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[SPEAKER_01]: Look at that one so hard!
[UNKNOWN]: Hope you fall!
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Open the Voicegate 4 July 7th, 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are members of the Voices of Wrestling Podcasts Network.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My experience joined alongside your other host case, low in case it's 13 days away from Kobe world and it just feels wild that it's already here and in some ways it makes perfect sense that we're just in spitting distance of the
[SPEAKER_02]: It just not feel good.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it does not.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not a good feeling.
[SPEAKER_02]: It does not feel like we're 13 days away from what is typically.
[SPEAKER_02]: To use a gross term, the biggest one of content that we do typically the time where the most eyeballs are on this product.
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't feel good.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, do you feel like.
[SPEAKER_02]: Dragon Gate feels better worse than it did heading into Uno Dostraise and better worse than it did heading into Golden Coliseum.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, no, I mean, we've played the better worst game on the last voice gate episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: But like, if we're talking like big picture-wise and everything like this, if anything, who knows those traits was the start of a sickness that has been five months long and has been ongoing in.
[SPEAKER_00]: This, we're not going to do a full COVID world preview this week, but this coming out of the curriculum on July 2nd,
[SPEAKER_00]: Boy, uh, this car does not give me a lot of, uh, did you just excitement to be quite on?
[SPEAKER_00]: So looking at it at this point.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I guess I guess we can start there.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's, there's a bunch of non-dragon gate stuff that I kind of want to hit on.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's trying to get into Jason at the top of this pod.
[SPEAKER_02]: But, but let's, let's do that real quick of, we went through this cork and on the second.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then we got the full Kobe World card either on the third of the fourth hit armor, which digs and it exactly came out and just your gut reaction to seeing that card and full what did you think of it where are you at now with it?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think like now setting with it almost a full week, it is a perplexing show and it is not necessary.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a show like not to be padding ourselves on the back being like, we're such experts of the drag and system.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could book a better card in this, but I look at this card case and I go,
[SPEAKER_00]: really so we're doing a 12-man tag for Yamato and having basically everyone over the age of 45 on that show and that opens up slots for things elsewhere to be happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you can't have a smart thing of shoe and sky walker yet to shove them into a three-way six-man that doesn't really feel like it makes a lot of sense and not the best use of some of the people who are involved in it.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, not at all.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a card that I think on paper, I liked the idea of some of the matches and I was devastated that where they were placed in the card.
[SPEAKER_02]: There were other matches that I can't believe were put on to world and not say a cork and show.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you start on the barrel of that main event and I'll go through the history of the recent Kobe World Main events when we get to it because again, I don't want to dive into it just yet, but it is just another puzzling piece of a puzzling equation of this now multi-year run of Kobe World Main events where whether the company is firing on all cylinders or whether the company
[SPEAKER_02]: you get to Kobe you get to mid July and you look at what is headlining that show and you scratch your head and you go, huh, how did they end up with that as the biggest match on the biggest show of the year it is it is now quite is it's become quite a tradition over the last five or six years where that Kobe world main event
[SPEAKER_02]: Doesn't really seem to either represent the promotion well, or there's a cloud hanging over it in one way or another.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think maybe in this year with just a half has or booking that's happened.
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe it does represent the promotion well, but it's not really a promotion that I'm all that invested in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like.
[SPEAKER_00]: not to like turn this into Cato the Elder at the end of every episode saying Rio Saito needs to be fired, but like I just look at the this card and I look at the hand that was kind of dealt across this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not having diet on this car.
[SPEAKER_00]: Daya is a ghost to everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shimizu comes back.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder how much that impacts the layout here, just if Shimizu is around with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, you have what I would argue is one of the most disjoined to farewell tours that we have seen for someone in a Shun Skywalkers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just general exit strategy and what all he's been booked in and has made appearances for since announcing his exit coming up in August and I don't know, but it if it were me, I just like.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just blows my mind that Shinskaya Walker's final Kobe World match is going to be in a three-way six-man with his unit that is dead, dusted, and the dirt, but we have to do it this way because Johnny Voleta didn't get his farewell to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cypatra.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's not to say them negative about Johnny of a light.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if anything, Johnny of a light being back is not necessarily the thoughtful meet-up bump that happens, but it does make me kind of the smile curls up at the edge of my mouth a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there's a lot of just disjointed promotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like long times listeners of voice gate by now can get know this story as well as we do at this point, just like with how things have really planned out, it has turned out, essentially, for the last gallery here.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's not awesome, I certainly don't love it.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was fun last week recording, an episode of those days, which if you missed it, we have an episode of those days up on the feed, covering 10, 10, 96, these days with our friend Allen Forrell.
[SPEAKER_02]: We went about two and a half hours with that, doing Mitch Joku Pro, and a bunch of other stuff.
[SPEAKER_02]: That was a really, really fun episode to record, and that's I told Mike afterwards.
[SPEAKER_02]: I go, you know, whenever
[SPEAKER_02]: whenever we record these Micheal Kupropas, which we do once a month, I always leave and go like, oh God, I want to do more of those.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I started to put together the notes for episodes that, you know, we probably won't even get to for a full calendar year at this point afterwards, and I was just so invested in that, and then this this core can card came around and
[SPEAKER_02]: you know I'll say before I before we take a little diversion if you're wondering where the written review is for aggressive gate twenty twenty six the July second core call show I don't I don't think you're going to get one now that is not something that is going to be
[SPEAKER_02]: I have it going forward, but I did move last week.
[SPEAKER_02]: I moved the day of the cork and show.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I woke up that morning.
[SPEAKER_02]: I watched the cork and show live, which is the only way that I would have had time to watch it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then moved and I've just been dealing with that in some other life stuff ever since.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a holiday weekend and I was out in the holiday weekend.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I was hoping.
[SPEAKER_02]: some time Saturday, Sunday, Monday, I was going to have a chance to sit down and write out my thoughts to the show and that did not happen.
[SPEAKER_02]: And now we're almost a week removed from it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And quite honestly, it wasn't that inspiring of a show.
[SPEAKER_02]: So while I still feel it's super important to have written reviews for these shows, really just for the historical significance, I'm more than anything.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is not going to happen for this aggressive gate 2026 show, which I think maybe speaks to a little bit of the promotion.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I also, I
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I think it's important to write about these shows in real time to have these first hand documents of how we are feeling in the moment.
[SPEAKER_02]: Luckily, I think five years removed, ten years removed from the show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think we're going to have rose colored glasses on KZ versus CLO.
[SPEAKER_02]: and the lanes, they took to get to Kezi versus Kuku.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think we're all going to kind of remember how we were feeling about this main event, this air of the promotion.
[SPEAKER_02]: So no written review for that July quirk and show for those that care, you will get fresh takes as we go throughout this show that won't be written down, won't be shared anywhere else.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then obviously for Kobe world, I will, I will once again put pen to paper.
[SPEAKER_02]: And hopefully going forward, we continue to have those monthly quirk and reviews in the 11 years.
[SPEAKER_02]: writing, dragon gate reviews for voices of wrestling.com and I think you can count on one hand the amount of cork and from July of 2015 to now that don't have a written review and unfortunately July 2026 is going to fall on that list.
[SPEAKER_02]: That might actually be the fifth one that doesn't have any sort of coverage, which is crazy and thank you to Mike for pinch hitting what he did and I think John Carroll might have done some years and years and years ago,
[SPEAKER_00]: and like to be quite honest when we get into the show itself like I think a oral document is just as much as that cork and really deserves, but that's not all we're going to be like focusing on today with this week's episode of Voice Gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have some ponderous questions we're going to ask each other throughout the show and I think at this time I'm going to hand the
[SPEAKER_02]: I watched three promotions that weren't dragon gate in the last 24 hours, all things that I was excited to watch in one way or another.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I would say all things that are in one way or another, Dringy, adjacent Mike Spears, pick the promotion you would like to start with.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would like to cover all three of them before we dive into this quirk and show and some upcoming
[SPEAKER_02]: Machinocupro, or Glate.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know you can't dangle that last one without me just biting onto it, like a catfish, like waiting for like the first worm at the day, man.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you know me well enough that I, I, I, of course have Osaka Pro take said that we will get into, but you can't say Glate without me jumping on that man.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, let's, let's talk about Sonic wrestling in Ariake.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, here's the thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: I had not watched any great in 2026.
[SPEAKER_02]: I certainly did not watch hardly anything in 2025 when it was behind the paywall, but I had gotten out of the habit of watching this promotion.
[SPEAKER_02]: When they brought it back to just live streams on YouTube without any paywall,
[SPEAKER_02]: I had fallen behind on, and I wasn't necessarily eager to catch up on it, and then this afternoon, it dawned on me.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was like, oh, that's right.
[SPEAKER_02]: I can watch that show from July 1st.
[SPEAKER_02]: I have time.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let me go back and see.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let me check and see what the inmates have said about Glate this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let me see if I can rifle through some of the biggest matches of the year.
[SPEAKER_02]: What is fasting to me is just how few
[SPEAKER_02]: of these great matches actually have cage match ratings.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, there's a pretty deep match guide for 2026, but very few of them have any sort of cage match rating next to them.
[SPEAKER_02]: So
[SPEAKER_02]: I went back to the very beginning of the year.
[SPEAKER_02]: I watched a match that I adore that I'll talk about in just a second.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would like to watch this G-Class tournament at least in particular the Asheeda versus Yama Mori Match, but I did not have time.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I watched a show from January, and I watched the stuff that interested me on January 1st.
[SPEAKER_02]: I should know that there's actually stuff that interests me on July 1st.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's actually stuff that interests me on July 2nd.
[SPEAKER_02]: So,
[SPEAKER_00]: I have that show on right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: Actually, I think I think by big take away.
