Phoenix, AZ – 3.26.2010

Commentary is provided by Lenny Leonard.

The show opens with Jimmy Jacobs who says that in Chicago, Jon Moxley and Brian Kendrick used Lacey, the girl from Jimmy’s past. Jimmy has retaliated by bringing in someone from Kendrick’s past, Paul London. London says he said yes to fighting Kendrick because he wanted some competition and he wanted to help out his buddy Jimmy Jacobs. Jimmy says London has to have his back tonight and to take the match seriously. London ends the promo with some goofiness.

Genki Horiguchi & Susumu Yokosuka vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw

Horiguchi is now aligned with the WARRIORS faction while Yokosuka is in no faction, but teams regularly with K-Ness in Japan. Quack and Horiguchi take the action to the mat to look for an advantage. Horiguchi snapmares Quack into a body vice, which Quack turns into slam. Horiguchi gives Quack an armdrag and dropkick. Quack evades an elbow and refuses to let Horiguchi Irish whip him. Quack takes Horiguchi to the mat and rolls him up for two. Now that a stalemate is reached, they tag in Jigsaw and Yokosuka. Jigsaw takes him to the floor with a toreador and a headscissors. Horiguchi comes in allowing Jigsaw and Quack double team him. Yokosuka comes in and lariats Jigsaw to the floor. Quack applies an abdominal stretch and then stretches Yokosuka’s arms behind his back. Yokosuka sunset flips Quack, and Jigsaw meets Yokosuka with a crossbody. Jigsaw takes Yokosuka to the floor with a headscissors. Jigsaw legdrops Horiguchi after a slam for two. Horigcuhi dropkicks Jigsaw’s legs out and sends Quack to the floor. Yokosuka and Horiguchi now target Jigsaw’s left leg, wearing him down and preventing him from tagging in Quack. Jigsaw gives Horiguchi an enzugiri off the apron, but Yokosuka immediately gives him a lariat in the corner. Jigsaw blocks an exploder suplex off the top rope and gives Yokosuka a top rope dropkick. He tags in Quack who palm strikes and chops Yokosuka to the corner. Quack hits a face crusher and sunset flips Quack for two. Jigsaw dropkicks him on the ropes. Quack hits the Black Tornado Slam and Horiguchi breaks the pin. Horiguchi gives Quack a tornado DDT. Horiguchi misses a moonsault and Jigsaw drops Horiguchi with the Mad Scientist bomb for two. Jigsaw goes up top and Yokosuka cuts him off with an exploder suplex. Horiguchi follows with a brianbuster for two. Jigsaw superkicks Yokosuka, but Yokosuka comes back with Jumbo no Kachi. Quack fires up when Yokosuka hits him with a clothesline, and rolls up Yokosuka for two. Quack jackknife pins Yokosuka for two. Quack hits the Quackendriver III for two. Yokosuka blasts Quack with Jumbo no Kachi for two. Yokosuka then drops Quack with Mugan for the pin at 13:35. This was a really fun match to open the show. Both teams showed a lot of good stuff here, and it was a nice build for Yokosuka’s match the next night. Jigsaw and Quack looked better here than usual, and I kind of wish Yokosuka and Horiguchi would tag more often. ***

We see the World-1 duo of Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi backstage, preparing for their matches tonight against Shingo Takagi and BxB Hulk, respectively.

