20.) Togi Makabe
No. of Reigns: 1
Total Days: 161
Nowadays we all know Togi Makabe as an undercard guy who is one of the veteran members of the roster and mainly there to put over the young talents, but there was a point in time where Makabe was one of the most popular wrestlers in the entire NJPW roster even rivaling Tanahashi’s level of fame! It may sound like a crazy statement now but that was indeed the case before. He was around the same batch of young lions as the New Three Musketeers along with the aforementioned Hiroshi Tanahashi as well as Shinsuke Nakamura and Katsuyori Shibata. However, Makabe had to work his way through the top and wasn’t seen on the same stature as those men yet, initially attempting to prove he has what it takes to be a worthy contender first. Throughout the 2000’s Makabe was mainly just a midcard act who has challenged for various titles but never quite managed to win any. In 2006 he was finally able to get a hold of a championship by winning the IWGP Provisional Tag-Team titles with Shiro Koshinaka. These belts were made out of an emergency situation when the reigning IWGP Tag-Team Champions Tenzan and Chono became inactive for awhile and New Japan management were forced to have some interim belts for the timebeing. They only had them for weeks before losing it to the pair of Takao Omori and Manabu Nakanishi. Also in the same year he won his first singles title by capturing the revived WEW Heavyweight Championship, a former belt used to be frequently defended in FMW but was used again for Apache Pro-Wrestling. Then on October, Makabe along with Tenzan and Koshinaka became the founding members of the stable “Great Bash Heel” (GBH) and also recruited Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii. This would set up Makabe into a superstar and finally found his groove under the new faction. In 2008 he won the IWGP Tag-Team Championships with his stable mate Toru Yano and they had a successful 322 days run with the titles. Throughout its existence GBH continued to grow in numbers however on April 5, 2009 shortly after losing the tag-team belts, Yano betrayed Makabe and sided with Shinsuke Nakamura to form “CHAOS” and slowly almost every member of GBH turned their backs on Makabe except for one man: Tomoaki Honma. From being an arrogant heel, now with his former subordinates stabbing him in the back, Makabe got the fans behind his back in a mission to take revenge. This would become one of the hottest angles of the entire year with Makabe chasing not only to avenge the humiliation he faced but also win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship which was held by Nakamura. Finally on May 3, 2010 Makabe in his second challenge for the prestigious belt, defeated his arch nemesis and got over the traitorous acts of his past allies. Similar to Nakanishi’s victory, Makabe’s win was a feel good moment as well. He is another victim of the Inokism, being relegated into the corner and was only able to properly shine when New Japan got free away from Inoki. He may not be a scientific wrestler but he makes up for it with his powerful moveset such as his elbows, lariats, and his signature King Kong Knee Drop. It is easy to look at Makabe’s title reign and dismiss it as an average run but once again with proper context, we have to look at it in a fair manner. He was able to have a decent streak with it at three successful defenses over the likes of Go Shiozaki of Pro Wrestling NOAH, a re-match with Shinsuke, and the veteran Masato Tanaka before losing it to a returning Satoshi Kojima. The title was elevated because it circled around what was the biggest angle in the company at the time with the heated rivalry of GBH and CHAOS and also it cemented Makabe’s long term legacy as being a part of such a an exclusive list of wrestlers that have held the gold. His name may stand out for someone who may not be too familiar with New Japan history but Makabe was a solid champion with all things considered. After that, he continued to amass more titles such as being a 2x NEVER Openweight Champion and some tag-team success with Honma. He may not be everyone’s favorite wrestler, but Makabe has certainly left his mark in the lore of NJPW.
