Tag: dragon gate

Dragon Gate’s annual Golden Week blowout event, DEAD OR ALIVE 2024, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya 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 3085.

Match 1: YAMATO, Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk, YAMATO pinned Minoura after Gallaria.

Match 2: Toru Owashi (DDT) & BIGBOSS Shimizu beat KAI & ISHIN by DQ. ISHIN DQ’d.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda & Problem Dragon. Dia pinned Dragon after a modified driver.

Match 4: U-T beat Strong Machine J.

Match 5: Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi beat Open The Twin Gate Champions Kaito Kiyomiya & Alejandro (Pro Wrestling NOAH) to win the titles. Kid & Doi become the 66th Open The Twin Gate Champions. Doi pinned ALejandro after Doi-ble.

Match 6: Open The Dream Gate Champion Luis Mante beat Gianni Valetta to retain the title. V3 for Mante. As unstoppable as the big man Valetta has been since showing up earlier this year, I would still call that a mild upset.

Main Event: In a Mascara Contra Caballera Barbed Wire 5-way Survival Match, where the only way to “win” was to grab one of 4 flags posted across the ring and escape, the “winners” in order were JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI, Kzy, Shun Skywalker & Jason Lee, meaning the loser was Hyo. As a result, surely to the disappointment of many female fans, Hyo loses his hair. Post-match, after Z-Brats shaved Hyo’s head and forced Kzy & KAMEI to do the same, the end promo maybe hinted at KAMEI leaving Natural Vibes on good terms to align with Mante & Hyo.

The next event is The Gate Of Passion 2024 tour-ender tomorrow at Tsushima City Cultural Center in Aichi. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: KAMEI is out of Natural Vibes and now with Mante & Hyo, who call themselves Big Hug. Confirmed by Dragon Gate announcing he has been added to a special event with Mante/Hyo scheduled for tomorrow.

Dragon Gate ran the penultimate events of The Gate Of Passion 2024 tour yesterday & today ahead of their next blowout event tomorrow.

Both events were held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

Yesterday:
The announced paid attendance was 326.

Match 1; BIGBOSS Shimizu & U-T beat KAI & ISHIN. U-T pinned ISHIN after Fuego.

Match 2; Yasushi Kanda beat Ryu Fuda.

Match 3: Masaaki Mochizuki & Strong Machine J beat Ultimo Dragon & Takashi Yoshida. J pinned Yoshida with Genie Clutch.

Match 4: YAMATO & Susumu Yokosuka beat Kota Minoura & Ben-K. YAMATO pinned Minoura.

Match 5: Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi & Kagetora beat Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. Kid pinned Tanaka after Doybull.

Main Event: Shun Skywalker & Gianni Valetta beat Kzy & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI and Luis Mante & Hyo in a 3-way when Valetta pinned Mante.

Today:
The paid attendance has not yet been announced.

Match 1: Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka beat Masaaki Mochizuki, Ryu Fuda & Daiki Yanagiuchi. Dia pinned Fuda after DDDDT.

Match 2: Kota Minoura & Ben-K beat Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda. Minoura pinned Horiguchi after a spear.

Match 3: Dragon Kid & Ho Ho Lun beat Ultimo Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Lun pinned Tominaga.

Match 4: BIGBOSS Shimizu & U-T beat Susumu Yokosuka & Kagetora. U-T pinned Kagetora after Passion.

Natural Vibes/Big Hug vs. Z-Brats Single Match Series:
Match 5: Luis Mante vs. Gianni Valetta went to a double countout.
Match 6: ISHIN beat JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI.
Match 7: Strong Machine J beat Kzy. This was to have been Jason Lee vs. Kzy but Lee faked an injury to get out of it after interfering in Match 6.
Main Event; Hyo beat Shun Skywalker.
2-1-1, which side won depends on if J filling on for Z-Brats amounts to anything as he’s Natural Vibes.

The next event is DEAD OR ALIVE, the annual Golden Week blowout event, tomorrow at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya. The 7 match card has 2 title matches and the main event will be a 5-way Mascara Contra Caballera Barbed Wire match-there will be a flag hung above the ring, with the ring surrounded by barbed wire, when a wrestler grabs the flag they are safe from losing and eliminated from the match, the last man left loses his hair or mask. Mainly it will be hair as the only masked man in the match is Shun Skywalker. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

Dragon Gate continued The Gate Of Passion 2024 Tour today with the first half of a weekend doubleheader in Kobe.

Today’s event was held at Kobe Art Center in Kobe and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

The announced paid attendance was 356.

