NEVER was a series of events held by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) between August 2010 and November 2012. On July 12, 2010, NJPW officially announced the NEVER project, which was to highlight younger up-and-coming talent and outside wrestlers not signed to the promotion.[1][2] It was explained that the name of the project was an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal" and "Radical".[1] For the events, NJPW recruited several freelancers as well as wrestlers signed to promotions such as DDT Pro-Wrestling and Kaientai Dojo. Some outsiders who became NEVER regulars included Daisuke Sasaki, Kaji Tomato, Madoka, Ryuichi Sekine and Shinobu. KUSHIDA, who entered NEVER as a representative of the SMASH promotion in February 2011, signed a NJPW contract the following month and returned to the project the following September, now representing NJPW.[3] Three NJPW trainees; Hiromu Takahashi, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu, made their professional wrestling debuts at NEVER events. Takahashi, who debuted at NEVER.1, was the only wrestler who wrestled on all thirteen NEVER events.
On October 5, 2012, NJPW announced that NEVER was going to get its own championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship.[2][4][5] The title was originally scheduled to be defended exclusively at NEVER events, but this plan was quickly changed and since its foundation, the title has been defended on the undercards of NJPW events.[4][6] NJPW has not held a single NEVER event since the tournament, which crowned the first NEVER Openweight Champion on November 19, 2012.[7] A second NEVER title, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, was announced on December 21, 2015, with the first champions crowned on January 4, 2016.[8]
On July 18, 2015, NJPW announced "Lion's Gate", a project with a theme similar to NEVER,[9] which held its first show on February 25, 2016.[10] On October 13, 2020, NJPW announced the return of the NEVER events, with two events being held on October 16 and 23, 2020 in the United States for NJPW's American sub-brand New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA), as part of the NJPW Strong weekly show.[11]
NEVER.1[]
Date: August 24, 2010
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 300
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyosuke Mikami defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles Match | 08:28 |
2 | Taishi Takizawa defeated King Fale | Singles Match | 11:23 |
3 | Ryusuke Taguchi and Taichi defeated Kazuhiro Tamura and Yusuke Kodama | Tag Team Match | 10:50 |
4 | Tomohiro Ishii defeated Osamu Namiguchi | Singles Match | 11:01 |
5 | No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Madoka and Shinobu | Tag Team Match | 18:04 |
NEVER.2[]
Date: September 16, 2010
Venue: Sekaikan theater - Osaka, Japan
Attendance: 200
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyosuke Mikami defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles Match | 06:59 |
2 | Tama Tonga defeated King Fale | Singles Match | 08:12 |
3 | Taichi and Tomoaki Honma defeated Takuya Tomakomai and Yohei Nakajima | Tag Team Match | 12:04 |
4 | Hirooki Goto defeated Daisuke Harada | Singles Match | 08:28 |
5 | No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Tadasuke and Yosuke Takii | Tag Team Match | 14:24 |
NEVER.3[]
Date: October 8, 2010
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 250
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Keisuke Ishii defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match | 06:43 |
2 | Tomoaki Honma defeated King Fale | Singles match | 08:12 |
3 | Tama Tonga defeated Daisuke Sasaki | Singles match | 11:12 |
4 | Tomohiro Ishii defeated Keita Yano | Singles match | 13:29 |
5 | Madoka and Shinobu defeated Kyosuke Mikami and Ryusuke Taguchi | Tag team match | 17:39 |
6 | No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Kaji Tomato and Taishi Takizawa | Tag team match | 16:47 |
NEVER.4[]
Date: November 18, 2010
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 250
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Keisuke Ishii defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match | 07:04 |
2 | Tama Tonga defeated King Fale | Singles match | 07:53 |
3 | Tomoaki Honma defeated Jun Ogawauchi | Singles match | 10:40 |
4 | Tomohiro Ishii defeated Daisuke Sasaki | Singles match | 11:56 |
5 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Antonio Honda | Singles match | 13:07 |
6 | No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Madoka and Shinobu | Tag team match | 16:01 |
NEVER.5[]
Date: February 24, 2011
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 350
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kazuki Hirata | Singles match | 06:48 |
