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New Japan Pro Wrestling
International Wrestling Grand Prix
Heavyweight Championship
(June 12, 1987 - Present)
International Wrestling Grand Prix
Heavyweight Championship
(June 12, 1987 - Present)
| Won By: | Date: | Event: | Location: | Reign: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Inoki | Jun 12, 1987 | I.W.G.P. Champi… | Tokyo, Japan | 325 days |
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Inoki defeated Masa Saito in the finals of a tournament held at the 1987 I.W.G.P. Tournament to be recognized as the first champion.
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| ** Vacated Due To Injury** | May 2, 1988 | -- | -- | 6 days |
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Inoki vacates the title due to injury.
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| Tatsumi Fujinami | May 8, 1988 | Super Fight Series | Tokyo, Japan | 19 days |
| ** Held-Up ** | May 27, 1988 | -- | -- | |
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The title is held-up after a no-contest match against Riki Choshu.
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| Tatsumi Fujinami [2] | Jun 24, 1988 | I.W.G.P. Champi… | Osaka, Japan | 285 days |
| ** Vacated ** | Apr 5, 1989 | -- | -- | |
|
Fujinami vacates the title in order for it to be decided in a tourament.
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| Big Van Vader | Apr 24, 1989 | Super Powers Clash | Tokyo, Japan | 31 days |
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Vader defeated Shinya Hashimoto in the finals of a tournament with Lou Thesz as the special guest referee.
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| Salman Hashimikov | May 25, 1989 | Fighting Satellite | Osaka, Japan | 48 days |
| Riki Choshu | Jul 12, 1989 | Summer Fight Se… | Osaka, Japan | 29 days |
| Big Van Vader [2] | Aug 10, 1989 | Battle Satellit… | Tokyo, Japan | 374 days |
| Riki Choshu [2] | Aug 19, 1990 | Live Event | Tokyo, Japan | 129 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami [3] | Dec 26, 1990 | King of Kings | Hamamatsu, Japan | 22 days |
| Big Van Vader [3] | Jan 17, 1991 | New Year Dash!! | Yokohama, Japan | 46 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami [4] | Mar 4, 1991 | Big Fight Series | Hiroshima, Japan | 306 days |
| Riki Choshu [3] | Jan 4, 1992 | New Japan Super… | Tokyo, Japan | 225 days |
| The Great Muta | Aug 16, 1992 | G1 Climax Special | Fukuoka, Japan | 400 days |
| Shinya Hashimoto | Sep 20, 1993 | G1 Climax Special | Nagoya, Japan | 196 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami [5] | Apr 4, 1994 | Battle Line Kyushu | Hiroshima, Japan | 27 days |
| Shinya Hashimoto [2] | May 1, 1994 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 367 days |
| Keiji Mutoh [2] | May 3, 1995 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 246 days |
| Nobuhiko Takada | Jan 4, 1996 | Wrestling World | Tokyo, Japan | 116 days |
| Shinya Hashimoto [3] | Apr 29, 1996 | Battle Formation | Tokyo, Japan | 489 days |
| Kensuke Sasaki | Aug 31, 1997 | Final Power Hall | Yokohama, Japan | 216 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami [6] | Apr 4, 1998 | Antonio Inoki R… | Tokyo, Japan | 126 days |
| Masahiro Chono | Aug 8, 1998 | Rising The Next… | Osaka, Japan | 44 days |
| ** Vacated Due To Injury** | Sep 21, 1998 | -- | -- | 2 days |
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Chono vacates the title due to injury.
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| Scott Norton | Sep 23, 1998 | G1 Climax Special | Yokohama, Japan | 103 days |
| Keiji Mutoh [3] | Jan 4, 1999 | Wrestling World | Tokyo, Japan | 340 days |
| Genichiro Tenryu | Dec 10, 1999 | Battle Final | Osaka, Japan | 25 days |
| Kensuke Sasaki [2] | Jan 4, 2000 | Wrestling World | Tokyo, Japan | 279 days |
| ** Vacated ** | Oct 9, 2000 | -- | -- | |
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Sasaki vacated the title after lossing to Toshiaki Kawada in a non-title match.
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| Kensuke Sasaki [3] | Jan 4, 2001 | Wrestling World | Tokyo, Japan | 72 days |
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Sasaki defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
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| Scott Norton [2] | Mar 17, 2001 | Hyper Battle | Nagoya, Japan | 23 days |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | Apr 9, 2001 | Strong Style | Tokyo, Japan | 270 days |
| ** Vacated Due To Injury** | Jan 4, 2002 | -- | -- | 43 days |
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Fujita vacates the title due to injury.
