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Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) is a professional wrestling promotion in Japan founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007.
[edit] History
Antonio Inoki left New Japan Pro Wrestling, a promotion he founded in 1972, to start the IGF.[1]
In 2007, the IGF began a talent exchange with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) of the United States[2], with Kurt Angle being the first TNA talent used by IGF despite TNA having officially broken ties with the NWA as of May 14, 2007.
The first IGF show was held on June 29, 2007 at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The card was completely changed at the last minute, resulting in the 8,426 fans in attendance not knowing who or what they were going to see outside of the main event of Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar.
[edit] IWGP Third Belt Championship
| IWGP Third Belt Championship |
| Details |
| Date won |
April 27, 2008 |
| Promotion |
New Japan Pro Wrestling |
| Statistics |
| Most reigns |
N/A |
| Oldest champion |
Kurt Angle
(38 years) |
| Youngest champion |
Shinsuke Nakamura
(28 years) |
| Heaviest champion |
Brock Lesnar (270 lb (120 kg)) |
| Lightest champion |
Shinsuke Nakamura (245 lb (111 kg)) |
|
The IWGP Third Belt Championship was IGF's only sanctioned championship. IGF referred to the belt as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (and was recognized as such also by TNA), but it is not the same title recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling. IGF claims that the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was never held up despite Brock Lesnar being stripped of the title by NJPW on July 15, 2006. This is due to Antonio Inoki believing that Brock Lesnar was being treated unfairly by NJPW. As Inoki was the one who had originally established the IWGP Title, he still viewed Lesnar as the rightful champion. The championship was defended for the first time by Lesnar against Kurt Angle in the main event of the debut IGF card on June 29, 2007 [3].
Angle made his first successful title defense against Samoa Joe on August 12, 2007 in Orlando, Florida at TNA Hard Justice in a match where, in addition to the Third Belt Championship, Angle's TNA World Heavyweight, and Joe's TNA World Tag Team and TNA X Division Championships were on the line.[4]
On December 20, 2007 Angle successfully defended the title against Kendo Kashin[5] and again against Yuji Nagata at the New Japan Pro Wrestling Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome supershow on January 4, 2008[6].
Angle ended up losing the title in his fourth defense, against NJPW-recognized IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, in a title unification match, at February 17, 2008; therefore, the IGF now has no championships.
[edit] Title history
| Wrestler: |
Times: |
Date: |
Location: |
Notes: |
| Brock Lesnar |
1 |
October 8, 2005 |
Tokyo, Japan |
Defeated champion Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono in a three-way match. NJPW strips Lesnar of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on July 15, 2006. IGF considers his reign active and creates the IWGP Third Belt Championship in 2007. |
| Kurt Angle |
1 |
June 29, 2007 |
Tokyo, Japan |
Defeated Brock Lesnar to claim physical possession of the third version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.[7] |
| Shinsuke Nakamura |
1 |
February 17, 2008 |
Tokyo, Japan |
Defeated Angle to unify with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
