The Independent Junior Heavyweight Championship is a championship that is being defended in various independent promotions in Japan. The title was originally created by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling as the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship. It stayed with FMW from its creation in 1993 to mid-1999, when FMW dropped the title. Even with the belt being dropped by FMW, the original title belt is still used, which bears the "FMW" name on it.
In May 2010, a new championship belt was made, as Tarzan Goto's Super FMW promotion briefly revived the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship to determine its final champion. Later the title has been exclusively defended on Kaientai Dojo until 2015. After 2015 the title has been defended on Pro Wrestling Basara and on 2017 in Dramatic Dream Team.
Title history[]
| # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Length | Location | Successful defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Great Sasuke | 1 |
October 28, 1993 |
364
Days |
Tokyo | 5 | Defeated Battle Ranger Z to become the first champion. |
| — | Vacated | — | October 27,1994 | — | — | — | Vacated so Sasuke could focus on a match with Atsushi Onita. |
| 2 | Ricky Fuji | 1 | December 20, 1994 | 48 Days | Nagoya | 1 | Defeated The Great Sasuke to win the vacant title. |
| 3 | Hideki Hosaka | 1 | February 6, 1995 | 52 Days | Okazaki | 0 | |
| 4 | Koji Nakagawa | 1 | March 30, 1995 | ?
Days |
Yokohama | 0 | |
| — | Vacated | — | 1995 | — | — | — | Relinquished the belt due to not being able to defend it. |
| 5 | Koji Nakagawa | 2 | November 20, 1995 | 167 Days | Fukuoka | 1 | Defeated Ricky Fuji to win the vacant championship. |
| 6 | Taka Michinoku | 1 | May 5, 1996 | 420 Days | Kawasaki | 8 | |
| 7 | El Satánico | 1 | June 29, 1997 | 57 Days | Mexico | 0 | |
| 8 | Taka Michinoku | 2 | August 25, 1997 | 115 Days | Puebla, Mexico | 0 | |
| — | Vacated | — | December 18, 1997 | — | — | — | Taka wins WWF World Light Heavyweight Championship on December 7, 1997 and is unable to defend the FMW title. |
| 9 | Minoru Tanaka | 1 | May 5, 1999 | 9
Days |
Yokohama | 0 | Defeated Ricky Fuji to win the vacant championship. |
| 10 | Naoki Sano | 1 | May 14, 1999 | 261 Days | Sapporo | 2 | FMW no longer recognizes the title as of May 31, 1999, but it continues to be defended in the Battlarts promotion. |
| 11 | Minoru Tanaka | 2 | January 30, 2000 | 102 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 12 | Katsumi Usuda | 1 | May 11, 2000 | 38 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 13 | Naoyuki Taira | 1 | June 18, 2000 | 161 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 14 | Katsumi Usuda | 2 | November 26, 2000 | 373 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| — | Vacated | — | Vacated | — | — | — | Vacated due to Battlarts closing. |
| 15 | Ikuto Hidaka | 1 | February 17, 2002 | 87 Days | Yokohama | 0 | Defeated Kazuya Yuasa in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. |
| — | Vacated | — | May 15, 2002 | — | — | — | Title retired after Hidaka focused on the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship. |
| 16 | Kota Ibushi | 1 | August 26, 2007 | 349 Days | Tokyo | 5 | Defeated Madoka to revive the title. |
| 17 | Madoka | 1 | August 9, 2008 | 36 Days | Chiba | 0 | |
| 18 | Makoto Oishi | 1 | September 14, 2008 | 374 Days | Tokyo | 6 | |
| 19 | Gentaro | 1 | September 23, 2009 | 191 Days | Chiba | 6 | |
| 20 | Marines Mask II | 1 | April 2, 2010 | 160 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 21 | Tigers Mask | 1 | September 9, 2010 | 17 Days | Chiba | 0 | |
| 22 | Orochi | 1 | September 26, 2010 | 48 Days | Osaka | 1 | |
| 23 | Tigers Mask | 2 | November 13, 2010 | 217 Days | Osaka | 3 | |
| 24 | Daigoro Kashiwa | 1 | June 18, 2011 | 141
Days |
Osaka | 4 | |
| 25 | Hiroki | 1 | November 6, 2011 | 447 Days | Tokyo | 14 | |
| 26 | Ricky Fuji | 2 | January 26, 2013 | 78 Days | Chiba | 1 | |
| 27 | Hayato Nanjo | 1 | April 14, 2013 | 27 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 28 | Taka Michinoku | 3 | May 11, 2013 | 483 Days | Osaka | 15 | This match was also for Michinoku's UWA World Middleweight Championship. |
| 29 | Teppei/Atsushi Maruyama | 3 | September 6, 2014 | 169 Days | Chiba | 2 | Teppei formerly held the title under the ring name Tigers Mask and began working under the name Atsushi Maruyama during this reign. |
| 30 | Hi69 | 2 | February 22, 2015 | 49 Days | Chiba | 0 | Hi69 formerly held the title under the ring name Hiroki. |
| 31 | Isami Kodaka | 1 | April 12, 2015 | 203 Days | Tokyo | 6 | |
| 32 | Shiori Asahi | 1 | November 1, 2015 | 503 Days | Tokyo | 11 | |
| 33 | Ken Ohka | 1 | March 18, 2017 | 190 Days | Chiba | 2 | |
| 34 | Daisuke Sasaki | 1 | September 24, 2017 | 87 Days | Tokyo | 4 | This was a three-way match including Konosuke Takeshita. This was also for Sasaki's DDT Extreme Division Championship and Takeshita's KO-D Openweight Championship. Due to Sasaki submitting Ohka, Takeshita retained his title. |
| 35 | Ken Ohka | 1 | December 21, 2017 | 129 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 35 | Keisuke Ishii | 1 | April 28, 2018 | 253 Days | Tokyo | 6 | |
| 36 | Shuichiro Katsumura | 1 | January 6, 2019 | 265 Days | Tokyo | 4 | |
| 37 | Keisuke Ishii | 2 | September 28, 2019 | 302 Days | Tokyo | 7 | |
| 38 | Hagane Shinno | 2 | July 26, 2020 | 27 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 39 | ASUKA | 1 | August 22, 2020 | 126 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 40 | Shota | 1 | December 26, 2020 | 20 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 41 | Arata | 1 | January 15, 2021 | 310 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 42 | Naoki Tanizaki | 1 | November 21, 2021 | 880+ | Osaka | 2 |
Gallery[]
The Great Sasuke
Ricky Fuji
Hideki Hosaka
Koji Nakagawa
Taka Michinoku
El Satánico
Minoru Tanaka
Naoki Sano
Katsumi Usuda
Ikuto Hidaka
Kota Ibushi
Madoka/Hagane Shinno
Makoto Oishi
GENTARO
Marines Mask II
Tigers Mask/TEPPEI/Atsushi Maruyama
Orochi
Daigoro Kashiwa
Hayato Nanjo
Hi69
Isami Kodaka
Shiori Asahi
Ken Ohka
Daisuke Sasaki
Shuichiro Katsumura
Keisuke Ishii
ASUKA
Shota
Arata
Naoki Tanizaki