The 2023 Resurgence was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

pay-per-view (PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

produced by

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV ...

(NJPW). It took place on May 21, 2023, at the

Walter Pyramid The Walter Pyramid, formerly known as The Long Beach Pyramid, is a 4,000-seat, indoor multi-purpose arena on the campus of Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California. History The Walter Pyramid was officially opened on November 30, 19 ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. It is the second Resurgence event. Ten matches were contested at the event, including two on the pre-show. In the main event,

Willow Nightingale Danielle Paultre (born January 25, 1994), better known by the ring-name Willow Nightingale, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is best known for her tenures with Ring of Honor and Shimmer Wom ...

defeated

Mercedes Moné Mercedes Justine Kaestner-Varnado (born January 26, 1992) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actress. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, ...

to win the inaugural

Strong Women's Championship The is a women's professional wrestling world championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The creation of the championship was announced by NJPW on April 27, 2023. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's American int ...

. In other prominent matches,

Juice Robinson Joseph Ryan Robinson (born April 10, 1989), better known by his ring name Juice Robinson, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Robinson is also a member of the Bullet Club stable and also wrestles ...

defeated

Fred Rosser Frederick Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign. He is best known for his ...

in a Street Fight,

Kenta Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...

defeated Hikuleo to win the

Strong Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's American television program ''NJPW St ...

Blackpool Combat Club The Blackpool Combat Club (BCC) is a professional wrestling stable performing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Its namesake derives from Blackpool, a seaside resort in Lancashire, England, where the group's former creator and manager William Regal b ...

(

Jon Moxley Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wr ...

and

Wheeler Yuta Paul Gruber (born October 26, 1996), is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wheeler Yuta (sometimes stylized as Wheeler YUTA). He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the current ROH Pure Cha ...

) and

Shota Umino is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Early life Umino was born on April 13, 1997, in the special ward of Setagaya in Tokyo, Japan. He is the son of NJPW referee Hiroyuki Umino (also known un ...

defeated

Chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...

(

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Okada is a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion where his fourth reign with the championship is the longest in history at 720 days. He also h ...

Rocky Romero John R. Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed non-exclusively to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッ ...

and

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ( ...

) in a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

, and

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and leader of the ...

defeated

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

. The event also saw appearances from

Toni Storm Toni Rossall (born 19 October 1995), better known by the ring name Toni Storm, is a New Zealand-Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to AEW, where she is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She previously worked for WWE ...

Eddie Kingston Edward Moore (born December 12, 1981), better known by his ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Kingston started his wrestling career in 2002, and has wrestled for numerou ...

(via a video package) and

Kyle Fletcher Kyle Fletcher (born 24 December 1998) is an Australian professional wrestler currently appearing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he was an inaugural Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion and Revolution Pro Wrestling, where he is a two-time Undi ...

, who announced the vacation of both the IWGP Tag Team Championships and Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships on behalf of

Aussie Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...

, due to Mark Davis's injury.

Production

Background

On March 9, 2023, NJPW announced that Resurgence will take place on May 22, 2023, at the

. This was the second Resurgence event, with the first being in August 2021.

Storylines

The event featured several

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, which involve different wrestlers from pre-existing

scripted ''Scripted'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Icon for Hire. It was released on Tooth & Nail Records on August 23, 2011, and went on to break the label's new artist record for albums sold during the first week of release. Back ...

feuds A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...

, plots, and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines are produced on NJPW's events. On April 10, NJPW announced a four-man

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

to determine the number one contender for

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-ti ...

IWGP United States Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The current champion is Will Ospreay, who is in his first reign. History Backg ...

. At Resurgence,

faced

in the semi-finals. On April 15, at Capital Collision,

was scheduled to face

. As Rosser made his way into the ring, it was revealed that he left a reserved seat at the attendance for Robinson's wife,

. Before the match had begun, Robinson attacked Rosser, and continued to do so by using the reserved chair for Storm. This led to Robinson's suspension. On May 4, as the rest of event's card was unveiled, it was revealed that the two would face each other on Resurgence in a Street fight. On April 27, NJPW announced the creation of the

, the inaugural champion of which was crowned at the end of four-woman single-elimination tournament at Resurgence. The tournament will feature representatives from NJPW partner companies

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

(AEW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Stardom. The tournament participants are the former IWGP Women's Champion

(NJPW),

Momo Kohgo is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for the Japanese promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom. She is also known for her time in Ice Ribbon and Actwres girl'Z. Professional wrestling career Japanese independent circuit (2019–20 ...

(Stardom), Stephanie Vaquer (CMLL), and

(AEW). On May 1, NJPW announced that the former United States Champion

from AEW would be set to appear at the event, marking his first NJPW appearance since October 2022. On May 4, it was revealed that Moxley would team with

and

to take on

(

and

) in a

Results

Inaugural Strong Women's Championship tournament

References

External links

Official website
{{New Japan Pro Wrestling events, Resurgence 2023 in professional wrestling 2023 in California Events in Long Beach, California New Japan Pro-Wrestling shows