New Japan Reveals New IWGP Heavyweight Championship

New Japan has shown off its newest title belt.

For the last year, New Japan Pro Wrestling has been running with a double champion on top. One person holding both the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships. Then this year they said they would be merging the two titles with one new title belt.

During the March 30th NJPW Road To Sakura Genesis show, they showed us the new title but the confusing thing is the lineage of the titles. They say Kota Ibushi is the last IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion and the first IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. If this is the case, there will no longer be the video before the Heavyweight Title matches showing all the former champions. Ibushi will defend the title on April 4th against Will Ospreay at Sakura Genesis.

✨The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.✨

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— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) March 30, 2021

https://twitter.com/TamasIsland/status/1376834270753398790

お披露目、贈呈👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/Ep64XTZyY0

— 🇮🇹ミラノコレクションA.T.🇯🇵 (@milano_c_at) March 30, 2021

Regarding the new belt, New Japan posted the following on their website.

Tuesday, March 30 saw the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship revealed to a worldwide audience for the very first time. With a design that evokes every step of IWGP history, the new richest prize will be on the line Sunday at Sakura Genesis, as Kota Ibushi defends against New Japan Cup winner Will Ospreay.

The reveal ceremony saw each individual aspect of the new championship’s design explained. The key tenets behind the design are reflecting the history of both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championship, as well as taking flight in the world on the wings of Fighting Spirit.

The history of the four generations of IWGP Heavyweight Championship are acknowledged through its center plate. The upper part of the belt had a radial design which recalls the original circular IWGP Heavyweight design, while the upper profile of the belt carries the second generation IWGP ‘crown’ motif.

On the plate itself, we see a pair of wings which represent those on the third generation title belt, while the central Lion Mark brings to mind that on the fourth generation Heavyweight belt. Meanwhile, the title’s side plates evoke the IWGP Intercontinental Championship design.

Going into more detail on the center plate we see the concept of flight into the world at large. The Lion Mark in the upper center represents the sun above the Earth below. Flames emanating from the sun are those of the Fighting Spirit, which is also represented by a sword piercing the world below from top to bottom. Five gems around the central globe represent the continents, as well as NJPW’s five decades of history. Each gem is set in a fang like position, bringing to mind a lion gripping the world in its teeth, while wings emanating from the globe represent taking flight into the world.

On receiving the brand new title, Ibushi stated that perhaps he ‘didn’t make (himself) understood when talking about combining the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships,’ but that he had ‘deep love’ for both legacies and will now ‘carry them forward onto a new worldwide stage’.