Tag: karl fredericks

NJPW Strong results: Team Filthy vs. David Finlay & Karl Fredericks

Posted on by Justin Knipper

The show opened with a backstage segment with Team Filthy (“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, and Chris Dickinson).

Team Filthy is not playing around anymore, according to Lawlor. “You got a problem with me and the way I handle business?” Dickinson asked. This led to Lawlor and Dickinson having words because Dickinson thought Lawlor doubted whether he’d defeat Blake Christian later in the night. Limelight tried easing the tension in the room, but Kratos said Limelight talked too much. There’s obvious tension amid Team Filthy right now.

Clark Connors defeated TJP to qualify for New Japan Cup USA 2021

These two first squared off in an NJPW ring at the 2019 Super J-Cup, where Connors fell to TJP in the first round.

Connors came for revenge, hitting a spear and two vertical suplexes off the bat. He followed with a big hip toss and chops in the corner.

TJP used an octopus hold and transitioned to a pin, then hit a pescado to the floor.

The middle part of this was slow as both wrestlers traded holds on the mat, with TJP seeming to get the better of that aspect of tonight’s match. He targeted Connors’ left knee and worked it over with a series of attacks and submissions to keep the rabid Connors neutralized.

Connors responded with a snap powerslam at around five minutes in. He could only built a few moments of momentum, though, as TJP would continuously go back to the left knee attacks.

When Connors was finally able to lock in a Boston Crab, TJP seemed like he was almost out of the match, barely making it to the ropes for a break. Later, Connors came off the second rope for a shoulder block, but TJP countered with a perfectly timed drop toe hold as Connors was on his way down. From there, TJP locked in a kneebar on Connors’ tenderized left leg. Connors was desperate to escape but couldn’t make it. He teased tapping, but before he could, he rocked his momentum backwards and managed to cradle TJP into a pin and nabbed the three count for an upset victory.

TJP actually wouldn’t let go of the submission,selling the finish as though he wasn’t pinned. Both were in disbelief. Really good match with a solid story. Connors advances to the first round of the 2021 New Japan Cup USA.

Chris Dickinson defeated Blake Christian to qualify for New Japan Cup USA 2021

WWE’s Blake Christian sprung out of the gate at the bell, diving at Dickinson with a series of fast-paced aerial attacks. Dickinson hung in there, keeping the pace with Christian until he found the right time to shut him down, which happened to be when Christian came off the top rope minutes into this and Dickinson caught him mid-air with a dropkick. He quickly transitioned to a figure four leglock, a strategy meant to ground Christian as soon as possible.

Dickinson blasted Christian with some hard chops before going after his leg once again, at one point wrapping his knee around the bottom rope and cranking on it from the ankle. Dickinson’s offense slowed Christian but didn’t stop him, as Christian mounted a high-flying response to Dickinson’s punishment. We saw Christian fly over the top to the floor with a tope con giro. Back in the ring, he later tried landing a springboard 450 splash, but Dickinson got his knees up in time.

The two traded power spots and pinfall attempts from here, which included a big folding powerbomb from Dickinson. Christian locked in a guillotine choke — kind of a random choice for him, isn’t it? — but Dickinson rolled out, then applied a kneebar of his own. Christian escaped, but Dickinson zoned in on Christian’s weakened knee and put him back down onto the mat with a dragon screw leg whip, and later, a nasty half-and-half suplex.

The way Dickinson put Christian away was so smart. As he went for a piledriver, Christian resisted by sandbagging his bodyweight down, so Dickinson grabbed onto Christian’s injured leg, or the same one he’d worked on in the match, and pulled on it for leverage. This allowed Dickinson to get Christian high enough off the ground and hit the piledriver. This was probably Christian’s best match in his run on NJPW Strong, while Dickinson continues to steal the spotlight.

Karl Fredericks & David Finlay defeated Team Filthy (“Filthy” Tom Lawlor & Danny Limelight w/ JR Kratos)

It should be noted that over the past two weeks, Finlay had the two best singles matches of his career, against both Jay White and Will Ospreay in this year’s New Japan Cup proper, and I don’t think anyone would disagree. While tonight’s show was taped months prior, it’s still great evidence of “the new Finlay” that developed over 2020.

