Dragon Gate (wrestling)

Dragon Gate Inc. (DRAGONGATE株式会社, Doragon Gēto kabushiki-gaisha) operating as Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling (ドラゴンゲートプロレス, Doragon Gēto Puroresu) and often referred to as Dragon Gate (ドラゴンゲート, Doragon Gēto), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling, and submissions.

Dragon Gate
FoundedJuly 5, 2004
StyleProfessional wrestling
Puroresu
Lucha Libre
HeadquartersKobe, Japan
Founder(s)Takashi Okumura
Owner(s)Takashi Okumura
ParentGaora
SisterDragon Gate USA (2009–2015)
Dragon Gate UK (2009–2014)
FormerlyToryumon Japan
Websitewww.gaora.co.jp/dragongate/

History

On July 4, 2004 Último Dragón left the Toryumon Gym in Mexico and took the name and trademarks with him. The promotion subsequently changed its name to Dragon Gate and declared Cima (the last one to hold the Último Dragón Gym Championship) its first Open the Dream Gate Champion.

Wrestlers from the promotion have also made appearances on the United States independent wrestling scene, including Ring of Honor which held a Dragon Gate Invasion show on August 27, 2005, in Buffalo, New York, Dragon Gate Challenge on March 30, 2006, in Detroit, Michigan and Supercard of Honor and Better Than Our Best in Chicago, Illinois on March 31 and April 1, 2006, respectively. A six-man match pitting Cima, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino against Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi at Supercard of Honor is one of only a handful of North American matches that wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has given a five-star rating. Both Ring of Honor's All Star Extravaganza III on March 30 and Supercard of Honor II on March 31, 2007, in Detroit, Michigan featured Dragon Gate in the main events.

In 2008, Dragon Gate promoted their first set of shows in the United States. The first show took place in Los Angeles on September 5 and featured El Generico, Necro Butcher, and Kendo. Their second show was in Hawaii on September 8. In 2009, Dragon Gate debuted in the United Kingdom. Their first show was held on November 1, 2009, in Oxford, England.

Japan's Dragon Gate promotion announced its expansion into the United States with Dragon Gate USA on April 14, 2009, at the Korakuen Hall event in Tokyo.

Also in 2009 it was announced that they created another branch promotion Dragon Gate UK.

On March 21, 2018, Dragon Gate announced the creation of Dragon Gate Network, an on-demand service similar to WWE Network and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World.[1] The service officially launched on April 1, 2018.[2] On May 7, 2018, Okamura left his job as President. Toru Kido became the new President and Nobuhiko Oshima (professional wrestler Cima) became the President of Dragon Gate Inc., the international department with the HQ in Shangai, China.[3] In 2019, the promotion celebrated its 20th anniversary. As part of the celebration Ultimo Dragon returned to the promotion in July as a senior advisor. Afterwards, the promotion changed its logo and Dragon Entertainment would be known as Dragon Gate Inc.

On February 1, 2020, Dragon Gate announced a working relationship with American promotion Major League Wrestling (MLW), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions.[4]

Dragon Gate Network

Dragon Gate Network
LaunchedApril 1, 2018
Owned byDragon Gate
Websitedragongate.live

Dragon Gate Network is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dragon Gate. Development of the on-demand service was announced on March 21, 2018.[5] Dragon Gate Network was officially launched on April 1, 2018. Dragon Gate Network operates similarly to WWE Network and New Japan Pro Wrestling's NJPW World and most notably Ring of Honor's Honor Club, in that pay-per-view events are available to stream through the service, but unlike its aforementioned competitors, some membership tiers must pay extra for these events.[2]

The service currently has two tiers. The regular tier, which includes Dragon Gate PPV archive and past pay-per-view events and access to all future pay-per-view events and the Dragon Gate Studio which includes the Prime Zone events with no additional costs for monthly subscription price of ¥1500. The Light tier costs ¥999 monthly and contain access to the Dragon Gate and Toryumon Japan video tape archive.[6]

Dragon Gate Nex

Dragon Gate Nex is a project of Dragon Gate, which gives young wrestlers the promotion of more experience.

History

In mid-2006, the NEX project was announced. It would be a series of shows and events that would focus primarily on the recent graduates of the Dragon Gate Dojo, allowing for them to further gain experience in ability while also being seen as the main attraction of a show. Virtually all of the shows take place in the Dragon Gate Arena, the main training ring at the Dragon Gate offices in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.

In addition to the recent graduates, comedy characters, gaijin talent, and any freelance wrestler currently on tour in Japan will also compete on these shows. The occasional main card member of the roster will compete as well. This is done to further enhance the experience to be gained for the trainees and teach the outsiders how to compete in the Dragon System of wrestling.

The vast majority of NEX shows are called "Sanctuary" and are held twice a month. They generally draw an attendance of around 90 fans due to the limited size and space of the venue. There are also special event shows called "Premium," which are the equivalent in atmosphere to a pay-per-view. These shows involve the main card members of the roster and will draw up to 100 in attendance. Early in NEX, they ran two anniversary shows at Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan, although this has since been discontinued.

Dragon Gate Trueborn (Dragon Gate Dojo)

The following is a list of Japanese wrestlers who have graduated from the Dragon Gate Dojo in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, along with the USA Dojo in Houston, Texas. Graduates are regarded as Dragon Gate Trueborn, having been trained in the Dragon System exclusively through Dragon Gate as opposed to the Ultimo Dragon Gym. They are listed in alphabetical order.

