Currently signed to NJPW and known as Fred Rosser said in a new interview that he has been coaching Sting’s son, Steven Borden.
Young, primarily known for his time in WWE as a part of Nexus and The Prime Time Players, recently opened up to Darren Paltrowitz on the Paltrocast, where he discussed coaching Borden.
“The coaching is pretty full-time. I’m working with Sting’s son Steven Borden, helping to groom him privately and helping him become all that he’s created to be inside of the ring. He’s working hard, doing some dark matches, getting some reps in front of a crowd. That means a lot to me. That’s a personal project that I’m trying to conquer.”
Still early in his career, Borden has wrestled a total of seven matches, including three dark matches on Dynamite and one on ROH, all of which he won. He was also a part of his father’s retirement match at AEW Revolution, where he portrayed the Wolfpac version of Sting.
Borden has also wrestled on DEFY and is known for training with active AEW star Darby Allin.
Meanwhile, Rosser is scheduled to take on David Finlay, who is rumored to be WWE-bound at NJPW New Beginning USA on February 27.
Rosser vs. Scorpio Sky has been announced for Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV on HonorClub.
Rosser returned to the ring last month after taking some time away from in-ring action. He was originally scheduled for NJPW Strong’s Independence Day shows from Korakuen Hall but announced he was pulling out of the shows “due to circumstances beyond my control.” Rosser then revealed on July 9 that his 98-year-old grandfather, a WWII veteran, had passed away.
My POP lived a long life, but not long enough and saying goodbye to my 98 years young POP is so hard. I will never ever forget how much you loved me and how much I learned from you. I vow to keep your memory alive. I'll miss your laughs, I'll miss your hugs, I'll miss your wisdom… pic.twitter.com/GqoXyzE8Qk
— nodaysoff FRED ROSSER III (@realfredrosser) July 9, 2023
The former Strong Openweight Champion will also wrestle for NJPW on Saturday night. He’s scheduled to face Shaheen on the NJPW Academy Showcase from the LA Dojo.
Matches for this week’s episode were filmed at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday following AEW Collision. Spoilers from the taping are available here.
Ring of Honor TV October 5, 2023 lineup:
ROH World Women’s Champion Athena defends against Leyla Hirsch
Fred Rosser vs. Scorpio Sky
TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) vs. The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) w/Trish Adora
Fred Rosser says circumstances beyond his control are preventing him from performing on NJPW Strong’s upcoming Independence Day shows.
NJPW originally advertised Rosser for the July 4 & 5 shows from Korakuen Hall, although he was never officially announced for a match. The former Strong Openweight Champion hasn’t wrestled since the NJPW Academy Showcase event on June 10.
NJPW1972.com posted the following message from Rosser:
“Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, I will miss New Japan STRONG July 4 & 5. Working with STRONG has been one of the highlights of my career. I am grateful to New Japan management and most importantly our fans for your continued support.
There is so much more for me to accomplish with this awesome organization. You all will see me sooner than later in Japan!
Thank you so much for the support and love that you have given me during my time here! More to come!
The two-night event will be the first time a NJPW Strong card has taken place in Japan. Updated lineups for the show are below.
NJPW Strong Independence Day night one, Tuesday, July 4, 5:10 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World pay-per-view —
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: TJP & Francesco Akira defend against Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors
Exciting Encounter Doomsday No DQ match: Jon Moxley & Homicide vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd
Eddie Kingston & Rocky Romero vs. KENTA & Gedo
Tom Lawlor vs. Kosei Fujita
Lance Archer, Alex Zayne & Ryohei Oiwa vs. JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Bad Dude Tito vs. The DKC
Willow Nightingale & Momo Kohgo vs. Giulia & Thekla
Kickoff match: Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH & Oskar Leube vs. Kengo, Dragon Libre & Takahiro Katori
NJPW Strong Independence Day night two, Wednesday, July 5, 5:10 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World pay-per-view —
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: KENTA defends against Eddie Kingston
Final Death match: Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd
NJPW Strong Women’s Championship: Willow Nightingale defends against Giulia
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & The DKC vs. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Lance Archer & Alex Zayne vs. Bad Dude Tito & Kosei Fujita
Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors vs. YOH & Rocky Romero
With Fred Rosser retaining his title over Peter Avalon on Strong this week, the Strong Openweight title match for NJPW Battle in the Valley is set.
