Inoki Genome Federation Inoki Genome Federation ( IGF ) is a professional wrestling promotion in Japan founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007 . The IGF is now also the official National Wrestling Alliance territory of Japan , since Antonio Inoki is the person who holds those rights and transferred them to " IGF " from New Japan Pro Wrestling . History . Antonio Inoki left New Japan Pro Wrestling , a promotion he founded in 1972 , to start the IGF . Inoki carried over to IGF his National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) accreditation , making IGF the official Japanese territory of the NWA . In 2007 , the IGF began a talent exchange with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) of the United States , with Kurt Angle being the first TNA talent used by IGF despite TNA having officially broken ties with the NWA in 2004 . The first IGF show was held on June 29 2007 at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo , Japan . The card was completely changed at the last minute , resulting in the 8 , 426 fans in attendance not knowing who or what they were going to see outside of the main event of Kurt Angle vs . Brock Lesnar . On February 22 , 2010 , IGF ran their 11th show since its inception . Shinichi Suzukawa was scheduled to face Bob Sapp in an IGF special rules Heavyweight bout on December 31 , 2010 , at K - 1 Dynamite ! ! 2010 . The fight was to be held under MMA rules , but the fighters won ' t wear gloves . Closed - fist strikes will not be allowed , but palm strikes will be permitted . The event will air on HDNet in North America . The fight was canceled due to a last - minute contract dispute but those in attendance were told that Sapp “ had lost his will to fight . ” Title history . IWGP Heavyweight Championship ( IGF version ) . The IWGP Heavyweight Championship was IGF ' s only sanctioned championship . Though it is officially not the same title recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling , the Inoki Genome Federation referred to this title as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship ( and was recognized as such also by TNA ) . IGF claims that the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was never held up despite Brock Lesnar being stripped of the title by NJPW on July 15 , 2006 . This is due to Antonio Inoki believing that Lesnar was being treated unfairly by NJPW . As Inoki was the one who had originally established the IWGP title , he still viewed Lesnar as the rightful champion . As such there were two separate belts and titles that were billed as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . IGF ' s version used the third physical incarnation of the belt , while NJPW reverted to the second once it lost possession of the third belt . The IGF championship was defended for the first time by Lesnar in a losing effort against Kurt Angle in the main event of the debut IGF card on June 29 , 2007 . Angle made his first successful title defense against Samoa Joe on August 12 , 2007 in Orlando , Florida at TNA Hard Justice in a match where , in addition to the IWGP title , Angle ' s TNA World Heavyweight , and Joe ' s TNA World Tag Team and TNA X Division Championship s were on the line . On December 20 , 2007 Angle successfully defended the title against Kendo Kashin and again against Yuji Nagata at the New Japan Pro Wrestling " Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome " supershow on January 4 , 2008 . Angle ultimately lost the title in his fourth defense , against NJPW - recognized IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura , in a title unification match , on February 17 , 2008 ; this unified both versions of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship . As a result , the IGF currently sanctions no championships . IWGP Heavyweight Championship . ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 0 % | # ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 23 % | Wrestler ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 0 % | Reign ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 15 % | Date ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 5 % | Daysheld ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 13 % | Location ! style = " background : # e3e3e3 ; " width = 40 % | Notes