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IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The championship was created on March 1, 2021 by the unification of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The current champion is Kazuchika Okada, who is in his second reign. History In 2019, when he was IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Tetsuya Naito declared his intention of making history by becoming the first to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Championship at the same time. By the end of the year, Jay White, who had won the Intercontinental Championship from Naito, and Kota Ibushi, who was the next challenger for the Heavyweight Championship, also expressed the same desire. After a fan vote, it was decided that Naito, White, Ibushi, and Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada would compete at Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4–5, 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuchika Okada
(born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Okada is a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion where his fourth reign with the championship is the longest in history at 720 days. He also holds the record for most successful title defenses with 12. Additionally, he is also a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, making him a six-time world champion overall in NJPW. Initially trained by Último Dragón and making his debut in August 2004, Okada spent his first years in professional wrestling working in Mexico, before returning to Japan and making NJPW his home promotion in mid-2007. Originally working as a junior heavyweight, Okada graduated to the heavyweight division in April 2008, with limited success. In February 2010, NJPW sent Okada on a learning excursion to American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he spent the next twenty months, mainly performing on the promotion's secondary television program ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
El Desperado (wrestler)
is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working under the ring name . He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former two time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a four time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Mikami was trained by the NJPW dojo and worked for NJPW for two years as a Young Lion. In 2012 he traveled to Mexico for a learning excursion, working for NJPW's Mexican affiliate Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as the masked character Namajague, a Spanish translation of Namahage, a Japanese folk demon. While in CMLL he won his first professional wrestling title alongside Okumura, the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship, in March 2013. After being unmasked due to losing a match and briefly working without one, Mikami returned to NJPW in January 2014 and was repackaged under another mask as El Desperado. Early life Mikami was born and raised in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan. He later attended Senshu Univers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrestle Kingdom 16
Wrestle Kingdom 16 was a three-day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event co-produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) promotions. The event took place on January 4 and 5, 2022, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo and January 8, at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. It was the 31st January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 16th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name; it was also the first time the event was held over three days and the first one to take place in Yokohama. It marked the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show since 2007's Wrestle Kingdom I to be co-produced with another wrestling promotion. Days 1 and 2 of the event aired on the NJPW World streaming service and via FITE TV and other PPV providers; Day 3 aired as a PPV event on AbemaTV before being archived on NJPW World and Wrestle Universe. Production Background The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is NJPW's biggest annual event and has been called "the largest professional wrestling show i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
