# Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship

The Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Japanese: インディペンデントワールド世界ジュニアヘビー級王座, Hepburn: Indipendento Wārudo Sekai Junia Hebī-kyū Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship that is being defended in various independent promotions in Japan. The title was originally created in 1993 by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.
There have been a total of 47 reigns spread over three lineages and shared among 33 different wrestlers. The current champion is Hikaru Sato who is in his first reign.

## History

The title was created in 1993 by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and it stayed with FMW from its inception to mid-1999, when FMW retired it. In 1998, the title was renamed FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship (FMW認定ジュニアヘビー級王座, FMW-nintei Junia Hebī-kyū Ōza) with the launch of the FMW Unified Organization. It was considered a different title with a new lineage.
On May 31, 1999, Kodo Fuyuki became the FMW commissioner and withdrew the recognition of the title following the introduction of the WEW Single Championship which he awarded to himself on September 24. Yuhi Sano was then recognized as the first Independent World Junior Heavyweight Champion, in continuation of his FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship reign, thus starting a third lineage. Since then, the title has been defended in various Japanese promotions including Big Japan Wrestling, DDT Pro-Wrestling, Kaientai Dojo, Union Pro Wrestling, Osaka Pro Wrestling and Michinoku Pro Wrestling.
Despite FMW no longer recognizing the title, the original championship belt—still bearing the 'FMW' name—continues to be used. In May 2010, a new belt was created when Tarzan Goto's Super FMW promotion briefly revived the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship to crown its final champion.

## Reigns
### Original Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship

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. |
| 1 | The Great Sasuke | October 28, 1993 | Kankuran! | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | | 5 | Defeated Battle Ranger Z to become the inaugural champion. | |
| — | Vacated | October 1994 | — | — | — | — | — | Sasuke vacated the title to concentrate on a death match against Atsushi Onita. | |
| 2 | Ricky Fuji | December 20, 1994 | FMW vs. W*ING Alliance Full War in Nagoya | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 48 | 1 | Defeated The Great Sasuke to win the vacant title. | |
| 3 | Hideki Hosaka | February 6, 1995 | Japan Nationwide Atsushi Onita Memorial Retirement Tour Last Fight – Final Chapter – February Series | Okazaki, Japan | 1 | 52 | 1 | | |
| 4 | Koji Nakagawa | March 30, 1995 | Japan Nationwide Atsushi Onita Memorial Retirement Tour Last Fight – Final Chapter – March Series | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | | 0 | | |
| — | Vacated | 1995 | — | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to unknown circumstances. | |
| 5 | Koji Nakagawa | November 20, 1995 | Scramble Survivor | Fukuoka, Japan | 2 | 167 | 1 | Defeated Ricky Fuji to win the vacant title. | |
| 6 | Taka Michinoku | May 5, 1996 | FMW 7th Anniversary Show | Kawasaki, Japan | 1 | 420 | 10 | | |
| 7 | El Satánico | June 29, 1997 | CMLL Domingos de Coliseo | Mexico City | 1 | 57 | 0 | This was a best two-out-of-three falls match held at a Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre house show. | |
| 8 | Taka Michinoku | August 25, 1997 | Live event | Puebla, Mexico | 2 | 115 | 1 | | |
| — | Vacated | December 18, 1997 | — | — | — | — | — | Taka Michinoku vacated the title right after defending against Shoichi Funaki. | |

### FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship

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. |
| 1 | Minoru Tanaka | May 5, 1999 | FMW Strongest Tag League | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 9 | 0 | Defeated Ricky Fuji to win the vacant title. | |
| 2 | Yuhi Sano | May 14, 1999 | Battlarts Live event | Sapporo, Japan | 1 | 17 | 2 | FMW no longer recognized the title after May 31, 1999, and continued to be defended in the Battlarts promotion. | |
| — | Deactivated | May 31, 1999 | — | — | — | — | — | Kodo Fuyuki becomes the FMW commissioner and withdraws the recognition of the title. | |