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| Tadao Yasuda | Feb 16, 2002 | -- | -- | 48 days |
|
Yasuda defeated Yuji Nagata in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
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| Yuji Nagata | Apr 5, 2002 | -- | -- | 392 days |
| Yoshihiro Takayama | May 2, 2003 | -- | -- | 185 days |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | Nov 3, 2003 | -- | -- | 36 days |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | Dec 9, 2003 | -- | -- | 58 days |
| ** Vacated ** | Feb 5, 2004 | -- | -- | |
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Nakamura vacated the title due to injuries.
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| Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] | Feb 15, 2004 | -- | -- | 26 days |
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Tenzan defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
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| Kensuke Sasaki [4] | Mar 12, 2004 | -- | -- | 16 days |
| Bob Sapp | Mar 28, 2004 | -- | -- | 66 days |
| ** Vacated ** | Jun 2, 2004 | -- | -- | |
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Sapp vacates the title after losing a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita.
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| Kazuyuki Fujita [2] | Jun 5, 2004 | -- | -- | 126 days |
| Kensuke Sasaki [5] | Oct 9, 2004 | -- | -- | 64 days |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan [3] | Dec 12, 2004 | -- | -- | 70 days |
| Satoshi Kojima | Feb 20, 2005 | -- | -- | 83 days |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] | May 14, 2005 | -- | -- | 65 days |
| Kazuyuki Fujita [3] | Jul 18, 2005 | -- | -- | 82 days |
| Brock Lesnar | Oct 8, 2005 | -- | -- | 280 days |
| ** Vacated ** | Jul 15, 2006 | -- | -- | |
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Lesnar vacates the title after being unable to defend the title because of a problem with a working visa. However, Lesnar refuses to turn over the physical belt and is later recognized as champion by Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion with the I.W.G.P. belt.
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| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Jul 17, 2006 | -- | -- | 270 days |
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Tanahashi defeated Giant Bernard in the finals of a tourment for the vacant title.
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| Yuji Nagata [2] | Apr 13, 2007 | -- | -- | 178 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] | Oct 8, 2007 | -- | -- | 88 days |
| Shinsuke Nakamura [2] | Jan 4, 2008 | -- | -- | 114 days |
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On February 17, 2008, Nakamura defeats Kurt Angle to unify the title with the disputed title originally won by Brock Lesnar in 2005.
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| Keiji Mutoh [4] | Apr 27, 2008 | -- | -- | 252 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [3] | Jan 4, 2009 | -- | -- | 122 days |
| Manabu Nakanishi | May 6, 2009 | -- | -- | 45 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] | Jun 20, 2009 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 58 days |
| ** Vacated Due To Injury** | Aug 17, 2009 | -- | -- | 41 days |
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Tanahashi vacates title due to injury.
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| Shinsuke Nakamura [3] | Sep 27, 2009 | Circuit2009 | Kobe, Japan | 218 days |
| Togi Makabe | May 3, 2010 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 161 days |
| Satoshi Kojima [2] | Oct 11, 2010 | Destruction | Tokyo, Japan | 85 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [5] | Jan 4, 2011 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 404 days |
| Kazuchika Okada | Feb 12, 2012 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 125 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] | Jun 16, 2012 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 295 days |
| Kazuchika Okada [2] | Apr 7, 2013 | Invasion Attack | Tokyo, Japan | 391 days |
| A.J. Styles | May 3, 2014 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 153 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [7] | Oct 3, 2014 | King of Pro-Wre… | Tokyo, Japan | 131 days |
| A.J. Styles [2] | Feb 11, 2015 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 144 days |
| Kazuchika Okada [3] | Jul 5, 2015 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 280 days |
| Tetsuya Naito | Apr 10, 2016 | Invasion Attack | Tokyo, Japan | 70 days |
| Kazuchika Okada [4] | Jun 19, 2016 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 720 days |
| Kenny Omega | Jun 9, 2018 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 209 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] | Jan 4, 2019 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 38 days |
| Jay White | Feb 11, 2019 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 54 days |
| Kazuchika Okada [5] | Apr 6, 2019 | G1 Supercard | New York, USA | 274 days |
| Tetsuya Naito [2] | Jan 5, 2020 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 189 days |
| EVIL | Jul 12, 2020 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 48 days |
| Tetsuya Naito [3] | Aug 29, 2020 | Summer Struggle | Tokyo, Japan | 128 days |
| Kota Ibushi | Jan 4, 2021 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 59 days |
| ** Deactivated ** | Mar 4, 2021 | Anniversary Show | Tokyo, Japan | |
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Unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to form the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
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