Strong Style Evolved

Strong Style Evolved
Official logo of the event
Promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Date March 25, 2018
City Long Beach, California, U.S.
Venue Walter Pyramid
Attendance 4,372[1]
Sponsor(s) LEC[2]
Event chronology
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Strong Style Evolved chronology
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Strong Style Evolved UK

Strong Style Evolved[3] was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The show took place on March 25, 2018, in Long Beach, California, United States at the Walter Pyramid.[4] The event was broadcast on AXS TV in the United States[5] and on NJPW World internationally.

Production

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentators Chris Charlton (English-language announcer)
Don Callis (English-language announcer)
Kevin Kelly (English-language announcer)
Ring announcers Makoto Abe
Referees Kenta Sato
Marty Asami
Red Shoes Unno
Tiger Hattori

Background

On November 5, 2017, NJPW announced the follow-up event to G1 Special in USA, the event, titled Strong Style Evolved, would take place on March 25, 2018, at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.[4] Tickets for the event sold out within 20 minutes of being made available for purchase.[6]

To coincide with the event, NJPW held "Strong Style Saturday" on March 24 at the newly opened NJPW LA Dojo.[7][8] The event included a fan festival featuring autograph sessions, a contract signing for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship title defense, and in-ring matches.[8]

Storylines

On January 28, 2018, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, "Switchblade" Jay White defeated Kenny Omega to become IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.[9] Following the match, White was challenged by Omega's Bullet Club stablemate Hangman Page. A championship match between the two was announced for Strong Style Evolved on February 26.[10]

On February 10, 2018, at The New Beginning in Osaka, former WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio Jr. made his NJPW debut in a pre-taped video, challenging Jyushin Thunder Liger to a match at Strong Style Evolved. Liger, who was on commentary, accepted the challenge and the match was later announced for the event.[11] On March 3, Mysterio suffered a bicep injury at a Northeast Wrestling event,[12] leading to Mysterio being replaced by Will Ospreay at Strong Style Evolved.

In July 2008, Canadian wrestler Kenny Omega started his first Japanese tour with the DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) promotion, where he quickly became friends with Kota Ibushi,[13] with the two forming a tag team named "Golden☆Lovers" in January 2009.[14] On October 3, 2014, Omega announced he was leaving DDT and signing with NJPW, where Ibushi was already a semi-regular. However, with Ibushi having recently moved to NJPW's heavyweight division, Omega stated that the Golden☆Lovers were done as a tag team due to him wanting to remain in the junior heavyweight division.[15] The Golden☆Lovers wrestled their final match together on October 26, 2014, when they defeated Danshoku Dino and Konosuke Takeshita in Omega's DDT farewell match.[16] On January 28, 2018 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, the Golden☆Lovers were reformed, with Ibushi saving Omega from an attack from Cody.[9] Omega and Ibushi teamed for the first time since 2014 at the Honor Rising: Japan 2018 events. At night two of Honor Rising: Japan, the Golden☆Lovers, after a victory over Cody and Marty Scurll, were interrupted by The Young Bucks who announced they were moving up to NJPW's heavyweight tag team division.[17] A match between Golden☆Lovers and The Young Bucks was announced for Strong Style Evolved on February 26.[10]

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times[18]
1 Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero, Sho and Yoh) defeated SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) Six-man tag team match[19] 11:02
2 Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson and David Finlay) defeated Chaos (Hirooki Goto and Gedo) Tag team match[19] 7:24
3 Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) defeated Chaos (Toru Yano and Chuckie T.) Tag team match[19] 10:48
4 Bullet Club (Cody and Marty Scurll) defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) Tag team match[19] 10:45
5 Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi) defeated Taguchi Japan (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida and Ryusuke Taguchi) and Dragon Lee Eight-man tag team match[19] 12:13
6 Will Ospreay defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger Singles match[19] 10:35
7 Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii) Tag team match[19] 18:50
8 Jay White (c) defeated Hangman Page Singles match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship[19] 25:00
9 Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) defeated The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) Tag team match[19] 39:21
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Aftermath

At the show, NJPW announced there will be another G1 Special event taking place in the San Francisco area on July 7, 2018, at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.[20] The following day on March 26, NJPW announced the follow up to Strong Style Evolved, Strong Style Evolved UK, occurring on June 30 and July 1.[21][22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ホーム 大会結果一覧 STRONG STYLE EVOLVED". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ "NJPW and Strong Style Evolved sponsor LEC offer the chance to get Okada or Tanahashi autographs in special grab bags! [la325]". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ "STRONG STYLE EVOLVED". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Currier, Joseph (November 5, 2017). "NJPW returning to Long Beach, California in March". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  5. ↑ Jim Varsallone (February 9, 2018). "AXS to broadcast NJPW's U.S. event Strong Style Evolved". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  6. ↑ Dave Meltzer (January 29, 2018). "NJPW STRONG STYLE EVOLVED TICKETS SELL OUT WITHIN 20 MINUTES". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  7. ↑ "STRONG STYLE EVOLVED Pre-Show Event at the NJPW Dojo![la325]". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  8. 1 2 SoCalUncensored Staff. "NJPW Strong Style Saturday in Carson, CA". SoCalUncensored. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  9. 1 2 Dave Meltzer (January 27, 2018). "NJPW NEW BEGINNING IN SAPPORO NIGHT TWO LIVE RESULTS: OMEGA-WHITE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Huge matches made for Strong Style Evolved! White v Page for US Title! Mysterio v Liger! Golden Lovers v Young Bucks!! [la325]". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. February 26, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  11. ↑ Sean Rueter (February 10, 2018). "Rey Mysterio is headed to New Japan". Cageside Seats. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  12. ↑ RaJ Prashad (March 4, 2018). "Rey Mysterio May Have Suffered An Injury At An Indie Show". Uproxx. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  13. ↑ ＤＤＴから新日移籍…オメガが日本を愛する理由. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 27, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  14. ↑ ケニー・オメガ. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  15. ↑ 「新日本に100パーセント集中したい」ケニー・オメガが10月でDDTとの契約終了、"主戦場"を新日本プロレスへ！【会見全文】. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). October 3, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  16. ↑ オメガ有終星「新日本行き応援して」. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. October 27, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  17. ↑ Bryan Rose (Feb 24, 2018). "NJPW-ROH HONOR RISING NIGHT TWO RESULTS: OMEGA-IBUSHI VS. CODY-SCURLL". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Strong Style Evolved". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Strong Style Evolved". NJPW1972.com. New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  20. ↑ Gagnon, Joshua (March 25, 2018). "NJPW Announces Next US Show At Tonight's Strong Style Evolved". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  21. ↑ Jake Jeremy (March 26, 2018). "NJPW/Rev Pro Announce Strong Style Evolved: United Kingdom". SES Scoops. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Strong Style Evolved UK". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
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