Ever since
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) was founded in 1972, the company had never had a women's championship. On July 29, 2022, it was announced by
Takaaki Kidani, owner of
World Wonder Ring Stardom and former chairman of NJPW through parent company
Bushiroad, that Stardom's roster would compete for NJPW's first-ever women's championship, the IWGP Women's Championship, at the co-promoted event
Historic X-Over, set to take place on November 20. The title is promoted as being managed by the IWGP Championship Committee, NJPW's
kayfabe governing body. On August 23 at the press conference for Historic X-Over, the dates and venues for the inaugural tournament were announced. The tournament featured seven wrestlers, with four Stardom wrestlers and three foreign wrestlers participating in the tournament with the finals taking place on November 20. On August 27, four representatives from certain stables of Stardom (referred to by the promotion as "units") were decided to compete in the four available slots. The representatives were
Giulia (
Donna Del Mondo),
Mayu Iwatani (
Stars),
Starlight Kid (
Oedo Tai), and
Utami Hayashishita (
Queen's Quest). The representatives either picked themselves or appointed another unit member to furtherly compete for the title. On November 20, at Historic X-Over,
Kairi became the inaugural champion after defeating Iwatani in the finals. at a record-setting 735 days.
Inaugural championship tournament (2022) == Belt design ==