International Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1)

The International Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1, formerly Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max), contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg (220 lb)) wrestlers. It was originally created on June 29, 2002, as the NWA/UPW/Zero-One International Junior Heavyweight Championship, symbolizing Pro Wrestling Zero-One (Zero-One)'s relationship with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW); Leonardo Spanky defeated Smelly to become the first champion.[1] When Zero-One left the NWA on October 31, 2004, the title was renamed to incorporate Steve Corino's Pro Wrestling World-1 (Word-1), becoming the Zero-One/UPW/World-1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship. The name was again altered when the newly renamed Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (Zero1-Max) joined the AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) alliance on February 28, 2005, with the title becoming known as the AWA/Zero1-Max/UPW/World-1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship. On August 26, 2006, after Minoru Fujita won the annual Tenkaichi Jr. tournament, Fujita renamed the championship to the AWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. When Zero1-Max left the AWA on December 15, 2007, it was renamed again to the Zero1-Max International Junior Heavyweight Championship. Finally, when the company changed its name to Pro Wrestling Zero1 in 2008, the championship followed and became known as the Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship.

International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Leo Isaka holding the International Junior Heavyweight title in his left hand
Details
PromotionPro Wrestling Zero1
Date establishedJune 29, 2002
Current champion(s)Takumi Baba
Date wonJuly 15, 2023
Other name(s)
  • NWA/UPW/Zero-One International Junior Heavyweight Championship[1][2]
  • Zero-One/UPW/World-1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • AWA/Zero1-Max/UPW/World-1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • AWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
  • Zero1-Max International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Leonardo Spanky
Most reignsIkuto Hidaka (5)
Longest reignIkuto Hidaka (540 days)
Shortest reignTatsuhito Takaiwa (<1 day)

There have been a total of 26 recognized champions, who have had a combined 36 official reigns. The current champion is Takumi Baba who is in his first reign.

Title history

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDefenses
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / (UPW) Ultimate Pro Wrestling / Pro Wrestling Zero-One (Zero-One)
1 Leonardo Spanky June 29, 2002 Creation Tour Sapporo, Japan 1 793 Spanky defeated Smelly to become the inaugural champion.
2 Low Ki September 16, 2002 Genesis II Tokyo, Japan 1 3498
3 Wataru Sakata August 31, 2003 Summer Festival Tour Gifu, Japan 1 2251 This match was also for Sakata's World-1 Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Vacated April 12, 2004 Sakata vacated the championship so he could focus on the defenses of his World-1 title.
4 Tatsuhito Takaiwa May 16, 2004 Cashonor Tokyo, Japan 1 2165 Takaiwa defeated Tony Stradlin for the vacant championship.
AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) / Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (Zero1-Max) / Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) / Pro Wrestling World-1 (World-1)
5 Super Crazy December 18, 2004 AWA Heavyweight Title Contender Tournament Tour Chiba, Japan 1 1170 Crazy later unifies the World-1 Junior Heavyweight Championship into the International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
6 Ikuto Hidaka April 14, 2005 Outburst Revolution Tour Tokyo, Japan 1 3184
7 Takuya Sugawara February 26, 2006 Happening Tour Tokyo, Japan 1 1511
8 Tatsuhito Takaiwa July 27, 2006 Fire Festival Tour Osaka, Japan 2 <10 This match was also for Takaiwa's WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship.
Vacated July 27, 2006 Takaiwa vacated the championship so it could be decided in the 2006 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament.
AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) / Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (Zero1-Max)
9 Minoru Fujita August 26, 2006 Tenkaichi Junior Kyoto, Japan 1 1462 Fujita defeated Takuya Sugawara in the finals of the 2006 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to become the new champion.
10 Ikuto Hidaka January 19, 2007 Over the Max Tour Tokyo, Japan 2 300
11 Tatsuhito Takaiwa February 18, 2007 Make the Emotion Tour Tokyo, Japan 3 770
Vacated May 6, 2007 The championship was vacated due to Takaiwa suffering a knee injury.
12 Dick Togo June 20, 2007 Dynamo Tour Tokyo, Japan 1 1281 Togo won a 9-man battle royal to become the new champion.
13 Ikuto Hidaka October 26, 2007 Innovation Tour Tokyo, Japan 3 891
Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (Zero1-Max)
14 Masaaki Mochizuki January 23, 2008 Zero1-Max 3rd Anniversary Tokyo, Japan 1 1553
15 Ikuto Hidaka June 26, 2008 Dauntless Tour Tokyo, Japan 4 2625
16 Sonjay Dutt March 15, 2009 Wrestler's 1 Tokyo, Japan 1 2590
Vacated November 29, 2009 The championship was vacated so it could be contested in the 2009 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament.
17 Ikuto Hidaka November 29, 2009 Wrestler's 7 ~ Grant Me My Wish! Tokyo, Japan 5 5406 Hidaka defeated Prince Devitt in the finals of the 2009 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to become the new champion.
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1)
18 Takuya Sugawara May 23, 2011 House show Tokyo, Japan 2 71210
Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1)
19 Jonathan Gresham May 4, 2013 Big Bang Tokyo, Japan 1 1351 This match was also contested for Sugawara's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. During his reign, Gresham additionally held the Zero1 USA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Vacated September 16, 2013 Gresham vacated both the International and NWA Junior Heavyweight titles so they could be contested in the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament.
20 Hub September 16, 2013 11th Tenkaichi Jr.: Finals Tokyo, Japan 1 1743 Hub defeated Mineo Fujita in the finals of the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to become the new champion. Hub additionally won the vacant NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
21 Jason Lee March 9, 2014 Zero1_Thirteen Tokyo, Japan 1 1943 This match was contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
22 Mineo Fujita September 19, 2014 Tenkaichi Junior Tokyo, Japan 1 451 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
23 Takuya Sugawara November 3, 2014 Hi no Kokudai Hanabi Kumamoto, Japan 3 551 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
24 Jason Lee December 28, 2014 Winter Fever 4 Hong Kong 2 631 This match was promoted by Zero1 Hong Kong and was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
25 Minoru Tanaka March 1, 2015 Zero1_Fourteen Tokyo, Japan 1 2223 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
26 Shinjiro Otani October 11, 2015 Change the World Tokyo, Japan 1 4812 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
27 Kotaro Suzuki February 3, 2017 Shinsei Zero1 Dream Series: Hakai no Jin Tokyo, Japan 1 2653 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
27 Sean Guinness October 26, 2017 Dream Series Aki no Jin Korakuen Taikai Tokyo, Japan 1 1291 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
28 Isami Kodaka March 4, 2018 Dream Series Sozo no Jin Tokyo, Japan 1 [Note 1]2 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Vacated November 2018 Kodaka was stripped of both the International and NWA Junior Heavyweight titles due to an injury.
29 Sugi November 24, 2018 Dream Series ~ Nenotsuki No Jin ~ Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament 2018 Tokyo, Japan 1 4032 Sugi defeated Hayata in the finals of the 2018 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to become the new champion. Sugi additionally won the vacant NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
30 HUB January 1, 2020 Happy New Year Tokyo, Japan 2 2471 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
31 Shoki Kitamura September 4, 2020 Youth Playback! It All Started Here! Shinjiro Otani To Asakura! Tokyo, Japan 1 580 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
32 El Lindaman November 1, 2020 2020 Fire Festival Finals Tokyo, Japan 1 3101 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [3]
Vacated September 7, 2021 Lindaman was stripped of both the International and NWA Junior Heavyweight titles after Gleat, Lindaman's home promotion, ends its working relationship with Zero1.
33 Fuminori Abe September 9, 2021 Zero1 20th Anniversary Year - 18th Tenkaichi Junior Tournament 2021 Final Tokyo, Japan 1 2135 Abe defeated Shoki Kitamura in the finals of the 2021 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to become the new champion. Abe additionally won the vacant NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [4]
34 Astroman April 10, 2022 Zero1 Osu Premium Show Zero1 20th & 21st Anniversary Pro Wrestling Tokyo, Japan 1 2662 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [5]
34 Leo Isaka January 1, 2023 Zero1 Happy New Year 2023 Tokyo, Japan 1 1954 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [6]
35 Takumi Baba July 15, 2023 Zero1 23rd Midsummer Festival Tokyo, Japan 1 102+0 This match was also contested for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. [7]

