Infinity 69 or WrestleJam Season 2

All matches occur between July 15th and July 22nd of 2007

You like foreigners in Dragon Gate? This is the show for you. Here’s the championship rundown:
Open the Dream Gate Champion: CIMA
Open the Brave Gate Champion: Yasushi Kanda
Open the Triangle Gate Champion: Vacant
I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Champions: Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka

Shingo {NH}, Cyber Kong {NH}, Jack Evans {NH} & El Generico {NH} vs. CIMA {T}, Susumu Yokosuka {T}, Dragon Kid {T} & PAC {T}
Stupid WrestleJam means Shingo loses his last name AGAIN. He and CIMA start. He hits a choke takedown. PAC and Generico tag into the match. PAC hits a hurricanrana. He hits a nifty head scissors takedown and a dropkick. Kong easily absorbs PAC’s offense. CIMA hits Kong with the Superdrol. Kid and CIMA hit a double dropkick. Yokosuka hits Evans with a kneedrop for 2. Generico hits Yokosuka with the split legged moonsault for 2. Evans hits a basement dropkick for 2. PAC hits a running elbow for 2. CIMA hits his big double stomp. He and Evans hit a dropkick sandwich on Evans’s head. Yokosuka helps hit a triple dropkick. PAC hits a standing SSP for 2. Evans hits a double back elbow. Shingo tags in and cleans house. He hits a kneedrop on PAC for 2. PAC hits Kong with a standing moonsault. CIMA hits Evans with a big Superdrol. He and Yokosuka double-team Evans. Kid hits Generico with a hurricanrana. He hits Shingo with the Déjà Vu and a hurricanrana on the floor. PAC hits CIMA with a swinging DDT. He dives through the ropes to hit another on the floor. PAC rebounds off the ropes to dive onto Generico. Evans hits the Space Flying Tiger Drop. Kid and Yokosuka do a very cool double-team sequence on Kong. Kong comes back with a double clothesline. PAC botches a DDT, but Shingo helps him recover without too much embarrassment. He handsprings into a victory roll for 2. Shingo hits a spinebuster for 2. Generico flips Kid into a powerbomb for 2. Kong hits the Cyber Cutter. Takagi hits the Yo Throw and the Pumping Bomber for 2. Evans hits Skipping a Generation for 2. Kid comes back with a stunner on Generico. CIMA superkicks Generico into Kid’s Bible, getting 2. PAC hits a super hurricanrana. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana for 2. CIMA hits a superkick and the Schwein for 2. Generico comes back with the BRAINBUSTAH for 2, but the camera sadly misses most of it. PAC hits the craziest super reverse hurricanrana I’ve ever seen, and then finishes Generico with a shooting star press at 14:17 shown of 29:24. This had so much energy. The clipping was jarring at times, but the work in the last ten minutes totally makes up for it. What a great way to start this episode.
Rating: ****

Gamma {MO}, Turbo Muscle {MO} & Black Thunder {IW} vs. Turbo-ness {Z}, Turboyan {Z} & Lupin Matsu-Turbo
The babyface team is K-ness, Don Fujii and Lupin Matsutani, for those of you who are thick. Turbo Muscle is Magnitude Kishiwada. Everyone brawls to start. Turboyan sumo slaps Gamma across the building. In the ring Gamma puts on a mask to fit in with everyone else. Turboyan slaps him some more and hits a dropkick. Muscle goes after Turboyan’s mask. The mask flies off after a slap, and gets put back on backwards. Muscle hits armbreakers. He hits them on Lupin as well. Because he’s not looking at his victims, Turbo-ness is able to feed Gamma’s arm to him. Gamma rips off Lupin’s mask and throws it away. The Outlaw’z kick Lupin in the corner. Lupin comes back with a vertical suplex. Turboyan shoots Gamma with Lupin’s cap gun. He tags in and cleans house. Turbo-ness throws Gamma’s cane away and hits a roundhouse kick. He hits a vertical suplex for 2. Lupin rolls Gamma up for 2. Thunder hits a facebuster for 2. Lupin hits a snap suplex. Turbo-ness hits an enziguiri and Turboyan hits a chokeslam. Lupin hits a missile dropkick for 2. Gamma canes Lupin. Muscle hits a moonsault for 2. Lupin gets a roll up for 2. Muscle hits a lariat for 2. He hits the splash off the top for the win at 9:07 shown of 11:46. Total comedy, and much more effective than most of the Stalker Ichikawa “comedy” Dragon Gate likes to give us.
Rating: **¾

