can't like put this guy in a dirt because it's an exhibition match. So, you know, that they were going to go 10 minutes with it. So instead of having some grappling, having it like one or cool like cool transitions and then just mainly selling a knee a headshot that Yamato took, which then, you know, has not have an opportunity to be acted on. I mean, KZ could have immediately like come out after this match and gone like,

1:19:32man, you see your head after you're doing this. Imagine now after I rock you with 15 upper guts. Like you didn't have that. Instead, you had them kind of promo afterwards, you know, being happy that they did it. It just was a class always a time 10 minutes that your dream gate challenger was just getting to have self indulgence just because like bizarre. I mean, in a really weird year for this promotion, I thought this was one of the weirdest things they've done. 1,004 people. Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah, I would argue that's that's too many. Then we had natural vibes KZ strong machine J U T Gucci and Flamita versus love in peace. Yo, Mochisuki junior and Jackie Rita and Johnny Valetta. King Kong knee drop on UT and Johnny Valetta officially is member of love in peace. And then after this is when the old guys came out and said we like to face you for the try. I will say that I was wildly entertained by what we saw from Valetta and Flamita in this match.

1:20:36And I struggled with Flamita on this tour. He's now back in Mexico. I struggled with the idea of bringing Valetta back. I have been adamant that I don't want love in peace to be touched. I just want them to leave this unit alone and God forbid have them win some matches. All told credit to Valetta. I'm fine with this. It's not love in peace is never going to be what I want them to be or more importantly, what they should be. So I'm fine with this. And the team working at with love in peace were fine. It's going to be a while. I really thought that we would get more of Valetta and heal as a tag team. I guess it's not impossible that at some point they have a twin gate challenge. But again, this isn't. It's not the second coming of of do fixer, which it should be. So if they want to throw Valetta in the mix, I thought he acclimated himself just fine in this match.

1:21:38And on that tour with you, so fine. Well, we can I can live with this. It's not and if he comes back at the end of the year, it also fills some shoes for Ben K, who's still going to be out for a while. So fine. It's fine. I don't like it, but it's fine. It's fine. This is my main event is in a stall Nova, Rioia, Tannaca, Humare and Kazuma, Kamora versus Paradox, Dragon Kid, Dronerke, Doi and BB Hulk. Dragon Kid got the win with the Ultra Hercon Rana on Rioia, Tannaca, and that was kind of your big build for this match. I remain incredibly bullish on these, you know, stall Nova trio. I just like them. I like the way that Humare looks on screen right now. I like the way that Kamora is coming across right now. I wish there was a little bit more zest in the Tannaca versus Dragon Kid interactions, but I also don't really worry about their match on Saturday whatsoever.

1:22:39Yeah, no, this was more low-key than I was kind of expecting. Yes, I would agree with that. And for that, I was a little underwhelmed because I was hoping for a little bit more than we got. But it was all all finds you know, so all Nova continues to put themselves really well in that role. And yeah, no, I would have liked a little bit more of this like it even if it was a little bit of Tannaca showing a little bit of spite. It would have been nice to see, but it was just kind of by the books here. And then we got to the Ray Day Parahouse Finals, a rematch from the B block. It was Zena versus Louise Montey and LCLO. LCLO wins with a second spinning tombstone after the first one didn't really look that great. And that made Montey and CLO the 2026 Ray Day Parahouse winners and then the Twingate match is set going for Tokyo. Tokyo Hectopascal.

1:23:39Once again, I thought Yoshio can manure a stole the show here. I thought they were easily a far more entertaining team than CLO and Montey were. I do like that they did the call back to the Super Tigray that won CLO and Montey their first match of the night. I thought that got a great pop on that near fall there. But I was far more impressed with Yoshio because run down the stretch the battle hook and the darkness buster that he hit. I was far more impressed with the way that they were bumping off of CLO and Montey and the way that they made them look like a dynamite tag team. And again, I'm not surprised that CLO and Montey won it was my prediction going in. I'm surprised at just how little they pop off the screen. Yeah. And in a tournament that I thought that CLO was outperforming his partner. This was by far his worst performance after that Spanish fly botch, which he might have got like knocked in the head to be honest for that the rest of the match. Never really recovered from that. And even though you had Yoshioca really giving a line in the closing stretch, it just was absolutely hampered from that moment on.

