Professional wrestling pay-per-view event series
NEVER was a series of
professional wrestling 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]
NEVER championships
Events
NEVER.1
The first NEVER event was held on August 24, 2010, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[13] The event featured five matches, which involved six outsiders;
Taishi Takizawa from
Kaientai Dojo ,
Kazuhiro Tamura from Style-E,
Yusuke Kodama from
Smash ,
Shinobu from
666 and
freelancers Osamu Namiguchi and
Madoka .
[13] The opening match of the event featured the professional wrestling debut of
Hiromu Takahashi .
[13]
NEVER.2
The second NEVER event was held on September 16, 2010, in
Osaka at the Sekaikan theater.
[14] The event featured five matches, which involved five outsiders;
Takuya Tomakomai from
Dragon Gate ,
Daisuke Harada and
Tadasuke from
Osaka Pro Wrestling and
freelancers
Yohei Nakajima and Yosuke Takii.
[14]
NEVER.3
The third NEVER event was held on October 8, 2010, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[15] The event featured six matches, which involved seven outsiders;
Keisuke Ishii from
DDT Pro-Wrestling ,
Keita Yano from
Battlarts ,
Shinobu from
666 ,
Tomato Kaji and
Taishi Takizawa from
Kaientai Dojo and
freelancers
Daisuke Sasaki and
Madoka .
[15]
NEVER.4
The fourth NEVER event was held on November 18, 2010, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[16]
[17] The event featured six matches, which involved six outsiders;
Keisuke Ishii from
DDT Pro-Wrestling ,
Jun Ogawauchi from Secret Base,
Shinobu from
666 and
freelancers
Antonio Honda ,
Madoka and
Daisuke Sasaki .
[16] The event featured
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 's return match, after being sidelined for fifteen months with a back injury.
[16]
[17]
NEVER.5
The fifth NEVER event was held on February 24, 2011, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[18] The event featured seven matches, which involved six outsiders;
Kazuki Hirata from
DDT Pro-Wrestling ,
Shigehiro Irie from Team Dera,
Shinobu from
666 ,
Kushida from
Smash and
freelancers
Daisuke Sasaki and
Madoka .
[18] In the opening match,
Hiromu Takahashi , six months after his debut match, picked up his first professional wrestling win over Hirata.
[18]
NEVER.6: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament
The sixth NEVER event, subtitled "Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament", was held over two days on April 7 and 8, 2011, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[19]
[20] During the events, NJPW held two
single-elimination tournaments , with both winners earning spots in the
2011 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
[19]
[20] Both events featured eight matches and thirteen outsiders;
Kazuki Hirata ,
Keisuke Ishii ,
Ken Ohka and Shinichiro Tominaga from
DDT Pro-Wrestling /
Union Pro Wrestling ,
Kaji Tomato ,
Marines Mask and
Ryuichi Sekine from
Kaientai Dojo ,
Shinobu from
666 ,
Kazuhiro Tamura from Style-E and
freelancers
Daisuke Sasaki ,
Madoka , Osamu Namiguchi and
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi .
[19]
[20]
April 7
No. Results
[19]
[21] Stipulations Times
[19] 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 08:53 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 10:08 7
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi defeated
Ken Ohka Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A 08:18 8
Taichi defeated Osamu Namiguchi Singles match; first round in the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B 08:48
April 8
Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A
Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B
NEVER.7: Go to the Next Level
The seventh NEVER event, subtitled "Go to the Next Level", was held on September 21, 2011, in
Osaka at the Sekaikan theater.
[23] The event featured six matches and for the first time included no outsiders.
[23]
NEVER.8: Go to the Next Level
The eighth NEVER event, also subtitled "Go to the Next Level", was held on February 10, 2012, in
Osaka at the Sekaikan theater.
[24] The event featured seven matches, which involved one outsider;
freelancer Shoichi Uchida.
[24] The event featured
King Fale 's farewell match, before going on an overseas learning excursion.
[24]
NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament 1st.
NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament 1st. was held on April 13, 2012, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[25] The event saw the start of a
single-elimination tournament , where the winner would earn a spot in the
2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
[25] The event featured six matches, which involved six outsiders; Hiro Tonai,
Kaji Tomato and
Ryuichi Sekine from
Kaientai Dojo ,
Yusuke Kodama from
Wrestling New Classic (WNC) and
freelancers
Black Tiger and
Madoka .
[25]
NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament Final
NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament Final was held on April 15, 2012, in
Tokyo at
Shin-Kiba 1st Ring .
[26] The event featured the semifinals and finals of a
single-elimination tournament , where the winner would earn a spot in the
2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
[26] The event featured six matches, which involved six outsiders; Hiro Tonai,
Kaji Tomato and
Ryuichi Sekine from
Kaientai Dojo ,
Yusuke Kodama from
Wrestling New Classic (WNC) and
freelancers
Black Tiger and
Madoka .
