In April, 2005, an ambitious new tournament was launched by New Japan, subtitled the "G1 of Spring". The New Japan Cup became an alternative to August's G1 Climax, using a singles elimination format rather than the G1's round-robin system. Like the G1 Climax, a young hopeful would christen it with a victory, Tanahashi repeating Chono's feat from 1991 of opening a new concept with a young generation victory.
2005 (4/19/05 to 4/24/05)
Round 1:
1. Koji Kanemoto beat Ryushi Yanagisawa (8:19) with a horizontal cradle.
2. Manabu Nakanishi beat Hirooki Goto (7:34) with the Hercules Cutter.
3. Minoru beat Osamu Nishimura (16:47) by countout.
4. Yutaka Yoshie beat Scott Norton (9:07) with a diving body press.
5. Masahiro Chono beat Tiger Mask (10:29) with a Shining Yakuza kick.
6. Kendo Kashin beat Shinsuke Nakamura (8:55) with a jackknife hold.
7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Jushin Thunder Liger (15:54) with a moonsault press.
8. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Yuji Nagata (24:12) by DQ.
Round 2:
1. Kendo Kashin beat Yutaka Yoshie (15:48) with a high-angle front cradle.
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Osamu Nishimura (20:47) with the Anaconda Cross.
3. Manabu Nakanishi beat Masahiro Chono (14:16) with the Hercules Cutter.
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Koji Kanemoto (17:38) with a Dragon suplex hold.
5th Place Round:
1. Osamu Nishimura beat Koji Kanemoto (17:07) with a ground Cobra Twist.
2. Masahiro Chono beat Yutaka Yoshie (16:31) with a Shining Yakuza kick.
Semi Finals:
1. Manabu Nakanishi beat Kendo Kashin (10:20) with the Hercules Cutter.
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan (19:45) with an inside cradle.
Final:
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Manabu Nakanishi (19:21) with the Sling Blade.
2006 (4/16/06 to 4/30/06)
Round 1:
1. Ryouji Sai beat Naofumi Yamamoto (13:59) with a diving footstomp.
2. Yuji Nagata beat Tomohiro Ishii (9:57) with a backdrop hold.
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Masahiro Chono (25:12) with the Sling Blade.
4. Giant Bernard beat Toru Yano (8:19) with the Bernard bomb.
5. Riki Choshu beat Black Strong Machine (6:46) with a lariat.
6. Togi Makabe beat Tatsutoshi Goto (1:24) with a horizontal cradle.
7. Manabu Nakanishi beat Takashi Iizuka (11:31) with the Mana Bauer.
8. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Scott Norton (12:30) with the TTD.
Round 2:
1. Giant Bernard beat Riki Choshu (9:11) with a Jackhammer.
2. Yuji Nagata beat Togi Makabe (10:50) with a backdrop hold.
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan (14:27) with a Dragon suplex hold.
4. Manabu Nakanishi beat Ryouji Sai (14:56) with the Mana Bauer.
Semi Finals:
1. Giant Bernard beat Manabu Nakanishi (16:43) with a piledriver.
2. Yuji Nagata beat Hiroshi Tanahashi (18:49) with a wrist-clutch Exploder.
Final:
1. Giant Bernard beat Yuji Nagata (19:40) with the Bernard Driver.
2007 (3/3/07 to 3/21/07)
Round 1:
1. Togi Makabe beat Travis Tomko (9:29) with a lariat.
2. Yuji Nagata beat Tomohiro Ishii (12:12) with a backdrop hold.
3. Takashi Iizuka beat Tomoaki Honma (14:06) with a sleeper hold.
4. Manabu Nakanishi beat Shiro Koshinaka (10:03) with the Mana Bauer.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura beat Toru Yano (10:16) with the Landslide.
6. Masahiro Chono beat Riki Choshu (8:44) with a horizontal cradle.
Round 2:
1. Yuji Nagata beat Masahiro Chono (17:25) with a rocket kick.
2. Giant Bernard beat Manabu Nakanishi (13:05) with the Bernard Driver.
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Shinsuke Nakamura by forfeit.
4. Togi Makabe beat Takashi Iizuka (11:32) with a lariat.
Semi Finals:
1. Togi Makabe beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan (12:27) by DQ.
2. Yuji Nagata beat Giant Bernard (18:22) with a cross armbreaker.
Final:
1. Yuji Nagata beat Togi Makabe (20:05) with a backdrop suplex.
2008 (3/9/08 to 3/23/08)
Round 1:
1. Koji Kanemoto beat Karl Anderson (9:05) with an ankle hold.
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Tomohiro Ishii (13:03) with the Anaconda Vice.
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Hirooki Goto (20:32) with a small package hold.
4. Togi Makabe beat Takashi Iizuka (10:27) with the Death Fall.
5. Ryusuke Taguchi beat Jushin Thunder Liger (11:33) with the Dodon.
6. Toru Yano beat Milano Collection AT (11:25) with the Anaconda Vice.
7. Giant Bernard beat Tomoaki Honma (10:43) with the Bernard Driver.
8. Rhino beat Manabu Nakanishi (10:17) with the Gore.
Round 2:
1. Toru Yano beat Rhino (11:21) by pinfall.
2. Giant Bernard beat Koji Kanemoto (9:45) with the Bernard bomb.
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe went to a double countout (2:35).
3a. Togi Makabe beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan (14:49) with a top rope King Kong kneedrop.
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Ryusuke Taguchi (13:42) with the High Fly Flow.
Semi Finals:
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Togi Makabe (12:11) with the High Fly Flow.
2. Giant Bernard beat Toru Yano (10:44) with the Bernard Driver.
Final:
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Giant Bernard (18:24) with a front cradle.
