The NEVER Openweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. NEVER is an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal", and "Radical" and was a NJPW-promoted series of events, which featured younger up-and-coming talent and outside wrestlers not signed to the promotion. [1] [2] The project was officially announced on July 12, 2010, [2] and held its first event on August 24, 2010. [3]
There have been 46 reigns shared among 23 wrestlers with one vacancy. Masato Tanaka was the first champion in the title's history. He also holds the record for the longest reign in the title's history at 314 days during his only reign. Tomohiro Ishii has the most reigns, with six. Michael Elgin's only reign of 8 days is the shortest in the title's history. Minoru Suzuki is the oldest champion when he won it at 52 years old while Will Ospreay is the youngest champion at 25 years old.
The current champion is Shingo Takagi, who is in his fifth reign. He defeated Henare at Destruction in Kobe on September 29, 2024 in Kobe, Japan to win the title.
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
Days | Number of days held |
Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
+ | Current reign is changing daily |
As of October14, 2024.
† | Indicates the current champion |
---|
Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined defenses | Combined days |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tomohiro Ishii | 6 | 6 | 514 |
2 | Shingo Takagi † | 5 | 9 | 448+ |
3 | Hirooki Goto | 5 | 7 | 424 |
4 | Minoru Suzuki | 2 | 4 | 322 |
5 | Masato Tanaka | 1 | 4 | 314 |
6 | Katsuyori Shibata | 3 | 6 | 309 |
7 | Togi Makabe | 2 | 2 | 207 |
8 | Karl Anderson | 1 | 2 | 206 |
9 | Evil | 3 | 3 | 204 |
10 | Tama Tonga | 4 | 1 | 196 |
11 | Jay White | 1 | 1 | 194 |
12 | David Finlay | 1 | 1 | 159 |
13 | Tetsuya Naito | 1 | 2 | 135 |
14 | Kenta | 1 | 2 | 127 |
15 | Yujiro Takahashi | 1 | 1 | 106 |
16 | Henare | 1 | 1 | 105 |
17 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | 1 | 93 |
18 | Will Ospreay | 1 | 1 | 92 |
19 | Taichi | 2 | 0 | 84 |
20 | Yuji Nagata | 1 | 0 | 47 |
21 | Jeff Cobb | 1 | 0 | 27 |
22 | Kota Ibushi | 1 | 0 | 26 |
23 | Michael Elgin | 1 | 0 | 8 |
The IWGP Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWGP tournament. It was unified with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on March 4, 2021, to form the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, sports executive and podcaster. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he serves as the president and representative director of the promotion, and is also an active wrestler.
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold the championship. NJPW currently controls two junior heavyweight championships: the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The weight-limit for the title is 100 kg (220 lb). The current champion is Douki, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating El Desperado at New Japan Soul: Night 7 on July 5, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan.
Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
David Stephen Finlay III is a German-born American professional wrestler who performs under the ring name David Finlay. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current and longest reigning IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion in his record-setting second reign, and is the seventh and current leader of Bullet Club. He is also the leader of the War Dogs subgroup.
Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure with New Japan-Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
Luke James Uggles Eatwell, known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. and its abbreviated form ZSJ, is an English-born professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. In NJPW, he is the current second leader of the group The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK) and is a former two-time and inaugural NJPW World Television Champion. He also makes sporadic appearances for partner promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH).
Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita is a Tongan-American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tonga Loa. He is one-half of the current WWE Tag Team Champions with Tama Tonga in his first reign, with the tag team being part of The Bloodline stable.
Steven Owens, better known by the ring name Chase Owens is an American professional wrestler currently signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club. He is a three-time and current IWGP Tag Team Champion, having won the belts twice with Kenta and once with Bad Luck Fale. Owens has also won the provisional KOPW trophy once.
Takaaki Watanabe, better known by his ring name Evil, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and the leader of its sub-group House of Torture.
Tomoyuki Oka, better known by his ring name Great-O-Khan, is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the United Empire stable and a two-time and current Provisional KOPW Champion. He also wrestles for NJPW's United Kingdom based partner promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), where he is the former Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. In NJPW, he is a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion.
The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" are the initials of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The final champion was Will Ospreay, who was in his second reign at the time of the title's deactivation. On December 11, 2023, the title was replaced by the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
Kyle Fletcher is an Australian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Don Callis Family stable. He also performs in its sister company Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion and ROH World Television Championship. Fletcher was previously signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a former IWGP Tag Team Champion and inaugural and record-setting two-time Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion. He also made appearances for British promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), where he was a two-time Undisputed British Tag Team Champion.
Davis Passfield, known by his in-ring name Mark Davis is an Australian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also appears in its sister company Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion. He also appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former IWGP Tag Team Champion, and record-setting and first 2-time Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion and Revolution Pro Wrestling, where he is a former two-time Undisputed British Tag Team Champion.
The NJPW World Television Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The inaugural champion was Zack Sabre Jr., who has held the championship a record-setting two times. Ren Narita is the current champion, in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Jeff Cobb and Yota Tsuji at King Of Pro Wrestling on October 14, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
Wrestling Dontaku was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3, 2023, in Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. It was the 18th event under the Wrestling Dontaku name.