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The World Junior Heavyweight Championship is the top singles junior heavyweight championship in the All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion. The title was introduced on July 31, 1986, at an AJPW show. Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold the 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. The title has been defended outside All Japan several times, mainly in Pro Wrestling Noah.

Overview[]

On June 1986 Tiger Mask vacated the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship to graduate to the heavyweight division. Later on July 31, 1986 when Hiro Saito defeated Brad Armstrong All Japan Pro Wrestling assumed Saito was their first World Junior Heavyweight Championship. The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship has no relation with The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. Also, the championship is not referred to as the PWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship which Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) is another governing body of All Japan. The championship changed hands with various Japanese wrestlers and gaijins.

On July 16, 2000, the World Junior Heavyweight Championship including the rest of the AJPW Champions were vacated due to Yoshinari Ogawa and several AJPW wrestler joining Mitsuharu Misawa exodus to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. Eleven months later Kendo Kashin faced Masanobu Fuchi for the vacated championship which Kashin won. On February 12, 2004, the championship was vacated due to inactivity. Ten days later the Kaz Hayashi defeated Blue-K for the vacated championship. On January 10, 2005, at Kaientai Dojo the championship changed hands in another promotion for the first time when Taka Michinoku defeated Kaz Hayashi for the championship the title match was also for the Champion of Strongest-K. On October 18, 2007, after a title defense between Katsuhiko Nakajima and Silver King ended in a no contest, Nakajima remained the official champion.

On October 25, 2008, the championship was first defended in another promotion the AJPW rival promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH when Naomichi Marufuji fought KENTA in a double title match also for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, the match ended in a time limit draw. It was also an attempt to unify the titles. Due to the match ending in a time limit draw, both champions kept their titles in the hands of their respective holder, while gaining favorable reviews for their efforts by the media with some claiming it to be a Match of the Year.

On November 30, 2015, while Kotaro Suzuki was the World Junior Heavyweight Championship he announced that he was going to leave AJPW to become a freelancer. Following the announcement, the World Junior Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Later the new championship was going to be decided in the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory. On February 21, 2016, Atsushi Aoki defeated Hikaru Sato in the finals to win the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory and the vacant World Junior Heavyweight Championship. The original World Junior Heavyweight Championship belt had a similar design to the title it replaced, the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship, which had been around since 1982 and only replacing the word "International" with "World". This belt was replaced with a new belt on August 27, 2017. On June 3, 2019, Atsushi Aoki died in a motorcycle accident. AJPW announced Aoki would be recognized as champion until November 20. On October 24, AJPW announced a tournament to crown a new champion starting on November 21 and finishing on January 3, 2020, with the promotion also announcing that was going to change the title design with the other belt going to Aoki's family as a relic.

Title history[]

# Wrestlers Reign Date Length Location Successful defenses Notes
1 Hiro Saito 1 July 31, 1986 115 Days Tokyo 3 Defeated Brad Armstrong in a tournament final.
2 Kuniaki Kobayashi 1 November 23, 1986 41

Days

Tokyo 1
3 Masanobu Fuchi 1 January 3, 1987 748

Days

Tokyo 7
4 Joe Malenko 1 January 20, 1989 5

Days

Fukuoka 0
5 Mighty Inoue 1 January 25, 1989 42

Days

Osaka 2
6 Masanobu Fuchi 2 March 8, 1989 39 Days Tokyo 1
7 Shinichi Nakano 1 April 16, 1989 4

Days

Tokyo 0
8 Mitsuo Momota 1 April 20, 1989 72

Days

Osaka 2
9 Joe Malenko 2 July 1, 1989 111 Days Omiya 2
10 Masanobu Fuchi 3 October 20, 1989 1309

Days

Nagoya 14
11 Dan Kroffat 1 July 28, 1994 94 Days Sapporo 0
12 Masanobu Fuchi 4 August 23, 1993 323

Days

Shizuoka 2
13 Dan Kroffat 2 July 12, 1994 425

Days

Kagoshima 5
14 Yoshinari Ogawa 1 September 10, 1995 294 Days Tokyo 4
15 Masanobu Fuchi 5 June 30, 1996 24 Days Tokyo 0
16 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 1 July 24, 1996 175 Days Tokyo 2
17 Yoshinari Ogawa 2 January 15, 1997 219

Days

Tokyo 1
18 Maunakea Mossman 1 August 22, 1997 294 Days Tokyo 3
Vacated June 12, 1998 Vacated due to Mossman graduating to the heavyweight division.
19 Yoshinari Ogawa 3 July 19, 1998 698 Days Niigata 5 Defeated Satoru Asako in a tournament final.
Vacated June 16, 2000 Vacated due to Ogawa and several others leaving AJPW to form Pro Wrestling Noah.
20 Kendo Kashin 1 April 13, 2002 670

