The Definitive Guide to 2024 Dragongate

In 2022, I wrote an extensive piece about Dragongate’s chaotic year. The article was largely inspired by my urge to write a definitive piece on what we can now dub “NOSAWA-gate,” which saw numerous reporters and English-speaking fans getting duped by a known troll who claimed that NOSAWA was booking Dragongate. That was, in fact, not the case. 2022 was a tough year for Dragongate. They had ushered in an exciting class of rookies, but their main event scene was plagued with issues, namely “The Kota Minoura Debacle,” which I wrote about extensively in my year-end piece. It’s a year that needed to be documented for future generations of Dragongate fans to consume, because the further we are removed from 2022, the harder it is to encapsulate how exhausting, for lack of a better term, Dragongate was that year.

2024, on the other hand, was a year that should be documented due to the triumphs the promotion scored. While post-COVID business continues to be unfriendly to the overwhelming majority of Japanese wrestling promotions, the promotion saw small glimpses of hope at the box office, and sensational creative peaks that warrant praise. Not since 2020 had I been able to refer to Dragongate as the best wrestling promotion in the world, but as 2024 draws to a close, I feel comfortable assigning that label to the promotion.

Dragongate re-established themselves this year as a creative force with a vast array of wrestlers capable of putting on matches that no other promotion can produce.

This is the story of Dragongate’s 2024.

YAMATO Returns to Prominence

YAMATO’s 2023 began with his fledgling unit, HIGH-END, taking a loss in a Losing Unit Disbands match to Dragongate’s now long-running heel group, Z-Brats. Instead of immediately beginning the hunt for a new unit, as all top dogs in Dragongate usually would, YAMATO vowed to stay away from the main event scene for the rest of the year as the Reiwa Six began to dominate the back-half of Dragongate shows. While I enjoyed YAMATO’s year of screwing off that featured bouts against Hiromu Takashi and Fujita “Jr” Hayato, it became apparent in early 2024 that YAMATO’s sabbatical from the main event scene was over.

In his first match in Korakuen Hall this year, YAMATO belittled Dragongate’s once-prized pupil, Kota Minoura. It wasn’t Dragongate “planting seeds” as much as it was them littering the soil with a GMO-laced rivalry starter. Kota Minoura was YAMATO’s first target of the new year, and his first step into finding his way back to the top of the Dragongate mountain.

Over the course of the next six months, YAMATO and Minoura would meet on both of Dragongate’s early big shows – the inaugural Gate of Bayside in January and Dead or Alive in May, as well as on three separate Korakuen Hall shows leading up to their Hair vs. Hair showdown in Korakuen in June. There was never a glimmer of hope for the leader of Gold Class. YAMATO beat him senseless, shaved his head, and then said “who’s next?” On paper, it’s easy to look at this feud and think that Dragongate pulled a page out of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s “how to degrade your future generation and make sure no one gets over” playbook, but this move couldn’t have worked out better. Minoura, for all of his warts, and there are many, is a protected figure in Dragongate’s booking pyramid. A win over him by anyone is noteworthy. Multiple wins, all in dominant fashion, culminating with hair loss in Korakuen? That’s how you elevate someone past Minoura in the pecking order.

After Iverson-Over-Ty Lue’ing Minoura, YAMATO reenlisted in unit warfare. He grabbed Susumu Yokosuka, the man who he lost in the Rey de Parejas finals with, Dragon Kid and Naruki Doi (affectionately known as Not Hug), who beat them in the Rey de Parejas final, and Kagetora to form Paradox, a unit similar to HIGH-END, yet somehow far more appealing. After finding companionship with his fellow aging comrades, YAMATO challenged Ben-K to a Dream Gate Championship match at the company’s biggest show of the year, Kobe World, only moments after Ben-K won the title himself. Their subsequent match would end with YAMATO becoming the only six-time Dream Gate Champion in history.

I wrote in my review of the match, “YAMATO fought with the passion of 25 years of Dragongate behind him, with each big move acting as a reminder that he won’t be leaving anytime soon. His effort was heroic. It was the kind of babyface outing that most promoters could only dream of. He did everything he could to make sure that everyone in that building and watching at him was aware that to YAMATO, Dragongate was still #1.” before slapping ****1/4 on it. It was not the match itself, but YAMATO’s post-match actions, however, that made headlines.

It was an unspoken rule in Dragongate that Kobe World ends with a babyface champion standing tall. The babyface wins, they thank the fans for coming, and then everyone goes home peacefully. That’s not what happened this year.

YAMATO, with tears in his eyes, ripped into Dragongate’s stars of yesteryear. He recalled an incident that took place earlier in his career with a person who could only logically be CIMA, noting that after a show many years ago, they both had to be driven to the hospital. On the way there, CIMA said to YAMATO, “you’re a perpetual match 4 guy – don’t get any ideas above your station’.” In the promo, YAMATO noted that it wasn’t until later that he realized what he had been told, and that he wasn’t going to stand for it. He then lambasted T-Hawk for leaving the Dragongate Dojo in “shambles” after YAMATO and Shingo Takagi handed it to him (T-Hawk would later respond in a blog post). It was the type of chest-thumping, mic-drop promo that Dragongate never does. He capped it off by reminding people that he wasn’t going anywhere and that the rest of the roster was going to have to go through him. It was a promo that made me want to run through a wall for YAMATO. It was the start of a championship run that most promoters can only dream of.

