Tag: dragon gate pro wrestling

Dragon Gate wrapped up the KING OF GATE 2025 Tournament today in Tokyo with the Semifinals and Finals.

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.

KING OF GATE Semifinals:
Match 1: Gianni Valletta beat Riiita.
Match 2: ISHIN beat Yuki Yoshioka.

Match 3: Hyo, JACKY KAMEI, Ben-K, Movhizuki Junior & Ho Ho Lun beat Dragon Dia, Ryoya Tanaka, Daiki Yanagiuchi, Ryu Fuda & Kazuma Kimura. Junior pinned Yanagiuvhi with a German suplex hold.

Match 4: Punch Tominaga beat Joe Shinbashi.

Match 5: Strong Machine J, Kzy, U-T & El Cucuy beat BxB Hulk, KAGETORA, Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) & Luis Mante. U-T pinned KAGETORA after Passion.

Match 6: Shun Skywalker & El Cielo beat YAMATO & Dragon Kid. Coro pinned Kid after a spinning tombstone piledriver.

Match 7: Madoka Kikuta, Kota Minoura, Jason Lee, KAI & Yoshiki Kato beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fuji, Genki Hiroyuki, Suzuki Yokosuka & Yasushi Kanda. Minoura pinned Horiguchi after Gang.

Main Event: KING OF GATE Finals: Gianni Valletta beat ISHIN to win the tournament. As a result, Valletta gets the next Open The Dream Gate Championship match against Madoka Kikuta. That match will happen on 12/16.

The next event is tomorrow at Hakodate Arena in Hokkaido. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

Dragon Gate has announced an injury change to upcoming events as KING OF GATE has been quite the physical tournament this year-after being eliminated at today’s event, YAMATO is now sidelined for a bit. Neck. Out indefinitely but at least a week and will miss the next 2 events on 11/29 & 11/30. He was injured during his KING OF GATE Quarterfinals loss to Riiita, who won by ref stoppage to advance to the Semifinals. That on top of Dragon Dia also being out indefinitely with a neck injury. Kota Minoura additionally remains out due to a concussion suffered on 11/15.

On his social media, YAMATO also mentioned forearm numbness and hopes to return at the next Tokyo event, which will be on 12/3 at Korakuen Hall. That would mean a week if that holds. That event will be the KING OF GATE Semifinals & Finals. He also encouraged Riiita in the rest of the tournament.

More as it becomes available.

THE GATE OF NOSTALGIA 2025, Dragon Gate’s annual fun event featuring wrestlers bringing back their old factions & gimmicks again for one day, was held earlier today. And much to my delight that meant…sing it with me…WE ARE JIMMYS! (WE ARE JIMMYS!)

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 445. I’d call it a full house/near sellout even though they did not as that’s just short of 90% of max capacity)

Pre-show match: JACKY KAMEI, Riiita & Mochizuki Junior beat Daiki Yanagiuchi, Akihiro Sahara & Kazuma Kimura. Junior pinned Yanagiuchi with a German suplex hold.

Match 1: Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kagetora & Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! (with Jimmy Ryo Saito) beat Strong Machine J. Strong Karaoke Machine & Strong Shachihoko Machine in 41 seconds. Susumu pinned Shachihojo after Yokosuka Cutter. Which led to…
Match 1 (again): Jimmy Susumu, Jimmy Kagetora & Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! (with Jimmy Ryo Saito) beat Strong Machine J. Strong Machine F & Giant Strong Machine. Susumu pinned F with Backslide From Heaven..

Match 2: Open The Owarai Gate Champion Shinbashi Jiro beat Johnson Florida, then got the required audience support to retain the title. V1 for Jiro.

Match 3: Diamante (Luis Mante before he lost his mask), H-Y-O (Hyo) & DiaInferno beat Shun Skywalker, Dragon Dia & Gianni Valetta. Diamante pinned Dia after Vuelta Finale.

Match 4: YAMATO, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Kzy, Yasushi Kanda & Kenichiro Arai and Madoka Kikuta, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato in a 3-way by countout. Which led to…
Match 4 (again): Madoka Kikuta, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato beat YAMATO, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi, Kzy, Yasushi Kanda & Kenichiro Arai and Toru Owashi (DDT), Shuji Kondo (Independent/Freelancer) & Masaaki Mochizuki in a 4-way elimination match. Order of elimination (team eliminated when one member loses): Kanda by Kondo, Mochizuki by YAMATO, YAMATO by Kikuta.

Main Event: Ben-K, Dragon Kid & Jason Lee beat Shingo Takagi (New Japan), Cyber Kong & Chihiro Tominaga. Ben-K pinned Tominaga after a spear.

The next event is Friday at Kunimidai Gym in Saga. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. There are no more broadcasts scheduled this month so the rest of KING OF GATE 2025 will be untelevised until the Finals.

Dragon Gate has announced another injury casualty affecting KING OF GATE 2025, unfortunately it takes out another potential contender as the injured participant is Kota Minoura. Concussion. Occurred yesterday. Out indefinitely. He was to have faced Masaaki Mochizuki in the tournament tomorrow. Mochizuki will now get a forfeit win and a free pass to Round 2. No wors yet on how long Minoura may be out.

