Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
*
If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
+
Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files
Defeats Masa Saitō in the final of '87
IWGP Tournament to be recognized as the first IWGP Heavyweight
champion; vacant on 88-05-02 when Inoki breaks his foot.
Wins rematch against Chōshū Riki; vacates on
89-04-05 to raise the authority of the title, for which a one-night
tournament at Tōkyō Dome on 89-04-24 is held.
Unifies NWF
Heavyweight Title on 04-01-05 after defeating Takayama Yoshihiro
on 04-01-04 in Tōkyō; vacates on 04-02-05 due to the injury from
a match on 03-12-31.
Wins a 3-way match against Fujita and Chōno Masahiro by pinning Chono and is awarded the third version of the belt; stripped on 06-07-15 when Lesnar does not come to Japan due to a contractual problem but refuses to return the belt.
Tanahashi Hiroshi
2006-07-17
Sapporo
Defeats Giant Bernard in 6-man tournament final and is awarded the second version of the belt.
Nagata Yūji [2]
2007-04-13
Ōsaka
Kurt Angle defeats Brock Lesnar at an Inoki Genome Federation card on 07-06-29 in Tōkyō to win the physical possession of the third version of the champion belt without the authorization by New Japan, which continues to recognize Nagata as the champion.
Wins both titles; defeats El Desperado on 21-03-04 in Tōkyō to retain both titles and is recognized as the first unified world champion.
Will Ospreay
2021-04-04
Tōkyō
Vacates on 21-05-20 due to the neck injury suffered during the match on 21-05-04.
Takagi Shingo
2021-06-07
Ōsaka
Defeats Okada Kazuchika.
Okada Kazuchika [6]
2022-01-04
Tōkyō
Jay White [2]
2022-06-12
Ōsaka
Okada Kazuchika [7]
2023-01-04
Tōkyō
SANADA
2023-04-08
Tōkyō
Naitō Tetsuya [4]
2024-01-04
Tōkyō
Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose)
2024-04-12
Chicago, IL, USA
Naitō Tetsuya [5]
2024-06-30
Elmont, NY, USA
Zack Sabre Jr.
2024-10-14
Tōkyō
Gotō Hiro-oki
2025-02-11
Ōsaka
Zack Sabre Jr. [2]
2025-06-29
Nagoya
Kōnosuke Takeshita
2025-10-13
Tōkyō
Tsuji Yōta
2026-01-04
Tōkyō
Global champion, wins a double title match to win the IWGP World Title, which is officially disunified into IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles on 26-01-06, with Tsuji as the official 87th IWGP heavyweight champion.
