Legacy is a big talking point in wrestling. Whenever a wrestler’s child debuts onto the scene (dubbed a ‘Second Generation Wrestler’), it usually comes with a lot of buzz. Recent examples include HOOK, the son of Taz, and Bron Breakker, the son of Rick Steiner. DRAGONGATE themselves have three second-generation wrestlers – ISHIN (formerly Ishin Iihashi), son of Ishinriki and Utako Hozumi, Strong Machine J, the song of Super Strong Machine, and Mochizuki Junior, the son of Masaaki Mochizuki. Lineage has defined the career paths of all three so far, but the only man held back by these ties now is Junior.
Since his debut, Mochizuki Junior has been joined at the hip to his overprotective father Masaaki. This has given him opportunities and his first title, but also denied him the respect of his fellow second-generation wrestlers. However, recently Junior has started to stand on his own and this growing development is becoming one of the best story arcs in wrestling at the moment. Before we get into Junior’s story though, let us look at the elder Mochizuki first.
DRAGONGATE’S Iron Man: Masaaki Mochizuki
Masaaki Mochizuki is a stalwart of DRAGONGATE, having been involved with the promotion since way back in the Toryumon days. He was positioned as one of the aces of the company and would form the stable M2K with Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda. They would later add a few more wrestlers, such as K-ness, to their ranks. M2K was one of Toryumon’s most notorious heel groups. When Toryumon became DRAGONGATE, Mochizuki would go on to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship three times.
After losing the Dream Gate in 2018, Mochizuki ended up forming Mochizuki Dojo with Class of 2016 prospects Shun Skywalker, Yuki Yoshioka, and H.Y.O (then Hyo Watanabe) after losing to them in a three-on-one handicap match, with the goal of the three prospects moving up the card using Mochizuki’s mentorship. Masaaki himself did not consider the group a ‘stable’ as such, even though they ended up being officially recognized as one. Mochizuki later added 2018 rookie debutante Kota Minoura to their ranks, as well as Keisuke Okuda. Skywalker in particular challenged for multiple titles in his Dojo days, including the Open the Dream Gate Championship. Competing in these high-stakes matches was the hallmark of Mochizuki Dojo’s trainees, both with and without Mochizuki by their side.
Mochizuki Dojo naturally came to an end during the Generation War between DRAGONGATE and Toryumon. Masaaki would then participate in both DRAGONGATE and Pro Wrestling NOAH with minimal direction until a certain new rookie made his debut…
The Arrival of…Masaharu Eto?
On May 11, 2022, the opening night of DRAGONGATE’s annual King of Gate tournament, a debutante called Masaharu Eto arrived. For those unaware, DRAGONGATE’s rookies typically compete in unofficial five-minute exhibition matches to introduce them to the audience before their official debut. On this occasion, the participants were two members of the second Future Class named Kaito Nagano (who would later debut in August) and Masaharu Eto. Later on, Masaaki Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda, and Kenichiro Arai faced Z-Brats where Mochizuki pinned H.Y.O. After the match, H.Y.O moved to attack Masaaki with a chair but was stopped by Masaharu Eto. Mochizuki then revealed that he wanted to reform M2K, and because he made the save, Mochizuki gave a spot in the group to Eto. The new M2K would debut at the Toryumon Reunion show in June.
However, all was not as it seemed with young Masaharu…
At the Toryumon Reunion Show on June 3, the new M2K was set to go up against former Toryumon group Aagan Issou in the main event. For those unaware, Masaaki Mochizuki was kicked out of Aagan Issou in 2004 after losing a battle of leadership to Shuji Kondo. In the opening segment, Masaaki revealed that Masaharu Eto was actually Ryoto Mochizuki, his son. M2K would now be known as M3K. With this, the first-ever son of a roster member (and their first father-son pairing) would be debuting for DRAGONGATE. M3K would later win the main event after Masaaki hit the Twister on Shogo Takagi and let his son get the pin.
Masaaki decided to make M3K a permanent group in DRAGONGATE. Ryoto would be renamed “Mochizuki Junior” by Ultimo Dragon. With that, DRAGONGATE’s first son was ready to kick off his career.
Becoming a Champion in Record Time
Shortly after their formation, M3K had the opportunity to challenge for the Triangle Gate championships at Kobe World 2022, DRAGONGATE’s biggest show of the year. The championships at the time were held by Perros Del Mal De Japon (NOSAWA Rongai, Eita, and Kotaro Suzuki). Since Perros were a NOAH faction, the titles were predominantly featured in NOAH until Kobe World came along.
H.Y.O might proclaim himself the ‘Great Brain’ of DRAGONGATE, but in this situation, it was Masaaki who might have laid claim to that moniker. Yasushi Kanda, the extra member of M3K, was the special referee for the match. Interestingly, Kanda is actually a former professional referee! After suffering a neck injury in 2001, Kanda temporarily retired and moved into a heel referee role. With this, M3K had the advantage from the start. He pulled every string to support his unit, from counting quickly when Junior was pinning to outright refusing to count for Perros, to hitting NOSAWA Rongai with his trademark blue box. M3K eventually won the match and the Triangle Gate championships by count out.
