The KOPW or King of Pro-Wrestling Championship (キング・オブ・プロレスリング王座 Kingu obu Puroresuringu Ōza) was a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was officially announced on July 28, 2020, and the inaugural champion was crowned on December 23, 2020, during NJPW's Road to Tokyo Dome tour. The title was retired on January 9, 2025.
Concept[]
Instead of a conventional professional wrestling championship, the KOPW Championship was represented by a belt having previously been represented by trophy with only one wrestler per year being recognized as the champion. At the beginning of a new year, the title was inactive, with a provisional champion being determined. During the year, a provisional champion is determined following a tournament; if he loses it, a new provisional champion is crowned, and must similarly defend the title. At the end of the year, the winner of a final title defense was officially recognized at that year's KOPW champion, and being awarded a trophy, which was later replaced by a championship title belt.
While NJPW has historically been focused heavily on traditional matches, the KOPW Championship matches focused exclusively on non-regular stipulations such as matches with more than two individual competitors at the same time, two out of three falls matches, ladder matches, or steel cage matches, with each of the wrestlers involved in a title match, proposing a stipulation, with the fans voting the stipulation of the match.
Despite its concept, the title was recognized as an actual championship, and the name of the title changes based on the year, with the 2020 version of the title being named KOPW 2020 and It restarted every year.
History[]
Championship tournament[]
On July 25, 2020, at Sengoku Lord in Nagoya on July 25, 2020, during a post-match interview, Kazuchika Okada teased a "controversial announcement". Three days later, during a press conference, NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi alongside Kazuchika Okada announced the creation of a new title, the KOPW Championship. Afterwards, Okada introduced the title and its concept, as well as another edition of the tournament to crown a new champion. The tournament to crown the inaugural champion, which would begin on August 26, with four first-round singles matches facing each other in a four-way match to determine the provisional champion on August 29 during the 2020 Summer Struggle tour. On August 6, Okada and Yujiro Takahashi were announced as the first participants for the tournament. The following day, Okada and Takahashi announced their match stipulations for their match. The rest of the participants for the tournament were announced on August 10. On August 17, NJPW announced a fan vote on Twitter to decide the stipulations of the first round matches, while Sho and SANADA both agreed to face each other in a submission match. On August 24, the stipulations were decided after a fan vote for each first-round match. On August 26, Desperado, Yano, SANADA and Okada won their respective matches, leading on August 29, Yano defeating them in a four-way match to become the provisional champion.
| First Round (August 26) |
Final (August 29) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satoshi Kojima | DQ[1] | ||||||
| El Desperado | 14:13 | ||||||
| Toru Yano | Pin[2] | ||||||
| El Desperado | Pin | ||||||
| BUSHI | 4:44 | ||||||
| Toru Yano | 7:01 | ||||||
| SANADA | |||||||
| Sho | Sub[3] | ||||||
| Kazuchika Okada | |||||||
| SANADA | 19:37 | ||||||
| Kazuchika Okada | Pin[4] | ||||||
| Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo and Jado) |
15:26 | ||||||
1 ^ This was a no finishers' match.
2 ^ This was a 2-count pinfall match.
3 ^ This was a submission match.
4 ^ This was a 3-on-1 handicap match.
Title's evolution and retirement[]
In December, during the 2020 World Tag League, Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa destroyed the KOPW 2020 trophy, leading on December 23 at Road to Tokyo Dome tour, Yano defeating Fale in a Bodyslam or No Corner Pads match to become the official KOPW 2020 champion, being awarded a new trophy.
On July 25, 2021, at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, Chase Owens last eliminated Yano in the New Japan Rambo with handcuffs match, following the help from his Bullet Club stablemates to win the provisional KOPW 2021 trophy, becoming the first wrestler other than Yano to provisionally held the title. Following his loss, Yano, who was frustrated with his loss, challenged Owens to a rematch for the trophy. Over the following weeks, following their matches. On September 4 at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, Yano defeated Owens in a No Disqualification I Quit match to regain the trophy, becoming the first wrestler to win KOPW trophy on two different occasions.
On April 9, 2022 at Hyper Battle, Yano lost the provisional trophy to Taichi in a No Rope Ringout match on April 9 at Hyper Battle. In the aftermath of Taichi winning the KOPW trohpy, Taichi promise to raise the KOPW 2022 trophy to ‘the main event level’ and afterwards nominated Takagi to be his first challenger, leading Taichi to lose the trophy to him in a 30 Count match to become the provisional KOPW 2022 champion. On October 28 at Rumble on 44th Street, Takagi made his first title defense outside of Japan at New York, United States, succesfully defending the trophy against El Phantasmo. On December 22, it was announced that the KOPW trophy would be being replaced with a title belt, with the first holder being crowned on January 4, 2023 at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Tokyo Dome.
On December 22, 2024, Great-O-Khan faced Taichi in a double knockout draw in a Best of Taichi KOPW Best Two Out Of Three Falls match, officially crowning him the KOPW 2024 Champion. Following the match, O-Khan announced his intention to retire the KOPW title. He further revealed that the annual New Japan Rambo at Wrestle Kingdom 19, traditionally contested for a shot at the KOPW title, would determine the number one contender for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. As per O-Khan's request, the title was formally retired by the IWGP Committee on January 9, 2025.