For those new to Dragongate, here’s a quick summary of YAMATO’s previous five Dream Gate runs:

March 22, 2010-July 11, 2010: YAMATO’s first Dream Gate run was as a tweener in Kamikaze. He defeated Naruki Doi and lost to Masato Yoshino. His three title defenses were not career-defining, but all feel in the very good-to-great range.
August 23, 2023-October 10, 2013: YAMATO’s second Dream Gate run only lasted 48 days, but every second of it was enjoyable. Now as a member of the heel unit Mad Blankey, he shocked the world by rolling up Shingo Takagi in Takagi’s first defense (Takagi had just ended CIMA’s 548-day run as champion). That match, while not their best, was still utterly remarkable. He then proceeded to have a MOTYC against Ryo Saito in his only successful title defense, and then another MOTYC against Masato Yoshino in the match that resulted in defeat for YAMATO.
May 5, 2014-July 20, 2014: YAMATO’s second time as champion in Mad Blankey ended Ricochet’s transitional title reign, only to begin a transitional title reign of his own, as he would drop the belt to BxB Hulk at Kobe World that year. This reign is historically significant as it features the last two Dream Gate matches to not air on TV or on DVD (prior to the launch of the Dragongate Network, Memorial Gate shows were only available on DVD for international fans). YAMATO defended the title against Genki Horiguchi in a match that only those in attendance saw, and then against Susumu Yokosuka in a match that only aired during intermission of the UStream iPPV stream of Kobe World 2014.
July 24, 2016-September 18, 2018: YAMATO’s fourth Dream Gate run lasted 421 days and I hated pretty much every second of it. The build to this match was perfect. YAMATO was ousted from the heel unit at the time, VerserK, and went on a mission to gain revenge on the unit’s leader and Dream Gate Champion, Shingo Takagi. He formed the babyface unit Tribe Vanguard at this time. This story was all in the chase, not in the championship, however. They decided to keep the championship on YAMATO for a very long time. Coming out of World 2016 when YAMATO won the belt, the company went straight into Summer Adventure Tag League. His September title defense was a lame-duck defense against Akira Tozawa, as it was known Tozawa was on his way out at the time of the match. Instead of a title defense in November at Gate of Destiny, they said goodbye to Tozawa in a six-man tag. That meant that from the end of July until December, YAMATO never had a strong challenger. Naruki Doi, who acted as that year’s Final Gate challenger, wasn’t much of an improvement, and the subsequent feuds with Cyber Kong and T-Hawk were an insult. Dragongate’s “golden era” was long gone by the time he hit one year as champion, and it was in large part due to this title reign. The reign ended with an excellent match against Masaaki Mochizuki, but the damage was done. What was supposed to be YAMATO’s career-defining, babyface Dream Gate run was a massive flop.
August 1, 2021-December 26, 2021: Now fronting another babyface unit in HIGH-END, YAMATO ended the superb Dream Gate reign of Shun Skywalker in the semi-main event of Masato Yoshino’s retirement show. The move made sense, but Skywalker’s time with the gold felt far more inspired. He would have a series of going-through-the-motions defenses against Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk, and Ben-K, before dropping it in shocking fashion to KAI.

As you can see, despite being Dream Gate Champion more than anyone else in history, YAMATO’s time with the belt has not been something to write home about. His best two runs were short, transitional runs with the title as a member of Mad Blankey. It had become common thought that YAMATO wasn’t entertaining enough as a babyface to run with the top title. That all changed this year, however. At press time, he’s defended the belt four times, with each match not only being great, but being exciting in their own, unique way. He’s slated to defend the title against Strong Machine J in SMJ’s hometown at Gate of Bayside on January 25, 2025.

We’ve seen great Dream Gate champions in recent years (namely Shun Skywalker’s first reign and Yuki Yoshioka’s legend-slaying 2022 reign), but over the course of the last few years, the Dream Gate scene has been dominated by young guys getting their first taste of major success. Dragongate’s main event scene has doubled as a proving ground for those hoping to break through as a major star at a time when the entire Japanese wrestling economy is in a deep depression. Not since PAC’s time with the title in 2019 have we seen a “give dad the keys” Dream Gate run. YAMATO is a grown up doing grown up-type business. It’s not the champion proving that he belongs in the main event scene, it’s every challenger that steps up to the plate.

I said immediately following YAMATO’s win at Kobe World that this would be the title reign that defined his career, for better or worse, and thus far, the results could not be more positive.

Dragongate’s 15 Korakuen Hall Shows In 2024, Ranked

One of the telltale signs that Dragongate is humming along is how strong their Korakuen Hall output is. No promotion has had more memorable moments in this building since their inception in 1999, and this year saw a number of phenomenal outings in Japan’s most sacred venue.

