- IWGP Heavyweight Championship
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IWGP Heavyweight Championship 
Five-time champion Hiroshi Tanahashi with the championship belt in June 2011.Details Current champion(s) Hiroshi Tanahashi Date won January 4, 2011 Promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling Date established June 12, 1987 Statistics Most reigns Tatsumi Fujinami (6) First champion(s) Antonio Inoki Longest reign Shinya Hashimoto (489 days) Shortest reign Kensuke Sasaki (16 days) Oldest champion Genichiro Tenryu (49 years, 311 days) Youngest champion Shinsuke Nakamura (23 years, 288 days) Heaviest champion Big Van Vader (180 kg (400 lb)) Lightest champion Nobuhiko Takada (95 kg (210 lb)) The International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Heavyweight Championship is the top professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). It was created in 1987 with NJPW founder Antonio Inoki defeating Masa Saito in the finals of the annual IWGP Tournament.[1][2]
Throughout the history of the championship, several wrestlers have been forced to relinquish the title due to an inability to participate in title defenses. When a wrestler has been injured or unable to compete for other reasons, tournaments have been held to determine the new champion.[3][4]
In 2006, then-champion 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, losing the championship to Kurt Angle on the inaugural broadcast.[5][6] Angle later lost the belt in a unification match to the NJPW-recognized champion Shinsuke Nakamura in 2008.
Title reigns are determined either by professional wrestling matches involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines or were awarded the title due to scripted circumstances. Wrestlers are portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches for the championship. The inaugural champion was Antonio Inoki, who beat Masa Saito on June 12, 1987. Tastumi Fujinami holds the most reigns at six. Shinya Hashimoto's 489 days is the longest reign in the title's history. Shinsuke Nakamura is the youngest champion at 23 years and 288 days, while Genichiro Tenryu is the oldest champion at 49 years and 311 days. Overall, there have been a total of 24 recognized champions, who have had a combined 56 official reigns.
Contents
Title history
- Key
Reign The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the titles were won Successful defenses The number of successful defenses the champion had during his reign N/A The specific information is not known — Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign Statistics correct as of November 21, 2011
# Wrestler Reign Date Days
heldLocation Event Successful defenses Notes 1 Antonio Inoki 1 June 12, 1987 325 Tokyo, Japan Live event 4 Defeated Masa Saito in a tournament final. — Vacated 1 May 2, 1988 N/A N/A N/A N/A Vacated due to Inoki fracturing his left foot. 2 Tatsumi Fujinami 1 May 8, 1988 19 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1 Defeated Big Van Vader. — Vacated 1 May 27, 1988 N/A Sendai, Japan N/A N/A Held up after a title defense against Riki Chōshū ended in a no contest. 3 Tatsumi Fujinami 2 June 24, 1988 285 Osaka, Japan Live event 7 Defeated Riki Chōshū in a rematch. — Vacated 1 April 5, 1989 N/A N/A N/A N/A Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament. 4 Big Van Vader 1 April 24, 1989 31 Tokyo, Japan Live event 0 Defeated Shinya Hashimoto in a tournament final with Lou Thesz as the special referee. 5 Salman Hashimikov 1 May 25, 1989 48 Osaka, Japan Live event 0 6 Riki Chōshū 1 July 12, 1989 29 Osaka, Japan Live event 0 7 Big Van Vader 2 August 10, 1989 374 Tokyo, Japan Live event 4 8 Riki Chōshū 2 August 19, 1990 129 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1 9 Tatsumi Fujinami 3 December 26, 1990 22 Hamamatsu, Japan Live event 0 10 Big Van Vader 3 January 17, 1991 46 Yokohama, Japan Live event 0 11 Tatsumi Fujinami 4 March 4, 1991 306 Hiroshima, Japan Live event 3 12 Riki Chōshū 3 January 4, 1992 225 Tokyo, Japan Starrcade 1992 in Tokyo Dome 4 This match was also for Chōshū's Greatest 18 Championship. 13 The Great Muta 1 August 16, 1992 400 Fukuoka, Japan Live event 5 This was also for Chōshū's Greatest 18 Championship. 14 Shinya Hashimoto 1 September 20, 1993 196 Nagoya, Japan Live event 4 15 Tatsumi Fujinami 5 April 4, 1994 27 Hiroshima, Japan Battle Line Kyushu tour 0 16 Shinya Hashimoto 2 May 1, 1994 367 Fukuoka, Japan Wrestling Dontaku 9 17 Keiji Mutoh
