King of Gate



King of Gate is an annual tournament held in Dragon Gate. It's designed to determine the strongest wrestler of the year. It is the successor of El Numero Uno from Toryumon Japan. Where El Numero Uno was a round-robin tournament, King of Gate used the single-elimination format and it was originally used at the end of the year, that took place at the December shows following a hiatus in 2009 due to the Generation Warfare, the tournament was moved to Spring in 2010.

In 2016 Dragon Gate adopted a new system and it is a Round Robin tournament that is consisted by four blocks, with two points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a double count out and none for a loss. The wrestler finishing atop the points standings in the four blocks advance to the knockout stage, where the winner is determined in a head-to-head match. Matches in the King of Gate have a 20-minute time limit.

In the below results, (C) signifies the Open The Dream Gate Champion at the time of each tournament. Usually, the winners of the tournament earn a shot at the title, assuming they are not already the champions.

History
The tournament was formed in 2005 by Dragon Gate, following the Toryumon Japan split from Dragon Gate. It is the successor of El Numero Uno from Toryumon Japan. Where El Numero Uno was a round-robin tournament, King of Gate used the single-elimination format and it was originally used at the end of the year, that took place at the December shows. The winner, assuming they are not already the champion, receives an opportunity to wrestle for the Open The Dream Gate Championship not long after the tournament is over.

The King of Gate tournament had often been used as a platform for Dragon Gate to push their rising stars. Past winners include Ryo Saito, Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi, BxB Hulk and YAMATO and others who have gone on to become wrestling superstars. Dick Togo became the first outsider to participate in the tournament and Austin Aries became the first gaijin to participate in the tournament. The 2007 tournament ended in controversy when Gamma was declared the winner by default due to CIMA's inability to continue after taking numerous kicks to the groin. Dragon Kid, who himself lost to Gamma by less than honorable means, demanded a rematch with Gamma and won, though he is not recognized as the winner of the tournament. In the 2008 tournament Shingo Takagi was scheduled to participate but decided to pull out as he was the reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion at the time. His spot would be filled by outsider Madoka, who won a battle royal. Following a hiatus in 2009 due to the Generation Warfare, the tournament was moved to Spring in 2010. In the 2012 edition of the tournament, CIMA was scheduled to participate but agreed to pull out and be replaced by Eita Kobayashi, who wanted to enter the tournament as his prize for winning the King of Chop tournament.

The only wrestlers who didn't won the Open The Dream Gate Championship after winning the King of Gate were Masaaki Mochizuki, Gamma, Shingo Takagi, Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, Ricochet and Jimmy Susumu.

Since 2012 the winners of the King of Gate would receive their Open The Dream Gate Championship title shot at the Champion Gate In Hakata until 2015. In 2016 it was moved for the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival PPV. In 2016 Dragon Gate adopted a new system and it is a Round Robin tournament that is consisted by four blocks, covering twenty shows. During the round-robin portion, a win is worth two points, a draw is worth one, and a loss zero; all matches have a 20-minute time limit, if the matches ended in a double count-out none of the wrestlers receive any points.

2005
The first King of Gate tournament took place over the course of five days from December 23-25, 2005. Virtually every member of the Dragon Gate roster participated, so a select few were given byes into the second round.

2006
The second King of Gate tournament took place over the course of four days from December 10-22, 2006. Dragon Kid and Shingo Takagi were scheduled to participate in the tournament but Kid was hospitalized for appendicitis and Takagi was in an excursion in the United States. The number of participants was diminished with only Ryo Saito, last year's winner, receiving an automatic bye into the second round. Dick Togo became the first outsider to participate in the tournament. Kouji Shishido won a fan vote to be included in the tournament.

2007
The third King of Gate Tournament took place over the course of seven days from December 1-9, 2007. The previous year's winner, Masaaki Mochizuki, no longer received an automatic bye into the second round. Austin Aries became the first gaijin to participate in the tournament. The tournament ended in controversy when Gamma was declared the winner by default due to CIMA's inability to continue after taking numerous kicks to the groin. Dragon Kid, who himself lost to Gamma by less than honorable means, demanded a rematch with Gamma and won, though he is not recognized as the winner of the tournament.

