Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2023)

Promotional poster for the event, featuring various Dragon Gate wrestlers

The **Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2023)** or often referred to as **Kobe World** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by Dragon Gate (DG). The event took place on July 2, 2023, at the World Memorial Hall in Kobe, Japan. It was the 20th Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, which is Dragon Gate's biggest annual event and it's similar to NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom. The event was also available in their streaming service Dragon Gate Network in both English and Japanese commentaries and was broadcasted live at SKY PerfecTV! as pay-per-view (PPV)

The show was headlined by Ultimo Dragon, Strong Machine J, Shun Skywalker, Diamante and Dragon Kid facing each other in a five-way Mask vs. Mask Steel Cage Survival match. Another high profile match for the show featured Madoka Kikuta defending the Open The Dream Gate Championship against D'Courage stablemate Yuki Yoshioka. Three other title matches also took place on the show with Natural Vibes (Big Boss Shimizu, Jacky "Funky" Kamei and Kzy) defending the Open The Triangle Gate Championship against Gold Class (Kota Minoura, Minorita and Naruki Doi), M3K (Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda) defending the Open The Twin Gate Championship against Gold Class (Ben-K and BxB Hulk) and Jason Lee defending the Open The Brave Gate Championship against ISHIN.

## Production

### Background

Since 2004, Dragon Gate began annually producing shows on July in the World Memorial Hall, in Kobe, Japan becoming Dragon Gate's premier annual event similar to what WrestleMania is for WWE and American professional wrestling and Wrestle Kingdom is for NJPW and Japanese professional wrestling. The event celebrates the anniversary of the company after it was formed during the last *Vo Aniversario*. The Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023 was officially announced on March 3, 2023. The event aired live through Dragon Gate's internet streaming site, Dragon Gate Network, and Nico Nico Douga, with Japanese language and English language commentaries. The Japanese commentary was provided by Katsuya Ichikawa while the English commentary was provided by Jae Church and Ho Ho Lun. The event also aired on tape delay on the Japanese TV Gaora Sports to be launched in the Dragon Gate's ~ Infinity ~ Series. The event also was broadcasted live at SKY PerfecTV! as a pay-per-view (PPV) event. The full card of the event was announced on June 12.

### Storylines

The Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023 featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2023) was main evented by Último Dragón, Strong Machine J, Shun Skywalker, Diamante and Dragon Kid facing each other in a five-way Mask vs. Mask Steel Cage Survival match. On March 4, 2021, Diamante challenged Último Dragón to a Lucha de Apuestas Mask vs. Mask match. However, he was unsure to who, due to previous years COVID-19 implications, leading Ultimo to instead pass his challenge to Bokutimo Dragon, which Diamante won, forcing him to unmask. On April 5, 2023, Diamante made a shocking return to Dragon Gate since February, attacking Dragón, ripping his mask and holding it in his hand. Afterwards, Diamante challenged Dragón to a match for his mask, however on May 5 at Dead or Alive, Dragón refused. Six days later, Diamante pinned Dragón in a eight-man tag team match, after Diamante removed Dragón's mask to secure the win for his team. Following the match, Dragón continued to deny a match against Diamante, claiming that it was impossible for him to face match him at that time. On May 15, it was announced that Dragón was suspended indefinitely for refusing Dragon Gate General Manager Ryo Saito's multiple attempts to booking a match against Diamante. Saito stated that he would take strict measures if Dragón continued to refuse the match that had been proposed. As well as the suspension all of Dragón's merchandise have been pulled from being sold at events. On May 20, Diamante's Z-Brats stablemate Shun Skywalker called out Dragón to a have match against Diamante. On June 1, Skywalker faced Strong Machine J in a winning effort. Afterwards, Skywalker ripped off Machine's mask and threw it into the audience. Machine then called out for a mask vs mask match against Skywalker, which he accepted. Afterwards, Dragon Kid appeared and introduced a video message from Dragón, who accepted the match against Diamante. Shun then proposed a mask vs mask match tag team match between himself and Diamante against Dragón and Machine, which led to Saito said he would consider. The following day, Saito announced a mask vs mask four-way steel cage match between all four of them. On June 12, Kid requested to be included in the match, in order to help his teacher Drágon defend his mask, and after careful consideration, GM Saito granted his request and changed the match to a five-way match. Also, Dragon Gate announced the rules for the match.

On March 1, New Japan Pro-Wrestling held the All Star Junior Festival, an interpromotional event produced by Hiromu Takahashi, specifically designed for junior heavyweights from over 20 different Japanese and international promotions. YAMATO, who initially wanted to boycot the event, ended up taking part in it, praising Takahashi in a post match interview, before challenging him to a match in Dragon Gate, which he accepted. On June 1, Takahashi appeared in a video message, challenging YAMATO to a match at the event on July 2, which he accepted.

On May 11, Madoka Kikuta faced fellow D'Courage stablemate Yuki Yoshioka in the Reiwa New Generation Special six-man tag team match, which Kikuta scored the win for his team. After the match, Kikuta dubbed himself Kota Minoura, Shun Skywalker, Ben-K, Yoshioka and Strong Machine J as the future of Dragon Gate. Shortly after, Yoshioka challenged Kikuta to a match, as both had the same goal for Dragon Gate. On June 1, after scoring a victory for his team in a six-man tag team match, GM Ryo Saito asked YAMATO, who was going to face at Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival. Afterwards, a video message was played as NJPW's Hiromu Takahashi challenged YAMATO at the event, which he accepted.

On June 2, M3K (Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda) defeated Pro Wrestling Noah's KONGOH (Kenoh and Shuji Kondo) to win the Open The Twin Gate Championship. Afterwards, Gold Class (Ben-K and BxB Hulk) came out to make the a title challenge, which they accepted, leading GM Ryo Saito to make the title match official for Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival.

On June 4, Gold Class (Kota Minoura and Minorita) challenged Natural Vibes (Big Boss Shimizu, Jacky "Funky" Kamei and Kzy) to a match for the Open The Triangle Gate Championship with their partner being Naruki Doi, who made his return to the stable, despite initially refusing to take part in the match. However, GM Ryo Saito, forced Doi to compete in the match.

Also on June 4, after winning the 2023 Royal Sanbo, ISHIN called out Jason Lee and challenged him to a title match for the Open The Brave Gate Championship. However, ISHIN surpassed the weight limit of 82kg, due to weighing in at 88kg and if he could not make the weight then the match would turn to a non-title match. On July 1, ISHIN cleared the weight limit for the match, setting up the title match for the event.

## Rules for the five-way Mask vs. Mask Steel Cage Survival match

* The match is escape only, no pinfalls or submissions;
* Each wrestlers' mask will placed at the top of the cage;
* A wrestler must capture their mask to escape;
* The last competitor in the cage will lose their mask.