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{{Short description|Japanese professional wrestling promotion company}}
: ''This article is about a Japanese wrestling promotion. For the computer game, please see [[Dragon's Gate]].''
{{Other uses|Dragon Gate (disambiguation){{!}}Dragon Gate}}
'''Dragon Gate''' is a [[professional wrestling in Japan|Japanese professional wrestling]] [[wrestling promotion|promotion]] formerly known as [[Toryumon|Toryumon Japan]]. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Ultimo Dragon's [[Toryumon|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.
{{Infobox Wrestling promotion
|name = Dragongate
|image =Logo of Dragongate.png
|acronym =
|established ={{Start date|2004|07|05}}
|style = [[Professional wrestling]]<br />[[Puroresu]]<br />[[Lucha Libre]]
|location = [[Kobe]], Japan
|founder = Takashi Okumura
|owner= Toru Kido
|parent =
|sister = [[Dragon Gate USA]] (2009–2015)<br />Dragon Gate UK (2009–2014)
|split = [[Toryumon (Ultimo Dragon)|Toryumon Japan]]
| website = {{Official URL|https://www.gaora.co.jp/dragongate/}}
}}

'''Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling''', often referred to simply as '''Dragongate''' or '''Dragon Gate''' (ドラゴンゲート, ''Doragongēto''), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded and headquartered in [[Kobe]], [[Hyōgo Prefecture|Hyogo Prefecture]]. Most of the promotion's wrestlers are graduates of its [[Dragongate#Trueborn (Dragongate Dojo)|Dojo]] or [[Último Dragón|Yoshihiro "Último Dragón" Asai]]'s [[Toryumon (Último Dragón)|Toryumon Gym]], and thus the promotion is based on a [[Cruiserweight (professional wrestling)|junior heavyweight style]] with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling, and submission wrestling. The promotion is the byproduct of the original Japanese [[Toryumon (Último Dragón)|Toryumon]] (登龍門, ''Tōryūmon'') promotion.


==History==
==History==
In [[2004]], [[Yoshihiro Asai|Ultimo Dragon]] left the promotion and took the Toryumon name and trademarks with him. The promotion subsequently changed its name to Dragon Gate and declared [[CIMA]] (the last one to hold the Ultimo Dragon Gym Title) its first Open the Dream Gate (singles) Champion. Since then, the promotion has gained a steady following in Japan (as well as a cult following in the United States) and has been in full-time operation since its separation from Toryumon in 2004.
On July 4, 2004, [[Último Dragón]] departed from the [[Toryumon (Último Dragón)|Toryumon Gym]] and seized ownership of the "Toryumon" trademarks. The [[Toryumon (Último Dragón)|Toryumon Japan]] promotion subsequently restructured and changed its name to Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate declared [[Nobuhiko Oshima|Cima]] (the last one to hold the [[Último Dragón Gym Championship]]) to be the inaugural [[Open the Dream Gate Championship|Open the Dream Gate Champion]], thus making him the first champion in the promotion's history.


Dragon Gate would make a TV deal to air on Gaora TV, who was also a shareholder of [[All Japan Pro Wrestling]] after Motoko Baba sold the rights to the company and gave her power to [[Keiji Muto]]. Dragon Gate TV's first episode aired live on July 16, 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cagematch.net/index.php?id=1&nr=4846 |access-date=24 April 2023|website=Cage Match|title=Dragon Gate The Open Gate - Tag 2}}</ref> AJPW TV episodes would also air commercials advertising Dragon Gate's TV debut and would frequently promote future Dragon Gate shows during AJPW commercials, despite there being little interpromotional crossover of AJPW and Dragon Gate in their events. Dragon Gate TV would use an anime intro depicting their wrestlers, the intro's art style being a blend of mainstream anime with [[Fujiko Fujio]]-esque animation.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PacGXhtNVc0 | title=Dragon Gate Anime Intro | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref>
Stars from the promotion have also made appearances on the United States independent wrestling scene, most notably with the [[Ring of Honor]] promotion, where stars from the company competed in the ''Dragon Gate Invasion'' show on August 27th, 2005 in [[Buffalo, New York]] ''Dragon Gate Challenge'' on March 30th, 2006 in [[Detroit, Michigan]] and ''Supercard of Honor'' and ''Better than Our Best'' in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois|IL]] on March 31st and April 1st, 2006, respectively. A six-man match pitting Blood Generation against Do-Fixer at "Supercard of Honor" on March 31st in Chicago Ridge, IL was very well received by both fans and critics, making it one of only a handful of North American matches that wrestling journalist [[Dave Meltzer]] has given a five-star rating. Due to this recent exposure, the promotion seems to have received more attention from North American wrestling fans.


