Japanese professional wrestling promotion
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(
新日本プロレスリング株式?社
,
Shin Nihon Puroresuringu Kabushiki-gaisha
)
(
NJPW
)
[2]
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.
[2]
Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013,
[5]
while
Hiroshi Tanahashi
has served as the president of the promotion since December 2023.
Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, NJPW is the largest and longest-running professional wrestling promotion in Japan.
[6]
Their biggest event is the
January 4 Tokyo Dome Show
(currently promoted under the
Wrestle Kingdom
banner) held each year since 1992.
The promotion was owned by
Yuke's
from 2005 until 2012.
[7]
[8]
[9]
It was then sold to Bushiroad in 2012, which parlayed its entry to the world of professional wrestling into a best-selling trading card game,
King of Pro Wrestling
, and appearances from NJPW stars in its various franchises.
NJPW was affiliated with the
National Wrestling Alliance
at various points in its history. NJPW also had agreements with various
MMA
and
professional wrestling promotions
around the world; including
WWE
,
World Championship Wrestling
,
American Wrestling Association
,
World Class Championship Wrestling
,
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
,
WAR
,
Jersey All Pro Wrestling
,
UWFi
,
Ring of Honor
,
Pride Fighting Championships
, and
All Elite Wrestling
.
[10]
History
[
edit
]
Formation and early history (1972?2000)
[
edit
]
The promotion was founded by
Antonio Inoki
on January 13, 1972
[11]
after his departure from the
Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance
promotion.
[12]
The first NJPW event, titled
Opening Series
, took place on March 6, 1972, in the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo, to a crowd of 5,000.
[13]
[14]
The following year, NJPW signed a television deal with NET TV, now known as
TV Asahi
.
[11]
The company launched its own governing body, the
International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP)
; and in 1983,
Hulk Hogan
became the first ever
IWGP Heavyweight Champion
by defeating Inoki.
[15]
However, this championship was later abandoned and the current version of the
championship
was established in 1987. Inoki would serve as the president of the promotion until 1989, when he was succeeded by
Seiji Sakaguchi
.
[11]
On April 24, 1989, NJPW hosted
Battle Satellite
, its first show in the
Tokyo Dome
.
[16]
The promotion was a member of the
National Wrestling Alliance
(NWA) from 1975 to 1985 and once more from 1992 to 1993. NJPW was briefly reaffiliated with the NWA in the late 2000s to the early 2010s as well. On January 4, 1992, NJPW partnered with
World Championship Wrestling
(WCW) to produce
Super Warriors
, the first ever
January 4 Tokyo Dome Show
,
[17]
an event that would become an annual tradition for NJPW and is considered their biggest event of the year and comparable to
WWE
's
WrestleMania
event. In April 1995, NJPW and WCW held the two-day
Collision in Korea
event at the
Rungrado 1st of May Stadium
in
Pyongyang
,
North Korea
. The event was the first professional wrestling event held in North Korea and holds the record for most attended wrestling event of all time, with 355,000 people packing the stadium over the two days.
[18]
[19]
[20]
Decline and Inoki's departure (2000?2011)
[
edit
]
In the early 2000s, the burgeoning popularity of
mixed martial arts
(MMA) in Japan was noticed by Inoki, who wanted to integrate elements of
shoot wrestling
to make the company appear more realistic. The company would partner with martial arts organization
K-1
and begin to insert wrestlers into MMA fights, with the goal of pushing NJPW in a more realistic direction and to make it appear as an actual sport.
[21]
The company's new management was criticized by critics and fans.
[22]
Inoki later departed NJPW in 2005 after selling his share of the company to
Yuke's
,
[23]
[24]
and began his own promotion, the
Inoki Genome Federation
(IGF), in 2007. After his departure, Inoki's son-in-law Simon took over the company, before Naoki Sugabayashi was appointed president in 2007 after Simon also left NJPW to join Antonio in IGF.
[11]
After the departure of the Inoki family, the company began to reintegrate its prior
puroresu
style of wrestling.
[25]
Also in 2007, NJPW hosted its first ever
pay-per-view
(PPV) event
Wrestle Kingdom I
.
[26]
The promotion debuted a new series called
NEVER
in August 2010, designed to be a series of events spotlighting younger up-and-coming New Japan talent and feature more outsider participation in the promotion. On January 4, 2011, New Japan officially announced the
NJPW Invasion Tour 2011: Attack on East Coast
, the promotion's first tour of the United States to be held in May 2011. The tour featured shows in
Rahway, New Jersey
on May 13,
New York City
on May 14 and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
on May 15, as well as cross-promotion with American independent group
Jersey All Pro Wrestling
(JAPW). As part of the tour, NJPW introduced a new title, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
[27]
Bushiroad's acquisition and expansion (2012?2020)
[
edit
]
On January 31, 2012,
Yuke's
announced that it had sold all shares of New Japan Pro-Wrestling to card game company Bushiroad for
¥
500 million (
$
6.5 million).
