30.) Prince Devitt
Total Combined Days: 1,010
Number of Reigns: 3
Statistically, the only man who could possibly rival Jushin “Thunder” Liger’s position as the greatest junior heavyweight champion is Prince Devitt.
Earlier in his career Fergal Devitt competed in numerous indie promotions in the European scene, then in 2006 entered NJPW which changed his life altogether. He started receiving success once he teamed up with Ryusuke Taguchi as “Apollo 55” just two good guys who can wrestle well and work together as a duo, becoming multiple time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions. Devitt would later on win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the first time in 2010 defeating Naomichi Marufuji. He would have a feud with Kota Ibushi for the belt, planting seeds for many storylines to come in the future.
Devitt started off hot as champion having a lengthy 364 day run with the belt. His first defense was actually against the late Atsushi Aoki. Other opponents included the likes of Kenny Omega, Davey Richards, Low Ki, and many more before dropping the belt to the aforementioned Ibushi. At this point, despite being a gaijin, Devitt was treated as a legitimate star in the junior heavyweights division and deservingly so because of the fast rapid improvement of his skills in the ring.
After Ibushi was sidelined with an injury, the belt was vacated and he defeated KUSHIDA to win the championship. Another solid run of 227 days before losing the belt to Low Ki.
The third and final run with the belt would be his most notable and successful. 419 days, it is the second single longest reign with the belt behind Liger, and at this point Devitt was at the peak of his New Japan career by betraying Taguchi and formed a stable that changed NJPW altogether: The Bullet Club. Originally Devitt had Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, and Tama Tonga as members but soon enough, the stable would grow in numbers not only in members, but monetarily wise too as it is the most successful stable in pro wrestling since the nWo. The likes of AEW won’t be possible, if it wasn’t for Devitt’s success. Around this time he also dabbled against heavyweights and even joined the G1 Climax as the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Devitt wrestled in his final Tokyo Dome match at Wrestle Kingdom 8 where his reign ended at the hands of Kota Ibushi. After his grudge match against Taguchi, he left New Japan with a legacy that will forever be unmatched.
Where Are They Now?
Since 2014, Devitt would become known as “Finn Balor” in the WWE, a run that has been filled with many highs and lows.
31.) Kota Ibushi
Total Combined Days: 337
Number of Reigns: 3
With the likes of Devitt and Ibushi as champions, the new decade is truly felt upon NJPW. The junior heavyweights have survived the Inokism years and things will only get brighter from here on out. The self-trained Kota Ibushi would slowly become one of the top wrestling stars in all of Japan thanks to his high risk style of wrestling while also not afraid of doing silly antics in DDT. For the longest time, Ibushi is the biggest star of that company and along with Kenny Omega as the Golden Lovers, they made a name for themselves as two of the best wrestlers in the world.
Ibushi started competing for NJPW in 2009 and two years later won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the first time defeating Prince Devitt. It did not last for long though as he was quickly sidelined with an injury. A year later he defeated Low Ki to earn his second run with the belt and the third one against Devitt again in WK8.
In 2014, Ibushi moved up to the heavyweights division and has been involved in multiple great storylines and matches, earning him shots for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but is yet to capture the big one.
Where Are They Now?
Around 2016 when he returned as Tiger Mask W and later on as himself, Ibushi would become a permanent part of the New Japan roster.
32.) KUSHIDA
Total Combined Days: 684
Number of Reigns: 6
If the heavyweights have Hiroshi Tanahashi, then the juniors had Yujiro Kushida as their ace. Because of the remnants of the Inokism years, according to a story years ago, KUSHIDA wrestled in almost empty crowds in Korauken, which nowadays is always a guaranteed sellout for NJPW, but that wasn’t the case especially back then for how poorly the junior heavyweights were treated before he went there in 2010.
Despite all of this, he stayed loyal to New Japan and it would all pay off. In 2014 when the business started to prosper again, KUSHIDA was leading the junior heavyweights to new heights. Since then he has held the belt 6 times, competing against some of the very best around the world. Perhaps the best match though was against Hiromu Takahashi in Wrestle Kingdom 11. Both men are at the biggest stage of their respective careers and they blew the roof off! They managed to still be one of the best matches on the event in a card filled with many high profile matchups such as the main event between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The Back to the Future mega fan would instantly become one of the fan favorites of the division, especially to kids. KUSHIDA is an excellent wrestler, mixing both technical and highflying maneuvers in his moveset. He helped in putting the junior heavyweights back on the map and take notice that they are not merely pushovers to their weight superior division.
Where Are They Now?
KUSHIDA wrestled his final match in NJPW earlier this year against Hiroshi Tanahashi. He never got a proper run with the heavyweight division. During Mania weekend, it was officially announced that he was signed to the WWE. Currently competing in NXT.
