Tonight saw the first episode from NJPW Strong’s Collision tapings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Killer Kross defeated Yuya Uemura via TKO
It should be noted that the English commentary track for this match was heavily distorted and pretty much unlistenable throughout. It sounded like the broadcast team’s track was out of sync which created a bizarre echo on the commentary track, like the live audio was out of phase with whatever post-production commentary track they used.
Uemura was fearless as he went at Kross at the start of the match. He was able to wrestle him to the mat and maintain some control upfront. Uemura went into open guard with his back to the mat as Kross stood over him trying to get his hands on the wily newcomer. Kross threatened a closed-fist punch but then thought against it and invited Uemura back to his feet to fight.
Uemura slapped Kross in the corner. Kross responded with a release German suplex, planting him on the mat. Uemura later landed a nice dropkick, then put Kross in an armbar. He later earned a two-count for a bridging German suplex of his own.
When Kross put his hand around Uemura’s throat, Uemura grabbed Kross’ wrist and wrenched it down. He again locked in an armbar and transitioned to a triangle choke. Kross used a Rampage Bomb to free himself from Uemura’s hold. The crowd started chanting for Uemura. Kross decked him with a lariat and went for a cover. Kross was nonchalant as he pinned Uemura, so Uemura was able to kick out. Kross then power bombed Uemura, then lifted him into a fireman’s carry and back suplexed him. The crowd chanted “YU-YA!” over and over.
The finish saw Kross catch Uemura in the back of the head with a running elbow, The Quickening, which knocked Ueumura out. Kross pounced on Uemura and continued landing elbows to the back of Uemura’s head until the referee stepped in to stop the match; Kross is your winner via technical knockout.
Karl Fredericks defeated QT Marshall (w/ The Factory)
The commentary track audio issues in the first match seemed to be resolved for this match.
Fredericks blasted Marshall with a John Woo dropkick right before the bell, knocking Marshall into the corner. Fredericks has been having issues with The Factory ever since he denied Marshall’s invitation into the group, so tonight he was fired up. Marshall escaped to the floor but Fredericks chased after him. They went back and forth, both in and out of the ring. Fredericks dove through the ropes onto Marshall, but then, behind referee Jeremy Marcus’ back, Factory member Nick Comoroto laid Fredericks out. When Marcus noticed Fredericks had been laid out, he went to the floor and ejected both Comoroto and Aaron Solow from ringside.
At one point, Marshall did a handspring enzuigiri kick that seemed to shock the crowd. Fredericks later came back and landed a high jumping elbow drop and later a spinebuster on Marshall. When Fredericks went for a cross body-block, Marshall caught him in mid-air, then put him down with a backbreaker-flatliner combination. The crowd’s reaction? A “YOU STILL SUCK!” chant.
Marshall called for the Diamond Cutter, but Fredericks avoided it. Marshall used a pop-up punch and a Liger Bomb on Fredericks for two.
When the ten-minute call sounded, it was Fredericks who came out victorious, putting Marshall away with the Manifest Destiny DDT for the win.
Afterwards, Marshall offered a handshake, but before Fredericks could do anything, The Factory went after Fredericks, attacking him until someone in a black hood made the save, taking out The Factory and sticking a double-jump moonsault on Solow before revealing himself to be Christopher Daniels. The crowd was shocked and chanted “HOLY SH*T!’ Daniels had a singles match with Fredericks on an episode of Strong this year and told Fredericks that he’d earned Daniels’ respect and would watch his back. The two shook hands and celebrated before heading to the back.
Bullet Club (Jay White, Juice Robinson, Hikuleo, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeated Team Ishii (Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, Mascara Dorada, Chuck Taylor & Ren Narita)
Dorada and Anderson kicked things off. Anderson caught Dorada with a couple hard shots, but Dorada was back in the game quickly, planting Anderson face-first into the mat with an inverted slingblade before walking up the ropes and taking Anderson out with a springboard dropkick.
Ishii and Gallows were in together next. The size disparity between these two made for a great visual. Ishii went for a suplex but Gallows reversed it, then tagged in Juice Robinson, who’d just won the IWGP US title the night before. He and Narita had a good exchange before Robinson tagged Jay White in, with White continuing to work over Narita. Hikuleo tagged in next and blasted Narita with a loud chop. Gallows tagged in and dropped an elbow. They essentially trapped Narita in the blue corner, but he kept fighting back regardless of the abuse. He caught White in a rear naked choke and got his hooks in between White’s thighs, his whole body clinging to White. White quickly crashed himself and Narita into the corner, with Narita getting the worst of it. Robinson came in next, but Narita was able to escape and tagged out to a fresh Chuck Taylor. He did a somersault senton over the top rope and onto the floor, taking out both Robinson and Anderson.
Rocky Romero appeared late in the match, at one point using a ton of Forever Clotheslines in each corner to various prone members of Bullet Club, but it quickly turned into a 5-on-1 situation when BC cleared the ring and went after Romero.
We saw fast action in the last few minutes of the match. A bit later, Ishii was able to block Anderson & Gallows giving him the Magic Killer, then was able to take the much larger Doc Gallows down with a brainbuster. Hikuleo appeared and blasted Ishii with a big boot. Dorada reappeared and caught Hikuleo out with a springboard dropkick. Dorada again climbed the ropes—he does this without using his hands, by the way—and did a flipping senton to the floor, crash-landing onto four members of Bullet Club.
Back in the ring, Romero cradled Hikuleo for a close two-count. Hikuleo then caught Romero coming off the ropes and put him down with a big snap powerslam, then put him away after massive chokeslam. Bullet Club are your winners.
Bullet Club went after Romero after the match. Ishii and Narita tried making the save, but there were too many BC bodies in the ring for them to handle. Dorada came in later too, but met the same fate. The fisticuffs continued while the timekeeper kept ringing the bell. White laid Ishii out with a Bladerunner before rolling him out of the ring. Bullet Club celebrated their win and Robinson’s IWGP US Championship from the previous night before heading to the back.
Final thoughts:
This was a good show with an enthusiastic crowd. The main event was a full-on buildup to NJPW’s Dominion card in Osaka, Japan, which has IWGP World Heavyweight champion and CHAOS member Kazuchika Okada taking on Jay White in the main event.
