Mathew’s Dragon Gate King of Gate Final Round Results & Review

Well, everyone, it’s all come down to this as we have now arrived at our final four. There was some misinformation as to who was fighting who as it’ll be at random instead of A vs B and C vs Royal winner.

So with that in mind, who will win it all as we wrap this tournament up and…dive right in.

Rating System:

• 0 Stars: Dave Meltzer
• 1 Star: Vince Russo
• 2 Stars: Tony Schiavone
• 3 Stars: Eric Bischoff
• 4 Stars: Bruce Prichard
• 5 Stars: Jim Cornette

King of Gate Semi-Final Match: Naruki Doi vs. Kaito Ishida

Review: It’s time for our first match in the semi-finals as it is a rematch from the B Block finals with Open the Dream Gate Champion, Naruki Doi taking on Open the Brave Gate Champion, Kaito Ishida. The last time these two fought in the B Block final, Kaito was able to defeat Naruki with some help from R.E.D but Naruki was able to get back in when he won the Second Chance Battle Royal. Will Kaito be able to beat him twice in a row or does Naruki get redemption?

Naruki didn’t give Kaito a chance to stand once he got in the ring as the Dream Gate Champion starts attacking him right away and the bell has now rung. Naruki had some pent up aggression against Kaito for their match last time and he’s making sure Kaito is aware. R.E.D tried to distract Naruki again but Kaito accidentally hits one of them once Naruki moved out of the way. Naruki was getting some momentum during this time but it came crashing down once Kaito attacked his knee with a chop block and went to attack it, shades of last time. So how did this match compare to their previous?

Well, their block final was a much better match than this one but it was still solid enough to enjoy it while leaving you wanting more. Kaito tossed Naruki into the ropes and went for a kick but got caught with a jumping Neckbreaker to have them both down. Kaito used this time to take off the turnbuckle pad like he did last time as a R.E.D member was distracting the referee. Eita seems to have distracted the referee a little longer than anticipated as Kaito was able to roll Naruki up once he had him hit the turnbuckle again, making Naruki kick out. Naruki hits the Doi555 and goes for the Bakatare Sliding Kick as Kaito kicked his leg out and applies the Ankle Lock. Kaito has it locked in tight but Naruki rolled over to make him hit the exposed turnbuckle and hits a DDT. Naruki hits the Doi555 and Bakatare Sliding Kick combo not once but twice to get him down and goes to the finals!

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a quarter 

King of Gate Semi-Final Match: YAMATO vs. Eita

Review: Our next match is between the winner of A Block, YAMATO, and the winner of C Block, Eita. YAMATO was able to advance when he defeated Diamante to win the block while Eita defeated Dragon Dia. Eita has a chance to be a part of the finals two years in a row if he can defeat the former ace. Which one of these men will face Naruki in the finals?

The two stared each other down as YAMATO shoved Eita but he retaliated with a Big Boot and the two start fight while the bell rings. This starts more aggressively out of the whole tournament as they’re getting rough with each other during the tie-up or just fighting outside of the ring to the point where you can hear the stiff shots to each other. For Eita, you see more of his heelish antics flesh out here with his R.E.D members distracting when they could and would kick YAMATO below the belt after pushing the referee down.

This is the type of stuff Eita needs to do if he wants to showcase himself as this top heel in the promotion. During another one of Eita’s distractions, R.E.D would undo all the turnbuckle pads on one corner while Eita was hitting YAMATO with a pad from a different one he took off. YAMATO gets him on the top rope for a Superplex but Eita kept fighting him off and flipped over him to toss him for a Powerbomb and hits a PK for a two count. Eita was looking to kick him below the belt again but YAMATO caught his leg and hits a jumping Enziguri to daze him and a Brainbuster on top of it as Eita kicked out at two.

YAMATO goes for the Gallaria and hits it but Eita kicked out at two again but wait, YAMATO quickly catches him for the Sleeper Hold. He has a tight grip but Eita pulled the referee under him to distract him as BxB Hulk hits YAMATO with the chair and the First Flash. Eita tossed him into the ropes but YAMATO catches him with a Frankensteiner of the Almighty but Eita kicked out again. Eita was finally able to hit the Imperial Uno to knock him down and proceeds to hit it two more times to put him away as Eita now goes to the finals in a great match!

Rating: Bruce Prichard and a quarter

King of Gate Final Match: Naruki Doi vs. Eita

Review: It’s time for the moment we’ve all been waiting for as we have reached the finals of the tournament between Eita and Naruki Doi. Eita is once again able to make it to the finals and he could win it all this time around to help R.E.D in this generational war. Naruki could also ruin R.E.D by winning here and win the whole tournament as the champion. Who will be this year’s King of Gate winner?

It looks like we won’t be having any type of ambush before the bell this time around as the two would just have a regular wrestling match to start things off here. No really, the two would start to do chain wrestling and would be back and forth during all of this. The only time Eita did anything heelish was when he was biting Naruki’s hand during one of the sequences. There hasn’t been any type of interference from R.E.D in this one too as it appears to be that Eita wants to have a fair fight against the champ and doesn’t want to afford any type of screw-ups that could cause him to lose again. The match is rather slow-paced for the first half of the bout but was still able to carry itself. Instead of Naruki’s leg being targeted, Eita would use his time to focus on Naruki’s arm this time around and does a well enough job to injure it and ruin his arsenal.

Eita with surprise setup for Numero Uno!#dragongate#KingofGate2020 pic.twitter.com/BygjN4HxGo

— FoDG (@futureofdg) June 7, 2020

Naruki made a comeback with a jumping Neckbreaker and would have Eita’s feet on the top rope, hanging over to hit a DDT, shades of Randy Orton. Eita rolled Naruki over to the mat and grabbed his arm to apply the Numero Uno. Eita starts wrenching his arm up but Naruki was able to escape it to hit a DDT. Naruki hits the Doi555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick but Eita would kick out at two! It looks like Naruki is about to end it with the Muscle Bomb but Eita rolled under him to attempt a pin but Naruki caught him with another Doi555 and as he attempts another Bakatare Sliding Kick, Eita catches him with the Imperial Uno for a two count. Eita catches him with another Imperial Uno and Naruki would kick out again. Eita took advantage of Naruki still knocked out as he applies the Numeral Uno one more time and Naruki taps out, making Eita the winner! That’s right, Eita has won the King of Gate Tournament, meaning my prediction came true!

After failing to win it last year, he makes it up by winning this time around by defeating the current champion cleanly as well. There is a promo for after the match but was unable to find the translation for it but I’m sure it was with him putting over R.E.D as the top faction in Dragon Gate right now. There’s no official date for when Eita will face Naruki for the Open the Dream Gate Championship but don’t be surprised if it’ll happen at the Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival. Congratulations to Eita and let’s see if he can beat him again but for the title.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and three quarters  

WHAT A HEEL!#dragongate#KingofGate2020 pic.twitter.com/yWRxhYghpR

— FoDG (@futureofdg) June 7, 2020

Overall: This was a solid tournament from top to bottom. Last year’s was better but they were still able to do well with the circumstances given to make things work this time around. Some solid matches for a good majority of it and was able to get a more satisfying conclusion.

Favorite Match: YAMATO vs. Eita

Least Favorite Match: Naruki Doi vs. Kaito Ishida

Score: 7.5/10