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The WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship was first established on December 18, 1978 during a World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) house show in New York, New York. At the event, WWWF promoter Vincent J. McMahon awarded the championship to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promoter Antonio Inoki for Inoki's achievements against fighters from other combat sports, including his fight against Dutch judoka Willem Ruska and his 1976 fight against world champion boxer Muhammad Ali. Inoki made his first defense of the Martial Arts Championship on the December 18 house show, defeating Texas Red. Inoki would continue to defend the championship against both professional wrestlers, like Larry Sharpe during Showdown at Shea, and martial artists like karateka Willie Williams. In 1979, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), with the championship adopting the new initials and becoming known as the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship. The championship was retired on December 31, 1989 during NJPW's inaugural event in the Soviet Union.
During the thirtieth anniversary of Inoki's career, NJPW created the "Greatest 18 Club", a hall of fame. NJPW then created a new title, the Greatest 18 Club Championship, which was intended to complement the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The Greatest 18 Championship was represented by the former Martial Arts Championship belt and was awarded to Riki Choshu in 1990. Choshu lost the title to The Great Muta in 1992. Muta retired the title on September 23 of that year, in order to focus on his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title defenses. The title was subsequently officially retired by NJPW.
Reigns
Over the championship's 11-year history, there were only two reigns between two champions. Antonio Inoki was the inaugural and last champion. Inoki's first reign was the longest at 3,780, while Shota Chochishvili's reign was the shortest at 31 days. Chochishvili was the oldest champion at 38 years old, while Inoki was the youngest at 35 years old.
Inoki was awarded the championship by Vincent J. McMahon for his achievements in matches against fighters from other combat sports. Inoki makes his first defense of the title at this event against Texas Red.
Inoki gives the belt to Soviet judoka Shota Chochishvili, the only man to defeat him for the championship, as a sign of friendship between the Japanese and Soviet peoples during NJPW's inaugural event in the Soviet Union. Inoki was then recognized as the final champion after NJPW abandoned the title on December 31, 1989. The physical belt was later used to represent NJPW's Greatest 18 Club Championship.
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