World Junior Heavyweight Championship (AJPW)

The World Junior Heavyweight Championship (世界ジュニアヘビー級王座, sekai juniahebī-kyū ōza) is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg (220 lb)) wrestlers. It was created on July 31, 1986, when Hiro Saito defeated Brad Armstrong in a tournament final.[1]

World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionAll Japan Pro Wrestling
Date establishedJuly 31, 1986
Current champion(s)Koji Iwamoto
Date wonJuly 25, 2020
Other name(s)
  • AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship
    (1985 - present)

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.

There have been a total of 33 recognized champions who have had a combined 53 official reigns.

The title is currently held by Koji Iwamoto who defeated Susumu Yokosuka to win the championship.

Title history

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDefenses
1 Hiro Saito July 31, 1986 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 1153 Defeated Brad Armstrong in a tournament final. [1][2]
2 Kuniaki Kobayashi November 23, 1986 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 411 [3]
3 Masanobu Fuchi January 3, 1987 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 7487 [3]
4 Joe Malenko January 20, 1989 Live event Fukuoka, Japan 1 50 [3]
5 Mighty Inoue January 25, 1989 Live event Osaka, Japan 1 422 [3]
6 Masanobu Fuchi March 8, 1989 Live event Tokyo, Japan 2 391 [3]
7 Shinichi Nakano April 16, 1989 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 40 [3]
8 Mitsuo Momota April 20, 1989 Live event Osaka, Japan 1 722 [3]
9 Joe Malenko July 1, 1989 Live event Omiya, Japan 2 1112 [3][4]
10 Masanobu Fuchi October 20, 1989 Live event Nagoya, Japan 3 1,30914 [3]
11 Dan Kroffat May 21, 1993 Live event Sapporo, Japan 1 941 [3]
12 Masanobu Fuchi August 23, 1993 Live event Shizuoka, Japan 4 3232 [3]
13 Dan Kroffat July 12, 1994 Live event Kagoshima, Japan 2 4255 [3][5]
14 Yoshinari Ogawa September 10, 1995 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 2944 [3]
15 Masanobu Fuchi June 30, 1996 Live event Tokyo, Japan 5 240 [3]
16 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi July 24, 1996 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 1752 [3]
17 Yoshinari Ogawa January 15, 1997 Live event Tokyo, Japan 2 2191 [3]
18 Maunakea Mossman August 22, 1997 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 2943 [3]
Vacated June 12, 1998 Vacated due to Mossman graduating to the heavyweight division. [1]
19 Yoshinari Ogawa July 19, 1998 Summer Action Series tour Niigata, Japan 3 6985 Defeated Satoru Asako in a tournament final. [1]
Vacated June 16, 2000 Vacated due to Ogawa and several others leaving AJPW to form Pro Wrestling Noah. [3][6]
20 Kendo Kashin April 13, 2002 Grand Champion Carnival Tokyo, Japan 1 6708 Defeated Masanobu Fuchi. [7][8]
Vacated February 12, 2004 Vacated on February 12, 2004 due to inactivity. [1][3]
21 Kaz Hayashi February 22, 2004 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 3236 Defeated Blue-K. [9][10]
22 Taka Michinoku January 10, 2005 Kaientai Dojo's CLUB-K SUPER kick Tokyo, Japan 1 28512 This match was also for Hayashi's Strongest-K Championship. [11]
23 Shuji Kondo October 22, 2005 Shining Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 4835 [12]
24 Katsuhiko Nakajima February 17, 2007 Puroresu Love in Ryogoku vol. 2 Tokyo, Japan 1 3783 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. [1][13]
25 Silver King March 1, 2008 Puroresu Love in Ryogoku vol. 4 Tokyo, Japan 1 590 [14]
26 Ryuji Hijikata April 29, 2008 Growin' Up tour Nagoya, Japan 1 1523 [15]
27 Naomichi Marufuji September 28, 2008 Flashing tour Yokohama, Japan 1 1314
28 Kaz Hayashi February 6, 2009 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 2 69517
29 Minoru January 2, 2011 New Year Shining Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 1521 [16]
Vacated June 3, 2011 Vacated after All Japan Pro Wrestling suspended Minoru.
30 Kai June 19, 2011 2011 Puroresu Love in Ryōgoku Tokyo, Japan 1 1262 Defeated Shuji Kondo for the vacant title. [17]
31 Kenny Omega October 23, 2011 Puroresu Love in Ryōgoku Vol. 13 Tokyo, Japan 1 2175
32 Kai May 27, 2012 Rise Up Tour 2012 Tokyo, Japan 2 770
33 Hiroshi Yamato August 12, 2012 Summer Impact 2012 Tokyo, Japan 1 1435
34 Shuji Kondo January 2, 2013 2013 New Year Shining Series: New Year 2Days Tokyo, Japan 2 520 This match was also contested for Kondo's GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.
35 Yoshinobu Kanemaru February 23, 2013 2013 Excite Series Tokyo, Japan 1 2957
36 Último Dragón December 15, 2013 2013 Fan Appreciation Day Tokyo, Japan 1 1652
37 Atsushi Aoki May 29, 2014 2014 Super Power Series Tokyo, Japan 1 3025
38 Kotaro Suzuki March 27, 2015 2015 Dream Power Series Tokyo, Japan 1 2346
Vacated November 16, 2015 Vacated due to Suzuki leaving AJPW.
39 Atsushi Aoki February 21, 2016 2016 Excite Series Tokyo, Japan 2 1193 Defeated Hikaru Sato in the finals of the 2016 Jr. Battle of Glory.
40 Hikaru Sato June 19, 2016 2016 Dynamite Series Tokyo, Japan 1 701
41 Soma Takao August 28, 2016 Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2016 Tokyo, Japan 1 911 This was a DDT Pro-Wrestling event.
42 Keisuke Ishii November 27, 2016 Zen Nihon Puroresu in Ryōgoku Kokugikan Tokyo, Japan 1 1523
43 Hikaru Sato April 28, 2017 2017 Champion Carnival: 45th Anniversary Series Okayama, Japan 2 934
44 Tajiri July 30, 2017 2017 Summer Action Series Osaka, Japan 1 280
45 Último Dragón August 27, 2017 2017 Summer Explosion Tokyo, Japan 2 551
46 Tajiri October 21, 2017 Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori Debut 25th Anniversary Show Yokohama, Japan 2 1053
47 Atsushi Aoki February 3, 2018 2018 Yokohama Twilight Blues Special Yokohama, Japan 3 2044
48 Koji Iwamoto August 26, 2018 2018 Summer Explosion ~ Jr. Tag Battle of Glory Chiba, Japan 1 270
49 Shuji Kondo September 22, 2018 2018 Royal Road Tournament 2018 Fukuoka, Japan 3 681
50 Koji Iwamoto November 29, 2018 Real World Tag League 2018 Nagoya, Japan 2 1722
51 Atsushi Aoki May 20, 2019 Super Power Series 2019 Tokyo, Japan 4 1840 On June 3, 2019, 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 would start on November 21 and finish on January 3, 2020.
Vacated November 20, 2019 Vacated after Aoki died in a motorcycle accident and the six month deadline for a title defense expired
52 Susumu Yokosuka January 3, 2020 New Year Wars 2020 Tokyo, Japan 1 2045 Defeated Hikaru Sato in a tournament final to win the vacant championship
53 Koji Iwamoto July 25, 2020 Summer Action Series 2020 Tokyo, Japan 3 193+4