Rey de Parejas Finals, April 10
1. Rey de Parejas concludes with two thrilling semi-finals matchups and a MOTYC in the finals. This might be their best Korakuen show of the 2020s.
Storm Gate, September 5
1. The incredible debut of Homare, the shocking return of Gianni Valletta, and the brutal Dream Gate match between YAMATO and ISHIN highlight one of the most chaotic shows of the year.
Fantastic Gate, December 17
1. Not only did we say goodbye to Konomama Ichikawa in an epic retirement match against Hiroshi Tanahashi, but Dragongate put on their MOTY, the < 30 crew delivered huge against Z-Brats, and the international tag bout between Flamita, Luis Mante, Jacky Kamei, and Riiita provided in a glimpse into the potential greatness that could unfold in 2025.
Aggressive Gate, July 5
1. There were three phenomenal matches on this show, all unique in their own way. Nothing was better, however, than the first-ever father vs. son match in Dragongate history, as Masaaki Mochizuki and Mochizuki Jr delivered a MOTYC in their highly anticipated bout.
Truth Gate, February 7
1. An epic main event between Natural Vibes and Z-Brats, plus Eita’s last Dragongate match (it was a good one!) and M3K’s farewell.
King of Gate Finals, December 3
1. Dragon Dia became a star on this night, but the surprise return of Yoshiki Kato and the rise of gutsy Daiki Yangiuchi are the things that I will remember from this show years down the line. From top to bottom, a tremendous watch.
Rey de Parejas Opening Night, March 6
1. The main event between Jacky “Funky” Kamei and Jason Lee vs. Hyo and Luis Mante was a rare example of the right match happening in the right building at exactly the right time. Few matches in DG were better than that one. Plus, a reminder that Ryu Fuda is a good wrestler!
King of Gate Opening Night, November 7
1. ISHIN did his best Dick Togo impression, Shun Skywalker did his best Nick Bockwinkel impression, and the King of Gate kickoff show once again proved to be a grandiose occasion.
Rainbow Gate, June 5
1. Better than the night prior, Dragongate’s second Korakuen double-shot of the year was capped off with a thrilling Brave Gate bout between Hyo and Flamita, Minorita and Mochizuki Junior showing their worth in an epic tag match, and YAMATO shaving Kota Minoura’s head.
Gate of Victory, October 4
1. The Gold Class vs. Z-Brats Losing Unit Disbands match was everything we could’ve hoped for. Elsewhere, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kenoh battled Konomama Ichikawa and there was yet another highly enjoyable Natural Vibes trios match.
Hopeful Gate, May 9
1. It had been ages since we saw a Triangle Gate match headline a Korakuen Show *and* feel like a big deal. That’s what we got here between Natural Vibes and Z-Brats. Elsewhere, Jacky “Funky” Kamei officially said goodbye to Natural Vibes in a brutal match against Kzy and Ryoya Tanaka yet again looked awesome.
Rainbow Gate, June 4
1. This show edges out the New Year Gate double-shot due to the strength of the international eight-man tag and the fact that Ben-K beat Luis Mante for the Dream Gate Championship.
Open the New Year Gate, January 10
1. Masaaki Mochizuki celebrated his 30th anniversary against Shingo Takagi. Elsewhere, Z-Brats collided with Aagon Iisou and a crew of veterans stole the show against DG’s young guns
Open the New Year Gate, January 11
1. A pair of singles matches between Jacky “Funky” Kamei and Luis Mante and Hyo and Shun Skywalker highlighted what was an otherwise sleepy Korakuen affair.
Gate of Adventure, August 1
1. Heavy on the storylines and light on the great matches, Gate of Adventure paved the way for what would be a dynamite back half of the year, but it itself was nothing special.

Jacky Kamei: The Tragedy of 2024

This should’ve been Jacky Kamei’s year. As I start looking back on 2024 and jotting down winners for Awards Season, I am sickened by the lack of awards that I can give to Jacky Kamei. Celebrating his fourth full year as a pro in 2024, the Tottori native entered the year with one of the strongest reputations in the promotion. For years, I had anointed Kamei as “the next Genki Horiguchi”. Much like his former partner in Natural Vibes, Kamei possessed an energy and approach to the ring that would’ve helped him succeed in any promotion, but he possessed a specific energy that felt authentically Dragongate. After years of expecting him to be the king of the Brave Gate division or a world-renowned tag team wrestler, I realized that my expectations for Kamei were far too low.