Pre-show Match: In an Exhibition Match, Homare Kato vs. Akihiro Sakara went to a 5 minute itme limit draw.

Match 1; Hyo vs. JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI went to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Kagetora & Ryu Fuda beat Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. Kagetora pinned Tanaka after Gurumakakari.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon, Genki Horiguchi, U-T & Ho Ho Lun beat Shachihoko BOY, Problem Dragon, Punch Tominaga & Daiki Yanagiuchi. Lun pinned Yanagiuchi.

Match 4: Strong Machine J won a 13 man Heavyweight battle royal, last eliminating ISHIN. (Dragon Gate considers 85 kg/188 pounds to be Heavyweight)

Match 5; YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk, YAMATO pinned Minoura after Gallaria.

Main Event: Jason Lee beat Kzy.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin TONIGHT at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. I may try and do live results but this is the same time as a live Stardom event so it may not work.

Injury Report: Right after this was posted I learned there have been last-minute changes to tomorrow due to a BxB Hulk injury today. Something on the right side but unclear exactly what at ths time. He was to have teamed with Kota Minoura, Ben-K & Ryu Fuda to face Shachihoko BOY, Takashi Yoshida, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Daiki Yanagiuchi is the replacement.

Dragon Gate continued The Gate Of Passion 2024 Tour yesterday with a doubleheader in Fukuoka.

Yesterday’s events were held at Acros Fukuoka in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on DRAGONGATE NETWORK.

Event 1:
The announced paid attendance was 535, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Dragon Kid & Strong Machine J beat Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda. J pinned Horiguchi after Gold Ship.

Match 2: Don Fujii & Toru Owashi (DDT) beat Masaaki Mochizukii & Ryoya Tanaka. Owashi pinned Tanaka after a running chokeslam.

Match 3: Ultimo Dragon beat Gianni Valetta by DQ. Mask removal.

Match 4: YAMATO, Susumu Yokosuka & Naruki Doi beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk. YAMATO beat Minoura with a sleeper hold.

Match 5: Luis Mante & Hyo beat Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia. Hyo pinned Dia after Samson Driver.

Main Event: In a Captains Fall Elimination Match, Shun Skywalker, KAI, ISHIN & Jason Lee beat Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. The captains were Lee & KAMEI, the match ended after one of them was eliminated. Order of elimination: Kzy by Skywalker, Shimizu by Lee, KAI by KAMEI, ISHIN by U-T, Skywalker by KAMEI, KAMEI by Lee. Although U-T was not eliminated, because KAMEI was as captain, Z-Brats wins.

Event 2:
The announced paid attendance was 625, a super full house/very near sellout.

Match 1: KAI, ISHIN & Jason Lee beat Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. Lee pinned Tanaka after Annihilation.

Match 2: Toru Owashi beat Genki Horiguchi.

Match 3: Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk beat Ultimo Dragon, Don Fujii & Yasushi Kanda. Ben-K pinned Kanda after a spear.

Match 4: Strong Machine J beat Masaaki Mochizuki.

Match 5: YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Susumu Yokosuka & Naruki Doi beat Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Kid pinned KAMEI after Doybre.

Main Event: Shun Skywalker & Gianni Valetta beat Luis Mante & Hyo. Valetta pinned Hyo after a King Kong kneedrop.

The next event was earlier today at Kumamoto Castle Hall in Kumamoto. Results will be posted when available. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

Dragon Gate began their mid-April to early May tour, The Gate Of Passion 2024, today which will take them to their annual Golden Week blowout event in May.

Today’s event was held at Oro City Hall in Kagoshima. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 355.

Match 1: Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia beat BIGBOSS Shimizu & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Dia pinned KAMEI after countering JACKY Knife.

Match 2: Strong Machine J beat Ryoya Tanaka.

Match 3: Luis Mante & Hyo beat Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda. Hyo pinned Horiguchi after a double biceps senton.

Match 4: Ultimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii beat KAI, ISHIN & Gianni Valetta by DQ. Valetta DQ’d. Mask removal from Dragon.

Match 5: Shun Skywalker & Jason Lee beat Kzy & U-T. Lee pinned U-T after Metsu.

Main Event: YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk. Kid pinned Hulk after Bible.

The next event is a doubleheader tomorrow at Acros Fukuoka in Fukuoka. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK for both events will begin TONIGHT at 9 PM PT/midnight ET for the first event and tomorrow at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET for the second event. Live results are tentatively scheduled for the first event.

Dragon Gate wrapped up the Rey De Parejas 2024 today with the Semifinals and Finals.

