J-Crown

The J-Crown (also known as J-Crown Octuple Unified Championship) was formed originally by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a way of unifying eight junior heavyweight and cruiserweight titles from several different organizations. The J-Crown tournament was held in August 1996.

J-Crown
Details
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling
Date establishedAugust 5, 1996
Date retiredNovember 5, 1997

History

The J-Crown was the unification of eight different championship belts from five different organizations, including ones from both Japan and Mexico.[1] The tournament to crown the first champions was held over four nights, from August 2 to August 5, 1996, the same dates that New Japan Pro-Wrestling's annual G1 Climax event took place, promoting two major tournaments on one tour.[1] Jushin Thunder Liger is credited with coming up with the idea for the J-Crown.[1] The inaugural champion was The Great Sasuke.[1]

The J-Crown was defended for just over a year. While Ultimo Dragon was champion, the titles appeared on World Championship Wrestling programming, as Dragon also held the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship at the time.[1] When Liger was champion, he lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship to Yuji Yasuraoka on June 6, 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Liger, however, continued to defend the J-Crown with seven titles instead of eight.

As part of their introduction of a new WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, the World Wrestling Federation demanded that the then current champion Shinjiro Otani return the belt. Otani dissolved the J-Crown on November 5, 1997, by vacating all of the component titles except for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with the other belts being restored to their home promotions.

Championships
Championship Promotion Held by
British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship Michinoku Pro Wrestling Jushin Thunder Liger
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship New Japan Pro-Wrestling The Great Sasuke
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship National Wrestling Alliance Masayoshi Motegi
NWA World Welterweight Championship Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Negro Casas
UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship Universal Wrestling Association/Michinoku Pro Wrestling Shinjiro Otani
WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship Wrestle Association R Último Dragón
WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship World Wrestling Association Gran Hamada
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship World Wrestling Federation/Michinoku Pro Wrestling/New Japan Pro-Wrestling El Samurai

Tournament
Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Masayoshi Motegi Pin
Great Sasuke 11:50
The Great Sasuke Pin
El Samurai 16:25
Gran Hamada Pin
El Samurai 12:38
The Great Sasuke Pin
Último Dragón 13:56
Jushin Thunder Liger Pin
Último Dragón 2:38
Último Dragón Pin
Shinjiro Otani 16:04
Negro Casas Pin
Shinjiro Otani 11:34

Title history
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Great Sasuke August 5, 1996 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 67 Defeated Último Dragón in a tournament final to become the first champion.
2 Último Dragón October 11, 1996 Osaka Crush Night (Wrestling Association R event) Osaka, Japan 1 85 During his reign, Último Dragón captured the NWA World Middleweight Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, making him the most decorated wrestler in recorded history as he was the active reigning and defending champion of ten titles, a record which still stands.
3 Jushin Thunder Liger January 4, 1997 Wrestling World 1997 Tokyo, Japan 1 183 Lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship to Yuji Yasuraoka on June 6, 1997, in Tokyo, Japan; from that point on, the J-Crown is represented by seven championship belts.
4 El Samurai July 6, 1997 House show Sapporo, Japan 1 35
5 Shinjiro Otani August 10, 1997 House show Nagoya, Japan 1 87
— Deactivated November 5, 1997 — — — — The World Wrestling Federation demanded that Shinjiro Otani return the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship to them immediately. On the same day Otani also returned the remaining belts except for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

References
  1. Clevett, Jason (November 4, 2004). "The legend of Jushin "Thunder" Liger". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
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