[28]
New Japan aired its first internet
pay-per-view
, the fourth day of the
2012 G1 Climax
, on August 5, 2012.
[29]
The October 8, 2012,
King of Pro-Wrestling
pay-per-view marked the first time viewers outside Japan were able to order a pay-per-view by the promotion through
Ustream
.
[30]
[31]
On October 5, 2012, New Japan announced the creation of the NEVER Openweight Championship, which would be contested for on the NEVER series. A two-day tournament to determine the inaugural champion was held between November 15 and 19, 2012.
[32]
The final NEVER event was held in November 2012.
In February 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with
Ring of Honor
(ROH), which saw the promotion return to North America the following May to present two supershows;
Global Wars
in
Toronto
and
War of the Worlds
in New York City.
[33]
[34]
During the tour, New Japan wrestlers also took part in an event held by
Canadian
promotion
Border City Wrestling
(BCW).
[35]
A year later, NJPW and ROH announced another tour together to produce four more supershows;
War of the Worlds '15
on May 12 and 13 in Philadelphia and
Global Wars '15
on May 15 and 16 in Toronto.
[36]
In June 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with the new American
Global Force Wrestling
(GFW) organization helmed by
Jeff Jarrett
.
[37]
In November 2014, GFW announced that it would be broadcasting NJPW's
Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome
on pay-per-view in the United States as a four-hour event.
[38]
Also in November 2014, the American
AXS TV
network announced it had acquired rights to rebroadcast a series of thirteen episodes of NJPW matches from
TV Asahi
. The series premiered on January 16, 2015, airing weekly on Fridays.
[39]
Averaging 200,000 viewers per episode, the show was considered a success, leading to AXS TV and TV Asahi signing a multi-year deal to continue airing the show.
[40]
In June 2016, the show was also acquired by the Canadian
Fight Network
.
[41]
On December 1, 2014, NJPW and TV Asahi announced
NJPW World
, a new worldwide streaming site for the promotion's events.
[42]
On July 18, 2015, NJPW announced the "New IWGP Conception", a global expansion strategy centered on their international partnerships with
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
(CMLL), GFW, ROH,
Revolution Pro Wrestling
(RPW),
Westside Xtreme Wrestling
(wXw), and the
National Wrestling Alliance
(NWA) as well as holding more shows in
Thailand
,
Singapore
, and
Taiwan
. Also announced was the
Lion's Gate Project
, which would feature NJPW rookies as well as up-and-coming outsiders working trial matches in an effort to earn a spot in the promotion. Finally, it was announced that there were plans to take the company public with a listing on the stock market within three to five years.
[43]
[44]
[45]
On December 21, 2015, NJPW announced the creation of its seventh active title and the first six-man tag team championship in the promotion's history, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.
[46]
On January 5, 2016, NJPW announced a partnership with the
Amuse
talent agency with the goal of making the promotion's wrestlers internationally recognized stars in the vein of
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
.
[47]
In March 2017, NJPW partnered with the
New Zealand
-based
Fale Dojo
, a pro wrestling training facility run by NJPW performer
Bad Luck Fale
.
[48]
NJPW will utilize the partnership as an opportunity to scout talent from
Oceania
.
[48]
The following month on April 24, 2017, it was announced that NJPW would co-present the Japanese qualifiers for the Pro Wrestling World Cup tournament hosted by the British
What Culture Pro Wrestling
(WCPW) promotion.
[49]
On May 12, 2017, NJPW announced the creation of a new title: the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, with the inaugural champion to be crowned during the promotion's
G1 Special in USA
shows in
Long Beach, California
on July 1 and 2.
[50]
[51]
Four days later, NJPW held a press conference to announce plans to establish a subsidiary company, including a dojo, in the United States.
[52]
A
Los Angeles
office was scheduled to be opened before the end of 2017, with a dojo scheduled to be opened at the start of 2018.
[53]
NJPW's second American event,
Strong Style Evolved
, took place on March 25, 2018, also in Long Beach.
[54]
In November 2017, NJPW signed a television deal with
Discovery Communications
, which would see the company's programming brought to 70 million
Indian
homes through
DSport
.
[55]
In January 2018, NJPW announced the four-show Fallout Down Under tour, the promotion's inaugural tour of
Australia
spanning from February 16?19.
