__NOTOC__ The New Japan Cup (NJC) is an annual

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

held by

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW) since 2005. It is considered the second most prominent heavyweight tournament in NJPW, after the

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners ...

which follows a round-robin format. Since the 2006 edition, the winner of the tournament, like with the G1 Climax, would receive a championship match, originally, for the

IWGP Heavyweight Championship The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWG ...

. However, unlike with the G1 Climax, the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion could not participate in the tournament (in the case of the champion winning the G1 Climax, he would get to pick the next challenger for his title). In 2014–2018, the winner could choose to challenge for the

IWGP Intercontinental Championship The was a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was officially announced on January 5, 2011 and the Inaugural Champion MVP was cr ...

instead, while in 2015–2018, the

NEVER Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. NEVER is an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal", and "Radical" and was an NJPW-promoted series of events, which ...

was also an option; only the 2014 winner

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where ...

chose not to compete for the Heavyweight Championship, challenging for the Intercontinental Championship instead. In 2020, due to

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction. Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anima ...

being both the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion, the winner received a match for both titles, and in 2021, after the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships were unified into a new championship, the

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The championship was created on March 1, 2021 by the unification of the ...

, the latter became the title the winner of the New Japan Cup would automatically challenge for; like previously with the Heavyweight title, the World Heavyweight Champion cannot compete. However, in 2022, it was once again an openweight tournament and featured all the champions from both the heavyweight and junior heavyweight divisions including the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. The first night of the 2022 tournament saw the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion take on the

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may ho ...

in the first round, a match that usually happens at NJPW's anniversary event. The number of participants in the New Japan Cup has varied over the years, from a lowest of 12 in 2007 to a highest of 48 in 2022; the 2021 tournament features 30 entrants. It is considered a heavyweight tournament, although the 2005, 2008-09, 2020, and 2022 editions were openweight tournaments instead, also featuring junior heavyweights; in 2020, NJPW premiered the

New Japan Cup USA New Japan Cup USA is an annual professional wrestling tournament produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The tournament is a spin-off of NJPW's annual New Japan Cup introduced in 2020. The tournament was promoted under NJPW's North American br ...

, a version of the tournament taking place in the United States to determine a contender for the

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The current champion is Will Ospreay, who is in his first reign. History Backgr ...

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

is both the inaugural winner of the New Japan Cup, and the first wrestler to have won it twice;

Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is also known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishii ...

Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professional ...

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramati ...

, and

Zack Sabre Jr. Lucas Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), better known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. (Katakana: ザック・セイバーJr, ''Zakku Seibā Jr.''), is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Outsid ...

have since also become two-time winners. Goto is both the only three-time winner and the only person to have won the tournament two years in a row.

Tournament Finals

Tournaments

Results

2005

The 2005 New Japan Cup was held from April 19 to April 24. The first two rounds were held on individual nights, with round one taking up the entire card on April 19. † Minoru was forced to pull out before his Round 2 match, due to suffering severe dizziness, and was replaced by Osamu Nishimura, who he beat in Round 1.

2006

The 2006 New Japan Cup was held from April 16 to April 30.

Giant Bernard Matthew Jason Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Bloom ...

, the winner of the tournament, went on to fail in his challenge against IWGP Champion

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...

on May 3.

2007

The 2007 New Japan Cup was a 14-man tournament held from March 3 to March 21. Giant Bernard and

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the G ...

received byes to the second round, due to their victories in the 2006 New Japan Cup and G1 Climax respectively.

was injured in a non-tournament match on March 13, giving Tenzan an additional pass to the semifinals. The winner,

, went on to defeat

for the championship on April 13, beginning his second reign with the title. He also became the first person to reach the NJC final twice, and the first to win both the New Japan Cup and G1 Climax.

2008

The 2008 New Japan Cup was a 16-man tournament held from March 9 to March 23. The winner,

, became the first two-time winner of the NJC and went on to fail in his challenge against IWGP Champion

on March 30. ¹This match originally ended in a double countout at 2:35, but it was restarted with Makabe winning via pinfall in 14:49.

2009

The 2009 New Japan Cup was a 14-man tournament held from March 8 to March 22.

and

, the winners of the Cups of 2006 and 2007, received byes in the first round of the tournament. The eventual winner of the tournament,

, went on to lose the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match to

on May 3 at

Wrestling Dontaku 2009 Wrestling Dontaku 2009 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3, 2009, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. The event featured nine matches (incl ...

. ¹This match originally ended in a double countout at 3:18, but it was restarted with Ishii winning via countout in 9:15.

2010

The 2010 New Japan Cup was a 15-man tournament held from March 14 to March 22. As the previous winner of the Cup,

received a bye in the first round of the tournament. With his victory, Goto became the second two-time winner of the tournament and the first to win it back-to-back. Goto went on to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on April 4, but would once again fail in his attempt to win the title.

2011

The 2011 New Japan Cup was a 16-man tournament held from March 6 to March 20. The winner,

, went on to unsuccessfully challenge

for the

on April 3.

2012

The 2012 New Japan Cup was a 16-man tournament held from April 1 to April 8. With his win,

, became the first three-time winner of the tournament.

2013

The 2013 New Japan Cup was a 16-man tournament held from March 11 to March 23. The winner of the tournament,

, went on to defeat

for the

Invasion Attack Sakura Genesis is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since 2013. Held annually at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan, the event has been nicknamed . Originally known as Invasion Attack, the event was renamed ...

on April 7.

2014

The 2014 New Japan Cup took place between March 15 and 23. The winner of the tournament got to choose whether to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight or the

2015

The 2015 New Japan Cup took place between March 5 and 15. The winner of the tournament got to choose whether to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental or the

Invasion Attack 2015 Invasion Attack 2015 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 5, 2015, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan and featured nine matches, four of which were contested f ...

on April 5.

