Strong Openweight Championship

The Strong Openweight Championship (STRONG無差別級王座, STRONG musabetsu-kyū ōza) is a professional wrestling world championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021, and the inaugural champion was Tom Lawlor. The reigning champion is Tomohiro Ishii, who is in his first reign. He won the title on April 11, 2025 by defeating Gabe Kidd at Windy City Riot in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Strong Openweight Championship
The Strong Openweight Championship belt
Details
Promotion	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Brand	Strong
Date established	April 2, 2021
Current champion	Tomohiro Ishii
Date won	April 11, 2025
Other names
Strong Openweight Championship (2021–present) NJPW Strong Openweight Championship
Statistics First champion Tom Lawlor Most reigns Kenta (2 reigns) Longest reign Tom Lawlor (387 Days) Shortest reign Hikuleo (18 Days) Oldest champion Tomohiro Ishii (49 years, 4 months and 1 day) Youngest champion Gabe Kidd (27 years and 17 days) Heaviest champion Hikuleo (264 lb (120 kg)) Lightest champion Kenta (187 lb (85 kg))

The title was primarily featured on NJPW's American television program NJPW Strong, which includes American wrestlers, as well as on programming by NJPW partner promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH).^[1] The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's Strong brand and is usually defended at NJPW Strong branded shows in America.

History

The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021.^[2] Initially, the title was exclusively featured on NJPW's American television program NJPW Strong, which includes a distinct roster of American wrestlers.

On November 11, 2023, NJPW's American partner promotion AEW announced a tournament called the Continental Classic, with the winner becoming the first AEW Continental Champion.^[3][4][5] Eddie Kingston, who held the ROH World Championship and the Strong Openweight Championship, announced that he would be putting his championships on the line in the tournament and that the tournament's winner would be an American Triple Crown Champion (collectively referred to as the Continental Crown).^[5][6] At AEW's Worlds End event, Kingston defeated Jon Moxley in the Continental Classic final, retaining the Strong Openweight and ROH World championships and becoming the first Continental Crown Champion. Kingston would lose the AEW Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada on the March 20, 2024, episode of AEW Dynamite, thus losing his recognition as Triple Crown Champion.^[7]

Inaugural tournament

This template is an excerpt from New Japan Cup USA § 2021.[edit]

Qualifying March 5, 12, 19, 26

Round 1 April 9

Semi-finals April 16

Final April 23

Clark Connors

Pin[8]

TJP

9:27

Clark Connors

9:57

Lio Rush

Pin[9]

Rocky Romero

13:57

Lio Rush

Pin[10]

Lio Rush

7:38

Brody King

Pin

Brody King

Pin[11]

Bateman

13:25

Brody King

Pin[9]

Chris Dickinson

10:42

Blake Christian

8:53

Chris Dickinson

Pin[8]

Brody King

20:05

Tom Lawlor

Sub

Ren Narita

Pin[11]

Misterioso

11:12

Ren Narita

13:19

Tom Lawlor

Sub[9]

The DKC

9:13

Tom Lawlor

Pin[10]

Tom Lawlor

Pin

Hikuleo

8:58

Jordan Clearwater

7:57

Hikuleo

Pin[12]

Hikuleo

Pin[9]

Fred Rosser

6:22

Fred Rosser

Pin[12]

J. R. Kratos

14:16

Reigns

Current champion Tomohiro Ishii

As of January 1, 2024, there have been eight reigns between seven champions. Tom Lawlor was the inaugural champion. Tomohiro Ishii is the oldest, when he won it at 49 years old, while Gabe Kidd is the youngest champion at 27 years old. Lawlor's reign is the longest at 389 days while Hikuleo's reign is the shortest at 18 days.

Tomohiro Ishii is the reigning champion in his first reign. He defeated Gabe Kidd in a 30-minute iron man match, which Ishii won 2–1 in sudden death overtime at Windy City Riot on April 11, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific champion
Days	Number of days held
Days recog.	Number of days held recognized by the promotion
Defenses	Number of successful defenses
N/A	Unknown information
+	Current reign is changing daily

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics				Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days	Days recog.	Defenses
	New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)
1	Tom Lawlor	April 23, 2021 (air date)	New Japan Cup USA 2021	Port Hueneme, CA	1	N/A	387	9	Defeated Brody King in the finals of an 16-man single-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion. The exact date this event was taped is unknown. It aired on April 23, 2021 on tape delay.	[13][2]
2	Fred Rosser	May 15, 2022	Strong: Collision in Philadelphia	Philadelphia, PA	1	279	238	7	Aired on tape delay on June 25, 2022.	[14]
3	Kenta	February 18, 2023	Battle in the Valley	San Jose, CA	1	74	74	2		[15]
4	Hikuleo	May 3, 2023	Wrestling Dontaku	Fukuoka, Japan	1	18	18	0		[16]
5	Kenta	May 21, 2023	Resurgence	Long Beach, CA	2	45	45	0		[17]
6	Eddie Kingston	July 5, 2023	Independence Day Night 2	Tokyo, Japan	1	311	311	12	During this reign, the championship became part of the American Triple Crown Championship (also referred to as the Continental Crown), with Kingston defending the championship alongside the AEW Continental Championship and ROH World Championship after winning the Continental Classic tournament at Worlds End. Kingston would lose the AEW Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada on the March 20, 2024 episode of AEW Dynamite, thus dissolving the Triple Crown.	[18]
7	Gabe Kidd	May 11, 2024	Resurgence	Ontario, CA	1	335	335	6	This was a No Ropes Last Man Standing match.	[19]
8	Tomohiro Ishii	April 11, 2025	Windy City Riot	Chicago, IL	1	119+	119+	1	This was a 30-minute iron man match, which Ishii won 2–1 in sudden death overtime.	[20]

Combined Reigns

As of August 8, 2025.

†	Indicates the current champion

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined defenses	Combined days	Combined days rec. by NJPW
1	Tom Lawlor	1	9	N/A	387
2	Gabe Kidd	1	6	335
3	Eddie Kingston	1	12	311
4	Fred Rosser	1	7	279	238
5	Tomohiro Ishii †	1	1	119+
6	Kenta	2	2	119
7	Hikuleo	1	0	18

See also

• Professional wrestling in the United States