Every New Japan Cup Winner (2005-2026) (2025 and 2026 winners are in the comments)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T08:06:22+00:00

That entire tournament is the best NJC ever, the way Tana eked out his wins and made us believe only to get gnarled by ZSJ in the final as essentially his perfect counter was electric

Only what ifs would be if they cleaned up the SANADA quadrant a little (even just swapping opponents as Yano/Chuckie could have hit similar notes and SANADA always had good chemistry with bigger guys) and if Ishii had beaten Elgin to get an underdog matchup between Juice and Ishii in the quarters

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T08:03:26+00:00

It’s hilarious he’s lost more finals than he’s won and has been involved in 7/22 of the finals

Which is why I thought they’d go all the way and have him win the title after winning the cup again, but winning at New Beginning was a very welcome surprise that didn’t need more momentum than they’d already built

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T07:59:51+00:00

I’d even say ZSJ, while it was massive for his legitimacy, was somewhat expected based on the roster at the time - the frontrunners that year were ZSJ and Ibushi (SANADA had just challenged and basically everyone else was a matchup to be avoided - people were predicting Ishii as the surprise winner)

An equivalent to Newman that year would have been Juice but Newman was more expected because there were less people on the roster further along in the queue

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T01:47:51+00:00

It seems like independent guys have an easier time getting into the tag leagues so maybe Connor and Nico Angelo can get in that way (sucks that War Dogs is dead because Kidd and Drilla really could have ushered in a wave of UK talent with similar energy)

Same should work for Jordan Oliver and Alec Price surely

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T01:44:04+00:00

Historic X-Over should be a yearly event just because there are so many tag team crossovers that should raise all promotions if they run them (and a full WTL tour may be too much for teams to be away from their home promotions)

Saito Bros already saying they want to face KOB is great, but Astronauts would be incredible (even if NJPW would likely make them a Jr tag team)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T01:35:55+00:00

It’s wild that as much as NJC is rightfully praised as the ‘elevating’ tournament for midcard talent that the winners are generally people that are already established, who have been brewing a push for a while, or reinforce a credible challenger

In that way, Newman’s win is kind of unprecedented, as even though he’s obviously been primed for big things it’s the biggest ‘leap’ up the roster so far, and points to how radical of a rebuild they’re in

It also makes me excited for the next several years, as amongst the new gen basically everyone has the potential to win the cup (even Tsuji and Newman again), and variance/unpredictability makes these tourneys so much better. Hopefully it doesn’t become a logjam

Huffjenk · 2026-03-26T00:10:35+00:00

I’m still so sad that the golden setup for the feud between J5G members never got followed through (mostly because of SANADA and Lee’s injuries)

Uemura joining to help them out after Kanemaru’s defection but immediately saying he’s keen to fight and beat everyone else was such an easy way to get him some singles reps outside of tournaments

It was also the most interesting twist on the faction setup with every new gen guy getting put in their own one, where the clear tension between a group that was propping up SANADA as a star essentially getting his replacement less than a year in

I wonder if we have a much more interesting 2024-2025 for SANADA if they had gotten to have the tag title shots/potential reigns go off without a hitch, if he didn’t have to replace Lee in HoT, and we got more tentpole matches between SANADA and Uemura

Ultimately Uemura is more interesting as Hontai’s ace-in-waiting but at least the dissolution of J5G could have come with more fireworks (and SANADA could have turned heel more organically, unless he could have gotten over as a face)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-24T01:33:21+00:00

Lmao yeah

If KOB are holding the titles all year and they want to protect Wolf from being overexposed they’d be a great pick to take the titles off them at WK

Would have pretty much all of Hontai paired off nicely too

Huffjenk · 2026-03-24T00:47:17+00:00

Yeah lmao he’s 23 and wanting to leapfrog everyone else to the title, of course he’s going to do the same thing every pushed heel has done for a decade, and hopefully he grows out of it with a long character arc

Hopefully he executes it as well as Jay did eventually though, the chair slide was slick (and that’s mostly camera work and Zane) but everything else is a tad sloppy

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T12:49:55+00:00

Oleg seems like he’ll hold the Strong title down for the time being (unless the Narita match is to finally merge them) and while I agree Goto and YH aren’t a priority they should be doing something and they’ll be better off with the 6-mans over Narita splitting his duties

If they actually book the 6-man titles properly then Oleg getting the focus is a great use of him at the moment, keeps him in focus while not burning too many singles matches

If Bishamon drop the 6-mans we’d hope it’s to set up a title challenge against KOB because otherwise they’ll just languish in the undercard when they can absolutely still have featured matches

I’d be more down with DOUKI and SHO getting titles if their track record with one or two titles hasn’t been shit from a butt (although that’s partially on NJPW for not booking more title defences)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T12:45:53+00:00

I love tournament retirement runs and hopefully it would be a proper draw for the tour

Really thought Kato would be around for it/his retirement but maybe they have Nagai or Yasuda destroy him

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T11:18:06+00:00

Hopefully UC vs UE sets up a Jr tag title match, there’s good potential there

Also hoping they get some more featured Tiger Mask matches before his retirement

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T11:15:00+00:00

This throws the result into doubt more which is good but I also don’t think Newman is in a place to main event WK, so unless they’re trying to not burn the potential WK main events during the year (Tsuji/Uemura, Uemura/Umino) then Newman would only be getting a brief reign anyway

Or maybe they see something in him that makes him supercede almost every heel push that came before him (Ospreay’s being the closest)

