NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Leo Isaka holding the NWA World Junior title in his right hand
Details
PromotionPro Wrestling Zero1
Date establishedSeptember 20, 2011[1]
Current champion(s)Takumi Baba
Date wonJuly 15, 2023
Other name(s)
NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Craig Classic[1]
Most reignsJason Lee and Takuya Sugawara (2 reigns)
Longest reignShinjiro Otani (481 days)
Shortest reignMineo Fujita (45 days)
Oldest championTsuyoshi Kikuchi (47 years, 41 days)
Youngest championJason Lee (21 years, 142 days)
Heaviest championShinjiro Otani (107 kg (236 lb))[2]
Lightest championJonathan Gresham (73 kg (161 lb))

The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Japanese Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) promotion. The title is meant for wrestlers under the weight limit of 100 kg (220 lb), referred to as "junior heavyweights" in Japan.[3]

On July 11, 2011, then-NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Craig Classic announced that he was relinquishing his title in protest over the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) stripping The Sheik of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[4] However, on September 20, NWA affiliate Pro Wrestling Zero1 announced that they still recognized Classic as the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion.[1] When Classic returned to the promotion on October 2, he was still in possession of the NWA title belt (which was the belt worn by the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama, in the 1980s), which he went on to successfully defend against Munenori Sawa.[5][6] Despite this being the first appearance of the new version of the title, Zero1 went as far as adopting the original title's history, referring to Classic as the 108th champion and his defense against Sawa as his 22nd successful defense.[1][7] Meanwhile, NWA crowned their own NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Kevin Douglas, on October 7, meaning that there now were two champions supposedly holding the same title.[8] That same month, Zero1 quit the NWA and renamed all of their National Wrestling Alliance championships "New Wrestling Alliance" championships.[9]

Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won as a result of a scripted match. There have been twenty-two reigns shared among nineteen wrestlers. The current champion is Takumi Baba who is in his first reign.

Title history

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDefenses
National Wrestling Alliance
1(108) Craig Classic June 11, 2010 November Coming Fire Fort Pierce, FL 1 421[upper-alpha 1]3[upper-alpha 2] Classic defeated Mike Quackenbush to win the championship; this match was promoted by NWA Florida. Zero1 continued to recognize Classic as the reigning NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, despite him having vacated the title on July 11, 2011. [1][10]
Pro Wrestling Zero1
2(109) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi January 1, 2012 Puroresu Nippon Tokyo, Japan 1 610[11] [7]
3(110) Takuya Sugawara March 2, 2012 Zero1 Eleven Tokyo, Japan 1 4285 This match was also contested for Sugawara's International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [11]
4(111) Jonathan Gresham May 4, 2013 Big Bang Tokyo, Japan 1 1321[12] This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. During his reign, Gresham additionally held the Zero1 USA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [13]
— Vacated September 13, 2013 — Tokyo, Japan — —— Gresham voluntarily vacated both the NWA and International Junior Heavyweight Championships ahead of the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr. finals. [14]
5(112) Hub September 16, 2013 11th Tenkaichi Jr.: Finals Tokyo, Japan 1 1743[15] Hub defeated Mineo Fujita in the finals of the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to win the vacant championship; this match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [16]
6(113) Jason Lee March 9, 2014 Zero1 Thirteen Tokyo, Japan 1 1942 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [17]
7(114) Mineo Fujita September 19, 2014 Tenkaichi Special Tokyo, Japan 1 451 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [18]
8(115) Takuya Sugawara November 3, 2014 Hi no Kokudai Hanabi Kumamoto, Japan 2 551 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [19]
9(116) Jason Lee December 28, 2014 Winter Fever 4 Hong Kong 2 631[20] This match was promoted by Zero1 Hong Kong and was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [21]
10(117) Minoru Tanaka March 1, 2015 Zero1_Fourteen Tokyo, Japan 1 2243 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [20]
11(118) Shinjiro Otani October 11, 2015 Change the World Tokyo, Japan 1 4813[22] This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [23]
12(119) Kotaro Suzuki February 3, 2017 Shinsei Zero1 Dream Series: Hakai no Jin Tokyo, Japan 1 2653 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [22]
13(120) Sean Guinness October 26, 2017 Dream Series Aki no Jin Korakuen Taikai Tokyo, Japan 1 1291 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [24]
14(121) Isami Kodaka March 4, 2018 Dream Series Sozo no Jin Tokyo, Japan 1 [upper-alpha 3]2 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
— Vacated November 2018 — — — —— Kodaka was stripped of both the NWA and International Junior Heavyweight Championships due to an injury.
15(122) Sugi November 24, 2018 Dream Series ~ Nenotsuki No Jin ~ Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament 2018 Tokyo, Japan 1 4033 Sugi defeated Hayata in the finals of the 2018 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to win the vacant championship; this match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
16(123) Hub January 1, 2020 Happy New Year Tokyo, Japan 2 2470 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
17(124) Shoki Kitamura September 4, 2020 Youth Playback! It All Started Here! Shinjiro Otani Returns To Asakura Tokyo, Japan 1 580 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
18(125) El Lindaman November 1, 2020 Fire Festival 2020 Tokyo, Japan 1 3101 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
— Vacated September 7, 2021 — — — —— El Lindaman was stripped of both the NWA and International Junior Heavyweight Championships after Gleat, Lindaman's home promotion, ended its working relationship with Zero1.
19(126) Fuminori Abe September 9, 2021 Zero1 20th Anniversary Year - 18th Tenkaichi Junior Tournament 2021 Final Tokyo, Japan 1 2135 Abe defeated Shoki Kitamura in the finals of the 2021 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to win the vacant championship; this match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [25]
20(127) Astroman April 10, 2022 Zero1 Osu Premium Show Zero1 20th & 21st Anniversary Pro Wrestling Tokyo, Japan 1 2662 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [26]
21(128) Leo Isaka January 1, 2023 Zero1 Happy New Year 2023 Tokyo, Japan 1 1954 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [27]
22(129) Takumi Baba July 15, 2023 Zero1 23rd Midsummer Festival Tokyo, Japan 1 167+0 This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. [28]
  1. ↑ Classic's reign is calculated from the day he won the NWA-recognized World Junior Heavyweight Championship until the day he lost the title as recognized by Zero1. As such, it excludes him vacating the title and predates the split in the championship lineage.
  2. ↑ Classic made three defenses of Zero1's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, however, Classic made 23 total defenses of the NWA-recognized World Junior Heavyweight Championship and Zero1's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
  3. ↑ The exact date on which Kodaka were stripped of the championship is not known, which means that his reign lasted between 242 and 265 days

