The IWGP Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 tag team

Tag team

Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 championship

Championship (professional wrestling)

A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...

 owned by the New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling

is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...

 (NJPW) promotion

Professional wrestling promotion

A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...

. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at a NJPW live event

House show

A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...

. The IWGP Tag Team Championship is not the only tag team title contested for in NJPW; the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The title was introduced on August 8, 1998 at a NJPW live event...

 is also sanctioned by NJPW. According to NJPW's official website, the IWGP Tag Team Championship is considered an "IWGP Heavy Weight Class", while the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is listed as an "IWGP Jr. Tag Class". Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result of a scripted match. Title changes usually happen at NJPW–promoted events; although the title has only changed hands twice at a non–NJPW event, it has been defended in several other promotions.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the Real World Tag League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the G1 Climax Tag League in NJPW becoming in the only tag team which has done...

 currently holds the record for most reigns by an individual wrestler, with eight. Tenzan's combined eight reign lengths add up to 1566 days, which is the most of any champion. At five reigns, the team of Tenzan and Masahiro Chono

Masahiro Chono

, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He primarily wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling , but has also made appearances for the now defunct World Championship Wrestling, as a member of the New World Order. Chono was also known as Mister Black Jack when he first started as a villain. He is a...

 hold the record for most by a team. Tenzan and Chono's combined five reign lengths add up to 1,010 days (the most of any team). At + days, Bad Intentions' (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson

Karl Anderson

Chad Allegra is an American professional wrestler better known by his stage name Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is currently one half of the IWGP and GHC Tag Team Champions with partner Giant Bernard.-Personal life:Allegra grew up in Asheville,...

) first reign is the longest in the title's history. Keiji Mutoh

Keiji Mutoh

is a Japanese professional wrestler who first gained international fame in the National Wrestling Alliance. He is mostly known for his work as The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s, but he has also competed in United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Taiwan...

 and Shiro Koshinaka

Shiro Koshinaka

is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Wrestle Association "R" during the 1980s and 1990s...

's only reign is the shortest, at six days. Currently, Bad Intentions' current first reign has the most defenses, with ten. There are 12 reigns shared between 11 teams that are tied for the fewest successful defenses, with zero. Overall, there have been 57 reigns shared between 54 wrestlers. The current champions are Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson), who are in their first reign as a team. Individually, this is the second reign for Bernard and the first for Anderson.

History

The inaugural champions were Kengo Kimura

Kengo Kimura

Seiei Kimura is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Kengo Kimura and for his many years working for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan.-Japan Wrestling Association :...

 and Tatsumi Fujinami

Tatsumi Fujinami

is a Japanese professional wrestler who is famous for his gimmick as "The Dragon." He is the one who is credited for inventing the Dragon Sleeper and the Dragon Suplex...

, who defeated Antonio Inoki

Antonio Inoki

is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...

 and Seiji Sakaguchi

Seiji Sakaguchi

is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who was a mainstay of New Japan Pro Wrestling and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance....

 in the finals of a tournament to win the championship on December 12, 1985 at a NJPW live event. In addition to NJPW, the IWGP Tag Team Championship was also contested in the United States–based promotions World Championship Wrestling

World Championship Wrestling

World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 (WCW) (now defunct) in the early 1990s and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

 (TNA) since April 2009, and in the Mexican lucha libre

Lucha libre

Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...

 promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...

 (Spanish for Worldwide Wrestling Council) in 2005.

On October 30, 2005 in Kobe, Japan

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, Tenzan and Chono defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hiroshi Tanahashi

is a Japanese professional wrestler who works primarily for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion in his fifth reign.-Early life:...

 and Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura

is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion.-Super Rookie :...

 to begin their fifth overall reign as a team. On July 2, 2006, a provisional tag team title was created (known as the "IWGP Provisional Tag Team Championship") when Tenzan and Chono showed signs of inactivity. Koshinaka and Togi Makabe

Togi Makabe

, better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Tag Team Champion....

 defeated the teams of Yuji Nagata and Naofumi Yamamoto

Naofumi Yamamoto

is a Japanese professional wrestler and former boxer, who is currently signed to WWE, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu.-New Japan Pro Wrestling :...

 and Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko

Travis Tomko

Travis David Tomko is an American professional wrestler, known by his ring name Tomko, who most recently worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he previously was a member of Christian's Coalition and the Angle Alliance and often worked alongside A.J. Styles. He was also notable for his...

 in a three–way match to become the first champions. NJPW president Simon Kelly Inoki stripped Tenzan and Chono of the IWGP Tag Team Championship on September 20, 2006 after Tenzan and Chono ceased teaming. Manabu Nakanishi

Manabu Nakanishi

is a Japanese professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He is a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion.-Amateur wrestling career:...

 and Takao Ōmori

Takao Omori

is a Japanese semi-retired professional wrestler, currently competing for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He has formerly competed in All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1.-All Japan Pro Wrestling :...

, who defeated Koshinaka and Makabe on July 17, 2006 to become the IWGP Provisional Tag Team Champions, were recognized as the IWGP Tag Team Champions on September 28, 2006 by NJPW.

In 2009, The British Invasion, defeated Team 3D on July 21, 2009 at the taping

Broadcast delay

In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...

 of the July 30, 2009 episode of TNA's primary television program, TNA Impact!

TNA iMPACT!

Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...

, in a tables match. Afterwards, NJPW released a statement announcing that they did not sanction the defense nor the title change, and as such were not going to recognize the reign. They continued to recognize Team 3D as the current champions and proclaimed that the next title defense would be by Team 3D and would be sanctioned by NJPW. On August 10, 2009, NJPW issued another press release stating that they were now recognizing The British Invasion of Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams as the current IWGP Tag Team Champions, making the reign official.

Title history

#	Order in reign history
Reign	The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed
Event	The event in which the title was won
Successful defenses	The number of successful defenses the champions had during their reign
Wrestler name (#)	The number represents the individual reigns of a wrestler when this is distinct from the tag team's reign.
—	Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
N/A	The information is not available or is unknown
+	Indicates the current reign is changing daily

#	Wrestlers (Tag team name)	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Successful defenses	Notes
	and							Kimura and Fujinami defeated Antonio Inoki Antonio Inoki is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...  and Seiji Sakaguchi Seiji Sakaguchi is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who was a mainstay of New Japan Pro Wrestling and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance....  in a tournament final to become the first champions.
	and
	and
								The championship was vacated when Kimura and Fujinami split up.
	and							Koshinaka and Mutoh defeated Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter and professional wrestler. He is best known for helping to popularize shoot-style professional wrestling, as one of the biggest stars of the Universal Wrestling Federation and Union of Wrestling Force International in the '80s and '90s. He...  in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and Junji Hirata Junji Hirata is a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestles for the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, and currently uses the ring name .-Career:Hirata made his debut in New Japan on August 26, 1978 against Yoshiaki Fujiwara...  used the ring name Ring name A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...  Super Strong Machine during his first two reigns; one reign was with George Takano George Takano George Takano is a professional wrestler who hailed from Uganda under the alias The Cobra, a masked wrestler persona...  and the second was with Hiro Saito Hiro Saito Hiroyuki Saito is a professional wrestler best known by the shortened name of .-Career:Hiro debuted in 1978 in New Japan Pro Wrestling. In May 1985, he defeated The Cobra to win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship only to lose back to him 2 months later... .
	and Takayuki Iizuka Takayuki Iizuka , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling.-Early years :Takayuki Iizuka made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1986, wrestling against Akira Nogami. In June 1989, Iizuka and Hiroshi Hase went to the Soviet...  also used the ring name Ring name A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...  Takashi Iizuka and won the IWGP Tag Team Championship once with Kazuo Yamazaki Kazuo Yamazaki Kazuo Yamazaki is a former Japanese professional wrestler, who is known for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling and UWF International.-New Japan Pro Wrestling :... .
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and							The Steiners' WCW World Tag Team Championship WCW World Tag Team Championship The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...  was also on the line.
	and							Scott Norton Scott Norton Scott Michael Norton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.-Before wrestling:...  substituted for an injured Scott Steiner in this match.
	and
	and							The Steiners' WCW World Tag Team Championship WCW World Tag Team Championship The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...  was also on the line.
	and
	and Kensuke Sasaki Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for various promotions through his own agency, Kensuke Office. He is the first of two men ever to hold all 3 of puroresu's major heavyweight titles , the other being Yoshihiro Takayama.-Early years :Kensuke Sasaki...  used the ring name Ring name A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...  Power Warrior while he was a part of The Hell Raisers.
	and
	and
	and
								The title was vacated by Mutoh after he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
	and							Tenzan and Chono defeated Junji Hirata and Shinya Hashimoto to win the vacant championship.
								The title was vacated when Chono missed a title defense due to his father's death.
	and							Hashimoto and Hirata defeated Mike Enos Mike Enos Mike Enos is a retired professional wrestler who wrestled mainly as a tag-team wrestler in World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation between 1989 and 2000....  and Scott Norton to win the vacant championship.
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
								The title was vacated due to Mutoh having surgery on his knee.
	and							Tenzan and Chono defeated Genichiro Tenryu Genichiro Tenryu Genichiro Tenryu , real name Genichiro Shimada , is a Japanese professional wrestler. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling...  and Shiro Koshinaka in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
								The title was vacated due to Mutoh leaving NJPW.
	and							Tenzan and Chono defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
	and
	and
	and
	and
	and
								NJPW president Simon Kelly Inoki stripped Chono and Tenzan of the title after Chono and Tenzan ceased teaming.
	and							A provisional tag team title was created on July 2, 2006 when Tenzan and Chono showed signs of inactivity; Shiro Koshinaka and Togi Makabe Togi Makabe , better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Tag Team Champion....  were the first champions. Nakanishi and Ōmori were recognized as the official champions on September 28, 2006 after they won the Provisional Tag Team Championship on July 17, 2006.
	and
	and
	and
	and							This was a tables match that aired on the July 30, 2009 episode of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact... 's Impact! TNA iMPACT! Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike... . NJPW did not sanction the match, nor initially recognize nor sanction the title change until August 10.
	and							This was a four–way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match, which also included Beer Money, Inc. Beer Money, Inc. Beer Money, Inc. was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Robert "Bobby" Roode and James Storm in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where they are former four-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, while also holding the record for the longest reign as...  and Booker T Booker Huffman Robert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...  and Scott Steiner Scott Steiner Scott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...  and was contested also for the TNA World Tag Team Championship TNA World Tag Team Championship The TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,... , which was won by The British Invasion The British Invasion (professional wrestling) The British Invasion is a professional wrestling alliance in the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , currently consisting of English wrestlers Douglas Williams and Magnus. The group previously also included their Welsh enforcer Rob Terry... .
	and							This was a three–way hardcore match Hardcore wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted... , which also included Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson Karl Anderson Chad Allegra is an American professional wrestler better known by his stage name Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is currently one half of the IWGP and GHC Tag Team Champions with partner Giant Bernard.-Personal life:Allegra grew up in Asheville,...  and Giant Bernard).
	and							This was a three–way match, which also included Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson Karl Anderson Chad Allegra is an American professional wrestler better known by his stage name Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is currently one half of the IWGP and GHC Tag Team Champions with partner Giant Bernard.-Personal life:Allegra grew up in Asheville,...  and Giant Bernard).
	and			+				This was a three–way elimination match, which also included No Limit (Tetsuya Naitō Tetsuya Naitō is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with former partner Yujiro Takahashi, with whom he teamed as No Limit....  and Yujiro Takahashi Yujiro Takahashi , also known by his shortened ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with former partner Tetsuya Naitō, with whom he teamed as No... ).

List of combined reigns

†	Indicates the current champions

By team

Rank	Team	# of reigns	Combined days
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By wrestler

RankEach reign is ranked highest to lowest; reigns with the same number mean that they are tied for that certain rank.	Wrestler	# of reigns	Combined days
			+
			+

External links

• New Japan Pro Wrestling.co.jp