Tomohiro Ishii & Josh Alexander will team up to face Bullet Club’s Jay White & El Phantasmo on Impact Wrestling.
Impact announced the news on Tuesday through their social media channels. It is the only match announced for the show thus far.
Thursday’s edition of Impact on AXS TV was filmed on Sunday, May 8 from the Promowest Pavilion in Newport, Kentucky. Under Siege took place from the same venue a night earlier and featured Alexander vs. Ishii for the Impact World Championship in the main event.
Impact also released its weekly Digital Exclusive Match on YouTube and Impact Plus. It features the return of Shark Boy as he teams with W. Morrissey and Jordynne Grace in a match against Johnny Swinger, Zicky Dice, and Jackson Stone.
The promotion also announced a match for this Thursday’s edition of Before the Impact on YouTube. Aiden Prince will face X-Division Champion, Ace Austin, on the show.
Jay White appeared at the end of this morning’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku event, challenging Kazuchika Okada.
After Okada successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight title over Tetsuya Naito, White appeared, coming to the ring. Okada immediately swatted the microphone away from White and got in his face. Gedo distracted Okada long enough, however, for White to attack Okada and ended up laying him out with a bladerunner. The rest of the Bullet Club came to the ring as Karl Anderson sang happy birthday to the group and put over each member. The segment ended with White hitting a second bladerunner on Okada.
White had largely been gone from Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead appearing on New Japan Strong and Impact Wrestling. His last appearance in Japan was at last year’s Wrestling Dontaku events.
The final segment of the show capped off a night that largely was in favor of The Bullet Club. Taiji Ishimori won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title from El Desperado, while Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale won the IWGP Tag Team titles. Juice Robinson returned to Japan, attacking Hiroshi Tanahashi and aligning himself with the group. The Good Brothers also returned to Japan, attacking Tama Tonga after he defeated EVIL to win the NEVER Openweight title.
Juice Robinson appeared at this morning’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku event, joining the Bullet Club in the process.
After Hiroshi Tanahashi won the vacant IWGP United States title, Chase Owens came out and confronted Tanahashi. This allowed a hooded figure to come in and attack Tanahashi, laying him out with an unprettier. Robinson then unmasked and grabbed Tanahashi’s title, posing with it and giving the ‘too sweet’ sign to Owens before the two walked away together.
On a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Robinson said that his contract with NJPW was expiring on April 30 and would no longer be wrestling under the NJPW banner.
“I really don’t know what’s next,” he told Bryan Alvarez at the time. “I’m just going to hang out and relax for a little while and see what comes to me.”
During the pandemic, Robinson spent most of his time wrestling for New Japan Strong and Impact Wrestling. His last appearance in Japan was in March of 2021, when he took part in the New Japan Cup tournament.
Impact Wrestling announced three matches and two segments for Thursday’s show on AXS TV.
An eight-woman tag match featuring the IInspiration (Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay) teaming with Mickie James and Chelsea Green was announced on Tuesday. They will take on new Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Influence (Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood), Savannah Evans and new Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz.
In the first of two qualifying matches for an X-Division title match at Rebellion, John Skyler will face former champion Ace Austin and Crazzy Steve in a three-way.
The matches join two previously announced promos. Fresh off revealing he re-signed with the company, Josh Alexander will return to the Impact Zone while Bullet Club members Jay White, Chris Bey, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows will also address the Impact Zone after going 1-1 at Sacrifice last Saturday.
The BTI pre-show match will see Jordynne Grace take on Havok.
Here’s the full lineup:
Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz, Savannah Evans and Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Influence vs. Mickie James, Chelsea Green and The IInspiration
John Skyler vs. Ace Austin vs. Crazzy Steve in an X-Division title match qualifier
NJPW Strong: The New Beginning in USA 2022 continued from Seattle with Ian Riccaboni on commentary filling in for Kevin Kelly who is still in Japan doing English commentary for the Golden Series tour.
The Midnight Heat defeated Kevin Knight and The DKC
The Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson) are DEFY Wrestling’s current and longest reigning Tag Team champions. They’ve been active on the Pacific Northwest indie scene for the past couple years.
Gibson and Young Lion Knight started the match off, but as soon as Knight grabbed hold of Gibson for a wristlock, Gibson broke the hold and immediately tagged out to Pearl.
Once Pearl was in the ring, DKC began firing up on the apron and insisted Knight tag him in. He shouted “DK FIRE!” at Pearl upon entrance. How could anyone dislike this guy? His energy alone is infectious.
DKC took Pearl out with a hard karate chop to the chest, knocking him off his feet. Pearl rushed over to Gibson for consolation and hugged him around the waist. Gibson called for a timeout, but the ref did not oblige.
DKC and Pearl grappled on the mat with DKC getting the better of the exchange before tagging Knight back in. The LA Dojo duo double-teamed Pearl, laying him out with a double shoulder tackle. Gibson took a double hip toss from the Young Lions next. DKC chopped Pearl up some more with knife edge karate chops to the neck and chest.
The Midnight Heat made a quick and crafty comeback next, laying the DKC out with Back Sabbath, the team’s side Russian leg sweep/back cracker double team maneuver.
The Heat kept DKC in their corner and continued on with their double-team strategy, constantly tagging in and out while keeping DKC grounded and away from the red corner where a frustrated Knight waited for the tag.
Gibson held DKC in position as Pearl was coming off the ropes with a double axe handle, but DKC shoved Gibson into harm’s way, which led to Pearl accidentally taking out his partner. DKC saw his chance to tag out to Knight, but Pearl ran across the ring and decked Knight, knocking him off the apron to the floor, ruining any chance DKC might have had at tagging out.
Pearl caught DKC with a Bobby Eaton-esque right hand to the face. DKC then caught Pearl running off the ropes with a high leg lariat and finally tagged out to Knight. The crowd was getting louder in support of the Young Lions from here on out.
Knight cleaned house, taking Pearl out with a Stinger splash in the corner and landing a switch-around standing frog splash on Gibson for two. Pearl tried breaking up the pin with an elbow drop, but Knight moved out of the way so Pearl dropped the elbow on Gibson instead. The Midnight Heat were really good at playing the fool for the babyfaces and getting the crowd as into the match as possible.
Knight took Pearl out with a mega-high dropkick. I swear, this guy gets a half inch higher on his dropkicks every time I watch him. I urge anyone who hasn’t caught this guy throw a dropkick yet to do so now. Hops, he has.