Combined reigns

Former champion Leo Isaka, shown here also wearing the Zero1 World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1)
Current champion, Takumi Baba.

As of October 25, 2023.

Indicates the current champion
¤ The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest length is considered.
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined days
1 Ikuto Hidaka5161,239
2 Takuya Sugawara312918
3 Shinjiro Otani12481
4 HUB24421
5 Sugi12403
6 Low Ki18349
7 El Lindaman11310
8 Tatsuhito Takaiwa35293
9 Astroman12266
10 Kotaro Suzuki13265
11 Sonjay Dutt10259
12 Jason Lee24257
13 Isami Kodaka12¤242
14 Wataru Sakata11225
15 Minoru Tanaka13222
16 Fuminori Abe15213
17 Leo Isaka14195
18 Masaaki Mochizuki13155
19 Jonathan Gresham11135
20 Sean Guinness11129
21 Dick Togo11128
22 Super Crazy10117
23 Leonardo Spanky1379
24 Shoki Kitamura1058
25 Takumi Baba †10102+
26 Minoru Fujita1145

See also

Footnotes

  1. The exact date on which Kodaka were stripped of the championship is not known, which means that his reign lasted between 242 and 265 days.

References

  1. "AWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship official title history". ZEROONEUSA.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  2. "ZERO1-MAX International Junior Heavyweight Championship title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  3. Dark Angel (November 10, 2020). "Zero1: "Fire Festival 2020" Hartley Jackson is the winner". superluchas.com. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  4. Pro Wrestling Zero1 (September 9, 2021). ZERO1・20周年記念イヤー 新木場大会~第18回 天下一ジュニアトーナメント2021 決勝戦~. z-1.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  5. Daly, Wayne (April 11, 2022). "ZERO1 Results: 20th & 21st Anniversary Show – Tokyo, Japan (4/10)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  6. Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 1, 2023). "ZERO1 Happy New Year 2023". cagematch.net. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  7. Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 15, 2023). "ZERO1 23rd Midsummer Festival ~ Fire Festival 2023 - Tag 5". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
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