IWGP Heavyweight Championship/Champion history

The following champion history features the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
==Champion history==
Wrestlers: 	Reigns: 	Date: 	Location: 	Notes:
Antonio Inoki 	1 	June 12, 1987 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Vacated due to Inoki fracturing his left foot 	Vacated due to Inoki fracturing his left foot 	Vacated due to Inoki fracturing his left foot 	Vacated due to Inoki fracturing his left foot 	Vacated due to Inoki fracturing his left foot
Tatsumi Fujinami 	1 	May 8, 1988 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Held up after a title defense against Riki Chōshū ended in a no contest. 	Held up after a title defense against Riki Chōshū ended in a no contest. 	Held up after a title defense against Riki Chōshū ended in a no contest. 	Held up after a title defense against Riki Chōshū ended in a no contest. 	Held up after a title defense against Riki Chōshū ended in a no contest.
Tatsumi Fujinami 	2 	June 24, 1988 	Osaka, Japan 	
Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament. 	Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament. 	Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament. 	Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament. 	Vacated so the title could be decided in a tournament.
Big Van Vader 	1 	April 24, 1989 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Salman Hashimikov 	1 	May 25, 1989 	Osaka, Japan 	
Riki Chōshū 	1 	July 12, 1989 	Osaka, Japan 	
Big Van Vader 	2 	August 10, 1989 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Riki Chōshū 	2 	August 19, 1990 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Tatsumi Fujinami 	3 	December 26, 1990 	Hamamatsu, Japan 	
Big Van Vader 	3 	January 17, 1991 	Yokohama, Japan 	
Tatsumi Fujinami 	4 	March 4, 1991 	Hiroshima, Japan 	
Riki Chōshū 	3 	January 4, 1992 	Tokyo, Japan 	
The Great Muta 	1 	August 16, 1992 	Fukuoka, Japan 	
Shinya Hashimoto 	1 	September 20, 1993 	Nagoya, Japan 	
Tatsumi Fujinami 	5 	April 4, 1994 	Hiroshima, Japan 	
Shinya Hashimoto 	2 	May 1, 1994 	Fukuoka, Japan 	
Keiji Mutoh 	2 	May 3, 1995 	Fukuoka, Japan 	
Nobuhiko Takada 	1 	January 4, 1996 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Shinya Hashimoto 	3 	April 29, 1996 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Kensuke Sasaki 	1 	August 31, 1997 	Yokohama, Japan 	
Tatsumi Fujinami 	6 	April 4, 1998 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Masahiro Chono 	1 	August 8, 1998 	Osaka, Japan 	
Vacated due to Chono injuring his neck.. 	Vacated due to Chono injuring his neck.. 	Vacated due to Chono injuring his neck.. 	Vacated due to Chono injuring his neck.. 	Vacated due to Chono injuring his neck..
Scott Norton 	1 	September 23 1998 	Yokohama, Japan 	
Keiji Mutoh 	3 	January 4, 1999 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Genichiro Tenryu 	1 	December 10, 1999 	Osaka, Japan 	
Kensuke Sasaki 	2 	January 4, 2000 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!. 	Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!. 	Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!. 	Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!. 	Vacated after Sasaki lost a non-title match to Toshiaki Kawada at Do Judge!!.
Kensuke Sasaki 	3 	January 4, 2001 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Scott Norton 	2 	March 17, 2001 	Nagoya, Japan 	
Kazuyuki Fujita 	1 	April 9 2001 	Osaka, Japan 	
Vacated due to an injured achilles tendon. 	Vacated due to an injured achilles tendon. 	Vacated due to an injured achilles tendon. 	Vacated due to an injured achilles tendon. 	Vacated due to an injured achilles tendon.
Tadao Yasuda 	1 	February 16, 2002 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Yuji Nagata 	1 	April 5, 2002 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Yoshihiro Takayama 	1 	May 2, 2003 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 	1 	November 3, 2003 	Yokohama, Japan 	
Shinsuke Nakamura 	1 	December 9, 2003 	Osaka, Japan 	
Vacated due to various injuries. 	Vacated due to various injuries. 	Vacated due to various injuries. 	Vacated due to various injuries. 	Vacated due to various injuries.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 	2 	February 15, 2004 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Kensuke Sasaki 	4 	March 12, 2004 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Bob Sapp 	1 	March 28, 2004 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita. 	Vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita. 	Vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita. 	Vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita. 	Vacated after Sapp lost a K-1 fight to Kazuyuki Fujita.
