IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Details
Current Champion(s)	Will Ospreay
Date Won	January 4, 2018
Promotion(s)	New Japan Pro Wrestling Ring of Honor (ROH)
Date Established	February 6, 1986
Statistics
First champion(s)	Shiro Koshinaka
Most reigns	Jushin Thunder Liger (11 reigns)
Longest reign	Jushin Thunder Liger (628 days)
Shortest reign	Juventud Guerrera (7 days)

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is the top singles junior heavweight championship in the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix.

Overview

The title was introduced on February 6, 1986, at a NJPW show. Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold the championship. NJPW currently controls two junior heavyweight championships: the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The weight-limit for the tag team title is 100 kg (220 lb); it is assumed that this title has the same weight-limit. From August 5, 1996, until November 5, 1997, the title was part of the J-Crown, or J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship. The J-Crown was an assembly of eight different championships from several different promotions. It was created on August 5, 1996, when The Great Sasuke won an eight-man tournament. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Welterweight Championship, the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship, the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, and the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship were the eight championships that were involved. On November 5, 1997, then-champion Shinjiro Otani vacated all J-Crown belts but the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) retook control of its Light Heavyweight title, effectively ending the J-Crown.

Title history

#	Wrestlers	Reign	Date	Length	Location	Successful defenses	Notes
1	Shiro Koshinaka	1	February 6, 1986	102 Days	Tokyo	1	Defeated The Cobra in a tournament final to become the first champion
2	Nobuhiko Takada	1	May 19, 1986	123 Days	Tokyo	6
3	Shiro Koshinaka	2	September 19, 1986	317 Days	Fukuoka	2
0.0 —	Vacated	0.0 —	August 2, 1987	0.0 —	0.0 —	0.0 —	Koshinaka vacated the championship due to injuring his right ankle.
04 4	Kuniaki Kobayashi	01 1	August 20, 1987	129 Days	Tokyo	1	Defeated Nobuhiko Takada to win the vacant championship.
05 5	Hiroshi Hase	01 1	December 27, 1987	152 Days	Tokyo	3
06 6	Owen Hart	01 1	May 27, 1988	28 Days	Sendai	1
07 7	Shiro Koshinaka	3	June 24, 1988	265 Days	Osaka	6
08 8	Hiroshi Hase	2	March 16, 1989	70 Days	Yokohama	0
09 9	Jushin Liger	1	May 25, 1989	77 Days	Osaka	2
10 10	Naoki Sano	1	August 10, 1989	174 Days	Tokyo	2
11 11	Jushin Thunder Liger	2	January 31, 1990	200 Days	Osaka	1	Previously known as Jushin Liger.
12	Pegasus Kid	1	August 19, 1990	74 Days	Tokyo	0
13	Jushin Thunder Liger	3	November 1, 1990	165 Days	Tokyo	2
—	Vacated	—	April 15, 1991	—	—	—	Liger vacated the championship so a new champion could be decided in the Top of the Super Juniors tournament.
14	Norio Honaga	1	April 30, 1991	43 Days	Tokyo	2	Defeated Jushin Thunder Liger in the finals of the Top of the Super Juniors tournament.
15	Jushin Thunder Liger	4	June 12, 1991	58 Days	Tokyo	0
16	Akira Nogami	01 1	August 9, 1991	88 Days	Tokyo	1
17	Norio Honaga	2	November 5, 1991	95 Days	Tokyo	1
18	Jushin Thunder Liger	5	February 8, 1992	139 Days	Sapporo	3
19	El Samurai	1	June 26, 1992	149 Days	Tokyo	5
20	Ultimo Dragon	1	November 22, 1992	43 Days	Tokyo	1
21	Jushin Thunder Liger	6	January 4, 1993	628 Days	Tokyo	5
0.0 —	Vacated	0.0 —	September 24, 1994	0.0 —	0.0 —	0.0 —	Liger vacated the championship due to fracturing his left ankle.
22	Norio Honaga	3	September 27, 1994	145 Days	Osaka	6	Honaga defeated Wild Pegasus in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
23	Koji Kanemoto	1	February 19, 1995	73 Days	Tokyo	2
24	Sabu	1	May 3, 1995	42 Days	Fukuoka	1
25	Koji Kanemoto	2	June 14, 1995	204 Days	Tokyo	2	This match was also for Kanemoto's UWA World Welterweight Championship.
26	Jushin Thunder Liger	7	January 4, 1996	116 Days	Tokyo	2
27	The Great Sasuke	1	April 29, 1996	165 Days	Tokyo	5	On August 5, 1996, Sasuke won an 8-man tournament to form the J-Crown, an octuple-belt championship that includes the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title; these titles were still considered separate, but were defended together.