It will be Bullet Club’s KENTA challenging Rosser for the belt on the February 18, 2023 show from San Jose. KENTA previously earned a title shot after winning the Strong Survivor match on the January 7, 2023, episode of NJPW Strong.
Rosser called out KENTA after defeating Avalon on Strong this week. The champion and challenger then had a staredown to close the show.
This week’s NJPW Strong action was taped in Hollywood, California, at the recent Nemesis tapings.
Blake Christian defeated KEITA
Christian picked up the win off a double foot curbstomp to the back.
Mistico defeated Misterioso
Misterioso hit a tope to the floor. Mistico was over with the crowd and had chants going for him during the match. Late in this, Mistico did a springboard hurricanrana and followed up with La Mistica for the submission win.
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser defeated Peter Avalon to retain
The winner of this match moves on to defend against KENTA at February’s Battle in the Valley in San Jose.
Avalon talked trash on the mic as Rosser made his entrance. Rosser jumped into the ring and beat on Avalon while he still had his title belt on around his waist.
Rosser and Avalon brawled on the floor later. Avalon sent Rosser flying into the barricades at ringside. He spiked Rosser with a swinging DDT off the top rope and continued his trash talking.
When he had Rosser on the apron, he shoved his middle finger in Rosser’s face which set off “Mr. No Days Off.” The champion grabbed Avalon and planted him back-first onto the apron’s edge with a back drop.
Rosser later used a “billy club sandwich” on Avalon which is where Rosser takes both of his arms and lariats his opponent from front to back until Rosser feels like stopping.
Avalon was able to respond later on with a modified half-crab submission that had Rosser shouting in pain but was broken up after the champion grabbed the ropes.
The finish saw Rosser put Avalon away with a double-knees gutbuster, an emerald flowsion and a chicken wing STF submission to pick up the win. Rosser moves on to face KENTA in San Jose for the STRONG Openweight title.
Afterward, Rosser then grabbed the mic and ordered KENTA to get his ass out there. KENTA came to the ring but didn’t say anything, just staring Rosser down. Rosser told him that in San Jose, he would be leaving with three boots: two on KENTA’s feet and one in his ass.
Final Thoughts:
The main event would have been more exciting if they hadn’t announced Rosser vs. KENTA before this aired. That said, this was a fine episode of Strong, but not the best ever.
Tonight saw the final set of tapings from NJPW Strong’s Detonation series. This was also the final episode of 2022, with STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser defending against Team Filthy’s JR Kratos, a match Kratos received as a “gift” from Jay White to thank Team Filthy for helping Bullet Club out earlier in the year.
Before the match, Mascara Dorada and Lince Dorado spoke to announcers Ian Riccaboni & Alex Koslov. The former WWE tag team expressed their excitement to wrestle for New Japan and against C4.
C4 are regulars on the Pacific-Northwest scene and are regulars at DEFY in Seattle. Cody Chhun has competed on NJPW Strong previously, but both Guillermo Rosas and Lince Dorado are making their debuts.
Dorada and Rosas had a nice exchange up top. The crowd chanted for Dorada. When Chhun tagged in, Dorada and Lince Dorado unloaded some double team offense. Dorada hit a spinning rope-walk dropkick.
Later, C4 put Dorada down with a double backdrop suplex. The crowd kept chanting for Dorada. Lince Dorado finally tagged back in and cleaned house. He put Chhun down with a brainbuster for two before taking him down with a diving body press. He’d then lock in an armbar, but Rosas dropped a senton onto Dorado to break the hold.
C4 put Lince Dorado down with an assisted Liger Bomb for two. Dorado responded by taking both C4 out with a double Lethal Injection. Mascara Dorada did a flip dove onto Rosas on the floor. Lince then jumped off the top rope and caught Chhun with a frankensteiner while Chhun was standing on the apron. That was wild.
The finish saw Lince Dorado catch Chhun with a shooting star press while Mascara Dorada would land a diving elbow drop off the ropes for a stereo pin. The crowd loved this one.
Bobby Fish defeated Kevin Blackwood
Fish made his official in-ring return to New Japan on this show. He recently won his boxing debut on the Floyd Mayweather card in Dubai back in May, defeating Boateng Prempeh via TKO.
The two had a nice back-and-forth exchange early on. The crowd gave Fish a hard time.
