Ranking NJPW's title belts

[Mozenrath]

Title basically says it: what do you think the hierarchy is with the active titles NJPW has right now?

IWGP Title is the most prestigious, and then the IC title, probably, that much I think can be agreed upon. One is the main title, and the other has been treated as the Number 2 guy in the company for a while.

Past that, it sort of gets more complicated. Sometimes, the heavyweight tag belts are quite important, but that's certainly not always the case, since NJPW has had a problem of not being very consistent with tag team roster depth. GoD as champions weren't nobodies, but they were also probably not considered as important as Karl Anderson and Gallows were when they were tag champions. It's all over the place.

Similarly, the Jr. Heavyweight title is sometimes a very big deal indeed, and others, maybe not so much. This has more consistently been a highly valued prize the last few years than the heavyweight tag at least, though.

Junior Heavyweight tag titles... not chopped liver, but the heavyweight tag title's problem, only even worse, and practically always the case. There are a lot of good juniors, but it doesn't translate into a strong tag division.

NEVER title has really gone up in the world. It used to be total filler, but it has become one of the funnest belts in the company because it adds to someone's profile tangibly, but it isn't so lofty that the challenger pool is shallow. The champions they've had really show that just about anybody can try to compete for it, but it isn't so accessible as to be worthless. Sometimes this feels like the third biggest singles belt, and sometimes, it feels beneath the Jr. Heavyweight title or the-

US championship. This one's been a bit weird. It languished under Juice Robinson in his second reign, but thankfully, Moxley winning it really gave it a shot in the arm, making it feel like a bigger prize. Lance Archer also brought some energy to it, and it looks like Suzuki may be aiming to add it to his resume next.

NEVER 6-Man titles: Okay, these are absolutely the bottom tier belt. That isn't to say I think they suck or something, they are kind of fun in their way, but they are definitely filler, and there isn't really much in the way of gravity to who wins or loses them. They're the title belts you give people who you want a little bit of shine on, but it's like Christmas morning: the IWGY title is a new game console. The NEVER is a neat RC car, The 6-man titles are a card from Grandma with a crisp 5 bucks in it. You appreciate it, but it's not going to blow your socks off.

How about you? Where do you rank the titles?

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

As it stands right now

IWGP HW title
IC Title
Junior Title
NEVER title
US Title
HW Tag
Junior Tag
6 Man Tag

The US title is the least important mens singles title thanks to the way they booked it but a strong reign could boost it up.
NEVER title has bounced up and down a bit but it is back to getting strong.
The tag divisions right now are in the dirt with GOD reign hurting the HW title and the Junior titles not really having anyone to go to besides RPG 3K who will drop it to some heel team in 2 months

[Mozenrath]

Jan 5, 2020 6:40:57 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

As it stands right now

IWGP HW title
IC Title
Junior Title
NEVER title
US Title
HW Tag
Junior Tag
6 Man Tag

The US title is the least important mens singles title thanks to the way they booked it but a strong reign could boost it up.
NEVER title has bounced up and down a bit but it is back to getting strong.
The tag divisions right now are in the dirt with GOD reign hurting the HW title and the Junior titles not really having anyone to go to besides RPG 3K who will drop it to some heel team in 2 months

Juice and Finlay getting it is at least a big relief because it's at least someone other than GOD or EVIL/SANADA. They still really could use another couple of tag teams in there, but Jr.s are even worse off, yeah. There's no way it's going to happen because he simply has much better things to do, but Ospreay/Eagles as champions would probably feel nice. As it stands, Desperado and DOUKI or something feels more probable, which, I like those guys, so I'd live.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 5, 2020 6:46:34 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jan 5, 2020 6:40:57 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

As it stands right now

IWGP HW title
IC Title
Junior Title
NEVER title
US Title
HW Tag
Junior Tag
6 Man Tag

The US title is the least important mens singles title thanks to the way they booked it but a strong reign could boost it up.
NEVER title has bounced up and down a bit but it is back to getting strong.
The tag divisions right now are in the dirt with GOD reign hurting the HW title and the Junior titles not really having anyone to go to besides RPG 3K who will drop it to some heel team in 2 months

Juice and Finlay getting it is at least a big relief because it's at least someone other than GOD or EVIL/SANADA. They still really could use another couple of tag teams in there, but Jr.s are even worse off, yeah. There's no way it's going to happen because he simply has much better things to do, but Ospreay/Eagles as champions would probably feel nice. As it stands, Desperado and DOUKI or something feels more probable, which, I like those guys, so I'd live.

The HW tag division is easy to fix with teams essentially there that they haven't made
Goto/Ishii
Shingo/EVIL
Minoru/Sabre
Hell, even Okada/Yoshi Hashi 

The junior tag titles are stuck in a rut. RPG3K has no one to really defend them against and they have been chasers for most of their careers thus far. Ishimori/ELP make a good team and combo so another shot isn't out the door. Despy/DOUKI probably team up as you said, Ospreay/Eagles makes too much sense not to for a bit but that's slim. 

