The IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship 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 o ...

openweight Openweight, also known as Absolute, is an unofficial weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. It refers to bouts where there is no weight limit and fighters with a dramatic difference in size can compete against each other. It is d ...

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 ...

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling 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 Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

for younger wrestlers who were under the age of 30. It was proposed as part of a tournament called the G2 U-30 Climax by

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 ...

, who ended up winning the tournament in April 2003. The U-30 Openweight Championship became officially recognized as an IWGP title in November 2004. Only two champions between three reigns were ever crowned over its three year existence, the inaugural and two time champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, and

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where ...

. As his 30th birthday began to approach (which would then make him ineligible to be the champion), Tanahashi vacated the title on June 7, 2006, to focus on 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 IWG ...

, and soon afterwards the U-30 Openweight Championship was de-emphasized and soon deactivated.

Title history

Combined reigns

References

External links

New Japan Pro-Wrestling: IWGP U-30 Open Weight ChampionshipIWGP U-30 Openweight Championship
{{New Japan Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling championships Openweight wrestling championships

Title history

Combined reigns

See also

References

External links