TheYoung Lion Cup (ヤングライオン杯,Yangu Raionhai) is an infrequentprofessional wrestlingtournament promoted byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a means of showcasing the younger talent on their roster. The tournament is the successor to theKarl Gotch Cup that NJPW promoted in the 1970s. NJPW has held the tournament eleven times since 1985.^[1] After the2005 tournament, NJPW did not hold another Young Lion Cup for 12 years, until reviving the tournament in2017 and again in2019.

The Young Lion Cup is around-robin tournament in the same style as NJPW's annualG1 Climax tournament. Wrestlers traditionally earn two points for a victory, one point for any sort of draw and zero points for a loss. In some years, the two wrestlers with the most points at the end of the round-robin tournament would then face off in a singles match for the Young Lion Cup trophy, while in other years, the wrestler with the most points would be declared the winner.^[2] The winners of the Young Lion Cup would also be rewarded with a learning excursion overseas.^[3]

In 2020, another tournament featuring young lions,Lion's Break Crown, was organized by NJPW, this time as asingle-elimination tournament.

The 1994 Young Lion Cup featured a league with at least four wrestlers, although more may have participated. The four confirmed participants wereSatoshi Kojima,Manabu Nakanishi,Nobukazu Hirai fromWAR, andTatsuhito Takaiwa. The league scores remain unclear but Kojima and Nakanishi qualified for the finals where Kojima defeated Nakanishi by submission.^[4][9]

The 1995 Young Lion Cup featured a league with at least six participants, although more may have participated. The confirmed participants wereManabu Nakanishi,Yuji Nagata,Yuki Ishikawa fromPro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi,Tokimitsu Ishizawa,Tatsuhito Takaiwa, andShinjiro Otani. The final league scores remain unclear but Nakanishi and Nagata both qualified for the final match, this was the second time Nakanishi had made it to the main event. In the finals Nakanishi defeated Nagata to claim the Young Lion Cup trophy.^[4][10]

Tokimitsu Ishizawa defeatedYuji Nagata by pinfall (12:27)^[4][11]

NJPW brought back the Young Lion Cup in 2000 with a round-robin tournament that took place between April 14 and May 5, 2000 during NJPW's "Strong Energy II 2000" tour. The tournament featured five rookies from NJPW,Shinya Makabe,Kenzo Suzuki,Wataru Inoue,Katsuyori Shibata andHiroshi Tanahashi as well asMasakazu Fukuda from the G-EGGS promotion. The tournament was marred by a tragedy on the first night when Masakazu Fukuda was hurt by a flying elbow smash from Shibata. Following the blow he collapsed on the mat and was taken to the hospital. He died five days later from an internalbrain hemorrhage. The rest of the tournament was dedicated to Fukuda's memory. Both Shinya Makabe and Kenzo Suzuki remained undefeated after the first four rounds, qualifying them for the final before they had even wrestled the final match of the league. On April 30, 2000 Makabe defeated Suzuki, making him the only undefeated wrestler in the tournament.^[2] On May 5, 2000, duringWrestling Dontaku 2000, Kenzo Suzuki defeated Makabe to win the 2000 Young Lion Cup.^[5]

Ryusuke Taguchi defeatedKazuya Yuasa by pinfall (11:20).^[12]

The 2005 Young Lion Cup was the tenth tournament held by NJPW and ran from to March 3 to March 23, 2005. The league matches took place during NJPW's "Big Fight Series 2005" tour and the final was on their NJPW "Nexess V" show. The tournament was scheduled to feature seven wrestlers but Tommy Williams was injured and had to withdraw from the competition without wrestling a single match, forfeiting all matches. The tournament also featuredNaofumi Yamamoto,Yujiro,Hiroshi Nagao andAkiya Anzawa, in addition to the top two point scoresHirooki Goto (9 points) and Hiroyuki Ito (11 points). In the league Ito wrestled to a draw against Goto and won the other five matches, making him the only undefeated participant.^[13] On March 23, 2005, Hirooki Goto defeated Hiroyuki Ito to win the 2005 Young Lion Cup.^[6]

After his match at theLion's Gate Project 7 event on July 4, 2017,Yuji Nagata proposed bringing back the Young Lion Cup.^[14] On September 26, NJPW officially announced the revival of the tournament after 12 years. The round-robin tournament started on October 12 atLion's Gate Project 8 and concluded on December 21 atLion's Gate Project 10,^[15] and included six wrestlers who debuted in 2016 and 2017. The tournament was dedicated to the memory ofKotetsu Yamamoto, who served as the head of theNJPW Dojo.^[1]

The 2019 Young Lion Cup was announced on August 27 and was held on the Destruction tour throughout September. It featured 8 participants: 4 from theNew Japan Dojo, 3 from theLos Angeles Dojo, and 1 from theFale Dojo. 2 competitors also competed in the 2017 tournament.Karl Fredericks won with 12 points.

• New Japan Pro-Wrestling tournaments

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