IWGP Tag Team Championship
![]() One time champions Team 3D | |
Tournament information |
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The International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was created in 1985 when Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura defeated Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi in a tournament final.[1] Though in the past it has been held by both heavyweights and junior heavyweights, the creation of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in 1998 has made it more of an exclusively heavyweight title. In addition to Japan, it has been defended in the United States and Mexico.[2][3] As a team Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan have had the most reigns—five different reigns—as champions. Tenzan has also had three additional reigns for a total of eight, which is the highest number of individual reigns in the belt's history. There have been a total of 48 recognized individual champions and 39 recognized teams, who have had a combined 52 official reigns. The British Invasion, beat Team 3D on TNA Impact! event in July 2009 in a tables match, this match was billed as for the IWGP Tag-Team Titles. But New Japan Pro Wrestling has not reconize the title change. And still fully consider Team 3D the champions.[4]
Title history
- Key
Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed |
# | Numbers in bold indicate that a reign is current and changes daily |
+ | Indicates the current reign is changing daily. |
† | Indicates that this reign is not recognized as an official reign. |
# | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura | 1 | 1985-12-12 | Sendai, Japan | Defeated Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi in a tournament final.[1] |
2 | Osamu Kido & Akira Maeda | 1 | 1986-08-05 | Tokyo, Japan | [5] |
3 | Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura | 2 | 1986-09-23 | Tokyo, Japan | [5] |
– | Vacated | 1987-02-05 | (n/a) | Vacated when Fujinami & Kimura split up.[5] | |
4 | Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Mutoh | 1 | 1987-03-20 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada in a tournament final.[1] |
5 | Akira Maeda (2) & Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | 1987-03-26 | Osaka, Japan | [5] |
6 | Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki | 1 | 1987-09-01 | Fukuoka, Japan | [5] |
7 | Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura | 3 | 1988-01-18 | Sendai, Japan | [6] |
8 | Riki Chōshū & Masa Saito | 1 | 1988-06-10 | Hiroshima, Japan | [6] |
9 | Super Strong Machine & George Takano | 1 | 1989-03-16 | Yokohama, Japan | [6] |
10 | Riki Chōshū (2) & Takayuki Iizuka | 1 | 1989-07-14 | Tokyo, Japan | [6] |
11 | Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito (2) | 1 | 1989-09-20 | Osaka, Japan | [6] |
12 | Masahiro Chono & Keiji Mutoh (2) | 1 | 1990-04-27 | Tokyo, Japan | [6] |
13 | Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | 1990-11-01 | Tokyo, Japan | [7] |
14 | Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine (2) | 1 | 1990-12-26 | Hamamatsu, Japan | [7] |
15 | Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki | 2 | 1991-03-06 | Nagasaki, Japan | [7] |
16 | Rick & Scott Steiner | 1 | 1991-03-21 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Starrcade 1991 in Tokyo Dome.[8] |
17 | Hiroshi Hase (3) & Keiji Mutoh (3) | 1 | 1991-11-05 | Tokyo, Japan | Scott Norton substituted for an injured Scott Steiner in this match.[1] |
18 | Bam Bam Bigelow & Big Van Vader | 1 | 1992-03-01 | Yokohama, Japan | Won the title at New Japan 20th Anniversary.[9] |
19 | Rick & Scott Steiner | 2 | 1992-06-26 | Tokyo, Japan | [10] |
20 | Tony Halme & Scott Norton | 1 | 1992-11-22 | Tokyo, Japan | [10] |
21 | The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior (3)) (Power Warrior formerly Kensuke Sasaki) |
1 | 1992-12-14 | Osaka, Japan | [10] |
22 | The Jurassic Powers (Hercules Hernandez & Scott Norton (2)) |
1 | 1993-08-05 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title on the G1 Climax tour.[11] |
23 | The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior (4)) |
2 | 1994-01-04 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Battlefield.[12] |
24 | Hiroshi Hase (4) & Keiji Mutoh (4) | 2 | 1994-11-25 | Morioka, Japan | Won the title on the Battle Final tour.[13] |
