Dragon Gate
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- This article is about a Japanese wrestling promotion. For the computer game, please see Dragon's Gate.
Dragon Gate is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Ultimo Dragon'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 submissions.
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[edit] History
In 2004, Ultimo Dragon left the promotion and took the Toryumon name and trademarks with him. The promotion subsequently changed its name to Dragon Gate and declared CIMA (the last one to hold the Ultimo Dragon Gym Title) its first Open the Dream Gate (singles) Champion. Since then, the promotion has gained a steady following in Japan (as well as a cult following in the United States) and has been in full-time operation since its separation from Toryumon in 2004.
Stars from the promotion have also made appearances on the United States independent wrestling scene, most notably with the Ring of Honor promotion, where stars from the company competed in the Dragon Gate Invasion show on August 27th, 2005 in Buffalo, New York Dragon Gate Challenge on March 30th, 2006 in Detroit, Michigan and Supercard of Honor and Better than Our Best in Chicago, IL on March 31st and April 1st, 2006, respectively. A six-man match pitting Blood Generation against Do-Fixer at "Supercard of Honor" on March 31st in Chicago Ridge, IL was very well received by both fans and critics, making it one of only a handful of North American matches that wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has given a five-star rating. Due to this recent exposure, the promotion seems to have received more attention from North American wrestling fans.
[edit] Roster
The company's roster is split into several factions, with all but a handful of competitors in the promotion aligned with one faction or another. Wrestlers most recognizable to North American fans include Dragon Kid, CIMA, Milano Collection AT, and Magnum Tokyo (among others). For more information, See: Dragon Gate roster
[edit] Championships
- Open the Dream Gate Championship — Don Fujii
- Open the Brave Gate Championship — Masato Yoshino
- Open the Triangle Gate Championship — Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Gamma (Interim Champions)
- I-J Heavyweight Championship — Masaaki Mochizuki
- I-J Tag Team Championship — Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki
[edit] External links
- Official site in Japanese
- Toryumon/Dragon Gate Title Histories
- DGUSA, A Toryumon and Dragon Gate fansite
- Mad Splash - Not a fan site but has some Toryumon/DG stuff
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