(formerly The Great Muta)2 May 3, 1995 246 Fukuoka, Japan Wrestling Dontaku 5 18 Nobuhiko Takada 1 January 4, 1996 116 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 1 19 Shinya Hashimoto 3 April 29, 1996 489 Tokyo, Japan Battle Formation 7 20 Kensuke Sasaki 1 August 31, 1997 216 Yokohama, Japan Final Power Hall in Yokohama 3 21 Tatsumi Fujinami 6 April 4, 1998 126 Tokyo, Japan Antonio Inoki Retirement Show 2 22 Masahiro Chono 1 August 8, 1998 44 Osaka, Japan Rising the Next Generation in Osaka Dome 0 — Vacated 1 September 21, 1998 N/A N/A N/A N/A 23 Scott Norton 1 September 23, 1998 103 Yokohama, Japan Big Wednesday 4 Defeated Yuji Nagata to win the vacant title 24 Keiji Mutoh 3 January 4, 1999 340 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 5 25 Genichiro Tenryu 1 December 10, 1999 25 Osaka, Japan Battle Final tour 0 [7] 26 Kensuke Sasaki 2 January 4, 2000 279 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 5 — Vacated 1 October 9, 2000 N/A Tokyo, Japan N/A N/A Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!. 27 Kensuke Sasaki 3 January 4, 2001 72 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 1 Defeated Toshiaki Kawada in a tournament final 28 Scott Norton 2 March 17, 2001 23 Nagoya, Japan Hyper Battle tour 0 29 Kazuyuki Fujita 1 April 9, 2001 270 Osaka, Japan Strong Style 2 — Vacated 1 January 4, 2002 N/A N/A N/A N/A Vacated due to an injured achilles tendon 30 Tadao Yasuda 1 February 16, 2002 48 Tokyo, Japan Fighting Spirit tour 1 Defeated Yuji Nagata in a tournament final 31 Yuji Nagata 1 April 5, 2002 392 Tokyo, Japan Toukon Special 10 32 Yoshihiro Takayama 1 May 2, 2003 185 Tokyo, Japan Ultimate Crush 3 Was also for Takayama's NWF Heavyweight Championship.[8] 33 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 1 November 3, 2003 36 Yokohama, Japan Yokohama Dead out 0 34 Shinsuke Nakamura 1 December 9, 2003 58 Osaka, Japan Battle Final tour 1 Defeated Yoshihiro Takayama to unify the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with the NWF Heavyweight Championship on January 4, 2004, at Wrestling World 2004. — Vacated 1 February 5, 2004 N/A N/A N/A N/A Vacated due to various injuries. 35 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 2 February 15, 2004 26 Tokyo, Japan Fighting Spirit tour 1 Defeated Genichiro Tenryu in a tournament final 36 Kensuke Sasaki 4 March 12, 2004 16 Tokyo, Japan Hyper Battle tour 0 37 Bob Sapp 1 March 28, 2004 66 Tokyo, Japan King of Sports 1 — Vacated 1 June 2, 2004 N/A N/A N/A N/A Vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita.[2] 38 Kazuyuki Fujita 2 June 5, 2004 126 Osaka, Japan The Crush II 1 Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the vacant title 39 Kensuke Sasaki 5 October 9, 2004 64 Tokyo, Japan Pro-Wrestlers Be Strongest 2 40 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 3 December 12, 2004 70 Nagoya, Japan Battle Final tour 0 41 Satoshi Kojima 1 February 20, 2005 83 Tokyo, Japan New Year Gold Series 1 This match was also for Kojima's AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. 42 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4 May 14, 2005 65 Tokyo, Japan Nexess VI 1 43 Kazuyuki Fujita 3 July 18, 2005 82 Sapporo, Japan Summer Fight Series tour 0 44 Brock Lesnar 1 October 8, 2005 280 Tokyo, Japan Toukon Souzou New Chapter 3 This was a three–way match that also included Masahiro Chono. — Vacated 1 July 15, 2006 N/A N/A N/A N/A 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 Sapporo, Japan Circuit 2006 Turbulance 4 Defeated Giant Bernard in a tournament final. 46 Yuji Nagata 2 April 13, 2007 178 Osaka, Japan Circuit 2007 New Japan Brave tour 2 47 Hiroshi Tanahashi 2 October 8, 2007 88 Tokyo, Japan Explosion '07 1 [9] 48 Shinsuke Nakamura 2 January 4, 2008 114 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome 2 Defeated Kurt Angle on February 17, 2008 on the Circuit 2008 New Japan ISM tour to unify the NJPW and IGF versions of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. 49 Keiji Mutoh 4 April 27, 2008 252 Osaka, Japan Circuit 2008 New Japan Brave tour 4 50 Hiroshi Tanahashi 3 January 4, 2009 122 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome 3 51 Manabu Nakanishi 1 May 6, 2009 45 Tokyo, Japan Dissidence 0 52 Hiroshi Tanahashi 4 June 20, 2009 58 Osaka, Japan Dominion 6.20 1 — Vacated 1 August 17, 2009 N/A N/A N/A N/A Vacated due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket. 53 Shinsuke Nakamura 3 September 27, 2009 218 Kobe, Japan Circuit 2009 New Japan Generation tour 6 Defeated Togi Makabe to win the vacant title. 54 Togi Makabe 1 May 3, 2010 161 Fukuoka, Japan Wrestling Dontaku 2010 3 55 Satoshi Kojima 2 October 11, 2010 85 Tokyo, Japan Destruction '10 1 56 Hiroshi Tanahashi 5 January 4, 2011 321+ Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome 9 List of combined reigns
Statistics correct as of November 21, 2011
- Key
† Indicates the current champion 
Big Van Vader has held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three times.