19.) Hiroyoshi Tenzan
No. of Reigns: 4
Total Combined Days: 197
If you think being a Tetsuya Naito fan is pure of suffering now then I can’t even imagine what all the Tenzan supporters must’ve been feeling in the 2000’s. If there is one person out of everyone in this entire list who was robbed of a deserving long reign with the title, it was him. On paper being a former 4x World Champion sounds solid right? Well everything that is good about it ends there as his total combined days pretty much speaks for itself on how badly he was treated during his short runs with the belt. However, what does rank him high here were the quality of his matches, especially his title victory ones. Why Tenzan is such a disappointment is not because of his lack of in-ring talent, far from it, he was one of the best workers in the roster during his prime and had loads of charisma to back it up but unfortunately management never looked at him as ace material which is a shame because he had all the potential in the world after being built up as a credible wrestler but they just never decided to run with him in the long term. Tenzan is another member of the Third Generation group and was the first out of the four to debut in 1991. After his successful showing as a young lion and excursion in Europe, he returned to NJPW in 1995 and quickly got partnered up with Masahiro Chono as “Team Wolf” and together they paved the way for what would become nWo Japan and were 5x IWGP Tag-Team Champions together throughout their careers. Tenzan is the most accomplished tag-team wrestler in company history by winning the heavyweight tag-team titles a record 12 times. Him and Kojima also hold the record for total combined days as the tag-team champions at an impressive 926 days! With nWo Japan continuing to grow in popularity and wrecking havoc in New Japan, Tenzan became one of the top members of the group then later on splintered off with Chono in TEAM 2000 when they departed ways with Mutoh. By the early 2000’s though, the nWo craze started to die down and with the rise of MMA talents taking over the spotlight, Tenzan aligned himself back in his roots and sided with his fellow NJPW brethren against their fight towards the tyranny of Antonio Inoki. When he turned babyface, he cut off his signature mullet as a symbol of turning over a new leaf and fight for the honor of the company that is being infested by the opposing group of fighters, one of which would be his rival Yoshihiro Takayama. On November 3, 2003 what felt like the crowning moment for Tenzan took place after ending Takayama’s destructive reign in what was one of the most action-packed title matches in NJPW history. The culmination of their feud came with such brutality and when Tenzan was able to get over, the future looked bright for him as the new face of the company, or so we thought. Literally only lasted for 36 days then loss the belt to Shinsuke Nakamura. This would become the running theme throughout all of his reigns with the IWGP Title. When Nakamura had to vacate the belt due to injury, Tenzan defeated Genichiro Tenryu in a tournament final to determine the new champion. Unlike previously he did have one successful defense this time over Minoru Suzuki but once again immediately dropped the belt to Kensuke Sasaki, this time it only lasted for 26 days. The third and fourth reign pretty much went about the same as well. Overall for 147 days, Tenzan only has two successful defenses under his wing which is a shame because the fans were clearly behind him by this point but add in his stack of injuries and lack of faith from management, he never got a proper run with the belt and ended up arguably being the most underwhelming champion even more than Naito. Despite all this, Tenzan remained loyal to New Japan. When many started to leave and go on for better situations, he stuck through the dark times and eventually it paid off for him as the company is in a much more stable condition now, unfortunately for him and his overall legacy, the worst years coincided with his prime so we may never truly know what New Japan would look like had Tenzan been the one leading it, another “what if?” scenario that will remain as that forever. To his credit, he made the most of everything, even with the injuries, Tenzan still delivered some stellar and high intensity performances which is why he still ranks above than some of the champions below him.
18.) Kazuyuki Fujita
No. of Reigns: 3
Total Combined Days: 478
“The Last Disciple of Inoki” couldn’t have been a more appropriate nickname for Kazuyuki Fujita. Now I know this ranking may cause some controversy because of the general consensus that everything about Inoki-ism was bad and for the most part you’re right, but even amidst the darker years, there were still some hidden gems through it all and I do believe Fujita is one of those. For one, in comparison to all the former champions who also had the “Inoki-ism flavor” attached to them if you will, Fujita was far better than any of them, although to be fair the competition wasn’t all that great as a past his prime Tadao Yasuda, Brock Lesnar who’s only doing it for the cash, and Bob Sapp, I’d take Fujita all day than any of those guys. To his credit, he wasn’t even a bad wrestler to begin with, sure his style can be polarizing, it is after all up to your personal preference but in my opinion, Fujita was a solid worker who is great in emphasizing action with his strikes. His matches against the likes of Nagata, Tanahashi, and Shibata just to name a few still hold up today for their level of aggression. A graduate of the New Japan dojo, Fujita was already seen with lots of potential by Inoki from the start, however as he was being overshadowed by members of the Third Generation in his early run, he chose to focus on training for an MMA run, he even thought of leaving NJPW for good but management blocked his attempts and respected his decision for attempting to have a go with another sport while representing New Japan as his home promotion. Now what made Fujita stand out from the rest of his peers who were mainly humiliated in the MMA rings, unlike them he found success in it immediately and was a natural fit because of his amateur background and further enhancing of his skills. From his debut in PRIDE on January 30, 2000 to December 31, 2004 he had a pretty impressive record of 12-4 which is already way better than any of the other New Japan wrestlers that have been booked by Inoki. Naturally because of this, Inoki found his golden boy in Fujita and after amassing six wins with only a single blemish in his record, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on April 9, 2001 defeating Scott Norton in dominant fashion which is a big deal in itself as Norton has been booked pretty strong up to this point in his entire New Japan career. He had two successful defenses in 270 days over Don Frye and Yuji Nagata before being forced to vacate the belt due to injury. This would pretty much become the recurring theme throughout Fujita’s career in his prime as he was still juggling through both of his commitments with MMA and Pro Wrestling, mainly having to compete as a part timer in the latter, so ultimately Inoki was not able to fully capitalize on him. His next reign came about two years later when he humiliated Bob Sapp in their K-1 fight, beating him in just two minutes and quickly putting an end to the mystique of The Beast, Inoki stripped Sapp off the belt and later on Fujita defeated Tanahashi for the vacant title. He had a very stiff action against a young Katsuyori Shibata which was the latter’s first attempt at the IWGP Title and wouldn’t get another chance until many years later. Fujita knocked out Shibata, however his second reign ended in controversial fashion. He loss in his second defense to Kensuke Sasaki in under three minutes, allegedly he didn’t want to work a full length match because he wanted to avoid injuries for his upcoming MMA fight and Sasaki, along with his wife Akira Hokuto protested the win backstage and there was a whole mess surrounding it. Fujita’s third and final run with the belt came on July 18, 2005 when he defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in his very first defense of the belt, this was his shortest run at 82 days but never got to defend it successfully and this run would give birth to Brock Lesnar’s infamous IWGP Title reign when he won it over Fujita and Chono in a Triple Threat Match. One could argue that some of the wrestlers ranked above him were better champions, but the thing is to me Fujita had the legitimacy that most wrestlers in this list don’t have. For awhile the formula worked in his favor and we have to remember, the times were changing in the landscape of Japanese combat sports, Inoki had multiple attempts to find the one true fighter to stand the test of time, had Fujita failed in MMA too, we wouldn’t know if the company could have even survived. He was the perfect heel carrying the brand of Strong Style purists weren’t so fond of which is why he was such a fascinating villain. His matches weren’t exactly in the five star category but they did what they needed to and for the most part, he wasn’t afraid of putting over other wrestlers especially by the end of his run there because he is still a dojo trainee after all. When his time in NJPW ended, Fujita had a long hiatus in pro wrestling before returning to action in 2011 fittingly enough for IGF and has been an active freelancer ever since.
17.) Tetsuya Naito
No. of Reigns: 2
Total Combined Days: 259
For a wrestler with the star power of Tetsuya Naito being in this spot is criminally low for him but that is indeed the case of his unfortunate reigns with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. I do think overall he is better than the ones previously listed but not by much, in a lot of ways Naito’s time as champion mirrored a lot of what Tenzan had to deal with in the 2000’s. But first what’s actually more interesting was his journey towards becoming the champion and if you’ve been a fan for awhile now like myself, you know how the story goes but if not then here’s a quick gist of it. Before he became the tranquilo superstar we know him as today, Tetsuya Naito was initially built as this typical clean cut babyface who is deemed as the future ace of the company, some people even called him the “lite version” of Tanahashi. After his run in the junior heavyweight division, he moved up in weight class and was being groomed to be one of the next in line for a main event spot. The trajectory of his career seems to be pointing upwards by winning the G1 Climax 2013, the thing is, while management may have seen him that way, the fans did not. Naito’s supposed big win of his career at that point barely got any reaction and for the most part, he was seen as someone who’s NJPW is trying to push down their throats, even with his time as a young lion and training at Animal Hamaguchi’s dojo, his push did not feel organic and with Kazuchika Okada being the more prevalent between the two, the Stardust Genius was beginning to get outshined. Everything got even worse for Naito as usually the person who wins the G1 gets the main event spot for Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome but due to the fans growing hatred towards him, it was decided via a fan poll that the Intercontinental Championship match between Tanahashi and Nakamura would go last rather than the Heavyweight title bout between him and Okada, it’s been six years since the first WK wherein the World Championship match did not go on last. This was a massive slap to the face for Naito and a clear evidence that he wasn’t ready yet for the position he was put in. So he was sent to another excursion in Mexico hoping to rejuvenate his career, there he discovered La Sombra and the rest of Los Ingobernables stable, calm and collected individuals who do not abide the typical protocols and live by their own rules, be tranquilo. Naito adapted this personality, as he went back home he turned his back on the very fans that did it to him years prior. Ironically, with the new change of attitude, he slowly earned their support and he would become the most popular wrestler in the roster, even eclipsing Tanahashi and Okada in merchandise sales and massive appeal. On April 10, 2016 Naito defeated his arch nemesis Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with the help of his new comrades: Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ), basically the Japanese version of the original stable in CMLL. It was quite the surprise win and he was able to get over Tomohiro Ishii in his first defense but dropped the belt shortly thereafter back to Okada at Dominion. It would take awhile before Naito got his second title reign, he had to go through the Intercontinental Championship first, a belt he loathed because it was always seen as the “secondary championship” and he disrespected the title by dragging and throwing it around like a piece of garbage. He won the G1 Climax for the second time in 2017 and was finally able to main event the Tokyo Dome on WK12 but failed to capture the belt this time against Okada. Eventually, his negative impressions on the IC Title changed to somewhat of an affection as it became synonymous with his career and so after years of setback and failed trials in living up to the moment, earlier this year at Wrestle Kingdom 14, Naito defeated Jay White to earn his 5th IC Championship reign and then headlined the following night and finally was able to relinquished Okada off for the IWGP Championship and became the first ever Double Heavyweight Champion, holding the two belts that are heavily connected with his career! It is a beautiful story that only few could measure to but the conclusion wasn’t so kind to Naito again. This was supposed to be his long awaited title reign, where he’ll finally lead the company as the shuyaku, then the pandemic happened. With only one prior successful defense against KENTA, he lost the title at Dominion (again) to his former comrade in EVIL. An upsetting result for sure but the thing that hurts just as bad, especially if you’ve been a fan of his work, it’s clear Naito’s days at the top are numbered because his physical prime is way past him. His knee injuries are getting the best of him now and he could no longer perform the way he used to, at least on the same level. He’s not getting any younger and it’s a shame that the six year long story ended at such a low point in time for basically the whole world. Will he win the belt again? Probably. But I’ve come to terms that we will never truly see the long term run he was meant to have. Even though I’ve talked about it in a somewhat disappointing manner, because I’ve been heavily invested in this story, Naito’s moments in winning the title, especially this year at Wrestle Kingdom are some of the greatest highlights in modern day New Japan. Tenzan’s wins were cool too, especially the first one, but Naito’s coronation felt even more special and I know KENTA sort of ruined the moment to build up heat for their rivalry, but that’s fine, I’ll never forget cheering like a little kid again when he finally pinned Okada in the middle of the ring then the huge roar of the crowd that followed. You cannot simply re-create memories that will live on forever easily.