Super Shenlong & Delirious {ROH} vs. Ryo Saito {T} & PAC {T}
Delirious and Saito start. Delirious crawls under the ring and Saito follows him. PAC hits Shenlong with a shooting star press and a dropkick. Delirious and Saito emerge from under the ring, both in Delirious masks. The mask apparently carries special powers, because Saito is now displaying Delirious’s mannerisms. They do some mirror wrestling for a while. It’s actually pretty funny. PAC hits Shenlong with a delayed vertical suplex for 2. Saito, sans mask, hits a bodyslam and an elbowdrop for 2. Delirious tags in and hits a back suplex for 2. Shenlong puts on a chinlock. PAC hits a bodyslam for 2. Delirious hits a slam and a senton for 2. PAC hits an enziguiri and victory rolls to a tag. Saito hits Shenlong with an overhead suplex. PAC baits Delirious to the floor and dives onto him. In the ring Delirious hits Saito with clotheslines. He hits the Neverending Story and a bulldog for 2. PAC hits a missile dropkick. Shenlong hits a Michinoku Driver for 2. He hits an exploder for 2. PAC hits an enziguiri and a tiger suplex for 2. Saito hits the Shrimp. PAC hits a standing SSP for 2. Saito hits a big splash for 2. Delirious hits the Panic Attack. He hits the Shadows Over Hell for 2. Saito hits Shenlong with a German suplex. PAC helps him hit another. PAC hits a corkscrew SSP for the win at 10:56 shown of 13:41. Aside from the comedy early on this didn’t play to anyone’s strengths. It was kept quite slow, which makes no sense given the wrestlers involved.
Rating: **½

Shingo {NH} vs. Austin Aries {TR}
Aries baits Shingo into a criss cross to start, and takes control with a dropkick. He fakes a suicide dive. He hits a senton and an elbowdrop for 2. He hits the Powerdrive elbow for 2. Shingo hits a bodyslam and mocks the Powerdrive elbow. That gives Aries time to recover. Shingo hits a spinebuster. He hits the sleeper swing. Aries hits the apron DVD. He hits the Heat Seeking Missile. He hits the babyface dropkick for 2. Shingo hits a vertical suplex. He hits a lariat and the Yo Throw. He hits the Pumping Bomber for 2. Aries hits a crucifix bomb, a punt to the head and a brainbuster for 2. He hits the 450 splash for 2 when Shingo gets his foot on the ropes. Shingo blocks a super brainbuster and hits a superplex. Aries pops up and hits a roaring forearm. Shingo casually hits lariats and the Pumping Bomber for 2. He hits the Blood Fall for 2. He hits the Last Falconry for the win at 6:58 shown of 16:46. So much of this was cut, and what’s left over is Aries controlling the bulk of the match and Shingo destroying him for the finish. I’d be interested in seeing the whole thing.
Rating: ***

Jorge Rivera vs. Yasushi Kanda {Z}
They trade armdrags to start. Kanda hits a side slam for 2. Rivera shoots him to the floor and dives out after him. In the ring Kanda dodges a dropkick. Rivera hits a facebuster and puts on one of his goofy submissions. Kanda hits a hard elbow. He hits an exploder for 2. Skayde hits another facebuster and rolls Kanda up for 2. He gets the Skayde Special for the win at 3:04 shown of 5:05. This was too short to have caught my interest.
Rating: *¾

After the match K-ness asks Kanda for Rivera to get a shot at the Brave Gate title. The match will happen in Kobe next month.

