Changes: King of Gate

Revision as of 14:42, 24 May 2020

The King of Gate (キング・オブ・ゲート, Kingu Obu gēto) 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 of 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.

For the round-robin tournaments in the King of Gate:

– winners of each block;

– losers of each block.

List of Winners

Year	Winner	Total Won
2005	Ryo Saito	1
2006	Masaaki Mochizuki
2007	Gamma
2008	Naruki Doi
2010	Shingo Takagi
2011	BxB Hulk
2012	Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!
2013	Ricochet
2014	Jimmy Susumu
2015	Masato Yoshino
2016	YAMATO
2017	T-Hawk
2018	Masato Yoshino	2
2019	Ben-K	1
2020	TBD	TBD

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 won the Open The Dream Gate Championship after winning the King of Gate were Ryo Saito, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, YAMATO and Ben-K. Most of the times, the winners of the King of Gate after winning the tournament failed to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship.

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 Pro-Wrestling Festival PPV. In 2016 Dragon Gate adopted a new system and it is a Round Robin tournament that is consisted of 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. In the 2018 edition of the tournament, Masaaki Mochizuki was scheduled to participate but instead decided to pull out of the tournament due to being the Open the Dream Gate Champion and instead decided a Young Generation wrestler to participate in his place, and decided to defend the title on the June 10. The Young Generation wrestler who replaced Mochizuki ended up being Shun Skywalker. On June 9, Masato Yoshino defeated YAMATO in the finals to become the first wrestler to win the King of Gate for a second time.

In the 2019 edition of the tournament, PAC was pulled out of the tournament due to being the reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion. In 2019, it was announced that the winner would be to determine the strongest wrestler in the promotion.

In the 2020 edition of the tournament, Dragon Gate changed the system from a round-robin tournament to a singles elimination tournament, with the final semifinal spot being decided in a battle royal from the wrestler who was eliminated in the tournament. It was also announced that the reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi would participate in the tournament. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan, the tournament would be held in empty arenas, with the tournament also being aired in tape delay.

Results

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.

First round

Second round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Dragon Kid

Daniel Mishima