16.) Yoshihiro Takayama
No. of Reigns: 1
Total Days: 185
In my countless hours of viewing a multitude of Puroresu matches through the years, there are only few in my opinion that have truly captured the personification of the words “fighting spirit” one of them is Kenta Kobashi and another best example is Yoshihiro Takayama. He learned pro wrestling under the tutelage of Nobuhiko Takada and was a part of UWF-I where he kickstarted his career. After the company folded, Takayama went to AJPW and formed a great duo with Takao Omori known as “NO FEAR” and then they joined Mitsuharu Misawa in the mass exodus towards Pro Wrestling NOAH. Around this point MMA was already starting to boom in Japan with PRIDE becoming the most popular combat sport promotion in the country even eclipsing professional wrestling. In 2001 Takayama declared for free agency which allowed him to wrestle wherever he wants but it is still in NOAH where he competed for the most part, this would do wonders for his long term legacy as he is one of only two wrestlers that has held the top World Heavyweight Championships of the three premier wrestling promotions in Japan: NJPW’s IWGP, AJPW’s Triple Crown, and NOAH’s GHC. The thing about Takayama especially when you look at his resume as the champion, he only has a total combined reign of 397 days across all three of those World Titles which he only held one time each. He isn’t exactly the type of wrestler you want as a lengthy champion, he plays the role better of being the dominant man on the roster who will win the belt and become this imposing figure for whoever your ace or top guy has to overcome because having a win over Takayama especially in his prime was seen as a big deal because of the legitimacy he brings in the ring. His career and popularity truly skyrocketed on June 23, 2002 when he fought Don Frye in their famous match at PRIDE where the two of them had a straight up slugfest instead of the traditional technical mixed martial art fights. Even though Frye was clearly the more superior fighter of the two, Takayama never gave in and continued to battle despite one of his eyes was completely shut in and his face got a total deconstruction due to the heavy punches he received. Although his MMA career did not take off as far as he wanted it to having a losing record of 1-4, that fight specifically earned him the respect of many people especially the fans who actively rooted for him ever since because of the effort he evidently brings in. Takayama actually already competed in NJPW during his younger years in 1995 during the company’s rivalry with UWF-I but wouldn’t become an active part of the roster until in 2002 where he challenged for Yuji Nagata’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship unsuccessfully. Also in the same year Kazuyuki Fujita revived the NWF Heavyweight Championship which has been inactive since 1981 as a part of a storyline. For those who don’t know, before the IWGP Title the NWF belt was the premier prize during the early years of NJPW when Inoki brought it along as it used to be a territorial belt in the US. A tournament was held for pro wrestlers with MMA backgrounds which included Takayama who won the vacant NWF Title in the finals. Takayama had three straight successful defenses with the NWF Championship over Ryushi Yanagisawa, Scott Norton, and Takeshi Rikio in NOAH before capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the Tokyo Dome while also putting the NWF Belt on the line against Yuji Nagata on May 2, 2003. As the double champion, Takayama interchangeably defended the belts, ever since winning the IWGP Title he had a total of six successful title defenses for both. The most notable one was at August 28, 2003 where he defeated Masahiro Chono in a cage death match which is the first time the belt was contested inside the structure. On November 3, 2003 Takayama’s IWGP Title run ended at the hands of his rival Hiroyoshi Tenzan who finally got the upper hand on him this time. When Nakamura defeated Tenzan for the belt shortly thereafter, he also avenged his humiliating defeat over Takayama and unifying the IWGP and NWF Championships. Even though he only had one run with the belt Takayama solidified his place as a dominant champion in only a year. The double title situations could’ve been a mess but it was booked properly, not totally defending both at the same time in every match. Bringing back the NWF for one last run didn’t feel like a cheap nostalgic act and was interwoven into the ongoing storylines appropriately. He continued to wrestle more matches well until in 2017 with a few NJPW comebacks in between. Sadly most of you know by now his present condition of being paralyzed from the neckdown after a career ending injury he suffered in his last match. Latest word on it he’s been recovering well, if there’s someone who can bounce back from this, it is Takayama-san, a fighter in every sense of the word.
