Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling

Dragon Gate is a pro wrestling company based out of Kobe city, in Japans' Hyogo prefecture.

Their history begins in Mexico in 1997. Ultimo Dragon held the first Toryumon independent performance in Mexico. There he debuted the first graduates of his wrestling school. Dragon unleashed his students on Japan on January 31st, 1999. Toryumon Japan was born, and was a success from day 1. They surprised the wrestling world by scoring a string of impressive sell out performances in their first year, which was based entirely around the Seikigun home army waging war with the heel Crazy MAX group.

In 2000, a 3rd unit was introduced, called M2K. They became the lead heels, and feuded with both CMAX and Seikigun. This era is known as the C-MAX vs. M2K era. It would continue until the end of 2001, when another group was brought into play.

On November 13, 2001, Ultimo introduced the Toryumon 2000 Project. T2P, at first, was a drastic departure from the high flying Toryumon Japan style. They utilized a 6 sided ring. Their wrestling style was called "Llave". It was a submission heavy, mat based style that was very unique to the Japanese audience. After their second tour in 2002 they declared war on Toryumon Japan. This kicked off the Japan vs. T2P era, that is regarded as the peak of Toryumon Japan. It culminated in the largest show to date, on 9/8. The Absolutamente show from Ariake Coliseum attracted 8800 fans to see an all out Japan vs. T2P battle. Ultimo Dragon came out of retirement on that show as well. T2P lost the feud, and was dissolved in Toryumon Japan. The second chapter of Toryumon began.

With the increased roster and every rising popularity, the first Toryumon produced title was introduced in 2003. The Ultimo Dragon Gym, or UDG title was awarded to CIMA for winning the annual El Numero Uno tournament that determined the top player in the company. Ultimo introduced his 3rd class, Toryumon X that year, but they are little more than a footnote in this history.

Toryumon Japan continued on until July 5th, 2004. The day after the annual anniversary show in Kobe World Hall, a press conference was announced. There, the students of the Ultimo Dragon Gym graduated completely, and announced the beginning of Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling. They separated completely from their teacher and his influence. All Toryumon Japan roster members made the switch, but not all would remain. SUWA and TARU were the first notable departures in August and November, respectively.

the first major movement as Dragon Gate was announcing a partnership with Fuji Television. Every year, Fuji held a festival called Odaiba ADVENTURE KING in Tokyo. DG would be holding an attraction called Mainichi, or Every Day, Pro Wrestling. A special ring was set up where 2 small scale shows were held per day. This was held in both 2004 and 2005.

With the UDG title returned to Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Gate was quick to introduce their main singles title. Called the Open the Dream Gate, it was awarded to CIMA who was the final UDG champion. They followed in October with the 6 man tag titles, the Open the Triangle Gate. They were awarded to the winners of the Rey de Parejas tag tournament.

Fans were shocked at the end of 2004 when all members of the heel unit Aagan-iisou were fired. Given the nature of wrestling, this was first thought to be part of a storyline. It was indeed true (in that all 5 members were no longer with the company, at least). What seemed like a shocking deathblow instead was the beginning of the real Dragon Gate first stage. The emergence of the Blood Generation unit, their feud with Do FIXER, and the emergence of the first batch of Dragon Gate trueborns made 2005 arguably the best one to date. The secondary singles title, the Open the Brave Gate was introduced in March. The first show outside of Japan was held on 11/17, in China.

While Toryumon Japan and Dragon Gate adhered to isolationist principles in regards to other wrestling companies, this began to change in 2006. After several visits to the United States, deals were struck with various American independent companies for talent exchange. This was put on display in the first WrestleJAM in July. JAM stands for Japan American Mexico. It was a week long festival celebrating wrestling from all 3 countries. WrestleJAM has become an annual event, occurring in July 2007 and January 2008. Also in 2006, the Dragon Gate USA dojo was opened in Houston, giving them a headquarters outside of Japan. A separate brand called Dragon Gate NEX was introduced in November, focusing solely on the rookie classes.

In the ring, 2007 was notable for the official complete shift from isolationism to a full open door policy. Wrestlers from many different companies made stops in the DG ring. They furthered their endeavors with the introduction of the Dragon Gate Records record label. Heading into 2008, the prevailing themes will be: The Original Intention - Continuation - Evolution - Gratitude