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Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship

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This article is about AJPW's top heavyweight title. For the professional wrestling accomplishment, see Triple Crown (professional wrestling).
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
Belt in use since October 2013.
Details
PromotionAll Japan Pro Wrestling
Date establishedApril 18, 1989
Current champion(s)Davey Boy Smith, Jr.
Date wonNovember 4, 2024
Other name(s)
  • PWF Triple Crown World Heavyweight Championship
  • AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Jumbo Tsuruta
Most reignsSuwama (8 reigns)
Longest reignMitsuharu Misawa (705 days)
Shortest reignTerry Gordy (3 days)
Oldest championYuji Nagata (54 years, 9 months and 26 days)
Youngest championYuma Anzai (24 years, 10 months and 15 days)
Heaviest championAkebono (210 kg (460 lb))
Lightest championKatsuhiko Nakajima (87 kg (192 lb))

The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (三冠ヘビー級王座, Sankan Hebīkyū Ōza) is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. The current champion is Davey Boy Smith, Jr., who is in his first reign.

Title history

[edit]

The championship was established after the unification of All Japan's then-flagship title, the PWF World Heavyweight Championship, with the NWA United National Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. The titles were unified on April 18, 1989, when NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta defeated the PWF World Heavyweight and NWA United National Champion Stan Hansen.[1]

Unlike most unified championships, the Triple Crown was originally represented through the continued use of the three individual championship belts. From 1989 to 2000, the holder of the Triple Crown was also presented by Nippon TV (AJPW's broadcaster at the time) with a large, globe-shaped trophy bearing the words "World Heavyweight Champion". The original title belts were returned to All Japan founder Giant Baba's widow Motoko in August 2013 and a new single title belt incorporating designs from the three original belts was made.[2] The new title belt, which featured three plates representing the three original title belts, was unveiled on October 27.[3] One of the plates includes the text "Jumbo Tsuruta Apr. 18 1989", representing the crowning of the inaugural champion.[4] There have been a total of 31 recognized champions who have had a combined 70 official reigns. Six men in history have held the championship for a continuous reign of one year (365 days) or more: Mitsuharu Misawa, Suwama, Kento Miyahara (who have each achieved the feat twice), Jumbo Tsuruta, Satoshi Kojima and Toshiaki Kawada.

Reigns

[edit]
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Jumbo Tsuruta April 18, 1989 Champion Carnival tour Tokyo, Japan 1 48 1 Tsuruta, the NWA International Heavyweight Champion, defeated Stan Hansen, the PWF Heavyweight and NWA United National Champion, to unify the titles. [1]
2 Genichiro Tenryu June 5, 1989 Super Power Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 128 2   [1]
3 Jumbo Tsuruta October 11, 1989 October Giant Series tour Yokohama, Japan 2 237 2   [1]
4 Terry Gordy June 5, 1990 Super Power Series tour Chiba, Japan 1 3 0   [1]
5 Stan Hansen June 8, 1990 Super Power Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 39 0   [1]
6 Terry Gordy July 17, 1990 Summer Action Series tour Kanazawa, Japan 2 10 0   [1][5]
— Vacated July 27, 1990 — — — — — The title was vacated after Gordy was hospitalized during a scheduled title defense later that night. [6]
7 Stan Hansen July 27, 1990 Summer Action Series tour Matsudo, Japan 2 176 1 Defeated Mitsuharu Misawa to win the vacant title. [1]
8 Jumbo Tsuruta January 19, 1991 New Year Giant Series tour Matsumoto, Japan 3 374 3   [1][7]
9 Stan Hansen January 28, 1992 New Year Giant Series tour Chiba, Japan 3 207 3   [1]
10 Mitsuharu Misawa August 22, 1992 Summer Action Series II tour Tokyo, Japan 1 705 7   [1]
11 Steve Williams July 28, 1994 Summer Action Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 86 1   [1]
12 Toshiaki Kawada October 22, 1994 October Giant Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 133 1   [1]
13 Stan Hansen March 4, 1995 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 4 83 0   [1][8]
14 Mitsuharu Misawa May 26, 1995 Super Power Series tour Sapporo, Japan 2 364 4   [9]
15 Akira Taue May 24, 1996 Super Power Series tour Sapporo, Japan 1 61 1   [10]
16 Kenta Kobashi July 24, 1996 Super Power Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 180 2   [11]
17 Mitsuharu Misawa January 20, 1997 New Year Giant Series tour Osaka, Japan 3 466 8   [12][13]
18 Toshiaki Kawada May 1, 1998 AJPW 25th Anniversary Tokyo, Japan 2 42 0   [14]
19 Kenta Kobashi June 12, 1998 Super Power Series tour Tokyo, Japan 2 141 2   [14][15]
20 Mitsuharu Misawa October 31, 1998 October Giant Series tour Tokyo, Japan 4 83 0   [14]
21 Toshiaki Kawada January 22, 1999 New Year Giant Series tour Osaka, Japan 3 7 0   [6]
— Vacated January 29, 1999 — — — — — Vacated after Kawada fractured his right ulna in winning the title. [6]
22 Big Van Vader March 6, 1999 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 57 0 Defeated Akira Taue to win the vacant title. [6]
23 Mitsuharu Misawa May 2, 1999 Giant Baba Memorial Show Tokyo, Japan 5 181 2   [6]
24 Big Van Vader October 30, 1999 October Giant Series tour Tokyo, Japan 2 120 1   [6]
25 Kenta Kobashi February 27, 2000 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 3 110 1 [16]
— Vacated June 16, 2000 — — — — — Title was vacated after Kobashi jumped to Pro Wrestling Noah. [6]
26 Genichiro Tenryu October 28, 2000 October Giant Series tour Tokyo, Japan 2 223 1 Defeated Toshiaki Kawada in a tournament final to win the vacated title. [17]
27 Keiji Mutoh June 8, 2001 Super Power Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 261 4   [18]
28 Toshiaki Kawada February 24, 2002 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 4 32 0 [6]
— Vacated March 28, 2002 — — — — — Title was vacated after Kawada suffered a knee injury. [14]
29 Genichiro Tenryu April 13, 2002 Champion Carnival tour Tokyo, Japan 3 197 1 Defeated Keiji Mutoh to win the vacant title. [19]
30 The Great Muta October 27, 2002 Royal Road 30 Giant Battle Final Tokyo, Japan 2 119 1 Formerly known as Keiji Mutoh. [20]
31 Shinya Hashimoto February 23, 2003 Excite Series tour Tokyo, Japan 1 171 2 [6][21]
— Vacated August 13, 2003 — — — — — Title was vacated after Hashimoto dislocated his right shoulder. [22][23]
32 Toshiaki Kawada September 6, 2003 Summer Action Series II tour Tokyo, Japan 5 529 10 Defeated Shinjiro Otani in a tournament final to win the vacant title. [24][25]
33 Satoshi Kojima February 16, 2005 Realize tour Tokyo, Japan 1 502 8   [26]
34 Taiyō Kea July 3, 2006 Crossover tour Tokyo, Japan 1 62 1   [14][27]
35 Minoru Suzuki September 3, 2006 Summer Impact tour Sapporo, Japan 1 357 5   [14][28]
36 Kensuke Sasaki August 26, 2007 Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 3 Tokyo, Japan 1 247 2   [14][29]
37 Suwama April 29, 2008 Growin' Up tour Nagoya, Japan 1 152 2  
38 The Great Muta September 28, 2008 Flashing tour Yokohama, Japan 3 167 1   [30]
39 Yoshihiro Takayama March 14, 2009 Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 7 Tokyo, Japan 1 196 2  
40 Satoshi Kojima September 26, 2009 Flashing tour Yokohama, Japan 2 176 1   [31]
41 Ryota Hama March 21, 2010 Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 9 Tokyo, Japan 1 42 0   [32]
42 Minoru Suzuki May 2, 2010 Growin' Up tour Nagoya, Japan 2 119 1   [14][33]
43 Suwama August 29, 2010 Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 10 Tokyo, Japan 2 420 5  
44 Jun Akiyama October 23, 2011 Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 13 Tokyo, Japan 1 308 4    
45 Masakatsu Funaki August 26, 2012 Summer Impact tour Tokyo, Japan 1 203 4   [34]
46 Suwama March 17, 2013 2013 Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku: Basic & Dynamic Tokyo, Japan 3 224 2    
47 Akebono October 27, 2013 Anniversary Tour Tokyo, Japan 1 215 4
— Vacated May 30, 2014 — — — — — Vacated due to Akebono being sidelined with health issues.
48 Takao Omori June 15, 2014 2014 Dynamite Series Tokyo, Japan 1 14 0 Defeated Jun Akiyama to win the vacant title.
49 Suwama June 29, 2014 2014 Dynamite Series Sapporo, Japan 4 28 0    
50 Joe Doering July 27, 2014 2014 Summer Action Series Tokyo, Japan 1 160 3  
51 Go Shiozaki January 3, 2015 New Year Wars 2015 Tokyo, Japan 1 138 2    
52 Akebono May 21, 2015 2015 Super Power Series Tokyo, Japan 2 164 2  
53 Jun Akiyama November 1, 2015 All Japan Pro Wrestling Charity Hirosaki Tournament Hirosaki, Japan 2 62 0   [35]
54 Suwama January 2, 2016 2016 New Years Two Days Tokyo, Japan 5 10 0
— Vacated January 12, 2016 — — — — — Vacated due to Suwama rupturing his achilles tendon.
55 Kento Miyahara February 12, 2016 2016 Excite Series Tokyo, Japan 1 464 8 Defeated Zeus to win the vacant title.
56 Shuji Ishikawa May 21, 2017 2017 Super Power Series Tokyo, Japan 1 98 2
57 Kento Miyahara August 27, 2017 AJPW 45th Anniversary Tokyo, Japan 2 43 0
58 Suwama October 9, 2017 2017 Hataage Kinen Series Tokyo, Japan 6 12 0
59 Joe Doering October 21, 2017 Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori Debut 25th Anniversary Show Yokohama, Japan 2 155 3
60 Kento Miyahara March 25, 2018 2018 Power Dream Series Saitama, Japan 3 126 2
61 Zeus July 29, 2018 2018 Summer Action Series Osaka, Japan 1 84 1
62 Kento Miyahara October 21, 2018 2018 Raising An Army Memorial Series Yokohama, Japan 4 519 10 [36]
63 Suwama March 23, 2020 2020 Dream Power Series Tokyo, Japan 7 454 7 [37]
— Vacated June 20, 2021 — — — — — Suwama vacated the championship after testing positive for COVID-19. [38]
64 Jake Lee June 26, 2021 Champions Night ~ From The Land Of The Triple Crown Unification Flight To The 50th Anniversary Tokyo, Japan 1 185 3 Lee defeated Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi in a three-way tomoesen match to win the vacant title. [39][40]
— Vacated December 28, 2021 — — — — — Jake Lee vacated the championship after suffering an injury. [41]
65 Kento Miyahara January 23, 2022 2022 New Year Wars Tokyo, Japan 5 147 4 Defeated Ryuki Honda in a tournament final to win the vacant title. [42]
66 Jake Lee June 19, 2022 AJPW Champions Night 4: 50th Anniversary Tour Tokyo, Japan 2 25 0 [43]
67 Suwama July 14, 2022 AJPW Summer Action Series 2022 Tokyo, Japan 8 66 0 [44]
68 Kento Miyahara September 18, 2022 AJPW 50th Anniversary Tokyo, Japan 6 154 4 [45]
69 Yuji Nagata February 19, 2023 Excite Series - Night 2: Pro-Wrestling Day MANIAx Tokyo, Japan 1 133 3 [46]
70 Yuma Aoyagi July 2, 2023 Summer Action Series Tokyo, Japan 1 126 5 [47]
71 Katsuhiko Nakajima November 5, 2023 Giant Series 2023: Hokkaido Edition - Day 6 (Evening Show) Sapporo, Japan 1 146 4 [48]
72 Yuma Anzai March 30, 2024 Dream Power Series 2024: Day 5 Tokyo, Japan 1 140 5 [49]
73 Yuma Aoyagi August 17, 2024 Summer Action Wars 2024 Tokyo, Japan 2 79 2 [50]
74 Davey Boy Smith, Jr. November 4, 2024 Giant Series 2024 Sapporo, Japan 1 20+ 0 [51]

Combined reigns

[edit]

As of November 24, 2024.

Six-time champion Kento Miyahara holds the records for most defenses in one reign at 10 and most combined defenses at 28.
Record eight-time champion Suwama.
† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined
defenses 		Combined days
1 Mitsuharu Misawa 5 21 1,799
2 Kento Miyahara 6 28 1,453
3 Suwama 8 16 1,366
4 Toshiaki Kawada 5 11 743
5 Satoshi Kojima 2 9 678
6 Jumbo Tsuruta 3 6 659
7 Genichiro Tenryu 3 4 548
8 Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta 3 6 547
9 Stan Hansen 4 7 505
10 Minoru Suzuki 2 6 476
11 Kenta Kobashi 3 5 431
12 Akebono 2 6 379
13 Jun Akiyama 2 4 370
14 Joe Doering 2 6 315
15 Kensuke Sasaki 1 2 247
16 Jake Lee 2 3 210
17 Yuma Aoyagi 2 7 205
18 Masakatsu Funaki 1 4 203
19 Yoshihiro Takayama 1 2 196
20 Big Van Vader 2 1 177
21 Shinya Hashimoto 1 2 171
22 Katsuhiko Nakajima 1 4 146
23 Yuma Anzai 1 5 140
24 Go Shiozaki 1 2 138
25 Yuji Nagata 1 3 133
26 Shuji Ishikawa 1 2 98
27 Steve Williams 1 1 86
28 Zeus 1 1 84
29 Taiyō Kea 1 1 62
30 Akira Taue 1 1 61
31 Ryota Hama 1 0 42
32 Davey Boy Smith Jr. † 1 0 20+
33 Takao Omori 1 0 14
34 Terry Gordy 2 0 13

References

[edit]
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  49. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (March 30, 2024). "AJPW Dream Power Series 2024 - Tag 5". cagematch.net. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
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  51. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 4, 2024). "AJPW Giant Series 2024". cagematch.net. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by All Japan Pro Wrestling's top heavyweight championship
1989–present 		Succeeded by
Current
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