Dragon Gate USA
Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2009 as an international expansion of the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Gabe Sapolsky, former head booker of Ring of Honor, served as the promotion's Vice President.
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Professional wrestling Puroresu Lucha libre |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Defunct | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Key people | Satoshi Oji (President) Gabe Sapolsky (Vice president), Sal Hamaoui (COO) |
| Parent | WWNLive[1] |
| Website | DGUSA.tv |
History
Dragon Gate USA featured regular members of the Dragon Gate roster, along with notable American talent. All Dragon Gate titles and champions were recognized by Dragon Gate USA.[2]
In June 2009, it was announced that Dragon Gate USA had signed an agreement to film its shows for pay-per-view broadcast.[3] In August 2009, it was announced that Dragon Gate USA had signed an agreement with The Fight Network to air DGUSA content on television.[4]
The first Open the Freedom Gate Champion was crowned following a tournament held at DGUSA Freedom Fight on November 28, 2009. This was the main title of Dragon Gate USA.
On September 7, 2010, Dragon Gate USA announced a partnership with Go Fight Live and that their first live internet pay-per-view, Bushido: Way of the Warrior (later renamed Bushido: Code of the Warrior), would be taking place on October 29.[5]
In the fall of 2010, DGUSA announced that it would be holding a tournament to crown the first Open the United Gate Champions, which was their tag team champions. It was announced on December 13, 2010, that the tournament would be a four team round robin tournament that would take place over three shows from January 28 through January 30, 2011.
On November 25, 2011, Dragon Gate USA and Evolve announced the unification of the two promotions. Dragon Gate USA and Evolve will still promote separate events, but the two share rosters, including stables, and Evolve recognized Dragon Gate USA's Open the Freedom Gate Championship and Open the United Gate Championship as its top two championships,[6] until establishing its own championship, the Evolve Championship in 2012. On September 18, 2013, Vito LoGrasso announced that his new Wrestling School signed an agreement to be the Development Center for DGUSA.[7]
In November 2014, Dragon Gate USA, along with Evolve, Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Shine Wrestling, all under the WWNLive banner, held a tour of China.[1] The following month, WWNLive announced a long-term deal with Great-Wall International Sports Management for regular tours of Asia, starting in the spring of 2015.[8] On December 22, WWNLive announced it was putting Dragon Gate USA on an indefinite hiatus until the promotion could secure more Japanese wrestlers for their shows.[9]
In 2015, WWNLive opened a training facility in Trinity, Florida named "World Wrestling Network Academy", which Dragon Gate USA shares with Evolve, FIP and Shine.[10]
On July 2 2020, Dragon Gate USA's video library along with Evolve's assets were bought by WWE.[11]
Uprising
| Uprising | |
|---|---|
| Promotion | Dragon Gate USA[12] |
| Date | May 8, 2010[12] (aired July 9, 2010) |
| City | Mississauga, Ontario[12] |
| Venue | Mississauga International Centre[12] |
Uprising was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Dragon Gate USA that was taped May 8, 2010 at the Mississauga International Centrein Mississauga, Ontario and aired on July 9, 2010.
| No. | Results[12] | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masaaki Mochizuki defeated Akira Tozawa | Singles match | |
| 2 | Gran Akuma defeated Tyson Dux | Singles match | |
| 3 | Jon Moxley defeated Jimmy Jacobs | No Disqualification match | |
| 4 | Naruki Doi and PAC defeated Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw | Tag team match | |
| 5 | Rip Impact wrestled Johnny Wave to a "no contest" | Singles match | |
| 6 | Shingo and YAMATO defeated CIMA and Dragon Kid | Tag Team Match | |
| 7 | BxB Hulk (c) defeated Masato Yoshino | Singles match for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship | |
| |||
Partnerships
Working agreements between Dragon Gate USA and the following promotions have led to interchanges in talent. Also, matches from these promotions have appeared on Dragon Gate USA DVD releases.[13][14]
- Chikara (established April 26, 2009)[15]
- All American Wrestling (established June 15, 2009)
- Hybrid Wrestling (established June 15, 2009)
- Full Impact Pro (established September 28, 2009)
- Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup (established October 13, 2009)
- Women Superstars Uncensored (established October 14, 2009)
- Maximum Pro Wrestling (established March 3, 2010)
- Rampage Pro Wrestling
- Combat Zone Wrestling
- New York Wrestling Connection
- Insanity Pro Wrestling
Championships
| Championship | Last champion(s) | Date retired |
|---|---|---|
| Open the Freedom Gate Championship | Timothy Thatcher | August 15, 2015 |
| Open the United Gate Championship | Ronin (Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann) |
May 30, 2015 |
References
- Johnson, Mike (2014-09-19). "Evolve heading to China (no, really)". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
WWNLive, the parent company of Evolve, Shine, FIP and Dragon Gate USA.
- "Dragon Gate USA's Title Situation". DGUSA.tv. 2009-04-15.
- "PWTorch.com - DGUSA News: Dragon Gate USA announces PPV distribution deal with ROH's previous distributor". pwtorch.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- http://thefightnetwork.com/news/wrestling/4240/dragon_gate_usa_partners_with_the_fight_network
- Caldwell, James (2010-09-07). "DGUSA News: Dragon Gate USA announces live Internet PPV debut next month". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
- "Evolve evolves -- now unified with DGUSA". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- "PWInsiderXTRA.com". www.pwinsiderxtra.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- Caldwell, James (2014-12-03). "Newswire: WWNLive announces long-term China plan, Ross talks importance of Tokyo Dome, New Japan's subscription goals, latest World Tag League standings, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
- Caldwell, James (2014-12-22). "WWNLive news: Update on the future of Dragon Gate USA, several new matches for Evolve Florida tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
- Caldwell, James (2015-02-19). "WWNLive news: Official new training facility announced". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- https://www.cbr.com/wwe-purchases-evolve-wrestling/
- "Dragon Gate USA". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
- "News Alerts". Dragon Gate USA.
- "Dragon Gate USA News update for 10/15". Indy Wrestling News. 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- "DGUSA and Chikara Reach Working Agreement". Dragon Gate USA. April 26, 2009. Archived from the original on September 26, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2009.