Also of note is that Lawlor has already qualified for the 2021 New Japan Cup USA that will start next week.

Finlay and Lawlor were in first for their teams. Lawlor feigned a grip fight up top, then did the Ric Flair strut. Classic. They then fought for a proper takedown; Finlay was able to trip Lawlor, but Lawlor stayed in step with Finlay on the mat. It was ultimately a stalemate, which then saw both Limelight and Fredericks tag in. Something Fredericks likes to do these days is a SANADA-style split-legged leapfrog, but the visual is unreal because of how big the dude is. His vertical leap must be 50 inches, at least.

Limelight tagged out to Lawlor, who was able to cut Fredericks back down to the mat, softening him up for Limelight. Limelight tagged in next and laid in a few hard kicks before tagging back out to Lawlor.

Team Filthy continued to work Fredericks over in the blue corner, with Limelight using a running bulldog for two at one point. When Lawlor tagged back in, he used an ankle lock on Fredericks, but Fredericks escaped the hold with a forward roll, and the momentum from the roll launched Lawlor into the red corner post. With Lawlor dazed, Fredericks tagged out to Finlay, who by now was the proverbial house of fire.

Finlay put Lawlor down with a high dropkick and then a flying back elbow from the second rope. Lawlor used an exploder suplex in response. The two traded bigger and bigger moves before again reaching a slight stalemate. Both tagged out to their partners, but it was Fredericks who had the upper hand in the ring. He used Shibata’s basement corner dropkick on Limelight and later hit a spinebuster for a close two.

Fredericks went for his Manifest Destiny DDT finish, but Limelight blocked it and was able to muscle Fredericks into the corner and tag out to Lawlor. Limelight blasted Fredericks with a superkick as Lawlor held Fredericks in a waistlock, then dumped him over his head with a German suplex. Announcer Kevin Kelly called the spot like the match was over when Fredericks kicked out just in time.

The turning point in this came as Lawlor held Fredericks in a choke sleeper and Limelight was about to come off the top rope until Fredericks shoved Lawlor forward. Team Filthy collided in the corner, which gave Fredericks the chance to tag out to Finlay again.

There was a lot of action in the last couple minutes of this. Lawlor used Tenzan’s TTD on Fredericks, effectively eliminating him from the match as he rolled to the floor afterwards. When Lawlor turned around, though, Finlay caught him with a stunner. Limelight then caught Finlay with a cradle fisherman’s buster for two. He landed a big jumping knee strike before Finlay turned Limelight inside-out with a lariat, then spiked him with Slapshot, his signature brainbuster-to-shoulderbreaker finish, for the win in just over 17 minutes.

A winded Finlay spoke to cameras backstage after the match. He said Lawlor impressed him tonight. He also mentioned that while he hadn’t ever really tagged with Fredericks, he thought they were “pretty damn good together.”

Finlay then said he wants Lawlor in a singles match next. He said he remembered watching Lawlor in the UFC at Hooters back in the day, but now that Lawlor was in NJPW, Finlay wanted Lawlor to step into his ring, his world.

Final thoughts —

This was another solid show topped off by a great main event. The way this episode was booked made for a nice “go-home show” for the New Japan Cup USA tournament that kicks off next week.

Here’s the full bracket for New Japan Cup USA 2021:

Karl Fredericks out of NJPW Super J-Cup tag match due to injury

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Karl Fredericks is out of tomorrow’s Super J Cup card.

The company reported this morning that Fredericks is injured and won’t be able to compete on tomorrow’s card. Fredericks wasn’t a part of the tournament, but was set to take place in a tag team match, teaming with Ren Narita against Hikuleo and KENTA.

As a result of the injury, Kevin Knight has replaced Fredericks in the match. Knight will be making his debut for the promotion, having previously participated in the September 2019 LA Dojo tryout. 

The other tag match on the card will have Rocky Romero and Fred Rosser team up to take on JR Kratos and Danny Limelight of Team Filthy.

