| Strong Openweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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 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 | |||||||||||||||||||
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TheStrong Openweight Championship (STRONG無差別級王座,STRONG musabetsu-kyū ōza) is aprofessional wrestlingworldchampionship owned and promoted by theNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)promotion. The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021, and the inaugural champion wasTom Lawlor. The reigning champion isTomohiro Ishii, who is in his first reign. He won the title on April 11, 2025 by defeatingGabe Kidd atWindy City Riot inChicago, Illinois, USA.
The title was primarily featured on NJPW's American television programNJPW Strong, which includes American wrestlers, as well as on programming by NJPW partner promotionsAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) andRing of Honor (ROH).[1] The title is exclusively featured on NJPW'sStrong brand and is usually defended at NJPW Strong branded shows in America. The current champion isTomohiro Ishii, who is in his first reign.
The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021.[2] Initially, the title was exclusively featured on NJPW's American television programNJPW Strong, which includes a distinct roster of American wrestlers.
On November 11, 2023, NJPW's American partner promotion AEW announced a tournament called theContinental Classic, with the winner becoming the firstAEW Continental Champion.[3][4][5]Eddie Kingston, who held theROH 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'sWorlds End event, Kingston defeatedJon 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 toKazuchika Okada on the March 20, 2024, episode ofAEW Dynamite, thus losing his recognition as Triple Crown Champion.[7]
| 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[12] | ||||||||||||||
| Rocky Romero | 13:57 | ||||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | Pin[9] | ||||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | 7:38 | ||||||||||||||
| Brody King | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Brody King | Pin[10] | ||||||||||||||
| Bateman | 13:25 | ||||||||||||||
| Brody King | Pin[12] | ||||||||||||||
| Chris Dickinson | 10:42 | ||||||||||||||
| Blake Christian | 8:53 | ||||||||||||||
| Chris Dickinson | Pin[8] | ||||||||||||||
| Brody King | 20:05 | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Lawlor | Sub | ||||||||||||||
| Ren Narita | Pin[10] | ||||||||||||||
| Misterioso | 11:12 | ||||||||||||||
| Ren Narita | 13:19 | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Lawlor | Sub[12] | ||||||||||||||
| The DKC | 9:13 | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Lawlor | Pin[9] | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Lawlor | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Hikuleo | 8:58 | ||||||||||||||
| Jordan Clearwater | 7:57 | ||||||||||||||
| Hikuleo | Pin[11] | ||||||||||||||
| Hikuleo | Pin[12] | ||||||||||||||
| Fred Rosser | 6:22 | ||||||||||||||
| Fred Rosser | Pin[11] | ||||||||||||||
| J. R. Kratos | 14:16 | ||||||||||||||
As of October 13, 2025, 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 387 days while Hikuleo's reign is the shortest at 18 days.
Tomohiro Ishii is the reigning champion in his first reign. He defeated previous championGabe Kidd for the title in a 30-minuteiron man match, which Ishii won 2–1 in sudden death overtime atWindy City Riot on April 11, 2025 inChicago, Illinois, USA.
| 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 | DefeatedBrody King in the finals of an 16-mansingle-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion. The exact date this event was taped is unknown. It aired on April 23, 2021 ontape delay. | [13][2] | |
| 2 | Fred Rosser | May 15, 2022 | Strong: Collision in Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 279 | 238 | 7 | Aired ontape 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 theAEW Continental Championship andROH World Championship after winning theContinental Classic tournament atWorlds End. Kingston would lose the AEW Continental Championship toKazuchika Okada on the March 20, 2024 episode ofAEW Dynamite, thus dissolving the Triple Crown. | [18] | |
| 7 | Gabe Kidd | May 11, 2024 | Resurgence | Ontario, CA | 1 | 335 | 335 | 6 | This was aNo Ropes Last Man Standing match. | [19] | |
| 8 | Tomohiro Ishii | April 11, 2025 | Windy City Riot | Chicago, IL | 1 | 227+ | 227+ | 1 | This was a 30-minuteiron man match, which Ishii won 2–1 in sudden death overtime. | [20] | |
As of November 24, 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 | 227+ | |
| 6 | Kenta | 2 | 2 | 119 | |
| 7 | Hikuleo | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
