Open the Owarai Gate Championship

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.

Open the Owarai Gate
Former design of the title (2007–2018)
Details
PromotionDragon Gate
Date establishedMay 4, 2007
Current champion(s)Lingerie Muto
Date wonOctober 5, 2023
Statistics
First champion(s)"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa
Most reigns"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa (7 reigns)
Longest reignKikutaro (695 days)
Shortest reignKinta Tamaoka, CIMA, Masaaki Mochizuki (<1 day)
Heaviest championDon Fujii - 220 lb (100 kg)
Lightest champion"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa - 93 lb (42 kg)

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 was deactivated at Dead or Alive 2018, when Shingo Takagi, per stipulation, was the last person to escape the cage in the Hair vs. Hair Steel Cage Survival seven-way match.

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.

On June 3, 2023, at their Korakuen Hall show, the company announced the belt would be returning. They made Konomama Ichikawa the interim champion, and announced the new official champion would be decided at the Buyuden Zero vol.2 event on July 8, 2023. At the event, Kikutaro defeated Ichikawa to become the lineal champion.[4]

Title history
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDefenses
1 Stalker Ichikawa May 25, 2007 The Gate of Maximum Burbank, California 1 1367 Conceived during a visit to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla; officially defended on June 10 in Fukuoka. [5]
2 Cima October 8, 2007 The Gate of Victory Shizuoka, Japan 1 <10 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. [6]
3 Jackson Florida October 17, 2007 The Gate of Victory Hyogo, Japan 1 941 Cima fails his first defense for various purposes against Stalker Ichikawa. Jackson Florida becomes champion since he was sitting at ring [6]
4 Masaaki Mochizuki January 19, 2008 Wrestle Jam 3rd Season Nagoya, Japan 1 140 Mochizuki won the title by disqualification and fan support. [7]
5 Jackson Florida February 2, 2008 Truth Gate Hakata, Japan 2 1605 [8]
6 Johnson Florida July 11, 2008 Nex 2nd Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan 1 100
7 Ichikawa July 21, 2008 Rainbow Gate Kumamoto, Japan 2 260 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.
8 Jackson Florida August 16, 2008 Summer Adventure Tag League Toyama, Japan 3 2124
9 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa March 16, 2009 Glorious Gate Kumamoto, Japan 3 40
10 Kinta Tamaoka March 20, 2009 Glorious Gate Kobe, Japan 1 <10 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 Glorious Gate Kobe, Japan — —— Vacated immediately after winning it.
11 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa March 29, 2009 Glorious Gate Fukui, Japan 4 60
12 Anthony W. Mori April 4, 2009 Yokozuna Impact! Nagoya, Japan 1 411
13 Kikutaro May 15, 2009 Aggressive Gate Tokyo, Japan 1 6953 Kikutaro becomes 13th Champion via fan support
14 Don Fujii April 10, 2011 Don Fujii Triumphant Hometown Return Tsu, Japan 1 1330 Don Fujii becomes 14th Champion via fan support
15 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa August 21, 2011 Storm Gate 2011 Hakata, Japan 5 764 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa becomes 15th Champion via fan support. CIMA refuses the title on September 24, 2011, despite getting fan support.
16 Rich Swann November 5, 2011 Crown Gate 2011 Gifu, Japan 1 500 Swann became the 16th Champion via fan support.
— Vacated December 25, 2011 N/A Fukuoka, Japan — —— Vacated after Naoki Tanizaki stole the title belt from Swann.
17 Kenichiro Arai August 2, 2012 Summer Adventure Tag League 2012 Tokyo, Japan 1 1401 Arai defeated "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa via fan support to become the 17th Champion.
18 Kikutaro December 20, 2012 Fantastic Gate 2012 Tokyo, Japan 2 772 Kikutaro became the 18th Champion via fan support.
19 Ryo "Jimmy" Saito March 7, 2013 Glorious Gate 2013 Tokyo, Japan 1 6267 Saito became the 19th Champion via fan support.
20 Jimmy Kanda November 23, 2014 Crown Gate 2014 Saga, Japan 1 731 Kanda became the 20th Champion via fan support.
21 Yosuke ♥ Santa Maria February 4, 2015 Truth Gate 2015 Kasukabe, Japan 1 532 Santa Maria became the 21st Champion via fan support.
22 Akira Tozawa March 29, 2015 Glorious Gate 2015 Saga, Japan 1 2301 Tozawa became the 22nd Champion via fan support.
23 Mr. Nakagawa November 14, 2015 Crown Gate 2015 Fukuoka, Japan 1 92 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.
24 Masato Yoshino November 23, 2015 Crown Gate 2015 Okayama, Japan 1 1320 Yoshino became the 23rd champion via fan support.
— Vacated April 3, 2016 N/A Kobe, Japan — —— Yoshino was stripped of the title after failing to defend it within the previous three months.
25 Cima April 10, 2016 The Gate of Passion 2016 Tsu, Japan 2 <10 Defeated "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa for the vacated title.
26 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa April 10, 2016 The Gate of Passion 2016 Tsu, Japan 6 972 Since CIMA did not want the title, his opponent Ichikawa was awarded the championship.
27 Masaaki Mochizuki July 16, 2016 Rainbow Gate 2016 Tsu, Japan 2 <10
28 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa July 16, 2016 Rainbow Gate 2016 Tsu, Japan 7 4911 Mochizuki returned the title immediately after.
29 Cima November 19, 2017 The Gate of Evolution 2017 – Day 10 Nobeoka, Japan 3 70
— Vacated November 26, 2017 Memorial Gate in Sendai 2017 Sendai, Japan — —— [9]
30 Ryo Saito November 26, 2017 Memorial Gate in Sendai 2017 Sendai, Japan 2 1000 Defeated "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa for the vacant title. [10]
31 Shingo Takagi March 6, 2018 Kotoka Road To Final - The Ending Tokyo, Japan 1 610 [11]
— Deactivated May 6, 2018 — — — ——
32 Kikutaro July 8, 2023 DG/Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden Rei ~ Zero ~ Vol. 2 Tokyo, Japan 3 890 Defeated Kono Mama Ichikawa to win the reactivated title. [4]
33 Lingerie Muto October 5, 2023 DG/Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden Rei ~ Zero ~ Vol. 3 Tokyo, Japan 1 20+0 Match ended in a double knockout but was ruled as a win for Muto. [12]

