WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship

Professional wrestling championship

Not to be confused with Greatest 18 Club Championship.

WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship

Details
Promotion| World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (WWWF / WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date established| December 18, 1978
Date retired| December 31, 1989
Other names

* WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1978–1979)
* WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1979–1989)

| Statistics

First champion| Antonio Inoki
Final champion| Antonio Inoki
Most reigns| Antonio Inoki
(2 reigns)
Longest reign| Antonio Inoki
(1st reign, 3,780 days)
Shortest reign| Shota Chochishvili
(31 days)
Oldest champion| Shota Chochishvili
(38 years, 289 days)
Youngest champion| Antonio Inoki
(35 years, 302 days)
Heaviest champion| Shota Chochishvili
(243lb (110kg))
Lightest champion| Antonio Inoki
(224lb (102kg))

The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and later in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was created on December 18, 1978, and awarded to NJPW mainstay Antonio Inoki by Vincent J. McMahon, upon Inoki's arrival in America.[1] The title was known for being contested in matches billed as shoot wrestling fights. The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was contested solely in NJPW after the promotion became unaffiliated with the WWF in 1985.

## History

[edit]

The WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was first established on December 18, 1978 during a World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) house show in New York, New York. At the event, WWWF promoter Vincent J. McMahon awarded the championship to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promoter Antonio Inoki for Inoki's achievements against fighters from other combat sports, including his fight against Dutch judoka Willem Ruska and his 1976 fight against world champion boxer Muhammad Ali. Inoki made his first defense of the Martial Arts Championship on the December 18 house show, defeating Texas Red.[2] Inoki would continue to defend the championship against both professional wrestlers, like Larry Sharpe during Showdown at Shea, and martial artists like karateka Willie Williams. In 1979, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), with the championship adopting the new initials and becoming known as the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship. The championship was retired on December 31, 1989 during NJPW's inaugural event in the Soviet Union.

During the thirtieth anniversary of Inoki's career, NJPW created the "Greatest 18 Club", a hall of fame. NJPW then created a new title, the Greatest 18 Club Championship, which was intended to complement the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The Greatest 18 Championship was represented by the former Martial Arts Championship belt and was awarded to Riki Choshu in 1990. Choshu lost the title to The Great Muta in 1992. Muta retired the title on September 23 of that year, in order to focus on his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title defenses. The title was subsequently officially retired by NJPW.[3][4]

## Reigns

[edit]

Over the championship's 11-year history, there were only two reigns between two champions. Antonio Inoki was the inaugural and last champion. Inoki's first reign was the longest at 3,780, while Shota Chochishvili's reign was the shortest at 31 days. Chochishvili was the oldest champion at 38 years old, while Inoki was the youngest at 35 years old.

Key  No.  | Overall reign number

|

Reign  | Reign number for the specific champion
Days  | Number of days held
No. | Champion  | Championship change  | Reign statistics  | Notes  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

Date  | Event  | Location  | Reign  | Days
| World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF)
1  | Antonio Inoki | December 18, 1978 | WWWF house show | New York, NY | 1  | 3,780  | Inoki was awarded the championship by Vincent J. McMahon for his achievements in matches against fighters from other combat sports. Inoki makes his first defense of the title at this event against Texas Red.[2] | [1]
| World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
2  | Shota Chochishvili | April 24, 1989 | Battle Satellite in Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | 1  | 31  | This was a no rope martial arts match; Chochishvili won in the fifth round via knockout.  | [1]
3  | Antonio Inoki | May 25, 1989 | Battle Satellite 1989 in Osaka  | Osaka, Japan | 2  | 220  | This was a no rope martial arts match; Inoki won in the second round via submission.  | [1]
—  | Deactivated  | December 31, 1989 | Martial Arts Festival | Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union | —  | —  | Inoki gives the belt to Soviet judoka Shota Chochishvili, the only man to defeat him for the championship, as a sign of friendship between the Japanese and Soviet peoples during NJPW's inaugural event in the Soviet Union. Inoki was then recognized as the final champion after NJPW abandoned the title on December 31, 1989. The physical belt was later used to represent NJPW's Greatest 18 Club Championship.  | [5][6][1]

## Combined reigns

[edit]

Rank  | Champion  | No. of
reigns  | Combined
days

|
|
|

1  | Antonio Inoki | 2 | 4,000
2  | Shota Chochishvili | 1 | 31

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
2. ^ a b "WWWF". Cagematch.net. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
3. ^ "Solie's Title Histories: WWWF/WWF". www.solie.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
4. ^ "The Greatest 18 Club Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
5. ^ Schueler, Kimberly (June 10, 2019). "Real Shooters: The WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship". RondaRousey.com. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
6. ^ "NJPW Martial Arts Festival". Cagematch.net. Retrieved March 17, 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Championships and accomplishments in WWE

Championships|

| Current|

| Raw|

* World Heavyweight
* Women's World
* reigns
* Intercontinental
* reigns
* Women's Intercontinental
* World Tag Team
* reigns

|

SmackDown|

* Undisputed WWE
* reigns
* WWE Women's
* reigns
* United States
* reigns
* Women's United States
* WWE Tag Team
* reigns

NXT|

* NXT
* reigns
* Women's
* reigns
* North American
* reigns
* Women's North American
* Heritage Cup
* Tag Team
* reigns

Evolve|

* Evolve
* Women's

Speed|

* Speed
* Women's Speed

ID|

* ID
* Women's ID

Shared|

* WWE Women's Tag Team
* reigns

Former|

| World|

* WCW (reigns) (2001)
* ECW (reigns) (2006–2010)
* World Heavyweight (original version) (reigns) (2002–2013)
* Universal (2016–2024)

|

Women's|

* WWE Women's (original version) (reigns) (1956–1990, 1993–1995, 1998–2010)
* Divas (reigns) (2008–2016)
* NXT UK Women's (2018–2022)

