All Aboard The Dragon Gate Bandwagon
May 15, 2008
by Alan Counihan, JarryPark.com contributor
On May 5th, the Dragon Gate promotion in Japan ran one of their biggest shows of the year in Aichi. The promotion drew a crowd of 8,000 which is extremely impressive considering Dragon Gate is not one of the “major” Japanese wrestling organizations.
Now, even though most fans don’t consider them a top tier promotion, I would beg to differ. They’re certainly one of the most successful and profitable, that’s for sure. One week prior to the 5/5 event, New Japan ran a show headlined by IWGP champion Shinsuke Nakamura against puroresu legend Keiji Muto. Guess what? They drew 2,000 less than the Dragon Gate show.
Perhaps more glaring a fact is that All Japan, a company with years of tradition and big names, ran an event last week too, in the same building as Dragon Gate no less, and only drew 3,200 spectators (less than half the Dragon Gate attendance).
Admittedly, All Japan is not the company it once was but this was definitely a big show for them. That said, Dragon Gate out-performing them so drastically is startling to say the least.
For the last couple of years, Dragon Gate’s attendance has been impressive, both at the big show level (their Kobe World Hall show has approached 10,000 consistently) and the small touring show level. They have a good TV deal on Gaora and they make an absolute killing on merchandise. Most Japanese promotions have difficulty generating good business outside of Tokyo, Dragon Gate, on the other hand, excels when it spreads it wings outside of Tokyo.
A lot of fans may not realize that Dragon Gate runs more shows than any other company in Japan, approaching the 200-date range each year. That is only slightly less than WWE and their shows are split across two touring brands. Therefore, the average Dragon Gate wrestler actually work a lot more dates than the average WWE wrestler.
So what are the reasons behind the success? I think the main reason is that they provide an alternative. A Dragon Gate show is unlike any other wrestling show. They have a different in-ring style which has evolved from the training of Ultimo Dragon and the Toryumon and T2P promotions. They also present a unique (based on Japanese standards) style of booking. Their presentation, from the TV production values to the setups at the arenas, is top notch, as well. All of these factors have led to the promotion creating a very loyal fanbase who seem to be exclusively Dragon Gate fans, a unique phenomenon in today’s current wrestling climate. It’s no secret that they have a huge following in the female and gay community and there’s no doubt that they cater to this sector of society on occasion, a tactic that certainly pays off in terms of making money.
A lesson other wrestling/MMA promotions can learn from Dragon Gate is that if you want to challenge the big boys you have to deliver something different out there. You can’t settle by becoming WWE-light or a second rate UFC. Sure, it’s important to have a similar foundation, but you need your own flavor to set you apart from not only the big companies but also the hoards of companies that are attempting to copy them.
I hope everyone will soon realize that Dragon Gate is not just “that small promotion in Japan that has guys come to ROH every year.” No, they’re actually an extremely successful promotion with a large and loyal following to whom wrestlers like CIMA, BxB Hulk, Shingo Takagi and Dragon Kid are big-time stars. If you get a chance to check out Dragon Gate, I cannot recommend doing so enough. This is actually a great time to start watching them as they just re-shuffled a lot of their main factions and there are a ton of new storylines starting up. Bottom line, though, is that their in-ring product will blow you away the first time you see it.