For the first five months of the year, the conversation for who the best wrestler in the world was belonged to three names: Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay, and Jacky Kamei. From the beginning of January to the end of May, Kamei racked up 13 matches at 4 stars or higher. He was consistently great, and at times, otherworldly. I wrote after his stellar Twin Gate challenge against Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Alejandro and Kaito Kiyomiya, “The real star of this match, though, was once again Jacky “Funky” Kamei…Kamei plays like a hybrid of Rey Mysterio Jr and Susumu Mochizuki. He’s always been painfully consistent, but is now peaking higher than he was during the first three years of his career. Kamei is a machine, and he looked like he belonged in the ring with a two-time GHC World Heavyweight Champion. If Kamei was suddenly thrust into a Best of the Super Juniors tournament, he would rival El Desperado and Hiromu Takahashi as one of the best wrestlers in the tournament. I have no doubt in my mind.” In March, he and then-tag team partner Jason Lee headlined the opening night of the Rey de Parejas tournament in Korakuen Hall against Hyo and Luis Mante, and I had this to say after the dust had settled, “You will not find many better wrestlers on the planet better than Jacky “Funky” Kamei, and the tastemakers with a wider reach and more clout than me (there are many) are routinely missing the boat by not being locked in on whatever Kamei is doing…People are out to lunch if they don’t think he’s a top 25 wrestler in the entire world. He’s not on the same tier as an Ospreay or a Danielson or an engaged Okada, but let me be clear, the gap is not as wide as some may think, and no one with a clue should scoff when Kamei’s name is thrown around with such high praise. He does it time and time again and now it looks like he might be challenging for Dragongate’s top prize once this tournament is done with.”

I noted then that it looked like Kamei was going to challenge for the company’s top prize, as he had just scored a pin on Luis Mante, who was the Dream Gate Champion at the time. Sadly, that never happened.

The aforementioned classic between Kamei & Lee vs. Hyo & Mante took place on March 6. On March 30, Lee, who had been Kamei’s go-to tag team partner for years, turned his back on Kamei and linked up with Z-Brats. This turn proved to be a major success for Lee, who had been wrestling exclusively as a babyface since joining the company in 2017. He hit the ground running with his new heel persona and never looked back. Unfortunately, it was the beginning of the end for Kamei.

Things didn’t unravel immediately. Lee’s turn set up an epic five-way cage match at this year’s Dead Or Alive show between Kamei, Lee, Kamei’s stablemate in Natural Vibes, Kzy, Lee’s stablemate in Z-Brats, Shun Skywalker, and Hyo, who had developed an affinity for saving Kamei from trouble. Sans Sting’s emotional farewell in AEW, no match played at the heart strings of their fanbase more than this match. Hyo’s loyalty was tested, Kamei’s desire for revenge was challenged, and these five men, by the end of the match, had put forth an emotional epic that no other company could rival.

In the aftermath, I wrote, “In order to know what’s good, you have to understand what’s bad. There’s not a bigger plague on this Earth than people who force positivity for the sake of positivity, which includes those who don’t have the guts to properly analyze what art unfolds in front of them. Perhaps part of the reason that I am so perturbed by the winning side in the American wrestling landscape is that they are routinely praised for things that I know are bad. Objectively, they are bad. They, however, speak to a large demographic of people that don’t know it’s bad. I truly, deep down, in my heart of hearts, believe that what they are doing is bad. Forget the stomach-turning morale issues that anyone should be faced with when giving money to those vile cretins, but I genuinely believe that the “art” that they produce, for lack of a better term, sucks. It’s for a lesser kind. It’s for dummies. It’s for people who I do not want to be associated with. If Dragongate didn’t exist, I still wouldn’t be a fan of what they do, but Dragongate does exist, and it is in these moments, when Kamei is sobbing as Lee is climbing to the top of the cage, that proves how inferior most other forms of wrestling are.”

Dead or Alive ended with Kamei saying goodbye to Natural Vibes and joining Big Hug, who up to that point was only Hyo and Luis Mante. Given that Mante was the Dream Gate Champion and Hyo was the Brave Gate Champion, it seemed like Kamei was joining a unit that would become the de facto faces of Dragongate sooner rather than later.

Instead, Big Hug was a massive flop.

Big Hug did nothing inherently wrong. The concept was there. Hyo and Mante had developed an inseparable bond, and over time, Hyo and Kamei formed something similar. Thus, they were now a unit. Babyface units like HIGH-END and Tribe Vanguard were far more off-putting and their existence was far more agonizing. From the jump, though, the three-man era of Big Hug was off.

It didn’t help that Kamei, who had some of the coolest gear in the company with Natural Vibes, was saddled with hideous, ill-fitting white overalls when he made the jump. It also didn’t help that as Big Hug were supposed to be taking off, D’Courage began feeling revitalized thanks to Dragon Dia’s participation in NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors and Gold Class, especially once they saw Kota Minoura leave the unit, began to do their best work ever. There have been times in this promotion’s history where they’ve been desperate for strong, babyface units. Had Big Hug existed during one of those times, history would’ve been far kinder to Big Hug. Instead, they got swallowed up by units that felt more innovative, fresher, and hotter than they did.

In a technical sense, Kamei was featured heavily during his entire time with Big Hug. He challenged for the Twin Gate belts at World, the Triangle Gate belts at Dangerous Gate, the Brave Gate belt at Gate of Origin, and then was in a Losing Unit Disbands match (the match that killed Big Hug) at Gate of Destiny, but it was diminishing returns each time out. In March, it seemed as if Kamei had no ceiling. I was salivating at the thought of him getting an actual singles push and a Dream Gate challenge. He was racking up great matches at a rate that no one in wrestling could rival. He had charisma that felt unmatched by some of wrestling’s biggest stars. When he was in one the opening match at Final Gate this year, it made sense. Kamei had been downgraded to a wrestler not worthy of being in a featured match. All of the things that made him special had been zapped out of him over the course of his time in Big Hug.