[56]
In March 2018, New Japan opened the NJPW LA Dojo with
Katsuyori Shibata
serving as head trainer and ROH wrestler
Scorpio Sky
serving as assistant trainer.
[57]
On May 13, 2018, New Japan hired its first foreign president, Dutch businessman
Harold Meij
.
[58]
In February 2019, NJPW re-established their partnership with the NWA and entered into a new partnership with
The Crash Lucha Libre
; both partnerships ended later in 2019.
[59]
[60]
On October 21, 2019, NJPW announced the formation of a new American subsidiary of the company, named
New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America
(NJoA).
[4]
In 2019, they had run a record 13 shows in the United States, with plans to run double that in 2020. It was reported at the same time that NJPW and ROH had no joint shows planned for the future.
[61]
On October 31, 2019, Super7 announced the first line of NJPW
action figures
.
[62]
[63]
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020?2022)
[
edit
]
Amidst from the
Japanese onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
, in accordance with recommendations from the Japanese Ministry of Health, NJPW decided to cancel all scheduled shows from March 1 through March 15.
[64]
On March 10, NJPW announced that they were cancelling all shows through March 22, which meant that they cancelled the
2020 New Japan Cup
as well.
[65]
World Wonder Ring Stardom
, the sister company of NJPW also owned by
Bushiroad
, also made adjustments to their scheduled, cancelling shows from February 18 to March 14. Their March 8 show in
Korakuen Hall
was held without any spectators in attendance, instead streaming live on their
YouTube
channel.
[66]
On March 23, NJPW would later cancel the 2020
Sakura Genesis
event that was originally scheduled to take place in on March 31.
[67]
[68]
On April 8, NJPW would cancel more events from April 11 through May 4, which mean both nights of 2020
Wrestling Dontaku
were cancelled as well.
[69]
On May 6, NJPW cancelled their annual
Best of the Super Juniors
tournament.
[70]
The next day, NJPW postponed their Wrestle Dynasty event to 2021, which was to take place in
Madison Square Garden
in New York.
[71]
On June 9, NJPW announced their return with special show with mystery match card called
Together Special
on June 15 and the return of the New Japan Cup would now be held from June 16 until July 11, with the final being held at
Osaka-j? Hall
in
Osaka
alongside
Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall
being rescheduled to July 12.
[72]
[73]
On September 29, NJPW announced that Meij would no longer be appointed president of the promotion and was replaced by Takami Ohbari on October 23, who is the current CEO of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America.
[74]
In 2020, NJPW partnered with
Game Changer Wrestling
(GCW) and
Major League Wrestling
(MLW), with both promotions sending wrestlers to the
Super J-Cup
tournament.
[75]
On July 31, NJPW announced a new weekly series titled
NJPW Strong
, with its initial episodes to feature matches from the inaugural
New Japan Cup USA
tournament. As part of NJPW's expansion into the United States, the series would be produced by NJoA.
[76]
In February 2021, it was reported that NJPW had entered into partnerships with
All Elite Wrestling
(AEW)
[77]
and
Impact Wrestling
.
[78]
On November 19, 2021, NJPW would re-establish a relationship with
Pro Wrestling Noah
with Noah wrestlers being involved at the third night of NJPW's
Wrestle Kingdom 16
event.
[79]
During
Wrestle Kingdom 16
in January 2022, it was announced that NJPW programming, including new programs and reruns of past English broadcasts, would return to
AXS TV
and
Fight Network
in the United States and Canada. Reruns will begin airing on AXS starting January 20, with all new content to premiere on March 3.
[80]
On the April 20, 2022 episode of
AEW Dynamite
, it was announced that New Japan and AEW would co-promote a supershow called
AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door
. The event would take place on June 26, 2022, at the
United Center
in
Chicago, Illinois
.
[81]
During September 2022, NJPW announced
NJPW Tamashii
, an Oceania-based brand that would stage events throughout the region.
[82]
Post-COVID and new partnerships (2022?present)
[
edit
]
On October 1, 2022, NJPW's founder
Antonio Inoki
died from
systemic transthyretin amyloidosis
at age 79.
[83]
[84]
[85]
On January 4, 2023, NJPW held their
Wrestle Kingdom 17
event in Inoki's honor.
[86]
In October 2023, NJPW and sister promotion
World Wonder Ring Stardom
established the Asia Pacific Pro-Wrestling Alliance, an interpromotional governing body that seeks to connect wrestling promotions across Asia.
[87]
On January 5, 2024, the alliance was renamed the
Asia-Pacific Federation of Wrestling
(APFW).
