On November 5, 2017, NJPW announced the follow-up event to G1 Special in USA, the event, titled Strong Style Evolved, would take place on March 25, 2018, at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. Tickets for the event sold out within 20 minutes of being made available for purchase. To coincide with the event, NJPW held "Strong Style Saturday" on March 24 at the newly opened NJPW LA Dojo. The event included a fan festival featuring autograph sessions, a contract signing for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship title defense, and in-ring matches.
Storylines
On January 28, 2018, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, "Switchblade" Jay White defeated Kenny Omega to become IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. Following the match, White was challenged by Omega's Bullet Club stablemate Hangman Page. A championship match between the two was announced for Strong Style Evolved on February 26. On February 10, 2018, at The New Beginning in Osaka, former WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio Jr. made his NJPW debut in a pre-taped video, challenging Jyushin Thunder Liger to a match at Strong Style Evolved. Liger, who was on commentary, accepted the challenge and the match was later announced for the event. On March 3, Mysterio suffered a bicep injury at a Northeast Wrestling event, leading to Mysterio being replaced by Will Ospreay at Strong Style Evolved. In July 2008, Canadian wrestler Kenny Omega started his first Japanese tour with the DDT Pro-Wrestling promotion, where he quickly became friends with Kota Ibushi, with the two forming a tag team named "Golden☆Lovers" in January 2009. On October 3, 2014, Omega announced he was leaving DDT and signing with NJPW, where Ibushi was already a semi-regular. However, with Ibushi having recently moved to NJPW's heavyweight division, Omega stated that the Golden☆Lovers were done as a tag team due to him wanting to remain in the junior heavyweight division. The Golden☆Lovers wrestled their final match together on October 26, 2014, when they defeated Danshoku Dino and Konosuke Takeshita in Omega's DDT farewell match. On January 28, 2018 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, the Golden☆Lovers were reformed, with Ibushi saving Omega from an attack from Cody. Omega and Ibushi teamed for the first time since 2014 at the events. At night two of Honor Rising: Japan, the Golden☆Lovers, after a victory over Cody and Marty Scurll, were interrupted by The Young Bucks who announced they were moving up to NJPW's heavyweight tag team division. A match between Golden☆Lovers and The Young Bucks was announced for Strong Style Evolved on February 26.
