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Alright, speed round. Let's go.
NEVER Openweight Championship
After both defending the AEW International Championship and winning the NEVER Openweight Championship, Konosuke Takeshita established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the wrestling world. He would go on to defend his NEVER Openweight title several times, defeating Tomohiro Ishii the next night at Wrestle Dynasty, KUSHIDA at Battle in the Valley, Oleg Boltin at The New Beginning in Osaka, Ryohei Oiwa at Sakura Genesis, and El Phantasmo at Resurgence. He is now set to defend the title this Sunday at Dominion in a rematch against Oleg Boltin.
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
After months of attacking main unit and Hiroshi Tanahashi, House of Torture finally managed to take the NEVER 6-Man Tag titles from the home team. They have largely avoided defending the titles, though they were a chapter in the Bullet Club civil war between them and the War Dogs. They were able to defend the titles from the War Dogs in this battle, but they ultimately lost the war and were kicked out of Bullet Club. They do not have another defense scheduled at this time.
IWGP Women's Championship
Mayu Iwatani held the IWGP Women's Championship for a record 735 days, the longest of any IWGP title in history. After defending the title against long-time adversary AZM at Wrestle Kingdom, she finally lost the belt to Syuri at All Star Grand Queendom, after which she promptly left Stardom to join Marigold. Syuri had her first defense against Alex Windsor in Pro-Wrestling EVE, but has another title defense scheduled for Stardom's The Conversion show against Sareee.
NJPW World Television Championship
Winning the NJPW TV title at Wrestle Kingdom after beating cancer was a momentous occasion for El Phantasmo. His first feud had him face off against Jeff Cobb, a former TV champion himself. Their first match went to a time-limit draw, but ELP managed to overcome Cobb in their second match. He then had an open challenge accepted by Master Wato at the Road to The New Beginning, and a second open challenge answered by TJP at the Anniversary Show. This second match led to a match with Great-O-Khan, who won the title via countout. However, ELP managed to regain the title at Hizen no Kuni, where he challenged Takeshita to a TV title match at Wrestling Dontaku, before their NEVER title match at Resurgence. This TV title match also went to a time-limit draw, while ELP lost the NEVER title challenge. Again, no defenses are scheduled at the moment, though ELP will be competing at Dominion in an undercard tag match.
STRONG Openweight Championship
Gabe Kidd started the year with the STRONG Openweight Championship, coming off of a strong 2024. His first challenge of the year was from Tomohiro Ishii, where the two went to a time-limit draw at Battle in the Valley. Their rematch built on this, having a 30-minute Ironman stipulation at Windy City Riot, where Ishii took the title from Gabe Kidd, winning 2-1 in overtime. Ishii's first defense would be against Drilla Moloney at Resurgence, after Moloney defeated Ishii in the New Japan Cup, but Ishii won this time. There is no STRONG Openweight title defense set as of yet, but Ishii will be teaming with Taichi to take on United Empire for the IWGP Tag titles at Dominion, so maybe Ishii can get himself a second belt.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship
World Class Wrecking Crew were very active in defending their hard-won STRONG tag titles, taking on various junior heavyweights from New Japan. They beat Roppongi Re-Vice at Battle in the Valley, and Intergalactic Jet Setters at Windy City Riot. However, their reign came to an end at Resurgence, where United Empire's TJP & Templario overcame the crew.
STRONG Women's Championship
Mercedes Mone has been dominant in her STRONG title reign. She started 2025 by beating Mina Shirakawa in a double title match, also becoming the RevPro Women's Champion. However, when it came to deciding a new #1 Contender, Mina Shirakawa and AZM went to a time-limit draw at Windy City Riot. While she thought she was home-free, it instead became a three-way match between Mone and both AZM and Shirakawa for her STRONG title. The odds finally caught up with Mone, as AZM pinned Shirakawa to become the new STRONG Women's Champion at Resurgence.
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Thanks for reading! See you next post.
by MarcoTalin