The Memorial Gate in Wakayama 2022 was professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and GAORA TV event promoted by Dragon Gate. The event took place on February 23, 2022, in Wakayama at the Wakayama Prefectural Gym and was the tenth event under the Memorial Gate in Wakayama. The event aired live on Dragon Gate Network streaming service. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the tour had some restrictions in the attendance, after the Japanese Government lifted the State of Emergency.
Production[]
Background[]
The Memorial Gate in Wakayama 2022 aired through Dragon Gate's internet streaming site, Dragon Gate Network, with Japanese language commentaries. The Japanese commentary was provided by Katsuya Ichikawa. The event aired on tape delay on Japanese TV Gaora Sports to be launched in Dragon Gate's ~ Infinity ~ Series. The event will also feature tape delayed English commentary provided by Jae Church and Ho Ho Lun.
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.
Storylines[]
The Memorial Gate in Wakayama (2022) 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.
Dragon Dia and Yuki Yoshioka, who defended the Open The Twin Gate Championship at the main event
The Memorial Gate in Wakayama (2022) was main evented by Dragon Dia and Yuki Yoshioka defending the Open The Twin Gate Championship against Jason Lee and La Estrella. On February 11, 2022, following a tag team match, Lee and Estrella, who had recently been part of Masquerade, challenged Dia and Yoshioka to a title match for the Open The Twin Championship, which General Manager Ryo Saito made official.
On February 20, General Manager Ryo Saito announced that the rookies of class of 2021 would be facing each other at Memorial Gate in a five-way match, with the winner receiving a title match for the Open The Brave Gate Championship against Dragon Dia on March 5 at Champion Gate in Osaka.
Results[]
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Vibes (Big Boss Shimizu, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T) vs. Z-Brats (BxB Hulk, KAI and Shun Skywalker) ended in a time limit draw | Six-man tag team match | 15:00 |
| 2 | Ho Ho Lun and Takashi Yoshida defeated Strong Machine J and Shachihoko BOY | Tag team match | 11:20 |
| 3 | Z-Brats (Diamante and SB KENTo) defeated Punch Tominaga and Yosuke♡Santa Maria | Tag team match | 0:34 |
| 4 | High-End (Ben-K, Dragon Kid, Kagetora, Keisuke Okuda and YAMATO) defeated Don Fujii, Masaaki Mochizuki, Shuji Kondo, Último Dragón and Yasushi Kanda) | Ten-man tag team match | 12:14 |
| 5 | Takuma Fujiwara defeated Ishin Iihashi, Riki Iihashi, Ryu Fuda and Takumi Hayakawa | Five-way elimination match to determine the #1 Contender to the Open The Brave Gate Championship | 7:32 |
| 6 | Kaito Ishida, Kota Minoura and Naruki Doi defeated Natural Vibes (Genki Horiguchi, Jacky "Funky" Kamei and Kzy) | Six-man tag team match | 9:59 |
| 7 | H.Y.O defeated Eita | Singles match | 7:32 |
| 8 | Dragon Dia and Yuki Yoshioka (c) defeated Jason Lee and La Estrella | Tag team match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship | 17:58 |
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Five-way elimination match[]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Eliminated by | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Takumi Hayakawa | Ishin Iihashi and Riki Iihashi | ||||
| 2 | Ryu Fuda | Takuma Fujiwara | ||||
| 3 | Riki Iihashi | |||||
| 4 | Ishin Iihashi | |||||
| Winners: | Takuma Fujiwara (#1 Contender to the Open The Brave Gate Championship) | |||||