The rest of the card will feature the eight man, single elimination tournament. Clark Connors will take on Chris Bey, ACH will face TJP, Rey Horus will take on Blake Christian, and El Phantasmo will face Lio Rush in the opening round.

Hiromu Takahashi mentioned following his win at the Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals that he would like to face the winner of the Super J Cup tournament.

NJPW Strong results: Jay White vs. Karl Fredericks

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Clark Connors and The DKC def. Logan Riegel and Sterling Riegel

The two stormed at each other as the bell sounded. Sterling worked over Connors for a bit until the Young Lion came back and pushed both Riegel twins out of the ring. Connors tagged out to The DKC next, who came in and used muay thai-style knees from the clinch. He followed with a knife-edge karate chop to lay Riegel out. Interesting double team moves from the twins here, but when they went for a double team DDT, DKC countered and rolled Sterling up for a surprise win. Short, but good match. 

Bullet Club (Tanga Loa, Chase Owens, & Hikuleo) defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, & Misterioso

Fine match. Loa and Misterioso were first. Babyfaces worked over Loa early on until Hikuleo tagged in and cleared the ring with ease. Juice Robinson came in later and turned the tables in favor of his team. After five minutes into the match, Chase Owens was able to stop Juice and tagged out to Loa, while Juice tagged out to Misterioso. When Misterioso missed on a moonsault attempt, Loa capitalized and used the Apesh*t piledriver to pick up the win for his team.

Tama Tonga defeated ACH

The story throughout most of this was that ACH would try to pick up the tempo and use aerial offense while Tonga would try and slow things down with less wrestling holds and more bullying. ACH went for a penalty kick on the apron early, but Tonga cut that off, tripping ACH onto the edge of the apron. There is a nice dynamic between these two.

Later in the match, ACH flashed Tonga a DX-style crotch chop, then put him on the mat with a snap powerslam. ACH is clearly a lot stronger than so many modern junior heavyweights. 

At the ten-minute call, ACH landed a deadlift German suplex, just like how Vader used to do it, for two. He went to the top next, but Tonga avoided that and moments later, he landed a sudden Gun Stun, which looked great, and picked up the win. Good match. Two totally different styles working and complementing each other. 

Jay White defeated Karl Frdericks

White slipped out of the ring just after the bell sounded. Mind games as per usual. He caught Fredericks with a side headlock once he stepped into the ring. Every match White has seems to flow at his pace, which often starts off slow and deliberate.

Fredericks responded minutes later with a big shoulder block. When White slipped to the floor, Fredericks followed. Back in the ring, when Fredericks went for a big boot in the corner, White moved aside and took advantage, dragging Fredericks back down to the mat to lock in a chinlock, and later a patronizing Single leg crab onto the former young lion.

Fredericks clawed his way back into the match with a pele kick. He followed that up with a stinger splash into the corner.

White tried shoving the ref into Fredericks, but the ref just moved. Fredericks went for manifest destiny, but White kept avoiding it. Fredericks began laying in a flurry of elbows before landing a basement dropkick in the corner before he locked in his own signature single leg crab. White got to the ropes to force the break. 

Fredericks again went for manifest destiny, but White again survived and once he found the right moment, he snapped Fredericks onto his back  with a backdrop driver. White wasn’t able to make the cover. He went for blade runner but Fredericks countered into a cradle. 

Lots of quick exchanges and counters toward the finish. Fredericks landed a spine buster for a close two, but White responded with a sleeper suplex and landed the blade runner for the win. Announcers sold the idea that things would have been different if Fredericks had landed manifest destiny.

In his post-match promo, White explained that he was one step ahead of everyone in NJPW. He talked trash to Karl Fredericks, saying he may as well quit now because there’s no chance he’ll ever catch up to where Jay White is now. 

Final thoughts: Good show. White vs. Fredericks and Tonga vs. ACH were quality matches. Next week will be Brody King vs KENTA for the right to challenge for the IWGP US title, something promoted heavily throughout the show.

NJPW Lion’s Break Collision results: Jeff Cobb vs. Karl Fredericks

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Clips from last week aired at the beginning of the show, including Tom Lawlor submitting Rocky Romero in Lawlor’s debut match and Jeff Cobb ambushing Karl Fredericks after his tag team win.

