Changes: GHC National Championship

Revision as of 19:14, 29 March 2020

The GHC National Championship (GHCナショナル王座, GHC Nashonaru Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) promotion. GHC is the acronym of Noah's governing body, the Global Honored Crown. The title was announced on October 3, 2019, with the inaugural champion crowned being crowned on November 2, 2019 at Noah the Best 2019. The title became Noah's fifth active championship.

The title is scheduled to be defended exclusively in Japan. Instead of being another "heavyweight" championship, Noah categorizes the title as a openweight title, with both heavyweight and junior heavyweight wrestlers being eligible to challenge for it.

History

Background

Between 2004 and 2009, Pro Wrestling Noah promoted the GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship. During the title's history, the title was seen as a semi-official title and sometimes it turned to a singles or tag team title. During this years, Noah had attempted to established a tertiary championship to elevate its wrestlers such as Jun Akiyama and Naomichi Marufuji, but their concept ended not working and the title started to be seen as comedy championship, leading the title to be retired on December 23, 2009. In January 2019, LIDET Entertainment took over the ownership of Noah. On October 3, Riki Choshu announced on the behalf of LIDET Entertainment, the creation of the GHC National Championship, with the inaugural champion crowned being crowned on November 2, 2019 at Noah the Best 2019, in a match between Michael Elgin and Takashi Sugiura. The title would also serve as a second heavyweight championship for the promotion. It was also announced that the title would be an openweight title, with both heavyweight and junior heavyweight wrestlers being eligible to challenge for it. The title was scheduled to be defended exclusively in Japan. The title was part of a plan by LIDET Entertainment to relaunch the promotion, as the second top promotion in Japan. Takashi Sugiura went on to defeat Michael Elgin to become the inaugural GHC National Champion.

Establishment

Since its creation, the GHC National Championship drew comparison with NJPW's IWGP Intercontinental Championship and Stardom's Wonder of Stardom Championship. The title was also seen a way to equal with the GHC Heavyweight Championship and for wrestlers to regain momentum after failing to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship or compete with the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Afterwards, inaugural champion Takashi Sugiura defended the title against heavyweight wrestlers such as Kaito Kiyomiya, Masa Kitamiya and Shuhei Taniguchi, until Minoru Tanaka became the first junior heavyweight wrestler to challenge for the title on March 29, 2020, failing to win the title.

Championship belt design

CoS — The championship's center plate displays Japan's flag circle of the sun

The base design is similar to the GHC Heavyweight Championship, with notable differences. Like the GHC Heavyweight Championship, the center plate the centerpiece design has a crown above, but one notable difference is that the center plate on the national championship is written national above the crown and above the title as the Hinomaru (日の丸, the "circle of the sun"), which embodies the country's sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun. The title belt was also made red to distinguish it from the black heavyweight championship to represent the color of Japan.

Title History

#	Wrestler	Reign	Date	Location	Length	Defenses	Notes
1	Takashi Sugiura	1	November 2, 2019	Tokyo	1630+	4	Defeated Michael Elgin to become the inaugural champion.

Gallery

<gallery hidxbutton="true" widths="150" bordercolor="transparent" captionalign="left" bordersize="none"> Ghcnat1.jpg|Riki Choshu announcing the creation of the title

Ghcnat2.jpg|Takashi Sugiura and Michael Elgin posing with Riki Choshu after the inaugural championship match

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ===Establishment===
-Since its creation, the GHC National Championship drew comparison with NJPW's [[IWGP Intercontinental Championship]] and Stardom's [[Wonder of Stardom Championship]]. The title was also seen a way to equal with the [[GHC Heavyweight Championship]] and for wrestlers to regain momentum after failing to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship or compete with the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Afterwards, inaugural champion [[Takashi Sugiura]] defended the title against heavyweight wrestlers such as [[Kaito Kiyomiya]], [[Masa Kitamiya]] and [[Shuhei Taniguchi]], until [[Minoru Tanaka]] became the first junior heavyweight wrestler to challenge for the title on March 29, 2020, failling to win the title.
+Since its creation, the GHC National Championship drew comparison with NJPW's [[IWGP Intercontinental Championship]] and Stardom's [[Wonder of Stardom Championship]]. The title was also seen a way to equal with the [[GHC Heavyweight Championship]] and for wrestlers to regain momentum after failing to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship or compete with the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Afterwards, inaugural champion [[Takashi Sugiura]] defended the title against heavyweight wrestlers such as [[Kaito Kiyomiya]], [[Masa Kitamiya]] and [[Shuhei Taniguchi]], until [[Minoru Tanaka]] became the first junior heavyweight wrestler to challenge for the title on March 29, 2020, failing to win the title.
 == Championship belt design ==