The International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a championship formerly contested for in the WAR, and later Dragon Gate and later Tenryu Project. This title was the first tag team championship in Japan dedicated to junior heavyweight wrestlers.
Overview[]
It was created in WAR on February 23, 1996 when Gedo and Lionheart defeated Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka in a tournament final. It was deemed inactive in 2000 when WAR folded, and was later revived by Dragon Gate on August 8, 2006. The I-J belts would be unified with the new Open The Twin Gate Championship, a tag title made specifically for Dragon Gate, on October 12, 2007. In September 2010, the championship was reactivated by Tenryu Project and later reinstated after Tenryu Project was revived in June 2021.
Title history[]
| # | Team | Reigns | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gedo and Lionheart | 1 | February 23, 1996 | 33 Days | Tokyo | WAR | Defeated Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka in a tournament final. |
| 2 | Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka | 1 | March 27, 1996 | 115 Days | Nagoya | WAR | |
| 3 | Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai | 1 | July 20, 1996 | 112 Days | Tokyo | 4th Anniversary Show | |
| 4 | Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka | 2 | November 9, 1996 | 95 Days | Tokyo | WAR | |
| 5 | Battle Ranger and Masaaki Mochizuki | 1 | February 12, 1997 | 108 Days | Toyohashi | WAR | |
| 6 | Masashi Aoyagi and Gokuaku Umibouzu | 1 | May 13, 1997 | 134 Days | Tsu | WAR | |
| 7 | Tomohiro Ishii and Yuji Yasuraoka (3) | 1 | October 12, 1997 | 6 Days | Hachioji | WAR | |
| - | Vacated | - | October 18, 1997 | - | - | - | Title vacated. |
| 8 | Masakazu Fukuda and Hiroyoshi Kotsubo | 1 | November 24, 1997 | 253 Days | Yokohama | WAR | Defeated Tomohiro Ishii and Yuji Yasuraoka in a tournament final. |
| - | Vacated | - | August 4, 1998 | - | - | - | Vacated due to Fukuda graduating to the heavyweight division. |
| 9 | Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | 1 | December 11, 1998 | 80 Days | Tokyo | WAR | Defeated Masaaki Mochizuki and Masao Orihara. |
| 10 | Tomohiro Ishii (2) and Yuji Yasuraoka (4) | 2 | March 1, 1999 | 111 Days | Tokyo | WAR | |
| - | Vacated | - | June 20, 1999 | - | - | - | Title becomes vacated when Yasuraoka retires. The title is later retired when WAR closes in 2000 |
| 11 | Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki (2) | 1 | August 6, 2006 | 154 Days | Nagoya | The Gate Of Adventure Tour | Defeated Gamma and Dr. Muscle in a tournament final to revive the title in Dragon Gate. |
| 12 | Gedo (2) and Jado | 1 | January 7, 2007 | 175 Days | Tokyo | NJPW Battle Hall Live Vol. 1 | This match was also for Gedo and Jado's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. |
| 13 | Typhoon (Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka) |
1 | July 1, 2007 | 83 Days | Kobe | Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling Festival in Kobe 2007 | |
| 14 | Tozawa-juku (Kenichiro Arai and Taku Iwasa) |
1 | September 22, 2007 | 20 Days | Tokyo | Storm Gate 2007 - Tag 7 | |
| 15 | Muscle Outlaw'z (Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino) |
1 | October 12, 2007 | 0 | Tokyo | The Gate Of Victory 2007 - Tag 4 | This match was to unify the I-J title into the new Open The Twin Gate Championship title. |
| - | Unified | - | October 12, 2007 | - | - | - | Unified with the Open the Twin Gate title. |
| 16 | Black Tiger V (2) and Masao Orihara | 1 | September 29, 2010 | 667 Days | Tokyo | Tenryu Project Never So | Defeated Madoka and Shinobu when the title is reinstated by Tenryu Project. |
| 17 | Diamond Ring (Katsuhiko Nakajima and Satoshi Kajiwara) |
1 | July 27, 2012 | 266 Days | Tokyo | R-2 Request Tenryu Project 8 | |
| 18 | Hiroki and Masao Orihara (2) | 1 | April 19, 2013 | 165 Days | Toyama | Diamond Ring | |
| - | Vacated | - | October 1, 2013 | - | - | - | |
| 19 | Gamelas and Kuuga | 1 | October 7, 2014 | 404 Days | Tokyo | Tenryu Project Mizuchi-R | Defeated The Kubota Brothers (Hide Kubota and Yasu Kubota) to win the vacant title. |
| - | Vacated | - | November 15, 2015 | - | - | - | |
| 19 | Kenichiro Arai (2) and Shota | 1 | June 23, 2021 | 98 Days | Tokyo | Tenryu Project Survive The Revolution Vol. 5 | Defeated Keita Yano and TORU in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| 20 | Keita Yano and Hikaru Sato | 1 | September 29, 2021 | 233 Days | Tokyo | Tenryu Project Survive The Revolution Vol. 10 | |
| 21 | Naoki Tanizaki and Yusuke Kodama | 1 | May 20, 2022 | 700+ | Tokyo | Tenryu Project Wrestle And Romance Vol. 2 |
Gallery[]
Gedo and Lionheart
Masaaki Mochizuki and Don Fujii
Gedo and Jado
Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka
Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino
Kenichiro Arai and Shota
Keita Yano and Hikaru Sato
Naoki Tanizaki and Yusuke Kodama