15.) Kenny Omega
No. of Reigns: 1
Total Days: 209
Kenny Omega’s time as IWGP Champion can be a bit polarizing at times for some members of the community and I understand to those who felt it was underwhelming as since moving up to the heavyweights and then becoming the new leader of Bullet Club when AJ Styles left, Kenny became the face of the Western audience for NJPW in a long time and dare I say even with the advent of Jay White, Jon Moxley, and Will Ospreay recently, they haven’t captured the same feel Omega had and it was a tough spot too as he replaced Styles which was no easy task but dare I say he was able to surpass him not only in terms of global popularity but even in match quality. The thing about Omega and his chase for the IWGP Title, it was so good. The matches that led to his eventual win were all generally highly acclaimed, especially his series of singles matches against Kazuchika Okada. In 2016 Omega made his debut into the G1 Climax and won the entire tournament, getting an opportunity for the IWGP Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11. What followed is their instant classic main event match in the Dome and for most Western fans, it was their introduction to the New Japan product and what better way to start than with one of the greatest matches of all time, some even argue the greatest. Even though he fought and gave it his all, Omega was unable to dethrone the Rainmaker this time. They meet again at Dominion 2017 this time The Cleaner got just a little bit closer but as they say, close is not enough and the match ended in a time limit draw, exhausting every gas left in the tank for them, Okada gets to defend as champion for another day. Then finally, the culmination of the entire rivalry, their third championship match to determine once and for all the better of the two. This time though, Omega has been kicked out of the Bullet Club due to the inner warfare going on within the faction but reunited with a familiar face in Kota Ibushi, an emotional moment was shared when the Golden Lovers teamed back once again while receiving a shower of confetti. Even though he may seem like a man on an island heading into this bout, Omega does have Ibushi with him and it was a hellacious 2-out-of-3 falls match at Dominion 2018. This was the peak of their feud, pulling all the guns out and they went wild, even though the match had no time limits, there never was a single dull moment. I think this is what made their series of matches so good, the non-stop action and all out offense, resulting in very engaging matches that stand the test of time. Finally, tied at one pin falls a piece, Kenny hits the One Winged Angel for the third time and he has finally defeated the only wrestler in the world he was unable to overcome, Okada’s historic 720 day reign was ended none other than by the Best Bout Machine. That in itself is already the stuff of legends, but how about the reign itself? I have to agree with the general consensus and that it did not live up to the hype, but how could it? Literally everything Kenny has done before winning the belt already felt like he was being booked almost close as the top face of the company, and to a certain degree he was for the gaijin demographic. His reign was not bad per se, although it wasn’t able to equal the standard of matches he delivered before becoming champion. For 209 days he successfully defended the title for the first time against Cody in San Francisco on July 7, 2018. If I’m being completely honest, I do not remember a single thing about this match at all. Same goes with his Destruction in Horishima match against Ishii, which was fine but there have been better matches involving those two and it felt like a “filler defense” rather than a legitimate threat to end his title run. Then the overbooked mess that was the three way match between Omega, Ibushi, and Cody. You see the running theme here as to why this reign was seen by some as bad? Cody Rhodes shoehorning his way into IWGP Championship title shots, straight up undeserving and I know he was feuding with Kenny at the time over the supremacy of Bullet Club but in hindsight now that AEW is a thing, they should’ve done the Omega vs. Ibushi match up and removed Cody out of the equation entirely. I know they tried to save that for a much bigger scenario but now, we’re not even sure how long it will take before we get everything rekindled. Omega did enter Wrestle Kingdom 13 as the champion and headlined against the G1 winner Hiroshi Tanahashi. It was set up as a “battle of ideologies” between the futuristic mindset of Omega while Tanahashi wanting to keep the honorable traditions of NJPW. The match itself was great all things considered, but I wasn’t particularly intrigued by the buildup. I found the undercard matches between Naito vs. Jericho and White vs. Okada to be more interesting personally. Despite all that, I still think Kenny Omega’s run is better than the ones listed below him, even Naito. At least he was able to defend the championship successfully more than once, and after all the match quality is purely a subjective take. Why it is ranked quite high as well is because of the matches with Okada, those trilogy of title matches alone are enough of a reason, especially his title win which was such a great feel-good moment for him to be up in this spot. Could they have booked it better? Probably. The general opinion now is that Kenny was better as the chasing contender rather than the reigning champion. After the match with Tana, him and the rest of the Elite left NJPW, ending that era for the company and starting their own with AEW. Will we see Kenny back in a New Japan ring? Only time will tell.