In May New Hazard defeated Typhoon for the Triangle Gate titles. The Muscle Outlaw’z immediately demanded a title shot. The match occurred a few weeks before this, and New Hazard retained when Takagi busted out the Original Falconry. Sadly, just before the WrestleJam tour BxB Hulk got injured in a match against Saito and the titles had to be vacated. Since this is WrestleJam the American Jack Evans will take Hulk’s place, and the Outlaw’z get another shot at the belts.

Shingo Takagi {NH}, Cyber Kong {NH} & Jack Evans {NH} vs. Naruki Doi {MO}, Masato Yoshino {MO} & Magnitude Kishiwada {MO} [Open the Triangle Gate Championship Match]
If Turbo Muscle gets to be Kishiwada for this match, Shingo gets to be Shingo Takagi. The Outlaw’z attack during introductions and everyone brawls around the building. In the ring Yoshino hits Evans with the Sling Blade for 2. Kishiwada hits an avalanche and a standing moonsault for 2. Genki Horiguchi and Gamma run in to help hit a quadruple dropkick for 2. Kishiwada hits a brainbuster for 2. Evans comes back with a spin kick. Takagi tags in and cleans house. Kong follows suit. Evans hits SpeedMuscle with the Space Flying Tiger Drop. Kong hits Kishiwada with the Pineapple Bomber. Takagi hits Doi with a DDT and a senton for 2. Evans hits a knee kick. The Outlaw’z gang up on him in the corner. Yoshino hits the shotgun dropkick for 2. Doi hits a powerbomb and Kishiwada hits the splash for 2. Gamma powders Doi, and it looked pretty intentional. Evans hits Skipping a Generation for 2. Takagi hits a powerbomb and Evans hits the 630 senton for 2. Kong hits the Cyber Cutter. He hits a supercharged Pineapple Bomber for 2. Takagi hits the Yo Throw and the Pumping Bomber. He hits the Blood Fall for 2. Doi powders Takagi and Kishiwada hits a German suplex. Yoshino hits the Torbellino and Doi hits the Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2. Kong lays out Evans by mistake. Kishiwada hits Takagi with a chair shot and a lariat for 2. He hits the Last Ride for 2. Doi hits a superbomb on Evans for 2. He hits Kong with a suicide dive. Evans gets the Jackknife on Yoshino for 2. Yoshino comes back with the Lightning Spiral for 2. He hits another for the win and the titles at 10:08 shown of 18:19. Another unbelievably fast and energetic match. Why can’t every episode of Infinity rock as hard as this one? After the match Gamma and Doi argue about the powder attack.
Rating: ****

CIMA {T}, Susumu Yokosuka {T}, Dragon Kid {T} & Matt Sydal {T} vs. Naruki Doi {MO}, Masato Yoshino {MO}, Jimmy Rave {MO} & Muscle Gang {MO} vs. Shingo {NH}, Cyber Kong {NH}, Jack Evans {NH} & El Generico {NH} [Jam Cup]
Eliminations and staggered entrances here. Rave, Kong and Yokosuka start. Yokosuka uses his opponents against each other, but eventually Kong takes control with his power. Kid is out next, and he takes control with his speed. He and Yokosuka double-team Kong and Rave. Yoshino is out next. He hits a supercharged suicide dive on Kong. Generico is out next. He armdrags everything that moves. CIMA is out next. He hits Generico with the Superdrol. He totally cleans house, leaving only Typhoon standing. Gang (Babi Slymm) is out next. He and Kong argue, having been partners until Kong left the Outlaw’z. He acts like a monster, easily walking through Kid, CIMA and Generico. Evans is out next. Kong keeps Evans from diving off the top rope to the floor, since Evans didn’t seem to understand that would eliminate him. Gang hits Evans with an avalanche. Sydal is out next. There are a lot of people in this ring. Sydal works over Rave. Doi is out next. Everyone starts trying to throw everyone else over the top rope. Doi and Yokosuka double-team Evans and then turn on each other. Yokosuka hits an exploder on Doi onto Evans. Shingo is out last, and now everyone has to tag to get into the match.

