New Japan Pro Wrestling held the 12th Young Lions Cup Finals on Sunday at Destruction at Kobe, and on the end, it was US indie star and LA Dojo Young Lion Karl Fredericks who defeated Shota Umino (Jon Moxley‘s sideman) to capture the trophy. Karl Fredericks becomes the first gaijin to win the Young Lions Cup.
https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1175676583635488769
Karl Fredericks began training at NJPW’s LA Dojo last year under former NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata, making his NJPW debut at NJPW’s Lion’s Break Project shows in Anaheim last November. This past July, he finally made his Japanese debut in tag team action during the G1 Climax Series. After losing his opening bout to Ren Narita in the Young Lions Cup League at the beginning of the tournament, he ran through the competition, defeating Clark Connors, Yuya Uemura, Alex Coughlin, Yota Tsuji, and Michael Richards, en route to his victory over Shota on Sunday.
Karl Fredericks began his pro wrestling journey on the West Coast in 2015, starting out in the California indies with All Pro Wrestling (APW) and Supreme Pro Wrestling (SPW). By 2017, he was becoming one of the West Coast’s top prospects, adding Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, PCW ULTRA, Maverick Pro and others to his fight calendar. Last year, he also made his debut with Bar Wrestling.
The inaugural Young Lions Cup tournament was held in 1985 and its frequency has been sporadic ever since, with only 12 tournaments occurring in its existence. The inaugural tournament was won by Shunji Kosugi in 1985, but a severe injury forced him to retire in 1988. In 1986, it was won by Keicchi Yamada (who would go on to become Jushin Thunder Liger) and in 1987 it was won by Masahiro Chono, who would go on to become an IWGP Heavyweight Champion and NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion. Other winners were 4x IWGP Heavyweight Champion and 12x IWGP Tag Team Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan (1993), 2x IWGP Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima (1994), 1999 G1 Climax Winner and former IWGP Heavyweiht Champion Manabu Nakanishi (1995), and 2x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kendo Kashin (1996). It was revived again in 2000, with Kenzo Suzuki, followed by Ryusuke Taguchi (2004), Hirooki Goto (2005), and the last winner, Katsuya Kitamura in 2017.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Catch all the NJPW action on NJPW World.
