The Memorial Gate in Wakayama 2020 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and GAORA TV event promoted by Dragon Gate. The event took place on August 2, 2020, in Wakayama at the Wakayama Prefectural Gym and was the ninth event under the Memorial Gate in Wakayama.
The event aired live on Dragon Gate Network streaming service. The event was originally scheduled to take place solely on March 20, 2020, but the event was rescheduled to August 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on March 20, 2020, but the event was rescheduled on July 2, with the event, set to take place on August 22. At the end of March, Dragon Gate began holding shows with no audience and only essential staff present, with all Dragon Gate programming being relocated to the Kobe Lapis Hall in May.
Production[]
Background[]
The Memorial Gate in Wakayama 2020 aired through Dragon Gate's internet streaming site, Dragon Gate Network, with Japanese language commentaries. The Japanese commentary will be provided by Katsuya Ichikawa. The event aired on tape delay on Japanese TV Gaora Sports to be launched in Dragon Gate's ~ Infinity ~ Series.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic[]
The event was originally to take place on March 20, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel or postpone their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. On March 1, Dragon Gate began canceling events starting with the Glorious Gate tour between March 3 and March 8 and the March 13th show, including a show on March 5 in the Korakuen Hall. Initially, it was announced that the Glorious Gate would be resumed on March 14, however, the tour ended up being canceled, following the recommendations by the Japanese Ministry of Health regarding the coronavirus pandemic. On March 11, it was announced that the Memorial Gate in Wakayama would be postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 22, Dragon Gate began holding shows behind closed doors with no audience and only essential staff present. Four days later, Dragon Gate canceled more events from March 28 through March 31. This led to on March 30, Dragon Gate canceling more events from April 4 through April 8. On April 8, Dragon Gate canceled more events including 2020 Dead or Alive, following Japan's declaration State of Emergency. On May 11, Dragon Gate canceled more events from June 2 through June 10. From May 15 to June 7, Dragon Gate held the entire 2020 King of Gate behind closed doors with no audience and only essential staff present, leading all Dragon Gate programming being relocated to the Kobe Lapis Hall. The format of the tournament was changed to a singles elimination tournament for the first time in four years, due to COVID-19. On June 3, Dragon Gate canceled all of its June events between June 13 through June 29. Six days later, it was announced that the July 9 event would also be canceled. On June 12, Dragon Gate announced the rules and regulations for fans who attend Dragon Gate events. On June 17, it was announced that the 2020 Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival would also be postponed. It was also announced that starting on July 4, Dragon Gate would be resuming shows with fans after the Japanese Government lifted the State of Emergency. On July 2, it was announced that the event would be rescheduled to take place on August 2.
Storylines[]
The Memorial Gate in Wakayama (2020) featured professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines that played out on the Dragon Gate's television program. Wrestlers portrayed heroes or villains as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Naruki Doi, who defended the Open The Dream Gate Championship at the main event
The Memorial Gate in Wakayama (2020) was main evented by Naruki Doi defending the Open The Dream Gate Championship against the winner of the 2020 King of Gate Eita. In December 2019, R.E.D began a "Generation War" against Toryumon and Dragon Gate. From May 15 to June 7, various members of R.E.D, Dragon Gate, and Toryumon took part in the 2020 King of Gate. On June 7, Eita defeated YAMATO in the semifinals and then reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi in the finals on June 7, to win the 2020 King of Gate. Afterwards, Eita started to berate Doi, leading General Manager Takayuki Yagi to dare him to challenge Doi to a title match. This also led to Eita mocking Doi's partner Yoshino for his upcoming retirement, stating that he would consider giving Doi the privilege of defending the Open The Dream Gate Championship against him if Yoshino retired. On July 4, it was announced that Doi would defend the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Eita in the main event.
Three-way six-man tag team stable war wakayama rules tornado match rules[]
- Each team participated in a Wakayama themed lottery before the match to determine the order of entry (1st, 2nd, 3rd).
- The match began as a three-way singles match.
- The next member of each team entered at a 1-minute interval based on the order determined by the lottery.
- The match proceeded under a tornado tag team rules until all participants have entered.
- The match was single elimination.
- A team would be eliminated when one member is defeated. It is possible for a team to be eliminated before all members have entered the match.
Results[]
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy and Punch Tominaga defeated Ho Ho Lun and Shachihoko BOY | Tag Team match | 4:11 |
| 2 | Dragon Gate (Ben-K, Dragon Dia and Strong Machine J) defeated Toryumon (Masato Yoshino, Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka | Six-man tag team match | 13:13 |
| 3 | Kagetora and Kento Kobune defeat KAI and Taketo Kamei | Tag Team match | 7:04 |
| 4 | Kzy defeated Yasushi Kanda | Tag Team match | 3:14 |
| 5 | Toryumon (Don Fujii and Último Dragón) defeated Masaaki Mochizuki and Gamma | Tag Team match | 12:16 |
| 6 | R.E.D (Big R Shimizu, Diamante and Kaito Ishida) defeated Toryumon (Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi and Shuji Kondo) and Dragon Gate (YAMATO, Keisuke Okuda, and Yosuke♥Santa Maria) | Three-way six-man tag team "stable war wakayama rules tornado match | 12:21 |
| 7 | Dragon Gate (Jason Lee and Kota Minoura) defeated R.E.D (BxB Hulk and Kazma Sakamoto) (c) | Tag Team match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship | 16:45 |
| 8 | Eita defeated Naruki Doi (c) | Singles match for the Open The Dream Gate Championship | 31:46 |
| |||
Three-way six-man tag team "stable war wakayama rules tornado match[]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination move | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yosuke♥Santa Maria | Dragon Gate | Shuji Kondo | Pinned after the King Kong Lariat | 10:22 | |
| 2 | Diamante | R.E.D | Genki Horiguchi | Pinned after the Vuelta Finale | 12:21 | |
| Winners: | R.E.D (Big R Shimizu, Diamante and Kaito Ishida) | |||||