28	Ultimo Dragon	2	October 11, 1996	85 Days	Osaka	7
29	Jushin Thunder Liger	2	January 4, 1997	183 Days	Osaka	4	Liger lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship from the J-Crown on June 6, 1997, but continued to defend the other 7 belts.
30	El Samurai	2	July 6, 1997	35 Days	Sapporo	0
31	Shinjiro Otani	1	August 10, 1997	181 Days	Nagoya	5	On November 5, 1997, Otani vacated all J-Crown belts but the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title after the WWF retook control of its Light Heavyweight title, effectively ending the J-Crown.
32	Jushin Thunder Liger	9	February 7, 1998	403 Days	Sapporo	8
33	Koji Kanemoto	1	March 17, 1999	164 Days	Hiroshima	3
34	Kendo Kashin	1	August 28, 1999	44 Days	Tokyo	1	Kashin had is own version of the title
35	Jushin Thunder Liger	10	October 11, 1999	49 Days	Tokyo	1
36	Juventud Guerrera	1	November 29, 1999	7 Days	Denver, United States	0
37	Jushin Thunder Liger	11	December 6, 1999	227 Days	Milwaukee, United States	3	Psychosis replaced Guerrera in the match due to Guerrera suffering a fractured right arm.
38	Tatsuhito Takaiwa	1	July 20, 2000	101 Days	Sapporo	2
39	Minoru Tanaka	1	October 29, 2000	264 Days	Kobe	2
40	Masayuki Naruse	1	July 20, 2001	80 Days	Sapporo	1
41	Kendo Kashin	2	October 8, 2001	131 Days	Tokyo	2
42	Minoru Tanaka	2	February 16, 2002	153 Days	Tokyo	3
43	Koji Kanemoto	4	July 19, 2002	278 Days	Sapporo	6
44	Tiger Mask	1	April 23, 2003	153 Days	Tokyo
0.0 —	Vacated	0.0 —	September 23, 2003	0.0 —	0.0 —	0.0 —	The championship was vacated so it could be contested for in a battle royal.
45	Jado	1	October 13, 2003	62 Days	Tokyo	1	Jado defeated Dick Togo, El Samurai, Gedo, Heat, Jushin Thunder Liger,  Katsushi Takemura, Koji Kanemoto, Masahito Kakihara, Masayuki Naruse and Tiger Mask in a battle royal to win the vacant championship.
46	Heat	2	December 14, 2003	387 Days	Nagoya	11	Previously known as Minoru Tanaka.
47	Tiger Mask	2	January 4, 2005	277 Days	Tokyo	3
48	Black Tiger	1	October 8, 2005	134 Days	Tokyo	1	This match was also for Black Tiger's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
49	Tiger Mask	3	February 19, 2006	73 Days	Tokyo	1	This match was also for Black Tiger's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
50	Koji Kanemoto	5	May 3, 2006	235 Days	Fukuoka	1
51	Minoru	4	December 24, 2006	194 Days	Tokyo	4	Previously known as Minoru Tanaka/Heat
52	Ryusuke Taguchi	1	July 6, 2007	155 Days	Tokyo	4
53	Wataru Inoue	1	December 8, 2007	191 Days	Osaka	3
—	Vacated	—	June 16, 2008	—	—	—	The championship was vacated when Inoue moved to the heavyweight division.
54	Tiger Mask	4	July 8, 2008	75 Days	Fukuoka	3	Tiger Mask defeated Prince Devitt in a tournament final to win the vacant championship
55	Low Ki	1	September 21, 2008	105 Days	Kobe	1
56	Tiger Mask	5	January 4, 2009	223 Days	Tokyo	4
57	Místico	1	August 15, 2009	85 Days	Tokyo	2
58	Tiger Mask	6	November 8, 2009	57 Days	Tokyo	0
59	Naomichi Marufuji	1	January 4, 2010	166 Days	Tokyo	5
60	Prince Devitt	1	June 19, 2010	364 Days	Osaka	7
61	Kota Ibushi	1	June 18, 2011	85 Days	Tokyo	2
—	Vacated	—	September 12, 2011	—	—	—	The championship was vacated after Ibushi was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
62	Prince Devitt	2	September 19, 2011	227 Days	Kobe	4	Devitt defeated KUSHIDA to win the vacant championship.
63	Low Ki	2	May 3, 2012	87 Days	Fukuoka	1
64	Kota Ibushi	2	July 29, 2012	71 Days	Tokyo	2
65	Low Ki	3	October 8, 2012	34 Days	Tokyo	0
66	Prince Devitt	3	November 11, 2012	419 Days	Osaka	4
67	Kota Ibushi	3	January 4, 2014	181 Days	Tokyo	4
68	KUSHIDA	1	July 4, 2014	79 Days	Tokyo	0
69	Ryusuke Taguchi	2	September 21, 2014	105 Days	Kobe	2
70	Kenny Omega	1	January 4, 2015	182 Days	Tokyo	3
71	KUSHIDA	2	July 5, 2015	80 Days	Osaka	1
72	Kenny Omega	2	September 23, 2015	103 Days	Okayama	1
73	KUSHIDA	3	January 4, 2016	257 Days	Tokyo	5
74	BUSHI	1	September 17, 2016	49 Days	Tokyo	0
75	KUSHIDA	4	November 5, 2016	60 Days	Osaka	0
76	Hiromu Takahashi	1	January 4, 2017	158 Days	Tokyo	4
77	KUSHIDA	5	June 11, 2017	120 Days	Osaka	2
78	Will Ospreay	1	October 9, 2017	27 Days	Tokyo	0
79	Marty Scurll	1	November 5, 2017	60 Days	Osaka	0
80	Will Ospreay	2	January 4, 2018	2297+	Tokyo	0	This was a four-way match, also involving Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA.