[SPEAKER_02]: is that Glate has my attention once again, at least in terms of picking and choosing and finding matches that look good on paper, because Mike, I watched this Hayato tomorrow and T-Hog versus Kaito Ashita at Cosmosacomotomash from January 20th of this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is Glate Pro Wrestling version 101, Shinjuku Face 279 fans.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think this is one of my favorite matches to take place in Japan in 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been telling you for how long that T-hawk is really good now.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is kind of my takeaway is that, you know, T-hawk is kind of great.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I kind of thought T-hawk outclassed Lindemann in the July first match.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have your notebook handy?
[SPEAKER_02]: Did you watch this tag match from January 20th?
[SPEAKER_02]: You have a rating on this?
[SPEAKER_02]: I have it at four flat.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I have it at four and a half.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's, okay, I think it's every bit as good.
[SPEAKER_02]: as any of the really hyped knockout brothers tags this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I don't think that's a judgment call one or another.
[SPEAKER_02]: I like the knockout brothers.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm into Uto Ice.
[SPEAKER_02]: I get what he's trying to do.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Oscar plays this role in that tag team perfectly fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's just as good as any of the knockout brothers matches.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was kind of blown away by how good T-Hawk and Ashita were with one another in this match.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I read T-Hawks note blog and fortunately, unlike Schema's, most of his are not beyond a paywall and he's talked about, like, you know, have gone on about this Shenya Aoki match, right, like the match that was in, like, the curse cork in that I think was, like, one of the better matches of 2025.
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, he's talked about like how he is now like kind of breaking down who he is as a wrestler and disimple things and it's really kind of interesting like he has, uh, he still has the clip in the speed of things but like he, I'll be interested to see your thoughts on the G class tournament because that becomes kind of a T-hawk like display of the little things and the ways that he gets like especially in the final of the tournament.
[SPEAKER_00]: He has just like really weaponized the knife edge shop as a finishing move and it kind of rocks.
[SPEAKER_02]: That does sound awesome.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, one of one of the things that fascinated me and this isn't necessarily a new revelation, but I think it really hit home just because I hadn't engaged or interacted or read about or watched Glate and so long was as I was looking at these cards and looking at what was on YouTube and kind of cross-referencing with Kage
[SPEAKER_02]: It is just amazing that we are now.
[SPEAKER_02]: And what was the anniversary show?
[SPEAKER_02]: This was the sixth anniversary show in July.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fifth anniversary.
[SPEAKER_02]: Fifth anniversary show.
[SPEAKER_02]: What is absolutely incredible to think about is that unless you are really, really bullish on Hayato Tamora still, and if you watched his world title reign in real time, I don't know how you could be, because I think everybody was really bullish on Tamora until he was put in the biggest spot possible and then he just laid egg after egg after egg during that title reign.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's amazing that this promotion is now at the age that it's out with theoretically the history that it has behind it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the names that I am interested in are Lindemann, Teahawk, Ashita, Yamumura, Sakamoto.
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no one homegrown.
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no non-dragon gate defect.
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no one that I think is uniquely great, or that has a history uniquely tied to this motion.
[SPEAKER_02]: that is interesting or relevant in any way.
[SPEAKER_02]: The guys that had history that we knew were good, the day this promotion started are still the guys that are good and interesting to me.
[SPEAKER_02]: In the fact that there has been no evolution on that front is pretty astounding to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I have one person as a counter because I know that you've picked and choose and I don't know if his stuff kind of has made it like past your picking.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you catch Takenori Yuto versus Dicei Sakamoto on the anniversary show?
[SPEAKER_02]: I did not.
[SPEAKER_02]: I skipped a whole man.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was not on my list of things that I had, I had paid just that good.
[SPEAKER_00]: That ruled that honestly, I liked the main event, but after the main event, it was my favorite thing on this show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they've been doing this feud with the Eto and Sacramento over like the last few months.
[SPEAKER_00]: And a part of it has been second mode of shoot knocking out Tetsuya Zuchi talking about guys who never,
[SPEAKER_00]: that you that never progressed as great only guys there, but Eto and second moto, they have a little bit of a title match that it is, if this is what a people with bandie about as little that UWF or UWFI UK kind of style, this I would be a lot more
[SPEAKER_00]: I would be a lot more positive about it, and in some ways, it felt like it was work like a strong B.J.
[SPEAKER_00]: match, basically.
[SPEAKER_02]: I like the start of Sacramento's year so much, and then I've fallen behind on all Japan.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I haven't really seen what he's done since probably March or April.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's late.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been fun, especially if you do.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's good to know.
[SPEAKER_02]: I wish I would have carved out time for that instead of what I did, which was carve out time for the Abizmo Negro Jr. Nobu San and S. B. K. Verserashki, Arashii, Elfah Scal and Solowatsenabe match, because that did not do anything for me.
[SPEAKER_02]: That was that was so disappointing.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was really hoping, especially with that match based so late in the car, but they were going to go out there and really have a special AAA showcase match and they did not do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I like Arashi a good deal and it just like I I don't think some of what Nabe is good at whatsoever like they keep on trying to do things with some of what Nabe and I just don't get it but like the real takeaway is like S.B.K.
[SPEAKER_00]: at this point and no, it was on like as much as I enjoyed Chuck Shimatoni like this is
[SPEAKER_00]: But like people evolve over time periods and like especially given the fact of where he's worked for the better part of two years, you adapt to that style, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's just how those sorts of things kind of go about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just don't, but like Tokyo bad boys are just go away heat with me at this point.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think I speak K physically is looking better than he has in years, but it's just not it.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just remarkable to watch that guy knowing what we thought about him and really
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's not, I mean, I haven't gone back and watched an S. B. Kento Draingate match in a little bit now, but, but knowing what I saw and even with now years of hindsight and just seeing how his career is put out really standing by my real time analysis of Kento and Dragon Gate and thinking this was such a special wrestler and always making that Adam Cole comparison where if this guy was just a few which is taller, imagine the way that the wrestling world would be bowing at his feet.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it is just remarkable to watch him on a big show like this in, you know, a bigger arena without that many fans, but you know, a big show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, uh, Harry Oki Suzuki was proud of the alleged thousand people that were there.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's hard to say because you can't see anybody with a way they shot their show.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, absolutely not.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hey, they got into United Japan finally.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, yeah, congratulations on that.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is, uh, you know, what every promotion is for the stuff.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's really what I'm on our, but it's just, it's amazing to watch Kento in this environment where he just comes across so on remark, well, it's not like he comes across bad.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, there have been times where I watched a Kuma food war, uh, since his exile from Drangate, and I've gone like, wow, that guy.
[SPEAKER_02]: That guy went for being legitimately great to a borderline bad wrestler with Kencha which's not that it's just he just lost everything that made him special.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's unbelievable just how average he comes across that one.
[SPEAKER_02]: This was a guy that from his first match came across like an above average wrestler in so many different ways.
[SPEAKER_00]: You notice like it is when a really promising pitcher prospect makes it to the majors and has like not necessarily like the pitching equivalent of Jeffrey and course first month in the major, but they like knock them dead and then they immediately get a UCL tear, they get Tommy John when they come back, they're just not the same wrestler and that's without him ever getting severely injured to my mind, but it's like that kind of drop I feel like.
[SPEAKER_02]: Can I alienate our European listeners for just a second and give you a different real sports Com for SB Kento?
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, let's do it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is one of those where I just, I think it's gonna be the sweet spot of our Venn diagram.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is probably gonna alienate most of our listeners.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, the euros have no shop, but I would imagine even the American ones would struggle with this.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is SB Kento the closest we have in the Dragon System
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I
[SPEAKER_00]: I really hate how much I like that.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Chris Coglin, I got to look up what year it was.
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like it was 2008 because that's sort of in my sweet spot of when I would have known stuff like this.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Chris Coglin was the inner rookie of the year in 2009, which is controversial then
[SPEAKER_02]: Garrett Jones, Dexter Fowler, I mean, those, you know, some guys that went on to have legitimate career.
[SPEAKER_02]: He shouldn't have beaten J.A.
[SPEAKER_02]: Happen the rookie of the year voting, but he did.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Cogon has that on his mental worries.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's in El Rookie of the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: That 321, but it's not a bad stat line.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you know, it's, I'm a little surprised.
[SPEAKER_02]: The RB eyes are that low, but he does bat 321.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're right.
[SPEAKER_02]: And he has, he has that year and then,
[SPEAKER_02]: his career just never, ever does anything again.
[SPEAKER_02]: He goes for batting 321 and 2,000 9 to 268, 231, 40, 256.
[SPEAKER_02]: He gets back up to 283 on the cubs in 2014.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't remember him on the cubs at all.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then back down
[SPEAKER_02]: to 250, 188, 252, 200 to end his career.
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's this eight year slide that begins with him hitting 321 winning Rick of the year and getting MVP votes that year, and then he's just never heard from again, he's a complete historical anomaly.
[SPEAKER_00]: he was the best player in baseball after the all start break in 2009.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was living in Miami at this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I remember Cockle and Mania.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I think I probably went to a couple of the games with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was also like a
[SPEAKER_00]: those late 2000s and early 2010s marlins like in the lead up to marlins park are just like a real disaster other than like Jose for an end as you know it's I mean that's you know I'm looking at that baseball reference right now so they go 8775 and they don't make the playoffs which is the most marlins thing because they make the playoffs they went the world series back exactly
[SPEAKER_02]: a year where handleer mirrors finishes second to VP voting.
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like this was probably the first good Dan ugly season 31 home runs 90 RB eyes only hit two 243, but I feel like this is when Uglist started to come into his own.
[SPEAKER_02]: I always liked to be a little about ethosio, and then that rotation, you know, you had Josh Johnson there and Rick and Alaska for a little bit, but it's a it's a disastrous franchise that just has these weird bright spots in Chris
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm not going to be able to unsee that, but you're you're bearing the lead on the biggest late take you could possibly have a case, uh, how do you feel like the aluminum looks in his 30s?
[SPEAKER_00]: He looks like a weird man.
[SPEAKER_00]: I, I was taught never to tell a lie.