14.) Satoshi Kojima
No. of Reigns: 2
Total Combined Days: 168
Kojima is another wrestler who has interesting cases when it comes to his two reigns as IWGP Champion. He is another member of The Third Generation and made his debut for the company just months after his future rival and tag-team partner, Hiroyoshi Tenzan. He won his first title in 1997 with Nakanishi as “Bull Powers” winning the IWGP Tag-Team Championships then proceeding to join Tenzan in nWo Japan two years later and finding success as TenKoji won the tag belts twice in their early run. However before he could fully hit his potential as a main event level player, Kojima left NJPW in 2002 to join Keiji Mutoh and Kendo Kashin who were heading their way to All Japan Pro Wrestling. This was a big deal for its time as NJPW and AJPW have been rival companies since their inceptions, but with Inoki running rough shot with his push of shoot style fighters, Kojima saw the writing on the wall and opted to go somewhere else to truly shine his talents against the right opponents. From a career stand point, it was a good move as well as AJPW were in desperate need for any wrestlers at that point due to Misawa and almost the entire roster leaving for NOAH. It was the right place at the right time for Kojima and he would eventually become the ace of the company, cementing his status as such when he dethroned AJPW loyalist Toshiaki Kawada on February 16, 2005 for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the top prize of the promotion. Around this time both companies actually had an active partnership going on and collaborated on many events which gave birth to what would eventually become “Wrestle Kingdom.” Four days after his triumphant victory, Kojima returned to New Japan for the first time since joining AJPW in a rare first time ever matchup between the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion (Tenzan) vs. Triple Crown Champion (Kojima) wherein both prestigious titles are on the line. TenKoji have been reunited but this time as bitter enemies rather than friends, it was one of the best matches of the entire year which nearly went to a 60 minute time limit draw but just in the last few seconds, Tenzan’s back gave up on him and was not able to stand, getting counted out thus Kojima becoming the first ever IWGP and Triple Crown Champion simultaneously! However, post match there was some controversy, Kojima threw down the IWGP belt in disgust before leaving the ring and being chased down by two young stars (particularly Nakamura and Tanahashi) because of the disrespect he showed towards the title. To this day it is still unknown whether that moment was a shoot or work, on one side Kojima allegedly capitalized on the win and as an act of defiance, showed that the IWGP is inferior to the Triple Crown and that AJPW is the better company since that is where his allegiance belongs to now, on the other hand it could just be adding heat to the ongoing rivalry between two companies, whatever the case may be it was a great match and the events that proceeded it was simply the cherry on top as they say. His initial run with the belt was only short though, lasted for 83 days. In his first defense against Shinsuke Nakamura but ended up in a draw due to reaching the one hour time limit. Kojima loss the belt in his re-match against Tenzan on May 14, 2005 in the Tokyo Dome. Even though his run with the belt was short, his Triple Crown reign was a success lasting for 502 days which at the time was the third longest individual reign in title history and successfully defended it eight times. Kojima wrestled under the AJPW banner for 12 years but in 2010 he did have his homecoming return to NJPW and was welcome back with open arms by the fans. Immediately he was shot right onto the top spot, winning that year’s G1 Climax then defeating Togi Makabe for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on October 11, 2010. Same with his first one, this time only lasted for two days longer, he had his decisive victory over Nakamura for the belt but loss in his second defense to Tanahashi at the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 5. There was a point in time where Satoshi Kojima could be argued as the best wrestler of the decade for the 2000’s due to his rise in popularity and great collection of matches against both rosters of NJPW and AJPW. When Kawada started to dwindle down, he became the de facto ace of the promotion and carried the company in his back before Suwama eventually surpassed him. As for his time as IWGP Champion, although they are short in comparison to other champions, what Kojima was able to do in that period of time was still impressive. Because of his newly found status as a bona fide main eventer, he was able to elevate the status and importance of the championship (even if he disrespected it upon winning initially.) Leaving New Japan and becoming a star of his own was the best decision for Kojima’s long term legacy and he wouldn’t received the push he had in his return if it wasn’t for his time in All Japan where he established himself as one of the greats.
