BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship

Professional wrestling championship

BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship

Official design of the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (2012 - present)

Details
Promotion| Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Date established| August 9, 1998
Current champion(s)| Hideyoshi Kamitani
Date won| April 14, 2024
| Statistics

First champion(s)| The Great Pogo
Most reigns| Ryuji Ito (7 reigns)
Longest reign| Ryuji Ito (850 days)
Shortest reign| Ryuji Ito (4 days)
Oldest champion| Abdullah the Butcher (57 years, 364 days)
Youngest champion| Drew Parker (23 years, 206 days)
Heaviest champion| Abdullah the Butcher (502 lb)
Lightest champion| Isami Kodaka and Drew Parker (165 lb)

The BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (BJW認定デスマッチヘビー級王座, BJW nintei desumacchi hebī-kyū ōza) is a title contested for in the Japanese promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. As its name suggests, it is exclusively defended in deathmatches. It was first created in 1998 when The Great Pogo defeated Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a tournament final.[1] There have been a total of 23 recognized champions who have had a combined 48 official reigns. The current champion is Yuki Ishikawa who is in his first reign.[2]

## Inaugural tournament

[edit]

A single elimination tournament was set up to crown the inaugural champion which took place between June 8 and August 9, 1998.[3]

| Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | | | Final |

|
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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Pin | | |
| Jason the Terrible | 14:29 |
| | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Pin |
|  |
| | | Shadow Winger | 10:21 |
| Shadow Winger | Pin |

| Shoji Nakamaki | 7:29 |
| | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | Pin |
|  |
| | | The Great Pogo | 8:36 |
| The Great Pogo | Pin | |

| Kung Fu Lee | 9:23 |
| | The Great Pogo | Pin |
|  |
| | | Shadow WX | 15:02 |
| Shadow WX | Pin |

| Tomoaki Honma | 16:22 |

## Title history

[edit]

Key  No.  | Overall reign number

|

Reign  | Reign number for the specific champion
Days  | Number of days held
Defenses  | Number of successful defenses
(NLT) | Championship change took place "no later than" the date listed
\+  | Current reign is changing daily
No. | Champion  | Championship change  | Reign statistics  | Notes  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

