IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship


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The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling junior heavyweight championship owned by 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 February 6, 1986, at a NJPW show. Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold the championship. NJPW currently controls two junior heavyweight championships: the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team 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.[1] From August 5, 1996, until November 5, 1997, the title was part of the J-Crown, or J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship. The J-Crown was an assembly of eight different championships from several different promotions. It was created on August 5, 1996, when The Great Sasuke won an eight-man tournament. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Welterweight Championship, the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship, the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, and the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship were the eight championships that were involved.[2] On November 5, 1997, then-champion Shinjiro Otani vacated all J-Crown belts but the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) retook control of its Light Heavyweight title, effectively ending the J-Crown.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Prince Devitt with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship belt in a wrestling ring

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship belt

Details
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedFebruary 6, 1986
Current champion(s)Will Ospreay
Date wonJanuary 4, 2018
Statistics
First champion(s)Shiro Koshinaka
Most reignsJyushin Thunder Liger (11 reigns)
Longest reignJyushin Thunder Liger (sixth reign, 628 days)
Shortest reignJuventud Guerrera (first reign, 7 days)

Overall, there have been 80 reigns shared among 37 wrestlers. Title changes happen mostly at NJPW-promoted events, as it has only changed hands at non-NJPW events twice. Reigns 36 and 37 occurred on World Championship Wrestling's Nitro television program, when Juventud Guerrera defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger on November 29, 1999, and on December 6, 1999, when Liger retrieved the championship by defeating Guerrera's stand-in Psychosis. The inaugural champion was Shiro Koshinaka, who defeated The Cobra on February 6, 1986, in the finals of a tournament. Liger holds the record of most reigns, with 11. At 628 days, Liger's sixth reign is the longest in the title's history. Liger, with a combined 11 reigns, holds the record for most days as champion at 2,245. Guerrera's only reigns holds the record for shortest reign at one week. With 11 successful defenses, Minoru Tanaka's reign under the ring name "Heat" had the most during a single reign. Over his 11 reigns, Liger successfully defended the title 31 times, the most of any champion. With zero, El Samurai's second reign, Hiroshi Hase's second reign, Tiger Mask's fourth and sixth reigns, Liger's fourth reign, Guerrera's only reign, Pegasus Kid's only reign, Low Ki's third reign, Kushida's first and fourth reigns, Bushi's only reign, Will Ospreay's first reign and Marty Scurll's only reign are all tied for least successful defenses. Will Ospreay is the current champion in his second reign, after defeating previous champion Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida in a four-way match on January 4, 2018, at NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome event to win the title.

