| Young Lions Cup | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Young Lions Cup awarded to the winner of the Young Lions Cup VI tournament | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | Chikara WiF! | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | November 16, 2002 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | June 24, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The Young Lions Cup was a professional wrestling championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Chikara. [2]
A tournament is held every year to determine the champion. Originally, experience level was the primary basis for eligibility in the tournament, as the first tournament was only open to those who have wrestled under 50 professional matches. The primary basis for eligibility was later changed to age, making the tournament open only to wrestlers who are 25 years old or younger. The winner of the Young Lions Cup can defend the cup as an actual title until the following tournament, and Young Lions Cup tournament winners are not allowed to compete in the tournament again once they win it.
The original rules also once stated that previous holders of the cup are not allowed to compete for the title once they are no longer champion, but this rule was 'changed' in 2008. Fire Ant was granted a rematch after losing the cup to Vin Gerard, and Director of Fun Leonard F. Chikarason claimed that the rules were now amended, stating that previous holders of the cup could challenge for the cup again any time they wanted until the next Young Lions Cup tournament. However, on February 1, 2010, new Director of Fun Dieter VonSteigerwalt reverted the rule change and announced that former champions could no longer challenge for the cup or enter the annual tournaments. [3]
Though Chikara's one-year hiatus ended in May 2014, the title was never mentioned for a prolonged period. On September 18, it was announced that an eleventh tournament would be done and hosted by Chikara's sister promotion, Wrestling is Fun! (WiF!), from October 11 to November 1. [4] The finals of the tournament took place on December 6 at Tomorrow Never Dies and saw Heidi Lovelace become the first female holder of the title. [5]
The title has been deactivated following the closure of Chikara in June, 2020. [6] There have been a total of 28 cup winners over a total of 16 cups, some of them winning the same cup on more than one occasion and three vacancies. The first holder was Hallowicked and the last one was Ricky South until the closure of the promotion.
| No. | Wrestler: | Cup: | Date: | Days held: | Location: | Successful defenses | Notes: | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hallowicked | I | November 16, 2002 | 602 | Allentown, PA | 4 | Defeated Mister Zero in the finals of the Young Lions Cup tournament. | [7] [8] |
| — | Vacated | July 10, 2004 | ||||||
| 2 | Larry Sweeney | II | July 31, 2004 | 111 | Emmaus, PA | 0 | Defeated Jigsaw in the finals of the Young Lions Cup II tournament. | [9] |
| 3 | Jigsaw | II | November 19, 2004 | 245 | Reading, PA | 4 | Defeated Larry Sweeney at Fear of Music. | [10] |
| — | Vacated | July 22, 2005 | ||||||
| 4 | Shane Storm | III | July 24, 2005 | 334 | Pittston, PA | 2 | Defeated Icarus in the finals of the Young Lions Cup III tournament. | [11] |
| — | Vacated | June 23, 2006 | ||||||
| 5 | Arik Cannon | IV | June 25, 2006 | 125 | Philadelphia, PA | 3 | Defeated Cheech in the finals of the Young Lions Cup IV tournament. | [12] |
| 6 | Max Boyer | IV | October 28, 2006 | 237 | Philadelphia, PA | 5 | Defeated Arik Cannon at Cibernetico Forever. | [13] |
| — | Vacated | June 22, 2007 | ||||||
| 7 | Chuck Taylor | V | June 24, 2007 | 125 | Hellertown, PA | 2 | Defeated Ricochet in the finals of the Young Lions Cup V tournament. | [14] |
| 8 | Helios | V | October 27, 2007 | 230 | Barnesville, PA | 3 | Defeated Chuck Taylor at New Star Navigation. | [15] |
| — | Vacated | June 13, 2008 | ||||||
| 9 | Fire Ant | VI | June 15, 2008 | 28 | Hellertown, PA | 0 | Defeated Vin Gerard in the finals of the Young Lions Cup VI tournament. | [16] |
| 10 | Vin Gerard | VI | July 13, 2008 | 154 | Philadelphia, PA | 4 | Defeated Fire Ant at Tragedy and Triumph. | [17] |
| — | Vacated | VI | December 14, 2008 | — | N/A | N/A | Gerard was stripped of the cup and it was declared vacant following a double disqualification between him and Jimmy Olsen at Duel and Duality. | [7] |
| 11 | Equinox (II) | VI | January 25, 2009 | 201 | Philadelphia, PA | 2 | Defeated Vin Gerard in a ladder match for the vacant cup at Revelation X. | [18] |
| — | Vacated | August 14, 2009 | ||||||
