Open the Owarai Gate Championship
| Open the Owarai Gate | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||||||
| Promotion | Dragon Gate | ||||||||||||||
| Date established | May 4, 2007 | ||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | ||||||||||||||
| Date won | April 10, 2016 | ||||||||||||||
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The Open the Owarai Gate Championship is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. The word owarai in the title's name is the Japanese word for comedy.
The championship was first conceived during Stalker Ichikawa's first United States tour, joining fellow Dragon Gate wrestlers CIMA, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Don Fujii during the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla two-night event Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament on May 19 and May 20, 2007 in Burbank, California.[1] In addition to changing his name to "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa, he also gave birth to the Open the Owarai Gate Championship which he wore during the second night of the event against Top Gun Talwar. The name change and the introduction of the belt was made official on May 25.[2]
The championship is both unique and very unusual. The title is not necessarily defended by traditional methods of simply beating the champion by pinfalls or submission. While such a situation can still happen, the title also has a stipulation regarding audience approval during the match. This means that while the champion could still technically lose the match, he could retain the belt simply by having earning more applause and/or laughter from the audience.[3]
The championship was defended for the first time on June 10 at Hakata Star Lanes in Fukuoka, Fukuoka. In addition, Ichikawa also began by having ten "Free Defense" tickets that would ensure he would always retain the title regardless. However, before his defense against Kikutaro on September 22 at the Ota-ku Gymnasium in Tokyo, the tickets were destroyed and he was forced to defend the belt on his own merit. He was able to successfully retain due to unusual circumstances since, such as his mother appealing to the crowd and later his opponent feeling sorry.
Title history
| Wrestler: | Reigns: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 1 | May 25, 2007 | Burbank, California | Conceived during a visit to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla; officially defended on June 10 in Fukuoka, Fukuoka. |
| CIMA | 1 | October 8, 2007 | Shizuoka, Shizuoka | Defeated Ichikawa and K-ness in a three-way match. Ichikawa failed to gain approval from the crowd, so CIMA, as the match winner, won the title. |
| Jackson Florida | 1 | October 17, 2007 | Hyogo | CIMA fails V1 for various purposes against Stalker Ichikawa. Jackson Florida becomes champion since he was sitting at ringside. |
| Masaaki Mochizuki | 1 | January 19, 2008 | Nagoya | Mochizuki won the title by disqualification and fan support. |
| Jackson Florida | 2 | February 2, 2008 | Hakata, Fukuoka | |
| Johnson Florida | 1 | July 11, 2008 | Tokyo | |
| ICHIKAWA | 2 | July 21, 2008 | Kumamoto | ICHIKAWA stole title belt from Johnson after beating him in three way match with K-ness. Repeated attempts to contact the title belt commissioner were met with only his voicemail, so ICHIKAWA was just named the 7th champion. |
| Jackson Florida | 3 | August 16, 2008 | Toyama | |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 3 | March 16, 2009 | Kumamoto | |
| Kinta Tamaoka | 1 | March 20, 2009 | Kobe | The title match was between Stalker and Masaaki Mochizuki, but Kinta - the referee - received more fan support than either of them, so he became champion. |
| Vacated | March 20, 2009 | Kobe | Vacated immediately after winning it. | |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 4 | March 29, 2009 | Fukui, Japan | |
| Anthony W. Mori | 1 | April 4, 2009 | Nagoya, Japan | |
| Kikutaro | 1 | May 15, 2009 | Tokyo, Japan | Kikutaro becomes 13th Champion via fan support |