2008
The fourth King of Gate Tournament took place over the course of six days from December 2-19, 2008. Shingo Takagi was scheduled to participate, but decided to pull out as he was the reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion at the time. His spot would be filled by outsider Madoka, who won a battle royal on November 29 to earn an entry. Masato Yoshino was scheduled to participate in the tournament. However a match was made before the tournament even started between Veteran-gun (Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii and Magnitude Kishiwada) against Real Hazard (Gamma, Genki Horiguchi and Yasushi Kanda). If Veteran-gun won, Kishiwada would participate in the tournament and if Real Hazard won Kanda was going to participate in the tournament. Kishiwada won so he got Yoshino´s place. Naruki Doi the winner of the tournament went on defeating Shingo Takagi to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship, becoming the first wrestler to doing so. Ryo Saito was legitimately injured his right arm during his first round match with BxB Hulk. It was severe enough for the referee to call the match. Naoki Tanizaki's ring out loss to Don Fujii in the second round was caused by an intrusion from Cyber Kong.

2010
The fifth King of Gate Tournament took place over the course of five days from April 3-14, 2010. While he was a part-time member of the Dragon Gate roster at the time, Takuya Sugawara was still listed as an outsider.

2011
The sixth King of Gate Tournament took place over the course of six days from May 12-21, 2011. The winner of this year King of Gate BxB Hulk didn't immediately received his opportunity for the Open The Dream Gate Championship due to the champion Masaaki Mochizuki giving his opportunity to Yasushi Kanda (who Hulk defeated in the finals to win the tournament). Hulk would receive his championship shot at the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival after joining Blood Warriors. Hulk would fail to beat Mochizuki for the title.

2012
The seventh King of Gate Tournament will take place over the course of six days from May 10-19, 2012. CIMA was scheduled to participate but agreed to pull out and be replaced by Eita Kobayashi, who wanted to enter the tournament as his prize for winning the King of Chop tournament on April 19, 2012.

2013
The 2013 King of Gate tournament, a sixteen man tournament, took take place from May 10 to May 25, covering seven shows. Ricochet was the first wrestler to win the tournament in his first attempt. He would then unsuccessfully challenge CIMA for the Open The Dream Gate Championship.

2014
The 2014 King of Gate tournament, a sixteen man tournament, took take place from May 9 to May 31, covering nine shows. Five days before the tournament started Ryotsu Shimizu defeated U-T and Chihiro Tominaga to have the right to participate in the tournament. The winner of the tournament Jimmy Susumu would fail to defeat the Open The Dream Gate Champion YAMATO in the Champion Gate in Hataka.

2015
The 2015 King of Gate tournament, a sixteen man tournament, took take place from May 8 to May 30, covering seven shows. T-Hawk was the only wrestler to get into the finals of the King of Gate tournament. Masato Yoshino defeated the Open The Dream Gate Champion BxB Hulk to get into to the finals and then defeated T-Hawk to win the tournament. Yoshino would then defeat Hulk to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship ending Hulk's reign for almost a year that Hulk won the tournament. Yoshino would then defend Open The Dream Gate Champion against T-Hawk at the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival.

2016
The 2016 King of Gate tournament was a round-robin tournament, featuring 4 blocks and took place from May 8 to June 12, covering twenty shows. On block A the match between Shingo Takagi and Punch Tominaga ended in a time limit draw due to a double count out so neither Takagi or Tominaga received points. On block B Eita and Akira Tozawa were tied with 7 points and on June 11 Tozawa defeated Eita to pass to the semifinals. The winner of the tournament YAMATO went on defeating Shingo Takagi at the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship for the fourth time.

2017
The 2017 King of Gate tournament, a round-robin tournament, featuring 4 blocks and will take place from May 9 to June 11, covering twenty shows. On May 5 Cyber Kong was forced to revert to his real name Takashi Yoshida. Jimmy K-ness J.K.S. was forced to forfeit his match against Don Fujii on June 3 due to pulling the calf muscle in his right leg.

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