List of wrestlers graduated

Ring name Real name Notes
Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa
Big R Shimizu Yuki Shimizu
BxB Hulk Terumasa Ishihara
Cyber Kong Takashi Yoshida
Eita Eita Kobayashi
Katsuo Yūki Ōno
Kenshin Chikano Kenshin Chikano
Kotoka Kotoka Shiiba Retired
Jackson Florida Kouji Shishido Retired
Kzy Kazuki Sawada
Lupin Matsutani Kei Matsutani Retired
Mondai Ryu Daisuke Kimata
Punch Tominaga Chihiro Tominaga
Shingo Takagi Shingo Takagi
T-Hawk Takuya Onodera
U-T Yūta Tanaka
Yamato Masato Onodera
Yosuke♥Santa Maria Yosuke Watanabe
Yo-Hey Yohei Fujita

Roster

Wrestlers

Ring name Real name Notes
Ben-K Futa Nakamura
Big R Shimizu Yuki Shimizu
"brother" YASSHI Yasushi Tsujimoto
BxB Hulk Terumasa Ishihara Open the Twin Gate Champion
Diamante Open the Triangle Gate Champion
Don Fujii Tatsuki Fuji
Dragon Dia
Dragon Kid Nobuyoshi Nakamura
Eita Eita Kobayashi
Gamma Yoshito Sugamoto
Genki Horiguchi Hiromasa Horiguchi
HYO Hyou Watanabe Open the Triangle Gate Champion
Jason Lee Freelancer
Kagetora Fumiyuki Hashimoto
KAI
Kaito Ishida Kaito Ishida Open the Brave Gate Champion
Katsumi Takashima Katsumi Takashima
Kazma Sakamoto Kazma Sakamoto Open the Twin Gate Champion
Kenichiro Arai Kenichiro Arai Sporadic appearances
K-ness Makoto Saitō
Kono Mama Ichikawa Kanji Ichikawa Sporadic appearances
Kota Minoura
Kzy Kazuki Sawada
Masaaki Mochizuki Masaaki Mochizuki
Masato Yoshino Masato Yoshino
Mondai Ryu Daisuke Kimata
Naruki Doi Naruki Doi Open the Dream Gate Champion
Oji Shiiba
Punch Tominaga Chihiro Tominaga
Ryo Saito Ryo Saito
Shachihoko Boy Unknown
Shun Skywalker Shun Watanabe
Super Shisa Yoshiyuki Saito Sporadic appearances
Super Strong Machine F
Super Strong Machine G
Super Strong Machine J
Susumu Yokosuka Susumu Mochizuki
Takashi Yoshida Takashi Yoshida Open the Triangle Gate Champion
Ultimo Dragon Yoshihiro Asai
U-T Yūta Tanaka
YAMATO Masato Onodera
Yasushi Kanda Yasushi Kanda
Yosuke Santa Maria Yosuke Watanabe
Yuki Yoshioka Yuki Yoshioka

Staff

Name Role
Eiichi Fujimoto Photographer
Katsuya Ichikawa Play-by-play commentary and backstage interviewer
Mr. Nakagawa Referee
Naoto Kikuchi Ring announcer
Takashi Okamura President
Takayuki Yagi Referee and general manager
Toru Kido Senior managing director and commissioner
Último Dragón Senior advisor
Also wrestler[7]
Yatsuka Nakazawa Dragon Gate Records

Championships

ChampionshipCurrent champion(s)ReignDate wonDays heldLocationNotes
Open the Dream Gate Championship Naruki Doi 2 December 15, 2019 195+ Fukuoka, Japan Defeated Ben-K at The Final Gate.
Open the Brave Gate Championship Kaito Ishida 1 November 4, 2019 236+ Osaka, Japan Defeated Susumu Yokosuka at Gate of Destiny 2019.
Open the Twin Gate Championship R.E.D.
(BxB Hulk and Kazma Sakamoto)
1
(7, 1)
January 15, 2020 164+ Tokyo, Japan Defeated Team Dragon Gate (Yamato and Ben-K) for the vacant title at Open The New Year's Gate.
Open the Triangle Gate Championship Team Dragon Gate
(Dragon Dia, Ben-K and Super Strong Machine J)
1
(1, 2, 2)
February 29, 2020 119+ Osaka, Japan Defeated R.E.D (HYO, Diamante and Takashi Yoshida) at The Champion Gate.

Defunct Championships

Championship Last champion(s) Date won
I-J Heavyweight Championship Masaaki Mochizuki November 23, 2006
I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Muscle Outlaw'z
(Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino)
October 12, 2007
Open the Owarai Twin Gate Championship Don Fujii and Kikutaro April 12, 2009
Open the Freedom Gate Championship Timothy Thatcher July 10, 2015
Open the United Gate Championship Rich Swann and Johnny Gargano May 30, 2015
Open the Owarai Gate Championship Shingo Takagi March 7, 2018

(I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship unified with Open the Twin Gate Championship on October 12, 2007)

Annual tournaments

Tournament Last winner Last held
King of Gate Ben-K June 8, 2019
Summer Adventure Tag League Over Generation
(Eita and Dragon Kid)
September 10, 2016

Affiliates

Promotion name Location Partnered on Ref. Notes
Dragon Gate USA United States 2009 Closed in 2015
Dragon Gate UK United Kingdom 2009 No events since 2014

See also

References

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