Final Gate (2019)

Promotional poster featuring the Dragon Gate roster

The **Final Gate (2019)** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and GAORA TV event promoted by Dragon Gate. The event took place on December 15, 2019, in Fukuoka at the Fukuoka International Center and it was the thirteenth annual event under the Final Gate. The event aired on GAORA and Dragon Gate Network streaming service in both English and Japanese commentaries and was broadcasted live at SKY PerfecTV! as pay-per-view (PPV). The event was main evented by Ben-K defending the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Naruki Doi.

The event included three championship matches with Strong Machines (Strong Machine J, Strong Machine F and Strong Machine G) defending the Open The Triangle Gate Championship against Natural Vibes (Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka) and R.E.D (Diamante, H.Y.O and Takashi Yoshida), R.E.D (Big R Shimizu and Eita) defending the Open The Twin Gate Championship against Tribe Vanguard (BxB Hulk and YAMATO) and Kaito Ishida defending the Open The Brave Gate Championship against Jason Lee.

The event also included a *Lucha de Apuestas*, or "bet matches" mask vs. hair match, where "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa took on Pro Wrestling Noah's Naomichi Marufuji.

## Production

### Background

The Final Gate (2019) aired live through Dragon Gate's internet streaming site, Dragon Gate Network, with Japanese language commentaries. The Japanese commentary was provided by Katsuya Ichikawa. The event also aired on tape delay on Japanese TV Gaora Sports to be launched in Dragon Gate's ~ Infinity ~ Series. The event also featured English commentary provided by Larry Dallas and Lenny Leonard. On November 23, it was announced that Naomichi Marufuji would make a special guest appearance to face "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa as part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration Series. On December 6, it was announced the full card of the event, containing nine matches, in which four were contested for championships. On December 15, it was announced that the event was sold out.

### Storylines

The Final Gate (2019) 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.

The Final Gate (2019) was main evented by Ben-K making his third title defense of the Open The Dream Gate Championship against Naruki Doi. On November 4, 2019 at Gate of Destiny, Ben-K defeated Masato Yoshino to make his third successful title defense of the Open The Dream Gate Championship. Afterwards, Yoshino's MaxiMuM stablemate Naruki Doi came to the ring and proclaimed as the next challenger for Ben-K's title, leading the champion to accept the challenge. Three days later, Doi and Yoshino faced Ben-K and Shun Skywalker in a winning effort. Leading to the match, Ben-K had previously turned on Doi in September 2018, when they were part of MaxiMuM, in order to join ANTIAS (later known as R.E.D).

In the Open The Twin Gate Championship match, R.E.D (Eita and Big R Shimizu) will defend their titles against Tribe Vanguard (BxB Hulk and YAMATO). On November 23, 2019, Hulk and YAMATO defeated R.E.D (Big R Shimizu and Diamante), after YAMATO pinned Shimizu. Afterwards, Hulk and YAMATO challenged Shimizu and his partner Eita to a title match for the Open The Twin Gate Championship, but Eita refused it, leading the general manager Takayuki Yagi to make the match official, despite Eita protesting against the decision. Hulk and YAMATO held the Open The Twin Gate Championship for 150 days, vacating it on December 19, 2018, after Hulk was sidelined with a neck injury, and only returned to in-ring competition in July 2019.

In the Open The Triangle Gate Championship match, the Strong Machines (Strong Machine J, Strong Machine F, and Strong Machine G) made their third title defense against Natural Vibes (Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka) and R.E.D (Diamante, H.Y.O, and Takashi Yoshida). On November 26, 2019, Natural Vibes lost to R.E.D by count-out. Later that night, R.E.D interfered in a match between the Strong Machines and Masaaki Mochizuki, Ryo Saito and Yasushi Kanda, causing the match to end in a no contest. Afterwards, H.Y.O stated that he had the right partners to win the titles, due to being unable to win the Open The Triangle Gate Championship when he was part of Mochizuki Dojo, then Natural Vibes, who had lost to R.E.D earlier that night, came to the ring and announce their intentions of challenging for the titles. In April 2019, Strong Machines made their debut defeating Natural Vibes, before starting an undefeated streak.

In the Open The Brave Gate Championship match, the Kaito Ishida made his first title defense against Jason Lee. On October 8, Eita announced that R.E.D would be joined by two new members, with their identity being kept in secret under the disguise of Dr. Muscle, known as the Green and Red Masked Demons, respectively. On December 4, Ishida revealed himself to be the Green Mask Demon, after being forced to take part in a match between MaxiMuM and Ultimo Drágon and R.E.D, blaming his former stablemates Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino for trying to get revenge on R.E.D for Drágon. Afterwards, Ishida was attacked by his former stablemate Jason Lee, leading General Manager Takayuki Yagi to announced that Ishida would defend his title against Lee at Final Gate on December 15.

## Results

1. ↑ Order of eliminations: Super Shisa, K-ness., Shachihoko BOY, "brother" YASSHI, Yosuke♥Santa Maria, Mondai Ryu, Oji Shiiba and Jimmy.

### Open The Triangle Gate Championship match

 2
 Winners: