Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship
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The Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Japanese: インディペンデントワールド世界ジュニアヘビー級王座, Hepburn: Indipendento Wārudo Sekai Junia Hebī-kyū Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship that is being defended in various independent promotions in Japan. The title was originally created in 1993 by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.
| Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Current belt design | |||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | |||||||||||||||||
| Date established | October 28, 1993 | ||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Hikaru Sato | ||||||||||||||||
| Date won | December 27, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||
FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||
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There have been a total of 47 reigns spread over three lineages and shared among 33 different wrestlers. The current champion is Hikaru Sato who is in his first reign.
The title was created in 1993 by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and it stayed with FMW from its inception to mid-1999, when FMW retired it. In 1998, the title was renamed FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship (FMW認定ジュニアヘビー級王座, FMW-nintei Junia Hebī-kyū Ōza) with the launch of the FMW Unified Organization. It was considered a different title with a new lineage.
On May 31, 1999, Kodo Fuyuki became the FMW commissioner and withdrew the recognition of the title following the introduction of the WEW Single Championship which he awarded to himself on September 24. Yuhi Sano was then recognized as the first Independent World Junior Heavyweight Champion, in continuation of his FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship reign, thus starting a third lineage. Since then, the title has been defended in various Japanese promotions including Big Japan Wrestling, DDT Pro-Wrestling, Kaientai Dojo, Union Pro Wrestling, Osaka Pro Wrestling and Michinoku Pro Wrestling.
Even with the belt being dropped by FMW, the original title belt is still used, which bears the "FMW" name on it. In May 2010, a new championship belt was made, as Tarzan Goto's Super FMW promotion briefly revived the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship to determine its final champion.
Original Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
New Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
Taka Michinoku (left) and Atsushi Maruyama (right) are both record three-time champions. Michinoku also holds the record for longest combined reign at 1,018 days.
As of September 27, 2024.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|---|
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
| Rank [1] | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taka Michinoku | 3 | 27 | 1,018 |
| 2 | Keisuke Ishii | 2 | 13 | 555 |
| 3 | Shiori Asahi | 1 | 11 | 503 |
| 4 | Hiroki/Hi69 | 2 | 15 | 496 |
| 5 | Naoki Tanizaki | 1 | 6 | 454 |
| 6 | Katsumi Usuda | 2 | 5 | 411 |
| 7 | Tigers Mask/Teppei | 3 | 5 | 403 |
| 8 | Makoto Oishi | 1 | 7 | 374 |
| 9 | Kota Ibushi | 1 | 7 | 349 |
| 10 | The Great Sasuke | 1 | 5 | 338¤ |
| 11 | Ken Ohka | 2 | 3 | 319 |
| 12 | Arata | 1 | 5 | 310 |
| 13 | Hikaru Sato † | 1 | 4 | 275+ |
| 14 | Shuichiro Katsumura | 1 | 5 | 265 |
| 15 | Yuhi Sano | 1 | 5 | 261 |
| 16 | Oji Shiiba | 2 | 3 | 193 |
| 17 | Gentaro | 1 | 6 | 191 |
| 18 | Koji Nakagawa | 2 | 1 | 168¤ |
| 19 | Naoyuki Taira | 1 | 3 | 161 |
| 20 | Marines Mask (II) | 1 | 2 | 160 |
| 21 | Daigoro Kashiwa | 1 | 4 | 141 |
| 22 | Ricky Fuji | 2 | 2 | 126 |
| Asuka | 1 | 2 | 126 | |
| 24 | Minoru Tanaka | 2 | 2 | 111 |
| 25 | Ikuto Hidaka | 1 | 1 | 87 |
| Daisuke Sasaki | 1 | 5 | 87 | |
| 27 | Madoka/Hagane Shinno | 2 | 0 | 63 |
| 28 | El Satánico | 1 | 0 | 57 |
| 29 | Hideki Hosaka | 1 | 1 | 52 |
| 30 | Orochi | 1 | 1 | 48 |
| 31 | Hayato Nanjyo | 1 | 0 | 27 |
| 32 | Shota | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| 33 | Yasu Urano | 1 | 0 | <1 |
- ^ The date of at least one of the title changes in this reign is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 338 and 368 days.
- ^ The date of at least one of the title changes in this reign is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 235 days.
- ^ a b Sano's two separate reigns are generally being counted as one 261 days reign.
- AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (predecessor, 1989–1992)
- Dramatic Dream Team
- Professional wrestling in Japan
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k ""Independent World" World Junior Heavyweight Title [FMW] (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- ^ "Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling - "KANKURAN!"". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ "Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Results: 1994 (unvollständig)". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ "Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling - "JAPAN NATIONWIDE ATSUSHI ONITA MEMORIAL RETIREMENT TOUR LAST FIGHT ~ FINAL CHAPTER ~ FEBRUARY SERIES"". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ "Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling - "JAPAN NATIONWIDE ATSUSHI ONITA MEMORIAL RETIREMENT TOUR LAST FIGHT ~ FINAL CHAPTER ~ MARCH SERIES"". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ "Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling - "SCRAMBLE SURVIVOR 1995""". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "CMLL Domingos De Coliseo". Cagematch.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c "FMW Junior Heavyweight Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai "Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- ^ "CLUB-K SUPER in 後楽園ホール | KAIENTAI DOJO". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
- ^ "CLUB-K SUPER in Blue Field | KAIENTAI DOJO". Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ "DDT ProWrestling".
- ^ Just Tap Out (November 21, 2021). "大会名：（株）村上製作所 プレゼンツ JUST TAP OUT in OSAKA". pwjto.com (in Japanese). Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ^ Saalbach, Axel. "DOVE @ Kobe". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 31, 2023). "Indie Junior Festival ~ We Are All Alive 2". cagematch.net. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
- ^ Shiiba, Oji [@ojishiiba0714] (August 30, 2023). "I have decided to vacate the Independent World Junior belt as previously discussed" 協議中でしたインディペンデントワールド世界ジュニアのベルトですが返上するかたちになりました。 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 31, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (December 27, 2023). "TAKA Michinoku Produce Independent Junior Heavyweight Festival One Day Tournament". cagematch.net. Retrieved December 27, 2023.