Puro Newsletter: Dragon Gate News

Dragon Gate recently kicked of its “Gate of Victory” tour on October 1 at the Ube-shi Tawarada Commemoration Gym in Yamaguchi, Japan.  The main event of the show featured an 8-man tag match pitting the WORLD-1 faction of Open the Dream Gate (Heavyweight) Champion Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk (Yoshino and Hulk co hold the Open the Traingle Gate (trios) Championship with gaijin wrestler PAC) and Open the Brave Gate (Jr. Heavyweight) Champion Naoki Tanisaki against the team of Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fuji, Super Shisa, and oddly enough, the first gaijin sumo wrestler to ever attain the ranking of yokozuna, Akebono.

Akebono, who still weighs in at about 500 lbs, is a freelance professional wrestler in Japan these days, and he has recently appeared for New Japan, All Japan, and now Dragon Gate. Akebono presently holds All Japan Pro Wrestling’s All Asia Tag Team Championship with Ryoto Hama.

Akebono’s presence in Dragon Gate is a bit stunning, considering he might be about twice the size of the entire Dragon Gate roster combined, but freelance appearances of this nature have become common place in Japan.

Unfortunately, Akebono’s presence did not translate into a victory for his team, as WORLD-1, the top faction in Dragon Gate, defeated Akebono’s team after about 18 minutes of action when BxB Hulk pinned Super Shisa after hitting him with the E.V.O.

Elsewhere on the show, Open the Twin Gate (tag team) Champions Shingo and YAMATO, representing the KAMIKAZE faction lead by Shingo, defeated KAGETORA and Susumu Yokosuka, who represent the WARRIORS-5 faction lead by Dragon Gate ace CIMA. Shingo scored the victory for his team by pinning KAGETORA after hitting a Pumping Bomber.  CIMA and Gamma (WARRIORS-5) earned a DQ victory of Ryo Saito and Cyber Kong, representing the Real Hazard faction.  Genki Horiguchi teamed with fellow Real Hazard teammates Yasushi Kanda and Kzy to defeat Kamikaze members Dragon Kid and Akira Tozawa, along with Anthony W. Mori.

You’ve probably noticed that faction warfare seems to be a big thing in Dragon Gate.  That is an epic understatement.  Dragon Gate is perpetually divided into ever changing, forming, and dissolving factions, none of which ever like each other.  If you take even a two month break from following Dragon Gate, you will likely be confused by the factions you find upon your return.

Presently there are four major factions in Dragon Gate. First of course, is WORLD-1, lead by Naruki Doi. WORLD-1, which has control of three of Dragon Gate’s Championships, consists of Doi, Yoshino, BxB Hulk, and Tanisaki.  WORLD-1 is presently the top faction in Dragon Gate.  Real Hazard’s membership includes Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Yasushi Kanda, Cyber Kong, Keni’chiro Arai, and Kzy.  KAMIKAZE, lead by Shingo, consists of Dragon Kid, YAMATO, Akira Tozawa, Taku Iwasa, and Kenshin Chikano.  Last but not least is the WARRIORS-5 faction lead by Dragon Gate’s top overall performer CIMA.  Susumu Yokosuka, Gamma, KAGETORA, and RYOMA are the other four members of the WARRIORS-5.

On October 3, Dragon Gate rolled to Okayama, and KAMIKAZE (YAMATO, Shingo, Dragon Kid, and Tozawa) rolled out with a big victory over the WARRIORS-5 (CIMA, KAGETORA, Gamma, and Yokosuka).  Yoshino and Hulk represented WORLD-1 well, as they defeated Saito and Kanda of Real Hazard.  Doi and Tanisaki also came through for WORLD-1, defeating Mochizuki and Mori in a tag match.

Dragon Gate’s October 4 show at the Morodomi Gymnasium in Saga drew a crowd of 1,320 to witness Naoki Tanisaki’s first defense of his Open the Brave Gate Championship against Genki Horiguchi.