[SPEAKER_00]: And him showing up as Tanahashi Cito at this show just completely lost me.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's such a good comp because my, my take on his gear was going to be that he, he was wearing gear that Haromu would wear if Haromu was a normal person, but it's actually close for the Tanahashi right.
[SPEAKER_00]: he's he looks like many ton of hoshy if you put a wig on him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, but then you have like crazy cauliflower ears and probably melanoma, given them out this dude, Tans, and he's only 31 years old.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I found the main event of that show to be a little underwhelming.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, very much in the good, but not great category and given what you've
[SPEAKER_02]: I was just coming off of, and this is not the best one to punch, but I was coming off of that January tag where Teahawk and Ashita had all of this life to them, and I have my thoughts on Lendiman, which are all incredibly high, and I think the world of him still, and I know you've been really in a Teahawk lately.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I was, I was kind of expecting these guys to really go in there and blow the roof off of the place, at least as much as you can in this Trojan,
[SPEAKER_02]: And I thought T. Hawke got close to what I was looking for.
[SPEAKER_02]: Lindenman certainly did not get close to what I was looking for.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it was a rare performance.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I've watched this guy's entire career.
[SPEAKER_02]: I remember his debut match quite well.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was one of the rare times where I've been pretty disappointed in a featured Lindenman performance.
[SPEAKER_02]: I wanted more from him than what I got in that match.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was a little bummed out by that.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, yeah, it really for.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what I really want out of Glate in 2026, but like a promotion where at least if there's no progression amongst youth, but I would like to see my guys do well in it and
[SPEAKER_00]: In some ways, I feel like that aluminum has stagnated, whereas T-Hoc is kind of evolved over the last few years.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it really started with the Russell one running, that kind of showed they had a little bit of charisma, but I think his G-Rex run here, like sadly, was probably his kind of best work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's kind of, you know, I mean, he was slumming it with tomorrow and Rio, I talk a,
[SPEAKER_00]: for way too long, but you will find the G class pretty interesting, especially T-hawks work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, they go through it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's revisit this when you get through the G class and you see what he does throughout that tournament.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think so.
[SPEAKER_02]: I hope so.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it looks good on paper.
[SPEAKER_02]: We mentioned that.
[SPEAKER_02]: About a month ago, or I was like, oh man, like glaze actually got some stuff down here that I'm interested and I just had to have a chance to dive into it and I was reminded with the big show this past week, which I'm always glad coincides with your birthday because I know that's what you've always worn it.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, oh, I should I should spend some time with this version, but you don't I'll I'll say this.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, we mentioned this on the last.
[SPEAKER_02]: dragon gate centric voice gate that we did that the dragon gate roster right now is very, very, very, very much divided up between guys that I care about and guys that I don't in a way that really since 2018 I have in felt this way where a card would come out in 2018.
[SPEAKER_02]: in my eyes would dart towards whatever the maximum guys were doing, whatever shooting sky walker was doing and whatever Ben K was doing.
[SPEAKER_02]: And in 2026, it is, let me look for Jackie, let me look for Rita, let me look for Camorra, let me look for Tanaka, and let me look for Hamara, and outside of that, there's not a ton of names on paper right now that are really grabbing my attention.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm motivated to watch T-hawk.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm motivated to watch Linda Men.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm motivated to watch Ashina.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've always liked Cosmosacomoto.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, Yamumora is significantly good, given everything that he's gone through in his career.
[SPEAKER_02]: And if you're telling me there's good, dicecaseacomoto matches in a year where I've enjoyed this late stage, you know, I've enjoyed Sacramento from what I've seen in 2026, more than I have certainly any year of his career in the 2020s, we have to go back to probably 2017 or 2018 the last time that I really thought
[SPEAKER_02]: Second moto was as dialed in as he is right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's not to say because this is certainly not the case that Glade is a better promotion or on the par on the level of Dragon Gate in 2026 for his band is Dragon Gate spin that's still a preposterous argument to make, but I will say that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I kind of got to put clay back in rotation.
[SPEAKER_02]: I at least have to pay attention to what they're doing because there are some names now that at the very least, maybe I'll watch that G class tournament.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll get burn out on just the atmosphere of this promotion and I'll toss to the side once again, but there are names here where I feel motivated to watch them and I'm a little bit more intrigued with this promotion now than I have been in a few years.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they have kind of cut down some stuff, but in some ways it is there certain things that they still are really really lacking in and part of it is anyone under the age of 30 like it's
[SPEAKER_00]: It the they finally got another student and maybe this one lasts a little longer than that, but at least with like the outsiders being brought in like I feel like that they have been a little bit more interesting on who they bring in this year a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, but I would say, yeah, no, second moto.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm right now looking at his cage match.
[SPEAKER_00]: He has, I'm sorry to tell you who he tags with for a couple of these loot that rolls matches.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's Hadecki Sakane, but uh, it is interesting stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: The way that he does UWF in Glate.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's three matches that he is in combined case 20 minutes of time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, for this.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, I'm into that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I can, I can do that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm, I'm going to,
[SPEAKER_02]: do my best to report back on some more great findings next week.
[SPEAKER_02]: Somehow, somehow that has now taken up real estate on the Kobe world preview show that we're going to do next week, which is absolutely astounded to think about, but I think that's where we're at.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I mean, it's kind of that all we have for next week, other than Kobe World preview is that Shinjuku face show.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even though if you watch enough late, you still get kind of cash in in 2026, you know, I mean, we're going to be subjected to that on that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shinjuku face show because we need to celebrate punch home and not go for people.
[SPEAKER_02]: awful awful.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I've got Mitch no Kupro takes that I've got a soccer
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's do Mitsunoku and finish up on Osaka because I have a Osaka Pro related question for you.
[SPEAKER_02]: So it took a while to surface because this shows almost a month old now, but I think the footage has only been out for like a week if you're sailing certain parts of the internet, but the Mitch Noku pro, Mitch Noku, 2026 Tokyo Conference Volume 1, Viva Mexico Show, from Cork and Hall, which by the way, outdrew the last Rangit Show in Cork and is now out top three matches on this show where Andy Wu, Rossi and the great Sasuke versus Cagura, Luis Monte and Tarano,
[SPEAKER_02]: El Desparado, Kakui, and Van Vergeck for Sorashi, Dictogo, and Van Verge Negro, and your Mr. Kupro to Ho-Koo Jr. Heavyweight title match between Musashi and Somgrade Asteca Jr.
[SPEAKER_02]: The top three matches on this show are worth watching.
[SPEAKER_02]: Really, you know, the Montetag is really kind of only worth it, just to see Montet and another environment.
[SPEAKER_02]: But the despise six man and the sangriest tech aduner versus Musashi title matchman event.
[SPEAKER_02]: Mike, these are absolutely worth your time.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I have a question.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's your opinion on Van Vert Jack?
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, glad you asked, largely unfamiliar and I have a lot of questions about Vanverjack.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but I really enjoyed Vanverjack and Vanverton Negro on this match.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Vanverjack has been wrestling since he's seven.
[SPEAKER_02]: And yes, this is, okay, this is that so I was super confused by this because I know that he got votes in the voices of wrestling 30 and 30 this year, but then I clicked on his cage machine he had matches going back to 2012 and I thought,
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he takes a bit to kind of get into, I feel like his first appearance, you're kind of like, oh, this guy looks like he should be working JCW show like straight up and for like a 19 year old who's really like he's still on like that level of ND, you know, he.
[SPEAKER_00]: he has like a certain level of snap of his flying that like he has certain things down that that you would hope you would have down if you've wrestled for 12 years but he also for a guy who is mascot 19 he is able I feel like to get over emotion at a level that I don't think that we got to see just
[SPEAKER_00]: just comparative like from LCLO so far, you know, I feel like he's a better Max seller than that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have not seen a lot of Negro his dad.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, their sister is a Yoshi tune.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's like 14, but like they, they do wild stuff at my, my wake, auto lab.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's what's the venue is called like I kind, I kind of want to see a
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a fun match.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, my tolerance for despy, and especially despy as an outsider is pretty low, but despy looked motivated to work on this show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought Dick Chogo is funny.
[SPEAKER_02]: We had that conversation last week on those days about Dick Chogo and just the
[SPEAKER_02]: the leniency that we have with him because of his legendary career that we are able to sort of compartmentalize this new Japan run and you watched a total on a show like this where he's he's a heal and he's dick togo but he's not house of torture dick togo and you're like God, his career just that the twilight of his career is wasted doing the absolute worst wrestling possible because he's a pretty fun addition of this match and so all told it's
[SPEAKER_02]: It's enjoyable for teaming in the fair and that leads into this 25 minute to Hoku Jr. title match.
[SPEAKER_02]: I watched this before the Osaka Pro show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think if you enjoyed the Osaka Pro main event,
[SPEAKER_02]: that we're going to talk about in just a second.
[SPEAKER_02]: You would also really enjoy sangress tech and junior who I like a lot versus Musashi.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is just it's 25 minutes.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a real slow build.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's sort of rolls you in.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then before you know what you're like, Oh, I'm I'm watching a great junior heavyweight match right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like these guys are doing work that
[SPEAKER_02]: because of the over-reliance of heal in our parents in New Japan and in Noah, and because juniors, you know, just typically are not something that all Japan really thrives in, it this is kind of a match that is becoming a little bit of a rarity in contemporary Japanese wrestling, and so it was really refreshing to see just a no bullshit
[SPEAKER_02]: sort of real sports approach to this and it's coming in mid-Joke who drove all places.
[SPEAKER_02]: But by the end of this, I thought this was a four-star match and one that I think everybody, if you're listening to this, if you care about this style of wrestling, go out of your way to watch this.
