The NJPW World Television Championship (Japanese: NJPW WORLD認定TV王座, Hepburn: Nyū Japan Wārudo-nintei Tī Vī Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion.[2][3] The inaugural champion was Zack Sabre Jr., who has held the championship a record-setting two times. Ren Narita is the current champion, in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Jeff Cobb and Yota Tsuji at King Of Pro Wrestling on October 14, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
| NJPW World Television Championship | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The championship belt | |||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) | ||||||||||||||||
| Date established | October 10, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Ren Narita | ||||||||||||||||
| Date won | October 18, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
History
editNew Japan Pro-Wrestling president and CEO Takami Ohbari and TV Asahi representative Hiroyoki Mihira announced the creation of the title at Declaration of Power on October 10, 2022.[2] The championship is seen as a celebration of both the upcoming 50-year anniversary of the partnership between the two companies, as well as the continued growth of NJPW World, New Japan Pro-Wrestling's online streaming service. Ohbari also expressed encouragement for younger wrestlers on the roster to compete for the championship.[2][4]
All matches contested for the championship will be held with a 15-minute time limit.[2] Furthermore, due to its nature as a television championship, all championship matches (including all matches in the inaugural tournament) will be available for free through the NJPW World service, as well as through New Japan Pro-Wrestling's social media platforms.[2]
Inaugural championship tournament (2022–2023)
editThe first champion was determined in a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament, which began on October 14, 2022, at Battle Autumn (Night 1) and concluded on January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17.[5][6] In the event of a time limit draw during the tournament, the winner (and thus, person advancing) was decided by a coin toss.[5]
Tournament bracket
edit| First round Battle Autumn (Nights 1-3, 9) (October 14, 15, 16 & 26, 2022) | Second round Battle Autumn (Nights 10, 12) (October 27 & 30, 2022) | Semifinals Battle Autumn (Night 16) (November 5, 2022) | Final Wrestle Kingdom 17 (Night 1) (January 4, 2023) | ||||||||||||
| David Finlay | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 11:52[7] | ||||||||||||||
| David Finlay | 13:03[11] | ||||||||||||||
| Zack Sabre Jr. | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Alex Zayne | 14:55[7] | ||||||||||||||
| Zack Sabre Jr. | Sub | ||||||||||||||
| Zack Sabre Jr. | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Evil | 4:48[13] | ||||||||||||||
| Yoshi-Hashi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Jeff Cobb | 12:14[8] | ||||||||||||||
| Yoshi-Hashi | 9:48[11] | ||||||||||||||
| Evil | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Aaron Henare | 10:55[8] | ||||||||||||||
| Evil | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Zack Sabre Jr. | Sub | ||||||||||||||
| Ren Narita | 10:32 | ||||||||||||||
| Sanada | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Taichi | 14:57[9] | ||||||||||||||
| Sanada | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Kenta | 13:05[12] | ||||||||||||||
| Hirooki Goto | 9:32[9] | ||||||||||||||
| Kenta | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Sanada | 14:31[13] | ||||||||||||||
| Ren Narita | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Ren Narita | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | 14:33[10] | ||||||||||||||
| Ren Narita | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Toru Yano | 8:47[12] | ||||||||||||||
| Toru Yano | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Great-O-Khan | 11:20[10] | ||||||||||||||
Reigns
editAs of December 20, 2024, there have been six reigns between five champions. Zack Sabre Jr. was the inaugural champion and also holds the most reigns with the title at two. Ren Narita is the current champion, in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Jeff Cobb and Yota Tsuji in a 3-way match at King Of Pro Wrestling on October 14, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
| 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 | Zack Sabre Jr. | January 4, 2023 | Wrestle Kingdom 17 Night 1 |
Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 365 | 16 | Defeated Ren Narita in the finals of an 16-man single-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion. | [2][1] |
| 2 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | January 4, 2024 | Wrestle Kingdom 18 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 50 | 1 | [14] | |
| 3 | Matt Riddle | February 23, 2024 | The New Beginning in Sapporo Night 1 |
Sapporo, Japan | 1 | 49 | 2 | ||
| 4 | Zack Sabre Jr. | April 12, 2024 | Windy City Riot | Chicago, Illinois | 2 | 21 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Jeff Cobb | May 3, 2024 | Wrestling Dontaku Night 1 |
Fukuoka, Japan | 1 | 231 | 3 | [15] | |
| 6 | Ren Narita | October 14, 2024 | King of Pro-Wrestling | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 67+ | 0 | This was a three-way match, also involving Yota Tsuji. | [16] |
Combined reigns
edit| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Sabre Jr. | 2 | 16 | 386 |
| 2 | Jeff Cobb | 1 | 3 | 231 |
| 3 | Ren Narita † | 1 | 0 | 67+ |
| 4 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | 1 | 50 |
| 5 | Matt Riddle | 1 | 2 | 49 |
References
edit- ^ a b Powell, Jason (January 4, 2023). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 results: Powell's live report on Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP U.S. Championship, Kairi vs. Tam Nakano for the IWGP Women's Title, Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Master Wato for the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "The NJPW World TV Champion to be crowned at Wrestle Kingdom! 【WK17】 - NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ "NJPW Introduces NJPW WORLD TV Championship | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
- ^ Miller, Nick (2022-10-10). "NJPW World Television Championship Announced - Wrestling Inc". WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
- ^ a b "NJPW World TV Title Tournament Set! - NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ Rose, Bryan. "Two title matches announced for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, AEW News, AEW results. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
- ^ a b "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Day 1". Internet Wrestling Database. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ a b "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Day 2". Internet Wrestling Database. October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ a b "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Day 3". Internet Wrestling Database. October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
- ^ a b "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 9 - TV-Show @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
- ^ a b "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 10 - TV-Show @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
- ^ a b "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 12 - TV-Show @ Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 1 in Chiba, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 5, 2022). "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 16". cagematch.net. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
- ^ Powell, Jason (January 4, 2024). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 results: Powell's live review of Sanada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship, Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay for the IWGP Global Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ^ Fritts, Chick (May 3, 2024). "NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Nemeth vs. Tanahashi title match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (May 3, 2024). "NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Results (10/14): Zack Sabre Jr vs. Tetsuya Naito, DOUKI vs. SHO". Fightful. Retrieved October 14, 2024.