11.) Scott Norton
Total Combined Days: 126
Number of Reigns: 2
In the States, Scott Norton was just “another member of the nWo” but in Japan, at his prime was one of the top foreign wrestlers in the country! Obviously not in the same heights as Vader or Stan Hansen, but still pretty solid for his time. Norton was an arm wrestling champion before transitioning into pro wrestling. He mainly wrestled for both WCW and NJPW throughout the 90’s but had more success with the latter.
Norton held the IWGP Title for the first time in 1998 and would hold on to it for 103 days. During that run, he made history by defending the belt for the first time in WCW Nitro defeating Lodi of all people! Yes folks, Lodi is officially a part of history as one of the men who challenged for such prestigious gold. His second run was in 2001 defeating Sasaki but only lasted for 23 days before he dropped it to Kazuyuki Fujita.
In my opinion, Norton was far from the greatest IWGP Champion but not the worst either. He is in the “middle of the pack” if you will. Things are about to get worse however as we slowly enter the “Inokism Era” after the nWo fame died off shortly.
Where Are They Now?
He still wrestles sporadically in various promotions in Japan or the US while also making appearances in conventions. He made his return to New Japan in Wrestle Kingdom 11 during the pre-show entering in the New Japan Rumble in 2017 and also wrestled the day after for the New Beginning show.
12.) Genichiro Tenryu
Total Days: 25
Number of Reigns: 1
Without a doubt, Genichiro Tenryu is one of the greatest professional wrestlers that ever lived! After all, you wouldn’t gain the nickname “Mr. Pro Wrestling” for nothing. But with that said, his run as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, in hindsight, was one of the most pointless ones.
At the time he won the title, Tenryu was already a respected veteran. He made his name in rival promotion of AJPW, becoming a multi time champion there and became one of the top draws with Jumbo Tsuruta after Giant Baba’s health started to decline. Around that time he also briefly wrestled for the WWF, most notably in WrestleMania 7 teaming up with Koji Kitao beating Demolition, and entering two Royal Rumbles in ’93 and ’94. He would also run his own promotions: Super World of Sports, and later on: WAR.
When WAR was on the decline, Tenryu joined NJPW and Koshinaka’s stable Heisei Ishigun. He defeated Keiji Mutoh in 1999 for the IWGP Heavyweight title, but 25 days later in Wrestling World 2000 (predecessor to what we now know today as Wrestle Kingdom) would lose the belt in the main event to Kensuke Sasaki. A mere 25 days for the great Tenryu. Granted his glory days were way past him, but it’s funny to see how one of the best was relegated to a mere transitional champion.
Where Are They Now?
Throughout the 2000’s until his retirement in 2015 against Kazuchika Okada, Tenryu wrestled as a freelancer.
13.) Kazuyuki Fujita
Total Combined Days: 478
Number of Reigns: 3
Put on your lights boys and girls as we enter the dark ages of “Inokism.” In the 2000’s MMA was at the peak of its popularity. PRIDE is still going strong and the UFC is slowly making waves in the US. Antonio Inoki as we all know is very fascinated with MMA. This is the same man who had “hybrid matches” with judokas and boxers in his matches. One of the men who held the IWGP Title during these twilight years is Kazuyuki Fujita.
Another product of the New Japan Dojo, Fujita transitioned from amateur to pro wrestling under the guidance of Inoki himself. Fujita then competed in MMA and had a series of wins at the start of his career which quickly shot him at the top of the New Japan rankings, eventually beating Scott Norton for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first reign in 2001. He would hold onto the belt for 270 days before forcing to vacate it due to injury.
Fujita held the belt two more times later on, one in an infamous match against Hiroshi Tanahashi where he looked really stiff than usual. But that was Fujita’s style, and he wouldn’t be the worst champion overall during this time, while some fans despised him, he was still a credible wrestler due to his background and could give you a serviceable match if need be. Still, it was a sign of bad things to come eventually.
Where Are They Now?
Fujita is still semi-active as a competitor in MMA, his last two matches happened in Road FC in South Korea receiving wins at the age of 48.
14.) Tadao Yasuda
Total Days: 48
Number of Reigns: 1
Tadao Yasuda was the perfect personification of the Inokism era. An undeserving “pseudo MMA fighter” holding the top gold of a professional wrestling promotion. He is arguably the worst to ever hold the championship.
Before becoming a pro wrestler in the 90’s, Yasuda was a sumo wrestler. He would incorporate this style later on in his wrestling career in NJPW, but boy was he bad. Very slow performances, uninspiring paces during his matches, and honestly he is just a bore to watch.
