GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship
The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Hardcore Championship (Japanese: GHCハードコア王座, Hepburn: GHC Hādokoa Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, originally created in 2004 by Jun Akiyama as a singles title known as the Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Championship (グローバル・ハードコア・クラウン無差別級王座, Gurōbaru Hādokoa Kuraun Musabetsu-kyū Ōza), also colloquially referred to as the "White GHC" belt due to its white leather strap, the color most associated with Akiyama. Most matches contested for the championship were held with a 15-minute time limit and often featured special stipulations chosen by the champion.
| Global Honored Crown Hardcore Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Current championship design | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Promotion | CyberFight | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | Pro Wrestling Noah | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | March 13, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Masato Tanaka | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | October 23, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Though the original title was deactivated in 2009, the belt was brought back in 2023 for the newly created GHC Hardcore Championship. The currennt champion is Masato Tanaka.
History
The Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Championship was created in March 2004 when Jun Akiyama declared himself champion as a way to liven up the Pro Wrestling Noah regional tours.[1] In 2007, it was announced that it would be reformed into a tag team title, continuing with the same lineage as the original belt. Later in 2007, it reverted to being a singles championship. Kentaro Shiga, who was the fifth champion before the reforming into a tag team title, was still recognized as such (along with his tag team partner, Kishin Kawabata), even though it was vacated to be put up for grab in a tournament, which they eventually won.[2] On November 19, 2007, Kawabata defeated Shiga to reunify the title.[3] The title was deactivated after ninth champion Kenta Kobashi suffered an injury in December 2009, forcing him to vacate the title.
In October 2023, it was revealed by Nosawa Rongai that Pro Wrestling Noah would bring the belt back to create the GHC Hardcore Championship with a separate lineage. Masato Tanaka won the revived title on October 23, 2023, at Monday Magic ep. 2, by defeating Ninja Mack.[4]
Reigns
Across the two lineages, there have been a total of ten reigns shared between nine different champions. The current title holder is Masato Tanaka who is in his first reign.
Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Championship
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | ||||
| 1 | Jun Akiyama | March 13, 2004 | Navigation | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 217 | 5 | Akiyama declared himself the inaugural champion. | [1] |
| 2 | Naomichi Marufuji | October 16, 2004 | Navigation Against the Current 2004 | Tokushima, Japan | 1 | 140 | 2 | Marufuji won the match via countout. | [5] |
| 3 | Muhammad Yone | March 5, 2005 | Navigate for Evolution 2005 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 231 | 3 | [6] | |
| 4 | Scorpio | October 22, 2005 | Autumn Navigation '05 | Tokushima, Japan | 1 | 316 | 1 | [7] | |
| 5 | Kentaro Shiga | September 3, 2006 | Shiny Navigation '06 | Nagoya, Japan | 1 | 167 | 3 | [8] | |
| 6 | Kishin Kawabata and Kentaro Shiga | February 17, 2007 | Navigation for Evolution 2007 – Day 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 275 | 2 | Defeated Go Shiozaki and Shuhei Taniguchi in a tournament final. This is still Kentaro Shiga's original championship reign. During their reign, the title was billed as GHC Openweight Hardcore Tag Team Championship. | [9] |
| 7 | Kishin Kawabata | November 19, 2007 | Winter Navigation '07 – Day 4 | Niigata, Japan | 2 | 322 | 4 | [10] | |
| 8 | Makoto Hashi | October 6, 2008 | Autumn Navigation '08 – Day 2 | Isesaki, Japan | 1 | 245 | 2 | [11] | |
| 9 | Kenta Kobashi | June 8, 2009 | Southern Navigation 2009 – Day 3 | Hachiōji, Japan | 1 | 198 | 4 | [12] | |
| — | Deactivated | December 23, 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | Kenta Kobashi vacated the title after suffering an injury. After that the title became inactive. | |
GHC Hardcore Championship
| 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 | Masato Tanaka | October 23, 2023 | Monday Magic ep. 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 3+ | 0 | Defeated Ninja Mack to win the reactivated title. | [13] |
Combined reigns
As of October 26, 2023.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defences |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kishin Kawabata | 2 | 6 | 597 |
| 2 | Kentaro Shiga | 2 | 5 | 441 |
| 3 | Scorpio | 1 | 1 | 316 |
| 4 | Makoto Hashi | 2 | 245 | |
| 5 | Muhammad Yone | 3 | 231 | |
| 6 | Jun Akiyama | 5 | 217 | |
| 7 | Kenta Kobashi | 4 | 198 | |
| 8 | Naomichi Marufuji | 2 | 140 | |
| 9 | Masato Tanaka † | 0 | 3+ |
References
- Osano, Kagehiro (December 20, 2022). "Dramatic Dream Column: What was the White GHC belt to the recently crowned EXTREME Champion Akiyama? (Kagehiro Osano)". DDT Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
- "Global Hardcore Champion". Archived from the original on 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- "Green Destiny ~ Supporting Pro Wrestling NOAH". Archived from the original on 2007-11-28. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
- Thompson, Andrew (October 9, 2023). "NOAH revives GHC Hardcore Openweight Title, new champion to be crowned on 10/23". postwrestling.com. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- "Pro-Wrestling Noah Match Results" プロレスリング・ノア 試合結果. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). October 19, 2004. Archived from the original on October 19, 2004. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
- "Pro-Wrestling Noah Match Results" プロレスリング・ノア 試合結果. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). March 9, 2005. Archived from the original on March 9, 2005. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
- "Pro-Wrestling Noah Official Site". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). October 23, 2005. Archived from the original on October 23, 2005. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 3, 2006). "NOAH Shiny Navigation 2006 - Tag 6 - Event @ Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 17, 2007). "NOAH Navigate for Evolution '07 - Tag 2 - Event @ Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 19, 2007). "NOAH Winter Navigation '07 - Tag 4 - Event @ Niigata City Gymnasium in Niigata, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip (October 6, 2008). "NOAH Autumn Navigation '08 - Tag 2 - Event @ Isesaki Citizen Gymnasium in Isesaki, Gunma, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 8, 2009). "NOAH Southern Navigation 2009 - Tag 3 - Event @ Keio Plaza Hotel Hachioji 5th Floor Hall in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- Pro Wrestling Noah. 2023年10月23日（月）MONDAY MAGIC ep2. noah.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved October 23, 2023.
External links
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