Professional wrestling is a deeply layered medium with complicated and rich stories to tell under the right circumstances. Some of these stories are so dramatic it’s impossible to ignore them – similar to a flashlight being shone directly into your face in the darkness. Others sometimes slip under the radar due to their subtlety, their quieter presentation meaning they are fixated on by fewer eyes. But that makes them no lesser in value or reward to those paying attention.
Dragongate Kobe World 2025 had an undeniable focus in the aftermath of the event. Shun Skywalker claiming the Dream Gate for a third time and ending Yamato’s year long reign, is of course a big deal. Yamato had made himself feel like an unbeatable champion. The even bigger story was Shun finally facing some consequences of his actions – and crimes, over many years – and losing his leadership of the unit Z-Brats to Madoka Kikuta. It was a powerful show ending and a relevant point of discussion.
However, these aren’t the men I wish to focus on. The Dream Gate isn’t the title I’ll be talking about. I instead want to focus on the Brave Gate Championship. A title that, in my opinion, is of no lesser importance when compared to the Dream. The Brave Gate’s meaning and perception has shifted over the years but the style it represents and the matches it creates are special. This is a championship with a lot of heart.
The Brave Gate Championship match at Kobe World 2025 was a match featuring two wrestlers who both had valid reasons to win. Each brought a unique and very different personal story to the overall match tale. But in the end there would be both joy and sadness, with one competitor feeling the elation of success while the other felt the despair of loss. By the end of this match it was Ryoya Tanaka with the highs of victory, clinching his first championship in Dragongate and U-T with the devastating low of defeat, losing something so valuable to him.
In the complex tale of this Brave Gate match I think there was a beautiful story told over a couple of years, that has been unfortunately somewhat overlooked due to surrounding circumstances. Dragongate has a wide landscape and there are so many intriguing characters with their own interesting stories to tell to anyone keen to listen and perceive them.
This is my recollection of the time that created this specific story. It is not a full timeline rundown, instead I will just be focusing on key aspects to this tale. This is nothing more and nothing less than my understanding of this particular story. One in the vastness of stories, complex layers and character work that professional wrestling gives us to decipher and enjoy.
This is a story of growing through learning, struggling and ultimately finding yourself and your self worth.
The birth of a story
Ryoya Tanaka has challenged for the Brave Gate Championship three times over the course of his two year career as of the middle of 2025. Each challenge was a step in his development, not just as a professional wrestler but as a wrestler worthy to hold the Brave Gate. The first challenge took place while he was still a rookie at merely five months into his career, after his debut match on the 28th May 2023. ISHIN was champion then and picked him as the challenger. The choice was out of Genki Horiguchi, a four time champion, or Ryoya Tanaka, a rookie member of the Dragongate roster. ISHIN’s reasoning could be seen as him going for an easy victory over a less experienced wrestler, ISHIN is after all a smug and very clever heel as a member of Z-Brats. However, ISHIN also stated that the Brave Gate had no value. It was a belt that nobody wanted, or so he claimed. So, in theory a nobody, like a rookie, could challenge for it. Either way, the choice was meant as an insult not a compliment. There was no kindness extended from ISHIN here. His view of the Brave Gate itself and everyone in the division was deeply tainted with disdain.
Ryoya went into the match at Osaka Edion Arena with general acknowledgement he didn’t have a right to be there. He has fond memories and a strong connection to this building, having won his first karate tournament there in his youth. But this was a different time in his life, a different situation and a whole different amount of pressure that showed in his eyes as he walked to the ring and awaited the champion to make his entrance.
Many saw he didn’t have a hope to win here. He didn’t even have a finishing move that audiences were aware of. He had never won any matches yet to have one. Although he did state that he had something special he hadn’t revealed yet.
In this title match he was just throwing moves throughout to see what would work. Some to success, others failure, but the form was there. Everything he had been practicing quietly, away from the eyes of the general public, came out in this match. The moves of others he was inspired by and wished to use since he was a child, dreaming of becoming a professional wrestler. The ones he had thought up during his training and throughout the start of his career so far that felt fitting to the style he wishes to pursue. All this, done to demonstrate to ISHIN and everyone watching that while he wasn’t at that same level as the champion yet, he had the potential to get there. When the opportunity arose he revealed what he had been holding back. A move he calls Joker Strizer, which is comparable to a Stardust Press. It hit perfectly, however ISHIN was able to instantly flip the pin cover and managed to gain the referee’s three count. It was less dignified than ISHIN had anticipated this win would be, but retaining the championship was the only important aspect.