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. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1374, a super full house/very near sellout)

Match 1: Rey De Parejas Semifinals: YAMATO & Susumu Yokosuka (Susumu Mochizuki) beat BIGBOSS Shimizu & Strong Machine J. YAMATO pinned Shimizu after Omniscient & Omnipotent Frankensteiner. Yokosuka changed back from his real name to his longtime ring name effective today.

Match 2: Rey De Parejas Semifinals: Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi beat Luis Mante & Hyo. Kid pinned Hyo after countering Sansom Driver.

Match 3: Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Kagetora beat Yasushi Kanda, Shuji Kondo & Punch Tominaga. Kagetora pinned Tomonaga after Gurumakakari.

Match 4: Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia, Ryoya Tanaka & Daiki Yanagiuchi beat Kota Minoura, Ben-K, BxB Hulk & Ryu Fuda. Dia pinned Fuda after DDDDT.

Match 5: Ultimo Dragon & Toru Owashi (DDT) beat KAI & Gianni Valetta by DQ. Valetta DQ’d. Mask removal from Dragon.

Match 6: Kzy, U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI vs. Shun Skywalker, ISHIN & Jason Lee went to a double countout. Which led to…
Match 6 (again): In a No Countouts Match, Shun Skywalker, ISHIM & Jason Lee beat Kzy, U-T & JACKY “FUBKY” KAMEI by DQ. KAMEI DQ’d. Chair use.

Main Event: Rey De Parejas Finals: Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi beat YAMATO & Susumu Yokosuka to win the tournament. Kid pinned Yokosuka after Ultra Huracanrana. As a result, Kid & Doi will probably get an Open The Twin Gate Championship shot in the future, maybe at DEAD OR ALIVE 2024 on 5/5. (Post-script thought: 5/5 is a toss-up because the titles are held by Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestlers Kaito Kiyomiya & Alejandro and NOAH has a PPV on 5/4 in Tokyo. The 5/5 event is in Nagoya and it’s also 24 hours before ALL TOGETHER, which will feature Kiyomiya and also Shun Skywalker on opposite sides in a 6-man tag match. We’ll see what happens. I think 5/4 is more likely, but nothing has been announced yet for either event).

Next up is The Gate Of Passion 2024 Tour beginning Saturday at Oro City Hall in Kagoshima. There will be no love or on demand broadcast. That will be followed that night (Sunday Japan tome) by a doubleheader at Acros Fukuoka in Fukuoka with both events live on DRAGONGATE NETWORK beginning at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. I may be able to do live results for the first event.

UPDATE: With regards to the Twin Gate title match, it’s now official for 5/5. Also set for 5/5 is a 5-way Hair vs. Mask cage match with Kzy, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI, Shun Skywalker, Hyo & Jason Lee (I think he’ll be JACKY “BALDY” KAMEI afterwards) and Open The Dream Gate Champion Luis Mante vs. Gianni Valetta for the title. I think Mante’s fairy tale story that began last year after he lost his own mask in said Hair vs. Mask Cage Match (when he was Diamante) is coming to an ugly end.

Dragon Gate ran the penultimate days of the Rey De Parejas 2024 tournament this weekend.

Yesterday’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and today’s event was held at Mercure Hotel Yokosuka in Kanagawa. There are/were no live or on demand broadcasts for both events.

Yesterday:
The announced paid attendance was 289, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Luis Mante & Hyo beat BxB Hulk & Daiki Yanagiuchi. Mante pinned Yanagiuchi after MCK.

Match 2: Masaaki Mochizuki beat Ryu Fuda.

Match 3: Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi & Yasushi Kanda beat Takashi Yoshida, Problem Dragon & Punch Tominaga. Horiguchi pinned Tominaga after Backslide From Heaven.

Match 4; Jason Lee & ISHIN vs. U0T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI went to a no contest. Natural Vibes & Z-Brats interference.

Match 5: Susumu Mochizuki, Kagetora & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Ryoya Tanaka. Mochizuki pinned Tanaka after Yokosuka Cutter.

Main Event: Rey De Parejas Block A; BIGBOSS Shimizu & Strong Machine J beat KAI & Gianni Valetta. J pinned KAI with Genie Clutch. As a result, Shimizu & J finish 2nd in Block A and advance to the Semifinals.

Today:
The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 357, a super full house/very near sellout).

Match 1: Susumu Mochizuki vs. Masaaki Mochizuki went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Ryu Fuda & Ryoya Tanaka beat Kagetora & Punch Tominaga. Tanaka pinned Tominaga after Spanish Fly.

Match 3: Gianni Valetta beat Problem Dragon.