When the match spilled to the floor, Blackwood caught Fish with a diving double foot stomp on the apron. Fish responded later with an Eddy Guerrero-style slingshot somersault senton. Parts of the crowd started chanting “Let’s go, Bobby!” and “BOB-BY FISH!”. Fish then won with a falcon arrow.
After the match, Homicide ran in and the two brawled. David Finlay ran in for the save on Homicide, carrying a shillelagh. Finlay and Homicide shook hands.
STRONG Openweight Championship Match: Fred Rosser (c) defeated JR Kratos
Rosser and Kratos charged at each other just as the bell sounded. They crashed into each other with a ton of big shoulder blocks; neither would go down. The energy & tension was great.
Rosser caught Kratos with an Earthquake splash before pummeling him with front forearm shots to the chest and back.
They traded arm locks on the mat as the pace slowed. Rosser put Kratos in the corner and battered him with forearms and hip attacks. Kratos almost powered out, but Rosser shut Kratos down with a relentless non stop barrage of hard strikes.
When Kratos tried power bombing Rosser off the apron onto the floor, Rosser countered it with another Earthquake splash, sitting straight down onto Kratos’ neck and shoulders. Nice reversal.
Rosser dove off the apron, but Kratos caught him in mid-air, then ran him back-first into the ringpost on the floor. He then launched Rosser with a front suplex onto the floor mats.
Kratos then ripped the mats off the concrete floor, then grabbed the guardrail and attempted to throw it or hit Rosser with it. Rosser had enough time to stop the attack with a kick, forcing Kratos to drop the weapon. Before Kratos got back into the ring, Kratos threw a NJPW staffer onto the exposed floor.
The crowd started chanting “FRED! FRED!” as the match went on. Rosser put Kratos down hard with a neckbreaker onto the ring apron. When Rosser went to move Kratos back into the ring, Kratos locked Rosser in a headlock as he lay on the apron. Rosser then showed amazing strength and dragged the larger Kratos off the apron and into a tombstone piledriver position. He then put Kratos down hard onto the exposed floor.
Kratos sold as though he was dead. Referee Jeremy Marcus began counting Kratos out and got very close to 20, but Rosser actually stopped Marcus from making the call, shoving him into the corner. He peeled his wrist tape off and called for Kratos to come back into the ring.
Rosser started boxing Kratos’ head in as Kratos attempted to pick himself back up to his feet. Rosser peppered him with short shots. Kratos took Rosser down with some fluid judo trips, but Rosser was back to his feet immediately. Rosser’s “fighting spirit” is infectious.
As Rosser climbed to the top rope for another attack, Kratos suddenly met him with a jumping enzuigiri kick to the back of Rosser’s head. At this point, the 15-minute call sounded.
Kratos put Rosser down with a big superplex before decking him with a lariat that shot Rosser over the top onto the floor again. It was the exposed-concrete side of the ring.
Kratos stood in the ring with a pensive look on his face. He’d then stare out into the crowd, teasing a tope. The crowd bit. Kratos hit the opposite ropes for a running start, then skyrocketed himself over the top rope onto Rosser, crash-landing on the concrete floor, way past where the guardrail would have been if Kratos hadn’t removed it earlier. Air Kratos. The crowd lost it. It looked amazing.
Back in the ring, Kratos used a giant lariat and falcon arrow on Rosser, but just for two. The crowd began chanting for Kratos at this point.
Rosser clipped Kratos’ leg and slapped on a step-over toe hold before locking in a sleeperhold. Kratos would passed out, Rosser wins via TKO.
Afterwards, Peter Avalon appeared from behind the commentary table (which he’d been on earlier), grabbed a mic, and said to Rosser that he was the next in line for a shot at his STRONG Openweight title. Rosser didn’t say it into the mic, but he did tell Avalon he’d face him anytime and anywhere before raising his championship belt high above his head.
When Rosser turned around, Avalon pummeled Rosser, stomping into the corner without stopping. Blake Christian and C4 then appeared to make the save, but then they were followed by others from the NJPW Strong locker room. The show ended with dozens of wrestlers brawling in the ring as the show faded to black.
Final thoughts:
This was a nice eclectic edition of NJPW Strong, with three very different matches from beginning to end. Rosser vs. Kratos was very good, but the post-match chaos that ensued afterwards wasn’t entirely explained. Regardless, it was a fun episode to watch because of the variety.