[26] The winner of the tournament, Black Tiger, never entered the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors, as on May 25 NJPW publicly fired the character's performer Kazushige Nosawa, a day after he had been arrested under suspicion of smuggling cannabis.
[27]
Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament
NEVER: Inaugural NEVER Openweight Championship Tournament 1st Round
NEVER: Inaugural NEVER Openweight Championship Tournament 1st Round was held on November 15, 2012, in
Tokyo at
Shibuya-AX .
[28]
[29] The event featured the start of a
tournament to determine the inaugural
NEVER Openweight Champion .
[28] The event featured nine matches, which involved six outsiders; Hiro Tonai,
Kengo Mashimo ,
Ryuichi Sekine ,
Shiori Asahi and
Taishi Takizawa from
Kaientai Dojo and
freelancer
Daisuke Sasaki .
[28] Technically,
Masato Tanaka was an outsider, being signed to
Pro Wrestling Zero1 , but due to having been a regular for NJPW for several years, he was co-billed as a representative of the NJPW
stable
Chaos .
[30] The opening match of the event saw the professional wrestling debut of
Sho Tanaka .
[30]
NEVER: Inaugural NEVER Openweight Championship Tournament Final
NEVER: Inaugural NEVER Openweight Championship Tournament Final was held on November 19, 2012, in
Tokyo at
Shibuya-AX .
[30]
[31] The event featured the second round, semifinals and finals of a
tournament to determine the inaugural
NEVER Openweight Champion .
[30] The event featured ten matches, involving the same wrestlers who had taken part in the "1st Round" event four days earlier.
[30] The opening match of the event saw the professional wrestling debut of
Yohei Komatsu .
[30] In the main event of the show,
Masato Tanaka defeated
Karl Anderson to win the tournament and become the first NEVER Openweight Champion.
[30]
[32]
[33] NJPW has not held a single NEVER event since.
[7]
NEVER Openweight Championship tournament
See also
References
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"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!!" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). July 12, 2010. Archived from
the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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b Caldwell, James (October 5, 2012).
"News items: Velvet Sky launches clothing line, Details on Nash's next int'l tour, NJPW introducing new title" . Pro Wrestling Torch . Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"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!!" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). March 8, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"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!!" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). October 5, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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新日若手興行NEVERで王座決定戦開催 .
Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). October 5, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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復帰の内藤 標的はNEVER王座 .
Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). May 24, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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内藤「俺の使命はNEVER復権」 .
Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 3, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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【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! .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). December 21, 2015.
Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015 .
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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】 .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2015 .
^ Rose, Bryan (February 25, 2016).
"Lion's Gate Project 1 results: Nagata vs. Kitamiya; NJPW and Noah rookies shine" .
Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved February 25, 2016 .
^ Kelly, Andrew (January 20, 2024).
"NJPW New Beginning In Nagoya Results" . Cultaholic . Retrieved January 23, 2023 .
^ NJPW.
"2023.05.03 Wrestling Dontaku 2023 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING" . NJPW . Retrieved 2023-07-16 .
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"NEVER.1" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.2" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.3" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.4" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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天山がどん底から1年3カ月ぶりに復帰!ファンの大声援を受けて男泣きした天山だが、次なる標的に小島聡を指名! . Battle News (in Japanese). November 18, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.5" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.6 ~Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament~" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.6 ~Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament~" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"BOSJ予選トーナメント1回戦で菊地に敗れた大家、本戦出場の夢☆破れる!大物ルーキーの片鱗を見せた冨永だが、佐々木に惜敗!" . Battle News (in Japanese). April 7, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"2日間に渡る予選トーナメントを制してタイチとフリーの佐々木がBOSJ出場権を獲得!大家と対戦した内藤が健闘を称えたが..." Battle News (in Japanese). April 8, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.7 ~Go to the Next Level~" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.8 ~Go to the Next Level~" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.9 ~Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament 1st.~" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER.9 ~Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament Final~" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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新日本がB・タイガーの欠場を正式発表 . Daily Sports Online (in Japanese).
Kobe Shimbun . May 26, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"新生NEVERで新設された無差別級王座を争うトーナメント!田中や田口らが順当に勝ち上がる中、内藤が注目した選手は..." Battle News (in Japanese). November 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"NEVER" .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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"田中将斗が石井との激闘を制したあと、G1準優勝者のアンダーソンを撃破して初代NEVER無差別級王者となる!" . Battle News (in Japanese). November 19, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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将斗 死闘を制して初代王座/新日本 .
Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). November 20, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
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NEVER初代王者・将斗1・4でWヘッダーだ .
Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). November 23, 2012. Archived from
the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2014 .
External links