Start date April 16, 1994 | ||
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The Super J-Cup is a professional wrestling tournament featuring junior heavyweight wrestlers from all over the world. The tournament was originally conceived by Japanese wrestler Jushin Thunder Liger as a showcase for promotions from Asia and North America, including Liger's home promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (who hosted the first tournament in 1994), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Wrestle Association R, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, and the Social Progress Wrestling Federation.
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In the following years, wrestlers representing Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) would also participate in the tournament. After 1995, the tournament took a five-year hiatus before returning in 2000 (this time hosted by Michinoku Pro Wrestling).
Since that time, the tournament has only taken place three times (in 2004, 2009, and 2016). The original Super J-Cup, held in 1994, is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestling shows of all time. Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, called the 1994 Super J-Cup "the most incredible single night of wrestling ever".
1994
Super J-Cup was a professional wrestling tournament hosted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling on April 16, 1994, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The tournament was conceived and produced by New Japan Pro Wrestling's Jushin Thunder Liger and was originally intended to be a one-time event. The tournament utilized wrestlers from various promotions to compete in it, in an invitational style. This was critical for promoting young, new wrestlers (Chris Benoit, Great Sasuke, and Eddie Guerrero), as well as getting less-prominent promotions recognized by the public more. The promotions involved were: New Japan, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Wrestle Association R, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, and Social Progress Wrestling Federation.
This was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds. Wild Pegasus and Great Sasuke had byes to the quarterfinals.
1995
Super J-Cup: 2nd Stage was the following year's tournament to determine the top junior heavyweight of the world for that year. It was held on December 13, 1995, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan and was produced by Último Dragón and hosted by Wrestle Association R. Like the first year, it brought in wrestlers from all over the world from promotions New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, Social Progressive Wrestling Federation, Wrestle Association R, and Extreme Championship Wrestling. This did not do as much for many wrestlers as the prior years tournament, but it established Jushin Thunder Liger's dominance in Japan, as he and 1994 winner Wild Pegasus received byes to the quarterfinals.
2000
Super J-Cup: 3rd Stage was a two-night professional wrestling tournament hosted by Michinoku Pro Wrestling on April 1 and April 9, 2000, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The tournament utilized wrestlers primarily from Michinoku Pro, and featured 1994 quarter-finalist Ricky Fuji, 1994 finalist The Great Sasuke and 1995 winner Jushin Thunder Liger. This was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds; the first round occurred on April 1, with the remaining rounds and the 10-man tag team match occurring on April 9.
2004
The Super J-Cup: 4th Stage was held on February 21, 2004, at the 16,000 seat Osaka-jō Hall, hosted by Osaka Pro Wrestling. It was a single-elimination tournament with three rounds.
2009
Jushin Thunder Liger announced on November 1, 2009, that the originator of the Super J-Cup, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, would revive the concept at Christmas! New Japan presents "Super J-Cup: 5th Stage" at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo over two nights on December 22 and 23. The tournament winner would challenge Tiger Mask IV for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2010.
2016
After a seven-year break, NJPW announced on March 3, 2016, that the Super J-Cup would return on August 21. The tournament was later expanded with an additional show on July 20, which featured all eight first round matches. The four second round matches, two semifinal matches and the final all took place on August 21. It was announced that the tournament would feature participants from promotions around the world; four from NJPW (with one spot designated to the Chaos stable), one from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), three from Pro Wrestling Noah, one from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Dragon Gate, Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo), Ring of Honor (ROH), and Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling each, two from the Suzuki-gun stable and one surprise entrant. Originally it was also announced that Pro Wrestling Zero1 would be represented in the tournament, but they were replaced with AJPW. K-Dojo, Noah and Suzuki-gun announced their own qualifying tournaments to determine their representatives in the tournament. The full list of participants was revealed on July 6 with the surprise entrant spot filled by Bushi, representing the NJPW stable Los Ingobernables de Japon.