2 | King Fale defeated Kyosuke Mikami | Singles match | 09:12 |
3 | Tomoaki Honma defeated Shigehiro Irie | Singles match | 09:37 |
4 | Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Daisuke Sasaki | Singles match | 13:28 |
5 | Yujiro Takahashi defeated Shinobu | Singles match | 09:02 |
6 | Madoka defeated Taichi | Singles match | 09:44 |
7 | Tetsuya Naito defeated KUSHIDA | Singles match | 17:30 |
NEVER.6: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament[]
Date: April 7, 2011
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 250 (Day 1)
Date: April 8, 2011
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 300 (Day 2)
- April 7
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Keisuke Ishii defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 08:18 |
2 | Ryuichi Sekine defeated Kyosuke Mikami | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | 08:56 |
3 | Shinobu defeated Kaji Tomato | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 08:32 |
4 | Madoka defeated Kazuki Hirata | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 13:28 |
5 | Kazuhiro Tamura defeated Marines Mask | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | 04:21 |
6 | Daisuke Sasaki defeated Shinichiro Tominaga | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | 08:18 |
7 | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeated Ken Ohka | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 08:48 |
8 | Taichi defeated Osamu Namiguchi | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 08:48 |
- April 8
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Daisuke Sasaki defeated Ryuichi Sekine | Singles match; semifinals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | 05:52 |
2 | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeated Kazuhiro Tamura | Singles match; semifinals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | 07:14 |
3 | Taichi defeated Keisuke Ishii | Singles match; semifinals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 04:15 |
4 | Madoka defeated Shinobu | Singles match; semifinals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 09:13 |
5 | Hiromu Takahashi and Kyosuke Mikami defeated Kazuki Hirata and Shinichiro Tominaga | Tag team match | 10:11 |
6 | CHAOS (Gedo, Jado, Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Kaji Tomato, Ken Ohka, Marines Mask and Osamu Namiguchi | Eight-man tag team match | 15:50 |
7 | Daisuke Sasaki defeated Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | Singles match; finals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | 14:26 |
8 | Taichi defeated Madoka | Singles match; finals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | 17:45 |
- Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A
First round | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
Kyosuke Mikami | Pin | ||||||||||||
Ryuichi Sekine | 08:56[12] | ||||||||||||
Ryuichi Sekine | Pin | ||||||||||||
Daisuke Sasaki | 05:52[13] | ||||||||||||
Daisuke Sasaki | Pin | ||||||||||||
Shinichiro Tominaga | 10:08[12] | ||||||||||||
Daisuke Sasaki | Pin | ||||||||||||
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | 14:26[13] | ||||||||||||
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | Pin | ||||||||||||
Ken Ohka | 08:18[12] | ||||||||||||
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | Pin | ||||||||||||
Kazuhiro Tamura | 07:14[13] | ||||||||||||
Kazuhiro Tamura | Pin | ||||||||||||
Marines Mask | 04:21[12] |
- Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B
First round | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
Hiromu Takahashi | Pin | ||||||||||||
Keisuke Ishii | 08:18[12] | ||||||||||||
Keisuke Ishii | Sub | ||||||||||||
Taichi | 04:15[13] | ||||||||||||
Taichi | Pin | ||||||||||||
Osamu Namiguchi | 08:48[12] | ||||||||||||
Taichi | Pin | ||||||||||||
Madoka | 17:45[13] | ||||||||||||
Madoka | Pin | ||||||||||||
Kazuki Hirata | 08:53[12] | ||||||||||||
Madoka | Pin | ||||||||||||
Shinobu | 09:13[13] | ||||||||||||
Shinobu | Pin | ||||||||||||
Kaji Tomato | 08:32[12] |
NEVER.7: Go to the Next Level[]
Date: September 21, 2011
Venue: Sekaikan theater - Osaka, Japan
Attendance: 200
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Takaaki Watanabe | Singles match | 10:26 |
2 | Yujiro Takahashi defeated Kyosuke Mikami | Singles match | 08:37 |
3 | Hideo Saito defeated King Fale | Singles match | 08:19 |
4 | Toru Yano defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match | 08:53 |
5 | Hirooki Goto defeated Tama Tonga | Singles match | 10:32 |
6 | Tetsuya Naito defeated KUSHIDA | Singles match | 12:35 |
NEVER.8: Go to the Next Level[]
Date: February 10, 2012
Venue: Sekaikan theater - Osaka, Japan
Attendance: 220
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | KUSHIDA defeated Shoichi Uchida | Singles match | 08:32 |
2 | Yoshi-Hashi defeated Takaaki Watanabe | Singles match | 08:08 |
