The NEVER Openweight Championship is a singles championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Originally created for NEVER, a spinoff brand created in the early 2010s to focus on younger, less-experienced wrestlers, it was meant to be contested for in that brand but never happened and instead became a title contested for in the main promotion. It is an openweight championship meaning there are no restrictions on who can challenge for it. The title was first awarded in November 2012 when Masato Tanaka won a tournament to become the inaugural champion.
As of 9/29/2024 there have been 46 NEVER Openweight Champions. They are listed below in order of reign, which reign it was (some held it multiple times), length of reign and number of successful defenses.
1-Masato Tanaka. 1st reign. Length: 11/19/2013-9/29/2013. Successful defenses: 4.
2-Tetsuya Naito. 1st reign. Lenght: 9/29/2013-2/11/2014. Successful defenses: 2.
3-Tomohiro Ishii. 1st reign. Length: 2/11/2014-6/29/2014. Successful defenses: 4.
4-Yujiro Takahashi. 1st reign. 6/29/2014-10/13/2014. Successful defenses: 1.
5-Tomohiro Ishii. 2nd reign. Length: 10/13/2014-1/4/2015. Successful defenses: 1.
6-Togi Makabe. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2015-2/14/2015. Successful defenses: None. Vacated title on 2/14/2015 due to illness.
7-Tomohiro Ishii. 3rd reign. Length: 2/14/2015-4/29/2015. Successful defenses: None.
8-Togi Makabe. 2nd reign. Length: 4/29/2015-10/12/2015. Successful defenses: 2.
9-Tomohiro Ishii. 4th reign. Length: 10/12/2015-1/4/2016. Successful defenses: 1.
10-Katsuyori Shibata. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2016-5/3/2016. Successful defenses: 3.
11-Yuji Nagata. 1st reign. Length: 5/3/2016-6/19/2016. Successful defenses: None.
12-Katsuyori Shibata. 2nd reign. Length: 6/19/2016-11/5/2016. Successful defenses: 3.
13-EVIL. 1st reign. Length: 11/5/2016-11/15/2016. Successful defenses: None.
14-Katsuyori Shibata. 3rd reign. Length: 11/15/2016-1/4/2017. Successful defenses: None.
15-Hirooki Goto. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2017-4/27/2017. Successful defenses: 3.
16-Minoru Suzuki. 1st reign. Length: 4/27/2017-1/4/2018. Successful defenses: 4.
17-Hirooki Goto. 2nd reign. Length: 1/4/2018-6/9/2018. Successful defenses: 3.
18-Michael Elgin. 1st reign. Length: 6/9/2018-6/17/2018. Successful defenses: None. Won title in 3-way match.
19-Hirooki Goto. 2nd reign. Lenth: 6/17/2018-9/17/2018. Successful defenses: 1.
20-Taichi. 1st reign. Length: 9/17/2018-11/3/2018. Successful defenses: None.
21-Hirooki Goto. 4th reign. Length: 11/3/2018-12/9/2018. Successful defenses: None.
22-Kota Ibushi. 1st reign. Length: 12/9/2018-1/4/2019. Successful defenses: None.
23-Will Ospreay. 1st reign. Length: 1/4/2019-4/6/2019. Successful defenses: 1.
24-Jeff Cobb. 1st reign. Length: 4/6/2019-5/3/2019. Successful defenses: None.
25-Taichi. 2nd reign. Length: 5/3/2019-6/7/2019. Successful defenses: None.
26-Tomohiro Ishii. 5th reign. Length: 6/9/2019-8/31/2019. Successful defenses; None.
27-KENTA. 1st reign. Length: 8/31/2019-1/5/2020. Successful defenses: 2.
28-Hirooki Goto. 5th reign. Length: 1/5/2020-2/1/2020. Successful defenses: None.
29-Shingo Takagi. 1st reign. Length: 2/1/2020-8/29/2020. Successful defenses: 3.
30-Minoru Suzuki. 2nd reign. Length: 8/29/2020-11/7/2020. Successful defenses: None.
31-Shingo Takagi. 2nd reign. Length: 11/7/2020-1/30/2021. Successful defenses: 1.
32-Hiroshi Tanahashi. 1st reign. Length: 1/30/2021-5/3/2021. Successful defenses: 1.
33-Jay White. 1st reign. Length: 5/3/2021-11/13/2021. Successful defenses: 1.
34-Tomohiro Ishii. 6th reign. Length: 11/13/2021-1/4/2022. Successful defenses: None.
35-EVIL. 2nd reign. Length: 1/4/2022-5/1/2022. Successful defenses: 2.
36-Tama Tonga. 1st reign. Length: 5/1/2022-6/12/2022. Successful defenses: None.
37-Karl Anderson. 1st reign. Length: 6/12/2022-1/4/2023. Successful defenses: 2.
38-Tama Tonga. 2nd reign. Length: 1/4/23-5/3/2023. Successful defenses: 1.
39-David Finlay. 1st reign. Length: 5/3/2023-10/9/2023. Successful defenses: 1.
40-Tama Tonga. 3rd reign. Length: 10/9/2023-10/28/2023. Successful defenses: None.
41-Shingo Takagi. 3rd reign. Length: 10/28/2023-1/4/2024. Successful defenses: 1.
42-Tama Tonga. 4th reign. Length: 1/4/2024-1/20/2024. Successful defenses: None.
43-EVIL. 3rd reign. Length: 1/20/2024-4/6/2024. Successful defenses: 1.
44-Shingo Takagi. 4th reign. Length: 4/6/2024-6/16/2024. Successful defenses: 3. (Note: 3rd defense ended in a Double KO. Takagi retained title as a result)
45-HENARE. 1st reign. Length: 6/16/2024-9/29/2024. Successful defenses: 1.
46-Shingo Takagi. 5th reign. Length: 9/29/2024-Present (Current Champion). Successful defenses: 1. Next defense: 1/4/2025 vs. Konosuke Takeshita. (Note: The winner will next/first defend on 1/5/2025 vs. Tomohiro Ishii)
