All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Championship History

The All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a singles title in All-Japan contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg/220 lb) wrestlers. It was created on July 31, 1986 when Hiro Saito defeated Brad Armstrong in a tournament final.

To this date there have been 30 All-Japan Junior Heavyweight Champions. They are listed below in order of reign along with which reign it was (some won it multiple times), length of reign and number of successful defenses. All records are based on the official records from All-Japan’s official website, all-japan.co.jp.
1-Hiro Saito. 1st reign. Length: 7/31/1986-11/23/1986. Successful defenses: 3.

2-Kuniaki Kobayashi. 1st reign. Length: 11/23/1986-1/3/1987. Successful defenses: 1.

3-Masanobu Fuchi. 1st reign. Length: 1/3/1987-1/20/1989. Successful defenses: 7.

4-Joe Malenko. 1st reign. Length: 1/20/1989-1/25/1989. Successful defenses: None.

5-Mighty Inoue. 1st reign. Length: 1/25/1989-3/8/1989. Successful defenses: 2.

6-Masanobu Fuchi. 2nd reign. Length: 3/8/1989-4/16/1989. Successful defenses: 1.

7-Shinichi Nakano. 1st reign. Length: 4/16/1989-4/20/1989. Successful defenses: None.

8-Mitsuo Momota. 1st reign. Length: 4/20/1989-7/1/1989. Successful defenses: 2.

9-Joe Malenko. 2nd reign. Length: 7/1/1989-10/20/1989. Successful defenses: 2.

10-Masanobu Fuchi. 3rd reign. Length: 10/20/1989-5/21/1993. Successful defenses: 14.

11-Dan Kroffat. 1st reign. Length: 5/21/1993-8/23/1993. Successful defenses: None.

12-Masanobu Fuchi. 4th reign. Length: 8/23/1993-7/12/1994. Successful defenses: 2.

13-Dan Kroffat. 2nd reign. Length: 7/12/1994-9/10/1995. Successful defenses: 5.

14-Yoshinari Ogawa. 1st reign. Length: 9/10/1995-6/30/1996. Successful defenses: 4.

15-Masanobu Fuchi. 5th reign. Length: 6/30/1996-7/24/1996. Successful defenses: None.

16-Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. 1st reign. Length: 7/24/1996-1/15/1997. Successful defenses: 2.

17-Yoshinari Ogawa. 1st reign. Length: 1/15/1997-8/22/1997. Successful defenses: 1.

18-Maunakea Mossman (Taiyo Kea). 1st reign. Length: 8/22/1997-6/12/1998. Successful defenses: 3. Vacated title on 6/12/1998 due to moving to Heavyweight.

19-Yoshinari Ogawa. 2nd reign. Length: 7/19/1998-6/16/2000. Successful defenses: 5. Vacated title on 6/16/2000 due to leaving All-Japan to form NOAH as part of mass talent exodus.

20-Kendo Ka Shin. 1st reign. Length: 4/13/2002-2/12/2004. Successful defenses: 8. Vacated title on 2/12/2004 due to inactivity.

21-Kaz Hayashi. 1st reign. Length: 2/22/2004-1/10/2005. Successful defenses: 6.

22-Taka Michinoku. 1st reign. Length: 1/10/2005-10/22/2005. Successful defenses: 12.

23-Shuji Kondo. 1st reign. Length: 10/22/2005-2/17/2007. Successful defenses: 5.

24-Katsuhiko Nakajima. 1st reign. Length: 2/17/2007-3/1/2008. Successful defenses: 3 with 1 No Contest. Title held up after title defense on 10/18/2007 ended in a No Contest but is still recognized as official champion.

25-Silver King. 1st reign. Length: 3/1/2008-4/29/2008. Successful defenses: None.

26-Ryuji Hijikata. 1st reign. Length: 4/29/2008-9/28/2008. Successful defenses: 3.

27-Naomichi Marufuji. 1st reign. Length: 9/28/2008-2/6/2009. Successful defenses: 4.

28-Kaz Hayashi. 2nd reign. Length: 2/6/2009-1/2/2011. Successful defenses: 17.

29-Minoru. 1st reign. Length: 1/2/2011-6/3/2011. Successful defenses: 1. Stripped of title on 6/3/2011 when suspended indefinitely for his role in a backstage assault of Nobukazu Hirai (Super Hate) by TARU-he was present but did not do anything to break it up.

30-KAI. 1st reign. Length: 6/19/2011-Present (Current Champion). Successful defenses: 2. Next defense: TBA.