Dragon Gate ran their monthly Tokyo event today, which also was a 20th Anniversary event for BxB Hulk.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1376)
Match 1: Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer), Genki Horiguchi & Don Fujii beat Yasushi Kanda, Toru Owashi, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Kid pinned Tominaga after Bible.
Match 2: Masaaki Mochizuki, Ryu Fuda & Akihiro Sahara beat Strong Machine J, U-T & Ho Ho Lun. Mochizuki pinned Lun after Twister.
Match 3: Ben-K, Riiita, Mochizuki Junior, Hyo & Luis Mante beat KAI, ISHIN, Jason Lee, Yoshiki Kato & Homare. Ben-K pinned Kato after a spear.
Match 4: Yuki Yoshioka beat Gianni Valetta by DQ.
Match 5: BxB Hulk 20th Anniversary Match: BxB Hulk, Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro) & Yoshitomo Shimohigashi beat Susumu Yokosuka, Kzy & Katsuo. Hulk pinned Katsuo after First Flash. Fans were allowed to throw streamers for Hulk for the first time in Dragon Gate since before the pandemic.
Match 6: Open The Brave Gate Champion YAMATO beat Daiki Yanagoichi by ref stoppage (towel) to retain the title. V1 for YAMATO. But…the title is now VACANT. YAMATO vacated the title afterwards. More when I find out additional details but it’s almost certainly because YAMATO is also the current Open The Dream Gate Champion so it’s not really feasible to be a double champion, which is backed up by history in the promotion.
Main Event: Shun Skywalker, Kota Minoura & Dia Inferno beat Dragon Dia, Madoka Kikuta & Ryoya Tanaka. Inferno pinned Dia.
The next event is Saturday at Nagasaki Peace Hall in Nagasaki. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.
UPDATE: Following this event, the first match for DEAD OR ALIVE 2025 on 5/5 has been announced: The (usually) annual Mascara Contra Cabellera Steel Cage Match. This year’s participants are Yuki Yoshioka, Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia, Shun Skywalker, Kota Minoura & ISHIN. Participants “survive” by escaping the cage, the last man left in the ring loses the match and also loses his hair, or if it’s Skywalker he loses his mask. The last 2 years Skywalker has “won” with help from Z-Brats and first took Diamante’s mask (he’s now Luis Mante) and last year it was Hyo’s hair, which now has mostly grown back.
Announced for the next Korakuen on 5/9 is Ben-K, Riiita, JACKY KAMEI & Mochizuki Junior vs. Strong Machine J, Kzy, U-T & Flamita in a Hyo Contra Hyo match. Hyo must join the winning faction, meaning either Gold Class or Natural Vibes gets him.
UPDATE 2: A tournament to crown a new Open The Brave Gate Champion has been announced. It will be an 8-man single elimination tournament starting this weekend and ending at DEAD OR ALIVE 2025 on 5/5. The matches are as follows:
4/13 (first event): Riiita vs. Ryoya Tanaka
4/13 (second event): Hyo vs. Ryu Fuda
4/19: U-T vs. Yosuke<3Santamaria, JACKY KAMEI vs. Homare
4/26: Semifinals (Riiita/Tanaka vs. U-T/Santamaria, Hyo/Fuda vs. KAMEI/Homare)
5/5: Finals