TJP vs. YAMATO

TJP brings YAMATO down to the mat after YAMATO tries to wrench on TJP’s arm. They get back to their feet in a test of strength. YAMATO suplexes TJP, and TJP throws YAMATO over. Each guy keeps their knuckles locked as they kick one another in the mid-section. They reach a stalemate after blocking one another’s kicks. YAMATO knocks TJP down with a shoulder tackle and TJP dropkicks YAMATO. TJP gives YAMATO a basement dropkick. TJP sends YAMATO to the floor. YAMATO crawls under the ring. YAMATO comes from behind to dropkick TJP’s legs out. YAMATO locks TJP’s le and picks on his left ankle. TJP escapes, but YAMATO keeps on TJP’s ankle. YAMATO applies a cloverleaf variation, and TJP grabs the ropes to escape. TJP comes back with an uppercut and some kicks to the chest. YAMATO throws TJP’s leg into the referee’s balls, and then kicks TJP in the balls behind the referee’s back. TJP kicks YAMATO in the balls in response. YAMATO looks to suplex TJP off the top rope, but TJP shoves YAMATO off and connects with a top rope dropkick for two. TJP hops over YAMATO’s spear. YAMATO blocks a neckbreaker and applies a sleeper. TJP rolls through for two. TJP superkicks YAMATO and hits a brainbuster for two. TJP applies a figure four deathlock. YAMATO rolls into an ankle lock. TJP gets to his feet and blocks a German suplex from YAMATO. TJP rolls up YAMATO, and YAMATO transitions into an ankle lock. YAMATO ducks an enzugiri and hits a sleeper suplex. YAMATO hits a brainbuster for two. YAMATO locks on the sleeper hold and TJP quits at 12:22. This was a good match, with some great back and forth, but I expected more out of these guys. It seems like YAMATO should have someone else to be more dominant over before defending the Dream Gate title for the first time or something. Still, this was quite good for what it was. **3/4

We then see Masato Yoshino and BxB Hulk mentally preparing backstage.

Jimmy Jacobs & Paul London vs. Jon Moxley & Brian Kendrick

London tries to make peace, but Kendrick and Jacobs brawl anyhow. London sends Moxley to the floor, and Kendrick sends Jacobs to the floor. The former partners are hesitant, and Kendrick tags in Moxley. London lays in some forearms and lands on Moxley with a moonsault press for two. London takes Moxley down with a headscissors. Jacobs tags in and stomps on Moxley with London holding him in a backbreaker. Moxley punches and bites Jacobs in the corner. Moxley gives Jacobs a release suplex for two. Moxley suplexes Jacobs and himself over the rope to the floor. London wrestles an invisible person in the ring since Kendrick won’t tag in. London stomps on Moxley on the floor as Kendrick looks on. London grabs a microphone and says that Kendrick and London put up with a lot of crap in WWE and they both can do better here. This gets Kendrick in the ring. Kendrick and London jockey for position on the mat. Kendrick gives London a northern lights suplex for two. London hits a couple shoulder tackles, only getting two counts. London hits a flipping kick in the corner. Kendrick slips off London’s back and rolls him up for two. London transitions into a crossface. Kendrick lowblows London twice as Moxley distracts the referee. Kendrick and Moxley keep the advantage by trapping London in their corner. London is able to escape a double backdrop and tag in Jacobs. Jacobs knocks down Kendrick and Moxley and puts Moxley in the Gullotine Choke. Kendrick superkicks Jacobs. Jacobs spears Kendrick for two. Jacobs hops off the second rope into an ace crusher on Moxley. Moxley gives Jacobs a Bossman slam for two. London gives Moxley a missile dropkick and a doublestomp to the back. London drops Kendrick with a sit-out fullnelson facebuster for two. London gives a dropsault, dropkicking Moxley and landing on Kendrick for two. Kendrick throws London hard to the floor. Kendrick superkicks Jacobs. Jacobs blocks the Sliced Bread #2. He hits the Contra Code, and rolls into a satellite headscissros on Moxley. Kendrick catches Jacobs with a small package for the pin at 13:52. The London stuff in the middle of the match was really awkward and made this match seem like a hot mess. Luckily, they regained some of their composure and saved it in the end. I really don’t know what to make of this match. It was good, had good heat, and the story was pretty apparent. It was also very disjointed which took a lot away. Rating this is tough, but I think **1/2 is fair.