[88]
The inaugural event sanctioned by APFW, NJPW's Wrestling World in Taiwan, took place on April 14 in
Taipei
.
[88]
In early December 2023, NJPW was announced as a founding member of the
United Japan Pro-Wrestling
(UJPW) alliance.
[89]
The inaugural UJPW
event
will take place on May 6, 2024, in the
Nippon Budokan
arena.
[89]
On December 23, NJPW announced that Takami Ohbari had stepped down as the promotion's president, with
Hiroshi Tanahashi
replacing him as NJPW president and representative director.
[90]
On April 23, 2024, NJPW announced that it will fully acquire World Wonder Ring Stardom from Bushiroad on June 28.
[91]
Contracts
[
edit
]
Up until the 1980s, NJPW signed its workers to multi-year contracts,
[92]
before changing to a system where the promotion signed its wrestlers to one-year deals that expired at the end of every January.
[93]
Following the departures of
A.J. Styles
and
Shinsuke Nakamura
, NJPW chairman
Takaaki Kidani
announced in February 2016 that the promotion was returning to the multi-year contract system.
[92]
The contracts forbid negotiations with other promotions.
[94]
After
All Elite Wrestling
(AEW) was launched by wrestlers working for NJPW, they started signing foreigners to guaranteed deals as well.
[95]
Any side contracts or agreements offered to wrestlers under NJPW contracts, need the promotion's approval before being signed.
[96]
NJPW currently has partnerships with several promotions across the world, for which NJPW wrestlers can also perform for.
Championships and accomplishments
[
edit
]
The promotion has its own fictional governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix, shortened as IWGP.
At the top of NJPW's championship hierarchy for male wrestlers is the
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
. Secondary titles include the
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
, the
NEVER Openweight Championship
, the
NJPW World Television Championship
, and the
KOPW (King of Pro Wrestling) Championship.
For tag teams, there is a traditional championship for two-man teams (the
IWGP Tag Team Championship
), and one for three-man teams (the
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
).
There are two championships in NJPW for
junior heavyweight
wrestlers - a singles title (the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
) and one for tag teams (the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
).
In New Japan's
United States
based
NJPW Strong
brand, there are two championships for male wrestlers - the
Strong Openweight Championship
for singles wrestlers, and the
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship
for tag teams.
There are two championships for female wrestlers in NJPW, the
IWGP Women's Championship
and the
Strong Women's Championship
.
Current championships
[
edit
]
As of June 9, 2024
Men's division
[
edit
]
Singles
[
edit
]
Championship
|
Current champion(s)
|
Reign
|
Date won
|
Days
held
|
Successful defenses
|
Location
|
Notes
|
Ref.
|
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
|
|
Jon Moxley
|
1
|
April 12, 2024
|
58
|
3
|
Chicago
,
United States
|
Defeated
Tetsuya Naito
at
Windy City Riot
.
|
[106]
|
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
|
|
David Finlay
|
2
|
May 4, 2024
|
36
|
0
|
Fukuoka, Japan
|
Defeated
Nic Nemeth
at
Wrestling Dontaku: Night 2
.
|
[107]
|
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
|
|
Sho
|
1
|
February 23, 2024
|
107
|
2
|
Sapporo, Japan
|
Defeated
El Desperado
at
The New Beginning in Sapporo
.
|
[107]
|
NEVER Openweight Championship
|
|
Shingo Takagi
|
4
|
April 6, 2024
|
64
|
2
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
Defeated
Evil
at
Sakura Genesis
.
|
[108]
|
Strong Openweight Championship
|
|
Gabe Kidd
|
1
|
May 11, 2024
|
29
|
0
|
Ontario, California
|
Defeated
Eddie Kingston
at
Resurgence
.
|
[109]
|
KOPW 2024
|
|
Great-O-Khan
|
2
(provisional)
|
June 9, 2024
|
0
|
0
|
Osaka, Japan
|
Defeated
Yuya Uemura
in a
Storm Catch Rules match
at
Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall
.
|
|
NJPW World Television Championship
|
|
Jeff Cobb
|
1
|
May 4, 2024
|
37
|
1
|
Fukuoka
,
Japan
|
Defeated
Zack Sabre Jr.
at
Wrestling Dontaku: Night 1
.
|
[110]
|
Tag teams
[
edit
]
Championship
|
Current champion(s)
|
Reign
|
Date won
|
Days
held
|
Successful defenses
|
Location
|
Notes
|
Ref.
