Championships:
The world title is called the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, sanctioned by International Wrestling Grand Prix body.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship:
Current Champion – Kazuchika Okada.
The IWGP Heavyweight title is the most prestigious championship in all of Japan. It has gained incredible credibility over the years through a number of long and significant title reigns from those who have held it. Although equivalent to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, it is much more protected than the American title and someone like Jinder Mahal would not become champion without compelling build-up. Title-changes usually occur after an intensive period of storytelling between the champion and challenger. To be honest, the same can be said for any and every New Japan championship compared to their respective counterparts in the WWE.
In Japan, every championship has a place and purpose. American fans tuning in to Japanese wrestling for the first time won’t be used to seeing the title belts treated with so much respect. Well, most of the time, at least. Just ask Tetsuya Naito.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship:
Current Champion – Tetsuya Naito.
A relatively new championship in NJPW, it gained credibility after some great work with the belt by current WWE superstar, Shinsuke Nakamura, between 2012 and 2016.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship:
Current Champion – Will Ospreay
The lineage for this belt goes all the way back to the 1980s and some big names in wrestling have held the championship. Owen Hart, Jushin Thunder Liger, and current WWE star Finn Balor, are just a few examples. The Junior Heavyweight division has always held its own when it comes to matches, featuring a lot of great high-flying matches between current top talents such as Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Kushida, and Hiromu Takahashi.
IWGP Never Openweight Championship:
Current Champion – Hirooki Goto
NEVER is an acronym for “New Blood”, “Evolution”, “Valiantly”, “Eternal”, and “Radical”. This championship was meant to be open to all weight-classes; heavyweights and junior heavyweights. However, it is now considered to be a ‘strong-style’ belt as its mostly held by hard-hitting individuals like Ishi, Shibata, Goto and Minoru Suzuki.
IWGP Tag Team Championships:
Current Champions: Evil and Sanada
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships:
Current Champions: Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado
These two tag title belts are essentially the same, with the only difference being the weight-classes. The Heavyweight division showcases more traditional tag-team action and match psychology, while the Junior Heavyweights provide a more high-flying, high-octane twist to their storytelling. The Young Bucks have dominated the Junior Heavyweight Tag title scene with seven reigns together.
IWGP NEVER Open 6-Man Tag Team Championships:
Current Champions: the Young Bucks and Marty Scurll
NJPW is very big on 6-man tag team action, creating these championships to give the matches an important reason to exist.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship:
The new @njpwglobal IWGP United States Championship is up early and ready for the big press conference today!🇺🇸https://t.co/MT1TdJ2f2w pic.twitter.com/qbvQrTz0wU
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) June 30, 2017
Current Champion: Jay White
The newest championship. NJPW has big plans for the IWGP United States Heavyweight belt, which was introduced as recently as the summer of 2018. With the first champion being the greatest current foreign import to NJPW, Kenny Omega, New Japan is hoping to use this belt and Omega to finally breach the Western market.