Sorry we missed it last week (and indeed for the last few weeks due to site downtime), but we’re finally back with more hot Toryumon action! A packed card this week, but make sure you don’t miss out on MAKOTO while you can while he wrestles Susumu Mochizuki as well as TAKA leading the Toryumon Army against Crazy MAX. Also, not to be missed – watch the small featurette at the end for a behind the scenes look at the Ultimo Dragon Gym!

1. Gran Hamada/Yasushi Kanda vs. Gran Naniwa/Masaaki Mochizuki
2. Genki Horiguchi vs. Yasushi Kanda
3. Chocoball KOBE vs. SAITO
4. MAKOTO vs. Susumu Mochizuki
5. SHIIMA/TARU/Sumo”Dandy”Fuji vs. TAKA Michinoku/Magnum TOKYO/Keni’chiro Arai

Another week passes by without any new Infinities, but that doesn’t mean we can’ t look to the past for some good old fashioned rasstlin’.  Well it’s not that old fashioned, but it was almost 13 years ago. That’s right, it’s Toryumon time again.

This week we get Crazy MAX vs Toryumon Army in a six-man along with TAKA Michinoku taking on the ill-fated Chocoball KOBE. This is a rare appearance from this man, so you may want to take notice while you can. Or don’t. It won’t be the end of the world.

The main event sees an 8 man tag with legend the Great Sasuke teaming with Magu, Araken and Tiger Mask IV to battle Crazy MAX and Sasuke the Great.

1. Genki Horiguchi vs. Yasushi Kanda
2. Yoshikazu Taru vs. Stalker Ichikawa
3. Shiima Nobunaga/Sumo Fuji/Taru vs. Magnum TOKYO/SAITO/Keni’chiro Arai
4. TAKA Michinoku vs. Chocoball KOBE
5. Nobunaga/Taru/Fuji/Sasuke the Great vs. The Great Sasuke(Michinoku Pro)/Magnum TOKYO/Tiger Mask IV/Keni’chiro Arai

What better way to start off 2012 with a healthy dose of 1999? Hopefully your hangovers have subsided and you are well on your way to failing more resolutions made in haste the night before last.

We have some hot Crazy MAX vs Toryumon Army 6-man tag this week as well as the continued rivalry of Dragon Kid and SUWA with the NWA Welterweight Title on the line. Also: Stalker.

1. SAITO vs. Genki Horiguchi
2. Shiima Nobunaga/Judo Suwa/Sumo Fuji vs. Keni’chiro Arai/Dragon Kid/Magnum TOKYO
3. Arai vs. Fuji
4. Stalker Ichikawa vs. Tsubo Genjin
5. Nobunaga/Fuji/Yoshikazu Taru vs. Susumu Mochizuki/SAITO/Horiguchi
6. NWA Welterweight Title - Dragon Kid (c) vs. Judo Suwa

We come into this week’s Toryumon Tuesday with plenty of titles on the line and the beginning of probably early Toryumon’s best rivalry with Dragon Kid taking on SUWA. We also end the evening with the finals of the NWA Middleweight title tournament pitting legend The Great Sasuke vs up and coming Magnum TOKYO. Sorry folks, through all the merriment this one came a little late but I hope you’ll find time to watch it. This will probably be the last show posted of the year so I hope everyone has enjoyed 2011 and we will resume regularly scheduled programming (ie always late) in January!

1. NWA Welterweight Title Tourney Finals - Dragon Kid vs. Dr. Cerebro(IWRG)
2. NWA Welterweight Title Match - Dragon Kid vs. Judo Suwa
3. IWRG Intercontinental Title Match - Shiima Nobunaga vs. Magnum TOKYO
4. NWA Middleweight Title Tourney highlights
5. Tournament Finals - The Great Sasuke vs. Magnum TOKYO

Hi folks, it’s time for our first Toryumon Tuesday! While I’ve posted many Toryumon shows in the past, I’ve never posted their weekly shows that were aired on TV. We’re going to begin our trip with the very first episode. For those new to Toryumon, what you mainly need to know is this is Ultimo Dragon’s promotion created to showcase his students. We’ll see the early stages of some big names, including Magnum TOKYO and a pre-CIMA Shiima Nobunaga with his Crazy MAX brethren Judo Suwa and Sumo Dandy Fuji (who go on to be SUWA and Don Fujii respectively).

So sit back and take the phone off the hook for the next hour. Toryumon… STARTO!