13.) Big Van Vader
No. of Reigns: 3
Total Combined Days: 451
The following statement may seem like an exaggeration now but it is the truth: there was a point in time where Vader was the most hated gaijin wrestler in the entire country of Japan. He certainly left a huge impression by challenging Antonio Inoki to a match who had just finished a grueling match against Riki Choshu. What happened afterwards was one of the most memorable moments in New Japan history and in a lot of ways broke down some barriers in the traditional way wrestling was booked in the company. Inoki accepted being the fighter that he is despite the exhaustion but he was quickly defeated by the newcomer, winning the match in under two minutes. It was basically a squash match, think of it like if a new unknown wrestler defeated Hulk Hogan at the peak of his career in the 80’s, that’s how big of a deal this was as Inoki rarely loses, especially in a clean and jobber-like manner. A riot ensued, the crowd went wild seeing their hero get stumped with ease and NJPW was banned from holding events in Sumo Hall for a year. That’s some passionate heat right there that frankly we’ll never see matched anymore in modern times. It surely established Vader as a detestable and dominant heel, his career gained a huge momentum and it didn’t take long before he got into the main event picture. Two years after his debut Vader won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time on April 24, 1989 defeating Shinya Hashimoto for the vacant belt in the finals of a tournament in the Tokyo Dome. However his first reign lasted for only a month as he dropped it to Salman Hashimikov. He would eventually win it back a few months later this time defeating Choshu on August 10 and had a much longer 374 day reign which coincided with his time as CWA World Heavyweight Champion as well in Europe. He successfully defended the title four times against some tough competition, first against Bam Bam Bigelow with Inoki as the special guest referee. Him and Hashimoto met again for the title and Vader is still victorious this time around. Following that he had his infamous match against Stan Hansen wherein one of his eyeballs literally popped out of his socket, these two were known to be the stiffest workers ever and it was just two bulls ramming onto each other resulting in a double count out finish. They would meet again four months later, another title match this time Vader won by DQ. On August 19, 1990 Vader lost the belt to the man he won it from in the first place, Riki Choshu which set up the latter as one of the top faces of the company. He’d win it again on January 17, 1991 having some back-and-forth with his rival Tatsumi Fujinami but his third reign only lasted for 46 days. The thing about Vader is that because of his debut which caught everyone by surprise and legitimized him as this tough hard to beat heel, he was perfect for the role for undersized talents like Fujinami and Choshu to overcome. After all, the Japanese love their underdog stories and by going over a wrestler in the stature of Vader, it really meant as a big deal in his prime as he still had this aura surrounding him as if he was unstoppable. Even though he did have some success in the States primarily in WCW, Vader’s best years were always in Japan and his legacy lives on their as one of the most influential and greatest gaijins of all time.
12.) AJ Styles
No. of Reigns: 2
Total Combined Days: 307
Prince Devitt may have been the one who created the Bullet Club but the leader who them to bigger heights was AJ Styles and in my opinion this is still the greatest era of the faction’s history and could never be topped, you just can’t convince me otherwise as someone who’s seen it with my own eyes. Admittedly I’ve been a fan of AJ’s work since his TNA days and his move to New Japan was the reason why I’m a fan of the promotion to begin with. What’s even great about it is that they recognized his capabilities as a top superstar, immediately being positioned into the main event scene and in his debut match defeated Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship! If that is not an indication that the company is not behind you then I don’t know what is. To totally grasp how big of a deal this move was we have to remember the IWGP Title isn’t just some belt they decide to throw around easily, it’s prestige has been kept well due to how protected it is and for someone like AJ who is a gaijin and did not even undergo to the dojo system, win it in his first match, in perspective, what an insane move it is but clearly it paid off as his short stint in New Japan rivaled even his long tenure in TNA. Now for the reigns themselves, I feel like both of AJ’s runs with the belt are underrated. Being the leader of the hottest wrestling faction in the world at the time obviously made wonders for his time as champion but he was just as much of a focal point in giving BC as a recognizable brand. He won the title for the first time on May 3, 2014 at Wrestling Dontaku ending Okada’s secon reign that lasted for 391 days. AJ made history by defending the title for the first time in ROH winning a triple threat over the former champion and Michael Elgin. He had a re-match against Okada eight days later and defeated him once again. At the G1 Finals event Hiroshi Tanahashi ended AJ’s first run with the IWGP Championship ending at 163 days, heading into Wrestle Kingdom 9 as the reigning champion. Tanahashi was able to go over Okada but AJ got his win back at Tana on February 11, 2015. His second run wasn’t as eventful in New Japan itself, he defeated Kota Ibushi at Invasion Attack then dropped the title to Okada at Dominion after 144 days. Now why I mentioned why the title reign wasn’t eventful in NJPW because even though he wasn’t actively wrestling in the company, AJ’s time as champion he still represented the belt wherever he wrestles in the independents around the world. There is an iconic photo of him wearing the championship in a PWG show, that is dedication right there. The following year he had his final singles match in the company losing to Shinsuke Nakamura in their instant classic performance on Wrestle Kingdom 10. What’s great about AJ Styles being the champion is that he was able to elevate a lot of things because of the fact, he cemented his status as one of the greatest wrestlers of the decade because of his top notch performances, I know he had many memorable matches in TNA, but it is in New Japan where he was able to showcase his talents at a bigger platform which would make way for his eventual run in the WWE. He also raised the level of the championship itself and his opponents and of course Bullet Club itself as during AJ’s time at the top, it was the most dominant the stable has ever been as at one point they managed to hold all of the major championships in the promotion. Maybe from a monetary stand point The Elite era was more successful, but if you’re looking at it from the point of view in laying down the image of what Bullet Club is all about, it was in the Styles era where the faction was at its highest point and the thing is, it did not feel like it overstayed it’s welcome. It is not that farfetched to say that Bullet Club’s success led to the “boom period” of wrestling around the world, it may not be as big as it was in the mainstream during the 80’s or 90’s, but what it was able to do is for other companies other than the WWE to shine and other promotions were able to grow their respective audiences, eventually as we know it even led to an entirely new wrestling company, that’s how big of an influence BC has reached and it’s primarily thanks to AJ Styles being at the top of it all.
