WEW Heavyweight Championship

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Not to be confused with WWE Championship or WLW Heavyweight Championship.
WEW Heavyweight Championship
The WEW Heavyweight Championship belt introduced by Pro-Wrestling A-Team in 2018
Details
Promotion
  • FMW (1999–2002)
  • WEW (2002–2004)
  • Apache (2004–2016)
  • A-Team (2018–present)
Date establishedSeptember 24, 1999
Current champion(s)Dylan James
Date wonOctober 23, 2022
Other name(s)
  • WEW Singles Championship
    (1999)
  • WEW World Heavyweight Championship
    (1999–2002)
  • WEW Heavyweight Championship
    (2002–present)
Statistics
First champion(s)Kodo Fuyuki
Most reignsKintaro Kanemura
(6 reigns)
Longest reignTomohiro Ishii
(959 days)
Shortest reignKintaro Kanemura
(2 days)
Oldest championKim Duk
(70 years, 123 days)
Youngest championMasato Tanaka
(26 years, 268 days)
Heaviest championArashi
(146 kg (322 lb))
Lightest championKoji Kanemoto
(80 kg (180 lb))

The WEW Heavyweight Championship (Japanese: WEWヘビー級王座, Hepburn: WEW Hebī-kyū Ōza) was a professional wrestling championship, originally created in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) as the WEW Singles Championship (WEWシングル王座, WEW Shinguru Ōza), later being renamed as the WEW World Heavyweight Championship.[1][2] After FMW closed in 2002, the title became the WEW Heavyweight Championship in the World Entertainment Wrestling promotion, although carrying a new lineage.

History[edit]

In May 1995, Atsushi Onita went into retirement and sold Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling to ring announcer Shoichi Arai. Under Arai, the company underwent changes that would phase out the deathmatch style that popularized FMW in the early 90s. Arai enlisted Kodo Fuyuki to bring in a more "sports entertainment" look and feel for the promotion. In 1999, this resulted in the creation of the World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW) governing body for new championship titles. Fuyuki had originally intended to rename the entire promotion to complete the reorientation from hardcore (FMW) to entertainment wrestling (WEW), but this plan was stopped by Arai. Eventually, both sides agreed on a new set of titles to replace the old FMW titles. As a result, from 1999 until the end of FMW in 2002, the WEW Singles Championship was the promotion's main singles title.

Later, Fuyuki founded his own promotion (also called World Entertainment Wrestling) where the title was taken over, renamed WEW Heavyweight Championship and given a new lineage. The last champion for a long time was Kintaro Kanemura, who won the title in August 2002. When WEW folded in May 2003, the title was also declared vacant, before being reactivated in September 2006 at Kanemura's Apache Pro-Wrestling Army.[3]

In 2018, two years after Apache Army closed its doors, the title was revived in Pro-Wrestling A-Team, an offshoot founded by Tomohiko Hashimoto.

Takeover the Independent Tournament[edit]

The "Takeover the Independent Tournament" was a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament held by Apache Army between July 25, 2012 and September 21, 2012.

 
First RoundQuarter-FinalsSemi-FinalsFinal
 
              
 
July 25, 2012
 
 
Tetsuhiro KurodaTKO
 
August 28, 2012
 
Kintaro Kanemura7:12
 
Tetsuhiro KurodaPin
 
July 25, 2012
 
Manjimaru10:56
 
ManjimaruPin
 
September 21, 2012
 
Tomohiko Hashimoto4:33
 
Tetsuhiro KurodaPin
 
July 25, 2012
 
Arashi4:20
 
ArashiPin
 
August 28, 2012
 
Shota0:44
 
ArashiTKO
 
July 25, 2012
 
Kazushi Miyamoto11:27
 
Kazushi MiyamotoPin
 
September 21, 2012
 
Kotaro Nasu5:52
 
Tetsuhiro KurodaSub
 
July 25, 2012
 
Takeshi Minamino13:57
 
Takeshi MinaminoPin
 
August 28, 2012
 
Shoichi Ishimiya5:52
 
Takeshi MinaminoPin
 
July 25, 2012
 
Masato Shibata5:42
 
Masato ShibataDQ
 
September 21, 2012
 
Rikiya Fudo8:06
 
Takeshi MinaminoPin
 
July 25, 2012
 
HIROKI8:40
 
HirokiPin
 
August 28, 2012
 
Daisaku Shimoda13:18
 
Hiroki[a]Pin
 
July 25, 2012
 
Keita Yano16:40
 
Keita YanoPin
 
 
Kengo Nishimura11:19
 

Reigns[edit]

Current Champion Dylan James

As of April 16, 2024, between the two lineages, there have been 30 recognized reigns between 17 champions and two vacancies (there are 2 reigns that are not recognized by FMW). Kodo Fuyuki was the inaugural WEW Singles Champion; Kintaro Kanemura was the inaugural WEW Heavyweight Champion. Kanemura has the most reigns at six and has the longest combined reign at 1,331 days (1,335 days recognized by FMW). He also has the shortest reign at 2 days. Tomohiro Ishii's reign is the longest at 959 days. Kim Duk is the oldest champion when he won it at 70 years old, while Masato Tanaka is the youngest champion at 26 years old.

