NJPW Strong Style Evolved 2024 results and notes: Mercedes Moné retains, Young Bucks appear, matches made for Battle in the Valley

December 15, 2024 Neal Flanagan NEWS, Show Reports
Image Courtesy: NJPW

Match results

  • Pre-show – STRONG Survivor Match: Zane Jay def. Matt Vandagriff
  • Mina Shirakawa def. Johnnie Robbie
  • NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Titles: The West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) def. Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) (c)
  • Four-way Match: TJP def. KUSHIDA, Clark Connors and Kosei Fujita
  • Hechicero def. Lio Rush
  • Jakob Austin Young & Templario def. Hiromu Takahashi & Titan
  • NJPW STRONG Openweight Title: Gabe Kidd (c) def. Ryohei Oiwa
  • Six-man Tag: TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.) def. Dirty Work (Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor) & Shota Umino
  • Jack Perry & Konosuke Takeshita def. Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji
  • NJPW STRONG Women’s Title: Mercedes Mone (c) def. Hazuki

** Walker Stewart and Veda Scott were on the call for the English-language broadcast from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.

** Zane Jay won the STRONG Survivor match on the pre-show, taking his opponent Matt Vandagriff’s guaranteed spot on future STRONG-branded cards. Jay tapped Vandagriff with a Boston Crab.

** In the opener of the main card, Mina Shirakawa defeated New Japan Academy standout Johnnie Robbie with a pinfall after hitting the Glamorous Driver.

** Next up was the night’s first title match as STRONG Openweight Tag Champions The Grizzled Young Veterans faced The West Coast Wrecking Crew. Given the location of the event, the crowd were firmly behind the challengers, who were victorious. They were immediately challenged to face Rocky Romero & YOH at Battle in the Valley in January.

** An all-action four-way match followed featuring TJP, Clark Connors, KUSHIDA and Kosei Fujita. This was a preview of sorts for Wrestle Kingdom when each man will join their tag team partners in a four-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

TJP won with a quick pin on KUSHIDA just as Fujita looked to be seconds away from submitting Knight.

** Lio Rush faced Hechicero in a first-time encounter between the two. Hechicero was a favorite with the crowd, and won with a straightforward pin after a competitive match.

** Hiromu Takahashi & Titan took on Jakob Austin Young & Templario in a fine tag match. Templario picked up the pin on Titan. TJP was at ringside throughout and handed Templario a United Empire flag after the match.

** Another first-time match was next as Gabe Kidd defended his STRONG Openweight Title against Ryohei Oiwa. The two big men had a solid match punctuated with frequent chops, slaps and attempts to outpower each other.

Clark Connors pulled the referee out of the ring as Oiwa seemed set for the win. Kosei Fujita then emerged to even things up. Kidd eventually retained with the Madman Bomb.

** Kidd then took to the mic and delivered a “F—k you” to anyone booing him. He cut a promo on his Wrestle Kingdom foe Kenny Omega, telling him he would end up wishing diverticulitis had killed him. He said he would retire Omega and then called out Tomohiro Ishii for Battle in the Valley.

** The IWGP World Heavyweight Champion was in action as part of a six-man tag match. Zack Sabre Jr. teamed with Bad Dude Tito and Shane Haste to take on Shota Umino, Fred Rosser and Tom Lawlor. The match began with ZSJ facing his Tokyo Dome opponent, Umino, with the pair frequently at odds during the contest. Bad Dude Tito picked up the pinfall for his team after delivering a piledriver to Lawlor.

** Umino and ZSJ got into a prolonged face-to-face at ringside after the match.

** AEW’s Jack Perry and International Champion Konosuke Takeshita then took on Yota Tsuji and NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi in a tag match. Perry and Takeshita made for an uneasy alliance at times. There was plenty of Takeshita vs. Takagi during the match, in a preview of their Wrestle Kingdom encounter.

A low blow and a running knee by Perry on Tsuji delivered the win.

** As fighting continued after the match, Young Bucks appeared and delivered several superkicks before cutting a promo in the cleared-out ring. They made fun of Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi as “injury prone”. Nicholas then said they had come back to NJPW for one reason only: to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles one more time before they retire.

** The main event saw Mercedes Moné defend the IWGP STRONG Women’s Title against Hazuki. This was a very good and competitive match, with plenty of aggression and Hazuki getting in a lot of offense. 

The crowd bought into a big nearfall when Hazuki hit her Bombs Away top-rope senton. Hazuki then managed to get her foot on the ropes after taking the Moné Maker. However, a second (and better) Moné Maker led to the eventual win and retention of the title.

After the match, Moné addressed the crowd, telling them she had a long history in Long Beach, recalling her injury in the final of the STRONG Women’s Title tournament. As she turned to plans for 2025, Mina Shirakawa emerged and challenged Moné to a title match at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5th.

About Neal Flanagan 1090 Articles
Based in Northern Ireland, Neal Flanagan is a former newspaper journalist and copy editor. In addition to reporting for POST Wrestling, he co-hosts The Wellness Policy podcast with Wai Ting and Jordan Goodman.
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