1:24:45I do think it was a great match and I think the Spanish fly botch, which for those that haven't seen it, I believe it was Yoshioca on the top rope. And Sialo went to do a one man Spanish fly off and Sialo ended up taking himself to the floor and Yoshioca to the apron into the move just fell apart and they abandoned it. And I do think that hurt the match a little bit, but I went for on this. I mean, very low enforced our match, nothing that I'm really going to go into think about at the end of the year, but I thought they got there. But again, I thought they got there really off the back of the work that Yoshioca and Minora were doing. So a really great month for those two for their PR. Those are guys that I think we've been in. I mean, Minora, it's now it's I can't remember the last time that he wasn't rehabbing his public image for Yoshioca post eye. And it's been a challenging 18 months with some highs, but definitely some notable lows. And coming out of this tour, I just I'm I'm reinvigorated by both of those guys right now.

1:25:45So despite the object failure that was this cork and hall show. And despite some of the questionable things that happen in a red a prey, House. Look, chalk it up as a win that the most impressive team was Yoshioca and Minora and ultimately, I think that's the team that this company has the most long term stake. And so it might be a short-term defeat for a long term game because I do think they have something with these guys as a tag team. Yeah, no, clearly, I think that Yoshioca probably ends up being the MVP of the tournament. I as great as Gucci was as great as Jackie Rita were individually. I feel like this is the closest we've ever seen. Yukio Shioca to how he was pre 2023 and menorah. I mean, they're always going to try with Kota menorah and he, there is a lot, I think, to the statement you made about how these guys feel like

1:26:47when the pressure is just a little bit off their neck somewhat. And at least for this time, he's in the right position there. But Cielo and Monte, they do not come out of this tournament looking that strong. And I feel like that's another reason why this match is where it is. What as we move over to Tokyo Hectopasc, an infinite Hectopascale coming to us from a Barrow Wave Arena, Ota, this Saturday, that is the former Ota Kuu city hall. Arena, we have eight matches on the paper view, but we start off with a advanced match with Takashi, Mondai Rio, Rio Fuda versus Hoho Lume, Punchstone, Minaga and Tristan Moody. If this should be on the stream, there's a chance I might not be just because of how things usually go with this kind of stuff. But yeah, joining the ring. That's a good point. Joining the ring there.

1:27:48But good to see Moody making tape once again, but we open up the show with Zeno Sal Nova, Humari and Kazuma Kamora versus the reuniting pair of father and son, Masaki Mochizuki and Mochizuki Junior and their hometown. You know, it is kind of one of those words like, all right, I think this match is going to rock. And this is a promotion this year that needs more matches that just simply rock. We've sort of been missing that. I have a ton of issues with the Mochizuki's teaming up. I thought we had gotten away from that. It doesn't really make any sense from a storyline perspective. As we go forward, I'm going to really harp on the usage of Humari and Kamora, but we sit here in September and I only have, and I've watched every show outside of maybe skipping a comedy match or two on the undercards of some co-bays and some Kyoto's. I've watched everything.

1:28:48I have 32 Dragon Gate matches this year at four stars or higher. Half of those matches are four stars on the dot. This is not a promotion that's pumping out high end matches. For reference last year, I had 62 total Dragon Gate matches at four stars or higher in a plethora of four and a half and four and three quarter stars. We're just not getting that this year. We're not getting the match quality that I expect from this promotion. So if you want to give me a match, we're on paper. I go, all right, that rocks then fine. Yeah, no, that's fair. And especially like this is a card that looking at the undercard, it is so jumbled with how who's entitled matches and who's not entitled matches that getting this as a reward for that is something that I think you have to kind of take and not look to get worse in the mouth. The result of that kind of scramble up is what we have in match two, where ultimately teams with natural vibes, strong machine J who's doing nothing,