3 | Captain New Japan defeated Gedo | Singles match | 07:46 |
4 | Toru Yano defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match | 06:54 |
5 | Karl Anderson defeated Tama Tonga | Singles match | 09:59 |
6 | Yuji Nagata defeated King Fale | Singles match | 08:14 |
7 | Yujiro Takahashi defeated Tomoaki Honma | Singles match | 11:48 |
NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament 1st.[]
Date: April 13, 2012
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 250
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ryuichi Sekine defeated Takaaki Watanabe | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 07:45 |
2 | Black Tiger defeated Yusuke Kodama | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 08:23 |
3 | Hiro Tonai defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 07:48 |
4 | Madoka defeated Kaji Tomato | Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 09:38 |
5 | Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) defeated The World Class Tag Team (Gedo and Jado) | Tag team match | 12:50 |
6 | CHAOS (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano) defeated Captain New Japan and Tetsuya Naito | Tag team match | 09:29 |
NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament Final[]
Date: April 13, 2012
Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 250
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Madoka defeated Hiro Tonai | Singles match; semifinals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 08:49 |
2 | Black Tiger defeated Ryuichi Sekine | Singles match; semifinals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 06:29 |
3 | Yoshi-Hashi defeated Takaaki Watanabe | Singles match | 09:05 |
4 | CHAOS (Gedo, Jado and Tomohiro Ishii) defeated Captain New Japan, Kaji Tomato and Yusuke Kodama | Six-man tag team match | 15:02 |
5 | Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) defeated Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA | Tag team match | 14:08 |
6 | Black Tiger defeated Madoka | Singles match; finals in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | 09:56 |
- Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament
First round | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
Hiromu Takahashi | Sub | ||||||||||||
Hiro Tonai | 07:48[14] | ||||||||||||
Hiro Tonai | Pin | ||||||||||||
Madoka | 08:49[15] | ||||||||||||
Madoka | Pin | ||||||||||||
Kaji Tomato | 09:38[14] | ||||||||||||
Madoka | Pin | ||||||||||||
Black Tiger | 09:56[15] | ||||||||||||
Takaaki Watanabe | Pin | ||||||||||||
Ryuichi Sekine | 07:45[14] | ||||||||||||
Ryuichi Sekine | Pin | ||||||||||||
Black Tiger | 06:29[15] | ||||||||||||
Yusuke Kodama | Pin | ||||||||||||
Black Tiger | 08:23[14] |
NEVER: Shodai NEVER Musabetsu Kyu Oza Kettei Tournament 1st Round[]
Date: November 15, 2012
Venue: Shibuya-Ax - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 250
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Takaaki Watanabe defeated Sho Tanaka | Singles match | 04:53 |
2 | Shiori Asahi defeated Hiromu Takahashi | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 06:14 |
3 | Yoshi-Hashi defeated Ryuichi Sekine | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 07:14 |
4 | Taishi Takizawa defeated Captain New Japan | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 07:22 |
5 | Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Hiro Tonai | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 08:19 |
6 | Tomohiro Ishii defeated Daisuke Sasaki | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 08:39 |
7 | Kengo Mashimo defeated BUSHI | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 08:02 |
8 | Karl Anderson defeated Yujiro Takahashi | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 11:12 |
9 | Masato Tanaka defeated KUSHIDA | Singles match; first round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 13:02 |
NEVER: Shodai NEVER Musabetsu Kyu Oza Kettei Tournament Final[]
Date: November 19, 2012
Venue: Shibuya-Ax - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 300
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Takaaki Watanabe defeated Yohei Komatsu | Singles match | 06:48 |
2 | Kengo Mashimo defeated Ryusuke Taguchi | Singles match; second round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 07:54 |
3 | Karl Anderson defeated Shiori Asahi | Singles match; second round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 03:59 |
4 | Masato Tanaka defeated Taishi Takizawa | Singles match; second round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 04:28 |
5 | Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yoshi-Hashi | Singles match; second round in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 06:57 |
