Antonio Inoki left New Japan Pro-Wrestling, a promotion he founded in 1972, to start the IGF. The first IGF show was held on June 29, 2007 at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The main event of the show was a match between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Shinichi Suzukawa was scheduled to face Bob Sapp in an IGF special rules Heavyweight bout on December 31, 2010, at K-1Dynamite!! 2010. The fight was to be held under MMA rules, but the fighters wouldn't be wearing gloves. Closed-fist strikes would have been allowed, but palm strikes wouldn't have been permitted. The event was to air on HDNet in North America. However, the fight was canceled due to a last-minute contract dispute but the Japanese audience in attendance were told by the promoter involved in the contract dispute that Sapp “had lost his will to fight.” In 2011 the company presented a gift to Kim Jong Il, leader of North Korea as part of a diplomatic effort. In August 2014, IGF held two shows in Pyongyang, North Korea. On December 29, 2014, IGF announced a deal with PPTV to bring its programming to Chinese audiences. In 2017, Inoki created a new company, ISM, distancing himself from IGF. After that, his son-in-law Simon Inoki gained more influence in the company and created a new brand, "NEW". On March 23, 2018, Antonio Inoki sold his part of the promotion and left IGF. IGF closed on January 9, 2019. A new promotion featuring IGF's Chinese wrestlers, called "Eastern Heroes", was founded in 2019 by Simon Inoki.
On October 8, 2005, at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Toukon Souzou New Chapter event in Tokyo, Japan, Brock Lesnar defeated Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono in a Three Way match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He held the title for 280 days, having three successful defenses, until he failed to show up for a scheduled title defense. NJPW thus stripped Lesnar of the championship on July 15, 2006. Lesnar cited visa issues along with NJPW owing him compensation for his reasons at failing to appear at the planned title defense. After this series of events, NJPW founder Antonio Inoki left NJPW and created a new promotion, the Inoki Genome Federation. Inoki then recognized Lesnar as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion due to Lesnar never having lost the championship in a match and Lesnar still maintaining physical possession of the title belt.
Title history
IGF Championship
In February 2011, IGF started a tournament to determine the first ever IGF Champion, which eventually led to a final match between Jérôme Le Banner and Josh 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. On August 22, IGF declared Le Banner the first champion. The title was founded as a professional wrestling championship, but has since December 31, 2013, been contested in legitimate mixed martial arts fights.
Title history
Tournaments
IGF Championship Tournament
Erik Hammer replaced Shinichi Suzukawa in the tournament after defeating Ray Sefo.
World Bantamweight Grand Prix
Inoki Genome Tournament 2012
Inoki Genome Tournament 2013
IGF World GP
Quarterfinals took place on April 11, 2015 at IGF 3
Semi-finals took place on August 29, 2015 at IGF 4
