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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 | -- | -- | 325 days |
|
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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| ** Title Vacated ** | May 2, 1988 | -- | -- | |
|
Inoki vacates the title due to injury.
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| Tatsumi Fujinami | May 8, 1988 | -- | -- | 19 days |
| ** Title Held-Up ** | May 27, 1988 | -- | -- | |
|
The title is held-up after a no-contest match against Riki Choshu.
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| Tatsumi Fujinami | Jun 24, 1988 | -- | -- | 285 days |
| ** Title 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 | -- | -- | 31 days |
|
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 | -- | -- | 48 days |
| Riki Choshu | Jul 12, 1989 | -- | -- | 29 days |
| Big Van Vader | Aug 10, 1989 | -- | -- | 374 days |
| Riki Choshu | Aug 19, 1990 | -- | -- | 129 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | Dec 26, 1990 | -- | -- | 22 days |
| Big Van Vader | Jan 17, 1991 | -- | -- | 46 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | Mar 4, 1991 | -- | -- | 306 days |
| Riki Choshu | Jan 4, 1992 | -- | -- | 225 days |
| The Great Muta | Aug 16, 1992 | -- | -- | 400 days |
| Shinya Hashimoto | Sep 20, 1993 | -- | -- | 196 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | Apr 4, 1994 | -- | -- | 27 days |
| Shinya Hashimoto | May 1, 1994 | -- | -- | 367 days |
| Keiji Mutoh | May 3, 1995 | -- | -- | 246 days |
| Nobuhiko Takada | Jan 4, 1996 | -- | -- | 116 days |
| Shinya Hashimoto | Apr 29, 1996 | -- | -- | 489 days |
| Kensuke Sasaki | Aug 31, 1997 | -- | -- | 216 days |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | Apr 4, 1998 | -- | -- | 126 days |
| Masahiro Chono | Aug 8, 1998 | -- | -- | 44 days |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Sep 21, 1998 | -- | -- | |
|
Chono vacates the title due to injury.
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| Scott Norton | Sep 23, 1998 | -- | -- | 103 days |
| Keiji Mutoh | Jan 4, 1999 | -- | -- | 340 days |
| Genichiro Tenryu | Dec 10, 1999 | -- | -- | 25 days |
| Kensuke Sasaki | Jan 4, 2000 | -- | -- | 279 days |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Oct 9, 2000 | -- | -- | |
|
Sasaki vacated the title after lossing to Toshiaki Kawada in a non-title match.
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| Kensuke Sasaki | Jan 4, 2001 | -- | -- | 72 days |
|
Sasaki defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
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| Scott Norton | Mar 17, 2001 | -- | -- | 23 days |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | Apr 9, 2001 | -- | -- | 270 days |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Jan 4, 2002 | -- | -- | |
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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 |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Feb 5, 2004 | -- | -- | |
|
Nakamura vacated the title due to injuries.
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| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | Feb 15, 2004 | -- | -- | 26 days |
|
Tenzan defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
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| Kensuke Sasaki | Mar 12, 2004 | -- | -- | 16 days |
| Bob Sapp | Mar 28, 2004 | -- | -- | 66 days |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Jun 2, 2004 | -- | -- | |
|
Sapp vacates the title after losing a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita.
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| Kazuyuki Fujita | Jun 5, 2004 | -- | -- | 126 days |
| Kensuke Sasaki | Oct 9, 2004 | -- | -- | 64 days |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | Dec 12, 2004 | -- | -- | 70 days |
| Satoshi Kojima | Feb 20, 2005 | -- | -- | 83 days |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | May 14, 2005 | -- | -- | 65 days |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | Jul 18, 2005 | -- | -- | 82 days |
| Brock Lesnar | Oct 8, 2005 | -- | -- | 280 days |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Jul 15, 2006 | -- | -- | |
|
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 | Apr 13, 2007 | -- | -- | 178 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Oct 8, 2007 | -- | -- | 88 days |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | 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 | Apr 27, 2008 | -- | -- | 252 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Jan 4, 2009 | -- | -- | 122 days |
| Manabu Nakanishi | May 6, 2009 | -- | -- | 45 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Jun 20, 2009 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 58 days |
| ** Title Vacated ** | Aug 17, 2009 | -- | -- | |
|
Tanahashi vacates title due to injury.
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| Shinsuke Nakamura | Sep 27, 2009 | Circuit2009 | Kobe, Japan | 218 days |
| Togi Makabe | May 3, 2010 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 161 days |
| Satoshi Kojima | Oct 11, 2010 | Destruction | Tokyo, Japan | 85 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Jan 4, 2011 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 404 days |
| Kazuchika Okada | Feb 12, 2012 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 125 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Jun 16, 2012 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 295 days |
| Kazuchika Okada | Apr 7, 2013 | Invasion Attack | Tokyo, Japan | 391 days |
| A.J. Styles | May 3, 2014 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 153 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Oct 3, 2014 | King of Pro-Wre… | Tokyo, Japan | 131 days |
| A.J. Styles | Feb 11, 2015 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 144 days |
| Kazuchika Okada | Jul 5, 2015 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 280 days |
| Tetsuya Naito | Apr 10, 2016 | Invasion Attack | Tokyo, Japan | 70 days |
| Kazuchika Okada | Jun 19, 2016 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 720 days |
| Kenny Omega | Jun 9, 2018 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 209 days |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Jan 4, 2019 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 38 days |
| Jay White | Feb 11, 2019 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 54 days |
| Kazuchika Okada | Apr 6, 2019 | G1 Supercard | New York, NY, USA | 274 days |
| Tetsuya Naito | Jan 5, 2020 | Wrestle Kingdom | Tokyo, Japan | 189 days |
| EVIL | Jul 12, 2020 | Dominion | Osaka, Japan | 48 days |
| Tetsuya Naito | 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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