| 12 | Player Dos | VII | August 16, 2009 | 168 | Philadelphia, PA | 3 | Defeated Colin Delaney in the finals of the Young Lions Cup VII tournament. | [19] |
| 13 | Tim Donst | VII | January 31, 2010 | 208 | Philadelphia, PA | 4 | Defeated Player Dos at A Touch of Class. | [20] |
| — | Vacated | August 27, 2010 | ||||||
| 14 | Frightmare | VIII | August 29, 2010 | 363 | Reading, PA | 7 | Defeated Lince Dorado in the finals of the Young Lions Cup VIII tournament. | [21] |
| — | Vacated | August 27, 2011 | ||||||
| 15 | Tadasuke | IX | August 27, 2011 | 301 | Easton, PA | 2 | Defeated Green Ant of The Colony in the finals of the Young Lions Cup IX tournament. | [22] |
| — | Vacated | June 23, 2012 | ||||||
| 16 | Mark Angelosetti | X | August 18, 2012 | 288 | Indianapolis, IN | 6 | Defeated A. C. H. in the finals of the Young Lions Cup X tournament. | [23] |
| — | Vacated | June 2, 2013 | ||||||
| 17 | Heidi Lovelace | XI | December 6, 2014 | 427 | Philadelphia, PA | 2 | Defeated Missile Assault Ant in the finals of the Young Lions Cup XI tournament. | [5] |
| — | Vacated | February 6, 2016 | ||||||
| 18 | The Estonian ThunderFrog/ Super ThunderFrog | XII | February 6, 2016 | 364 | Reading, PA | 4 | Defeated Wani in the finals of the Young Lions Cup XII tournament. Won the championship as The Estonian ThunderFrog but defended it as Super ThunderFrog at F1RST Wrestling Wrestlepalooza VIII against Space Monkey and Wildcat. | [24] |
| — | Vacated | February 4, 2017 | ||||||
| 19 | Space Monkey | XIII | February 4, 2017 | 56 | Philadelphia, PA | 0 | Defeated The Whisper in the finals of the Young Lions Cup XIII tournament. | [25] |
| 20 | Wani | XIII | April 1, 2017 | 64 | Fern Park, FL | 0 | Defeated Space Monkey at Bad Wolf. | [26] |
| 21 | Sylverhawk | XIII | June 4, 2017 | 14 | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | Defeated Wani at Hour of Power - S.18.4. | [27] |
| 22 | Hermit Crab | XIII | June 18, 2017 | 35 | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | Defeated Sylverhawk at The Johnny Kidd Invitational. | [28] |
| 23 | Razerhawk | XIII | July 23, 2017 | 84 | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | Defeated Hermit Crab at Hour of Power - S.18.5. | [29] |
| 24 | Ophidian (II) / The Whisper | XIII | October 15, 2017 | 153 | Philadelphia, PA | 2 | Defeated Razerhawk at Hour of Power - S.18.7. Won the championship as Ophidian but defended it as The Whisper against Tony Deppen at CHIKARA National Pro Wrestling Day 2018. | [30] |
| — | Vacated | March 17, 2018 | ||||||
| 25 | Cam Zagami | XIV | March 31, 2018 | 105 | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | Defeated Omari in the finals of the Young Lions Cup XIV tournament. | [31] |
| 26 | Danjerhawk | XIV | July 14, 2018 | 245 | Philadelphia, PA | 3 | Defeated Cam Zagami at Clan Feuds. | [32] [33] |
| — | Vacated | XIV | March 16, 2019 | — | N/A | N/A | The cup was declared vacant on March 16, 2019. | |
| 27 | Still Life with Apricots and Pears | XV | March 16, 2019 | 308 | Philadelphia, PA | 10 | Defeated Boomer Hatfield in the finals of the Young Lions Cup XV tournament. | [34] |
| — | Vacated | XIV | January 18, 2020 | — | N/A | N/A | The cup was declared vacant on January 18, 2020. | |
| 28 | Ricky South | XVI | January 18, 2020 | 158 | Philadelphia, PA | 0 | Defeated Green Ant in the finals of the Young Lions Cup XVI tournament. | [35] |
| — | Deactivated | XVI | June 24, 2020 | — | N/A | N/A | Deactivated when Chikara closed down. |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of cup | Combined defenses | Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hallowicked | I | 4 | 602 |
| 2 | Heidi Lovelace | XI | 2 | 429 |
| 3 | The Estonian ThunderFrog | XII | 4 | 364 |
| 4 | Frightmare | VIII | 7 | 363 |
| 5 | Shane Storm | III | 2 | 334 |
| 6 | Still Life with Apricots and Pears | XV | 10 | 308 |
| 7 | Tadasuke | IX | 2 | 301 |
| 8 | Mark Angelosetti | X | 6 | 288 |
| 9 | Danjerhawk | XIV | 3 | 245 |
| Jigsaw | II | 4 | 245 | |
| 11 | Max Boyer | IV | 5 | 237 |
| 12 | Helios | V | 3 | 230 |
| 13 | Tim Donst | VII | 4 | 208 |
| 14 | Equinox II | VI | 2 | 201 |
| 15 | Player Dos | VII | 3 | 168 |
| 16 | Ophidian II/The Whisper | XIII | 2 | 167 |
| 17 | Ricky South | XVI | 0 | 158 |
| 18 | Vin Gerard | VI | 4 | 154 |
| 19 | Arik Cannon | IV | 3 | 125 |
| Chuck Taylor | V | 2 | 125 | |
| 21 | Larry Sweeney | II | 0 | 111 |
| 22 | Cam Zagami | XIV | 3 | 105 |
| 23 | Razerhawk | XIII | 1 | 84 |
| 24 | Wani | XIII | 0 | 64 |
| 25 | Space Monkey | XIII | 0 | 56 |
| 26 | Hermit Crab | XIII | 1 | 35 |
| 27 | Fire Ant | VI | 0 | 28 |
| 28 | Sylverhawk | XIII | 1 | 14 |
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