The Young Lion Cup is an infrequent round robin tournament held by NJPW for its trainees which are called “Young Lions” based after New Japan’s logo of a lion. This year’s cup will take place throughout the Destruction tour including the “Road To” shows. There have been 11 young lion cups in the past and we’ll go through a short history of the winners before previewing this year’s set of competitors.
1985: Shunji Kosugi – Possibly the most forgotten out of all the winners. He didn’t have a long career in pro wrestling, retiring early due to back injuries. Winning the inaugural Young Lion Cup was his biggest accomplishment.
1986: Keiichi Yamada – You may know him now as the legendary Jushin “Thunder” Liger. I think that speaks enough for itself on what went on about his career.
1987: Masahiro Chono – One of the most popular wrestlers in Japan during the 90’s and early 2000’s. Chono is also a legend in his own right.
1993: Hiroyoshi Yamamoto – Now better known as Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Gained multiple championships in his ongoing three decade career both as a singles and tag-team wrestler.
1994: Satoshi Kojima – Pretty cool that TenCozy are only one year apart from each other. Their careers are really intertwined a lot. Kojima is also a respected veteran, having win titles in different promotions across Japan and even in the United States.
1995: Manabu Nakanishi – His journey on finally becoming IWGP Heavyweight Champion is one of the most memorable. Still charismatic as ever.
1996: Tokimitsu Ishizawa – Would go on to become Kendo Kashin. Becoming IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion twice.
2000: Kenzo Suzuki – Perhaps best known for his run with the WWE, winning the World Tag-Team titles with Rene Dupree of all people. He has then since returned to Japan and primarily wrestles for AJPW nowadays.
2004: Ryusuke Taguchi – The Coach! One of the best and most accomplished junior heavyweights today.
2005: Hirooki Goto – Regarded as one of the best wrestlers today, Goto has won many titles and tournaments but is yet to win the big one. Will he ever?
2017: Katsuya Kitamura – Former bodybuilder turned pro wrestler, Kitamura had a lot of potential but ever since getting injured, he hasn’t returned to New Japan or wrestling in general and has seems to have quietly retired from the business.
Now let us meet the field of wrestlers that could potentially add their name to the aforementioned list:
Shota Umino – The top prospect out of this batch of young lions. He is the son of referee Red Shoes Unno and recently gained popularity for being Jon Moxley’s trusted tag-team partner during the G1 Tour, earning the nickname “Shooter.” Shota has already been on a big stage before, facing Tanahashi earlier this year in the first round of the New Japan Cup, this time though he is the fan favorite out of everyone else to win it all.
Ren Narita – Quite the underrated one, Narita has competed in this year’s Best of the Super Juniors replacing Flip Gordon due to visa issues. He hasn’t won a single match but the experience he gained there will surely help him throughout this tournament.
Yota Tsuji – In my opinion, Tsuji has the potential to become a top heel in New Japan one day. With his looks and moveset, I think an Akitoshi Saito or Great Kabuki-esque character would fit him one day. But right now, he still has a lot to work on.
Yuya Uemura – I often compare him to a young Tatsumi Fujinami especially with his appearance. Uemura also has tons of potential but similar to his dojo mate Tsuji, is yet to find that “it” that makes him stand out from the rest. Maybe he’ll do so in this tournament.
Karl Fredericks – My personal favorite of the LA Dojo representatives, Fredericks has “superstar” written all over him someday! He’s a big man and a pretty agile one at that. In my opinion, he has the most potential out of all the LA Dojo boys. Really impressed me throughout the G1 tour as well.
Clark Connors – A solid wrestler as well who could go on to become a big deal in the junior heavyweight division one day. He already participated in this year’s Super J Cup and toured for the whole G1 with Fredericks, adding more to his resume.
Alex Coughlin – Another product of the LA Dojo, Coughlin is still a young wrestler having only made his debut a year ago. Joining this tournament will definitely help him grow as a competitor.
Michael Richards – The sole representative of the Fale Dojo. The Kiwi native first made his New Japan match debut at the Southern Showdown Australian tour, teaming up with his fellow Fale Dojo trainees: Mark Tui and Andrew Villalobos. Richards was the standout amongst them and is now going to tour Japan for the first time.