Moxley continues to beat on Jacobs after the match. London brings Moxley to the floor and allows Jacobs to dropkick him. London’s back looks cut up from the fall he took on the floor; well that sucks. London and Jacobs place Moxley on a table stage-side. Kendrick stops London from climbing up top. Kendrick tells London it’s not worth the risk for the dumb fans. Kendrick says he cares about London, and the fans do not. With that, Teddy Hart comes into the ring. Hart puts over the fans and then dives onto Moxley and Jacobs. Hart comes back in the ring with Kendrick and London. Hart does another flip and gets jumped by Kendrick and London after. Hart is fired up on the floor. London dives out onto Hart and pounds him near the barricades. Kendrick and London continue to beat on Hart. Hart sends Kendrick and London stage side and dives off the top turnbuckle onto them. This was weird; really weird. I have absolutely no idea what to make of this.

Masato Yoshino vs. Shingo Takagi

Yoshino ducks a few attacks from Shingo. Shingo powers up Yoshino in a knuckle lock. Shingo chops Yoshino. Yoshino locks Shingo in Coumori. Yoshino kicks at Shingo’s left knee which is taped up. Yoshino wrings Shingo’s arm and drops a knee across it. Yoshino rolls Shingo into a stretch. Shingo escapes and Yoshino goes back to Shingo’s arm. Yoshino gives Shingo some overhand chops, which fire Shingo up. Shingo catches Yoshino in a bearhug into a belly-to-belly suplex. Shingo snapmares Yoshino into a chinlock. Shingo gives Yoshino an atomic drop and sledges on his lower back. Shingo rams his shoulder into Yoshino’s lower back before going back to the chinlock. Yoshino comes back with the slingblade once he escapes. Shingo gives Yoshino some punches and a DDT, but misses a senton splash. Yoshino dropkicks Shingo in the back. Yoshino doublestomps Shingo’s arm from the top rope. Yoshino locks in From Jungle. Shingo powers up Yoshino into a suplex. Yoshino comes off the top rope with an armbreaker and then applies Sol Naciente. Shingo quickly grabs the rope to break. Shingo pops up Yoshino into a Death Valley Bomb. He follows up with the Pumping Bomber for two. Yoshino armdrags Shingo to the corner. Shingo places Yoshino up top. Yoshino brings Shingo off the middle rope with the slingblade. Shingo blocks From Jungle and powerbombs Yoshino. He then muscles Yoshino up onto his shoulders and hits the Stay Dream off the middle rope for two. Yoshino crucifixes Shingo for two. Yoshino hits the Ude Yoshino. Shingo cracks Yoshino with a hard right hand. Yoshino gives Shingo the Lightning Spiral for two. Yoshino drops Shingo with the Torbellino, and then locks in Sol Naciente. As Shingo tries to escape, Yoshino locks his leg to turn the submission into Sol Naciente Kai. Shingo quits at 16:04. It’s good to know the Dragon Gate guys can put things back on the right track when you need them to. This was a real well worked with match, with Shingo and Yoshino on point. This started off slowly, but the ending stretch brought some really great stuff and ended up bringing the show back in the right direction. ***1/2

Jon Moxley comes out and talks with Shingo. Shingo and Moxley head to the back together.

We then cut to The Young Bucks who say they are becoming celebrities (since they are in the Celebrity Theatre) thanks to Dragon Gate USA. The Bucks mention how they defeated CIMA on the first DGUSA show. This time around it’s a trios match with Jack Evans being their partner. Evans says his team can not lose and he’s going to put a loss in the WARRIORS column.

