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Click Here For Some Stats New Japan Pro Wrestling
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
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.
** Vacated Due To Injury ** May 2, 1988 -- --
Inoki vacates the title due to injury.
Tatsumi Fujinami May 8, 1988 Super Fight Series Tokyo, Japan 19 days
** Held-Up ** May 27, 1988 -- --
The title is held-up after a no-contest match against Riki Choshu.
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.
Big Van Vader Apr 24, 1989 Super Powers Clash Tokyo, Japan 31 days
Vader defeated Shinya Hashimoto in the finals of a tournament with Lou Thesz as the special guest referee.
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 -- --
Chono vacates the title due to injury.
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 -- --
Sasaki vacated the title after lossing to Toshiaki Kawada in a non-title match.
Kensuke Sasaki [3] Jan 4, 2001 Wrestling World Tokyo, Japan 72 days
Sasaki defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
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 -- --
Fujita vacates the title due to injury.
Tadao Yasuda Feb 16, 2002 Fighting Spirit Tokyo, Japan 48 days
Yasuda defeated Yuji Nagata in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
Yuji Nagata Apr 5, 2002 Toukon Special Tokyo, Japan 392 days
Yoshihiro Takayama May 2, 2003 Ultimate Crush Tokyo, Japan 185 days
Hiroyoshi Tenzan Nov 3, 2003 Yokohama Dead Out Yokohama, Japan 36 days
Shinsuke Nakamura Dec 9, 2003 Battle Final Osaka, Japan 58 days
** Vacated ** Feb 5, 2004 -- --
Nakamura vacated the title due to injuries.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] Feb 15, 2004 -- -- 26 days
Tenzan defeated Genichiro Tenryu in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
Kensuke Sasaki [4] Mar 12, 2004 Hyper Battle Tokyo, Japan 16 days
Bob Sapp Mar 28, 2004 King Of Sports Tokyo, Japan 66 days
** Vacated ** Jun 2, 2004 -- --
Sapp vacates the title after losing a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita.
Kazuyuki Fujita [2] Jun 5, 2004 Best of the Sup… Osaka, Japan 126 days
Kensuke Sasaki [5] Oct 9, 2004 Pro-Wrestlers B… Tokyo, Japan 64 days
Hiroyoshi Tenzan [3] Dec 12, 2004 Battle Final Nagoya, Japan 70 days
Satoshi Kojima Feb 20, 2005 New Year Gold S… Tokyo, Japan 83 days
Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] May 14, 2005 Nexess Tokyo, Japan 65 days
Kazuyuki Fujita [3] Jul 18, 2005 Summer Fight Se… Sapporo, Japan 82 days
Brock Lesnar Oct 8, 2005 Toukon Souzou Tokyo, Japan 280 days
** 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.
Hiroshi Tanahashi Jul 17, 2006 Circuit Turbulence Sapporo, Japan 270 days
Tanahashi defeated Giant Bernard in the finals of a tourment for the vacant title.
Yuji Nagata [2] Apr 13, 2007 35th Anniversar… Osaka, Japan 178 days
Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] Oct 8, 2007 Explosion Tokyo, Japan 88 days
Shinsuke Nakamura [2] Jan 4, 2008 Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo, Japan 114 days
On February 17, 2008, Nakamura defeats Kurt Angle to unify the title with the disputed title originally won by Brock Lesnar in 2005.
Keiji Mutoh [4] Apr 27, 2008 Circuit2008 Osaka, Japan 252 days
Hiroshi Tanahashi [3] Jan 4, 2009 Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo, Japan 122 days
Manabu Nakanishi May 6, 2009 Dissidence Tokyo, Japan 45 days
Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] Jun 20, 2009 Dominion Osaka, Japan 58 days
** Vacated Due To Injury ** Aug 17, 2009 -- --
Tanahashi vacates title due to injury.
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
Unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to form the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.