New Japan brought the STRONG sub-label to Japan for the first time for STRONG Independence Day, starting a 2-day doubleheader in Tokyo today.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand as a PPV only on New Japan World. The only purchase option is a combo pack that also includes tomorrow’s event live and on demand (the PPV on demand window is expected to be about 2 months). You can also watch the pre-show match FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1433, a legit advance sellout.
Pre-show Match: Oskar Leube, Yoh & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Takahiro Ketori, Dragon Libre & Kengo.Yoh pinned Libre after Direct Drive.
Match 1: Bad Dude Tito beat The DKC.
Match 2: Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & JR Kratos beat Ryohei Oiwa, Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Nelson pinned Oiwa after West Coast Classic.
Match 3: Tom Lawlor beat Kosei Fujita.
Match 4: Rocky Romero & Eddie Kingston beat Gedo & KENTA. Kingston pinned KENTA after Backfist To The Future.
Match 5: Momo Kohga (Stardom) & Willow Nightingale beat Thekla & Giulia (Stardom). Nightingale pinned Thekla after Babe With The Powerbomb.
Match 6: Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat STRONG Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI to win the titles. Kidd & Coughlin become the 5th STRONG Tag Team Champions. Kidd pinned YOSHI-HASHI after a hijack piledriber.
Match 7: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney beat IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP to win the titles. Connors & Moloney become the 73rd IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Moloney pinned TJP after Full Clip. Interesting backstory here because Moloney came into New Japan as part of United Empire before defecting to Bullet Club, who had themselves a night with 2 title wins.
Main Event: In a Doomsday No DQ match, Jun Kasai (Freedoms) & El Desperado beat Homicide & Jon Moxley. Desperado pinned Homicide after Pinche Loco form a reverse tiger driver.
The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World as a PPV only will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. There will be a FREE pre-show match on YouTube about 20 minutes before the event begins. There are 3 title matches scheduled for tomorrow-STRONG Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale vs. Giulia for the title, YOSHI-HASHI/Goto-Kidd/Coughlin again but this time for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and STRONG Openweight Champion KENTA vs. Eddie Kingston for the title. The main event is scheduled to be a Final Death match between El Desperado & Jon Moxley.
