A.J. Styles captured the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, New Japan's biggest prize.
This marked the first time the company put the prestigious title on an American wrestler since Brock Lesnar, almost ten years prior.
Styles became just the sixth gaijin (non-Japanese) wrestler to hold the company's top championship.
This showed great faith in his ability by the promotion to obtain the title in his first match as a contracted talent for NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling)