# Strong Women's Championship

The Strong Women's Championship (Japanese: STRONG女子王座, Hepburn: STRONG Joshi Ōza) is a women's professional wrestling world championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The creation of the championship was announced by NJPW on April 27, 2023. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's American internet television program NJPW Strong Live, which features a distinct roster of American and other foreign wrestlers. The inaugural champion was Willow Nightingale, who defeated Mercedes Moné in a tournament final at Resurgence to win the championship. The reigning champion is Moné, who defeated Stephanie Vaquer in a Winner Takes All match in which Moné's AEW TBS Championship was also on the line at Forbidden Door. Moné is the longest-reigning NJPW Strong Women's Champion.

## 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, which was first held by Kairi. 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. The tournament will feature representatives from NJPW's partners All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Stardom. The tournament participants are the former IWGP Women's Champion Mercedes Moné (NJPW), Momo Kohgo (Stardom), Stephanie Vaquer (CMLL), and Willow Nightingale (AEW). At Resurgence, Nightingale became the inaugural champion by defeating Moné in the finals.

### Inaugural championship tournament (2023)

| Semi-finals Resurgence (May 21) | Semi-finals Resurgence (May 21) | Semi-finals Resurgence (May 21) | Finals Resurgence (May 21) | Finals Resurgence (May 21) | Finals Resurgence (May 21) |
| Mercedes Moné | Mercedes Moné | Pin | | | |
| Stephanie Vaquer | Stephanie Vaquer | 11:55 | | | |
| Stephanie Vaquer | Stephanie Vaquer | 11:55 | Mercedes Moné | Mercedes Moné | 13:34 |
| | | | Willow Nightingale | Willow Nightingale | Pin |
| Momo Kohgo | Momo Kohgo | 9:37 | Willow Nightingale | Willow Nightingale | Pin |
| Willow Nightingale | Willow Nightingale | Pin | | | |
The first defense of the title was Nightingale's successful defence against Emi Sakura on the 2nd June 2023 edition of AEW Rampage (taped on the May 31, 2023).

## Reigns

As of March 7, 2025, there have been four reigns between four champions. Willow Nightingale was the inaugural champion. Mercedes Moné is the oldest champion at 32 years old, while Nightingale is the youngest at 29 years old. Mercedes Moné's reign is the longest at 250+ days, while Nightingale's reign is the shortest at 45 days.
Mercedes Moné is the reigning champion in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Stephanie Vaquer in a Winner Takes All match also for Moné's AEW TBS Championship at Forbidden Door on June 30, 2024, in Elmont, New York.
Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | Notes | Ref. |
| | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) | New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom (ST★RDOM) |
| 1 | Willow Nightingale | May 21, 2023 | Resurgence | Long Beach, CA | 1 | 45 | 2 | Defeated Mercedes Moné in the finals of a four-woman single-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion. | |
| 2 | Giulia | July 5, 2023 | Independence Day Night 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 249 | 9 | | |
| 3 | Stephanie Vaquer | March 10, 2024 | Cinderella Tournament Night 2 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 112 | 4 | | |
| 4 | Mercedes Moné | June 30, 2024 | Forbidden Door | Elmont, NY | 1 | 250+ | 4 | This was a Winner Takes All match also for Moné's AEW TBS Championship. | |