Eight big matchups made for Strong Style Evolved!

Stakes high for Long Beach December 15

December 15 will see NJPW back in Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid for Strong Style Evolved. The last US card of the year will take place just three weeks before Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty, and a stacked lineup is sure to see major moves made ahead of the biggest weekend in professional wrestling.

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Mercedes Moné will defend the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship against Hazuki. ‘Wild Heart’ Hazuki emerged from a chaotic four way match in Lowell on November 8 as the new number one contender to the CEO’s crown. Immediately after the match though, Mercedes would give Hazuki a Backstabber for her troubles, and vowed that the CEO’s time on top will continue. Back in 2023, Moné, Hazuki and AZM were in a three way for IWGP Women’s gold, but this will be the first time ever the two women have gone one on one. As 2025, and Wrestle Dynasty along with it looms large, who will end the year as the STRONG Women’s champion?

Gabe Kidd puts the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship on the line against Ryohei Oiwa in Long Beach. Fighting Spirit Unleashed saw Kosei Fujita put a superhuman effort against Kidd in a sensational main event. Yet after the match was done, Kidd wanted to keep up the punishment on his young challenger. That drew the ire of Fujita’s TMDK teammate and Oiwa hit the ring to issue his own challenge to the Mad Man. Will it be Oiwa’s Doctor Bomb versus Kidd’s Mad Man Bomb that determines who ends 2024 with STRONG gold?

New NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions the Grizzled Young Veterans, James Drake and Zack Gibson, will face the West Coast Wrecking Crew, Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs, for the titles. The GYV defeated Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls for the belts and quickly boasted that they finally have the titles and respect they needed for their careers to flourish. Yet the same night saw the WCWC emerge from a brutal and bloody two out of three falls match showing just what lengths they are willing to go to for victory. Can they secure the titles that have eluded them for so many years?

A special tag team bout will see Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji face off against Tokyo Dome opposition in Konosuke Takeshita and Jack Perry. January 4 will see Takagi versus Takeshita for the NEVER, and potentially AEW International titles, a night where Tsuji will take on David Finlay for the IWGP Global gold. The next night, Tsuji takes on Jack Perry after a shocking attack from the Scapegoat at Fighting Spirit Unleashed. Tsuji and Takagi will have had their pre-existing teamwork honed by a World Tag League campaign; with Perry’s allegiances to HOUSE OF TORTURE in Japan and a fractured ELITE in the US as Takeshita wrestles for the Don Callis Family, will LIJ’s opposition be on the same page?

Ahead of a four way battle over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag team Championships January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom 19, a four way singles bout provides a chaotic preview of the Tokyo Dome. KUSHIDA, Kosei Fujita, TJP and Clark Connors will collide in a bid to set the pace for two weeks later on the biggest stage.

As we get in the Wrestle Dynasty mood, it’s not just NJPW and AEW represented in Long Beach. CMLL representation comes in the form of Hechicero tonight. After Lio Rush got his first career win over Mustafa Ali at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, he has a very different task against the llave conjuror himself for a special first time singles bout.

Mina Shirakawa will face Johnnie Robbie at Strong Style Evolved. 2024 has truly been the global breakout year for Mina Shirakawa, and Long Beach fans that have clamoured for more Mina will get one more dose before 2024 is out. She faces the NJPW Academy prospect who’s made her own stamp on the year, and will look for a big win to propel her into 2025.

Plus a special kickoff bout will see Matt Vandagriff defending his STRONG Survivor spot against Zane Jay. Vandagriff has held the distinction of STRONG Survivor for well over a year as he’s defended the spot on kickoff matches before NJPW events. That’s given the Aerial Chemist an arrogant air, but after his return from a training excursion to Noge in Japan, Zane Jay wants one more shot to take the STRONG Survivor mantle into the new year.