| Championshipname | Strong Women's Championship |
|---|---|
| Currentholder | Alex Windsor |
| Won | March 8, 2026 |
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Wonder Ring Stardom |
| Brand | Strong |
| Created | April 27, 2023[1] |
| Firstchamp | Willow Nightingale |
| Longestreign | Mercedes Moné (313 days) |
| Shortestreign | Willow Nightingale (45 days) |
| Oldest | Syuri () |
| Youngest | AZM () |
| Heaviest | Willow Nightingale (183 lb (83 kg)) |
| Lightest | AZM (110 lb (50 kg)) |
| Pastnames |
|
The Strong Women's Championship (STRONG女子王座, STRONG Joshi Ōza) is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The creation of the championship was announced by NJPW on April 27, 2023.[1] The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's Strong brand and is usually defended at NJPW Strong branded shows in America. The inaugural champion was Willow Nightingale. Alex Windsor is the reigning champion in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Syuri at Wrestle Queendom XIII in London, England on March 8, 2026.
History
In 2022, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) established a women's division. On July 29 of that year, the promotion created the IWGP Women's Championship, the first women's title in the company's history,[2][3] which was first held by Kairi.[4] The championship was created to be the top title of NJPW's women's division and was intended to be defended on NJPW events in Japan and on events promoted by NJPW's Japanese sister company World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom), a joshi puroresu promotion.
On April 27, 2023, NJPW announced the creation of the Strong Women's Championship, the top women's championship of the promotion's American subsidiary Strong Live. The promotion additionally announced a four-woman single-elimination tournament to determine the inaugural champion to be held at Resurgence on May 21, in Long Beach, California.[1] The tournament featured representatives from NJPW's partners All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Stardom.[1] The tournament participants were former IWGP Women's Champion Mercedes Moné (NJPW), Momo Kohgo (Stardom), Stephanie Vaquer (CMLL), and Willow Nightingale (AEW).[1] At Resurgence, Nightingale became the inaugural champion by defeating Moné in the finals.[5]
Inaugural championship tournament (2023)
The first defense of the title was Nightingale's successful defense against Emi Sakura on the June 2, 2023 episode of AEW Rampage (taped on May 31, 2023).[6]
Reigns
As of , , there have been eight reigns between eight different champions. Willow Nightingale was the inaugural champion. Syuri is the oldest champion at 36 years old, while AZM the youngest at 22 years old. Mercedes Moné's reign is the longest at 313 days, while Nightingale's reign is the shortest at 45 days.
Alex Windsor is the current champion in her first reign. She defeated Syuri on March 8, 2026 in London, England at Wrestle Queendom XIII (a Pro-Wrestling: EVE event) to win the title.
Combined reigns
As of , .
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined defenses | Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes Moné | 1 | 4 | 313 |
| 2 | Giulia | 1 | 9 | 249 |
| 3 | AZM | 1 | 1 | 141 |
| 4 | Stephanie Vaquer | 1 | 4 | 112 |
| 5 | Saya Kamitani | 1 | 1 | 99 |
| 6 | Alex Windsor † | 1 | 1 | NaN+ |
| 7 | Syuri | 1 | 0 | 63 |
| 8 | Willow Nightingale | 1 | 2 | 45 |
References
- ^ "AEW, CMLL, STARDOM, NJPW in one night tournament for STRONG Women’s gold! 【NJoA】". New Japan Pro Wrestling. April 28, 2023. Archived May 5, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ Renner, Ethan (July 29, 2022). "NJPW & STARDOM creating IWGP Women's Championship The title will primarily be defended on NJPW events.". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived January 27, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
- ^ Solowrestling (2021-04-03). "NJPW anuncia la creación del Campeonato STRONG Openweight" (in Spanish). solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com. Archived April 22, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
- ^ Rose, Bryan (November 20, 2022). "First IWGP Women's Champion crowned at NJPW/Stardom Historic X-Over". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived February 2, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Fritts, Chris (May 21, 2023). "NJPW Resurgence live results: Strong Women's title tournament Will Ospreay vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi is also set for the show.". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (June 2, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (6/2): Powell’s review of Championship Friday with El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander vs. Dralistico for the AAA Mega Championship, Willow Nightingale vs. Emi Sakura for the NJPW Strong Women’s Title, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Action Andretti for the NJPW TV Title, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived June 9, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Official website (in English)