The is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

owned and promoted by the

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW)

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021, and the inaugural champion was Tom Lawlor. The reigning champion is Tomohiro Ishii, who is in his first reign. He won the title on April 11, 2025 by defeating Gabe Kidd at Windy City Riot in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, USA. The title was primarily featured on NJPW's American television program ''

NJPW Strong NJPW Strong is a brand name utilized by Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and its New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA) subsidiary. In its original incarnation, ''NJPW Strong'' was the name of a weekly ...

'', which includes American wrestlers, as well as on programming by NJPW partner promotions

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW) and

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

(ROH). The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's

Strong Strong may refer to: Education * The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States * Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas * Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United ...

brand and is usually defended at NJPW Strong branded shows in America.

History

The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021. Initially, the title was exclusively featured on NJPW's American television program ''NJPW Strong'', which includes a distinct roster of American wrestlers. On November 11, 2023, NJPW's American partner promotion AEW announced a tournament called the Continental Classic, with the winner becoming the first AEW Continental Champion. Eddie Kingston, who held the

ROH World Championship The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The cu ...

and the Strong Openweight Championship, announced that he would be putting his championships on the line in the tournament and that the tournament's winner would be an American Triple Crown Champion (collectively referred to as the Continental Crown). At AEW's Worlds End event, Kingston defeated

Jon Moxley Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley and is the current AEW World Championship, AEW World Champion in his ...

in the Continental Classic final, retaining the Strong Openweight and ROH World championships and becoming the first Continental Crown Champion. Kingston would lose the AEW Continental Championship to

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a member of the Don Callis Family stable and is the current AEW Continental Champion in his first reign. Known as the , he is b ...

on the March 20, 2024, episode of ''

AEW Dynamite ''AEW Dynamite'', also known as ''Wednesday Night Dynamite'' or simply ''Dynamite'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American Professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It air ...

'', thus losing his recognition as Triple Crown Champion.

Inaugural tournament

Reigns

As of January 1, 2024, there have been eight reigns between seven champions. Tom Lawlor was the inaugural champion. Tomohiro Ishii is the oldest, when he won it at 49 years old, while Gabe Kidd is the youngest champion at 27 years old. Lawlor's reign is the longest at 389 days while Hikuleo's reign is the shortest at 18 days. Tomohiro Ishii is the reigning champion in his first reign. He defeated Gabe Kidd in a 30-minute iron man match, which Ishii won 2–1 in sudden death overtime at Windy City Riot on April 11, 2025 in

, USA.

Combined Reigns

As of , .

References

External links