The Legend Championship (Japanese: レジェンド王座, Hepburn: Rejendo Ōza) is the top singles title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Strong Style Pro-Wrestling. The title was established in 2005 and, as the name suggests, is mainly competed for by seasoned veterans of the sport.[1][2] As it is a professional wrestling championship, the championship is not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers.[a] On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline,[b] or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship,[c] or leaving the company.[d]
| Legend Championship | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||
| Promotion | Strong Style Pro-Wrestling | ||||||||||
| Date established | 2005 | ||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Kazunari Murakami | ||||||||||
| Date won | June 20, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||
Legend Championship (レジェンドチャンピオンシップ, Rejendo Chanpionshippu) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
There have been a total of 18 reigns shared among 12 wrestlers. The current champion is Kazunari Murakami who is in his first reign.
Title history
editReigns
edit| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| N/A | Unknown information |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | |||||
| Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW) | ||||||||||
| 1 | First Tiger Mask | January 27, 2005 | N/A | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | [e] | 0 | Defeated The Great Sasuke to win the inaugural title. | [1] | |
| — | Vacated | 2005 | — | — | — | — | — | Tiger Mask vacated the title due to a neck injury. | [1] | |
| 2 | Masao Orihara | December 16, 2005 | Legend Championship | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | [f] | 2 | Defeated Alexander Otsuka to win the vacant title. | [1][7] | |
| — | Vacated | 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | Championship vacated due to unknown circumstances | [1] | |
| 3 | Alexander Otsuka | December 4, 2008 | Conclusion | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 643 | 4 | Defeated The Great Sasuke to win the vacant title. | [8] | |
| 4 | Mitsuya Nagai | September 8, 2010 | Strong Proof | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 316 | 2 | [9] | ||
| 5 | Super Tiger (II) | July 21, 2011 | Space Flying Tiger Drop | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 239 | 1 | [10] | ||
| 6 | Mitsuya Nagai | March 16, 2012 | Daybreak | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 266 | 1 | [11] | ||
| 7 | Super Tiger (II) | December 7, 2012 | Traditional | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 1,015 | 4 | [11] | ||
| 8 | Masakatsu Funaki | September 18, 2015 | First Tiger Mask Golden Legend: Legend of the Gold II | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 82 | 0 | [12] | ||
| 9 | Daisuke Sekimoto | December 9, 2015 | First Tiger Mask Golden Legend: Legend of the Gold III | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 197 | 1 | [12] | ||
| 10 | Masakatsu Funaki | June 23, 2016 | First Tiger Mask Golden Legend: Legend of the Gold V | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | 79 | 0 | [13] | ||
| 11 | Shinjiro Otani | September 10, 2016 | Golden Age of the Tiger | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 292 | 3 | [13] | ||
| 12 | Masakatsu Funaki | June 29, 2017 | Legend of the Gold VII | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 77 | 0 | [14] | ||
| 13 | Super Tiger (II) | September 14, 2017 | Legend of the Gold VIII | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | 735 | 2 | [14][15] | ||
| Strong Style Pro-Wrestling (SSPW) | ||||||||||
| 14 | Kazuyuki Fujita | September 19, 2019 | Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 3 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 455 | 1 | [16][17] | ||
| 15 | Super Tiger (II) | December 17, 2020 | Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 8 | Tokyo, Japan | 4 | 616 | 4 | [18][19] | ||
| 16 | Kengo Mashimo | August 25, 2022 | Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 18 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 181 | 2 | [20] | ||
| 17 | Hayato Mashita | February 22, 2023 | Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 21 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 484 | 3 | [21] | ||
| 18 | Kazunari Murakami | June 20, 2024 | Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 29 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 161+ | 0 | [22] | ||
Combined reigns
edit| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|---|
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
No. of defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Super Tiger (II) | 4 | 11 | 2,605 |
| 2 | Alexander Otsuka | 1 | 4 | 643 |
| 3 | Mitsuya Nagai | 2 | 3 | 582 |
| 4 | Kazuyuki Fujita | 1 | 1 | 455 |
| 5 | Hayato Mashita | 1 | 3 | 484 |
| 6 | Shinjiro Otani | 1 | 3 | 292 |
| 7 | Masakatsu Funaki | 3 | 0 | 238 |
| 8 | Daisuke Sekimoto | 1 | 1 | 197 |
| 9 | Kengo Mashimo | 1 | 2 | 181 |
| 10 | Masao Orihara | 1 | 2 | 16¤ |
| 11 | Kazunari Murakami † | 1 | 0 | 161+ |
| 12 | First Tiger Mask | 1 | 0 | 1¤ |
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Hornbaker (2016) p. 550: "Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win–loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities – but on now much, or how little they were pushed by promoters"[3]
- ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 271, Chapter: Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [World Class, Adkisson] "Championship held up and rematch ordered because of the interference of manager Gary Hart"[4]
- ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 20, Chapter: (United States: 19th Century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IW, ECW, NWA) NWA/WCW TV Title "Rhodes stripped on 85/10/19 for not defending the belt after having his leg broken by Ric Flair and Ole & Arn Anderson"[5]
- ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 201, Chapter: (Memphis, Nashville) Memphis: USWA Tag Team Title "Vacant on 93/01/18 when Spike leaves the USWA."[6]
- ^ The exact date the championship was vacated has not been confirmed, putting the title reign at between 1 day and 323 days.
- ^ The exact date the championship was vacated has not been confirmed, putting the title reign at between 16 days and 380 days.
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "RJPW Legend Championship". Cagematch.net. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Champions and Championships". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Hornbaker 2016, p. 550.
- ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 271.
- ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 20.
- ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 201.
- ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2005". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2008". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2010". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2011". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2012". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2015". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2016". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2017". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ 【試合結果】9･15 リアルジャパン後楽園ホール大会 【レジェンド選手権】船木誠勝vsスーパー・タイガー “大鵬三世”納谷幸男vs雷神矢口. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2019". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ 【試合詳細】9･19 リアルジャパンプロレス後楽園ホール大会 【レジェンド選手権】スーパー・タイガーvs藤田和之 船木誠勝＆関根“シュレック”秀樹vsタカ・クノウ＆ロッキー川村 アレクサンダー大塚vs竹田誠志 【UWAアジアパシフィック】岩崎孝樹vs将軍岡本. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2020". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ 【試合詳細】12･17 ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会 【レジェンド王座】藤田和之vsスーパー・タイガー 船木誠勝vsアレクサンダー大塚 ケンドー・カシンvs阿部史典 Sareee＆世志琥vsジャガー横田＆山下りな. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ 【試合詳細】8･25 ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会 【レジェンド王座】スーパー・タイガーvs真霜拳號 タイガー・クイーン＆梅咲遥vsダーク・タイガー＆ダーク・チーター with ダーク・パンサー 船木誠勝＆関根“シュレック”秀樹vs関本大介＆将軍岡本. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). August 26, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ 【試合詳細】2・22 ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会 【レジェンド王座】真霜拳號vs間下隼人 タイガー・クイーンvs本間多恵vsウナギ・サヤカ スーパー・タイガー＆竹田誠志vs船木誠勝＆関根“シュレック”秀樹. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). February 23, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- ^ 【試合詳細】6･20 ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会 【レジェンド王座】間下隼人vs村上和成 タイガー・クイーン＆青木いつきvsSareee＆関口翔 ザ・グレート・サスケ＆日高郁人vsアンディ・ウー＆阿部史典. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). June 20, 2024. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024.
Works cited
edit- Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling: 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.
- Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
External links
edit- RJPW Legend Championship
- Legend Championship (in Japanese)