Legend Championship
Details
PromotionStrong Style Pro-Wrestling
Date established2005
Current champion(s)Hayato Mashita
Date wonFebruary 22, 2023
Other name(s)
Legend Championship (レジェンドチャンピオンシップ, Rejendo Chanpionshippu)
Statistics
First champion(s)First Tiger Mask
Most reignsSuper Tiger (4)
Longest reignSuper Tiger (1,015 days)
Shortest reignMasakatsu Funaki (77 days)

The Legend Championship (Japanese: レジェンド王座, Hepburn: Rejendo Ōza) is the top singles title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Strong Style Pro-Wrestling. The title was established in 2005 and, as the name suggests, is mainly competed for by seasoned veterans of the sport.[1][2] As it is a professional wrestling championship, the championship is not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers.[a] On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline,[b] or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship,[c] or leaving the company.[d]

There have been a total of seventeen reigns shared among eleven wrestlers. The current champion is Hayato Mashita who is in his first reign.

Title history

Reigns

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
N/A Unknown information
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW)
1 First Tiger Mask January 27, 2005 N/A Tokyo, Japan 1 [e] 0 Defeated The Great Sasuke to win the inaugural title. [1]
— Vacated  2005 — — — — — Tiger Mask vacated the title due to a neck injury. [1]
2 Masao Orihara December 16, 2005 Legend Championship Tokyo, Japan 1 [f] 2 Defeated Alexander Otsuka to win the vacant title. [1][7]
— Vacated  2006 — — — — — Championship vacated due to unknown circumstances [1]
3 Alexander Otsuka December 4, 2008 Conclusion Tokyo, Japan 1 643 4 Defeated The Great Sasuke to win the vacant title. [8]
4 Mitsuya Nagai September 8, 2010 Strong Proof Tokyo, Japan 1 316 2 [9]
5 Super Tiger (II) July 21, 2011 Space Flying Tiger Drop Tokyo, Japan 1 239 1 [10]
6 Mitsuya Nagai March 16, 2012 Daybreak Tokyo, Japan 2 266 1 [11]
7 Super Tiger (II) December 7, 2012 Traditional Tokyo, Japan 2 1,015 4 [11]
8 Masakatsu Funaki September 18, 2015 First Tiger Mask Golden Legend: Legend of the Gold II Tokyo, Japan 1 82 0 [12]
9 Daisuke Sekimoto December 9, 2015 First Tiger Mask Golden Legend: Legend of the Gold III Tokyo, Japan 1 197 1 [12]
10 Masakatsu Funaki June 23, 2016 First Tiger Mask Golden Legend: Legend of the Gold V Tokyo, Japan 2 79 0 [13]
11 Shinjiro Otani September 10, 2016 Golden Age of the Tiger Tokyo, Japan 1 292 3 [13]
12 Masakatsu Funaki June 29, 2017 Legend of the Gold VII Tokyo, Japan 3 77 0 [14]
13 Super Tiger (II) September 14, 2017 Legend of the Gold VIII Tokyo, Japan 3 735 2 [14][15]
Strong Style Pro-Wrestling (SSPW)
14 Kazuyuki Fujita September 19, 2019 Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 3 Tokyo, Japan 1 455 1 [16][17]
15 Super Tiger (II) December 17, 2020 Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 8 Tokyo, Japan 4 616 4 [18][19]
16 Kengo Mashimo August 25, 2022 Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 18 Tokyo, Japan 1 181 2 [20]
17 Hayato Mashita February 22, 2023 Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Vol. 21 Tokyo, Japan 1 352+ 2 [21]

Combined reigns

† 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 		No. of
defenses 		Combined
days
1 Super Tiger (II) 4 11 2,605
2 Alexander Otsuka 1 4 643
3 Mitsuya Nagai 2 3 582
4 Kazuyuki Fujita 1 1 455
5 Hayato Mashita † 1 2 352+
6 Shinjiro Otani 1 3 292
7 Masakatsu Funaki 3 0 238
8 Daisuke Sekimoto 1 1 197
9 Kengo Mashimo 1 2 181
10 Masao Orihara 1 2 16¤
11 First Tiger Mask 1 0 1¤

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Hornbaker (2016) p. 550: "Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win–loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities – but on now much, or how little they were pushed by promoters"[3]
  2. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 271, Chapter: Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [World Class, Adkisson] "Championship held up and rematch ordered because of the interference of manager Gary Hart"[4]
  3. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 20, Chapter: (United States: 19th Century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IW, ECW, NWA) NWA/WCW TV Title "Rhodes stripped on 85/10/19 for not defending the belt after having his leg broken by Ric Flair and Ole & Arn Anderson"[5]
  4. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 201, Chapter: (Memphis, Nashville) Memphis: USWA Tag Team Title "Vacant on 93/01/18 when Spike leaves the USWA."[6]
  5. ^ The exact date the championship was vacated has not been confirmed, putting the title reign at between 1 day and 323 days.
  6. ^ The exact date the championship was vacated has not been confirmed, putting the title reign at between 16 days and 380 days.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "RJPW Legend Championship". Cagematch.net. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  2. ^ "Champions and Championships". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Hornbaker 2016, p. 550.
  4. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 271.
  5. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 20.
  6. ^ Duncan & Will 2000, p. 201.
  7. ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2005". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  8. ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2008". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  9. ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2010". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2011". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2012". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2015". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2016". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2017". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  15. ^ 【試合結果】9･15　リアルジャパン後楽園ホール大会　【レジェンド選手権】船木誠勝vsスーパー・タイガー　“大鵬三世”納谷幸男vs雷神矢口. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  16. ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2019". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  17. ^ 【試合詳細】9･19　リアルジャパンプロレス後楽園ホール大会　【レジェンド選手権】スーパー・タイガーvs藤田和之　船木誠勝＆関根“シュレック”秀樹vsタカ・クノウ＆ロッキー川村　アレクサンダー大塚vs竹田誠志　【UWAアジアパシフィック】岩崎孝樹vs将軍岡本. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  18. ^ "Real Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2020". PuroLove.com (in German). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  19. ^ 【試合詳細】12･17　ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会　【レジェンド王座】藤田和之vsスーパー・タイガー　船木誠勝vsアレクサンダー大塚　ケンドー・カシンvs阿部史典　Sareee＆世志琥vsジャガー横田＆山下りな. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  20. ^ 【試合詳細】8･25　ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会　【レジェンド王座】スーパー・タイガーvs真霜拳號　タイガー・クイーン＆梅咲遥vsダーク・タイガー＆ダーク・チーター with ダーク・パンサー　船木誠勝＆関根“シュレック”秀樹vs関本大介＆将軍岡本. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). August 26, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  21. ^ 【試合詳細】2・22　ストロングスタイルプロレス後楽園ホール大会　【レジェンド王座】真霜拳號vs間下隼人　タイガー・クイーンvs本間多恵vsウナギ・サヤカ　スーパー・タイガー＆竹田誠志vs船木誠勝＆関根“シュレック”秀樹. Battle-News.com (in Japanese). February 23, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.

Works cited

  • Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling: 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.
  • Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.

External links

Professional wrestling in Japan
Categories