Combined reigns
Current champion Lingerie Muto

As of October 25, 2023.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
Reigns		 Combined
defenses		 Combined
days
1 Kikutaro35861
2 "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa/Ichikawa714836
3 Ryo Saito/Ryo "Jimmy" Saito27726
4 Jackson Florida310466
5 Akira Tozawa11230
6 Kenichiro Arai11140
7 Don Fujii10133
8 Masato Yoshino10132
9 Jimmy Kanda1173
10 Shingo Takagi1061
11 Yosuke ♥ Santa Maria1253
12 Rich Swann1050
13 Anthony W. Mori1141
14 Cima3016
15 Masaaki Mochizuki2014
16 Johnson Florida1010
17 Mr. Nakagawa129
18 Lingerie Muto †1020+
19 Kinta Tamaoka10<1

See also

References
  1. "Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Results, 2007". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  2. "Dragon Gate USA News Archive, May 2007". Dragon Gate USA. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
  3. "Open the Owarai Gate". DGUSA. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  4. Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 8, 2023). "DG/Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden Rei ~ Zero ~ Vol. 2". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  5. Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 10, 2007). "Dragon Gate The Gate Of Maximum 2007 - Tag 5 - TV-Show @ Hakata Starlanes in Fukuoka, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  6. Kreikenbohm, Philip (October 18, 2007). "Dragon Gate Live Gate 2007 Vol. 6 - TV-Show @ Asuta Live Factory Site-Kobe in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  7. Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 19, 2008). "Dragon Gate Wrestle JAM 3rd Season - Tag 4 - TV-Show @ Nagoya Telepia Hall in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  8. Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 2, 2008). "Dragon Gate Truth Gate 2008 - Tag 1 - Event @ Ukiha Yoshi Athletic Center in Ukiha, Fukuoka, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  9. Riba, Michael (November 27, 2017). "Dragon Gate "Memorial Gate 2017" Results – 11/26/17 – Sendai, Japan". gerweck.net. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  10. Lowe, Case (December 1, 2017). "DRAGON GATE MEMORIAL GATE IN SENDAI (NOVEMBER 26) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  11. Lowe, Case (March 28, 2018). "DRAGON GATE KOTOKA ROAD TO FINAL: THE ENDING (MARCH 6) REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  12. Kreikenbohm, Philip (October 5, 2023). "DG/Masaaki Mochizuki Produce Buyuden Rei ~ Zero ~ Vol. 3". cagematch.net. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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