Days

Tokyo 8 Defeated Masanobu Fuchi for the vacated championship.
Vacated February 12, 2004 Vacated on February 12, 2004 due to inactivity.
21 Kaz Hayashi 1 February 22, 2004 323

Days

Tokyo 6 Defeated Blue-K for the vacated championship.
22 Taka Michinoku 1 January 10, 2005 285 Days Tokyo 12 This match was also for Hayashi's Champion of Strongest-K.
23 Shuji Kondo 1 October 22, 2005 483 Days Tokyo 5
24 Katsuhiko Nakajima 1 February 17, 2007 378 Days Tokyo 3 The title was held up on October 18, 2007 after a title defense against Silver King ended in a no contest, though Nakajima remained the official champion.
25 Silver King 1 March 1, 2008 59 Days Tokyo 0
26 Ryuji Hijikata 1 October 28, 2000 152 Days Tokyo 3
27 Naomichi Marufuji 1 September 28, 2008 131 Days Yokohoma 4
28 Kaz Hayashi 2 February 6, 2009 695 Days Tokyo 17
29 Minoru 1 January 2, 2011 152 Days Tokyo 1
Vacated June 3, 2011 Vacated after All Japan Pro Wrestling suspended Minoru.
30 KAI 1 June 19, 2011 126 Days Tokyo 2
31 Kenny Omega 1 October 23, 2011 217 Days Tokyo 5
32 KAI 2 May 27, 2012 77 Days Tokyo 0
33 Hiroshi Yamato 1 May 27, 2012 143

Days

Tokyo 5
34 Shuji Kondo 2 January 2, 2013 52 Days Tokyo 0 This match was also contested for Kondo's GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.
35 Yoshinobu Kanemaru 1 February 23, 2013 295 Days Tokyo 7
36 Último Dragón 1 December 15, 2013 165

Days

Tokyo 2
37 Atsushi Aoki 1 May 29, 2014 302

Days

Tokyo 5
38 Kotaro Suzuki 1 March 27, 2015 234 Days Tokyo 6
Vacated November 16, 2015 Vacated due to Suzuki leaving AJPW.
39 Atsushi Aoki 2 February 21, 2016 119 Days Tokyo 3 Defeated Hikaru Sato in the finals of the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory.
40 Hikaru Sato 1 June 19, 2016 70 Days Tokyo 1
41 Soma Takao 1 August 28, 2016 91 Days Tokyo 1 This match took place at an event held by DDT Pro-Wrestling.
42 Keisuke Ishii 1 November 27, 2016 152

Days

Tokyo 3
43 Hikaru Sato 2 April 28, 2017 93 Days Okayama 4
44 TAJIRI 1 July 30, 2017 28 Days Osaka 0
45 Último Dragón 2 August 27, 2017 55 Days Tokyo 1
46 TAJIRI 2 October 21, 2017 105 Days Yokohama 3
47 Atsushi Aoki 3 February 3, 2018 204 Days Yokohama 4
48 Koji Iwamoto 1 August 26, 2018 27 Days Chiba 0
49 Shuji Kondo 3 September 22, 2018 68 Days Hakata 1
50 Koji Iwamoto 1 November 29, 2018 172 Days Nagoya 2
51 Atsushi Aoki 4 May 20, 2019 291 Days Tokyo 0 On June 3, 2019, Aoki died in a motorcycle accident. AJPW announced that Aoki would be recognized as champion until November 20.
Vacated November 20, 2019 Vacated after Aoki paased away in a motorcycle accident, leading AJPW to vacate the title after the six month deadline for a title defense expired.
52 Susumu Yokosuka 1 January 3, 2020 204 Days Tokyo 5 Defeated Hikaru Sato in a tournament final to win the championship.
53 Koji Iwamoto 3 July 25, 2020 210 Days Tokyo 3
54 CIMA 1 February 20, 2021 109 Days Nagoya, Aichi 2
55 Koji Iwamoto 4 June 9, 2021 17 Days Tokyo 0
56 Francesco Akira 1 June 26, 2021 26 Days Tokyo 0
57 SUGI 1 July 22, 2021 86 Days Tokyo 2
58 Izanagi 1 October 16, 2021 61 Days Tokyo 0
59 Super Crazy 1 December 16, 2021 18 Days Tokyo 0
60 SUGI 2 January 3, 2022 51 Days Tokyo 2
61 Hikaru Sato 3 February 23, 2022 116 Days Tokyo 4
62 Tiger Mask 1 June 16, 2022 91 Days Tokyo 2
63 Atsuki Aoyagi 1 September 18, 2022 34 Days Tokyo 1
64 El Lindaman 1 July 2, 2023 182 Days Tokyo 4
65 Dan Tamura 1 December 31, 2023 69 Days Tokyo 3
66 Rising HAYATO 1 March 9, 2024 10+ Tokyo 0

Gallery[]

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