GHC Heavyweight Championship
Professional wrestling world championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Yoshiki Inamura, who is in his first reign. He defeated Kenta at Star Navigation 2025 on November 8th, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan.
| GHC Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current championship design (since 2019) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | CyberFight | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | Pro Wrestling Noah | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | April 15, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion | Yoshiki Inamura | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | November 8, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
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.
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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 March 8, 2026, there have been a total of 49 reigns shared between 26 different champions. Mitsuharu Misawa was the inaugural champion. Kenta Kobashi has the longest reign at 735 days, while Kenoh held the title for only one day, making it the shortest reign in the title's history. Keiji Muto is the oldest title holder at 58 years and 51 days, while Kaito Kiyomiya is the youngest at 22 years and 152 days.
Yoshiki Inamura is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Kenta on Night 3 of Noah Star Navigation 2025 on November 8, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan.[7]
| 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 | [8] | |
| 3 | Yoshinari Ogawa | April 7, 2002 | Encountering Navigation Final Day: Come and Watch in Ariake | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 153 | 2 | [9] | |
| 4 | Yoshihiro Takayama | September 7, 2002 | Navigation Over the Date Line | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 16 | 0 | [10] | |
| 5 | Mitsuharu Misawa | September 23, 2002 | Great Voyage '02 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 159 | 1 | [11] | |
| 6 | Kenta Kobashi | March 1, 2003 | Navigate for Evolution '03 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 735 | 13 | [12][13] | |
| 7 | Takeshi Rikio | March 5, 2005 | Navigate for Evolution '05 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 245 | 3 | [12][14] | |
| 8 | Akira Taue | November 5, 2005 | 3rd Great Voyage '05 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 78 | 1 | [15] | |
| 9 | Jun Akiyama | January 22, 2006 | The First Navigation '06 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 230 | 2 | [16] | |
| 10 | Naomichi Marufuji | September 9, 2006 | Shiny Navigation '06 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 92 | 2 | [17] | |
| 11 | Mitsuharu Misawa | December 10, 2006 | Great Voyage '06 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 448 | 7 | [18] | |
| 12 | Takeshi Morishima | March 2, 2008 | The Second Navig.'08 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 188 | 2 | [19] | |
| 13 | Kensuke Sasaki | September 6, 2008 | Shiny Navig.'08 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 176 | 2 | [20] | |
| 14 | Jun Akiyama | March 1, 2009 | The Second Navig.'09 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 105 | 1 | [21] | |
| — | Vacated | June 14, 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to Akiyama suffering a lumbar disc herniation. | [22] |
| 15 | Go Shiozaki | June 14, 2009 | Southern Navig.'09 | Fukuoka, Japan | 1 | 175 | 1 | Defeated Takeshi Rikio to win the vacant title. | [23][24] |
| 16 | Takashi Sugiura | December 6, 2009 | Winter Navig.'09 Final Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 581 | 14 | [25] | |
| 17 | Go Shiozaki | July 10, 2011 | Great Voyage 2011 in Tokyo Vol. 3 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 196 | 3 | [26] | |
| 18 | Takeshi Morishima | January 22, 2012 | Great Voyage 2012 in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 371 | 8 | [27] | |
| 19 | Kenta | January 27, 2013 | Great Voyage 2013 in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 343 | 9 | [28] | |
| 20 | Takeshi Morishima | January 5, 2014 | New Year Navig.2014 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 34 | 0 | [29] | |
| 21 | Yuji Nagata | February 8, 2014 | The Second Navig.2014 Opening Day | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 147 | 4 | [30] | |
