NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship

History of Championship

This title was founded in 1979 as the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title (International) in cooperation with New Japan Pro Wrestling and the Los Angeles NWA promotion. It was renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title in August of 1982. Also in 1982, the belt came under the ownership of All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was abandoned in 1986 by the last champion, Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa).

The title was defended in Japan, the United States, and Mexico.

On October 12, 2006, Ultimo Dragon recieved the belt from Atsushi Onita, and annnounced he would promote a tournament for the championship. In the finals of that tournament on 3/4/07 Hirooki Goto defeated Shocker to win the title and become the 18th Champion. Goto vacated the title on 9/8/07 after defeating Hajime Ohara in a match in Japan, stating he was no longer a junior heavyweight and thus could no longer hold the title.

Champions Listing

#	Champion(s)	Defeated	Date	Location
match to determine initial champion
1	Steve Keirn	Chavo Guerrero	1979.12.10	Los Angeles
2	Tatsumi Fujinami	Steve Keirn	1980.02.01	Sapporo, Japan
3	Mike Graham	Tatsumi Fujinami	1980.02.15	Hollywood, Florida, United States
4	Tatsumi Fujinami	Mike Graham	1980.04.04	Kawasaki, Japan
vacated in June of 1980 due to injury
decision match for vacant title
5	Kengo Kimura	Bret Hart	1980.07.02	Kitakyushu, Japan
6	Chavo Guerrero	Kengo Kimura	1980.10.03	Tokyo
7	Gino Hernandez	Chavo Guerrero	1981.02.27	Houston, Texas, United States
8	Chavo Guerrero	Gino Hernandez	1981.09.??	?
9	Atsushi Onita	Chavo Guerrero	1982.03.07	Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
10	Sangre Chicana	Atsushi Onita	1982.04.11	Guadalajara
11	Atsushi Onita	Sangre Chicana	1982.04.30	Mexico City
title held up after a match with Chavo Guerrero on 1982.07.30
title renamed NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title at the annual NWA meeting in August of 1982
12	Atsushi Onita	Chavo Guerrero	1982.11.04	Tokyo
title vacated on 1983.04.15 after Onita breaks his leg wrestling Hector Guerrero
tournament final to crown new champion
13	Chavo Guerrero	Ultra Seven	1983.05.26	Tenryu, Japan
14	Mighty Inoue	Chavo Guerrero	1984.02.06	Osaka, Japan
15	Dynamite Kid	Mighty Inoue	1985.06.08	Takamatsu, Japan
16	Kuniaki Kobayashi	Dynamite Kid	1985.06.13	Koga, Japan
17	Tiger Mask II	Kuniaki Kobayashi	1985.08.31	Tokyo
title abandoned in 1986
8 man tournament to crown a new champion
18	Hirooki Goto	Shocker	2007.03.04	Arena Coliseo DF
title vacated on 2007.09.08 when Goto declares he is no longer a junior heavyweight
title change
successful title defense
championship matches which were announced, but results were not found

Sources:

Gallery of Champions

Sangre Chicana, 10th Champion

Sources

• Wrestling-Titles.com

V	National Wrestling Alliance Championships (with lucha libre history)	E
World Welter (Akantus), NWA-Mexico: Mexico Light (Skayde), Mexico Welter (Vaquero Fantasma)
Dragon Gym: International Junior Heavy (Último Dragón)
Defunct: Middle, Light Heavy, Americas Tag
Reference: Jr. Heavy, Heavy
CMLL established titles: Historic Welter (Volador Jr.), Historic Middle (Carístico), Historic LH (Stuka Jr.)