AJPW Junior League | |
---|---|
Promotions | All Japan Pro Wrestling |
Other names | Junior Hyper League Jr. Battle of Glory |
First event | 1983 |
Signature matches | Tournament matches |
The Junior League is an annual professional wrestling round-robin tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling, to decide the promotion's top junior heavyweight wrestler, as well as the #1 contender to the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. It was established in 1983 as a single-block round-robin tournament then in 2006, it began as a two-block round-robin tournament, in which each block's highest scorers face off in the finals. A victory is worth two points, a draw is worth one, and a loss zero; each match has a thirty-minute time limit. In 2012, the tournament was renamed the "Junior Hyper League". After no tournament took place in 2013, the 2014 tournament was dubbed "Jr. Battle of Glory", being announced to take place in February, instead of its usual place in the summer.
After a break due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the event was stalled and postponed. The tournament returned in 2021 but as a two-day event presenting a 16-man single elimination tournament.
The first winner of the tournament was Chavo Guerrero in 1983 and the latest one is Francesco Akira who won it in June 2021. Kai, Kotaro Suzuki, Shuji Kondo, and Koji Iwamoto are the only wrestlers to hold the title of champions on more than one occasion each.