The finish saw Knight attempt a sunset flip in the corner, but Gibson trapped his arm while holding the rope for leverage to score a dubious three-count on Knight as the referee didn’t see Gibson cheating. The crowd booed, but the Midnight Heat sure looked happy. This was a fun opener.
Fred Rosser defeated Gabriel Kidd
This match was great, but even I felt sore after watching it.
To say both Kidd and Ross were amped up for this might be an understatement. They jaw jacked at each other during the ring introductions before the bell sounded.
The two locked up after the bell sounded, but neither could gain the upper hand up front. Kidd muscled Rosser to the ropes. They traded shoulder tackles next though neither really budged. Kidd was able to take Rosser out with a backdrop early, but Rosser was up seconds after and laid Kidd out with a running lariat. Both rolled to opposite sides of the floor for a breather.
Back in the ring, the trash talk continued. They bashed each other with forearms and started exchanging stiff open hand strikes where you could see sweat flying off both of their bodies with each shot they threw.
They traded headbutts next before launching into what felt like a never-ending chop-for-chop sequence that had me wincing at times. The violence was relentless.
For those keeping tabs, this match felt like a marker for how far Rosser has strayed from the WWE in-ring style many of us were used to seeing from him. He’s shed pretty much all of what once was “Darren Young” in becoming who he is now: a really big, really tough, really mean dude.
They exchanged more hard strikes in the corner. Kidd got the better of the exchange, fell to the mat and sat cross-legged ala Katsuyori Shibata, his trainer, and shouted at Rosser to bring it on.
Rosser crawled to the center of the ring and sat across from Kidd, declaring the ring was “his house.” The two started slapping each other in the face while seated. Kidd looked to have bashed Rosser in the ear with one of the shots.
Back on their feet, Kidd boxed Rosser into the corner with more palm strikes. Kidd’s wrist tape started flying off. On commentary, Alex Koslov said this match would take years off their lives.
Rosser halted Kidd’s onslaught with pure power, hoisting Kidd into the air with a fireman’s carry and bringing him down with a gutbuster, stopping Kidd’s momentum. Rosser’s wrist tape began coming off, too, when he threw left and right lariats to Kidd’s back and chest. Kidd later answered with a big brainbuster.
Kidd went to the top rope for a moonsault, which looked beautiful, but no one was home as Rosser moved out of the way before Kidd crashed to the mat. He caught Kidd with another big running lariat and scored a near fall from it. Next was a running death valley bomb for another two count. He finally put Kidd down for good with an Emerald Frosion to pick up the hard-earned victory; strong style indeed.
Kidd got on the mic afterwards and, while pointing to the NJPW Lion mark logo, said that it was the reason why everyone had been brought together there. He thanked the crowd before declaring that New Japan was “the best professional wrestling company on the planet.” He thanked DEFY for allowing NJPW into their house and once again declared NJPW the best in the world, and in Japanese, to boot.
“U.S. of Jay” Open Challenge Series: Jay White (w/ Hikuleo) defeated Jay Lethal
White is everywhere these days. Outside of Strong, White has recently appeared on AEW Dynamite and Rampage, has made appearances with Bullet Club on Impact and was even featured on a recent “greatest hits” edition of NJPW on AXS TV which aired his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight title in Osaka in 2020.
White came out to the ring with Bullet Club cohort Hikuleo, who we saw on last week’s edition of NJPW Strong against Cody Chhun.
The next mystery opponent in White’s U.S. of Jay open challenge series turned out to be former ROH Champion and AEW roster member Lethal. The two actually faced off once before in ROH in 2017 when White was on excursion from NJPW with Lethal coming out victorious.
When the bell rang, White walked to the center of the ring and pointed at the NJPW lion mark and shouted that Lethal was now in his house, his territory. Lethal didn’t bite. The crowd was excited as the two circled each other. They didn’t touch for almost a minute or so before locking up.
The two mixed it up on the mat. They traded holds although anytime Lethal grabbed a hold, White would strong arm his way out or at least make things uncomfortable for Lethal as he held control. Fans were chanting “Let’s go, Jay!” but I’m not sure which Jay they were supporting.
Lethal later caught White with a Chris Jericho-style springboard dropkick that knocked White from the apron to the floor. White tried following up with a dive through the ropes, but Hikuleo stood in harm’s way and held his hand out, ordering Lethal to stay inside the ring.
After another exchange in the ring, White was able to catch and drill Lethal with a snap backdrop suplex. He taunted Lethal, mashing his face with his boot.
Lethal was later able to pull off a suicide dive through the ropes that he attempted earlier before rolling White back into the the ring. He went for Hail To The King, his own version of Randy Savage’s diving elbow drop, but White blocked it, using an inside cradle for two.
Lethal used a reverse fireman’s carry roll on White, which I hadn’t seen done before tonight. Imagine Finlay’s fireman’s carry roll but starting from the torture rack position. He connected with the diving elbow on his second try. White took Lethal down with a quick flatliner before planting him with a release german suplex. He used a Blade Buster on Lethal for two.
Later, White would go after Lethal’s knee, stomping at it and wrenching it over his own neck at one point. Lethal connected with a superkick moments later, but he grasped at his knee after landing it, so he wasn’t able to capitalize on the moment.
Lethal called for Lethal Injection, but White blocked it and went for a half-and-half suplex. Lethal blocked that and slapped on a figure four leg lock in the center of the ring. White would eventually make it to the ropes for a break.
They traded more chops next. Lethal wobbled on his injured knee. They traded forearms at a rapid pace until Lethal caught White with a cutter out of nowhere. He went for Lethal Injection, but White rolled out of the way and Lethal sold his knee as though it buckled after he’d bounced off the ropes.
White went for the Blade Runner, but Lethal escaped. He went for Lethal Injection once more, but White used a chop block as Lethal was bouncing off the ropes to take out his worn-out knee.
White spiked Lethal with two half-nelson suplexes before pinning Lethal with the Blade Runner to pick up the win. White is now 2–0 in his open challenge series.
In his post-match promo, he said that he and Lethal were now 1–1 and if they wanted to even the score, maybe they could run it back once more and lightly hinted at it happening in AEW. He said the U.S. of Jay challenge is still open and awaited any of the latest free agents in wrestling to step up and take him on. He finished with his usual Switchblade Era spiel before the show wrapped, capping another solid episode of Strong.