Rank Wrestler # Of Reigns Combined defenses Combined Days 1 Keiji Mutoh 4 19 1,238 2 Shinya Hashimoto 3 20 1,052 3 Hiroshi Tanahashi 5 18 859+ 4 Tatsumi Fujinami 6 13 785 5 Kensuke Sasaki 5 9 647 6 Yuji Nagata 2 12 570 7 Kazuyuki Fujita 3 3 478 8 Big Van Vader 3 4 451 9 Shinsuke Nakamura 3 9 390 10 Riki Chōshū 3 5 383 11 Antonio Inoki 1 4 325 12 Brock Lesnar 1 3 280 13 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4 2 197 14 Yoshihiro Takayama 1 3 185 15 Satoshi Kojima 2 2 168 16 Togi Makabe 1 3 161 17 Scott Norton 2 4 126 18 Nobuhiko Takada 1 1 116 19 Bob Sapp 1 1 66 20 Salman Hashimikov 1 0 48 20 Tadao Yasuda 1 1 48 22 Manabu Nakanishi 1 0 45 23 Masahiro Chono 1 0 44 24 Genichiro Tenryu 1 0 25 References
- General
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated: 2008 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts. 29. Sports & Entertainment Publications, LLC. pp. 107–108. ISSN 1043-7576.
- "IWGP Heavyweight Class: Page One" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/detail_championship.php?c=1&g=1. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- "IWGP Heavyweight Class: Page Two" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/detail_championship.php?ne=2&c=1&g=1. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- "IWGP Heavyweight Class: Page Three" (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. http://www.njpw.co.jp/data/detail_championship.php?ne=3&c=1&g=1. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- Specific
- ^ "IWGP Heavyweight Championship title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. http://wrestling-titles.com/japan/newjapan/iwgp-h.html. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
- ^ a b "IWGP Heavyweight Championship title history". TitleHistories.com. http://titlehistories.com/NJPW_IWGP_Heavyweight_Title.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
- ^ "History of the IWGP Heavyweight Title". Official Website of the Inoki Dojo. http://www.njpw.com/about/heavywhistory.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Molinaro, John F.. "Vader rejuvenated in Japan". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingEditorial/jan5_molinaro.html. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Martin, Adam (2007-06-28). "Brock Lesnar in Japan with IWGP Title; could defend against Kurt Angle". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2006/1183069997.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Martin, Adam (2007-07-02). "Video online of Angle vs. Lesnar in Japan, Ask TNA Wrestling, TNA Today". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2006/1183415472.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Molinaro, John (1999-12-11). "Tenryu wins IWGP Heavyweight title". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive/dec11_tenryu.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
- ^ Power Slam Staff (August 2003). "We are the Champions (as of July 8)". Power Slam Magazine (Lancaster, Lancashire, England: SW Publishing LTD): p. 15. 109.
- ^ "NJPW Explosion '07 official results" (in Japanese). NJPW.co.jp. http://www.njpw.co.jp/result/index.php?COM=result_main&SRNO=76&TKNO=1. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
External links
- NJPW official title history
- Wrestling-Titles.com - IWGP Heavyweight Title History
- TitleHistories.com - IWGP Title History
IWGP Heavyweight Champions Antonio Inoki · Tatsumi Fujinami · Big Van Vader · Salman Hashimikov · Riki Chōshū · The Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh · Shinya Hashimoto · Nobuhiko Takada · Kensuke Sasaki · Masahiro Chono · Scott Norton · Genichiro Tenryu · Kazuyuki Fujita · Yuji Nagata · Yoshihiro Takayama · Hiroyoshi Tenzan · Shinsuke Nakamura · Bob Sapp · Satoshi Kojima · Brock Lesnar · Hiroshi Tanahashi (current) · Manabu Nakanishi · Togi MakabeNew Japan Pro Wrestling Championships Active IWGP Heavyweight (reigns) · IWGP Junior Heavyweight (reigns) · IWGP Tag Team (reigns) · IWGP Junior Tag Team (reigns) · IWGP Intercontinental (reigns)Inactive IWGP U-30 (reigns) · NWA International Junior Heavyweight (reigns) · NWA World Junior Heavyweight (reigns) · NWF Heavyweight (reigns) · NWF North American Heavyweight (reigns) · NWA North American Tag Team (reigns) · UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight (reigns) · WWF International Heavyweight (reigns) · WWF International Tag Team (reigns) · WWF Junior Heavyweight (reigns) · WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight (reigns)Tournaments Miscellaneous Categories:- New Japan Pro Wrestling championships
- Heavyweight wrestling championships
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