Horiguchi, a talented worker who has appeared several times in the past with Ring of Honor, wanted nothing more than to abruptly end the reign of the new champion, who won the championship on August 30 by defeating KAGETORA in the finals of a tournament held after Doi vacated the title when he won the Open the Dream Gate Championship.

Horiguchi put up a valiant effort, but Tanisaki managed to defeat Horiguchi after about 18 minutes. It also gave WORLD-1 a big win over the New Hazard faction, allowing WORLD-1 to maintain its hold on being the company’s top faction.  WORLD-1 followed up Tanisaki’s victory by defeating WARRIORS-5 in a six man tag match, as Doi, Yoshino, and Hulk teamed up to defeat KAGETURA, Yokosuka, and Gamma.

Kamikaze members YAMATO and Shingo reminded everyone of their dominance as a tag team by defeating the combination of Mochizuki and Mori, but their work was cancelled out by Real Hazard’s victory over KAMIKAZE earlier in the evening, as Saito, Kong, and Kanda defeated K-ness, Dragon Kid, and Tozawa, thanks to a low blow by Kanda on Dragon Kid.

Revenge mixed with trend on the 5^that the Kokura North Gym in Fukuoka, as Doi, Yoshino, and Tanisaki defeated CIMA, KAGETORA, and Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa.  WARRIORS-5 gained a small measure of revenge later on in the evening when Yokosuka and Gamma defeated Hulk and rent a partner Mori.  The main event featured Kamikaze (YAMATO, Shingo, Dragon Kid, and Tozawa) scoring a big victory over Real Hazard (Saito, Kong, Horiguchi, and Kanda).

Real Hazard rebounded the following night in Miyazaki, when Saito, Horiguchi and Kanda defeated Mochizuki, Mori, and Kotoka Shiiba.  YAMATO teamed with Tozawa to defeat Don Fuji and Shisa Boy while Shingo and Dragon Kid defeated Cyber Kong and Kzy of Real Hazard to score big wins for KAMIKAZE.  In the main event, the four regular members of WORLD-1 defeated CIMA, Yokosuka, KAGETORA, and Gamma of WARRIORS-5, continuing a dominant tour for WORLD-1, and a horrible tour for WARRIORS-5.

The luck of the WARRIORS did not get any better the following night in Oita, as they dropped another main event 8-man, this time to KAMIKAZE, represented by YAMATO, Shingo, Tozawa, and Dragon Kid.  Tanisaki and Doi also continued the trend of WORLD-1 dominance by defeating Kanda and Horiguchi.

After a brief break, the Victory Gate tour resumed this weekend on the 10^that the Kobe Sambo Hall in Kyogo.  A couple of gaijin joined the tour on this night, as the “Generic Luchador” El Generico and the United Kingdom’s PAC both returned to Dragon Gate.  Generico will be representing KAMIKAZE on this tour, and PAC will be representing WORLD-1; he will be teaming with Yoshino and BxB Hulk to defend their Open the Triangle Gate Championship against Akebono, Don Fuji, and Masaaki Mochizuki on October 14.

In the meantime, Generico and PAC were on opposing sides of the ring on the 10^th, as WORLD-1 (Doi, Yoshino, Hulk and PAC) did battle with KAMIKAZE (YAMATO, Tozawa, Shingo, and El Generico) in an 8-man tag team match in the main event.  After a chaotic battle that went on for nearly half an hour, WORLD-1 scored the victory as Doi pinned Tozawa after hitting the Bakatare Sliding Kick.  WARRIORS-5 finally got scored a victory after CIMA and Susumu Yokosuka defeated Ken’ichiro Arai and Kzy of Real Hazard.  It’s not exactly a huge win, but they’ll take just about anything to stop the bleeding.

WARRIORS-5 is clearly the whipping boy of the tour thus far.  It seems as though the faction is suffering from a bad case of guilty by association as it comes to WARRIORS-5 member RYOMA, who was recently suspended until the summer of 2010 for his role in the Dragon Gate dojo monkey abuse scandal.

