NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1)
Professional wrestling championship
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The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the Japanese Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) promotion. The title is meant for wrestlers under the weight limit of 100 kg (220 lb), referred to as "junior heavyweights" in Japan.[3]
| NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leo Isaka holding the NWA World Junior title in his right hand | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | Pro Wrestling Zero1 New Wrestling Alliance | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | September 20, 2011[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion | Takumi Baba | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | January 1, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other name | |||||||||||||||||||
NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
On July 11, 2011, then-NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Craig Classic announced that he was relinquishing his title in protest over the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) stripping The Sheik of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[4] However, on September 20, NWA affiliate Pro Wrestling Zero1 announced that they still recognized Classic as the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion.[1] When Classic returned to the promotion on October 2, he was still in possession of the NWA title belt (which was the belt worn by the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama, in the 1980s), which he went on to successfully defend against Munenori Sawa.[5][6] Despite this being the first appearance of the new version of the title, Zero1 went as far as adopting the original title's history, referring to Classic as the 108th champion and his defense against Sawa as his 22nd successful defense.[1][7] Meanwhile, NWA crowned their own NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Kevin Douglas, on October 7, meaning that there now were two champions supposedly holding the same title.[8] That same month, Zero1 quit the NWA and renamed all of their National Wrestling Alliance championships "New Wrestling Alliance" championships.[9]
Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won as a result of a scripted match. There have been a total of twenty-four reigns shared among twenty different wrestlers. The current champion is Takumi Baba who is in his second reign.
Title history
| 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 | Days | Defenses | |||||
| National Wrestling Alliance | ||||||||||
| 1(108) | Craig Classic | June 11, 2010 | November Coming Fire | Fort Pierce, FL | 1 | 421[A] | 3[B] | Classic defeated Mike Quackenbush to win the championship; this match was promoted by NWA Florida. Zero1 continued to recognize Classic as the reigning NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, despite him having vacated the title on July 11, 2011. | [1][10] | |
| Pro Wrestling Zero1 | ||||||||||
| 2(109) | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | January 1, 2012 | Puroresu Nippon | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 61 | 0[11] | [7] | ||
| 3(110) | Takuya Sugawara | March 2, 2012 | Zero1 Eleven | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 428 | 5 | This match was also contested for Sugawara's International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [11] | |
| 4(111) | Jonathan Gresham | May 4, 2013 | Big Bang | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 132 | 1[12] | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. During his reign, Gresham additionally held the Zero1 USA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [13] | |
| — | Vacated | September 13, 2013 | — | Tokyo, Japan | — | — | — | Gresham voluntarily vacated both the NWA and International Junior Heavyweight Championships ahead of the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr. finals. | [14] | |
| 5(112) | Hub | September 16, 2013 | 11th Tenkaichi Jr.: Finals | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 174 | 3[15] | Hub defeated Mineo Fujita in the finals of the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to win the vacant championship; this match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [16] | |
| 6(113) | Jason Lee | March 9, 2014 | Zero1 Thirteen | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 194 | 2 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [17] | |
| 7(114) | Mineo Fujita | September 19, 2014 | Tenkaichi Special | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 45 | 1 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [18] | |
| 8(115) | Takuya Sugawara | November 3, 2014 | Hi no Kokudai Hanabi | Kumamoto, Japan | 2 | 55 | 1 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [19] | |
| 9(116) | Jason Lee | December 28, 2014 | Winter Fever 4 | Hong Kong | 2 | 63 | 1[20] | This match was promoted by Zero1 Hong Kong and was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [21] | |
| 10(117) | Minoru Tanaka | March 1, 2015 | Zero1_Fourteen | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 224 | 3 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [20] | |
| 11(118) | Shinjiro Otani | October 11, 2015 | Change the World | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 481 | 3[22] | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [23] | |
| 12(119) | Kotaro Suzuki | February 3, 2017 | Shinsei Zero1 Dream Series: Hakai no Jin | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 265 | 3 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [22] | |
| 13(120) | Sean Guinness | October 26, 2017 | Dream Series Aki no Jin Korakuen Taikai | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 129 | 1 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [24] | |
| 14(121) | Isami Kodaka | March 4, 2018 | Dream Series Sozo no Jin | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | [C] | 2 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | ||
| — | Vacated | November 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | Kodaka was stripped of both the NWA and International Junior Heavyweight Championships due to an injury. | ||
| 15(122) | Sugi | November 24, 2018 | Dream Series ~ Nenotsuki No Jin ~ Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament 2018 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 403 | 3 | Sugi defeated Hayata in the finals of the 2018 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to win the vacant championship; this match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | ||
| 16(123) | Hub | January 1, 2020 | Happy New Year | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 247 | 0 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | ||
| 17(124) | Shoki Kitamura | September 4, 2020 | Youth Playback! It All Started Here! Shinjiro Otani Returns To Asakura | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 58 | 0 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | ||
| 18(125) | El Lindaman | November 1, 2020 | Fire Festival 2020 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 310 | 1 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | ||
| — | Vacated | September 7, 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | El Lindaman was stripped of both the NWA and International Junior Heavyweight Championships after Gleat, Lindaman's home promotion, ended its working relationship with Zero1. | ||
| 19(126) | Fuminori Abe | September 9, 2021 | Zero1 20th Anniversary Year - 18th Tenkaichi Junior Tournament 2021 Final | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 213 | 5 | Abe defeated Shoki Kitamura in the finals of the 2021 Tenkaichi Jr. tournament to win the vacant championship; this match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [25] | |
| 20(127) | Astroman | April 10, 2022 | Zero1 Osu Premium Show Zero1 20th & 21st Anniversary Pro Wrestling | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 266 | 2 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [26] | |
| 21(128) | Leo Isaka | January 1, 2023 | Zero1 Happy New Year 2023 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 195 | 4 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [27] | |
| 22(129) | Takumi Baba | July 15, 2023 | Zero1 23rd Midsummer Festival | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 232 | 2 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [28] | |
| 23(130) | Seiki Yoshioka | March 3, 2024 | Zero1 23rd Anniversary | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 304 | 1 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [29] | |
| 24(131) | Takumi Baba | January 1, 2025 | Tochi Pro Happy New Year & Shinjiro Otani Aid ~ Stand Up Again And Again | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 584+ | 1 | This match was also contested for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship. | [30] | |
- Classic's reign is calculated from the day he won the NWA-recognized World Junior Heavyweight Championship until the day he lost the title as recognized by Zero1. As such, it excludes him vacating the title and predates the split in the championship lineage.
- Classic made three defenses of Zero1's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, however, Classic made 23 total defenses of the NWA-recognized World Junior Heavyweight Championship and Zero1's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
- 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
Combined reigns
As of August 8, 2026
| † | 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 | Takumi Baba † | 2 | 3 | 816+ |
| 2 | Takuya Sugawara | 2 | 6 | 483 |
| 3 | Shinjiro Otani | 1 | 3 | 481 |
| 4 | Hub | 2 | 3 | 421 |
| 5 | Craig Classic | 1 | 17 | 421 |
| 6 | Sugi | 1 | 3 | 403 |
| 7 | El Lindaman | 1 | 1 | 310 |
| 8 | Seiki Yoshioka | 1 | 1 | 304 |
| 9 | Astroman | 1 | 2 | 266 |
| 10 | Kotaro Suzuki | 1 | 3 | 265 |
| 11 | Jason Lee | 2 | 3 | 257 |
| 12 | Isami Kodaka | 1 | 2 | ¤242 |
| 13 | Minoru Tanaka | 1 | 3 | 224 |
| 14 | Fuminori Abe | 1 | 5 | 213 |
| 15 | Leo Isaka | 1 | 4 | 195 |
| 16 | Jonathan Gresham | 1 | 1 | 132 |
| 17 | Sean Guinness | 1 | 1 | 129 |
| 18 | Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | 1 | 0 | 61 |
| 19 | Shoki Kitamura | 1 | 0 | 58 |
| 20 | Mineo Fujita | 1 | 1 | 45 |
