Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Masato Yoshino

[9.0] "I always expect something pretty mind-blowing from Dragon Gate, and these guys didn't disappoint. I loved the contrast in Masaaki Mochizuki and Masato Yoshino's styles, but also how well they worked together. This match almost went for 30 minutes, but it didn't drag at all. Excellently paced from beginning to end. The crowd were super hot for this match, and so was I. So many near falls, and neither could put the other down, so it came down to a submission in the end. Awesome match."

[7.0] "Sometimes it's outright aggravating how immensely athletic and well-skilled in storytelling fundamentals the DG wrestlers are, yet how outright poorly they usually structure/combine it all for an end product. If every well-regarded DG match was the first DG match I ever saw, I'm sure I'd rate all of them a minimum ****, but having seen so much of the company's output, a lot of these matches sadly blend together, even with different wrestlers and across different years or even decades. They have so many great ideas and abilities, but they try to do way too much way too quickly, so yeah I'm saying the generic SLOW IT DOWN, BOYS. Now, I'm no fan of 70s/80s US territories wrestling, and I'm more than happy to see all sorts of spectacular bombs and risky spots, but it all means SO much more if it's timed with a proper ebb and flow instead of just GOGOGOGO. To be sure, this was a really good match, but I'm just furious that this wasn't the ****1/4+ match it could have been. The first half was initially quite fun because both guys went for some pretty energetic and high-risk offence right away, eschewing the usual PPV Dream Gate match structure where the first 10 minutes feature generic grappling before anything remotely exciting happens. Sadly, they both soon moved into a dual arm-targeting story, and despite both selling their respective arms well in real time, they both soon completely abandoned their selling and targeting, making it feel like a complete waste and pure filler. As usual, all of Mochizuki's kicks were great, and Yoshino was likewise great with his ridiculously speedy and agile attacks and movements, with both having very strong chemistry that allowed them to make each other look impressive. Their big-move trades surprisingly came out after about only 10 minutes, and although it was a bit annoying to see them go to their epic' stuff so early -- including some pretty cheesy 'rapid no-sell fire-up' moments on both sides -- I still at least appreciated how strong their individual technique and chemistry remained, plus the excitingly fast pace they were working at. It was basically like your peak NXT spotfest (think Gargano vs Cole stuff) but with actually convincing technique and no melodramatic selling (i.e. this was still good instead of a cheesy mess). They absolutely went overkill on just how many big moves and near falls they were trading, but they creativity of each exchange and the continued fast pace allowed it to all remain exciting despite how admittedly excessive it was. It was moments of clear defiance between the 2 that I actually found the most engaging, since those moments brought out real emotion that then put actual weight and meaning behind their many otherwise athletic but rather hollow feats. If these guys did like 70% of the moves they did and threw in far more character work and an actually coherent and evolving storyline then this could have been awesome. ***1/2"

[10.0] "5 Stars - Fuck this one of the best Dream Gate matches ive ever seen. This was god tier heat in the crowd, everything as always with speed star looked extra smooth and Mochizucki was absolute machine not letting Yoshino gain the speed to get the advantages and his kicks are something to be hold. Absolutely worth going out of your way and seeing this"

[10.0] "Classic story "who is the toughest" done by Dragon Gate, and done so very well. Super hot crowd, biggest bombs, Don Fujii who just couldn't believe that it was a two-count. Masato Yoshino of all people was hitting lariats to keep Mochizuki down, and after two brutal top rope dropkicks to the back of his neck, Mochziuki still tried get to the ropes until the very end. Yoshino looked like a fucking champ after this match."

[9.0] "Yoshino's toughest challenge in his title defense thus far. Really liked the story of Mochi not letting Yoshino use his speed and athleticism to gain any momentum. Which meant that Yoshino would have to dig deep inside of himself and build an intensity that would match Mochi's overwhelming toughness. Yes it was a total bomb fest towards the end, but they built the drama so well with Mochi just refusing to give up. Even when Yoshino locked in his submission finisher Mochi desperately tried hard to escape, but the former got the latter in just the right position to make him give up. This was a very close battle, but Yoshino proved why he deserved to be champion, ****1/2."

[9.0] "A really great match. This is the first Dragon Gate match I've ever watched and I would have to say it's definitely one of the best matches of 2014. Definitely worth watching."