operating as and often referred to simply as Dragon Gate (also stylized as Dragongate (ラゴンゲート, Doragongēto)), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as
Toryumon Japan. Most of the promotion's wrestlers are graduates of its
Dojo
A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...
or
Último Dragón
(born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the "Asa ...
'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.
History
On July 4, 2004,
Último Dragón
(born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the "Asa ...
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
The Open the Dream Gate Championship is a professional wrestling championship, world championship created and promoted by the Japan, Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate. The wrestler who holds ...
, thus making him the first champion in the promotion's history.
Since its founding, Dragon Gate wrestlers have also made appearances on the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
independent wrestling circuit, including
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
which held a ''Dragon Gate Invasion'' show on August 27, 2005, in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, ''Dragon Gate Challenge'' on March 30, 2006, in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
and ''Supercard of Honor'' and ''Better Than Our Best'' in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
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
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...
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
A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...
.
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
Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2009 as an international expansion of the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate.
Gabe Sapolsky, former head booker of Ring of Honor, served as the promotion's Vice Pr ...
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
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
.
On March 21, 2018, Dragon Gate announced the creation of
Dragon Gate Network
operating as and often referred to simply as Dragon Gate (also stylized as Dragongate (ラゴンゲート, Doragongēto)), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of the promotion's wrestlers are ...
, an on-demand service similar to
WWE Network
WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...
and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling World
, also referred to as NJPW World and New Japan World, is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). On December 1, 2014, NJPW and its minority owner TV Asahi a ...
. 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 (professional wrestler Cima) 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. 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
Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...
(MLW), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions.
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. Dragon Gate Network was officially launched on April 1, 2018. Dragongate Network operates similarly to
WWE Network
WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...
and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...
's
NJPW World
, also referred to as NJPW World and New Japan World, is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). On December 1, 2014, NJPW and its minority owner TV Asahi ...
and most notably
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
's
Honor Club
Honor Club is an OTT streaming service owned by professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. Development of a VOD service was announced on November 9, 2017 by ROH COO Joe Koff. Honor Club was formally announced on February 2, 2018 and the ser ...
, in that
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
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 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 ¥1500, as well as access to the Dragongate and
Toryumon Japan video tape archive.
Dragon Gate Nex
Dragon Gate Nex was a project of Dragongate, which gave young wrestlers of the promotion 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 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.
Dragon Gate Trueborn (Dragon Gate Dojo)
![Akira Tozawa 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Akira_Tozawa_2018.jpg)
The following is a list of Japanese wrestlers who have graduated from the Dragongate Dojo in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 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 Ultimo Dragon Gym. They are listed in alphabetical order.
List of wrestlers graduated
Roster
Championships and accomplishments
Current championships
As of , .
Defunct Championships
(I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship unified with Open the Twin Gate Championship on October 12, 2007)
Annual tournaments
Affiliates
Broadcasters
Domestic:
*
Gaora (2004–present, broadcasting monthly shows and live specials and taped shows of Dragon Gate Infinity)
*
MBS TV
JOOY-DTV, virtual channel 4 (Ultra high frequency, UHF Digital terrestrial television, digital channel 16), branded as (formerly until 23 July 2011), is the Kansai region flagship (broadcasting), key station of the Japan News Network, owned by ...
(2018–present, currently broadcasting weekly highlights show ''Cutting Edge Battle Dragon Gate'')
*
SKY PerfecTV!
is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation
The SKY Perfect JSAT Group is ...
(2017–present, currently broadcasting live pay-per-view events)
*
Nico Nico Douga (2016–present, streaming untelevised spot-shows and interviews)
Worldwide:
*
Dragongate Network (streaming service, in partnership with Gaora, broadcasting most Dragongate shows live, as well as on-demand classic)
Former
*
Fighting TV Samurai
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
See also
*
Professional wrestling in Japan
Professional wrestling in Japan has existed for many years. The first Japanese to involve himself in catch wrestling, the basis of traditional professional wrestling, was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda. There were subsequent attempts before ...
*
List of professional wrestling promotions in Japan
This is a list of professional wrestling promotions in Japan which includes both national and independent puroresu and joshi companies from the post-World War II period up to the present day.
Major promotions Puroresu
Joshi
Independent promo ...
References
External links
*
Toryumon/Dragon Gate Title HistoriesDragon Gate Network
{{Authority control
Japanese professional wrestling promotions
2004 establishments in Japan