Tag: never

NJPW Strong results: Jay White vs. Rocky Romero

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Fred Rosser defeated Clark Connors

Connors tried taking Rosser down early, but Rosser wasn’t having that and exited the ring to collect himself. Once back in the ring, Rosser took control on offense and muscled Connors to the mat. After a legdrop, Rosser locked on a modified STF lock until Connors caught the ropes for a break.

Connors shifted the momentum and returned Rosser’s offense with intensity. There were lots of hard stomps and forearms. He then locked on a Boston crab until Rosser made it to the ropes for a break of his own.

The finish saw Rosser catch Connors with a kneelift when Connors went for a spear, then put him away with a gutbuster for the win. Solid stuff from both.

Karl Fredericks defeated ACH

Fredericks’ athleticism is pretty unreal. He landed a picture-perfect crossbody early on in this, as graceful as ever for someone his size. It sort of had me doing a spit-take.

ACH countered an early offensive flurry from Fredericks with a smooth sliding sweep, then a basement dropkick to lay Fredericks out. He slowed the pace down, locking in a side headlock to ground the taller Fredericks.

Fredericks came back at ACH with a Stinger splash and a big jumping elbow drop. After the five-minute call, things began heating up. The two traded moves up until Fredericks was able to whip ACH into a sleeper hold, no doubt a nod to his trainer, Shibata. Fredericks then put ACH away with Manifest Destiny for the upset win. 

This was really good, and both looked top-notch.

Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) defeated Brody King and Flip Gordon

King and Loa were in first for their teams and they hoss’d it up to start, big-man elbows and big-man chops. King hit a crossbody, then tagged out to Flip Gordon. When Gordon went to springboard into the ring, Tama Tonga dragged him to the floor by the ankle. G.O.D. bullied Flip outside the ring for a while until Loa threw Gordon back inside. Tama Tonga tagged in and worked over Flip from here. He was great in this.

Gordon used a high dropkick and was able to tag out to a fired up King on the apron. He and Tonga Loa had good chemistry together throughout this, especially in their second major exchange towards the finish. The two crashed to the floor after King landed a big clothesline over the ropes.

Flip fired up towards the end, but Tama Tonga caught him in mid-air and put him down with a sweet-looking Gun Stun for the win.

The NJPW Showdown tour was announced for next week’s episode of NJPW Strong.

Jay White defeated Rocky Romero

Romero pinned Jay White in a 12-man elimination match on an episode a few weeks back, so that was the story going into this.

White trash-talked Romero at the start, antagonizing him until Rocky slapped White hard across the face. He then cradled White for a two count, all only seconds after the bell sounded.

They kept the pace at a high tempo for the first few minutes. White slowed the match after shutting down Romero’s ‘Forever Clotheslines’ in the corner.

Jay White eventually started bullying Romero, disrespecting him, and constantly talking trash. Romero would periodically try mounting a comeback, but White would shut it down.

Romero eventually turned the match in his favor after landing a swinging tornado DDT and Strong Zero for a close near-fall.

White was in control of things as the ring announcer made the ten-minute call. He placed Romero on the top rope, but Rocky broke Jay’s grip and locked on a kimura until White backed off.

Romero had White locked in an armbar only moments later and looked to have White in a bad spot; his selling was convincing.

Following that submission, Romero landed two really close 2.99 near-falls, first with a backslide and later after hitting Sliced Bread. Rocky went for another, but White countered it into a nasty-looking backbreaker, then followed up with the Bladerunner to put Romero away.

White talked on the mic in the ring afterwards. “I am in control of everything.” He kept jawing at Rocky and in the direction of CHAOS, then hit of couple of his current catchphrases (“I single-handedly sold out Madison Square Garden,” “I’m the real rock’n’rolla”) before taking off.

Final thoughts:

This was yet another solid episode of NJPW Strong, with all matches honestly being worth a look. The main event was on par with most of what we saw over the G1 Climax last month. The tag match was very good, as were the two openers, particularly in Fredericks vs. ACH. Next week’s episode will start the NJPW Showdown tour.