Since its founding, Dragon Gate wrestlers have also made appearances on the [[United States]] [[Independent circuit|independent wrestling circuit]], 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|Detroit, Michigan]] and ''Supercard of Honor'' and ''Better Than Our Best'' in [[Chicago|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 [[Dave Meltzer#Rating system|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.
== Roster ==

The company's roster is split into several factions, with all but a handful of competitors in the promotion aligned with one faction or another. Wrestlers most recognizable to North American fans include [[Dragon Kid]], [[Nobuhiko Oshima|CIMA]], [[Milano Collection AT]], and [[Magnum Tokyo]] (among others). For more information, ''See:'' [[Dragon Gate roster]]
October 12, 2007 Baseball Magazine Sha, the publisher of Puroresu Shukan released Dragon Gate [[trading cards]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrestlingtradingcards.com/japanese/japanese_2007_dragon_gate.html |title=WrestlingTradingCards.com - 2007-2008 Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling Cards |website=www.wrestlingtradingcards.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415210632/http://www.wrestlingtradingcards.com/japanese/japanese_2007_dragon_gate.html |archive-date=2010-04-15}}</ref>

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.

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. Their first show was held on November 1, 2009, in [[Oxford, England]].

On March 21, 2018, Dragon Gate announced the creation of [[#Dragongate Network|Dragon Gate Network]], an on-demand service similar to [[WWE Network]] and [[New Japan Pro-Wrestling World]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://puroresuspirit.net/2018/03/dragon-gate-results-for-march-21-2018/ |title=Dragon Gate Results for March 21, 2018 – Puroresu Spirit |website=puroresuspirit.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325103818/http://puroresuspirit.net/2018/03/dragon-gate-results-for-march-21-2018/ |archive-date=2018-03-25}}</ref> The service officially launched on April 1, 2018.<ref name="DGN Launch">{{cite web|title=Dragon Gate streaming service debut2|url=https://twitter.com/DragonGateEN/status/976343554451582977/|website=Twitter|access-date=2018-03-21|date=2018-03-21}}</ref> 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 headquarter in Shanghai, China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com/new/70822-cambios-en-la-presidencia-de-dragon-gate-y-apertura-de-la-division-internacional-en-china|title=Cambios en la presidencia de Dragon Gate y apertura de la división internacional en China|website=solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com|access-date=24 April 2023}}</ref> In 2019, the promotion celebrated its 20th anniversary. As part of the celebration Último Dragón returned to the promotion in July as a senior advisor. Afterwards, the promotion changed its logo and its parent company Dragon Entertainment would be known as Dragongate Inc. Within the time of all the changes of the promotion, they started to use the combined '''Dragongate''' moniker as its official [[Romanization of Japanese|romaji]] name.

On February 1, 2020, Dragongate announced a working relationship with American promotion [[Major League Wrestling]] (MLW), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.f4wonline.com/mlw-news/mlw-announces-working-relationship-dragon-gate-303256|title=MLW announces working relationship with Dragon Gate|date=February 1, 2020|website=WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results}}</ref>

On December 15, 2023, Dragongate was announced as one of the founding members of the [[United Japan Pro-Wrestling]] alliance, a joint effort to further develop professional wrestling in Japan through promotion and organization, with [[Seiji Sakaguchi]] being named as the chairman of the project.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2023 |title= |script-title=ja:新日、全日、ノアら９団体が「日本プロレスリング連盟」設立　来年５月には設立記念興行も |trans-title=Nine organizations, including NJPW, AJPW, and Noah, establish "United Japan Pro-wrestling"; launching event to be held next May |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/news/202312150000945.html |access-date=January 3, 2024 |website=[[Nikkan Sports]] |language=ja}}</ref>

==Features==
===Dragongate Network===
'''Dragongate Network''' is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dragongate. Development of the on-demand service was announced on March 21, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pwinsider.com/article/116242/all-japan-dragon-gate-streaming-services-updates.html?p=1|title=All Japan, Dragon Gate Streaming Services Updates|date=2018-03-21|access-date=2018-04-01|work=Pro Wrestling Insider}}</ref> Dragongate Network was officially launched on April 1, 2018. It operates similarly to [[WWE Network]], [[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.<ref name="DGN Launch"/>

