| Championshipname: | Strong Openweight Championship |
| Currentholder: | Gabe Kidd |
| Won: | May 11, 2024 |
| Promotion: | New Japan Pro-Wrestling |
| Created: | April 2, 2021 |
| Mostreigns: | Kenta (2 reigns) |
| Firstchamp: | Tom Lawlor |
| Longestreign: | Tom Lawlor (387 Days) |
| Shortestreign: | Hikuleo (18 Days) |
| Oldest: | Kenta |
| Youngest: | Gabe Kidd |
| Heaviest: | Hikuleo (264lb) |
| Lightest: | Kenta (187lb) |
| Pastnames: |
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The is a professional wrestling 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 current champion is Gabe Kidd, who is in his first reign. He won the title on May 11, 2024 by defeating Eddie Kingston at Resurgence in Ontario, California, USA.
The title is 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 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.[2] [3] [4] 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).[4] [5] 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.[6]
As of January 1, 2024, there have been seven reigns between six champions. Tom Lawlor was the inaugural champion. Kenta is the oldest, and only two time champion, when he won it at 41 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.
Gabe Kidd is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Eddie Kingston on May 11, 2024 at Resurgence in Ontario, California, USA.
As of, .
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined defenses | Combined days | Combined days rec. by NJPW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 9 | N/A | 387 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 12 | 311 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 7 | 279 | 238 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 119 | |||
| 5 | Gabe Kidd † | 1 | 1 | + | ||
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 18 | |||