|
IWGP Tag Team Championship
|
|
TMDK
(
Mikey Nicholls
and
Shane Haste
)
|
1
(1, 1)
|
June 9, 2024
|
0
|
0
|
Osaka, Japan
|
Defeated
Guerrillas of Destiny
(
Hikuleo
and
El Phantasmo
),
Bullet Club
(
Kenta
and
Chase Owens
) and
Bishamon
(
Hirooki Goto
and
Yoshi-Hashi
) in a
Four-way
tornado tag team
elimination
Winners Take All match
also disputed for the
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship
.
|
|
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
|
|
Bullet Club War Dogs
(
Drilla Moloney
and
Clark Connors
)
|
2
(2, 2)
|
February 4, 2024
|
126
|
2
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
Defeated
Catch 2/2
(
Francesco Akira
and
TJP
) at Road to the New Beginning.
|
[111]
|
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship
|
|
TMDK
(
Mikey Nicholls
and
Shane Haste
)
|
2
(2, 2)
|
June 9, 2024
|
0
|
0
|
Osaka, Japan
|
Defeated
Guerrillas of Destiny
(
Hikuleo
and
El Phantasmo
),
Bullet Club
(
Kenta
and
Chase Owens
) and
Bishamon
(
Hirooki Goto
and
Yoshi-Hashi
) in a
Four-way
tornado tag team
elimination
Winners Take All match
also disputed for the
IWGP Tag Team Championship
.
|
|
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
|
|
Los Ingobernables de Japon
(
Yota Tsuji
,
Bushi
and
Hiromu Takahashi
)
|
1
(1, 5, 1)
|
June 9, 2024
|
0
|
0
|
Osaka, Japan
|
Defeated
Hiroshi Tanahashi
,
Toru Yano
and
Oleg Boltin
at
Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall
.
|
|
Women's division
[
edit
]
Defunct championships
[
edit
]
Championship
|
Last champion(s)
|
Reign
|
Date retired
|
Notes
|
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
|
Kota Ibushi
|
1
|
March 4, 2021
|
Unified with the
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
to create the
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
.
|
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
|
Kota Ibushi
|
2
|
March 4, 2021
|
Unified with the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
to create the
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
.
|
IWGP Third Belt Championship
|
Shinsuke Nakamura
|
1
|
February 17, 2008
|
Unified with the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
after Nakamura defeated the previous champion
Kurt Angle
.
|
IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship
|
Hiroshi Tanahashi
|
2
|
June 7, 2006
|
The championship could only be won by wrestlers under the age of 30.
Vacated by Tanahashi at the age of 29 and soon after deactivated.
|
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship
|
Will Ospreay
|
2
|
December 11, 2023
|
The championship was deactivated and replaced by
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
|
NWF Heavyweight Championship
|
Shinsuke Nakamura
|
1
|
January 4, 2004
|
Unified with the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
after Nakamura defeated the previous champion
Yoshihiro Takayama
.
|
J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship
|
Shinjiro Otani
|
1
|
November 5, 1997
|
The championship resulted from the unification of eight lower-weight class titles from several different wrestling promotions.
The championship was retired at the request of the
WWF
, who was introducing their own version of the
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
(which was one of the competent championships of the J-Crown).
|
Greatest 18 Club Championship
|
The Great Muta
|
1
|
August 16, 1992
|
Muta retired championship, in order to focus on his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title defenses.
|
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
|
Antonio Inoki
|
2
|
December 31, 1989
|
The championship was contested in matches billed as
shoot wrestling
fights.
Abandoned for undocumented reasons.
|
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
(original version)
|
Antonio Inoki
|
2
|
May 11, 1987
|
The championship was deactivated and replaced by the new
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
, which was first awarded to the winner of the
1987 IWGP League
.
[15]
|
WWF International Heavyweight Championship
|
Tatsumi Fujinami
|
3
|
October 31, 1985
|
Abandoned after the NJPW and the
WWF
ended their working relationship.
|
WWF International Tag Team Championship
|
Kengo Kimura
and
Tatsumi Fujinami
|
1
(1, 1)
|
October 31, 1985
|
Abandoned after the NJPW and the
WWF
ended their working relationship.
|
WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
|
The Cobra
|
2
|
October 31, 1985
|
Abandoned after the NJPW and the
WWF
ended their working relationship.
|
Asia Heavyweight Championship
|
Tiger Jeet Singh
|
1
|
April 23, 1981
|
Championship retired after announcement of the IWGP, a new governing body, which would promote their own-branded championships.
|
Asia Tag Team Championship
|
Tiger Jeet Singh
and
Umanosuke Ueda
|
1
|
April 23, 1981
|
Championship retired after announcement of the IWGP, a new governing body, which would promote their own-branded championships.
