(IGF) was a Japanese

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 ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

promotion founded by

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...

in 2007.

History

Antonio Inoki left

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 ...

, a promotion he founded in 1972, to start the IGF. The first IGF show was held on June 29, 2007 at the

Sumo Hall is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The show's main event was a match between

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...

and

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...

Shinichi Suzukawa , born September 21, 1983 as , is a former sumo wrestler from Hyōgo prefecture in Japan. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 9. He was thrown out of the sport in February 2009 in sumo, 2009 after being arrested for cannabis (drug), cannabis posses ...

was scheduled to face Bob Sapp in an IGF special rules Heavyweight bout on December 31, 2010, at K-1

Dynamite!! 2010 ''Dynamite!! 2010'' was a mixed martial arts and kickboxing event in the annual New Year's Eve event promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group that took place on December 31, 2010 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event include ...

. The fight was to be held under

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

rules, but the fighters wouldn't be wearing gloves. Closed-fist strikes would have been allowed, but palm strikes wouldn't have been permitted. The event was to air on

HDNet AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...

in North America. However, the fight was canceled due to a last-minute contract dispute, with the Japanese audience in attendance told by the promoter involved in the dispute that Sapp “had lost his will to fight.” In 2011 the company presented a gift to

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

, leader of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

as part of a diplomatic effort. In August 2014, IGF held two shows in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

, North Korea. On December 29, 2014, IGF announced a deal with

PPTV PPTV () is a Chinese video streaming website. Its predecessor, PPLive, was peer-to-peer streaming video freeware created at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The group of companies that runs the websi ...

to bring its programming to Chinese audiences. In 2017, Inoki created a new company, ISM, distancing himself from IGF. After that, his son-in-law Simon Inoki gained more influence in the company and created a new brand, "NEW". On March 23, 2018, Antonio Inoki sold his part of the promotion and left IGF. IGF closed on January 9, 2019. A new promotion featuring IGF's Chinese wrestlers, called "Eastern Heroes", was founded in 2019 by Simon Inoki.

Roster

Roster at time of closing

Atsushi Sawada is a Japanese alpine skier. He competed in two events at the 1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from Febru ...

* Black Tiger V *

Crusher Kawaguchi (born August 14, 1980) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, who fights in the heavyweight division. He is the former DEEP Megaton Champion, and has also fought in DREAM, M-1 Global and KSW. Judo Yusuke Kawaguchi came ...

Daichi Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is a former two-time BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion and three-time BJW Tag Team Champion. He is the son of Shiny ...

*Erik Hammer *

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known for his ...

*Keisuke Okuda *

Kendo Kashin Tokimitsu Ishizawa (''Ishizawa Tokimitsu'', born August 5, 1968), better known by his ring name Kendo Kashin (ケンドー・カシン, ''Kendō Kashin''), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his time in New Japan Pr ...

Kevin Kross Kevin Kesar (born July 19, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Karrion Kross alongside his real life wife Scarlett Bordeaux. Prior to his time at WWE, ...

* Knux *

Mason Williams Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''The Smothers Brothers ...

* Minowaman *Mitsuyoshi Nakai *Montanha Silva * Naoya Ogawa *

Shinya Aoki is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and grappler currently competing in ONE Championship's and Rizin Fighting Federation's Welterweight division. He also competes in DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time DDT Ex ...

Shogun Okamoto , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...

*Vito Rea

Notable alumni

Alexander Kozlov Alexander Alexandrovich Kozlov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Козло́в; born 2 January 1981) is a Russian politician serving as the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia since 10 November 2020. ...

Bobby Lashley Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is an eight-time world champion, having been a two-t ...

Daijiro Matsui is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor since 1998, he has competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, DEEP, Pancrase, and King of the Cage. Professional wrestling career Afte ...

Erik Paulson Erik Paulson (born June 28, 1966) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light-Heavy Weight Shooto Title in Japan. Biography Erik started his career in martial arts starting with Judo at age of 8. However ...

* Harry Smith *

Hideki Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler who is currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). He previously wrestled in WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand under the ring name Hachiman as a member of Diamond Mine, and also worked as a coach at ...

Hikaru Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name . Sato started his MMA career in February 2000, fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. During the next eight years, Sato fought, on average, five time ...

Jerome Le Banner Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

Mirko Cro Cop Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...

Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...

* Shodai Tiger Mask *

Raj Singh Raj Singh may refer to: *Raj Singh I (1629–1680), Rana of Mewar the maternal uncle of Ajit Singh of Marwar *Raj Singh II (1743–1761), son of Maharana Pratap Singh II * Raj Singh (businessman) (born 1964), Sukhraj 'Raj' Singh, Indian businessman ...

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. H ...

* Wang Bin *

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese Professional Wrestler and trainer. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wrest ...

* Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima ;Guests *

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matc ...

* The Destroyer *

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promote ...

Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his Glossary of professional wrestling terms#S, stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesigh ...

Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan ...

;Supervisor *

Billy Robinson William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 3 March 2014) was a British professional wrestler and wrestling instructor. Robinson was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents ( Europe, North America, Asia and Ocean ...

Championships

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

IGF Championship

In February 2011, IGF started a tournament to determine the first ever IGF Champion, which eventually led to a final match between

Jérôme Le Banner Jérôme Philippe Le Banner (; born December 26, 1972) is a French kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler. Le Banner fought for most of his career in K-1 and became known for his aggressive fighting style and knockout power. ...

and

Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission grappler, professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA, where he competes in their Heavyweight division. Barnett p ...

. However, just days prior to the final match taking place, IGF announced on August 19 that Barnett would not be able to attend the event. On August 22, IGF declared Le Banner the first champion. The title was founded as a professional wrestling championship, but has since December 31, 2013, been contested in legitimate mixed martial arts fights.

Title history

Tournaments

IGF Championship Tournament

*Erik Hammer replaced Shinichi Suzukawa in the tournament after defeating Ray Sefo.

World Bantamweight Grand Prix

Inoki Genome Tournament 2012

Inoki Genome Tournament 2013

IGF World GP

Quarterfinals took place on April 11, 2015 at IGF 3
Semi-finals took place on August 29, 2015 at IGF 4
The Final took place on December 31, 2015 at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2015.

IGF events

References

External links

* {{National Wrestling Alliance Japanese professional wrestling promotions 2007 establishments in Japan Japanese companies established in 2007 Entertainment companies established in 2007 Japanese companies disestablished in 2019 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2019 Companies based in Tokyo National Wrestling Alliance members