The service currently includes a Dragongate PPV archive and past pay-per-view events and access to all future pay-per-view events and the Dragongate Studio which includes the Prime Zone events with no additional costs for monthly subscription price of [[Japanese yen|¥]]1,500, as well as access to the Dragongate and [[Toryumon Japan]] video tape archive.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://spora.jp/dragongate/posts/602179|title=Dragon Gate streaming service debut3|date=2018-03-22|access-date=2018-03-22|language=ja}}</ref>

===Trueborn (Dragongate Dojo)===
[[File:SHINGO TAKAGI 2020.02.20.jpg|thumb|175px|[[Shingo Takagi]]]]
[[File:Akira Tozawa 2018.jpg|thumb|175px|[[Akira Tozawa]]]]
The following is a list of Japanese wrestlers who have graduated from the Dragongate Dojo in Kobe, along with the USA Dojo in Houston, Texas. Graduates are regarded as '''Trueborn''', having been trained in the Dragon System exclusively through Dragongate as opposed to the Último Dragón Gym. They are listed in alphabetical order.

====List of wrestlers graduated====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:65%;"
|-
!width=15%|Ring name
!width=15%|Real name
!width=15%|Years Active
!width=15%|Current Company
|-
|[[Akira Tozawa]]
|Akira Tozawa
|2005-Present
|[[WWE]]
|-
|[[Ben-K]]
|Futa Nakamura
|2016-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Big R Shimizu]]
|Ryotsu Shimizu
|2013-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[B×B Hulk]]
|Terumasa Ishihara
|2005-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Cyber Kong]]
|Takashi Yoshida
|2006-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Dragon Dia]]
|
|2018-Presnet
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Eita Kobayashi|Eita]]
|Eita Kobayashi
|2011-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Hyo Watanabe|Hyo]]
|Hyo Watanabe
|2016-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Ishin Iihashi|Ishin]]
|Ishin Iihashi
|2021-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Jacky Kamei]]
|Taketo Kamei
|2019-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Yūki Ōno|Katsuo]]
|Yūki Ōno
|2005-Present
|Hokuto Pro
|-
|Kenshin Chikano
|Kenshin Chikano
|2008-Present
|Dove Pro
|-
|[[Kota Minoura]]
|Kota Minoura
|2018-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|Kotoka
|Kotoka Shiiba
|2009-2018
|Retired
|-
|[[Kouji Shishido|Jackson Florida]]
|Kouji Shishido
|2006-2012
|Retired
|-
|[[Kzy]]
|Kazuki Sawada
|2006-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|Lupin Matsutani
|Kei Matsutani
|2006-2008
|Retired
|-
|[[Madoka Kikuta]]
|Madoka Kikuta
|2020-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Minorita (wrestler)|Minorita]]
|Takumi Hayakawa
|2021-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|Mondai Ryu
|Daisuke Kimata
|2006-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Punch Tominaga]]
|Chihiro Tominaga
|2011-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Shingo Takagi]]
|Shin Takagi
|2004-Present
|[[New Japan Pro Wrestling|NJPW]]
|-
|[[Shun Skywalker]]
|Shun Watanabe
|2015-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Strong Machine J]]
|
|2019-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Tomahawk T.T.|T-Hawk]]
|Takuya Onodera
|2010-Present
|[[Gleat]]
|-
|[[U-T (wrestler)|U-T]]
|Yūta Tanaka
|2013-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Masato Onodera|Yamato]]
|Masato Onodera
|2006-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[Yosuke♡Santa Maria]]
|Yosuke Watanabe
|2006-Present
|Dragon Gate
|-
|[[YO-HEY]]
|Yohei Fujita
|2008-Present
|[[Pro Wrestling Noah|NOAH]]
|}

