Developmental branch of Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Logo of the first Lion's Gate Project show
Lion's Gate
is the
developmental branch
of
professional wrestling promotion
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW), which holds events under the banner of
Lion's Gate Project
.
[1]
The branch was officially announced on July 18, 2015, and held its first show on February 25, 2016. In addition to NJPW wrestlers, the Lion's Gate Project shows also feature wrestlers from other promotions, resulting in unique
cards
.
[2]
The events are held at
Tokyo
's
Shinjuku Face
. The first three shows featured heavy participation from wrestlers from the
Pro Wrestling Noah
promotion. Wrestlers from promotions such as
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW),
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
(BJW) and
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo) have also taken part in the project. NJPW rookies Takumi Honjo, Shota Umino, Tetsuhiro Yagi and Ren Narita have made their official debuts at Lion's Gate Project shows, while
Katsuya Kitamura
and
Tomoyuki Oka
wrestled their unofficial debuts as part of the project.
History
[
edit
]
On July 18, 2015, NJPW held a press conference on various items relating to the future of the promotion. One of these was the establishment of a
developmental branch
, where NJPW could discover and develop both Japanese and foreign wrestlers. It was also intended as a place where trials could be held for outside wrestlers and where injured wrestlers could go to get back in shape. The plan was for the branch to eventually start running its own small shows.
[3]
[4]
The project quickly drew comparisons to
WWE
's
NXT
developmental branch.
[5]
[6]
NJPW had earlier attempted a developmental branch with a project named
NEVER
, which held shows between 2010 and 2012.
[7]
Recently, NJPW had been described as "lax in cultivation of new talent", however, on January 3, 2016, the promotion introduced four new wrestlers with
Hirai Kawato
and Teruaki Kanemitsu wrestling their debut matches, while
Katsuya Kitamura
and
Tomoyuki Oka
were announced as the two newest recruits to the NJPW
dojo
.
Dave Meltzer
called the recruitment of the two former top amateur wrestlers "[p]robably the biggest move in a couple of years when it comes to new talent".
[6]
The same day, NJPW announced that their developmental branch Lion's Gate would be holding its first show on February 25, 2016, in
Tokyo
's
Shinjuku Face
.
[2]
[8]
Events
[
edit
]
Lion's Gate Project 1
[
edit
]
The first Lion's Gate Project event was held on February 25, 2016, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[9]
[10]
The event featured ten matches, including one
dark match
, an "exhibition match" featuring the unofficial debuts of
Katsuya Kitamura
and
Tomoyuki Oka
, working under amateur wrestling rules.
[9]
[11]
The other nine matches featured NJPW wrestlers taking on
Pro Wrestling Noah
wrestlers. The second match saw the debut of
Animal Hamaguchi
trainee Takumi Honjo, who was defeated by Noah's
Maybach Taniguchi
.
[9]
The show was main evented by NJPW veteran
Yuji Nagata
defeating Noah's
Mitsuhiro Kitamiya
.
[12]
Lion's Gate Project 2
[
edit
]
The second Lion's Gate Project event was held on May 19, 2016, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[13]
[14]
[15]
Much like the first Lion's Gate Project show, the event featured several wrestlers from
Pro Wrestling Noah
as well as Ayato Yoshida from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo).
[15]
All in all, the event featured eight matches.
[13]
Lion's Gate Project 3
[
edit
]
The third Lion's Gate Project event was held on September 1, 2016, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[16]
[17]
The event featured nine matches, including one
dark match
, and again featured heavy participation from
Pro Wrestling Noah
. One of the matches saw the NJPW debut of the promotion's newest international trainee,
Henare
, who was defeated by Noah's Quiet Storm.
[16]
In addition to the NJPW and Noah wrestlers, the event featured Ayato Yoshida and Go Asakawa from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo).
[16]
The dark match featured another exhibition match between NJPW trainees
Katsuya Kitamura
and
Tomoyuki Oka
, this time worked under professional wrestling rules.
[18]
Lion's Gate Project 4
[
edit
]
The fourth Lion's Gate Project event was held on April 13, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[19]
[20]
The event featured six matches, including the debut match of
Shota Umino
, son of NJPW referee Red Shoes Unno. Unno refereed the match, where his son was defeated by
Taka Michinoku
.