1:29:49UT, Gucci and Aki. So Aki is back versus paradox and Don Fuji, BB Hulk, Yokozka, Sussumi Yokozka, Kogatora, Nouruki, Doi and Don Fuji. Yeah, it's a match, you know, it's, that's what the randomizer landed on with who was left over. I guess I like the idea of Gucci and Doi being in the ring. So I have that to look forward to. Yeah, no, Duchi and Doi in the ring, that'll be a kind of fun. Akage and Gucci is always kind of fun as well. Yeah, that's fun. That's one of those that this match goes away that I think it will. I've already sort of got, I know what I'm going to write about this match, which is Hey, Gucci and Doi would love to see that in the singles match. You know, there we go. It's coming up maybe. Hey, and I have a feeling you won't have a lot to write about the next match. It is Jero Shimbashi special training. The Yama No Day line fifth stop is at Harajuku station with Jero Shimbashi versus that representative of Harajuku station, Menoros Suzuki.

1:30:50It's no different. The Jero stuff is no different than some of, not all, but some of the really bad AW sports entertainment stuff that happens where when the promotions buzzing and when it's really firing all cylinders and they throw some sports entertainment thing in there. It's like, all right, not my thing wish it wasn't there, but I have all of this other stuff to look forward to. But the Jero stuff becomes really unbearable in the same way it's the sports entertainment stuff becomes really unbearable when the shows are cold and the booking is tired and I don't have great matches to get excited about. And I am just blown away now again, as we're in the last quarter of the year almost at just the amount of time that has been dedicated to this guy compared to the advancement of forget coming Rita, but most of the junior strong machine, Jay, I would argue to some degree, Eishin, I would argue to some degree,

1:31:57Aki and Gucci. I mean, yes, they were repackaged, but certainly not, I think, usually they're a fullest extent. I would certainly like to see more focus on Humor and Komura than Jero. And I just don't trust that that's going to happen for the foreseeable future. Yeah, I like Jero's act more than you in the beginning, but I'm just tired of him just doing the special singles. I got it. I say, you know, it's been going on all year. I got the joke. It's fine. All right, I heard you. You know, it's the opening Anthony. I heard you. I got it. Fuck. All right. Match four is the open the triangle gate championship match. A heo Jackie, Kamei, Henry to the hundredth champions defend against the Torrey Monge generation of Kniitro, I Azushi, Kanda and Ginkihara Gucci. That's fucking awful. It's just, it's just abhorrent that Ginkihara Gucci from when he lost the brave gate belt in 2021 at the Masado Yoshino retirement show, he talked very openly,

1:32:59because I wrote the article in 2023 that took a lot of notes from a long form shoot interview that he did with Puro Weekly. He talked about the fact that he felt like Kobe World 2021 was the end of his career as essentially a title match competitor. You know, and that is the type of thing that I, you know, even as a very, very big Ginkihara Gucci fan, I think we all felt like it was time for him to sort of phase out of that era of his career. And from that point on until the start of this year, he had four total title matches and dragon gate. In this year alone, he'll have had four title matches in dragon gate. And I'm not entirely convinced that he's losing this match.

1:33:59Yeah, I mean, who's to say? It's love and peace who they love to beat and it's Ginkihara Gucci who they put over a lot this year. And like the fact that I am as big of a good Canitrowa Raifan, you know, I'm not watching the, the sleaze and like all of that, but him just like marching in, having a two minute match and getting a triangle gate match. Terrible. It's just, it's just absolutely terrible. And I have to correct myself. I had my own statistic wrong from the end of Kobe World 2021 through the beginning of 2026. Horoguchi had two title matches. He had a brave gate match against Yo in 2023 and a triangle gate match in 2024. This will though be his fourth title match in Dragon Gate this year, which to me is just it's mind blowing. There is no reason that this match can't be strong machine J U T and Gucci or Aki or fucking anyone else. It doesn't fucking matter. It just can't be these guys.

1:35:03Match six is the special six man type team match as Uha nation will make his or I'm sorry, we before that, but we have a match before that is the open the 20 gate championships team 204, Eishin and Yoshiki Kato defend the titles against the red day for a house 2026 winning team of LCLO and Louise Montey. So the important thing to note here, I think Eishin and Kato are, well, I think Eishin Kato are going to retain, although those LCLO stuff you threw at me at the top of this podcast threw me off a little bit because again, I guess in theory is like a 10 pull feud for this promotion. My logic is, okay, so Yoshio and Manora are now one in one with Eishin and Kato. Coming out of this show, you've got the show and Sendai on the 20th. That's going to be built around food. You don't need a big match there. Coming out of that Kobe Samba Hall on September 27th, Korken Hall on October 2nd, two Samba Hall shows the 10th and 11th.