[SPEAKER_02]: Good.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Sangra, as Second Junior's really good.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think Musashi, every time he makes tape, is a guy that I want to see for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, I'm definitely going on my way for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I, it's interesting, like, the way that I feel like, at least as a show over the last 18 months, we've kind of brought in our look into Luchorus in a lot of ways, and the Osaka Pro show, and at least like me getting into and watching the Osaka Pro has kind of
[SPEAKER_00]: made me a little bit more ponderous about certain things.
[SPEAKER_00]: But like, I, I, I, I, I am going to find some time to get into that Mitch and Oakoo Pro show and maybe on a plane flight this week.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, well, what's the top three?
[SPEAKER_02]: I think you'll enjoy it again.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, the, the, the, the, the Monta match is just sort of like, oh, this is what Monta looks like and cork and holly seem happy to be there.
[SPEAKER_02]: That was nice to see.
[SPEAKER_02]: The, the six man tag with Vanver Jack is not anything awesome, but it's a fun enough match.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought it fit the vibe of this show quite well.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I
[SPEAKER_02]: And it was very, very similar, I thought to Sezuka versus ultimate spider Jr, which is from that Osaka Pro Summer Battle Show on July 5th, which just hit YouTube.
[SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, to your point before I throw it over back to you, I was thinking about this as I was watching the Osaka Pro show today, where it's like, you know, this show, our show has gone through, uh,
[SPEAKER_02]: Epson flows where you know when dragon it was really involved with q shoe pro we found a lot of enjoyment there when the reyuku dragon stuff wasn't as great and we found some enjoyment there and now.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, and there are times where we've covered Glate really closely, because we've enjoyed the in-ring of that promotion, but right now, Osaka Pro has taken the place of that secondary Lucha Resu promotion that I think you would have to find a lot of enjoyment at, and, you know, in 2026, there was no promotion I've enjoyed more than Osaka Pro, which is crazy to say, but it's true.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I only had time for the top two matches from the summer battle show from the 5th from Taisho Hall.
[SPEAKER_00]: And really, I am going to make time to go back and I'm just going to skip over any match I see Epison and to be quite honest.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, like, Epison and Jojichiro, Saka, I don't need to see much of them, but the rest of the show I'm definitely going back
[SPEAKER_00]: I a question that I want to ask you.
[SPEAKER_00]: So on these shows, you had Vertex versus Mihara, she should hear her E.A.
[SPEAKER_00]: and a Kira Kenoshita.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they made him in the Zaka Proj light heavyweight title ultimate spider jay versus Suzaku.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a big question to task you that really occurred to me during this match with Jay and Suzaku.
[SPEAKER_00]: Has Dragon Gate evolved like so much from like the the pro or the Lucharest thesis, or at least what we were seeing in 1999?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like has it evolved away from like a pure strain of Lucharest to like such a degree that's almost to its detriment
[SPEAKER_00]: I came away from the show feeling like that main event felt like, okay, this is what 20, 206 Lucharest should feel like.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I really felt that kind of deeply about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I guess the question I have to ask you, case, is how do you feel about the state of Lucharest in 2026 and in the forms that at least like you, you have been more up on
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried to watch for Chico Pro what it makes tape on wrestling universe.
[SPEAKER_00]: I enjoyed that promotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you have Dragon Gate, which has been the predominant strain of Lutherus at least arguably since 1999.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you've had other forms kind of come in and out throughout of it between Osaka Pro, Dragon Gate, and Mitch and Okupro.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you make of the save of Lutherus in 2026?
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll add a great end of that conversation, too, which is funny to say, but I think they're
[SPEAKER_02]: The biggest issue facing Lutheran S is the thing that I always bring up where I think the predominant modern wrestling style now in the United States Mexico and Japan is a sort of watered down version of what dragon gate was doing 15 years ago.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it makes high and dragon gate stuff, less special.
[SPEAKER_02]: It makes what Osaka Pro does less special.
[SPEAKER_02]: It makes the high and great stuff.
[SPEAKER_02]: The high and midsdoku pro stuff, less special.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is the single biggest issue facing this style of wrestling right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that everybody is doing it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think predominantly everybody is doing a pretty poor job of it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so the things that made Torium on special in 2003, the things that made Drangate special in 2011, even the things that made Drangate special in 2016, if you want to go back 10 years ago.
[SPEAKER_02]: are just things that are kind of constantly being bastardized and watered down.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's, I don't think there's anything that drank it can do about that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think, and maybe if I had more faith in the state of the promotion, I don't think there's any reactionary measures to take.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just sort of think that's where things are at right now, and I would not deviate from the thing that has brought you to the dance, and that has made you so special for years and years and years now.
[SPEAKER_02]: I wouldn't change any of that internally.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think what you're speaking to in regards to Osaka Pro directly and comparing them to Dragon Gate and where they stand,
[SPEAKER_02]: I disagree with the idea that the main event from an in-ring perspective, maybe highlighted some things that Drengeet is not doing well currently.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mentioned this when we did the show with Jay about a month ago or whenever that was, and this is the thing that always jumps out of me when I watch Osaka Pro is just
[SPEAKER_02]: That promotion right now knows what it is, the production is super sleek, the crowds are super hot, I'm able to follow this promotion.
[SPEAKER_02]: very, very easily.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a promotion that knows what it is and I don't think Dragon Gate knows what it is right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think if you sat down every member of the Dragon Gate roster or even just the upper half of the roster and you said, what's working?
[SPEAKER_02]: What does this promotion do?
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you might get different answers for everybody.
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like when I watch these Osoca Pro shows, it's a it's a locker room that is on the same page and they would all have the same answer.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you said, hey, what are you guys doing?
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, why are you guys capturing the attention?
[SPEAKER_02]: of the American Deep Hero fan base in 2026, I think it would have a general idea of what they're doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that some of that came be the fact that essentially I've only gone through the shows that we have talked about case.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have a core roster of like 10 people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that does so much to having a level coherence that, you know, I'm not going to count the gay or a website right now that though I think it's just honestly the dragon gate roster three times the size of Osaka Pro and I think that that allows for that to be on the same page, but I don't know at least to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: When I contrast that match with the main event of Corkin, I feel like that it accomplished so much, at least Susuzaku and like the way it kind of was worked with it and it also made me wonder a little bit like I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm kind of just throwing.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, forget the wall.
[SPEAKER_00]: did Oji just need a lot more time and was just not in a homey enough environment to get that for him to have a performance like that because I was easily the best single smash of his career that scene.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so Suzaku was Oji Shiva who is Kotoko's brother, which I always forget about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kotoko who is working random DDT offshoots at this point.
[SPEAKER_02]: Did you see what Kotoko was doing this week with Shima?
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, is she making a job at Kiki?
[SPEAKER_02]: No, she.
[SPEAKER_02]: That was a very mean of you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, no.
[SPEAKER_02]: Uh, she, uh, wrestled Eugene Nagata.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: And super Japan this week.
[SPEAKER_02]: And Kotoko was his second, which, do those super Japan shows make tape?
[SPEAKER_02]: I would assume they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, I do not know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have not looked to that death of Russell universe to be quite honest.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that considered a DDT, yes, sub-brand?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it's in Shiro Takaki doing what if I was going to do DDT in a different way.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: So the super Japan show on May 27th was up on a wrestling universe.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that was Sheema negata in a tag against poison swatid Julie and San Shiro Takagi, which means I will not be watching that match.
[SPEAKER_02]: That sounds awful.
[SPEAKER_02]: Some of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the deal with these super Japan shows and why I have not touched them is that they are really old school DDT as hell.
[SPEAKER_02]: Semi-main of that, Mininori Sawa and his comedy character in Satoshi Kojima versus the Brahman Brothers.
[SPEAKER_02]: not I'm not doing that I'm not watching that but I will watch him a versus negata and a singles match with kotoka as a second I you know the OG she but think like that guy's career is so weird she's been away from dragon gate so much longer than he was in it between his stance in all Japan and Glade and and now here
[SPEAKER_00]: injuries to be fair injuries.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I think he struck magic one night.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think this was the best performance of his life and I think he's probably never going to duplicate this again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's entirely fair to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I I've also kind of
[SPEAKER_00]: I liked ultimate spider-jay and talk to you Yaki Kita when they would ever show up in Jakara like it is rookie's back then, but spider-jay is like he is someone that I kind of go like why hasn't he ever shown up in another promotion like outside of like the Osaka area as like a bigger wrestling star.
[SPEAKER_02]: Was it crazy?
[SPEAKER_02]: It's crazy when you watch this promotion this year in comparison
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if complain is the right word, but just the malaise that hangs over paradox, and then you compare that with Osaka Pro in the mileage that they are getting out of their older wrestlers.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is absolutely insane to think about the work that Iran,
[SPEAKER_02]: as a tag team and I was listening to the flagship a few weeks ago when they were talking about just the the abortion that is the Aaron Wolf booking in New Japan and you know why does he have to be saddle with House of torture?
[SPEAKER_02]: What's going on here?
[SPEAKER_02]: This is the least interesting way to use him.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, if you're going to have him be on these Nagata blue justice shows, why can't he have a tag team with Nagata?
[SPEAKER_02]: Why can't they be wrestling the knockout brothers?
[SPEAKER_02]: And it made me realize that New Japan
[SPEAKER_02]: should really just be copying and this is such an odd sentence, but it speaks to the absurdity of Japanese rest in 2026.
[SPEAKER_02]: New Japan needs to look at what Osaka Pro has done with a Ron Sano and Tiger's mask.
[SPEAKER_02]: and they need to take note and copy it, note for note for Aaron Wolff, which is crazy to say, but Osaka Pro has made the most out of these older wrestlers this year, the ultimate spider juniors, the Billykin kids, the Tiger's Bass, and they have really started to pave their way, pave the way in a real way for these younger wrestlers.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, Mike, on July 20th, we're getting soundoverses for you, Mike.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a cool.
[SPEAKER_02]: Matsufusa.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the other side of the world will shape it to match.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm telling you right now, that is the match on July 20th, which is the same day as Kobe World that I am most excited for without question.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's a lot of like fun stuff coming out of that promotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're already getting Sizaku versus Yasutasa Udera on that show, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I just, it doesn't have to be hard.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it doesn't undercard on that show.