US title got a big shot in the arm as well in these last two days so it is on the way up but NEVER title has strong roots and is being used as a prove yourself title 

[ogreknee]

Jan 5, 2020 6:40:57 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

As it stands right now

IWGP HW title
IC Title
Junior Title
NEVER title
US Title
HW Tag
Junior Tag
6 Man Tag

The US title is the least important mens singles title thanks to the way they booked it but a strong reign could boost it up.
NEVER title has bounced up and down a bit but it is back to getting strong.
The tag divisions right now are in the dirt with GOD reign hurting the HW title and the Junior titles not really having anyone to go to besides RPG 3K who will drop it to some heel team in 2 months

The tiers are needed and their big shows usually have a 2 to 3 day split so having title matches adds interest

I would have roppongi win both belts

[Deleted]

That's one thing about NJPW that I don't understand yet since it's still new to me. There's like 5 men's singles belts and I don't know what goes to what. I get the tag but the singles? I don't know.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 5, 2020 16:56:31 GMT -5 @kn said:

That's one thing about NJPW that I don't understand yet since it's still new to me. There's like 5 men's singles belts and I don't know what goes to what. I get the tag but the singles? I don't know.

IWGP - Obviously the top price so no explanation 

IC - The 2nd Tier title that at points is equal to the IWGP title if not surpassed it at points (Nakamura reigns)

NEVER Openweight- The "fighting spirit title" That is basically the we will f*** each other up title. What is great about it and just got used more last year is the fact Juniors can go for this title. It is openweight so you can have matchups like Ospreay vs Ibushi last year where you are testing the waters on people. Too bad KUSHIDA didn't get that chance 

U.S. - The newest title that got introduced three years ago. Still really doesn't have an identity yet like the others but thus far it has been a belt held by Gaijins (foreigners) 

Junior title - Obviously for the lower weight class and basically has its own hierarchy like the HWs. KUSHIDA was the Ace of the Juniors for years before Hiromu came along. A few guys over the years have been able to grow and surpass from the limit. Omega, Balor, Opsreay (on his way to being HW), 

[ogreknee]

Jan 5, 2020 16:56:31 GMT -5 @kn said:

That's one thing about NJPW that I don't understand yet since it's still new to me. There's like 5 men's singles belts and I don't know what goes to what. I get the tag but the singles? I don't know.

Why does nxt have all those belts? It looks cool. And it adds easy feuds.

Also there are guys who should never be iwgp champion.

Hell that revpro belt is defended more in new japan than rev pro

[AwamoriRock]

IWGY heavy and then intercontinental.

Everything after that is pretty meaningless and NJPW wears that on their sleeve.

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2020 17:03:09 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

Jan 5, 2020 16:56:31 GMT -5 @kn said:

That's one thing about NJPW that I don't understand yet since it's still new to me. There's like 5 men's singles belts and I don't know what goes to what. I get the tag but the singles? I don't know.

IWGP - Obviously the top price so no explanation 

IC - The 2nd Tier title that at points is equal to the IWGP title if not surpassed it at points (Nakamura reigns)

NEVER Openweight- The "fighting spirit title" That is basically the we will f*** each other up title. What is great about it and just got used more last year is the fact Juniors can go for this title. It is openweight so you can have matchups like Ospreay vs Ibushi last year where you are testing the waters on people. Too bad KUSHIDA didn't get that chance 

U.S. - The newest title that got introduced three years ago. Still really doesn't have an identity yet like the others but thus far it has been a belt held by Gaijins (foreigners) 

Junior title - Obviously for the lower weight class and basically has its own hierarchy like the HWs. KUSHIDA was the Ace of the Juniors for years before Hiromu came along. A few guys over the years have been able to grow and surpass from the limit. Omega, Balor, Opsreay (on his way to being HW), 

So basically the NO Title is like the Hardcore? Also just so I understand, there's no such thing as brands so this is all under one banner right?

Man, that's just a lot of belts and it's confusing for new viewers. I can get why they have a Junior title but I don't know why there's an IC, US and NO title all under the main one. If that's what they do and if it makes sense that's good but that's a good amount of belts.

Jan 5, 2020 17:08:20 GMT -5 ogreknee said:

Jan 5, 2020 16:56:31 GMT -5 @kn said:

That's one thing about NJPW that I don't understand yet since it's still new to me. There's like 5 men's singles belts and I don't know what goes to what. I get the tag but the singles? I don't know.

Why does nxt have all those belts? It looks cool. And it adds easy feuds.

Also there are guys who should never be iwgp champion.