Tonight saw the next set of matches from NJPW Strong’s Autumn Attack tapings in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ian Riccaboni and Alex Koslov were running down tonight’s card when Young Lion Kevin Knight appeared, albeit briefly. He wanted to let both STRONG Tag Team champions Aussie Open and Team Filthy know that he was going to be scouting their match tonight, because Knight and his tag team partner, The DKC, are looking to challenge for the tag titles in the near future.
Doc Gallows defeated Che Cabrera
“Wild Rhino” Clark Connors was on commentary for a few of tonight’s matches.
Cabrera’s nickname is “Latino Meat” and the crowd sounded to have had a good time chanting “Beat That Meat!” at Gallows, who pinned Cabrera in a little over five minutes with an Anarchy Suplex.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship match: Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) (c) defeated Team Filthy (JR Kratos & Danny Limelight)
This was really good.
When Kratos and Davis were in together early on, we had a mini-hoss battle on our hands. Davis is deceptively big and is about the same height as Kratos, actually. They crashed into each other with shoulder blocks. Team Filthy later stood over Davis and posed with “The Filthy Flex.”
Kratos later held Fletcher in a stalling suplex before slamming him into the mat. Limelight tagged in and worked Fletcher over for a bit, at one point connecting with a flying lariat into the corner.
Davis and Kratos went at it again later in the match. Both traded forearms and palm strikes. Kratos tossed Davis with a big release German suplex; Davis answered back with a flying harpoon elbow smash in the corner to a seated Kratos.
Aussie Open attempted to hoist Kratos up for Coriolis, their double-team finisher, but they weren’t able to get Kratos in the air. Limelight broke up the hold, and Kratos connected with a jumping back enzuigiri to Davis’ head. Limelight then bounced off the middle rope and caught Fletcher with a springboard Canadian Destroyer, or the Puerto Rican Destroyer, as Riccaboni called it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before, it looked wild. Kratos immediately dashed off the apron onto the floor, somersaulting onto Davis. We’ll call this spot the “Liger XXL.”
Limelight landed a frog splash back in the ring but only scored a count of two. The crowd ate this up and were chanting “This-is-awe-some!” by this point in the match.
Fletcher took Limelight out with a 360 tombstone piledriver. Aussie Open then used a creative double-team power offense to neutralize Kratos. Davis & Fletcher then locked the double-pumphandle clutch on Limelight and finally put him away with Coriolis; Aussie Open retains. Again, really good stuff from both teams.
STRONG Openweight Championship match: Fred Rosser (c) and Chris Dickinson wrestled to a count-out
Rosser was fired up before the match got underway. He even attacked Dickinson before the bell rang while he was still wearing his STRONG Openweight championship belt. Dickinson was able to throw Rosser with a release German suplex, which halted Rosser’s sudden onslaught. Dickinson was away from NJPW for a few months and is now a bitter, nasty heel, which turned out to be the perfect complement to Rosser’s no-BS-tough-guy approach. Dickinson paintbrushed Rosser’s head while he was down and smack-talked him as he tried getting up. Dickinson threw a hard kick into Rosser’s chest; Rosser ate it and went back for seconds. He threw elbows from the right and left side. He finally took Dickinson down with a running shoulder tackle.
Rosser tried backdropping Dickinson onto the apron, but Dickinson blocked the move, then caught Rosser with a running, diving lariat from the apron onto the floor.
Back in the ring, Rosser slapped on the cross-face chicken wing, but Dickinson countered it with a backdrop suplex. Dickinson connected with a big axe bomber for another two.
Rosser would answer back later with a running powerslam from out of the corner, reminiscent of the late, great Davey Boy Smith’s finish. He tried locking in the chicken wing STF next, the submission hold that won him the title from “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, but he couldn’t fully clamp down on it. Dickinson was able to inch his way to the bottom rope for a break.
Rosser returned to the ring apron and dropped Dickinson back-first onto it. Dickinson fought through the pain, flipped Rosser the double bird, kicked him in the chest, then took him over the guardrail with a big lariat. The two landed in the front row on the side of the commentator’s table.
Both collected themselves after a few moments, though it was Rosser who’d be back on the attack first; he put his arms through the guardrail and grabbed Dickinson by the face and began yanking on it. Bar room brawl stuff. He landed more shots with Dickinson still against the guard, proof that the champ is willing to “go there” regardless of his opponent. Both men prevented one another from re-entering the ring, eventually causing the referee to call for a twenty count and ending the match via double count out. The crowd let out a loud “Boooo!”