[SPEAKER_02]: By the way, I hope we get this show in full match 2 on that July 20th of Saka Pro show Zeus Billy King kids who bossa and Shima versus Super Delphin Kushinubu common the bodyguard and I'm gonna butcher this day, Motonuba to Zuka who I am unfamiliar with, but you get Shima versus Delphin and match 2 which I'm excited about
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and like that's where the that those vets should be is in match to you know like then it's not a good official in some way or another To the younger guys and not in the way to thank you or Gucci's done it, but you know we'll talk about this when we eventually get to the strange stuff with I was looking at Casey's booking this year and I was looking at what Casey's done in cork and haul.
[SPEAKER_02]: just because I always think that's a good, you know, I've dead, it's the best indication of where this promotion is at.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the best check-in you can have.
[SPEAKER_02]: And when you look at what Casey's done, there's this stretch in the middle of the year and, you know, March April May, where there are these natural vibes versus paradox matches and they ended up leading to nothing.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the entertainment was coming out of Gucci versus Yamato
[SPEAKER_02]: While there's still not quite comparable because it's not like Osaka pro is a full time touring promotion, although they are running a lot, you know, the footage we get of Osaka pro is sparse, especially the footage we get in full, we get some digest here and there, but the footage we get in full is sparse, but I'll tell you what.
[SPEAKER_02]: the massive disappointment of this Kobe World card where Mike, I called my shot in February.
[SPEAKER_02]: I said they have something with these two wrestlers, especially when you factor in the Bravegate match in early 2025 with Yamato and you know, who was then dachionic UG, these guys have chemistry in a way that quite frankly Yamato just doesn't typically have with younger wrestlers and you should be running this triangle gate program to pay off
[SPEAKER_02]: at world twenty twenty six and the payoff might be your motto beating the younger wrestler and that's not the end of the world but that's a program that I could have sank my teeth into and now they are both just doing completely uninteresting things at world and what looked like a pretty interesting triangle gate program was completely abandoned and you know who cares will move on and that's the type of stuff that Osaka pro is not doing in twenty six.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, that, that's entirely a fair thing to say, uh, well, do you have any other, did you, did you have a star rating on the main event of that Osaka Pro show?
[SPEAKER_02]: This is Zuko versus Ultimate Spider Jr. You're gonna think I'm insane.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was for flat.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, that's fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was, I was a little bit higher on it, but I don't think you're insane for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I, it's the best match that I feel like that, uh,
[SPEAKER_00]: And really, I think he gave as much to it as Ultimate Spire J.
[SPEAKER_00]: They, over the post-topay that he does, he did it, going towards the conclusion was just slick.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like the thing is that this match is it hits all the notes that you want to for a light heavyweight style, lucheras singles match for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's correct.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: You like that song where I take a junior match for Mitch Delco Pro then, because I think they're very similar matches.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the pacing is very, very similar.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, no, I have found it and I will be watching it and you know to just one last one of the Osaka Pro thing where it's like yeah
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know every month, I'm kind of in a position now where whenever these shows make tape, I have become so invested in Sano, Matsufusa, who I've been on board with for a few years now in this show, Marusuno kid who are either also young, they're also interesting and I had Matsufusa and Marusuno in my 30 under 30 and hindsight, I should
[SPEAKER_02]: I really like the work they're doing with those guys and I'm invested in them as much as I am at this point.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you know, I did that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Aki, you know, we're going to use some of these lower tier Drain Gear wrestlers, I mean, I, you know, the thing is, I think the high end Osaka pro guys, which I would categorize as Sano, Matsufusa, Mizuno, ultimate spider junior,
[SPEAKER_02]: And I specifically, 2026 Tigers mask, I mean, you could put those guys on a Draingate show tomorrow and I think they would fit right in.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's the other thing about this promotion is, is yes, they're independent wrestlers, yes, Osaka Pro is still, you know, this hyper-regional, not full-time promotion.
[SPEAKER_02]: But the guys on this roster, especially compared to the state of modern Japan, where I'm so non-plust by so many guys who are pushing a high level, I do feel like the Osaka pro guys are not good indie wrestlers, they're not good regional wrestlers, they are just some of the best wrestlers in Japan, which is, which is crazy, but I really, really feel that way now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's kind of wild to me that I'm looking at Matsufus' cage match right now and he only works in Osaka like that's what blows me away as I think that I mean, that guy if he just wanted to work anywhere else, I think he would blow the doors off of that promotion he only works inside Osaka City limits other than the time that Schema booked him for his anniversary show earlier this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'd like to know more about him.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think he's a really talented wrestler.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really wish that that got me looking at the shea macho from May.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really wish this thing may tape somewhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just I, there's weird enough things on the show that I'm intrigued and other than I'll be skipping over the opener if that ever makes tape somewhere.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let me take a look at that card real quick.
[SPEAKER_02]: Shea macho 29th of the anniversary show.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, Jojo Tawny being a sex pest is a bummer
[SPEAKER_02]: He's on a lot of shows makes that more difficult.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would watch the top two.
[SPEAKER_02]: I yo area in sugi versus yo shita and Capy copy who I am unfa- is this a joshi?
[SPEAKER_02]: I might know this.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, no, no, no, they copy works a lot of clay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, and then co-hey
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, she took, who I also don't know, you see the guy you'll know exactly who he is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was in Van Vergeck versus she was the sixth.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the vertex tag.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I gotcha.
[SPEAKER_02]: I gotcha.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: They look familiar to me on paper, but I know you're talking about now.
[SPEAKER_00]: thoroughly a sheema guy at this point.
[SPEAKER_02]: Gotcha.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, Osaka pro.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's great.
[SPEAKER_02]: I, you know, it's a really easy approach to follow.
[SPEAKER_02]: I actually wish it may tape just a little bit more because I could use a little bit more Osaka pro in my life, but, you know, I, my, I think you're on board.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think as long as that promotion continues to be as entertaining as it is.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think, I think with these Osaka Pro uploads happen, I think we got to watch them.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think we got to talk about them.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I'll continue to keep an eye on what Mitch Joku Pro makes tape.
[SPEAKER_02]: But if that's ever worth talking about, and in quite honestly, Glate mildly has my attention right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: So we'll go from there.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I guess an hour in, we'll finally talk about Dregnate as we're two weeks away from Kobe World.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it feels like we're avoiding talking about Dregnate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, because we kind of are avoiding drag and gate talk about this aggressive gate show from a cork and hall on the second, attendance under a thousand again here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we now have the Kobe world of Maine event.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the full Kobe world card coming out of this show.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think just like big picture on this, I watched because of the way that schedule works and my birthday and everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I watched the shows that happened over the weekend right before I watched this one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the Osaka show from Sky Hall and then the Kobe Summer Hall show.
[SPEAKER_00]: these three shows and concert were some of the least interesting drag gate shows I feel like in a long time.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the like that's the hard part with this promotion is that.
[SPEAKER_02]: even the good.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not interesting.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you know, I think 2018, like the last half of 2017 and 2018, there were parts of that promotion that were bad.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I mean, again, it was, it was just sushi, conda, and punch, and some anti-Os heel stuff that was bad.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, to Kashi Yoshida and big spots, I, you know, really low star ratings, stuff that was really off-putting.
[SPEAKER_02]: the booking is bad, the in-ring though was largely just uninteresting.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, this is another core can show where I don't have a notebook match.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a core can show where my highest rated match is three and a half stars are there, but times start history where
[SPEAKER_02]: It's mentioned on the Tory monshows, but even, you know, throughout different areas of Draingate history, you know, that that happened.
[SPEAKER_02]: You get a three and a half star peak on a cork and show, but normally that coincides with some massive angles or some movement or some stuff that we really care about.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this was, yeah, I guess in theory a show that had a massive angle in the main event and just the way that it's going to tie onto the Kobe World main event.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's not really anything that I care about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like so you on the show, the one thing that I'll say is you know, I felt like was just on the show at a level that was not the case before.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was way too much GM Rio site to being GM Rio site to throughout the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: It felt like.
[SPEAKER_00]: like up and down he makes his presence known throughout uh he makes his presence known after the gyrochambashi versus Alexander Otsuka fight.
[SPEAKER_00]: He and so he can announce the uh Kobe world match for gyro versus Matsukatsu for Naki.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he makes an appearance there.
[SPEAKER_00]: He makes an appearance after the
[SPEAKER_00]: the the the the the eight man and the veteran eight man and then shoe and skywalker and Johnny Voleta.
[SPEAKER_00]: He makes an appearance after Coatum and Norivers is Jason Lee to make the twin gate match.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he makes the appearance after the main event.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is just a amount of a general manager like character that has never needed to be in this promotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was always fine that when when a Yagi was the GM, he would just pop up from the floor and start snickering, go like, yeah, no, that matches made now.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it just like, it made me feel like that the purpose of the show was to get Rio Cytos general manager over more.
[SPEAKER_00]: So then anything that's supposed to be happening
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel, if there's any time where it's appropriate to have that much sight to on the show, it's probably the cork and haul before Kobe world, I see where you're coming from.
[SPEAKER_02]: Didn't don't have all these matches to be booked two weeks out.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I, Mike, I mean, that's, you know, that's going to be my.
[SPEAKER_02]: the point I make until the end of time, I think it's entirely inexcusable to be in a situation again where you don't have a Kobe world main event before this July core can show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I find that to be utterly absurd.
[SPEAKER_02]: I find that to be absolutely terrible booking.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm with you there.
[SPEAKER_02]: Did his presence on the show bother me?
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it did not.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do I think his presence on the show was perhaps representative of some larger issues?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, I do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it just got me in a real bad mood throughout this show like the mount that like especially when I sit here and look at it across what all happened throughout the show and it really at least to me it felt like that this was checklist stuff like of course, if you're going to do all these angles too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Johnny coming back as the surprise was kind of fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the rest of the angles were exactly as expected.
