2000
NJPW brought back the Young Lion Cup in 2000 with a round-robin tournament that took place between April 14 and May 5, 2000 during NJPW's "Strong Energy II 2000" tour. The tournament featured five rooies from NJPW, Shinya Makabe, Kenzo Suzuki, Wataru Inoue, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi as well as Masakazu Fukuda from the G-EGGS promotion. The tournament was marred by a tragedy on the first night when Masakazu Fukuda was hurt by a flying elbow smash from Shibata. Following the blow he collapsed on the mat and was taken to the hospital. He died five days later from an internal brain hemorage. The rest of the tournament was dedicated to Masakuza's memory. Both Shinya Makabe and Kenzo Suzuki remained undefeated after the first four rounds, qualifying them for the final before they had even wrestled the final match of the league. On April 30, 2000 Makabe defeated Suzuki, making him the only undefeated wrestler in the tournament. On May 5, 2000 during NJPW's Fukuoka Dome show Kenzo Suzuki defeated Makabe to win the 2000 Young Lion Cup.
| Shinya Makabe | 10 |
|---|---|
| Kenzo Suzuki | 8 |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 6 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4 |
| Wataru Inoue | 2 |
| Masakazu Fukuda (Died) | 0 |
| Young Lion Cup | Fukuda | Inoue | Makabe | Shibata | Suzuki | Tanahashi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fukuda | X | Inoue (Forfeit) | Makabe (Forfeit) | Shibata (Forfeit) | Suzuki (Forfeit) | Tanahashi (Forfeit) |
| Inoue | Inoue (Forfeit) | X | Makabe | Shibata | Suzuki | Inoue |
| Makabe | Makabe (Forfeit) | Makabe | X | Makabe | Makabe | Makabe |
| Shibata | Shibata (Forfeit) | Shibata | Makabe | X | Suzuki | Shibata |
| Suzuki | Suzuki (Forfeit) | Suzuki | Makabe | Suzuki | X | Suzuki |
| Tanahashi | Tanahashi (Forfeit) | Inoue | Makabe | Shibata | Suzuki | X |
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