Date  | Event  | Location  | Reign  | Days | Defenses
1  | The Great Pogo | August 9, 1998 | Big Japan Fighter Declaration 1998  | Kawasaki, Japan | 1  | 14 | 0  | Defeated Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in a glass and fire coffin cremation deathmatch tournament final.  | [1]
2  | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | August 23, 1998 | Big Japan Fighter Declaration 1998  | Osaka, Japan | 1  | 31 | 0  | This was a glass and fire coffin cremation deathmatch.  | [1]
3  | Shadow WX | September 23, 1998 | BJ Hard Core  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 109 | 1  | This was a three-way board alligator deathmatch.  | [1]
4  | Abdullah the Butcher | January 10, 1999 | House show | Fukuoka, Japan | 1  | 49 | 0  | This was a lumberjack deathmatch.  | [1]
5  | Shadow WX | February 28, 1999 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 2  | 91 | 1  | This was a barbed wire board deathmatch.  | [1]
6  | Ryuji Yamakawa | May 30, 1999 | House show | Osaka, Japan | 1  | 72 | 1  | This was a no rope barbed wire death pallet coffin and fire deathmatch.  | [1]
7  | Shadow WX | August 10, 1999 | House show | Osaka, Japan | 3  | 116 | 2  | This was a no rope barbed wire fire deathmatch.  | [1]
8  | Ryuji Yamakawa | December 4, 1999 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 29 | 0  | This was a four-corner lighttubes board deathmatch.  | [1]
9  | Tomoaki Honma | January 2, 2000 | New Year Great Series 2000  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 182 | 1  | This was a five-inch spike nail and barbed wire double board quarterfinal deathmatch in the BJ Grand Prix 2000 tournament.  | [4]
10  | Zandig | July 2, 2000 | BJ Hardcore Series II 2000  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 144 | 2  | This was a lemon, salt and mustard deathmatch.  | [5]
11  | Tomoaki Honma | November 23, 2000 | Wonder BJ 2000 Series  | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | [a] | 2  | This was a lemon, salt and mustard deathmatch.  | [6]
—  | Vacated | February 2001 (NLT) | —  | —  | —  | — | —  | Honma was stripped of the title after he left BJW.  | [1]
12  | Zandig | May 4, 2001 | North Wave 2001  | Sapporo, Japan | 2  | 107 | 1  | Defeated Kintaro Kanemura in a CZW Caribbean-style barbed wire, lighttubes, lighttubes board and barbed wire chess board deathmatch to win the vacant title.  | [1][7]
13  | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | August 19, 2001 | Universe 2001  | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 105 | 0  | This was a 200 lighttubes and thumbtack and glass board deathmatch.  | [8]
14  | Zandig | December 2, 2001 | Ante Up 2001 | Yokohama, Japan | 3  | [b] | 0  | This was an exploding glass, lighttubes and thumbtacks deathmatch.  | [9]
—  | Vacated | 2002 (NLT) | —  | —  | —  | — | —  | When Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and BJW's business relationship ended, Zandig left the company with the title belt. The belt was used in CZW to represent the new CZW Death Match Championship. BJW vacated the title in 2002. In 2003, the title belt returned to Japan and a tournament was held to crown a new champion.  | [1][10]
15  | Kintaro Kanemura | March 30, 2003 | Harder Than Hardcore IV  | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 147 | 1  | Defeated Shadow WX in a lighttubes and glass deathmatch to win the vacant title.  | [11]
16  | Ryuji Ito | August 24, 2003 | HTH5 Series 2003  | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 850 | 6  | This was a steel cage match.  | [12]
17  | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 21, 2005 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 100 | 0  | This was a scaffold match.  | [1]
18  | Takashi Sasaki | March 31, 2006 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 163 | 1  | This was a lighttubes and bed of nails deathmatch.  | [1]
19  | Ryuji Ito | September 10, 2006 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 4 | 0  | This was a lighttubes, bunkhouse, double hell, super high ladder, and barbed wire Hell deathmatch.  | [1]
—  | Vacated | September 14, 2006 | —  | —  | —  | — | —  | Vacated due to a wrist injury.  | [1]
20  | Takashi Sasaki | December 3, 2006 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 266 | 2  | Defeated "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa in a lighttubes shrine deathmatch to win the vacant title.  | [1]
21  | "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa | August 26, 2007 | Pro-Wrestling Summit in Ariake  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 110 | 1  |  | [13]
