GHC Heavyweight Championship

The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Heavyweight Championship (Japanese: GHCヘビー級王座, Hepburn: GHC Hebī-kyū Ōza) is the professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, which was merged with DDT Pro-Wrestling to form CyberFight in 2020.^[1] It is one of CyberFight's two top men's world titles, alongside the KO-D Openweight Championship in DDT.^[2] The title was also defended on Impact Wrestling which has a working relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah. Though its name implies a particular weight class, it has been periodically held by junior heavyweights, including Yoshinari Ogawa, Kenta, Naomichi Marufuji, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kenoh. The current champion is Kenta, who is in his second reign. He defeated Kenoh at New Departure 2025 on July 20, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan.

GHC Heavyweight Championship
Current championship design (2019–present)
Details
Promotion	CyberFight
Brand	Pro Wrestling Noah
Date established	April 15, 2001
Current champion	Kenta
Date won	July 20, 2025
Statistics First champion Mitsuharu Misawa Most reigns Go Shiozaki (5 reigns) Longest reign Kenta Kobashi (735 days) Shortest reign Kenoh (1 day) Oldest champion Keiji Muto (58 years, 51 days) Youngest champion Kaito Kiyomiya (22 years, 152 days) Heaviest champion Takeshi Morishima (145 kg (320 lb)) Lightest champion Kenta (81 kg (179 lb))

History

The GHC Heavyweight Championship was created in 2001, when Noah held a 16-man tournament to crown the first champion over its month-long, 18-event Navigation for the Victory GHC tour. The tour ran from March 18 to April 15.^[3]

Round 1

Round 2

Semi-finals

Final

March 18, Tokyo

Mitsuharu Misawa

Pin

April 4, Okayama

Akitoshi Saito

12:26[4]

Mitsuharu Misawa

Pin

March 21, Sagamihara

Yoshinari Ogawa

19:44[5]

Masao Inoue

14:18[4]

April 11, Hiroshima

Yoshinari Ogawa

Pin

Mitsuharu Misawa

Pin

April 2, Beppu

Jun Akiyama

1:30[a][5]

Takeshi Morishima

14:33[5]

April 8, Tokyo

Takeshi Rikio

Pin

Takeshi Rikio

4:02[5]

April 1, Fukuoka

Jun Akiyama

Sub

Jun Akiyama

Pin

April 15, Tokyo

Takao Omori

22:49[5]

Mitsuharu Misawa

Pin

March 25, Kyoto

Yoshihiro Takayama

21:12[5]

Akira Taue

10:40[4]

April 6, Ishikawa

Vader

Pin

Vader

Pin

March 29, Kagoshima

Daisuke Ikeda

7:15[5]

Daisuke Ikeda

Pin

April 12, Osaka

Tamon Honda

15:16[4]

Vader

9:24[5]

March 22, Tokyo

Yoshihiro Takayama

DQ

Yoshihiro Takayama

Pin

April 3, Uwajima

Jun Izumida

8:22[4]

Yoshihiro Takayama

Pin

March 30, Kumamoto

Kentaro Shiga

7:16[5]

Scorpio

13:06[4]

Kentaro Shiga

Pin

Belt design

• 
  Kensuke Sasaki with the first design of the title in 2008
• 
  Kaito Kiyomiya with the second design of the title in 2023.

The first version of the title was introduced in 2001, one year after the promotion's debut, and its centerpiece featured a circular main plate in gold, adorned with intricate engravings, and crowned by a large "GHC" inscription at the top. Below it, the words "Heavyweight Champion" were prominently displayed, encased in a banner-like design, andn the middle, there’s an earth-shaped globe, symbolizing NOAH's governing body, the Global Honored Crown. The main plate is flanked by two side plates on either side, each carrying additional details, including NOAH's emblematic logo.^[6]

The second version was introduced in 2019, with the centerpiece of this version being broad, gold-plated main plate. At the top of the plate, bold "GHC" initials are engraved in a prominent and embossed style. Just top and bottom, “Heavyweight and Champion” were displayed in a subtle yet bold font, framing the title's gravity with elegance. The globe at the center was an enhanced feature, rendered with a three-dimensional effect that highlights the continents. The side plates, two on each side of the main plate, contribute further to the belt’s distinguished look.^[6]

Reigns

As of August 17, 2025, there have been a total of 48 reigns shared between 25 different champions.

