The was 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 ...
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
owned by the
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV ...
(NJPW)
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 ...
. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was officially announced on January 5, 2011 and the Inaugural Champion
MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
was crowned on May 15, 2011 during
NJPW's first tour of the United States. On March 4, 2021, the championship was retired by NJPW after being unified with the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
The was 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 title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IW ...
to form the
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 ...
. The final champion was
Kota Ibushi
is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...
, who was in his second reign at the time of the title's retirement.
The title formed what was unofficially been called the "New Japan
Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Tri ...
" (新日本トリプルクラウン, ''Shin Nihon Toripuru Kuraun'') along with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the
NEVER Openweight Championship
The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. NEVER is an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal", and "Radical" and was an NJPW-promoted series of events, which ...
.
History
Inaugural championship tournament
On October 3, 2010, American promotion
Jersey All Pro Wrestling announced that it had reached an agreement with NJPW to co-promote NJPW's first shows in the United States. NJPW officially announced the ''
NJPW Invasion Tour 2011: Attack on East Coast'' tour on January 4, 2011, with shows taking place on May 13 in
Rahway, New Jersey
Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...
, May 14 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and May 15 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. The following day, NJPW added that, during the tour, the promotion would introduce the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, with the inaugural champion to be crowned in a tournament taking place over the three shows.
Participants for the tournament were announced on April 8, 2011. The list of participants included: former
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...
performer
MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
, who had signed a contract with New Japan in January 2011;
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 h ...
, who had been on a learning excursion to American promotion
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...
(TNA) since February 2010;
Hideo Saito, who had been on a similar tour of
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
's
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...
since September 2010; former
IWGP Tag Team and
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on August 8, 1998, at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Junior ...
Tetsuya Naito
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction.
Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...
and
Yujiro Takahashi
, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its sub-group House of Torture.
Takahashi entered New Japan in November 2003 with an extensive amateur backgr ...
of
No Limit
No Limit may refer to:
Music Record labels
*No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P
* No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P
Albums
* ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977
* ''No Limit'' ...
; NJPW regulars
Tama Tonga
Alipate Aloisio Leone (born October 15, 1982) is a Tongan-American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Tama Tonga (タマ・トンガ ''Tama Tonga''). He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known a ...
and
Toru Yano
, is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the KOPW 2020 and the provisional KOPW 2021. He is a four time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He is also a three- ...
, and; American independent worker
Dan Maff
Daniel Lopez (born October 28, 1973), better known by his ring name Dan Maff, is an American professional wrestler, known for his time with Ring of Honor (ROH).
Professional wrestling career Da Hit Squad
Lopez attended Jersey All Pro Wrestling ...
, who made his first appearance for NJPW during the tour. On May 6, it was announced that Tonga had suffered an injury which would force him out of the tournament. He was replaced by former TNA and
Ring of Honor performer Josh Daniels. On May 15, MVP defeated Yano in the final of the tournament to become the inaugural champion.
;Tournament bracket
Nakamura and elevation
![Shinsuke Nakamura 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Shinsuke_Nakamura_2015.JPG)
Through MVP's inaugural reign and the subsequent reigns of
Masato Tanaka and
Hirooki Goto
is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is also known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishii ...
,
the IWGP Intercontinental Championship was largely a
midcard title, remaining firmly behind the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
The was 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 title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IW ...
and
IWGP Tag Team Championship
The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. The ...
in importance. However, after
Shinsuke Nakamura captured the title from Goto on July 22, 2012,
the title began gaining importance. He was already a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and his first reign lasted days. Nakamura also made the title international again, defending it in both the United States and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
On May 31, 2013, while on tour with Mexican promotion
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), with whom NJPW has a working relationship, Nakamura lost the title to
La Sombra
La Sombra de Chicago or La Sombra de Tony Guerrero or even the Windy City Boys is a Tejano band founded by Tony Guerrero. Originally from the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois, the group gained national acclaim and success after moving to Corp ...
. This marked the first time the title had changed hands outside of NJPW.
Nakamura regained the title back in NJPW two months later on July 20, and in the process became the first two-time holder of the title.
Nakamura continued elevating the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, culminating with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match receiving top billing over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at NJPW's biggest annual event,
Wrestle Kingdom 8 on January 4, 2014, where former multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion
Hiroshi Tanahashi
is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...
became the new champion.
Afterwards, ''
Tokyo Sports
is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960.
See also
* Tokyo Sports Film Award
* Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards
The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' ma ...
'' wrote that the Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championships were now equals, while
Dave Meltzer
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...
wrote that Nakamura and Tanahashi made the Intercontinental Championship feel like "the real world title belt". Nakamura regained the title from Tanahashi in another main event match on April 6 at
Invasion Attack 2014.
Nakamura's association with the championship continued to 2016, when he successfully defended it against former IWGP Heavyweight Champion
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...
at
Wrestle Kingdom 10
Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2016, in Tokyo, Japan, at the Tokyo Dome. It was the 25th January 4 Tokyo Dom ...
. On January 25, 2016, Nakamura was stripped of the title due to his departure from the promotion at the end of the month.
From 2012 to 2016, Nakamura held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship five times and defended it at four consecutive
Wrestle Kingdom
The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is a professional wrestling event produced annually on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a Japan-based professional wrestling promotion. NJPW has promoted events in the venue every Janua ...
events.
The title was also associated with Nakamura as it was he who personally introduced the new title belt design shortly into his first reign in August 2012. He was outspokenly disapproving of the first belt design—which had bronze plates on a black strap—for its resemblance to a
10 yen coin and saw it as a mockery of the IWGP.
The new design featured gold plates on a white strap. The white strap was unprecedented for the IWGP,
[ and symbolized a clean slate for its holder to add to and define.
]
Naito and unification with Heavyweight Championship
After Nakamura's departure, the title was most associated with Tetsuya Naito
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction.
Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...
, 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
Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome was a two-night professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4 and 5, 2020, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 29th January ...
, 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.
Reigns
During the championship's existence there have been twenty-seven reigns shared among fifteen wrestlers with one vacancy. MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
was the first champion in the title's history. Tetsuya Naito
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction.
Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...
has the most reigns with six. Shinsuke Nakamura holds the record for the longest reign in the title's history at 313 days during his first reign. Tetsuya Naito's second reign of 41 days is the shortest in the title's history. Kota Ibushi
is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...
was the final champion and had held the championship twice.
Combined reigns
References
External links
Official title history at New Japan Pro-Wrestling.co.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwgp Intercontinental Championship
New Japan Pro-Wrestling championships
Intercontinental professional wrestling championships