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Tag: Dragon Gate

  • United Japan Pro Wrestling is Coming: 9 Promotions Teaming to Create New Group

    United Japan Pro Wrestling is Coming: 9 Promotions Teaming to Create New Group

    A new Japanese wrestling promotion featuring the very best of various existing promotions will be premiering in May of next year. 

    In a statement, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced ‘United Japan Pro Wrestling’ which will feature nine existing promotions working together. It’s stated that the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that there was a need for companies to work closely together to relay accurate information and best operating practices between promotions. United Japan Pro Wrestling will work with the following mission statement: 

    “To further the presence of pro-wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow professional wrestling to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work toward continued health and prosperity of the industry.”

    Who’s In?

    New Japan Pro Wrestling is just one of the nine promotions coming together for ‘The Group.’ The full listing of promotions is as follows: 

    • New Japan Pro-Wrestling
    • All Japan Pro-Wrestling
    • Pro-Wrestling NOAH
    • DDT Pro-Wrestling
    • Ganbare ? Pro-Wrestling
    • Big Japan Pro-Wrestling
    • DRAGONGATE
    •  STARDOM
    •  Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling

    The Group’s founding chair is Seiji Sakaguchi who after retiring from the ring, currently works with New Japan as an advisor. The Group’s executive office will be with New Japan and NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi will serve as Executive Chief. 

    First Show

    The nine members of The Group will continue to operate as individual businesses and as competition in the market, but will work to ensure that Japanese wrestling continues to thrive. The formation of the Group will be marked by an event on May 6, 2024, in Nippon Budokan under the banner of United Japan Pro-Wrestling.

  • MLW Confirms Partnership With Dragon Gate Is Still Intact

    MLW Confirms Partnership With Dragon Gate Is Still Intact

    MLW has confirmed that their partnership with the Japanese wrestling promotion Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling is still intact despite the year-long halt due to coronavirus.

    This partnership had been announced only a month before the pandemic began and both the companies haven’t been able to work together due to travel restrictions that had been put in place.

    This year-long halt made many believe that we might not see the two promotions working together anymore but they have confirmed that this is not the case.

    MLW aired a new vignette during their Never Say Never event and in the video package seen below they announced that “The gate from Japan has been opened to the Americas”

    https://twitter.com/mlw/status/1377400816777183232?s=12

    The company announced some championship matches for the April 14 episode of Fusion as well confirming that Alex Hammerstone will defend the National Openweight Championship against Mil Muertes.

    It was also announced that Gino Medina will be challenging the IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Champion Richard Holliday for his title during the show.

    More information on the alliance between MLW and Dragon Gate is expected to be revealed in near future. It will be interesting to see how this partnership materializes. Stay tuned for more information on the deal between the promotions.

  • Dragon Gate Signs Ultimo Dragon

    Dragon Gate Signs Ultimo Dragon

    Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling made an announcement on their Facebook page that Ultimo Dragon has officially joined the company in a senior advisor role.

    The statement reads, “Dragon Gate are happy to announce that Ultimo Dragon has officially joined the company in a senior advisor role. In this role he be able provide invaluable coaching and training for the younger generation, while continuing to compete in the ring when his schedule allows it. DG wrestlers & staff, now together with Ultimo Dragon, will continue to strive to make Dragon Gate an exciting and enjoyable experience for our fans.”

    https://www.facebook.com/913696458745630/posts/2425195050929089?sfns=mo

    The Japanese wrestler has worked with a number of wrestling promotions namely New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah, All Japan Pro Wrestling, CMLL, etc. He has also been trained in lucha libre wrestling and has been credited with inventing and popularizing the now staple variants of Asai Moonsault. He is also known to blend Japanese, Mexican, and American styles of wrestling in the ring.

    He is also a veteran of WCW and WWE. He captured the WCW Cruiserweight Championship two times and the WCW Television Championship once. He worked at WCW from 1996 to 1998, and then joined the WWE for a brief stint from 2003 to 2004.

    Even though he was one of the most famous masked wrestlers of the time, his run in WWE wasn’t very successful as he was mostly stuck working on Velocity and Heat. Overseas, however, Dragon has found much success and is considered one of the greatest cruiserweights around.

  • WWE Officials Recently Met With Two Japanese Promotions

    WWE Officials Recently Met With Two Japanese Promotions

    WWE seems to have continued their attempts at global expansion during their recent tour of Japan.

