The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Tag Team Championship is one of two tag team titles contested for in NJPW; the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is also sanctioned by NJPW. According to NJPW's official website, the IWGP Tag Team Championship is considered the "IWGP Heavyweight Class", while the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship is listed as the "IWGP Jr. Tag Class". Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result of a scripted match. Title changes usually happen at NJPW-promoted events; although the title has only changed hands twice at a non-NJPW event, it has been defended in several other promotions. History Before the IWGP championship system was created, New Japan Pro-Wrestling featured the NWA North American Tag Team Championship, a title originally based in Los Angeles, and the WWF International Tag Team Championship, a title with license from the World Wrestling Federation, which was abandoned when the WWF working relationship ended. The inaugural champions were Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami, who defeated Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi in the final of a tournament to win the championship on December 12, 1985, at an NJPW live event. In addition to NJPW, the IWGP Tag Team Championship was also contested in the United States-based promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW) (now defunct) in the early 1990s, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2009, and in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 2005. On October 30, 2005, in Kobe, Japan, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura to begin their fifth overall reign as a team. On July 2, 2006, an interim tag team title was created when Tenzan & Chono showed signs of inactivity. Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe defeated the teams of Yuji Nagata & Naofumi Yamamoto and Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko in a Three-Way Match to become the first interim champions. NJPW president Simon Kelly Inoki stripped Tenzan & Chono of the IWGP Tag Team Championship on September 20, 2006, after Tenzan & Chono ceased teaming. Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori, who defeated Koshinaka & Makabe on July 17, 2006 to become the interim champions, were recognized