Title history

# Order in reign history
Reign The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
Successful defenses The number of successful defenses the champion had during his reign
— Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
N/A The information is not available or is unknown
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
# Wrestler Reign Date Days
held 		Location Event Successful defenses Notes Ref(s).
1 Shiro Koshinaka 1 February 6, 1986 102 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1 Koshinaka defeated The Cobra in a tournament final to become the first champion. [3]
2 Nobuhiko Takada 1 May 19, 1986 123 Tokyo, Japan Live event 6
3 Shiro Koshinaka 2 September 19, 1986 317 Fukuoka, Japan Live event 2
— Vacated — August 2, 1987 — N/A N/A — Koshinaka vacated the championship due to injuring his right ankle.
4 Kuniaki Kobayashi 1 August 20, 1987 129 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1 Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated Nobuhiko Takada to win the vacant championship. [4]
5 Hiroshi Hase 1 December 27, 1987 152 Tokyo, Japan Live event 3
6 Owen Hart 1 May 27, 1988 28 Sendai, Japan Live event 1
7 Shiro Koshinaka 3 June 24, 1988 265 Osaka, Japan Live event 6
8 Hiroshi Hase 2 March 16, 1989 70 Yokohama, Japan Live event 0
9 Jyushin Liger 1 May 25, 1989 77 Osaka, Japan Live event 2 [5]
10 Naoki Sano 1 August 10, 1989 174 Tokyo, Japan Live event 2
11 Jyushin Thunder Liger 2 January 31, 1990 200 Osaka, Japan Live event 1 Previously known as Jyushin Liger.
12 Pegasus Kid 1 August 19, 1990 74 Tokyo, Japan Live event 0 [6]
13 Jyushin Thunder Liger 3 November 1, 1990 165 Tokyo, Japan Live event 2
— Vacated — April 15, 1991 — N/A N/A — Liger vacated the championship so a new champion could be decided in the Top of the Super Juniors tournament.
14 Norio Honaga 1 April 30, 1991 43 Tokyo, Japan Live event 2 Honaga defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger in the finals of the Top of the Super Juniors tournament.
15 Jyushin Thunder Liger 4 June 12, 1991 58 Tokyo, Japan Live event 0
16 Akira Nogami 1 August 9, 1991 88 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1
17 Norio Honaga 2 November 5, 1991 95 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1
18 Jyushin Thunder Liger 5 February 8, 1992 139 Sapporo, Japan Live event 3
19 El Samurai 1 June 26, 1992 149 Tokyo, Japan Live event 3
20 Último Dragón 1 November 22, 1992 43 Tokyo, Japan Live event 1 [7]
21 Jyushin Thunder Liger 6 January 4, 1993 628 Tokyo, Japan Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome 5
— Vacated — September 24, 1994 — N/A N/A — Liger vacated the championship due to fracturing his left ankle.
22 Norio Honaga 3 September 27, 1994 145 Osaka, Japan Live event 6 Honaga defeated Wild Pegasus in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
23 Koji Kanemoto 1 February 19, 1995 73 Tokyo, Japan Live event 2 [8]
24 Sabu 1 May 3, 1995 42 Fukuoka, Japan Wrestling Dontaku 1995 1
25 Koji Kanemoto 2 June 14, 1995 204 Tokyo, Japan Live event 2 This match was also for Kanemoto's UWA World Welterweight Championship.
26 Jyushin Thunder Liger 7 January 4, 1996 116 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 1996 2
27 The Great Sasuke 1 April 29, 1996 165 Tokyo, Japan Battle Formation 5 On August 5, 1996, Sasuke won an 8-man tournament to form the J-Crown, an octuple-belt championship that includes the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title; these titles were still considered separate, but were defended together.
28 Último Dragón 2 October 11, 1996 85 Osaka, Japan Live event 7
29 Jyushin Thunder Liger 8 January 4, 1997 183 Tokyo, Japan Wrestling World 1997 4 Liger lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship from the J-Crown on June 6, 1997, but continued to defend the other 7 belts.
30 El Samurai 2 July 6, 1997 35 Sapporo, Japan Live event 0
31 Shinjiro Otani 1 August 10, 1997 181 Nagoya, Japan The Four Heaven in Nagoya Dome 5 On November 5, 1997, Otani vacated all J-Crown belts but the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title after the WWF retook control of its Light Heavyweight title, effectively ending the J-Crown.
32 Jyushin Thunder Liger 9 February 7, 1998 403 Sapporo, Japan Live event 8 [9]
33 Koji Kanemoto 3 March 17, 1999 164 Hiroshima, Japan Live event 3
34 Kendo Kashin 1 August 28, 1999 44 Tokyo, Japan Jingu Climax 1
35 Jyushin Thunder Liger 10 October 11, 1999 49 Tokyo, Japan Final Dome 1
36 Juventud Guerrera 1 November 29, 1999 7 Denver, Colorado Nitro 0
37 Jyushin Thunder Liger 11 December 6, 1999 227 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Nitro 3 Psychosis replaced Guerrera in the match due to Guerrera suffering a fractured right arm.
