Wrestler Reign Location Length of Reign Successful Defenses Notes
Mitsuharu Misawa 1 Tokyo, Japan 4/15/01 to 7/27/01 1 Defeated Takayama in Tournament Final
Jun Akiyama 1 Nippon Budokan 7/27/01 to 4/7/02 3  
Yoshinari Ogawa 1 Tokyo, Japan 4/7/02 to 9/7/02 2  
Yoshihiro Takayama 1 Osaka, Japan 9/7/02 to 9/23/02 0  
Mitsuharu Misawa 2 Nippon Budokan 9/23/02 to 3/1/03 1  
Kenta Kobashi 1 Nippon Budokan 3/1/03 to 3/5/05 13  
Takeshi Rikio 1 Nippon Budokan 3/5/05 to 11/5/05 3  
Akira Taue 1 Nippon Budokan 11/5/05 to 1/22/06 1  
Jun Akiyama 2 Nippon Budokan 1/22/06 to 9/9/06 2  
Naomichi Marufuji 1 Nippon Budokan 9/9/06 to 12/10/06 2  
Mitsuharu Misawa 3 Nippon Budokan 12/10/06 to 3/2/08 7  
Takeshi Morishima 1 Nippon Budokan 3/2/08 to 9/6/08 2  
Kensuke Sasaki 1 Nippon Budokan 9/6/08 to 3/1/09 2  
Jun Akiyama 3 Nippon Budokan 3/1/09 to 6/13/09 1 Forfeits title due to herniated back
Go Shiozaki 1 Fukuoka, Japan 6/14/09 to 12/6/09 1 Defeated Rikio in Decision Match
Takashi Sugiura 1 Nippon Budokan 12/6/09 to 7/10/11 14  
Go Shiozaki 2 Tokyo, Japan 7/10/11 to 1/22/12 3  
Takeshi Morishima 2 Osaka, Japan 1/22/12 to 1/27/13 8  
KENTA 1 Osaka, Japan 1/27/13 to 1/5/14 9  
Takeshi Morishima 3 Tokyo, Japan 1/5/14 to present