|
NWF Heavyweight Championship
(original version)
|
Antonio Inoki
|
1
|
April 23, 1981
|
Championship retired after announcement of the IWGP, a new governing body, which would promote their own-branded championships.
|
NWF North American Championship
|
Tiger Jeet Singh
|
1
|
April 23, 1981
|
Championship retired after announcement of the IWGP, a new governing body, which would promote their own-branded championships.
|
NWA North American Tag Team Championship
(Los Angeles/Japan version)
|
Riki Choshu
and
Seiji Sakaguchi
|
1
(1, 5)
|
April 23, 1981
|
Championship retired after announcement of the IWGP, a new governing body, which would promote their own-branded championships.
|
WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
|
Seiji Sakaguchi
|
1
|
April 23, 1981
|
Championship retired after announcement of the IWGP, a new governing body, which would promote their own-branded championships.
|
Real World Championship
|
Karl Gotch
|
2
|
1972
|
Abandoned for undocumented reasons.
|
Events
[
edit
]
Marquee events
[
edit
]
Collaborated events
[
edit
]
Tournaments
[
edit
]
Active
[
edit
]
Tournament
|
Latest winner(s)
|
Date won
|
Location
|
Notes
|
G1 Climax
|
Tetsuya Naito
|
August 13, 2023
|
Tokyo
|
Defeated
Kazuchika Okada
in the tournament final.
|
World Tag League
|
Bishamon
(
Yoshi-Hashi
and
Hirooki Goto
)
|
December 10, 2023
|
Kumamoto
|
Defeated
Guerillas of Destiny
(
Hikuleo
and
El Phantasmo
) in the tournament final.
|
New Japan Cup
|
Yota Tsuji
|
March 20, 2024
|
Osaka
|
Defeated
Hirooki Goto
in the tournament final.
|
New Japan Cup USA
|
Tom Lawlor
|
April 23, 2021
|
Port Hueneme, California
,
U.S.
|
Defeated
Brody King
in the tournament final to become the inaugural
Strong Openweight Champion
.
|
Best of the Super Juniors
|
Master Wato
|
May 28, 2023
|
Tokyo
|
Defeated
Titan
in the tournament final.
|
Super Junior Tag League
[Note 1]
|
Catch 2/2
(
Francesco Akira
and
TJP
)
|
November 4, 2023
|
Osaka
|
Defeated
House of Torture
(
Sho
and
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
) in the tournament final.
|
Super J-Cup
|
El Phantasmo
|
December 12, 2020
|
Port Hueneme, California
,
U.S.
|
Defeated
A. C. H.
in the tournament final.
|
Young Lion Cup
[Note 2]
|
Karl Fredericks
|
September 22, 2019
|
Kobe, Hy?go
|
Defeated
Shota Umino
in the last block match at
Destruction in Kobe
.
|
Lion's Break Crown
|
Clark Connors
|
October 9, 2020
|
Port Hueneme, California
,
U.S.
|
Defeated
Danny Limelight
in the tournament final
|
Inactive
[
edit
]
Tournament
|
Last winner(s)
|
Last held
|
Type
|
Created
|
Notes
|
J Sports Crown Openweight 6-Man Tag Tournament
|
Apollo 555
(
Hirooki Goto
,
Prince Devitt
and
Ryusuke Taguchi
)
|
2011
|
Openweight
six-man tag team
|
2010
|
A single-elimination six-man tag team tournament, held in 2010 and 2011.
|
G2 U-30 Climax
|
Hiroshi Tanahashi
|
2005
|
Openweight
|
2003
|
A tournament for wrestlers under the age of 30. It was held only 2 times, in 2003 and in 2005.
|
Halls of Fame
[
edit
]
Greatest 18 Club
[
edit
]
The Greatest 18 Club was New Japan's first hall of fame, being established in 1990 during Antonio Inoki's career 30th anniversary. Additionally, Lou Thesz also debuted a new
Greatest 18 Club Championship
, awarding it to
Riki Choshu
.
Inductees
[
edit
]
Ring name
(Birth name)
|
Accolades
|
Lou Thesz
(Aloysius Thesz)
|
Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He was a three-time
NWA World Heavyweight Champion
, three-time
NWA World Heavyweight Champion
and a two-time
World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion
. In Japan, he helped train young Japanese talents.
|
Karl Gotch
(Charles Istaz)
|
Inaugural and two-time
Real World Champion
. Wrestled Antonio Inoki in the main event of the very first show in NJPW. Helped training young Japanese talents.
|
Andre the Giant
(Andre Roussimoff)
|
Winner of the 1981 MSG Tag League, 1982 MSG Series and 1985 IWGP League and the Sagawa Express Cup.