Ryoya showed heart in this challenge and in defeat which was what mattered the most. That key element for foundation to build on was there – heart.
After the match Yuki Yoshioka and Dragon Dia came out to ringside. They checked on Ryoya, helped him out of the ring, looped his arms around their shoulders and the three left together. Ryoya lost a match he realistically had no chance to win but what he gained from this moment was better – something that would be far more beneficial to him at this stage of his career. He became a member of a unit. Yuki and Dia saw he belonged with them, that he was like them. D’Courage is the baby face group. The protagonists of Dragongate. The fan favourite, pure hearted good guys. Though one of them has a dark past. To join D’Courage five months into his career was special. It was a symbol that Ryoya’s potential was seen.
Strength to believe in
The second challenge came in November 2024 when Dragon Dia was the reigning champion. Dragon Dia nominated his opponent and asked his teammate Ryoya to challenge him. Dia noted that Ryoya asking for a match with Dragon Kid, Dia’s mentor, showed signs of the qualities that it takes for a wrestler to be able to hold the Brave Gate. It didn’t matter that Ryoya had lost to Dragon Kid, the fact he wanted the match in the first place was the crucial part. It was aiming high and ignoring the odds. All to try and show worth and find ways to improve oneself – a positive quality to have. Dragon Dia understands the importance of creating opportunities for yourself to grow and that this was partly the reason why Ryoya had challenged Dragon Kid. As who better to compare yourself to than an icon of the established Brave Gate roster.
Dragon Dia wasn’t around to hype up the match, as he was a participant in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Super Junior Tag League tournament at that time. The two men only had one impromptu preview tag, at Ryoya’s request, to build the match up. The rest relied on Ryoya to not let the out-of-sight Brave Gate Championship and impending title match, become out of mind.
He again acknowledged the truth of the situation, he didn’t earn this opportunity, it was given to him. Everything about it shone clear that the established wrestler Dragon Dia was gifting this chance to his slightly younger and far less experienced teammate. An act of kindness and a teaching moment. Their connection as unit members let Dia have insight that others were unaware of. This match was creating an opportunity to showcase the abilities he knew Ryoya now possessed, as he has been there watching his development from the start.
The way this title match came about would get into Ryoya’s head. It gnawed away and ultimately played a factor in him losing, partly because of his questions about his worthiness to be in this situation as challenger. He was skilled of course but challenging again without a catalyst moment to earn the match is a unique experience and certainly a heavy burden on the mind. Can you proudly hold a championship if you feel you didn’t deserve the opportunity to win it in the first place?
The match itself was highly competitive, with D’Courage teammate Madoka Kikuta in a neutral corner ringside cheering on both equally, with zero favouritism shown. Arguably Dragon Dia was the better of the two, but numerous times he found himself matched and sometimes briefly bested by his younger in career age opponent. Ryoya even used the lesson he learned from his first challenge. While ISHIN had absorbed a Joker Strizer and reversed the pin to quickly win that match, this time Ryoya tried the same tactic, taking the impact of Dragon Dia’s DDDDT and reversing the pin attempt into a pin of his own. It was a close call but only a two count. Dragon Dia was the one with the faster mind, due to his greater experience, having an immediate follow up which saw him able to get the win.
The result was a defeat however Ryoya’s performance showed Dragon Dia another level of Ryoya’s heart and abilities, making him noticeably proud of his teammate and smiling happily following the bell. Ryoya was crushed, mirroring the scene after his first loss when challenging. He moved to the right side of the ring lying by the ring ropes and kept his head held low to hide his face. Feeling the weight of the match loss all while the victorious champion was given the belt once more and the winner’s certificate there in the center of the ring, so close to him physically yet so far away in other aspects. But as the reality of the moment set in, so did his understanding that he was not bitter over the failure to claim the Brave. There were no harsh feelings here. And when Dia approached him after the match conclusion the two teammates embraced, both smiling feeling only positive emotions about the other.
