NJPW wants to clarify the roles of their titles.
NJPW STRONG was largely a product of the COVID-19 pandemic, as NJPW held shows in America while travel restrictions limited their ability to expand into the United States. As part of this process, NJPW crowned a STRONG Openweight Champion and STRONG Tag Team Champions. These titles have been defended at NJPW events in Japan recently.
On June 4, NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi, Representative Director Hitoshi Matsumoto, and owner Takaaki Kidani addressed the media. NJPW shared a transcription of the press conference on their official website. In one highlight, Tanahashi stated that they wanted to raise the status of the titles. As part of this process, he noted that the NJPW STRONG Championships would be defended at American events.
"Taking into account the opinions of wrestlers and fans, we want to clarify the roles and concepts of each championship belt, and raise the status of our championships. This will see various forms, but firstly, the NJPW STRONG Championships will be restored to their original roles of being defended only on American events," Tanahashi said.
Tanahashi reiterated that they wanted to make the STRONG Titles exclusive to America, and they also aimed to ensure that the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship was the peak. He noted that it was important for the wrestlers to understand which titles they wanted to target.
"We want to make the STRONG titles American exclusive. Additionally, there have been a lot of new titles of late, and it’s important I think for wrestlers to understand what championships they want to aim toward, and for fans to understand that as well. Each title can have a role in different events, but we want the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to consistently be the peak and have those roles take place after that," Tanahashi said.
Kidani also shared his thoughts on the matter by noting that NJPW had seven titles when it was its peak in 2017, 2018, and 2019, but they currently had 13 titles. He admitted that even hardcore fans might not know who all of their champions were. Kidani stated that it was important for the fans to understand what each title was for.
"When NJPW was really booming in popularity, in 2017, 2018, 2019 we had seven championships. Right now there are 13. Even hardcore fans might not know who all our champions are. The more titles we have, as well, it’s felt that even though wrestlers should have more choice in terms of titles to wrestle for, they’re more likely to be only tied to one title without much movement. This process may take time, perhaps over the next year to 18 months, but the important thing is to have the fans understand simply what each title is for and why they matter, and that will be the goal and the key to elevating that status," Kidani said.
Kidani was then asked whether the IWGP and NJPW STRONG Tag Team Championships would be defended separately going forward. He stated that these titles may be an exception, as the STRONG Championships could be defended at Wrestle Kingdom. However, he repeated that the goal was to have the STRONG Titles return to their original intent.
"As I mentioned, this is a big project and some of those details will take time to iron out. The case with STRONG titles might become one where you have the rarest exception, like a Wrestle Kingdom where the titles are in Japan, but with the rest of the time on US shows exclusively, and there are NJPW events every month in the US right now. That’s meant that feuds over US titles have carried themselves over into Japan as well, making things a bit vague. So the goal is to bring the STRONG Championships more in line with what they were originally intended to be," Kidani said.
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