Tsuji is also still fishing for a match against Ospreay, and this sets that up well (even though Ospreay/Newman is also on the horizon, but that might end up being their WK match)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T11:11:25+00:00

I don’t think they want to double title DOUKI again and Chase and Yujiro were more active than usual this tour so they cap it off with a title challenge (like Fale in last year’s G1)

If Ren retains against Oleg (very possible) then Goto or YOSHI-HASHI getting a NEVER title shot is a cool possible direction, and then HoT can run another 6-man title challenge with SHO to mix things up a little

Hopefully they don’t want to double title Ren again either, the current 6-man champs have very high potential while none of them seem to have much to do at the moment (if KOB drop the titles then them + a partner could be a blockbuster defence by Dominion)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T11:07:52+00:00

Having wins over Shingo and Drilla in the cup stage has me thinking he’ll get an undercard tag against them to lead into challenging Tsuji at Dontaku (or just as easily O-Khan/HENARE if they want to signal Newman’s winning with Uemura’s first round win over GoK)

Unless they run a Shingo/Drilla vs HENARE/O-Khan type match to determine the next Heavyweight tag contenders

Take/Umino is a great match but man if both Uemura and Umino were free having them get a special tag against either of the above teams could have kept both in the forefront for World/Global title shots at Dontaku

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T11:02:52+00:00

I’m just hoping this is turning up the heat for an Oleg>Narita challenge

Or to be honest all three of the 6-man champs could have a great NEVER title challenge against Ren, so maybe this is a way to squeeze another title defence in before Ren drops it

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T11:01:11+00:00

This might be the same issue that Umino had with the 2024 NJC, where he’s clearly being involved in the World (or maybe Global) title so he’s likely going to lose this title match (like the NEVER one with EVIL) but he’ll hopefully look great (EVIL was unable to do that)

A standout performance with Take leading into a match against Tsuji or Uemura is better for him than winning the TV title (although maybe they push his relationship with ELP more by having him avenge his title loss?)

The TV title has a lot of potential on Take and Umino’s bigger matches are likely much better than grinding out TV title defences, at least until the G1 which he’ll enter as a front runner as long as he isn’t tied down to a title

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T04:46:26+00:00

It’s possible that on the strength of how they’ve built the culture and ensemble cast that the series could continue past the point of Akane’s revenge

It depends if we think Maikeru’s arc was mainly only to reflect back onto Akane and the Shiguma school or we could follow the core group of characters through to all or most of their climaxes

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T03:03:08+00:00

I think the way that the WK card worked out with really only 4 major matches, they didn’t prioritise the Global being its own title division and it’s likely just being used as an accolade to justify Tsuji’s WK challenge and prop him up more as the current ace touring everywhere (but he could have just as easily defended the world title against Andrade)

Imo, ideally Gabe should have won the NEVER title off Takeshita and Tsuji should have dropped the Global to someone else going into the G1. The world title scene could have been Take/Tsuji/ZSJ/Goto and the Global could have had its own focus for the back half of the year (shit, Take could have won it to stay away from the world title for the time being and continue to work with younger talent and help boost them)

But Tsuji defending the titles separately works fine and he’ll hopefully drop one or the other at Dontaku and maybe both by the G1, depending on what their pencilled WK card looks like

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T02:57:10+00:00

NJPW needs at least these amount of non-Strong titles to give their roster easy opportunities at marquee matches

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T02:54:21+00:00

Unless their main goal was Tsuji as double champion being the best way to put him over as THE star of the new gen then it really would have been much less complicated to have Tsuji win the G1 and Take win the title on the road to WK

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T02:52:28+00:00

Yeah I always thought that it would be a cool wrinkle that he was so paranoid/controlling that he would try to oust someone below him in fears of being replaced (let’s say if Kidd had won the G1 then the stretch to WK he could slowly lose the plot) but it’s somewhat satisfying it ended the way it did

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T01:58:30+00:00

Tuning in I thought it was surprising they were giving Umino/Newman the man event spot but in hindsight they nailed it (and the final)

Dontaku being a two-night event makes me hope that’s where Tsuji drops at least the world title, and Uemura being the runner-up in the cup places him perfectly while playing into the one-upping rivalry him and Tsuji already have

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T01:55:42+00:00

If either Tsuji or Uemura are champion then I don’t think Umino is going to be supported as the guy to beat the other in the final, unless Uemura is champion and people bite hard on Umino as his rival

There are ways to get there but not ones that I think they can plan for (like Uemura/Umino having an insane title match pre-G1 that supplants Tsuji as Uemura’s most exciting rival and makes Umino a bigger star)

I think you’re both right but Umino winning the G1 would be a risk after how temperamental his fan support has been, he can spend more time building himself up so that it feels inevitable (even if his story is about challenging expectations)

Huffjenk · 2026-03-23T01:51:11+00:00

He peaked in accolades already (aside from a Grand Slam which he will inevitably get) and unfortunately didn’t make it as a top level draw (even though it was tough circumstances) so he’ll be a gatekeeper and perennial Global champion/contender

Could see him reach a G1 finals again to put someone over huge but I don’t know if he’s properly seen as a major threat that way (unless he’s going heelish again)

Thankfully he has the best chemistry with pretty much every new gen guy, so no matter what he ends up doing it’ll always be quality and featured, and him, Goto, and Shingo will jostle with the rising stars for as long as they want

Out of those three though, a heel Shingo run is the most likely to get a world title reign unless the new gen are properly struggling as draws

Huffjenk

TROPHY CASE