So we here at Last Word on Pro Wrestling have been doing a new series for the past few months called The Championship Report. This new series is a listing of every major wrestling promotion around the world (from mainstream to indie) and their current champions. This is done at the beginning of each month to keep you up to date as to who’s wearing the gold and where. Since it’s creation in July of this year, it’s proved to be a popular series with the readers (thank you!) and has grown each month with the help of our readers. It follows in a tradition that wrestling magazines like The Wrestler or Pro Wrestling Illustrated used to do, in keeping fans updated on champions around the world.
With that being said, we’re now launching a companion series called World Champion Power Rankings, which will rank all the current World Champions (one article for male, one for female). Criteria for each Champion will include length of reign and quality of opponents, not necessarily the size of the promotion. So without further adieu, here’s the first edition of World Champion Power Rankings for September.
MALE WORLD CHAMPIONS
#1. Kazuchika Okada, New Japan, IWGP Heavyweight Champion
Won: June 19, 2016, from Tetsuya Naito, NJPW Dominion, Osaka, Japan
Current Reign: 4th World Title, 448 days
Televised Title Defenses: 7
Time Between Defenses: 64 days
Title Defense Opponents: Noamichi Marafuji, Kenny Omega (x2), Minoru Suzuki, Katsuyori Shibata, Bad Luck Fale, Cody Rhodes
#2. Cody Rhodes, ROH, ROH World Champion
Won: June 23, 2017, from Christopher Daniels, ROH Best In The World, Lowell, MA, USA
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 84 days
Televised Title Defenses: 5
Time Between Defenses: 17 days
Title Defense Opponents: Christopher Daniels, Willie Mack, Michael Elgin, SANADA, Frankie Kazarian
#3. Johnny Mundo (John Morrison), AAA, AAA Mega Champion, Lucha Underground Champion
Won: AAA: March 19, 2017, from Texano Jr., AAA Rey De Reyes, Monterrey, Mexico; LU: November 23, 2016, from Sexy Star, Lucha Underground TV
Current Reign: AAA: 2nd World Title, 180 days; LU: 1st World Title, 265 days
Televised Title Defenses: AAA: 3, LU: 4
Time Between Defenses: AAA: 60 days; LU: 66 days
Title Defense Opponents: AAA: El Texano Jr. (x3), El Hijo del Fantasmo (x2); LU: Sexy Star, The Mack (x2), Rey Mysterio Jr.
#4. Jinder Mahal, WWE, WWE Champion
Won: May 21, 2017, from Randy Orton, WWE Backlash, Chicago, IL, USA
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 117 days
Televised Title Defenses: 4
Time Between Defenses: 29 days
Title Defense Opponents: Randy Orton (x2), Baron Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura
#5. Zack Sabre Jr., EVOLVE, EVOLVE Champion
Won: February 25, 2017, from Timothy Thatcher, EVOLVE 79, New York, NY, USA
Current Reign: 3rd World Title, 202 days
Televised Title Defenses: 8
Time Between Defenses: 25 days
Title Defense Opponents: ACH, Mark Haskins, Lio Rush (x2), Ethan Page, Jaka, Timothy Thatcher, Fred Yehi
#6. Joe Hendry, WCPW, WCPW World Champion
Won: April 30, 2017, from Martin Kirby, WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup Mexico Qualifiers, Coventry, UK
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 138 days
Televised Title Defenses: 7
Time Between Defenses: 20 days
Title Defense Opponents: Marty Kirby (x2), Rampage Brown, Jordan Devlin, Will Ospreay, Ricky Combat, Marty Scurll, Jack Swagger
#7. Joe Coffey, ICW, ICW World Heavyweight Champion
Won: April 16, 2017, from Trent Seven, ICW BarraMania 3, Glasgow, UK
Current Reign: 2nd World Title, 152 days
Televised Title Defenses: 6
Time Between Defenses: 25 days
Title Defense Opponents: Pete Dunne, Jack Jester (x2), Dave Mastiff, Jordan Devlin, Joe Hendry
#8. Juan Francisco de Coronado, CHIKARA, CHIKARA Grand Champion
Won: April 1, 2017, from Ultra Mantis Black, CHIKARA Bad Wolf, Fern Park, FL, USA
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 167 days
Televised Title Defenses: 4
Time Between Defenses: 42 days
Title Defense Opponents: Oleg The Usurper, Obariyon, Missile Assault Man, Rory Gulak
#9. Brock Lesnar, WWE, WWE Universal Champion
Won: April 2, 2017, from Goldberg, WrestleMania 33, Orlando, FL, USA
Current Reign: 5th World Title, 166 days
Televised Title Defenses: 2
Time Between Defenses: 83 days
Title Defense Opponents: Samoa Joe (x2), Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns
#10. Marco Corleone (Mark Jindrak), CMLL, CMLL World Heavyweight Champion
Won: June 6, 2017, in a 10-man match for vacant title
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 102 days
Televised Title Defenses: 3
Time Between Defenses: 34 days
Title Defense Opponents: El Terrible, Vangellys, Diamante Azul
#11. Eli Drake, GFW, GFW Unified World Heavyweight Champion
Won: August 17, 2017, won 20-Man Gauntlet Match to win vacant title
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 29 days
Televised Title Defenses: 1
Time Between Defenses: n/a
Title Defense Opponents: Matt Sydal
#12. Travis Banks, PROGRESS, PROGRESS World Champion
Won: September 10, 2017, from Pete Dunne, Chapter 55: Chase The Sun, London, UK
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 5 days
Televised Title Defenses: 0
Time Between Defenses: n/a
Title Defense Opponents: none
#13. Eddie Edwards, Pro Wrestling NOAH, GHC Heavyweight Champion
Won: August 26, 2017, from Katsuhiko Nakajima, NOAH Summer Navigation Vol 2, Tokyo, Japan
Current Reign: 3rd World Title, 20 days
Televised Title Defenses: 0
Time Between Defenses: n/a
Title Defense Opponents: none
#14. Kento Miyahara, All-Japan, Triple Crown Champion
Won: August 27, 2017, from Shuji Ishikawa, AJPW 45th Anniversary, Tokyo, Japan
Current Reign: 2nd World Title, 19 days
Televised Title Defenses: 0
Time Between Defenses: n/a
Title Defense Opponents: none
#15. Drew McIntyre, WWE, NXT Champion
Won: August 19, 2017, from Bobby Roode, NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Current Reign: 6th World Title, 27 days
Televised Title Defenses: 0
Time Between Defenses: n/a
Title Defense Opponents: none
#16. Chuck Taylor, PWG, PWG World Champion
Won: July 7, 2017, from Zack Sabre Jr., PWG Pushin’ Forward Back, Reseda, CA, USA
Current Reign: 1st World Title, 70 days
Televised Title Defenses: 0
Time Between Defenses: n/a
Title Defense Opponents: none
