Super J-Cup (1994)

Super J-Cup: 1st Stage
WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt was used as a trophy for the tournament.
Promotion	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Date	April 16, 1994
City	Tokyo, Japan
Venue	Sumo Hall
Attendance	11,500
Super J-Cup chronology
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Super J-Cup: 1st Stage was the first Super J-Cup professional wrestling tournament hosted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 16, 1994, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan.^[1][2][3] The tournament featured fourteen junior heavyweight wrestlers and was created by Jushin Thunder Liger and was the first NJPW event to feature only junior heavyweight wrestlers. The event received critical acclaim and commercial success, leading to Japanese promotions hosting more editions of the tournament, leading to the event being renamed the Super J-Cup: 1st Stage in later years.

Wild Pegasus won the inaugural Super J-Cup by defeating The Great Sasuke in the final round and was awarded the WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship belt as a trophy for winning the tournament. The tournament was a financial success as it drew a crowd of 11,000 fans and paved the way for NJPW to hold more junior heavyweight-exclusive events in the future. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter called it "the most incredible single night of wrestling ever" and named this the best major wrestling event in 1994, due to its meaning to the industry, the rise of young stars, and its match quality. Meltzer rated the final match a five-star match. He also gave the semi-final match of Jushin Liger vs. The Great Sasuke a four-and-three-quarter star rating.^[4][5]