IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
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The IWGP (International Wrestling Grand Prix) World Heavyweight Championship is the top singles title in New Japan Pro Wrestling. It has existed since 1987 and has World Title status per Pro Wrestling Illustrated. It is one of the two World Titles in Japan, the other being the AJPW Triple Crown Championship.
Title history
| Wrestlers: | Reigns: | Date: | Place: |
| Hulk Hogan | 1 | June 2 1983 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Antonio Inoki in tournament final) |
| Antonio Inoki | 1 | June 14 1984 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Vacated | May 19 1986 | ||
| Antonio Inoki | 2 | June 19 1986 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Dick Murdoch in tournament final) |
| Vacated | May 1 1988 | Inoki broke his foot | |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 1 | May 8 1988 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Big Van Vader) |
| Held Up | May 27 1988 | Title Held Up after match against Riki Choshu | |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 2 | June 24 1988 | Osaka, Japan (Won rematch) |
| Vacated | April 5 1989 | Vacated to allow tournament to increase title's value | |
| Big Van Vader | 1 | April 24 1989 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Shinya Hashimoto in tournament final) |
| Salman Hashimokov | 1 | May 25 1989 | Osaka, Japan |
| Riki Choshu | 1 | July 12 1989 | Osaka, Japan |
| Big Van Vader | 2 | August 10 1989 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Riki Choshu | 2 | August 19 1990 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 3 | December 26 1990 | Hamamatsu, Japan |
| Big Van Vader | 3 | January 17 1991 | Yokohama, Japan |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 4 | March 4 1991 | Hiroshima, Japan |
| Riki Choshu | 3 | January 4 1992 | Tokyo, Japan |
| The Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh) | 1 | August 16 1992 | Fukuoka, Japan |
| Shinya Hashimoto | 1 | September 20 1993 | Nagoya, Japan |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 5 | April 4 1994 | Hiroshima, Japan |
| Shinya Hashimoto | 2 | May 1 1994 | Fukuoka, Japan |
| Keiji Mutoh | 2 | May 3 1995 | Fukuoka, Japan |
| Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | January 4 1996 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Shinya Hashimoto | 3 | April 29 1996 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | August 31 1997 | Yokohama, Japan |
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 6 | April 4 1998 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Masahiro Chono | 1 | August 8 1998 | Osaka, Japan |
| Vacated | September 21 1998 | Chono suffers neck injury | |
| Scott Norton | 1 | September 23 1998 | Yokohama, Japan (Defeated Yuji Nagata) |
| Keiji Mutoh | 3 | January 4 1999 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | December 10 1999 | Osaka, Japan |
| Kensuke Sasaki | 2 | January 4 2000 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Vacated | October 9 2000 | Vacated because he lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada | |
| Kensuke Sasaki | 3 | January 4 2001 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Toshiaki Kawada in tournament final) |
| Scott Norton | 2 | March 17 2001 | Nagoya, Japan |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | 1 | April 9 2001 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Vacated | January 4 2002 | Fujita injured | |
| Tadao Yasuda | 1 | February 16 2002 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Yuji Nagata in tournament final) |
| Yuji Nagata | 1 | April 5 2002 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | May 2 2003 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 1 | November 3 2003 | Yokohama, Japan |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | December 9 2003 | Osaka, Japan |
| Vacated | February 5 2004 | Nakamura injured | |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | February 15 2004 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Genichiro Tenryu in tournament final) |
| Kensuke Sasaki | 4 | March 12 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Bob Sapp | 1 | March 28 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Vacated | June 1 2004 | Vacated after losing to Kazuyuki Fujita in an MMA match | |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | 2 | June 5 2004 | Osaka, Japan (Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi) |
| Kensuke Sasaki | 5 | October 9 2004 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 3 | December 12 2004 | Nagoya, Japan |
| Satoshi Kojima | 1 | February 20 2005 | Tokyo, Japan (Also holds AJPW Triple Crown World Heavyweight Championship at the same time) |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 4 | May 14 2005 | Tokyo, Japan |
| Kazuyuki Fujita | 3 | July 18 2005 | Sapporo, Japan |
| Brock Lesnar | 1 | October 8 2005 | Tokyo, Japan (Defeated Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono in a 3-way match.) |
| Vacated | July 15 2006 | Vacated due to "visa issues" | |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | July 17 2006 | Sapporo, Japan (Defeated Giant Bernard in tournament final) |
See also
- List of IWGP World Heavyweight Championship reigns by length
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- List of Number of World Title Reigns
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