Two-time and reigning champion Kenta

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific champion
Days	Number of days held
Defenses	Number of successful defenses
+	Current reign is changing daily

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics			Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days	Defenses
1	Mitsuharu Misawa	April 15, 2001	Navigation for the Victory	Tokyo, Japan	1	103	1	Defeated Yoshihiro Takayama in a tournament final.	[3]
2	Jun Akiyama	July 27, 2001	Accomplish Our First Navigation	Tokyo, Japan	1	254	3		[7]
3	Yoshinari Ogawa	April 7, 2002	Encountering Navigation Final Day: Come and Watch in Ariake	Tokyo, Japan	1	153	2		[8]
4	Yoshihiro Takayama	September 7, 2002	Navigation Over the Date Line	Osaka, Japan	1	16	0		[9]
5	Mitsuharu Misawa	September 23, 2002	Great Voyage '02	Tokyo, Japan	2	159	1		[10]
6	Kenta Kobashi	March 1, 2003	Navigate for Evolution '03 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	735	13		[11][12]
7	Takeshi Rikio	March 5, 2005	Navigate for Evolution '05 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	245	3		[11][13]
8	Akira Taue	November 5, 2005	3rd Great Voyage '05	Tokyo, Japan	1	78	1		[14]
9	Jun Akiyama	January 22, 2006	The First Navigation '06 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	2	230	2		[15]
10	Naomichi Marufuji	September 9, 2006	Shiny Navigation '06 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	92	2		[16]
11	Mitsuharu Misawa	December 10, 2006	Great Voyage '06	Tokyo, Japan	3	448	7		[17]
12	Takeshi Morishima	March 2, 2008	The Second Navig.'08 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	188	2		[18]
13	Kensuke Sasaki	September 6, 2008	Shiny Navig.'08 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	176	2		[19]
14	Jun Akiyama	March 1, 2009	The Second Navig.'09 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	3	105	1		[20]
—	Vacated	June 14, 2009	—	—	—	—	—	Vacated due to Akiyama suffering a lumbar disc herniation.	[21]
15	Go Shiozaki	June 14, 2009	Southern Navig.'09	Fukuoka, Japan	1	175	1	Defeated Takeshi Rikio to win the vacant title.	[22][23]
16	Takashi Sugiura	December 6, 2009	Winter Navig.'09 Final Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	581	14		[24]
17	Go Shiozaki	July 10, 2011	Great Voyage 2011 in Tokyo Vol. 3	Tokyo, Japan	2	196	3		[25]
18	Takeshi Morishima	January 22, 2012	Great Voyage 2012 in Osaka	Osaka, Japan	2	371	8		[26]
19	Kenta	January 27, 2013	Great Voyage 2013 in Osaka	Osaka, Japan	1	343	9		[27]
20	Takeshi Morishima	January 5, 2014	New Year Navig.2014	Tokyo, Japan	3	34	0		[28]
21	Yuji Nagata	February 8, 2014	The Second Navig.2014 Opening Day	Tokyo, Japan	1	147	4		[29]
22	Naomichi Marufuji	July 5, 2014	Great Voyage 2014 in Tokyo Vol. 2	Tokyo, Japan	2	253	6		[30]
23	Minoru Suzuki	March 15, 2015	Great Voyage 2015 in Tokyo	Tokyo, Japan	1	283	4	On August 9, 2015, Suzuki successfully defended the title against Mio Shirai at a Pro Wrestling Wave event. The defense was not recognized by Noah, who officially only recognize four of his five defenses.	[31]
24	Naomichi Marufuji	December 23, 2015	Destiny 2015	Tokyo, Japan	3	39	0		[32]
25	Takashi Sugiura	January 31, 2016	Great Voyage 2016 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	2	118	1		[33]
26	Go Shiozaki	May 28, 2016	Great Voyage 2016 in Osaka	Osaka, Japan	3	63	1		[34]
27	Takashi Sugiura	July 30, 2016	10th NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League	Tokyo, Japan	3	85	2	This was a lumberjack match.	[35]
28	Katsuhiko Nakajima	October 23, 2016	Great Voyage 2016 in Yokohama Vol. 2	Yokohama, Japan	1	307	7		[36]
29	Eddie Edwards	August 26, 2017	Summer Navig.2017 Vol. 2	Tokyo, Japan	1	118	2		[37]
30	Kenoh	December 22, 2017	Winter Navig. 2017	Tokyo, Japan	1	79	2		[38]
31	Takashi Sugiura	March 11, 2018	Great Voyage 2018 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	4	280	6		[39]
32	Kaito Kiyomiya	December 16, 2018	Great Voyage in Yokohama Vol. 2	Yokohama, Japan	1	384	6		[40]
33	Go Shiozaki	January 4, 2020	Korakuen Hall Day 1 New Sunrise	Tokyo, Japan	4	405	6		[41]
34	Keiji Mutoh	February 12, 2021	Destination 2021	Tokyo, Japan	1	114	2		[42]
35	Naomichi Marufuji	June 6, 2021	CyberFight Festival 2021	Saitama, Japan	4	126	2		[43]
36	Katsuhiko Nakajima	October 10, 2021	Grand Square 2021 in Osaka	Osaka, Japan	2	136	4		[44]
37	Kazuyuki Fujita	February 23, 2022	Gain Control 2022 in Nagoya	Nagoya, Japan	1	63	1		[45]
—	Vacated	April 27, 2022	—	—	—	—	—	Vacated due to Fujita having tested positive for COVID-19.	[46]
38	Go Shiozaki	April 30, 2022	Majestic 2022	Tokyo, Japan	5	43	0	Defeated Kaito Kiyomiya to win the vacant title.	[47]
39	Satoshi Kojima	June 12, 2022	CyberFight Festival 2022	Saitama, Japan	1	34	0		[48]
40	Kenoh	July 16, 2022	Destination 2022	Tokyo, Japan	2	71	0		[49]
41	Kaito Kiyomiya	September 25, 2022	Grand Ship in Nagoya 2022	Nagoya, Japan	2	175	4		[50]
42	Jake Lee	March 19, 2023	Great Voyage in Yokohama 2023	Yokohama, Japan	1	223	4		[51]
43	Kenoh	October 28, 2023	Demolition Stage in Fukuoka	Fukuoka, Japan	3	99	2		[52]
44	Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.	February 4, 2024	Cross Over in Sendai 2024	Sendai, Japan	1	90	1		[53]
45	Kaito Kiyomiya	May 4, 2024	Wrestle Magic	Tokyo, Japan	3	242	7		[54]
46	Ozawa	January 1, 2025	The New Year 2025	Tokyo, Japan	1	199	6		[55]
47	Kenoh	July 19, 2025	New Departure 2025 (Night 1)	Tokyo, Japan	4	1	0		[56]
48	Kenta	July 20, 2025	New Departure 2025 (Night 2)	Tokyo, Japan	2	28+	1		[57]

