Tonight’s episode of New Japan Strong marked the first night of NJPW’s “Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2020” tour.
Alex Zayne and Fred Rosser defeated The DKC and Clark Connors
The DKC and Zayne in first for their teams. They had obvious chemistry together. DKC overall shows great energy that shines through onscreen.
Tonight was Fred Rosser’s NJPW debut. He and Clark Connors were good together. It’s easy to forget how big Rosser is, and he looked to be twice Connor’s size when they stood face to face.
The finish saw Zayne do a crazy double-jump springboard Asai moonsault to the floor, which allowed Rosser to score the pinfall in his debut after taking out the DKC with a fireman’s carry-to-double-knees gutbuster.
Karl Fredericks defeated Misterioso
Fredericks and Misterioso got into it on last week’s episode of NJPW Strong, which led to tonight’s bout.
This was good. Misterioso took most of the offense throughout this. He did a tope con giro to the floor, then landed a diving crossbody block for two inside the ring. Fredericks mounted a comeback halfway through the match, at one point blasting Misterioso in the face with his own version of the Shibata dropkick in the corner.
Misterioso tried using a back cracker on Fredericks–the move that put him away in last week’s tag team match–but Fredericks blocked it, then used the Manifest Destiny (high-angle implant DDT) for the win.
Hikuleo defeated Brody King
They exploded on each other right from the bell. King laid Hikuleo out early with a running cross body block.
The match spilled to the floor soon after. We had a true hoss brawl on our hands. Hikuleo looks much different from when he debuted in New Japan. Kevin Kelly talked about his recent excursion to England. It’s clear he hasn’t just improved, but is already finding his swagger and comfort zone in the ring.
King planted Hikuleo with a jumping piledriver late in the match and scored a two count. King went for a Gonzo Bomb but Hikuleo powered out, and later used a deadlift flatliner on King to pin him clean and pick up what some may consider an upset victory. Really good stuff from both here.
Before he left the ring, Hikuleo yelled “I’m not a Young Boy anymore!” at King.
Jay White defeated Flip Gordon
White rolled to the floor as the bell sounded. When he came back to the ring, White took the reins. He kept Gordon glued to the mat with side headlocks and other plodding offense for the first half of this, basically until Gordon landed a dropkick to stun White. He scored a nearfall after taking White out with a springboard spear.
The finish saw White shove the referee into Gordon. White threw a sucker-punch but Gordon dodged out of the way, then planted White with a Falcon Arrow for another close nearfall.
Things heated up at around ten minutes into this. They traded close falls, but White took the win after a Bladebuster and later the Bladerunner for the win over Gordon. Really good stuff from both here.
Afterwards, White cut a promo explaining how that was just a warm-up, and that this was still “his” New Japan.
Final thoughts:
Great show this week, and maybe one of the best so far. The main event was as good as the recent KENTA vs. Jeff Cobb match, though that’s not to take away from the really impressive hoss brawl between Brody King and Hikuoleo. Fredericks continues to be impressive.
Fred Rosser will be an interesting character to keep an eye on; aside from a somewhat botched legdrop spot in his match, he clearly could hang with the younger guys. His size adds a freshness to the show, which tends to be heavier on junior heavyweight matches. Overall, it was yet another solid hour of Friday night pro wrestling with two exceptional matches.
