Dragon Gate (wrestling)


Dragon Gate Inc. operating as Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling and often referred to as Dragon Gate, 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.

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 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. The service officially launched on April 1, 2018. On May 7, 2018, Okamura left his job as President. Toru Kido became the new President and Nobuhiko Oshima became the President of Dragon Gate Inc., the international department with the HQ in Shangai, China. 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, which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions.

Dragon Gate Network

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. 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.
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.

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 nameReal nameNotes
Akira TozawaAkira Tozawa
Big R ShimizuYuki Shimizu
BxB HulkTerumasa Ishihara
Cyber KongTakashi Yoshida
EitaEita Kobayashi
KatsuoYūki Ōno
Kenshin ChikanoKenshin Chikano
KotokaKotoka ShiibaRetired
Jackson FloridaKouji ShishidoRetired
KzyKazuki Sawada
Lupin MatsutaniKei MatsutaniRetired
Mondai RyuDaisuke Kimata
Punch TominagaChihiro Tominaga
Shingo TakagiShingo Takagi
T-HawkTakuya Onodera
U-TYūta Tanaka
YamatoMasato Onodera
Yosuke♥Santa MariaYosuke Watanabe
Yo-HeyYohei Fujita

Roster

Wrestlers

Staff

Championships

Defunct Championships
ChampionshipLast championDate won
I-J Heavyweight ChampionshipMasaaki Mochizuki
I-J Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipMuscle Outlaw'z
Open the Owarai Twin Gate ChampionshipDon Fujii and Kikutaro
Open the Freedom Gate ChampionshipTimothy Thatcher
Open the United Gate ChampionshipRich Swann and Johnny Gargano
Open the Owarai Gate ChampionshipShingo Takagi

Annual tournaments

TournamentLast winnerLast held
King of GateBen-K
Summer Adventure Tag LeagueOver Generation

Affiliates