Changes: King of Chop

King of Chop is a singles tournament held in Dragon Gate. This is a little different as it is not so much a wrestling tournament, but rather a tournament to determine who had the strongest chop.

The competitors will each exchange three chops. The primary goal is to chop the opponent so hard that they surrender, generally by ringing the bell personally. If no one gives up, the decision will then be deferred to the fans. Under the rare circumstance that the fan decision is split, the competitors will each be given an extra chop. The bonus exchanges could continue until one surrenders or the fan decision is more decisive. In the final round, the number of exchanges is indefinite and can only stop when a competitor surrenders or General Manager/Referee Takayuki Yagi appeals for a fan decision.

King of Chop I

The first tournament took place on April 16, 2012 at Kobe Sambo Hall in Hyogo. The tournament had been announced at the previous Sambo Hall show on March 18 along with the sixteen participants. It was further announced that the winner would receive a 300,000 yen cash prize and a special privilege of their choosing, which could be virtually anything from a title shot or match making rights.

The theme music to the American television series Mission: Impossible was used as the music theme for the tournament. The first round took place following the first match on the card, the second round followed the third match, and the last two rounds followed the main event.

"Naoki Tanisaki" was originally listed as a participant, but he was "unable to show." He was "replaced" in the tournament by Tomahawk T.T.

Mondai Ryu surrendered by Akira Tozawa throwing in the towel for him.

Not only did Masato Yoshino and Masaaki Mochizuki have the first fan decision split, but they had two, forcing a total of five chop exchanges before the fan decision was more decisive.

Yagi allowed for the chop exchanges in the final round to go up to ten before appeal to a fan decision.

For his victory prize, Eita Kobayashi requested from "Open The Dream Gate Champion" CIMA to be included into the King of Gate tournament, even though all sixteen participants had already been announced. CIMA chose to bow out of King of Gate, allowing for Kobayashi to partipate. Kobayashi also noted his wish to partake on a learning excursion to Mexico when CIMA next tours the country at the end of May. He would pass an in-ring test at the next Sambo Hall show, allowing him to go.

King of Chop II

A second tournament was announced following the end of the 2012 King of Gate tournament. It took place over the course of two nights as opposed to one, occurring on June 9 and 10, 2012. Both shows were at Sapporo Teisen Hall in Hokkaido. There were twenty competitors this time around and the brackets were determined by a random drawing following the opening match on June 9. Competitors 1-10 made up Block A and 11-20 made up Block B. Competitors 1-4 and 17-20 were placed in a "Handicap Set" where each only got one chop as opposed to three.