Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon)
This is a series of articles where we chronologically cover every wrestler that has held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship since its existence and discuss their contribution to the history of the belt and New Japan Pro Wrestling as a whole.
History of the IWGP:
The International Wrestling Grand Prix was originally a tournament, a predecessor to what we know commonly today as the “G1 Climax.” The winner of the IWGP League was awarded with a championship belt that symbolized their victory with its first winner being Hulk Hogan in 1983. However the belt was merely a prize for the yearly tournament and not defended elsewhere as at the time, the NWF Heavyweight Championship was still the premier belt for the promotion when Antonio Inoki brought it over to Japan defeating territorial wrestler Johnny Powers in 1973. The IWGP League ran for six years, other than Hogan, Andre The Giant was also a previous winner in 1985 but it was Inoki who primarily dominated the tournament, winning it on four different occasions. However winners of the IWGP League are not counted into the official lineage of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship because the purpose of the belt itself was different.
In 1987 the IWGP Heavyweight Championship officially became the premier World Title for New Japan Pro Wrestling, replacing the NWF Title. The inaugural champion was crowned in that year’s IWGP League. The tournament itself ran for another year in 1988, then in 1989 was renamed the “World Cup Tournament” and finally the following year has been called the G1 Climax ever since.
Nowadays the “IWGP” is a term used for a fictional governing body that decides and rules over the state of the championship. Japanese promotions, especially the major ones always treat professional wrestling as an official sport so having these “commissions” is also a part of their act which gives the feel of legitimacy to the overall presentation of the shows.
Profile:
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 224 lbs.
From: Yokohama, Japan
Debut: September 30, 1960
Stats:
Number of Reigns: 1
First Won: June 12, 1987
Total Defenses: 4
Total Days: 325
Origin:
At the age of 14 due to the raging war, Kanji Inoki and his family moved to Brazil. There he was able to discover the world of martial arts, particularly jiu jitsu. Upon his return to Japan, he was recruited by Rikidozan and began wrestling under the ring name “Antonio Inoki” as a homage to another former wrestler, Antonino Rocca, who innovated the highflying style. Throughout the 1950’s, one man was synonymous to professional wrestling in Japan and that was Rikidozan, becoming a national icon and founder of the country’s first wrestling promotion: Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) in which Inoki began his pro career in.
Inoki along with fellow young wrestler Shohei Baba, were seen as two of Rikidozan’s best proteges and trained under his wing in those years. They were also heavily mentored by German wrestling legend Karl Gotch who was a huge influence to Inoki in his whole career. Inoki and Baba were a formidable tag-team during their first several years in wrestling, known together as “B-I Cannon” they held the NWA International Tag-Team Championships four times. After the death of Rikidozan in 1963, the wrestling scene in Japan just loss its biggest draw, for awhile the business went down, even with promotions such as that of Toyonobori’s Tokyo Pro and International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) with Rusher Kimura as the leading top star, they were a far cry from the glory days of JWA. But then in 1972, the former tag-team partners decided to split ways and carve their own paths, Giant Baba went on to create All Japan Pro Wrestling, while Inoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Naturally, being the promoter and already established career, Inoki became the top draw of NJPW for many years. Their first show, he faced his mentor Karl Gotch in the main event. From the 70’s up until the 80’s, Inoki was one of the most dominant wrestlers in Japan, even getting to face other non-wrestling athletes, most famously Muhammad Ali in a “wrestler vs. boxer” match in 1976, it may not have been a fun fight to look back on, but it paved the way to what would eventually become Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) decades later. Inoki’s background in martial arts in general wanted to prove that pro wrestling is the most superior combat sport and he built the foundation of NJPW around to what we call “Strong Style” which is why he faced not only traditional wrestlers, but other forms of fighters whether they were boxers or judokas, to prove that wrestling is elite and above everything else. As his star power grew, so did the company. He began competing against many big names internationally such as Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, and Andre The Giant. While AJPW where focused on a more old school, traditional methodology in presenting their product, NJPW prioritized showmanship and athleticism which gained them tons of popularity, Inoki especially being adored by the fans as a huge fan favorite.
