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.
Final champion Kota Ibushi
Five-time champion Kazuchika Okada holds the records for longest reign at 720 days, longest combined reign at 1,790 days, most defenses in one reign at 12, and most combined defenses at 30.
Record eight-time champion Hiroshi Tanahashi
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently owned by card game company Bushiroad, while TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of the company. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Hiroshi Tanahashi has served as the president of the promotion since December 2023.
NJPW headquarters in Nakano, Tokyo
Image: Jon Moxley Oct 2021
Image: 2023.11.04 David Finlay (cropped)
Image: SHO (wrestler)