==Roster==
{{Main|List of Dragongate personnel}}


== Championships ==
== Championships ==
=== Current championships ===
*[[Dragon Gate Open the Dream Gate Championship|Open the Dream Gate Championship]] &mdash; [[Tatsuki Fujii|Don Fujii]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center; font-size:85%;"
*[[Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Championship|Open the Brave Gate Championship]] &mdash; [[Masato Yoshino]]
!Championship
*[[Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate Championship|Open the Triangle Gate Championship]] &mdash; [[Naruki Doi]], [[Masato Yoshino]] and [[Yoshito Sugamoto|Gamma]] (Interim Champions)
!colspan=2 | Current champion(s)
*[[Dragon Gate I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship|I-J Tag Team Championship]] &mdash; Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki
!Reign
!Date won
!Days<br />held<ref name="as-of-today">As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}.</ref>
!Location
!Notes
|-
|[[Open the Dream Gate Championship]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:YAMATO2024.jpg|90px]]
|rowspan=2|[[Yamato (wrestler)|Yamato]]
|[[Open the Dream Gate Championship#Title history|6]]
|July 21, 2024
|{{age in days nts|2024|07|21}}+
|[[Kobe, Japan]]
|align=left|Defeated [[Ben-K]] at ''Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2024''.
|-
|[[Open the Brave Gate Championship]]
|[[Open the Brave Gate Championship#Title history|1]]
|December 15, 2024
|{{age in days nts|2024|12|15}}+
|[[Fukuoka, Japan]]
|align=left|Defeated [[Dragon Dia]] at ''Final Gate 2024''.
|-
|[[Open the Owarai Gate Championship]]
|align=center | [[File:Munenori Sawa.JPG|90px]]
|[[Munenori Sawa|Lingerie Muto]]
|[[Open the Owarai Gate Championship#Title history|1]]
|October 5, 2023
|{{age in days nts|2023|10|05}}+
|[[Tokyo, Japan]]
|align=left|Defeated [[Kikutaro]] at ''DG/Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden Rei ~ Zero ~ Vol. 2''.
|-
|[[Open the Twin Gate Championship]]
|[[File:No image available.svg|90px]]<br>[[File:Jason Lee Brave Gate Jun 2023 1.jpg|90px]]
|Z-Brats<br>{{small|([[Kota Minoura]] and [[Jason Lee (wrestler)|Jason Lee]])}}
|[[Open the Twin Gate Championship|2]]<br />{{small|(2, 3)}}
|December 15, 2024
|{{age in days nts|2024|12|15}}+
|[[Fukuoka, Japan]]
|align=left|Defeated Natural Vibes ([[Flamita]] and [[Kzy]]) at ''Final Gate 2024''.
|-
|[[Open the Triangle Gate Championship]]
|[[File:BxBHulk1.jpg|90px]]<br>[[File:Fumiyuki Hashimoto.jpg|90px]]<br>[[File:横須賀ススム.jpg|90px]]
|align=center |Paradox<br>{{small|([[BxB Hulk]], [[Fumiyuki Hashimoto|Kagetora]] and [[Susumu Yokosuka]])}}
|[[Open the Triangle Gate Championship|1]]<br />{{small|(10, 3, 12)}}
|December 15, 2024
|{{age in days nts|2024|12|15}}+
|[[Fukuoka, Japan]]
|align=left|Defeated Z-Brats ([[Ishin Iihashi|Ishin]], [[Kai (wrestler)|Kai]] and Yoshiki Kato) to win the vacant titles at ''Final Gate 2024''.
|}


== External links ==
=== Defunct Championships ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
*[http://www.gaora.co.jp/dragongate/ Official site in Japanese]
!Championship
!Last champion(s)
!Date won
|-
|align=left|[[WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship|I-J Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[Masaaki Mochizuki]]
|{{dts|2006|11|23}}
|-
|align=left|[[International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship|I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship]]
|[[Muscle Outlaw'z]]<br />{{small|([[Naruki Doi]] and [[Masato Yoshino]])}}
|{{dts|2007|10|12}}
|-
|align=left|Open the Owarai Twin Gate Championship
|[[Don Fujii]] and [[Kikutaro]]
|{{dts|2009|04|12}}
|-
|align=left|[[Open the Freedom Gate Championship]]
|[[Timothy Thatcher]]
|{{dts|2015|7|10}}
|-
|align=left|[[Open the United Gate Championship]]
|[[Rich Swann]] and [[Johnny Gargano]]
|{{dts|2015|05|30}}
|-
|}
<sub>(I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship unified with Open the Twin Gate Championship on October 12, 2007)</sub>

==Events==
===Tournaments===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
!Tournament !! Latest winner(s) !! Date won !! Location !! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|[[King of Gate]]
|[[Kota Minoura]]
|August 3, 2023
|[[Tokyo]]
|style="text-align:left;"|Defeated [[Big Boss Shimizu]] in the tournament final.
|-
|[[Rey de Parejas]]
|[[Dragon Kid]] and [[Naruki Doi]]
|April 10, 2024
|[[Tokyo]]
|style="text-align:left;"|Defeated [[Yamato (wrestler)|Yamato]] and [[Susumu Yokosuka]] in the tournament final.
|}

===Dragon Gate Nex===
'''Dragon Gate Nex''' was a project of Dragongate, which gave young wrestlers of the promotion more experience.