1. Toryumon Wrestler Intros
2. Genki Horiguchi vs. Yasushi Kanda
3. Susumu Mochizuki vs. Keni’chiro Arai
4. Yoshikazu Taru vs. Stalker Ichikawa
5. Yoshikazu Taru/Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Takeshi Okamura/Keiichi Kawano
6. Shiima Nobunaga/Judo Suwa/Sumo Fuji vs. Dragon Kid/Magnum TOKYO/SAITO

Toryumon “IIIer ANIVERSARIO”, 07.07.2002
Kobe World Hall
6,900 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Condotti Shuji , Pescatore Yagi & Berlinetta Boxer vs. Kenichiro Arai, Super Shisa & Raimu Mishima
2. Stalker Ichikawa vs TARUcito
3. NWA Welterweight Title, Decision Match: Super Nova vs Ricky Marvin
4. Great Sasuke & Atlantis vs Sasuke the Great & Negro Casas
5. British Commonwealth Jr. Heavyweight Title: SUWA (c) vs Susumu Yokosuka
6. UWA Trios Title, 3 Way Match: CIMA, Don Fujii & TARU (c) vs Masaaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito vs Magnum TOKYO, Genki Horiguchi & Darkness Dragon

Part 1

Part 2

For those not in the know, El Numero Uno is what King of Gate used to be before Dragon Gate. This specific one is very special to a lot of people and I think not many would argue is the best the company has put on. Mainly for one specific reason and that is the rise of the HAGE army! I won’t say anymore. You will just have to watch it and see. Feel free to add to #DGThrowback if you’re on Twitter with your thoughts, or just post them in the comments if not.

Toryumon, 22.04.2003 (PPV/GAORA TV)
Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium #2
5,700 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

0. Dragon Scramble Battle Royal: Genki Horiguchi, Susumu Yokosuka, Anthony W. Mori, Dragon Kid, Condotti Shuji, Second Doi, “brother” YASSINI, Kenichiro Arai, Ryo Saito, TARU, Don Fujii & Toru Owashi.
1. Round 2 A: SUWA vs YOSSINO
2. Round 2 B: CIMA vs Susumu Yokosuka
3. Round 2 C: Masaaki Mochizuki vs Milano Collection A.T.
4. Round 2 D: Magnum TOKYO vs Genki Horiguchi
5. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Stalker Ichikawa
6. Semi Final A: Round 2 A vs Round 2 B
7. Semi Final B: Round 2 C vs Round 2 D
8. Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid, Kenichiro Arai, Second Doi & Anthony W. Mori vs Don Fujii, TARU, Ryo Saito, Condotti Shuji & “brother” YASSINI
9. Final: Semi Final A vs Semi Final B

Part 1:

Part 2:

I hope that you have enjoyed this series of shows and that you now have a better understanding of one of the most important times for the company we now call Dragon Gate.

T2P “LA ULTIMA FUNCTION”, 27.01.2003
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,263 Fans

1. Pescatore Yagi & Berlinetta Boxer vs BATAyan & Takamichi Iwasa
2. Toru Owashi vs Jun Ogawauchi
- Exhibition Match: Jorge Rivera vs Syachihoko Machine #1 & Syachihoko Machine #2
3. TARU vs Kinya Oyanagei
4. Ultimo Dragon & YOSSINO vs Henry III Sugawara & Raimu Mishima
5. Lucha Libre Classica Rules: Milano Collection A.T., “brother” YASSINI & Condotti Shuji vs Ryo Saito, Second Doi & Anthony W. Mori

1. Lucha Libre Classica Rules: Anthony W. Mori, Henry III Sugawara & Phillip J. Fukumasa vs Kinya Oyanagei, Noriaki Kawabata & Jun Ogawauchi
2. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Buccanero vs Second Doi & Takamichi Iwasa
3. Masks vs. Masks Match: Syachihoko Machine #1 & Syachihoko Machine #2 besiegen Syachihoko Machine #3 & Syachihoko Machine #4 (4:40) nach einem Syachihoko Clutch von #1 gegen #3.
4. YOSSINO vs K-ness
5. “brother” YASSINI, Condotti Shuji, Pescatore Yagi & Berlinetta Boxer vs Magnum TOKYO , Susumu Yokosuka , Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito
6. Ultimo Dragon Comeback World Tour Final Match: Ultimo Dragon, Perry Saturn & Norman Smiley vs Masaaki Mochizuki , Kenichiro Arai & Toru Owashi
7. NWA International Light Heavyweight Title, Lucha Libre Classica Rules: Milano Collection A.T. (c) vs CIMA

Arguably the greatest show the company has put on, Toryumon vs T2P was a showcase of both classes as the T2P students invaded the Toryumon Japan ring.