Combined reigns

As of August 17, 2025.

Four-time champion Takashi Sugiura holds the records for longest combined reign (1,064 days), most defenses in one reign (14), and most combined defenses (23)

Inaugural and three-time champion Mitsuharu Misawa

†	Indicates the current champion

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined defenses	Combined days
1	Takashi Sugiura	4	23	1,064
2	Go Shiozaki	5	11	882
3	Kaito Kiyomiya	3	17	801
4	Kenta Kobashi	1	13	735
5	Mitsuharu Misawa	3	9	710
6	Takeshi Morishima	3	10	593
7	Jun Akiyama	3	6	589
8	Naomichi Marufuji	4	10	510
9	Katsuhiko Nakajima	2	11	443
10	Kenta †	2	10	371+
11	Minoru Suzuki	1	4	283
12	Kenoh	4	4	250
13	Takeshi Rikio	1	3	245
14	Jake Lee	1	4	223
15	Ozawa	1	6	199
16	Kensuke Sasaki	1	2	176
17	Yoshinari Ogawa	1	2	153
18	Yuji Nagata	1	4	147
19	Eddie Edwards	1	2	118
20	Keiji Mutoh	1	2	114
21	Hijo del de Dr. Wagner Jr.	1	1	90
22	Akira Taue	1	1	78
23	Kazuyuki Fujita	1	1	63
24	Satoshi Kojima	1	0	34
25	Yoshihiro Takayama	1	0	16

Notes

1. Akiyama and Misawa were originally both counted out, but the match was restarted.