The IWGP Heavyweight Championship is a the top singles championship in the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the finals of an IWGP tournament, which was won by Antonio Inoki. The current champion is Kazuchika Okada, who is in his fifth reign.
Since its inception title has been considered to be the most prestigious championship belt in NJPW and one of the most respected in Japanese professional wrestling and its promoted as NJPW's sole primary championship. The championship has been represented by four different belts. The current fourth generation belt was introduced in March 2008.[1] The title forms what has unofficially been called the "New Japan Triple Crown" (新日本トリプルクラウン Shin Nihon Toripuru Kuraun) along with the IWGP Intercontinental and NEVER Openweight Championships.[2] The championship has headlined several pay-per-view events, most importantly in the Tokyo Dome and has been defended in MMA matches, when NJPW was on its period of decline.
Title changes happen at NJPW-promoted events. Big Van Vader, Salman Hashimikov, Scott Norton, Bob Sapp, Brock Lesnar, A.J. Styles, Kenny Omega and Jay White are the eight non-Japanese wrestlers to have held the title, with Hashimikov being the first and only Soviet-born champion[3], while Omega is the first Canadian-born champion and while White is the first New Zealander-born champion.
History
Origin
The early version of this championship was introduced in 1983 for the winner of the IWGP League 1983. Since then, the championship was defended annually against the winner of the IWGP League of the year. Wrestlers such as André the Giant and Hulk Hogan have also won the title has part of the tournament. Antonio Inoki would become the inaugural champion on June 12, 1987, after winning the 1987 IWGP League by defeating Masa Saito in the finals. The following champions, would be forced to relinquish the title due to an inability to participate in title defenses.[4] NJPW would held a new tournament to determine the new champion.
Since its establishement, the title has been defended in the biggest arenas in Japan such as Ryogoku Kokugikan, Osaka-jō Hall, Nippon Budokan and Tokyo Dome and has also been defended for the first time in the United States on December 12, 1988, when Tatsumi Fujinami defended the title against Tommy Lane.
Establishement, Feud with UWFI and Prestige
In March 1991, Tatsumi Fujinami made history, as he defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, making him the very first man to hold the IWGP and NWA World titles simultaneously. After Fujinami lost the title to Riki Choshu on January 4, 1992, NJPW created the Greatest 18 Championship to complement the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and was awarded to Choshu during his reign, but after losing the title to The Great Muta on August 16, Muta retired the title, in order to focus on his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title defenses. During Muta's reign, title was defended in a double title match against Masahiro Chono for the IWGP and NWA World Heavyweight Championships on January 4, 1993 in the Tokyo Dome, which Muta won becoming the wrestler after Fujinami to win them. His next title defense would be at the Nippon Budokan on June 15.
In 1995, NJPW had a feud with shoot style wrestling promotion UWF International, which featured the title being defended during the feud. The title would be defended in the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 1996, drawing 67,000 fans in attendance, which was the largest crowd and gate in Japanese wrestling history at the time. Three months later, Nobuhiko Takada defeated Keiji Mutoh, with 64,000 fans in attendence, in a unification match, where Takada's Pro-Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was on the line to capture the title. With Takada the championship would be defended for the second time outside of NJPW, during a UWFI, with Takada retaining the title against Shiro Koshinaka on March 1. Takada would loose the title to Shinya Hashimoto on April 29 in the Tokyo Dome, which marked the end of the feud between NJPW and UWFI. During Hashimoto's reign, NJPW would create the second design of the title, replacing the previous one created by Antonio Inoki.
On September 23, 1998, Scott Norton became the second gaijin, after Salman Hashimikov and the first American wrestler to win the title by defeating Yuji Nagata.
Period of Decline and return of Third belt to NJPW
In 2006, Brock Lesnar was stripped of the title for being unable to defend it; however, Lesnar claims he was owed money by NJPW and kept the physical belt. He signed with Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) in 2007, and lost the championship to Kurt Angle on the inaugural broadcast. Angle later lost the belt in a unification match to the NJPW-recognized champion Shinsuke Nakamura in 2008.
