The World Junior Heavyweight Championship is the top singles junior heavyweight championship in the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. The title was introduced on July 31, 1986, at an AJPW show. Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold the championship. The weight-limit for the tag team title is 100 kg (220 lb); it is assumed that this title has the same weight-limit. The title has been defended outside All Japan several times, mainly in Pro Wrestling Noah.
Overview[]
On June 1986 Tiger Mask vacated the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship to graduate to the heavyweight division. Later on July 31, 1986 when Hiro Saito defeated Brad Armstrong All Japan Pro Wrestling assumed Saito was their first World Junior Heavyweight Championship. The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship has no relation with The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. Also, the championship is not referred to as the PWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship which Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) is another governing body of All Japan. The championship changed hands with various Japanese wrestlers and gaijins.
On July 16, 2000, the World Junior Heavyweight Championship including the rest of the AJPW Champions were vacated due to Yoshinari Ogawa and several AJPW wrestler joining Mitsuharu Misawa exodus to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. Eleven months later Kendo Kashin faced Masanobu Fuchi for the vacated championship which Kashin won. On February 12, 2004, the championship was vacated due to inactivity. Ten days later the Kaz Hayashi defeated Blue-K for the vacated championship. On January 10, 2005, at Kaientai Dojo the championship changed hands in another promotion for the first time when Taka Michinoku defeated Kaz Hayashi for the championship the title match was also for the Champion of Strongest-K. On October 18, 2007, after a title defense between Katsuhiko Nakajima and Silver King ended in a no contest, Nakajima remained the official champion.
On October 25, 2008, the championship was first defended in another promotion the AJPW rival promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH when Naomichi Marufuji fought KENTA in a double title match also for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, the match ended in a time limit draw. It was also an attempt to unify the titles. Due to the match ending in a time limit draw, both champions kept their titles in the hands of their respective holder, while gaining favorable reviews for their efforts by the media with some claiming it to be a Match of the Year.
On November 30, 2015, while Kotaro Suzuki was the World Junior Heavyweight Championship he announced that he was going to leave AJPW to become a freelancer. Following the announcement, the World Junior Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Later the new championship was going to be decided in the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory. On February 21, 2016, Atsushi Aoki defeated Hikaru Sato in the finals to win the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory and the vacant World Junior Heavyweight Championship. The original World Junior Heavyweight Championship belt had a similar design to the title it replaced, the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship, which had been around since 1982 and only replacing the word "International" with "World". This belt was replaced with a new belt on August 27, 2017. On June 3, 2019, Atsushi Aoki died in a motorcycle accident. AJPW announced Aoki would be recognized as champion until November 20. On October 24, AJPW announced a tournament to crown a new champion starting on November 21 and finishing on January 3, 2020, with the promotion also announcing that was going to change the title design with the other belt going to Aoki's family as a relic.
Title history[]
| # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Length | Location | Successful defenses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hiro Saito | 1 | July 31, 1986 | 115 Days | Tokyo | 3 | Defeated Brad Armstrong in a tournament final. |
| 2 | Kuniaki Kobayashi | 1 | November 23, 1986 | 41
Days |
Tokyo | 1 | |
| 3 | Masanobu Fuchi | 1 | January 3, 1987 | 748
Days |
Tokyo | 7 | |
| 4 | Joe Malenko | 1 | January 20, 1989 | 5
Days |
Fukuoka | 0 | |
| 5 | Mighty Inoue | 1 | January 25, 1989 | 42
Days |
Osaka | 2 | |
| 6 | Masanobu Fuchi | 2 | March 8, 1989 | 39 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 7 | Shinichi Nakano | 1 | April 16, 1989 | 4
Days |
Tokyo | 0 | |
| 8 | Mitsuo Momota | 1 | April 20, 1989 | 72
Days |
Osaka | 2 | |
| 9 | Joe Malenko | 2 | July 1, 1989 | 111 Days | Omiya | 2 | |
| 10 | Masanobu Fuchi | 3 | October 20, 1989 | 1309
Days |
Nagoya | 14 | |
| 11 | Dan Kroffat | 1 | July 28, 1994 | 94 Days | Sapporo | 0 | |
| 12 | Masanobu Fuchi | 4 | August 23, 1993 | 323
Days |
Shizuoka | 2 | |
| 13 | Dan Kroffat | 2 | July 12, 1994 | 425
Days |
Kagoshima | 5 | |
| 14 | Yoshinari Ogawa | 1 | September 10, 1995 | 294 Days | Tokyo | 4 | |
| 15 | Masanobu Fuchi | 5 | June 30, 1996 | 24 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 16 | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | 1 | July 24, 1996 | 175 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 17 | Yoshinari Ogawa | 2 | January 15, 1997 | 219
