NJPW Clears Up Confusion Surrounding Major Championship

NJPW has been forced to clear up the confusion surrounding one of its top titles.

At Wrestle Kingdom 15 in 2021, the landscape changed massively in New Japan Pro Wrestling. That show was headlined by Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito, with Ibushi winning both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.

Those titles were then combined to become the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, which was considered an entirely new title. This caused upset with a lot of fans as the original heavyweight title had lineage stretching back to the 1980s.

At Wrestle Kingdom 20, Yota Tsuji put his IWGP Global Title on the line against IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita, whose title was also up for grabs. Tsuji had teased Takeshita about never being part of NJPW before and utilised a Boston Crab – the first move taught to NJPW’s Young Lions – to force Takeshita to submit.

NJPW Merges Championship Lineage

One day later at New Year’s Dash, Yota Tsuji resurrected the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship, showing off the fourth generation of that title belt.

NJPW has now confirmed that the lineages of the IWGP World Heavyweight and Heavyweight Championships have now been combined, with Tsuji now recognised as the 87th IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

At a press conference following New Year’s Dash, Yota Tsuji explained that the IWGP Heavyweight Title will be defended in Japan against the top NJPW challengers. His IWGP Global Title, on the other hand, will be defended internationally and against “invaders” to New Japan Pro Wrestling. The IWGP Intercontinental Title that was unified by Ibushi remains retired.