Had you asked me in June what I thought I was going to write about come December, I never would’ve imagined that I’d be forced to pen my thoughts on the disappointing year that Kamei had. Hopefully in 2025, we see a heel turn and a chance for Kamei to regain some of his mojo.

Dragongate’s 10 Best Matches of 2024

*all matches, sans Match #10, are linked with English Commentary

Stock Up, Stock Down

Throughout the course of a calendar year, a promotion sees a number of wrestlers rise up the ranks, and a number wrestlers exit the year lower on the pecking order than they were at the start of the year.

Stock Up:

ISHIN – one-half of wrestling’s first supernovas (both his mother and father were pro wrestlers and his brother, Riki, wrestled alongside him before his untimely retirement in 2022) took a monstrous step forward this year. Even during his time as Brave Gate Champion in 2023, I worried that ISHIN would plateau and never provide a reason to be pushed harder than he already had been. Then, he turned the corner. 2024 ISHIN is the closest thing we have to Dick Togo in Michinoku Pro. He packed on the pounds, ramped up the charisma, and became a near-flawless wrestler all in the blink of an eye. He has overshadowed Kota Minoura (more on him later) since Minoura’s heel turn. As far as I’m concerned, ISHIN is now second-in-command in Z-Brats behind their leader, Shun Skywalker. While I have no desire to see Shun Skywalker turn face anytime soon, I’m already salivating at the idea of heel ISHIN vs. babyface Shun.
Dragon Dia – You have to hand it to Dragon Dia. After being one of the primary focuses of the promotion in 2022, he took a backseat to everyone in his unit the following year. I came into this year thinking that Dia’s career had peaked with his excellent 2022 and that until we saw a drastic change to his persona. In May, Ryusuke Taguchi was forced to pull out of NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament due to injury and to the surprise of many, Dia was asked to fill in. Dia joined Masaaki Mochizuki (1999), Ultimo Dragon (2004), BxB Hulk Hulk (2007), YAMATO (2009), PAC (2012), and Ricochet (2014, winner) as Dragongate alumni to participate in the tournament. While Dia’s tournament was unsuccessful on the NJPW front, the fact that he represented Dragongate proudly made him a star in the eyes of Dragongate’s fanbase. He felt a sudden burst of momentum that he hadn’t felt since 2022. He won the Brave Gate belt at Kobe World this year in a match against Hyo in which both guys felt hotter than ever before entering the bout. Not only did Dia successfully defend his title on three separate occasions, but he won King of Gate 2024 in shocking fashion, leading to a main event match against YAMATO at Final Gate. Dia lost the match (and subsequently his Brave Gate belt), but put forth the best match of his career in the process. Dia enters 2025 totally revitalized and more popular than ever before.
Naruki Doi – Is it insulting to claim that someone who has been wrestling for 24 years saw their stock rise this year? I hope not. In 2021, I decided that Naruki Doi was officially one of the 100 greatest wrestlers ever. In 2024, Doi skyrocketed up that list. He’s everything that you would want a wrestler to be. Doi has played every character, been in every position, and succeeded at every level. His 2024 was defined by his tag team with Dragon Kid, Not Hug, which felt like a victory lap for the storied careers that both men have had. Doi has not lost a step. In fact, he’s still doing some of the best work of his career. He was forced to sit out the month of December due to a torn meniscus, but he’s back working for Dragongate in January and I couldn’t be more excited.

Stock Down

Kota Minoura – I’ll say it: I’m out on Kota Minoura. It’s not happening. He’s not The Guy. He might not even be A Guy. Minoura, who is still only 25, reminds me of this current crop of NJPW youngsters (Oiwa notwithstanding). Since they debuted, we’ve been told that they’ll be stars. There’s no empirical evidence that supports our obsession with making them stars. When they’re handed the ball in the big moment, they often fumble the ball. Yet, we’re still trying to convince ourselves that these guys are stars. Minoura is no different than Shota Umino or Yuya Uemura. At some point, we have to accept that these people are not stars, even if we’ve been told since their first few matches that they will be. Kota Mnoura turned heel in August, leaving Gold Class in the dust for Z-Brats. Not only did Gold Class proceed to feel hotter than they ever have in the post-Minoura era, but Minoura was immediately outclassed by Jason Lee, ISHIN, and Homare in his own unit. I hope I’m wrong about Minoura. I hope one day he wins the Dream Gate belt and it doesn’t feel forced and it doesn’t tank the company. Until I see that, though, I’m waving the white flag on him ever becoming A Thing.
Luis Mante – Okay, now time for a far less aggressive take down. Luis Mante is still a great wrestler. In fact, I thought he was one of the 50 best wrestlers in the world this year. Mante entered 2024 as the newly crowned Dream Gate Champion after winning it in a messy three-way at Final Gate 2023. We learned this year that Mante is an excellent wrestler, even as a babyface, but without the mask (which he lost in July 2023), he is not the star that we once thought he could be. Mante is a dynamite upper midcarder and a poor main eventer.
Jacky Kamei – See above, sadly.

