Dead or Alive (2008)

The Dead or Alive (2008) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and GAORA TV event promoted by Dragon Gate. The event that took place on May 5 2008, in Nagoya, Aichi at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium and was the first event under the Dead or Alive.

The event featured 7 matches with one of Dragon Gate's sixth championships on the line. The main event was a Six-Way Mask vs. Hair Cage Survival Match that included BxB Hulk, CIMA, Dragon Kid, Masato Yoshino, YAMATO and Yasushi Kanda

Production
The Dead or Alive (2008) aired in Japan through Dragon Gate's internet streaming site, Niconico, with Japanese language commentaries. The Japanese commentary was provided by Katsuya Ichikawa. The event also aired on tape delay on Japanese TV Gaora Sports to be lauched in Dragon Gate's ~ Infinity ~ Series.

Storylines
Dead or Alive (2008) featured seven professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Pre-show
During the pre-show, Tye Dilinger faced Aiden English. In the climax, English performed the Director's Cut on Dilinger to win the match.

Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with The Usos defending the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods with Big E). In the end, Kingston performed Trouble in Paradise on Jimmy, which was followed by Woods performing a ropewalk elbow drop on Jimmy to win the title. This marked the first time that Woods scored a pinfall to win a championship in WWE.

Next, Shinsuke Nakamura faced Baron Corbin. Corbin executed the Deep Six on Nakamura for a nearfall. In the end, Corbin attacked Nakamura with a low blow, thus Nakamura won the match via disqualification. After the match, Corbin struck Nakamura with his Money in the Bank briefcase and attacked him with the End of Days.

After that was the fatal five-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for Naomi's SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam which featured Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina, Natalya, and Lana. After Lynch forced Tamina to submit to the Dis-arm-her, eliminating Tamina, she forced Lana to submit to the Dis-arm-her immediately afterwards, eliminating Lana. Natalya then pinned Lynch with a roll-up whilst holding her tights, eliminating Lynch. After performing a roll-up into the corner on Flair, Natalya pinned Flair to win the match. After the match, Naomi, who was on commentary during the match, offered a handshake, with Natalya refusing and departing.

In the fourth match, AJ Styles defended the United States Championship against Kevin Owens. In the end, as Owens and Styles traded counters, Styles applied a crossface on Owens, who shifted his weight on Styles into a pin to win the title for a third time.

Next, John Cena faced Rusev in a flag match. In the end, Cena attempted an Attitude Adjustment on Rusev, who countered into a Jumping Sidekick and applied the Accolade on Cena. Cena fought back and performed an Attitude Adjustment through two tables on the stage on Rusev. Cena then planted the U.S flag to win the match.

After that, Mike Kanellis (with Maria Kanellis) faced Sami Zayn. In the end, Maria got in the ring and prevented Zayn from performing an exploder suplex on Mike, and Mike tried to take advantage. However, Zayn countered and performed an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles followed by a Helluva Kick on Mike to win the match.

Main event
In the main event, Jinder Mahal defended the WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the third-ever Punjabi Prison match. Orton and Mahal went back and forth, preventing each other from escaping three of the doors of the inner cage. Orton called for the fourth door to be opened and then performed an RKO on Mahal, but The Singh Brothers appeared from under the ring and pulled Mahal out of the door, forcing Orton to climb over the inner cage. After Orton escaped the inner cage, he prevented Mahal from climbing over the outer cage and fought off The Singh Brothers, including knocking Samir (who went outside of the cage) off of the cage through an announce table. Orton then attacked Sunil and Mahal with a steel chair before attempting to climb the outer cage. Mid-way up, Mahal's music played and The Great Khali appeared for the first time since 2014. Khali climbed the cage and choked Orton, allowing Mahal to escape the outer structure and retain the WWE Championship.