First-Ever NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Crowned

NJPW's most recent episode of Strong saw Tom Lawlor beat Brody King to win the NJPW New Japan Cup USA Tournament and become the inaugural NJPW Strong Openweight Champion. The match saw Tom Lawlor win via submission with a rear naked choke on King.

Immediately after Lawlor won the match and the championship was presented to him, along with the NJPW New Japan Cup USA trophy, he cut a promo with Team Filthy’s Dickinson and JR Kratos. After Lawlor cut a promo on majority of the NJPW roster, Dickinson took the mic and said he will be stepping up as the first challenger to Tom Lawlor’s newly-won title.

The NJPW New Japan Cup USA tournament was introduced in 2020, and Lawlor now joins KENTA as the first two winners. This NJPW New Japan Cup USA Tournament saw Tom Lawlor beat Ren Narita, Hikuleo and Brody King to emerge as the winner. Chris Dickinson also competed in the tournament, but he lost to King in the first round. The NJPW Strong Openweight Title will exclusively be featured on NJPW Strong as this is NJPW’s weekly American TV show.

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