Final thoughts:
This was a top shelf episode of NJPW Strong. Each match had a distinct flavor, completely differing from one and other. The tag team opener was fun and intense, while Rosser vs. Kidd was one of the more violent matches in the show’s short history.
The main event, or the Battle of the Jays, was one of the best main events the show has had, as well. Because of how talented both Lethal and White are, they turned in a quality match that is as good (if not better) than much of NJPW proper’s upper-card. If they do have a rematch in AEW, I assure you they’ll tear the house down.
Next week sees NJPW Strong Openweight champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor take on former Team Filthy member Taylor Rust.
This week’s New Japan Strong kicked off the most recent set of tapings from The New Beginning USA tapings in Seattle at Washington Hall, the home of super indie DEFY Wrestling.
ROH’s Ian Riccaboni joined Alex Koslov on commentary. Riccaboni, who has also appeared for both Impact Wrestling and GCW recently, was filling in for Kevin Kelly, who was overseas doing English broadcasting in Japan.
If you’ve seen the 2019 NJPW Super J Cup, which was also filmed in Washington, tonight’s production quality and overall look was similar.
Brody King defeated Yuya Uemura
The two stood face to face in the ring before the bell, King almost a full head over Uemura. There were lots of chants for King before things got started.
This was a good opener. King was on the offensive throughout most of this. He squashed Uemura with a senton early, later putting Ueumura in a seated abdominal stretch and clubbing him in the chest with his free arm as he stretched him out.
While Ueumura took a beating, he always wrestled with fire and attempted to come back. It was King who was just too much for the recently-graduated Young Lion.
Uemura would eventually connect with a string of moves to help him put King on the defensive. They traded big elbows, but Uemura landed a nice dropkick off the ropes soon after. He caught King with a running dropkick in the corner later and somehow put King down on the mat with a backdrop Saito suplex.
King answered back, locking Uemura in a bear hug and spiking him with a piledriver for two. Uemura slapped on a desperation armbar but King was close enough to the ropes to have the referee call for the break. He then put Uemura away with a big lariat and the Gonzo Bomb for the win.
King, who has been on a roll since last year, looked great, but so did Uemura who earned a chant of his own before he exited to the back.
Lio Rush & Rocky Romero defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew
The WCWC (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson) were regulars in the Seattle area for DEFY before they got to NJPW, where they wrestled under the name The One Percent. As a result, the crowd sounded familiar with them.
There was lots of action in this one. WCWC jumped Romero & Rush before the bell. Rush and Nelson fought on the floor while Isaacs worked Romero over in the ring. They did stereo delayed suplexes next, one in the ring and one on the floor. Nelson used a gourdbuster and dumped Rush face first to the mat while Isaacs dropped Romero with a suplex in the ring. WCWC then ran back into the ring to do some flexing and posing for the fans.
Romero later landed some hard chops on Isaacs and the crowd was loudly behind him. Isaacs kiboshed that and kept working him over while Nelson began tearing the red ringpost pad from the turnbuckle in the corner “Toru Yano style” as Riccaboni put it.
Romero was finally able to swing out of Isaac’s grip with a tornado DDT and tag out to Rush. Isaacs tagged out Nelson, who caught a springboard moonsault from Rush upon entering the ring. Rush did an Asai moonsault to the floor onto Isaacs next and ran back into the ring for a flying frog crossbody attack (he did the froggy pump and a crossbody block, like Hiroshi Tanahashi does sometimes) onto Nelson.
A proverbial “house of fire,” Rush was. This kid has so much in-ring talent alone that it’s kind of crazy he’s not in a top spot somewhere.
Nelson caught Rush with flying double knees in the corner and tagged out to Isaacs. Rush landed an enzuigiri on Isaacs and tagged out to Romero, who ran wild from corner to corner with Forever Clotheslines on both Isaacs and Nelson.
WCWC took Romero out soon after, using a running knee-to-German suplex double team spot on Romero for two. They did a cool double team slingshot-to-powerslam for another two. The match began breaking down. Rush dove onto the floor with a tope suicida as we hit the ten minute mark.
Romero caught Isaacs coming off the ropes with a flying armbar, transitioning to a triangle choke and finally to an armbar on the opposite side. He grabbed Isaacs’ left leg for more leverage and pressure, which got Isaacs to ultimately tap out. This match had really good stuff from everyone involved.
WCWC beat up Romero after the match with a black kendo stick—a message from Black Tiger and Team Filthy to Romero, who has been feuding with the new Black Tiger since early in the year. Isaacs looked to the camera and told Black Tiger they had his back.
Romero and the new Black Tiger will finally have a singles match at the upcoming NJPW Strong: Rivals tapings this month.
— Riccaboni interviewed David Finlay and Juice Robinson. FinJuice were pissed and called out JONAH and Bad Dude Tito for sticking their noses in their business. Finlay and Robinson usually come off happy-go-lucky babyfaces, but this promo had an edge to it for sure.
The promo was short and to the point, covering all that’s happened between the four within the past month like when JONAH and Tito jumped Robinson after JONAH’s singles match against him at NJPW Strong: Nemesis. These two teams will also square off at NJPW Strong: Rivals this month.
Clark Connors defeated TJP
NJPW Strong has been slow cooking this mentor vs. mentee rivalry over the past two years or so. A video package broke down all the different stops along the way, starting with the aforementioned Super J-Cup 2019 all the way through Showdown 2021.
Connors, who comes from the Pacific Northwest, got a great reception before the match started. He slammed TJP into the corner and took his knee tape off. It’s business time. Connors next walked back to the corner and chopped the hell out of TJP, who was still reeling. He launched him with two very high angle German suplexes and went for a third before TJP escaped to the floor. Connors ran after him and pounced TJP over the guardrail onto the ring announcer’s table. This was great but also would have looked better if the lighting wasn’t so dark.
TJP locked Connors in a guillotine choke inside the ropes, his back facing the audience. He then planted him with a high back suplex with one grapevined leg for a two count. He put Connors in a chinlock for a while and the crowd got loud in support of Connors. TJP face washed him in the corner and I liked how Riccaboni said, “I don’t agree with this move” which is such an accurate take on the spot. It’s not illegal, yet there’s nothing sportsmanlike about it. Heavy boos rained down onto TJP.
Connors was able to gather up a burst of energy to catch TJP running off the ropes with a flying shoulder block. He dropped an elbow on to his former mentor just after the ten minute call sounded.
