WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship

The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and later in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was created on December 18, 1978, and awarded to NJPW mainstay Antonio Inoki by Vincent J. McMahon, upon Inoki's arrival in America.[1] The title was known for being contested in matches billed as shoot wrestling fights. The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was contested solely in NJPW after the promotion became unaffiliated with the WWF in 1985.

Not to be confused with Greatest 18 Club Championship.
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionWorld Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (WWWF / WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedDecember 18, 1978
Date retiredDecember 31, 1989
Other name(s)
  • WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1978–1979)
  • WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1979–1989)
Statistics
First champion(s)Antonio Inoki
Final champion(s)Antonio Inoki
Most reignsAntonio Inoki
(2 reigns)
Longest reignAntonio Inoki
(1st reign, 3,780 days)
Shortest reignShota Chochishvili
(31 days)
Oldest championShota Chochishvili
(38 years, 289 days)
Youngest championAntonio Inoki
(35 years, 302 days)
Heaviest championShota Chochishvili
(243lb (110kg))
Lightest championAntonio Inoki
(224lb (102kg))

History

During the thirtieth anniversary of Inoki's career, NJPW created the "Greatest 18 Club", a hall of fame. NJPW then created a new title, the Greatest 18 Championship, which was intended to complement the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The Greatest 18 Championship was represented by the former Martial Arts Championship belt and was awarded to Riki Choshu in 1990. Choshu lost the title to The Great Muta in 1992. Muta retired the title on September 23 of that year, in order to focus on his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title defenses. The title was subsequently officially retired by NJPW.[2][3]

Reigns

Over the championship's 11-year history, there were only two reigns between two champions. Antonio Inoki was the inaugural and last champion. Inoki's first reign was the longest at 3,780, while Shota Chochishvili's reign was the shortest at 31 days. Chochishvili was the oldest champion at 38 years old, while Inoki was the youngest at 35 years old.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Antonio Inoki December 18, 1978 WWWF New York, NY 1 3,780 Awarded by Vincent J. McMahon. [4]
2 Shota Chochishvili April 24, 1989 Battle Satellite in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 31 Fifth round knockout. [5]
3 Antonio Inoki May 25, 1989 Battle Satellite 1989 in Osaka Osaka, Japan 2 220 [6]
— Deactivated December 31, 1989 — — — — Antonio Inoki was the final champion after NJPW abandoned the title on December 31, 1989. [7]

Combined reigns
Rank Champion No. of
reigns		 Combined
days
1 Antonio Inoki24,000
2 Shota Chochishvili131

References
  1. "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  2. "Solie's Title Histories: WWWF/WWF". www.solie.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  3. "The Greatest 18 Club Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  4. "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  5. "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  6. "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  7. "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.


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