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 would also compete on these shows. The occasional main card member of the roster would compete as well. This was 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 were called "Sanctuary" and were held twice a month. They generally drew an attendance of around 90 fans due to the limited size and space of the venue. There were also special event shows called "Premium," which were the equivalent in atmosphere to a pay-per-view. These shows involved the main card members of the roster and would 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.

==Affiliates==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
! Promotion name
! Location
! Partnered on
! Ref.
! Notes
|- valign="top"
|-
|[[Dragon Gate USA]]
|United States
|2009
|
|Closed in 2015 and purchased by [[WWE]] in 2020.
|-
|[[Dragon Gate UK]]
|United Kingdom
||2009
|
|Never officially closed but has not promoted events since 2014.
|}

== Broadcasters ==
===Current===
'''Domestic:'''
* [[:ja:GAORA|Gaora]] (2004–present, broadcasting monthly shows and live specials and taped shows of Dragon Gate Infinity)
* [[MBS TV]] (2018–present, currently broadcasting weekly highlights show ''Cutting Edge Battle Dragon Gate'')
* [[SKY PerfecTV!]] (2017–present, currently broadcasting live pay-per-view events)
* [[Nico Nico Douga]] (2016–present, streaming untelevised spot-shows and interviews)
'''Worldwide''':
* [[Dragon Gate (wrestling)#Dragongate Network|Dragongate Network]] (2018–present, streaming service, in partnership with Gaora, broadcasting most Dragongate shows live, as well as on-demand classic)

=== Former ===
* [[:ja:FIGHTING TV サムライ|Fighting TV Samurai]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan}}
* [[Gate of Destiny]]
*[[Professional wrestling in Japan]]
*[[List of professional wrestling promotions in Japan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website|http://www.gaora.co.jp/dragongate/}}
*[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/dg/ Toryumon/Dragon Gate Title Histories]
*[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/dg/ Toryumon/Dragon Gate Title Histories]
*[http://dragongate.puroresufan.com/ DGUSA, A Toryumon and Dragon Gate fansite]
*[https://dragongate.live/ Dragon Gate Network]
*[http://www.madsplash.com/ Mad Splash - Not a fan site but has some Toryumon/DG stuff ]


{{Dragon Gate}}
{{Navboxes
|list1=
{{Dragon Gate employees}}
{{Dragon Gate USA}}
{{Professional wrestling in Japan}}
{{Professional wrestling in Japan}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Japanese professional wrestling promotions]]
}}


[[Category:Dragon Gate (wrestling)| ]]
[[ja:DRAGON GATE]]
[[Category:Japanese professional wrestling promotions]]
[[Category:2004 establishments in Japan]]

Latest revision as of 21:03, 15 December 2024

For other uses, see Dragon Gate.
Dragongate
FoundedJuly 5, 2004 (2004-07-05)
StyleProfessional wrestling
Puroresu
Lucha Libre
HeadquartersKobe, Japan
Founder(s)Takashi Okumura
Owner(s)Toru Kido
SisterDragon Gate USA (2009–2015)
Dragon Gate UK (2009–2014)
Split fromToryumon Japan
Websitewww.gaora.co.jp/dragongate/ Edit this at Wikidata

Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling, often referred to simply as Dragongate or Dragon Gate (ドラゴンゲート, Doragongēto), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded and headquartered in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. Most of the promotion's wrestlers are graduates of its Dojo or Yoshihiro "Último Dragón" Asai'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 submission wrestling. The promotion is the byproduct of the original Japanese Toryumon (登龍門, Tōryūmon) promotion.

History

[edit]

On July 4, 2004, Último Dragón departed from the Toryumon Gym and seized ownership of the "Toryumon" trademarks. The Toryumon Japan promotion subsequently restructured and changed its name to Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate declared Cima (the last one to hold the Último Dragón Gym Championship) to be the inaugural Open the Dream Gate Champion, thus making him the first champion in the promotion's history.

