New Japan Pro-Wrestling had held a variety of professional wrestling tournaments competed for by wrestlers that are a part of their roster.
Pin-Pinfall; Sub-Submission; CO-Countout; DCO-Double countout; DQ-Disqualification; DDQ-Double Disqualification Ref-Referee's decision; NC-No Contest
The 1974 Karl Gotch Cup was a round-robin tournament held from October 25 until December 8. [1] The tournament featured 8 participants. The tournament was held during the Toukon Series II tour. The winner of the tournament was Tatsumi Fujinami, who defeated Masashi Ozawa to win the tournament. Fujinami would later become a Japanese legend having success in both the junior heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He would later become a six times IWGP Heavyweight Champion and also won the G1 Climax. Later he was abroad, to Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association and to Jim Crockett Promotions in the U.S.
Masashi Ozawa | 7 |
---|---|
Tatsumi Fujinami | 7 |
Takashi Kimura | 6 |
Yoshiaki Fujiwara | 5 |
Makoto Arakawa | 3.5 |
Masanobu Kurisu | 3.5 |
Little Hamada | 3 |
Donald Takeshi | 1 |
Daigoro Oshiro | 0 |
Final | ||||
1 | Masashi Ozawa | 10:37 | ||
2 | Tatsumi Fujinami | Pin |
A tournament for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship was held on April 24, 1989.
The Kyushu Cup was a four-man tournament, which took place on June 12, 1990. [2]
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||
Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||
Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||
Keiji Mutoh | |||||||||
Keiji Mutoh | |||||||||
Masahiro Chono |
The Japan/US All Star Tournament was an interpromotional single-elimination tournament pitting NJPW wrestlers against World Championship Wrestling wrestlers. The tournament took place during the 1996 G1 Climax. [3]
First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||||||||
Marcus Alexander Bagwell | |||||||||||||||
Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||||||||
Lord Steven Regal | |||||||||||||||
Satoshi Kojima | |||||||||||||||
Lord Steven Regal | |||||||||||||||
Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||||||||
Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
Hugh Morrus | |||||||||||||||
Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
Sting | |||||||||||||||
Masahiro Chono | |||||||||||||||
Sting | |||||||||||||||
Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | |||||||||||||||
Arn Anderson | |||||||||||||||
Hiroyoshi Tenzan | |||||||||||||||
Scott Norton | |||||||||||||||
Riki Choshu | |||||||||||||||
Scott Norton | |||||||||||||||
Scott Norton | |||||||||||||||
Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
Ric Flair | |||||||||||||||
Tatsumi Fujinami | |||||||||||||||
Ric Flair | |||||||||||||||
Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
Lex Luger |
The G2 U-30 Climax Tournament 2003 was a tournament. [4]
The Yuko Six Man Tag Team Tournament was a tournament. [5]
The President Hoshino 10 Million Yen Offer Tag Tournament was a tournament. [6]
The Samurai! TV Openweight Tag Team Tournament was a tournament. [7]
The Yuke's Cup PREMIUM One Night Tag Tournament was a tournament. [8]
The J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2010 was a tournament. [9]
The J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2011 was a tournament. [10]
On April 8, 2011, NJPW announced the participants in the tournament to crown the first IWGP Intercontinental Champion. The list of participants included former World Wrestling Entertainment performer MVP, who had signed a contract with NJPW in January 2011, Kazuchika Okada, who had been on a learning excursion to American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) since February 2010, Hideo Saito, who had been on a similar tour of Puerto Rican World Wrestling Council since September 2010, former IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi of No Limit, NJPW regulars Tama Tonga and Toru Yano and American independent worker Dan Maff, who made his first appearance for NJPW during the tour. [11] On May 6 it was announced that Tonga had suffered an injury, which would force him out of the tournament. He would be replaced by former TNA and Ring of Honor performer Josh Daniels. [12] On May 15, MVP defeated Yano in the final of the tournament to become the inaugural champion. [13]
Round One (May 13) | Semifinals (May 14) | Final (May 15) | ||||||||||||
MVP | Sub | |||||||||||||
Kazuchika Okada | 12:45 [14] | |||||||||||||
MVP | Sub | |||||||||||||
Tetsuya Naito | 10:57 [15] | |||||||||||||
Josh Daniels | Pin | |||||||||||||
Tetsuya Naito | 12:28 [14] | |||||||||||||
MVP | Sub | |||||||||||||
Toru Yano | 09:27 [13] | |||||||||||||
Dan Maff | Pin | |||||||||||||
Toru Yano | 10:38 [14] | |||||||||||||
Toru Yano | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yujiro Takahashi | 07:47 [15] | |||||||||||||
