Dragon Gate
- This article is about the Japanese wrestling promotion. For the American branch of DRAGON GATE, see Dragon Gate USA. For the computer game, please see Dragon's Gate.
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| Acronym | DG |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Style | Professional wrestling Puroresu Lucha Libre |
| Headquarters | Kobe, Japan |
| Founder(s) | Último Dragón |
| Formerly | Toryumon Japan |
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 is often associated with Mexico, as it is based on Mexican wrestling style, and many wrestlers in Dragon Gate went to Mexico to train there when they were beginners. Dragon Gate's main wrestlers often describe Mexico as their "mecca".
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[edit] History
In 2004, Último Dragón 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 Último Dragón Gym Championship) 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.
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 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 of the stable Blood Generation against Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi of the stable Do-Fixer at "Supercard of Honor" on March 31 in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, 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.
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.
Dragon Gate has appeared frequently with Hawaii's Action Zone Wrestling AZW Hawaii with their first appearance happening on Sept. 5, 2007 at the event titled "Showdown". CIMA, Dragon Kid, Susumu Yokosuka, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk and Shingo Takagi have all appeared on AZW live events since then.
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 [1] and featured El Generico, Necro Butcher, and Kendo. Their second show was in Hawaii on September 8.
In 2009, Dragon Gate announced it will be making its debut in the United Kingdom with shows promoted with British wrestler Mark Sloan making. 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. It named Satoshi Oji as the President and Gabe Sapolsky (former Ring of Honor booker) as the Vice President of Dragon Gate USA.
[edit] Dragon Gate NEX
Dragon Gate NEX is a project of Dragon Gate, which gives the promising young wrestlers of the promotion the opportunity to collect in addition to the Dragon Gate main show, some experience. Done at the time of Toryumon in Mexico, it will take place at Dragon Gate Dragon Gate in the (training) Arena in the home city of Kobe. At Dragon Gate NEX not only newcomers but also some familiar faces from the main squad can be seen from time to time.
[edit] Roster
The company's roster is split into several units, with the majority of the wrestlers aligned with one faction or another. [1]
[edit] Championships
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Date won |
|---|---|---|
| Open the Dream Gate | CIMA | December 25, 2011 |
| Open the Triangle Gate | Vacated | January 19, 2012 |
| Open the Brave Gate | Ricochet | November 19, 2011 |
| Open the Twin Gate | Blood Warriors (Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk) |
December 1, 2011 |
| Open the Owarai Gate | Rich Swann | November 5, 2011 |
Defunct Championships
| Championship | Last Champion(s) | Date won |
|---|---|---|
| I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship | Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino | October 12, 2007 |
(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 | BxB Hulk | May 21, 2011 |
| Summer Adventure Tag League | Blood Warriors (Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk) |
August 7, 2011 |
[edit] References
- ^ USA, Dragon Gate (2009-07-23). "Dragon Gate USA". dgusa.tv. http://www.dgusa.tv/featurearticles9.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
[edit] External links
- Official site in Japanese
- Toryumon/Dragon Gate Title Histories
- Dragon Gate USA Home Page
- I Heart DG Fan Site
- Dragon Gate European Tour in Spain
- Dragon Gate UK Home Page
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