Dragon Gate would make a TV deal to air on Gaora TV, who was also a shareholder of All Japan Pro Wrestling after Motoko Baba sold the rights to the company and gave her power to Keiji Muto. Dragon Gate TV's first episode aired live on July 16, 2004.[1] AJPW TV episodes would also air commercials advertising Dragon Gate's TV debut and would frequently promote future Dragon Gate shows during AJPW commercials, despite there being little interpromotional crossover of AJPW and Dragon Gate in their events. Dragon Gate TV would use an anime intro depicting their wrestlers, the intro's art style being a blend of mainstream anime with Fujiko Fujio-esque animation.[2]

Since its founding, Dragon Gate wrestlers have also made appearances on the United States independent wrestling circuit, 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.

October 12, 2007 Baseball Magazine Sha, the publisher of Puroresu Shukan released Dragon Gate trading cards.[3]

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.

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. Their first show was held on November 1, 2009, in Oxford, England.

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.[4] The service officially launched on April 1, 2018.[5] 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 headquarter in Shanghai, China.[6] In 2019, the promotion celebrated its 20th anniversary. As part of the celebration Último Dragón returned to the promotion in July as a senior advisor. Afterwards, the promotion changed its logo and its parent company Dragon Entertainment would be known as Dragongate Inc. Within the time of all the changes of the promotion, they started to use the combined Dragongate moniker as its official romaji name.

On February 1, 2020, Dragongate announced a working relationship with American promotion Major League Wrestling (MLW), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions.[7]

On December 15, 2023, Dragongate was announced as one of the founding members of the United Japan Pro-Wrestling alliance, a joint effort to further develop professional wrestling in Japan through promotion and organization, with Seiji Sakaguchi being named as the chairman of the project.[8]

Features

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Dragongate Network

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Dragongate Network is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dragongate. Development of the on-demand service was announced on March 21, 2018.[9] Dragongate Network was officially launched on April 1, 2018. It operates similarly to WWE Network, 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.[5]

The service currently includes a Dragongate PPV archive and past pay-per-view events and access to all future pay-per-view events and the Dragongate Studio which includes the Prime Zone events with no additional costs for monthly subscription price of ¥1,500, as well as access to the Dragongate and Toryumon Japan video tape archive.[10]

Trueborn (Dragongate Dojo)

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Shingo Takagi
Akira Tozawa

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

List of wrestlers graduated

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Ring name Real name Years Active Current Company
Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa 2005-Present WWE
Ben-K Futa Nakamura 2016-Present Dragon Gate
Big R Shimizu Ryotsu Shimizu 2013-Present Dragon Gate
B×B Hulk Terumasa Ishihara 2005-Present Dragon Gate
Cyber Kong Takashi Yoshida 2006-Present Dragon Gate
Dragon Dia 2018-Presnet Dragon Gate
Eita Eita Kobayashi 2011-Present Dragon Gate
Hyo Hyo Watanabe 2016-Present Dragon Gate
Ishin Ishin Iihashi 2021-Present Dragon Gate
Jacky Kamei Taketo Kamei 2019-Present Dragon Gate
Katsuo Yūki Ōno 2005-Present Hokuto Pro
Kenshin Chikano Kenshin Chikano 2008-Present Dove Pro
Kota Minoura Kota Minoura 2018-Present Dragon Gate
Kotoka Kotoka Shiiba 2009-2018 Retired
Jackson Florida Kouji Shishido 2006-2012 Retired
Kzy Kazuki Sawada 2006-Present Dragon Gate
Lupin Matsutani Kei Matsutani 2006-2008 Retired
Madoka Kikuta Madoka Kikuta 2020-Present Dragon Gate
Minorita Takumi Hayakawa 2021-Present Dragon Gate
Mondai Ryu Daisuke Kimata 2006-Present Dragon Gate
Punch Tominaga Chihiro Tominaga 2011-Present Dragon Gate
Shingo Takagi Shin Takagi 2004-Present NJPW
Shun Skywalker Shun Watanabe 2015-Present Dragon Gate
Strong Machine J 2019-Present Dragon Gate
T-Hawk Takuya Onodera 2010-Present Gleat
U-T Yūta Tanaka 2013-Present Dragon Gate
Yamato Masato Onodera 2006-Present Dragon Gate
Yosuke♡Santa Maria Yosuke Watanabe 2006-Present Dragon Gate
YO-HEY Yohei Fujita 2008-Present NOAH

