NJPW Strong

The official *NJPW Strong* logo

**English comentators:**

* Ian Riccaboni
* Matt Rehwoldt

**NJPW Strong** is a professional wrestling television program produced by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion NJPW American sub-brand New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA) and airs worldwide on NJPW's streaming service NJPW World. The show debuted on August 7, 2020 and served as a flagship program for NJPW's American talent and NJPW's U.S. Young Lions.

## History

### Background

In November 2014, NJPW and AXS TV made a deal for AXS to broadcast a new series, called *NJPW World Pro Wrestling*, which would air weekly on Friday evenings starting in January 2015. This was the first time NJPW has aired on an American television network since its formation in 1972. However, on December 27, NJPW ended its television deal with AXS TV.

In April 2017, NJPW went public with their plan of an American expansion, which included establishing a subsidiary and running extended tours in the United States with California as the base, while also establishing a dojo for training Americans in Los Angeles, run by Rocky Romero. The full-scale running of the American market was set to launch in 2018. According to NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani, the plan was a direct response to WWE taking four wrestlers, including AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, from NJPW in January 2016. On May 12, 2017, during the third night of the War of the Worlds tour, co-produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), NJPW United States Ambassador George Carroll announced the creation of the IWGP United States Championship. The following day, NJPW revealed the title's official name as the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. On July 2, Takaaki Kidani announced that NJPW would be opening an office in Los Angeles before the end of 2017, and a dojo to be inaugurated at the start of 2018.

The first NJPW shows to be held in the United States was the G1 Special in USA on July 1 and 2, which was a success, with tickets and meet-and-greets selling out within 2 hours after being available for purchase. Afterwards, NJPW held "Strong Style Saturday" at the newly-opened NJPW LA Dojo, where they announced that Katsuyori Shibata would be serving as head trainer for the newly established dojo. In addition to the opening of the NJPW Dojo in the United States, on July 6, 2018, it was announced a developmental branch in the United States the Lion's Break Project a counterpart of the Lion's Gate Project shows in Japan, which would feature NJPW Young Lions trained in the USA dojo. On October 21, 2019, NJPW announced the creation of its American subsidiary named New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America, based in California, with the goal of expanding in the American market. On June 19, 2020, NJPW held a weekly series called Lion's Break Collision that aired throughout the month of July, with the series airing on NJPW's internet streaming service NJPW World and digital network FITE TV worldwide. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, the shows were held in closed doors without a live audience, with only essential personnel in the arena.

### Establishment and COVID-19 Pandemic

On July 31, during an online press conference, NJPW of America CEO Takami Obari announced a new weekly series *NJPW Strong*, which would air on Fridays at 10 pm ET on NJPW's streaming service NJPW World, starting on August 7, with the inaugural New Japan Cup USA tournament, the American version of the New Japan Cup, featuring the NJPW's American talent and NJPW's U.S. Young Lions, with the winner receiving an opportunity for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. On August 1, NJPW announced that Juice Robinson would miss the tapings of the New Japan Cup USA, due to a leg injury. The premiere episode of the event was held on August 7 and broadcasted live from NJPW's L.A. Dojo on NJPW World. The event was held behind closed doors with essential staff and personnel due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. On August 19, it was announced that *NJPW Strong* would also air on FITE TV in conjunction with NJPW World. On August 30, 2021, it was announced that Strong will be moving to Saturday nights, starting on September 18, 2021.

### Reformat

On January 6, 2023, Hiroshi Tanahashi announced on his blog that the January tapings would be the last, and that 'overseas events' would be announced in a different form in the future. On January 30, it was announced that Strong would be reformated to a new dual model between Strong Live and Strong On Demand, with the NJPW of America pay-per-views events airing live belonging to the *Strong Live* category, with matches from the pay-per-view events being later split on demand between a four-parter back-to-back episodes in the *Strong On Demand* category, with NJPW affirming to be a budget friendly option to the overseas audience to connect with the US-based events.

## Special episodes

*NJPW Strong* usually branded 3-4 episodes at a time as special events to mimic the normal touring schedule of the main promotion. Prior to September 2021, other episodes before these events were mainly branded as "Road to" shows.

## Four-parter episodes

Since January 2023, NJPW Strong was rebranded with the NJPW of America pay-per-views events being split between four-parter back-to-back episodes in the Strong Live and *Strong On Demand* categories.

The following list are the four-partner episodes currently available under the *Strong On Demand* category at NJPW World.

## Roster

The wrestlers featured on NJPW Strong took part in scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.

## See also

* New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America
* Lion's Break Project
* Lion's Break Collision
* G1 Special in San Francisco
* Strong Style Evolved