Kazuyuki Fujita 	2 	June 5, 2004 	Osaka, Japan 	
Kensuke Sasaki 	5 	October 9, 2004 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 	3 	December 12, 2004 	Nagoya, Japan 	
Satoshi Kojima 	1 	February 20, 2005 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 	4 	May 14 2005 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Kazuyuki Fujita 	3 	July 18, 2005 	Sapporo, Japan 	
Brock Lesnar 	1 	October 8, 2005 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Vacated due to Lesnar being unable to defend the title because of "problems with a working visa". Lesnar refuses to turn over the IWGP title belt and later is recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion, using the same belt.	Vacated due to Lesnar being unable to defend the title because of "problems with a working visa". Lesnar refuses to turn over the IWGP title belt and later is recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion, using the same belt.	Vacated due to Lesnar being unable to defend the title because of "problems with a working visa". Lesnar refuses to turn over the IWGP title belt and later is recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion, using the same belt.	Vacated due to Lesnar being unable to defend the title because of "problems with a working visa". Lesnar refuses to turn over the IWGP title belt and later is recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion, using the same belt.	Vacated due to Lesnar being unable to defend the title because of "problems with a working visa". Lesnar refuses to turn over the IWGP title belt and later is recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation as their first champion, using the same belt.
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	1 	July 17 2006 	Sapporo, Japan 	
Yuji Nagata 	2 	April 13, 2007 	Osaka, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	2 	October 8, 2007 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Shinsuke Nakamura 	2 	January 4, 2008 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Keiji Mutoh 	4 	April 27, 2008 	Osaka, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	3 	January 4, 2009 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Manabu Nakanishi 	1 	May 6, 2009 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	4 	June 20, 2009 	Osaka, Japan 	
Vacated on August 17, 2009 due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket. 	Vacated on August 17, 2009 due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket. 	Vacated on August 17, 2009 due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket. 	Vacated on August 17, 2009 due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket. 	Vacated on August 17, 2009 due to Tanahashi fracturing his eye socket.
Shinsuke Nakamura 	3 	September 27, 2009 	Kobe, Japan 	
Togi Makabe 	1 	May 3, 2010 	Fukuoka, Japan 	
Satoshi Kojima 	2 	October 11, 2010 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	5 	January 4, 2011 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Kazuchika Okada 	1 	February 12, 2012 	Osaka, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	6 	June 16, 2012 	Osaka, Japan 	
Kazuchika Okada 	2 	April 7, 2013 	Tokyo, Japan 	
A.J. Styles 	1 	May 3, 2014 	Fukuoka, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	7 	October 13, 2014 	Tokyo, Japan 	
A.J. Styles 	2 	February 11, 2015 	Osaka, Japan 	
Kazuchika Okada 	3 	July 5, 2015 	Osaka, Japan 	
Tetsuya Naito 	1 	April 10, 2016 	Tokyo, Japan 	
Kazuchika Okada 	4 	June 19, 2016 	Osaka, Japan 	
Kenny Omega 	1 	June 9, 2018 	Osaka, Japan 	
Hiroshi Tanahashi 	8 	January 4, 2019 	Tokyo, Japan 	Won at Wrestle Kingdom 13
Jay White 	1 	February 11, 2019 	Osaka, Japan 	
Kazuchika Okada 	5 	April 6, 2019 	New York City, New York 	Won at ROH-NJPW G1 Supercard 2019
Tetsuya Naito 	2 	January 5, 2020 	Tokyo, Japan 	Won at Wrestle Kingdom 14 - Night 2
EVIL 	1 	July 12, 2020 	Osaka, Japan 	Won at Dominion In Osaka-Jo Hall
Tetsuya Naito 	3 	August 29, 2020 	 	
Kota Ibushi 	1 	January 4, 2021 	Tokyo, Japan 	
The Championship was retired after it was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to create the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. 	The Championship was retired after it was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to create the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. 	The Championship was retired after it was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to create the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. 	The Championship was retired after it was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to create the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. 	The Championship was retired after it was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to create the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Category:Champion history