# BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship

The BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (BJW認定デスマッチヘビー級王座, BJW nintei desumacchi hebī-kyū ōza) is a title contested for in the Japanese promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. As its name suggests, it is exclusively defended in deathmatches. It was first created in 1998 when The Great Pogo defeated Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a tournament final. There have been a total of 23 recognized champions who have had a combined 48 official reigns. The current champion is Hideyoshi Kamitani who is in his second reign.

## Inaugural tournament

A single elimination tournament was set up to crown the inaugural champion which took place between June 8 and August 9, 1998.
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Pin | | | | | | |
| Jason the Terrible | Jason the Terrible | 14:29 | | | | | | |
| Jason the Terrible | Jason the Terrible | 14:29 | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Pin | | | |
| | | | Shadow Winger | Shadow Winger | 10:21 | | | |
| Shadow Winger | Shadow Winger | Pin | Shadow Winger | Shadow Winger | 10:21 | | | |
| Shoji Nakamaki | Shoji Nakamaki | 7:29 | | | | | | |
| Shoji Nakamaki | Shoji Nakamaki | 7:29 | | | | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Pin |
| | | | | | | The Great Pogo | The Great Pogo | 8:36 |
| The Great Pogo | The Great Pogo | Pin | | | | | | | The Great Pogo | The Great Pogo | 8:36 |
| Kung Fu Lee | Kung Fu Lee | 9:23 | | | | | | |
| Kung Fu Lee | Kung Fu Lee | 9:23 | The Great Pogo | The Great Pogo | Pin | | | |
| | | | Shadow WX | Shadow WX | 15:02 | | | |
| Shadow WX | Shadow WX | Pin | Shadow WX | Shadow WX | 15:02 | | | |
| Tomoaki Honma | Tomoaki Honma | 16:22 | | | | | | |

