NWF_Heavyweight_Championship

NWF Heavyweight Championship

NWF Heavyweight Championship

Professional wrestling championship

The NWF Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship used as part of the National Wrestling Federation and later New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

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History

The NWF (National Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight Championship was created by wrestling promoter Pedro Martinez for his NWF promotion in New York in 1970. The title was mainly defended in the New York/Eastern Canada area, until then-champion Johnny Powers took the belt with him on a tour of Japan with Tokyo Pro Wrestling. Powers would eventually lose the title to Antonio Inoki, who would take the belt with him when he founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Inoki became the wrestler most associated with the title due to his high-profile defenses of the title, defeating the likes of Stan Hansen, André the Giant, Tiger Jeet Singh, and Ernie Ladd while champion. Recognized as a four-time NWF Heavyweight champion, between the years of 1973 and 1983 Inoki was champion for all but six months. Inoki's fourth reign was actually due to the decision to hold up the championship, following a defense against Stan Hansen on April 17, 1981, that ended in a no contest. Inoki later regained the title on April 23, 1981, by defeating Hansen in a rematch. He retired the NWF title immediately after the match due to his desire to enter the 1983 IWGP League.[2]

Then as part of a NJPW storyline, the NWF Heavyweight championship was revived in August 2002. Mixed martial arts fighter Kazuyuki Fujita held a tournament to crown a new champion to rival the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The tournament participants were announced to be wrestlers with a background in MMA, including Fujita, Yoshihiro Takayama, Tsuyoshi Kosaka, and Tadao Yasuda. Takayama won the tournament on January 4, 2003, beating Kosaka with a knee kick in the finals to become the first revived champion in over two decades. Takayama later lost the NWF Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura exactly a year later to unify the NWF and IWGP titles. Nakamura formally announced his vacating of the NWF Heavyweight title on January 5, 2004, retiring the belt for a second time during its history.[3]

The title history was previously viewable on the NJPW website until removed for unknown reasons.

Reigns

Original version

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Revived version

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Notes

  1. [N 1]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 324 and 688 days.
  2. [N 2]
    The exact date the championship was lost is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 98 days.
  3. [N 3]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 98 days.
  4. [N 4]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 47 days.
  5. [N 5]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 218 days.
  6. [N 6]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 319 days.
  7. [N 7]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 319 days.
  8. [N 8]
    The exact date the championship was won is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 15 days.

See also

Contemporary titles in Japan:

Former belt used for a shoot-style title in Japan:

References

  1. [1]
    IWGP王者・中邑の対戦相手は“帝王”高山善廣！/1月4日東京ドーム公開記者会見 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  2. [2]
    Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  3. [3]
    Tanabe, Hisaharu. "N.W.F. Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  4. [4]
    Hoops, Brian (January 24, 2020). "Pro wrestling history (01/24): WWF Royal Rumble 1999". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  5. [5]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (December 10, 1973). "NJPW World Title Challenge Series 1973 - Tag 9 - TV-Show @ Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  6. [6]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (March 13, 1975). "NJPW Big Fight Series 1975 - Tag 20 - TV-Show @ Hiroshima Prefectural Gymnasium in Hiroshima, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  7. [7]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 26, 1975). "NJPW Golden Fight Series 1975 - Tag 24 - TV-Show @ Kuramae Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  8. [8]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 8, 1980). "NJPW New Year Golden Series 1980 - Tag 31 - TV-Show @ Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  9. [9]
    F4W Staff (April 3, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling title change history: Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt, Inoki Vs. Hansen, Guerrero Vs. Jericho". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. [10]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 3, 1980). "NJPW Big Fight Series 1980 – Tag 28 – TV-Show @ Kuramae Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan 2". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  11. [11]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 17, 1981). "NJPW/WWF Big Fight Series II - Day 13". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  12. [12]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 23, 1981). "NJPW WWF Big Fight Series II - Tag 17 - TV-Show @ Kuramae Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  13. [13]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 4, 2003). "NJPW Wrestling World 2003 - TV-Show @ Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  14. [14]
    Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 4, 2004). "NJPW Wrestling World 2004 - TV-Show @ Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
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