Open the Voice Gate’s Rewind & Rewatch Series

To celebrate Dragongate’s 25th anniversary, myself and co-host Mike Spears launched a series of podcasts dedicated towards some of the most memorable moments in Dragon System history.

Toryumon Landing 1999: The story of how Toryumon came to be + a review of the iconic Toryumon debut show
Mochizuki contra Mochizuki: A look back at M2K’s reign of terror in Toryumon and how it culminated with a legendary match between two all-time greats
Open the Brave Gate Tournament 2005: How Naruki Doi became a made man in DG and a breakdown of the quest to find the first ever Brave Gate Champion
El Numero Uno 2004: Breaking down an overlooked time in Toryumon with a full show review of the finals of El Numero Uno 2004
Dead Or Alive 2014: A look back at one of the best shows in Dragongate history, 10 years after it happened.
June 2014 Sapporo Tour: For a decade, this footage had gone unseen by virtually all of Dragongate’s international fanbase. After unearthing the footage, OTVG dives into a pair of epic shows from 2014.
Toryumon X Landing: An attempt to piece together the bizarre history of Toryumon X + how Hulk Hogan affected the beginning of Toryumon X
Friday LA Extreme Night: Before there was DGUSA, there was DG in LA + failed attempts to bring DG to America and a look at the 2008 indie scene
Dragon Kid vs. Darkness Dragon: The complete history of one of Toryumon’s most iconic feuds, Dragon Kid vs. Darkness Dragon.
Toryumon 2000 Project Landing: The story of one of the most iconic shows in wrestling history and the background of the people who were involved.

NOSAWA-GATE 2024?

Everyone relax, nothing in 2024 reached the same level of intrigue as the rumors of who was booking Dragongate in 2022. That being said, there were a handful of outside the ring stories that should be addressed.

The biggest story for Dragongate’s international fanbase in 2024 was the discontinuation of YouTube digests starting in May. Going back to the beginning of 2022, Dragongate had begun uploading select matches from each house show onto their YouTube channel. This rocked for a few reasons. First, it led to a massive surge in the amount of Dragongate content we consumed. Second, we got to see matches, especially with younger wrestlers, that would never take place on a Korakuen or Osaka show. Third, for a longtime fan like myself, we were introduced to buildings that had never previously been seen on the Dragongate Network. I fell in love with the atmosphere of the Juroku Plaza in Gifu, for instance. That building was never a part of Dragongate’s TV loop, but we saw numerous epic matches take place in that building over the course of the two years that we were getting steady YouTube uploads.

In May, the uploads stopped without notice. This was a gut-punch that didn’t let up as house show cards began getting announced with matches that hardcore Dragongate fans were dying to see. In an episode of Open the Voice Gate with Jae Church, the English voice of Dragongate, Church hinted that the uploads were halted due to Yatsuka Nakazawa, the head of Dragongate Records, with the primary reasoning being that Nakazawa simply didn’t want to deal with the uploads anymore. When King of Gate rolled around in November, the Dragongate fanbase hoped that the uploads would resume, either on YouTube or behind the Dragongate Network paywall. That didn’t happen, and as a result, only a handful of King of Gate matches were shown. It’s incredibly disappointing that not only did Dragongate end their house show uploads, but that there’s no evidence that shows that they might one day resume.

On December 9, it was announced that Big Boss Shimizu had been suspended indefinitely due to a “suspected contract violation.” While nothing public has come out about Shimizu since, this suspension did lead to Shimizu being forced to vacate the Triangle Gate belts that he had held with Strong Machine J and U-T. The trio won the titles in May and were one defense away from tying the all-time Triangle Gate defense record. Given that they made the suspension public, I get the impression that Shimizu will be back at some point, possibly with a shaved head as some sort of punishment.

BIGBOSS Shimizu has been suspended indefinitely, pending an investigation into a suspected contract violation.
We ask for your patience & understanding until the investigation is complete. #dragongate https://t.co/KxleP5UtMj
— Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling (Official English) (@DragonGateEN) December 9, 2024

While the departures that Dragongate faced in 2024 were far less dramatic than that of Kaito Ishida in 2022 and SB KENTo and Takuma Fujiwara in 2023, it was another year in which the promotion said goodbye to wrestlers in an untimely fashion.

In May, Dragongate said goodbye to a former grand slam champion in Eita. Since 2021, Eita had been working part-time for Pro Wrestling NOAH, although as time had gone on, it became apparent that his focus was there and not Dragongate. Eita’s departure from Dragongate was not a contentious one in the same way that any of the GLEAT-related departures have been. It would appear that DG and Eita worked together to slowly deemphasize Eita’s role within the company so that when it was time to leave, the loss wouldn’t be a great one. They successfully accomplished that. Dragongate has not missed a beat since Eita left, in part because Eita hadn’t done anything of note since the fall of 2022. For now, he’s a kingpin in NOAH’s mind-numbing juniors division. Have fun with that.