Hideo Saito | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yujiro Takahashi | 08:28 [14] |
On October 5, 2012, over two years after the founding of NEVER, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the creation of the project's first championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship. [16] [17] [18] The title was originally created with the idea of using it to "elevate younger wrestlers". [19] The first champion was to be determined in a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament, which was set to take place November 15 and 19, 2012. [20] [21] The title and the tournament were announced by New Japan president Naoki Sugabayashi and NEVER regular Tetsuya Naito, [17] [18] who was scheduled to enter the tournament, but was forced to pull out after suffering a knee injury. [22] Much like regular NEVER events, the tournament also featured wrestlers not signed to New Japan; freelancer Daisuke Sasaki, Hiro Tonai, Kengo Mashimo, Ryuichi Sekine, Shiori Asahi and Taishi Takizawa from Kaientai Dojo, and Masato Tanaka from Pro Wrestling Zero1. [20] [21] The entire first round of the tournament took place on November 15 and saw Shiori Asahi, Yoshi-Hashi, Taishi Takizawa, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomohiro Ishii, Kengo Mashimo, Karl Anderson and Masato Tanaka advance. [23] [24] The rest of the tournament took place four days later. During the second round, Kengo Mashimo defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Karl Anderson defeated Shiori Asahi, Masato Tanaka defeated Taishi Takizawa, Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yoshi-Hashi. [25] [26] The semifinals saw Anderson defeat Mashimo and Tanaka defeat Ishii. [25] [26] In the final of the tournament, Tanaka, the 39-year-old, who, despite officially being affiliated with Pro Wrestling Zero1, had worked for NJPW regularly since August 2009, defeated Anderson to become the inaugural NEVER Openweight Champion. [25] [26] [27] [28] Though the title was originally designed to be defended at NEVER events, NJPW has not held a single NEVER event since the championship tournament. [19]
First round (November 15) | Second round (November 19) | Semifinals (November 19) | Final (November 19) | ||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Yujiro Takahashi | 11:12 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Shiori Asahi | 03:59 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Hiromu Takahashi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Shiori Asahi | 06:14 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Kengo Mashimo | 06:14 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Ryusuke Taguchi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Hiro Tonai | 08:19 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Ryusuke Taguchi | Sub | ||||||||||||||
Kengo Mashimo | 07:54 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Bushi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Kengo Mashimo | 08:02 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | 15:12 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Kushida | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | 13:02 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Taishi Takizawa | 04:28 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Captain New Japan | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Taishi Takizawa | 07:22 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | 10:47 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Daisuke Sasaki | 08:39 [23] | ||||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Yoshi-Hashi | 06:57 [25] | ||||||||||||||
Yoshi-Hashi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Ryuichi Sekine | 07:14 [23] |
On August 1, 2020, NJPW announced a tournament to crown new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. [29]
1st Round (August 6, 7) | Semifinals (August 8) | Final (August 9) | ||||||||||||
Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Sho) | Sub | |||||||||||||
Bullet Club (Gedo, Jado, & Yujiro Takahashi) | 12:03 | |||||||||||||
Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Sho) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, & Sanada) | 13:07 | |||||||||||||
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, & Sanada) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, & Douki) | 13:37 | |||||||||||||
Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Sho) | 24:18 | |||||||||||||
Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, & Master Wato | Pin | |||||||||||||
Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) | 16:53 | |||||||||||||
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, & Master Wato | 17:11 | |||||||||||||
Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Ryusuke Taguchi | 11:53 | |||||||||||||
Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi) | Sub |
NJPW announced a tournament to Crown the inaugural KOPW Champion.