– | Vacated | 1995-05-11 | (n/a) | Vacated so Mutoh could focus on the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.[1] | |
25 | Masahiro Chono (2) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 1 | 1995-06-12 | Osaka, Japan | Defeated Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata.[14] |
– | Vacated | 1995-07-07 | (n/a) | Vacated when Chono missed a title defense due to his father's death.[1] | |
26 | Shinya Hashimoto (2) & Junji Hirata (3) (Junji Hirata formerly Super Strong Machine) |
1 | 1995-07-13 | Sapporo, Japan | Defeated Mike Enos & Scott Norton.[14] |
27 | Takashi Iizuka (2) & Kazuo Yamazaki (2) (Takashi Iizuka formerly Takayuki Iizuka) |
1 | 1996-06-12 | Osaka, Japan | [14] |
28 | Masahiro Chono (3) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | 1996-07-16 | Sapporo, Japan | [14] |
29 | Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura | 4 | 1997-01-04 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Wrestling World.[15] |
30 | Riki Chōshū (3) & Kensuke Sasaki (5) | 1 | 1997-04-12 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Battle Formation.[15] |
31 | Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | 1997-05-03 | Osaka, Japan | Won the title at Strong Style Evolution.[15] |
32 | Kensuke Sasaki (6) & Kazuo Yamazaki (3) | 1 | 1997-08-10 | Nagoya, Japan | Won the title at The Four Heaven in Nagoya Dome.[15] |
33 | Masahiro Chono (4) & Keiji Mutoh (5) | 2 | 1997-10-19 | Kobe, Japan | Won the title on the nWo Typhoon tour.[16] |
– | Vacated | 1998-05-07 | (n/a) | Vacated due to Mutoh injuring his knee.[1] | |
34 | Masahiro Chono (5) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 3 | 1998-06-05 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Shiro Koshinaka & Genichiro Tenryu in a tournament final on the Best of the Super Juniors V tour.[17] |
35 | Shiro Koshinaka (2) & Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | 1998-07-15 | Sapporo, Japan | Won the title on the Summer Struggle tour.[18] |
36 | Satoshi Kojima (2) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4) | 1 | 1999-01-04 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Wrestling World.[19] |
37 | Shiro Koshinaka (3) & Kensuke Sasaki (7) | 1 | 1999-03-22 | Amagasaki, Japan | Won the title on the Hyper Battle tour.[20] |
38 | Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara | 1 | 1999-06-27 | Shizuoka, Japan | Won the title on the Summer Struggle tour.[21] |
39 | Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi (2) | 1 | 1999-08-28 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Jingu Climax.[19] |
40 | Satoshi Kojima (3) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (5) | 2 | 2000-07-20 | Sapporo, Japan | Won the title on the Summer Struggle tour.[22] |
41 | Tatsumi Fujinami (5) & Osamu Nishimura | 1 | 2001-09-23 | Osaka, Japan | Won the title on the G1 World tour.[23] |
42 | Taiyō Kea & Keiji Mutoh (6) | 1 | 2001-10-28 | Fukuoka, Japan | This match, at Fighting Destination in Fukuoka, was also for Kea & Mutoh's AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship.[24] |
– | Vacated | 2002-02-01 | (n/a) | Vacated due to Mutoh leaving NJPW.[1] | |
43 | Masahiro Chono (6) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (6) | 4 | 2002-03-24 | Amagasaki, Japan | Defeated Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi in a tournament final on the Hyper Battle tour.[25] |
44 | Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie | 1 | 2003-06-13 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at The Crush.[26] |
45 | Osamu Nishimura (2) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (7) | 1 | 2003-12-14 | Nagoya, Japan | Won the title on the Battle Final tour.[27] |
46 | Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 2004-02-01 | Sapporo, Japan | Won the title on the Fighting Spirit tour.[28] |
– | Vacated | 2004-11-21 | (n/a) | Vacated due to lack of defenses brought on by a long-term injury to Takayama.[1] | |
47 | Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) | 1 | 2004-12-11 | Osaka, Japan | Defeated Kensuke Sasaki & Minoru Suzuki on the Battle Final tour.[29] |
48 | Masahiro Chono (7) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8) | 5 | 2005-10-30 | Kobe, Japan | Won the title at Toukon Series 2005 in Kobe.[30] A provisional tag team title is created on July 2, 2006 when Chono & Tenzan show signs of inactivity; Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe were the first champions.[31] |
