Dragongate USA: The Gate of Sin City (4.15.26) review 

 

WRESTLEMANIA WEEK REVIEW #1 

 

Source: Triller TV+ (£6.12 per month, UK money)  

 

April 15, 2026 

 

We’re in Las Vegas, Nevada for the first show of Wrestlemania week and yes, god damn it, I am here ALL FUCKING WEEKEND. Get used to it. My plan is already in ruins. I intended to watch PoderMania live last night but got in so late from work I missed the start and then this morning, I was going to get up early and watch Hybrid. However, I overslept. So, show #1 is now Dragon Gate. I’m also scared Triller won’t get the replays up in time for me to plough through these shows, and I’ll have a backlogue on day one. We’re off to a flier. Hosts are Larry Dallas & Joe Dombrowski.  

Venue looks a bit tragic.  

 

Willie Mack vs. El Cucuy vs. KAI 

I fucking love El Cucuy. This big fat luchadore. The Ringbreaker.  

I have no idea what happens here, but the match has zero fluidity. KAI looks genuinely horrible here, but it’s a small crowd and I don’t blame him. Comms start making excuses for how shit this is. Everyone keeps having to cover for each other’s blunders. KAI is especially bad, but they look like they didn’t even introduce each other with a handshake backstage let alone plan anything. Willie Mack tries very hard to get things back on track and the match is at its best when he’s getting his shit in. Mack beats KAI with a Stunner. This was a catastrophic start to proceedings. ½* 

 

La Estrella & Ho Ho Lun vs. Channing Decker & Rhys Maddox  

Decker is nicknamed “Mr Hardcore”. This may be some sort of ‘gag’. I can’t tell if he’s good because he’s working Ho Ho Lun, who is dreadful. Ho Ho tries to shake Maddox off the ropes, but he shakes the top rope, and Maddox is standing on the second. La Estrella looks like he’s having a miserable time, dragging the inexperienced Maddox through stuff. Ho Ho Lun stinks in this. He’s so bad. He can’t do anything. I can only assume he’s a really nice person because you wouldn’t book him for his in ring. God bless La Estrella for trying to make this passable. His crazy outta control tope con hilo is easily the best part of the match. ¼* for La Estrella’s dive.  

 

People who watch wrestling and say “oh, great showing from all four guys” just don’t know what they’re talking about. Sorry.  

 

Man, I’m off to a crabby start here my brothers and sisters. The realisation that I’m about to watch like 27 wrestling shows in a week is hitting hard early doors.  

 

Susumu Yokosuka vs. Marcus Mathers 

I didn’t like Mathers, an Ospreay clone who slapped his thigh a lot, the last couple of times I’ve seen him, but I’m coming into this with an open mind because he’s working Yokosuka. Mathers has been on tour with DG, and it shows. There’s a lot of mat work and Susumu opts for a ‘leg match’. This is going to be a big test of Mathers’ ability to sell. It’s a mixed bag. When he can, he’s showing it. Limping, favouring the one leg etc. Very nice. But he then kicks Susumu with his bad leg, and even thigh slaps his bad leg. Just don’t kick him. 

 

There’s something there with Mathers and it’s the first time I’ve really seen it, but there are stupid things he does that need eradicating from his game. We then abandon the entire theme of the match so Mathers can win with a 450 Splash out of nowhere. Huh. Well, I was enjoying the match until the last minute or so, where it stopped making sense. A much better performance from Mathers here and applying a little logic to his work going forward could make all the difference. **½ 

 

Ben K & Hyo vs. Aero Panther & Fight Panther Jr vs. Jordan Oliver & Alec Price 

Fight Panther Jr is one of the best named pro-wrestlers in the world. The entrance steps collapse on Price and oh no, he’s injured his hamstring. What’s worse is it looks so botchy that the crowd are laughing. Even Ho Ho Lun is giggling on comms.  

The whole back of his hammy is a bruise. He definitely shouldn’t be wrestling here. You’d be better off just removing the team from the match and leaving it as a standard tag. But no, we must do the match exactly as it was planned in the back. Jordan Oliver’s timing is really good here. I’ve never liked him as a worker, and I don’t think he has a compelling character, but his timing in this is great. Like he’s ‘got it’ now. Hyo and Aero have a bad miscue resulting in a botch. Hyo is swiftly forgiven due to his sexiness. That looksmaxxing nerd has nothing on this guy. 

This is very spotty but it’s the first spotfest of the weekend and the work in between is ok, so I’ll give it a pass. Like Aero Panther being whipped into the corner but turning it into a springboard moonsault to another guy on the floor. It’s well thought out, looks cool and almost makes sense. They also have a fun spot where Hyo flips across the ring, showing off, and Aero Panther follows him in doing the same flips. Ultimately, it means nothing, but it demonstrates parity. Hyo didn’t even see it. Hyo then beats him with a diving cutter anyway. Oh well. ***. A very fun spotfest with lots of well executed stuff. Not the show/weekend stealer it could have been if everything landed but very good pro-wrestling.  

 

YAMATO vs. Jonathan Gresham 

Both these guys have been wrestling for 20 years.  

YAMATO does a lot of sneaky, jerkwad stuff as they lean into comedy. Gresh ends up working heel, and they do a leg match. YAMATO selling like the idea of having a knee is painful. The fans chant “Octopussy”; telling us their favourite Roger Moore era Bond film. I’d go Live & Let Die, lads. I do like the eye for an eye legwork in this. Both guys are inventive in their assaults. I like that the selling leads to them just wailing on each other because they can’t move around and do anything that involves running and shit.  

 

They then throw that out of the window so Gresh can get his SSP in, which makes no sense, and YAMATO taps him out anyway even without the selling. What a pointless and dreadful finish to a very solid match up. At least a leglock got the job done. **¾. Take the SSP out of this and I’d go 3.25, I think. 

 

Madoka Kikuta, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato vs. Dragon Kid, Kzy & Yuki Yoshioka 

The rudos are all big hench lads with thick thighs. ISHIN’s character is such a weird guy. He trips over a fan on his way to the ring and later violates Kzy’s rectum with the old Oil Check. He feels like a DDT wrestler. For a main event, this is surprisingly sluggish. Dragon Kid drawing a lot of sympathy from underneath.  

 

After Dragon Kid’s heat segment ends, we go into a spottier format with spot/save stuff. Kikuta impresses as a big dude who hits really hard but also moves like a cruiserweight. He wins me over quickly. Dragon Kid finds time to sneak in the Asai Moonsault. This dude is 50, for fuck’s sake. Kzy picks off ISHIN for the pin. This was fine but it was way too long. The breakdown stuff near the end was good fun though. **½  

 

The 411: 

Off to a solid start with DGUSA. Not touching on the highs of DGUSA in days gone by. After the first two awful matches were in the books, the show gently washed over me. Logic gaps caused issues in what could have been great matches.  

 

If you’re not familiar with my ratings, you might think this was a bad show, but it really wasn’t. It was just average. Thumbs up, just about. Hopefully we see better this weekend, but we’ll probably see worse.