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IWGP Heavyweight Championship (original version)

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IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedJune 2, 1983
Date retiredMay 11, 1987
Other name(s)
IWGP Championship
This article is about the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship. For other versions, see IWGP Heavyweight Championship (disambiguation).

The original version of IWGP Heavyweight Championship (IWGPヘビー級王座, IWGP hebī-kyū ōza) was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the initialism of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix.[1]

The title was introduced in 1983 for the winner of the IWGP League 1983. Since then, the championship was defended annually against the winner of the IWGP League of the year. The 1987–2021 IWGP Heavyweight Championship debuted in 1987 (replacing this version) and was defended regularly; the original IWGP belt was kept in use until 1997.[2]

Discover more about IWGP Heavyweight Championship (original version) related topics

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around mock combat matches that are usually performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing. The dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or—as in televised wrestling shows—in backstage areas of the venue, in similar form to reality television.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd. (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of the company. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Takami Ohbari has served as the president of the promotion since October 2020.

Professional wrestling promotion

Professional wrestling promotion

A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within the convention of the show, the company is a sports governing body which sanctions wrestling matches and gives authority to the championships and is responsible for maintaining the divisions and their rankings. In truth, the company serves as a touring theatre troupe, as well as event promotion body for its own events.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world 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 June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWGP tournament. It was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on March 4, 2021 to form the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Title history

The inaugural champion was determined in the 1983 edition of the IWGP League, a 10-man round-robin tournament. Wrestlers from several promotions worldwide participated. Participants included World Heavyweight Champions from other international promotions (such as Canek, at the time UWA World Heavyweight Champion or Otto Wanz, at the time CWA World Heavyweight Champion).[2]

Hulk Hogan won the tournament, after beating Antonio Inoki via knockout. As a result, Hogan became the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion in this format.[3]

Since then, the championship was defended annually against the winner of the IWGP League of the year. Antonio Inoki won the title in 1984. Inoki successfully defended it in 1985 against Andrè the Giant (IWGP League winner of 1985) and Hulk Hogan. Hogan was the only challenger that didn't win the tournament to challenge for the championship.[2]

In 1986, Inoki vacated the title, because he wanted to compete in the IWGP League. Therefore, the 1986 edition was the first to crown a new Champion since the 1983 edition. Inoki won the 1986 League, and became champion for the second time.[2]

In 1987, the title was deactivated and replaced by a new version of IWGP Heavyweight Championship (active between 1987 and 2021), which was awarded to the winner of the IWGP League 1987.[2] The new championship was defended regularly, rather than as part of a tournament. Its lineage does not acknowledge the champions of the original title.

Discover more about Title history related topics

UWA World Heavyweight Championship

UWA World Heavyweight Championship

The UWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally promoted by Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) until it closed in 1995. After UWA's closure, the title was sporadically, unofficially defended on the Mexican independent circuit. In the past the title has been defended in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) when the champion worked for those companies. Lou Thez was the first UWA World Heavyweight champion, having been awarded the title after wrestling Mil Mascaras to a draw on the very first UWA show. El Canek has held the Championship the most times, 15 reigns all in all, 13 of those before the UWA closed. Canek is also the one that kept the championship active after the UWA closed, defending it on the independent circuit. Dr. Wagner, Jr. was the final UWA World Heavyweight champion having defeated Canek on June 18, 2004. During Dr. Wagner, Jr's time in AAA, they sometimes acknowledged the title, having had shown him with the belt on numerous occasions.

Otto Wanz

Otto Wanz

Otto Wanz was an Austrian professional wrestler and boxer. He made his professional wrestling debut in 1968. He is a one time American Wrestling Association champion and former operator of the Catch Wrestling Association, where he was the promotion's inaugural World Heavyweight Champion, winning the title four times. He is overall a five-time world champion and the longest reigning world champion in Europe.

CWA World Heavyweight Championship

CWA World Heavyweight Championship

The CWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the top title of the German professional wrestling promotion Catch Wrestling Association (CWA). The title was created on August 2, 1973 and deactivated on December 4, 1999. The championship was contested under 15 three-minute rounds.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan

Terry Gene Bollea, better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 1980s, as well as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Antonio Inoki

Antonio Inoki

Muhammad Hussain Inoki was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name Antonio Inoki , a homage to fellow professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. Inoki was a twelve-time professional wrestling world champion, notably being the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the first Asian WWF Heavyweight Champion – a reign not officially recognized by WWE.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world 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 June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWGP tournament. It was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on March 4, 2021 to form the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Reigns

Key
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
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Hulk Hogan June 2, 1983 IWGP League 1983 Tokyo, Japan 1 378 0 Hogan defeated Antonio Inoki via knockout in the IWGP League 1983 final, becoming the first champion. [2]
2 Antonio Inoki June 14, 1984 IWGP League 1984 Tokyo, Japan 1 701 2 [2]
— Vacated May 16, 1986 — — — — — Inoki gives up the championship, because he wanted compete in the IWGP League again. [2]
3 Antonio Inoki June 19, 1986 IWGP League 1986 Tokyo, Japan 2 326 0 Inoki defeated Dick Murdoch in the IWGP League 1986 final. [2]
— Deactivated May 11, 1987 — — — — — The championship was deactivated and replaced by the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, that was awarded to the winner of the IWGP League 1987. [2]

Discover more about Reigns related topics

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan

Terry Gene Bollea, better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 1980s, as well as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Tokyo

Tokyo

Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 million residents as of 2018; the city proper has a population of 13.99 million people. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Japan's economic center and is the seat of both the Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan.

Antonio Inoki

Antonio Inoki

Muhammad Hussain Inoki was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name Antonio Inoki , a homage to fellow professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. Inoki was a twelve-time professional wrestling world champion, notably being the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the first Asian WWF Heavyweight Champion – a reign not officially recognized by WWE.

Dick Murdoch

Dick Murdoch

Hoyt Richard Murdoch was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world 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 June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWGP tournament. It was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on March 4, 2021 to form the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Combined reigns

Rank Champion No. of reigns Combined
defenses 		Combined days
1 Antonio Inoki 2 2 1027
2 Hulk Hogan 1 0 378

Source: "IWGP Heavyweight Championship (original version)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, May 3rd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWGP_Heavyweight_Championship_(original_version).

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Further Reading

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Antonio Inoki

Masahiro Chono

Stan Hansen

Dick Murdoch

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Tatsumi Fujinami

Kazuyuki Fujita

Riki Choshu

IWGP Tag Team Championship

G1 Climax

Shingo Takagi

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

NWF Heavyweight Championship

Shiro Koshinaka

List of IWGP Tag Team Champions
References
  1. ^ "WK9 101: The Intro". Global Force Wrestling. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING GRAND PRIX CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  3. ^ "The 1st International Wrestling Grand Prix Championship Tournament". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
External links
Sporting positions
Preceded by New Japan Pro-Wrestling's top heavyweight championship
1983–1987 		Succeeded by
Categories

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