| Don Fujii | 1 | April 10, 2011 | Mie, Japan | Don Fujii becomes 14th Champion via fan support |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 5 | August 21, 2011 | Hakata, Fukuoka | "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa becomes 15th Champion via fan support. CIMA refuses the title on September 24, 2011, despite getting fan support. |
| Rich Swann | 1 | November 5, 2011 | Gifu, Japan | Rich Swann becomes the 16th Champion via fan support |
| Vacated | December 25, 2011 | Fukuoka, Japan | Vacated after Naoki Tanizaki stole the title belt from Swann. | |
| Keni'chiro Arai | 1 | August 2, 2012 | Tokyo, Japan | Arai defeated "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa via fan support to become the 17th Champion. |
| Kikutaro | 2 | December 20, 2012 | Tokyo, Japan | Kikutaro becomes the 18th Champion via fan support. |
| Ryo "Jimmy" Saito | 1 | March 7, 2013 | Tokyo, Japan | Saito becomes the 19th Champion via fan support. |
| Jimmy Kanda | 1 | November 23, 2014 | Saga, Japan | Kanda becomes the 20th Champion via fan support. |
| Yosuke♥Santa Maria | 1 | February 4, 2015 | Kasukabe, Japan | Santa Maria becomes the 21st Champion via fan support. |
| Akira Tozawa | 1 | March 29, 2015 | Saga, Japan | Tozawa becomes the 22nd Champion via fan support. |
| Mr. Nakagawa | 1 | November 14, 2015 | Fukuoka, Japan | The title match was between "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa and Akira Tozawa, the reigning champion, but Nakagawa - the referee - received more fan support than either of them, so he became champion. |
| Masato Yoshino | 1 | November 23, 2015 | Okayama, Japan | Yoshino becomes the 23rd champion via fan support. |
| Vacated | April 3, 2016 | Kobe | Yoshino was stripped of the title after failing to defend it within the previous three months. | |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 6 | April 10, 2016 | Mie, Japan | CIMA had originally won the title, but since he did not want it, his opponent Ichikawa was awarded the championship. |
List of reigns by length
As of December 16, 2016.
| Wrestler | Days Held | Date Won | Date Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kikutaro | 695 | May 15, 2009 | April 10, 2011 |
| Ryo "Jimmy" Saito | 626 | March 7, 2013 | November 23, 2014 |
| Akira Tozawa | 230 | March 29, 2015 | November 14, 2015 |
| Jackson Florida | 212 | August 16, 2008 | March 16, 2009 |
| Jackson Florida | 160 | February 2, 2008 | July 11, 2008 |
| Keni'chiro Arai | 140 | August 2, 2012 | December 20, 2012 |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 136 | May 25, 2007 | October 8, 2007 |
| Don Fujii | 133 | April 10, 2011 | August 21, 2011 |
| Masato Yoshino | 132 | November 23, 2015 | April 3, 2016 |
| Jackson Florida | 94 | October 17, 2007 | January 19, 2008 |
| Kikutaro | 77 | December 20, 2012 | March 7, 2013 |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 76 | August 21, 2011 | November 5, 2011 |
| Jimmy Kanda | 73 | November 23, 2014 | February 4, 2015 |
| Yosuke♥Santa Maria | 53 | February 4, 2015 | March 29, 2015 |
| Rich Swann | 50 | November 5, 2011 | December 25, 2011 |
| Anthony W. Mori | 41 | April 4, 2009 | May 15, 2009 |
| ICHIKAWA | 26 | July 21, 2008 | August 16, 2008 |
| Masaaki Mochizuki | 14 | January 19, 2008 | February 2, 2008 |
| Johnson Florida | 10 | July 11, 2008 | July 21, 2008 |
| CIMA | 9 | October 8, 2007 | October 17, 2007 |
| Mr. Nakagawa | 9 | November 14, 2015 | November 23, 2015 |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 6 | March 29, 2009 | April 4, 2009 |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 4 | March 16, 2009 | March 20, 2009 |
| Kinta Tamaoka | <1 | March 20, 2009 | |
| "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa | 250 | April 10, 2016 | Current champion |
See also
References
- ↑ "Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Results, 2007". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ↑ "Dragon Gate USA News Archive, May 2007". Dragon Gate USA. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ↑ "Open the Owarai Gate". DGUSA. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-13.