Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on August 8, 1998, at a NJPW live event.[1] The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is not the only tag team title contested for in NJPW; the IWGP Tag Team Championship is also sanctioned by NJPW.[2] According to NJPW's official website, the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is listed as the "IWGP Jr. Tag Class", while the IWGP Tag Team Championship is considered the "IWGP Heavy Weight Class".[2] The title is contested for by junior heavyweight wrestlers; the weight-limit for the title is 100 kg (220 lb) per partner.[3] Being a professional wrestling championship, the title is won as a result of a predetermined outcome.
Title changes happen mostly at NJPW-promoted events. The inaugural champions were Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa, who defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. and Koji Kanemoto on August 8, 1998, in the final of a tournament. Rocky Romero holds the record for most reigns by an individual wrestler, with eight. At seven reigns, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) hold the record for the most by a team. Gedo and Jado's combined four reign lengths add up to 960 days—the most of any team. NJPW keep track of all championship title defenses per reign, which is unlike most mainstream wrestling organizations. They also hold the most total defenses as champions, with 15. Ryusuke Taguchi holds the records for most combined days and most total defenses by an individual wrestler, with 990 days and 17 defenses respectively across his 7 reigns with 4 different partners. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) hold the record for most defenses during a single reign, with 7. The Great Sasuke and Jushin Thunder Liger's only reign, Minoru and Prince Devitt's first reign, El Samurai and Koji Kanemoto's only reign, Apollo 55's fourth reign, Jushin Thunder Liger's sixth and Tiger Mask's first reign, The Young Bucks' second, fourth, and seventh reigns, Roppongi Vice's (Beretta and Rocky Romero) first, second and fourth reigns, Matt Sydal and Ricochet's first and second reigns and Roppongi 3K's (Sho and Yoh) second reign share the record for the fewest successful defenses, with zero. At 348 days, Otani and Takaiwa's second reign is the longest in the title's history. Minoru and Prince Devitt's first reign is the shortest, at 21 days.
Overall, there have been a total of 75 reigns shared among 55 wrestlers, who made up 41 different teams. Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors) are the current champions in their second reign as a team as well as individually. They won the titles by defeating Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) on February 4, 2024, at Road To The New Beginning 2024.
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific team—reign numbers for the individuals are in parentheses, if different |
Days | Number of days held |
Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
+ | Current reign is changing daily |
No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | ||||
1 | Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | August 8, 1998 | Rising the Next Generations in Osaka Dome | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 149 | 2 | Otani and Takaiwa defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. and Koji Kanemoto in a tournament final to become the first champions. | [1] |
2 | Dr. Wagner Jr. and Kendo Kashin | January 4, 1999 | Wrestling World | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 96 | 2 | [4] | |
3 | The Great Sasuke and Jushin Thunder Liger | April 10, 1999 | Strong Style Symphony | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 94 | 0 | [5] | |
4 | Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa | July 13, 1999 | Summer Struggle 1999 | Morioka, Japan | 2 | 348 | 4 | [6] | |
5 | Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka | June 25, 2000 | Summer Struggle 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 254 | 3 | [7] | |
6 | El Samurai and Jushin Thunder Liger | March 6, 2001 | Hyper Battle 2001 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 2) |
136 | 1 | [8] | |
7 | Gedo and Jado | July 20, 2001 | Dome Quake | Sapporo, Japan | 1 | 286 | 6 | [9] | |
8 | Jushin Thunder Liger and Minoru Tanaka | May 2, 2002 | Toukon Memorial Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (3, 2) |
119 | 1 | [10] | |
9 | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru | August 29, 2002 | Cross Road | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 150 | 4 | [11] | |
10 | Jushin Thunder Liger and Koji Kanemoto | January 26, 2003 | The First Navigation 2003 | Kobe, Japan | 1 (4, 2) |
282 | 6 | [12][13] | |
— | Vacated | November 4, 2003 | — | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated due to Kanemoto fracturing his left cheekbone. | [12] |
11 | Gedo and Jado | November 29, 2003 | Battle Final 2003 | Miyagi, Japan | 2 | 104 | 2 | Gedo and Jado defeated Hirooki Goto and Ryusuke Taguchi to win the vacant championship. | [14] |
12 | American Dragon and Curry Man | March 12, 2004 | Hyper Battle 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 85 | 1 | [15] | |
13 | Gedo and Jado | June 5, 2004 | Best of the Super Jr. XI | Osaka, Japan | 3 | 272 | 5 | [16] | |
14 | Koji Kanemoto and Wataru Inoue | March 4, 2005 | Big Fight Series 2005 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (3, 1) |
71 | 2 | [17] | |
15 | Hirooki Goto and Minoru | May 14, 2005 | Nexess VI | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 3) |
281 | 2 | [18] | |
16 | El Samurai and Ryusuke Taguchi | February 19, 2006 | Circuit2006 Acceleration | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (2, 1) |
139 | 2 | [19] | |