Like many wrestlers during this era, they competed in MMA bouts, most of the time wrestlers would wind up losing to highly skilled trained fighters. But once in a blue moon, you get someone like Yasuda getting a fluke win by choking veteran Jerome Le Benner! Inoki was so impressed by this that he gave Yasuda the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, beating Yuji Nagata in a tournament for the vacant belt! But that win would prove to be indeed a fluke as Yasuda would go on to have a string of losses throughout his MMA career, losing every ounce of credibility he had. 48 days in, he dropped the belt to Yuji Nagata and never got hold of the belt since.
I’m sorry for totally burying Yasuda, but he did not have any business winning the IWGP Title. Inoki thought he had his cash cow after that MMA win but a draw Yasuda wasn’t due to his poor wrestling skills and lack of charisma. The only positive thing we can take from this is a lesson to be learned that hopefully will never be replicated in the future by any wrestling promotion.
Where Are They Now?
Yasuda retired from wrestling in 2011 losing to Genichiro Tenryu. Not much is known about him since.
15.) Yuji Nagata
Total Combined Days: 570
Number of Reigns: 2
While he maybe a well respected veteran nowadays and deservingly so, Yuji Nagata had it rough during the prime of his wrestling career. He was groomed to be the next top star after the days of Hashimoto/Chono/Mutoh. But he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. While Pro Wrestling NOAH dedicated their promotion to pure professional wrestling and All Japan are trying to stay afloat after the mass exodus, New Japan was meddling with Inoki’s MMA obsession. Nagata happened to be in the middle of all these.
Looking at it on paper, Nagata had a solid run of 392 days as IWGP Heavyweight Champion from 2002 to 2003. Sadly though the run itself is filled with embarrassment, thanks to NJPW doing awful business due to their lack of true star power and fan favorites losing to MMA fighters. Nagata as IWGP Champion competed in MMA, Inoki thought this would make Nagata the biggest star in the world, but it turns out would only lose his credibility. His first MMA fight was a depressing sight, the infamous 21 second loss to Mirko Cro Cop. Then he got TKO’d by Fedor Emelianenko. While Nagata is a great technical wrestler, he had absolutely no chance against two of the best heavyweight fighters in their primes!
During his 392 day reign he would face a who’s who of wrestlers. Such as Bas Rutten and even main evented Wrestling World 2002 against Josh Barnett. Nagata’s first run ended to one of his rivals Yoshihiro Takayama. His second run wouldn’t come until years later in 2007, lasted for 178 days.
Many wrestlers would’ve quit with the things they’ve suffered, but props to Nagata for staying strong with NJPW and later on to Tenzan as well for being the highlights during the company’s lowest and darkest years.
Where Are They Now?
Nagata is still an active competitor for NJPW as well as other promotions. Two years ago he retired from the G1 Climax Tournament and gave some of the best matches in his entire career!
16.) Yoshihiro Takayama
Total Days: 185
Number of Reigns: 1
In 1992 a 6’5” wrestler would join UWFI and become literally and figuratively, one of wrestling’s biggest names in Japan! After UWFI closed, Takayama wrestled for AJPW and later on join NOAH before becoming a free agent to pursue a career in MMA, we would wind up getting quite possibly one of, if not, the greatest MMA fight of all time between him and Don Frye at Pride 21 in 2002! The same year, Kazuyuki Fujita would revive the NWF Heavyweight Championship, the past top belt of NJPW, wherein wrestlers with MMA backgrounds are able to compete in a tournament which Takayama ended up winning.
2003, Takayama held both the NWF and IWGP Heavyweight Championships defeating Yuji Nagata. He would hold on to the belt for 185 days competing mainly against his rival at the time Hiroyoshi Tenzan, whom he would lose the belt to. After a whole year as NWF Heavyweight Championship, he lost the belt to a title unification match against IWGP Heavyweight Champion; Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event of Wrestling World 2004.
He joins Sasaki as one of only two men to hold the “Big 3 Gold” of Japan: the IWGP, Triple Crown, and GHC Heavyweight Championships.
Where Are They Now?
On May 4, 2017 Takayama suffered a career ending neck injury in DDT Wrestling. He is paralyzed from the neck down and a fundraising event was held for him by his close friends and peers called “TakayaMania” for his medical needs.
17.) Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Total Combined Days: 197
Number of Reigns: 4
While nowadays Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a shell of his former self and is constantly the brunt of “ankle jokes” there was a point in time where he was one of the most captivating wrestlers, especially during a time where New Japan faced its dark years with the Inokism running rampant. He is perhaps best known for his tag-team work, after all he is a record holder 11x IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team Champion, primarily with his long time tag partner: Satoshi Kojima as “TenCozy” and being a part of many stables over the years most notably of course the nWo. But Tenzan would dabble into a singles run as well and found success.
He had four reigns with the belt, they’re not really “standout” runs with the belt, but he did give back prestige to it when things were looking pretty grim. Remained loyal with the company at a time where he wasn’t used to his fullest potential. Later on in his career he would also hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
All I can say is that while Tenzan was not the de facto ace in the early 2000’s as I give that recognition to Nagata, he was still one of the top stars and draws, helping in New Japan to stay afloat.