[SPEAKER_00]: And felt like, OK, there we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the twin gate match.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're building up the dream gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just, if you're going to have things being hedged on this final Go Home show,
[SPEAKER_00]: don't have it hinge so heavily on it that everyone knows exactly what's going to get book coming out of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like there was no surprises other than massacre Tsufunaki coming in for Jiro.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you're not, you're not wrong there.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a show that was technically proficient, but entirely uninteresting.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's spend some time on the main event.
[SPEAKER_02]: Casey versus C.L.L.
[SPEAKER_00]: The drinky match.
[SPEAKER_02]: It felt, you know, it felt to me about 50, 50 going in.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think in a weird way, the right guy won.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't,
[SPEAKER_02]: I have not bought into this idea and maybe this is just a singular issue with me, but I have not bought into this idea of CLO as a big show headline or let alone a Kobe world headline or I've, I was kind of blown away at the push that he received and
[SPEAKER_02]: Although his performance is again where, you know, it's much like the coachman or you Kiyoshioka stuff right now, where his performances are fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think he's doing the right thing, but it's still somehow uninspired and not really grabbing my attention in the way that they went open.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think had they had CLO when this match.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it would have been maybe the single biggest booking risk this company has ever taken.
[SPEAKER_02]: Going back to January 31st, 1999, I'm glad they didn't do that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think the solution to this promotion's woes right now is to put in an unproven guy into the Kobe World Man event where, you know, just to try to make what I think is an Apple's to Apple's comparison,
[SPEAKER_02]: not that Tacuma food Joara should have had lined Kobe World 2022, but Mike, you remember the six months we had with food Joara and Dragon Gate in the last half of 2021, in the beginning of 2022, where
[SPEAKER_02]: Fujiwara was exploding in popularity because every show you would put him on, he felt like the best wrestler on the roster.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was doing the most exciting thing on the roster.
[SPEAKER_02]: Cielo is a great tope.
[SPEAKER_02]: He has a great look.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not doubting that he is capable of having great matches, but Mike, let's be honest, it's not like Cielo's round them off this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not like Cielo is
[SPEAKER_02]: Considering for SFM 50, you know, I don't think if you had to put together a list, I mean, he might be in that 40 to 50 range for you, but he wouldn't be for me right now, but it's not like I love a lot of wrestling this year, you know, it's it's slim pickins and I still don't think CLO's on that list.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm glad that they didn't
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it became clear to me throughout this match that this was an important match for Seattle to have on his career, but this was not the this was not the stepping point for him to then main event Kobe world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that was something that kind of became really kind of clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: watching the shows and from Osaka and Kobe with the knowledge of what would happen just like I'm not someone that stays on spoiled like that's just reality of it and it just kind of became not the holes in this guy's game and that aspect of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just like he feels like a very inexperienced big time at and like that the fan response was at least
[SPEAKER_00]: If we're not able to really tell that, oh, crap.
[SPEAKER_00]: See all those over that has to be in no offense to Jay or people who talk to us about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, if we have to be told that he's over versus being able to see that he's over, then he's not ready for like that kind of push, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like to me, that was a...
[SPEAKER_00]: pretty big kind of thing that I felt like there was like a big level of disconnect there with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I thought that this in a lot of ways this match was the big KZ match without any of the kind of emotion kind of involved because it was in a lot of ways it was KZ getting to a certain point and unloading the clip and hitting the impact and winning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that was kind of the match and him showing that he has the elbows and like he's going to, you know, punch you to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like it's the old Chris hero saying that he's crazy and he does elbows and that's great.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's part of the reason why you love Casey with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It just like as soon as we got into the ring with these two guys, it became abundantly clear who it was position it needed to be and who needed to win there and they got there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I don't think Seattle did anything wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just think that this is a match that we should be now looking at with like, okay, he can do a big singles match and not like lose himself there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And next time we could already go like maybe next time he gets the drink key and goes for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if everything of Seattle over the last year, it was all it was
[SPEAKER_00]: the guy that I guess had to lose to KZ because I think that they didn't really want to deviate away from the Shemizu plan that they were originally going to do and this was going to originally be Shemizu versus KZ.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know, I mean,
[SPEAKER_02]: You're right about the, the CLO part of this.
[SPEAKER_02]: He didn't do anything wrong, but this, as this is a cork and main event singles match that never ever approached being a great match.
[SPEAKER_02]: It wasn't a bad match, but I never felt like I was watching something great.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that is so highly concerning for anybody in this position.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I have a big question for you in this match.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you buy it at all for CLO's Tombstone?
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe not the tombstone.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I maybe bought more into the idea of Cello winning from just a broad overview perspective that in the match itself you did there was our ever a moment that you were like, oh, I think Cello is going to win this not a pinfall.
[SPEAKER_02]: No again, I watched this live.
[SPEAKER_02]: I watched this on spoiled and sure it I was
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that if we are going to say if there's a failure or not, if you ever get a guy into these kind of positions where it's like the he's not like an underdog underdog, but like less than a year and like these kinds of things if I don't have a hope near fall.
[SPEAKER_00]: That really covers, that really colors this, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I never had a single moment where I bought into C.O.O.
[SPEAKER_00]: winning or was going like, oh dang, he really got him there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe that is the fact that I watched it much later.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the fact that you didn't have that in the moment either, I think that really kind of tells a story here.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, but again, I think that speaks to both of our points where I don't think there were really any exciting nearfalls in this match.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was never struck me as a match that could have possibly been great.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a very good match from start to finish, perfectly average and offensive, but I don't
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't feel motivated by KZ and the same way that I don't think had CLO1, let's just say you rolled KZ up right after, you know, what would have been KZ's finish, I don't think I would have been enthusiasm by CLO either and that leads us to the issue where since the public
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, Mike, I don't think it's revisionists history to say that you and I were extremely extremely engaged in the Kobe world 2021 dream gate booking.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, obviously, Yoshino's retirement headline, the second of those shows, but.
[SPEAKER_02]: First night, KZ versus Skywalker with Skywalker than his room gate champion.
[SPEAKER_02]: Second night, the winner of that goes on to wrestling Yamato, and we were so enthralled by, is it going to be Skywalker versus Yamato?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is it going to be KZ versus Yamato?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is KZ going to beat Skywalker and then lose to Yamato?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is KZ going to beat Skywalker and then beat Yamato?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is Skywalker going to be able to both guys?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is Skywalker being in KZ?
[SPEAKER_02]: which is what ended up happening, really, really interesting booking from that perspective, a great king of gate that year with KZ winning, just looking downward, and that whole thing was great, and it led us to a really entertaining two days where, you know, the point I've always made about skywalkers, those matches were both so great that it hurts as legacy because they've sort of cannibalized each other, and nobody has the definitive shune skywalker match, because it's 50, 50 on whether they like KZ from July 31, 2021, or Yamato from August 1, 2021 more.
[SPEAKER_02]: Since then, Kobe World 2022, there's the coach of manure in the buckle.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was Yoshioka versus Kai, and Yoshioka versus Manora on those two shows.
[SPEAKER_02]: The next year, five-way cage batch headlines, I think we were all pretty into the cage match idea, but
[SPEAKER_02]: Underneath that was Yoshioka versus Kaku to one, which is an abomination of a dreamgate Mac badmash terrible booking.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought at the time that it was this Yoshioka and Kaku to not being able to overcome bad booking, which led to them having a stalemash turns out those guys just for whatever reason don't mesh together.
[SPEAKER_00]: 2024, Ben K versus Yamato,
[SPEAKER_02]: Inoffensive, but rushed, you know, Monte is the champion going into 2024.
[SPEAKER_02]: He defends against Skywalker and January and a match that I thought should have been the Kobe World main event that year instead they do it in January, not July.
[SPEAKER_02]: He defends against Susumu and then Valeta and then loses the belt to Ben K so that we could do Ben versus Yomato at World.
[SPEAKER_02]: not not bad, and you know, certainly a great match, but not one that was heated, not this long-running story, another rush job that I think worked out and drank its favor, but certainly there's an alternate universe where that crashes and burns as well.
[SPEAKER_02]: You get tuned versus the amount of last year, which was great up until the added stipulation that a Skywalker lost, he would leave Drain Gate.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think if we all had to do that again, we would just have
[SPEAKER_02]: And now this year we have KZ vs. Kaku to which feels ice cold, there's no story between those two here.
[SPEAKER_02]: Those two wrestled in a few multi-man matches in January when they were telling the story of Shimizu vs. Natural Vibes, they did not touch again until June.
[SPEAKER_02]: After the KZ vs. Cielo match was booked, which means there's no long-term story, there's no threads
[SPEAKER_02]: storyline another rushed Kobe world main event that I am just completely unenthused by and we'll do a uh I guess a more full breakdown next week Mike but the the the sick thing is you tell me if you just agree I think I'd rather cuckoo to win than KZ I Yeah, I just think you guys could the belt off cuckoo uh like I don't like the
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't like the idea that it's crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that it looks like, well, we've tried everything else.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go with the guy that never has been there before.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's the veteran that everyone loves.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe, in a way, it feels like a completely unearned, heroicy godo.
[SPEAKER_00]: Push.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I still go back to just the the thing that Kakuta has just been such a negative as a champion and it just like at this point I don't know what your exit strategy is if it's not having a go home everyone's kind of happy after last year when soon one and got turned on immediately like
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what you do with Kakura's champion if he gets past this.
[SPEAKER_02]: I get it and I don't even think you're wrong.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the problem is that if KZ wins, I would imagine we set up pretty immediately a strong machine J heel turn and then we're just doing which is the exact same thing that happened at Kobe World last year.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not saying a snare in which KZ wins the belt.
[SPEAKER_02]: What should happen is KZ should win the belt and then it just just give me down the middle.
