Daily DDT
Fansided

NJPW: Remembering the top 5 IWGP Intercontinental Champions as we say goodbye to the white belt

By Patches Chance

TOKYO,JAPAN - JUNE 28: Shinsuke Nakamura enters the ring during the WWE Live Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 28, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
TOKYO,JAPAN - JUNE 28: Shinsuke Nakamura enters the ring during the WWE Live Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 28, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
NJPW, Hiroshi Tanahashi
NJPW, Hiroshi Tanahashi (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi and the Wrestle Kingdom 8 main event

If you look at the lineage of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that The Ace of NJPW and someone who was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion cared enough to pursue the title.

Hiroshi Tanahashi’s goal of capturing the white belt from Shinsuke Nakamura carried him all the way to the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 8. It was the only time since the creation of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship that the main event of Wrestle Kingdom was not for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

Tanahashi carried it for 92 days before losing it back to Shinsuke Nakamura, but recaptured the title three years later by defeating Tetsuya Naito. Tanahashi’s second reign lasted 230 days and is the third-longest behind Nakamura and Naito’s first reigns.

Kota Ibushi, IWGP Intercontinental Champion
NJPW, Kota Ibushi (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /

3. Kota Ibushi, the final IWGP Intercontinental Champion

The path to the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for Kota Ibushi had to do with Shinsuke Nakamura leaving NJPW. With the quintessential champion gone, Kota Ibushi felt a drive to capture the title himself and recreate the prestige and importance Nakamura brought to the belt.

He first captured it at G1 Supercard in April of 2019 by defeating Tetsuya Naito, but the reign only lasted 64 days before Naito took it back. They finally faced each other again this year at Wrestle Kingdom 15 where Ibushi defeated Naito to win both the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Titles.

Unfortunately, Ibushi will be the last man to hold the belt, as his two titles are now being unified. However, his drive to keep the title respected and prestigious played an important role in the belt’s later years.

Home/NJPW