NJPW World Television Championship

NJPW World Television Championship
The championship belt
Details
Promotion	New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date established	October 10, 2022
Current champion	El Phantasmo
Date won	April 29, 2025
Statistics First champion Zack Sabre Jr.[1] Most reigns 2 reigns: Zack Sabre Jr. El Phantasmo Longest reign Zack Sabre Jr. (1st reign, 365 days) Shortest reign Zack Sabre Jr. (2nd reign, 21 days) Oldest champion Hiroshi Tanahashi (47 years, 1 month and 22 days) Youngest champion Ren Narita (26 years, 10 months and 15 days) Heaviest champion Jeff Cobb (263 lb (119 kg)) Lightest champion El Phantasmo (186 lb (84 kg))

The NJPW World Television Championship (Japanese: NJPW WORLD認定TV王座, Hepburn: Nyū Japan Wārudo-nintei Tī Vī Ōza) is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion.^[2][3] The inaugural champion was Zack Sabre Jr., who has held the championship a record-setting two times. The reigning champion is El Phantasmo, who is in his record-tying second reign, he won the title by defeating previous champion Great-O-Khan at NJPW Wrestling Hizen no Kuni on April 29, 2025.

History

New Japan Pro-Wrestling president and CEO Takami Ohbari and TV Asahi representative Hiroyoki Mihira announced the creation of the title at Declaration of Power on October 10, 2022.^[2] The championship is seen as a celebration of both the upcoming 50-year anniversary of the partnership between the two companies, as well as the continued growth of NJPW World, New Japan Pro-Wrestling's online streaming service. Ohbari also expressed encouragement for younger wrestlers on the roster to compete for the championship.^[2][4]

All matches contested for the championship will be held with a 15-minute time limit.^[2] Furthermore, due to its nature as a television championship, all championship matches (including all matches in the inaugural tournament) will be available for free through the NJPW World service, as well as through New Japan Pro-Wrestling's social media platforms.^[2]

Inaugural championship tournament (2022–2023)

The first champion was determined in a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament, which began on October 14, 2022, at Battle Autumn (Night 1) and concluded on January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17.^[5][6] In the event of a time limit draw during the tournament, the winner (and thus, person advancing) was decided by a coin toss.^[5]

Tournament bracket

First round Battle Autumn (Nights 1-3, 9) (October 14, 15, 16 & 26, 2022)

Second round Battle Autumn (Nights 10, 12) (October 27 & 30, 2022)

Semifinals Battle Autumn (Night 16) (November 5, 2022)

Final Wrestle Kingdom 17 (Night 1) (January 4, 2023)

David Finlay

Pin

Yoshinobu Kanemaru

11:52[7]

David Finlay

13:03[11]

Zack Sabre Jr.

Pin

Alex Zayne

14:55[7]

Zack Sabre Jr.

Sub

Zack Sabre Jr.

Pin

Evil

4:48[13]

Yoshi-Hashi

Pin

Jeff Cobb

12:14[8]

Yoshi-Hashi

9:48[11]

Evil

Pin

Aaron Henare

10:55[8]

Evil

Pin

Zack Sabre Jr.

Sub

Ren Narita

10:32

Sanada

Pin

Taichi

14:57[9]

Sanada

Pin

Kenta

13:05[12]

Hirooki Goto

9:32[9]

Kenta

Pin

Sanada

14:31[13]

Ren Narita

Pin

Ren Narita

Pin

Tomohiro Ishii

14:33[10]

Ren Narita

Pin

Toru Yano

8:47[12]

Toru Yano

Pin

Great-O-Khan

11:20[10]

Reigns

As of June 19, 2025, there have been eight reigns between seven champions. Zack Sabre Jr. was the inaugural champion. Sabre Jr. and El Phantasmo holds the most reigns with the title at two. El Phantasmo is the current champion, in his second reign. He won the title by defeating Great-O-Khan at Wrestling Hizen no Kuni on April 29, 2025 in Saga, Japan.

Key

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
	New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)
1	Zack Sabre Jr.	January 4, 2023	Wrestle Kingdom 17 Night 1	Tokyo, Japan	1	365	16	Defeated Ren Narita in the finals of an 16-man single-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion.	[2][1]
2	Hiroshi Tanahashi	January 4, 2024	Wrestle Kingdom 18	Tokyo, Japan	1	50	1		[14]
3	Matt Riddle	February 23, 2024	The New Beginning in Sapporo Night 1	Sapporo, Japan	1	49	3
4	Zack Sabre Jr.	April 12, 2024	Windy City Riot	Chicago, Illinois	2	21	0
5	Jeff Cobb	May 3, 2024	Wrestling Dontaku Night 1	Fukuoka, Japan	1	164	3		[15]
6	Ren Narita	October 14, 2024	King of Pro-Wrestling	Tokyo, Japan	1	82	0	This was a three-way match, also involving Yota Tsuji.	[16]
7	El Phantasmo	January 4, 2025	Wrestle Kingdom 19	Tokyo, Japan	1	91	4	This was a four-way match, also involving Jeff Cobb and Ryohei Oiwa.	[17]
8	Great-O-Khan	April 5, 2025	Sakura Genesis	Tokyo, Japan	1	24	0		[18]
9	El Phantasmo	April 29, 2025	Wrestling Hizen no Kuni	Saga, Japan	2	51+	1		[19]

Combined Reigns

†	Indicates the current champion

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined defenses	Combined days
1	Zack Sabre Jr.	2	16	386
2	Jeff Cobb	1	3	164
3	El Phantasmo †	2	5	142+
4	Ren Narita	1	0	82
5	Hiroshi Tanahashi	1	1	50
6	Matt Riddle	1	2	49
7	Great-O-Khan	1	0	24

References

1. Powell, Jason (January 4, 2023). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 results: Powell's live report on Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP U.S. Championship, Kairi vs. Tam Nakano for the IWGP Women's Title, Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Master Wato for the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
2. "The NJPW World TV Champion to be crowned at Wrestle Kingdom! 【WK17】 - NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
3. "NJPW Introduces NJPW WORLD TV Championship | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
4. Miller, Nick (2022-10-10). "NJPW World Television Championship Announced - Wrestling Inc". WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
5. "NJPW World TV Title Tournament Set! - NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
6. Rose, Bryan. "Two title matches announced for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, AEW News, AEW results. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
7. "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Day 1". Internet Wrestling Database. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
8. "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Day 2". Internet Wrestling Database. October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
9. "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Day 3". Internet Wrestling Database. October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
10. "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 9 - TV-Show @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
11. "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 10 - TV-Show @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
12. "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 12 - TV-Show @ Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 1 in Chiba, Japan". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
13. Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 5, 2022). "NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 - Tag 16". cagematch.net. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
14. Powell, Jason (January 4, 2024). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 results: Powell's live review of Sanada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship, Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay for the IWGP Global Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
15. Fritts, Chick (May 3, 2024). "NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Nemeth vs. Tanahashi title match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
16. Lambert, Jeremy (May 3, 2024). "NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Results (10/14): Zack Sabre Jr vs. Tetsuya Naito, DOUKI vs. SHO". Fightful. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
17. Michaels, Corey (January 3, 2025). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 live results: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
18. Michaels, Corey (April 5, 2025). "NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Goto vs. Finlay IWGP title match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
19. Lambert, Jeremy (April 29, 2025). "NJPW Wrestling Hizen no Kuni Results (4/29): Three Title Bouts, Hiroshi Tanahashi Competes". Fightful. Retrieved April 29, 2025.