[19]
[21]
Following the dissolution of the partnership between NJPW and
Pro Wrestling Noah
at the end of 2016,
[22]
this was the first Lion's Gate Project show not to feature any wrestlers from Noah, instead Ayato Yoshida and Dinosaur Takuma from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo),
Koji Iwamoto
and
Yuma Aoyagi
from
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW) and Toru Sugiura from Pro Wrestling Freedoms took part in the event as outsiders.
[19]
Lion's Gate Project 5
[
edit
]
The fifth Lion's Gate Project event was held on May 9, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[23]
[24]
The event featured six matches, including the debut of Tetsuhiro Yagi in the opening match. Outsiders taking part in the event included
Ayato Yoshida
and Dinosaur Takuma from
Kaientai Dojo
, Daisuke Kanehira from Pro Wrestling Heat Up and Toru Sugiura from
Pro Wrestling Freedoms
.
[23]
In the main event of the show, the veteran duo of
Manabu Nakanishi
and
Yuji Nagata
were victorious over the rookie team of
Katsuya Kitamura
and
Tomoyuki Oka
in what marked Nagata's fifth straight main event win as part of Lion's Gate Project.
[25]
Lion's Gate Project 6
[
edit
]
The sixth Lion's Gate Project event was held on June 15, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[26]
[27]
The event featured six matches and outside participation from Ayato Yoshida and Dinosaur Takuma from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo), Takuya Nomura from
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
(BJW) and
Yuma Aoyagi
from
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW).
[27]
Lion's Gate Project 7
[
edit
]
The seventh Lion's Gate Project event was held on July 4, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[28]
[29]
The event featured seven matches, including the debut of
Ren Narita
in the opening match.
[29]
Outsiders taking part in the event included Dinosaur Takuma and Go Asakawa from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo),
Koji Iwamoto
from
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW) and
freelancer
Dick Togo
, who made his first NJPW appearance since 2011.
[28]
Following the main event of the show,
Yuji Nagata
, seeing the recent influx of new talent into NJPW, proposed bringing back the
Young Lion Cup
for the first time in 12 years.
[30]
[31]
Lion's Gate Project 8
[
edit
]
The eighth Lion's Gate Project event was held on October 12, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[32]
The event featured six matches, including the first three matches of the
2017 Young Lion Cup
. NJPW announced on September 26 that it was bringing back the tournament for the first time in 12 years and dedicating it to the memory of
Kotetsu Yamamoto
, the former head of the NJPW dojo. The
round-robin tournament
would feature six NJPW rookies who debuted in 2016 and 2017.
[33]
[34]
Non-tournament matches featured outside participation from Daisuke Kanehira from Pro Wrestling Heat Up, Go Asakawa and Kotaro Yoshino from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo) and
Yuma Aoyagi
from
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW).
[32]
Lion's Gate Project 9
[
edit
]
The ninth Lion's Gate Project event was held on November 16, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
.
[35]
The event featured six matches, including the continuation of the
2017 Young Lion Cup
. Non-tournament matches featured outside participation from Daisuke Kanehira from Pro Wrestling Heat Up, Go Asakawa and the tag team Dino Stones (Dinosaur Takuma and Kotaro Yoshino) from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo) and
Yuma Aoyagi
from
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW).
[35]
Lion's Gate Project 10
[
edit
]
The tenth Lion's Gate Project event was held on December 21, 2017, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
. The event featured six matches, including the conclusion of the
2017 Young Lion Cup
with its three final matches.
Katsuya Kitamura
won the tournament with a clean record of five wins and zero losses.
[37]
[38]
Non-tournament matches featured outside participation from Daisuke Kanehira from Pro Wrestling Heat Up, Dinosaur Takuma and Kotaro Yoshino from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo) and
Yuma Aoyagi
from
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW).
[36]
Lion's Gate Project 11
[
edit
]
The eleventh Lion's Gate Project event was held on April 10, 2018, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
. The event featured five matches. Two new rookies wrestled their debut match:
Yuya Uemura
and
Yota Tsuji
. Some matches featured outside participation:
Manjimaru
and
Ken45°
, from
Michinoku Pro Wrestling
, made their New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut and Ayato Yoshida and Go Asakawa made their return, from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo).
[39]
Lion's Gate Project 12
[
edit
]
The twelfth Lion's Gate Project event was held on May 15, 2018, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
. Some matches featured outside participation:
Daisuke Sekimoto
from
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
and Ayato Yoshida from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo).
[40]
The main event was a previously postponed one-on-one match between Yoshida and
Yuji Nagata
.