TJP tried springboarding off the ropes, but Connors caught him mid-air with a spear. Both were out for a while. TJP was back up first and gave Connors more disrespectful face washes as he pointed to those booing him in the crowd. He locked Connors in an armbar next, but Connors reversed it into a Mr. Gannosuke-style full nelson clutch. TJP escaped after grabbing the ropes for a break.
When TJP tried escaping to the floor again, Connors caught him with a spear while he was still on the apron which got the crowd to chant “this is awesome.”
Connors tried suplexing TJP back into the ring, but TJP countered and locked Connors in a triangle choke in the ropes. He let go and then dashed to the top rope to drop a flying knee across the back of Connors, who was still caught in the ropes. TJP then rolled Connors to the center and hit his Mamba Splash finisher for a really close two count. The crowd was steaming hot at this point.
TJP then hit a crazy looking cobra twist driver, but Connors kicked out at one. He landed a fireman’s carry-to-gamengiri kick but again, Connors kicked out after the count of one. If this were a video game, his spirit level would have been flashing like crazy at this moment.
TJP did a backslide followed by a modified scorpion deathlock, wrenching on Connors’ injured knee. Connors caught the ropes for a break and then rolled TJP up for two. They then knocked each other down after a double lariat. Referee Jeremy Marcus shouted at both to get back up. When both were, TJP went for a tornado DDT but Connors instead just launched the guy forward and he went flying, landing face first onto the mat. Connors climbed to the top but TJP stopped him, again wrenching on Connors’ injured shoulder.
Moments later, Connors connected with a Mamba Splash of his own. Connors flashed the LA Dojo sign at TJP, which the crowd enjoyed, and then used a big stacked power bomb on him for two. TJP flipped Connors off and Connors powerslammed him. Then, he put his former mentor TJP away with Catch and Kill, a backdrop suplex-to-power bomb, for the emphatic win in 18:19.
This was excellent and Connors’ best match on NJPW Strong of all time, and possibly even the best match of his career so far.
Final thoughts:
This show had a big time feel and delivered with three very good-to-great matches. Each is worth going out of your way to see, and each had a different flavor than the other. King vs. Uemura was a killer hard-hitting opener while the West Coast Wrecking Crew vs. Rush & Romero was top-tier tag team wrestling.
The main event wasn’t just Connors’ best match on the show but possibly also TJP’s as well. Actually, I can’t think of too many better TJP matches in the past few years than this one. Good on both of them for this ripper of a match.
After making their on-screen debut Thursday, New Japan tag team stars and Bullet Club members Guerrillas of Destiny will make their in-ring debut for Impact Wrestling next Thursday.
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa will team with the returning Jay White and Chris Bey to face Jake Something, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Madman Fulton and former X-Division Champion Ace Austin.
Tonga and Loa attacked Something Thursday after his win over Bey. That brought out Bailey for the save followed by White making his return to aid his Bullet Club teammates. Tonga and Loa then sent notice to Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers that they are coming for them.
Next Thursday’s show will also see Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defend against Matt Cardona. Grace accepted Cardona’s challenge on Thursday, saying Cardona being “the Internet Champion” was a thing of the past.
Ring of Honor Champion Jonathan Gresham will rematch Steve Maclin in a non-title affair after Gresham defended the title against him last week under Pure rules. Maclin complained about the rules Thursday and Gresham called him out.
Here’s the current lineup:
Guerrillas of Destiny, Jay White and Chris Bey vs. Jake Something, Mike Bailey, Ace Austin and Madman Fulton
Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace vs. Matt Cardona title match
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Steve Maclin non-title match
Impact Wrestling taped for a second night in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area for content that will air on their Impact Wrestling show on AXS TV. Results courtesy of Jacob Cohen.
Jack Tolos defeated VSK
Lady Frost defeated Alisha Edwards. After the match, Gisele Shaw came out and posed in front of Lady Frost, ignoring her.
Black Taurus defeated Raj Singh
The IInspiration defeated Madison Rayne and Kaleb with a K
Josh Alexander came out for a promo. He said that the only thing that means more to him that the Impact World title was Impact itself, and will go to No Surrender to face Honor no More in the 5 on 5 match. He said whoever left No Surrender as champion, he would be waiting for them. Big Kon (Konnor from the Ascension) then came out which led to a match.
Josh Alexander defeated Big Kon. After the match, Alexander roughed up Kon, then security, eventually pushing down Scott D’Amore. D’Amore told Alexander that getting a world title match was a process. Alexander said he would walk out if he didn’t get the title match. D’Amore then said Alexander is out of the 5 on 5 match at No Surrender and was sending him home until everything is sorted out.
A segment between Bullet Club, The Good Brothers, and Violent by Design set up Violent by Design vs. White & Guerillas of Destiny for later on in the show, GoD vs. Good Brothers at No Surrender, and Jay White vs. Eric Young, also for No Surrender.
Mike Bennett and Matt Taven defeated Rhino and Rich Swann after Maria Kanellis threw powder at Rhino. Steve Maclin came to make the save.
W. Morrissey defeated Brian Myers in a No DQ match. Moose attacked Morrissey with a chair after the match.
JONAH defeated Crazzy Steve. Black Taurus and JONAH had a staredown following the match.
Masha Slamovich defeated Kiah Dream
Ace Austin defeated Blake Christian and Laredo Kid in a three-way match
Gisele Shaw defeated Lady Frost
Chris Sabin defeated Kenny King. Ian Riccaboni was on commentary.
Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans defeated Mickie James and Chelsea Green
A contract signing between Moose and W. Morrissey was held. Moose claimed that Morrissey wouldn’t show up at No Surrender because of his attack “last week”. Moose signed the contract, but Morrissey showed up, attacking Moose and chokeslamming him off the stage.
Violent by Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White and the Guerrillas of Destiny)
Impact’s next event will be No Surrender, airing live on Impact Plus on February 19 from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Bullet Club added a new member at today’s NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome event.
SHO officially joined Bullet Club’s ranks after defeating YOH by referee stoppage. After his win, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo made their way to the ring and presented SHO with a Bullet Club shirt to cement his move from CHAOS to BC.
EVIL, Yujiro, Togo and SHO’s shirts all read House of Torture and featured the Bullet club logo on the left sleeve, so the House of Torture may be something of a sub-group with those four within the Bullet Club stable.
SHO turned on YOH during the Summer Struggle tour in August. SHO and YOH went winless as a team in the Super Junior Tag League this year after winning the prior three iterations of the tournament.