1:36:06And then two Fukuoka shows the weekend after on the 18th. You're going to need on one of those shows, open the twin gate match with Yoshio and Manora against Eishin and Kato. I would have it headlined Korken and that I would have them defend the twin gate belts for the first time in Fukuoka, but that's just me. But one of those shows is going to be headlined by Eishin and Kato versus Yoshio and Manora. What they might end up doing, what wouldn't surprise me is some sort of six man tag on that October Korken with Fuda, Yoshio and Manora, assuming that food is going to the zenith group. It'll probably be under five minutes because it's Gaja, Doko, and Korken Hall. But that will set up either a twin gate match in Kobe or a twin gate match in Fuku, Woka. Yeah, I can see that happening. They're going to need, they're going to need shit for those shows. You know, I would imagine we get a Tanaka Bravegate defense on one of those shows, probably one of the Kobe shows will probably get, I mean, I would hope that we get

1:37:10a triangle gate match at some point in there because you got to remember. And this is something I'll talk about a little bit more of the dream gate, but there's no big shows for the rest of the year. I don't even think, I mean, they're not back at Osaka for the rest of the year. There's not even an Osaka number two show coming up. So they just have the Korkens two in December again, but one October, one November. And then Fuku, Woka, you know, they're in, you know, they're in one more time this year. Those October 18th shows that I mentioned, they're in Kobe a bunch. They are going to need shows in those buildings and then that Hokkaido triple shot at the start of December. But I think they're at a point in their schedule with the oddities. And this is less to do with string gate business and more to do with the crumbling Japanese infrastructure that they're dealing with. But there is now a point where outside of a few specific dream gate matches, I don't think there is a match that's too big for certain buildings. I would love for this company to be aggressive in the last quarter of the year

1:38:12and load up some of these some bow shows with matches that I don't know we want to see. I don't know if that's going to happen or not. But some of these titles are going to have to be definitive of these smaller buildings. I think October is going to give us a real preview for what's to come for the rest of the year. Yeah. And I feel like that as it relates to the twin gate here, it's just like Cello and Montage just don't feel like that they are a permanent team to me. Like it just I've never been able to kind of get beyond that, even though they had like the matching mass and that throughout the tournament. And it even though like I did throw in the Kato and Cello thing about it, I don't know where you go for it after if Cello wins the belt, like does he immediately go for a mass and we're talking about maybe doing a poise to stand up this year? Like I don't know if that given the situation with the venues, if that is a kind of thing, a kind of match that you only want to like

1:39:13basically have to do at a quarkin, you know, just because it's in a poise. So yeah, I don't, I mean, I understand what you're saying in logically, that makes sense, but boy, that it just doesn't that would feel forced wouldn't. Yeah, I'd feel like that in that way. It's like, oh, we need to get a Cello into a different gimmick if they, if they're going that direction. And you got to remember in the tag league, the only team that Cello and Montage lost to his menor in Yosioca. So look, the Cello thing throws a curve ball in this. I think it would be, look, I'm say look a lot here. I thought it was a massive mistake that Yosioca and menorah lost at world. And I would have based Ray Day Paray House around their first challengers, which very easily could have been Montage and Cello. I think a far more interesting story than Montage, Montage, Cello winning the belts and then losing in their first defense to Yosioca and menorah is the heels winning here and then Eishin and Kato losing in the rubber match to Yosioca and menorah.

1:40:14So I hope that's what happens. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Match six, as I was trying to say before is the special six man tag team match. It is Ujah Nations return to Dragon Gate for one night. Only he'll be teaming with Zineth, Yuki Yosioca and Kota, menorah up against Gajidoka, Madoka, Kukuda, Kai and Jason Lee. And what will probably be their longest match in Tokyo all year? I have to thank a listener who might be last week in the DMs that Kukuda got into wrestling because he was an Ujah Nation fan. So why they have avoided mentioning that for this entire build is bizarre to me. I think the way they've handled this has been so incredibly weird because you and I as a Americans and B long time Dragon Gate fans, obviously remember every step of Ujah's career and Dragon Gate along the way, but he has been gone for 12 years.