Reportedly, the monkey named Cora was choked by the neck, burned with charcoal, repeatedly sprayed with antiperspirant, burned with scalding water, and given alcohol to the point of intoxication.  After a great deal of confusion about who exactly was involved with the monkey, it was learned that RYOMA was the main culprit.

Dragon Gate is not thrilled at all with the incident; it was a major PR blow to the company, which was rapidly rising up the puro totem poll in Japan.  The nature of the incident severely damages Dragon Gate’s reputation, and has obviously put some heat on RYOMA, whose actions are negatively affecting his faction mates in the WARRIORS-5.  CIMA played a large role in getting the monkey to safety and out of the Dragon Gate dojo, but his faction is no doubt suffering from their storyline association with RYOMA.

This booking trend will likely continue throughout the remainder of the tour because, well, it has to.  If Dragon Gate doesn’t flex their disciplinary muscle on this issue, the company will become a target of any number of activist groups.  Dragon Gate is already on PETA’s radar, as they recently released a statement on Dragon Gate:

“After we learned of online pictures of professional wrestler Ryo-ma allegedly abusing animals, we sent an urgent letter to Takashi Okamura President of Dragon Gate, asking that Ryo-ma be expelled from the company’s roster…We have also written a letter to Japanese authorities asking that Ryo-ma be criminally charged and that the monkey be immediately confiscated. We are deeply concerned about any injuries the monkey likely sustained and wants to ensure he or she is located and receives appropriate veterinary care.”

Many say there is no such thing as bad publicity, but Dragon Gate wants no part of the uproar that would occur if the wrestlers were not strongly reprimanded.  As it is, Dragon Gate will have to work very hard to repair any damage that may have been done in the eyes of highly critical puro fans and media.  It should be noted that Cora the Monkey is now doing just fine at her new home.

There are several big matches remaining on the tour.  On October 18, YAMATO and Shingo will defend their Open the Twin Gate Championship against Real Hazard’s Yasushi Kanda and Keni’chiro Arai.  The big one will be on October 25, as Naruki Doi, will defend his Open the Dream Gate Championship, a belt he has held for the entire calendar year to date,

against Susumu Yokosuka.  Both Doi and Yokosuka could be counted amongst the top 50 workers on the planet right now, and I expect their match on the 25^thto be a hell of a contest.  YAMATO and Shingo also make for a damn good tag team, and I personally look forward to their defense of the Twin Gate championship.  Here’s a look at the presently scheduled lineups for the remainder of the tour:

10/11/2009 Hiroshima, Hiroshima Green Arena
1. Masato Yoshino, Naoki Tanisaki, PAC vs. Shingo Takagi, Dragon Kid, El Generico
2. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Don Fujii, K-ness vs. Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai
4. Naruki Doi, BxB Hulk vs. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa
5. CIMA, KAGETORA, Susumu Yokosuka, Gamma vs. Ryo Saito, Kzy, Cyber Kong, Genki Horiguchi

10/12/2009 Mie, Twin Messe Mie
1. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi, El Generico vs. Susumu Yokosuka, Gamma, Super Shisa
2. Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai vs. PAC, Kotoka Shiiba
3. Naoki Tanisaki vs. Akira Tozawa
4. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. KAGETORA, Shisa BOY
5. Dragon Kid, Anthony W. Mori vs. Cyber Kong, Kzy
6. CIMA, Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii vs. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk
7. Survival Gate Battle Royal

10/13/2009 Tokyo, Shin-Kiba 1st Ring ~WORLD-1 presents THE WORLD IS ONE
1. Naoki Tanisaki, Bear Fukuda vs. PAC, Kotoka Shiiba
2. Masato Yoshino vs. Syachihoko Machine vs. Johnson Florida
3. Super Shenlong 50 Match Series: Super Shenlong vs. Kazuchika Okada
4. Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk vs. Shinobu, Madoka
5. Naruki Doi, Koji Kanemoto vs. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa

10/14/2009 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
1. Dragon Kid, Akira Tozawa, El Generico vs. Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki, Shisa BOY
2. Super Shisa, Anthony W. Mori vs. Yasushi Kanda, Kenichiro Arai
3. Cyber Kong vs. Kotoka Shiiba
4. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. Susumu Yokosuka, Gamma
5. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi vs. CIMA, KAGETORA
6. Open the Triangle Gate: Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk, PAC vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Akebono

10/15/2009 Shizuoka, Twin Messe Shizuoka
1. YAMATO, Dragon Kid, El Generico vs. CIMA, Gamma, Anthony W. Mori
2. Naoki Tanisaki vs. Jackson Florida
3. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii vs. Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi
4. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. Susumu Yokosuka, KAGETORA
5. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk, PAC vs. Cyber Kong, Kenichiro Arai, Yasushi Kanda, Kzy

10/16/2009 Dragon Gate Arena~NEX PREMIUM Charity Special
1. CIMA, KAGETORA vs. Masato Yoshino, Kotoka Shiiba
2. Naoki Tanisaki vs. Jackson Florida
3. Akira Tozawa, Anthony W. Mori vs. Cyber Kong, Kzy
4. BxB Hulk vs. Super Shenlong
5. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi vs. Super Shisa, Shisa BOY

10/17/2009 Gifu, Gifu Chamber of Commerce
1. BxB Hulk, PAC vs. El Generico, Super Shisa
2. Gamma vs. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa
3. Masaaki Mochizuki, Naoki Tanisaki vs. Susumu Yokosuka, K-ness
4. Don Fujii, Super Shenlong vs. Kenichiro Arai, Diablo
5. Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino vs. CIMA, KAGETORA
6. YAMATO, Akira Tozawa, Shingo Takagi, Dragon Kid vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong, Yasushi Kanda

10/18/2009 Aichi, Nagoya Telepia Hall
1. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Cyber Kong vs. CIMA, Gamma, Super Shenlong
2. Don Fujii vs. Jackson Florida
3. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kotoka Shiiba
4. Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki vs. Susumu Yokosuka, KAGETORA
5. Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk, PAC vs. Dragon Kid, Anthony W. Mori, El Generico
6. Open the Twin Gate No Seconds Match: YAMATO, Shingo Takagi vs. Kenichiro Arai, Yasushi Kanda

10/19/2009 Dragon Gate Arena Sanctuary.54
1. Super Shisa vs. Kotoka Shiiba
2. Syachihoko Machine vs. Jackson Florida
3. KAGETORA vs. Kazy
4. PAC, Super Shenlong vs. Akira Tozawa, Shisa BOY

10/25/2009 Fukuoka, Hakata Star Lanes
-Open the Dream Gate: Naruki Doi vs. Susumu Yokosuka

Faction rankings through 10/10 show:

1. WORLD-1
2. KAMIKAZE
3. Real Hazard
4. WARRIORS-5

Champions:

Open the Dream Gate: Naruki Doi. 1st reign. Length:  Ongoing (12/28/2008-Present, Current Champion). Successful defenses: 5. Next defense: 10/25/2009 vs. Susumu Yokosuka.

Open the Brave Gate: Naoki Tanisaki. 1st reign. Length: 8/30/2009-Present (Current Champion). Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: TBD.

Open the Twin Gate: Shingo Takagi & YAMATO. 1st reign. Length: 9/17/2009-Present (Current Champions). Successful defenses: None. Next defense: 10/18/2009 vs. Kenichiro Arai & Yasushi Kanda.

Open the Triangle Gate: Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk & PAC. 1st reign. Length: 6/7/2009-Present (Current Champions). Successful defenses: 2. Next defense: 10/14/2009 vs.  Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii & Akebono.