17 | Gedo and Jado | July 8, 2006 | Circuit2006 Turbulence | Shizuoka, Japan | 4 | 298 | 2 | [20] | |
18 | Dick Togo and Taka Michinoku | May 2, 2007 | New Japan Pro-Wrestling 35th Anniversary Tour Brave New World: Hall2Days | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 270 | 3 | [21] | |
19 | Prince Prince (Minoru and Prince Devitt) |
January 27, 2008 | Circuit2008 New Japan Ism | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (4, 1) |
21 | 0 | [22] | |
20 | Legend (Akira and Jushin Thunder Liger) |
February 17, 2008 | Circuit2008 New Japan Ism | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 5) |
155 | 1 | [23] | |
21 | Prince Prince (Minoru and Prince Devitt) |
July 21, 2008 | Circuit2008 New Japan Soul: Novello Sparks | Sapporo, Japan | 2 (5, 2) |
84 | 1 | [24] | |
22 | No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro) |
October 13, 2008 | Destruction '08 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 83 | 1 | [25] | |
23 | The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) |
January 4, 2009 | Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 182 | 3 | The Motor City Machine Guns defended the championship twice in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion during their reign, as part of an agreement between TNA and NJPW. | [26] |
24 | Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) |
July 5, 2009 | Circuit2009 New Japan Soul | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (3, 2) |
290 | 5 | [27] | |
— | Vacated | April 21, 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | Title held up after the championship was not defended for 30 days. | [28] |
25 | El Samurai and Koji Kanemoto | May 8, 2010 | Super J Tag Tournament 1st | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (3, 4) |
72 | 0 | El Samurai and Kanemoto defeated Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) in the final of an eight-team tournament to win the vacant title. | [29][30] |
26 | Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) |
July 19, 2010 | Circuit2010 New Japan Soul | Sapporo, Japan | 2 (4, 3) |
84 | 1 | [31] | |
27 | Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) |
October 11, 2010 | Destruction '10 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 104 | 2 | [32] | |
28 | Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) |
January 23, 2011 | Fantastica Mania 2011 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 (5, 4) |
260 | 7 | [33] | |
29 | No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero) |
October 10, 2011 | Destruction '11 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 86 | 1 | [34] | |
30 | Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) |
January 4, 2012 | Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 4 (6, 5) |
39 | 0 | [35] | |
31 | No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero) |
February 12, 2012 | The New Beginning | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 80 | 0 | [36] | |
— | Vacated | May 2, 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | Title held up after Davey Richards was unable to attend Wrestling Dontaku 2012 due to travel issues. | [37] |
32 | Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask | June 16, 2012 | Dominion 6.16 | Osaka, Japan | 1 (6, 1) |
36 | 0 | Liger and Tiger Mask defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) to win the vacant title. | [38] |
33 | Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) |
July 22, 2012 | Kizuna Road | Yamagata, Japan | 1 (1, 3) |
112 | 2 | [39] | |
34 | Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) |
November 11, 2012 | Power Struggle | Osaka, Japan | 1 (2, 1) |
173 | 3 | [40] | |
35 | Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) |
May 3, 2013 | Wrestling Dontaku 2013 | Fukuoka, Japan | 2 (2, 4) |
164 | 3 | [41] | |
36 | Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) |
October 14, 2013 | King of Pro-Wrestling | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 2) |
26 | 1 | [42] | |
37 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
November 9, 2013 | Power Struggle | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 224 | 5 | [43] | |
38 | Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) |
June 21, 2014 | Dominion 6.21 | Osaka, Japan | 2 (3, 2) |
140 | 3 | [44] | |
39 | reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) |
November 8, 2014 | Power Struggle | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 95 | 1 | [45] | |
40 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
February 11, 2015 | The New Beginning in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 53 | 0 | This was a three-way match, also involving Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida). | [46] |
41 | Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) |
April 5, 2015 | Invasion Attack 2015 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 5) |
28 | 0 | [47] | |
42 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
May 3, 2015 | Wrestling Dontaku 2015 | Fukuoka, Japan | 3 | 105 | 1 | This was a three-way match, also involving reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly). | [48] |
43 | reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) |
August 16, 2015 | G1 Climax 25 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 141 | 2 | [49] | |
44 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
January 4, 2016 | Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 4 | 38 | 0 | This was a four-way match, also involving Matt Sydal and Ricochet and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). | [50] |
45 | Matt Sydal and Ricochet | February 11, 2016 | The New Beginning in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 59 | 0 | This was a three-way match, also involving reDRagon. | [51] |
46 | Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) |