Roster

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Main article: List of Dragongate personnel

Championships

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Current championships

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Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days
held[11] 		Location Notes
Open the Dream Gate Championship Yamato 6 July 21, 2024 156+ Kobe, Japan Defeated Ben-K at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2024.
Open the Brave Gate Championship 1 December 15, 2024 9+ Fukuoka, Japan Defeated Dragon Dia at Final Gate 2024.
Open the Owarai Gate Championship Lingerie Muto 1 October 5, 2023 446+ Tokyo, Japan Defeated Kikutaro at DG/Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden Rei ~ Zero ~ Vol. 2.
Open the Twin Gate Championship
Z-Brats
(Kota Minoura and Jason Lee) 		2
(2, 3) 		December 15, 2024 9+ Fukuoka, Japan Defeated Natural Vibes (Flamita and Kzy) at Final Gate 2024.
Open the Triangle Gate Championship

Paradox
(BxB Hulk, Kagetora and Susumu Yokosuka) 		1
(10, 3, 12) 		December 15, 2024 9+ Fukuoka, Japan Defeated Z-Brats (Ishin, Kai and Yoshiki Kato) to win the vacant titles at Final Gate 2024.

Defunct Championships

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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

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

Events

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Tournaments

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Tournament Latest winner(s) Date won Location Notes
King of Gate Kota Minoura August 3, 2023 Tokyo Defeated Big Boss Shimizu in the tournament final.
Rey de Parejas Dragon Kid and Naruki Doi April 10, 2024 Tokyo Defeated Yamato and Susumu Yokosuka in the tournament final.

Dragon Gate Nex

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Dragon Gate Nex was a project of Dragongate, which gave young wrestlers of the promotion more experience.

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 would also compete on these shows. The occasional main card member of the roster would compete as well. This was 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 were called "Sanctuary" and were held twice a month. They generally drew an attendance of around 90 fans due to the limited size and space of the venue. There were also special event shows called "Premium," which were the equivalent in atmosphere to a pay-per-view. These shows involved the main card members of the roster and would 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.

Affiliates

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Promotion name Location Partnered on Ref. Notes
Dragon Gate USA United States 2009 Closed in 2015 and purchased by WWE in 2020.
Dragon Gate UK United Kingdom 2009 Never officially closed but has not promoted events since 2014.

Broadcasters

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Current

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Domestic:

  • Gaora (2004–present, broadcasting monthly shows and live specials and taped shows of Dragon Gate Infinity)
  • MBS TV (2018–present, currently broadcasting weekly highlights show Cutting Edge Battle Dragon Gate)
  • SKY PerfecTV! (2017–present, currently broadcasting live pay-per-view events)
  • Nico Nico Douga (2016–present, streaming untelevised spot-shows and interviews)

Worldwide:

  • Dragongate Network (2018–present, streaming service, in partnership with Gaora, broadcasting most Dragongate shows live, as well as on-demand classic)

Former

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dragon Gate The Open Gate - Tag 2". Cage Match. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Dragon Gate Anime Intro". YouTube.
  3. ^ "WrestlingTradingCards.com - 2007-2008 Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling Cards". www.wrestlingtradingcards.com. Archived from the original on 2010-04-15.
  4. ^ "Dragon Gate Results for March 21, 2018 – Puroresu Spirit". puroresuspirit.net. Archived from the original on 2018-03-25.
  5. ^ a b "Dragon Gate streaming service debut2". Twitter. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  6. ^ "Cambios en la presidencia de Dragon Gate y apertura de la división internacional en China". solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ^ "MLW announces working relationship with Dragon Gate". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. February 1, 2020.
  8. ^ 新日、全日、ノアら９団体が「日本プロレスリング連盟」設立　来年５月には設立記念興行も [Nine organizations, including NJPW, AJPW, and Noah, establish "United Japan Pro-wrestling"; launching event to be held next May]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). December 15, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  9. ^ "All Japan, Dragon Gate Streaming Services Updates". Pro Wrestling Insider. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  10. ^ "Dragon Gate streaming service debut3" (in Japanese). 2018-03-22. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  11. ^ As of December 24, 2024.
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