IWGP Heavyweight Championship
IWGP Heavyweight Championship | |
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The five-time title holder Kazuchika Okada with the current title design.
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Title holder | Tetsuya Naito |
since | 5th January 2020 |
owner | NJPW |
Introduced | June 12, 1987 |
The IWGP Heavyweight Championship is the highest wrestling title for individual wrestlers in the Japanese wrestling promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling . The abbreviation "IWGP" stands for International Wrestling Grand Prix . Introduced on June 12, 1987, the title is only awarded to male individual wrestlers of the NJPW roster and is also defended outside of Japan. As is common in wrestling, the award is based on a previously determined storyline.
history
The title was introduced under the same name on a television broadcast on June 12, 1987. To award the title for the first time, a Number One Contender tournament was held, the winner of which, Masa Saito, had to face the President of New Japan, Antonio Inoki . This match was won by Inoki, who also became the first title holder. Since then, the title has been the highest individual title in the league. Scott Norton's title defense at WCW Monday Nitro in 1998 gave the title its world status.
The title was not without controversy: On October 8, 2005 Brock Lesnar won the title at the Toukon Souzou New Chapter show in Tokyo and was able to hold it longer. On June 17, 2006, his title was officially revoked because of problems with his work permit. In truth, however, the former WWE Superstar refused to hand over the title to Hiroshi Tanahashi . Lesnar then kept this belt while New Japan created a new version. Since Lesnar had kept the third version of the IWGP Heavyweight Title Belt, this was renamed the IWGP Third Belt to avoid confusion . a. defended in Antonio Inoki's new league, the Inoki Geonome Federation. On February 17, 2008, at the New Japan ISM - Day 8 show, there was a Title Unification Match between the winner of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Shinsuke Nakamura, and the winner of the IWGP Third Belt, Kurt Angle , which Nakamura won and both of them Title could thus unite.
The current title holder is Tetsuya Naito in his second reign. He defeated previous title holder Kazuchika Okada on the second day of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo on January 5, 2020 .
Records
record | Record holder | unit |
---|---|---|
Most title wins | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 times |
Longest reign | Kazuchika Okada | 720 days |
Shortest reign | Kensuki Sasaki | 16 days |
Oldest title holder | Genichiro Tenryu | 49 years and 311 days |
Youngest title holder | Shinsuke Nakamura | 23 years and 298 days |
Heaviest title holder | Big van Vader | 207 kilograms |
Easiest title holder | Nobuhiko Takada | 95 kilograms |
List of title holders
# | Title holder | No. | Days | date | place | event | annotation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Antonio Inoki | 1 | 325 | June 12, 1987 | Tokyo , Japan | Tv show | The title was introduced as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Masa Saito won a Number One Contender tournament and competed against Inoki for the title, which was also able to win. |
- | Title vacant | - | - | May 2, 1988 | - | - | The title was declared vacant due to a foot injury to Antonio Inoki. |
2 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 1 | 19th | May 8, 1988 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | Fujinami defeated Big van Vader for the vacant title. |
- | Title vacant | - | - | May 27, 1988 | - | - | Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu fought until a no contest, after which the title was released and a rematch was scheduled. |
