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 tag team championship
The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championship (professional wrestling), championships in professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotions, promotions.
Nomenclature
The name of the promo ...
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 the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW
live event
A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
.
The IWGP Tag Team Championship is one of two tag team titles contested for in NJPW; the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
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 Juni ...
is also sanctioned by NJPW.
According to NJPW's official website, the IWGP Tag Team Championship is considered the "IWGP Heavyweight Class", while the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is listed as the "IWGP Jr. Tag Class".
Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result of a scripted match. Title changes usually happen at NJPW-promoted events; although the title has only changed hands twice at a non-NJPW event,
it has been defended in several other promotions.
History
Before the IWGP championship system was created, New Japan Pro-Wrestling featured the
NWA North American Tag Team Championship
The NWA North American Tag Team Championship is an inactive professional wrestling tag team championship that was used and defended in various territories throughout the National Wrestling Alliance., prior to its being purchased in 2017 by Billy ...
, a title originally based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, and the
WWF International Tag Team Championship
The WWF International Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1969 to 1972 and in the renamed World Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling for a short time in 1985.
Reigns
Names
...
, a title with license from the
World Wrestling Federation
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 var ...
, which was abandoned when the WWF working relationship ended.
The inaugural champions were
Kengo Kimura
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known under the ring name and for his many years working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan.
Professional wrestling career
Japan Wrestling Association (1972–1973)
Kimura made his pr ...
&
Tatsumi Fujinami
(born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. ...
, who defeated
Antonio Inoki &
Seiji Sakaguchi
is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and judoka, Sakaguchi holds a 7th dan red and white belt in Judo. Sakaguchi was a mainstay of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the Nati ...
in the final of a tournament to win the championship on December 12, 1985, at an NJPW live event.
In addition to NJPW, the IWGP Tag Team Championship was also contested in the United States-based promotions
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...
(WCW) (now defunct) in the early 1990s, and
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) in 2009,
and in the Mexican
lucha libre promotion
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 2005.
On October 30, 2005, in
Kobe, Japan
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whi ...
,
Hiroyoshi Tenzan
is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the ...
&
Masahiro Chono
is an American-born Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26 year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan, Team 2000 and Black New Japan, he was the promotion's top heel for ...
defeated
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 ...
&
Shinsuke Nakamura to begin their fifth overall reign as a team.
On July 2, 2006, an interim tag team title was created when Tenzan & Chono showed signs of inactivity.
Shiro Koshinaka
is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Career ...
&
Togi Makabe
, better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, two-time ...
defeated the teams of
Yuji Nagata
is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professio ...
&
Naofumi Yamamoto
Naofumi (written: 尚文, 尚史 or 脩史) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese video game composer
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanese professional wrestler, boxer and mixed martial artist
*, Japan ...
and
Giant Bernard
Matthew Jason Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Bloom ...
&
Travis Tomko
Travis David Tomko (born March 23, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler, entrepreneur, best known for his tenures with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Tomko between 2006 and 2010. Prior to this, he worked for ...
in a
Three-Way Match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
to become the first interim champions. NJPW president Simon Kelly Inoki stripped Tenzan & Chono of the IWGP Tag Team Championship on September 20, 2006, after Tenzan & Chono ceased teaming.
Manabu Nakanishi &
Takao Omori
is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...
, who defeated Koshinaka & Makabe on July 17, 2006 to become the interim champions, were recognized as the IWGP Tag Team Champions on September 28, 2006 by NJPW.
In 2009,
The British Invasion
The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...
defeated Team 3D on July 21, 2009 at a TNA television taping for the championship.
Afterwards, NJPW released a statement announcing that they did not sanction the defense nor the title change, and as such did not recognize the reign.
They continued to recognize Team 3D as the current champions and proclaimed that the next title defense would be by Team 3D and would be sanctioned by NJPW.
On August 10, 2009, NJPW issued another press release stating that they were now recognizing The British Invasion of
Brutus Magnus &
Doug Williams as the current IWGP Tag Team Champions, making the reign official.
Reigns
Hiroyoshi Tenzan
is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the ...
currently holds the record for most reigns by an individual wrestler, with twelve. Tenzan's combined twelve reign lengths add up to 1,988 days, which is the most of any champion. At seven reigns, the
Guerrillas of Destiny
The Guerrillas of Destiny, sometimes shortened to G.O.D., is a professional wrestling tag team and stable which consists of the Tongan-American brothers Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Hikuleo and manager Jado. Tama and Tanga originally began wrestling t ...
(
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 ...
&
Tanga Loa
Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita (born May 7, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), under the ring name Tanga Loa (タンガ・ロア ''Tanga Roa'') (originally Tanga Roa).
Fif ...
) hold the record for most by a team. Tenzan &
Masahiro Chono
is an American-born Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26 year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan, Team 2000 and Black New Japan, he was the promotion's top heel for ...
's combined five reign lengths add up to 1,010 days (the most of any team). At days,
Bad Intentions' (
Giant Bernard
Matthew Jason Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Bloom ...
&
Karl Anderson) only reign is the longest in the title's history.
Keiji Mutoh
is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and N ...
&
Shiro Koshinaka
is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Wrestle Association "R" (WAR) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Career ...
's only reign is the shortest, at six days. Currently, Bad Intentions' only reign has the most defenses, with ten. There are 20 reigns shared between 18 teams that are tied for the fewest successful defenses, with zero. Overall, there have been 96 reigns shared between 85 wrestlers.
FTR (
Dax Harwood
David Michael Harwood (born June 30, 1984) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Dax Harwood, where he and his FTR tag team partner, Cash Wheeler, he also makes appearanc ...
&
Cash Wheeler
Daniel Marshall Wheeler (born May 17, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Cash Wheeler. Wheeler is also known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Dash Wilder. ...
) are the current champions in their first reign. They won the titles by defeating previous champions
United Empire
, originally , is a professional wrestling faction, performing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and RevPro, the faction is led by Will Ospreay.
The group was formed in October 2020 by Ospreay and Great-O-Khan, when Ospreay turned on his Chao ...
(
Great-O-Khan
is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with United Empire teammate Jeff Cobb under the ring name . He also wrestles for NJPW's United Kingdom ba ...
&
Jeff Cobb
Jeffrey Cobb (ジェフ・コブ ''Jefu Kobu'', born July 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with United Emp ...
) and
Roppongi Vice
Roppongi Vice (sometimes stylized as RPG Vice) is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Trent Baretta and Rocky Romero who currently compete for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
They are best known for their work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (N ...
(
Rocky Romero
John R. Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed non-exclusively to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッ ...
&
Trent Beretta
Gregory "Greg" Marasciulo (born March 30, 1987), better known by the ring name Trent Beretta or Trent?, is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring ...
) in a
Three-Way
In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...
Winner Takes All tag team match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
for the
ROH World Tag Team Championship
The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, i ...
and IWGP Tag Team Championship on June 26, 2022 at
AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door.
References
;General
*
*
*
;Specific
External links
NJPW.co.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwgp Tag Team Championship
New Japan Pro-Wrestling championships
Tag team wrestling championships
1985 establishments in Japan