Reigns and Statitics
Overall, there have been 66 reigns shared among 28 wrestlers. The inaugural champion was Inoki, who defeated Masa Saito on June 12, 1987, in a tournament final. Hiroshi Tanahashi holds the record for most reigns, with eight. At 720 days, Kazuchika Okada's fourth reign is the longest in the title's history. Okada has the most successful defenses in that reign with 12 and with a combined four reigns, also holds the record for most days as champion at 1,516. Kensuke Sasaki's fourth reign holds the record for shortest reign at 16 days. Over his seven reigns, Tanahashi successfully defended the title 28 times, the most of any champion. With zero, Big Van Vader's first and third reigns, Salman Hashimikov's only reign, Riki Choshu's first reign, Tatsumi Fujinami's third and fifth reigns, Masahiro Chono's only reign, Genichiro Tenryu's only reign, Scott Norton's second reign, Hiroyoshi Tenzan's first and third reigns, Kensuke Sasaki's fourth reign, Kazuyuki Fujita's third reign and Manabu Nakanishi's only reign are all tied for least successful defenses.
Kazuchika Okada is the current champion in his fifth reign, after defeating Jay White on April 6, 2019, at NJPW's G1 Supercard event to win the title.
Title history
| # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Length | Location | Successful defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Inoki | 1 |
June 12, 1987 |
325 Days | Tokyo | 4 | Inoki defeated Masa Saito in a tournament final. |
| — | Vacated | — | May 2, 1988 | — | — | — | Due to Inoki fracturing his left foot. |
| 2 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 1 | May 8, 1988 | 19 Days | Tokyo | 1 | Defeated Big Van Vader to win the vacant title. |
| — | Vacated | — | May 27, 1988 | — | — | — | Title held up after defense against Riki Choshu ended in a no contest. |
| 3 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 2 | June 24, 1988 | 285 Days | Osaka | 7 | Defeated Riki Choshu to win the vacant title. |
| — | Vacated | — | April 5, 1989 | — | — | — | Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament. |
| 4 | Big Van Vader | 1 | April 24, 1989 | 31 Days | Tokyo | 0 | Vader defeated Shinya Hashimoto in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| 5 | Salman Hashimikov | 1 | May 25, 1989 | 48 Days | Osaka | 0 | |
| 6 | Riki Choshu | 1 | July 12, 1989 | 29 Days | Osaka | 0 | |
| 7 | Big Van Vader | 2 | August 10, 1989 | 374 Days | Tokyo | 4 | |
| 8 | Riki Choshu | 2 | August 19, 1990 | 129 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 9 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 3 | December 26, 1990 | 22 Days | Hamamatsu | 0 | |
| 10 | Big Van Vader | 3 | January 17, 1991 | 46 Days | Yokohama | 0 | |
| 11 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 4 | March 4, 1991 | 306 Days | Hiroshima | 3 | |
| 12 | Riki Choshu | 3 | January 4, 1992 | 225 Days | Tokyo | 4 | This match was also for Choshu's Greatest 18 Championship. |
| 13 | The Great Muta | 1 | August 16, 1992 | 400 Days | Fukuoka | 5 | This was also for Choshu's Greatest 18 Championship. |
| 14 | Shinya Hashimoto | 1 | September 20, 1993 | 196 Days | Nagoya | 4 | |
| 15 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 5 | April 4, 1994 | 27 Days | Hiroshima | 0 | |
| 16 | Shinya Hashimoto | 2 | May 1, 1994 | 367 Days | Fukuoka | 9 | |
| 17 | Keiji Mutoh | 2 | May 3, 1995 | 246 Days | Fukuoka | 5 | Mutoh previously won the title as The Great Muta. |
| 18 | Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | January 4, 1996 | 116 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 19 | Shinya Hashimoto | 3 | April 29, 1996 | 489 Days | Tokyo | 7 | |
| 20 | Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | August 31, 1997 | 216 Days | Yokohama | 3 | |
| 21 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 6 | April 4, 1998 | 126 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 22 | Masahiro Chono | 1 | August 8, 1998 | 44 Days | Osaka | 0 | |
| — | Vacated | — | September 21, 1998 | — | — | — | Due to Chono's neck injury. |
| 23 | Scott Norton | 1 | September 23, 1998 | 103 Days | Yokohama | 4 | Defeated Yuji Nagata to win the vacant title. |
| 24 | Keiji Mutoh | 3 | January 4, 1999 | 340 Days | Tokyo | 5 | |
