Tag: bateman

NJPW Strong results: Brody King vs. Bateman

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight’s show opened with promos from both Brody King and Batemen, who were set to square off in the main event, a qualifying match for the New Japan Cup USA 2021 tournament. Bateman explained how this win could change his life. He also promised that tonight’s match between him and King would get physical. King talked about coming up short in last year’s Cup, and that this year, we would see a different version of Brody King.

Jeff Cobb defeated Alex Coughlin

The newly mustachioed Alex Coughlin held his own against Jeff Cobb early on. This is one of Cobb’s first appearances on Strong as a member of the United Empire alongside Great O-Khan, Will Ospreay and Bea Priestley. We saw a meaner, oilier Cobb here tonight, who quickly cut off Coughlin’s attempts at offense with serious power. He ragdolled Coughlin a bit, but the young lion hung in there and continuously fired back at Cobb with strikes of his own to no avail.

Next, Cobb locked in an old school bear hug submission. When Coughlin went for a spear, Cobb side-stepped out of the way and guided Coughlin face-first into the mat. At around five minutes in, Coughlin drained most of his energy on trying to bodyslam Cobb. He eventually pulled it off, but Cobb answered back later, catching him with a spinning back suplex and later a vicious Tour of the Islands powerslam for the pin. 

Cobb looked killer here. When he works with someone like Coughlin, someone who can take a serious physical beating, Cobb is allowed to show more “follow-through” in the ring on offense; the chops, lariats, and suplexes all had greater impact tonight as opposed what we’ve seen from the former Olympian in the past. It’s more clear than ever that Cobb is a heel now, and it’s great. And kudos to Coughlin, as well, who has lost pretty much all of his matches so far this year but looked excellent in every loss.

Ren Narita defeated Misterioso to qualify for the NJPW Cup USA 2021 tournament

Both were hesitant at the start as the two felt each other out. We saw a nice monkey flip from Narita early. Narita muscled Misterioso down to the mat with headlock, but Misterioso slipped out of his grasp and sprang to his feet. Narita then bullied Misterioso into the corner and wailed away with strikes.

Misterioso later went for a triangle moonsault but caught himself on the top rope. Luckily, the momentum from the dive carried him all the way down to the floor so it didn’t look too bad. It could have been a lot worse.

Back in the ring, Misterioso stuck a flying lariat and followed it with a powerslam. He used a Guerrero Special from the top for two. Narita wouldn’t stop fighting back, answering Misterioso’s offense with more submissions as opposed to strikes. Before he landed a pretty German suplex for a two-count, Narita put Misterioso away with his modified Cloverleaf finish for the win in just over ten minutes. This was decent, but Misterioso’s slight botches were also hard to unsee.

Brody King defeated Bateman to qualify for the NJPW Cup USA 2021 tournament

The Riegel Twins accompanied Brody King to the ring tonight.

Slow start until both started trading hard forearms. Bateman feigned another forearm shot but poked King in the eyes instead. He then tripped King who was coming off the ropes, and King landed face-first onto the mat.

King seemed not to like any of Bateman’s foul play and quickly turned the tides, locking in a seated abdominal stretch while peppering Bateman with huge forearms to the chest, King growling with each shot.

Bateman went back to the eyes. Loud chops from both. After catching King with two big elbows in the corner, he took off his elbow pads and threw him at King’s head with contempt. King didn’t seem to like that either and responded by using an exploder suplex into the corner on Batemen, then launched himself at a prone Batemen with a running cannonball.

Both were out for a while. Bateman came back to his feet and was able to lay in a few more elbows. Bateman later tried using a German suplex into the corner on King, but King’s head missed the post, so I guess it was just a regular German suplex. He used a face wash on King next. King couldn’t make a proper comeback at this point because of his injured knee. The Riegels encouraged King from the outside the ring. King was able to deliver a snap German suplex, a huge running lariat, and finally a Gonzo Bomb to finally put Bateman away. Good stuff from both here.

Brody King with the Riegel Twins appeared after the match, celebrating backstage. Before departing, King stated: “Last year I came up short, but this year I’m taking the whole thing” in reference to the NJPW Cup USA tournament.

Final thoughts:

The main event was the standout on tonight’s episode. Bateman is a refreshing personality in the mix, and his style and size help spice up the show without compromising any of the show’s usual quality. King has been very good in these main event spotsl. His singles matches are usually the highlights of those particular shows, and tonight’s performance provides more evidence of this.

Chris Dickinson vs. Blake Christian and Clark Connors vs. TJP are in action next week. Both are New Japan Cup USA qualifying matches.

NJPW Strong results: Ren Narita vs. Bateman

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Logan & Sterling Riegel defeated Jordan Clearwater and Kevin Knight

The newest LA Dojo recruit, Kevin Knight, started the match off with Logan Riegel. The two had a quick exchange on the mat before Knight tagged out to the Karl Anderson-trained Clearwater. The twins started double-teaming the much taller Clearwater in their corner for a bit with some innovative double-team offense. Clearwater eventually escaped to the red corner to tag out to Knight, who came in and cleaned house, taking both Riegels out with big shoulder blocks. Knight got serious air on his leapfrogs. Keep an eye out on this guy this year, for sure.

