NJPW STRONG Independence Day Night Two Results

Following night one on July 4, New Japan Pro-Wrestling presented night two of NJPW STRONG Independence Day on Wednesday, July 5 from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

The show was built around the main event that saw Jon Moxley and El Desperado go to war in a Final Death Match. The ring proved ominous before the match got underway with the ringside crew putting enough chairs to fill a row inside the squared circle along with two barbed wire boards. It then didn't take long for the violence to begin as Moxley tried and failed to put Desperado through a table so he instead decided to repeatedly stab Despe in the face, back, and eye with a fork before he threw him through a barbed wire board. Moxley didn't stop there, though, and a brutal guitar shot to Despe's head followed before the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion replied by sending Moxley crashing through the other barbed wire board.

The brutal spots only continued, with Desperado grabbing a cheese grater from a bouquet of roses and using it to carve open Moxley's head before the two men sent each other crashing through a barbed wire-covered table. After then trading barbed wire-covered forearm shots, they stabbed each other in the head with skewers.

This all led to the finish and Despe made the mistake of trying to go for a third Pinche Loco which Moxley reversed into a Death Rider. Despe managed to kick out and he no-sold a Stomp from Moxley but the former AEW World Champion followed up with a second Death Rider to score the 1-2-3 and end a very, very good match.

Outside of the main event, four titles were on the line at NJPW STRONG Independence Day and two new champions were crowned.

In a major title change, Eddie Kingston defeated KENTA to win the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title. Kingston survived a belt shot to the head and multiple Go To Sleep attempts before he connected with a third Uraken and a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for the victory. A clearly emotional Kingston then let the tears flow as he celebrated with Homicide, receiving loud applause from the fans in the arena.

A new NJPW STRONG Women's Champion was also crowned as STARDOM's Giulia defeated Willow Nightingale to win the gold after connecting with the Glorious Driver. Many will now be hoping for an eventual match with Mercedes Moné when the former Sasha Banks returns from injury.

Elsewhere, Bishamon defeated Bullet Club War Dogs' Gabe Kidd and Alex Coughlin to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles one night after they dropped the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Titles to the Bullet Club team. Kidd and Coughlin's stablemates Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors had better luck as they successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles for the first time, defeating Rocky Romero and YOH in an impromptu title match.

Following Independence Day, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will turn their attention to the G1 Climax, which is set to get underway on July 15 and run until August 13.

Check out the full results from NJPW STRONG Independence Day night two:

• Master Wato, Oleg Boltin, & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Dragon Libre, Rekka, & Takahiro Katori
• Satoshi Kojima def. Oskar Leube
• Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) def. Homicide & Ryohei Oiwa
• Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors (c) def. Rocky Romero & YOH - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
• Murder Sauce (Lance Archer & Alex Zayne) def. Bad Dude Tito & Kosei Fujita
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, & The DKC def. Tom Lawlor & West Coast Wrecking Crew
• Giulia def. Willow Nightingale (c) - NJPW STRONG Women's Championship
• Bishamon (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) (c) def. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd - IWGP Tag Team Championships
• Eddie Kingston def. KENTA (c) - NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship
• Jon Moxley def. El Desperado - Final Death Match