[SPEAKER_02]: dream gate matches for six bonds give me kz versus you motto give me kz versus yo and cork and give me kz versus monta you want to give me kz versus isian that's fine but I want baby face versus baby face dream gate matches and I know we're not going to get that I know of kz wins their turning strong machine j which theoretically makes sense but after everything we see with kukuta
[SPEAKER_02]: I just don't care.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would rather cuckoo to hold the belt for a year, hold the belt a little bit longer.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's one or two more bad defenses?
[SPEAKER_02]: Who gives a shit at this point?
[SPEAKER_02]: It just makes sure that whoever then defeats cuckoo to for the belt, which I guess I would hope would be Tanaka, that they at least have a greater runway.
[SPEAKER_02]: And they have something more interesting than what I think of Casey versus Strong Machine J.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like I like that's the other side of it is I just absolutely have no interest in strong machine J and as like a not even as a heel just like as a character I feel like he's completely just go home with me.
[SPEAKER_02]: So like turning him heel I could I could I could get reinvested in a strong machine J.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think it's going to be by way of wearing a yellow and black mask and turn feeling.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just don't think that's the way that they're going to get me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm very open to the possibility.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want it.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want to care about strong machine J, a heel turn, joining gosh, I don't grow.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not the way it's going to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, I don't think that it's the case there.
[SPEAKER_00]: How quickly do you think that they would get the belt onto Tanaka if it's not this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because...
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, it still really feels like that he's clearly going to win at world.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Omar, I got a win on TV for once, but yeah, I don't know what I have to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, but so he's going to probably be brave-gate coming out of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And is it something where he drops it at Tokyo Infinite Hector Pascal?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you're looking at, okay, whatever, the replacement for a
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, that would work because I was once either a placement for a gate of destiny, so to that.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, no, that would work for him winning an Osaka somehow.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, no, I think it's not my way to a replacement for a gate of destiny.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's that show called I have to look that back up again, but it's not on the Dringy website.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yes, it is.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it's not.
[SPEAKER_02]: They've just got the September 12th Tokyo show.
[SPEAKER_02]: They don't have I don't soccer show that I see.
[SPEAKER_02]: let me check j's blues guy real quick maybe it's there but i i want to i want to get that before i make my next point um... they don't have anything yet they only have corkins and homecoming shows announced in october november let's just assume there's a bigosaka show
[SPEAKER_02]: in October or November.
[SPEAKER_02]: My guess is given that September 12th is the big Tokyo show that they wait until November to do a big Osaka show.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's just say there's a big Osaka show in November.
[SPEAKER_02]: What fucking difference does it make for Kuku to hold the belt
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's say in August, he can do, you know, if I can Yamada when September, you can do Sharmachine J and September, you know, I don't really want to do Mochizuki in September, but let's just say maybe Mochizuki, and then you build up Tanaka for the November Osaka show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, that I could get behind.
[SPEAKER_02]: But this is the problem with this promotion right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is there's all of this, there's all of this, he'll work.
[SPEAKER_02]: and there's no guaranteed saviors and in the way they've positioned Menora and Yoshioca, it seems very obvious to me that they're not going to be the guys to to throw in Kakuta.
[SPEAKER_02]: So yes, you might get some reprieve with them beating Asian and Kato and that's fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: I understand that is symbolic in some way or another, but we're now 11 months
[SPEAKER_02]: No obvious contender to the thrown him outside of Yoshioka who was beaten and outside of Tanaka who we might never get that match that might not be the direction they're going even if Tanaka feels like the hottest guy on the roster
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you're right about that up.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did scroll a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have anything announced for after Tokyo Infinite Hectopascale other than the new name for Gate of Origin, which is a Hoku Dragon Gateway, which at least according to J's Blue Sky might be the last quote unquote big show the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's on September 28th.
[SPEAKER_00]: So just, oh, that's on September 20th.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, it looks like we in less we do a double header somewhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: It looks like we're going to be looking at that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would love a dreamgate match in Osaka sky hall.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would be very entertained by that.
[SPEAKER_02]: They'll never do that, but I would like to see that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I went to me.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's I'm far more intrigued by the idea of Tanaka, Dethroding Kukuta.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_02]: In Kazy, Dethroding Kukuta.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I will flush out more thoughts next week, but I just, I don't feel like this Kazy challenge is earned.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, when you look at what he's done this year,
[SPEAKER_02]: He got killed by Shimazoo all of January.
[SPEAKER_02]: He wins the triangle gate belts in February, but the star of that team is Gucci.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's not like that was a defining rain for KZ.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was the third most interesting guy in that team.
[SPEAKER_02]: They defend the belts against outsiders and April, like Golden Colosseum.
[SPEAKER_02]: They lose the belts to outsiders in Okinawa.
[SPEAKER_02]: His cork ends this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: He lost to Shimazoo in January.
[SPEAKER_02]: The new vibes they viewed in February.
[SPEAKER_02]: They wrestled jobbers in March.
[SPEAKER_02]: They do vibes versus paradox and April and May.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's in that three-way tag with C.L.O.
[SPEAKER_02]: with the first June court can show.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's in the all-natural vibes tag of the second June court can show.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then he's got the C.L.O.
[SPEAKER_02]: match here.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's not a guy who's been in a focused position for the entire year.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was a complete afterthought, March April, May of this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: And quite honestly, when he set his sights for the Kobe World Main of it in June, it came across
[SPEAKER_02]: Uncharacteristic.
[SPEAKER_02]: It came across out of place.
[SPEAKER_02]: It came across like a guy who was calling a shot when he had no business to call his shot and yet he was somehow the better of the two options of the guys that were wrestling for the main event in Kobe world.
[SPEAKER_02]: As I said previously, just to reiterate one more time, there's no thread to latch on to between Hienka Kuta.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's no story there.
[SPEAKER_02]: If your theory is correct that they just want to put their head down and the idea
[SPEAKER_02]: Cool, Shimizu got hurt in a February, plenty of time to put the belt on Yoshiyoka, plenty of time to put the belt on Tanaka, plenty of time to put the belt on.
[SPEAKER_02]: Anybody else in plenty of time, most importantly, to build up a Kobe World man event that wasn't Kuku Diverse's case, which I think on paper might be the weakest Kobe World man event we've ever seen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm with you on that and we'll talk a lot more about this match and the rest of Kobe World card next week on our preview show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where else do you want to get on to the Kobe we had the or this cork and we had finally the Middlely finally coming together with Jason Leaver's co-temanora and co-temanora being able to slay that dragon with the help of his new friend Yuki Yoshiyoka.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's nice to see former classmates and mochizuki dojo get a log.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's nice to see they are now united and they will be facing off against Team 204 at Kobe World for the 208 title.
[SPEAKER_02]: Functionally, I thought menor versus Jason Lee was a very solid match.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's one of those where I think they're doing everything correctly.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not necessarily helping me care about menor or Eukeo Schiocomore.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think with, I think those guys need new gear.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they need to go to tights in just, we need to grab a racer and erase some things that are on the drier race board of Coachman R and Eukeo Schiocca.
[SPEAKER_02]: With the looks that they have, I only see their past failures, and it's not fair to them, but if they're going to be a team, and we're going to buy into them as, you know, say this generation, the next coming of D courage, they got to get a new look.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that is important for both of those guys.
[SPEAKER_02]: And maybe if they get a new look, I'll be more invested than them as a duo.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I, I, I hate the fact that a manora still is wearing Godja Docker, O'er, like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That pisses me off more than Yoshioka, uh, Yoshioka is still wearing his t-shirt from his return last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Had, did you notice like that?
[SPEAKER_00]: That that is the only yuki, Yoshioka t-shirt.
[SPEAKER_00]: It seems like they have made over the last 18 months.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's just more laziness from the promotion.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not surprised.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but, but you were absolutely right.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was a functional.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was a perfectly fine and functional match.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was a gentleman's three on this, because it was the most gentleman's three S. Godjadogro, an interference match one could have.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are three different instances of that on that match, which was given what the rest of the card was with Godjadogro.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess you had to load it up here, but it just,
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, whenever it really kind of get going between these two and the way that we know that these two good, you had got to dope girl bullshit throughout the match and that just makes it have a hard cap on top of it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
[SPEAKER_02]: Again, it was I think as as successful as it could have been for a match of this type.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a match that I'm a little burnt out on seeing, but Jason played this role super well.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Menor is functionally fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought the Yoshioka running came across great and the crowd seemed to get into that.
[SPEAKER_00]: So more about the crowd's in to these two.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's one thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: more power to.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I think that Twinkie mentioned world's going to be a pretty hot match.
[SPEAKER_02]: My fear is jailestrated on blue sky.
[SPEAKER_02]: My fear is that it's going to go to a no contest and we'll do an August tag link for the vacant Twinkie belts, which if that's the case fucking shoot me, I know I know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought we finally did away with some of our ventrotag leagues.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's something that does not need to come back.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have enough, well, it goes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I'm just saying like I did enough trauma from how much it completely shot people in the knees as a new champions that they had to go do a tagly immediately right after.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just don't have, I've not, I do not have any,
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have any faith for it not to completely, if it's going the way I expect completely cut off KZ's title is title, just in general, because it's going to be a tag league time throughout up until Tokyo Infinite Hector Pascal, I guess.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I actually totally disagree with that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think this promotion desperately needs a tag league right now or it needs some sort of
[SPEAKER_02]: But he's, I mean, is he teaming with Okiy, is he teaming with Gucci?
[SPEAKER_02]: No, he's probably teaming with Sean Machine J and they're probably going to rerun the angle that they did with Jason and Jackie.
[SPEAKER_02]: And in the semi-finals of Raidae pre-hauses, your restaurant machine J turns on KZ.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then fine, you have something coming out of it.