Open The Freedom Gate Championship
BxB Hulk (Champion) vs. Naruki Doi

This is Hulk’s third defense of the title. Hulk gets in a headlock but Doi quickly escapes. Hulk armdrags Doi, but Doi swipes away Hulk’s dropkick attempt. Hulk gets in a basement dropkick for two. Hulk delivers a back heel kick for two. Doi evades a boot from Hulk, and drops Hulk in a hangman’s neckbreaker. Doi hits a cannonball senton while Hulk’s in a tree of woe. Hulk lands some forearms. Doi catches Hulk with a DDT for two. Doi knocks Hulk down with a back elbow and a back suplex for two. Hulk gives Doi a sole butt and a spinwheel kick to the head. Hulk hits a springboard dropkick and a cannonball senton of his own. Hulk hits a urinage, then the BxB Star Press for two. Hulk sweeps Doi’s legs. He hits a corkscrew senton for two. Doi blocks the EVO and sends Hulk to the apron. Doi traps Hulk in the ropes. Doi misses a somersault senton, allowing Hulk to fly in with a springboard spinwheel kick for two. Doi gives Hulk a Rydeen Bomb for two. Hulk gives Doi an enzugiri. Hulk blocks the Doi 555 with a superkick for two. Hulk misses a Phoenix Splash. Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick for two. Hulk drops Doi with the FTX for two. Hulk hits Mouse and a clotheslines. Doi turns the EVO into a reverse DDT. Doi hits the Doi 555 and a second Bakatare Sliding Kick for two. Hulk hits Doi with a spinwheel kick as Doi goes up top. Doi gives Hulk the Doi 555 off the top rope for two. Hulk drops Doi with the FTX. Doi and Hulk throw forearms at one another. Doi lights up Hulk with rapid fire palm strikes, and Hulk responds in kind with kicks and palm strikes of his own. Hulk drops Doi with the EVOP for two. Hulk then hits the H Thunder for the pin at 14:00. This was a fantastic title match. 14 minutes of hot action that really made Hulk seem like one of the best guys in the company (and as the champion, he should be of course!) I really thought the effort put in by both guys was tremendous, and really got the crowd going as well. ****

CIMA, Gamma, & Dragon Kid [WARRIORS] vs. Matt & Nick Jackson [The Young Bucks] & Jack Evans

Before the match, Jack Evans gets on the microphone saying that Teddy Hart is on his way to the hospital due to a broken clavicle. Evans says he won’t let that slide, and he wants London and Kendrick tomorrow night as a measure of revenge.

CIMA and Matt start things off in a fast frenzy. Nick and Gamma tag in. Nick drops down and Gamma spits in his face (known as a Sweet Angel’s Kiss). Nick kicks Gamma and dropkicks him to the floor. Kid and Evans tag in. Kid dropkicks Evans as Evans does some dancing. Kid gives Evans a toreador, and Evans cartwheels out of it. Evans slams Kid, and Gamma attacks Evans from behind. Evans flips over Kid and kicks Gamma. Evans dropsaults Gamme onto Kid, then sends Kid and Gamme out with some spin kicks. CIMA cuts off Evans as he looks to make a dive. The WARRIORS take turns beating down on Evans, even embarrassing him with Gamma wiping a snot filled rag into Evans’ face. Evans backs Kid into his own corner so the Young Bucks can help him out. The Bucks do just that, and the Gaijin are able to isolate Kid from his team for a bit. Kid tags in Gamma, but Gamma essentially takes Kid spot as the Gaijin quickly gain control. Gamma spits in Evans’ face and tags in CIMA. The WARRIORS mock the Bucks while beating down Evans in their corner. Gamma does his trademark stuff like spitting water in Evans’ face and cracking him in the balls with his kendo stick. Evans hops over CIMA and Gamma and tags in Nick. Nick flies in with a crossbody to both guys. Nick gives CIMA a quesadora for two. Kid gets the N’Sync from The Bucks, and Evans follows up with a 450 splash. CIMA breaks the pin and Evans sends CIMA to the floor with a somersault dropkick. The Bucks and Evans backflip onto the WARRIORS stage side. In the ring, Gamma gives Evans a spin-out facebuster for two. Evans springboards in, but Gamma hits him with the kendo stick. Matt avoids that attack, and the Bucks hit a moonsault/springboard splash combo on Gamma for two. The Bucks pin CIMA after a series of moves. CIMA double stomps onto both Bucks and dropkicks Evans as he springboards into the ring. CIMA drops Evans with a 2k1 Bomb. Nick superkicks Kid, but Kid gives him a stunner for two. Nick evades the 619 and gives Kid a butterfly backbreaker for two. Matt powerbombs Kid into Nick’s knees. The Bucks hit a somersault senton/legdrop combo. Evans lands on Kid with a 630 splash and CIMA breaks the pin. Gamma hits Matt with the kendo stick. Kid gives Matt a super hurricanrana off Gamma’s shoulders. Matt counters a Schwein with a crucifix pin. CIMA and Gamma superkick Matt, and Kid gives him a dragonrana for two. The Bucks set up Kid on his shoulders. Evans misses a splash off Kid’s shoulders onto Gamma. Kid avoids More Bang For Your Buck, and CIMA and Gamma come off with stereo missile dropkicks to Matt. Gamma hits the Gamma Special and CIMA hits the Meteora for the pin at 18:00. This was an awesome trios match, showing that nobody does trios matches quite like Dragon Gate does. This was fast, crazy action as was up there with any of the other previous Dragon Gate six man matches you have seen in America. The Bucks and Evans were the perfect Gaijin opponents as they had spent time in Dragon Gate in Japan, and it really helped the match flow overall. There was never a dull moment, and I am excited to see how the trios match tomorrow night goes. ****1/4

