10 Greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champions

A legend in the world of professional wrestling as a whole, Riki Choshu’s notorious betrayal of Tatsumi Fujinami was one of the original heel turns in a Japanese promotion.

Going on to become a three time IWGP Heavyweight champion, Choshu’s first title victory came over the Soviet Union’s Salman Hashimikov in July 1989, his second arrived in August 1990 with a win over Big Van Vader and his third came in January 1992 with a defeat handed to old rival Fujinami.

The inventor of the legendary sasori-gatame (aka the sharpshooter aka the scorpion deathlock), Choshu’s title reigns occurred during something of a boom period for New Japan, with legendary stars elevating the cards from top to bottom.

Immensely popular with fans and highly regarded by peers, Choshu’s work in New Japan is considered some of the most influential in the history of Japanese professional wrestling. Moving more into booking by the late '90s, Choshu never held the company’s top prize again. Needless to say his time as champ went out with a bang with his third title reign involving him holding both the IWGP heavyweight championship and the Greatest 18 Club Championship, a title honouring wrestling legends awarded to him by Antonio Inoki.