10 Longest Reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champions Ever
4. Yuji Nagata - 392 Days
When Yujiro Takahashi shocked Japan by joining Bullet Club and allowing Styles to defeat Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, it meant that Okada's second reign fell agonisingly short of the fourth longest reign in history. That title still belongs to 'Blue Justice' himself, Yuji Nagata, the leader of the Third Generation and one of the most respected professional wrestlers on the planet.
Nagata is a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion but it is his first reign that is his longest. The man known as 'Mr. IWGP' won the championship for the very first time by defeating Tadao Yasuda at Toukon Special in April 2002 and held it for an impressive 392 days before falling at the hands of Yoshihiro Takayama at Ultimate Crush 2003.
Nagata was a fighting champion to say the least, and by the time Takayama defeated him, no man had defended the title successfully as many times during a reign as 'Blue Justice'. Nagata defeated Takayama, Kensuke Sasaki, Bas Rutten (seriously), Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazunari Marukami, Josh Barnett, Yasuda, and Osamu Nishimura, as well as going to draws with Masahiro Chono and Manabu Nakanishi.
His second reign came four years later and lasted a still impressive 178 days.