 | |
| Acronym | IGF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Defunct | 2019 |
| Style | Mixed martial arts Professional wrestling (Shoot-style wrestling) |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Founder | Antonio Inoki |
| Owner(s) | Antonio Inoki (2007–2018) Simon Inoki (2018–2019) |
| Parent | Assist Co., Ltd. |
| Split from | New Japan Pro-Wrestling |
| Predecessor |
|
| Successor |
|
| Website | Official Site of the Inoki Genome Federation (archived) |
TheInoki Genome Federation (イノキ・ゲノム・フェデレーション,Inoki Genomu Federēshon) (IGF), also known inChina asInternational Glory Fighting,[1][2] was aJapanese professional wrestling andmixed martial artspromotion founded byAntonio Inoki in 2007.
Antonio Inoki founded the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) after sellingNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972. The first IGF show was held on June 29, 2007 at theSumo Hall inTokyo, Japan. The show's main event was a match betweenKurt Angle andBrock Lesnar, where they competed for Lesnar'sIWGP Heavyweight Championship.[3]
From 2007 to 2008, the IGF served as the Japaneseterritory of theNational Wrestling Alliance.[4][5]
On December 31, 2010,Shinichi Suzukawa was scheduled to faceBob Sapp in an IGF specialSuper Heavyweight bout atK-1Dynamite!! 2010.[6] The fight was to be held under modifiedMMA rules, with the fighters being barred from wearing gloves, closed-fist strikes being illegal, and palm strikes being permitted.[7] The fight was planned to air onHDNet inNorth America.[8] However, the fight was canceled due to a last-minute contract dispute with Sapp; the Japanese audience in attendance were told by the K-1 promoters involved in the dispute that Sapp “had lost his will to fight.”[9]
In 2011, the promotion presented a gift toKim Jong Il, the-then leader ofNorth Korea as part of adiplomatic effort.[10] In August 2014, IGF held two shows inPyongyang, North Korea.[11]
On December 29, 2014, IGF announced a deal withPPTV to bring its programming to Chinese audiences.[12] In 2015, Durango Kid and Laberinto, two of Inoki's former students, along with karateka Alfredo Perez, established an IGF off-shoot promotion in theUnited States called Inoki Sports Management,[13] also known as Lucha Wrestling Puroresu.[14] The three men would also re-establish theInoki Dojo inLos Angeles.[13]
In 2017, Antonio Inoki began distancing himself from the IGF and created a new promotion called ISM. After the creation of ISM, Antonio's son-in-law Simon Inoki gained more influence within the promotion and created a new brand under the IGF banner called Next Exciting Wrestling (NEW). The IGF's inaugural NEW show was held on April 20, 2017. On March 23, 2018, Antonio Inoki sold his part of the promotion and left the IGF. In April 2018,Nosawa Rongai, along with IGF wrestlersKendo Kashin andKazuyuki Fujita, created an IGF off-shoot promotion known as Hagure IGF International.[15][16] A new brand featuring IGF's Chinese wrestlers called Eastern Heroes (东方英雄,Toho Eiyu-den) was later founded by Simon Inoki. On June 26, Eastern Heroes wrestlers participated on night 8 ofPro Wrestling Noah's Navigation with Emerald Spirits tour.[17] The IGF closed on January 9, 2019. After the IGF's closure, Assist Co., Ltd., the promotion's parent company, opened a chain of bakeries, leading to both Kendo Kashin and Simon Inoki to humorously state "IGF has become a bakery".[18][19]
In August 2022, Antonio Inoki revived the IGF, now standing for the Inoki Genki Factory, to serve as his official management company.[20] On October 1, at age 79, Inoki died fromsystemic transthyretin amyloidosis.[21][22][23] On December 28, the Inoki Genki Factory held their first show, Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye x Ganryujima, amemorial event honoring Inoki organized in collaboration with Samurai Warriors Ganryujima and NJPW.[24] On December 14, 2024, IGF participated in theAntonio Inoki Memorial Show organized inShanghai, China by NJPW and variousAsia-Pacific Federation of Wrestling promotions.[25]
Roster at time of closing[edit]
| Notable alumni[edit]
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| IGF Championship | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | Inoki Genome Federation | ||||||||||||||||
| Date established | August 22, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | January 9, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
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In February 2011, IGF started a tournament to determine the first ever IGF Champion, which eventually led to a final match betweenJérôme Le Banner andJosh Barnett. However, just days prior to the final match taking place, IGF announced on August 19 that Barnett would not be able to attend the event.[26] On August 22, IGF declared Le Banner the first champion.[27] The title was founded as a professional wrestling championship, but has since December 31, 2013, been contested in legitimate mixed martial arts fights.[28][29]
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | ||||
| 1 | Jérôme Le Banner | August 22, 2011 | – | – | 1 | 327 | 6 | Declared first champion, afterJosh Barnett pulls out of a tournament final match. | [27] |
| 2 | Kazuyuki Fujita | July 14, 2012 | Genome21 | Osaka, Japan | 1 | 535 | 4 | [30] | |
| 3 | Satoshi Ishii | December 31, 2013 | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 235 | 0 | With this match the title began to be contested in legitimate mixed martial arts fights. Won by unanimous decision. | |
| 4 | Mirko Cro Cop | August 23, 2014 | Inoki Genome Fight 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 153 | 1 | Second round doctor stoppage.
