GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship History

The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Junior Heavyweight Championship is a singles title in NOAH for Junior Heavyweights only (<100 kg/220 lbs). It was created on June 24, 2001 when Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Juventud Guerrera in a tournament final. The title has been defended outside Japan several times, mainly in the USA but also in Europe. All GHC Junior Heavyweight Title matches and contract signings were overseen and introduced by NOAH title commissioner Joe Higuchi until his death in October 2010.

To this date there have been 20 GHC 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 NOAH’s official English-language website, noah-usa.cc.
1-Yoshinobu Kanemaru. 1st reign. Length: 6/24/2001-10/19/2001. Successful defenses: 2.

2-Tatsuhito Takaiwa. 1st reign. Length: 10/19/2001-12/9/2001. Successful defenses: 1.

3-Naomichi Marufuji. 1st reign. Length: 12/9/2001-4/7/2002. Successful defenses: 1.

4-Makoto Hashi. 1st reign. Length: 4/7/2002. Successful defenses: None. Title immediately vacated because Hashi refused the title because he won by ref stoppage due to a Marufuji injury.

5-Yoshinobu Kanemaru. 2nd reign. Length: 5/26/2002-3/30/2003. Successful defenses: 3.

6-Michael Modest. 1st reign. Length: 3/30/2003-9/12/2003. Successful defenses: 2.

7-Takashi Sugiura. 1st reign. Length: 9/12/2003-1/4/2004. Successful defenses: 2.

8-Jushin Liger. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2004-7/10/2004. Successful defenses: 5.

9-Yoshinobu Kanemaru. 3rd reign. Length: 7/10/2004-7/18/2005. Successful defenses: 5.

10-KENTA. 1st reign. Length: 7/18/2005-6/4/2006. Successful defenses: 6.

11-Takashi Sugiura. 2nd reign. Length: 6/4/2006-12/23/2006. Successful defenses: 1.

12-Tatsuhito Takaiwa. 1st reign. Length: 12/23/2006-4/28/2007. Successful defenses: 2.

13-Mushiking Terry (Kotaro Suzuki). 1st reign. Length: 4/28/2007-10/27/2007. Successful defenses: None.

14-Yoshinobu Kanemaru. 4th reign. Length: 10/27/2007-9/14/2008. Successful defenses: 5.

15-Bryan Danielson. 1st reign. Length: 9/14/2008-10/13/2008. Successful defenses: 1.

16-KENTA. 2nd reign. Length: 10/13/2008-2/11/2009. Successful defenses: 3.

17-Katsuhiko Nakajima. 1st reign. Length: 2/11/2009-3/1/2009. Successful defenses: None.

18-KENTA. 3rd reign. Length: 3/1/2009-10/30/2009. Successful defenses: 3. Vacated title on 10/30/2009 due to injury.

19-Yoshinobu Kanemaru. 5th reign. Length: 10/31/2009-12/5/2010. Successful defenses: 6.

20-Kotaro Suzuki. 1st reign. Length: 12/5/2010-Present (Current Champion). Successful defenses: 7. Next defense: 9/23/2011 vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima.