In a surprising partnership, Sega teamed up with All Elite Wrestling on Wednesday, November 15 for a Like a Dragon-themed wrestling match. It was every bit as chaotic as you’re probably imagining.
In a promotional stunt supporting the newly released Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, AEW held a themed match full of references to the series. Dubbed the “Like a Dragon Gaiden Street Fight,” the five-on-five tag team bout featured Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Chris Jericho, and Paul Wight taking on Konosuke Takeshita, Powerhouse Hobbs, Brian Cage, and Kyle Fletcher.
For fans of the series, the match was full of delightful Easter eggs. Konosuke Takeshita came to the ring in full Goro Majima ring gear (the ring announcers referred to him as a “mad dog”), while Omega’s team got a familiar splash screen referring to them as the Golden Dragons of Dojima.
This was a no-disqualification match, which meant that everyone involved got a chance to replicate the wild action of the RPG series. We saw real-life heat actions, piledrivers through food boards, and back body drops onto plastic palettes. The most absurd sequence of the entire show came when Kota Ibushi rode a bicycle to the ring. That naturally went wrong fast, turning into a melee weapon inside the ring. This is probably the only time you’ll see someone take a brainbuster on top of a bike in a wrestling match.
Kota Ibushi!
On a bike!
With a pipe!!!
Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS!@IAmJericho | @KennyOmegaManX | @ibushi_kota | @PaulWight | @TheDonCallis | @briancagegmsi | @takesoup | @kylefletcherpro | @TrueWillieHobbs pic.twitter.com/0N2HTYQoyX
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 16, 2023
The Golden Dragons stood tall at the end, with Omega hitting his Final Fantasy-inspired One Winged Angel on Brian Cage for the win. That’s about the tamest way this could have ended, all things considered, so don’t miss the highlight reel.
