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The Open The Dream Gate Championship is the top singles championship in Dragon Gate. It is the successor to the Ultimo Dragon Gym Championship from Toryumon Japan, which had been discontinued as a result of the split from Toryumon. Being the last Ultimo Dragon Gym Champion, CIMA was named the first Dream Gate Champion.
Overview[edit | edit source]
The belt itself is rather unique. The name of the champion is engraved onto a plate, which is then placed on the face of the belt and protected by a locked gate. For a competitor to be a challenger for the title, he must secure a Challenger's Key. If the champion successfully defends the title, the loser's key is added to the belt as a trophy. If the challenger wins the title, the key will unlock the gate, allowing him to replace the old nameplate with his own.
Each champion can devise their own method for how one can secure a Challenger's Key. Most of the time, these are done through the creation of matches, like in CIMA's third reign by holding battle royal matches dubbed CIMA Royale. Other times, there are different methods, such as when Masato Yoshino used a lottery system to determine his next challenger. Sometimes, the winner of the King of Gate tournament will be granted a Challenger's Key as proof of their being the strongest competitor over the previous one year period.
Since its inception, Dream Gate has not only be defended in every Kobe World Hall pay-per-view event, but it has also been placed indefinitely as the show's main event. A slight exception was made in 2006 when a No Rope Bonus Match took place after the Dream Gate match, and while it appeared to have aired on pay-per-view it was officially considered a post-show dark match.
In 2013, then-champion CIMA vowed to defend the belt once every month so long as he remained champion. Though his reign ended in July, the concept remained with the addition of the belt being defended on every show at Korakuen Hall. This is even if it had already been defended on another show during the month, such as Masato Yoshino defending on November 3 as part of the Gate of Destiny pay-per-view and then the belt being defended four days later at Korakuen Hall and also in 2017 YAMATO defended the title in 5-Way Survival Steel Cage match at the Dead or Alive against Shingo Takagi, BxB Hulk, Cyber Kong and Naruki Doi. The original title belt was lost following 2015 Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival on July 20, forcing the promotion to create a new belt, which debuted on August 16, 2015. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi and Masato Yoshino share the most reigns as champions with 4 reigns. On December 4, 2018, PAC became the second gaijin, and the first British Open The Dream Gate Champion.
On February 24, Naruki Doi revealed on Twitter that a new version of the Open The Dream Gate Championship, with the new logo of the promotion would be unveiled on March 1 before his match against Susumu Yokosuka. On March 1, Doi defeated Yokosuka to retain the title, while also receiving the new belt.
Title History[edit | edit source]
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Location | Event | Length | Defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIMA | 1 | July 4, 2004 | Kobe, Hyogo | Vo Aniversario | 175
Days |
1 | Was awarded the title for being last Ultimo Dragon Gym Champion; made official in Tokyo on August 1, 2004. |
| 2 | Masaaki Mochizuki | 1 | December 16, 2004 | Tokyo | Gate of Legend | 323
Days |
4 | |
| 3 | Magnitude Kishiwada | 1 | November 4, 2005 | Tokyo | Crown Gate 2005 - Day 3 | 112
Days |
2 | |
| 4 | Ryo Saito | 1 | February 24, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan | Truth Gate 2006 - Day 8 | 58
Days |
0 | |
| 5 | Susumu Yokosuka | 1 | April 23, 2006 | Tokyo | Glorious Gate 2006 - Day 8 | 214
Days |
3 | |
| 6 | Don Fujii | 1 | November 23, 2006 | Tokyo | Crown Gate 2006 - Day 6 | 122
Days |
1 | |
| 7 | Jushin Thunder Liger | 1 | March 25, 2007 | Tsu, Mie | Memorial Gate 2007 | 98
Days |
1 | |