Tom Lawlor defeated Alex Coughlin

Solid grappling from both in this. Lawlor is so good at adapting modern jiu-jitsu technique for pro wrestling. Coughlin looked great here too and showed more fire than usual.

Lawlor took most of the offense in this one. He slammed Coughlin with an exploder suplex midway through. Coughlin returned the offense with hard chops and elbows, but Lawlor had an answer for everything, either a counter-hold or strike. He later put down Lawlor with a bridging fall-away slam for two. About a half-minute later, Coughlin looked to lock on a Russian tie hold, but Lawlor reversed it into a brutal leg cradle pin to put Coughlin away. Good stuff.

After the match, Coughlin got in Lawlor’s face. In a backstage interview, Lawlor called Coughlin a piece of trash. “You just met your daddy tonight, young boy!” Lawlor finished by saying Coughlin got the spanking he deserved.

Misterioso defeated Danny Limelight

Quick bout. Both of these guys are talented, but the flashy aerial style they do really suffers without a crowd. There was a point in the match where Limelight did a crazy tornillo dive, but with the dubbed commentary they missed the call, and without the crowd, it was just silence for an otherwise spectacular spot. Fans would have freaked for it, I imagine. Misterioso put Limelight away with a backcracker for the win. The match clocked in at just under five minutes.  

TJP & Clark Connors defeated Rust Taylor & Rocky Romero

Top-tier stuff. TJP and Rust Taylor started the match off for their teams. A knuckle-lock tie-up quickly led to a lightning-fast sequence of pinning attempts, escapes, and counter-escapes. Kevin Kelly described it as “silky smooth wrestling,” which is accurate. It was a different kind of technical wrestling match compared to Lawlor vs. Coughlin from earlier, which had more of a connection to MMA in style.

Connors and Romero charged at each other a couple minutes into the match. Connors was fiery in this, he and Rocky have great chemistry together. Connors locked Romero into a Boston crab and wouldn’t let go. 

Taylor came into the ring and laid in some hard low kicks but Connors wouldn’t break the hold. “It’s like kicking a cement wall!” Kelly exclaimed. Taylor and Romero double-teamed Connors until he planted Romero with a snap powerslam out of nowhere. He tagged out to TJP who sprung into the ring with a flying forearm. Connors and TJP laid Taylor out with a beautiful doomsday blockbuster into a jackknife pinning combo for two.

Connors accidentally crashed into partner TJP, which allowed Romero to make the save. Connors quickly took Romero out with a hard spear and both spilled out onto the floor. In the ring, Taylor transitioned from a standing wrist lock into his signature Gaea lock on TJP. This guy needs to get in the ring with Zack Sabre Jr. immediately, for the sake of all New Japan fans.

Taylor went for a Brazilian kick but TJP blocked and countered with a dragon screw leg whip. He then hit Detonation on Taylor for the win. Romero and Taylor argued afterwards while TJP and Connors celebrated in the ring. Really good match.

Romero was in the middle of complaining about his month-long losing streak when Rust Taylor stormed into the frame. He shouted at Rocky and blamed him for losing. He claimed Romero left him alone with TJP and Connors, which is why they lost, according to Taylor. Romero big leagued him, calling him a chump then walked off set. Simple and effective. TJP talked about being undefeated on Collision and praised Connors in the next promo.

Jeff Cobb defeated Karl Fredericks

After three weeks of waiting, the two charged at each other as soon as the bell rang. They unloaded on each other and it was awesome. Fans would have exploded.

These two have a unique chemistry together, not all unlike Keith Lee and Dominic Dijakovic in a way. These two are built for a long rivalry.

This month’s shows have done an excellent job at developing Karl Fredericks’ persona. On commentary, Kelly and Gino Gambino described Fredericks as the “cool kid” in school, the alpha dude.

The same goes for Jeff Cobb. He was great and this, and while he usually is, he also looked more comfortable in the ring than usual, more confident, maybe. He was more emotive with his face and accentuated simple power moves, like a shoulder block or a back elbow, making them look and feel massive. He didn’t even use a suplex until towards the end of the match, when he spiked Fredericks with a swinging back suplex that made Karl look like a real life pendulum.

