2. Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Heavyweight Champion
4th Reign; 19 June 2016
That date is no typo. Kazuchika Okada has been IWGP Heavyweight Champion for 415 days at the time of this writing. This places him at number three in all-time days spent as champion.
That is astounding. The man is not even 30 years old. With seven successful title defenses this reign alone, Okada has also hit number two in all-time title defenses as well. These things matter when you consider the level of competition New Japan Pro-Wrestling has to offer.
Since last summer, Okada has successfully defended is heavyweight championship against the likes of Naomichi Marufuji, Katsuyori Shibata, Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, Cody…
Two of those guys are elsewhere on this list! Kazuchika Okada is on the run of a lifetime. If he can keep it going through one or maybe two more title defenses, he will have held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship longer than anyone in history. He will have achieved a longer single reign than Shinya Hashimoto, and he will have more combined days as champion than Hiroshi Tanahashi.
So, the question is, how could Okada not be number one? The man could very well be set to break some very impressive records as IWGP Heavyweight Champion. What championship reign could possibly be more impressive than Kazuchika Okada‘s?
