Strong Style Spirit ~ Your New Japan resource for six years

The Young Lion Cup served as a successor for the Karl Gotch Cup, a tournament designed to show off some of New Japan's youngest wrestlers. Fighting in a round-robin style tournament, many generations of New Japan dojo graduates have taken part in this tournament, an instrumental part of system that allows young lions to showcase their developing skills.

1985 (3/1/85 to 4/18/85)

1. Shunji Kosugi [32.5]
2. Tatsutoshi Goto [32.5]
3. Keiichi Yamada [32.5]
4. Naoki Sano [22.5]
5. Keiji Muto [22.5]
6. Hirokazu Hata [22.5]
7. Shinya Hashimoto [10]
8. Masahiro Chono [7.5]
9. Yuji Funaki [0]

Final: Shunji Kosugi beat Keiichi Yamada (21:00) with an inside cradle.

1986 (2/28/86 to 3/26/86)

1. Tatsutoshi Goto [31]
2. Keiichi Yamada [27]
3. Shinya Hashimoto [23]
4. Hirokazu Hata [19]
5. Masahiro Chono [14]
6. Naoki Sano [9]
7. Yuji Funaki [5]
8. Akira Nogami [4]

Final: Keiichi Yamada beat Tatsutoshi Goto (12:49) by pinfall.

1987 (2/23/87 to 3/20/87)

1. Shinya Hashimoto [37]
2. Masahiro Chono [32]
3. Yuji Funaki [30]
4. Akira Nogami [25]
5. Tatsuo Nakano [20]
6. Yoji Anjo [20]
7. Kenichi Oya [5]
8. Akira Katayama [5]
9. Osamu Matsuda [5]

Final: Masahiro Chono beat Shinya Hashimoto (14:11) with an inside cradle.

1993 (3/9/93 to 3/23/93)

1. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto [6]
2. Osamu Nishimura [5]
3. Manabu Nakanishi [5]
4. Satoshi Kojima [4]
5. Yuji Nagata [3]
6. Shinjiro Otani [3]
7. Tokimitsu Ishizawa [2]
8. Tatsuhito Takaiwa [0]

Final: Hiroyoshi Yamamoto beat Osamu Nishimura (14:11) with a kakaekomi crab hold.

1994 (3/5/94 to 3/24/94)

1. Satoshi Kojima [6]
2. Manabu Nakanishi [5]
3. Yuji Nagata [3]
4. Nobukazu Hirai [3]
5. Shinjiro Otani [2]
6. Tokimitsu Ishizawa [1]
7. Tatsuhito Takaiwa [1]

Final: Satoshi Kojima beat Manabu Nakanishi (16:20) with a leg & neck lock.

1995 (3/7/95 to 3/27/95)

1. Manabu Nakanishi [4]
2. Yuji Nagata [3]
3. Shinjiro Otani [2]
4. Tokimitsu Ishizawa [2]
5. Tatsuhito Takaiwa [2]
6. Yuki Ishikawa [2]

Final: Manabu Nakanishi beat Yuji Nagata

1996 (3/9/96 to 3/26/96)

1. Tokimitsu Ishizawa [3]
2. Yuji Nagata [3]
3. Shinjiro Otani [2]
4. Tatsuhito Takaiwa [2]
5. Yutaka Yoshie [0]

Final: Tokimitsu Ishizawa beat Yuji Nagata (12:27) with a cross armbreaker.

2000 (4/14/00 to 5/5/00) (Full results)

1. Shinya Makabe [10]
2. Kenzo Suzuki [8]
3. Katsuyori Shibata [6]
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [4]
5. Wataru Inoue [2]
6. Masakazu Fukuda [0]

Final: Kenzo Suzuki beat Shinya Makabe (15:08) with a backdrop suplex.

2004 (4/9/04 to 4/27/04) (Full results)

1. Ryusuke Taguchi [9]
2. Kazuya Yuasa [9]
3. Hirooki Goto [9]
4. Chad Wicks [9]
5. Pinoi Boy [7]
6. Naofumi Yamamoto [6]
7. Hiroshi Nagao [5]
8. Akiya Anzawa [2]

Semi Final: Ryusuke Taguchi beat Hirooki Goto (8:34) with a sleeper hold.
Semi Final: Kazuya Yuasa beat Chad Wicks (9:56) with a German suplex hold.
Final: Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kazuya Yuasa (11:20) with a German suplex hold.

2005 (3/4/05 to 3/26/05) (Full results)

1. Hiroyuki Ito [11]
2. Hirooki Goto [9]
3. Akiya Anzawa [8]
4. Hiroshi Nagao [6]
5. Naofumi Yamamoto [4]
6. Yujiro [4]
7. Tommy Williams [0]

Final: Hirooki Goto beat Hiroyuki Ito (9:55) with the Go To Heaven.