The J-Crown, also known as the , was a unified, multi-promotional professional wrestling championship initially created by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was formed via the unification of eight (later seven) junior heavyweight and other lower-weight class titles from several different organizations. The J-Crown Tournament that crowned the inaugural champion was held in August 1996.
History The J-Crown was the unification of eight different championship belts from multiple different countries, including ones from Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The tournament to crown the first champion was held over four nights, from August 2 to August 5, 1996, the same dates that New Japan Pro-Wrestling's annual G1 Climax event took place, promoting two major tournaments on one tour. Jushin Thunder Liger is credited with coming up with the idea for the J-Crown. The inaugural champion was The Great Sasuke. The J-Crown was defended for just over a year.
While Último Dragón was champion, the titles appeared on World Championship Wrestling programming, as Dragón also held the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Dragón additionally held the NWA World Middleweight Championship concurrently with the J-Crown. When Liger was champion, he lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship to Yuji Yasuraoka on June 6, 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Liger, however, continued to defend the J-Crown with seven titles instead of eight.
As part of their introduction of a new WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) demanded that the then-current champion Shinjiro Otani return the belt. Otani returned the championship to the WWF and subsequently dissolved the J-Crown on November 5, 1997, by vacating all of the remaining component titles except for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with the other belts being restored to their home promotions.
Championships TitlePromotionChampionIWGP Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipNew Japan Pro-WrestlingThe Great SasukeMPW British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipMichinoku Pro WrestlingJushin Thunder LigerNWA World Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipNational Wrestling Alliance - Wrestle Yume FactoryMasayoshi MotegiNWA World Welterweight ChampionshipConsejo Mundial de Lucha LibreNegro CasasUWA World Junior Light Heavyweight ChampionshipUniversal Wrestling Association - New Japan Pro-WrestlingShinjiro OtaniWAR International Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipWrestle Association RÚltimo DragónWWA World Junior Light Heavyweight ChampionshipWorld Wrestling Association - Federación Universal de Lucha LibreGran HamadaWWF Light Heavyweight ChampionshipUniversal Wrestling Association - Michinoku Pro WrestlingEl Samurai
Later incorporated TitlePromotionChampionNWA World Middleweight ChampionshipConsejo Mundial de Lucha LibreCorazón de LeónWCW World Cruiserweight ChampionshipWorld Championship WrestlingDean Malenko
Inaugural championship tournament (1996) Every match was a title match, the final was for all 8 championships.
Title history
References
External links J-Crown Octuple Title Unification Tournament