The top title of New Japan Pro Wrestling, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is one of the most prestigious titles in all of professional wrestling. For a wrestler to hold it is a sign that they are one of the most important wrestlers in not only the biggest wrestling company in Japan, but one of the most influential and trendsetting companies in the world.
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To date, there have been 70 champions over its over 30-year existence, and NJPW doesn’t really “do” transitional champs or day-long reigns, so an IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign has yet to last less than 16 days. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the ten longest-reigning champs.
10 Antonio Inoki (325 Days)
NJPW founder, Strong Style godfather, and proto MMA pioneer Antonio Inoki was the inaugural IWGP Heavyweight Champion in 1987 when he beat Masa Saito in a tournament. From there, Inoki held the title for 325 days and four title defenses including Bam Bam Bigelow, Dick Murdoch, and Riki Choshu. His title reign would probably have lasted even longer had he not had to vacate the title due to a foot injury.
9 Keiji Mutoh (340 Days)
During January 4th’s Wrestling World 1999 (NJPW’s precursor to Wrestle Kingdom), Keiji Mutoh—otherwise known as The Great Muta—defeated fellow nWo Japan member Scott Norton to win his third reign with the IWGP Heavyweight Title. This reign would last all the way to December of the same year when Mutoh would ultimately lose the title to 49-year-old Genichiro Tenryu and move on to finishing a factional war with former nWo cohort Masahiro Chono.
8 Shinya Hashimoto (367 Days)
One of the “Three Musketeers” of NJPW alongside Mutoh and Chono, Shinya Hashimoto’s second title reign with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship began in 1994 and lasted a year and two days until he lost the title to Mutoh.
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Shinya Hashimoto's reign is memorable for its dominance, as he fought an impressive nine defenses over the course of a year against such foes as Power Warrior (a.k.a. Kensuke Sasaki), Lord Steven Regal, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.
7 Big Van Vader (374 Days)
Big Van Vader’s career in American wrestling is more infamous than famous thanks to his role in Cactus Jack losing his ear and his burial at the hands of Shawn Michaels, but Vader has the distinction of being the first foreigner to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title. His second title reign of three was the longest, but of his four successful defenses, one ended in a DQ, and one ended in a double count-out.
6 Kazuchika Okada (391 Days)
Kazuchika Okada is the ordained modern ace of NJPW, and of his five title reigns to date, none of them have lasted less than 125 days. This stint, starting in 2013 and lasting nearly 13 months, was his second title win, obtained from prior ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. The low-key biggest moment of this title run was when his title defense against Tetsuya Naito was voted by fans to go on second-to-last at Wrestle Kingdom 8, an incident that facilitated Naito’s turn into being ingobernable.
5 Yuji Nagata (392 Days)
Yuji Nagata has only held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship twice, but both reigns would exceed 175 days. This fifth-longest reign was Nagata’s second, beginning in 2002. This occurred during the controversial period of NJPW known as “Inokiism,” wherein Antonio Inoki showed preference to MMA fighters and other shooters, so Nagata’s defenses were against athletes with MMA experience like Bas Rutten, Josh Barnett, and Yoshihiro Takayama.
4 The Great Muta (400 Days)
Keiji Mutoh’s longest IWGP Heavyweight Title reign was his first, held under his classic persona of The Great Muta in 1992. Muta beat Riki Choshu for the title and took on both of his Three Musketeer brothers during his run, including a double-championship match where Muta beat Masahiro Chono for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and, later, a loss to Shinya Hashimoto.
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Somewhat notably, The Great Muta would also defend against two of his face-painted counterparts: The Great Kabuki and Sting.
3 Hiroshi Tanahashi (404 Days)
The long-time ace of New Japan whose ascent to stardom brought the company out of potential financial ruin, Hiroshi Tanahashi has the largest number of title reigns at eight, but only one of them has exceeded 300 days.
Beating Satoshi Kojima for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom V, Tanahashi enjoyed a record-breaking 11 successful defenses against opponents like Yuji Nagata, Giant Bernard, and Toru Yano until he lost to Kazuchika Okada in the Rainmaker’s very first title win.
2 Shinya Hashimoto (489 Days)
Shinya Hashimoto’s second stint as IWGP Champ was noted for Hashimoto’s dominance, so imagine how dominant he was if his third stint was even longer. Winning the title from Nobuhiko Takada in 1996, Hashimoto ran through foes like Keiji Mutoh, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, and even Ric Flair in his nearly 500-day reign. Hashimoto’s title run held the record for being the longest for 20 years when the next guy broke the record in 2017.
1 Kazuchika Okada (720 Days)
The longest reigning champ by a wide margin, Okada’s nearly two-year run lasted from 2016 to 2018 and featured an impressive twelve defenses—breaking Tanahashi’s record—against huge names like Cody Rhodes, Tetsuya Naito, Minoru Suzuki, Kenny Omega, Naomichi Marufuji, and even Tanahashi himself. Okada finally lost to Kenny Omega in their now-classic seven-star Two-Out-of-Three Falls Match at Dominion. The loss was so devastating to Okada that he dyed his hair red and started carrying around a balloon and acting a fool.
