 W*ING Kanemura defeated Masato Tanaka in the finals of the tournament to become the inaugural champion at Summer Spectacular on August 1, 1996.The title would then be unified with the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship after Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion The Gladiator defeated the Independent Heavyweight Champion W*ING Kanemura in a title unification match at Year End Spectacular on December 11.Both titles would then be defended collectively as the "Double Titles Championship" or simply the "Double Championship" for the next two and a half years.