Freedom Fight / Open The Freedom Gate is a series of professional wrestling pay-per-view events produced by Dragon Gate USA.
Freedom Fight will feature an undetermined number of professional wrestling matches that will involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers will be portrayed as either villains or heroes in the scripted events that build tension and culminate into a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main emphasis on this show is to inaugurate the company's title, the Open the Freedom Gate Championship. There will be a 14-man tournament featuring four qualifying matches before leading to a final, which will be contested as a four-way elimination match between the winners. The first qualifier announced was a three-way match between Mike Quackenbush, Super Crazy, and Cima in a match billed as a "salute" to the trainer of all three men, Jorge Rivera. It was later announced Rivera was added to the match, making it a four-way. [1] Proceeding this was the announcement of two singles matches being entitled, "Next Level" and "Redemption". The former will be pitting Davey Richards against one-half of the Open the Twin Gate Champions Yamato. [2] The other singles match was announced on November 3 to be Brian Kendrick versus BxB Hulk. [3] There was also a six-way match announced with the first two competitors for the match being named as Nick and Matt Jackson. The final four participants were announced on November 3, giving the match a theme, "Generation New", as it highlights younger wrestlers. The names announced were: Jigsaw, Johnny Gargano, Lince Dorado, and Gran Akuma. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Following their previous two encounters at Enter the Dragon and Untouchable, Dragon Kid and Masato Yoshino have developed a rivalry to determine who is the better competitor. With Dragon Kid winning both times, a frustrated Yoshino confronted his rival at the latter show, which also drew Yoshino's tag team partner Naruki Doi (the two together are known as Speed Muscle) into the conflict, as well as Shingo Takagi coming to the aid of Dragon Kid. This prompted the company to sign a tag team match featuring both parties at this show. [6]
Freedom Fight 2010 | |||
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Promotion | Dragon Gate USA | ||
Date | November 28, 2009 [7] (aired January 22, 2010 [8] ) | ||
City | Philadelphia | ||
Venue | The Arena | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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Freedom Fight chronology | |||
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# | Matches [7] | Stipulations |
---|---|---|
Dark | Kyle O'Reilly defeated Adam Cole | Singles match |
Dark | Jon Moxley defeated B-Boy | Singles match |
1 | Gran Akuma defeated Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Hallowicked, Johnny Gargano and Lince Dorado | Six-way qualifying match in the Open the Freedom Gate Championship tournament |
2 | BxB Hulk defeated Brian Kendrick | Singles qualifying match in the Open the Freedom Gate Championship tournament |
3 | CIMA defeated Mike Quackenbush, Super Crazy, and Jorge Rivera | Four-way qualifying match in the Open the Freedom Gate Championship tournament |
4 | YAMATO defeated Davey Richards | Singles qualifying match in the Open the Freedom Gate Championship tournament |
5 | Jigsaw defeated Eddie Kingston | Singles match |
6 | Speed Muscle (Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi) defeated Shingo and Dragon Kid | Tag team match |
7 | BxB Hulk defeated Gran Akuma, CIMA and YAMATO | Elimination match tournament final for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship |
Freedom Fight 2011 | |||
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Promotion | Dragon Gate USA | ||
Date | October 30, 2010 (aired January 7, 2011) | ||
City | Rahway, New Jersey | ||
Venue | Rahway Rec Center | ||
Attendance | 792 | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
Freedom Fight chronology | |||
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# | Matches | Stipulations |
---|---|---|
Dark | [Rip Impact] defeated [Derek Ryze] | Singles match |
Dark | Sami Callihan defeated Caleb Konley, Cheech, Amasis, Ophidian, and Silas Young | Gauntlet match |
1 | Jimmy Jacobs defeated Arik Cannon | Singles match |
2 | Brodie Lee defeated Akebono | Singles match |
3 | BxB Hulk & Homicide defeated Akira Tozawa & Jon Moxley | Tag team match |
4 | CIMA defeated SHINGO | Singles match |
5 | Sami Callihan defeated James Small | Singles match |
6 | Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann defeated Genki Horiguchi & Austin Aries & Ricochet | Six-man Tag team match |
7 | Masato Yoshino defeated YAMATO | Singles match |
Nobuhiko Oshima, better known by his ring name Cima, is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Gleat. He had previously worked for Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE), where he had also served as the company's president. He also made appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019 and 2020.
Nobuyoshi Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Dragon Gate as Dragon Kid.
Shin Takagi, known by the ring name Shingo Takagi, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a member of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable and is a five-time NEVER Openweight Champion. Takagi is best known for his appearances in NJPW and Dragongate, as well as Ring of Honor (ROH), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and the puroresu independent circuit. He also makes appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and British Promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro).
Masato Yoshino is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, best known for working in Dragon Gate, where he was known as Speed Star. Dragon Gate's second Grand Slam champion, having been a record six-time Open the Brave Gate Champion, four-time Open the Dream Gate Champion and two-time King of Gate winner, Yoshino was one of the most decorated and longest-tenured wrestlers in Dragon Gate. He made his debut in 2000 as part of Toryumon's Toryumon 2000 Project, where he graduated as part of the 7th term.
Naruki Doi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for Dragon Gate, DDT Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro-Wrestling as a freelancer. He also wrestled for Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA); in the former promotion, he was a one-time World Tag Team Champion with Shingo Takagi.
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New Hazard was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate, formed in April 2007. It was founded by former Typhoon and Muscle Outlaw'z members BxB Hulk and Cyber Kong, intending to compete with the two opposing factions. Shingo Takagi and Yamato, who were on tours of the United States at the time, were also announced as members. Jack Evans, a member of Muscle Outlaw'z, joined in May 2007, teaming with Yamato as a mystery partner to defeat the MO'z team of Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino. Hulk, Kong and Takagi are former two-time holders of the Open the Triangle Gate title.
Terumasa Ishihara, better known by his ring name BxB Hulk stylized as B×B Hulk, is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Dragon Gate. He was also known for his longstanding rivalry with Shingo Takagi.
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Masato Onodera, better known by the ring name Yamato, is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to Dragongate, where he is the current and record six-time Open the Dream Gate Champion.
Yasushi Kanda is a Japanese professional wrestler currently performing for the Dragon Gate wrestling promotion in Japan. He is considered one of Toryumon's greatest heel characters, and was a founding member of the M2K stable. In his pre-injury days, he was famous for his mohawk hairstyle.
Hiromasa Horiguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Genki Horiguchi. He is currently a full-time wrestler for Dragon Gate. He has also competed in Wrestling Society X and Ring of Honor.
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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.
The DGUSA Open the United Gate Championship was a tag team championship within the Dragon Gate USA promotion. The first champions were World–1 and were crowned at United: Finale in the tournament final, which was held in Union City, New Jersey. It aired on March 11, 2011 on pay-per-view tape delay entitled United We Stand. The title is also recognized by Dragon Gate USA's parent promotion, Dragon Gate, and it has been defended at a Dragon Gate show in Japan. The title is also recognized by the Evolve promotion. On May 30, 2015, Gargano retired the titles after a title defense.
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