New Japan Pro-Wrestling held its NJPW Strong “Independence Day” event night 2 on July 5 from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Night 2 had more great action with once again a lot to take in. First big news that due to medical reasons JR Kratos would not compete against Oskar Leube but would join the commentary team during the match featuring Team Filthy. Leube would face Satoshi Kojima instead.
The night aslo saw a surprise IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team championship match, The New Champs Connors & Moloney where already booked to face Rocky Romero & YOH regardless of the result of Night 1. Rocky before the bell, issued the challenge as a former 8 time champion and YOH as a former 5 time champion. The champions refusing at first due to too much celebrating decided to F’ it and accpet. Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney managed to retain the championships (V1) when Connors pinned Rocky (12:05) following the Full Clip.
Next, we had a title change hands as STARDOM’s Giulia pinned Willow Nightingale (13:29) which saw her crowned as the 2nd ever NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion. After the match Giulia showed respect to Willow after previously refusing to accept the sportsmanship handshake and respect Willow was offering.
After years of hard work, Eddie Kingston made his NJPW in Japan debut on Night 1 of the event. On Night 2 Eddie Kingston defeated KENTA to become new NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion. AEW’s ‘Mad King’ pinned KENTA (13:30) in the semi-main event with a Northern Lights Bomb following a backfist. After the match Kingston emotions got the best of him as he broke down in tears while holding the belt, good friend Homicide came out to celebrate and congratulate his friend.
The main event saw the ‘Final Death’ no DQ match which again was bloody and violent when El desperado faced Jon Moxley. In the end, Jon Moxley pinned El Desperado (20:33) with a high angle Death Rider following a Lariat. After the match, Moxley cut a promo saying that Korakuen Hall is a special place for Pro Wrestling and NJPW is the heartbeat of pro wrestling. He also said that he will give it his all every time he is in a NJPW ring and looks forward to the next challenge. El Desperado afterwards then said, “Final Death, I told You before. I will not die in a deathmatch. I’m relentless! Moxley, we will continue to fight until I win.”
The Show also saw the official confirmation announcement of Wrestle Kingdom 18 & logo reveal. It is confirmed that the event will like traditionally take place on Jannuary 4 2024 at the Tokyo Dome, this seems to be a 1 Night event again. You can see the WK18 Logo below.
Here are the Full Results:
NJPW STRONG “Independence Day” Night 2 Full Results: (July 5 2023)
- Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg & Master Wato def. Dragon Libre, Takahiro Katori & Rekka
- Satoshi Kojima def. Oskar Leube
- TJP & Francesco Akira Ryohei (Catch 2/2) def. Oiwa & Homicide
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney (BULLET CLUB War Dogs) (c) def. YOH & Rocky Romero (CHAOS)
- Alex Zayne & Lance Archer def. Bad Dude Tito & Kosei Fujita (TMDK)
- Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & The DKC def. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs (Team Filthy)
- NJPW Strong Women’s Championship: Giulia def. Willow Nightingale (c) to win the title.
- IWGP Tag Team Championships: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (Bishamon) (c) def. Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin (BULLET CLUB War Dogs)
- NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Eddie Kingston def. KENTA (c) to win the title.
- Final Death: Jon Moxley def. El Desperado
Photo Credit: NJPW
Author: Rohit Singh Karir