5 current WWE employees who competed in the New Japan Cup
New Japan Pro Wrestling is back! NJPW has returned with one of its premier tournaments of the entire year, the New Japan Cup. This is not the typical round-robin style made famous by the G1 Climax and Best of the Super Juniors tournaments for NJPW.
The New Japan Cup is a single elimination tournament where you either win or you are eliminated. The New Japan Cup started in 2005, with its first winner being "The Ace" Hiroshi Tanahashi. Starting with the 2006 installment of the tournament, the winner of the Cup would go on to get a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In the following years, wrestlers were granted the opportunity at the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and NEVER Openweight Championship.
The New Japan Cup has featured many different competitors and a list of future Hall of Famers as winners of the tournament. Last year, the finals of the New Japan Cup- former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Los Ingobernables de Japon's SANADA- received critical acclaim and was awarded a five-star rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In 2018, technical wizard Zack Sabre Jr. became the first UK born wrestler to win the New Japan Cup, defeating Tanahashi in the finals.
With a tournament as historic as the New Japan Cup, it is not surprising that former competitors of the tournament can be found in all the other major wrestling promotions. In 2016, former IMPACT Wrestling star Michael Elgin made his debut in the tournament. In 2017, one half of the current AEW World Tag Team Champions, Kenny Omega, had what many called the match of the tournament in the first round against Tomohiro Ishii.
Omega's AEW co-worker, Lance Archer has appeared in the tournament five times himself. Archer's former Killer Elite Squad tag team partner and MLW's own Davey Boy Smith Jr. has also been a mainstay in the New Japan Cup during his time with the company.
In this article, we will be looking at 5 WWE employees who have competed in the New Japan Cup. This list will not include former WWE Superstars, The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows), who were also mainstays in the tourney during their time in NJPW.
Some of the former competitors listed may be known to you, while others will surprise you, especially our #1 who is the only WWE employee to win the New Japan Cup.
#5 Finn Balor (Prince Devitt)
Finn Balor, formerly known as Prince Devitt during his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling, was one of the biggest stars in the company following his heel turn and formation of the Bullet Club in 2013.
Devitt was considered one of the best junior heavyweights in New Japan, winning the Best of Super Juniors tournament twice in 2010 and 2013. After his heel turn on former Apollo 55 tag team partner, Ryusuke Taguchi, Prince Devitt formed the Bullet Club with Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, and Tama Tonga.
In 2014, following his first appearance in the G1, Prince Devitt would further enter the heavyweight division with a spot in the New Japan Cup. In his first (and only) time in the New Japan Cup, Devitt would face a much larger opponent in Lance Archer in round 1. If you have never seen Lance in the ring, you should see the moonsault he bust out in this match, showing off his underrated agility. In the end though, Devitt, with the help of a steel chair and the Bullet Club, was able to pull off the upset.
The next round would be very different as he would meet a favorite to win the entire New Japan Cup, meeting former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. This was a battle of the leaders of two of the biggest stables in New Japan Pro Wrestling, with Nakamura heading up CHAOS.
Shinsuke came out alone, while Prince Devitt had Bad Luck Fale in his corner. Devitt used the numbers game to his advantage until the strong style strikes of Nakamura were too much for him. The King of Strong Style won with the Bomaye knee strike for the victory in just under 11 minutes.