| 25 | Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | December 10, 1999 | 25 Days | Osaka | 0 | |
| 26 | Kensuke Sasaki/Power Warrior | 2 | January 4, 2000 | 279 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| — | Vacated | — | October 9, 2000 | — | — | — | Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!. |
| 27 | Kensuke Sasaki | 3 | January 4, 2001 | 72 Days | Tokyo | 1 | Defeated Toshiaki Kawada in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| 28 | Scott Norton | 2 | March 17, 2001 | 23 Days | Nagoya | 0 | |
| 29 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 1 | April 9, 2001 | 270 Days | Osaka | 2 | |
| — | Vacated | — | January 4, 2002 | — | — | — | Due to an injured achilles tendon. |
| 30 | Tadao Yasuda | 1 | February 16, 2002 | 48 Days | Tokyo | 1 | Defeated Yuji Nagata in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| 31 | Yuji Nagata | 1 | April 5, 2002 | 392 Days | Tokyo | 10 | |
| 32 | Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | May 2, 2003 | 185 Days | Tokyo | 3 | This match was also for Takayama's NWF Heavyweight Championship. |
| 33 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 1 | November 3, 2003 | 36 Days | Yokohama | 0 | |
| 34 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | December 9, 2003 | 58 Days | Osaka | 1 | Nakamura defeated Yoshihiro Takayama to unify the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with the NWF Heavyweight Championship on January 4, 2004 at Wrestling World 2004. |
| — | Vacated | — | February 5, 2004 | — | — | — | Due to Nakamura suffering various injuries. |
| 35 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | February 15, 2004 | 26 Days | Tokyo | 1 | Defeated Genichiro Tenryu in a tournament final for the vacant title. |
| 36 | Kensuke Sasaki | 4 | March 12, 2004 | 16 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 37 | Bob Sapp | 1 | March 28, 2004 | 66 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| — | Vacated | — | June 2, 2004 | — | — | — | Title vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita. |
| 38 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 2 | June 5, 2004 | 126 Days | Osaka | 1 | Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the vacant title. |
| 39 | Kensuke Sasaki | 5 | October 9, 2004 | 64 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 40 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 3 | December 12, 2004 | 70 Days | Nagoya | 0 | |
| 41 | Satoshi Kojima | 1 | February 20, 2005 | 83 Days | Tokyo | 1 | This match was also for Kojima's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. |
| 42 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 4 | May 14, 2005 | 65 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 43 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 3 | July 18, 2005 | 82 Days | Sapporo | 0 | |
| 44 | Brock Lesnar | 1 | October 8, 2005 | 280 Days | Tokyo | 3 | |
| — | Vacated | — | July 15, 2006 | — | — | — | Title was vacated due to Lesnar being unable to defend the title because of "problems with a working visa." Lesnar refuses to turn over the championship belt, and later is recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion, using the same belt. |
| 45 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | July 17, 2006 | 270 Days | Sapporo | 4 | Defeated Giant Bernard in a tournament final and they returned to the 2nd version of the belt. |
| 46 | Yuji Nagata | 2 | April 13, 2007 | 178 Days | Osaka | 2 | |
| 47 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 | October 8, 2007 | 88 Days | Osaka | 1 | |
| 48 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 2 | January 4, 2008 | 114 Days | Tokyo | 2 | Nakamura defeated Kurt Angle on February 17, 2008 on the Circuit2008 New Japan Ism tour to unify the NJPW and IGF versions of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and two days later they showed the 4th version of the belt. |
| 49 | Keiji Mutoh | 4 | April 27, 2008 | 252 Days | Osaka | 4 | |
| 50 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 3 | January 4, 2009 | 122 Days | Tokyo | 3 | |
