The IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a tag team title in New Japan Pro Wrestling. It is primarily intended for contesting among Heavyweights (220 pounds/100 kg+). It was first awarded in December 1985 when Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami won a tournament to become the inaugural champions.
As of 11/4/2025 there have been 105 IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.They are listed below in order of reign, which reign it was (some have held it multiple times), length of reign and number of successful defenses.
1-Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami. 1st reign. Length: 12/12/1985-8/5/1986. Successful defenses: 5.
2-Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido. 1st reign. Length: 8/5/1986-9/23/1986. Successful defenses: 1.
3-Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami 2nd reign. Length: 9/23/1986-2/5/1987. Successful defenses: None. Vacated titles on 2/5/1987 due to splitting up.
4-Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Muto. 1st reign. Length: 3/20/1987-3/26/1987. Successful defenses: None.
5-Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takeda. 1st reign. Length: 3/26/1987-9/1/1987. Successful defenses: 2.
6-Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki. 1st rein. Length: 9/1/1987-1/18/1988. Successful defenses: 2.
7-Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami. 3rd reign. Length: Length: 1/18/1988-6/10/1988. Successful defenses: 3.
8-Riki Choshu & Masa Saito. 1st reign. Length: 6/10/1988-3/16/1989. Successful defenses: 4.
9-George Takano & Super Strong Machine. 1st reign. Length: 3/16/1989-7/13/1989. Successful defenses: 1.
10-Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka. 1st reign. Length: 7/13/1989-9/20/1989. Successful defenses: 1.
11-Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto. 1st reign. Length: 9/27/1989-4/7/1990. Successful defenses: 3.
12-Keiji Muto & Masa Chono. 1st reign. Length: 4/27/1990-11/1/1990. Successful defenses: 3.
13-Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki. 1st reign. Length: 11/1/1990-12/6/1990. Successful defenses: 2.
14-Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito. 1st reign. Length: 12/6/1990-3/6/1991. Successful defenses: 2.
15-Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki. 2nd reign. Length: 3/6/1991-3/21/1991. Successful defenses: None.
16-Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner. 1st reign. Length: 3/21/1991-11/5/1991. Successful defenses: 2.
17-Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase. 1st reign. Length: 11/5/1991-3/1/1992. Successful defenses: 1.
18-Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow. 1st reign. Length: 3/1/1992-6/26/1992. Successful defenses: 2.
19-Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner. 2nd reign. Length: 6/26/1992-11/22/1992. Successful defenses: 3.
20-Scott Norton & Tony Halme. 1st reign. Length: 11/22/1992-12/14/1992. Successful defenses: None.
21-Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki) & Road Warrior Hawk. 1st reign. Length: 12/14/1992-8/5/1993. Successful defenses: 4.
22-Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez. 1st reign. Length: 8/5/1993-1/4/1994. Successful defenses: 3.
23-Power Warrior & Road Warrior Hawk. 2nd reign. Length: 1/4/1994-11/25/1994. Successful defenses: 2.
24-Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase. 2nd reign. Length: 11/25/1994-5/6/1995. Successful defenses: 1. Vacated titles on 5/6/1995 after Muto won IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
25-Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 1st reign. Length: 6/12/1995-7/7/1995. Successful defenses: None. Vacated titles on 7/7/1995 after Chono missed a defense due to his father’s death.
26-Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata. 1st reign. Length: 7/13/1995-7/12/1996. Successful defenses: 6.
27-Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka. 1st reign. Length: 7/12/1996-7/16/1996. Successful defenses: None.
28-Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 2nd reign. Length: 7/16/1996-1/4/1997. Successful defenses: 2.
29-Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami. 4th reign. Length: 1/4/1997-4/12/1997. Successful defenses: 3.
30-Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki. 1st reign. Length: 4/12/1997-5/3/1997. Successful defenses: None.
31-Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima. 1st reign. Length: 5/3/1997-8/10/1997. Successful defenses: 1.
32-Kazuo Yamasaki & Kensuke Sasaki. 1st reign.Length: 8/10/1997-10/19/1997. Successful defenses: None.
33-Keiji Muto & Masa Chono. 1st reign. Length: 10/19/1997-5/7/1998. Successful defenses: 2. Vacated titles on 5/7/1998 due to a Muto injury.
34-Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 3rd reign. Length: 6/5/1998-7/15/1998. Successful defenses: None.
35-Shiro Koshinaka & Genichiro Tenryu. 1st reign. Length: 7/15/1998-1/4/1999. Successful defenses: 2.
36-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/1999-3/22/1999. Successful defenses: 1.
37-Shiro Koshinaka & Kensuke Sasaki. 1st reign. Length: 3/22/1999-6/27/1999. Successful defenses: 2.
38-Michiyoshi Ohara & Tatsutoshi Goto. 1st reign. Length: 6/27/1999-8/28/1999. Successful defenses: 1.
39-Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi. 1st reign Length: 8/28/1999-7/28/2000. Successful defenses: 4.
40-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 2nd reign. Length: 7/28/2000-9/23/2001. Successful defenses: 6.
41-Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Nishimura. 1st reign. 9/23/2001-10/28/2001. Successful defenses: 1.
42-Keiji Muto & Taiyo Kea. 1st reign. Length: 10/28/2001-2/2/2002. Successful defenses: None. Vacated titles on 2/2/2002 due to Muto leaving New Japan.
43-Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 4th reign. Length: 3/24/2002-6/13/2003. Successful defenses: 7.
44-Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi. 1st reign. Length: 6/13/2003-12/14/2003. Successful defenses: 3.
45-Osamu Nishimura & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 1st reign. Length: 12/14/2003-2/1/2004. Successful defenses: None.
46-Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama. 1st reign. Length: 2/1/2004-11/21/2004. Successful defenses: 4. Vacated titles on 11/21/2004 due to a Takayama injury.
47-Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura. 1st reign. Length: 12/11/2004-10/30/2005. Successful defenses: 4.
48-Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 5th reign. Length: 10/30/2005-9/20/2006. Successful defenses: 3. Stripped of titles on 9/2/2006 due to inactivity and no longer teaming. Interim championship created on 7/2/2006. It is believed these reigns are not officially recognized by New Japan.
Interim Champion 1-Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe. Length: 7/2/2006-7/17/2006. Successful defenses: None.
Interim Champion 2-Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori. Length: 7/17/2006-9/28/2006. Successful defenses: None. Promoted to official champions on 9/28/2006.
49-Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori. 1st reign. Length: 9/28/2006-3/11/2007. Successful defenses: 1.
50-Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko. 1st reign. Length: 3/12/2007-2/17/2008. Successful defenses: 5.
51-Toru Yano & Togi Makabe. 1st reign. Length: 2/17/2008-1/14/2009. Successful defenses: 5.
52-Brother Ray & Brother Devon. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2009-7/2/2009. Successful defenses: 4.
53-Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams. 1st reign. Length: 7/22/2009-10/8/2009. Successful defenses: 1.
54-Brother Ray & Brother Devon. 2nd reign. Length: 10/8/2009-1/4/2010. Successful defenses: 1. Won titles in 4-way match.
55-Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2010-5/3/2010. Successful defenses: 1.
56-Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue. 1st reign. Length: 5/3/2010-6/19/2010. Successful defenses: None. Won titles in 3-way match.
57-Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson. 1st reign. Length: 6/19/2010-1/4/2012. Successful defenses: 10. Won titles in 3-way match.
58-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 3rd reign. Length: 1/4/2012-5/3/2012. Successful defenses: 2.
59-Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka. 1st reign. Length: 5/3/2012-6/20/2012. Successful defenses: None. Stripped of titles on 6/20/2012 due to 6/16/2012 defense ending in a no contest.
60-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 4th reign. Length: 7/22/2012-10/8/2012. Successful defenses: None.
61-Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. 1st reign. Length: 10/8/2012-5/3/2013. Successful defenses: 6.
62-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 5th reign. Length: 5/3/2013-11/9/2013. Successful defenses: 2. Won titles in 4-way match.
63-Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. 2nd reign. Lengths 11:9/2013-1/4/2014. Successful defenses: None. Won titles in 3-way match.
64-Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2014-1/4/2015. Successful defenses: 6.
65-Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2015-2/11/2015. Successful defenses: None.
66-Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. 2nd reign. Length: 2/11/2015-4/5/2015. Successful defenses: None.
67-Matt Taven & Mike Bennett. 1st reign. Length: 4/5/2015-7/5/2015. Successful defenses: None.
68-Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. 3rd reign. Length: 7/5/2015-1/4/2016. Successful defenses: 1.
69-Togi Makabe & Tonoaki Honma. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2016-4/10/2016. Successful defenses: 1.
70-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 1st reign. Length: 4/10/2016-6/19/2016. Successful defenses: 1.
71-Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe. 1st reign. Length: 6/19/2016-10/10/2016. Successful defenses: 2.
72-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 2nd reign. Length/ 10/10/2016-1/4/2017. Successful defenses: 1.
73-Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2017-3/6/2017. Successful defenses: 2. Won titles in 3-way match.
74-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. 6th reign. Length: 3/6/2017-4/9/2017. Successful defenses: None.
75-Raymond Rowe & Hanson. 1st reign. Length: 4/9/2017-6/11/2017. Successful defenses: 1.
76-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 3rd reign. Length: 6/11/2017-7/1/2017. Successful defenses: None.
77-Raymond Rowe & Hanson. 2nd reign. Length: 7/1/2017-9/24/2017. Successful defenses: 3.
78-Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. 3rd reign. Length: 9/25/2017-1/4/2018. Successful defenses: 1. Won titles in 3-way match.
79-EVIL & SANADA. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2018-6/9/2018. Successful defenses: 2.
80-Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson. 1st reign. Length: 6/9/2018-9/30/2018. Successful defenses: 1.
81-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 4th reign. Length: 9/30/2018-1/4/2019. Successful defenses: None.
82-EVIL & SANADA. 2nd reign. Length: 1/4/2019-2/23/2019. Successful defenses: 1. Won titles in 3-way match.
83-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 5th reign. Length: 2/23/2019-1/4/2020. Successful defenses: 7.
84-David Finlay & Juice Robinson. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2020-2/1/2020. Successful defenses: None.
85-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 6th reign. Length: 2/1/2020-2/21/2020. Successful defenses: None.
86-Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi. 1st reign. Length: 2/21/2020-7/12/2020. Successful defenses: None.
87-Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. 1st reign. Length: 7/12/2020-1/4/2021. Successful defenses: 2.
88-Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. 7th reign. Length: 1/4/2021-6/1/2021. Successful defenses: 2.
89-Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. 2nd reign. Length: 6/1/2021-7/11/2021. Successful defenses: None.
90-Tetduya Naito & SANADA. 1st reign. Length: 7/11/2021-7/25/2021. Successful defenses: None.
91-Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. 3rd reign. Length: 7/25/2021-1/4/2022. Successful defenses: 1.
92-Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2022-4/9/2022. Successful defenses: 1.
93-Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. 1st reign. Length: 4/9/2022-5/1/2022. Successful defenses: None.
94-Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens. 1st reign. Length: 5/1/2022-6/12/2023. Successful defenses: None. Won titles in 3-way match.
95-Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan. 2nd reign. Length: 6/12/2022-6/26/2022. Successful defenses: None.
96-Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler. 1st reign. Length: 6/26/2022-1/4/2023. Successful defenses: 2. Won titles in 3-way match.
97-Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. 2nd reign. Length: 1/4/2023-4/8/2023. Successful defenses: 2.
98-Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher. 1st reign. Length: 4/8/2023-5/21/2023. Successful defenses: 2. Vacated titles on 5/21/2023 due to a Davis injury.
99-Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. 3rd reign. Length: 6/4/2023-1/4/2024. Successful defenses: 1.
100-El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2024-2/11/2024. Successful defenses: None.
101-Chase Owens & KENTA. 1st reign. Length: 2/11/2024-4/6/2024. Successful defenses: None.
102-Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. 4th reign. Length: 4/6/2024-5/4/2024. Successful defenses: None.
103-Chase Owens & KENTA. 2nd reign. Length: 5/4/2024-6/9/2024. Successful defenses: None.
104-Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. 1st reign. Length: 6/9/2024-11/4/2024. Successful defenses: 1. Won titles in 4-way match. Also won STRONG Tag Team Championship on 6/9/2024.
105-HENARE & Great-O-Khan. 1st reign. Length: 11/4/2024-Present (Current Champions). Successful defenses; None. Next defense: TBA.
