2017 Differ Cup Logo.
The Differ Cup is a cross-promotional professional wrestling tournament in Japan, was contested among several teams of junior heavyweight tag teams which in 2017 it started to have also heavyweight wrestler on the teams, each typically representing a particular promotion. It was originally held biennially, first in 2003, then in 2005 and finally in 2007. After a ten-year hiatus, the tournament was revived in 2017. Since the founding of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance in 2006, the Differ Cup had been considered a production of the GPWA, with several GPWA member promotions participating.
The tournament, featuring eight teams, would be held over two nights at the Tokyo Differ Ariake, which the tournament derived its name from. The quarterfinals and semifinals were held on the first night, with the finals and third place matches, as well as several non-tournament bouts, contested on the second.
List of winners[]
| Year | Winners | Promotion |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Último Dragón and YOSSINO | Toryumon Japan |
| 2009 | KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji | Pro Wrestling Noah |
| 2010 | Madoka and Kengo Mashimo | Kaientai Dojo |
| 2017 | Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno | DDT Pro-Wrestling |
2003[]
The 2003 Differ Cup was held on February 8 and February 9. It involved the following teams:
| Participants | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Kudo and MIKAMI | Dramatic Dream Team |
| Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Chocoball Mukai | World Entertainment Wrestling |
| Yoshihito Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max |
| Masao Orihara and Ikuto Hidaka | Michinoku Pro Wrestling |
| KENTA and Kotaro Suzuki | Pro Wrestling Noah |
| The Great Takeru and Kappa Kozou | IWA Japan |
| Último Dragón and YOSSINO | Toryumon Japan |
| Jun Kasai and Gran Naniwa | Freelancers |
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Kudo and MIKAMI | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Tetsuhiro Kuroda and Chocoball Mukai | 18:11 | |||||||||||||
| Kudo and MIKAMI | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Yoshihito Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | 15:21 | |||||||||||||
| Ikuto Hidaka and Masao Orihara | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Yoshihito Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | 16:31 | |||||||||||||
| Yoshihito Sasaki and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Último Dragon and YOSSINO | 20:27 | |||||||||||||
| KENTA and Kotaro Suzuki | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Kappa Kozou and The Great Takeru | 20:44 | |||||||||||||
| KENTA and Kotaro Suzuki | Pin | Third place | ||||||||||||
| Último Dragon and YOSSINO | 11:49 | |||||||||||||
| Jun Kasai and Gran Naniwa | Pin | Kudo and MIKAMI | Pin | |||||||||||
| Último Dragón and YOSSINO | 15:47 | KENTA and Kotaro Suzuki | 24:52 | |||||||||||
2005[]
The 2005 Differ Cup was held on May 7 and May 8. The winners, Kenta and Naomichi Marufuji, were also the GHC Junior Heavyweight Champions; their opponents in the finals, Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka, were the Zero1-Max International Lightweight Tag Team Champions. The following teams were involved:
| Participants | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Tiger Emperor and Super Shisa | Freelancers |
| Takehiro Murahama and Katsuhiko Nakajima | Freelancers |
| Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka | Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max |
| Taka Michinoku and PSYCHO | Kaientai Dojo |
| KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji | Pro Wrestling Noah |
| Kota Ibushi and Kudo | DDT Pro-Wrestling |
| Kaz Hayashi and Leonardo Spanky | Freelancers |
| GENTARO and Takashi Sasaki | Apache Pro-Wrestling Army |
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Tiger Emperor and Super Shisa | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Takehiro Murahama and Katsuhiko Nakajima | 16:54 | |||||||||||||
| Tiger Emperor and Super Shisa | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka | 11:29 | |||||||||||||
| Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Taka Michinoku and PSYCHO | 11:52 | |||||||||||||
| Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka | Pin | |||||||||||||
| KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji | 35:24 | |||||||||||||
| KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Kota Ibushi and Kudo | 15:44 | |||||||||||||
| KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji | Pin | Third place | ||||||||||||
| Kaz Hayashi and Leonardo Spanky | 19:12 | |||||||||||||
| Kaz Hayashi and Leonardo Spanky | Pin | Tiger Emperor and Super Shisa | Pin | |||||||||||
| GENTARO and Takashi Sasaki | 15:26 | Kaz Hayashi and Leonardo Spanky | 18:44 | |||||||||||
2007[]
The third incarnation of the Differ Cup was held on May 5 and May 6. The event featured the following teams:
| Participants | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Ippei Ota | Pro Wrestling Noah |
| Madoka and Kengo Mashimo | Kaientai Dojo |
| HARASHIMA and Kota Ibushi | DDT Pro-Wrestling |
| Manabu Hara and Katsumi Usuda | Big Mouth Loud |
| KAGETORA and Banana Senga | El Dorado Wrestling |
| Keizo Matsuda and Kappa Kozou | IWA Japan |
| Ikuto Hidaka and Osamu Namiguchi | Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max |
| Black Emperor and Pentagon Viper | Global Professional Wrestling Alliance |
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Ippei Ota | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Ikuto Hidaka and Osamu Namiguchi | 18:48 | |||||||||||||
| Ikuto Hidaka and Osamu Namiguchi | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Madoka and Kengo Mashimo | 17:59 | |||||||||||||
| Madoka and Kengo Mashimo | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Black Emperor and Pentagon Viper | 16:21 | |||||||||||||
| Madoka and Kengo Mashimo | Pin | |||||||||||||
| HARASHIMA and Kota Ibushi | 26:16 | |||||||||||||
| HARASHIMA and Kota Ibushi | 16:46 | |||||||||||||
| Hara and Usuda | Stop | |||||||||||||
| HARASHIMA and Kota Ibushi | Pin | Third place | ||||||||||||
| KAGETORA and Tatsuhito Senga | 12:13 | |||||||||||||
| KAGETORA and Tatsuhito Senga | Pin | Ikuto Hidaka and Osamu Namiguchi | Pin | |||||||||||
| Keizo Matsuda and Kappa Kozou | 9:00 | KAGETORA and Tatsuhito Senga | 13:28 | |||||||||||
2017[]
After a ten-year hiatus, Differ Cup's revival was announced on September 28, 2017. The tournament took place on November 28 and featured teams from DDT Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS, Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1.[1] The teams of DDT Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1 were announced on October 13. Later, it was announced part of the FREEDOMS team including the full match card.
| Participants | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Katsuhiko Nakajima and Hitoshi Kumano | Pro Wrestling Noah |
| Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno | DDT Pro-Wrestling |
| Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Sean Guinness | Pro Wrestling Zero1 |
| Jun Kasai and Tomoya Hirata | Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS |
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Katsuhiko Nakajima and Hitoshi Kumano | Pin | ||||||||
| Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Sean Guinness | 12:35 | ||||||||
| Katsuhiko Nakajima and Hitoshi Kumano | Pin | ||||||||
| Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno | 16:48 | ||||||||
| Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno | Pin | ||||||||
| Jun Kasai and Tomoya Hirata | 9:37 | ||||||||
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ ja:ディファカップ１０年ぶり復活 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2017-09-29). Retrieved on 2017-09-29.