Again, one year after Ryoya’s first challenge, they left Osaka Edion Arena with an arm around each other. Dragon Dia could have let Ryoya Tanaka walk out the side door alone, as losers of matches do, while he went back up the ramp and left through the stage triumphantly. But that isn’t who he is. It’s not who D’Courage are.
There was a long way to go still for Ryoya, but the steady progression was there and everything was moving in the right direction. He was gradually becoming the wrestler that he wants to be.
Turning sorrow into a smile
2025, the month of July at Kobe World. This third challenge mattered so much in its context.
Through March to May of 2025 it was a time that D’Courage should have been joyful at being reunited as a full four man group with Yuki Yoshioka’s return after over a year long absence. Instead they were a mess from Z-Brats’ doing. The tricks being played on them were driving wedges of mistrust between the formerly close teammates. They were struggling to work with each other and developing resentment towards one another’s mere presence. All because of a mask – the Dia Inferno mask, which has a very dark and tumultuous history. It was tough to watch. Fans could see the reality and truth of the situation but D’Courage themselves could not. It was too close, emotions were too amped up, and they were being made blind by both internal and external forces. All except for one of them. It was Ryoya Tanaka who stepped up as the voice of reason, calling out Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia and Madoka Kikuta for their behaviour. Despite being the least experienced member of them all, he was the only one to see things clearly. For Ryoya to see the truth in this situation that his teammates, who should have known better, could not, was impressive. It was showing experience beyond his accumulated years as a wrestler to see through such mind games and be able to metaphorically step outside of the situation to see it more clearly.
The D’Courage bonds had always been strong, so the fact his three teammates were not using common sense was understandably perplexing to Ryoya. He became frustrated, as being a mediator and taking the verbal and physical hits, all to no resolution, was an unpleasant and draining experience. He couldn’t get them to listen to each other about their perspectives; Madoka’s insecurities about the shadow Yuki casts over him in various ways; Dia’s instinctive reaction to side with and protect his best friend Yuki first and foremost; Yuki’s wish to just be who they were before but time only moves forward, there’s no going back and reliving the past.
Ryoya was pushed to verbally snapping at them all in an attempt to open their eyes. He told Yuki, Dia and Madoka to figure this out amongst themselves and that he was stepping aside from their unit chaos to enter the Brave Gate tournament for the vacant championship.
He seemed moody and unhappy, a drastic change to his usual energy and positive nature. But each match involved him having to walk out to the D’Courage theme music, the song of his unit that were currently falling apart and bringing him pain. Ryoya didn’t have his own music yet so there was no alternative but for these minutes and seconds before each match for him to have to hear that melody and feel those unpleasant emotions attached to it. To be forced to drown in the thoughts of pain and upset and anger, then shake it off quickly to refocus and have a match. No easy task.
Despite that awkward music situation, Ryoya found some focus on himself, not his unit. He was able to temporarily push past that drama and fixate his attention instead on the matches at hand and the end goal of becoming the tournament winner and Brave Gate champion. He beat Riiita, a former champion, in the first round and made it to the semi finals, losing to U-T who went on to be the tournament winner and new Brave Gate champion.
Come Dead or Alive in May 2025, Ryoya was the odd man out of D’Courage, the member left alone while the rest of his teammates were in the main event steel cage match. He had a singles bout in the opening match of the show against Hyo, a now staple of the Brave division, fan favourite, and Brave Gate champion as recently as 2024. Ryoya won the match. Calling this an upset is an oversimplification. It was a breakout. Beating Hyo at a big show is no small accomplishment. Especially in a singles match.
Ryoya supported his teammates later that night, getting involved and helping them how he could from outside the cage as Z-Brats interfered repeatedly to benefit their three participating members. This included a spectacular moment of Ryoya jumping off the top of the cage to try and eliminate the Z-Brats monster threat of the mad man from Malta, Gianni Valletta. To be a highlight of a match that he was not even officially involved in, is certainly a unique achievement.
