won the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship by defeating Yuji Nagata. Norton's title win was mentioned only once in America on a broadcast of Nitro while he was seen holding the belt, but Norton's standing in the WCW version of the nWo never changed from this fact mostly due to the nWo's leader being Hollywood Hogan, who was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Norton held the IWGP Heavyweight Title for four months before losing the title to Keiji Mutoh. Norton is one of nine foreigners who ever held the IWGP Championship, the others being Big Van Vader, Salman Hashimikov, Bob Sapp, Kurt Angle (IGF version, not actual NJPW-recognized version), Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Jay White. Norton soon began playing a smaller role in WCW, becoming part of the nWo "B-Team", which often placed him in mid-lower card matches; although he would continue to squash jobbers frequently in singles competition. While in NJPW, however, Norton was seen as a main eventer and constant threat to world champions. He left WCW completely in 1999 after losing a match against Goldberg on the September 30 episode of Thunder and began focusing his efforts on NJPW, where he was part of Masahiro Chono's Team 2000. Return to NJPW (1999–2006) On March 17, 2001, Norton defeated Kensuke Sasaki in Nagoya, Japan to capture the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship a second time. His second reign was shorter than his first, and he lost to Kazuyuki Fujita on his first defense. After the loss, Norton started to team with fellow WCW alumnus Rick Steiner whenever Steiner toured Japan, but otherwise he was planted solidly in the mid-card as a test any hopeful world title challenger would have to pass. After briefly retiring in 2004, Norton returned later that year and resumed teaming with Steiner. Following the 2006 New Japan Cup, he left NJPW after 16 years, becoming a freelancer in the process. Independent circuit and semi-retirement (2006–present) In mid-2006, Norton started his own independent promotion, Wild West Championship Wrestling, based in the southwest of United States, where he acted as both a booker and wrestler until its closure later that year. After wrestling for Hustle from mid to late 2007, Norton took a near-year long hiatus before returning on October 24, 2008, where he and Masahiro Chono defeated Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama in the first part of the Pro Wrestling Expo. The next day,