Shingo cleans house on Doi and CIMA, the other faction leaders. He hits Gang with a vertical suplex, firing up the crowd. Kong press slams Doi. Typhoon works over Yoshino. Sydal hits a standing shooting star press for 2. Evans hits a kneedrop on Doi on the apron. Generico hits Sydal with a backbreaker. The Outlaw’z and New Hazard gang up on Kid in the corner. Typhoon does the same to Takagi. Gang hits an avalanche on Gamma by mistake. Everyone dropkicks Gang. Evans hits him with the Space Flying Tiger Drop. Everyone starts diving to the floor, over the top rope, which I thought warranted elimination. I guess Kong was overreacting to Evans earlier. Back in the ring Gang throws Kid around. He hits a Vader Splash for 2. CIMA hits him with the Venus and a superplex. Yokosuka hits the Jumbo no Kachi, Kid hits a dropkick and CIMA hits the Crossfire to eliminate the big man. Evans hits Yoshino with the Ong Jak. He misses the 630 senton and Yoshino hits the Tobellino. He hits the Lightning Spiral to eliminate Evans. He hits Yokosuka with the Ude Yoshino. Rave hits Yokosuka with a spear for 2. Yokosuka hits the Mugen to eliminate Rave. We never got to see stereo Lightning Spirals . Takagi and Yokosuka trade exploders. Yokosuka hits the Jumbo no Kachi. Takagi hits the Pumping Bomber to eliminate Yokosuka. Kong hits SpeedMuscle with clotheslines. Yoshino hits Kong with the Another Space. Kong hits the Cyber Cutter for 2. Yoshino ducks the Pineapple Bomber and gets the Speed Star to eliminate the big guy. CIMA counters the Sol Naciente to the Schwein. Takagi hits the Pumping Bomber to eliminate CIMA.

Now each stable is at half strength. Generico hits Kid with a powerbomb for 2. Sydal catches him with a hurricanrana for 2. He hits another off the top. Generico pops up and hits the Yakuza kick and the Half & Half for 2. Kid hits a super hurricanrana. Sydal hits a sick DDT. Kid hits the Ultra Hurricanrana to eliminate Generico. He hits a snap DDT on Yoshino for 2. He hits the Bible for 2. Sydal hits a double knee kick and Yoshino gets eliminated. Takagi hits Doi with a powerbomb. He hits the Pineapple Bomber. He hits Kid with the Last Falconry to eliminate him. So now it’s down to one guy on each team. Takagi hits Doi with a lariat and the Yo Throw. Doi gets the V9 Clutch to eliminate Shingo. Gamma canes Sydal and powders Doi by mistake. Sydal hits the Slice. He hits the shooting star press for 2. Doi hits a German superplex. He hits the Doi 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick for 2. They fight up top and Sydal hits the Sydal Special for the win at 24:54 shown of 35:10. Look, I’ve said this a couple times in this review already, but the energy on these WrestleJam shows is really only topped by Dragon Gate participation in ROH shows. For the life of my I can’t understand why WrestleJam was discontinued.
Rating: ****

After the match Sydal is awarded $10,000. All of the foreigners and Dragon Gate babyfaces get in the ring and CIMA gives them a speech thanking them. He leads the crowd in a “please come back,” chant.

The only thing that could have made this show better would have been El Generico’s PWG World Championship defense. That aside this is one of the best episodes of Infinity I’ve ever seen, and given the current one-hour format of the show I don’t think it will be touched by something current. Get your hands on this ASAP.