3 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 2 | 285 | June 24, 1988 | Osaka , Japan | Houseshow | Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Riki Choshu for the vacant title. |
- | Title vacant | - | - | April 5, 1989 | - | - | Tatsumi Fujinami gave up the title voluntarily so that it could be given more legitimacy in a tournament. |
4th | Big Van Vader | 1 | 31 | April 24, 1989 | Tokyo , Japan | Super Powers Clash | Big Van Vader won a tournament for the title, defeating Shinya Hashimoto in the final. Special referee was Lou Thesz . |
5 | Salman Hashimikov | 1 | 48 | May 25, 1989 | Osaka , Japan | Tv show | |
6th | Riki Choshu | 1 | 29 | July 12, 1989 | Osaka , Japan | Tv show | |
7th | Big Van Vader | 2 | 374 | August 18, 1989 | Tokyo , Japan | Tv show | |
8th | Riki Choshu | 2 | 129 | 19th August 1990 | Tokyo , Japan | Tv show | |
9 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 3 | 22nd | December 26, 1990 | Hamamatsu , Japan | King of Kings | |
10 | Big Van Vader | 3 | 46 | January 17, 1991 | Yokohama , Japan | New Year Dash 1991 - Day 2 | |
11 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 4th | 306 | March 4th 1991 | Hiroshima , Japan | Houseshow | |
12 | Riki Choshu | 3 | 225 | 4th January 1992 | Tokyo , Japan | WCW / NJPW Starrcade 1992 | |
13 | The Great Muta | 1 | 400 | August 16, 1992 | Fukuoka , Japan | Tv show | |
14th | Shinya Hashimoto | 1 | 196 | 20th September 1993 | Nagoya , Japan | Houseshow | |
15th | Tatsumi Fujinami | 5 | 27 | April 4, 1994 | Hiroshima , Japan | Tv show | |
16 | Shinya Hashimoto | 2 | 367 | May 1, 1994 | Fukuoka , Japan | WCW / NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 1994 | |
17th | Keiji Muto | 2 | 246 | May 3, 1995 | Fukuoka , Japan | Wrestling Dontaku 1995 | |
18th | Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | 116 | 4th January 1996 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestling World 1996 | |
19th | Shinya Hashimoto | 3 | 489 | April 29, 1996 | Tokyo , Japan | Battle Formation 1996 | |
20th | Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | 216 | August 31, 1997 | Yokohama , Japan | Final Power Hall in Yokohama | |
21st | Tatsumi Fujinami | 6th | 126 | April 4, 1998 | Tokyo , Japan | Antonio Inoki Retirement Show | |
22nd | Masahiro Chono | 1 | 42 | August 8, 1998 | Osaka , Japan | Rising the next generations in Osaka Dome | |
- | Title vacant | - | - | September 19, 1998 | - | - | The title was declared vacant due to a neck injury from Masahiro Chono. |
23 | Scott Norton | 1 | 103 | September 23, 1998 | Yokohama , Japan | G1 Climax Special - Day 13 - Big Wednesday | Scott Norton defeated Yuji Nagata for the vacant title. During his reign he also defended the World Championship Wrestling title on American television. This gave the title World status. |
24 | Keiji Muto | 3 | 340 | January 4, 1999 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestling World 1999 | |
25th | Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | 25th | December 10, 1999 | Osaka , Japan | Battle Final 1999 | |
26th | Kensuke Sasaki | 2 | 279 | January 4, 2000 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestling World 2000 | |
- | Title vacant | - | - | October 9, 2000 | - | - | Kensuke Sasaki voluntarily gave up the title after losing a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada. |
27 | Kensuke Sasaki | 3 | 72 | January 4, 2001 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestling World 2001 | Kensuke Sasaki won a Six Men tournament to win the vacant title. He defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the final. |
28 | Scott Norton | 2 | 23 | March 17, 2001 | Nagoya , Japan | Hyper Battle 2001 | |
29 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 1 | 270 | April 9, 2001 | Tokyo , Japan | Strong Style 2001 | |
- | Title vacant | - | - | January 4, 2002 | - | - | The title has been declared vacant due to an injury to Kazuyuki Fujita. |
