NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship

Professional wrestling championship
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hajime Ohara as NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Details
PromotionNational Wrestling Alliance
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
All Japan Pro Wrestling
Toryumon Mexico
Dradition
Date establishedDecember 10, 1979
Current champion(s)Último Dragón
Date wonJuly 19, 2010
Other name(s)
  • World Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Steve Keirn
Most reignsAtsushi Onita/Chavo Guerrero (3 reigns)
Longest reignÚltimo Dragón

The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, Steve Keirn, was recognized as world champion only by Florida, Los Angeles, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This version was eventually taken to the latter promotion by Tatsumi Fujinami, who already held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship.

In 1981, champion Chavo Guerrero left NJPW to go back to the United States, only to come back to Japan under the banner of All Japan Pro Wrestling, where a year later, it was renamed the International Junior Heavyweight Championship to avoid confusion and (along with being given a new belt design) in general line with AJPW's NWA titles. The championship became the cornerstone of AJPW's junior heavyweight division until its eventual replacement by the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, which kept the belt design until 2017.[1]

In March 2007, after over two decades of inactivity, Toryumon Mexico reactivated the championship, using the belt that was used prior to November 1982.

Title history

Key
No. The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A The specific information is not known
— Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
  Indicates that there was a period where the lineage is undocumented due to the lack of written documentation in that time period.
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref(s)
1 Steve Keirn 1 December 10, 1979 53 Los Angeles, California live event Defeated Chavo Guerrero in a decision match to be recognized as World Junior Heavyweight Champion in Florida and Los Angeles.
2 Tatsumi Fujinami 1 February 1, 1980 14 Sapporo, Japan live event Also held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, but defended them separately.
3 Mike Graham 1 February 15, 1980 49 Hollywood, Florida live event [2]
4 Tatsumi Fujinami 2 April 4, 1980 89 Kawasaki, Japan live event
— Vacated — July 2, 1980 — N/A N/A Fujinami was injured and unable to defend the championship.
5 Kengo Kimura 1 July 23, 1980 72 Kita Kyushu, Japan live event Defeated Bret Hart in a decision match.
6 Chavo Guerrero 1 October 3, 1980 147 Tokyo, Japan live event
7 Gino Hernandez 1 February 27, 1981 153 Houston, Texas live event [3]
8 Chavo Guerrero 2 July 30, 1981 220 Houston, Texas live event
9 Atsushi Onita 1 March 7, 1982 35 Charlotte, North Carolina live event Additionally recognized as international champion in Jim Crockett Promotions.
10 Sangre Chicana 1 April 11, 1982 19 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico live event Additionally recognized as world champion in Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre.
11 Atsushi Onita 2 April 30, 1982 91 Mexico City, Mexico live event
— Vacated — July 30, 1982 — N/A N/A Vacated after a match against Chavo Guerrero that ended in a no decision.
12 Atsushi Onita 3 November 4, 1982 162 Tokyo, Japan live event Defeated Chavo Guerrero in rematch.
The National Wrestling Alliance and All Japan Pro Wrestling rename the title the "NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship" during this reign.
— Vacated — April 15, 1983 — N/A N/A Vacated after Onita broke his leg during a match against Hector Guerrero.
13 Chavo Guerrero 3 May 26, 1983 276 Tenryu, Japan live event Defeated Ultra Seven (Masahiko Takasugi) in tournament final. [4]
14 Mighty Inoue 1 February 26, 1984 468 Osaka, Japan live event
15 Dynamite Kid 1 June 8, 1985 5 Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan live event
16 Kuniaki Kobayashi 1 June 13, 1985 79 Koga, Ibaraki, Japan live event
17 Tiger Mask (II) 1 August 31, 1985 [Note 1] Tokyo, Japan live event
— Vacated — June 1986 — N/A N/A Vacated when Tiger Mask moves to the heavyweight division. The title was replaced with AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
18 Hirooki Goto 1 March 4, 2007 187 Mexico City, Mexico live event Defeated Shocker in a tournament final to revive the title for Toryumon Mexico and is awarded the pre-1982 belt. [5]
— Vacated — September 7, 2007 — N/A N/A Vacated when Goto graduates to the heavyweight division.
19 Super Delfin 1 November 9, 2008 13 Osaka, Japan live event Defeated Último Dragón in a decision match to revive title.
20 Último Dragón 1 November 22, 2008 22 Tokyo, Japan live event
21 Hajime Ohara 1 December 14, 2008 291 Mexico City, Mexico live event
22 Mineo Fujita 1 October 1, 2009 291 Tokyo, Japan Dream Impact IV
23 Último Dragón 2 July 19, 2010 5,013+ Tokyo, Japan live event Defeated Fujita and Hajime Ohara in a three-way dance. Also won AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship on December 15, 2013, but defended titles separately.

Footnotes

  1. ^ The exact date the championship was vacated is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 274 and 303 days.

See also

  • flagJapan portal

References

  1. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 15, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 15): Eddie Guerrero wins the WWE Championship". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/27): NXT takes over". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  4. ^ F4W Staff (May 26, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 26): Dick the Bruiser & Crusher beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race in a nine fall death match, Tiger Mask wins WWF Jr. Heavyweight gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Hoops, Brian (March 4, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/04): ROH 10th Anniversary Show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 5, 2017.

External links

  • NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title History
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