21.) Brock Lesnar
Total Days: 280
Number of Reigns: 1
Fans often proclaim Bob Sapp as the most infamous champion but that should clearly go to Brock Lesnar. He could very well rival Tadao Yasuda as the worst champion but the only thing that’s keeping me from committing to that is Brock’s worst matches are still more entertaining than Yasuda’s best.
After his initial run with the WWE, Brock would wrestle for various promotions, most notably in New Japan. Again, Inoki thought he found his new golden goose! Brock is indeed one of the most recognizable names in all of wrestling and while he did not have any history in the Japanese wrestling scene beforehand, him being one of the top main eventers of the WWE was enough to put him straight at the top of the NJPW food chain! However, they would end up regretting that quickly.
Brock won the belt in a rare three way match against Fujita and Chono in 2005. He would defend the belt three times against Nakamura, Akebono, and Giant Benard. After that, he kept the belt hostage. Lesnar jumped ship from NJPW to Inoki’s new promotion: Inoki Genome Federation after he sold majority of his shares to video game company: Yukes. It wasn’t only Lesnar himself that moved companies though, but the IWGP Heavyweight Championship itself as it belonged to him at the time, so New Japan were forced to have a new interim belt at the moment. Lesnar would lose the belt to Kurt Angle and later on drop it to Shinsuke Nakamura so the company would regain of its title. That specific line of champions is not considered official however of the IWGP Heavyweight title lineage so Kurt Angle wouldn’t be appearing on this list.
This awful title run with the belt barely, if at all, gets mentioned in New Japan history and rightfully so. However, things would pick up from here on out and the resurgence to glory is possible thanks to the one true Ace.
Where Are They Now?
Come on, you know where Brock is. Whether hunting in Canada or F5’ing wrestlers in the WWE for that quick sweet paycheck. Living the life.
22.) Hiroshi Tanahashi
Total Combined Days: 1,396
Number of Reigns: 8
I’ll go right ahead and say it, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champion of all time; Hiroshi Tanahashi! No other man ever had the biggest chip on their shoulder quite like Tanahashi. New Japan was on the brink of closure, attendance were running low, MMA was the main focus of the company rather than the last two letters of its name: Pro Wrestling. Yet through it all, Tanahashi persevered, he helped NJPW rose from the ashes.
Because of his inspiring story where he almost got killed from a knife stab, fans flocked all over him and showed him tremendous amount of love! The fans did not need a meathead jock or some knockout artist as their champion, they needed someone they can relate to, someone who’s been through the lowest of lows. Tanahashi really brought back the Pro Wrestling in New Japan.
I could go on about many factoids such as him having the record for most reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion at 8, then had the longest total combined days as champion and most number of title defenses before eventually being broken by Kazuchika Okada, but you already know all of that. After winning the title for the first time against Giant Bernard in 2007, that was the signal for New Japan to reach the new and better heights it has today.
Obviously Tana was not alone as Nakamura, Tenzan, and Nagata all helped in the process too, but he was the one leading the charge and the fans all had his back. To this day, that’s why so many fans still have their undying support for Tanahashi, it’s because he saved New Japan and possibly the whole balance of the Puroresu scene as well.
Charisma wasn’t all he had, Tanahashi is one of the greatest wrestlers of ALL TIME. He can wrestle any style against any opponent, plus even nowadays where his body has pretty much taken a toll due to the numerous injuries through the years, he can still go strong in the ring! The title Ace fits no one better perfectly than him.
Where Are They Now?
Still one of New Japan’s top stars, Tanahashi is close to having a three decade active career in wrestling comes October!
23.) Manabu Nakanishi
Total Days: 45
Number of Reigns: 1
Feel good moments are always a surprise, but welcome in wrestling. This is exactly why Manabu Nakanishi became the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in 2009. Was he an excellent wrestler? In comparison to his peers of the same generation, not really. But Nakanishi had something that was still pivotal for success: charisma. He was just an overall endearing personality, respectful to children and elderly, a hard worker performing over 100+ matches for a decade, and having a tremendous amount of diet which is why he is often dubbed as “Monster Morning.”
Nakanishi would always come up short in his exploits as IWGP Champion but that all changed at one faithful night in Tokyo, Nakanishi defeated Tanahashi to finally become IWGP Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career! The crowd popped massive and his longtime friend Yuji Nagata was there to celebrate with him! You can just feel the genuine emotion from both him and the fans, after years of dedication he has reached the top! Albeit, only for a short moment but sometimes you don’t need long expositions to tell a great story, a simple moment would last for a long time in the memories of the fans.