22  | Ryuji Ito | December 14, 2007 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 3  | 142 | 1  | This was a four corner cross of D match.  | [1]
23  | Shadow WX | May 4, 2008 | Katsura Special 14  | Koshigaya, Japan | 4  | 229 | 3  | This was a fluorescent lighttube boards and weapons deathmatch.  | [1]
24  | Yuko Miyamoto | December 19, 2008 | House show | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 501 | 4  |  | [1]
25  | Ryuji Ito | May 4, 2010 | BJW 15th Anniversary Show  | Yokohama, Japan | 4  | 593 | 6  | This was a 200 fluorescent lighttubes cage deathmatch.  | [1][14]
26  | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 18, 2011 | Big Japan Death Vegas 2011  | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 381 | 7  | This was a Game of Death deathmatch.  | [1][15]
27  | Shuji Ishikawa | January 2, 2013 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 306 | 4  | This was a glass board and new year deathmatch.  | [1]
28  | Isami Kodaka | November 4, 2013 | Big Japan Death Vegas 2013  | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 202 | 4  | This was a culture of death match.  | [1][16]
29  | Ryuji Ito | May 25, 2014 | Death Market 21  | Nagoya, Japan | 5  | 21 | 0  | This was a two-out-of-three falls match.  | [1][17]
30  | Yuko Miyamoto | June 15, 2014 | House show | Hiroshima, Japan | 2  | 324 | 5  |  | [1]
31  | Abdullah Kobayashi | May 5, 2015 | Endless Survivor 2015  | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 76 | 0  |  | [1][18]
32  | Ryuji Ito | July 20, 2015 | Ryōgokutan 2015 | Tokyo, Japan | 6  | 370 | 5  |  | [1]
33  | Kankuro Hoshino | July 24, 2016 | Ryōgokutan 2016 | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 147 | 3  |  | [1][19]
34  | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 18, 2016 | Big Japan Death Vegas 2016  | Yokohama, Japan | 4  | 138 | 0  |  | [1][20]
35  | Masaya Takahashi | May 5, 2017 | Endless Survivor 2017  | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 106 | 2  | This was a Spike nails and 150 lighttubes deathmatch.  | [1][21]
36  | Masashi Takeda | August 19, 2017 | Death Mania V  | Nagoya, Japan | 1  | 449 | 9  |  | [1][22]
37  | Masaya Takahashi | November 11, 2018 | Ryōgokutan 2018 | Tokyo, Japan | 2  | 175 | 3  |  | [1][23]
38  | Isami Kodaka | May 5, 2019 | Endless Survivor 2019  | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 227 | 4  |  | [1][24]
39  | Abdullah Kobayashi | December 18, 2019 | Big Japan Pro Wrestling 25th Anniversary Memorial  | Yokohama, Japan | 5  | 89 | 1  |  | [1][25]
40  | Ryuji Ito | March 16, 2020 | BJW Dai Nippon Pro-Wrestling 25th Anniversary ~ Stardust Superstars  | Yokohama, Japan | 7  | 165 | 0  |  | [1][26]
41  | Minoru Fujita | August 29, 2020 | Last Buntai at BJW  | Yokohama, Japan | 1  | 128 | 3  |  | [1][27]
42  | Takumi Tsukamoto | January 2, 2021 | BJW 2021 New Year  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 202 | 1  |  | [1][28]
43  | Drew Parker | July 23, 2021 | BJW Korakuen Hall Tournament  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 44 | 1  | This was a Barbed wire casket and Fluorescent light tubes Death Match | [29]
44  | Yuko Miyamoto | September 5, 2021 | BJW Death Mania IX 2021  | Nagoya, Japan | 3  | 242 | 5  | This was a tables, ladders & chairs deathmatch | [30]
45  | Drew Parker | May 5, 2022 | BJW Big Japan Welcome Back  | Yokohama, Japan | 2  | 8 | 1  | This was a scaffold & alpha deathmatch | [31]
—  | Vacated | May 13, 2022 | BJW  | Tokyo, Japan | —  | — | —  | Parker vacated the championship upon leaving BJW.  |
46  | Hideyoshi Kamitani | August 28, 2022 | BJW Death Mania X 2022  | Nagoya, Japan | 1  | 249 | 4  | Kamitani defeated Abdullah Kobayashi in the finals of a tournament which was contested in a fluorescent lighttubes jungle deathmatch.  | [32]
47  | Abdullah Kobayashi | May 4, 2023 | BJW Endless Survivor ~ Infinity Independent  | Yokohama, Japan | 6  | 73 | 0  | This was a Yokohama explosion jungle deathmatch.  | [33]
48  | Yuki Ishikawa | July 16, 2023 | BJW  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 167 | 4  | This was a deathmatch.  | [34]
49  | Mad Man Pondo | December 30, 2023 | BJW  | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 5 | 0  | This was a fluorescent lighttubes & Illinois street fight deathmatch.  | [35]
50  | Yuki Ishikawa | January 4, 2024 | BJW Deathmatch King Death  | Tokyo, Japan | 2  | 101 | 1  | This was a lighttube deathmatch.  | [36]
51  | Hideyoshi Kamitani | April 14, 2024 | BJW New Standard Big "B" ~ Feelin' Come 2024  | Sapporo, Japan | 2  | 211+ | 3  | This was a high pressure deathmatch.  | [37]