1:41:17His last show was an open the Dream Gate championship match against BB Hulk. The guy's been gone for a long time. And so while he might get the courtesy applause and I guess there's an outside chance that maybe he's bringing some extra people into the building, although looking at the advanced ticket sales, I would imagine probably not much like the Dream Gate match, where I don't think they had to do a ton, but haven't said decided on doing the bare minimum. The Ujah thing might end up being pretty cold because I mean, like this is the guy that was running around with Ricochet and Shingo in Tozawa. And two months from now, it'll be 10 years since Tozawa left. And this guy left before Tozawa. So they've done nothing to get that, you know, if you're a homore fan, if you were brought into this company by Shun Skywalker and you've now latched yourself on a homore, why do you care about Ujah nation? They've done nothing to make you care. Madoka Kokuda would have been 12 when Ujah nation left Dragon Gate.

1:42:21Yeah, it was his favorite, his favorite wrestler as a kid. And even with Kaku to being the heel leader, that can still be a pretty cool story. And I couldn't believe when the old guy's, you know, Triple H, Ginkihara Gucci, when he ran through Gajah Do Kuro again, I thought that match was going to be used as a vehicle to make Gajah Do Kuro look like killers so they could set up the Uha Trio's match. And instead they lost in two minutes and Uha was never, am I going to make it, Masha was never mentioned on that Corkin show. The, I mean, that was a bad show in real time because I watched that show live. And there was an hour of that show that was a total fucking disaster. But now talking about it a week later, it's worse than I realized that show didn't do anything right. No, it might be the absolute worst go home show that Dragon Gate's ever done. And they've had bad go home shows this year. Absolutely. Like Riosito finds new depths of awful booking. Just awful.

1:43:22This is a main event is for the Open the Brave Gate championship as real. Yeah, Tanaka, the raining open the Brave Gate championship will be going for number 13 and it'll be going against former four time Open the Brave Gate champion and a long time junior heavyweight icon, Dragon Kit. Very glad this match is happening again for all of the bad this year. I think they've handled the Tanaka reign about 98% correctly, which is really all you can ask for. I mean, this is a massive win. This is just a nice match to have on paper. I hope it ends up being a great match, but I think the historical importance of this match far outweighs whatever we get from the output of this match. trivia question for you, Mike. And I've got one for when we break down the Dream Gate belt. Okay, trivia question for you here. Do you remember the last Dragon Kit open the Brave Gate match? What have been him dropping the belt to Eda?

1:44:23No, no, he won the belt back from eight. So he lost the belt at World 2018 won it back at dangerous gate 2018. Defended it against Bandito, defended against Kines. Lost it to SUMU at Memorial Gate 2019. Super great match. His last Brave Gate match was gate of destiny 2022, which I believe was a show that fans were allowed to make noise. And I think that was the first. Yeah, I think that was the first one because that was that was Yoshioka versus Yamato in the main event and eight of versus Fujiwara on the undercard. But he versus Dragon Kit from November of 2022 was your last Dragon Kid Brave Gate match. So it's been a long time. This feels fresh. God of a first time ever singles match. I guess I didn't check that, but I don't believe they've ever had a singles match with one another. And if they have, it's been, you know, certainly won when Tanaka was at a different point in his career. They had a 15 minute time limit draw last year in Kobe.

1:45:25I should rewatch that before this match. But again, even that was that was 2024. So that was two years ago. So it's been a long time since they've had a singles match. Yeah. And I have really high expectations. The one thing I think that they did right on Corkein was the interactions between Tanaka and Dragon Kit and that six man were great. And I thought that the finish and I do think that that was like the best ultra herchorana I've seen in years that was landed on this. And you know, seeing that Tanaka can base for that, but get opens up a lot of things for a Dragon Kit. I'm not saying it like a dragon Rana is in the offering, but like there's a lot of, I think this match could go a little bit higher than expectations. I have very temperate expectations. The thing that I, and I've referenced this match a million times, the thing that I go back to with matches like this. And I think Tanaka, actually, I know Tanaka's in a better standing than this

