Open the Freedom Gate Championship

Last updated
Open the Freedom Gate Championship
Dgusabelt.jpg
Details
Promotion Dragon Gate USA
Dragon Gate
Evolve
Date establishedNovember 28, 2009
Date retiredAugust 15, 2015 [1]
Statistics
First champion(s) BxB Hulk [2]
Final champion(s) Timothy Thatcher
Most reigns Johnny Gargano (2 reigns)
Longest reign Johnny Gargano (873 days)
Shortest reign Timothy Thatcher (36 days)
Oldest champion Timothy Thatcher (32 years, 115 days)
Youngest champion Johnny Gargano (24 years, 91 days days)
Heaviest champion Drew Galloway (254 lb (115 kg))
Lightest champion BxB Hulk (168 lb (76 kg))

The Open the Freedom Gate Championship was the major title in the promotion Dragon Gate USA. The first holder of the title was crowned following a 14-man tournament held at DGUSA Freedom Fight on November 28, 2009. The title was recognized by Dragon Gate USA's parent promotion, Dragon Gate, and it has been defended at a Dragon Gate show in Japan. The title was also recognized by the Evolve promotion. [3]

Contents

There were seven reigns by six wrestlers. BxB Hulk became the first champion by winning a 14-man tournament. Timothy Thatcher was the final champion, vacating the title on August 15, 2015. [1]

The championship was defended in the USA, Japan, China, England, Germany, Canada, Scotland and Northern Ireland [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] for promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, British Championship Wrestling, Outback Championship Wrestling, Dragon Gate, Fight Club: PRO, Southside Wrestling Entertainment, Alpha-1 Wrestling, WWNLive, Kamikaze Pro, Premier British Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Ulster. [9]

Title history

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
DefensesNumber of successful defenses
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDaysDefenses
1 BxB Hulk November 28, 2009Freedom Fight 2009 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 14267Defeated CIMA, Gran Akuma and YAMATO in a four-way elimination tournament final match. [2]
2 Yamato January 28, 2011United: NYC New York, New York 12896 [10]
3 Johnny Gargano November 13, 2011Freedom Fight 2011 New York, New York 187322 [11]
4 Ricochet April 4, 2014Open the Ultimate Gate 2014 New Orleans, Louisiana 12265 [12]
5 Johnny Gargano November 16, 2014 WWNLive in China Peking, China 21323 [13]
6 Drew Galloway March 28, 2015Mercury Rising 2015 San Jose, California 11045This match was also contested for Galloway's Evolve Championship. [14] [15]
7 Timothy Thatcher July 10, 2015 Evolve 45 Tampa, Florida 1360This match was also contested for the Evolve Championship. [16] [17]
—DeactivatedAugust 15, 2015 Evolve 47 Queens, New York ———Thatcher handed the title to Johnny Gargano, rendering it vacant and inactive. [1]

Combined reigns

BxBHulk1.jpg
Inaugural champion BxB Hulk
Gargano with belt.jpg
Johnny Gargano with the Open the Freedom Gate Championship belt, during his first title reign, the only two time champion
ThatcherMLW2019.jpg
Final champion Timothy Thatcher
RankChampionNo. of
reigns		Combined
defenses		Combined days
1 Johnny Gargano 2251,005
2 BxB Hulk 17426
3 Yamato 6289
4 Ricochet 5226
5 Drew Galloway 5104
6 Timothy Thatcher 036

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Show results - Evolve 47 iPPV in Queens, N.Y.: Thatcher vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. for Evolve Title, big turn, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2015-08-16. Retrieved 2015-08-22.
  2. 1 2 Caldwell, James (2009-11-29). "DGUSA News: Dragon Gate USA determines first-ever champion on Saturday night's PPV taping". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  3. ↑ "EVOLVE evolves -- now unified with DGUSA". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  4. ↑ "Title Reigns « Open The Freedom Gate Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2015-07-12.
  5. ↑ "Title Reigns « Open The Freedom Gate Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2015-05-31.
  6. ↑ "Title Reigns « Open The Freedom Gate Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2015-07-12.
  7. ↑ "Title Reigns « Open The Freedom Gate Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2014-02-26.
  8. ↑ "Title Reigns « Open The Freedom Gate Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2015-07-12.
  9. ↑ "Open The Freedom Gate Championship". CAGEMATCH. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  10. ↑ Eaton, Jimmy (2011-01-28). "Eaton's DGUSA "United: New York" 1/28 - Hulk vs. YAMATO, round robin tag team tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  11. ↑ Radican, Sean (2011-11-13). "Radican's DGUSA "Freedom Fight" iPPV coverage 11/13 -YAMATO vs. Gargano, PAC vs. Ricochet". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  12. ↑ Radican, Sean (2014-04-05). "iPPV results - 4/4 DGUSA in New Orleans, La.: Radican's Report on historic main event result, Hero vs. Tanaka, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Mike (2014-11-16). "WWNLive draws huge crowd to close China tour, complete 11/16 results". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
  14. ↑ Carapola, Stuart (2015-03-28). "Complete WWNLive Mercury Rising supershow 2015 coverage: the Evolve and DGUSA titles are unified, Hero and Thatcher tear down the house, the women of Shine and Shimmer continue the WrestleMania weekend tradition, and much more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  15. ↑ "Open The Freedom Gate Championship". CAGEMATCH. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  16. ↑ Radican, Sean (2015-07-10). "Radican's Evolve 45 iPPV report 7/10: WWNLive blows up the card & delivers huge main event title match - Galloway vs. Thatcher, Strong vs. Sabre, Jr., Chris Hero, So Cal Val's faction, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
  17. ↑ "Open The Freedom Gate Championship". CAGEMATCH. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
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