As Roppongi 3K, SHO and YOH captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship five times, with their most recent reign ending at Kizuna Road in June 2021.
The NJPW Summer Struggle tour continued today with the first of three consecutive nights in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
An elimination match pitting members of Los Ingobernables de Japon against a Bullet Club team headlined today’s event.
The tour continues Saturday and Sunday. Sunday is the bigger show, with a NEVER Six-Man Tag title match, plus Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura’s final matches before their excursions.
Yuya Uemura defeated Yuto Nakashima by ref stoppage (0:27)
This was quite the inauspicious debut for the newest young lion, Yuto Nakashima.
Nakashima shot for a double-leg takedown. Uemura blocked and they began grappling on the mat. Nakashima landed awkwardly on his left arm and appeared to break or dislocate it.
After a few awkward seconds, the ref realized what had happened and called for the bell. Ringside attendants checked on Nakashima. Nakashima began shouting and cursing. He was helped up and shoved Uemura and stared him down.
They either shot an angle on the fly in the post-match or this was a very convincing work.
Main card —
Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb (w/Bea Priestley) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Gabriel Kidd (8:03)
This was a standard opener. Kidd made the most of his time and looked good.
Tanahashi’s side attacked as they entered the ring. Empire overcame the attack and cut Tana off. Tana came back with a dragon screw on Ospreay and tagged Kojima.
Kojima ran wild with machine gun chops on Ospreay. Cobb illegally entered and pressed Kojima off the top as he teased his diving elbow. Ospreay hit pip pip cheerio for a near fall. Kojima blocked a Storm Breaker attempt and hit a cutter.
Kidd and Cobb got tags and traded chops and strikes. Kidd hit a dropkick. Tana and Kojima cleared the apron and helped Kidd slam Cobb for a near fall. O-Khan and Ospreay broke up the pin.
Tana hit slingblade on O-Khan. Ospreay hit a hook kick to Tana. Kojima hit an elbow to Ospreay. Cobb hit an elbow on Kojima. Kidd hit a dropkick for a near fall on Cobb.
Kidd teased a butterfly suplex. Cobb blocked and hit a spin cycle for a near fall, then used Tour of the Islands to pin Kidd.
This was another standard undercard tag. Hiromu sold most of the way and didn’t get much offense on his next challenger.
ELP and Hiromu began with some comedy and crowd work. Your mileage may vary, but this was better than usual ELP comedy.
ELP hit a cartwheel out of a hurricanrana attempt. Hiromu used a backslide for a quick near fall. ELP hit a superkick to the gut, then began with his back rake attacks. Hiromu found himself isolated in Bullet Club’s corner.
Hiromu blocked a superkick with the loaded boot and hit a dragon screw to ELP. BUSHI and Ishimori got tags. BUSHI hit some trademark spots and scored a near fall. Ishimori used a shoulder breaker. BUSHI fought off ELP interference. Ishimori hit a backflip kick into a double down.
Yujiro and Shingo tagged in and traded strikes. Yujiro hit a neckbreaker for two. Shingo fought out of Miami Shine and LIJ triple teamed Yujiro. Everyone jumped in and hit a move. Yujiro used Miami Shine for a near fall on Shingo.
Shingo blocked Pimp Juice and hit a DDT and a sliding lariat. He followed with Last of the Dragon for the pin.
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata (13:32)
There was a lot of very good mat wrestling from Naito and Ibushi in this one. SANADA and Nagata were good as well.
Ibushi and Naito started off. Both missed on takedown attempts. They traded waistlocks. Ibushi got a head scissors applied on the mat. Naito escaped and tried to bar Ibushi’s knee, but Ibushi forced a rope break. They continued the mat work, grappling to a stalemate. Both tagged out.
Nagata fought out of a paradise lock attempt and hit a kitchen sink. Nagata hit some kicks. Naito tripped Nagata as he hit the ropes and the LIJ playbook was on full display.
All four began brawling around the ring. LIJ gained the advantage in the brawl. SANADA and Naito worked on Nagata in the ring. Naito hit a basement dropkick for two. Nagata fired up and they traded strikes. Nagata hit an overhead bell-to-belly and tagged Ibushi.
Ibushi hammered Naito with a flying kick and used a standing moonsault for a near fall. Naito caught a kick and worked on Ibushi’s legs, first with dropkicks, then a a figure four. Ibushi forced a rope break. Naito ducked a high kick and swept the leg. Ibushi hit a dropkick into a double down.
SANADA and Nagata got tags. Nagata hit a running boot in the corner. SANADA avoided the follow-up exploder and hit a springboard dropkick. Nagata blocked a TKO. SANADA tried for a dragon sleeper. Nagata reversed into a crossface. Naito broke up the hold.
Ibushi jumped in and took Naito out with a high kick. With the deck cleared, Nagata hit a step-up knee in the corner and a vertical suplex for a two count. SANADA landed on his feet off a suplex. Nagata hit an enzuigiri.
SANADA then used an O-Connor roll and bridged to pin Nagata.
Elimination match: EVIL, Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens (w/Gedo, Jado & Dick Togo) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano (22:57)
As lukewarm as the promotion feels right now, they are doing a great job building up White vs. Ishii and G.O.D. vs. YH and Goto. They’re really trying to heat up Okada vs. EVIL as well, but that feels less successful than the other two feuds between CHAOS and Bullet Club.
CHAOS attacked as soon as they stepped through the ropes. They brawled around the ring. Owens produced a strap, teasing a strap match against Yano for the KOPW title. Owens threw Yano over the top by the strap for the first elimination. *Yano eliminated*
Yano then pulled Owens over the top to the floor for the second elimination. *Owens eliminated*
The sides continued brawling around ringside. Okada and EVIL finally squared off in the ring. CHAOS cut EVIL off in their corner. Okada used a slingshot senton. G.O.D., Goto and YH jumped in. White knocked Ishii off the apron.
The match devolved into a brawl again. Bullet Club cut Okada off and worked on his padded left elbow. Bullet Club used their human centipede abdominal stretch. White slapped on a chinlock to slow things down. Okada finally came back with a big boot and tagged Ishii.
