NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship
The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, Steve Keirn, was recognized as World champion only by Florida, Los Angeles, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. This version was eventually taken to the latter promotion by Tatsumi Fujinami, who already held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship.
| NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hajime Ohara as NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion. | |||||||||
| Details | |||||||||
| Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance New Japan Pro Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling Toryumon Mexico Dradition | ||||||||
| Date established | December 10, 1979 | ||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Último Dragón | ||||||||
| Date won | July 19, 2010 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
In 1981, champion Chavo Guerrero Sr. left NJPW to go back to the United States, only to come back to Japan under the banner of All Japan Pro Wrestling, where a year later, it was renamed the International Junior Heavyweight Championship to avoid confusion and (along with being given a new belt design) in general line with AJPW's NWA titles. The championship became the cornerstone of AJPW's junior heavyweight division until its eventual replacement by the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, which kept the belt design until 2017.[1]
In March 2007, after over two decades of inactivity, Toryumon Mexico reactivated the championship, using the belt that was used prior to November 1982.
Title history
| No. | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| N/A | The specific information is not known |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| Indicates that there was a period where the lineage is undocumented due to the lack of written documentation in that time period. |
| No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Keirn | 1 | December 10, 1979 | 53 | Los Angeles, California | live event | Defeated Chavo Guerrero in a decision match to be recognized as NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion in Los Angeles. | |
| 2 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 1 | February 1, 1980 | 14 | Sapporo, Japan | live event | Also held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, but defended them separately. | |
| 3 | Mike Graham | 1 | February 15, 1980 | 49 | Hollywood, Florida | live event | Recognized as World Champion in Florida. | [2] |
| 4 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 2 | April 4, 1980 | 89 | Kawasaki, Japan | live event | ||
| — | Vacated | — | July 2, 1980 | — | N/A | N/A | Fujinami was injured and unable to defend the championship | |
| 5 | Kengo Kimura | 1 | July 23, 1980 | 72 | Kita Kyushu, Japan | live event | Defeated Bret Hart in a decision match. | |
| 6 | Chavo Guerrero | 1 | October 3, 1980 | 147 | Tokyo, Japan | live event | ||
| 7 | Gino Hernandez | 1 | February 27, 1981 | 153 | Houston, Texas | live event | [3] | |
| 8 | Chavo Guerrero | 2 | July 30, 1981 | 220 | Houston, Texas | live event | ||
| 9 | Atsushi Onita | 1 | March 7, 1982 | 35 | Charlotte, North Carolina | live event | Billed as International champion in Jim Crockett Promotions. | |
| 10 | Sangre Chicana | 1 | April 11, 1982 | 19 | Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico | live event | Recognized as World champion in Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre. | |
| 11 | Atsushi Onita | 2 | April 30, 1982 | 91 | Mexico City, Mexico | live event | ||
| — | Vacated | — | July 30, 1982 | — | N/A | N/A | Vacated after a match against Chavo Guerrero that ended in a no decision. The National Wrestling Alliance and All Japan Pro Wrestling rename the title the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | |
| 12 | Atsushi Onita | 3 | November 4, 1982 | 162 | Tokyo, Japan | live event | Defeated Chavo Guerrero in rematch. | |
| — | Vacated | — | April 15, 1983 | — | N/A | N/A | Vacated after Onita broke his leg during a match against Hector Guerrero | |
| 13 | Chavo Guerrero | 3 | May 26, 1983 | 276 | Tenryu, Japan | live event | Defeated Ultra Seven in tournament final. | [4] |
| 14 | Mighty Inoue | 1 | February 26, 1984 | 468 | Osaka, Japan | live event | ||
| 15 | Dynamite Kid | 1 | June 8, 1985 | 5 | Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan | live event | ||
| 16 | Kuniaki Kobayashi | 1 | June 13, 1985 | 79 | Koga, Ibaraki, Japan | live event | ||
| 17 | Tiger Mask (II) | 1 | August 31, 1985 | [Note 1] | Tokyo, Japan | live event | ||
| — | Vacated | — | June 1986 | — | N/A | N/A | when Tiger Mask graduates to the heavyweight division. The title was replaced with World Junior Heavyweight Championship. | |
| 18 | Hirooki Goto | 1 | March 4, 2007 | 187 | Mexico City, Mexico | live event | Defeated Shocker in a tournament final to revive the title for Toryumon Mexico and is awarded the pre-1982 belt. | [5] |
| — | Vacated | — | September 7, 2007 | — | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Goto graduates to the heavyweight division. | |
| 19 | Super Delfin | 1 | November 9, 2008 | 13 | Osaka, Japan | live event | Defeated Último Dragón in a decision match to revive title. | |
| 20 | Último Dragón | 1 | November 22, 2008 | 22 | Tokyo, Japan | live event | ||
| 21 | Hajime Ohara | 1 | December 14, 2008 | 291 | Mexico City, Mexico | live event | ||
| 22 | Mineo Fujita | 1 | October 1, 2009 | 291 | Tokyo, Japan | Dream Impact IV | ||
| 23 | Último Dragón | 2 | July 19, 2010 | 3,853+ | Tokyo, Japan | live event | Defeated Fujita and Hajime Ohara in a three-way dance. Also won AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship on December 15, 2013, but defended titles separately. |
Footnotes
- The exact date the championship was vacated is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 274 and 303 days.
See also
References
- Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- Hoops, Brian (February 15, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 15): Eddie Guerrero wins the WWE Championship". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/27): NXT takes over". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
- F4W Staff (May 26, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 26): Dick the Bruiser & Crusher beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race in a nine fall death match, Tiger Mask wins WWF Jr. Heavyweight gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
- Hoops, Brian (March 4, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/04): ROH 10th Anniversary Show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
External links
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