Ryoya was there ringside, forced to watch as Madoka Kikuta betrayed Yuki Yoshioka, aligned to Shun Skywalker and Z-Brats, and left Yuki alone in the cage as the loser of the match, having his head shaved as a consequence of the loss. Ryoya comforted Yuki in this heartbreaking defeat, helping him leave the scene, as good teammates do – a gesture that had been shown to him in the past. When he lost that first Brave Gate challenge it was Yuki and Dia who held him up and helped him walk away from the ring. Dia’s decision to leave with him after the second challenge made sure he didn’t feel isolated and alone in the minutes following defeat. The memories of those past experiences gave him the understanding and awareness of exactly what Yuki Yoshioka needed in this crucial moment from a teammate and more importantly from a friend: to feel supported.
Dragon Dia was once more absent for a time as he participated in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Now a three man unit, D’Courage were left with just two members. This was a blessing in many ways. After missing over a year with eye issues Yuki Yoshioka was now back and he and Ryoya Tanaka finally had proper time together as teammates. While Yuki missed Ryoya’s growth from the young rookie he knew and brought into the unit, they would get a chance to reconnect now. Much like Dia and Ryoya have team moves they utilise in matches, and formerly Madoka Kikuta as well, Yuki and Ryoya got to establish their own unique unison moves together. And while Yuki was suffering with a sense of self doubt about his judgements and abilities from his long absence, as well as Madoka Kikuta’s betrayal, it was his younger unit member that supported him. The dynamic of D’Courage shifted and Ryoya was winning matches for them. This was a new structure for them as a unit and it was important. D’Courage weren’t two established members and a rookie, they were now three capable wrestlers who could all rely on one another and support each other.
On the 7th of June 2025 Ryoya won a singles match against Susumu Yokosuka that unfortunately wasn’t on a network airing show. But going 10:56 with Susumu can elevate anyone. Winning just highlights the shift in status within the roster that Ryoya had made for himself. He even had a singles match with KAI a week later on the 15th. KAI is not protected by any means – he doesn’t shield himself with his fellow unit members, he takes losses in tags but he is a former Dream Gate champion and that will always matter. His level as a wrestler is never in question. The disadvantages were clear from before the match even began. From KAI’s larger size and far more powerful strength, greater experience, general better ring awareness, to his ability to bend and break the rules without subsequently being disqualified – the odds were heavily stacked to one side. With Yuki Yoshioka and Dragon Dia there ringside supporting him, Ryoya managed to endure, to think and adapt in the moment to find a way to win in spite of the imbalance. It was a key lesson. In a career of learning lessons this one in particular would play an important part later.
Ryoya was winning both unit matches for D’Courage and singles matches which made matters understandably change. These valuable moments and boost of belief in abilities, led Ryoya to acknowledge he felt confidence in himself like he never had before. And because of this new found confidence he challenged U-T for the Brave Gate Championship. This was a champion unlike the other two he had faced. U-T is not cruel and vindictive as ISHIN had been. Nor is he a close friend and teammate like Dragon Dia. There would be no sway in behaviour by emotion or due to the nature of friendship.
The relevant history between these two is contained within the year of 2025. It was U-T who had knocked Ryoya out of the Brave Gate tournament by decisively beating him. Ryoya’s best hadn’t been enough to overcome U-T that day. The pin attempt from the Cross Saber was countered and turned into U-T’s Bienllave hold and Ryoya found himself unable to escape and forced to submit. So, their most recent important match memory with one another was a resounding victory for U-T.
As champion U-T’s mission was to be a wall for the division. To force opponents to rise up and better themselves. To make everyone who thought they wanted the Brave Gate, have to work that much harder to ensure they really wanted it and deserved it, if they could ever win it from him. A noble quest and what the division, and Ryoya himself, greatly needed from the reigning champion.
In a tag match on the 3rd of July following the establishment of the Brave Gate match, Ryoya found himself partnered to unaffiliated roster member Luis Mante. The two had teamed before, as well as having matches against each other, so they are no strangers to this situation and close proximity with one another. They faced Natural Vibes members U-T and Flamita. Ryoya managed to beat reigning Brave Gate champion U-T via pinfall victory using the Cross Saber in this thrilling preview. An improvement for Ryoya in match outcome from a prior unit tag match that took place June 14th between D’Courage and Natural Vibes, also featuring Dragon Dia and Kzy, where the time limit ran out during what could have potentially been a match winning pin on the champion. This result solidified the impending title challenge.