CIMA cuts another of his fantastic broken English promos to end the show. CIMA promises tomorrow’s trios match to be excellent. CIMA says he make speak better English tomorrow. Awesome stuff.

Jon Moxley is talking to Shingo backstage. He’s trying to hype Shingo up after his loss to night, even calling Shingo lazy. Shingo slaps Moxley and gets in his face. Randomly, Christina Von Eerie comes in and Moxley backs away with her. Allllright.

Bonus Disc

FRAY!
Malachi Jackson vs. Brandon Cutler vs. Dustin Cutler vs. Dave Crist vs. Jake Crist vs. Chimera vs. Brad Allen vs. The Prophet

Prophet and Chimera do some Lucha stuff to start things off. Dustin enters after a couple minutes. He takes on the Lucha guys by himself, then lets the Prophet and Chimera fight for awhile. Chimera sends Prophet to the floor and Dustin takes down Chimera for two. Brandon is next in, and The Cutler Brothers throws the Prophet into Chimera twice. The Butlers give Chimera the Rollercoaster Powerslam for the pin and elimination at 5:10. Prophet hops onto the Cutlers, and they toss him overhead. The Cutlers give Prophet Six Second Abs for the second elimination at 6:11. Brad Allen enters next and gives Dustin a springboard crossbody for two. Dustin brings Allen to the apron, and Brandon hops over the top rope with a legdrop. The Cutlers give Allen stereo rolling shoulder blocks for two. The Cutlers wear down Allen in the corner and then throws him to the floor. Dave Crist enters next with a springboard dropkick to both Cutlers. Dave misses a moonsault, allowing the Brandon to pop up Dave into a German suplex from Dustin for two. Dave slips on a springboard and gets sent to the apron. Dave clotheslines Brandon and dropkicks Allen on the floor. Dave snaps Dustin’s throat on the top rope and comes off the top with a spinwheel kick. Malachi Jackson enters next. He comes in with a 350 armdrag to Dustin. Allen comes off the top with a corkscrew crossbody to eliminate Dustin at 10:31. Allen pops up Jackson, who gives allen a hurricanrana. Jackson crossbody’s onto Dave and Allen. Brandon gives Jackson a kick to the side of the head. Dave hits Brandon with double knees. Dave does the same to Jackson. Jake Crist enters and The Irish Airborne (the Crist’s team name) double team Brandon and eliminate him at 12:25. The Airborne then maul Jackson with knee strikes, and Dave gives Allen a spike DDT. The Irish Airborne hit the Irish Air Raid (a double stomp/back breaker combo) to eliminate Jackson at 13:24. Allen, as you would expect, gets demolished by the Irish Airborne. Allen is able to side step Dave to get some shots in at Jake. Allen gives Jake a sit out urinage. Jake gets his knees up to block a springboard twisting senton. Allen blocks the Irish Air Raid and small packages Jake for the pin at 15:05. Allen is able to catch Dave as Dave tries to hit a moonsault. Allen hits The Deal for the pin and victory at 16:00 exactly. There’s not much to say about this; it’s about as good as every other FRAY! has been. I did appreciate the use of different talent, especially The Cutlers who are criminally underutilized in the U.S. wrestling scene. Allen winning was good, and him beating the Irish Airborne was a cool way to finish the match. **3/4

