The Differ Cup is a cross-promotional professional wrestling tournament in Japan, contested among several teams of junior heavyweight tag 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.[1]

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.

Results

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List of winners

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Year Winners
2003 Último Dragón and Yossino (Toryumon Japan)
2005 Kenta and Naomichi Marufuji (Noah)
2007 Madoka and Kengo Mashimo (K-Dojo)
2017 Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno (DDT)

2003

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The 2003 Differ Cup was held on February 8 and February 9. It involved the following teams:

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
Kudo and Mikami Pin
 
 
 
Kuroda and Mukai 18:11
 
Kudo and Mikami Pin
 
 
 
Sasaki and Takaiwa 15:21
 
Hidaka and Orihara Pin
 
 
 
Sasaki and Takaiwa 16:31
 
Sasaki and Takaiwa Sub
 
 
 
Dragon and Yossino 20:27
 
Kenta and Suzuki Pin
 
 
 
Kozou and Takeru 20:44
 
Kenta and Suzuki Sub
 
 
 
Dragon and Yossino 11:49 Third place
 
Kasai and Naniwa Sub
 
 
 
Dragón and Yossino 15:47
 
Kudo and Mikami Pin
 
 
Kenta and Suzuki 24:52
 

2005

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The 2005 Differ Cup was held on May 7 and May 8.[2] 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:

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
Emperor and Shisa Pin
 
 
 
Murahama and Nakajima 16:54
 
Emperor and Shisa Pin
 
 
 
Fujita and Hidaka 11:29
 
Fujita and Hidaka Pin
 
 
 
Taka and Psycho 11:52
 
Fujita and Hidaka Pin
 
 
 
Kenta and Marufuji 35:24
 
Kenta and Marufuji Pin
 
 
 
Ibushi and Kudo 15:44
 
Kenta and Marufuji Pin
 
 
 
Hayashi and Spanky 19:12 Third place
 
Hayashi and Spanky Pin
 
 
 
Gentaro and Sasaki 15:26
 
Emperor and Shisa Pin
 
 
Hayashi and Spanky 18:44
 

2007

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The third incarnation of the Differ Cup was held on May 5 and May 6. The event featured the following teams:

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
Kanemaru and Ota Pin
 
 
 
Hidaka and Namiguchi 18:48
 
Hidaka and Namiguchi Pin
 
 
 
Madoka and Mashimo 17:59
 
Madoka and Mashimo Pin
 
 
 
Emperor and Viper 16:21
 
Madoka and Mashimo Pin
 
 
 
Harashima and Ibushi 26:16
 
Harashima and Ibushi 16:46
 
 
 
Hara and Usuda Stop
 
Harashima and Ibushi Pin
 
 
 
Kagetora and Senga 12:13 Third place
 
Kagetora and Senga Pin
 
 
 
Matsuda and Kozou 9:00
 
Hidaka and Namiguchi Pin
 
 
Kagetora and Senga 13:28
 

2017

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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.[3] The event featured the following teams:

Semifinals Final
      
Kumano and Nakajima Pin
Guinness and Takaiwa 12:35
Kumano and Nakajima Pin
Takeshita and Ueno 16:48
Takeshita and Ueno Pin
Kasai and Hirata 9:37

References

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  1. ^ Pro Wrestling History. "Differ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Tournament 2003". prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Puroresu Central. "NOAH Differ Cup 2005". puroresucentral.com. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  3. ^ ディファカップ10年ぶり復活. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.