This would be Ryoya’s third attempt to win the Brave Gate. But it would be the first he earned and felt he truly belonged and deserved to be there in the match. No burdening weight of surrounding negative emotions, only positivity. Finally feeling like he had reached a level as a wrestler that gave him a right to not only challenge but to be able to proudly win and hold the Brave Gate.
The match saw Ryoya debut his own theme music. After what he had been through in the prior months this alone was another boost in self confidence. He had an individual musical identity now not just a unit one.
U-T was every bit of the protector of the Brave Gate division he intended to be as champion, constantly forcing Ryoya to adapt and learn throughout the course of the match. If a move worked once and Ryoya tried it again, the second time was unsuccessful. U-T was now able to predict it and he had an answer and a counter. It required different lead in, removing obvious telltale signs of intention. U-T has experience and vast knowledge at his disposal so Ryoya had to determine how to make better use of his best manoeuvres and find some irregularly used ones to add the element of surprise.
Even in his most important career match to this date Ryoya was still learning valuable lessons and taking in key details of how to make better use of his skill set.
All the work growing and improving himself from the rookie who debuted in May of 2023 saw him achieve his biggest success yet – winning the Brave Gate Championship.
Writing the past, drawing the future
This was a career long story, though it’s so far only been a short career at just over two years and one month on the date of Kobe World. It was a story of human struggle and the battle to find self-worth and a place to belong. It was about Ryoya’s desire to reach a level as a wrestler that would see him capable of capturing a championship that he wished to hold, the Brave Gate. For him to be able to find the self belief that it would take for him to manage to achieve this goal, to turn his potential into ability and then into sound skill, to become the wrestler that he wants to be seen as by fans and fellow competitors. Ryoya achieved this by constantly seeking to improve himself and using the positive and negative experiences as motivation to become not only a better wrestler but a better version of himself and now his name is etched into the champions lineage of the Brave Gate.
This is a continuing story about the influence of those around that inspire, uplift, challenge, and generally aid to reach full potential, regardless of whether they directly mean to or not. A tale of the ongoing lessons learned imparted by others and self sought to know.
Courage is a fitting word to describe Ryoya Tanaka and the journey he has taken so far. It’s a term he understands the meaning of quite well, from before his official training even began. There is strength to be found in learning to find belief within yourself. He wasn’t presumed to have a chance to win against ISHIN or Dragon Dia. There was nothing he had to lose in those matches. It wasn’t until facing U-T in the Kobe World Brave Gate championship match that this changed. He had something to gain but also something to potentially lose. There were people who believed in him. Dragongate fans who not only felt that he was capable of winning, but who wanted to see him win and become champion.
Ryoya Tanaka was the only graduating member of the 2023 Dragongate class. He has no classmates to measure himself against. No peers to lean on or learn from. His motivation comes from himself alone not in rivalry but his desire to represent a class that has no other but him to stand for it. Another example of his courage. Everything he has had to learn on his own. To find it from other sources such as opponents like ISHIN and U-T who forced him to be better, smarter, more adaptable and able to think in the moment. Allies like Yuki Yoshioka and Dragon Dia (and for a long time Madoka Kikuta) who taught him the value in teammates. The lessons learned in friendship, empathy, and respect.
He learned how negativity and shortcomings can be turned into a driving force. How positivity and praise can be used for the building up of self confidence. Slowly he has been putting all the pieces of this gathered experience and knowledge together to portray who he wants to be as a wrestler. Ryoya Tanaka has proved to everyone and more importantly to himself that he has the traits of what the Brave Gate itself symbolises. He belongs in this division, just like he belongs in D’Courage.
Each wrestler dyes the Brave their own colour, it’s why the strap is white. But certain aspects always remain embedded into the championship itself and reflected in each and every wrestler who holds it. While the wrestler shapes the Brave Gate, it also shapes them as well, for far longer than just the time holding it. Ryoya Tanaka is now a wrestler who understands and embodies those traits in his own unique ways.
What further lessons he will learn and the continued ways he will complete the puzzle piece like picture of exactly who he wants to be, anxiously remains to be seen. But this two year beginning of career story is a captivating and inspiring first chapter in the wrestler tale of Ryoya Tanaka.