| 22 | Naomichi Marufuji | July 5, 2014 | Great Voyage 2014 in Tokyo Vol. 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 253 | 6 | [31] | |
| 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. | [32] |
| 24 | Naomichi Marufuji | December 23, 2015 | Destiny 2015 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 39 | 0 | [33] | |
| 25 | Takashi Sugiura | January 31, 2016 | Great Voyage 2016 in Yokohama | Yokohama, Japan | 2 | 118 | 1 | [34] | |
| 26 | Go Shiozaki | May 28, 2016 | Great Voyage 2016 in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 3 | 63 | 1 | [35] | |
| 27 | Takashi Sugiura | July 30, 2016 | 10th NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 85 | 2 | This was a lumberjack match. | [36] |
| 28 | Katsuhiko Nakajima | October 23, 2016 | Great Voyage 2016 in Yokohama Vol. 2 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 307 | 7 | [37] | |
| 29 | Eddie Edwards | August 26, 2017 | Summer Navig.2017 Vol. 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 118 | 2 | [38] | |
| 30 | Kenoh | December 22, 2017 | Winter Navig. 2017 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 79 | 2 | [39] | |
| 31 | Takashi Sugiura | March 11, 2018 | Great Voyage 2018 in Yokohama | Yokohama, Japan | 4 | 280 | 6 | [40] | |
| 32 | Kaito Kiyomiya | December 16, 2018 | Great Voyage in Yokohama Vol. 2 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 384 | 6 | [41] | |
| 33 | Go Shiozaki | January 4, 2020 | Korakuen Hall Day 1 New Sunrise | Tokyo, Japan | 4 | 405 | 6 | [42] | |
| 34 | Keiji Muto | February 12, 2021 | Destination 2021 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 114 | 2 | [43] | |
| 35 | Naomichi Marufuji | June 6, 2021 | CyberFight Festival 2021 | Saitama, Japan | 4 | 126 | 2 | [44] | |
| 36 | Katsuhiko Nakajima | October 10, 2021 | Grand Square 2021 in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | 2 | 136 | 4 | [45] | |
| 37 | Kazuyuki Fujita | February 23, 2022 | Gain Control 2022 in Nagoya | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 63 | 1 | [46] | |
| — | Vacated | April 27, 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to Fujita having tested positive for COVID-19. | [47] |
| 38 | Go Shiozaki | April 30, 2022 | Majestic 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | 5 | 43 | 0 | Defeated Kaito Kiyomiya to win the vacant title. | [48] |
| 39 | Satoshi Kojima | June 12, 2022 | CyberFight Festival 2022 | Saitama, Japan | 1 | 34 | 0 | [49] | |
| 40 | Kenoh | July 16, 2022 | Destination 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 71 | 0 | [50] | |
| 41 | Kaito Kiyomiya | September 25, 2022 | Grand Ship in Nagoya 2022 | Nagoya, Japan | 2 | 175 | 4 | [51] | |
| 42 | Jake Lee | March 19, 2023 | Great Voyage in Yokohama 2023 | Yokohama, Japan | 1 | 223 | 4 | [52] | |
| 43 | Kenoh | October 28, 2023 | Demolition Stage in Fukuoka | Fukuoka, Japan | 3 | 99 | 2 | [53] | |
| 44 | Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. | February 4, 2024 | Cross Over in Sendai 2024 | Sendai, Japan | 1 | 90 | 1 | [54] | |
| 45 | Kaito Kiyomiya | May 4, 2024 | Wrestle Magic | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 242 | 7 | [55] | |
| 46 | Ozawa | January 1, 2025 | The New Year 2025 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 199 | 6 | [56] | |
| 47 | Kenoh | July 19, 2025 | New Departure 2025 (Night 1) |
Tokyo, Japan | 4 | 1 | 0 | [57] | |
| 48 | Kenta | July 20, 2025 | New Departure 2025 (Night 2) |
Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 111 | 2 | [58] | |
| 49 | Yoshiki Inamura | November 8, 2025 | Star Navigation 2025 (Night 3) |
Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 120+ | 5 | [59] | |
Combined reigns
As of March 8, 2026.
| † | 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 | Kenta | 2 | 11 | 454 |
| 10 | Katsuhiko Nakajima | 2 | 11 | 443 |
| 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 | Yoshiki Inamura † | 1 | 5 | 120+ |
| 20 | Eddie Edwards | 1 | 2 | 118 |
| 21 | Keiji Muto | 1 | 2 | 114 |
| 22 | Hijo del de Dr. Wagner Jr. | 1 | 1 | 90 |
| 23 | Akira Taue | 1 | 1 | 78 |
| 24 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 1 | 1 | 63 |
| 25 | Satoshi Kojima | 1 | 0 | 34 |
| 26 | Yoshihiro Takayama | 1 | 0 | 16 |
Notes
- Akiyama and Misawa were originally both counted out, but the match was restarted.