Strong Style (stable)

## Strong Style

The official logo of the stable

**Strong Style** (ストロングスタイル, *Sutorongusutairu*), was a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

The group was formed in January 2023, when former Suzuki-gun members El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki decided to form a stable with Ren Narita, following a feud with House of Torture, subsquently winning the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship and naming themselves as "Strong Style", before the stable was disbanded in December, after Narita joined the House of Torture.

## History

### Background

On September 26, 2022, NJPW announced that Ren Narita would make his return in three years at the event, following the conclusion of his excursion in the LA Dojo with Katsuyori Shibata. On October 10 at Declaration of Power, Narita returned to the promotion repackaged as "Son of Strong Style". On December 14, Minoru Suzuki announced that Suzuki-gun would disband by the end of the year, with the stable having their final match, on December 23.

#### Formation and feud with House of Torture

On January 5, 2023, at *New Year Dash!*, Ren Narita was attacked by House of Torture, leading Minoru Suzuki and his former Suzuki-gun stablemate El Desperado, to assist them, quickly taking care of House of Torture. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, Desperado proposed Narita to form a team alongside him and Suzuki. Suzuki, who was by Strong Style legends Billy Robinson and Karl Gotch, reminded that he was teached by accomplished Strong Style wrestlers, in reference to Narita's nickname "Son of Strong Style". This led to a title match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11, where Narita, Desperado and Suzuki defeated House of Torture to become the new champions. Shortly after, they named their team "Strong Style". On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku, Narita, Desperado and Suzuki lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii.

#### Narita's betrayal and disbanding

In May, Desperado took part in the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On May 26, Desperado was defeated by Titán, in the semifinals. In July, Narita was granted entry into the 2023 G1 Climax, his first G1 Climax tournament. On August 5, he finished the tournament with a record of two wins, two draws and three losses, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Following the tournament, on August 13, Strong Style began feuding with Master Wato, Shota Umino and Yuji Nagata, following a brawl between both sides, which steemed from a mutal animosity between them. This led to a Best of Seven Series, during the *Road to Destruction* tour, with the last match of the series culminating at Destruction in Ryogoku, with the first match taking place on September 10, which ended in a draw. Over the course of the *Road to Destruction* tour, Strong Style were leading the Best of Seven Series, but on October 9 at Destruction in Ryogoku, after being defeated by Wato, Umino and Nagata, the Best of Seven Series ended in a draw, with three victories between the two sides. On December 6, Narita turned on his partner Shota Umino to join the House of Torture, disbanding the stable.

## Championships and accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro-Wrestling**
	+ NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time)