2016

The 2016 New Japan Cup took place between March 3 and 12. The winner of the tournament would once again get to choose whether to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental or

Invasion Attack 2016 Invasion Attack 2016 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 10, 2016, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, and featured nine matches, six of which were contested fo ...

on April 10.

2017

The 2017 New Japan Cup took place between March 11 and 20. Unlike previous years, this tournament was held across eight events in 10 days.

Tomoaki Honma is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a two-time World Tag League winner with Togi Makabe. Professional wrestling career Big Japa ...

was originally announced for the tournament, but was pulled out and replaced with

after suffering a

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

2018

The 2018 New Japan Cup took place between March 9 and 21. The winner of the tournament,

Zack Sabre Jr Lucas Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), better known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. (Katakana: ザック・セイバーJr, ''Zakku Seibā Jr.''), is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Outside ...

., challenged

for the

. Sabre also became the second non-Japanese wrestler, after Giant Bernard, to win the New Japan Cup.

2019

The 2019 New Japan Cup took place between March 8 and 24. Unlike the previous year, the tournament featured 32 wrestlers instead of 16 and marks the New Japan Cup debut of 7 wrestlers. After David Finlay was pulled out of the tournament due to an injury,

Ryusuke Taguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, seven-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and three-time NEVER Op ...

was announced as his replacement.

2020

The 2020 New Japan Cup took place between June 16 and July 11. It was originally going to take place from March 4 until March 21, but was postponed when New Japan Pro-Wrestling suspended all of its activities due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On June 9, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that it would resume its activities, beginning with the 2020 edition of the New Japan Cup, which would now be an Openweight tournament and take place from June 16 until July 11, with the final being held at

Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi area of Osaka, Japan. The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on a site area of 36,351 square meters, part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of the Cast ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. Due to both the Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles being held by

, the winner of the tournament would earn a match against him for both titles at Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall, instead of choosing one title to challenge for.

Original card

The original card for the New Japan Cup, when it was scheduled to take place from March 4 to March 21, had to be completely re-worked for the eventual final card, as several wrestlers who originally planned to participate could not go to Japan when NJPW resumed its activities due to travel restrictions amid the pandemic. Of the 32 wrestlers included in the original card, 14 were not a part of the eventual tournament in June–July: Alex Coughlin,

Bad Luck Fale Simi Taitoko Fale (born 8 January 1982) is a Tongan-New Zealand professional wrestler and former rugby union player. He currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as . In NJPW, he is a three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champio ...

Chase Owens Chase Owens (チェーズ・オーエンズ ''Chēzu Ōenzu'', born March 7, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club. He is a former IWGP Tag Team Champ ...

, Colt Cabana, David Finlay, Karl Fredericks,

Jay White Jamie White (born 9 October 1992), better known by the ring name Jay White (ジェイ・ホワイト ''Jei Howaito''), is a New Zealand professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is current IWGP World Heavyweight C ...

Kenta Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...

Jeff Cobb Jeffrey Cobb (ジェフ・コブ　''Jefu Kobu'', born July 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with United Emp ...

Juice Robinson Joseph Ryan Robinson (born April 10, 1989), better known by his ring name Juice Robinson, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Robinson is also a member of the Bullet Club stable and also wrestles ...

Mikey Nicholls Michael Nicholls (born 20 August 1985), better known by his ring name Mikey Nicholls, is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where, as part of Th ...

Tanga Loa Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita (born May 7, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), under the ring name Tanga Loa (タンガ・ロア　''Tanga Roa'') (originally Tanga Roa). Fif ...

Toa Henare Aaron Henry (born 5 August 1992) is a New Zealand professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Aaron Henare (アーロン・ヘナーレ). He previously wrestled under as . Early life Henry was b ...

, and

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and leader of the ...

. ; Cancelled Round 1 card

2021

The 2021 edition's schedule was announced on January 13. The tournament ran from March 4, on NJPW's anniversary event, to March 21. The final night was NJPW's first show held at

Xebio Arena Sendai Xebio Arena Sendai (ゼビオアリーナ仙台) is an arena in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. It is the home arena of the Sendai 89ers of the B.League, Japan's professional basketball league. Sports Events *bj League All-star Game (2016) *New Japan Pr ...

. Evil and Hiroshi Tanahashi received byes on account of being the previous edition's winner and the reigning NEVER Openweight Champion respectively. At the semifinals on March 20, the match between

and

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...

and

Bullet Club (stylised as BULLET CLUB), sometimes shortened to BC, is a professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In the United States, the group currently appears on NJPW events run by the c ...

and

Yujiro Takahashi , is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its sub-group House of Torture. Takahashi entered New Japan in November 2003 with an extensive amateur backgr ...

was stopped due to a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Miyagi prefecture. While Bullet Club went backstage; Okada, Tanahashi, and Ibushi stayed in the ring area to calm the crowd and pose for pictures while New Japan employees were performing safety checks throughout the arena, which took about half an hour. After the safety checks were made, the match was able to continue with ring announcer Makoto Abe informing attendees shortly beforehand the rest of the event would be canceled if they were any additional aftershocks.

2022

The 2022 edition's schedule was announced on December 28, 2021, and the tournament ran from March 2 until March 27. The 2022 edition featured 48 participants which included wrestlers from both heavyweight and junior heavyweight divisions including the champions.

Notes

References

External links

New Japan Cup at NJPW.co.jp
{{New Japan Pro Wrestling events New Japan Pro-Wrestling tournaments

Tournament Finals

Tournaments

Results

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Original card

2021

2022

See also

Notes

References

External links