That same month, Dragongate also saw the retirement of two youngsters, Kaito Nagano and TN Revolucion. Nagano debuted in 2022 and quickly became an exciting addition to Dragongate’s undercards. Not since the early days of Shun Skywalker had Dragongate seen a young, innovative high-flyer like Nagano. His career peaked in 2023 when he and fellow rookie Yoshiki Kato teamed up in that year’s Rey de Parejas tournament. While they were unable to capitalize on the obvious chemistry that they showcased during the tournament due to an eye injury that Kato suffered that took him out of action for the summer months, it was a glimpse into a possible future for both men. Unfortunately, right around the time Kato was healthy again, Nagano became plagued with injuries. By the time he announced his retirement, it seemed like everything on his body had been injured. His departure was a sad one, but one ultimately less impactful than his fellow Class of 2022 graduate that was forced to retire.

There has never been a career in wrestling quite like TN Revolucion’s. Real name Takuma Nishikawa, the former baseball player entered the Dragongate Dojo alongside the likes of Nagano, Mochizuki Junior, and Yoshiki Kato. Before he debuted in Japan, he was shipped off to Mexico at the same time as SB KENTo, Takuma Fujiwara, and La Estrella. Nishikawa largely kept a low-profile in Mexico during his year-long stay. The goal was not that he become a big star in Mexico, but rather that those in Japan would forget about him, so that his debut would be more impactful. On September 7, 2023, Nishikawa returned to Japan to make his debut – his debut just happened to be in the main event of Korakuen Hall. A vocal Nishikawa fanbase packed the place to witness his Japanese debut. In short, Nishikawa won, renamed himself TN Revolucion, then looked at then-Dream Gate Champion Madoka Kikuta and YAMATO and told them that he expected the competition in Dragongate to be better than it was. He “Jordan shrugged” the entire roster right after his first match. There’s never been anything like it before, or since, and we likely won’t see anything like this again.

17 days later, it was over.

In an innocuous opening match in Osaka on September 24, 2023, Revolucion blew out his knee performing a simple stomp. He rolled out of the ring and was never seen from again. His socials went dark, the chatter around him ceased, and then in May, it was announced that he wouldn’t be returning to the company.

Revolucion might be the single biggest “what if” in company history. His retirement remains the biggest gut-punch of the year.

Eight Things That Brought Me A Surprising Amount of Joy in 2024

The warning from the ring announcer and subsequent emergency sirens that blared during Gianni Valletta’s entrance is the thing that I’ve loved most from Dragongate in 2024. Valletta, who does a Bruiser Brody knockoff gimmick that is largely lost on the Dragongate audience, was an unexpectedly awesome addition to the roster in 2024. Dragongate proved that it is not Tony Khan nor Triple H who excels at booking big, ugly giants, but rather Ryo Saito, who was able to get Valletta over to a remarkable degree.
Everything Riiita touched turned to gold. Riiita is not “fun”, nor is he “good for his size”. He’s developed into a flawless pro wrestler who routinely is the best wrestler in whatever match he’s involved in. Whether he was duking it out with his rival, Kota Minoura, grappling on a Buyuden (Masaaki Mochizuki Produce) show against another experienced grappler, or leading the charge in a high-energy Gold Class trios bout, Riiita could do no wrong this year. I expect even bigger and better things from him in 2025.
Shun Skywalker becoming the modern-day Nick Bockwinkel. In his third year as a heel, Skywalker leveled up his game yet again and showcased a remarkable ability to go head-to-head against anyone on the roster without losing credibility. I watched Skywalker brawl with everyone from Luis Mante to Great-O-Khan to Punch Tominaga and every time, Skywalker made his opponent look amazing. He’s the best heel in wrestling, and second only to PAC in understanding what his character is and doing exactly what that character should do throughout the course of a wrestling match.
For the last two years, Dragongate has attempted to make headways in North America after relinquishing the stronghold they had on the US indies in the late 2000’s. The problem is that the US indie scene, by and large, sucks. Not only have Game Changer Wrestling crowds been mostly unimpressed with the Dragongate talent that has wrestled for their promotion, but Dragongate talent has been less than impressed with the conditions that GCW has operated under. Six Dragongate wrestlers made their way to the East Coast for Wrestlemania Weekend this year and my expectations were low. I watched the DG roster go out there and kill themselves in front of a lethargic GCW crowd on Joey Janela’s Spring Break show. It was horribly depressing. Then, Dragongate found a saving grace. The ETU (Expect the Unexpected) promotion co-promoted a show with Dragongate from the intimate confines of the H20 Wrestling Center in Williamstown, New Jersey, and the show from top-to-bottom was an absolute delight. The ETU crew treated Dragongate with respect, the interplay between commentators Jae Church and Jack Solomon was tremendous, and the output was far more impressive than anything that Game Changer had to offer. I hope Dragongate and ETU find a way to work together more in the future.
Kaito Kiyomiya debuted for Dragongate at Final Gate 2023 and I thought he worked shockingly hard. He also shocked me by winning the Open the Twin Gate Championships in a match against Ben-K and Kota Minoura. He and Alejandro entered the year as outsiders who did not fit into the Dragongate ecosystem. Kiyomiya only worked two shows for Dragongate in 2024 – one at Gate of Bayside where he and Alejandro defended the titles against Jacky “Funky” Kamei and Jason Lee, and then again at Dead or Alive when he and Alejandro dropped the belts to Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi. I adored both matches. Kiyomiya wrestled without any baggage weighing him down. The ghost of Keiji Mutoh is unable to hurt him in Dragongate. There’s no reason for Kiyomiya to come back, but I would welcome him back with open arms if he ever worms his way back into Dragongate.
It had been two full years since Super Shisa had wrestled in Dragongate by the time he walked down the ramp at Kobe World Memorial Hall this summer. Shisa had become a victim of political ramifications due to working on Gamma’s retirement show in 2022, and thus, was briefly exiled from the promotion that he had called home since 1999. Shisa returned as a part of an eight-man tag team match at Kobe World that featured his contemporaries. He then returned in December to wrestle on Konomama Ichikawa’s Retirement Show. Shisa is one of my favorite wrestlers ever, and even though he’s long past the point of being able to do anything consequential, it makes me happy seeing him back home in Dragongate.
Whereas Shisa had only been gone for two years, it had been five years since Dragongate had the privilege of booking Flamita. In the interim, he linked up with Big Lucha and subsequently GLEAT, which made him persona non grata in Dragongate from 2022 to the early months of 2024. Flamita was booked on a pair of joint shows with Big Lucha and the Hong Kong Pro Wrestling Federation in May and then was flown over to Japan to join Natural Vibes immediately after the fact. Flamita, who had been spinning his wheels in Dragongate during his last few tours, surpassed his critically-acclaimed 2014 output with what he did on his two tours of the promotion this year. Flamita jumped off the screen every time he had the chance to do so. It would appear that after heading back home to Mexico at the start of the year, he’ll be back in Dragongate in 2025. I want a Flamita Dream Gate challenge next year.
Dragongate has once again restocked the pond and they now have another incredible group of youngsters, all of whom could have very bright futures. Homare and Akihiro Sahara debuted this year and made great impressions on the Dragongate fanbase immediately. Ryoya Tanaka, the sole graduate of the Class of 2023, was one of the most consistent wrestlers on Earth this year. Mochizuki Junior, Daiki Yanagiuchi, and Yoshiki Kato, the remaining graduates of the Class of 2022, are all presented in dramatically different ways, but each of their outputs is incredibly exciting. While Riiita and ISHIN from the Class of 2021 have fully graduated the “rookie” phase of their careers, Ryu Fuda remains stuck in the stable. I am not bullish on Fuda’s future like I once was, but there’s no denying that he still has a ton of talent. No other roster has as much talent under the age of 25.