– | Vacated | 2006-09-24 | (n/a) | Vacated due to inactivity.[1] | |
49 | Manabu Nakanishi (3) & Takao Ōmori | 1 | 2006-09-28 | (n/a) | Recognized as champions after being provisional champions since July 17, 2006.[1] |
50 | Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko | 1 | 2007-03-11 | Nagoya, Japan | Won the title on the Circuit 2007 New Japan Evolution tour.[32] |
51 | Togi Makabe & Toru Yano | 1 | 2008-02-17 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title on the Circuit 2008 New Japan ISM tour. |
52 | Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) |
1 | 2009-01-04 | Tokyo, Japan | Won the title at Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome. |
53 | The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) |
1† | 2009-07-22 | Orlando, Florida, USA | Declared to have won the titles in a tables match on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's primary television show TNA Impact. This aired on tape delay July 30, 2009. This change has not been officially recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling as of yet. |
List of top individual team reigns
1This reign was held under the IWGP Provisional Tag Team Championship, created due to Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan's inactivity.
List of top combined reigns
By team
Rank | Team | # Of Reigns | Combined Days |
---|---|---|---|
1. | Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 5 | 1,012 |
2. | Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura | 4 | 613 |
3. | The Hell Raisers (Hawk & Power Warrior) | 2 | 559 |
4. | Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | 507 |
5. | Masahiro Chono & Keiji Mutoh | 2 | 388 |
6. | The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) | 2 | 378 |
7. | Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko | 1 | 343 |
8. | Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata | 1 | 335 |
9. | Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | 327 |
10. | Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | 323 |
11. | Togi Makabe & Toru Yano | 1 | 322 |
12. | Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 294 |
13. | Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Mutoh | 2 | 284 |
14. | Riki Chōshū & Masa Saito | 1 | 279 |
15. | Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito | 1 | 219 |
16 | Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) | 1 | 199 |
17. | Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie | 1 | 184 |
18. | Shiro Koshinaka & Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | 173 |
19. | Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Ōmori | 1 | 164 |
20. | Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | 159 |
21. | Hercules Hernandez & Scott Norton | 1 | 152 |
22. | Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki | 1 | 139 |
23. | Super Strong Machine & George Takano | 1 | 119 |
24. | Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow | 1 | 117 |
25. | Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | 99 |
26. | Shiro Koshinaka & Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | 97 |
27. | Taiyō Kea & Keiji Mutoh | 1 | 96 |
28. | Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito | 1 | 70 |
29. | Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki | 2 | 70 |
30. | Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuo Yamazaki | 1 | 70 |
31. | Riki Chōshū & Takayuki Iizuka | 1 | 69 |
32. | Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara | 1 | 62 |
33. | Osamu Kido & Akira Maeda | 1 | 49 |
34. | Osamu Nishimura & Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 1 | 49 |
35. | Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Nishimura | 1 | 35 |
36. | Takashi Iizuka & Kazuo Yamazaki | 1 | 34 |
37. | Tony Halme & Scott Norton | 1 | 22 |
38. | Riki Chōshū & Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | 21 |
39. | The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) | 1 | 9+ |
40. | Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Mutoh | 1 | 6 |
By wrestler
Rank | Wrestler | # Of Reigns | Combined Days |
---|---|---|---|
1. | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 8 | 1,568 |
2. | Masahiro Chono | 7 | 1,400 |
3. | Kensuke Sasaki | 7 | 817 |
4. | Keiji Mutoh | 6 | 774 |
5. | Tatsumi Fujinami | 5 | 648 |
6. | Kengo Kimura | 4 | 613 |