33.) Kenny Omega
Total Combined Days: 285
Number of Reigns: 2
In a lot of ways, Kenny Omega had a similar path to wrestling as his Golden Lover Ibushi. Started off in many independent promotions in their native land, before becoming a popular star in DDT. His matches with Ibushi both as a singles and tag-team still hold up to this day and are some of the best ever in DDT history. Because of this many would take notice of Kenny’s talents, including New Japan. When Prince Devitt left, Bullet Club was in need of a new junior heavyweight that can be a major player. Turned out to be Kenny Omega, who got a whole new attitude and became his most famous persona as “The Cleaner.” By joining BC, Omega did not only take the easy way to success, but at the same time betrayed his long time friend Ibushi as well.
Wrestle Kingdom 9, the success would quickly pay off as he defeated Taguchi to hold the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the first time and held the belt for 182 days. It was the same timeframe where pretty much Bullet Club was at the peak of their careers with almost all stable members holding all New Japan gold. One of his title defenses was against Mascara Dorada, who now goes by Gran Metallik in WWE. Omega would lose the belt to KUSHIDA. Just months later he would regain the belt to a much shorter 103 days, only beating Alex Shelley whom at the time was KUSHIDA’s partner due to Chris Sabin’s absence.
Omega would transition to the heavyweights later on and even have a much successful run, becoming the second only wrestler to Nobuhiko Takada as a former Jr. Champion to become Heavyweight Champion as he did so last year ending Okada’s legendary 720 day reign. Him and Ibushi would reunite again, forming the Golden Lovers but never faced off in a singles bout for the title, rather in a G1 Climax matchup only. The Golden Lovers storyline is far from over, but since Kenny left New Japan and joined AEW, it is put on hold for the moment. We will see where both men will take paths for their careers from here on out.
34.) BUSHI
Total Combined Days: 49
Number of Reigns: 1
Tetsuya Shimizu started off his career in AJPW during the twilight years of the company in 2010. It wasn’t until his excursion to Mexico where he adapted the lucha style and started competing in a mask, thus BUSHI was born.
In 2012 he left AJPW to go to New Japan but it wasn’t until in 2014 where BUSHI got the reach the heights of his career when Tetsuya Naito returned and formed Los Ingobernables de Japon. EVIL and BUSHI were the first members of the stable and success would find BUSHI’s way as in 2016 he defeated KUSHIDA to become IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career. It was only a transitional run however as days later he dropped it right back to KUSHIDA and has yet to hold it again since.
I know BUSHI is a polarizing figure amongst the fans but admittedly, I am one of his fans. If he is motivated enough he can actually pull off some good and fun matches. Plus in this day and age, I love the throwback to Kabuki and Muta with his mist-spitting ways, am a sucker for gimmicks like those. I’m not going to say he is “underrated” per se, I think he’s just rated fine, in the middle of the pack, nothing too outrageous but not bad either.
Where Are They Now?
BUSHI mainly tags with his LIJ compadres nowadays and even won the Jr. Tag Belts with new member Shingo Takagi earlier in the year.
35.) Hiromu Takahashi
Total Combined Days: 230
Number of Reigns: 2
From one LIJ member to another, we got Hiromu Takahashi. But before he became the Ticking Time Bomb, Hiromu started off in the New Japan Dojo as a young lion but from an early stage of his career he started facing challenges such as many those around him already deemed Hiromu as someone who will fail and will never become a big star. Well he did prove those doubters wrong eventually.
In 2014 he began his excursion in CMLL, there he adapted a new persona in “Kamaitachi” and brewed a rivalry against Dragon Lee for the CMLL World Lightweight Championship which he won. Since then both men would always tear each other into pieces whether in Mexico or Japan. It’s what really helped Hiromu become popular thanks to his intense and hard hitting matchups against Dragon Lee.
After two years in Mexico, Takahashi returned to New Japan and became the new member of Los Ingobernables de Japon and would beat KUSHIDA at Wrestle Kingdom 11 for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, in a match that changed the landscape of the division forever. Throughout the early months of 2017, Hiromu reigned as champion for 158 days with 4 successful title defenses. He would win the belt again in 2018 beating another prominent rival of his after winning BOSJ, in Will Ospreay. He defeated El Desperado for the belt and once again Dragon Lee in G1 Special in San Francisco but unfortunately bad luck fell.
During their match, Hiromu suffered a neck injury and was forced to vacate the title. He is still recovering from the injury today and only time will tell if he is going to come back in the ring, for the time being that seems unlikely so I’m here patiently waiting for the return of Hiromu and Daryl! Get well soon champ.
36.) Will Ospreay
Total Combined Days: 219+ (ongoing)
Number of Reigns: 3
Best of the Super Juniors 2016. Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet. A match that you either loved or hated, but nevertheless, everyone took notice and it would make the careers of both men going forward. Before that, Ospreay was already making waves in his home country of UK mainly for PROGRESS and RevPro. He would join NJPW after being personally recruited by Kazuchika Okada himself to become a part of the CHAOS roster, of course that is an offer no one can refuse when The Rainmaker himself is the one doing the scouting.
A year later in 2017 Ospreay finally got to win the title he’s been on pursuit for many times in the past and that is the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship defeating KUSHIDA. But an old enemy knocked on his door and quickly put an end to his happy times as “The Villain” Marty Scurll defeated Ospreay just 27 days into the reign. At this point, Ospreay is yet to defeat Scurll in singles action out of the many times they’ve faced before in the past.