[SPEAKER_02]: This, I desperately need a tag link right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: Just to give a reset, let's assume they don't fuck up the brave gate thing and have Tanaka lose.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Tanaka and Kamora can team together.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can set up another Tanaka brave gate challenger that way.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can get some Jackie retis stuff.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can put young vibes in a bunch of matches together
[SPEAKER_02]: It actually works as a soft reset for this approach and right now, they could stumble into that tagly big super beneficial and I think there is a massive difference, which is unfortunate.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think there's a massive difference between a Yamato 2016 dreamgate reign getting the knees cut off in a KZ-2026 dreamgate reign where, you know, who cares?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no.
[SPEAKER_02]: The other thing with that last summer of intro tag league is that you got to remember it was it was bad that they cut off your monos knees with the tag league.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was made worse by the fact that Tozawa was leaving and that's really what caused the problems with that Yamato rain was they went.
[SPEAKER_02]: tag league into your motto versus Tozawa, which we all thought might be Tozawa's last match.
[SPEAKER_02]: We knew he wasn't going to win and then your motto won and then they announced the Tozawa Fairwell tour.
[SPEAKER_02]: So we went from August to the beginning of November with it just being about Tozawa leaving or the tag leg.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, that's fair to say about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: going down.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm I'm into Menorio Shioca.
[SPEAKER_02]: I hope they get new gear, but I'm I'm fine with them for right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the ARP card holders versus Godja Dokegro went to an interesting kind of finish, only because Johnny Valletta returned after in two minutes of the match.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hate the fact that Godja Dokegro did the lazy SS version of combat mode ever by wearing the t-shirt and track pants.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, come on guys, that felt.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, at least give half a shit there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Johnny Valetta returns, he does a claw slam, and then the Saki mochizuki does a series of buzz calls, buzz saw kicks to get the win, and then right after that, where it's Johnny Valetta, grabs a microphone, asking what's up with Cypatra, an unannounced Shinskaya Walker shows up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Try to tell him that Cypatra is no more, but that just...
[SPEAKER_00]: But once I have a match of Johnny, they have a match of, they have a match together, it's two minutes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Johnnyville at a kind of runs through Skywalk or the King Kong knee drop and at Kobe World and Shoot Skywalkers final Kobe World appearance, there'll be a site patcher reunion of all things.
[SPEAKER_02]: I will table my thoughts for Skywalkers farewell for next week.
[SPEAKER_02]: That'll give us something to chew on then.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'll save my, I know who they should, what they should dump for Skywalkers final match.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I have multiple suggestions for things they could have done other than what they're doing.
[SPEAKER_02]: My question for you just as it pertains to the cork and shell.
[SPEAKER_02]: What is the in game of this?
[SPEAKER_02]: Old man versus Gajadokoro stuff.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's the payoff here?
[SPEAKER_02]: There is no- What's the payoff?
[SPEAKER_00]: This was the payoff, I feel like Johnny Fletter returning.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh my god.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, because like they're not going to that the old guys aren't a unit, we already did away with an old person's unit five years ago with that loss and they weren't supposed to reunite so you get motion mochazuki and in here and then you're able to kind of run the same thing here like you can't they're not going to retire well like there's no sense of finality that can be offered here with this.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, oh god, that's depressing to think about.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I feel like I've historically been Valetta's biggest fan.
[SPEAKER_02]: I wrote the giant article on the guy in December about how great he's been.
[SPEAKER_02]: The King of Gate.
[SPEAKER_02]: uh... in the the cocoo to match i mean that was that was his right off i'm on interest in the letter going forward i don't need to see anything he he'd nailed it he was perfect through the cocoo to match that was the last time we ever needed to see him and i don't think him teaming with either ganky or even if you want to throw them in the paradox like i don't that doesn't do anything for me now i hear you with that up
[SPEAKER_00]: We had what I thought was the best match of the show before this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yukio Shioka, teaming of Hommara versus Rorya Tanaka and Kazuma Kamora.
[SPEAKER_00]: The finish was Hommara getting a win on TV with a Melahoma, which is his spinning flapjack move.
[SPEAKER_00]: Really fun one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Afterwards, they further build up the Brave Gate match.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Tanaka gun announces their first member as Rorya Tanaka asked for Kazuma Kamora to join him in his new unit.
[SPEAKER_02]: In theory, I like this a lot.
[SPEAKER_02]: I like that Camora is getting into you.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I like that Tanaka is getting a unit.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would have liked to have seen this a little bit more fleshed out, just what the vision was for the unit, so that going into Kobe World Tanaka would be able to have a big debut with a logo and some new gear and a really making impression.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is just one of those Drengeet 2026 issues where I think they have asked what could have been a major angle and I think it would have been really great for Tanaka to say.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been thinking for the last month ever since I don't have decourage.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need colors.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need branding.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need a name.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is what it's going to be and Kazuma Kamori you're the first guy wanted my unit.
[SPEAKER_02]: and they just did half of that.
[SPEAKER_02]: They took shortcuts and now at Kobe World Tanaka's going to wear old gear and probably have a fancy coat when he makes his entrance, but it's not going to be what it could have been.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not going to have the impact that it could have been.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's super disappointing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, any of the fact that
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, Camora is going to be on the main show.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought that he was in the advanced match with everyone else there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, it could have been a moment for both of them to kind of come out and new gear with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe reveal the name at Kobe World.
[SPEAKER_00]: That could have been a fun thing to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the match itself, I thought that
[SPEAKER_00]: The chemistry is there between, yeah, Tanaka and Humari, and that's fun of the Humari issue still kind of stands there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Yoshiyoka and Kamore, I felt like was like the best part of this match.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really like Yoshiyoka and Kamore.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they have really good chemistry.
[SPEAKER_00]: For each other, and I mean, whenever these units for Yoshiyoka and Mino and whoever else they eventually add to that, and Tanaka gun kind of flesh out, I look forward to future, Kazuma Kamore versus Yoshiyoka matchups.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, it's another good consumer comor performance.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, what else is new at this point?
[SPEAKER_02]: He's weirdly become one of the most consistent guys on the entire roster, so that is in a unit.
[SPEAKER_02]: I love the idea if he and Tanaka together.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's another one of those weird reasons to advocate for an August tag league is even if Komora loses a ton, I still think Tanaka and Komora spending a month teaming with each other will do more good than it will harm.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm all for that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I really like this.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just think they missed a massive opportunity
[SPEAKER_02]: to unveil a new unit and have something to care about going into the world.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's an odd, odd choice by them.
[SPEAKER_02]: We'll talk more about the brave game booking in my fears with it next week.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll do going through the undercard, the last on our card match with really a lot of meat on the bone was natural vise versus love and peace, a strong machine J.U.T.
[SPEAKER_00]: Gucci and Oki versus
[SPEAKER_00]: Interesting finish was Mocha Zuki Jr. who never gets push getting a win over Aki who seemingly has not been on TV a whole lot here, but worked as a complete sprint throughout it didn't have, it was sub 10 minutes, but a lot of meat on the bone here, and yet again, another natural high match that I felt like the real star of it was Gucci.
[SPEAKER_02]: Natural vibes, absolutely, their star was Gucci.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought this was a stellar reta performance as well.
[SPEAKER_02]: They went with the finish of the two guys that aren't in the triangle gate match at world, which I wouldn't have done.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's probably the least interesting of the options.
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't really give us a lot to look forward to as we head into the world, but I get it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm really not in the position to complain about Moshe's OQG and you're getting a win in a cork on a haul show.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I don't necessarily like it, but I get it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I thought this was the best match to the night.
[SPEAKER_02]: I had this at three and a half.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I had both this and the tag at three and a half for me personally, but I liked I liked seeing more on YoShioca just a touch more.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's buzz through the three most undercard matches.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next match in Jiro Shambashi is a.
[SPEAKER_00]: train tour was against Alexander Otsuka.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was about what he expected for Alexander Otsuka in Jero Shambashi here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Post match, we announcing that Jero versus Matsukatsu Flunaki at Oral that should be fun Flunaki.
[SPEAKER_00]: Weirdly gets strike and gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Comedy matches a lot better than other guys in that kind of position as seen in the world match he had against each
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I thought it'll be fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought the Otska match was whatever.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm a little part of that on these gyro matches now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I want to see Ots.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to see him on the main roster.
[SPEAKER_00]: I liked when we had that match where he was teaming with Komora.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I wanted to see more of him getting further ingratiate in the roster in the way that Komora is at this point, but I know comedy character in X, Y, and see that gets
[SPEAKER_00]: a little bit difficult.
[SPEAKER_00]: Atomicow, Oashi, Panchamunaga, Mondayriu, Enrea Fuda, Versus Yamato, BB Holkavatora, and Doi.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a Garamaka carry to get the wind there, not much there, too much punch for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they opened with Monte and Fulmita, teaming up against Susumu and Dragon Kid in a fun enough opener.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fulmita gets the wind with a foam fly out of the Jumbo Nung no Kachi.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was fine.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was the, there's a main event version of this match.
[SPEAKER_02]: They did not have that they had the pedestrian opening version of this match instead.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, and that was what I thought I thought last month's first cork in was really kind of dire this month's cork in it's not that it was dire at least the one I reviewed last month compared to this just.
[SPEAKER_00]: felt like watching paint dry in a way in a way that Dragon Gate should not be at any sense of the word really.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would agree with that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's a good way of putting up.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, buddy, I think that's going to do it for this time on open the voice gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have anything else you want to touch on for or out of here?
[SPEAKER_00]: I do not.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, you can follow us on social media at open voice gate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both on Twitter and on blue sky.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can follow case on underscore in your case.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can follow me at Fuji.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, of two eyes like Don Fuji.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a voice is a wrestling discord also where you we have that Dragon Gate channel, as well as you open the voice gate channel.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where we
[SPEAKER_00]: Posts are show notes and stuff for those days as well as any programming notes those go up there first, but next time we'll be back previewing the big of show and dragon gates here that's right Kobe pro wrestling festival 2026 is upon us and we'll be back next week to talk all about it for the previous will be we'll talk to you at that time take everyone.