NJPW Makes Historic Change To Super J Cup

Jushin "Thunder" Liger and New Japan Pro Wrestling have officially announced the return of the Super J Cup, after a three year absence. The 2019 tournament will be the seventh overall, and will take place later this summer, between August 22 and 25.

Everything sounds fairly typical to this point, but there's one twist: the tournament will take place, for the first time ever, in the United States.

At a press conference Monday,

. Night one takes place in Tacoma, WA, night two in San Francisco, CA, and the finale in Long Beach, CA.

Said Liger, who founded the initial tournament in 1994, "I am honored to be the producer of Super J-Cup 2019. The excitement from Best of the Super Juniors hasn’t faded, and New Japan is planning another big tournament for the junior heavyweights. It’s been three years since the last tournament, a true all-star event filled with dream matches."

Prior winners of the infrequently-held tournament include Chris Benoit in 1994, Liger in 1995 and 2000, Naomichi Marufuji in 2004 and 2009, and Kushida in 2016.