1:46:27wrestler was at this point during their career. But I always go back to that Dragon Kit versus Flamita match from World 2014, where I mean, again, this is Dragon Kit on legs and neck from 12 years ago. And Flamita on legs and neck from 12 years ago. And we thought they were going to fly around the ring and have this bash it crazy match and it ended up being a really, really slow match. Purposefully that built to Flamita kicking out of the ultra herchorana. And that's the only thing that anybody remembers from that match. They remember it far more than the finish. It was built around the idea that Dragon Kit through this big move out of that Kobe world. And Flamita was strong enough to kick out. And it wouldn't shock me now. Dragon Kit with 2026 neck with 2026 legs. If they go a little slower, if they're a little less explosive, but we get the ultra herchorana kick out, I think that's a, a guarantee

1:47:34that Tanaka kicks out of that move in this match. I'm just curious to see how they build to it. That's fair. Yeah. I didn't think about the when he's a very those expectations. It wouldn't shock me. And I don't, I don't think it would be a moratorium on Dragon Kit's career. And always never have going to have a great match again. And should we be worried about Tanaka, I don't think this match is going to have any long term. Afex on either of these guys having great matches in the future. It would not shock me if this was like a three and a quarter star match. It also because it's drank in a rear. It's not a, wouldn't shock me if it was a four and a quarter star match. But I feel like we're getting one or the other here. And I'm not going to be surprised by either end of the spectrum. I'm going to be way more surprised. If we come on here, we're like, well, that was great. It could have been better. I have four stars like this is either going to be a high end match or a very tactical, very purposeful match.

1:48:35Yeah, I think that that's the likely outcomes coming out of it. The main event is for the Open the Dreamgate championship. As KZ attempts to get his first dream gate key as he goes up against the most decorated man and dream gate history. The former six time Open the Dreamgate champion Yamato. trivia question for you, Mike. Because I, well, I guess let me ask you this first. Is there any, is there any doubt that KZ is retaining in this match? 95, 5, you know, I, I can't dismiss it because it's Yamato, you know, like it, it is entirely possible that Yamato wins this and goes like, guess what? You're a, you're a geek. I'm on top. I'm Yamato. Let's get these houses back up. Like there's a chance that that could happen, but I don't think. Yeah, I think there is. I sort of like cannot deny that. There is absolutely a chance that that happens. But it's very, very unlikely. It's very unlikely.

1:49:36You have the benefit, like I said earlier, you don't have any big houses to fill the rest of the year. You can get kind of experimental with the KZ rain if you would like, because you're not going to be in a building bigger than Quarkin, which is again, absolutely terrifying for the state of Japanese wrestling. It sucks that these venues are either being reconstructed or just going away. I think that is a far under talked about story. I've we've been talking about this for years now. Yeah. And I still think enough people are talking about just the way that these venues are eroding before our eyes. And maybe with a Quarkin thing, it'll have some uptick in discussion, but it's really scary. I will say that the one thing that it does say that the renovating Quarkin, that means that the Tokyo dome is knocking torn down anytime soon. So Quarkin is probably with this renovation, like for buildings like this, case, they have to do these renovations every so often for earthquake prevention. So like there's like a legality about doing this, but this essentially in a lot

1:50:39of ways, because there's been like no talk about the Tokyo dome moving in recent months, if not like since like the initial thing kind of hit, makes me think that Quarkin Hall is here to stay, you know, like that, that was a real fear that Quarkin Hall was going to go away with. Yeah. Oh my god. Yeah. What with the Tokyo dome getting a repurposed, but it does not seem like that's even in the offering anymore. So that's the one benefit about this is the Tokyo dome at least for the next decade plus should be safe. So we're under the assumption that Kaze is going to retain here. We're going to have a further discussion about where the hell they go with the dream gate belt from here. It's funny the way that your mind can shift so quickly where in July, when he won the title, and the era was pointing up a little bit, I was like, well, there's so much untapped potential. He could wrestle anybody for the dream gate belt. And now coming out of that Quarkin show in the early booking returns. We've seen it in September. Like, I guess he can wrestle anybody for the dream gate belt. But Mike, do you remember the last open the dream gate match to take place in Hokkaido?