Combined reigns

†	Indicates the current champion

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined defenses	Combined days
01 1	Liger Jushin Liger/Jushin Thunder Liger	11 11	31 31	2245 2,245
02 2	Devitt Prince Devitt	03 3	15 15	1010 1,010
03 3	Heat/Minoru/Minoru Tanaka Heat/Minoru/Minoru Tanaka	04 4	20 20	0998 998
04 4	Kanemoto Koji Kanemoto	05 5	14 14	0954 954
05 5	Tiger Mask Tiger Mask	06 6	12 12	0858 858
06 6	Koshinaka Shiro Koshinaka	03 3	09 9	0702 702
07 7	Kushida KUSHIDA	05 5	08 8	0596 596
08 8	Ibushi Kota Ibushi	03 3	08 8	0337 337
09 9	Omega Kenny Omega	02 2	04 4	0285 285
10 10	Honaga Norio Honaga	03 3	09 9	0283 283
11 11	Taguchi Ryusuke Taguchi	02 2	06 6	0260 260
12 12	Low Ki Low Ki	03 3	02 2	0226 226
13 13	Hase Hiroshi Hase	02 2	03 3	0195 195
14 14	Inoue Wataru Inoue	01 1	02 2	0191 191
15 15	Samurai El Samurai	02 2	03 3	0184 184
16 16	Otani Shinjiro Otani	01 1	05 5	0181 181
17 17	Sano Naoki Sano	01 1	02 2	0174 174
18 18	Marufuji Naomichi Marufuji	01 1	05 5	0166 166
19 19	The Great Sasuke The Great Sasuke	01 1	05 5	0165 165
20 20	Kashin Kendo Kashin/Tokimitsu Ishizawa	02 2	03 3	0160 160
21 21	Takahashi Hiromu Takahashi	01 1	04 4	0158 158
22 22	Black Tiger Black Tiger	01 1	01 1	0134 134
23 23	Kobayashi Kuniaki Kobayashi	01 1	01 1	0129 129
24 24	Ultimo Dragón Último Dragón	02 2	08 8	0128 128
25 25	Takada Nobuhiko Takada	01 1	06 6	0123 123
26 26	Takaiwa Tatsuhito Takaiwa	01 1	01 1	0101 101
27 27	Nogami Akira Nogami	01 1	01 1	0088 88
28 28	Mistico Místico	01 1	02 2	0085 85
29 29	Naruse Masayuki Naruse	01 1	01 1	0080 80
30 30	Pegasus Kid Pegasus Kid	01 1	00 0	0074 74
31 31	Jado Jado	01 1	01 1	0062 62
32 32	Scurll Marty Scurll	01 1	00 0	0060 60
33 33	Bushi BUSHI	01 1	00 0	0049 49
34 34	Sabu Sabu	01 1	01 1	0042 42
35 35	Hart Owen Hart	01 1	01 1	0028 28
36 36	Ospreay Will Ospreay †	02 2	00 0	002324 2324+
37 37	Guerrera Juventud Guerrera	01 1	00 0	0007 7

Footnotes

A. ^{^} Each wrestler's total number of days as champion is ranked highest to lowest; wrestlers with the same number are tied for that certain rank.

Gallery

• Gallery
• Champions

Original belt design

Second belt design

Thrid belt design

Kendo Kashin belt design

BUSHI belt design

Shiro Koshinaka

Nobuhiko Takada

Kuniaki Kobayashi

Hiroshi Hase

Owen Hart

Jushin Thunder Liger

Norio Honaga

Naoki Sano

Pegasus Kid

El Samurai

Último Drágon

Koji Kanemoto

Sabu

The Great Sasuke

Kendo Kashin

Tatsuhito Takaiwa

Minoru Tanaka/Minoru/Heat

Masayuki Naruse

Tiger Mask

Jado

Black Tiger

Ryusuke Taguchi

Wataru Inoue

Low Ki

Místico

Naomichi Marufuji

Prince Devitt

Kota Ibushi

KUSHIDA

Kenny Omega

BUSHI

Hiromu Takahashi

Will Ospreay

Marty Scurll