# KOPW (professional wrestling championship)

KOPW (an abbreviation for King of Pro-Wrestling) was an openweight championship created and promoted by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
KOPW follows a non-traditional formula: a "provisional champion" was first determined early in the year, with the provisional title being defended and potentially changing hands over the course of the year. Eventually, the provisional champion at the end of the year was officially recognized as the year's sole official champion. Furthermore, in contrast with NJPW's heavy focus on traditional matches, the title matches were exclusively focused on non-regular stipulations; each of the wrestlers involved in a title match proposes a stipulation, and fans vote to select which was followed.
The title was created by professional wrestler Kazuchika Okada, who introduced it during a press conference on July 28, 2020. Toru Yano became the first provisional champion on August 29, 2020, and the first official champion after a final title defense on December 23, 2020. Originally represented by a trophy, it later became represented by a title belt in December 2022.

## Concept

The title is inactive at the beginning of a new year. At some later point, a provisional champion is determined, who is not recognized by NJPW as an actual champion. During the rest of the year, the provisional champion must defend the title against contenders; if he fails, a new provisional champion is crowned, and must similarly defend the title against new contenders. At some point close to the end of the year, a final title match takes place; the winner of the match becomes recognized as that year's KOPW, and is awarded the KOPW Trophy.
While NJPW has historically focused heavily on traditional matches (either classic singles or tag team matches without special stipulations), KOPW matches will focus exclusively on non-regular stipulations such as matches with more than two individual competitors at the same time, two out of three falls matches, ladder matches, or steel cage matches. Each of the matches' participants can propose a stipulation, and the fans vote to select which stipulation the match will follow.
Despite its unique concept, KOPW is recognized as an actual championship (rather than a tournament or other non-conventional accolade) by NJPW. The name of the title changes based on the year, with the 2020 version of the title being named KOPW 2020. It is "reset" every year, and the process is repeated until a new champion is crowned.
On December 22, 2022, NJPW revealed a championship belt to replace the trophy, which had been broken and vandalized multiple times. The belt was presented to Shingo Takagi, the first provisional champion of 2023, in the New Japan Rumble on January 5, 2023, in Tokyo at New Year Dash!! 2023.

## History
### Creation

At Sengoku Lord in Nagoya on July 25, 2020, professional wrestler Kazuchika Okada teased "a controversial announcement." On July 28, during a press conference in Tokyo, NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced the creation of a new title following an idea by Okada; Okada then proceeded to introduce the title and its concept, also announcing KOPW 2021 for the following year. Comparing it to other NJPW titles, Okada claimed that KOPW "exists on the edge of New Japan."

### KOPW 2020

In the same conference he introduced the title, Okada announced that from August 26 onwards during the Summer Struggle tour, eight men will compete in four first-round singles matches. The four winners then competed in a four-way match to determine the inaugural provisional KOPW 2020 on August 29 at the Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo, during the Summer Struggle in Jingu event.
On August 6, 2020, Okada himself and Yujiro Takahashi were announced as the first two entrants in the tournament. Eventually, the eight match-ups were announced: Okada vs. Takahashi, Toru Yano vs. Bushi, El Desperado vs. Satoshi Kojima, and Sanada vs. Sho. Fans voted for the stipulations online on the social networking service Twitter; the polls closed on August 24, with over 170,000 fan votes cast. As Sanada and Sho had both picked submission match as their wanted stipulation, no vote was needed for their match.
In the first round, El Desperado defeated Kojima by disqualification in a No finisher match, Yano defeated Bushi in a Two-count Pinfalls match, Sanada defeated Sho in their Submission match, and finally Okada defeated Takahashi, who had teamed up with Jado & Gedo, in a 1 vs 3 handicap match.
At Summer Struggle in Jingu, Yano won the four-way match by pinning Okada to become the inaugural provisional champion.

