IWGP Intercontinental Championship History
Complete list of every IWGP Intercontinental Championship reign — who held it, when they won it, and how long they kept it. Established Jan 5, 2011.
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tetsuya Naito
Full Title Lineage
| # | Champion | Won | Reign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Yota Tsuji A Winner Takes All match also for his IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. The final champion; he deactivated the title two days later, retiring the lineage. | Jan 4, 2026NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20Tokyo, Japan | 2 days |
| 40 | Konosuke Takeshita | Oct 13, 2025NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling 2025Tokyo, Japan | 83 days |
| 39 | Zack Sabre Jr.2nd reign His second reign. | Jun 29, 2025NJPW Tanahashi JamNagoya, Japan | 106 days |
| 38 | Hirooki Goto3rd reign His third reign. | Feb 11, 2025NJPW The New Beginning in OsakaOsaka, Japan | 138 days |
| 37 | Zack Sabre Jr.1st reign | Oct 14, 2024NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling 2024Tokyo, Japan | 120 days |
| 36 | Tetsuya Naito8th reign His record eighth reign. | Jun 30, 2024AEW x NJPW: Forbidden DoorElmont, NY | 106 days |
| 35 | Jon Moxley | Apr 12, 2024NJPW Windy City RiotChicago, IL | 79 days |
| 34 | Tetsuya Naito7th reign His seventh reign. | Jan 4, 2024NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18Tokyo, Japan | 99 days |
| 33 | SANADA A 271-day reign. | Apr 8, 2023NJPW Sakura Genesis 2023Tokyo, Japan | 271 days |
| 32 | Kazuchika Okada2nd reign His second reign. | Jan 4, 2023NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17Tokyo, Japan | 94 days |
| 31 | Jay White2nd reign His second reign, lasting 206 days. | Jun 12, 2022NJPW Dominion 6.12Osaka, Japan | 206 days |
| 30 | Kazuchika Okada1st reign | Jan 4, 2022NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16Tokyo, Japan | 159 days |
| 29 | Shingo Takagi Defeated Kazuchika Okada for the vacant title. A 211-day reign. | Jun 7, 2021NJPW Dominion in Osaka-jo HallOsaka, Japan | 211 days |
| 28 | Will Ospreay The first reign of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship era. ↳ Vacated when Will Ospreay sustained a neck injury. | Apr 4, 2021NJPW Sakura Genesis 2021Tokyo, Japan | 46 days |
| 27 | Kota Ibushi2nd reign His second reign. On March 4, 2021 the title was unified with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to form the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship; the reigns that follow were held as that title and were retroactively recognized as IWGP Intercontinental reigns in 2026. | Jan 4, 2021NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15Tokyo, Japan | 59 days |
| 26 | Tetsuya Naito6th reign His sixth reign, held with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. | Aug 29, 2020NJPW Summer Struggle in JinguTokyo, Japan | 128 days |
| 25 | EVIL Held simultaneously with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. | Jul 12, 2020NJPW Dominion in Osaka-jo HallOsaka, Japan | 48 days |
| 24 | Tetsuya Naito5th reign His fifth reign, lasting 190 days. | Jan 4, 2020NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14Tokyo, Japan | 190 days |
| 23 | Jay White1st reign | Sep 22, 2019NJPW Destruction 2019Kobe, Japan | 104 days |
| 22 | Tetsuya Naito4th reign His fourth reign. | Jun 9, 2019NJPW Dominion 6.9Osaka, Japan | 105 days |
| 21 | Kota Ibushi1st reign | Apr 6, 2019ROH/NJPW G1 SupercardNew York City, NY | 64 days |
| 20 | Tetsuya Naito3rd reign His third reign. | Jan 4, 2019NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13Tokyo, Japan | 92 days |