With this, Mochizuki Junior had won his first title two months after his debut. Masaaki was now holding a title alongside his son. They would successfully defend the titles against HIGH-END and Natural Vibes on the next night.
Ruffling Some Second Generation Feathers
Remember earlier when I mentioned DRAGONGATE has three second-generation wrestlers? Well Ishin Iihashi, by this point, had taken offense to Junior’s fast title win. While Junior had his father by his side, who had helped him achieve success so quickly, Ishin was going at it alone after the unfortunate retirement of his brother, Riki Iihashi, and had yet to achieve his first win. Ishin debuted in September 2021, a lot earlier than Junior, which added to his grievances. In order to prove he was superior to Junior, he challenged him to a singles match, which was accepted.
While Ishin came to the ring alone, Junior, as expected, had his father by his side. At the point where Ishin seemed to gain the upper hand in the match, Masaaki interfered as usual, allowing Junior to take advantage and score the victory. The humiliation did not end there. After the match, the elder Mochizuki took to the microphone and claimed the Iihashi family would never beat the Mochizuki family. With this, Ishin’s father Ishinriki came out and Ishin challenged the Mochizuki’s to a father-son tag team match.
To say the odds were stacked against the Iihashi’s would be an understatement. Mochizuki Junior, while helped by his father, was still on a winning streak and had been for a while. In contrast, Ishin had not even won his first match yet. Masaaki, at 52 years old, still had not lost a step in the ring. At 61 years old, Ishinriki had not wrestled a match in three years and was on the cusp of retirement. However, against the odds, Ishin picked up his first-ever win against the elder Mochizuki, and with this issue a challenge for the Triangle Gate Championships.
A Father’s Last Wish
A week later, at Dangerous Gate, Ishin got his wish. He, his father and Don Fujii challenged M3K for the Triangle Gate Championships. Spurred on by achieving his first win, Ishin was relentless in this match. It took everything M3K had to put him down. This was in quite stark contrast to Mochizuki Junior and his reliance on his father. Though the Iihashi family were unsuccessful, Masaaki apologized to Ishinriki and the fathers squashed their feud.
Ishinriki, however, had an interesting request.
As a father who was retiring in two weeks and unable to continue looking after his son, coupled with the fact that Ishin’s brother was not in the business anymore, Ishinriki was keen to have Ishin join M3K so that Masaaki could look after his son like he had Junior. Masaaki countered with an offer of a trial run, since Ishin and Junior would not be on the same page immediately. With Ishinriki paying for the gear, the fathers made a deal. A deal with virtually no input from either of the sons. The two sides took a combined photo after, with Ishin holding his head down in shame. It was clear he wasn’t on board with the idea at all, but endeavored to try for his father’s sake.
Mochizuki Junior, in contrast, took the opportunity as a challenge. It was a chance to prove he could hold his own when paired with someone on equal standing. Interestingly, it was clear in their tag matches that Ishin was now surpassing Junior. While Junior struggled on his own still, Ishin was finding his footing with increased confidence after picking up some wins. Ishin was the one who was beginning to score a few pinfalls, and after their team started to become more successful, he even entertained the idea of him and Junior going after the Twin Gate Championships. As his trial run progressed, Ishin was coming around to the idea of being in M3K full-time.
Or so we thought…
Gate of Destiny: Free from Family Ties
Around this time, a certain masked psychopath decided to enter this story. Shun Skywalker, a former member of Mochizuki Dojo, had his opinions about Junior. In contrast to the strict teacher of old, Masaaki was acting like a stage parent. He coddled Junior, keeping him from harm, and never let him face challenges on his own. In fact, the only singles matches Junior had had since debut were the match against Ishin and a match against new debutante Kaito Nagano. Every other match was done with M3K by his side. In Skywalker’s opinion, Masaaki was limiting Junior’s potential and he vowed to show this by taking the Triangle Gate Championships from M3K at Gate of Destiny. Since the other members of Z-Brats were occupied apart from KAI, a mystery third man called ‘Masked Z’ would be their partner.
At Gate of Destiny, Ishin and Kanda defeated Horiguchi and Nagano. After, Ishin wore the M3K shirt and gained official membership to the unit. His trial period was over. If M3K disposed of Z-Brats, they would have a clean sweep for the night.
The semi-main event came and it was time for the Triangle Gate defense. The Z-Brats trio made their way to the ring, with the elusive Masked Z hiding his face. As the match was about to start, he removed his mask to reveal his true identity: Ishin Iihashi.
As the keen-eyed would have spotted, ISHIN had been slowly cutting out the references to his family for some time. First, he evolved the moves he inherited from his father and made them his own. The Dosukoi Suplex became the Komata Chokeslam and the Alcatraz became the Death Penalty. He removed the feather boa, a tribute to his mother. In this match, he cut himself from M3K entirely, the stable his father wanted him to join, to join Z-Brats. Finally, after tapping Junior out with the Death Penalty, he removed the last thing holding him back: his last name. From now on, he was simply ISHIN. He had won his first title and proven himself over Junior but for himself this time, not his family.