| 8 | CIMA | 2 | July 1, 2007 | Kobe, Hyogo | Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2007 | 364
Days |
6 | |
| — | Vacated | — | June 29, 2008 | Osaka | — | — | — | CIMA vacated title due to injury. |
| 9 | Shingo Takagi | 1 | July 27, 2008 | Kobe, Hyogo | Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2008 | 154
Days |
3 | Defeated BxB Hulk in a decision match. |
| 10 | Naruki Doi | 1 | December 28, 2008 | Fukuoka | Final Gate 2008 - Day 3 | 449
Days |
8 | |
| 11 | YAMATO | 1 | March 22, 2010 | Tokyo | Compilation Gate 2010 | 111
Days |
3 | |
| 12 | Masato Yoshino | 1 | July 11, 2010 | Kobe, Hyogo | Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2010 | 277
Days |
4 | |
| 13 | Masaaki Mochizuki | 2 | April 14, 2011 | Tokyo | Champion Gate 2011 - Day 3 | 255
Days |
6 | |
| 14 | CIMA | 3 | December 25, 2011 | Fukuoka | Final Gate 2011 | 574
Days |
15 | |
| 15 | Shingo Takagi | 2 | July 21, 2013 | Kobe, Hyogo | Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2013 | 33
Days |
0 | |
| 16 | YAMATO | 2 | August 23, 2013 | Tokyo | The Gate Of Generation 2013 - Day 10 | 48
Days |
1 | |
| 17 | Masato Yoshino | 2 | October 10, 2013 | Tokyo | The Gate of Victory - Day 5 | 143
Days |
4 | |
| 18 | Ricochet | 1 | March 2, 2014 | Osaka | Champion Gate In Osaka 2014 - Day 2 | 64
Days |
1 | |
| 19 | YAMATO | 3 | May 5, 2014 | Nagoya | Dead or Alive 2014 | 76
Days |
2 | |
| 20 | BxB Hulk | 1 | July 20, 2014 | Kobe | Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2014 | 16 Days | 0 | |
| — | Naruki Doi | Provisional
|
August 5, 2014 | Tokyo | Scandal Gate 2014 | 12 Days | 0 | Defeated Hulk in a four-on-one Handicap match where is partners were Kzy, Cyber Kong and Mondai Ryu. Afterwards Doi was recognized as a "provisional" champion, pending a rematch. |
| 20 | BxB Hulk | 1(2) | August 17, 2014 | Tokyo | Dangerous Gate 2014 | 301 Days | 7 | Defeated Naruki Doi in a rematch to resume his reign and make his first successful title defense. |
| 21 | Masato Yoshino | 3 | June 14, 2015 | Fukuoka | Champion Gate in Hakata 2015 - Day 2 | 63 Days | 1 | |
| 22 | Shingo Takagi | 3 | August 16, 2015 | Tokyo | Dangerous Gate 2015 | 182 Days | 4 | Takagi's defense against Gamma was declared an unsuccessful attempt & Takagi didn't receive a Dream Key due to massive interference by VerserK/a no contest on 12/3/2015 |
| 23 | Jimmy Susumu | 2 | Febuary 14, 2016 | Fukuoka | Truth Gate 2016 - Day 8 | 21 Days | 0 | Previously known as Susumu Yokosuka. |
| 24 | Shingo Takagi | 4 | March 6, 2016 | Tokyo | Champion Gate in Osaka 2016 - Day 2 | 140 Days | 1 | |
| 25 | YAMATO | 4 | July 24, 2016 | Kobe | Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival 2016 | 421 Days | 6 | |
| 26 | Masaaki Mochizuki | 3 | September 18, 2017 | Oita | Dangerous Gate 2017 | 265 Days | 5 | |
| 27 | Masato Yoshino | 4 | June 10, 2018 | Fukuoka | King of Gate - Day 17 | 177 Days | 4 | |
| 28 | PAC | 1 | December 4, 2018 | Tokyo | Fantastic Gate 2018 - Day 1 | 229 Days | 3 | |
| 29 | Ben-K | 1 | July 21, 2019 | Kobe | Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2019) | 147 Days | 3 | |
| 30 | Naruki Doi | 2 | December 15, 2019 | Fukuoka | Final Gate (2019) | 231 Days | 2 | |
| 31 | Eita | 1 | August 2, 2020 | Wakayama | Memorial Gate in Wakayama (2020) | 105 Days | 1 | |
| 32 | Shun Skywalker | 1 | November 15, 2020 | Kobe | Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2020) | 154+ | 3 |
Combined reigns[edit | edit source]
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIMA | 3 | 22 | 1113 |
| 2 | Masaaki Mochizuki | 3 | 15 | 840 |
| 3 | Naruki Doi | 2 | 9 | 680 |
| 4 | Masato Yoshino | 4 | 13 | 660 |
| 5 | YAMATO | 4 | 12 | 656 |
| 6 | Shingo Takagi | 4 | 8 | 509 |
| 7 | BxB Hulk | 1 | 7 | 329 |
| 8 | Susumu Yokosuka / Jimmy Susumu | 2 | 3 | 235 |
| 9 | PAC | 1 | 3 | 229 |
| 10 | Ben-K | 1 | 3 | 147 |
| 11 | Shun Skywalker † | 1 | 3 | 154+ |
| 12 | Don Fujii | 1 | 1 | 122 |
| 13 | Magnitude Kishiwada | 1 | 2 | 112 |
| 14 | Eita | 1 | 1 | 105 |
| 15 | Jushin Thunder Liger | 1 | 1 | 98 |
| 16 | Ricochet | 1 | 1 | 64 |
| 17 | Ryo Saito | 1 | 0 | 58 |
Gallery[edit | edit source]