Secondary|

* NWA United States Television (1957–1962)
* United States Heavyweight (1960–1976)
* North American Heavyweight (1979–1981)
* International Heavyweight (1959–1963, 1982–1985)
* Canadian (1985–1986)
* European (reigns) (1997–2002)
* NXT United Kingdom (2017–2022)

Tag team|

* NWA World Tag Team (Northeast version) (1957–1961)
* United States Tag Team (1958–1967)
* International Tag Team (1969–1971, 1985)
* WWF Women's Tag Team (1983–1989)
* Intercontinental Tag Team (1991)
* World Tag Team (original version) (reigns) (1971–2010)
* WCW Tag Team (reigns) (2001)
* NXT UK Tag Team (2019–2022)
* NXT Women's Tag Team (2021–2023)

Weight class-specific|

* Junior Heavyweight (1965–1972, 1978–1985)
* Light Heavyweight (reigns) (1981–2002)
* Cruiserweight (reigns) (2001–2007)
* NXT Cruiserweight (reigns) (2016–2022)

Other|

* Martial Arts (1978–1989)
* Hardcore (reigns) (1998–2002)
* Million Dollar (1989–1991, 1995–1996, 2010, 2021)
* 24/7 (reigns) (2019–2022)

Accomplishments|

* Money in the Bank
* Awards
* Slammys
* NXT Year-End
* WWE Year-End
* Battle royals
* André the Giant Memorial
* Royal Rumble
* WrestleMania Women's
* Tournaments
* Cruiserweight Classic
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
* King of the Ring
* Mae Young Classic
* Mixed Match Challenge
* NXT Breakout
* Queen of the Ring
* Crown Jewel
* Women's Crown Jewel
* Grand Slam champions
* Triple Crown champions

* v
* t
* e

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Championships|

| Active|

| Heavyweight|

* IWGP World Heavyweight (reigns)
* IWGP Global Heavyweight (reigns)
* IWGP Tag Team (reigns)

|

Junior heavyweight|

* IWGP Junior Heavyweight (reigns)
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team (reigns)

Openweight|

* NJPW World Television (reigns)
* NEVER Openweight (reigns)
* NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team (reigns)
* Strong Openweight (reigns)
* Strong Openweight Tag Team (reigns)

Women's|

* IWGP Women's Championship (reigns)
* Strong Women's Championship (reigns)

Former|

* Asia Heavyweight (reigns)
* Asia Tag Team (reigns)
* Greatest 18 Club (reigns)
* IWGP Heavyweight (reigns)
* IWGP Heavyweight (original version) (reigns)
* IWGP Intercontinental (reigns)
* IWGP Third Belt (reigns)
* IWGP U-30 Openweight (reigns)
* IWGP United States (reigns)
* KOPW (reigns)
* J-Crown (reigns)
* British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight
* NWA World Junior Heavyweight
* NWA World Welterweight
* UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight
* WAR International Junior Heavyweight
* WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight
* WWF Light Heavyweight
* NWA International Junior Heavyweight (reigns)
* NWA North American Tag Team (Los Angeles/Japan version) (reigns)
* NWA World Heavyweight (reigns)
* NWA World Tag Team (reigns)
* NWF Heavyweight (reigns)
* NWF North American (reigns)
* Real World (reigns)
* WCW International World Heavyweight (reigns)
* WWF International Heavyweight (reigns)
* WWF International Tag Team (reigns)
* WWF Junior Heavyweight (reigns)
* WWF North American Heavyweight (reigns)
* WWF World Heavyweight (reigns)
* WWF World Martial Arts (reigns)

Tournaments|

| Active|

* G1 Climax (winners)
* New Japan Cup (winners)
* Best of the Super Juniors (winners)
* World Tag League (winners)
* Super Junior Tag League (winners)
* Super J-Cup (winners)
* Young Lion Cup (winners)

|

Video games|

* Wrestle Kingdom
* Wrestle Kingdom 2
* Fire Pro Wrestling World

Partnerships|

| Current|

* All Elite Wrestling
* All Japan Pro Wrestling
* Big Japan Pro Wrestling
* Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
* DDT Pro-Wrestling
* Dragongate
* Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling
* Kyushu Pro-Wrestling
* Major League Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling Noah
* Revolution Pro Wrestling
* Ring of Honor
* Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling
* World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana

|

Former|

* American Wrestling Association
* Border City Wrestling
* Catch Wrestling Association
* Full Impact Pro
* Game Changer Wrestling
* Global Force Wrestling
* International Wrestling Enterprise
* Jersey All Pro Wrestling
* K-1
* National Wrestling Alliance
* National Wrestling Federation
* Pride Fighting Championships
* Pro Wrestling Zero1
* The Crash Lucha Libre
* Toryumon Mexico
* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
* UWF International
* Universal Wrestling Association
* United Wrestling Network
* Championship Wrestling from Hollywood
* WAR
* Westside Xtreme Wrestling
* World Championship Wrestling
* World Class Championship Wrestling
* World Wrestling Association
* World Wrestling Federation

Related companies|

| Owners|

* Amuse Inc. (5%)
* Bushiroad (85%)
* TV Asahi (10%)

|

Subsidiaries|

* World Wonder Ring Stardom

Personnel|

| Current|

* List of New Japan Pro-Wrestling personnel

|

Former|

* List of former New Japan Pro-Wrestling personnel

Miscellaneous|

* All In
* Asia-Pacific Federation of Wrestling
* Lion's Gate Project
* New Japan Pro-Wrestling World
* Major events
* List of NJoA events
* NJPW Strong
* List of episodes
* Special episodes
* Tiger Mask W
* United Japan Pro-Wrestling

Category
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