The Fall of the WWE: Dragon Gate USA Invades
By Sean Farrell
The current state of professional wrestling where it is today with the generic characters and terrible storylines is a disgrace to what it once was. For every John Cena there are a million others who get no respect or just simply overlooked. But there is a man in the wrestling industry today who has been quietly becoming the greatest wrestler in history, he resides in the Dragon Gate and Dragon Gate USA promotions, he is the Dragon Gate USA Open The Freedom Gate Champion YAMATO.
Masato Onodera is a former mixed martial artist who found his way into professional wrestling. Onodera is the 5th graduate of the Dragon Gate dojo in Japan, because of that honor he is highly regarded amongst the fans and his peers as a highly devoted worker. Onodera had previous professional fighting experience competing under his real name in Pancrase before going into professional wrestling, which is a very common practice in Japan. He went on to win the first NEX-1 tournament, which is the premiere Dragon Gate affiliate for top prospects within the promotion and earned the right to travel to the U.S. and compete.
His stay in the U.S. was brief however at just under three months. But when he returned to Japan aligning with his generation of peers, such as Shingo, BxB Hulk(pronounced B.B. Hulk), and the imposing Cyber Kong his career really took off. This stable was known as New Hazard, dropping his previous Gekokujoh lineage completely and renaming and reinventing himself entirely as YAMATO after the historic Japanese war ship. It was relevant at that point that a new era of professional wrestling was upon us.
YAMATO appeared in Ring Of Honor’s All Star Extravaganza III and Super Card of Honor II and American fans got a glimpse of what was to come. YAMATO went on to hold multiple tag titles in Dragon Gate but then found himself in other promotions and back in Dragon Gate as well.
At Dragon Gate USA’s first pay-per-view Enter the Dragon, which first aired on September 4, 2009, YAMATO defeated BxB Hulk in the opener. During the second DGUSA pay-per-view Untouchable, YAMATO teamed with Gran Akuma in a losing effort to Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw. YAMATO was taken in by the U.S. crowd instantly, and even though he speaks minimal English the fans could just feel the emotion and intensity pouring out of this individual as well as his passion for this business and art form. YAMATO is truly brilliant in the ring, It’s like he was created by everything that is right in wrestling. The Greeks spoke of the Gods creating mythological entities, well the “Wrestling Gods” have created YAMATO. “He has the sex appeal of a baby made by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie” according to some of his female fans, but has the talent level of Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, and Ric Flair in the ring. His ethics are just topping on the cake with him being a Japanese pro wrestler, which comes with a high honor, and he carries himself as such. Out of the thousands of wrestlers I have seen, this guy has brought it EVERY single night, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Out of every wrestling promotion out right now, including the “Bigs” WWE and TNA, their rosters just pale in comparison to YAMATO as an individual right now. I think we might be witnessing an international legend in the making such as the great Antonio Inoki, without the need for a gimmick match against Manny Pacquiao. Especially, after the masterpiece’s YAMATO has had in the ring before even reaching the age of 30. His matches with Naruki Doi and Shingo are something to gaze upon in amazement from start to finish, from the masterful technique to the highly dramatic struggle that is brought to you throughout the matches. YAMATO has raised the bar of what a wrestler is and should be and it is an absolute pleasure to be able to witness this marvel of wrestling. The only way to witness this remarkable talent for you is to Open the Gate.