The Open The Dream Gate Championship is the top singles championship in Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling. The title belt is unique in that it has a faceplate that holds the current champion’s name. Challengers for the title carry a key that they can use to “open the gate”, unlocking the faceplate to replace the prior champion’s nameplate with their own if they win. But if the champion successfully defends, they get the key and hang it on the belt as the mark of a successful defense. Before the coronavirus pandemic (and maybe still) championship matches were treated as major events with elaborate pre-match ceremonies including the playing of the Japanese national anthem. The title was first awarded in September 2004 when CIMA became the first champion.
As of 7/21/2024 there have been 40 Open The Dream Gate Champions. They are listed below in order of reign, which reign it was (some won it multiple times), length of reign and number of successful defenses.
1-CIMA. 1st reign. Length: 9/17/2004-12/16/2004. Successful defenses: None.
2-Masaaki Mochizuki. 1st reign. Length: 12/16/2004-11/14/2005. Successful defenses: 4.
3-Magnitude Kishiwada. 1st reign. Length: 11/14/2005-2/24/2006. Successful defenses: 2.
4-Ryo Saito. 1st reign. Length: 2/24/2006-4/23/2006. Successful defenses: None.
5-Susumu Yokosuka (Susumu Mochizuki). 1st reign. Length: 4/23/2006-11/23/2006. Successful defenses: 3.
6-Don Fujii. 1st reign. Length: 11/23/2006-3/25/2007. Successful defenses: 1.
7-Jushin Liger. 1st reign. Length: 3/25/2007-7/1/2007. Successful defenses: 1.
8-CIMA. 2nd reign. Length: 7/1/2007-6/29/2008. Successful defenses: 6. Vacated title on 6/29/2008 due to injury.
9-Shingo Takagi. 1st reign. Length: 7/27/2008-12/28/2008. Successful defenses: 3.
10-Naruki Doi. 1st reign. Length: 12/28/2008-3/22/2010. Successful defenses: 8.
11-YAMATO. 1st reign. Length: 3/22/2010-7/11/2010. Successful defenses: 3.
12-Masato Yoshino. 1st reign. Length: 7/11/2010-4/14/2011. Successful defenses: 4.
13-Masaaki Mochizuki. 2nd reign. Length: 4/14/2011-12/25/2011. Successful defenses: 6.
14-CIMA. 3rd reign. Length: 12/25/2011-7/21/2013. Successful defenses: 15.
15-Shingo Takagi. 2nd reign. Length: 7/21/2013-8/23/2013. Successful defenses: None.
16-YAMATO. 2nd reign. Length: 8/23/2013-10/10/2013. Successful defenses: 1.
17-Masato Yoshino. 2nd reign. Length: 10/10/2013-3/2/2014. Successful defenses: 3.
18-Ricochet. 1st reign. Length: 3/2/2014-5/5/2014. Successful defenses: 1.
19-YAMATO. 3rd reign. Length: 5/5/2014-7/20/2014. Successful defenses: 2.
20-BxB Hulk. 1st reign. Length: 7/20/2014-6/14/2015. Successful defenses: 7. From 8/5/2014-8/17/2014 Naruki Doi was recognized as interim champion after beating Hulk in an elimination handicap match. Hulk beat Doi on 8/17/2014 to become full champion again and abolish interim championship.
21-Masato Yoshino. 3rd reign. Length: 6/14/2015-8/16/2015. Successful defenses: 1.
22-Shingo Takagi. 3rd reign. Length: 8/16/2015-2/14/2016. Successful defenses: 3. One additional defense ended in a no contest.
23-Jimmy Susumu (Susumu Mochizuki). 2nd reign. Length: 2/14/2016-3/6/2016. Succesful defenses: None.
24-Shingo Takagi. 4th reign. Length: 3/6/2016-7/24/2016. Successful defenses: 1.
25-YAMATO. 4th reign. Length: 7/24/2016-9/18/2017. Successful defenses: 6.
26-Masaaki Mochizuki. 3rd reign. Length: 9/18/2017-6/10/2018. Successful defenses: 5.
27-Masato Yoshino. 4th reign. Length: 6/10/2018-12/4/2018. Successful defenses: 4.
28-Pac. 1st reign. Length: 12/4/2018-8/21/2019. Successful defenses: 2.
29-Ben-K. 1st reign. Length: 8/21/2019-12/15/2019. Successful defenses: 3.
30-Naruki Doi. 2nd reign. Length: 13/15/2019-8/2/2020. Successful defenses: 2.
31-Eita. 1st reign. Length: 8/2/2020-11/15/2020. Successful defenses: 1.
32-Shun Skywalker. 1st reign. Length: 11/15/2020-8/1/2021. Successful defenses: 5.
33-YAMATO. 5th reign. Length: 8/1/2021-12/26/2021. Successful defenses: 3.
34-KAI. 1st reign. Length: 12/26/2021-7/30/2022. Successful defenses: 3. One additional defense ended in a no contest.
35-Yuki Yoshioka. 1st reign. Length: 7/30/2022-1/13/2023. Successful defenses: 5.
36-Shun Skywalker. 2nd reign. Length: 1/13/2023-5/5/2023. Successful defenses: 1.
37-Madoka Kikuta. 1st reign. Length: 5/5/2023-12/24/2023. Successful defenses: 3.
38-Luis Mante. 1st reign. Length: 12/24/2023-6/4/2024. Successful defenses: 3. Won title in 3-way match.
39-Ben-K. 2nd reign. Length: 6/4/2024-7/21/2024. Successful defenses: None.
40-YAMATO. 6th reign. Length: 7/21/2024-Present (Current Champion). Successful defenses: 3. Next defense: TBA.