L.A. Park & Hijo del Rey Mysterio vs. G.Q. Gallo & Derrick Niekirk

Park dances to get the crowd going. Park and Gallo start off with some “chain wrestling”, if you can call it that. Park tries a La Magistral and only gets two. Park shoulder tackles Gallo and does some more dancing. Mysterio and Niekirk tag in. Mysterio runs the ropes. He and Niekirk embarrass themselves by botching a wheelbarrow spot. They succeed with a wheelbarrow bulldog. Gallo attacks Mysterio from behind. Gallo and Niekirk get sent to the floor by Mysterio. Gallo and Park pander to the crowd, which is great live and horrible on DVD. Is this over yet? Park misses a splash but then evades a series of attacks from Gallo. Niekirk accidentally clotheslines Gallo and Park gets two. Park sunset flips Niekirk. Park sends Niekirk into a kick from Gallo. Park does some more dancing and OH MY GOD THIS NEEDS TO BE OVER. They do terrible, sloppy, uninteresting crap that the local fans for whatever reason enjoy and this terrible excuse for wrestling mercifully ends with a god damn disqualification when Gallo accidentally punches the referee and low blows Park at 22:51. YES, THIS WENT OVER 20 MINUTES. LONGER THAN ANY OTHER MATCH ON THIS SHOW. But the referee counted Gallo pinning Park for three, and then said that Gallo and Niekirk were disqualified. Literally everything about this match was bad. This may be worse than the LWA Showcase from King of Trios 2009. I could not believe how sloppy, uncoordinated, eractic, and uninteresting this crap was. If this doesn’t end up being the worst match in DGUSA history, I do not look forward to watching whatever tops this in the bad department. Dragon Gate USA is so good, so I hope we can all forget this ever happened and move on with our lives. DUD

Roderick Strong vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
WrestleJAM 2006 – Kanagawa, Japan – 7.10.2006

Strong and Mochizuki look to gain control at the get-go. Mochizuki nails Strong with some hard kicks and knees. Strong comes back with a couple hard chops. The fight spills to the floor. Strong accidentally chops the ring post. Mochizuki kicks away at Strong’s hand and forearm. In the ring, Strong quickly grabs the ropes as Mochizuki tries a cross armbreaker. Mochizuki keeps his offense on Strong’s hand and arm. Strong tries to muscle up Mochizuki, but Mochizuki turns into an armbar to cut Strong off. Strong blocks a Fujiwara armbar with a backbreaker and a crisp dropkick that sends Mochizuki to the floor. Mochizuki kicks away at Strong, and he accidentally kicks the ring post. Strong gets payback for Mochizuki’s early onslaught by targeting Mochizuki’s leg back in the ring. Strong dropkicks the inside of Mochizuki’s leg while it’s hanging on the ropes and gets a one count. Strong teases the Romero Special, but stomps down on Mochizuki’s knees instead. Mochizuki comes back with a high kick and a springboard enzugiri in the corner. A hard kick to the back sends Strong to the floor. Strong nails Mochizuki with a forearm as Mochizuki goes for a dive. Strong gives Mochizuki a backbreaker on the apron for two. Mochizuki gives Strong a running boot to the chest and back. Strong pops up and hits a backbreaker for two. Strong hits a running boot, and Mochizuki hits one of his own. Mochizuki and Strong trade hard strikes on the apron. Mochizuki hits a springboard enzugiri and a running kick to the chest for two. Strong evades another enzugiri and gives Mochizuki a gut buster. Strong hits a Tiger Driver for two. Mochizuki crucifix pins Strong for two. Strong hits a clothesline and puts Mochizuki on the top rope. Strong chops Mochizuki and brings him off the top with a superplex for two. Each guy hits stereo clotheslines. Mochizuki hits Shin Saikyou High Kick for the pin at 13:46. Imagine Mochizuki vs. Strong and your head, and that’s basically what this was; two guys known for beating the crap out of their opponents beating the crap out of one another. Boy was it fun to watch! I liked the story of each guy accidentally hitting the ring post with body parts that are pertinent to each of their arsenals, and then going all out with the strikes at the end. A really fun match that flew by. ***1/2