WEW Singles Championship[edit]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Days recog.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW)
1 Kodo Fuyuki September 24, 1999 Making of a New Legend III Tokyo, Japan 1 60 60 As commissioner of FMW, Kodo Fuyuki created the WEW Singles Championship and declared himself the first champion. [3]
2 Masato Tanaka November 23, 1999 FMW 10th Anniversary Show Yokohama, Japan 1 43 43 This was a Loser Leaves FMW 13,000 Volt Thunderbolt Cage Deathmatch. [3][4]
3 Tetsuhiro Kuroda January 5, 2000 New Year Generation Tokyo, Japan 1 117 117 [3][5]
— Vacated May 1, 2000 — — — — — On March 27, 2000, at Winning Road, Kuroda's second title defense against Kodo Fuyuki ended in a no contest decision after an intervention by Masato Tanaka and ECW. Dissatisfied with the decision, Kuroda decided to vacate the title on May 1. [3][6]
4 Kodo Fuyuki May 5, 2000 Golden Series: Backdraft Tokyo, Japan 2 331 331 Defeated Tetsuhiro Kuroda to win the vacant title. [3][7]
5 Tetsuhiro Kuroda April 1, 2001 Fighting Creation Tokyo, Japan 2 51 51 [3][8]
6 Hayabusa May 22, 2001 Neo FMW Sapporo, Japan 1 81 81 This was a Barbed Wire Double Hell Landmine Deathmatch with Kodo Fuyuki as special guest referee. [3][9]
7 Kintaro Kanemura August 11, 2001 Super Dynamism: Back Draft 2001 Tokyo, Japan 1 25 148 [3][10]
† Hayabusa September 5, 2001 Flashover: That's Entertainment Wrestling Show #6 Sapporo, Japan 1 4 — Defeated Kintaro Kanemura, but FMW President Yoshida awarded the title back to Kanemura four days later, claiming Hayabusa used an illegal move to win. [3][6]
† Kintaro Kanemura September 9, 2001 Flashover Tokyo, Japan 1 119 — Kanemura was awarded the title back; FMW only recognizes Kanemura's uninterrupted reign as 7th champion. [3][6]
8 Kodo Fuyuki January 6, 2002 New Year Generation Tokyo, Japan 3 40 40 [3][11]
— Deactivated February 15, 2002 — — — — — Title deactivated when FMW closed. [3][6]

