New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the context of "Independent circuit"

Christopher Daniel Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works as the Head of Talent Relations and is the on-screen manager for Sky Flight (Dante Martin, Darius Martin, Leila Grey, and Scorpio Sky). He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Ring of Honor (ROH), as well as extensive time on the independent circuit; he is known as the "King of Indies" for his work with independent promotions across the world, including Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA), International Wrestling Cartel (IWC), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).

Daniels has won 20 total championships between Impact, ROH, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), with three reigns as Impact X Division Champion, six reigns as NWA World Tag Team Champion, and two reigns as Impact World Tag Team Champion during his time with Impact Wrestling; one reign as ROH World Champion, one reign as ROH World Television Champion, four reigns as ROH World Tag Team Champion, and one reign as ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion while wrestling for ROH; and one reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion in NJPW.

Charles Istaz (August 3, 1924 – July 28, 2007), known by the ring name Karl Gotch (カール・ゴッチ, Kāru Gotchi), was a Belgian amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, professional wrestler, and wrestling coach. Considered one of the most influential wrestlers of his time period, he is best known for training several acclaimed and influential professional wrestlers in Japan, and for becoming a catalyst in the faculty development of Strong style, alongside New Japan Pro-Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki and fellow trainer Billy Robinson.

Gotch represented Belgium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. He learned catch-as-catch-can and professional wrestling at the Snake Pit under Billy Riley and Billy Joyce. He was given the ring name "Gotch" by Ohio promoter Al Haft in honor of American wrestler Frank Gotch. In Japan, he became known as a "God of Wrestling" alongside Billy Robinson and Lou Thesz, due to their collective influence on Japanese professional wrestling.

The Grand Slam is an accomplishment recognized by various professional wrestling promotions in the United States and Japan. It is a distinction given to a professional wrestler who has either won four specific championships within a promotion throughout their career, or all available championships. Promotions that recognize this include WWE (since 1997), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (since 2009), Ring of Honor (since 2018), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (since 2021), and All Elite Wrestling (since 2025). The four titles typically include three singles championships, one of them usually being a world title, plus a tag team championship.
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