Where Are They Now?
Wrestles sporadically in New Japan mainly at opening and multi-men tag matches.
24.) Togi Makabe
Total Days: 161
Number of Reigns: 1
Wrestling fans especially those in the West may not fathom on how big of a deal Togi Makabe actually is in NJPW! Thanks to his appearances outside of wrestling media, Makabe is one of the most recognizable names in the country. He would often make the posters even if sometimes he’s not even on the card just to draw in some fans! At his peak, Makabe is a popular figure amongst the wrestling scene in Japan. The stable he started: Great Bash Heel (GBH) would later on become a predecessor to CHAOS after Nakamura and Yano turned on the group and a slew of other wrestlers joined them or left GBH altogether, with only Tomoaki Honma being the last to stay with Makabe.
Makabe won his first and only run with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2010 defeating Nakamura as a part of the aforementioned CHAOS-GBH storyline. He defended the belt successfully three times, one of his defenses was even against Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Go Shiozaki. The same year, Makabe dropped the belt to Kojima.
After that Makabe never really got back to the World Title picture. He is still a solid midcarder, mainly for the tag-team division. He works a slower pace style so he couldn’t keep up with the new generation, but his presence is still beloved by the majority of NJPW fans!
Where Are They Now?
For 15 straight years, Togi Makabe has appeared in the G1 Climax until this year where he was left off. The current holders of the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Belts for whatever that’s worth with Yano and Taguchi.
25.) Kazuchika Okada
Total Combined Days: 1,611 (ongoing)
Number of Reigns: 5
I’ve said Tanahashi is the greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the only other man who could rival him for that position is appropriately enough, one of his greatest foes ever: “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada!
For many fans, Okada IS the IWGP Champion. He is pretty much synonymous with the belt at this point as in his 14 year career, it is the only belt he’s ever held. Nothing else.
Okada broke all kinds of records as IWGP Champion. He became the youngest to ever hold it when he first beat Tanahashi in 2012. His 4th reign with the belt is the longest championship run in New Japan history at an astounding 720 days with also another record of 13 title defenses in a single reign! Now with him holding the belt for the 5th time, Okada also has the most total combined days as champion. If Bill Russell is Tanahashi in terms of “amount of rings” in this case championship belts, then Okada is the Wilt Chamberlain with all the record book work he has accomplished, in such a short span of time too.
Since the start even as a young lion, NJPW had high hopes for Okada. It did not resonate quickly when he returned as the Rainmaker, but slowly but surely he became the big star they aimed him to be and had this aura of a champion only a few can match these days. Constant high quality matches and what’s great, he is still very much in his prime and the best is still to come!
He has faced many of the best the world has to offer for that belt, he has faced many downs throughout his career, but The Rainmaker held his own and made the IWGP Heavyweight Championship truly his. That’s what a champion is all about.
Where Are They Now?
As of the writing of this article, he is the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion and on his way to possibly main event Wrestle Kingdom for the fourth time!
26.) AJ Styles
Total Combined Days: 307
Number of Reigns: 2
How big of a deal AJ Styles was in New Japan? Well in his first match ever with the company, he just defeated Kazuchika Okada to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion, oh and he also became the new leader of Bullet Club at the time, taking the faction at its peak popularity wise!
When AJ left TNA after 12 long years, he went to Japan and honed his craft. By this point he is already known as one of the best wrestlers ever of his generation and he was treated as such in the company, being immediately put in the main event scene without hesitation.
For the first time in 2014, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was defended in ROH when Styles defeated both Okada and Michael Elgin in a three way match in his first defense. He defeated Okada once more until dropping the belt to Tanahashi. AJ regained the belt the following year, beating Ibushi once in an amazing match full of interwoven storylines, before losing it to Okada.
Prince Devitt may have created the Bullet Club and Kenny Omega brought a lot of monetary success to the faction, but the AJ Styles led BC really brought them on the map! Not a lot of stables make you feel they are the true spiritual successor of the nWo, but the Bullet Club of 2014-15 really was that! In a short span of time, Styles became one of the greatest gaijins ever in New Japan history. As he said himself, if it wasn’t for his run in New Japan, he may not have the success he is currently having in the WWE. His final match at Wrestle Kingdom against Nakamura is still one of my all time favorite matches. Truly Phenomenal.
Where Are They Now?
AJ Styles made his WWE debut as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble 2016. Since then he has held the WWE Championship, two times already! Which all still feels surreal as I saw his run from TNA almost from the beginning. To see him where he’s at today, it’s just amazing and well deserved.