### New Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship

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 | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | Notes | Ref. |
| Battlarts ||||||||||
| 1 | Yuhi Sano | May 31, 1999 | Live event | Sapporo, Japan | 1 | 244 | 3 | Battlarts recognizes Sano's reign as beginning on May 14, 1999, when he won the FMW Junior Heavyweight Championship. | |
| 2 | Minoru Tanaka | January 30, 2000 | Live event | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 102 | 2 | | |
| 3 | Katsumi Usuda | May 11, 2000 | Live event | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 38 | 0 | | |
| 4 | Naoyuki Taira | June 18, 2000 | Live event | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 161 | 3 | | |
| 5 | Katsumi Usuda | November 26, 2000 | Live event | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 373 | 5 | | |
| — | Vacated | December 4, 2001 | — | — | — | — | — | Vacated after Battlarts became inactive. | |
| Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) ||||||||||
| 6 | Ikuto Hidaka | February 17, 2002 | Live event | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 87 | 1 | Defeated Kazuya Yuasa in a tournament final to win the vacant title. | |
| — | Deactivated | May 15, 2002 | — | — | — | — | — | Retired due to FMW closing. | |
| Various indies ||||||||||
| 7 | Kota Ibushi | August 26, 2007 | Pro-Wrestling Summit In Ariake | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 349 | 7 | Defeated Madoka to revive the title. | |
| Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) ||||||||||
| 8 | Madoka | August 9, 2008 | Super Big Show Chiba Hakkenden | Chiba, Japan | 1 | 36 | 0 | | |
| 9 | Makoto Oishi | September 14, 2008 | Club-K Super Downtown 2008 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 374 | 7 | | |
| 10 | Gentaro | September 23, 2009 | Club-K Super Downtown 2009 | Chiba, Japan | 1 | 191 | 6 | | |
| 11 | Marines Mask (II) | April 2, 2010 | Club-K Super Evolution 8 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 160 | 2 | | |
| 12 | Tigers Mask | September 9, 2010 | Club-K Shinkiba #4 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 17 | 0 | | |
| Osaka Pro Wrestling (OPW) ||||||||||
| 13 | Orochi | September 26, 2010 | Osaka Pro Sumire September Series | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 48 | 1 | | |
| 14 | Tigers Mask | November 13, 2010 | Osaka Pro Fuyu Ga Hajimaru Yo Series | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 217 | 3 | | |
| Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) ||||||||||
| 15 | Daigoro Kashiwa | June 18, 2011 | Club-K Super Take | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 141 | 4 | | |
| 16 | Hiroki | November 6, 2011 | Club-K Super Joke 2011 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 447 | 15 | | |
| 17 | Ricky Fuji | January 26, 2013 | Club-K 3000 | Chiba, Japan | 1 | 78 | 1 | | |
| 18 | Hayato Nanjyo | April 14, 2013 | CLUB-K SUPER Evolution 11 - K-DOJO 11th Anniversary | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 27 | 0 | | |
| 19 | Taka Michinoku | May 11, 2013 | Club-K Tour In Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 483 | 16 | This match was also for Taka Michinoku's UWA World Middleweight Championship. | |
| 20 | Teppei | September 6, 2014 | Club-K 3000 | Chiba, Japan | 3 | 169 | 2 | Formerly held the title under the name Tigers Mask and began working under the name Atsushi Maruyama during this reign. | |
| 21 | Hi69 | February 22, 2015 | Club-K Super In TKP Garden City | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 49 | 0 | Formerly held the title under the name Hiroki. | |
| 22 | Isami Kodaka | April 12, 2015 | Club-K Super Evolution 13 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 203 | 8 | | |
| 23 | Shiori Asahi | November 1, 2015 | Club-K Super In Korakuen | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 503 | 11 | | |
| 24 | Ken Ohka | March 18, 2017 | Club-K Super In Blue Field | Chiba, Japan | 1 | 190 | 3 | | |
| DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) ||||||||||
| 25 | Daisuke Sasaki | September 24, 2017 | Who's Gonna Top? DDT Dramatic General Election 2017 - Last Request Special! | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 87 | 5 | This was a three-way match, where Sasaki defended the DDT Extreme Championship and Konosuke Takeshita defended the KO-D Openweight Championship. | |
| (DDT) DDT Pro-Wrestling: Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling (GanPro) ||||||||||
| 26 | Ken Ohka | December 20, 2017 | Burning'X'mas 2017 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 129 | 0 | | |
| 27 | Keisuke Ishii | April 28, 2018 | Dreaming I Was Dreaming 2018 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 253 | 6 | | |
| 28 | Shuichiro Katsumura | January 6, 2019 | Do It On Your Own Hands 2019 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 265 | 5 | | |
| 29 | Keisuke Ishii | September 28, 2019 | I Do Not Need A Comic Magazine! 2019 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 302 | 7 | | |
| 30 | Hagane Shinno | July 26, 2020 | Killer Queen 2020 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 27 | 0 | Formerly held the title under the name Madoka. | |
| 31 | Asuka | August 22, 2020 | Heaven's Door 2020 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 126 | 2 | | |
| 32 | Shota | December 26, 2020 | The World 2020 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 20 | 2 | | |
| Professional Wrestling Just Tap Out (JTO) ||||||||||
| 33 | Arata | January 15, 2021 | JTO Hatsu | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 310 | 5 | | |
| 34 | Naoki Tanizaki | November 21, 2021 | JTO in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 454 | 6 | | |
| Dove Pro-Wrestling ||||||||||
| 35 | Oji Shiiba | February 18, 2023 | Live event | Kobe, Japan | 1 | 102 | 1 | | |
| 36 | Yasu Urano | May 31, 2023 | Indie Junior Festival: We Are All Alive 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | <1 | 0 | | |
| 37 | Oji Shiiba | May 31, 2023 | Indie Junior Festival: We Are All Alive 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 91 | 2 | | |
| — | Vacated | August 30, 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | Oji Shiiba vacated the title when he went into a hiatus in order to treat his injured knee. | |
| Various indies ||||||||||
| 38 | Hikaru Sato | December 27, 2023 | Taka Michinoku Produce Independent Junior Heavyweight Festival One-Day Tournament | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 432+ | 8 | Defeated Kota Sekifuda in the finals of a 54-person tournament to win the vacant title. | |