The two continued going at it at ringside, enough that the ring staff had to break the two up. Rosser tried strangling Dickinson with a green video cable. Dickinson attempted to grab Rosser’s title belt. Ring security would pull them apart, but they’d go right back at it a number of times. Rosser went back into the ring to pose for the crowd, but again Dickinson went after Rosser. He even looked to have bit Rosser’s leg or boot while the two were being pulled apart.
This was great. It was short, but that’s fine because these two are clearly building to a rematch. Both Rosser and Dickinson have distinct kinds of charisma and powerful presences. They could end up being perfect rivals down the road.
Final thoughts:
This was one of the better episodes of Strong in a few weeks. Both title matches are well worth going out of your way to see this week.
Next week sees Rocky Romero vs. Shingo Takagi in the main event.
An Openweight Championship match headlines this week’s NJPW Strong episode.
In the conclusion of the Fighting Spirit Unleashed series, Fred Rosser will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against United Empire’s TJP in the main event.
Also announced for Saturday’s episode, Aaron Solo of AEW’s The Factory will face the debuting Che Cabrera.
In Saturday’s opening contest, Kevin Knight and The DKC of LA Dojo will take on Bateman and Barrett Brown of Stray Dog Army in tag team action.
The Fighting Spirit Unleashed series of Strong episodes was taped on August 21 in Los Angeles at the Vermont Hollywood.
Here is the full lineup for Saturday’s show:
NJPW Strong: Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Saturday, October 1, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Fred Rosser (c) vs. TJP
Aaron Solo vs. Che Cabrera
LA Dojo (Kevin Knight & The DKC) vs. Stray Dog Army (Bateman & Barrett Brown)
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlr is back with tons to talk about including TOM’S DEFEAT AT THE HANDS OF FRED ROSSER, a full review of that edition of New Japan Strong, Smackdown on Friday night and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tonight saw the third installment of NJPW Strong: Detonation from Riverside, CA.
The DKC and Kevin Knight defeated Jordan Clearwater and Brogan Finlay
Good opener. Clearwater and Knight kicked things off for their teams. Remember these words: Within the next three years or so, these two will be big names in the industry. Clearwater looks more muscular than he has in the past.
Brogan Finlay, brother of David and son of Fit, had his second match on NJPW Strong. He’s technically the youngest wrestler on NJPW’s roster and has been active for seven months so far.
Clearwater and Finlay worked the DKC over in their corner for a while. Knight was able to make a save late in the match for his partner, connecting with a dropkick that he didn’t get all of. This gave DKC the chance to use a number of karate chops on Finlay. He earned a close nearfall with a crucifix bomb on Finlay, then tapped him out with a Koji clutch variation.
Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Black Tiger) (with Jorel Nelson) defeated FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) and Rocky Romero
Kevin Kelly referred to this iteration of Black Tiger as the “underground version.” He was brought in a few weeks ago and was hunting Rocky Romero.
Isaacs and Romero started things off, but Black Tiger ambushed Romero just seconds into the match. The crowd booed. They were chanting for Romero pretty loudly throughout the match.
Team Filthy beat on Romero on the floor, but FinJuice made the save. After some bedlam outside the ring, the babyfaces took control on offense and double-teamed Black Tiger. They bodyslammed each other on top of Black Tiger, then dropped a few sentons on him.
Team Filthy gained the upper hand after Jorel Nelson, who was on the floor, got involved. The group posed in the ring at one point, too, but Robinson and Finlay broke it up.
Kratos deadlift suplexed Romero. Isaacs hit a gnarly-looking one-armed power bomb on Romero. Robinson made a tag into the match minutes later and had a good exchange with Kratos. These two are about the same height, actually. I’m sure this would make for a great singles match on the show next year.
Robinson used the Left Hand of God on Kratos but the giant didn’t go down. He laid Black Tiger out with a spinebuster. Finlay was in next to clean house. The ten-minute call sounded while he was in the ring. He tagged Romero in and Romero went to town on Tiger with Forever Clotheslines in the corner. Isaacs got involved and tipped the scales in favor of Team Filthy. Kratos landed a big corner superman punch that knocked Romero cold. Nelson got involved again too, behind the ref’s back, and connected with jumping knees to Romero’s chest in the corner.