11.) Nobuhiko Takada
No. of Reigns: 1
Total Days: 116
If you’re a fairly new fan you might be surprised to see Nobuhiko Takada ranked high in this list but there is a good reason as to why. It is well documented that the NJPW vs. UWF-I storyline is the best drawing angle in New Japan history, thanks to the intense rivalries that have been built up on decades between two ideologies of professional wrestling. We can trace this all back in 1980 when Akira Maeda led a group of wrestlers including his protege Nobuhiko Takada in leaving NJPW and starting their own promotion: the original Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) which promoted “shoot fights” rather than the choreographed action traditional wrestling was known for. Maeda envisioned wrestling was sliding away from its roots so he wanted to focus everything on mat grappling and submission-based actions which gave the illusion of real fights but in reality the results are still pre-determined, the difference is the presentation of performances in the ring. It seemed promising in the beginning as Maeda was able to have a great group of workers with him such as Takada, Satoru Sayama (aka the first Tiger Mask), Kazuo Yamazaki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, and many more even gaijins like Fit Finlay and Sweet Daddy Siki. But the promotion itself did not last long, Maeda and Sayama, the two top stars often had disagreements which eventually led to the early closure of the company and majority of the UWF wrestlers including Maeda returned to NJPW in an invasion angle which led to him and his mentor Inoki along with their men fight it out for supremacy. On May 19, 1986 Nobuhiko Takada became the second ever IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion by defeating one of his rivals Shiro Koshinaka and had a decent reign of 119 days with six successful defenses. The following year he moved up to the heavyweights and even won the tag-team titles with Akira Maeda. In 1989 the UWF group left NJPW once again and started UWF Newborn which only lasted for a year, but in 1991 a much better succesor was started by Takada himself in forming Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWF-I) which was a similar promotion to his mentor but they added in more intricate and stricter rules to matches which would later on paved the way for the MMA movement of the late 90’s. Much like their previous attempts, Takada branded UWF-I as shoot fights and even received endorsements from legends such as Lou Thesz and Billy Robinson. They got off on the right foot and Takada instantly became the company’s top star and World Champion beating Gary Albright for the belt (which was Thesz’s original NWA Championship in the 1950’s.) Throughout his time as champion Takada started slandering World Champions of other promotions and challenged them to take him on to real fights to determine who’s the greatest champion there is. Calling out IWGP Champion Keiji Mutoh, NWA Champion Masahiro Chono, and Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa but none of them delivered. It was mainly a publicity stunt but someone did face Takada which was WCW Champion Vader. However by 1995 business was starting to slow down for UWF-I, in an attempt to keep his company alive, Takada swallowed his own pride and offered a partnership with NJPW. Riki Choshu was the head booker of the company by that point agreed to do an angle with them but this was also his chance at taking revenge after years of being buried by Takada. So the NJPW vs. UWF rivalry was revived and now with the Three Musketeers being the top faces of New Japan, they are the ones leading the way against their ousted peers. At the traditional January 4th show in 1996 Nobuhiko Takada ended Keiji Mutoh’s 246 day run as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, making him the first former junior champion to win the heavyweight belt in the history of the company. The following month him and Naoki Sano loss in a tag-team match to Mutoh and Liger, then he successfully defeated Shiro Koshinaka in UWF-I for the title. The culmination of the entire rivalry happened on another Tokyo Dome event on April 29, 1996 where Shinya Hashimoto defeated Takada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It was one of the greatest matches in New Japan history, the action in itself is good but the roar of the crowd and the volume of their cheers that didn’t seem to pipe down once is a testament to how over this angle was and in the end, the conclusion of the heated feud obviously came with NJPW being at the top. It was Takada’s last match in NJPW and he was able to keep UWF-I alive but not for long as their reputation was tarnished, in the end New Japan still had the upper hand no matter what and even with the short partnership with Genichiro Tenryu’s WAR, UWF-I was not able to survive, a lack of interest drove their remaining fans away, hosting their final show the same year. Nobuhiko Takada is an excellent wrestler who rarely gets talked about a lot nowadays, even though his entire run as champion was short, the story that revolved around it was a significant part of not only NJPW history but Puroresu in general. It speaks volumes to the drawing power of the angle that the company was able to hold two shows in the Dome that year at a short span of time in between. Takada played the part of being the contrast to the Musketeers who were much more flashier performers, he was a well grounded submission artist and it made for a compelling clash of views in pro wrestling.