Willow Nightingale won the STRONG Women’s Championship at “Resurgence” on May 21st. 12 days later, she made her first defense on a special Championship Edition of AEW Rampage:

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship
Willow Nightingale vs. Emi Sakura
AEW Rampage #97 – San Diego, CA – 6.2.2023

Willow has been champion since 5.21.2023 and this is her first defense. Willow overpowers Sakura to start, but a hair pull and eye rake from Sakura enable her to take Willow off of the apron with a crossbody block. Sakura hairmares Willow on the floor and then crossbody blocks Willow into the barricades! During the break, Sakura chops willow down to the mat and puts her in a Dragon sleeper. Willow escapes a double underhook with open hand strikes to Sakura’s rib cage and drops her with a spinebuster. After a hip attack and flying shotgun dropkick, Willow hoists Sakura onto her shoulders. Sakura slips out and drops Willow with Smash Mouth. Willow kicks out after taking a twisting senton, and rolls through a sunset flip to land a crossbody block for two. Sakura tries a Magistral cradle, but Willow trips her. Sakura does successfully land the Angel’s Wings but doesn’t go for a pin. Instead she lights up Willow with chops, but when she whips Willow to the opposite corner, Willow explodes back out with a Pounce. Sakura resists the Babe With the Powerbomb at first, but Willow pulls it off after a lariat for the pin at 8:00. This was a little sloppy, but overall a very enjoyable first defense for Willow. It is neat that Willow’s first defense is also against someone with a ton of experience in several Joshi promotions. **¾

Because Mark Davis incurred an injury, Kyle Fletcher forfeited both the IWGP Tag Team and STRONG Openweight Tag Team titles on behalf of Aussie Open. Fletcher They were already scheduled to defend the IWGP Tag Team titles at Dominion against Bishamon and House of Torture, but now both of sets of titles would be put up for grabs. Aaron Henare and Great-O-Khan declared at the Best of the Super Juniors finals that a United Empire tandem should replace Aussie Open, who signed with AEW days before the event, and the match should proceed as a three way as originally scheduled. With that, the Holy Semen Army (h/t Joel from The Super J Cast) was added to the bout.

STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship & IWGP Tag Team Championship
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. House of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan)
NJPW “Dominion 2023” – Osaka, Japan – 6.4.2023

The winners of this match will receive both vacant titles. Perpetual rule breakers House of Torture, including Dick Togo, attacked the United Empire during their entrance, leading to a brawl between all three teams before the bell rung. YOSHI-HASHI wiped out Takahashi and EVIL, leaving Henare and O-Khan the space to beat down Bishamon in the ring. House of Torture use an exposed turnbuckle to wipe out the United Empire. Bishamon withstand their shenanigans and Goto takes them down with a double bulldog. Goto hip tosses YOSHI-HASHI onto EVIL, and then hip tosses O-Khan onto him. Henare succumbs to the war drum back pummel. The House of Torture send Bishamon back first into the barricades, with the timekeeper being knocked over due to EVIL’s attack on Goto. United Empire gets a nearfall on EVIL after the Berzerker Bomb, but Togo stops them from delivering the Imperial Drop. They also give Takahashi a version of Shoto, and Togo drags the referee to the floor before he can count three. While the referee is down, SHO attacks both the United Empire and Bishamon. The referee comes to when EVIL has Goto pinned after EVIL and Togo had taken him down with a Magic Killer, but Goto manages to kick out. YOH runs out with a skateboard and takes out both Togo and SHO, superkicking EVIL before exiting the ring. Togo hits Goto with a chair behind the referee’s back. Henare wipes out Takahashi with a running knee and spikes Goto with Ultima. He has Goto set up for Streets of Rage when YOSHI-HASHI superkicks him. Takahashi Pimp Drops Goto for two. YOSHI-HASHI re-enters with a corner clothesline and superkick to Takahashi. He prevents both Togo and EVIL from interfering, but O-Khan delivers the Eliminator to EVIL. YOSHI-HASHI half-nelson suplexes O-Khan and superkicks Takahashi. A flapjack bulldog and Shoto on Takahashi get Bishamon the pin and both sets of titles at 13:15. The HoT interference was expected, but I actually think this a rare instance where it enhanced the match. The crowd were excited every time they were thwarted, and especially liked when YOH got involved. We also got plenty of good wrestling in between the nonsense, and the best of the three teams involved walked out champions. I had low expectations going into this and ended up having a good time. ***¼

After the match, Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd make their way to the ring. They have joined the BULLET CLUB, and along with Dan Moloney, who also joined BULLET CLUB earlier in the night, and Clark Connors, who joined in April, are collectively known as the BULLET CLUB War Dogs. They attack Bishamon during their post-match celebration, with Kidd taking out YOSHI-HASHI with a tombstone, and Coughlin taking out Goto with a Jackhammer. They hold up both sets of titles with smirks on their face before leaving the area.

On June 10th, Kidd and Coughlin defeated Hirooki Goto and Ryohei Oiwa. After the match, they beat down Goto, and when YOSHI-HASHI came to his rescue, he was beaten down as well. Kidd tells Bishamon as they lay on the mat that he and Coughlin not only want both sets of their tag titles, but the chance to beat them up twice. With that, Kidd challenges them to two back-to-back title matches during the NJPW STRONG Independence Day events on July 4th and 5th in Tokyo, with one set of titles on the line in each match. On June 17th, after Goto and YOSHI-HASHI thwarted another post-match beat down from Kidd and Coughlin, Bishamon officially accepted their challenge, promising to beat them on both nights.

Four days later, Willow would make her second defense of the STRONG Women’s Championship, this time at Ring of Honor:

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship
Willow Nightingale vs. Rachael Ellering
ROH on HonorClub #15 – Orlando, FL – 6.8.2023

Willow has been champion since 5.21.2023 and this is her second defense. This is Ellering’s first ROH match since a pre-show loss to Kennadi Brink in 2016. Willow lands a senton splash and low crossbody early. Ellering fights out of a gutwrench. After a leaping forearm in the corner, she takes down Willow with an STO and lands a springboard leg drop for two. Willow sends Ellering to the corner with an enzuigiri and charges in with a hip attack. A corner clothesline leads to a shotgun dropkick off of the second rope for two. Willow holds onto Ellering’s wrist so she can pull her in for multiple clotheslines. Ellering shoves her to the ropes and catches her coming off with a Black Hole Slam for two. Ellering herself comes off of the ropes and succumbs to a Pounce. Ellering counters Willow’s post-cannonball senton pin with a crucifix, getting a two count for herself. Willow drops Ellering with a spinebuster and locks her in a Camel Clutch until Ellering taps out at 6:48. Neat to see Willow add a submission finisher to her arsenal, and to get a defense under her belt against someone with name value. It would’ve been nice if Ellering had some momentum coming into this, though, so the victor wasn’t so obvious. **¾

Tokyo, Japan – 7.4.2023

Commentary is provided by Ian Riccaboni & Chris Charlton.

Kickoff Match
Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH & Oskar Leube vs. Dragon Libre, Kengo & Takahiro Katori

Libre, Kengo, and Katori are junior heavyweights from the FREEDOMS promotion, presumably on the show due to Jun Kasai’s participation in the main event. This is Leube’s STRONG debut, a 24 year old German young lion who trained in the Fale Dojo in 2019 before moving to the Noge Dojo in 2022. He is also the largest competitor in the match, which is why the FREEDOMS Libre attacks his left knee. As strange and unorthodox as Katori proved to be, he was no match for Taguchi’s hip attack. Katori would not stand for Taguchi shoving his plush bunny down his pants, and took him down with a suplex before tagging in Kengo. Kengo got in a bit of a pummeling before Taguchi’s hip attack also took him down. YOH holds the stuffed bunny in his mouth as he knocks down Kengo with a flying forearm, and also shoves it down his trousers, further enraging Katori. Libre drove his knees into YOH in the corner for two. His partners crushed him with a knee strike/superkick combo, and then Libre dropped him with a swinging neckbreaker for another two count. Taguchi and Leube took Kengo and Katori to the floor. YOH blocked a charging Libre with a superkick and planted him with a Direct Drive for the pin at 10:45. This match was fun and light, which is good considering we have some pretty heavy stuff on the main show. It was a solid showcase for everybody, especially for the FREEDOMS team who all looked competent and worked well as a trio. A perfect pre-show affair. ***

The DKC vs. Bad Dude Tito

This was a classic power vs. speed battle between two STRONG originals. Tito caught a springboard attempt from DKC and German suplexed him for two. He pummeled DKC in the corner with chops and forearms and also stepped on his crotch while DKC was in a tree of woe. A running somersault senton from DKC took Tito off of his feet, and DKC followed that up with a flying karate kick off of the second turnbuckle. He brought down Tito with DK Fire and gave a falling chop to Tito’s shoulder, but that only earned him a one count. Tito swung DKC into a Blue Thunder Bomb to turn the match back in his favor, and then polished him off with a Tequila Screwdriver at 7:29. Given a lot of eyes will be on this show compared to other STRONG events, this was a wise place for Tito to establish a new finisher. I’m really glad some STRONG stalwarts got to kick off the show proper, and while the match was fairly basic, it was a match that gave you a perfect impression of both competitors. **½

Alex Zayne, Lance Archer & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)

This is Nelson’s Japan debut, and Isaacs’ first match in Japan since last year’s G1 tour. Kratos had previously wrestled in Japan but for AJPW in February of 2020. Kratos antagonized Archer as he and the West Coast Wrecking Crew beat down Zayne in their half of the ring. Zayne was able to surprise Isaacs with a flipping leg drop to his neck after landing feet first out of a German suplex and tag in Archer. The Korakuen crowd roared just for Archer and Kratos squaring off, and kept the energy going during their strike exchange. Oiwa surprisingly blind tagged in when Archer was coming off of the ropes with a body block to Kratos, and Archer slammed his own partner onto Kratos. Archer also chokeslammed Zayne into a moonsault onto Kratos. Unfortunately, Kratos caught Zayne upon landing and rolled up to his feet. He planted Zayne with a bodyslam, not noticing Oiwa who snuck in a schoolboy pin attempt from behind. Kratos dropped Oiwa on his stomach before wiping out Zayne and Archer on the floor with a somersault senton off of the apron. Oiwa almost had Nelson pinned with a gutwrench suplex. Isaacs then attacked him from behind when he tried to put Nelson in a Boston Crab. A German suplex from Isaacs and a springback Ace Crusher from Nelson get Team Filthy the pin on Oiwa at 10:26. This was another trios match where everybody impressed. Centering the match around Kratos and Archer was a smart idea, and I like that Oiwa got a chance to shine towards the end as he did feel like a bit of an anomaly. If the crowd reaction is any indication, Kratos returning to Japan is a no brainer. ***

Kosei Fujita vs. Tom Lawlor

Lawlor controlled Fujita in various ankle holds. Fujita was able to drive Lawlor to the corner to escape a guillotine choke, but a jump-up enzuigiri from Lawlor shut him down quickly. Fujita came back with a shotgun dropkick and stunned him with some uppercuts. Fujita fired up after a second shotgun dropkick and vertical suplexed Lawlor. As soon as Lawlor kicked out, Fujita transitioned to a kimura lock. Lawlor escaped and rolled Fujita into a grounded cloverleaf, adding extra pressure to Fujita’s injured leg. Lawlor tackled Fujita to the corner when he kicked out of the hold and Judo threw him into a PK. Fujita fights his way out of an NKOTB at first, so Lawlor gives him two Kamigoye’s before trying again and getting the pin at 8:59. Fujita not only showed his determination, but also that being under the tutelage of Zack Sabre Jr. has upped his submission game.The crowd got behind him because of this, and that made made the match, which at its core was pretty simple, more engaging and interesting. **¾

Eddie Kingston & Rocky Romero vs. BULLET CLUB (KENTA & Gedo)

This is a preview match for tomorrow’s STRONG Openweight Title match. It’s also Kingston’s NJPW Japan debut, nine days before he competes in his first G1 Climax tournament. He’s wearing a Jay Briscoe tribute shirt which gets Ian Riccaboni emotional. KENTA refused to interact with Kingston at first, but Kingston came after him when KENTA illegally attacked Romero on the floor. KENTA took him down with a kick to the shin and his chest and pummeled him by the barricades. Gedo got his hands on Romero in the meantime, and the BULLET CLUB beat down Romero back in the ring as Kingston recovered. When Romero ducks a running forearm strike from KENTA, KENTA knocks Gedo off of the apron, and Romero knee strikes KENTA before tagging in Kingston. Kingston unloads chops on both Gedo and KENTA, including rapid fire chops in the corner. KENTA shuts down Kingston with a DDT. Gedo’s savate kicks have no effect on Kingston, but KENTA’s sneak attack does. Romero forever clotheslines KENTA and Gedo in opposite corners, ending with a double clothesline. Romero dropkicks KENTA into the barricades, and Kingston nails the Backfist the Future on Gedo for the pin at 9:29. Hearing this crowd chant Eddie gave me the warm and fuzzies. He was rightfully the focus of this match, building momentum as he heads into the title match with KENTA tomorrow night. Gedo and KENTA have a very low ceiling in terms of match quality and they basically hit that ceiling here. **½

Willow Nightingale & Momo Kohgo vs. Mafia Bella (Giulia & Thekla)

This is a preview match for tomorrow’s STRONG Women’s Openweight Title match. Mafia Bella are also two-thirds of the current Artist of Stardom champions, the STARDOM trios titles. Willow and Kohgo fought in the opening round of the tournament to crown the inaugural STRONG Women’s Openweight champion and seemingly earned one anothers respect. Willow takes the opening exchange with Giulia, bodyslamming her way out of a wristlock. Thekla’s slam on Kohgo is effective, as it is what allows her and Giulia to keep Kohgo isolated in their corner. Giulia bum rushes Willow off of the ring apron for good measure. Kohgo escapes on her own by delivering a tiger feint kick to Giulia. Willow takes down Giulia with a spinebuster for two. Giukia and Willow go through a sequence of countering each other’s offense, and Giulia tags out after taking down Willow with a running boot. Kohgo saves Willow from Thekla’s Octopus Stretch but succumbs to a flapjack/facebuster combo from Mafia Bella. Thekla spider suplexes Willow into a super shotgun dropkick from Giulia, and then splashes onto both Kohgo and Willow on the floor. Willow blindsides Mafia Bella back in the ring with a double clothesline, and then tosses Kohgo off of her shoulders from the second turnbuckle onto them! Kohgo rids of Giulia and sets up Thekla for a cannonball senton from Willow. Willow then muscles up Thekla into a Death Valley Driver for a long two count. Willow pulls down the straps and hits the Babe With The Powerbomb for the pin at 9:54. Unlike the previous match, we got much more of a physical preview between the champion and challenger, and the crowd was into it. Thekla and Kohgo were also more integral to the match than Romero and Gedo were in their encounter, and Thekla especially impressed thanks to her flexibility and speed. This definitely got me more excited for tomorrow’s title bout. ***¼

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd)

Bishamon have been champions since 6.4.2023 and this is their first defense. The BULLET CLUB attacked Bishamon with the titles before the bell, but that did not get them an immediate pin. Kidd and Coughlin violently throw both YOSHI-HASHI and Goto into the barricades multiple times after the bell has rung. They batter YOSHI-HASHI in the ring with chops, and Coughlin throws Goto into the barricades again when he sees him on the ring apron. YOSHI-HASHI ends up dropkicking Coughlin in the knee and taking him down with a neckbreaker to escape their grasp and tag Goto. He and Coughlin blister each other with strikes and clotheslines in the middle of the ring. Goto ducks a rebound lariat from Kidd and plants him with an Ushigoroshi. YOSHI-HASHI follows that with a Headhunter for two. Bishamon take Kidd down with Violent Flash before setting him up for Shoto. Coughlin sneaks in from behind with a waistlock to Coughlin, but Goto wipes him out with a clothesline. Kidd frees himself from another Shoto attempt and drops Goto with a brainbuster. Although YOSHI-HASHI superkicks Kidd, Coughlin is able to strike him in the back from the apron. Coughlin also surprises YOSHI-HASHI with a chair shot to the head from the floor, and although the referee didn’t see it, Goto interjects to stop the pin. Goto does his best to fight off the War Dogs and ends up being double chokeslammed. Coughlin and Kidd go back to YOSHI-HASHI and give him a Double Muscle Buster. The Highjack Piledriver (a spike tombstone) gets the War Dogs the win and the titles at 12:18. Kidd and Coughlin have talked about being aggressive and hungry, and tonight they showed they weren’t just all bark with no bite. They also showed that they were plenty fine taking shortcuts as the BULLET CLUB is wont to do, and that choice is what made the difference. Bishamon would’ve had the match won had they not used a chair, plain and simple, and I think that is something to keep our eye on tomorrow when Coughlin and Kidd look to capture the IWGP Tag Titles tomorrow. This was a match where Kidd and Coughlin made a statement. ***½

After the bell, they put YOSHI-HASHI in a half crab and knock him out with their title belt, and then clobber Goto with the title belt while holding him against the barricades. Kidd declares they will become double champions, and Coughlin simply says F You to both Goto and YOSHI-HASHI.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)

Catch 2/2 have been champions since 6.4.2023 and this is their first defense. The two teams fight up into the stands, where Akira jumps off an entrance onto Moloney and Connors! When they get back into the ring, TJP has Akira up on his shoulders for the Leaning Tower to Moloney Connors surprises TJP with a chop block, and Moloney gives Akira a spinebuster into a double stomp and senton. TJP rolls to the floor once Moloney knocks him out with a running forearm smash. The War Dogs then turn their attention to walloping Akira in their corner. Akira uses Moloney’s back to pull off a springboard dropkick on Connors. When Moloney tries to lift him up into a German suplex, Akira wheelbarrow rolls him into a double stomp and tags in a recovered TJP, who takes down Moloney with a springboard flying forearm. The crowd cheers for TJP’s facewash kick to Moloney. They ask for another, so TJP drop toe holds a charging Connors into Moloney, and facewash kicks them both at the same time. Catch 2/2 then successfully land the Leaning Tower onto both Connors and Moloney on the floor. TJP gets a two count on Moloney back inside the ring with a springboard Flying DDT, and then locks on the Pinoy Stretch. Akira intercepts Connors interference with a guillotine choke, but Connors falls with Akira onto TJP to break up the submission. The War Dogs get TJP alone for a spear and chop block combo, only for Akira to come back in just in time to break up the pin. He takes down Moloney with the Italian Destroyer and with Connors lands the Alley Oop. He takes down Connors with the Speedfire before suicide diving onto Moloney, but TJP is unable to keep Connors down for a three count. Moloney then saves Connors from being pinned by 2×2. Moloney drives Akira back first into the barricades. Connors avoids a Mamba Splash. Akira pulls TJP out of the way, and Moloney ends up Goring Connors! However, Moloney is able to take out Akira once again with the Drilla Killa before rolling back to the floor. TJP O’Connor Rolls Moloney. Moloney pushes him into the No Chaser from Connors. The War Dogs put away TJP with a flying Gore/suplex combo (called the Full Clip) at 15:36 to become the new champions. I’m glad New Japan didn’t take a half-pregnant approach to the War Dogs – their heavyweight and junior heavyweight teams walking away with tag gold in back-to-back matches establishes them right away as a force to be reckoned with. I’ve sung the praises of Connors and TJP before when pitted against each other, and their great chemistry was only augmented by Moloney and Akira’s involvement. The pinfall saves and momentum swings made for a very exciting and memorable affair. Another great match from Catch 2/2, and an awesome inaugural showing from Connors and Moloney as a duo. ****

Doomsday No Disqualification Match
Jun Kasai & El Desperado vs. Jon Moxley & Homicide

Desperado challenged Moxley to a rematch from last year’s “Music City Mayhem”, feeling there is unfinished between them since Moxley only defeated him via referee stoppage. Moxley agreed to meet him, but challenged Desperado to find his own partner to face him and Homicide. Desperado asked Jun Kasai to be his partner, as they had formed a kinship during their incredible deathmatch during a JTO show the previous September. Kasai thought about it, and came to Desperado in-person on June 18th to accept Desperado’s offer. Desperado wears an already torn mask to this match. This is Kasai’s NJPW debut, and the reaction he gets is nothing short of raucous. Kasai brings a fork board to the ring, which both he and Desperado end up being dropped on first. Kasai open upped both Moxley and Homicide with a butcher blade before introducing a cross covered in razor blades. Moxley sent Kasai into it twice before curb stomping him for a two count. Kasai also flips off Moxley while hammer and nail elbows are being thrown at him. Kasai used Homicide to crotch Moxley on the top turnbuckle and then struck him with a lariat. Desperado throws a trash can at Homicide’s head to halt his tope suicida attempt. He drops Homicide with the Toro de Angel in the ring. Kasai puts on his goggles before landing a splash off of the top turnbuckle. Desperado then delivers Pinche Loco, with Moxley shoving him off of Homicide before he can grab the pin. Kasai digs wooden skewers into Moxley’s forehead and pulls him to the floor. Homicide kicks Desperado low and calls for the Cop Killa, only for Desperado to block with his own kick to the groin and a second Pinche Loco. He rolls Homicide to his feet and smashes him through a trash can with a third Pinche Loco for the pin at 18:34. This to me felt like a way to get Kasai and Moxley in the ring together for the first time, which is probably cool for long-time Moxley and CZW fans. I’d call this “deathmatch light”, as they didn’t incorporate glass or barbed wire but still provided enough blood and other weapon usage for fans of that style. I appreciate that they ended with a few minutes of wrestling to wrap things up, and the two moments where the specialty weapons Kasai introduced backfired against him and his partner. Mileage is definitely going to vary with this one. Truthfully, I’m more interested in what Moxley and Desperado’s singles rematch has in store for us tomorrow night. ***

The IWGP Junior Tag Title match won the night. I think a big part of why is because all of the other matches on the top of the card had the responsibility of building up tomorrow’s card, while that match stood was a blow off to what happened at Dominion and what was built during the New Japan Road. I’d say the last four matches are worth your time, and if you’re averse to deathmatches, you can simply shut the show off before then. With how into the show this crowd was, and with how all of the American participants delivered, I’d call the first STRONG event in Japan a success.