27.) Tetsuya Naito
Total Days: 70
Number of Reigns: 1
Okada wasn’t the only one being groomed to become the next main eventer of NJPW but also Tetsuya Naito. Initially however, the fans did not take him in kindly. The cookie cutter “Stardust Genius” persona did not just resonate well with the fans, despite all the achievements he has received. It all came crashing down when he won the G1 Climax but did not get to main event Wrestle Kingdom as his IWGP Heavyweight Championship match against Okada did not win the polls and instead Nakamura vs. Tanahashi for the IC Belt was chosen as the main event.
It wasn’t until a second trip back to Mexico where Naito discovered “Los Ingobernables” a stable led by La Sombra, or better known today by WWE fans as Andrade. Naito learned the ways of being Tranquilo, just take it easy, don’t care about the world around you, one who has this mindset shall not be governed by anyone and won’t play by anyone else’s rules. When he returned to New Japan with this whole new persona, the crowd who once despised him or sometimes not react to him at all, became enamored and wouldn’t you know, in such a short time became the leading merch seller in the whole company and officially recognized as one of its top stars!
Naito had his first and only run so far with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2016 with help from his faction mates in Los Ingobernables de Japon. It was only a short run however as he dropped the belt back to Okada. He finally main evented the Tokyo Dome two years ago, this time him and The Rainmaker are in the final match, but Naito was unable to take back the title that he’s been chasing ever since he lost it.
From someone that nobody cared about, to becoming a wrestler that trashes the IC Title yet still gets cheers, Tetsuya Naito has been one of the best reinventions in modern wrestling.
28.) Kenny Omega
Total Days: 209
Number of Reigns: 1
Another man who has chased the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his career, its Kenny Omega. A young kid from Canada would end up getting into pro wrestling and later on took off in Japan as one of the best performers ever, mainly thanks to his standout matches against Kota Ibushi in DDT! For the longest time Kenny was a household name across the independent circuit in the world, until 2014 where he joined New Japan for good.
Match wise, Kenny is best known for his amazing set of matches against Kazuchika Okada! The two were like perfectly made for one another as opponents as they had chemistry that worked perfectly in the ring. Their four series match are still some of the best in this entire decade.
Finally in Dominion of 2018, Kenny Omega finally defeated Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship! Another wrestler who won the Jr. Title previously, ending up with the Heavyweight later on. But it not only that, he is the first ever Canadian wrestler to hold the belt as well!
Sadly, Kenny’s reign was a disappointment for some and for me, it certainly could’ve been better. In his 209 day reign, his best match was against Tomohiro Ishii. The run was infested by the equally disappointing “Bullet Club Civil War” storyline that divided the OG BC and Elite subsidiaries of the faction. Cody being in the forefront of challengers other than the virtue of his last name, ticked some fans the wrong way too. If only they could’ve focused on his storyline with Ibushi rather than the other B.S. then it could’ve been remembered as one of the best title runs ever, but alas that is not how things went out.
Omega main evented Wrestle Kingdom 13 losing to the G1 winner in Hiroshi Tanahashi in a hellacious match, ending his title run and capping off his New Japan endeavors.
Where Are They Now?
Since leaving NJPW, Kenny Omega is one of the biggest stars in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) leading the way as the company aims to go to new heights.
29.) Jay White
Total Days: 54
Number of Reigns: 1
Last but certainly not the least we got the current leader of Bullet Club, “Switchblade” Jay White. He is a product of the New Japan Dojo and after his excursion, he returned as the Switchblade challenging for Hiroshi Tanahashi’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship in Wrestle Kingdom 12 but was unsuccessful. Omega would try to recruit Jay in BC but he declined and would make his way among the ranks of CHAOS to infiltrate and possibly lead him to the title scene against reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the time; Kazuchika Okada.
But it wasn’t until earlier this year when Switchblade finally got a hold of the gold after some previous title wins. In Tanahashi’s first defense with the belt fresh from his Kenny Omega victory in WK13, he lost the belt to Jay White, much to the disappointment of the fans, it wouldn’t be the last time Jay would make Tana fans sad too.
It was only a run that lasted for 54 days as he would lose it to Okada in Madison Square Garden for the G1 Supercard event. Prior to this, Jay always had Okada’s number even beating him at WK13 months earlier, but this time it’s a different story. The Rainmaker has recaptured his old self and became even better than before!
Now the Switchblade along with his henchmen at Bullet Club are on their quest to regain the gold and take over NJPW once more.