| 51 | Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | May 6, 2009 | 45 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 52 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4 | June 20, 2009 | 58 Days | Osaka | 1 | |
| — | Vacated | — | August 17, 2009 | — | — | — | Due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket. |
| 53 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 3 | September 27, 2009 | 218 Days | Kobe | 6 | Defeated Togi Makabe to win the vacant title. |
| 54 | Togi Makabe | 1 | May 3, 2010 | 161 Days | Fukuoka | 3 | |
| 55 | Satoshi Kojima | 2 | October 11, 2010 | 85 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 56 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 5 | January 4, 2011 | 404 Days | Tokyo | 11 | |
| 57 | Kazuchika Okada | 1 | February 12, 2012 | 125 Days | Osaka | 2 | |
| 58 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 | June 16, 2012 | 295 Days | Osaka | 7 | |
| 59 | Kazuchika Okada | 2 | April 7, 2013 | 391 Days | Tokyo | 8 | |
| 60 | A.J. Styles | 1 | May 3, 2014 | 163 Days | Fukuoka | 2 | |
| 61 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 7 | October 13, 2014 | 121 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 62 | A.J. Styles | 2 | February 11, 2015 | 144 Days | Osaka | 1 | |
| 63 | Kazuchika Okada | 3 | July 5, 2015 | 280 Days | Osaka | 3 | |
| 64 | Tetsuya Naito | 1 | April 10, 2016 | 70 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 65 | Kazuchika Okada | 4 | June 19, 2016 | 720 Days | Osaka | 12 | |
| 66 | Kenny Omega | 1 | June 9, 2018 | 209 Days | Osaka | 3 | This was a two-out-three falls match with no time limit. |
| 67 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 | June 9, 2018 | 38 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 68 | Jay White | 1 | February 11, 2019 | 54 Days | Osaka | 0 | |
| 69 | Kazuchika Okada | 5 | April 6, 2019 | 1840+ | New York City, New York | 0 |
Combined reigns
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kazuchika Okada † | 5 | 24 | 3356+ |
| 2 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 | 28 | 1396 |
| 3 | Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta | 4 | 19 | 1238 |
| 4 | Shinya Hashimoto | 3 | 20 | 1052 |
| 5 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 6 | 13 | 785 |
| 6 | Kensuke Sasaki/Power Warrior | 5 | 9 | 647 |
| 7 | Yuji Nagata | 2 | 12 | 570 |
| 8 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 3 | 3 | 478 |
| 9 | Big Van Vader | 3 | 4 | 451 |
| 10 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 3 | 9 | 390 |
| 11 | Riki Choshu | 3 | 5 | 383 |
| 12 | Antonio Inoki | 1 | 4 | 325 |
| 13 | A.J. Styles | 2 | 3 | 307 |
| 14 | Brock Lesnar | 1 | 3 | 280 |
| 15 | Kenny Omega | 1 | 3 | 209 |
| 16 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 4 | 2 | 197 |
| 17 | Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 3 | 185 |
| 18 | Satoshi Kojima | 2 | 2 | 168 |
| 19 | Togi Makabe | 1 | 3 | 161 |
| 20 | Scott Norton | 2 | 4 | 126 |
| 21 | Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | 1 | 116 |
| 22 | Tetsuya Naito | 1 | 1 | 70 |
| 23 | Bob Sapp | 1 | 1 | 66 |
| 24 | Tadao Yasuda | 1 | 1 | 48 |
| Salman Hashimikov | 1 | 0 | 48 | |
| 26 | Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | 0 | 45 |
| 27 | Masahiro Chono | 1 | 0 | 44 |
| 28 | Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | 0 | 25 |
| 29 | Jay White | 1 | 0 | 54 |
Gallery
<gallery hidxbutton="true" widths="150" bordercolor="transparent" captionalign="left" bordersize="none"> IWGPheavy1.jpg|Original belt design IWGPheavy2.jpg|Second belt design
Iwgp-title.jpg|Third belt design
- ↑ ja:4代目IWGPヘビー級ベルトが遂に完成！ (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2008-03-07). Retrieved on 2017-11-21.
- ↑ ja:真壁 ＩＣ王座に照準の真意 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-02-29). Retrieved on 2017-01-05.
- ↑ Error on call to template:ref web: Parameters archiveurl and archivedate must be both specified or both omitted“新IWGP王者”AJスタイルズに直撃! 「もう誰にもIWGPを渡す気はない！俺が“カネの雨”を降らせるから心配するな！」 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2014-05-12). Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved on 2015-05-06.
- ↑ International Wrestling Grand Prix Championship Tournament . Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2019-02-09.