## Combined reigns

[edit]

As of November 11, 2024.

Record seven-time, longest single and combined reigning champion Ryuji Ito with the title belt in August 2015. Two-time and current champion, Hideyoshi Kamitani. †  | 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  | Combined
defenses  | Combined
days

|
|
|
|

1  | Ryuji Ito | 7 | 18 | 2,145
2  | Yuko Miyamoto | 3 | 14 | 1,067
3  | Abdullah Kobayashi | 6 | 9 | 859
4  | Shadow WX | 4 | 7 | 545
5  | Hideyoshi Kamitani † | 2 | 7 | 460+
6  | Masashi Takeda | 1 | 9 | 449
7  | Isami Kodaka | 2 | 8 | 429
Takashi Sasaki | 2 | 3 | 429
9  | Shuji Ishikawa | 1 | 4 | 306
10  | Masaya Takahashi | 2 | 5 | 281
Zandig | 3 | 3 | 281¤
12  | Yuki Ishikawa | 2 | 5 | 268
13  | Tomoaki Honma | 2 | 3 | 252¤
14  | Takumi Tsukamoto | 1 | 1 | 202
15  | Kankuro Hoshino | 1 | 3 | 147
Kintaro Kanemura | 1 | 1 | 147
17  | Mitsuhiro Matsunaga | 2 | 0 | 136
18  | Minoru Fujita | 1 | 3 | 128
19  | "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa | 1 | 1 | 110
20  | Ryuji Yamakawa | 2 | 1 | 101
21  | Drew Parker | 2 | 2 | 52
22  | Abdullah the Butcher | 1 | 0 | 49
23  | The Great Pogo | 1 | 0 | 14
24  | Mad Man Pondo | 1 | 0 | 5

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The date of at least one of the title changes in this reign is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 70 and 97 days.
2. ^ The date of at least one of the title changes in this reign is uncertain, which means that the reign lasted between 30 and 394 days.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al "BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship title history" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
2. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Champions and Championships/BJW Death Match Heavyweight Title". wrestlingdata.com (in German). Retrieved May 4, 2021.
3. ^ "Big Japan Death Match Title Tournament 1998". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
4. ^ "BJW BJ Great Series tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
5. ^ "BJW BJ Hardcore Series II tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
6. ^ "BJW Wonder BJ 2000 Series tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
7. ^ "BJW North Wave tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
8. ^ "BJW Universe tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
9. ^ "BJW Ante Up results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
10. ^ "Archived copy". www.100megsfree4.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. ^ "BJW Harder Than Hardcore IV tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
12. ^ "BJW HTH5 Series tour results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
13. ^ "Indy Summit results" (in German). PuroLove.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
14. ^ Wrestling Epicenter. "BJW Big Japan 15th Anniversary Show". wrestlingepicenter.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
15. ^ CZW Studios (December 18, 2011). "BJW "Death Vegas" 12/18/2011 Yokohama, Japan". Retrieved May 4, 2021.
16. ^ Daly, Wayne (November 5, 2013). "BJW Results: Death Vegas – Kanagawa, Japan (11/4)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
17. ^ Hardy, Neithan (May 30, 2014). "Resultados - BJW Death Market 21 - 25/05". mundodeportivo.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
18. ^ Wilson, kevin (May 8, 2015). "BIG JAPAN WRESTLING – ENDLESS SURVIVOR (MAY 5) REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
19. ^ Justin, Dylan (July 29, 2016). "BIG JAPAN WRESTLING RYOGOKUTAN 2016 (JULY 24) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
20. ^ Wardlaw, Drew (December 23, 2016). "BURNING SPIRITS #10: BIG JAPAN DEATH VEGAS REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
21. ^ Dark angel (May 4, 2017). "BJW: Official presentation of "Endless Survivor 2017" all set for survivors to reach glory". superluchas.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
22. ^ Dark angel (August 23, 2017). "BJW: Results «Death Mania V» 19/08/2017 Masashi Takeda is crowned after bloody fight". superluchas.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
23. ^ Big Japan Pro Wrestling (November 11, 2018). 「両極譚～RYOGOKUTAN～2018」東京･両国国技館大会. bjw.co.jp. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
24. ^ Monday, Zack (May 7, 2019). "BJW "ENDLESS SURVIVOR ~ 2019" MAY 5TH, 2019 RESULTS/WRITE-UP". theindycorner.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
25. ^ Big Japan Pro Wrestling (December 18, 2019). 大日本プロレス25周年メモリアル「SUPER STAR WARRIORS」神奈川･横浜文化体育館大会. bjw.co.jp. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
26. ^ UltraViolent Wrestling Group (March 16, 2020). "BJW Dai Nippon Pro-Wrestling 25th Anniversary: Stardust Superstars [16.03.2020]". vk.com (in Russian). Retrieved May 4, 2021.
27. ^ Daly, Wayne (August 29, 2020). "BJW Results: Last Buntai At BJW – Yokohama, Japan (8/29)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
28. ^ Daly, Wayne (January 2, 2021). "BJW Results: 2021 New Year – Tokyo, Japan (1/2)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
29. ^ Big Japan Pro Wrestling (July 23, 2021). 「シングル二大タイトルマッチ」東京･後楽園ホール大会. bjw.co (in Japanese). Retrieved July 24, 2021.
30. ^ Big Japan Pro Wrestling (September 5, 2021). 「Death Mania IX 2021」愛知･名古屋国際会議場イベントホール大会. bjw.co (in Japanese). Retrieved September 5, 2021.
31. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 5, 2022). "BJW Big Japan Welcome Back". cagematch.net. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
32. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 28, 2022). "BJW Death Mania X 2022". cagematch.net. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
33. ^ Big Japan Pro Wrestling (May 4, 2023). 【2023年最大のビックマッチ!!】「BIG JAPAN ENDLESS SURVIVOR〜INFINITY INDEPENDENT〜」神奈川・横浜武道館大会. bjw.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved May 7, 2023.
34. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 16, 2023). "BJW". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
35. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (December 30, 2023). "BJW". cagematch.net. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
36. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (January 4, 2024). "BJW Deathmatch King Death". cagematch.net. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
37. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 14, 2024). "BJW New Standard Big "B" ~ Feelin' Come 2024 - Tag 2". cagematch.net. Retrieved April 14, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* BJW official site
* BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Title History at Cagematch.net