FinJuice broke things up and would moments later hit tandem pescados to the floor on Kratos and Isaacs while Romero and Tiger traded submissions in the ring. The two went back and forth until Tiger spiked Romero with a tombstone piledriver, then a tiger driver for the win in just over 15 minutes. Team Filthy beat on the babyfaces a bit more before exiting; the crowd showered them with boos as they walked to the back.
STRONG Openweight Championship match: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Fred Rosser to retain via TKO
They aired a video package before the match which told the story of what had happened between champion Lawlor and Rosser over the past months. Rosser is actually the first person to pin Lawlor in a NJPW ring, which he did in Philadelphia. Lawlor’s response was to beat Rosser up after the match and shave Rosser’s head.
Lawlor came to the ring with Team Filthy. JR Kratos brought the pair of scissors Lawlor used to cut Rosser’s hair with. When Rosser came out, he had a fresh new look, bald head and new trunks. He charged the ring during the entrances and tried getting into it with “Filthy” Tom early.
When the match was finally underway, Rosser got into Lawlor’s face and slapped him. The two grappled back and forth early on. The slightly bigger Rosser took the advantage and was able to stay over Lawlor, often controlling with armlocks or headlocks.
When they wrestled into the corner, neither man would break their hold, so referee Jeremy Marcus had to literally get in between the two to break them up. Later, Lawlor slipped out to the floor, but Rosser chased after him and whipped the champion into three guardrails. The crowd enjoyed that. Rosser began choking Lawlor with some of his own wrist tape, then bit Lawlor’s face. Rosser then tried back suplexing Lawlor onto the apron, but Lawlor blocked it by using a low blow that the ref didn’t see. He drove Rosser sternum-first into the guardrail on the floor next. He threw himself and Rosser over the guardrail into the crowd with a lariat.
Lawlor was able to get both he and Rosser back into the ring at the count of 16. He cradled Rosser for two. Lawlor threw hard low kicks at Rosser’s chest, but Rosser ate them. They started trading hard elbows. The crowd started chanting “Let’s go, Fred!” Lawlor locked in a guillotine choke but didn’t have luck with that, so transitioned to a cravat, snap-mared Rosser over, then used two sliding lariats—one to each side—to earn a two-count.
Rosser tried fighting back but Lawlor kept shutting him down. He laid Rosser out with a bulldog. When Rosser tried doing his signature gutbuster, Lawlor escaped, then did a double-leg dragon screw leg whip and locked Rosser into a cloverleaf until Rosser grabbed the rope for a break.
Rosser unleashed a flurry of lariats in the corner, a Mail Mary effort, but Lawlor picked him up and slammed him into the middle of the mat with a modified uranage slam. He put him down with a wrist-clutch exploder next, again for two. The fans didn’t give up on Rosser and kept chanting for him. When Lawlor went for a sleeper, Rosser slipped out and laid in a dozen forearms and elbows. At the 15-minute mark, he finally put Lawlor flat on the mat with a hard double ax-handle.
When Rosser tried suplexing Lawlor off the apron onto the floor, Lawlor blocked it by jumping him then locking on a guillotine choke. Rosser shoved Lawlor off, then did a slingshot to Lawlor from the floor into the ringpost, Bret Hart–Shawn Michaels style.
The two traded more heavy blows inside the ring next. Lawlor knocked Rosser down with an enzuigiri kick and the crowd booed loudly. Rosser’s wrist tape had come completely off at this point, which shows how damn serious things were getting between the two. Lawlor locked in another sleeper, but Rosser ran up the ropes and back-cradled him, another Bret Hart-Steve Austin throwback. Lawlor escaped the pin by bridging up and rolling back into the sleeper. Very cool.
Rosser used a running Death Valley Bomb on Lawlor for two. The crowd kept chanting “Fred!” When the 20-minute call sounded, Rosser put Lawlor down with an Emerald Flowsion. Lawlor escaped the pin by putting his foot on the lower rope.
Rosser drove in a number of 12–6 elbows, then locked on his once-signature crossface chickenwing. Lawlor rolled from side to side of the ring trying to grab the ropes for a break. The crowd bit on this and it really felt like they might give the win to Rosser with this.
Lawlor barely escaped the chickenwing, then got dropped back-first on the apron with the back suplex Rosser attempted early on in the match. Rosser then went for a diving Earthquake splash off the apron onto the floor, but Lawlor moved out of the way to lock in a sleeper again, this time on the floor. Wow. The two fought a bit more on the floor before they made it back into the ring.
As they crawled back inside, Rosser was a few feet ahead of Lawlor, and Lawlor still hadn’t gone through the ropes yet, so he dove through the ropes and caught Rosser with a rolling sleeper. I don’t think I’d ever seen that before. Rosser passed out from the sleeper hold and referee Jeremy Marcus stopped the match due to TKO. The crowd cursed at Lawlor and chanted for Rosser afterwards.
Lawlor cut a promo and explained how he was the only one who really deserved the STRONG Openweight champion. He said he’d beaten legends and top contenders and “pretenders, like Fred.” No one came out initially, so he and Team Filthy posed while his music played. This was until the returning Rust Taylor (Tyler Rust in NXT this year) came out. Taylor was actually an original member of Team Filthy last year.
He got into the ring to celebrate with Lawlor, then swerved him and took him out with his finisher, a forward-swinging neckbreaker type deal. If you didn’t know who Taylor is before this segment, it’s OK, because he came off as a somebody. His hair grew out and he got much bigger compared to his first stint on Strong. It looks like he’ll soon challenge “Filthy” Tom for the Openweight title soon.
Final thoughts:
The main event was excellent this week. It was a near-30-minute match that was arguably Rosser’s best match ever, but also one of Lawlor’s, who has been racking them up lately. The funny thing is that when you hear the term “New Japan,” the kind of match these two had doesn’t come to mind. This was a technical or modern brawl. It had good emotion coming from Rosser’s end. It was extremely physical but not in a forced way. Rosser’s transition from WWE to NJPW has worked but it also hasn’t forced Rosser to change his in-ring style at all, and somehow it worked well with Lawlor’s MMA-centric approach.
I imagine if this were in front of the right crowd it’d have blown the roof of the venue, though that’s not to say the Riverside crowd was a detriment in any way. Detonation was an excellent show, but the reality is there aren’t enough eyeballs on the product to measure how good these shows have been lately.
Three matches have been announced for this week’s episode of NJPW Strong.
In the show’s main event, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Fred Rosser.
In the second match, Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Rocky Romero will tag against Team Filthy’s JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs and Black Tiger.
In the opener, Kevin Knight and The DKC will face Brogan Finlay, as the younger Finlay brother appears in his second NJPW Strong match.
The Detonation episodes of Strong were taped on November 15 in Riverside, California. Saturday’s show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is the full lineup:
NJPW Strong Detonation night three, Saturday, December 18, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Fred Rosser
Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Rocky Romero vs. JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Black Tiger
Kevin Knight & The DKC vs. Jordan Clearwater & Brogan Finlay
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the full lineup for Full Gear with a spoiler warning, NXT 2.0 ratings and a review, plus FRED ROSSER joins us to talk New Japan Strong this coming weekend at the former ECW Arena in South Philly! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Yuji Nagata and Yuya Uemura defeated Kevin Knight and The DKC
Uemura and Knight kicked things off. Both will be huge deals in a matter of years, that’s clear. Kevin Kelly mentioned he thought Uemura reminded him of Tatsumi Fujinami a bit, which I’d have to agree with. Something unique about these two.
The DKC and Nagata were in together next. DKC was aggressive in going after Nagata and used lots of elbows in the corner. Nagata made him pay with an arm breaker. The crowd started chanting his name as he continued working over DKC’s arm. The audience being there gives the show a totally different flavor from what we’ve been used to.
DKC caught Uemura with a flying kick of the ropes. Knight was next and caught Uemura with white possibly the highest dropkick in the wrestling business right now. This guy is explosive.
The DKC incorporates a lot of karate-type strikes. He chopped Nagata up late in the match. Knight applied a Boston crab to Nagata but Uemura made the save. Nagata caught Knight with his Exploder suplex for a close two-count. He floated over into the Nagata Lock from there and tapped Knight moments later. Nagata and Uemura take home the win at 9:27. Great stuff.
Jay White defeated Wheeler Yuta
The crowd sounded like they were super into Jay White before this started. This was a really good pure wrestling match. When I write “pure,” I mean that aside from White’s occasional fishhooks, eye gouges and other dirty tactics, what made this good was how fluid and logical the work between the two was. It felt like a throwback in ways, with more athleticism. White looked huge next to Yuta.
