The is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

world heavyweight championship owned by the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, ...

(BJW)

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. It is one of two heavyweight championships promoted by BJW, the other being the

BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship The is a title contested for in the Japanese promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audien ...

. The two titles symbolize the two sides of BJW; the Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship the

hardcore wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

side and the World Strong Heavyweight Championship the

strong style is the predominant style of professional wrestling in Japan, professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Gairaigo, Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English ...

side. The title has a lower weight limit of . Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won as a result of a scripted match. There have been nineteen reigns shared among eleven different wrestlers.

Yuji Okabayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He has been working in BJW since his debut in June 2008. He is best known as part of a tag team with Daisuke Sekimoto, with whom ...

is the current champion in his fourth reign.

History

On March 26, 2012, Yoshihito Sasaki defeated

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Heavyw ...

in the finals to win the 2012 Ikkitosen Strong Climb tournament. Following his win, Sasaki requested that BJW establish a new championship that would symbolize the "strong" side of the promotion. BJW already had one heavyweight championship, the

, but it was contested exclusively in deathmatches. This led to BJW announcing the creation of the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship on April 14, 2012. A similar championship in concept existed from 2001 known as the BJW Heavyweight Championship but had long been retired, with

Men's Teioh (born December 16, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Men's Teioh (also written MEN's Teioh). The English translation of his ring name, Terry Boy, is a homage to American professional wrestler Terry Funk. ...

last defending the title in 2004. On May 5, Yoshihito Sasaki defeated

Westside Xtreme Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling, commonly shortened to wXw, is a German professional wrestling promotion based in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. wXw has been one of the leading professional wrestling promotions in Germany, and most of its eve ...

(wXw) representative and the reigning wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion Big Van Walter in a decision match to become the inaugural champion. The BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship was first defended outside of Japan on May 19 at a wXw event. The championship has also been defended at

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

and

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

events. With the introduction of the

BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship BJW may refer to: * the IATA code for Bajawa Soa Airport, Indonesia * Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro ...

in May 2017, BJW announced that from now on wrestlers need to weigh at least to be able to challenge for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship.

Title history

Combined reigns

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Yasufumi Nakanoue is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by the ring name , currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is the current BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion. He started his career in All Japan P ...

, , , , - !, , , , , , - !, , , , , , - !, , , , , , - !, , Takuya Nomura , , , , - !, , , , , , - !, ,

Kohei Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler contracted with Pro Wrestling Zero1. Sato is also a former mixed martial artist. Career A former judoka and amateur wrestler, Sato made his transition to mixed martial arts after meeting Kazunari Murakami and ...

, , , , - !, , , , , , -

References

General

Specific

External links

Official title history at BJW.co.jp
{{Big Japan Pro Wrestling Big Japan Pro Wrestling championships World heavyweight wrestling championships