NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship Professional wrestling championship
The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, Steve Keirn , was recognized as world champion only by Florida , Los Angeles , and New Japan Pro-Wrestling . This version was eventually taken to the latter promotion by Tatsumi Fujinami , who already held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship .
In 1981, champion Chavo Guerrero left NJPW to go back to the United States, only to come back to Japan under the banner of All Japan Pro Wrestling , where a year later, it was renamed the International Junior Heavyweight Championship to avoid confusion and (along with being given a new belt design) in general line with AJPW's NWA titles. The championship became the cornerstone of AJPW's junior heavyweight division until its eventual replacement by the World Junior Heavyweight Championship , which kept the belt design until 2017.[ 1]
In March 2007, after over two decades of inactivity, Toryumon Mexico reactivated the championship, using the belt that was used prior to November 1982.
Title history
Key
No.
The overall championship reign
Reign
The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event
The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A
The specific information is not known
—
Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
Indicates that there was a period where the lineage is undocumented due to the lack of written documentation in that time period.
No.
Champion
Reign
Date
Days held
Location
Event
Notes
1
Steve Keirn 1
December 10, 1979
53
Los Angeles, California
live event
Defeated Chavo Guerrero in a decision match to be recognized as World Junior Heavyweight Champion in Florida and Los Angeles.
2
Tatsumi Fujinami 1
February 1, 1980
14
Sapporo, Japan
live event
Also held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship , but defended them separately.
3
Mike Graham 1
February 15, 1980
49
Hollywood, Florida
live event
[ 2]
4
Tatsumi Fujinami 2
April 4, 1980
89
Kawasaki, Japan
live event
—
Vacated —
July 2, 1980
—
N/A
N/A
Fujinami was injured and unable to defend the championship.
5
Kengo Kimura 1
July 23, 1980
72
Kita Kyushu, Japan
live event
Defeated Bret Hart in a decision match.
6
Chavo Guerrero 1
October 3, 1980
147
Tokyo , Japan
live event
7
Gino Hernandez 1
February 27, 1981
153
Houston, Texas
live event
[ 3]
8
Chavo Guerrero 2
July 30, 1981
220
Houston, Texas
live event
9
Atsushi Onita 1
March 7, 1982
35
Charlotte, North Carolina
live event
Additionally recognized as international champion in Jim Crockett Promotions .
10
Sangre Chicana
1
April 11, 1982
19
Guadalajara, Jalisco , Mexico
live event
Additionally recognized as world champion in Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre .
11
Atsushi Onita 2
April 30, 1982
91
Mexico City , Mexico
live event
—
Vacated —
July 30, 1982
—
N/A
N/A
Vacated after a match against Chavo Guerrero that ended in a no decision.
12
Atsushi Onita 3
November 4, 1982
162
Tokyo, Japan
live event
Defeated Chavo Guerrero in rematch.National Wrestling Alliance and All Japan Pro Wrestling rename the title the "NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship" during this reign.
—
Vacated —
April 15, 1983
—
N/A
N/A
Vacated after Onita broke his leg during a match against Hector Guerrero .
13
Chavo Guerrero 3
May 26, 1983
276
Tenryu, Japan
live event
Defeated Ultra Seven (Masahiko Takasugi) in tournament final.
[ 4]
14
Mighty Inoue
1
February 26, 1984
468
Osaka, Japan
live event
15
Dynamite Kid
1
June 8, 1985
5
Takamatsu, Kagawa , Japan
live event
16
Kuniaki Kobayashi 1
June 13, 1985
79
Koga, Ibaraki , Japan
live event
17
Tiger Mask (II) 1
August 31, 1985
[ Note 1] Tokyo, Japan
live event
—
Vacated —
June 1986
—
N/A
N/A
Vacated when Tiger Mask moves to the heavyweight division. The title was replaced with AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship .
18
Hirooki Goto 1
March 4, 2007
187
Mexico City, Mexico
live event
Defeated Shocker in a tournament final to revive the title for Toryumon Mexico and is awarded the pre-1982 belt.
[ 5]
—
Vacated —
September 7, 2007
—
N/A
N/A
Vacated when Goto graduates to the heavyweight division.
19
Super Delfin
1
November 9, 2008
13
Osaka, Japan
live event
Defeated Último Dragón in a decision match to revive title.
20
Último Dragón
1
November 22, 2008
22
Tokyo, Japan
live event
21
Hajime Ohara 1
December 14, 2008
291
Mexico City, Mexico
live event
22
Mineo Fujita 1
October 1, 2009
291
Tokyo, Japan
Dream Impact IV
23
Último Dragón
2
July 19, 2010
5,303
Tokyo, Japan
live event
Defeated Fujita and Hajime Ohara in a three-way dance. Also won AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship on December 15, 2013, but defended titles separately.
^ The exact date the championship was vacated is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 274 and 303 days.
See also
References
^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 ^ Hoops, Brian (February 15, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 15): Eddie Guerrero wins the WWE Championship" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017 . ^ Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/27): NXT takes over" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017 . ^ F4W Staff (May 26, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 26): Dick the Bruiser & Crusher beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race in a nine fall death match, Tiger Mask wins WWF Jr. Heavyweight gold" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017 . {{cite web }}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )^ Hoops, Brian (March 4, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/04): ROH 10th Anniversary Show" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 5, 2017 .
External links