Ishii and White had a nice exchange. Ishii chopped White half to death. White hit a DDT and a Blade Buster. Ishii blocked a uranage backbreaker and hit a powerslam. Ishii knocked White off the apron, but Tanga caught him for the save. Gedo jumped on the apron and took a bump. White and Ishii fought on the apron. Tanga ran into White by mistake and knocked him to the floor. *White eliminated*
Tanga took the ref. White pulled Ishii off the apron. The ref didn’t see it, but called for the elimination anyway. Ishii and White brawled to the back. This elimination was very weak. *Ishii eliminated*
G.O.D. double teamed YH. Goto saved. Jado hit YH with a kendo stick from the floor, knocking him off the apron. *YH eliminated*
G.O.D. doubled up on Goto. Goto made a valiant comeback. Okada must have been taking a nap on the floor. Goto clotheslined Tanga out for an elimination. *Tanga eliminated*
Jado tripped Goto on the apron and Tama hit a gun stun to eliminate him. *Goto eliminated*
EVIL and Tama double teamed Okada. Okada sent Tama to the apron. EVIL knocked Tama to the floor by accident with a shoulder block. *Tama eliminated*
It came down to just EVIL and Okada. EVIL ducked a Rainmaker, but that set up Okada’s dropkick. Okada used the Money Clip. Togo jumped on the apron and Okada gave up the hold. EVIL used the distraction to dump Okada to the apron.
EVIL took the ref. Togo choked Okada with his ligature. EVIL then knocked Okada to the floor for the last elimination. *Okada eliminated*
Okada ran back in and chased EVIL out of the ring to close the show.
**********
Okada cut a heated promo on EVIL in the backstage comments after the show.
SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma, SHO & Master Wato
Report —
Yota Tsuji defeated Gabriel Kidd (7:26)
This was a well-worked opener. They focused on technical wrestling for the bulk of the match.
Kidd went after Tsuji’s left arm, hoping to soften him up for a butterfly suplex later. Tsuji worked the legs, looking to set up the Boston crab.
Tsuji hit a hip toss and a splash for a near fall. Kidd hit a dropkick and a vertical suplex for his own near fall. Kidd went for the butterfly suplex. Tsuji blocked and hit a spear, then used a running powerslam for a two count.
Tsuji got the full Boston crab applied and Kidd was forced to tap.
SANADA and Ibushi began with a chain wrestling sequence that ended in a stalemate. Wato and BUSHI tagged in and traded strikes. Wato looked good and had some unique counters to an attempted hurricanrana and a leapfrog.
BUSHI was cut off and briefly worked over by Wato and Honma. Honma missed a kokeshi and LIJ stomped him down 4-on-1. They then took turns working him over. Hiromu used a dropkick for a near fall.
Naito got a tag and used a neckbreaker and an attempted jackknife cradle for a two count. Honma came back with a DDT. Ibushi and SANADA got tags and traded strikes. SANADA hit a house show plancha for a near fall.
Ibushi blocked a TKO. Both missed standing moonsaults. SANADA missed a springboard attack. Ibushi countered with a springboard dropkick.
SHO and Hiromu got tags and the action really picked up. Hiromu hit a dragon screw. A sequence of counters ended with a SHO kick to the back. They traded strikes again. SHO hit a lariat. Hiromu hit a superkick.
Wato got a tag and hit a dreamcast for a two count. Everyone hopped in for a big move. Ibushi teased a Kamigoye on SANADA, but BUSHI saved.
BUSHI hit a backstabber on Wato into a Time Bomb II from Hiromu. Hiromu then pinned Wato.
SHO and Hiromu, Ibushi and SANADA, plus Naito and Honma stared each other down after the match.
This was notable for the post-match, but practically a carbon copy of every match EVIL, Yujiro and Togo have been a part of with Okada and his rotating partners on this tour.
Bullet Club attacked before the opening bell. Yano was worked on 3-on-1. Yano’s team worked over Togo 3-on-1. Yano and Togo did some comedy with the turnbuckle pads. Yujiro exposed a buckle and Yano got sent into it.
Yano managed a tag to Okada. Okada hit some trademark offense on Yujiro. Okada got whipped into the exposed buckle. Okada hit a flapjack into a double down.
Ishii got a tag and was promptly subdued by Bullet Club. Togo took the referee and Yujiro hit Ishii with his cane. Ishii no-sold one cane shot. Yujiro hit a second for a near fall as Okada saved.
The finish saw Okada jump in and hit an air raid crash neckbreaker on Yujiro. Ishii then hit the vertical drop brainbuster and pinned Yujiro.
**********
Jay White ran in and attacked Ishii after the match. EVIL, Yujiro and Togo pulled Okada and Yano to the floor, laying them out.
White hit a series of strikes on Ishii, then left him laying with a Blade Runner. Ishii was helped to the back.
This was a decent match with an impossibly bad finish.
Suzuki-gun attacked before the opening bell. The teams brawled around ringside.
Taichi and Tama started as the legal men. Both teased eliminations over the top rope. Sabre tagged in and cranked on Tama’s neck.
Suzuki-gun isolated Tama in their corner. DOUKI tagged in. Jado teased a kendo stick shot. DOUKI threw Tama out, but the ref’s back was turned and Tama got back in the ring. DOUKI was then isolated in the Bullet Club corner.
ELP tagged in for some comedy. Ishimori taunted Sabre by using the same neck cranks on DOUKI. DOUKI and Jado did some spots together and I began questioning my chosen profession.
Taichi got a tag and made a house of fire babyface comeback that was pretty great. Kanemaru and ELP got tags and had a nice sequence. ELP hit a quebrada. ELP got dumped over the top but his feet didn’t hit. Ishimori and Kanemaru fought on the apron.
Ishimori got knocked off the apron but ELP caught him on his shoulders. Kanemaru got bounced off the apron as Desperado hit the ropes for the first elimination. *Kanemaru eliminated*
Desperado then hit a right hand and knocked Ishimori to the floor for the elimination. *Ishimori eliminated*
DOUKI and Desperado doubled up on Tama. Ishimori tripped Desperado, then Tama used the distraction to toss Desperado. *Desperado eliminated*
DOUKI teased Daybreak on Tama. Tama caught him off the ropes with a spinebuster, then used a sharpshooter for the elimination. *DOUKI eliminated*
Sabre entered and used an armbar, then a triangle on Tama. Sabre used the hold to pull Tama to the apron, then dropped him to the floor. *Tama eliminated*
Tanga jumped in while Sabre was still on the apron and knocked him off for an elimination. *Sabre eliminated*
Taichi used a jumping high kick to eliminate Tanga. *Tanga eliminated*
It was down to Taichi and Jado. Jado begged off and tried to raise Taichi’s hand in victory. Taichi declined and lit him up with kicks.
