Dragon Dia (ドラゴン・ディヤ Doragon Diya) is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained and currently working for Dragon Gate (DG), where he is a former one-time Open The Triangle Gate Champion.
Dia was trained by the Dragon Gate Dojo and made his debut in November 2018, becoming Dragon Kid's protègè, with his real name not being a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans. Initially, Dia didn't have much success, working mostly on the undercard, losing to more experienced wrestlers, before being part of a "Generation War" alongside his Dragon Gate Generation counterparts against the Toryumon and R.E.D, which marked his breakthrough, leading him to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship in February 2020. In December, Dia left the Dragon Gate Generation stable to form his own stable with Shun Skywalker and his former Dragon Gate stablemates Jason Lee and Kota Minoura.
Contents
Professional Wrestling Career[edit | edit source]
Dragon Gate (2018–Present)[edit | edit source]
On October 2, 2018, Dragon Kid introduced a newly masked trainee Dragon Dia, announcing that his debut would be against R.E.D (Eita and Yasushi Kanda). On November 6, Dia and Kid were defeated by Eita and Kanda, with Dia being pinned by Kanda. Afterwards, Dia began losing most of his matches to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put him over other wrestlers while at the same time give him some in-ring, televised, experience as is customary for most professional wrestlers. In January 2019, Dia took part in the Rookie Ranking Tournament, losing to Shun Skywalker in the first round on January 12. Dia ended up finishing in seventh place, after being unable to take part of the match to determine the fifth place, due to being sidelined with influenza.
On December 18, Dia achieved an important victory, after teaming with his mentor Dragon Kid in a winning effort against Natural Vibes ("brother" YASSHI and Susumu Yokosuka), after Dia pinned Yokosuka. Afterwards, Dia became part of the Dragon Gate stable in order to unite all Dragon Gate generation of wrestlers against Toryumon and R.E.D in a "Generation War". Dia started being pushed up the card, beginning winning more consistently against veterans and more established wrestlers such as Big R Shimizu, Genki Horiguchi and Kagetora. In January 2020, Dia and his Dragon Gate stablemate Kzy took part in a tournament to crown the new Open The Twin Gate Champions, losing to eventual winners R.E.D duo of BxB Hulk and Kazma Sakamoto in the semifinals of the tournament on January 15. On February 29 on the first night of the Champion Gate in Osaka, Dia, Ben-K and Strong Machine J defeated Toryumon's Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito and Kenichiro Arai to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship. From May 17 until May 30, Dia took part in the 2020 King of Gate, losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual winner Eita, eliminating him from the tournament. On September 21, at Dangerous Gate, Dia, Ben-K and Machine lost the Open The Triangle Gate Championship to R.E.D's Diamante, Kazma Sakamoto and Takashi Yoshida.
Meanwhle over the past months, Dragon Dia had been in angle with R.E.D where Dia entered in a losing streak in every match with R.E.D. On October 4, Eita teased a "secret weapon". On October 4, during the final angle of a match between Dia and Takashi Yoshida, Eita revealed the secret weapon to be a person with his identity being kept in secret under the disguise of Dr. Muscle, known as Dia Inferno, respectively, with Inferno ripping Dia's mask. On November 15, at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Dragon Gate's biggest show of the year, Dia faced Inferno in a winning effort, after Inferno removed his mask causing the referee to award Dia the win. This outcome of the match led Deragon Gate to announce that Dia would face Inferno in a Lucha de Apuestas ("Bet Match"), Mask vs. Mask match at Final Gate, however the match was changed before the event, continuing the feud. On December 2, Dia alongside Jason Lee and Kota Minoura left Dragon Gate Generation to form their own stable with Shun Skywalker, which would be joined by a mysterious member on December 15. On December 15, it was announced that the stable would be named Masquerade, with the new member being revealed to be La Estrella.
In wrestling[edit | edit source]
- Finishing moves
- Reptilian Rana (Hurricanrana into a pin)
- Treatrana (Hurricanrana into a Victory Roll)
- Signature moves
- Crucifix driver
- Dropkick sometimes to a kneeling opponent
- Enziguri
- Forearm smash
- Open-handed chop
- Taka no Tsume (Crucifix pin)
- Tiger feint kick to the head of an opponent draped over the second rope
- Tilt-a-whirl DDT
- Somersault seated senton
- Spinning Hurricarana
- Wheelbarrow bodyscissors transitioned into either an arm drag
- Wheelbarrow victory roll
- Nicknames
- "Carrat Diamond"
- Entrance themes
- "Dragon Storm 2019" (Instrumental Version)" by ZIGGY
- "∞ Carat Diamond" by Syoko Koshino
Championships and Accomplishments[edit | edit source]
- Dragon Gate
- Open The Triangle Gate Championship (1 time) – with Ben-K and Strong Machine J
- Ashiyanikki Cup 6 Man Tag Team Tournament (2020) – with Ben-K and Strong Machine J
- Rookie Ranking Tournament: Seventh place