|
Dusty Rhodes
[Note 3]
(Virgil Runnels Jr.)
|
Three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and one-time
NWF World Tag Team Champion
. Participated in several NJPW tournaments.
|
Stan Hansen
(John Hansen)
|
One-time
NWF Heavyweight Championship
.
|
Wim Ruska
(Willem Ruska)
|
Professional wrestler and a judoka, only athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one
Olympics
.
|
Billy Robinson
(William Robinson)
|
Two-time
IWA World Heavyweight Champion
, one-time
NWA United National Championship
and
PWF World Heavyweight Champion
. Helped training young Japanese talents.
|
Hiro Matsuda
(Yasuhiro Kojima)
|
Two-time
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion
and one-time
NWA North American Tag Team Champion
.
|
Bob Backlund
(Robert Blacklund)
|
Two-time
WWWF Heavyweight Champion
, and one-time
WWF Tag Team Champion
.
|
Verne Gagne
(Laverne Gagne)
|
Ten-time
AWA World Heavyweight Champion
, four-time
AWA World Tag Team Champion
and one-time
IWA World Heavyweight Champion
.
|
Strong Kobayashi
(Shozo Kobayashi)
|
Two-time
NWA North American Tag Team Champion
.
|
Hulk Hogan
(Terry Bollea)
|
First
original IWGP Heavyweight Champion
, winner of 1982 and 1983 MSG Tag Leagues and 1983 IWGP Leagues. In America he was also six-time
WWF Heavyweight/WWE Undisputed Champion
and six-time
WCW World Heavyweight Champion
.
|
Muhammad Ali
(Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.)
|
Considered to be one of the greatest
professional boxers
of all time. Three-time
heavyweight
lineal champion
. Fought Antonio Inoki in a
wrestler vs. boxer match
.
|
Seiji Sakaguchi
|
Four-time NWA North American Tag Team Champion, one-time
NWF North American Heavyweight Champion
and
WWF North American Heavyweight Champion
.
|
Nick Bockwinkel
(Nicholas Warren Francis Bockwinkel)
|
Four-time
AWA World Heavyweight Champion
, three-time
AWA World Tag Team Champion
and one-time
AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion
.
|
Johnny Powers
(Dennis Waters)
|
One-time
NWF Heavyweight Champion
, one-time
NWF North American Heavyweight Champion
and one-time
NWA North American Tag Team Champion (Los Angeles-Japan Version)
.
|
Johnny Valentine
(John Theodore Wisniski)
|
Five-time WWWF United States Television Champion, four-time
WWWF United States Tag Team Champion
, one-time
NWA United States Heavyweight Champion
, three-time
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion
, one-time
NWA World Tag Team Champion (Minneapolis Version)
, one time
NWA International Tag Team Champion
and one-time
NWA United National Champion
.
|
Antonio Inoki
(Kanji Inoki)
|
NJPW founder and first
IWGP Heavyweight Champion
. Also won many top titles, including the
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
,
NWA United National Championship
and
NWF Heavyweight Championship
.
|
Greatest Wrestlers
[
edit
]
The Greatest Wrestlers is New Japan's
hall of fame
, established in 2007 to honor wrestlers who have wrestled for the promotion. From 2007 to 2011, the inductions begin on March 6, the anniversary of the promotion's founding.
[114]
Inductees
[
edit
]
Broadcasters
[
edit
]
Domestic:
- TV Asahi
(1973?present, currently broadcasting weekly highlights show
World Pro-Wrestling
and live specials)
- Fighting TV Samurai
(1996?present, currently broadcasting live specials, retrospective shows and magazine show
NJPW Battle DX
)
- Abema
(2014?present, online linear television service, live-streaming episodes of
World Pro-Wrestling
)
International (former):
- Eurosport
(mid '90s?2007, Europe, dubbed episodes of
World Pro-Wrestling
and major shows for various continental markets)
- The Wrestling Channel
(2002?2005, UK & Ireland, dubbed and undubbed broadcasts of major shows)
- 1Sports
(2020, Indian Subcontinent, broadcast the AXS version of
World Pro-Wrestling
)
- DSport/Eurosport
(2017?2020, 2021, Indian Subcontinent, broadcast the AXS TV version of
World Pro-Wrestling
, Season 3?5)
- J-One
(May 2018 ? 2020, France, dubbed with French commentary)
- FX
(2019?2020, South Korea, broadcasting the AXS TV version of
World Pro-Wrestling
)
International (current):
- AXS TV
(2014?19, 2022?present, United States, Canada, broadcast
World Pro-Wrestling
and major shows, dubbed with English commentary)
- The Roku Channel
(2021?present, United States, United Kingdom and Canada broadcast
World Pro-Wrestling
and major shows, dubbed with English commentary)
- Fight Network
(2016?2019, 2022?present, Canada, broadcasting the AXS version of
World Pro-Wrestling
)
- Extreme Sports Channel
(2023?present, Europe, broadcast
World Pro-Wrestling
and major shows for various continental markets)
Worldwide
:
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
NJPW has previously held other round-robin tournaments for junior heavyweight tag teams: the Junior Heavyweight Super Grade Tag League in 1996, won by
Eddie Guerrero
as Black Tiger II and
The Great Sasuke
; the G1 Junior Tag League in 2001, won by
El Samurai
and
Jyushin Thunder Liger
; and the Super J Tag League on November 13, 2010, won by
Jado and Gedo
.