Open The Dream Gate Championship
Naruki Doi (Champion) vs. Masato Yoshino
Gate of Maximum – Tokyo, Japan – 6.11.2009

Doi takes an early lead, taking Yoshino down to the mat and grapevining his legs. Doi headscissors Yoshino back to a stalemate. Yoshino’s lightning fast rope running isn’t enough for him to maintain an advantage, as Doi throws Yoshino to the floor and suicide dives onto Yoshino afterwards. Yoshino grabs his left knee on the ground. Doi wrenches on Yoshino’s leg as the action goes back into the ring. Doi and Yoshino trade overhand chops in the middle of the ring as things heat up. Doi goes to Yoshino’s leg to regain the advantage. Yoshino flips out of a suplex attempt, but his leg buckles. Yoshino avoids a sliding kick and drives Doi’s shoulder into the mat. Yoshino snapmares Doi and splashes his elbow. Doi kicks Yoshino in the head, so Yoshino kicks away at Doi’s shoulder some more. Yoshino drops Doi’s arm across his knee and applies a modified armbar. Doi misses a front flip on Yoshino, and Yoshino double stomps Doi’s arm as Doi holds the top rope. Yoshino hops up on Doi’s shoulders, and Doi drops him with an electric chair. Yoshino blocks the Doi 555 and hits a slingblade. Yoshino blocks a sunset bomb and nails Doi in the chest with a fallaway double stomp. Yoshino hits the Ude Yoshino for two. Doi gives Yoshino a basement dropkick and a dragonscrew leg whip into a figure four leg lock. Doi hits a cannonball senton in the corner. Doi hits a high angle suplex for two. Doi comes off the top rope with an elbow drop, using his bad arm by accident. Yoshino locks in From Jungle, and Doi carries Yoshino to the ropes to break the hold. Yoshino hits a top rope dropkick to Doi’s shoulder. Yoshino hits another Ude Yoshino, and then applies Sol Naciente. Doi escapes and drops Yoshino with a Rydeen Bomb for two. Doi misses the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Yoshino hits the Torbellino, but Doi cradles him for two. Doi counters the Lightning Spiral and gives Yoshino a buckle bomb. Doi gives Yoshino the Doi 555 and a Bakatare Sliding Kick for two. Yoshino hits a Lightning Spiral to block Doi’s Muscular Bomb. Yoshino brings Doi up top. After fighting for leverage, Doi gives Yoshino a super Doi 555. Yoshino pops right back up and rolls Doi up for two. Doi gives Yoshino a straight-jacket German suplex for two. Doi hits another Bakatare Sliding Kick. Yoshino counters the Muscular Bomb into a crucifix pinf or two. Yoshino hits two Torbellino’s and locks in Sol Naciente. Yoshino loses control because of his hurt leg. Doi hits a Tiger suplex for two. Doi hits two more Bakatare Sliding Kicks for the pin at 28:11. The selling from Doi and Yoshino was something else in this match. It was very nuanced, but played in so well at the right points. I was going nuts for a lot of their stuff and was really impressed by the show these guys put on. I’d love to see this match again, with the roles reversed now that Yoshino holds the belt. This was one of the best matches in 2009 and almost makes the DVD worth buying by itself. ****1/4