Hell that revpro belt is defended more in new japan than rev pro

NXT has 3 mens' titles not counting tag team. NJPW has 5 mens' not counting the tag team. Yeah it might look cool to you but for new viewers it's confusing. It's easy to get a hierarchy of 3 titles compared to identifying 5.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 5, 2020 17:28:19 GMT -5 @kn said:

Jan 5, 2020 17:03:09 GMT -5 Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) said:

IWGP - Obviously the top price so no explanation 

IC - The 2nd Tier title that at points is equal to the IWGP title if not surpassed it at points (Nakamura reigns)

NEVER Openweight- The "fighting spirit title" That is basically the we will f*** each other up title. What is great about it and just got used more last year is the fact Juniors can go for this title. It is openweight so you can have matchups like Ospreay vs Ibushi last year where you are testing the waters on people. Too bad KUSHIDA didn't get that chance 

U.S. - The newest title that got introduced three years ago. Still really doesn't have an identity yet like the others but thus far it has been a belt held by Gaijins (foreigners) 

Junior title - Obviously for the lower weight class and basically has its own hierarchy like the HWs. KUSHIDA was the Ace of the Juniors for years before Hiromu came along. A few guys over the years have been able to grow and surpass from the limit. Omega, Balor, Opsreay (on his way to being HW), 

So basically the NO Title is like the Hardcore? Also just so I understand, there's no such thing as brands so this is all under one banner right?

Man, that's just a lot of belts and it's confusing for new viewers. I can get why they have a Junior title but I don't know why there's an IC, US and NO title all under the main one. If that's what they do and if it makes sense that's good but that's a good amount of belts.  

Not necessarily for the NEVER title. This is strong style, they are f***ing each other up with their own hands, no weapons. See examples below 





But yes, this is all one brand. The U.S. is a bit unnecessary and one that people really didn't like when it was introduced because it was unneeded. 

Ultimately, the titles bring diff types of action. NEVER title is the hard hitting match, IC title is your semi main event title which is a stepping stone to the IWGP title, U.S. title really has no meaning right now but we assume this is the main title that will be featured on American tours when they start

[Allie Kitsune]

I do like how the NEVER belt is basically the "Come and rip it out of my hands" tough-guy belt.

[ogreknee]

Well look at it like wwe

Soft brand split with different groups doing different nights

Raw
Wwe=iwgp
Us=never
Tag

Sd
Universal=ic
Ic=us
Tag


Nxt uk=rev pro
Nxt tag=six man tag

Though let's throw nxt uk and nxt proper in there.

It is basically people fighting for belts to make more money

NJPW is about to do more us shows so they made the us title.

And njpw always has trios matches so they created belts for those.

It really is just like collecting trinkets

It really is just belts for the sake of b

[Duke Cameron]

Heavyweight
Intercontinental
Junior
Never
United States
Heavyweight Tag
Junior Tag
Six Man Tag

[Cyno]

I'd go

IWGP Heavyweight
IC
NEVER
Jr. Heavyweight
US
Heavyweight Tag
Jr. Tag
6-Man tag.

Though you could have a giant gulf of space between the US and Heavyweight Tag titles. NJPW just doesn't really care that much about its tag divisions and it doesn't make any bones about that. Though it was nice seeing the HW tag titles get away from G.o.D. for once.

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2020 18:02:20 GMT -5 Allie Kitsune said:

I do like how the NEVER belt is basically the "Come and rip it out of my hands" tough-guy belt.

Same. The stories that have revolved around it with Shibata, Ishii, Goto and even Suzuki/Nagata have been really special. It's not really a hardcore belt, but it definitely stands for all things "fighting spirit."

Honestly, if any title is starting to skew towards hardcore, it's the United States Championship. The past 8 months or so have had a whole lot of crazy violence, from the Mox/Juice matches to Lance murdering Finlay in San Jose. With Murder Grandpa now in the hunt, it looks like we're just continuing down that path.

[corndog]

I would say the Junior Heavyweight is the next below the IC, since they seem to take it seriously and book it well, also it tends to be booked highest on the card behind the IC/World titles. Next would be the NEVER openweight title. I would compare it to a TV title, when they meant something back in the day, but instead it's the Super Strong Style belt, where everyone beats the crap out of each other. It gets tossed around a little bit, but at least it has it's own identity. The US title is still getting it's footing, but lately it does seem to be the "hardcore" title, which would also make sense with it's placement on the card. The belt fell off a bit with Juice, but I've enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Mozenrath]

I'm cool if the US Title turns into a hardcore-ish title, especially since the NEVER title kinda feels like TNA's X-Dvision title when it became "not about weight limits, but no limits!", just, executed better.

Speaking of the latter, I'm torn. I want Goto to rehabilitate his image a bit, but I also really like when the NEVER title jumps around a lot, like when you had Jeff Cobb, Ospreay, etc, getting brief title reigns. It somehow never really cheapened it for me, it just makes it seem very sought out.

[Dub H]

The next US feud could.manage to elevate the belt.