Lion's Gate Project 13
[
edit
]
The thirteenth Lion's Gate Project event was held on June 13, 2018, in
Tokyo
at
Shinjuku Face
. Some matches featured outside participation: Shunsuke Sayama, from Asuka Project, who made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut, and Dinosaur Takuma and Ayato Yoshida from
Kaientai Dojo
(K-Dojo).
[41]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
『Lion's Gate Project1』2月25日(木)新宿Face大?のチケット情報が確定!
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
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. Retrieved
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2017
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【WK10】“期待の新星”岡倫之&北村克哉が新日本プロレス入?! 新プロジェクト『Lion's Gate』第1回大?は2月25日(木)新宿Faceに決定!【入??見】
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese). January 3, 2016
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2017
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木谷オ?ナ?が「ファ?ム設立プラン」「21世紀のIWGP構想」、そして「新日本プロレスは株式上場を目指す」と宣言! 【7.18?略?表?】
.
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新日本プロレス3~5年後上場目指す
.
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. Retrieved
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2017
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V2柴田がNEVER王座の改名を予告
.
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.
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.
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- ^
新日?岡倫之&北村克哉がエキシビションマッチで??
.
Tokyo Sports
(in Japanese). February 26, 2016
. Retrieved
September 27,
2017
.
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永田がNJC5年ぶり優勝へ燃えるワケ
.
Tokyo Sports
(in Japanese). February 26, 2016
. Retrieved
September 27,
2017
.
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"Lion's Gate Project2"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
September 27,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Rose, Bryan (May 19, 2016).
"Lion's Gate Project 2 results: Noah vs. New Japan eight man tag"
.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
"5/19 New Japan vs. Noah "Lion's Gate Project 2" Results ? Team Nagata vs. Team Noah main event, Marufuji makes big endorsement, BOSJ pinch-hitter loses"
.
Pro Wrestling Torch
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. Retrieved
September 27,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Lion's Gate Project3"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
a
b
Rose, Bryan (September 1, 2016).
"Lion's Gate Project 3 results: Noah and New Japan battle in 10-man tag madness"
.
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. Retrieved
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- ^
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.
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(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
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h
"Lion's Gate Project4"
.
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(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
a
b
Rose, Bryan (April 13, 2017).
"NJPW Lion's Gate Project results: The fourth installment"
.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
【新日本】海野レフェリ?の次男?翔太がデビュ?
.
Tokyo Sports
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Johnson, Mike (January 5, 2017).
"1/5 NJPW New Year's Dash results and notes"
.
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. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Lion's Gate Project5"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
a
b
Rose, Bryan (May 9, 2017).
"NJPW Lion's Gate Project 5 results: Tag match main event"
.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
【新日本】容赦なく出る杭を打ち?ける 永田は若手の高い壁
.
Tokyo Sports
(in Japanese). May 10, 2017
. Retrieved
September 27,
2017
.
- ^
a
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c
d
e
f
"Lion's Gate Project6"
.
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(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
September 27,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Rose, Bryan (June 15, 2017).
"NJPW Lion's Gate Project 6 results: A look at the young lions"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
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a
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e
f
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"Lion's Gate Project7"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Rose, Bryan (July 4, 2017).
"NJPW Lion's Gate Project results: The seventh installment"
.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
"Lion's Gate Project7"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
【新日本】永田が全日初??の愛弟子?岡に過酷指令
.
Tokyo Sports
(in Japanese). July 5, 2017
. Retrieved
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2017
.
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f
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"Lion's Gate Project8"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
約12年ぶり復活! 『山本小?メモリアル 第11回ヤングライオン杯?奪リ?グ?』が開催決定! 10月12日(木)新宿大?から公式?スタ?ト!!
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese). September 26, 2017
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Rose, Bryan (September 26, 2017).
"NJPW bringing back Young Lion's Cup"
.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
. Retrieved
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.
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"Lion's Gate Project9"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
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e
f
"Lion's Gate Project10"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
【新日本】“マッスルモンスタ?”北村が「ヤングライオン杯」全勝V
.
Tokyo Sports
(in Japanese). December 22, 2017
. Retrieved
December 22,
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.
- ^
新日本“筋肉モンスタ?”北村がYL杯全勝V!海外武者修行を熱望
.
Daily Sports Online
(in Japanese).
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. December 22, 2017
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b
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d
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f
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.
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(in Japanese)
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"Lion's Gate Project12"
.
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2018
.
External links
[
edit
]