The New Japan Cup (often abbreviated NJC) is an annual single-elimination professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro Wrestling. Originally intended for every April, it was rescheduled to March in 2007. Though NJPW also runs the annual G1 Climax tournament, the NJC is different in that it is single-elimination, whereas the G1 is a round-robin. Like the G1 however, the winner of the tournament receives a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship; this stipulation was added in 2006. In 2014, the winner was given the right to choose whether to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight or the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The following year, the winner could have also chosen to challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The 2019 edition was also exclusively for the Heavyweight Championship, as the winner would headline the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden.
Tournaments[]
Year | Winner | Championship match |
---|---|---|
2005 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | N/A |
2006 | Giant Bernard | Lost to Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. |
2007 | Yuji Nagata | Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. |
2008 | Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) | Lost to Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at New Dimension. |
2009 | Hirooki Goto | Lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku 2009. |
2010 | Hirooki Goto (2) | Lost to Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at New Dimension 2010. |
2011 | Yuji Nagata (2) | Lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at New Dimension~Pray,Hope,Power. |
2012 | Hirooki Goto (3) | Lost to Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku 2012. |
2013 | Kazuchika Okada | Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Invasion Attack 2013. |
2014 | Shinsuke Nakamura | Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Invasion Attack 2014. |
2015 | Kota Ibushi | Lost to A.J. Styles for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Invasion Attack 2015. |
2016 | Tetsuya Naito | Defeated Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Invasion Attack 2016. |
2017 | Katsuyori Shibata | Lost to Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis 2017. |
2018 | Zack Sabre Jr. | Lost to Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis 2018. |
2019 | Kazuchika Okada | Defeated Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at ROH-NJPW G1 Supercard 2019. |
2020 | EVIL | Defeated Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Title at NJPW Dominion In Osaka-Jo Hall. |
2021 | Will Ospreay | Defeated Kota Ibushi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis. |
2022 | Zack Sabre Jr. | Lost to Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Hyper Battle - Night 5. |
2023 | SANADA | Defeated Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis. |
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.
Round 1 April 19 |
Round 2 April 21 |
Semifinals April 24 |
Final April 24 | |||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | DQ | |||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | 24:12 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Koji Kanemoto | 17:38 | |||||||||||||
Koji Kanemoto | Pin | |||||||||||||
Ryushi Yanagisawa | 8:19 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 19:45 | |||||||||||||
Minoru | CO | |||||||||||||
Osamu Nishimura | 16:47 | |||||||||||||
Osamu Nishimura† | Sub | |||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 20:47 | |||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jushin Thunder Liger | 15:54 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | 19:21 | |||||||||||||
Kendo Kashin | Pin | |||||||||||||
Shinsuke Nakamura | 8:55 | |||||||||||||
Kendo Kashin | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yutaka Yoshie | 15:48 | |||||||||||||
Yutaka Yoshie | Pin | |||||||||||||
Scott Norton | 9:07 | |||||||||||||
Kendo Kashin | Pin | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | 10:20 | |||||||||||||
Tiger Mask | Pin | |||||||||||||
Masahiro Chono | 10:29 | |||||||||||||
Masahiro Chono | Pin | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | 14:16 | |||||||||||||
Hirooki Goto | Pin | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | 7:34 |
† 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, the winner of the tournament, went on to fail in his challenge against IWGP Champion Brock Lesnar on May 3.
Round 1 April 16,20,21,22 |
Round 2 April 23,25,26 |
Semifinals April 28,29 |
Final April 30 | |||||||||||
Giant Bernard | Pin | |||||||||||||
Toru Yano | 8:19 | |||||||||||||
Giant Bernard | Pin | |||||||||||||
Riki Choshu | 9:11 | |||||||||||||
Black Strong Machine | Pin | |||||||||||||
Riki Choshu | 6:46 | |||||||||||||
Giant Bernard | Pin | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | 16:43 | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Takashi Iizuka | 11:31 | |||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Ryoji Sai | 14:56 | |||||||||||||
Ryoji Sai | Pin | |||||||||||||
Naofumi Yamamoto | 13:59 | |||||||||||||
Giant Bernard | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | 19:40 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Masahiro Chono | 25:12 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 14:27 | |||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | Pin | |||||||||||||
Scott Norton | 12:30 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | 18:49 | |||||||||||||
Togi Makabe | Pin | |||||||||||||
Tatsutoshi Goto | 1:24 | |||||||||||||
Togi Makabe | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | 10:50 | |||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | Pin | |||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | 9:57 |
2007[]
The 2007 New Japan Cup was a 14-man tournament held from March 3 to March 21. Giant Bernard and Hiroyoshi Tenzan received byes to the second round, due to their victories in the 2006 New Japan Cup and G1 Climax respectively. Shinsuke Nakamura was injured in a non-tournament match on March 13, giving Tenzan an additional pass to the semifinals. The winner, Yuji Nagata, went on to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi for the championship on April 13, beginning his second reign with the title. He also became the first person to reach the NJC finals twice, and the first to win both the New Japan Cup and G1 Climax.
Round 1 March 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 |
Round 2 March 13, 15 |
Semifinals March 18 |
Finals March 21 |
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Togi Makabe | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Travis Tomko | 9:29 | |||||||||||||||||
Togi Makabe | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Takashi Iizuka | 11:32 | |||||||||||||||||
Tomoaki Honma | Sub | |||||||||||||||||
Takashi Iizuka | 14:06 | |||||||||||||||||
Togi Makabe | DQ | |||||||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 12:27 | |||||||||||||||||
Shinsuke Nakamura | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Toru Yano | 10:16 | |||||||||||||||||
Shinsuke Nakamura | Forf | |||||||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | ||||||||||||||||||
Togi Makabe | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | 20:05 | |||||||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | 12:12 | |||||||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Masahiro Chono | 17:25 | |||||||||||||||||
Masahiro Chono | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Riki Choshu | 8:44 | |||||||||||||||||
Yuji Nagata | Sub | |||||||||||||||||
Giant Bernard | 18:22 | |||||||||||||||||
Shiro Koshinaka | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | 10:03 | |||||||||||||||||
Manabu Nakanishi | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
Giant Bernard | 13:05 | |||||||||||||||||