30th | Tadao Yasuda | 1 | 48 | February 16, 2002 | Tokyo , Japan | Fighting Spirit - Day 10 | Tadao Yasua won a tournament to win the vacant title. He defeated Yuji Nagata in the final. |
31 | Yuji Nagata | 1 | 392 | April 5, 2002 | Tokyo , Japan | Toukon special | |
32 | Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 195 | May 2, 2003 | Tokyo , Japan | Ultimate crush | |
33 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 1 | 26th | November 13, 2003 | Yokohama , Japan | Yokohama Dead out | |
34 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | 58 | December 9, 2003 | Osaka , Japan | Battle Final - Day 12 | |
- | Title vacant | - | - | February 5, 2004 | - | - | The title was declared vacant due to a facial injury by Shinsuke Nakamura. |
35 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | 25th | February 15, 2004 | Tokyo , Japan | Fighting Spirit - Day 14 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan won an eight men tournament for the vacant title. He defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the final. |
36 | Kensuke Sasaki | 4th | 16 | March 12, 2004 | Tokyo , Japan | Hyper Battle - Day 9 | |
37 | Bob Sapp | 1 | 66 | March 28, 2004 | Tokyo , Japan | King of Sports | |
- | Title vacant | - | - | June 2, 2004 | - | - | Bob Sapp voluntarily gave up the title after losing to Kazuyuki Fujita at K-1 . |
38 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 2 | 126 | June 5, 2004 | Osaka , Japan | Best of the Super Juniors XI - Day 11 - The Crush II | Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the vacant title. |
39 | Kensuke Sasaki | 5 | 64 | October 9, 2004 | Tokyo , Japan | Pro wrestlers be strongest | |
40 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 3 | 70 | December 12, 2004 | Nagoya , Japan | Battle Final 2004 - Day 13 | |
41 | Satoshi Kojima | 1 | 84 | February 20, 2005 | Tokyo , Japan | New Year Gold Series 2005 - Day 12 | Satoshi Kojima was the reigning AJPW Triple Crown Champion at the time . |
42 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 4th | 65 | May 14, 2005 | Tokyo , Japan | Nexess VI | In this match only the IWGP Heavyweight Title changed. |
43 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 3 | 82 | July 18, 2005 | Sapporo , Japan | Summer Fight Series 2005 - Day 10 | |
44 | Brock Lesnar | 1 | 280 | October 8, 2005 | Tokyo , Japan | Toukon Souzou New Chapter | This was a three way match in which Masahiro Chono was also involved. |
- | Title vacant | - | - | July 15, 2006 | - | - | The title was officially declared vacant by Lesnar due to formal problems. In truth, New Japan and Lesnar fell out, which is why Lesnar left the doctorate and took the title belt with him. To avoid confusion, a new title belt was created and the old one was renamed IWGP Third Belt. |
45 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | 270 | July 17, 2006 | Sapporo , Japan | Circuit 2006 Turbolence - Day 12 | Hiroshi Tanahashi won a Six Men tournament for the vacant title. He defeated Giant Bernard in the final. |
46 | Yuji Nagata | 2 | 178 | April 13, 2007 | Osaka , Japan | 35th Anniversary Tour - Circuit 2007 New Japan Brave - Day 5 | |
47 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 | 88 | October 8, 2007 | Tokyo , Japan | Explosion 2007 | |
48 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 2 | 113 | January 4, 2008 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestle Kingdom II | During his reign, Shinsuke Nakamura united the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Third Belt with a victory over its title holder Kurt Angle . |
49 | Keiji Muto | 4th | 252 | April 27, 2008 | Osaka , Japan | Circuit 2008 New Japan Brave - Day 11 | |
50 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 3 | 123 | January 4, 2009 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestle Kingdom III | |
51 | Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | 45 | May 6, 2009 | Tokyo , Japan | Dissidence | |