- ^
NJPW held the
Karl Gotch
Cup between 1974 and 1976, a similar style rookie wrestler tournament. In 1989, 1991 and 2002, NJPW held tournaments under the name Young Lion Tournament, which are not considered part of the Young Lion Cup lineage.
- ^
Originally
Tiger Jeet Singh
was inducted in this place. However he was later expelled and replaced with Dusty Rhodes.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Company Profile"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese).
Archived
from the original on February 13, 2021
. Retrieved
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2018
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a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Company Profile"
.
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. Retrieved
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2017
.
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.
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2013
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.
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2017
.
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on October 27, 2009
. Retrieved
2010-02-10
.
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"The Story of the Tokyo Dome's First Pro Wrestling Match The Story of the Tokyo Dome's First Pro Wrestling Match"
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. Prowrestlinghistory.com.
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2007
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Meltzer, Dave.
"WED. UPDATE: Flair talks wrestling in North Korea, Okabayashi inhjury update, Henderson signs new contract, Batista movie, Cro Cop return, Ross talk, Rumble vs. UFC 170, Classics on Demand"
.
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Meltzer, Dave
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.
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. Wrestling Observer.
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2016
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The all-time pro wrestling attendance record would be for shows on April 28 and April 29, 1995 at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. The announced crowds for those shows were 165,000 and 190,000, although the real numbers were about 150,000 and 165,000. The first show was headlined by Scott Norton vs. Shinya Hashimoto and the second by Antonio Inoki vs. Ric Flair. While there were tickets sold, most of the people attending got in free, and were pretty much ordered to attend, so it's not really a fair comparison.
- ^
Ireland, Rob (6 February 2019).
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2020
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Meltzer, Dave
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.
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(subscription required)
- ^
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. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
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- ^
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. Gamasutra.com (November 15, 2005). Retrieved on May 10, 2014.
- ^
Woodward, Hamish (2023-11-17).
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Alvarez, Bryan
(January 8, 2007).
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.
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. Archived from
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on January 8, 2007
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
Caldwell, James (January 5, 2011).
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.
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.
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2011
.
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Caldwell, James (January 31, 2012).
"NJPW News: New Japan sold to new owners, change-over taking effect February 1"
.
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.
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Caldwell, James (August 1, 2012).
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.
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.
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from the original on August 5, 2012
. Retrieved
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2012
.
- ^
"10月8日『キングオブプロレスリング』 PPV配信が更に規模を?大して「全世界」へ! Ustream all over the world !"
.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese). September 28, 2012.
Archived
from the original on October 3, 2012
. Retrieved
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2012
.
- ^
Caldwell, James (September 28, 2012).
"NJPW offering Oct. 8 show on iPPV"
.
Pro Wrestling Torch
.
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from the original on October 19, 2013
. Retrieved
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2012
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- ^
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.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(in Japanese). October 5, 2012.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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2012
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- ^
"今年5月、新日本プロレスが北米再上陸!! ROHとの共同開催で、5月10日カナダ、17日ニュ?ヨ?ク大?が決定!!"
.
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(April 24, 2014).
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.
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"「G1」出場メンバ?、各大?の主要カ?ドを電??表!! 開幕?で、中邑vs柴田が?現! 西武ド?ムにROH勢が??!!"
.
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.
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.
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ISSN
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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2016
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.
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.
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- ^
【新日LA】木谷オ?ナ?「大成功、超成功。いずれは巡業スタイルも」
.
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2017
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- ^
Currier, Joseph (November 5, 2017).
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.
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.
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November 5,
2017
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.
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from the original on November 10, 2017
. Retrieved
November 10,
2017
.
- ^
"NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING ANNOUNCE FALLOUT DOWN UNDER TOUR!"
.
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2018
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- ^
"Katsuyori Shibata to be Head Coach of New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles!"
.
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2018
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