38 Tatsuhito Takaiwa 1 July 20, 2000 101 Sapporo, Japan Summer Struggle 2000 2 [10][11]
39 Minoru Tanaka 1 October 29, 2000 264 Kobe, Japan Get a Right!! 2 [10]
40 Masayuki Naruse 1 July 20, 2001 80 Sapporo, Japan Dome Quake 1
41 Tokimitsu Ishizawa/Kendo Kashin 2 October 8, 2001 116 Tokyo, Japan Indicate of Next 2 Won the title under the name Tokimitsu Ishizawa, but defended it under the name Kendo Kashin. [12]
— Vacated — February 1, 2002 — N/A N/A — Kashin left NJPW and returned the title to the IWGP Executive Committee. [13]
42 Minoru Tanaka 2 February 16, 2002 153 Tokyo, Japan Fighting Spirit 2002 3 Defeated Masahito Kakihara to win the championship. [14]
43 Koji Kanemoto 4 July 19, 2002 278 Sapporo, Japan Summer Fight Series 2002 6 [14]
44 Tiger Mask 1 April 23, 2003 153 Hiroshima, Japan Strong Energy 2003 4 [15][16]
— Vacated — September 23, 2003 — N/A N/A — The championship was vacated so it could be contested for in a battle royal.
45 Jado 1 October 13, 2003 62 Tokyo, Japan Ultimate Crush 1 Jado defeated Dick Togo, El Samurai, Gedo, Heat, Jyushin Thunder Liger, Katsushi Takemura, Koji Kanemoto, Masahito Kakihara, Masayuki Naruse and Tiger Mask in a battle royal to win the vacant championship. [16]
46 Heat 3 December 14, 2003 387 Nagoya, Japan Battle Final 2003 11 Previously known as Minoru Tanaka. [16][17]
47 Tiger Mask 2 January 4, 2005 277 Tokyo, Japan Toukon Festival: Wrestling World 3
48 Black Tiger 1 October 8, 2005 134 Tokyo, Japan Toukon Souzou New Chapter 1 This match was also for Black Tiger's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
49 Tiger Mask 3 February 19, 2006 73 Tokyo, Japan Acceleration 1 This match was also for Black Tiger's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [18]
50 Koji Kanemoto 5 May 3, 2006 235 Fukuoka, Japan New Japan Cup 2006 Special 1 [18][19]
51 Minoru 4 December 24, 2006 194 Tokyo, Japan Battle Xmas! Catch the Victory 4 Previously known as Minoru Tanaka/Heat.
52 Ryusuke Taguchi 1 July 6, 2007 155 Tokyo, Japan New Japan Soul C.T.U Farewell Tour 4 [20]
53 Wataru Inoue 1 December 8, 2007 191 Osaka, Japan New Japan Alive 3 [21]
— Vacated — June 16, 2008 — N/A N/A — The championship was vacated when Inoue moved to the heavyweight division.
54 Tiger Mask 4 July 8, 2008 75 Tokyo, Japan New Japan Trill 0 Tiger Mask defeated Prince Devitt in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. [22]
55 Low Ki 1 September 21, 2008 105 Kobe, Japan New Japan Generation 1 [23]
56 Tiger Mask 5 January 4, 2009 223 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome 4 [24]
[25]
57 Místico 1 August 15, 2009 85 Tokyo, Japan G1 Climax 2009: New Lords, New Laws 2 [26]
[27]
58 Tiger Mask 6 November 8, 2009 57 Tokyo, Japan Destruction '09 0 [28]
59 Naomichi Marufuji 1 January 4, 2010 166 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome 5 [29]
60 Prince Devitt 1 June 19, 2010 364 Osaka, Japan Dominion 6.19 7
61 Kota Ibushi 1 June 18, 2011 85 Osaka, Japan Dominion 6.18 2
— Vacated — September 12, 2011 — N/A N/A — The championship was vacated after Ibushi was sidelined with a shoulder injury. [30]
62 Prince Devitt 2 September 19, 2011 227 Kobe, Japan Kantaro Hoshino Memorial Show 4 Devitt defeated Kushida to win the vacant championship.
63 Low Ki 2 May 3, 2012 87 Fukuoka, Japan Wrestling Dontaku 2012 1 [19]
64 Kota Ibushi 2 July 29, 2012 71 Tokyo, Japan Last Rebellion 2
65 Low Ki 3 October 8, 2012 34 Tokyo, Japan King of Pro-Wrestling 0
66 Prince Devitt 3 November 11, 2012 419 Osaka, Japan Power Struggle 4
67 Kota Ibushi 3 January 4, 2014 181 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome 4
68 Kushida 1 July 4, 2014 79 Tokyo, Japan Kizuna Road 2014 0
69 Ryusuke Taguchi 2 September 21, 2014 105 Kobe, Japan Destruction in Kobe 2
70 Kenny Omega 1 January 4, 2015 182 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome 3
71 Kushida 2 July 5, 2015 80 Osaka, Japan Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall 1
72 Kenny Omega 2 September 23, 2015 103 Okayama, Japan Destruction in Okayama 1
73 Kushida 3 January 4, 2016 257 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome 5
74 Bushi 1 September 17, 2016 49 Tokyo, Japan Destruction in Tokyo 0
75 Kushida 4 November 5, 2016 60 Osaka, Japan Power Struggle 0
76 Hiromu Takahashi 1 January 4, 2017 158 Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome 4
77 Kushida 5 June 11, 2017 120 Osaka, Japan Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall 2
78 Will Ospreay 1 October 9, 2017 27 Tokyo, Japan King of Pro-Wrestling 0
79 Marty Scurll 1 November 5, 2017 60 Osaka, Japan Power Struggle 0
80 Will Ospreay 2 January 4, 2018 2,469+ Tokyo, Japan Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome 1 This was a four-way match, also involving Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida.

