Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship

On November 2, 1998, Mr. McMahon awarded Mankind the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Hardcore Championship. As Mankind and hardcore wrestling became more popular with audiences, the Hardcore Championship became a more serious title. Its popularity led competitor World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to create its own Hardcore Championship, a move followed by numerous independent promotions. When Crash Holly won the belt on February 22, 2000, he introduced the "24/7 rule" that the belt was to be defended at all times as long as a referee was present. On June 29, 2000, Poison Julie Sawada introduced the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship in DDT as a parody of the WWF Hardcore title and recognized himself as the first champion. Minutes after the unveiling, Mitsunobu Kikuzawa demanded he had a look at the title belt. He then used it to attack Sawada and pinned him to become the second champion. At Ultimate Party 2023, the championship belt was won by a different title, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, which pinned its holder at the time, Hiromu Takahashi, only to lose the Ironman title seconds later to Kazuki Hirata. On May 31, 2025, Poison Sawada Julie won the title back for a tenth time. He announced that he would unveil a new belt for the title at King of Kings, on June 29, for the 25th anniversary of the title. Belt design The original championship belt design featured three glittery silver plates on a black leather strap which had a snake skin pattern on the back. The central plate featured brass knuckles surrounded by chains in the center. The word "IRONMAN" was written along the edge of the top half and the word "CHAMPION", though partially erased by years of wear and tear, was written along the bottom edge. The two side plates, on either side of the central plate, were rectangular and identically stated "24 HOURS" ("24" in silver bordered with black; "HOURS" in red). The new design, which was introduced for the title's 25th anniversary, features five gray plates. The center plate has golden brass knuckles in the middle. "DDT IRONMAN" is written along the top edge, and "HEAVYMETALWEIGHT CHAMPION" is written along the bottom edge. The inner side plates feature "365" in black on top of a globe on one side, and "24/7" surrounded by a sun and a moon on the other. The two outer side plates depict wrestlers performing submission holds. ==Reigns==

{{#ifeq:{}|IMHMWReigns| As of , , there have been 1,805 officially recognized reigns between 431 different human individuals, 8 teams and 57 inanimate objects and animals. The record for most reigns is held by Shinobu, who won it 216 times, including by trading the title back-and-forth with 215-time champion Yuko Miyamoto a total of 303 times on the same night. Danshoku Dino holds the record for longest combined reign with at least 534 days and counting (the exact date of when he won his tenth title is uncertain). Masa Takanashi's sixth reign is the longest singular reign at 333 days. Only 155 individuals have held the title for longer than a day. The title has occasionally been won by unusual means, such as an auction for the belt, rock paper scissors, and even a title change that occurred in a dream. Non-wrestlers to have held the title include AV idol Nao Saejima, voice actors Sumire Uesaka and Tasuku Hatanaka, TV personality LiLiCo, J-pop idols Akari Suda, Kaori Matsumura, Rise Shiokawa, Aika Sawaguchi, Misaki Natsumi, Momomi Wagatsuma and Lingling, Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblyman Shinichiro Kawamatsu, a cat named Bunny, a monkey, a three-time champion ladder, Vince McMahon's Hollywood Walk of Fame star, a copy of The Young Bucks' autobiography Killing the Business, and the title belt itself. }} Notable champions As of January 2026, there have been over 1,800 title changes for the belt, which has been won by numerous male and female wrestlers and non-wrestlers, including children, animals, entire audiences and inanimate objects. Animals • Yatchan — monkey • Cocolo — miniature Dachshund dog • Bunny — cat Inanimate objects • Ladder — steel ladder • Kitty-Chan — stuffed Hello Kitty doll • Mah-Kun — another stuffed doll, who defeated Kitty-Chan for the belt • Zeestar — Zeekstar Tokyo's mascot • A baseball bat • Chiririn — chicken doll • Mr. Kasai — stuffed Jun Kasai doll. • A Pro Wrestling Wave poster • Big Japan Pro Wrestling ring truck • Ice Ribbon ringside mat • A pint of beer • Three different sticks of yakitori • Two different steel chairs • "Kōmyō" — calligraphy by actor Akihiro Miwa • The title belt itself • The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship belt • Yoshihiko — ragdoll, considered a full time member of the roster • Akihiro — inflatable love doll, sibling of Yoshihiko • Vince McMahon's Hollywood Walk of Fame star • A bus • TV Tokyo camera crane • Yellow iPhone 14 • A pork bun • A kotatsu table • A trash bin • Pair of chopsticks • RN: Konyamoanokodenuitarou — printed E-mail • A beer can • Killing the Business — a copy of the Young Bucks' autobiography • An apple • A christmas tree • Stefan the Dinosaur — Unagi Sayaka's stuffed dinosaur • Maya Yukihi's whip • Raku's pillow • Mizuki's hammer • Hyper Misao's bicycle Non-existent • Arnold Skeskejanaker — "invisible wrestler" i.e. non-existent. Opponents sell moves of a wrestler who isn't there, and the title is held by nothing and no-one but the wrestlers and referees act as if they can see and pin the "invisible wrestler". Muscle Sakai "won" the title from this "invisible wrestler" by using a "ray gun" and "infrared visor" to shoot the "invisible wrestler", winning the belt on a KO decision. • The Invisible Man — another "invisible wrestler" Collective champions • Three elementary school girls (Airi Ueda, Shiori Takahashi and Minami Tanabe) • The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) • The entire audience of Beyond Wrestling's Americanrana '16 event • The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) • Hiroshi Yamato and Toru Owashi • Mizuki Watase, Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dino and Yukio Naya • The 100,000 subscribers to DDT's official YouTube channel • Masanori Kishigawa and Mizuki Takashima, two junior priests of the Kanda Shrine ==Notes==