WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship

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Not to be confused with Greatest 18 Club Championship.
WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionWorld Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (WWWF / WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedDecember 18, 1978
Date retiredDecember 31, 1989
Other name(s)
  • WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1978–1979)
  • WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1979–1989)
Statistics
First champion(s)Antonio Inoki
Final champion(s)Antonio Inoki
Most reignsAntonio Inoki
(2 reigns)
Longest reignAntonio Inoki
(1st reign, 3,780 days)
Shortest reignShota Chochishvili
(31 days)
Oldest championShota Chochishvili
(38 years, 289 days)
Youngest championAntonio Inoki
(35 years, 302 days)
Heaviest championShota Chochishvili
(243lb (110kg))
Lightest championAntonio Inoki
(224lb (102kg))

The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and later in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was created on December 18, 1978, and awarded to NJPW mainstay Antonio Inoki by Vincent J. McMahon, upon Inoki's arrival in America.[1] The title was known for being contested in matches billed as shoot wrestling fights. The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was contested solely in NJPW after the promotion became unaffiliated with the WWF in 1985.

History[edit]

The WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was first established on December 18, 1978 during a World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) house show in New York, New York. At the event, WWWF promoter Vincent J. McMahon awarded the championship to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promoter Antonio Inoki for Inoki's achievements against fighters from other combat sports, including his fight against Dutch judoka Willem Ruska and his 1976 fight against world champion boxer Muhammad Ali. Inoki made his first defense of the Martial Arts Championship on the December 18 house show, defeating Texas Red.[2] Inoki would continue to defend the championship against both professional wrestlers, like Larry Sharpe during Showdown at Shea, and martial artists like karateka Willie Williams. In 1979, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), with the championship adopting the new initials and becoming known as the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship. The championship was retired on December 31, 1989 during NJPW's inaugural event in the Soviet Union.

During the thirtieth anniversary of Inoki's career, NJPW created the "Greatest 18 Club", a hall of fame. NJPW then created a new title, the Greatest 18 Club Championship, which was intended to complement the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The Greatest 18 Championship was represented by the former Martial Arts Championship belt and was awarded to Riki Choshu in 1990. Choshu lost the title to The Great Muta in 1992. Muta retired the title on September 23 of that year, in order to focus on his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title defenses. The title was subsequently officially retired by NJPW.[3][4]

Reigns[edit]

Over the championship's 11-year history, there were only two reigns between two champions. Antonio Inoki was the inaugural and last champion. Inoki's first reign was the longest at 3,780, while Shota Chochishvili's reign was the shortest at 31 days. Chochishvili was the oldest champion at 38 years old, while Inoki was the youngest at 35 years old.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Antonio Inoki December 18, 1978 WWWF house show New York, NY 1 3,780 Inoki was awarded the championship by Vincent J. McMahon for his achievements in matches against fighters from other combat sports. Inoki makes his first defense of the title at this event against Texas Red.[2] [5]
2 Shota Chochishvili April 24, 1989 Battle Satellite in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 31 This was a no rope martial arts match; Chochishvili won in the fifth round via knockout. [6]
3 Antonio Inoki May 25, 1989 Battle Satellite 1989 in Osaka Osaka, Japan 2 220 This was a no rope martial arts match; Inoki won in the second round via submission. [7]
— Deactivated December 31, 1989 Martial Arts Festival Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union — — Inoki gives the belt to Soviet judoka Shota Chochishvili, the only man to defeat him for the championship, as a sign of friendship between the Japanese and Soviet peoples during NJPW's inaugural event in the Soviet Union. Inoki was then recognized as the final champion after NJPW abandoned the title on December 31, 1989. The physical belt was later used to represent NJPW's Greatest 18 Club Championship. [8][9]

Combined reigns[edit]

Rank Champion No. of
reigns 		Combined
days
1 Antonio Inoki 2 4,000
2 Shota Chochishvili 1 31

References[edit]

  1. ^ "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  2. ^ a b "WWWF". Cagematch.net. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  3. ^ "Solie's Title Histories: WWWF/WWF". www.solie.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  4. ^ "The Greatest 18 Club Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  5. ^ "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  6. ^ "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  7. ^ "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  8. ^ "NJPW Martial Arts Festival". Cagematch.net. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  9. ^ "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.


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