    The promotion reportedly met with officials from both Dragon Gate and Stardom, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

    At the time of writing, there is no indication as to what these meetings involved. But with Triple H representing WWE during the sessions, it’s possible that WWE is interested in developing a working relationship with either, or both, Japanese promotions. This would likely work in a similar fashion to their ties with PROGRESS in the United Kingdom.

    Global TakeOver

    WWE branched out with NXT UK back in 2016. This was the first step of their long-term plans to launch brands alongside their main NXT offering.
    NXT UK would have its first tapings during July 2018, debuting on the WWE Network on October 2018.

    NXT UK is the first step in WWE’s grander plans to launch Performance Centers in different countries, further extending their international reach and talent feeder system.

    Rumors have circulated Japan, Australia, and Canada may receive their own NXT shows and Performance Centers.

    The company were also recently in China, hosting an international WWE tryout that was led by the WWE Performance Center staff and coaches.

    With Triple H’s belief that talent will be able to jump between brands in the future, this would lead to unique opportunities for NXT Superstars to tour the world, and engage in fresh rivalries.

  • Chris Jericho Says Neville Turned Down Appearance At All In

    Chris Jericho Says Neville Turned Down Appearance At All In

    Chris Jericho recently on his podcast talked about how Neville turned down an offer to appear at the All In event in September.

    All In was an important independent wrestling event in 2018, and there was quite a bit of talk going around that Neville will make his professional wrestling return at the event.

    We instead saw him in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate where he returned under his former ring name PAC and defeated Shingo Takagi at the Korakuen Hall.

    Chris Jericho talked about this topic on his Talk Is Jericho podcast with guest Sami Zayn. (H/T Michael McClead of WrestleZone)

    “They tried to get him to go to All In, like over the top and he wouldn’t do it. He wanted to make his debut with Dragon Gate,” Jericho said about Neville refusing to make his return at All In.

    Sami Zayn added to this by saying how disciplined he is when it comes to these things and how much he respects him.

    “That’s the kind of guy he is dude, lot of love, a lot of respect for him. He’s principled. He told me straight up, a lot of money – the indies weren’t what they were when I left five years ago. Old timer in the indies back in my day [Don Cherry impression]…there wasn’t as much money on the indies and I did really well by indie standards right before I signed [with WWE]. He was telling me straight, ‘Man there’s a lot of money being offered in a lot of directions,’ but he’s never been an overly money driven guy. That’s why maybe he didn’t fit in the WWE system very much because the culture here is very overly ambitious and money and success and that has to be what takes you to the next level and he’s never really been like that. So he went back because he’s a loyal guy and he always just loved wrestling for Dragon Gate, so he went straight back to Dragon Gate.”

    You can listen to the entire episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast here.

    Neville In The Indies

    Neville or PAC right now is doing well in the indies wrestling and has been booked for promotions like BWR Wonderland, Over the Top Wrestling and Defiant Wrestling.

    He had also won the Open the Dream Gate Championship at Dragon Gate’s “Fantastic Gate 2018” event, by defeating Masato Yoshino.

    He will be facing Will Ospreay for Revolution Pro Wrestling at the “High Stakes” event in London, England from the York Hall on February 15, 2019.

     

     

     

  • PAC Wins Gold in Dragon Gate

    PAC Wins Gold in Dragon Gate

    Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion PAC has just added another Championship to his list of accolades. The 32-year-old star defeated Masato Yoshino in Korakuen Hall to become the new Open the Dream Gate Champion in Dragon Gate.

    PAC’s win ended Yoshino’s fourth reign which lasted 177 days. PAC re-debuted for the company back in October, where he joined the R.E.D stable. This was the first official appearance for the former Neville since he left WWE back in October of 2017, his contract with WWE officially ended in August.

    In other PAC news Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) announced that ‘The King’ will be heading to Bethnal Green in February. The company’s ‘High Stakes 2019’ event takes place on February 15th from the world famous York Hall in London. PAC will be facing Will Ospreay a part of the event. Tickets for the show sold out in record time with just the one match being announced.

    This comes after Rev Pro announced that PAC would be facing Zack Sabre Jr in 2019. The former WWE Superstar will be heading to ‘Live at The Cockpit’ at The Cockpit Theatre in London on January 6th. PAC recently appeared for Rev Pro at their recent Portsmouth show, where he faced Mike Bailey.