7. | Satoshi Kojima | 3 | 606 |
8. | Manabu Nakanishi | 3 | 590 |
9. | Hawk Warrior | 2 | 559 |
10. | Shinya Hashimoto | 2 | 554 |
11. | Junji Hirata | 3 | 524 |
12. | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 | 507 |
13. | Masa Saito | 2 | 498 |
14. | Rick Steiner | 2 | 378 |
14. | Scott Steiner | 2 | 378 |
16. | Riki Chōshū | 3 | 369 |
17. | Hiroshi Hase | 4 | 354 |
18. | Giant Bernard | 1 | 343 |
18. | Travis Tomko | 1 | 343 |
20. | Yuji Nagata | 1 | 327 |
21. | Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | 323 |
22. | Togi Makabe | 1 | 322 |
22. | Toru Yano | 1 | 322 |
24. | Minoru Suzuki | 1 | 294 |
24. | Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 294 |
26. | Shiro Koshinaka | 3 | 276 |
27. | Kazuo Yamazaki | 3 | 243 |
28. | Akira Maeda | 2 | 208 |
29. | Brother Devon | 1 | 199 |
29. | Brother Ray | 1 | 199 |
31. | Yutaka Yoshie | 1 | 184 |
32. | Scott Norton | 2 | 174 |
33. | Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | 173 |
34. | Takao Ōmori | 1 | 164 |
35. | Nobuhiko Takada | 1 | 159 |
36. | Hercules Hernandez | 1 | 152 |
37. | Yoshiaki Fujiwara | 1 | 139 |
38. | George Takano | 1 | 119 |
39. | Big Van Vader | 1 | 117 |
39. | Bam Bam Bigelow | 1 | 117 |
41. | Takayuki Iizuka | 2 | 103 |
42. | Taiyō Kea | 1 | 96 |
43. | Osamu Nishimura | 2 | 84 |
44. | Hiro Saito | 1 | 70 |
45. | Tatsutoshi Goto | 1 | 62 |
45. | Michiyoshi Ohara | 1 | 62 |
47. | Osamu Kido | 1 | 49 |
48. | Tony Halme | 1 | 22 |
49. | Brutus Magnus | 1 | 9+ |
49. | Doug Williams | 1 | 9+ |
See also
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- IWGP Heavyweight Championship
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "IWGP Tag Team Championship title history". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "The Steiner Brothers' first reign". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "Shinsuke Nakamura & Hiroshi Tanahashi's first reign". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ http://www.njpw.co.jp/histry/history.html
- ^ a b c d e "IWGP Tag Team Championship official title history (page 1)" (in Japanese). NJPW.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ a b c d e f "IWGP Tag Team Championship official title history (page 2)" (in Japanese). NJPW.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ a b c "IWGP Tag Team Championship official title history" (in Japanese). NJPW.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW results, 1991". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW results, 1992". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ a b c "IWGP Tag Team Championship official title history (page 4)" (in Japanese). NJPW.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "G1 Climax 1993 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW results, 1994". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Battle Final 1994 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ a b c d "IWGP Tag Team Championship official title history". NJPW.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ a b c d "NJPW results, 1997". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "nWo Typhoon tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Best of the Super Juniors V tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Summer Struggle 1998 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ a b "NJPW results, 1999". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Hyper Battle 1999 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Summer Struggle 1999 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Summer Struggle 2000 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW G1 World tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Survival tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Hyper Battle 2002 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW results, 2003". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Battle Final 2003 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Fighting Spirit tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Battle Final 2004 tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Toukon Series tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW news, June 28 to July 19 2006". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "NJPW Circuit 2007 New Japan Evolution tour results". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved 2007-07-07.