Discover Top Posts Tagged with #dragon bane

Jun 21

JackyRiiita Introduction

Hello everyone, I am back with another post introducing member(s) of the Dragongate roster to fans of other promotions. Last time, it was Hyo to the NJPW audience ahead of BOSJ. This time, it just so happens to be two teammates of Hyo, Riiita and Jacky Kamei! (collectively known as JackyRiiita)

They are facing Alejandro and Dragon Bane for the GHC Jr Tag Championships on the 18th of July! So ahead of that show I want to tell you about these two and give you some free match recommendations as well!

If you have any questions after reading this feel free to ask! That's what I'm here for. Without any further ado let's get into this shall we?

I will introduce them separately, going in debut order.

"Jumping Turtle"

Jacky Kamei (ジャッキーカメイ)

Born: 11th of November 1999

Hometown: Tottori city, Tottori prefecture

Height: 163 cm (5'4")

Weight: 70 kg (154 lbs)

Debut: 22nd of December 2019

Hey it's the guy on the right in my header image!

I should begin Kamei's section by explaining a bit of what is going on with both his ring name and his nickname. First of all, no, his real name is not Jacky. The roster thought he resembled Jackie Chan so he was called Jacky (there's two Hongkongers in the promotion, this wasn't going to slip past them). This is why he wears his hair the way he does. Now his real name is Taketo Kamei, and in his last name is this kanji 亀 (Kame) which means turtle/tortoise. So that's why he's called a turtle.

Kamei-chan, as the majority of the roster refer to him as, is a quiet man. He's not a big talker and Ben-K has been working hard to convince his teammate to post more on social media. But when you rub him the wrong way? Oh boy will he let you know. He's rather explosive when he wants to be, and is known for surprising/scaring his seniors when his temper flares.

Overall though, he does most of his talking in the ring with his wrestling. He is widely regarded to be one of the best in-ring performers in all of Dragongate. As you would expect from his nickname, he has quite the hops. However while he's best known for spinning and jumping and flying, that's not all he's good at. He also has some of the hardest chops in the promotion and loves to pick up surprise victories with his running jackknife pin the Jacky Knife.

If you read my introduction on Hyo you may recognise Kamei's name, as he is the man Hyo lost his hair for to recruit into his unit Big Hug. Before this, Kamei was a member of fan favourite fun loving dancing unit Natural Vibes as Jacky 'Funky' Kamei (yes his initials were JFK). He was their cheery little bro, shit went down with betrayals and almost betrayals and Shun Skywalker attempted kidnapping and at the end of the day Kzy let Kamei go join Hyo and Luis Mante to make him happy. While Big Hug did not last long, Hyo and Kamei have reunited in Love & Peace alongside Ben-K, Mochizuki Junior and the next man I'll be talking about.

"Chibi Imp"

Riiita (リータ)

Born: 14th of August 1997

Hometown: Koshu city, Yamanashi prefecture

Height: 156 cm (5'1")

Weight: 67 kg (147 lbs)

Debut: 24th of October 2021

"Huh that's interesting so Riiita's the older of the two but Kamei debuted first?" Good eye! Yes, Riiita is in fact older than Kamei and only a few months younger than Hyo who debuted in 2016. Riiita knew that he was coming into a promotion at a natural disadvantage because of his height. So, he trained in martial arts until he felt ready enough to go try-out. Dragongate, known for their smaller wrestlers, happily took in Riiita. His martial arts background only really makes an appearance in a match if he's facing someone who is also experienced in martial arts. He is the shortest wrestler in the whole promotion.

Let's go on a quick name journey with Riiita, because I'm sure his name and its multiple i's is a bit confusing. So his real name is Takumi Hayakawa, and he did wrestle under this name for a time. However it wasn't long in his career before he was repackaged by one Naruki Doi. See, Doi had a new unit he had just formed by the name of Gold Class. They were a group of guys put together to draw in the lady crowd with fanservice (no I'm not joking). Their centrepiece was local handsome man with nice boobs Kota Minoura. Now Dragongate has deep connections to lucha libre, and in lucha you may know of the concept of a mini. A smaller stature wrestler who is like a mini-me of another very popular wrestler. Sort of like a mascot. Well, Doi decided Minoura needed a mascot. So, he got Hayakawa as a gift for Minoura (his wording not mine). He made Hayakawa look exactly like Minoura and called him Minorita. You may now start to see where his current name comes from. Riiita renamed himself that when Minoura betrayed him and turned heel. Everyone called him Rita already so it just made sense.

As you would expect from his nickname, Riiita is well known for his impish behaviour. Although he very rarely makes his opponent chase him around the ring and into the backstage area anymore. He does however have a bit of a Tom & Jerry dynamic with his Love & Peace teammate Mochizuki Junior. While both Kamei and Riiita enjoys high-flying, just like Kamei it's not all Riiita is good at. I would keep my eyes peeled for his double stomp, tilt-a-whirl DDT and his finisher the Riiitanic (which is a Yoshi Tonic/Code Red).

Kamei and Riiita really complement each other in the ring and we Dragongate fans hold their work in high regard. Which says a lot, because Dragongate cares a lot about multi-man wrestling. Dragongate quite like them too, as JackyRiiita have just wrapped up their first reign with the Open the Twin Gate championships (Dragongate's tag belts). They also held these alongside the Twin Ryuo Tag Team Championships of Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling, which is a Okinawa-based promotion with close ties to Dragongate.

Match Recommendations: