First NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Crowned

Published: Apr 24, 2021 by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: Apr 24, 2021 by Sanchez Taylor

Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW's Swerve Strickland and WWE's Nick Aldis.

First NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Crowned

The first ever NJPW Strong Openweight Champion was crowned after the finals of the 2021 New Japan Cup USA.

On the latest episode of NJPW Strong, Tom Lawlor and Brody King fought in a high-stakes encounter. Lawlor picked up the victory, not only winning the New Japan Cup USA, but also becoming the inaugural NJPW Strong Openweight Champion.

NJPW celebrated Lawlor’s win on Twitter, giving fans their first glimpse of their new champion. Captioning the image “#andFIRST”, NJPW Global tweeted:

#andFIRST

Congratulations, @FilthyTomLawlor!#njcupUSA #njpwSTRONG pic.twitter.com/wMwosNQ3ev

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) April 24, 2021

The New Japan Cup USA was first contested in 2020, with KENTA defeating David Finlay in the finals. KENTA received a IWGP US Championship shot as a prize, which he defended numerous times last year.

KENTA lost to Jon Moxley on a February episode of NJPW Strong. Moxley is still IWGP US Champion. The AEW star is preparing to defend his NJPW gold against Japanese wrestling veteran Yuji Nagata.

In a recent interview, Stephanie McMahon discussed Moxley’s WWE departure. According to McMahon, Moxley’s choice to leave the company was a mutual decision.

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