## Combined reigns

As of March 3, 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 | Taka Michinoku | 3 | 27 | 1,018 |
| 2 | Keisuke Ishii | 2 | 13 | 555 |
| 3 | Shiori Asahi | 1 | 11 | 503 |
| 4 | Hiroki/Hi69 | 2 | 15 | 496 |
| 5 | Naoki Tanizaki | 1 | 6 | 454 |
| 6 | Hikaru Sato † | 1 | 8 | 432+ |
| 7 | Katsumi Usuda | 2 | 5 | 411 |
| 8 | Tigers Mask/Teppei | 3 | 5 | 403 |
| 9 | Makoto Oishi | 1 | 7 | 374 |
| 10 | Kota Ibushi | 1 | 7 | 349 |
| 11 | The Great Sasuke | 1 | 5 | 338¤ |
| 12 | Ken Ohka | 2 | 3 | 319 |
| 13 | Arata | 1 | 5 | 310 |
| 14 | Shuichiro Katsumura | 1 | 5 | 265 |
| 15 | Yuhi Sano | 1 | 5 | 261 |
| 16 | Oji Shiiba | 2 | 3 | 193 |
| 17 | Gentaro | 1 | 6 | 191 |
| 18 | Koji Nakagawa | 2 | 1 | 168¤ |
| 19 | Naoyuki Taira | 1 | 3 | 161 |
| 20 | Marines Mask (II) | 1 | 2 | 160 |
| 21 | Daigoro Kashiwa | 1 | 4 | 141 |
| 22 | Ricky Fuji | 2 | 2 | 126 |
| 22 | Asuka | 1 | 2 | 126 |
| 24 | Minoru Tanaka | 2 | 2 | 111 |
| 25 | Ikuto Hidaka | 1 | 1 | 87 |
| 25 | Daisuke Sasaki | 1 | 5 | 87 |
| 27 | Madoka/Hagane Shinno | 2 | 0 | 63 |
| 28 | El Satánico | 1 | 0 | 57 |
| 29 | Hideki Hosaka | 1 | 1 | 52 |
| 30 | Orochi | 1 | 1 | 48 |
| 31 | Hayato Nanjyo | 1 | 0 | 27 |
| 32 | Shota | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| 33 | Yasu Urano | 1 | 0 | <1 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ The date of at least one of the title changes in this reign is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 338 and 368 days.
* ↑ The date of at least one of the title changes in this reign is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 1 and 235 days.
* 1 2 Sano's two separate reigns are generally being counted as one 261 days reign.