That would all finally end as in Wrestle Kingdom 12, Will Ospreay pinned Marty Scurll in a four way match that also included Hiromu and KUSHIDA, to become once again the Junior Heavyweight Champion. During that run Ospreay entered BOSJ as the champion and defeated the same aforementioned guys until his reign was ended by Hiromu.
Now in 2019, Will Ospreay is having the year of his entire career. Arguably the wrestler of the year, he won the BOSJ for the second time in his career and would go on to become champion for the third time defeating Dragon Lee. He is now participating in the G1 Climax as the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Whatever you may think of him, Will Ospreay is without question one of the best wrestlers in the world today, some even say the best. If you can get past some of the gimmicky or highflying stuff he does that old school fans may not prefer, or the lack of selling at points, he can tell a great story in the ring especially with opponents he has faced in the past. When you think of British wrestling, the old school technical style of Johnny Saint mainly comes to mind, now being popularized in modern times with Zack Sabre Jr. But Ospreay took a different route, he got influenced by Lucha Libre mainly by Rey Mysterio and is now arguably the greatest highflyer in the world today.
37.) Marty Scurll
Total Days: 60
Number of Reigns: 1
In 2014, Marty Scurll would end his partying ways and became The Villain of PROGRESS Wrestling. Scurll would be one of the focal points for the blooming period of the UK indie scene, becoming a top champion for both PROGRESS and RevPro.
Things only went higher from here on out as in 2017 when Adam Cole was kicked out of the Bullet Club, a new member emerged in the form of Marty Scurll, quickly becoming one of the top acts in the entire world by virtue of joining the hottest stable in pro wrestling. Scurll joined at a time when AJ Styles was gone off Bullet Club and The Elite were leading the way, he got even more popular because of his appearances in the BTE series on YouTube.
Scurll found success in both NJPW and ROH and in the same year as joining BC, he won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship from his old rival Will Ospreay. He would only serve as a transitional champion however as he lost the belt back to Ospreay just 60 days later at Wrestle Kingdom, concluding their longtime feud.
Where Are They Now?
After the Elite split up from Bullet Club and with the creation of AEW, Marty was somewhat left alone until he created Villain Enterprises with Brody King and PCO. He is still under contract with ROH although no one would be surprise he leaves once that comes up.
38.) Taiji Ishimori
Total Days: 92
Number of Reigns: 1
Taiji Ishimori is a student of both Ultimo Dragon and Tamon Honda. He began his career in Ultimo’s promotion Toryumon but would find a successful career in Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2006 where he stayed for 13 years and became one of the top junior heavyweights along with the likes of KENTA, Marufuji, and Kanemaru. He won the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship three times and the Jr. Tag-Team Championships 6 times. Ishimori also became the IMPACT X-Division Champion for a short time thanks to the short lived partnership between NOAH and IMPACT in 2017.
The following year, 2018 he sought out free agency and eventually signed with NJPW. He became the newest member of Bullet Club personally recruited by Tama Tonga, taking on the character: Bone Soldier. Before this, Bone Soldier was essentially BC’s jobber, but Ishimori with all the credibility in the world, brought life to that gimmick and a whole new attitude.
Ishimori even reached the finals of the BOSJ that year but lost to Hiromu. He would eventually win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in his Wrestle Kingdom debut earlier this year, defeating KUSHIDA in his final Tokyo Dome match. Ishimori defeated veterans Taguchi and Liger during his 92 day reign before losing the belt at Madison Square Garden for G1 Supercard in a three way involving Dragon Lee and Bandido. I think it is a safe bet this wouldn’t be the last time we’ll see Ishimori with the Junior title.
Where Are They Now?
As of the writing of this article, Ishimori is currently 1/2 of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions with fellow Bullet Club member: El Phantasmo.
39.) Dragon Lee
Total Days: 64
Number of Reigns: 1
Last but not the least on the champions so far for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title is CMLL’s Dragon Lee. Still a fairly young career debuting in 2014, Dragon Lee is a part of wrestling royalty just like many luchadors. His father Arturo Muñoz is a wrestler currently competing as “La Bestia del Ring.” His older brother was the original Dragon Lee before becoming the second wrestler to portray the Mistico gimmick and his other brother is Los Ingobernables member Rush. So yeah, a family full of talented wrestlers for sure.
Dragon Lee would always be a part of NJPW whenever his fellow CMLL roster members partake in tours, mainly for the yearly FantasticaMania. As mentioned earlier, he would also have a rivalry with Hiromu Takahashi when he did his excursion in Mexico. He has challenged for the title first time during Hiromu’s second reign but was unsuccessful.
A year later Dragon Lee finally won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in MSG pinning Bandido. He successfully defeated Taiji Ishimori in his first defense and entered BOSJ as the reigning champion. Just last month however, his run ended by losing to Will Ospreay. Here’s hoping that once Hiromu returns, him and Dragon Lee would faceoff for the belt once again!
Where Are They Now?
Dragon Lee is currently the reigning CMLL World Welterweight Champion. He used to hold the World Lightweight Championship as well for 1,197 days (second longest) before being vacated due to weight limits.