Days |
Tokyo | 1 | |
| 18 | Maunakea Mossman | 1 | August 22, 1997 | 294 Days | Tokyo | 3 | |
| — | Vacated | — | June 12, 1998 | — | — | — | Vacated due to Mossman graduating to the heavyweight division. |
| 19 | Yoshinari Ogawa | 3 | July 19, 1998 | 698 Days | Niigata | 5 | Defeated Satoru Asako in a tournament final. |
| — | Vacated | — | June 16, 2000 | — | — | — | Vacated due to Ogawa and several others leaving AJPW to form Pro Wrestling Noah. |
| 20 | Kendo Kashin | 1 | April 13, 2002 | 670
Days |
Tokyo | 8 | Defeated Masanobu Fuchi for the vacated championship. |
| — | Vacated | — | February 12, 2004 | — | — | — | Vacated on February 12, 2004 due to inactivity. |
| 21 | Kaz Hayashi | 1 | February 22, 2004 | 323
Days |
Tokyo | 6 | Defeated Blue-K for the vacated championship. |
| 22 | Taka Michinoku | 1 | January 10, 2005 | 285 Days | Tokyo | 12 | This match was also for Hayashi's Champion of Strongest-K. |
| 23 | Shuji Kondo | 1 | October 22, 2005 | 483 Days | Tokyo | 5 | |
| 24 | Katsuhiko Nakajima | 1 | February 17, 2007 | 378 Days | Tokyo | 3 | The title was held up on October 18, 2007 after a title defense against Silver King ended in a no contest, though Nakajima remained the official champion. |
| 25 | Silver King | 1 | March 1, 2008 | 59 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 26 | Ryuji Hijikata | 1 | October 28, 2000 | 152 Days | Tokyo | 3 | |
| 27 | Naomichi Marufuji | 1 | September 28, 2008 | 131 Days | Yokohoma | 4 | |
| 28 | Kaz Hayashi | 2 | February 6, 2009 | 695 Days | Tokyo | 17 | |
| 29 | Minoru | 1 | January 2, 2011 | 152 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| — | Vacated | — | June 3, 2011 | — | — | — | Vacated after All Japan Pro Wrestling suspended Minoru. |
| 30 | KAI | 1 | June 19, 2011 | 126 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 31 | Kenny Omega | 1 | October 23, 2011 | 217 Days | Tokyo | 5 | |
| 32 | KAI | 2 | May 27, 2012 | 77 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 33 | Hiroshi Yamato | 1 | May 27, 2012 | 143
Days |
Tokyo | 5 | |
| 34 | Shuji Kondo | 2 | January 2, 2013 | 52 Days | Tokyo | 0 | This match was also contested for Kondo's GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. |
| 35 | Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 1 | February 23, 2013 | 295 Days | Tokyo | 7 | |
| 36 | Último Dragón | 1 | December 15, 2013 | 165
Days |
Tokyo | 2 | |
| 37 | Atsushi Aoki | 1 | May 29, 2014 | 302
Days |
Tokyo | 5 | |
| 38 | Kotaro Suzuki | 1 | March 27, 2015 | 234 Days | Tokyo | 6 | |
| — | Vacated | — | November 16, 2015 | — | — | — | Vacated due to Suzuki leaving AJPW. |
| 39 | Atsushi Aoki | 2 | February 21, 2016 | 119 Days | Tokyo | 3 | Defeated Hikaru Sato in the finals of the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory. |
| 40 | Hikaru Sato | 1 | June 19, 2016 | 70 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 41 | Soma Takao | 1 | August 28, 2016 | 91 Days | Tokyo | 1 | This match took place at an event held by DDT Pro-Wrestling. |
| 42 | Keisuke Ishii | 1 | November 27, 2016 | 152
Days |
Tokyo | 3 | |
| 43 | Hikaru Sato | 2 | April 28, 2017 | 93 Days | Okayama | 4 | |
| 44 | TAJIRI | 1 | July 30, 2017 | 28 Days | Osaka | 0 | |
| 45 | Último Dragón | 2 | August 27, 2017 | 55 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 46 | TAJIRI | 2 | October 21, 2017 | 105 Days | Yokohama | 3 | |
| 47 | Atsushi Aoki | 3 | February 3, 2018 | 204 Days | Yokohama | 4 | |
| 48 | Koji Iwamoto | 1 | August 26, 2018 | 27 Days | Chiba | 0 | |
| 49 | Shuji Kondo | 3 | September 22, 2018 | 68 Days | Hakata | 1 | |
| 50 | Koji Iwamoto | 1 | November 29, 2018 | 172 Days | Nagoya | 2 | |
| 51 | Atsushi Aoki | 4 | May 20, 2019 | 291 Days | Tokyo | 0 | On June 3, 2019, Aoki died in a motorcycle accident. AJPW announced that Aoki would be recognized as champion until November 20. |
| — | Vacated | — | November 20, 2019 | — | — | — | Vacated after Aoki paased away in a motorcycle accident, leading AJPW to vacate the title after the six month deadline for a title defense expired. |
| 52 | Susumu Yokosuka | 1 | January 3, 2020 | 204 Days | Tokyo | 5 | Defeated Hikaru Sato in a tournament final to win the championship. |
| 53 | Koji Iwamoto | 3 | July 25, 2020 | 210 Days | Tokyo | 3 | |
| 54 | CIMA | 1 | February 20, 2021 | 109 Days | Nagoya, Aichi | 2 | |
| 55 | Koji Iwamoto | 4 | June 9, 2021 | 17 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 56 | Francesco Akira | 1 | June 26, 2021 | 26 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 57 | SUGI | 1 | July 22, 2021 | 86 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 58 | Izanagi | 1 | October 16, 2021 | 61 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 59 | Super Crazy | 1 | December 16, 2021 | 18 Days | Tokyo | 0 | |
| 60 | SUGI | 2 | January 3, 2022 | 51 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 61 | Hikaru Sato | 3 | February 23, 2022 | 116 Days | Tokyo | 4 | |
| 62 | Tiger Mask | 1 | June 16, 2022 | 91 Days | Tokyo | 2 | |
| 63 | Atsuki Aoyagi | 1 | September 18, 2022 | 34 Days | Tokyo | 1 | |
| 64 | El Lindaman | 1 | July 2, 2023 | 182 Days | Tokyo | 4 | |
| 65 | Dan Tamura | 1 | December 31, 2023 | 69 Days | Tokyo | 3 | |
| 66 | Rising HAYATO | 1 | March 9, 2024 | 380+ | Tokyo | 0 |
Gallery[]