6 | Karl Anderson defeated Kengo Mashimo | Singles match; semifinals in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 06:14 |
7 | Masato Tanaka defeated Tomohiro Ishii | Singles match; semifinals in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 10:47 |
8 | Yujiro Takahashi defeated Captain New Japan | Singles match | 05:55 |
9 | BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Hiro Tonai and Ryuichi Sekine | Six-man tag team match | 11:12 |
10 | Masato Tanaka defeated Karl Anderson | Singles match; finals in the NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | 14:11 |
- NEVER Openweight Championship tournament
First round | Second round | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yujiro Takahashi | 11:12[16] | |||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | |||||||||||||
Shiori Asahi | 03:59[17] | |||||||||||||
Hiromu Takahashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Shiori Asahi | 06:14[16] | |||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | |||||||||||||
Kengo Mashimo | 06:14[17] | |||||||||||||
Ryusuke Taguchi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Hiro Tonai | 08:19[16] | |||||||||||||
Ryusuke Taguchi | Sub | |||||||||||||
Kengo Mashimo | 07:54[17] | |||||||||||||
BUSHI | Pin | |||||||||||||
Kengo Mashimo | 08:02[16] | |||||||||||||
Karl Anderson | Pin | |||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | 15:12[17] | |||||||||||||
KUSHIDA | Pin | |||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | 13:02[16] | |||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | Pin | |||||||||||||
Taishi Takizawa | 04:28[17] | |||||||||||||
Captain New Japan | Pin | |||||||||||||
Taishi Takizawa | 07:22[16] | |||||||||||||
Masato Tanaka | Pin | |||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | 10:47[17] | |||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | |||||||||||||
Daisuke Sasaki | 08:39[16] | |||||||||||||
Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | |||||||||||||
Yoshi-Hashi | 06:57[17] | |||||||||||||
Yoshi-Hashi | Pin | |||||||||||||
Ryuichi Sekine | 07:14[16] |
NEVER[]
Date: October 16, 2020 and October 23, 2020
Venue: Oceanview Pavilion - Port Hueneme, California, Japan
Attendance: 0[Note 1]
Night 1[]
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Misterioso defeated Danny Limelight | Singles match | 06:10 |
2 | Hikuleo defeated TJP | Singles match | 08:24 |
3 | PJ Black defeated Alex Zayne | Singles match | 10:21 |
4 | Jeff Cobb and David Finlay defeated Bullet Club (Chase Owens and KENTA) | Tag team match | 09:44 |
Night 2[]
# | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Fred Rosser versus Clark Connors | Singles match | |
2 | ACH versus Karl Fredericks | Singles match | |
3 | Villian Enterprises (Brody King and Flip Gordon) versus Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) | Tag team match | |
4 | Jay White versus Rocky Romero | Singles match |
Notes[]
- ↑ The event was held without a live audience due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nextジェネレーション育成 新プロジェクト「NEVER」シリーズがスタート!! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2010-07-12). Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Caldwell, James 2012-10-05. News items: Velvet Sky launches clothing line, Details on Nash's next int'l tour, NJPW introducing new title . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ Kushidaの“新日本入団会見”にTajiri&酒井代表も出席! 3.18Smash後楽園には棚橋が来場!! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2011-03-08). Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 あの『NEVER』がリニューアル!! "無差別級王座"も新設!! 11.15&11.19Shibuya AXで再出発!! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2012-10-05). Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ ja:新日若手興行NEVERで王座決定戦開催 (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports (2012-10-05). Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ ja:復帰の内藤 標的はNEVER王座 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2013-05-24). Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ ja:内藤「俺の使命はNEVER復権」 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2013-10-03). Retrieved on 2014-09-10.
- ↑ ja:【WK10】1.4東京ドームは“8大選手権”! 第2試合は初代NEVER無差別級6人タッグ王座戦! 第3試合はROH世界選手権に! NJランボー参戦選手も追加! (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2015-12-21). Archived from the original on 2015-12-21. Retrieved on 2015-12-21.
- ↑ ja:木谷オーナーが「ファーム設立プラン」「21世紀のIWGP構想」、そして「新日本プロレスは株式上場を目指す」と宣言! 【7.18戦略発表会】 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2015-07-18). Retrieved on 2015-07-18.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-02-25. Lion's Gate Project 1 results: Nagata vs. Kitamiya; NJPW and Noah rookies shine . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-02-25.
- ↑ https://www.njpw1972.com/82225
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Cite error: Invalid
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