Match 4: BIGBOSS Shimizu, Strong Machine J, U-T & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI beat Don Fujii, Genki Horiguchi, Yasushi Kanda & Takashi Yoshida. J pinned Horiguchi after Diamond Frame.

Match 5: Rey De Parejas Block B: Luis Mante & Hyo vs. Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia went to a 20 minute time limit draw. As a result, Mante & Hyo finish 2nd in Block B and advance to the Semifinals.

Main Event: Susumu Mochizuki, BxB Hulk & Naruki Doi beat KAI, Jason Lee & ISHIN. Mochizuki pinned KAI with Jumbo Pin.

The tournament Semifinals and Finals are Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

UPDATE: After today’s event, Susumu Mochizuki announced that, starting Wednesday, his name is changing back to Susumu Yokosuka, his prior name (Susumu Mochizuki is his real name, no known relation to Masaaki Mochizuki or Mochizuki Junior).

Dragon Gate wrapped up March today with the latest Rey De Parejas event, with each block now down to one preliminary match left.

Today’s event was held at Hiroshima Sangyo Kaikan in Hiroshima. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 605, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: YAMATO, Masaaki Mochizuki & Susumu Mochizuki vs. Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk went to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: KAI & Gianni Valetta beat Shachihoko BOY & Punch Tominaga. Valetta pinned Tominaga after a King Kong kneedrop.

Match 3: Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia beat Kagetora & Ryu Fuda. Dia pinned Fuda after DDDDT.

Match 4: Shun SKywalker, ISHIN & Jason Lee. beat BIGBOSS Shimizu, JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI & Strong Machine J. Lee pinned KAMEI. Apparently Lee defected from Natural Vibes to Z-Brats during yesterday’s main event.

Rey De Parejas:
Match 5: Block A-Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi beat Shuji Kondo & Toru Owashi. Doi pinned Kondo after Ultra Huracanrana. As a result, Kid & Doi win Block A and will advance to the Semifinals.
Main Event: Block B-Luis Mante & Hyo beat Kzy & U-T. Mante pinned U-T after Vuelta Finale.
The top 2 in each block advance to the Semifinals and there is one match left in each. In Block A, the last match is BIGBOSS Shimizu & Strong Machine J vs. KAI & Gianni Valetta and the winner will advance. If there is a time limit draw or it goes to a double countout or no contest, they will have an immediate rematch as they are tied for second. The bottom line is there must be a winner. In Block B, the last match is Mante & Hyo vs. Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia. Mante & Hyo advance with a win or time limit draw. If Kikuta & Dia win, a 3-way tiebreaker match also involving Shun Skywalker & ISHIN will be needed. YAMATO & Susumu Mochizuki have already advanced.

The next event is Saturday at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka with Shimizu/J vs. KAI/Valetta. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

UPDATE: Corrected the Match 4 result as apparently the prior source (the Dragon Gate Official Facebook English page) had it wrong compared to DG’s official Japanese website.

Dragon Gate continued the Rey De Parejas today with a hometown event in Kobe.

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

The announced paid attendance was 532, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Ryoya Tanaka beat Ryu Fuda.

Match 2; Ho Ho Lun won an 11 man battle royal, last eliminating Punch Tominaga. Noteworthy just because Gianni Valetta didn’t win.

Match 3: Madoka Kikuta, Dragon Dia & Masaaki Mochizuki beat Luis Mate, Hyo & Yasushi Kanda. Dia pinned Kanda after DDDDT.

Match 4: Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Strong Machine J & U-T beat YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Susumu Mochizuki & Kagetora. Kzy pinned Kagetora after a running elbow smash.

Rey De Parejas:
Match 5: Block A: Shuji Kondo & Toru Owashi beat Kota Minoura & Ben-K. Kondo pinned Minoura with Gorilla Clutch.
Main Event: Block B: Shun Skywalker & ISHIN beat Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. SKywalker pinned KAMEI after a Lee Maximum Driver.

At this point, YAMATO & Susumu Mochizuki have won Block B and will advance to the Semifinals. Skywalker & ISHIN are currently 2nd but are not safe because Luis Mante & Hyo still have 2 matches left, against Madoka Kikuta & Dragon Dia and Kzy & U-T. Mante & Hyo advance with 2 wins or a win and time limit draw while Kzy & U-T would advance by bearing Mante & Hyo. Block A is led by Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi with 1 match left against Kondo & Owashi. The other match left, which also has implications for the standings, is KAI & Gianni Valetta vs. BIGBOSS Shimizu & Strong Machine J. The winners of each match should reach the Semifinals.

The next event is tomorrow at Hitoshima Sangyu Kaikan in Hiroshima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.