Yuta scored a two-count with a high cross body off the top rope. White then pulled Yuta’s nose and hair to slam him back to the mat. The crowd sounded split between White and Yuta, but Yuta won some people over by the end. He scored three really close falls in a row on White. He then connected with a big German suplex, again for two. He locked White in a modified figure four STF but he let go to pull White away from the ropes. White escaped and spiked Yuta with a sleeper suplex. White put Yuta away after a Bladerunner at 10:29. This was a great “almost-an-upset” match.
Afterwards, White taunted the fans. He accused them of really being there to see Tomohiro Ishii instead of himself. White called Ishii out next and Ishii came to the ring. White said they could fight right then, but they weren’t going to. They butted heads and then White rolled out of the ring.
Before he exited, he addressed Ishii once more and asked if he had anything to say. Ishii said “F*** you.” The crowd started chanting it next. White got in Ishii’s face again and said Ishii would never get the NEVER title from him, so Ishii threw an elbow in his face. He went for a brainbuster next but White slipped out of it and low blowed him, then laid him out with a Bladerunner. “No, Ishii. F*** you.” The crowd chanted “F*** You Jay!” after he dropped the mic.
Ren Narita defeated Fred Rosser
This feud started at Resurgence last month after a six-man tag match both were in. They were on opposite teams, and afterwards Rosser went to shake Narita’s hand but Narita refused it and insisted he didn’t need Rosser’s respect.
They went hold for hold early on. Rosser tried dropping him on the apron early with a suplex but Narita had it scouted and blocked it. They started brawling around the ring next. Rosser dropped two vertical leg drops onto Narita, the latter one after running off the apron. This was a mean brawl. Nothing fancy or flashy, just two pissed dudes beating the hell out of each other.
The match slowed after it moved back into the middle of the ring. They tried tapping each other out with submission holds. Narita focused on Rosser’s knees and turned up the heat when he locked in a figure four leg lock. Rosser and Narita traded slaps to the face until Narita let go.
Rosser laid in tons of forearms, then scored a two-count with a BT bomb. Narita locked on a sleeper, then turned that into a cobra twist, or Antonio Inoki’s finisher. He almost tapped Rosser with his version of the Texas cloverleaf, a mix of that hold plus a Boston crab. Rosser barely escaped with a rope break.
Rosser powered up and earned a couple of near-falls but at the 15:00 mark, Narita tied Rosser up in a cradle and scored the pinfall. This is a big upset win for Narita, who is still technically a Young Lion. They were ambiguous selling Narita’s win afterwards and spun it like maybe, possibly Rosser got his shoulder up. The ref’s decision was final, though. Narita won. The two finally shook hands to close out the show.
Final thoughts:
This was an excellent episode of Strong. With the crowd in attendance and the bigger feel in general, plus the new presentation, it really emphasizes the “professional” aspect of “professional wrestling.” The main event was fantastic and if you haven’t seen it, go out of your way to. Fred Rosser has to be in the discussion for Most Improved, and Narita is confirming he’ll also be a big deal in the next few years with NJPW.
NJPW has made the first four match announcements for the September 25 and September 26 Autumn Attack shows in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
On night one, Minoru Suzuki will face Fred Rosser. Rosser is an NJPW Strong regular, while Suzuki will be embarking on a rare tour of the United States this fall.
Also added to night one, Will Ospreay will take on Karl Fredericks. Ospreay returned to NJPW at Resurgence on August 14 and declared himself the true IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
On night two, Lio Rush will face IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Taiji Ishimori in a singles match. Rush is next in line to challenge Tom Lawlor for the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.
Suzuki and Lance Archer vs. Lawlor and Royce Isaacs has also been added to night two. Isaacs recently joined Lawlor’s Team Filthy on NJPW Strong, while Archer faced Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of Resurgence.
Tickets for NJPW Autumn Attack in Garland, Texas are on sale now.
Here are the lineups:
NJPW Autumn Attack night one, Saturday, September 25 —
Minoru Suzuki vs. Fred Rosser
Will Ospreay vs. Karl Fredericks
NJPW Autumn Attack night two, Sunday, September 26 —
Lio Rush vs. Taiji Ishimori
Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer vs. Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs
