The JWP Junior Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. It was introduced on June 16, 1995, when Candy Okutsu defeated Hiromi Sugou and Hiromi Yagi in a three-way match to become the inaugural champion.

On June 17, 2007, the reigning JWP Junior Champion Arisa Nakajima won the Princess of Pro-Wrestling (POP) Championship on the JDStar promotion's second to last event. Though the two titles were technically not unified, they were defended together from this point onward. The titles remained together in JWP for nearly a decade before it was announced on February 8, 2017, that the promotion was shutting down. As a result, the two titles would once again be separated with the JWP title remaining with the promotion's production company, while the POP title moved on to Command Bolshoi's follow-up promotion to JWP. It is currently unknown whether the JWP producers plan to stay in the professional wrestling business.

The JWP Junior Championship was originally meant for wrestlers with less than four years of experience in professional wrestling, but in June 2010, the limit was raised to five years. In May 2012, the experience limit was lowered back down to four years. The title was vacated eight times; five times due to the reigning champion surpassing the experience limit.

Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. There were thirty-one reigns shared among twenty-six different wrestlers. The title was retired on April 2, 2017, when JWP Joshi Puroresu went out of business. That same day, Yako Fujigasaki won the final match contested for the JWP Junior Championship by making her second successful defense against Saori Anou.

History

Candy Okutsu was the first champion in the title's history and Yako Fujigasaki the final. She also shares the record for most reigns with Arisa Nakajima, Hiromi Yagi, Rabbit Miu and Rydeen Hagane, with two. Kaori Yoneyama only reign holds the record for the longest reign, at 771 days, while Okutsu's second reign holds the record for the shortest reign at less than one day. Overall, there were thirty-one reigns shared among twenty-six different wrestlers.

Title history

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
DefensesNumber of successful defenses
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDaysDefenses
1Candy OkutsuJune 16, 1995House showTokyo, Japan11733Okutsu defeated Hiromi Sugou and Hiromi Yagi in a three-way match to become the inaugural champion.
2Hiromi YagiDecember 6, 1995House showNagoya, Japan110
VacatedDecember 7, 1995Hiromi Yagi vacated the title due to Candy Okutsu breaking a bone during their title match the previous day.
3Hiromi YagiJanuary 11, 1996House showFukuoka, Japan21984Yagi defeated Candy Okutsu to win the vacant title.
4Candy OkutsuJuly 27, 1996House showNagoya, Japan280
VacatedAugust 4, 1996Candy Okutsu immediately vacated the title due to surpassing its experience limit nine days later.
5Tomoko KuzumiAugust 10, 1996House showTokyo, Japan137210Kuzumi defeated Rieko Amano in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
6Tomoko MiyaguchiAugust 17, 1997House showTokyo, Japan12005
VacatedMarch 5, 1998The championship was vacated due to Tomoko Miyaguchi surpassing the experience limit for the junior division.
7Kayoko HaruyamaMay 12, 1999House showKobe, Japan14802Haruyama defeated Tsubasa Kuragaki in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
8Tsubasa KuragakiSeptember 3, 2000House showTokyo, Japan14192
VacatedOctober 27, 2001The championship was vacated due to Tsubasa Kuragaki surpassing the experience limit for the junior division.
9Kobina IchikawaDecember 9, 2001House showTokyo, Japan11890Ichikawa won a round-robin tournament, which also involved Kaori Yoneyama and Yuka Nakamura, to win the vacant championship.
VacatedJune 16, 2002Kobina Ichikawa vacated the title due to retiring from professional wrestling.
10Kaori YoneyamaJuly 6, 2002House showTokyo, Japan17714Yoneyama defeated Erika Watanabe to win the vacant championship.
VacatedAugust 15, 2004The championship was vacated due to Kaori Yoneyama surpassing the experience limit for the junior division.
11Haruka MatsuoFebruary 20, 2005House showTokyo, Japan1840Matsuo defeated Erika Watanabe in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
12Erika WatanabeMay 15, 2005Mania-XTokyo, Japan12020
VacatedDecember 3, 2005Erika Watanabe vacated the championship due to a heart problem.
13Arisa NakajimaDecember 24, 2006ClimaxTokyo, Japan13294Nakajima defeated Aoi Kizuki in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. From June 17, 2007, onward, the title is defended alongside the Princess of Pro-Wrestling Championship.
14Tyrannosaurus OkudaNovember 18, 2007Sendai Girls Live Vol. 14 ~ HardshipSendai, Japan12033
15Arisa NakajimaJune 8, 2008Osaka Pure Fire!!Osaka, Japan21961
16Hiroyo MatsumotoDecember 21, 2008Ibuki #26Tokyo, Japan11612
17Misaki OhataMay 31, 2009Ibuki #29: 4th Anniversary ShowTokyo, Japan12032
18Ryo MizunamiDecember 20, 2009Sendai Girls Live Vol. 40Sendai, Japan12572
19HirenSeptember 3, 2010Sendai Girls Live Vol. 46: Zepp Sendai TournamentSendai, Japan11841
20KagetsuMarch 6, 2011Tag League the Best – Day 5Tokyo, Japan11334
21Sawako ShimonoJuly 17, 2011Osaka Joshi Pro 7th RunOsaka, Japan12805
22Rabbit MiuApril 22, 2012JWP 20th Anniversary: Mania-XTokyo, Japan12463
23Manami KatsuDecember 24, 2012Climax - JWP 20thTokyo, Japan14824
24SareeeApril 20, 2014Mania-XTokyo, Japan11191
25Rabbit MiuAugust 17, 2014Pure PlumTokyo, Japan22315
26Rydeen HaganeApril 5, 2015Mania-XTokyo, Japan1210
27Rina YamashitaApril 26, 2015Spring☆Hurricane in OsakaOsaka, Japan11050
28Kaho KobayashiAugust 9, 2015Happy Anniversary Wave・8~East~Tokyo, Japan1452
29Rydeen HaganeSeptember 23, 2015Hakata Wave: Bari-chiro 3Fukuoka, Japan23314
VacatedAugust 19, 2016The championship was vacated due to Rydeen Hagane surpassing the experience limit for the junior division.
30Hana KimuraSeptember 18, 2016Fly High in the 25th Anniversary - Day 7 (Evening Show)Tokyo, Japan11013Kimura defeated Yako Fujigasaki in the finals of a four-woman tournament to win the vacant championship.
31Yako FujigasakiDecember 28, 2016ClimaxTokyo, Japan1952
DeactivatedApril 2, 2017JWP Fly High in the 25th Anniversary Party ~ The ThanksgivingTokyo, JapanThe championship retired when JWP Joshi Puroresu goes out of business.

Combined reigns

One-time and longest reigning JWP Junior Champion Kaori Yoneyama
RankWrestlerNo. of reignsCombined defensesCombined days
1Kaori Yoneyama14771
2Arisa Nakajima27525
3Manami Katsu14482
4Kayoko Haruyama13480
5Rabbit Miu28477
6Tsubasa Kuragaki12419
7Tomoko Kuzumi110372
8Rydeen Hagane24352
9Sawako Shimono15280
10Ryo Mizunami12257
11Misaki Ohata12203
Tyrannosaurus Okuda13203
13Erika Watanabe10202
14Tomoko Miyaguchi15200
15Hiromi Yagi24199
16Kobina Ichikawa10189
17Hiren11184
18Candy Okutsu23181
19Hiroyo Matsumoto12161
20Kagetsu14133
21Sareee11119
22Rina Yamashita10105
23Hana Kimura13101
24Yako Fujigasaki1295
25Haruka Matsuo1084
26Kaho Kobayashi1245

External links