Cobb slowed things down halfway through, locking on a tight chin lock for a while. The two blasted each other with more hard chops and elbows. Cobb hit Fredericks so hard that his cool earring flew out of the ring.

Fredericks made a comeback, using a modified backbreaker and a hard right kick to lay Cobb out. Cobb got a bloody nose. Fredericks started firing machine gun elbows at Cobb, who was prone in the corner. Fredericks offered Cobb a back suplex of his own.

Cobb rallied back with a running uppercut. Fredericks returned the attack and locked in a Boston crab until Cobb grabbed the bottom rope for a break. The two traded more hard forearms and chops in the middle of the ring. They looked gassed. 

Fredericks did a big dropkick but was a little early on the execution, so it looked funky. He did a rolling savate kick that Cobb intercepted and turned it into a snap German suplex. He went for Tour of the Islands next and almost dropped Fredericks, but saved the move, deadlifting Fredericks back up in the air and down onto the Lion Mark in the middle of the ring for the win. 

Backstage, Cobb complimented Katsuyori Shibata on his training of the LA Dojo wrestlers. He said maybe he shouldn’t call Fredericks a Young Lion anymore because he’s “an alpha,” but an alpha only in his pond, not Cobb’s. He said tonight was step one and next time would be part two.

At the end of tonight’s broadcast, a new show called NJPW Strong was announced. It will air every Friday night starting August 7 on NJPW World.

Final thoughts: This is a top-shelf pro wrestling program. Tonight’s episode was the best show of the series so far. It was full of action for only one hour. The highlight was the main event, and while it wasn’t perfect, it had me looking forward to more of their matches in the future.

NJPW Lion’s Break Collision results: Fredericks-TJP vs. Cobb-Romero

Posted on by Justin Knipper

The show opened with an interview between Karl Fredericks and Kevin Kelly discussing Frederick’s new career chapter in NJPW. He is no longer a young lion.

The show opened with a slick opening graphic, and showcased a new production style for the new brand. The show’s ring announcing was in English, with Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, and Gino Gambino calling the action. The setup itself looks good. The ring is smaller than usual, but it works for television.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata did guest commentary for the Japanese language broadcast.

Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin went to a ten-minute draw

Really good. Lots of tight matwork at the top. Coughlin went after Connors’ arm early on. He looks bigger than before.

They exchanged huge chops and power moves midway through. Coughlin used a creative fall-away slam into a bridging pin for two; Connors responded with a picture-perfect powerslam.

More chops. Coughlin used a big side suplex on Connors for two. He locked in an armbar seconds before the bell, Connors didn’t tap, and the match ended in a draw. Good stuff from these two. They had an intense little exchange in the ring together afterwards.

Connors said in his post-match interview that wins and losses matter in NJPW. He said that he refused to be the last trainee to graduate from the LA Dojo.

Karl Fredericks and TJP defeated Jeff Cobb and Rocky Romero

The story here highlighted TJP and Rocky Romero, as they were a part of NJPW’s first dojo in Los Angeles. Karl Fredericks has a new haircut and red tights with tassels.

This was all action. TJP looked impressive here, especially when he and Rocky were in together. Good chemistry between the OGs.

Fredericks really looks like a superstar now. His exchange with Cobb toward the end of this was impressive, especially when he landed a crazy-looking kuru-kuru dropkick.

At around ten minutes in, TJP landed a slingshot dropkick to the apron, knocking Cobb back to the floor. Fredericks was able to keep Romero down for a three-count with a backslide pin for the upset win.

Fredericks and Cobb got into it right after the match, and it looked intense. In his post-match promo, Fredericks said that Rocky Romero isn’t a real LA Dojo guy anymore, that he’s CHAOS, and that he shouldn’t keep claiming he’s a part of his dojo.

Final thoughts:

This was an easy watch. Two solid matches that featured talent that probably wouldn’t get the proper look otherwise. Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors and especially Karl Fredericks will be important cogs in the NJPW machine going forward.

Next week on NJPW Young Lions Collision: DKC vs. Rust Taylor and Danny Limelight vs. TJP