Combined reigns

 
Jyushin Thunder Liger holds the record for most reigns as champion with 11

As of October 8, 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank[A] Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined
defenses 		Combined
days
1 Jyushin Liger/Jyushin Thunder Liger 11 31 2,245
2 Prince Devitt 3 15 1,010
3 Heat/Minoru/Minoru Tanaka 4 20 998
4 Koji Kanemoto 5 14 954
5 Tiger Mask 6 12 858
6 Shiro Koshinaka 3 9 702
7 Kushida 5 8 596
8 Kota Ibushi 3 8 337
9 Kenny Omega 2 4 285
10 Norio Honaga 3 9 283
11 Ryusuke Taguchi 2 6 260
12 Low Ki 3 2 226
13 Hiroshi Hase 2 3 195
14 Wataru Inoue 1 3 191
15 El Samurai 2 3 184
16 Shinjiro Otani 1 5 181
17 Naoki Sano 1 2 174
18 Naomichi Marufuji 1 5 166
19 The Great Sasuke 1 5 165
20 Tokimitsu Ishizawa/Kendo Kashin 2 3 160
21 Hiromu Takahashi 1 4 158
22 Black Tiger 1 1 134
23 Kuniaki Kobayashi 1 1 129
24 Último Dragón 2 8 128
25 Nobuhiko Takada 1 6 123
26 Tatsuhito Takaiwa 1 2 101
27 Will Ospreay † 2 1 2496+
28 Akira Nogami 1 1 88
29 Místico 1 2 85
30 Masayuki Naruse 1 1 80
31 Pegasus Kid 1 0 74
32 Jado 1 1 62
33 Marty Scurll 1 0 60
34 Bushi 1 0 49
35 Sabu 1 1 42
36 Owen Hart 1 1 28
37 Juventud Guerrera 1 0 7
A. ^ Each wrestler's total number of days as champion is ranked highest to lowest; wrestlers with the same number are tied for that certain rank.

References

General
Specific
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