WEW Heavyweight Championship[edit]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
World Entertainment Wrestling (WEW)
1 Kintaro Kanemura August 23, 2002 Fuyuki Produce Sports Variety Show: Episode 1 Reform Tokyo, Japan 1 255 Defeated Tetsuhiro Kuroda to revive the title as the WEW Heavyweight Championship. WEW and all subsequent promotions to feature the title consider this reign to be the first of a new lineage. [3][12]
— Deactivated May 5, 2003 — — — — WEW promoter Kodo Fuyuki passed away on March 19, 2003. On May 5, the promotion closed and the title was deactivated. [3][13]
Apache Pro-Wrestling Army
2 Togi Makabe September 24, 2006 Apache Pro 3rd Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan 1 273 Defeated Kintaro Kanemura in a Street Fight Barbed Wire Barricade Chain Deathmatch to re-establish the title. [3][14]
3 Kintaro Kanemura June 24, 2007 Challenge Tokyo, Japan 2 35 This was a street fight. [3][15]
4 Toru Yano July 29, 2007 Lock Up Tokyo, Japan 1 56 This was a New Japan Pro-Wrestling taped show. [3][16]
5 Mammoth Sasaki September 23, 2007 Apache Tokyo, Japan 1 293 [3][17]
6 Tomohiro Ishii July 12, 2008 Lock Up Tokyo, Japan 1 959 This was a New Japan Pro-Wrestling taped show. [3][18]
7 Kintaro Kanemura February 26, 2011 House show Tokyo, Japan 3 90 [3][19]
8 Arashi May 27, 2011 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 335 [3][20]
9 Tetsuhiro Kuroda April 26, 2012 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 90 [3][21]
— Vacated July 25, 2012 — — — — Kuroda vacated the title to enter the "Takeover the Independent" tournament. [3][13]
10 Tetsuhiro Kuroda September 21, 2012 House show Tokyo, Japan 2 345 Defeated Takeshi Minamino in the final of the 16-man "Takeover the Independent" tournament to win the vacant title. [3][22]
11 Kintaro Kanemura September 1, 2013 House show Tokyo, Japan 4 805 This was a street fight. [23][24]
12 Tomohiko Hashimoto November 15, 2015 House show Osaka, Japan 1 98 [23][25]
13 Koji Kanemoto February 21, 2016 House show Osaka, Japan 1 308 [23][26]
14 Kintaro Kanemura December 25, 2016 Final Gong Tokyo, Japan 5 2 [23][27]
— Deactivated December 27, 2016 — — — — The title was retired when Kanemura retired and Apache Army closed. [13]
Pro-Wrestling A-Team [ja]
15 Daisaku Shimoda April 13, 2018 A-Team 1st Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan 1 58 Defeated The Blue Shark to re-establish the title. [23][28]
16 Kim Duk June 10, 2018 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 223 [23][29]
17 Daisaku Shimoda January 19, 2019 House show Tokyo, Japan 2 274 [23][30]
18 Gajo October 20, 2019 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 56 [23][31]
19 Tomohiko Hashimoto December 15, 2019 House show Tokyo, Japan 2 343 [23][32]
20 Super Tiger (II) November 22, 2020 2020 Final: Vol. 2 Tokyo, Japan 1 616 [23][33]
21 Tomohiko Hashimoto July 31, 2022 House show Tokyo, Japan 3 84 [23][34]
22 Dylan James October 23, 2022 House show Tokyo, Japan 1 541+ [23][35]

Combined reigns[edit]

As of April 16, 2024.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Champion No. of
reigns 		Combined days
Actual Recognized
by FMW
1 Kintaro Kanemura 6 1,331 1,335
2 Tomohiro Ishii 1 959
3 Super Tiger (II) 1 616
4 Tetsuhiro Kuroda 4 603
5 Tomohiko Hashimoto 3 525
6 Kodo Fuyuki 3 431
7 Dylan James † 1 541+
8 Arashi 1 335
9 Daisaku Shimoda 2 332
10 Koji Kanemoto 1 308
11 Mammoth Sasaki 1 293
12 Togi Makabe 1 273
13 Kim Duk 1 223
14 Hayabusa 1 85 81
15 Toru Yano 1 56
Gajo 1 56
17 Masato Tanaka 1 43

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Hiroki's Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship was also on the line in the match.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "WEW Single Title [FMW] (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  2. ^ "WEW Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "WEW Heavyweight/Singles Title". purolove.com (in German). Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 23, 1999). "FMW 10th Anniversary Show Entertainment Wrestling Special Live". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  5. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 5, 2000). "FMW New Year Generation 2000 - Day 1". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d "WEW Championship (FMW)" WEW選手権 (FMW). wrestling-titles.com (in Japanese). Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 5, 2000). "FMW Golden Series 2000 - Day 8: Backdraft". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  8. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 1, 2001). "FMW Fighting Creation 2001 - Day 2". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  9. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 22, 2001). "FMW Neo FMW 2001 - Day 2". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 11, 2001). "FMW Super Dynamism 2001 - Day 6". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  11. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 6, 2002). "FMW Pay Per View". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  12. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 23, 2002). "WEW - TV-Show @ Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "WEW Heavyweight Championship" WEWヘビー級選手権. wrestling-titles.com (in Japanese). Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 24, 2006). "Apache Pro 3rd Anniversary". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  15. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 24, 2007). "Apache Pro Challenge". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  16. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 29, 2007). "NJPW Lock Up". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  17. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 23, 2007). "Apache Pro Apache". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  18. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 12, 2008). "Lock Up - TV-Show @ Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  19. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 26, 2011). "Apache Pro - Event @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  20. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 27, 2011). "Apache Pro - Event @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  21. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 26, 2012). "Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeated Arashi". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  22. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 21, 2012). "Apache Pro". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "WEW Heavyweight Championship" WEWヘビー級選手権. Syu-Kaku Kombu (in Japanese). October 24, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  24. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Apache Pro @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  25. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Apache Pro @ Osaka". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  26. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Apache Pro @ Osaka". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  27. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Apache Pro Final Show ~ Final Gong". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  28. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team 1st Anniversary Show". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  29. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  30. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  31. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  32. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  33. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team 2020 Final ~ Vol. 2". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  34. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  35. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "A-Team @ Tokyo". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.

External links[edit]

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