Dragon Gate has just announced an injury change to upcoming events, somewhat significant because Open The Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka is headed to the disabled list. Shoulder. Out indefinitely but will be at least a couple weeks because he is now off 11/22, meaning he is out of KING OF GATE and YAMATO will get a forfeit win and advance to the Quarterfinals as a result.

More as it becomes available.

Dragon Gate kicked off the 2025 KING OF GATE Tournament, the promotion’s top annual singles tournament, today in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced.

Match 1: Kota Minoura, Jason Lee, KAI & Yoshiki Kato beat Dragon Dia, Ryu Fuda, Daiki Yanagiuchi & Kazuma Kimura. Kato pinned Yanagiuchi after Cadere Luna.

Match 2: Masaaki Mochizuki beat Jiro Shinbashi.

Match 3: Gianni Valetta & El Cielo beat Punch Tominaga & El Cucuy. Valetta pinned Tominaga after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 4: Ultimo Dragon, Takashi & Churaumi Saver beat Strong Machine J, Kzy & U-T. Saver pinned U-T after a firebird splash.

KING OF GATE Round 1:
Match 5: ISHIN beat Luis Mante.
Match 6: Shun Skywalker beat Naruki Doi.

Match 7: Hyo, Ben-K, JACKY KAMEI, Riiita & Mochizuki Junior beat YAMATO, KAGETORA, Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk & Susumu Yokosuka. Hyo pinned YAMATO after Samson Driver.

KING OF GATE Round 1:
Match 8: Ryoya Tanaka beat Homare.
Main Event: Yuki Yoshioka beat Madoka Kikuta. So with the Open The Dream Gate Champion out early (of course), that pretty much guarantees a title shot for the eventual winner.

As a result of today, ISHIN will face the El Cucuy-Ryu Fuda winner, Yoshioka will face the Takashi-U-T winner, Skywalker will face the Mochizuki-Minoura winner and Tanaka will face the Hyo-YAMATO winner in Round 2.

The next event is Saturday at Kobe Art Center in Kobe. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. Unfortunately this is the last scheduled live or on demand broadcast for the tournament until the Finals.

THE GATE OF DESTINY 2025, Dragon Gate’s major 2-day Osaka event, concluded today with Day 2.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. This also may have been a live GAORA SPORTS broadcast in Japan. 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 878)

Match 1: Daiki Yanagiuchi & Akihiro Sahara beat Ryu Fuda & Kazuma Kimura. Sahara pinned Kimura after Inception Trigger.

Match 2: Don Fujii beat Shinbashi Jiro.

Match 3: YAMATO, Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Ultimo Dragon, Problem Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki & Ho Ho Lun. Hulk pinned Problem Dragon after First Flash.

Match 4: Ryoya Tanaka, Luis Mante & El Cucuy beat Madoka Kikuta, Jason Lee & Kota Minoura by DQ. Minoura DQ’d. Deadly weapon use.

Match 5: Susumu Yokosuka & KAGETORA beat Strong Machine J & Kzy and Ben-K & Mochizuki Junior in a 3-way when KAGETORA pinned Junior.

Match 6: Taiji Ishimori (New Japan) beat Hyo.

Match 7: Shun Skywalker, Homare & Gianni Valetta beat Open The Triangle Gate Champions KAI, ISHIN & Yoshiki Kato to win the titles. Slywalker, Homare & Valetta become the 96th Open The Triangle Gate Champions. Valetta pinned ISHIN after King Kong Kneedrop EX.

Main Event: JACKY KAMEI & Riiita beat Open The Twin Gate Champions Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia to win the titles. KAMEI & Riiita become the 70th Open The Twin Gate Champions. Riiita pinned Dia after Riiitanic.

The next event is Wednesday at Suzuka City Northern Gym in Nagano. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

THE GATE OF DESTINY 2025, Dragon Gate’s latest major event, began today with the first of 2 events in Osaka.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. You can also watch the first match FOR FREE on YouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 865.

Before everything got going, a name change was announced as Kagetora is changing his ring name to KAGETORA. In Japanese that’s a more stylized appearance in all English caps instead of Japanese kanji symbols.

Match 1: KAI & Yoshiki Kato beat Ben-K & Mochizuki Junior. Kato pinned Junior after Cadere Luna.

Match 2: Jiro Shinbashi Debut Match: Open The Owarai Gate Champion Kuishinbo Kamen beat Jiro Shinbashi, but Shinbashi got the majority of audience support post-match to win the title. Shinbashi becomes the 36th Open The Owarai Gate Champion. Not a bad way to make your debut if you’re going to be a comedy wrestler, winning the comedy title in the process.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid, BxB Hulk, Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) & KAGETORA beat Masaaki Mohizuki, Don Fujii, Takashi, Shachihoko BOY & Kikutaro (Independent/Freelancer). KAGETORA pinned BOY.

Match 4: Luis Mante beat El Cucuy & Gianni Valetta in a 3-way by pinning Cucuy.

