Tetsuya Naito
After Nakamura's departure, the title was most associated with Tetsuya Naito, who held the title for a record six times. During his first reign, he began systematically destroying the title belt, forcing NJPW to have it repaired in June 2017. Unlike Nakamura, Naito firmly saw the Heavyweight Championship as the top title, and had no desire for the Intercontinental Championship when he first won it. On January 5, 2020 at Wrestle Kingdom 14, Tetsuya Naito won the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships. Both titles keep their individual history, but were defended at the same time. Sometimes, they were called "Double Championship". On March 4, 2021, one year after Naito's victory, the titles were unified to form the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.