Where Are They Now?
Tenzan is still an active competitor for New Japan. Not as mobile as he used to be, but still receives cheers from the crowd thanks to his years of dedication.
18.) Shinsuke Nakamura
Total Combined Days: 390
Number of Reigns: 3
While Nagata and Tenzan were the veteran aces of the Inokism era, Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the up and coming young stars. Around this time a trio of wrestlers decided to dubbed themselves as “The New Three Musketeers” in tribute to the original incarnation of the group. Nakamura was one of its members along with Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Shibata would leave New Japan to become a freelancer when things started becoming bad, while the remaining two stayed through the dark times.
Tanahashi was clearly the next top prospect and remained in that position, but Nakamura was the cornerstone of that era. I hate doing many comparisons especially to the WWE but for other people to understand the point better: Tana is Cena, while Nakamura is Orton, at least from a booking perspective. Nakamura had three reigns with the belt, the first time he defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 2003 and would also defeat Takayama in Wrestling World 2004 to unify the IWGP and NWF Titles. He wouldn’t win the belt again until 5 years later in 2008 beating Tanahashi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 2! Nakamura would also unify another set of titles, this time the other version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship which we will get more to later.
In 2009 we saw his most successful run at 218 days, giving birth to what most fans best know him as today “The King of Strong Style.” To newer fans however, Nakamura might be more synonymous with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship than the Heavyweight, and there isn’t anything wrong with that as he truly solidified and legitimized that belt.
He may be gone from the company now, but his legacy will always remain intact. At his peak, Nakamura was one of the greatest wrestlers ever, a key reason for the survival of New Japan to reach its newest form of glory.
Where Are They Now?
Been with the WWE now since 2016. Could very well retire there too but I wouldn’t mind another “one last run” with New Japan in the future if that’s possible.
19.) Bob Sapp
Total Days: 66
Number of Reigns: 1
I’ve deemed Tadao Yasuda as the worst IWGP Champion ever, but perhaps the most infamous one for many fans is Bob Sapp. This may shock you though, but I’ll actually defend this one as to why Sapp was given the belt. Did he deserve it? Probably not, especially with the power of hindsight but there was a point in time wherein Bob Sapp was the most popular foreigner in Japan! Sapp for all the flack he gets, was a charismatic individual, plus with his enormous size helps in at the very least, looking like a legitimate threat. He appeared on many commercials and shows in the country and was a draw. Partnered with Inoki’s lust with MMA and only losing once so far in his MMA career, it seemed like he was destined to be New Japan’s biggest star!
He won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2004 beating Kensuke Sasaki, clearly on track for some more greatness but nope. It was quickly proven that Sapp, like Yasuda, was a fluke in MMA. After suffering an embarrassing submission loss to Kazuyuki Fujita, Inoki stripped Sapp off the title, only defending it once against Nakamura. Since 2011, Bob Sapp would go on to have a 14 fight losing streak in his MMA career until finally scoring a win 2018 over retired Egyptian sumo Osunaarashi, in his first and possibly only MMA bout. After that run, Sapp would wrestle sporadically in many Japanese promotions and even landing back in NJPW for a brief time in 2012 and 2013. If there is one thing to describe this whole thing fittingly it would be “failed experiment.”
Where Are They Now?
Sapp is still active within combat sports. Whether in professional wrestling, MMA, or kickboxing but mainly on the losing end.
20.) Satoshi Kojima
Total Combined Days: 168
Number of Reigns: 2
In 1991, a 21 year old Satoshi Kojima fought his very first match against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, a man who would become his greatest rival and friend. Many years later the two of them would carve their own paths to success, with Kojima finding it in many forms. From 2002 to 2010, Kojima mainly competed for AJPW, becoming one of the top talents they desperately needed when Misawa and many other wrestlers left to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. He would hold AJPW’s Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship two times and later on when he went to New Japan in 2005 became the first and to this day only wrestler to hold the IWGP and Triple Crown Championships at the same time!
Kojima’s first run with the belt was pretty lackluster though, only 83 days and 1 defense before dropping the belt back to Tenzan. He wouldn’t win the belt again until years later at an older age in 2010 beating Togi Makabe, this time around he would go 2 days more than his first one before dropping it to Tanahashi.
He is one of the most respected veterans today in Puro, but he certainly wouldn’t be reaching the top rankings of greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champions lists anytime soon, but he did have a better tag-team career as a 7x IWGP Tag-Team Champion. But only few wrestlers can have the distinction in pulling off solid runs with both NJPW and AJPW, Kojima is one of those.
Where Are They Now?
Like many of his peers, Kojima is still an active competitor and can still bring out a great match if need be! Still chopping and hitting lariats towards his opponents.