52 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4th | 58 | June 20, 2009 | Osaka , Japan | Dominion 6.20 | |
- | Title vacant | - | - | 17th August 2009 | - | - | The title has been declared vacant due to a facial injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi. |
53 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 3 | 218 | September 27, 2009 | Kobe , Japan | Circuit 2009 New Japan Generation Day 10 | Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Togi Makabe for the vacant title |
54 | Togi Makabe | 1 | 161 | May 3, 2010 | Fukuoka , Japan | Wrestling Dontaku 2010 | |
55 | Satoshi Kojima | 1 | 85 | October 11, 2010 | Fukuoka , Japan | Destruction 2010 | |
56 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 5 | 404 | January 4, 2011 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestle Kingdom V. | |
57 | Kazuchika Okada | 1 | 125 | February 12, 2012 | Osaka , Japan | The new beginning 2012 | |
58 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6th | 295 | June 16, 2012 | Osaka , Japan | Dominion 6.16 | |
59 | Kazuchika Okada | 2 | 391 | April 7, 2013 | Tokyo , Japan | Invasion Attack | |
60 | AJ styles | 1 | 163 | May 3, 2014 | Fukuoka , Japan | Wrestling Dontaku | |
61 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 7th | 121 | October 13, 2014 | Tokyo , Japan | King of Pro-Wrestling 2014 | |
62 | AJ styles | 2 | 143 | February 11, 2015 | Osaka , Japan | The New Beginning 2015 | |
63 | Kazuchika Okada | 3 | 280 | 5th July 2015 | Osaka , Japan | NJPW Dominion 7.5 | |
64 | Tetsuya Naito | 1 | 70 | April 10, 2016 | Tokyo , Japan | NJPW Invasion Attack 2016 | |
65 | Kazuchika Okada | 4th | 720 | 19th June 2016 | Osaka , Japan | Dominion 6:19 in Osaka-jo Hall | |
66 | Kenny Omega | 1 | 209 | June 9, 2018 | Osaka , Japan | Dominion 6.9 at Osaka-jo Hall | This was a two out of three falls match without a time limit that Kenny Omega won 2-1. |
67 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8th | 38 | 4th January 2019 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestle Kingdom 13 | |
68 | Jay White | 1 | 54 | 11th February 2019 | Osaka , Japan | The New Beginning in Osaka | |
69 | Kazuchika Okada | 5 | 274 | April 6, 2019 | New York City , New York , USA | ROH / NJPW G1 Supercard | |
70 | Tetsuya Naito | 2 | 235+ | 5th January 2020 | Tokyo , Japan | Wrestle Kingdom 14 - Day 2 | This match was also about the IWGP Intercontinental Championship . |
statistics
space | Surname | number | Vert. all in all | Days in total |
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1 | Kazuchika Okada | 5 | 29 | 1790 |
2 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8th | 28 | 1396 |
3 | The Great Muta | 4th | 19th | 1238 |
4th | Shinya Hashimoto | 3 | 20th | 1052 |
5 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 6th | 13 | 785 |
6th | Kensuke Sasaki | 5 | 11 | 647 |
7th | Yuji Nagata | 2 | 12 | 570 |
8th | Kazuyuki Fujita | 3 | 3 | 478 |
9 | Big Van Vader | 3 | 4th | 451 |
10 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 3 | 9 | 390 |
11 | Riki Choshu | 3 | 5 | 383 |
12 | Antonio Inoki | 1 | 4th | 325 |
13 | AJ styles | 2 | 3 | 307 |
14th | Brock Lesnar | 1 | 3 | 280 |
15th | Kenny Omega | 1 | 3 | 209 |
16 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 4th | 2 | 197 |
17th | Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 3 | 185 |
18th | Satoshi Kojima | 2 | 2 | 168 |
19th | Togi Makabe | 1 | 3 | 161 |
20th | Tetsuya Naito | 2 | 1 | 305+ |
21st | Scott Norton | 2 | 4th | 126 |
22nd | Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | 1 | 116 |
23 | Bob Sapp | 1 | 1 | 66 |
24 | Jay White | 1 | 0 | 54 |
25th | Tadao Yasuda | 1 | 1 | 48 |
Salman Hashimikov | 1 | 0 | 48 | |
27 | Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | 0 | 45 |
28 | Masahiro Chono | 1 | 0 | 44 |
29 | Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | 0 | 25th |
Web links
- IWGP Heavyweight Championship history on njpw.co.jp