IWGP Heavyweight Championship

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship (IWGPヘビー級王座, IWGP hebī-kyū ōza) 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 (インターナショナル・レスリング・グラン・プリ, intānashonaru resuringu guran puri). 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.

This article is about NJPW's former top heavyweight title. For the new world title, see IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. For the original version, see IWGP Heavyweight Championship (original version). For the IGF version, see IWGP Heavyweight Championship (IGF). For other uses, see IWGP Heavyweight Championship (disambiguation).
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
The IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt
(2008 – 2021)
Details
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedJune 12, 1987
Date retiredMarch 4, 2021
Statistics
First champion(s)Antonio Inoki
Final champion(s)Kota Ibushi
Most reignsHiroshi Tanahashi (8 reigns)
Longest reignKazuchika Okada (4th reign) (720 days)
Shortest reignKensuke Sasaki (4th reign) (16 days)
Oldest championGenichiro Tenryu (49 years, 10 months and 8 days)
Youngest championShinsuke Nakamura (23 years, 9 months and 15 days)

The championship was represented by four different belts from 1987 to 2021. The fourth and last generation belt was introduced in March 2008. The title formed what was unofficially called the "New Japan Triple Crown" (新日本トリプルクラウン, Shin Nihon Toripuru Kuraun) along with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the NEVER Openweight Championship.

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