## Title history

Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| (NLT) | Championship change took place "no later than" the date listed |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| 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. |
| 1 | The Great Pogo | August 9, 1998 | Big Japan Fighter Declaration 1998 | Kawasaki, Japan | 1 | 14 | 0 | Defeated Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a glass and fire coffin cremation deathmatch tournament final. | |
| 2 | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | August 23, 1998 | Big Japan Fighter Declaration 1998 | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 31 | 0 | This was a glass and fire coffin cremation deathmatch. | |
| 3 | Shadow WX | September 23, 1998 | BJ Hard Core | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 109 | 1 | This was a three-way board alligator deathmatch. | |
| 4 | Abdullah the Butcher | January 10, 1999 | House show | Fukuoka, Japan | 1 | 49 | 0 | This was a lumberjack deathmatch. | |
| 5 | Shadow WX | February 28, 1999 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 91 | 1 | This was a barbed wire board deathmatch. | |
| 6 | Ryuji Yamakawa | May 30, 1999 | House show | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 72 | 1 | This was a no rope barbed wire death pallet coffin and fire deathmatch. | |
| 7 | Shadow WX | August 10, 1999 | House show | Osaka, Japan | 3 | 116 | 2 | This was a no rope barbed wire fire deathmatch. | |
| 8 | Ryuji Yamakawa | December 4, 1999 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 29 | 0 | This was a four-corner lighttubes board deathmatch. | |
| 9 | Tomoaki Honma | January 2, 2000 | New Year Great Series 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 182 | 1 | This was a five-inch spike nail and barbed wire double board quarterfinal deathmatch in the BJ Grand Prix 2000 tournament. | |
| 10 | Zandig | July 2, 2000 | BJ Hardcore Series II 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 144 | 2 | This was a lemon, salt and mustard deathmatch. | |
| 11 | Tomoaki Honma | November 23, 2000 | Wonder BJ 2000 Series | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | | 2 | This was a lemon, salt and mustard deathmatch. | |
| — | Vacated | February 2001 (NLT) | — | — | — | — | — | Honma was stripped of the title after he left BJW. | |
| 12 | Zandig | May 4, 2001 | North Wave 2001 | Sapporo, Japan | 2 | 107 | 1 | Defeated Kintaro Kanemura in a CZW Caribbean-style barbed wire, lighttubes, lighttubes board and barbed wire chess board deathmatch to win the vacant title. | |
| 13 | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | August 19, 2001 | Universe 2001 | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 105 | 0 | This was a 200 lighttubes and thumbtack and glass board deathmatch. | |
| 14 | Zandig | December 2, 2001 | Ante Up 2001 | Yokohama, Japan | 3 | | 0 | This was an exploding glass, lighttubes and thumbtacks deathmatch. | |
| — | Vacated | 2002 (NLT) | — | — | — | — | — | When Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and BJW's business relationship ended, Zandig left the company with the title belt. The belt was used in CZW to represent the new CZW Death Match Championship. BJW vacated the title in 2002. In 2003, the title belt returned to Japan and a tournament was held to crown a new champion. | |
| 15 | Kintaro Kanemura | March 30, 2003 | Harder Than Hardcore IV | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 147 | 1 | Defeated Shadow WX in a lighttubes and glass deathmatch to win the vacant title. | |
| 16 | Ryuji Ito | August 24, 2003 | HTH5 Series 2003 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 850 | 6 | This was a steel cage match. | |
| 17 | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 21, 2005 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 100 | 0 | This was a scaffold match. | |
| 18 | Takashi Sasaki | March 31, 2006 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 163 | 1 | This was a lighttubes and bed of nails deathmatch. | |
| 19 | Ryuji Ito | September 10, 2006 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 4 | 0 | This was a lighttubes, bunkhouse, double hell, super high ladder, and barbed wire Hell deathmatch. | |
| — | Vacated | September 14, 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to a wrist injury. | |
| 20 | Takashi Sasaki | December 3, 2006 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 266 | 2 | Defeated "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa in a lighttubes shrine deathmatch to win the vacant title. | |
| 21 | "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa | August 26, 2007 | Pro-Wrestling Summit in Ariake | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 110 | 1 | | |
| 22 | Ryuji Ito | December 14, 2007 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 3 | 142 | 1 | This was a four corner cross of D match. | |
| 23 | Shadow WX | May 4, 2008 | Katsura Special 14 | Koshigaya, Japan | 4 | 229 | 3 | This was a fluorescent lighttube boards and weapons deathmatch. | |
| 24 | Yuko Miyamoto | December 19, 2008 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 501 | 4 | | |
| 25 | Ryuji Ito | May 4, 2010 | BJW 15th Anniversary Show | Yokohama, Japan | 4 | 593 | 6 | This was a 200 fluorescent lighttubes cage deathmatch. | |
| 26 | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 18, 2011 | Big Japan Death Vegas 2011 | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 381 | 7 | This was a Game of Death deathmatch. | |
| 27 | Shuji Ishikawa | January 2, 2013 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 306 | 4 | This was a glass board and new year deathmatch. | |
| 28 | Isami Kodaka | November 4, 2013 | Big Japan Death Vegas 2013 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 202 | 4 | This was a culture of death match. | |
| 29 | Ryuji Ito | May 25, 2014 | Death Market 21 | Nagoya, Japan | 5 | 21 | 0 | This was a two-out-of-three falls match. | |
| 30 | Yuko Miyamoto | June 15, 2014 | House show | Hiroshima, Japan | 2 | 324 | 5 | | |
| 31 | Abdullah Kobayashi | May 5, 2015 | Endless Survivor 2015 | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 76 | 0 | | |
| 32 | Ryuji Ito | July 20, 2015 | Ryōgokutan 2015 | Tokyo, Japan | 6 | 370 | 5 | | |
| 33 | Kankuro Hoshino | July 24, 2016 | Ryōgokutan 2016 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 147 | 3 | | |
| 34 | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 18, 2016 | Big Japan Death Vegas 2016 | Yokohama, Japan | 4 | 138 | 0 | | |
| 35 | Masaya Takahashi | May 5, 2017 | Endless Survivor 2017 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 106 | 2 | This was a Spike nails and 150 lighttubes deathmatch. | |
| 36 | Masashi Takeda | August 19, 2017 | Death Mania V | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 449 | 9 | | |
| 37 | Masaya Takahashi | November 11, 2018 | Ryōgokutan 2018 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 175 | 3 | | |
| 38 | Isami Kodaka | May 5, 2019 | Endless Survivor 2019 | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 227 | 4 | | |
| 39 | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 18, 2019 | Big Japan Pro Wrestling 25th Anniversary Memorial | Yokohama, Japan | 5 | 89 | 1 | | |
| 40 | Ryuji Ito | March 16, 2020 | BJW Dai Nippon Pro-Wrestling 25th Anniversary ~ Stardust Superstars | Yokohama, Japan | 7 | 165 | 0 | | |
| 41 | Minoru Fujita | August 29, 2020 | Last Buntai at BJW | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 128 | 3 | | |
| 42 | Takumi Tsukamoto | January 2, 2021 | BJW 2021 New Year | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 202 | 1 | | |
| 43 | Drew Parker | July 23, 2021 | BJW Korakuen Hall Tournament | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 44 | 1 | This was a Barbed wire casket and Fluorescent light tubes Death Match | |
| 44 | Yuko Miyamoto | September 5, 2021 | BJW Death Mania IX 2021 | Nagoya, Japan | 3 | 242 | 5 | This was a tables, ladders & chairs deathmatch | |
| 45 | Drew Parker | May 5, 2022 | BJW Big Japan Welcome Back | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 8 | 1 | This was a scaffold & alpha deathmatch | |
| — | Vacated | May 13, 2022 | BJW | Tokyo, Japan | — | — | — | Parker vacated the championship upon leaving BJW. | |
| 46 | Hideyoshi Kamitani | August 28, 2022 | BJW Death Mania X 2022 | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 249 | 4 | Kamitani defeated Abdullah Kobayashi in the finals of a tournament which was contested in a fluorescent lighttubes jungle deathmatch. | |
| 47 | Abdullah Kobayashi | May 4, 2023 | BJW Endless Survivor ~ Infinity Independent | Yokohama, Japan | 6 | 73 | 0 | This was a Yokohama explosion jungle deathmatch. | |
| 48 | Yuki Ishikawa | July 16, 2023 | BJW | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 167 | 4 | This was a deathmatch. | |
| 49 | Mad Man Pondo | December 30, 2023 | BJW | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 5 | 0 | This was a fluorescent lighttubes & Illinois street fight deathmatch. | |
| 50 | Yuki Ishikawa | January 4, 2024 | BJW Deathmatch King Death | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 101 | 1 | This was a lighttube deathmatch. | |
| 51 | Hideyoshi Kamitani | April 14, 2024 | BJW New Standard Big "B" ~ Feelin' Come 2024 | Sapporo, Japan | 2 | 310+ | 3 | This was a high pressure deathmatch. | |

## Combined reigns

As of February 18, 2025.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined defenses | Combined days |
| 1 | Ryuji Ito | 7 | 18 | 2,145 |
| 2 | Yuko Miyamoto | 3 | 14 | 1,067 |
| 3 | Abdullah Kobayashi | 6 | 9 | 859 |
| 4 | Hideyoshi Kamitani † | 2 | 7 | 559+ |
| 5 | Shadow WX | 4 | 7 | 545 |
| 6 | Masashi Takeda | 1 | 9 | 449 |
| 7 | Isami Kodaka | 2 | 8 | 429 |
| 7 | Takashi Sasaki | 2 | 3 | 429 |
| 9 | Shuji Ishikawa | 1 | 4 | 306 |
| 10 | Masaya Takahashi | 2 | 5 | 281 |
| 10 | Zandig | 3 | 3 | 281¤ |
| 12 | Yuki Ishikawa | 2 | 5 | 268 |
| 13 | Tomoaki Honma | 2 | 3 | 252¤ |
| 14 | Takumi Tsukamoto | 1 | 1 | 202 |
| 15 | Kankuro Hoshino | 1 | 3 | 147 |
| 15 | Kintaro Kanemura | 1 | 1 | 147 |
| 17 | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | 2 | 0 | 136 |
| 18 | Minoru Fujita | 1 | 3 | 128 |
| 19 | "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa | 1 | 1 | 110 |
| 20 | Ryuji Yamakawa | 2 | 1 | 101 |
| 21 | Drew Parker | 2 | 2 | 52 |
| 22 | Abdullah the Butcher | 1 | 0 | 49 |
| 23 | The Great Pogo | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| 24 | Mad Man Pondo | 1 | 0 | 5 |