NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship

The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, Steve Keirn, was recognized as world champion only by Florida, Los Angeles, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This version was eventually taken to the latter promotion by Tatsumi Fujinami, who already held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship.

NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hajime Ohara as NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Details
Promotion	National Wrestling Alliance New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling Toryumon Mexico Dradition
Date established	December 10, 1979
Current champion	Último Dragón
Date won	July 19, 2010
Other names
World Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship Junior Heavyweight Championship International Junior Heavyweight Championship
Statistics First champion Steve Keirn Most reigns Atsushi Onita/Chavo Guerrero (3 reigns) Longest reign Último Dragón

In 1981, champion Chavo Guerrero left NJPW to go back to the United States, only to come back to Japan under the banner of All Japan Pro Wrestling, where a year later, it was renamed the International Junior Heavyweight Championship to avoid confusion and (along with being given a new belt design) in general line with AJPW's NWA titles. The championship became the cornerstone of AJPW's junior heavyweight division until its eventual replacement by the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, which kept the belt design until 2017.^[1]

In March 2007, after over two decades of inactivity, Toryumon Mexico reactivated the championship, using the belt that was used prior to November 1982.

Title history

Key

No.	The overall championship reign
Reign	The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A	The specific information is not known
—	Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
	Indicates that there was a period where the lineage is undocumented due to the lack of written documentation in that time period.

No.	Champion	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes	Ref(s)
1	Steve Keirn	1	December 10, 1979	53	Los Angeles, California	live event	Defeated Chavo Guerrero in a decision match to be recognized as World Junior Heavyweight Champion in Florida and Los Angeles.
2	Tatsumi Fujinami	1	February 1, 1980	14	Sapporo, Japan	live event	Also held the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, but defended them separately.
3	Mike Graham	1	February 15, 1980	49	Hollywood, Florida	live event		[2]
4	Tatsumi Fujinami	2	April 4, 1980	89	Kawasaki, Japan	live event
—	Vacated	—	July 2, 1980	—	N/A	N/A	Fujinami was injured and unable to defend the championship.
5	Kengo Kimura	1	July 23, 1980	72	Kita Kyushu, Japan	live event	Defeated Bret Hart in a decision match.
6	Chavo Guerrero	1	October 3, 1980	147	Tokyo, Japan	live event
7	Gino Hernandez	1	February 27, 1981	153	Houston, Texas	live event		[3]
8	Chavo Guerrero	2	July 30, 1981	220	Houston, Texas	live event
9	Atsushi Onita	1	March 7, 1982	35	Charlotte, North Carolina	live event	Additionally recognized as international champion in Jim Crockett Promotions.
10	Sangre Chicana	1	April 11, 1982	19	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico	live event	Additionally recognized as world champion in Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre.
11	Atsushi Onita	2	April 30, 1982	91	Mexico City, Mexico	live event
—	Vacated	—	July 30, 1982	—	N/A	N/A	Vacated after a match against Chavo Guerrero that ended in a no decision.
12	Atsushi Onita	3	November 4, 1982	162	Tokyo, Japan	live event	Defeated Chavo Guerrero in rematch. The National Wrestling Alliance and All Japan Pro Wrestling rename the title the "NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship" during this reign.
—	Vacated	—	April 15, 1983	—	N/A	N/A	Vacated after Onita broke his leg during a match against Hector Guerrero.
13	Chavo Guerrero	3	May 26, 1983	276	Tenryu, Japan	live event	Defeated Ultra Seven (Masahiko Takasugi) in tournament final.	[4]
14	Mighty Inoue	1	February 26, 1984	468	Osaka, Japan	live event
15	Dynamite Kid	1	June 8, 1985	5	Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan	live event
16	Kuniaki Kobayashi	1	June 13, 1985	79	Koga, Ibaraki, Japan	live event
17	Tiger Mask (II)	1	August 31, 1985	[Note 1]	Tokyo, Japan	live event
—	Vacated	—	June 1986	—	N/A	N/A	Vacated when Tiger Mask moves to the heavyweight division. The title was replaced with AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
18	Hirooki Goto	1	March 4, 2007	187	Mexico City, Mexico	live event	Defeated Shocker in a tournament final to revive the title for Toryumon Mexico and is awarded the pre-1982 belt.	[5]
—	Vacated	—	September 7, 2007	—	N/A	N/A	Vacated when Goto graduates to the heavyweight division.
19	Super Delfin	1	November 9, 2008	13	Osaka, Japan	live event	Defeated Último Dragón in a decision match to revive title.
20	Último Dragón	1	November 22, 2008	22	Tokyo, Japan	live event
21	Hajime Ohara	1	December 14, 2008	291	Mexico City, Mexico	live event
22	Mineo Fujita	1	October 1, 2009	291	Tokyo, Japan	Dream Impact IV
23	Último Dragón	2	July 19, 2010	5,508	Tokyo, Japan	live event	Defeated Fujita and Hajime Ohara in a three-way dance. Also won AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship on December 15, 2013, but defended titles separately.

Footnotes

1. The exact date the championship was vacated is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 274 and 303 days.

See also

• Japan portal

• List of National Wrestling Alliance championships
• NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
• International Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1)
• NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1)
• Zero1 USA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
• NWA X Championship
• WCW Cruiserweight Championship
• WWA International Cruiserweight Championship
• NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version)