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | El Desperado defeated Satoshi Kojima by disqualification | No finisher match | 14:13 |
2 | Toru Yano defeated Bushi | Two-count Pinfalls match | 4:44 |
3 | Sanada defeated Sho by submission | Submission match | 19:37 |
4 | Kazuchika Okada defeated Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Jado, & Gedo) by submission | 1 vs 3 handicap match | 15:26 |
On August 31, 2020, NJPW announced a league tournament to crown new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions on the New Japan Road tour. [30]
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 4 |
---|---|
Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi | 4 |
Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato | 2 |
Taiji Ishimori and Gedo | 2 |
Results | Taguchi and Wato | Bushi and Takahashi | Desperado and Kanemaru | Ishimori and Gedo |
---|---|---|---|---|
Taguchi and Wato | – | Takahashi and Bushi (18:02) [31] | Taguchi and Wato (13:26) [32] | Ishimori and Gedo (14:34) [33] |
Bushi and Takahashi | Bushi and Takahashi (18:02) [31] | – | Desperado and Kanemaru (17:15) [33] | Bushi and Takahashi (20:54) [32] |
Desperado and Kanemaru | Taguchi and Wato (13:26) [32] | Desperado and Kanemaru (17:15) [33] | – | Desperado and Kanemaru (16:48) [31] |
Ishimori and Gedo | Ishimori and Gedo (14:34) [33] | Bushi and Takahashi (20:54) [32] | Desperado and Kanemaru (16:48) [31] | – |
Final | ||||
1 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) | Pin | ||
2 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi) | 17:12 [34] |
Lion's Break Crown was a tournament that took place between September 25, 2020 and October 9, 2020 on NJPW Strong.
Round 1 (September 25) | Semifinals (October 2) | Final (October 9) | ||||||||||||
Logan Riegel | Pin | |||||||||||||
The DKC | 6:31 | |||||||||||||
Logan Riegel | 7:51 | |||||||||||||
Clark Connors | Sub | |||||||||||||
Clark Connors | Sub | |||||||||||||
Jordan Clearwater | 6:11 | |||||||||||||
Clark Connors | Sub | |||||||||||||
Danny Limelight | 12:36 | |||||||||||||
Danny Limelight | Pin | |||||||||||||
Barrett Brown | 9:31 | |||||||||||||
Danny Limelight | Pin | |||||||||||||
Blake Christian | 7:54 | |||||||||||||
Adrian Quest | 6:49 | |||||||||||||
Blake Christian | Pin |
Tournament | Last winner(s) | Last held | Type | Created | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
G1 Climax | Zack Sabre Jr. | August 18, 2024 | Heavyweight | 1974 | NJPW's biggest annual tournament, primarily for heavyweights but there is no official weight limit. Mostly in a round-robin format [Note 1] |
World Tag League | Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) | December 10, 2023 | Tag team | 1980 | NJPW's annual tag team round-robin tournament. [Note 2] |
New Japan Cup | Yotu Tsuji | March 20, 2024 | Openweight | 2005 | Single-elimination tournament |
Best of the Super Juniors | El Desperado | June 9, 2024 | Junior heavyweight | 1988 | Annual round-robin tournament featuring top junior heavyweights from all over the world. |
Super J-Cup | El Phantasmo | December 12, 2020 | Junior heavyweight | 1994 | Sporadic single-elimination tournament featuring top junior heavyweights from all over the world. The tournament has been hosted by other promotions than NJPW as well. |
Super Jr. Tag League | Catch 22 (Francesco Akira and TJP) | November 4, 2023 | Junior heavyweight tag team | 2010 | Sporadic tournament featuring junior heavyweight tag teams from all over the world. [Note 3] |
Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
The New Japan Cup (NJC) is an annual single-elimination professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since 2005. It is considered the second most prominent heavyweight tournament in NJPW, after the G1 Climax which follows a round-robin format.
The IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship was a professional wrestling openweight championship in New Japan Pro-Wrestling for younger wrestlers who were under the age of 30. It was proposed as part of a tournament called the G2 U-30 Climax by Hiroshi Tanahashi, who ended up winning the tournament in April 2003. The U-30 Openweight Championship became officially recognized as an IWGP title in November 2004.