1:51:47And I mentioned this because twice a year they go to Hokkaido. It's the BB Hulk and Kaze homecoming shows. And I would imagine that they'll have Kaze retain here in part just to get him to defend the belt in Hokkaido come December. Geez. This would have been like three Hokkaido buildings ago. Like, that's the thing. Like, this is, this is like before it's just a keynote Mars, I think. Like we're talking 2009. Earlier than that 2004. No, 2004. It has to be like 2005 or six. The last open the dream gate match to happen in Hokkaido was at Sepuro, Teason Hall, all time great venue. May it rest in peace. Open the dream gate championship match, successful defense in 21 minutes and 45 seconds. Dreamgate champion magnitude Kishiwana. So 2006. Yeah. Defeats Kanichiro Arrai.

1:52:48This was December of 2005. That's the last time that a dream gate match happened in Hokkaido. Now, if there is a god out there, he will make it so that Kaze defends this title in Tokyo, holds the belt through December, and then defends it against somebody that isn't BB Hulk. Come the Hokkaido triple shot in December. And I think that would be a great story. I would love to see that happen for that reason and that reason alone. I have Kaze defending his title here. Yeah, I feel like that you've laid it out pretty well with that. Yeah, they're going to have to, they'll be at a point where like there's just no reason not to run it there and see what you can get in that building. Like, would it be like 700 maybe? I would think they could get to 700 there. I mean, maybe if the booking maintains maybe 500 more realistic. But, you know, that's a crown that when they had some of those King of Gate shows,

1:53:51they showed up for, they've had triangle gate matches there in the past that they've showed up for. That Hakaido crowd shows up. You know, it's worth the hassle to go there twice here. You know, if they have to the triple shot in that ugly god for sake and building, there's been some great matches and there have been some great crowds in those buildings since they started running there. Kaze versus Ishin or Kaze versus Jason. I would maybe save Kaze versus Kato. But I think those matches could really be interesting there. I think Kaze versus Tsusumu is always a safe bet. I think Kaze versus Hyo, I would do in Korken, but that's a fascinating Dreamgate match. Where again, you're just, you're going to have the chance to get weird with this Dreamgate belt and with Kaze. But I would imagine the purpose of this rain going forward is getting Kaze to December, getting him to defend that belt in Hakaido and then from there, all bets are off. From there, he could lose it immediately after. Yeah, no.

1:54:51And with the venue situation, there is a lot of opportunities to do a lot of things with the belt between now and I mean, there's a chance that he doesn't defend the title from now through December. Yeah, there is that. And that is what I fear is that without the rigid big five show calendar, which was all for the most part pushed to the back half of the year in post-Coba, World Dangerous Gate and the Gate of Destiny into final gate. Now that you don't have that, this booking team, if you want to call it a team, they have shown over the last five years they are, despite houses going down and despite growing tensions from a lot of different directions and I will leave it at that, they have shown no urgency to be more aggressive in their booking. And so while I would personally find it very interesting, if they ever did their first

1:55:54Dreamgate title match in Kobe, Sambo Hall or for the first time ever, the belt was defended on the evening show of an across Fukuoka show, I would be into that because there is not an Osaka number two and there's not a big Osaka and there's not a Fukuoka and there's not any other building bigger than Korkin that you're going to run for the rest of the year, even if it's just saving the Dreamgate belt for Korkin, that's fine but I don't trust them to do that. I think it's a shoe in, God willing, if anybody has a brain left in this promotion, that they'll do a Dreamgate match in Hokkaido, but it would not shock me because that's the first weekend in December, it would not shock me if Kazy doesn't defend the belt until then. Yeah, and to be honest, there is an open fight card but no one's really been built up to be seen as someone to step up immediately after this match is over and challenge Kazy.