Title History[]
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Location | Length | Defenses | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Toru Yano | Provisional
|
August 29, 2020 | Tokyo | 116 Days | 2 | Summer Struggle in Jingu | Defeated Kazuchika Okada, El Desperado, and SANADA in a Four-Way Match as part of an eight-man tournament final to become the provisional champion. |
| 1 | Toru Yano | 1 | December 23, 2020 | Tokyo | N/A | N/A | Road to Tokyo Dome tour | Defeated Bad Luck Fale in a Bodyslam or No Corner Pads Match to become the official KOPW 2020 champion. |
| — | Toru Yano | Provisional
|
January 5, 2021 | Tokyo | 201 Days | 2 | Wrestle Kingdom 15 | Defeated Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and BUSHI in a Four-Way Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Chase Owens | Provisional
|
July 25, 2021 | Tokyo | 41 Days | 0 | Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome | Last eliminated the previous provisional champion Toru Yano in a New Japan Rambo to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Toru Yano | Provisional
|
September 4, 2021 | Saitama | 111 Days | 1 | Wrestle Grand Slam in Metlife Dome | Defeated Chase Owens in a No Disqualification "I Quit" Match to become the provisional champion. |
| 2 | Toru Yano | 2 | December 24, 2021 | Tokyo | N/A | N/A | Road to Tokyo Dome tour | Defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a End Of Year Party Rules Match to become the official KOPW 2021 champion. |
| — | Minoru Suzuki | Provisional
|
January 5, 2022 | Tokyo | 46 Days | 0 | Wrestle Kingdom 16 | Defeated Chase Owens, CIMA, and Toru Yano in a Four-Way Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Toru Yano | Provisional
|
February 20, 2022 | Sapporo | 48 Days | 0 | New Years Golden Series - Day 15 | Defeated Minoru Suzuki in a Dog Cage Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Taichi | Provisional
|
April 9, 2022 | Tokyo | 16 Days | 0 | Hyper Battle '22 - Day 5 | Defeated Toru Yano in a No-Rope Ring Out Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Shingo Takagi | Provisional
|
April 25, 2022 | Hiroshima | 234 Days | 5 | Golden Fight Series '22 - Day 7 | Defeated Taichi in a 30-Count Match to become the provisional champion. |
| 3 | Shingo Takagi | 1 | December 15, 2022 | Tokyo | N/A | N/A | TAKATaichi 50th Anniversary | Defeated Taichi in a Takagi-Style Lumberjack Last Man Standing Match to become the official KOPW 2022 champion. |
| — | Shingo Takagi | Provisional
|
January 5, 2023 | Tokyo | 114 Days | 2 | New Years Dash!! | Defeated Great O-Khan, Sho, and Toru Yano in a Four-Way Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Taichi | Provisional
|
April 29, 2023 | Kagoshima | 148 Days | 0 | Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni | Defeated Shingo Takagi in a Takagi-style Triad Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Sho | Provisional
|
September 24, 2023 | Kobe | 54 Days | 0 | Destruction in Kobe | Defeated Taichi in a Seconds Handcuffed Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Taichi | Provisional
|
Novmeber 17, 2023 | Yamagata | 34 Days | 1 | New Japan Road - Day 2 | This was a Special Guest Referee match, where Yoshinobu Kanemaru served as the special guest referee. |
| 4 | Taichi | 1 | December 21, 2023 | Tokyo | N/A | N/A | Road to Tokyo Dome tour | Defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a Whiskey Bottle Ladder Match to become the official KOPW 2023 champion. |
| — | Taiji Ishimori | Provisional
|
January 5, 2024 | Tokyo | 16 Days | 0 | New Years Dash!! | Defeated Great O-Khan, Toru Yano and Yoh in a Four-Way Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Great O-Khan | Provisional
|
January 20, 2024 | Nagoya | 98 Days | 1 | The New Beginning in Nagoya | Defeated Taiji Ishimori in a 10 Minute Ishimori Ring Fit Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Yuya Uemura | Provisional
|
April 27, 2024 | Hiroshima | 43 Days | 0 | Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2024 | Defeated Great O-Khan in a Rural Revitalization In Hamamatsu Match to become the provisional champion. |
| — | Great O-Khan | Provisional
|
June 9, 2024 | Osaka | 196 Days | 1 | Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall (2024) | Defeated Yuya Uemura in a Storm Catch Rules to become the provisional champion. |
| 5 | Great O-Khan | 1 | December 22, 2024 | Tokyo | N/A | N/A | Road to Tokyo Dome tour | O-Khan's match with Taichi ended in a double knockout draw, due to the champion's advantage, O-Khan became the official KOPW 2024 champion. |
| — | Retired | — | January 9, 2024 | Tokyo | — | — | — | O-Khan voluntarily retired the title and announced that the winner of the New Japan Rambo would instead be granted an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship title opportunity. The title was formally retired by the IWGP Committee on January 9, 2025, as per O-Khan's request. |
Combined reigns[]
| † | Indicates a provisional champion |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of titles | No. of int. reigns | Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toru Yano | 2 | 4 | 5 | 476 |
| 2 | Shingo Takagi | 1 | 2 | 7 | 348 |
| 3 | Great O-Khan | 2 | 294 | ||
| 4 | Taichi | 3 | 1 | 198 | |
| 5 | Sho | 0 | 1 | 0 | 54 |
| 6 | Minoru Suzuki | 46 | |||
| 7 | Yuya Uemura | 43 | |||
| 8 | Chase Owens | 41 | |||
| 9 | Taiji Ishimori | 16 |
Gallery[]