Discord Between Father and Son
After ISHIN’s betrayal, it was clear that M3K was starting to suffer, particularly the relationship between father and son. Junior was beginning to experience more defeats, losing to Don Fujii in 4 minutes and to fellow second-generation wrestler Strong Machine J several times. Meanwhile, the elder Mochizuki challenged for the Dream Gate Championship on then-champion Yuki Yoshioka’s quest to defeat former title holders. After his defeat by yet another one of his former students, it seemed Masaaki had a realization. Two of his former students from 2018 had progressed to becoming world champions, whereas his son had faltered after his first title loss.
For some time, this caused Masaaki to only increase his level of interference in Junior’s matches. As he said to Yoshioka, “he was off to go be an overzealous sports dad to his son”. However, this interference was now starting to hinder instead of help. In a three-way match between all three second-generation wrestlers, Masaaki tried to interfere to help his son, but this backfired. Junior was defeated by his rival ISHIN again.
With his father now being a hindrance, the once meek Junior started to change his tune.
A Wish To Stand on One’s Own
In the new year, Mochizuki Junior did something for the first time in his career: refuse his father’s help. In a tag match against Kzy and Strong Machine J, Masaaki broke up every single pinfall the Natural Vibes members attempted on his son. Junior lost consistently to J in particular at the time, who, like ISHIN, didn’t care for Junior needing help in his matches. In a way, it seemed like Junior wanted to prove his fellow second-generation wrestlers wrong. He wanted to prove that he didn’t need his father’s help to win a match. Junior told his father “I can kick out! Let me kick out!”. In the end, though, he would still lose to J. Masaaki left on his own, without his son at his side.
When Rey de Parejas (DRAGONGATE’s round-robin tag tournament this year) began, one thing seemed to become clear to Junior: if he couldn’t win on his own soon, he was going to get left behind. ISHIN, who had cut his family ties, had surpassed him. Kato and Nagano, two rookies from Junior’s class, had debuted and were already picking up wins for themselves as a team. Lo and behold, their first opponents in Rey de Parejas would be none other than H.Y.O, Masaaki’s former student, and ISHIN, Junior’s rival. The Mochizuki’s would win this match, but the win was scored by Masaaki.
Throughout the league, Junior became more confident. He started asserting himself more, contributing more to their team winning. Whenever Masaaki interfered to help his son, Junior clapped back and reminded him that he was supposed to do this himself. Though they did not win their block, this was good progress for Junior. In their last match, it was the elder Mochizuki who was pinned, not Junior. With this, the tide shifted slightly in M3K.
Champion Gate & Two Failed Title Challenges
The other two members of M3K, Yasushi Kanda and Susumu Mochizuki, had made the finals of Rey de Parejas, but lost to D’Courage. However, in the semi-finals, they pinned Gold Class, the Triangle Gate Champions. Kanda and Susumu laid their claim to the Triangle Gate, but the question was: who was their partner going to be? Logic would have dictated it be Masaaki, but they instead chose Junior, citing Masaaki losing their last tag league match as the reason. Masaaki protested, saying Junior wasn’t ready to be in a title match without him, but they wouldn’t listen.
Even though their challenge was unsuccessful, Junior was the star. In contrast to how M3K originally won the trios belts, Junior didn’t need any help. Still, his father remained unconvinced. He went up on the apron, protesting that Junior should have got a three count, and Ben-K took advantage. He used the distraction to defeat Junior and retain the Triangle Gate belts. Susumu and Kanda, while having limited involvement in Masaaki’s parenting before, were now taking a side. They agreed with Junior: he was ready to stand on his own.
After pinning Twin Gate champion Kzy, Masaaki would then demand a Twin Gate title match for himself and his son at Champion Gate. Kzy and Big Boss Shimizu would retain the titles after a flash pin on Masaaki. Once again, the elder Mochizuki was the cause for the loss. Junior would walk off, leaving his father in the ring on his own as Susumu and Kanda raced after him, much like when Masaaki himself walked off without his son in the new year.
What’s Next?
At Glorious Gate, which has just passed, Masaaki took yet another pinfall, which has increased the discord in M3K. Susumu thinks that Masaaki does not fully trust in his son yet. Kanda was of the opinion that M3K would fail if father and son could not get along and suggested they fight it out. As a result, Susumu and Kanda will face Masaaki and Junior at Gate of Passion on April 5. The stakes are high for the future of M3K.
In other news, DRAGONGATE’s hottest season is kicking off with Dead or Alive just over a month away. Shun Skywalker is predicted to wrestle Madoka Kikuta for the Dream Gate (a match with DRAGONGATE MOTYC written all over it), but after having lost Triangle and Twin Gate challenges in such quick succession, the path for M3K is unclear at the moment. Additionally, excursion mates SB KENTo and Takuma Fujiwara should be returning soon. Should M3K continue to fight, perhaps Junior will look for allies elsewhere?
The collision between father and son is inevitable and it may happen sooner rather than later. The first of its kind in DRAGONGATE, the match will have high stakes and could prove that Junior is an ace for this promotion for years to come.
You do not want to miss out on this one and the rise of Mochizuki Junior!
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