1:56:56With the way that things have been booking, that they have been booking is they just no one feels hot, so it very easily be that scenario where the belt goes on ice and they do whatever they're doing with Cielo and Kato at this point. So the one thing I do really do think is as soon as the bell rings, I do have very high expectations on what this match needs to be, especially in a year like this, like if we come back on Tuesday and the match rating is four and a quarter stars, is this point, if this match rating is four and a half stars, that's in the ballpark where it needs to be. I mean, this is an open dreamgate championship match on a big show that has always been the expectation. And with the two guys with the exception of Musaki Mochizuki who have put on the best Dreamgate matches who are still in this promotion right now. And it's easy to forget because they've been tied at the hip because they graduated the Dojo

1:58:01in the same year. This is only their seventh singles match ever against each other. An untelifies match in 2007, an untelifies match in 2015, an untelifies match in 2016, and then King of Gate 2018, King of Gate 2020, and Lapis Hall in front of no fans in a Dreamgate match last year in Osaka number two. All things considered, this is still a really fresh match. Yeah, and I think with that, and unless like we're not getting a Yamato indulgence fest, which I mean, this is 20th anniversary here, this might become another indulgence for him with that, who's to say, but the expectations that the way that we will be talking about Tokyo Infinity Hectopascal will be entirely hinged on. It does this Dreamgate match. Does it reach the expectations that we have for it? Because if this match ends up being four

1:59:02and three quarter stars, it probably doesn't really matter as much what's going on in the undercard, and how much time is devoted to Jerosh and Bosch. I'm a lot more forgiving if this is a match of the year contender. That's just how this thing goes. And I don't think that we've had a big show this year that everything has hinged so much on that match or the exception of maybe the cage match at Golden Call Seam because of the structure of the cage match shows like the cage match really is the bell weather there. But outside of that case, I think... Um, I mean, this entire company is in a different position if the Uno Dose Trace main event gets over better than it did. I mean, I don't know if that changes the booking that's happening right now. Well, I would argue that maybe getting the bell off of Kakuuta then would... That is fair. That is. ...a little bit of pressure. But also, I mean, look, it was a match that we all expected Yoshio Kato-Wen kind of wet the bed. And that was also... I mean, this is February we're talking about. He lost

2:00:07the battle in July, but that was when I was out on Kakuuta's champion. There was just an avalanche of things that happened from that match. Bad build, bad execution, bad champion, challenger didn't step up to the plate. That got us to where we are now where... I mean, look, I'm going to watch the show Saturday morning a little bit after it happens. I hope it's an awesome show. There's no reason that we shouldn't have three excellent title matches in a really fun Uha nation match in a good opener. But I, you know, that Corken was... it was a mess and it just gave me 2026 PTSD. I thought we were out of the woods and we're not. Unfortunately, sometimes when you're breaking down the promotion on the surface, it can be a little rocky. And then you dig deeper and you go, well, no, this is healthy and this is healthy and they still have this. And unfortunately, this is one where the deeper you go, the more you realize

2:01:08is what a disaster this promotion is right now. So, you know, I'm in the same position I was at World where I just feel like my feelings on this promotion are teetering on the brink. And this show was going to swing me probably violently in one direction and I just don't know what direction is going to be. We just want some stability. We thought we were getting stability through the block play portion of Ray Day Pre-House, but as we saw on Thursday, Ryo Saito and programming over booking has occurred once again and that leaves us in a really tenuous state going into Tokyo. Infinity Hesto Pascal that again will be at the name of the new the new venue name, right? The Ibarra Wave Arena Ota in Tokyo on the 12th and we'll be back next Tuesday to review it and you know, we might have to have a little bit of a therapy session coming out of it, but you know, I'm looking forward to getting to that point and breaking down the show with you.

2:02:12Looking forward to it. All right, you could follow, open the voice gate on social media both at Twitter and Blue Sky at Open Voice Gate. You can join the voices of wrestling discord. That is where we have the Open the Voice Gate channel which has all of our show updates, match listings and posts related, those days as those happen as well as the Dragon Gate channel which I am certain will be popping come Thursday, Friday night into Saturday morning. You could follow case on Twitter underscore in your case and follow me at Fuji Haya. That's going to do it for us this week. We'll be back with you next week to review the big show the year from OtaWord. Take care everyone. New Japan Pro Wrestling is so back. Are you out of the loop? You want to know what's happening before the rest of the Yankei Dimbassos? Want to find out who be the top guys in AEW in 2028? Then listen to the Super J-Cast from your authority of New Japan Pro Wrestling. That keeps Chris Troutland up at night. We cover New Japan at every level in the ring, the backstage politics, the cross promotional drama, the history and what it all means for the future, good to the

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