| |
| — | Vacated | January 23, 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | Cro Cop was stripped of the title when he signed with theUltimate Fighting Championship. | |
| 5 | Oli Thompson | December 31, 2015 | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2015 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 1,105 | 0 | Defeated Fernando Rodrigues Jr. by TKO to win the IGF World GP and the vacant title. | [31] |
| — | Deactivated | January 9, 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | Retired when promotion closed. | |
| First round (Genome14, Genome15, and Genome16) | Semifinals (Genome15 and Genome16) | Final N/A | ||||||||||||
| Josh Barnett | Win | |||||||||||||
| Montanha Silva | ||||||||||||||
| Josh Barnett | Win | |||||||||||||
| Bobby Lashley | ||||||||||||||
| Bobby Lashley | Win | |||||||||||||
| Keith Hanson | ||||||||||||||
| Jerome Le Banner | Forfeit | |||||||||||||
| Josh Barnett | ||||||||||||||
| Shinichi Suzukawa | Win | |||||||||||||
| Bob Sapp | ||||||||||||||
| Jerome Le Banner | Win | |||||||||||||
| Erik Hammer* | ||||||||||||||
| Jerome Le Banner | Win | |||||||||||||
| Shinichi Suzukawa | ||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals (DREAM 17) | Semifinals (Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011) | Final (Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011) | ||||||||
 Masakazu Imanari | W | |||||||||
 Abel Cullum | SUB | |||||||||
| Masakazu Imanari | DEC | |||||||||
| Antonio Banuelos | W | |||||||||
| Hideo Tokoro | DEC | |||||||||
| Antonio Banuelos | W | |||||||||
| Antonio Banuelos | TKO | |||||||||
 Bibiano Fernandes | W | |||||||||
| Bibiano Fernandes | W | |||||||||
| Takafumi Otsuka | SUB | |||||||||
| Bibiano Fernandes | W | |||||||||
| Rodolfo Marques | DEC | |||||||||
 Yusup Saadulaev | DEC | |||||||||
| Rodolfo Marques | W | |||||||||
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Shinichi Suzukawa | Win | ||||||||
| Yusuke Kawaguchi | |||||||||
| Atsushi Sawada | Win | ||||||||
| Shinichi Suzukawa | |||||||||
| Atsushi Sawada | Win | ||||||||
| Hideki Suzuki | |||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinal | Final | |||||||||||
| Hideki Suzuki | Win | ||||||||||||
| Hideki Suzuki* | Win | ||||||||||||
| Akira Jo | |||||||||||||
| Atsushi Sawada | Double Countout | Atsushi Sawada* | |||||||||||
| Shinichi Suzukawa* | |||||||||||||
| Atsushi Sawada | Win | ||||||||||||
| Shogun Okamoto | |||||||||||||
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Yusuke Masuda | W | ||||||||
| Takaaki "C-Boy" Oban | DEC | ||||||||
| Yusuke Masuda | W | ||||||||
| Ryo Sakai | DEC | ||||||||
| Ryo Sakai | W | ||||||||
| Tsuyoshi Kurihara | DEC | ||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
 Yosef Ali Mohammad | TKO | |||||||||||||
 Dion Staring | Rd 1 | |||||||||||||
| Yosef Ali Mohammad | TKO | |||||||||||||
| Fernando Rodrigues Jr. | Rd 1 | |||||||||||||
| Fernando Rodrigues Jr. | TKO | |||||||||||||
 Antony Rea | Rd 1 | |||||||||||||
| Fernando Rodrigues Jr. | TKO | |||||||||||||
 Oli Thompson | Rd 1 | |||||||||||||
| Chris Barnett | TKO | |||||||||||||
 Emil Zahariev | Rd 2 | |||||||||||||
| Chris Barnett | DEC | |||||||||||||
| Oli Thompson | Rd 2 | |||||||||||||
| Oli Thompson | DEC | |||||||||||||
| Ikuhisa Minowa | Rd 2 | |||||||||||||
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Naoya Ogawa | Win | ||||||||
| Minowaman | |||||||||
| Atsushi Sawada | Win | ||||||||
| Minowaman | |||||||||
| Atsushi Sawada | Win | ||||||||
| Montanha Silva | |||||||||
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Hideki Suzuki | Win | ||||||||
| Wang Bin | |||||||||
| Hideki Suzuki | Win | ||||||||
| Daichi Hashimoto | |||||||||
| Daichi Hashimoto | Win | ||||||||
| Raj Singh | |||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
 Team Mexico AAA(Pagano andPsycho Clown) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Team USA Noah (Cody Hall andQuiet Storm) | ||||||||||||||
| Team Mexico AAA (Pagano andPsycho Clown) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Team Japan IGF (Kendo Kashin andNosawa) | ||||||||||||||
| Team Japan IGF (Kendo Kashin andNosawa) | DQ | |||||||||||||
 Team Rest of the World(Mil Muertes andVampiro) | ||||||||||||||
| Team Mexico AAA (Pagano andPsycho Clown) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Team Noah Japan (Hi69 andTaiji Ishimori) | ||||||||||||||
| Team Noah Japan (Hi69 andTaiji Ishimori) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Team USA Lucha Underground (Marty Martinez andSon of Havoc) | ||||||||||||||
| Team Noah Japan (Hi69 andTaiji Ishimori) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Team USA Impact (Andrew Everett andDJZ) | ||||||||||||||
| Team USA Impact (Andrew Everett andDJZ) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Team Mexico Lucha Underground (Aero Star andDrago) | ||||||||||||||
In the usual Inoki manner, the debut show was followed by great controversy. In the run-up to the show, Inoki already announced that she wanted to fight out the IWGP Heavyweight Title in the main event between Lesnar and Angle. Brock Lesnar was the holder of the title until July 2006, but then refused to lose a title match against Hiroshi Tanahashi, whereupon New Japan (owner of the IWGP trademark) revoked the title. However, Lesnar refused to return the title and simply kept it to himself. After announcing the IGF main event, Inoki said Lesnar was still the champion and that the title would be at stake in the match. The NWA governing body recognized Lesnar (and then Angle, who won the debut show title) as the NWA Japan Champion
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