## Reigns

Note that this list follows the title's history, including provisional champions; however, only the person winning the final title defense of the year is actually recognized as champion.
Colors :
* Provisional champion
* Official champion
Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | Notes | Ref. |
| | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) |
| — | Toru Yano | August 29, 2020 | Summer Struggle in Jingu | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 116 | 2 | Defeated Kazuchika Okada, El Desperado and Sanada in a four-way match which acted as the final of an eight-man tournament to become the first provisional 2020 champion. | |
| 1 | Toru Yano | December 23, 2020 | Road to Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | I | — | — | Defeated Bad Luck Fale in a Bodyslam or No Corner Pads match to become the official 2020 champion. | |
| — | Toru Yano | January 5, 2021 | Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome Night 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 201 | 2 | Defeated Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale and Bushi in a four-way match to become the first provisional 2021 champion. | |
| — | Chase Owens | July 25, 2021 | Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 41 | 0 | This was a 22-man New Japan Ranbo with handcuffs. | |
| — | Toru Yano | September 4, 2021 | Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome | Tokorozawa, Japan | 3 | 111 | 2 | This was a No disqualification "I quit" match. | |
| 2 | Toru Yano | December 24, 2021 | Road to Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | II | — | — | Defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru in an End of Year Party Rules match to become the official 2021 champion. | |
| — | Minoru Suzuki | January 5, 2022 | Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 46 | 0 | Defeated Chase Owens, Cima and Toru Yano in a four-way match to become the first provisional 2022 champion. | |
| — | Toru Yano | February 20, 2022 | New Years Golden Series Night 4 | Sapporo, Japan | 4 | 48 | 0 | This was a Dog Cage match. | |
| — | Taichi | April 9, 2022 | Hyper Battle '22 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 16 | 0 | This was a No-rope ring-out match. | |
| — | Shingo Takagi | April 25, 2022 | Golden Fight Series | Hiroshima, Japan | 1 | 238 | 4 | This was a 30-count pinfall match. | |
| 3 | Shingo Takagi | December 19, 2022 | JTO 50th Anniversary for TakaTaichi Together | Tokyo, Japan | I | — | — | Defeated Taichi in a Last Man Standing Lumberjack match to become the official 2022 champion. | |
| — | Shingo Takagi | January 5, 2023 | New Year Dash!! | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 114 | 2 | Defeated Great-O-Khan, Sho and Toru Yano in a four-way match to become the first provisional 2023 champion. | |
| — | Taichi | April 29, 2023 | Wrestling Satsuma No Kuni | Kagoshima, Japan | 2 | 148 | 0 | This was a Takagi-Style Triad match. | |
| — | Sho | September 24, 2023 | Destruction in Kobe | Kagoshima, Japan | 1 | 54 | 0 | This was a match where seconds were handcuffed to each other. | |
| — | Taichi | November 17, 2023 | New Japan Road | Yamagata, Japan | 3 | 34 | 1 | This was a special guest referee match with Yoshinobu Kanemaru being the guest referee, with the loser of the match being banned from wrestling in Yamagata Prefecture. | |
| 4 | Taichi | December 21, 2023 | Road to Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | I | — | — | Defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a Whiskey Bottle Ladder match to become the official 2023 champion. | |
| — | Taiji Ishimori | January 5, 2024 | New Year Dash!! | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 15 | 0 | Defeated Great-O-Khan, Toru Yano and Yoh in a four-way match to become the first provisional 2024 champion. | |
| — | Great-O-Khan | January 20, 2024 | The New Beginning in Nagoya | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 98 | 1 | This was a Ring Fit Match. | |
| — | Yuya Uemura | April 27, 2024 | Road to Wrestling Dontaku Night 7 | Hiroshima, Japan | 1 | 43 | 0 | Won 2–1 This was a Rural Revitalization in Hamamatsu two-out-of-three falls match. | |
| — | Great-O-Khan | June 9, 2024 | Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 196 | 2 | This was a Storm Catch Rules match. | |
| 5 | Great-O-Khan | December 22, 2024 | Road to Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | I | — | — | Defeated Taichi in a two out of three falls match to become the official 2024 champion. | |
| — | Vacated | December 22, 2024 | Road to Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | — | — | — | Last champion Great-O-Khan announced a retirement of the title. | |
| — | Deactivated | January 9, 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | Title officially deactivated by the International Wrestling Grand Prix committee. | |

## Combined reigns

Note that this includes both provisional and official champions.
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of titles | No. of int. reigns | Combined defenses | Combined days |
| 1 | Toru Yano | II | 4 | 5 | 476 |
| 2 | Shingo Takagi | I | 2 | 6 | 352 |
| 3 | Great-O-Khan | I | 2 | 3 | 294 |
| 4 | Taichi | I | 3 | 1 | 198 |
| 5 | Sho | — | 1 | 0 | 54 |
| 6 | Minoru Suzuki | — | 1 | 0 | 46 |
| 7 | Yuya Uemura | — | 1 | 0 | 43 |
| 8 | Chase Owens | — | 1 | 0 | 41 |
| 9 | Taiji Ishimori | — | 1 | 0 | 15 |