| 19 | Chris Jericho A 209-day reign. | Jun 9, 2018NJPW Dominion 6.9Osaka, Japan | 209 days |
| 18 | Tetsuya Naito2nd reign His second reign. | Apr 29, 2018NJPW Wrestling Hi no Kuni 2018Kumamoto, Japan | 41 days |
| 17 | Minoru Suzuki | Jan 27, 2018NJPW The New Beginning 2018Sapporo, Japan | 92 days |
| 16 | Hiroshi Tanahashi2nd reign His second reign, lasting 230 days. | Jun 11, 2017NJPW Dominion 6.11Osaka, Japan | 230 days |
| 15 | Tetsuya Naito1st reign A 259-day reign. | Sep 25, 2016NJPW Destruction 2016Kobe, Japan | 259 days |
| 14 | Michael Elgin | Jun 19, 2016NJPW Dominion 6.19Osaka, Japan | 98 days |
| 13 | Kenny Omega Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the vacant title. | Feb 14, 2016NJPW The New Beginning 2016Nagaoka, Japan | 126 days |
| 12 | Shinsuke Nakamura5th reign His fifth reign; he is a record five-time champion. ↳ Vacated when Nakamura left NJPW for WWE. | Sep 27, 2015NJPW Destruction 2015Kobe, Japan | 120 days |
| 11 | Hirooki Goto2nd reign His second reign. | May 3, 2015NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2015Fukuoka, Japan | 147 days |
| 10 | Shinsuke Nakamura4th reign His fourth reign. | Sep 21, 2014NJPW Destruction 2014Kobe, Japan | 224 days |
| 9 | Bad Luck Fale | Jun 21, 2014NJPW Dominion 6.21Osaka, Japan | 92 days |
| 8 | Shinsuke Nakamura3rd reign His third reign. | Apr 6, 2014NJPW Invasion Attack 2014Tokyo, Japan | 76 days |
| 7 | Hiroshi Tanahashi1st reign | Jan 4, 2014NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8Tokyo, Japan | 92 days |
| 6 | Shinsuke Nakamura2nd reign His second reign. | Jul 20, 2013NJPW Kizuna Road 2013Akita, Japan | 168 days |
| 5 | La Sombra | May 31, 2013CMLL Super ViernesMexico City, Mexico | 50 days |
| 4 | Shinsuke Nakamura1st reign A 313-day reign, the longest in the title history. | Jul 22, 2012NJPW Kizuna Road 2012Yamagata, Japan | 313 days |
| 3 | Hirooki Goto1st reign | Feb 12, 2012NJPW The New Beginning 2012Osaka, Japan | 161 days |
| 2 | Masato Tanaka | Oct 10, 2011NJPW Destruction 2011Tokyo, Japan | 125 days |
| 1 | MVP Defeated Toru Yano in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. | May 15, 2011NJPW Invasion Tour 2011Philadelphia, PA | 148 days |
The IWGP Intercontinental Championship, a NJPW secondary heavyweight title established in 2011 with MVP as the inaugural champion. Tetsuya Naito is a record eight-time champion and Shinsuke Nakamura held it five times, including the longest reign at 313 days. On March 4, 2021 it was unified into the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship; NJPW later restored the lineage and officially retired the title in January 2026 with Yota Tsuji as the final champion.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship — FAQ
The IWGP Intercontinental Championship is no longer active. Physically retired on March 4, 2021 when it was unified with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to form the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, and officially retired on January 6, 2026 when Yota Tsuji deactivated the World Heavyweight title. NJPW retroactively recognized every IWGP World Heavyweight Championship reign from 2021 to 2026 as part of this title's lineage, so those reigns are included here and were simultaneously the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The final champion was Yota Tsuji.
MVP was the inaugural IWGP Intercontinental Championship, winning it on May 15, 2011 at NJPW Invasion Tour 2011.
Tetsuya Naito has the most reigns with 8.
Shinsuke Nakamura's reign beginning Jul 22, 2012 is the longest at 313 days.
There have been 41 reigns across 23 different champions since the title was established.