Combined reigns

As of February 3, 2021.

Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined days
1 Masanobu Fuchi5242,443
2 Yoshinari Ogawa3101,211
3 Kaz Hayashi2231,018
4 Atsushi Aoki412810
5 Kendo Kashin18670
6 Shuji Kondo36603
7 Dan Kroffat26519
8 Koji Iwamoto36392+
9 Katsuhiko Nakajima13378
10 Yoshinobu Kanemaru17295
11 Maunakea Mossman13294
12 Taka Michinoku112285
13 Kotaro Suzuki16234
14 Último Dragón23220
15 Kenny Omega15217
16 Susumu Yokosuka15204
17 Kai22203
18 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi12175
19 Hikaru Sato25163
20 Keisuke Ishii13152
Ryuji Hijikata13152
Minoru11152
23 Hiroshi Yamato15143
24 Tajiri23133
25 Naomichi Marufuji14131
26 Joe Malenko22116
27 Hiro Saito13115
28 Soma Takao1191
29 Mitsuo Momota1272
30 Silver King1059
31 Mighty Inoue1242
32 Kuniaki Kobayashi1141
33 Shinichi Nakano104

See also

References

  1. "AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  2. Hoops, Brian (July 31, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 31): Stan Hansen wins NWA International title, Giant Baba, Hulk Hogan in AWA". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  3. "AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship official title history" (in Japanese). All-Japan.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  4. Hoops, Brian (July 1, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 1): Ric Flair stripped of WCW title, Von Erich win WCCW Tag titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  5. Hoops, Brian (July 12, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 12): Gagne, Bruiser & Crusher, Ladd wins Americas title, 1992 Bash with Sting vs. Vader". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  6. "AJPW Triple Crown Championship official title history" (in Japanese). All-Japan.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  7. "AJPW Champion's Carnival tour results". Shining Road. Archived from the original on 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  8. "We are the Champions (as of July 8)". Power Slam Magazine. Lancaster, Lancashire, England: SW Publishing LTD. August 2003. p. 15. 109.
  9. "AJPW Excite Series tour results". Shining Road. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  10. Hoops, Brian (February 22, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/22): Sting defeats Hogan to win vacant WCW title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  11. "Kaientai Dojo results, 2005" (in German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  12. "AJPW Shining Series tour results". Shining Road. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  13. "AJPW Excite Series 2007 tour results". Shining Road. Archived from the original on 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  14. "AJPW Excite Series 2008 tour results". Shining Road. Archived from the original on 26 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  15. "AJPW Growin' Up tour results". Shining Road. Archived from the original on 14 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  16. Meltzer, Dave (2011-01-02). "Complete Sunday update: Legendary feud, ratings, long time champ drops title today, Reaction to UFC". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  17. http://www.puroresuspirit.com/2011/06/19/results-for-june-19th-2011/


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