What To Expect From Dragongate In 2025

For years, Dragongate was known to start slow and not have anything consequential until Champion Gate in Osaka in March. Those days are long gone. January is a loaded month for the promotion. Dragongate will have eight live broadcasts on the Dragongate Network in January, including two Korakuen Hall shows, a rare double-shot in Kobe Sanbo Hall, and Gate of Bayside, the first of their six big shows throughout the calendar year.

The Sanbo Hall double-shot will feature the return of the Young Dragons Cup, a tournament traditionally used to crown the top prospect in the Ultimo Dragon Gym. Prior to the UDG/Dragongate split in 2004, this tournament saw names like Magnum TOKYO, Genki Horiguchi, and Milano Collection AT come out victorious. The tournament would continue after the split with the likes of Rocky Romero, Kazuchika Okada, and Angelico coming out victorious. I cannot wait to see how this tournament plays out.

▼Young Dragon Cup 2025 Details
GM Saito announced on 12/27 in Kobe that the annual rookie tournament from the Toryumon era, the Young Dragon Cup, will be revived as a two-day event on 1/18 and 1/19.
The 8 participants were selected via debut date order. #dragongate pic.twitter.com/o7R9GD9rjS
— Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling (Official English) (@DragonGateEN) December 29, 2024

In 2025, you can expect YAMATO’s sixth Dream Gate Championship reign to continue to evolve. If you told me that YAMATO would still be champion by this time next year, I’d believe you. If you told me that he’s going to lose in shocking fashion in March at Champion Gate in Osaka or in May at Dead or Alive, I’d also believe you. He’s the most compelling champion in wrestling right now and I hope he continues that trend in 2025. That being said, despite the fact that there’s no obvious next-man-up, it would be very on brand of Dragongate to have him lose the title in an instant.

It should be noted that YAMATO is currently a duel champion, as he also holds the Brave Gate title. YAMATO noted at the end of December that the Brave Gate title will be shelved until he loses the Dream Gate belt.

I expect ISHIN, Yoshiki Kato, and Mochizuki Junior to have massive years in 2025. They are not only incredibly talented in the ring, they all have main event-level charisma.

Yuki Yoshioka missed all of 2024 with an eye injury. The fact that Dragongate was able to proceed without a bonafide main eventer for as long as they did is incredibly impressive. Should Yoshioka return in 2025, Dragongate will not only see the return of one of their best wrestlers, but another star who can headline shows big and small.

2024 was a banner year for the promotion, and all signs point to it merely being a precursor to the events that could unfold in 2025. I expect Dragongate to continue their trend of being the best promotion in the world in 2025.