Combined reigns

Former champion Leo Isaka, shown here also wearing the Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Current champion, Takumi Baba.

As of December 29, 2023

† Indicates the current champion
¤ The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest length is considered.
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined
defenses		 Combined days
1 Takuya Sugawara26483
2 Shinjiro Otani13481
3 HUB23421
4 Craig Classic117421
5 Sugi13403
6 El Lindaman11310
7 Astroman12266
8 Kotaro Suzuki13265
9 Jason Lee23257
10 Isami Kodaka12¤242
11 Minoru Tanaka13224
12 Fuminori Abe15213
13 Leo Isaka14195
14 Takumi Baba †10167+
15 Jonathan Gresham11132
16 Sean Guinness11129
17 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi1061
18 Shoki Kitamura1058
19 Mineo Fujita1145

See also

Footnotes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 "10/2(日)奉納プロレスにNWA世界Jr王者：クレイグ・クラッシック参戦：澤宗紀リベンジなるか". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). September 20, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    2. ↑ 選手紹介. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
    3. ↑ Lee, Alan. "Pride of the UWFi or Searching for Kazushi". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    4. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (July 12, 2011). "Tues update: More from Raw, Drew injury update, Cena talks Chicago, Punk merch, Raw trending, Smackdown tonight, TNA releases, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    5. ↑ "NWA世界Jr王座防衛：クレイグ・クラシックが継続参戦". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). October 3, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    6. ↑ 橋本大地が破壊王の元付き人・天山に完敗. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. October 2, 2011. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    7. 1 2 "「ﾌﾟﾛﾚｽNippon」元旦後楽園大会　試合結果". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). January 1, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    8. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (October 10, 2011). "Mon. update: WWE week, Sonnen fight, Another UFC fighter with stips, WWE network, WWE video game". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    9. ↑ "New Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    10. ↑ "12.07.2011 - 01.01.2012: Craig Classic". Cagematch.net. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
    11. 1 2 "3月2日後楽園大会試合結果&お詫び #zero1". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). March 3, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    12. ↑ "Zero1・6月シリーズ　後楽園大会「Evolution」". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). June 11, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
    13. ↑ 2013年5月. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). Retrieved May 10, 2013.
    14. ↑ "天下一Jrにベルトを懸ける、とジョナサンが宣言". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
    15. ↑ "1.1 後楽園ホール大会試合結果". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). January 1, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
    16. ↑ "9.16 後楽園ホール大会結果速報！". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). September 16, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
    17. ↑ "3.9 後楽園ホール大会試合結果". Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
    18. ↑ 9/19後楽園大会　試合結果. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
    19. ↑ 【大花火実行委員会】『火乃国大花火』、大仁田がメイン締め!!　“世界一金玉のデカい男”ハルク・コーガン、デビュー戦を勝利で飾る!!　11・3『火乃国大花火』試合結果!!. The Big Fight (in Japanese). November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
    20. 1 2 Zero1 3.1後楽園大会　旗揚げ14周年記念　田中＆杉浦vs.耕平＆関本、鈴木vs.船木、大谷vs.Leona. Battle News (in Japanese). March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
    21. ↑ 12/28　Zero1香港 香港大会速報：菅原拓也香港で撃沈　ジェイソン・リーが地元香港でジュニア２冠奪取. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). December 28, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
    22. 1 2 2.3後楽園大会　試合結果. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
    23. ↑ 10/11Zero １『 Change the World 』後楽園大会　試合結果. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
    24. ↑ Zero1　ドリームシリーズ　秋の陣　後楽園大会. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (in Japanese). October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
    25. ↑ Pro Wrestling Zero1 (September 9, 2021). ZERO1・20周年記念イヤー　新木場大会～第18回　天下一ジュニアトーナメント2021　決勝戦～. z-1.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved September 13, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
    26. ↑ Daly, Wayne (April 11, 2022). "ZERO1 Results: 20th & 21st Anniversary Show – Tokyo, Japan (4/10)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
    27. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 1, 2023). "ZERO1 Happy New Year 2023". cagematch.net. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
    28. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 15, 2023). "ZERO1 23rd Midsummer Festival ~ Fire Festival 2023 - Tag 5". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.