Match 5: Open The Brave Gate Champion Ryoya Tanaka beat Billy Ken Kid (Osaka Pro) to retain the title. V6 for Tanaka.

Match 6: Hyo, JACKY KAMEI & Riiita beat Kota Minoura, Jason Lee & ISHIN, Shun Skywalker, Homare & El Siello (?) and Strong Machine J, Kzy & U-T in a 4-way elimination match. Order of elimination (one wrestler being eliminated means the whole team was out): Homare by ISHIN, U-T by Hyo, Lee by Riiita.

Main Event: Open The Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta beat Susumu Yokosuka to retain the title. V2 for Kikuta.

The second event is tomorrow. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin TONIGHT at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET.

Dragon Gate taped their latest episode of PRIME ZONE+ today, with Ryoya Tanaka getting his turn as the GM/showrunner.

Today’s event was held at Kobe Lapis Hall in Kobe 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.

This month’s episode featured King Of Chop 2025, Dragon Gate’s annual tournament to see who has the best/hardest chop in the promotion. WHOOOOOOO! (8-man single elimination). The winner of each match is determined by decision or submission/give up.

King Of Chop:
Match 1: Mochizuki Junior beat Riiita.
Match 2: Yoshiki Kato beat Problem Dragon.
Match 3: JACKY KAMEI beat Don Fujii by DQ.
Ryoya Tanaka got a bye to the Semifinals.

Match 4: Dragon Kid beat Ryu Fuda, Daiki Yanagiuchi & Kazuma Kimura in a 4-way by pinning Kimura. As a result, Kid gets the 8th & last spot in King Of Chop.

King Of Chop Semifinals:
Match 5: Ryoya Tanaka beat Mochizuki Junior.
Match 6: Yoshiki Kato beat JACKY KAMEI.
Match 7: Yoshiki Kato beat Dragon Kid.

Match 8: In a special cosplay match, Hyo & Ben-K beat Strong Machine J & U-T. Ben-K pinned U-T after a spear.

Main Event: King Of Chop Finals: Yoshiki Kato beat Ryoya Tanaka to win the tournament. As a result, Kato gets to be GM for the next PRIME ZONE+, but he decided to transfer the rights to Daiki Yanagiuchi & Ryu Fuda instead.

That next PRIME ZONE+ will be on 12/23.

The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

Dragon Gate announced their annual major singles tournament, KING OF GATE 2025, today which will be the November tour. This year’s tournament will be a single-elimination bracket format with 32 participants, 29 of which are current roster members plus Naruki Doi who is currently a freelancer, 2 of the 3 TBA spots remaining will be for foreigners (I’d be shocked if Gianni Valetta is not one of them) and the final spot will be for the winner of an upcoming battle royal on a TBA event.

Here are all the dates and matches:
Round 1:
11/6 (Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, live & on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK):
Ryoya Tanaka vs. Homare
Luis Mante vs. ISHIN
Naruki Doi vs. Shun Skywalker
Yuki Yoshioka vs. Madoka Kikuta

11/8 (Kobe Art Center, Kobe, live & on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK):
YAMATO vs. Hyo
Dragon Kid vs. TBA (one foreigner)
Dragon Dia vs. Riiita
Strong Machine J vs. TBA (the battle royal winner)

11:9 (Matsuyama City Community Center, Ehime):
BxB Hulk vs. KAI
Kzy vs. Jason Lee

11/10 (Tottori Industrial Gym, Tottori):
JACKY KAMEI vs. Kagetora
Ryu Fuda vs. TBA (the other foreigner)

11/13 (Tsuyuhashi Sports Center, Nagoya):
U-T vs. Takashi
Mochizuki Junior vs. Yoshiki Kato

11/15 (Mercure Hotel Yokosuka, Kanagawa):
Susumu Yokosuka vs. Ben-K
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kota Minoura

Round 2:
11/16 (Fujisan Mease, Shizuoka):
Kikuta/Yoshioka vs. U-T/Takashi
Dia/Riiita vs. Hulk/KAI

11/21 (Imari Kunimidai Gym, Saga):
Kid/TBA vs. Kzy/Lee

11/22 (Kumamoto Castle Hall, Kumamoto):
Mante/ISHIN vs. Fuda/TBA
Tanaka/Homare vs. YAMATO/Hyo

11/23 (Ukiha Arena, Fukuoka):
Kagetora/KAMEI vs. Yokosuka/Ben-K
Junior/Kato vs. J/TBA

11/24 (Iizuka City Gym, Fukuoka):
Mochizuki/Minoura vs. Skywalker/Dia

Quarterfinals:
11/25 (T.O.P.S. BittsHALL, Osaka):
11/16 winner vs. 11/24 winner
11/22 winner vs. 11/23 winner

11/26 (Omuta Cultural Hall, Fukuoka):
11/16 winner vs. 11/22 winner
11/21 winner vs. 11/23 winner

Semifinals & Finals: 12/3 (Korakuen Hall, live & on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK)

Except for the 2 Tokyo events and one Kobe event, broadcast plans are otherwise TBA.