Clearwater looked good on offense towards the end. Knight and Sterling tagged in, lots of fast action among all four as the five minute call sounded. Sterling hit a slingblade onto Clearwater, dropping him onto the ring apron, right before Logan dove onto everyone with a tope suicida. We saw the finish a minute later when the Riegels used their finisher on Knight, an assisted swinging DDT type of deal, for the win. Short, fast action from all four here. Nice opener.

Brody King told Kevin Kelly in an interview before the match that he wasn’t going to let Kratos make a name for himself on King’s back.

Brody King defeated JR Kratos

These two got down to business just as the bell sounded. Huge elbows, chops, stomps, slaps. Both shouted really loud. If these two had a crowd, it’d have amplified this match’s intensity. There was something very explosive about this match, and it added to the two’s chemistry with one another..

Kevin Kelly made a good point on commentary during this, querying why no one within the industry had picked up on Kratos before now. 

These two went more or less full blast in the first five minutes. Kratos has unbelievable charisma, or at least showed it in this match. On commentary, they sold it like King had never been in this much trouble before Kratos tonight. King took Kratos’ offense for a good portion of the match, right up until he was able to get Kratos in the bottom corner where he launched himself at Kratos with a cannonball. Kratos answered later with a big deadlift bodyslam. King came back with a release German suplex and followed it up with a big running lariat for a two count.

As the ten-minute call sounded, King ended one last exchange between the two after decking Kratos with one last lariat for the three count and the win in 10:06. 

I loved everything about this match. If you have ten minutes over the weekend and a subscription to NJPW World, do it.

Ren Narita defeated Bateman

Bateman from ROH made his debut on NJPW Strong tonight. He came out to doomy violin music and sported a curly moustache. We haven’t seen Ren Narita in a while, though he’s officially listed as representing the LA Dojo, meaning this is the first part of his US excursion. 

These two started off trading traditional holds both standing and on the mat. Nothing flashy from either, just expert fundamentals. Narita took hold of Bateman for a short while with a headscissors, though Bateman broke his flow when he landed a neckbreaker into his knee, then connected with a rough forearm smash for a count of two. 

Because Bateman wrestled as such a traditional-style heel, it really allowed Narita’s fire to show through, it felt all that much easier to get behind Narita. It was clear cut who was who, even though both are technically “debuting” tonight. Narita started firing wild forearms at Bateman, almost out of desperation, and knocked Bateman out of the ring. Narita tried going on the assault over and over but Bateman would constantly shut him down. This lasted until late in the match until Narita caught Bateman with a front suplex off the ropes for a close nearfall. A few minutes later, Bateman cracked Narita with a short-arm lariat for a close call of his own. 

Bateman followed up with a northern lights bomb for another two count. Narita wouldn’t quit and eventually locked on a modified cobra twist onto Bateman. Narita transitioned from that to a release German suplex for two, then finished Bateman off using a modified Texas Cloverhold, forcing the ROH regular to tap out. The English announcers sold this like crazy, and it did fit the moment because the last few minutes of this were rather intense. Kudos to both men here, who put on an excellent main event.

Narita spoke briefly afterwards, confirming he had won but also mentioning that he still wasn’t satisfied.

Final thoughts:

Fantastic episode of NJPW Strong tonight, with both King vs. Kratos and Narita vs. Bateman in their debut being the must-see highlights. The opener wasn’t far behind, either, and probably could have been on the level as the former two matches, but the match only lasted around six minutes.

In short, this is the episode to watch if you’ve been sleeping on the show so far. This was an excellent hour of violence.

Bateman signs new contract with Ring of Honor

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bateman is the latest wrestler to re-sign with Ring of Honor.

ROH announced on Thursday that Bateman has signed a new contract to remain with the promotion. Bateman first debuted for ROH in September 2019 and is part of The Righteous with Vincent Marseglia. At Final Battle last month, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett defeated Vincent & Bateman in a grudge match. There was then a post-match angle where The Righteous attacked Taven & Bennett.

ROH’s full announcement is available below:

Ring of Honor is pleased to announce that Bateman has re-signed with the company.

Bateman made his ROH debut in September 2019. Shortly thereafter, he joined forces with Vincent in The Righteous, which has become one of the top factions in ROH.

The eccentric Bateman, who describes himself as a ‘handsome sociopath with violent tendencies,’ is celebrating his 20th year in pro wrestling. Before coming to ROH, Bateman was one of the biggest stars on the vibrant Southern California independent wrestling scene.

Bateman wrestled as Tyler Bateman prior to his time in ROH.

Each day this week, ROH has announced that a member of their roster has re-signed with the company. Mark Haskins, Bandido, Amy Rose, and Bateman have all signed new deals.