The eighth iteration of the Super J-Cup was announced on 2nd November 2020 during the Road to Power Struggle event returning on the 12th December 2020 set to take place in the United States. This was in response to the global Covid pandemic and the fact that some of the best Junior Heavyweight’s in the world would be unable to compete in this year’s Best of the Super Jr. 27. This will be the first year that the tournament will be held in back-to-back years since 1994 and 1995.
What is the Super J Cup?
The Super J-Cup is a single-elimination tournament that was conceived by Junior Heavyweight legend Jushin Thunder Liger to showcase junior heavyweights across different promotions across Asia and North America. The first tournament was hosted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1994. WAR hosted the event in 1995 before taking a five-year hiatus returning in 2000 this time being hosted by Michinoku Pro Wrestling. Osaka Pro Wrestling held the next tournament in 2004 before NJPW resurrected the event in 2009, 2016 and 2019.
Wrestling promotions that have been represented in the tournament include NJPW, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Wrestle Association R, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, CMLL, OPW, AAA, and ECW.
Who is Who in this year’s Super J Cup
ACH | Major League Wrestling
ACH was born 7th December 1987, is currently signed to MLW (Major League Wrestling), and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup. ACH has previously worked at ROH (Ring of Honor), AAW (AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined) holding the AAW Heavyweight Championship and AAW Heritage Championship, Chikara, CZW (Combat Zone Wrestling), Dragon Gate USA, Evolve where he won the Evolve Tag Team Championship with Ethan Page, Impact Wrestling, and PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla).
While in Japan he has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah where he won the NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League with Taiji Ishimori in 2016 and New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he has performed as both ACH and Tiger the Dark, based on the TV Series Tiger Mask W. He has also held the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship once in DDT Pro-Wrestling and previously performed in WWE on the NXT brand as Jordan Myles winning their NXT Breakout Tournament in 2019.
Blake Christian | Game Changer Wrestling
Blake Christian was born 22nd July 1997, is currently a freelance wrestler who made his debut in January 2017 and performs in GCW (Game Changer Wrestling) and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup.
He has also worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling at their NJPW STRONG weekly show in the US, AAW, Black Label Pro, Warrior Wrestling, IWA-MS, PWG, and Wrestling Revolver.
Chris Bey | Impact Wrestling | United Wrestling Network
Chris Bey was born on 13th February 1996, is currently signed to Impact Wrestling where he is a one-time Impact X Division Championship and will be representing them along with United Wrestling Network in this year’s Super J-Cup. Bey also works on the independent scene for CWFH (Championship Wrestling from Hollywood) where he has held the UWN Tag Team Championship with Suede Thompson and GCW (Game Changer Wrestling).
Clark Connors | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | LA Dojo
Clark Connors was born 6th October 1993, he made his debut on 30th September 2018 and is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he is a part of the LA DOJO as a Young Lion, and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup. Before training at the LA Dojo with Katsuyori Shibata he trained in Canada under Lance Storm. He has previously competed in the Super J-Cup 2019 and the Young Lion Cup that same year.
El Phantasmo | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | Bullet Club
El Phantasmo also known as ELP was born 24th October 1986, is currently signed to NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling) as part of the Bullet Club faction, he is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with Taiji Ishimori and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup as the reigning defending champion, winning the tournament in 2019. ELP also works for RPW (Revolution Pro Wrestling) where he is a former British Cruiserweight Champion and won the British J-Cup in 2018.
He has previously worked at German Wrestling Federation winning the Light Heavyweight World Cup in 2019 and NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling where he is a three-time ECCW Champion, a one-time ECCW Tag Team Champion with Halo. He’s won the Pacific Cup Tournament in 2009, been awarded the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year and Wrestler of the Year both in 2008
Lio Rush | Major League Wrestling
Lio Rush was born on 11th November 1994, is currently signed to MLW (Major League Wrestling), and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup. Lio Rush has previously worked at WWE on the NXT, 205 Live, and RAW brand previously holding the NXT Cruiserweight Championship and winning the WWE United Kingdom Championship Invitational in 2018. He has also worked for MCW Pro Wrestling, ROH (Ring of Honor) where he has won their Top Prospect Tournament in 2016, HOG (House of Glory) where he is a one-time HOG Crown Jewel Champion, and CZW (Combat Zone Wrestling) where he is a one-time CZW World Heavyweight Champion and a two-time CZW Wired Champion. Lio Rush has held the DDT Pro-Wrestling Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship.
Rey Horus | Ring of Honor
Rey Horus, previously known as the second El Hijo de Rey Misterio, is currently signed to ROH (Ring of Honor) where he is the current World Six-Man Tag Team Champion with Flamita and Bandido, and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup. Rey Horus has previously worked at MLW (Major League Wrestling), Lucha Underground, The Crash Lucha Libre and the World Wrestling Association.
TJP | Impact Wrestling
TJP was born on 3rd September 1984, is currently signed to Impact Wrestling and is a one-time TNA X Division Championship and has won the TNA X Division Championship Tournament, and will be representing them in this year’s Super J-Cup. TJP is also signed to MLW (Major League Wrestling), Evolve, HOG, CMLL, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he won the American Young Lions Cup Tournament in 2004. He has previously worked at WWE as part of their 205 Live brand and has appeared on RAW and ECW, while also wrestling for FCW. While at WWE he would win the Cruiserweight Classic in 2016 and became the inaugural Cruiserweight Champion.
Matches
1. FIRST ROUND: Clark Connors vs Chris Bey
2. FIRST ROUND: ACH vs TJP
3. FIRST ROUND: Rey Horus vs Blake Christian
4. FIRST ROUND: El Phantasmo vs Lio Rush
5. SEMI-FINAL: TBD vs TBD
6. SEMI-FINAL: TBD vs TBD
7. TAG TEAM MATCH: Ren Narita & Karl Fredericks [LA Dojo] vs Hikuleo & KENTA [Bullet Club]
8. FINAL: TBD vs TBD
Find the Super J Cup over at New Japan World from 12th December 2020.