Tanga jumped back in. Sabre got in the ring and used a guillotine, distracting the ref. Jado used a kendo stick on Taichi, then Tama entered and hit Taichi with the iron fingers, knocking him out.
Jado covered for the pin on Taichi. *Taichi eliminated*
Sabre grabbed the mic after the match and cut a promo on G.O.D. and the NJPW tag division. Sabre promised to save the division. Sabre helped Taichi out of the ring.
Sterling Riegel (w/ Logan Riegel) defeated The DKC (w/ Clark Connors)
These two kicked off the match with what looked more like modern jiu-jitsu than pro wrestling, really smooth chain grappling with DKC even transitioning in and out of knee-on-belly position, something rarely (if ever) seen on a Friday night pro wrestling show. Sterling Riegel, twin brother of tag partner Logan, looked excellent in this, as did DKC.
After a few more minutes of mat wrestling, Riegel landed a tope suicida to the floor onto DKC, followed up with a nice missile dropkick back inside the ring. From here, Riegel clearly had an upper hand and went after pins with more aggression. He later went for a moonsault off the top rope but DKC moved out of the way, with Riegel landing on his feet. He sold his knee like he popped it on the way down. The DKC took advantage and landed a high roundhouse kick, then followed up with karate strikes for a two-count of his own.
WIth under three minutes left to go in this ten-minute bout, Riegel went for an elbow drop off the second rope. DKC caught him as he hit the mat and locked on an armlock. He transitioned from there into a submission hold that looked like a combination between an STF and a Cobra Clutch. When DKC moved to adjust the angle of his hold, Riegel cradled him into a pin and scored the sudden three-count.
Afterwards, both Riegel Twins got into the ring when DKC started jaw-jacking after the finish. Clark Connors was in quickly to back up his recent tag partner, but things de-escalated from there. I imagine we’ll see a tag match between the four of these guys soon.
The twins celebrated Sterling’s win backstage.They said it was the first singles match Sterling had in six months, and that even though they respect both Connors and the DKC, they were simply not as good as the Riegel Twins because they’re not a “real” tag team. They told the two to bring their A-game before the end of the segment. Good opener.
Alex Zayne defeated Blake Christian
Earlier this week, WWE announced that Alex Zayne (and NJPW Strong alumni Rust Taylor) will soon report to their Performance Center.
A full on stunt show from the bell. Kevin Kelly said that these two are actually best friends outside of the ring from their time together in GCW. Christian did a tope dragonrana, though it didn’t do much damage because Zayne had Christian locked in a chinlock inside the ring 30 seconds later. Christian fired back later with kicks and a basement dropkick into Zayne’s head. It felt like I was watching this in fast-forward.
Zayne botched an attempted twisting sunset flip that looked rough. Christian’s offense is really impressive, he’s comparable to Rey Fenix, but again, there were some mistimed spots that just didn’t cut it at times, really killing the momentum. They tried hard to keep the pace at 110 miles per hour but it wasn’t sustainable and that was clear. Zayne did a shooting star knee drop on Chistian for two. He finished off best friend Christian minutes later with a pump-handle Liger Bomb. Innovative ideas in this for sure, but all around but quite bad.
After the match, Zayne said the following, literally: “I finally found my footing here in New Japan.” I’m not sure why New Japan decided to air any of this.
Brody King, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, ACH, & Karl Fredericks defeated Bullet Club (KENTA, Jay White, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, & Hikuleo) in an elimination match
If a wrestler was pinned, submitted or thrown over the top rope, they would be eliminated.
Brody King, who is scheduled to wrestle Rush for the ROH World Heavyweight title at Final Battle at the end of this month, and Hikuleo, the big boys of their teams, were about to kick the match off for their respective teams when Bullet Club jumped in and ambushed King. Chaos ensued from here, with all eight men going at it until the babyface team eliminated Hikuleo by dumping him over the top rope.
Whenever David Finlay and Jay White were in the ring together, they were noticeably very tight. Same for Finlay and Tama Tonga.
We are in December now and guys like KENTA and Tama Tonga have entirely different haircuts, so while this was a solid match and everything, the fact that it’s so obviously dated now cheapened this as a “new” show. It’d be nice if commentary explained the situation and not be forced to ignore the obvious.
ACH continued to impress as he has on each of his appearances on NJPW Strong. He and Jay White were impressive together for the short amount of time they wrestled each other in this match. Later, Karl Fredericks tagged in and cleaned house. He always comes off like a focal point of any of these tag matches he’s in. He almost eliminated KENTA from the match, but KENTA skinned the cat, pulled himself back into the ring, then got himself eliminated after Jay White jumped in and held the top rope down, eliminating Fredericks. On commentary, they blamed the referee for not seeing Jay White, the illegal man at the time, but then what about when the babyfaces all teamed up on Hikuleo early on?
Tama Tonga eliminated Juice Robinson by throwing him over the top rope. ACH quickly eliminated Tama Tonga, but moments later Tonga pulled ACH from the apron to the floor, eliminating him. The two went at it on the floor afterwards. Finlay eliminated Jay White next, but then Tonga Loa eliminated Finlay. Rapid fire eliminations here. King blasted Loa with a lariat, and later another one, knocking Loa to the floor and out of the match. KENTA tried sneaking up on King from behind, but the big man was too quick for that.
KENTA backed off, then slapped King in the face, followed up with a series of yakuza kicks. But it didn’t do anything to King, who spiked KENTA with a Gonzo Bomb, winning the match for his team in emphatic fashion. It sounds like he and KENTA will square off for a match in the future, possibly with KENTA’s briefcase for the IWGP US title on the line.
Final thoughts:
Not a bad show in the grand scheme of things, but definitely the weakest episode of NJPW Strong so far. The first match between the DKC and Sterling Riegel was the best match on the show, and while the elimination match was good, it isn’t unlike what we’ve seen in recent episodes. NJPW has recorded so far in advance iit shows, and that cheapens the show. The Zayne vs. Christian match was not good, but if you’re a fan of them, you’d enjoy it as Blake Christian did some amazing stuff. Still, it was very off-brand for Strong.
