Favorites to Win: New Japan Cup 2020

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NJPW recently announced their return. This year edition of the New Japan Cup will take place from June 16 to July 11 at Osaka Jo-Hall.

NJPW also announced the new brackets for this tournament considering some of the talent announced earlier this year can’t travel to Japan for now. With this prestigious tournament coming back, the speculation on who will win this year’s edition will be interesting topic for the next few months.

As always, the winner of the NJ Cup will receive a title match against current IWGP Heavyweight 6 Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito on July 12 at Osaka Jo-Hall.

SANADA

Last year’s finalist, SANADA, is the only member of Los Ingobernable de Japón that does not hold a championship. SANADA will want to prove his worth now more than ever.

In the last couple of years, SANADA has been advancing progressively in this tournament and this year could be finally his year. For many, he is the favorite to win this year’s edition.

Hiroshi Tanahashi

“The Ace of the Universe” is always a favorite for these type of events. Now more than ever, Tanahashi will want to win the cup and challenge Tetsuya Naito for both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.

Hiromu Takahashi

The current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion is the wild card of this tournament. Fans were disappointed when his match against Tetsuya Naito was cancelled because of COVID-19, but now the hope of seeing two of the most charismatic members of Los Ingobernables de Japón clashing has returned.

Kazuchika Okada

The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion is always a top contender in all NJPW tournaments and this is no exception.

Okada will want payback for losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito earlier this year and the NJ Cup brings him the opportunity to face him again.

Matches

June 1st

Yota Tsuji Makabe vs. Togi Makabe
Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Desperado
Jado vs. Toru Yano
Toki Honma vs. Hiromu Takahashi

June 17th

Kazuchika Okada vs. Gedo
Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata
Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Yuya Uemura
Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd

June 22nd

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
SANADA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Shingo Takagi vs. SHO

June 23rd

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hiroshi Tenzan
BUSHI vs. YOH
EVIL vs. Sataoshi Kojima
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi

June 24th & July 1st

Second Round

July 2nd

Quarterfinals

July 3rd

Semi-finals

July 11th

Finals

About Post Author

Juan Carlos Reneo

Juan Carlos Reneo is one of the original writers at The Scrap, contributing since the site’s inception. Hailing from Spain, he is a passionate professional wrestling enthusiast who primarily writes opinionated articles focused on AEW. With a large and devoted following on X, Juan brings unique insights and a dedicated perspective to his coverage of the wrestling world.

juan.thescrap@gmail.com