This event is memorable for many reasons. Obviously the quality of the matches is what stands out the most, but also, as you will instantly notice, there are two rings; the traditional square Toryumon ring, and the 8 sided hexagonal T2P ring. At the start of the show the participants in each match will do a draw to see which ring gets used for their match.

Two more huge matches are made for this show though. The first sees the return to the ring for Ultimo Dragon. This is his first match since his retirement due to a botched surgery on his arm. He takes on Masaaki Mochizuki in an exhibition match. However, the main event is where all the drama lies as the long time rivalry between Dragon Kid and Darkness Dragon come to a head in a 2 out of 3 falls, mask vs mask match. Whoever wins, you know you are in for a treat.

I will do a quick recap after the videos as some may not be fully aware of what was going on during some of the moments of the show.

If you watch just one PPV from Toryumon or Dragon Gate, make this the one you watch.

Toryumon “ABSOLTAMENTE 2002″, 08.09.2002
Tokyo Ariake Coliseum
8,800 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. Susumu Yokosuka & Genki Horiguchi vs Second Doi & Takamichi Iwasa
2. Raimu Mishima vs Kinya Oyanagei
3. Stalker Ichikawa Reckless-Run Series 10th: Stalker Ichikawa vs Ultimo Dragoncito
4. Lucha Libre Classica Rules: Ryo Saito, Kenichiro Arai & Super Shisa vs Anthony W. Mori , Henry III Sugawara & Phillip J. Fukumasa
5. SUWA vs. Toru Owashi
6. Ultimo Dragon Return Exhibition Match: Ultimo Dragon vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
7. Magnum TOKYO, Disco Inferno & Latin Lover vs Condotti Shuji , Pescatore Yagi & Berlinetta Boxer
8. UWA Trios Title: CIMA, Don Fuji & TARU (c) vs Milano Collection A.T. , YOSSINO & “brother” YASSINI
9. Mask vs. Mask, 2/3 Falls: Dragon Kid vs Darkness Dragon

Part 1:

Part 2:

There is a lot of confusion concerning the finish of the Ultimo Dragon match so I’ll try and clear it up a bit. Ultimo retired a number of years ago during the prime of his career when a bad WCW doctor performed surgery on his arm and severed his nerves leading to a loss of feeling in his arm. He took this time though to start up Toryumon, a place to showcase his students’ abilities. He wrestles in the black tights and mask as he is not comfortable as Ultimo Dragon at this point. When he takes a stiff kick to his injured arm the referee stops the match. It’s unknown whether this is a work or not, but it is likely that it is.

Anyway, following the match some of Ultimo’s former students, namely Crazy MAX and Magnum Tokyo come to the ring with his traditional Ultimo outfit and try and convince him to make a return. He leaves feeling unsure. However, as you see at the end of the show he decides that he will return after all as he comes out once again dressed as Ultimo Dragon. Following this show Ultimo goes on a return tour and the rest, as they say, is history.

As for the main event, well the idea was that there would be a different referee for each fall. Unfortunately for Darkness Dragon, M2K founder and at the time retired wrestler, Yasushi Kanda was picked last and unlikely to be able to referee one of the falls. You see, Kanda was forced to retire early due to a neck injury so he took on the role of referee, but since he was a member of M2K all his decisions were weighted in their favour, obviously.

The first two falls unfortunately went away quickly since it was a double count out, meaning both contestants get a loss. However, due to M2K’s interference Kanda quickly became the last referee standing. Much to the annoyance of M2K though he actually started to call it fairly until the end where he could take it no more leading to the blue box from Kanda and Kid’s Ultracanrana for the win.

Darkness Dragon would unmask himself, revealing that he was former Crazy MAX member MAKOTO. He was forced to leave the promotion after losing a loser leaves town match to TARU, so the revelation that Darkness Dragon was in fact MAKOTO was quite a shock.

Following the show Kanda and Darkness Dragon both left M2K. Darkness remained unmasked and renamed himself to K-ness. He began wrestling with Dragon Kid and asked Kid to form a new unit with him: Do FIXER. However, it was all a ruse from M2K to cause dissension within the babyface Toryumon Army and Magnum Tokyo revealed that the real Do FIXER was actually the old members of M2K, minus Kanda of course. K-ness remasked into the mask you see today and a new era of Toryumon began.