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Strong Openweight Championship
| Strong Openweight Championship | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Strong Openweight Championship belt | ||||||||
| New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||||||||
| Strong | ||||||||
| April 2, 2021 | ||||||||
| Boltin Oleg | ||||||||
| February 27, 2026 | ||||||||
| Strong Openweight Championship (2021–present) | ||||||||
| NJPW Strong Openweight Championship | ||||||||
| StatisticsFirst championTom LawlorMost reignsKenta (2 reigns)Longest reignTom Lawlor(387 days)Shortest reignHikuleo(18 days)Oldest championTomohiro Ishii(49 years, 4 months and 1 day)Youngest championGabe Kidd(27 years and 17 days)Heaviest championHikuleo(264 lb (120 kg))Lightest championKenta(187 lb (85 kg)) | Tom Lawlor | Kenta (2 reigns) | Tom Lawlor(387 days) | Hikuleo(18 days) | Tomohiro Ishii(49 years, 4 months and 1 day) | Gabe Kidd(27 years and 17 days) | Hikuleo(264 lb (120 kg)) | Kenta(187 lb (85 kg)) |
| Tom Lawlor | ||||||||
| Kenta (2 reigns) | ||||||||
| Tom Lawlor(387 days) | ||||||||
| Hikuleo(18 days) | ||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii(49 years, 4 months and 1 day) | ||||||||
| Gabe Kidd(27 years and 17 days) | ||||||||
| Hikuleo(264 lb (120 kg)) | ||||||||
| Kenta(187 lb (85 kg)) |
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 Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It is exclusively featured on NJPW's Strong brand and is defended at NJPW Strong branded shows in America. The current champion is Boltin Oleg, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Tomohiro Ishii at The New Beginning USA in Trenton, New Jersey, on February 27, 2026.
The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021, and the inaugural champion was Tom Lawlor. It was primarily featured on NJPW's American television program NJPW Strong, which includes American wrestlers, as well as on programming by NJPW partner American promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH). When the title is jointly held with the AEW Continental Championship and ROH World Championship, the three titles together make up the American Triple Crown Championship, also referred to as the Continental Crown; as of March 2024, this has only happened once.
The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021. 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. 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). 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.
Current champion Boltin Oleg
As of May 30, 2026, there have been nine reigns between eight 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.
The current champion is Boltin Oleg, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Tomohiro Ishii at The New Beginning USA in Trenton, New Jersey, on February 27, 2026.
| No. |
|---|
| Reign number for the specific champion |
| Number of days held |
| Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| Number of successful defenses |
| Unknown information |
| Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) | |||||||||
| 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. | |
| Fred Rosser | May 15, 2022 | Strong: Collision in Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 279 | 238 | 7 | Aired on tape delay on June 25, 2022. | |
| Kenta | February 18, 2023 | Battle in the Valley | San Jose, CA | 1 | 74 | 74 | 2 | ||
| Hikuleo | May 3, 2023 | Wrestling Dontaku | Fukuoka, Japan | 1 | 18 | 18 | 0 | ||
| Kenta | May 21, 2023 | Resurgence | Long Beach, CA | 2 | 45 | 45 | 0 | ||
| Eddie Kingston | July 5, 2023 | Independence DayNight 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. | |
| Gabe Kidd | May 11, 2024 | Resurgence | Ontario, CA | 1 | 335 | 335 | 6 | This was a No Ropes Last Man Standing match. | |
| Tomohiro Ishii | April 11, 2025 | Windy City Riot | Chicago, IL | 1 | 322 | 322 | 1 | This was a 30-minute iron man match, which Ishii won 2–1 in sudden death overtime. | |
| Boltin Oleg | February 27, 2026 | The New Beginning USA | Trenton, NJ | 1 | 92+ | 92+ | 0 |
As of May 30, 2026.
| † |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. ofreigns | Combineddefenses | Combineddays | Combined daysrec. by NJPW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Lawlor | 1 | 9 | N/A | 387 | |
| Gabe Kidd | 1 | 6 | 335 | ||
| Tomohiro Ishii | 1 | 1 | 322 | ||
| Eddie Kingston | 1 | 12 | 311 | ||
| Fred Rosser | 1 | 7 | 279 | 238 | |
| Kenta | 2 | 2 | 119 | ||
| Boltin Oleg † | 1 | 0 | 92+ | ||
| Hikuleo | 1 | 0 | 18 |
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Professional wrestling in the United States
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Championship history on official website (in Japanese)
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Championship history on official website (in English)
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