The All Asia Heavyweight Championship is a title owned and promoted by the Pro Wrestling Land's End promotion. The title was originally created in 1955 in Japan Wrestling Association (JWA), with the inaugural champion crowned on November 22, 1955. Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won as a result of a match with a predetermined outcome. The current champion is So Daimonji, who is in his first reign.
Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist who is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure with New Japan-Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
The IWGP Intercontinental Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was officially announced on January 5, 2011, and the Inaugural Champion MVP was crowned on May 15, 2011, during NJPW's first tour of the United States. On March 4, 2021, the championship was retired by NJPW after being unified with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to form the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The final champion was Kota Ibushi, who was in his second reign at the time of the title's retirement.
Daisuke Sasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), where is a former two-time DDT Universal Champion. In addition to that, in DDT, he is also a former three-time KO-D Openweight Champion, one-time DDT Extreme Champion, six-time KO-D Tag Team Champion, three-time KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion and a three-time Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. Sasaki has also made several appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), working in the promotion's junior heavyweight division.
The NEVER Openweight Championship 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 featured younger up-and-coming talent and outside wrestlers not signed to the promotion. The project was officially announced on July 12, 2010, and held its first event on August 24, 2010. On October 5, 2012, NJPW announced that NEVER was going to get its own championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship. The current champion is Shingo Takagi, who is in his fifth reign. He defeated Henare at Destruction in Kobe on September 29 in Kobe, Japan.
Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Conglomeration stable. He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, where he worked backstage as the chairman.
Apollo 55 was the professional wrestling tag team of Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi. One of the most accomplished junior heavyweight tag teams in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) history, the team held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship four times and successfully defended it during their second reign record-setting seven times. While members of Apollo 55, Devitt and Taguchi also accomplished several singles achievements with Devitt holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship three times, while both he and Taguchi won the annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament. After four years of teaming together, the team disbanded in April 2013.
NEVER was a series of professional wrestling events held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) between August 2010 and November 2012. On July 12, 2010, NJPW officially announced the NEVER project, which was to highlight younger up-and-coming talent and outside wrestlers not signed to the promotion. It was explained that the name of the project was an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal" and "Radical". For the events, NJPW recruited several freelancers as well as wrestlers signed to promotions such as DDT Pro-Wrestling and Kaientai Dojo. Some outsiders who became NEVER regulars included Daisuke Sasaki, Kaji Tomato, Madoka, Ryuichi Sekine and Shinobu. Kushida, who entered NEVER as a representative of the Smash promotion in February 2011, signed a NJPW contract the following month and returned to the project the following September, now representing NJPW. Three NJPW trainees; Hiromu Takahashi, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu, made their professional wrestling debuts at NEVER events. Takahashi, who debuted at NEVER.1, was the only wrestler who wrestled on all thirteen NEVER events.
Destruction in Okayama (2015) was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on September 23, 2015, in Okayama, Okayama at the Momotaro Arena. The event featured nine matches, four of which were contested for championships. It was the tenth event under the Destruction name.
The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The current champions are Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and Oleg Boltin, who are in their second reign as a team. It is Yano and Tanahashi's record sixth reign as individuals, and the second for Boltin. They defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón on June 16, 2024 in Sapporo, Japan on Night 1 of New Japan Soul.
The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" are the initials of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The final champion was Will Ospreay, who was in his second reign at the time of the title's deactivation. On December 11, 2023, the title was replaced by the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
Destruction is a series of professional wrestling events promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 2017; Destruction in Fukushima on September 10, Destruction in Hiroshima on September 16, and Destruction in Kobe on September 24. Together, they were events fifteen to seventeen under the Destruction name.
The Ganbare Climax is a single elimination professional wrestling tournament held by CyberFight in their Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling (GanPro) brand.
Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2013 as a sister promotion of DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The promotion ran as a brand under the DDT umbrella, until DDT became CyberFight in 2020. It was then considered a sister promotion to DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah, until 2024 when GanPro became independent.
The Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's United States based television program NJPW Strong Live. The current champions are Grizzled Young Veterans who are in their first reign. They defeated TMDK at Fighting Spirit Unleashed on November 8, 2024 in Lowell, Massachusetts.