Willow Nightingale became the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women's Champion at NJPW Resurgence when she defeated Mercedes Mone in the main event.
Nightingale's victory was well earned in the tournament, she defeated Momo Kohgo in the finals, but was dampened a bit due to an ankle injury suffered by Mone.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Nightingale was asked about the pressure of being the first NJPW STRONG Women's Champion and carrying the title.
"It’s very heavy. I think people, at this point, are aware that Mercedes is probably going to be out for some time. She’s the only that can tell you how long and exactly what happened. I do hope she gets well and recovers as quickly as possible. If I still have this title by the time she gets back, I would love a rematch. With that being said, I think there are more eyes on me than ever before. I’m someone who is very used to people being on my side and cheering for me. After this championship win, I did see a lot of people saying, ‘You deserve it’ and say ‘it’s about time,’ but there have also been a handful of people who don’t think that I can live up to what being a champion is, especially to this caliber.
"The championship is on me, they can’t change that, the only thing I can do is step up and prove to them that I am worthy of this title. One of the things that I’m doing is trying to find some time to head to LA and train over at the LA Dojo, look over my schedule and figure out how much training I can do with being on the road on top of what I’m doing. Those are the first steps. I don’t want this to be something where, when they look at the history books, and they see Willow Nightingale as the first NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion, I don’t want to see a little asterisk and them being like, ‘she only won because her opponent got hurt and it was an easy victory.’ That’s pro wrestling, that’s how it happens. If you get hurt that day, the fight wasn’t on your side. The fight was on my side that night. The only thing I can do is move forward as champion, wear this title with pride, and do all I can to continue to defend as long as I can."
Elsewhere during the interview, Nightingale commented on wanting to defend the title on AEW TV. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
It is unknown when Willow will make the first defense of her NJPW STRONG Women's Championship.
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