April 10, 2016 | Invasion Attack 2016 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 (2, 6) |
23 | 0 | [52] | |
47 | Matt Sydal and Ricochet | May 3, 2016 | Wrestling Dontaku 2016 | Fukuoka, Japan | 2 | 47 | 0 | [53] | |
48 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
June 19, 2016 | Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall | Osaka, Japan | 5 | 199 | 2 | This was a four-way elimination match, also involving reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). | [54] |
49 | Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) |
January 4, 2017 | Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 3 (3, 7) |
61 | 1 | [55] | |
50 | Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) |
March 6, 2017 | Hataage Kinenbi | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (2, 2) |
52 | 1 | [56] | |
51 | Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) |
April 27, 2017 | Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2017: Aki no Kuni Sengoku Emaki | Hiroshima, Japan | 4 (4, 8) |
45 | 0 | [57] | |
52 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
June 11, 2017 | Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall | Osaka, Japan | 6 | 63 | 1 | [58] | |
53 | Funky Future (Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi) |
August 13, 2017 | G1 Climax 27 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (3, 6) |
57 | 1 | [59] | |
54 | Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) |
October 9, 2017 | King of Pro-Wrestling | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 87 | 0 | [60] | |
55 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) |
January 4, 2018 | Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 7 | 24 | 0 | [61] | |
56 | Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) |
January 28, 2018 | The New Beginning in Sapporo | Sapporo, Japan | 2 | 37 | 0 | [62] | |
57 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) |
March 6, 2018 | Anniversary Show | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 3) |
304 | 4 | This was a three-way match, also involving Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi). | [63] |
58 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Shingo Takagi) |
January 4, 2019 | Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 61 | 1 | This was a three-way match, also involving Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh). | [64] |
59 | Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) |
March 6, 2019 | Anniversary Show | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 102 | 1 | [65] | |
60 | Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) |
June 16, 2019 | Kizuna Road | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 203 | 1 | [66] | |
61 | Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) |
January 5, 2020 | Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome Night 2 |
Tokyo, Japan | 4 | 239 | 2 | [67] | |
— | Vacated | August 31, 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | Title vacated due to Yoh suffering a torn ACL. | [68] |
62 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) |
September 11, 2020 | New Japan Road | Tokyo, Japan | 2 (2, 4) |
134 | 2 | Defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi) in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. | [69][70] |
63 | Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) |
January 23, 2021 | Road to The New Beginning | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 33 | 0 | [71] | |
64 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) |
February 25, 2021 | Road to Castle Attack | Tokyo, Japan | 3 (3, 5) |
38 | 0 | [72] | |
65 | Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) |
April 4, 2021 | Sakura Genesis | Tokyo, Japan | 5 | 80 | 1 | [73] | |
66 | Bullet Club's Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) |
June 23, 2021 | Kizuna Road | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 74 | 1 | [74] | |
67 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) |
September 5, 2021 | Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome | Tokorozawa, Japan | 4 (4, 6) |
51 | 0 | [75] | |
68 | Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask) |
October 26, 2021 | Road To Power Struggle | Tokyo, Japan | 1 (1, 2) |
116 | 1 | ||
69 | Six or Nine (Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato) |
February 19, 2022 | New Years Golden Series | Sapporo, Japan | 1 (7, 1) |
121 | 2 | This was a four-way tag team match, which also involved Bullet Club's Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) and Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru). | [76] |
70 | Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) |
June 20, 2022 | New Japan Road 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 311 | 4 | [77] | |
71 | Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kushida and Kevin Knight) |
April 27, 2023 | Road To Wrestling Dontaku 2023 | Hiroshima, Japan | 1 (3, 1) |
38 | 0 | [78] | |
72 | Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) |
June 4, 2023 | Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 30 | 0 | [79] | |
73 | Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors) |
July 4, 2023 | Independence Day Night 1 |
Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 184 | 3 | [80] | |
74 | Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) |
January 4, 2024 | Wrestle Kingdom 18 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 31 | 0 | [81] | |
75 | Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors) |
February 4, 2024 | Road to the New Beginning 2024 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 218+ | 3 |
As of September 9, 2024.
† | Indicates the current champions |
---|
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.