  • PAC Announced for Dragon Gate Championship Match

    PAC Announced for Dragon Gate Championship Match

    Dragon Gate has announced a huge Championship match for their December 4th show in Korakuen Hall. Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion PAC/Neville will be facing Masato Yoshino. The bout will be contested for Yoshino’s Open The Dream Gate Championship.

    PAC recently took part in his first singles match since leaving WWE. The former Neville faced Flamita in an International Special Singles Match for Dragon Gate’s ‘The Gate of Destiny’ event (11/04). PAC took the win after hitting his renamed ‘Black Arrow’ in around 18 minutes. You can check out some of the highlights from the incredible bout here

    In other PAC/Neville related news Japan’s Dragon Gate promotion recently confirmed their new streaming service which featured PAC in a short promo package hyping the new over the top service alongside his RED stablemates. Fans will be able watch live/past shows for just over $13 a month. PAC made his return to the company earlier this year after leaving WWE’s 205 Live brand.

    PAC also returned to social media earlier today in the best possible way. You can check that out here

  • Highlight’s from PAC/Neville’s First Singles Match Since Leaving WWE

    Highlight’s from PAC/Neville’s First Singles Match Since Leaving WWE

    PAC has had his first singles match since leaving WWE. The former Neville faced Flamita in an International Special Singles Match for Dragon Gate’s ‘The Gate of Destiny’ event (11/04). PAC took the win after hitting his renamed ‘Black Arrow’ in around 18 minutes. Here’s some of the highlights from the incredible bout:

    https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1059019707293073408

    https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1059020093936541697

    https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1059021923643023360

    https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1059022297099632643

    https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1059023657916338176

    In other PAC/Neville related news Japan’s Dragon Gate promotion recently confirmed their new streaming service which featured PAC in a short promo package hyping the new over the top service alongside his RED stablemates. Fans will be able watch live/past shows for just over $13 a month. PAC made his return to the company earlier this year after leaving WWE’s 205 Live brand.

    Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) has announced that PAC will be returning to the promotion. The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion will be appearing at the Portsmouth Guildhall on November 22nd. Tickets for the show are available to purchase via Rev Pro’s official website here.

    The company has not yet announced PAC’s opponent for the show. The Portsmouth shows for Rev Pro are big events but not on the level of their York Hall extravaganzas. It is likely that PAC will be in a top feature match but not on the level that you would expect at a venue like York Hall. With Rev Pro’s New Japan links it would be ideal for PAC to take on one of the top NJPW stars but it is more likely that he faces a Rev Pro ‘homegrown’ talent such as El Phantasmo or Josh Bodom.

  • Neville/PAC Announces Dragon Gate Network, NJPW Confirms Wrestle Kingdom Ticket Packages

    Neville/PAC Announces Dragon Gate Network, NJPW Confirms Wrestle Kingdom Ticket Packages

    Japan’s Dragon Gate promotion has confirmed their new streaming service. Neville/PAC appeared in a short promo package hyping the new over the top service alongside his RED stablemates. Fans will be able watch live/past shows for just over $13 a month. PAC made his return to the company earlier this year after leaving WWE’s 205 Live brand.

    Check out the video via the tweet below.

    New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the travel packages for Wrestle Kingdom 13. Tickets to the legendary Tokyo Dome show will be available to overseas fans via the H.I.S. system on October 25th. New Japan sent out the following press release announcing the on sale date. The New Year’s Dash show will also be part of the offering for fans travelling in to Japan for January’s festivities:

    “NJPW is proud to announce that Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome and the New Year’s Dash package tour will be available through H.I.S. for our fans living overseas at 10 am JST Oct 25th. All reasonably priced packages include a ticket to Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome and hotel accommodations! Four limited special packages are available and further detail can be found in the following link. https://www.hisgo.com/us/campaign/njpw/“

     

  • Ricochet Says Farewell to Dragon Gate, Is He WWE Bound?

    Ricochet Says Farewell to Dragon Gate, Is He WWE Bound?

    Independent star Ricochet recently appeared for Japan’s Dragon Gate promotion and cut a promo to say farewell to a company he has helped build during his illustrious career.

    The high flying star said “No Goodbyes, this is just ‘see you later’. I don’t know how, I don’t know when but someday I’m coming back to DragonGate.”

    The rumors of a WWE run for Ricochet have been brewing ever since it was revealed that his Lucha Underground contract was not going to be renewed this year. Although it is not confirmed there is a very good chance that he will appear at a WWE or NXT event at some point in early 2018.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BbPHCmdDmNs/