Time as Champion:
On June 12, 1987 the finals of the IWGP League was contested between Antonio Inoki and Masa Saito, two rivals whom at this point have well established careers in wrestling. Inoki being the top face of NJPW while Saito was one of the best amateurs turned pro wrestlers. This time around the winner of their match becomes the inaugural IWGP Heavyweight Champion, when the belt officially became the premier title for the company. After a hard fought nearly 15 minute match, with by the end Saito thinking he won the match with his patented backdrop suplex, which would later be named after him, Inoki reversed the second suplex attempt into a pin position and earned the three count although without having controversy as Saito seemed to have kicked out, but it was determined by the end, it was too late. Inoki received the belt, became the first ever IWGP Champion, eventual challenger Riki Choshu and other members of his Ishin Gundan stable stormed the ring and exchanged words with Inoki, afterwards he celebrated the victory with loud cheers from the crowd, chanting his name. Several months later, Inoki and Saito faced each other again, this time in their infamous Empty Island Match in the isle of Ganryujima wherein they competed for over two hours making it the longest match in Japanese wrestling history!
After winning the belt, Inoki had a total of four title defenses with the belt, the first three were gaiin challengers; a young Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow on August 2, 1987, Dick Murdoch a long time journeyman in Japan on September 1, 1987, and finally “Dr. Death” Steve Williams on October 25, 1987 ending in a count out win. All three of those men had solid careers in Japan and were some of the most notable gaijins from the late 80’s up until the 90’s.
His last challenger was against a young up and coming Riki Choshu on February 4, 1988. Around this time Choshu has decided to turn his back on New Japan and became one of the most notorious heels, leading his own stable Ishin Gundan (Revolutionary Warriors.) Choshu rising up the ranks in the wrestling scene, had a lot to prove and for him to reach the top, he had to take down the man who’s right up on that spot, none other than Antonio Inoki. Their match this time though left the fans wanting for more, but ended in a referee’s decision. It seems like this was only a heater for their eventual big time match up for the title but that did not come into fruitition as Inoki would later vacate the belt on May 2, 1988 after fracturing his left foot.
Aftermath:
Ever since vacating the belt, Inoki never captured it again. In fact it was the last championship he ever won in his career. He’d continue to wrestle, although on a much more sporadic schedule heading into the 1990’s. Most notably in 1995 where he headlined Collision in Korea against Ric Flair, taking place on Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the largest wrestling event in history, for two nights a total audience of 350,000 attendees. This was organized by the NK government as well as the partnership between NJPW and WCW at the time. It may be the record, although it is safe to say most of the attendants were probably forced to go by the government as a part of their propaganda. On April 4, 1998 NJPW hosted the farewell event for Inoki, a tournament was held to determine his final opponent in the night which ended up between Don Frye and Naoya Ogawa. Frye won but loss in the main event to Inoki in his last match ever, ending a career that spanned for four decades. In 2000 he did two exhibition matches for a Rikidozan Memorial Show and his own event but other than that, has stayed retired and focused on his duties as the president of NJPW. We all know how that turned out, but that is a story for another time.
Despite his final years as a promoter left tons of controversies, Antonio Inoki is still a living legend in Japan. Him and Giant Baba filled the void that was left behind by their master when he died into the wrestling scene, becoming two of the most popular icons in mainstream entertainment for the Japanese culture. In his prime, he was a great ambassador for pro wrestling, innovating the Strong Style of giving it your best in every match, gaining the support of the fans to cheer him on, making every strike and submission count, in return telling some of the most fascinating battle stories in the ring. Even though it may have been tarnished, his legacy will always be synonymous with his greatest creation: New Japan Pro Wrestling.
