The Inoki Genome Federation (イノキ・ゲノム・フェデレーション) (IGF), also known in China as International Glory Fighting, was a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007.

History

Antonio Inoki founded the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) after selling New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972. The first IGF show was held on June 29, 2007 at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The show's main event was a match between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, where they competed for Lesnar's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. From 2007 to 2008, the IGF served as the Japanese territory of the National Wrestling Alliance. On December 31, 2010, Shinichi Suzukawa was scheduled to face Bob Sapp in an IGF special Super Heavyweight bout at K-1 Dynamite!! 2010. The fight was to be held under modified MMA rules, with the fighters being barred from wearing gloves, closed-fist strikes being illegal, and palm strikes being permitted. The fight was planned to air on HDNet in North America. 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.” In 2011, the promotion presented a gift to Kim Jong Il, the-then 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 2015, Durango Kid and Laberinto, two of Inoki's former students, along with karateka Alfredo Perez, established an IGF off-shoot promotion in the United States called Inoki Sports Management, also known as Lucha Wrestling Puroresu. The three men would also re-establish the Inoki Dojo in Los Angeles. In 2017, 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 wrestlers Kendo Kashin and Kazuyuki Fujita, created an IGF off-shoot promotion known as Hagure IGF International. A new brand featuring IGF's Chinese wrestlers called Eastern Heroes (东方英雄) was later founded by Simon Inoki. On June 26, Eastern Heroes wrestlers participated on night 8 of Pro Wrestling Noah's Navigation with Emerald Spirits tour. 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". In August 2022, Antonio Inoki revived the IGF, now standing for the Inoki Genki Factory, to serve as his official management company. On October 1, at age 79, Inoki died from systemic transthyretin amyloidosis. On December 28, the Inoki Genki Factory held their first show, Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye x Ganryujima, a memorial event honoring Inoki organized in collaboration with Samurai Warriors Ganryujima and NJPW.

Roster

Roster at time of closing

Notable alumni

Championships

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

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

World Bantamweight Grand Prix

Inoki Genome Tournament 2012

Inoki Genome Tournament 2013

Road to Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye Challenge Tournament

IGF World GP

Genome-1: Osaka

Genome-1: Nagoya

Lucha Libre World Cup 2017

IGF events