* v
* t
* e

BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Champions

1990s|

* The Great Pogo
* Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
* Shadow WX
* Abdullah the Butcher
* Ryuji Yamakawa

2000s|

* Tomoaki Honma
* Zandig
* Kintaro Kanemura
* Ryuji Ito
* Abdullah Kobayashi
* Takashi Sasaki
* Jaki Numazawa
* Yuko Miyamoto

2010s|

* Shuji Ishikawa
* Isami Kodaka
* Kankuro Hoshino
* Masaya Takahashi
* Masashi Takeda

2020s|

* Minoru Fujita
* Takumi Tsukamoto
* Drew Parker
* Hideyoshi Kamitani (current)
* Yuki Ishikawa
* Mad Man Pondo

* v
* t
* e

Big Japan Pro Wrestling

Championships|

| Current|

| Heavyweight|

* Deathmatch Heavyweight
* World Strong Heavyweight

|

Junior heavyweight|

* Junior Heavyweight

Tag team|

* Tag Team
* UWA World Tag Team
* Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team

Former|

* Heavyweight
* Junior Heavyweight (original version)
* Women's
* WEW Hardcore Tag Team

Events|

* Ante Up
* Indy Summit
* New Year's Eve Pro-Wrestling 2011
* New Year's Eve Pro-Wrestling 2012
* Ōmisoka New Year's Eve Pro-Wrestling 2010 Countdown Special
* Pro-Wrestling Summit 2008
* Pro-Wrestling Summit in Korakuen
* Tenka Sanbun no Kei: Ōmisoka New Year's Eve Special
* Wrestling World 1997

Tournaments|

* Ikkitousen Deathmatch Survivor
* Ikkitousen Strong Climb
* Saikyo Tag League

Miscellaneous|

* Big Japan Pro Wrestling Core
* Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
* United Japan Pro-Wrestling

*[No.]: Number
*[Ref.]: Reference(s)
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