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Pro Wrestling
New Japan Cup

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
                                     
   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  
   
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