Dragon Gate News: Punishments Handed Out In “Cora Scandal”

One rather disturbing story that has unfolded behind the scenes in Dragon Gate these last few months has been one involving Cora, a monkey that has stayed at the gym where DG wrestlers train over the last decade or so. There were allegations of abuse of Cora involving wrestlers, and Kobe police have concluded their investigation and DG has announced punishments. Click below to read, I should warn you that some of the details may be disturbing. But I also should mention that despite the prior abuse, Cora is currently in good health.

4 wrestlers were named in the report but only 3 were revealed at a press conference held by DG because the 4th is no longer on the DG roster-the 3 identified were CIMA, KAGETORA and Naoki Matsushita. All three, along with RYOMA, Commissioner Toru Kido, and President Okamura appeared at the press conference today. All six appeared with shaven heads. Each expressed remorse for their respective actions and their punishments were announced. The punishments and details surrounding each:
CIMA-He purchased Cora 10 years ago and brought her to the gym. The ordinances for keeping exotic pets changed several times over the years, and he neglected to keep up with them. This lead to the sub-standard conditions that Cora came to live under. He did not participate in any of the abuse. Punishment: Docked 30% pay for the next 3 months.

Naoki Matsushita-A character involved in this incident known as Nao-chan. He was a trainee seen choking Cora in photographs (Note: I have never seen these photos so I cannot comment further on them). Punishment: Scheduled debut this fall is postponed, agreement to become a contracted member of the roster is voided, he starts over as a trainee.

KAGETORA-Involvement not revealed until press conference. During an incident where Cora escaped from her collar, she was temporarily placed in a box while a new collar was prepared. KAGETORA noticed a foul smell from the box, and sprayed a deodorant or air freshener type substance into the box. The spray was harmful and resulted in a situation where Cora was bathed in an unpleasant manner to try and remove the new scent. KAGETORA is not a contracted member of the roster (he’s a freelancer of sorts), so as such he cannot incur a punishment similar to CIMA or the others. Punishment: A portion of his appearance pay goes to animal protection agencies.

RYOMA-He was not named in the police report, but it was his blog that began this whole ordeal. He has been on indefinite suspension since the story broke. Punishment: Suspension length set at 1 year. Not known if it’s effective immediately or retroactive to when it began, if the latter he is suspended until roughly late May to early June, or about 9 months.

All four apologized for their actions. President Okamura also announced that in the future there would be fewer shows scheduled, allowing time for more volunteer work, to help DG give back to communities. They are also providing supplies to the family Cora is now living with. While the incident was centered around a small few, Dragon Gate as a whole accept responsibility for the scandal. A united effort will continue to be made to regain the lost trust of fans and everyone.

Personally I did not know a lot about this but I do not condone abuse/poor treatment of animals. I hope everyone has learned their lesson and that nothing like this ever happens again.

No word yet on what immediate impact this has on the current upcoming schedule, they are off until the 12th although DGUSA, which should not be adversely affected by this, runs their 2nd event Sunday. There are 10 shows scheduled the rest of this month not including a NEX show Sunday and a Masaaki Mochizuki-produced show on the 27th. After that the only thing on the current schedule is the WORLD-1 produced show in October.