We also need to address Alex Koslov’s commentary. Kevin Kelly’s carry-job on announcing has been unreal. When Koslov misread Sterling Riegel’s name as “Riegel Sterling,” it didn’t sound like a joke, and if it was, it was the most apathetic delivery on NJPW World ever. Kevin Kelly swooped in and brilliantly saved his ass, blaming the flub on the fact that Koslov “speaks more than three languages”. Kozlov is clearly the weak link on the show, and it showed not even five minutes into tonight’s episode.
The Riegel Twins (Sterling & Logan Riegel) defeated Clark Connors and The DKC
Great match. This was Sterling Riegel’s NJPW Strong debut. His twin brother, Logan, took part in NJPW’s recent Lion’s Break Crown tournament. On commentary, Kevin Kelly explained that Sterling Riegel was on excursion in the U.K. earlier this year, which was why we didn’t see him on NJPW Strong earlier.
The DKC and the clean-shaven Logan Riegel (it’s the only way to tell them apart) kicked off the match. DKC is really explosive and fluid in the ring. He and Logan had a good back-and-forth on the mat early on.
Connors continuously fought off the twins’ double-team offense midway through this. He rallied back and used a pounce to send one of the Rigel twins flying, one that’d surely make Monty Brown proud. He tagged back out to the DKC later on, who grounded Sterling with a side headlock in the middle of the ring.
Sterling tagged out to brother Logan who took it to Connors, laying him out on the floor after putting him down with a pescado. He landed a slingblade on Connors for a two. Back inside the ring. They knocked each other out moments later with double-clotheslines. Sterling did a diving double stomp after leapfrogging over his brother. The DKC shot back into the ring a few seconds later and the match quickly broke down into a festival of highspots.
The DKC followed things up with a modified falcon arrow for two. Connors came in from out of nowhere and took Sterling Riegel out with a spear, but Logan was able to take Connors down with a neckbreaker drop out of the corner. DKC made the save for Connors and took both twins out with big “karate chops,” as they were called, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Riegels down for long. Moments later, with Connors still neutralized outside the ring, they put the DKC down for a three count after an assisted modified spike DDT.
All action. The Riegel brothers are excellent and I imagine they can be big players going forward. Ideal and obvious junior heavyweight tag title contenders down the road.
Karl Fredericks defeated Blake Christian
Lots of action in this even though it was just six minutes long. Fredericks landed a nice low kick early on. Blake Christian landed a tope suicida within a minute or so into this. Fredericks shifted the momentum after blasting Christian in the back with two more stiff kicks. Christian answered later with a spinning gamengiri kick and a low-angle 619 while Fredericks hung on top of the bottom rope. He later put Fredericks down for a close two-count after he used a diving double-stomp to Fredericks, who was bent over.
By the time the five-minute call sounded, the two began trading bigger moves. Christian landed a big flying knee, but Fredericks put Christian down with a spinebuster. He transitioned to a single-leg crab from here, and when Christian wouldn’t tap, Fredericks readjusted, served up a few more stiff kicks, then torqued the hold back a few more inches until Christian tapped out.
After the match, Fredericks cut a promo backstage saying that NJPW Strong was his show and that Friday nights were his nights.
Bullet Club (KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Hikuleo) defeated David Finlay, PJ Black, Alex Zayne & Misterioso
Tonga Loa and PJ Black were in together first. Black challenged Loa to a knuckle-lock test of strength, so Loa played along for a second, then kicked him in the gut and gave Black a shoulder block. Black took Loa out with a sweep and a high roundhouse kick, but Tama Tonga threw a sneaky knee behind the ref’s back to slow Black’s pace down.
Black then tagged out to Misterioso, who got a few licks in before the Guerillas of Destiny started double-teaming the resident luchador. He tagged out to Zayne, who took an awesome-looking chokeslam from Hikuleo who was standing on the ring apron. Have I mentioned how huge Hikuleo is? He towers over everyone on the show weekly, aside from Brody King.
KENTA popped in for a minute and blasted Zayne with a penalty kick to Zayne’s back. He and Tama Tonga traded off working over Zayne until the rookie fired a corkscrew spin kick at KENTA, which gave him time enough to roll to the red corner and tag out to Dave Finlay. Finlay’s been booked on a hot streak on the past few episodes of Strong; His mini-feud with KENTA on recent episodes has been good stuff.
PJ Black flew in and took a few Bullet Club members out with a big flying cross body block, but once the giant Hikuleo got involved, he dictated the pace, slowing things down after planting Finlay with a big snap powerslam. Eyes on Hikuleo in 2021.
Tama Tonga had Finlay in an ankle lock when Zayne flew in and took Tonga out with a springboard dropkick. Misterioso tagged in and tried doing a Johnny B. Badd-style top rope sunset flip on Hikuleo, which didn’t work. When he went for a cross body block next, Hikuleo caught him mid-air, but Misterioso looked like a big sandbag out there which made it look like Hikuleo was unintentionally struggling. The big man made it work, though, and he, somehow, deadlifted Misterioso into the Gunslinger for the pin. It looked good in the end. Solid main event.
PJ Black and Tama Tonga jaw-jacked after the match, with Tonga shoving Black before exiting the ring. KENTA talked lots of trash at Finlay, who has been terrific at making himself unlikeable this year. The program between those two continues while Black and Tonga will have a singles match on next week’s show.
Finlay challenged KENTA after the match in a backstage interview with his friends. He urged KENTA to put his briefcase on the line in a match against him. The stipulation would be that if Finlay wins the match, he wins the briefcase.
Final thoughts:
Tonight was a really good, pretty high-energy episode of Strong. It clocked in at around 42 minutes long, and it was pretty much nonstop action from top to bottom. The first match was a barnburner of an opener, especially since most of the fellows in the match are still new faces to most of the NJPW audience. I imagine we’ll see more of the identical Riegel Twins down the line.
Karl Fredericks and Blake Christian had a heck of a six-minute match, which leads me to wonder how they’d do with double the time in their next bout. The main event was fun action, but also did a lot in the way of moving certain wrestlers to the forefront of fans’ minds’, particularly Dave Finlay, Hikuleo and Alex Zayne tonight. They’ve done a good job at establishing new faces of this experimental US brand. They’ve done it at a moderate pace, like with Finlay and KENTA, for example, where you don’t need much more context than a) Finlay’s on a roll while b) KENTA’s still in possession of the red “attaché case,” as it’s called.
On NJPW Strong: Road to New Japan Showdown next week, we’ll see Fred Rosser vs. Jordan Clearwater and Jeff Cobb and Rocky Romero vs. Rust Taylor and JR Kratos.
