NEVER Openweight Championship
The gritty, hard-hitting openweight title of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
The NEVER Openweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. NEVER is an acronym of the terms 'New Blood', 'Evolution', 'Valiantly', 'Eternal', and 'Radical' and was an NJPW-promoted series of events, which featured younger up-and-coming talent and outside wrestlers not signed to the promotion. The project was officially announced on July 12, 2010, and held its first event on August 24, 2010. On October 5, 2012, NJPW announced that NEVER was going to get its own championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship. Aaron Wolf is the current champion in his second reign. He won the title by defeating Ren Narita at Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan, on June 14, 2026.
Quick Facts
- Associated stable origin
- Chaos; NEVER
- Notable defenders
- ['Tomohiro Ishii', 'Katsuyori Shibata']
Lore & Background
The title was originally scheduled to be defended exclusively at NEVER events, but this plan was quickly changed and since its foundation, the title has been defended on the undercards of NJPW events. The original concept of having younger workers wrestle for the title has also not been realized with the first seven holders of the title having been in their thirties or forties. Instead, through the likes of Katsuyori Shibata, Togi Makabe, and Tomohiro Ishii, the NEVER Openweight Championship became known for its 'gritty' title matches and 'hard hitting' style. Though named an 'openweight' championship, NJPW has also categorized the title as a heavyweight title. The title forms what has unofficially been called the 'New Japan Triple Crown' (新日本トリプルクラウン, Shin Nihon Toripuru Kuraun) along with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The title's openweight nature means that both heavyweight and junior heavyweight wrestlers are eligible to challenge for it.
Reader's Guide
The first champion was determined in a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament held November 15 and 19, 2012. In the final, Masato Tanaka defeated Karl Anderson to become the inaugural champion. As of the source, there have been 52 reigns shared among 26 wrestlers with one vacancy. Masato Tanaka holds the record for the longest reign. Tomohiro Ishii has the most reigns with six. Michael Elgin's only reign of 8 days is the shortest. Minoru Suzuki is the oldest champion at 52 years old, while Will Ospreay is the youngest at 25 years old.
More in Championships & Titles
Elsewhere in New Japan Pro Wrestling
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