NJPW Strong results: Cobb & Finlay vs. KENTA & Owens

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Misterioso defeated Danny Limelight

Fine, slow-paced match. Misterioso caught Limelight when he went for a pescado to the floor and slammed him spine-first against the ring post on the floor.

Limelight skinned the cat, pulling himself from the rope back into the ring, and on his way up caught Misterioso with a headscissors and shifted the match momentum in his direction until Misterioso caught him with the MSR back cracker to put Limelight away in just over six minutes.

Hikuleo defeated TJP

Hikuleo used his abundant size and power to ragdoll TJP around early. TJP was able to slide out of his grasp a few times, at one point applying an Muta Lock on Hikuleo briefly; later, he locked on an octopus hold, but Hikuleo again powered out, then slammed him to the mat.

TJP used a big swinging DDT to spike Hikuleo midway through the match. TJP began unloading an arsenal of aerial moves Hikuleo’s way, though the youngest son of Haku always had an answer and returned TJP’s offense with power moves. He put TJP away with a snap power slam and the Gunslinger to win in dominant fashion. 

This was a good match that did a great job at establishing him as the real deal. TJP was great and Hikuleo is looking better with each match.

PJ Black defeated Alex Zayne

This match felt like something we’d see on NXT, lots of high flying spots and loads of nearfalls for a ten-minute match. Very flashy.

Black offered a handshake, but Zayne went for a roundhouse kick from the bell. Fast-paced action between the two for a few minutes until Black began to slow the pace. Black used a roundhouse kick of his own to put Zayne down, but he couldn’t pick up more than a two count. Black, frustrated, began shouting. When he came off the top, Zayne caught him with a wild spinning kick.

It was about five or six minutes into the match when the two started trading wild-looking high spots, with Zayne using what was called a ‘Crunchwrap Supreme’, a modified pumphandle bomb, at one point. After a top rope hurricanrana, and a picture-perfect moonsault press, Black went for another pin but again, only got a two count. He used a Spanish Fly from the top for another near fall.

Zayne used a shooting star kneedrop to Black, who was bent over. Alex Koslov on commentary also called this move the Crunchwrap Supreme, so I’m not sure what’s what. He put Zayne away with the Bad Habit for the win just after the ten-minute mark. Good flying match that would have been way better with a crowd, which would have ate this up, I imagine.

Jeff Cobb and David Finlay defeated Bullet Club (KENTA and Chase Owens)

This was great. Bullet Club ambushed Finlay and Cobb at the bell. They worked over Cobb for a bit until he was able to tag out to Finlay, who picked up a big win in last week’s 12-man elimination match.

Later, Owens clipped Jeff Cobb’s knee from behind and immediately tagged out to KENTA, who went right after Cobb’s knee. He and Owens switched on and off, keeping Cobb in the blue corner and always going back to the knee attacks. This more or less lasted until around five minutes into the match when Cobb was finally to tag out to Finlay.

Finlay tore through Bullet Club with a flurry of crisp offense. NJPW seems focused on rebranding him as a serious competitor, and he has looked better than ever on this show. He and KENTA were excellent together.

When Finlay tagged Cobb back in, Cobb laid in big elbows to Chase in the corner. KENTA hopped in from this point and the match began to spill out of control, bodies scattered in and outside the ring.

The last bit of this saw Finlay land a cool-looking swinging back cracker on Owens, but then Finlay ate a big high kick from KENTA. Cobb then stormed in and took KENTA out with a running lariat. He wasn’t able to make the cover, however, because he was holding his injured knee. 

Owens snuck back in and blasted him with a high knee strike for a close count, but Finlay dove in to make the save. KENTA threw Finlay from the ring, leaving Owens and Cobb together inside. After a big forearm smash, Cobb planted Owens with Tour of the Islands for the emphatic win.

Final thoughts:

This was a good show with a great main event. That’s saying a lot when it’s airing during the G1 tournament, though half of the wrestlers in tonight’s match are currently in the G1, so take it for what it’s worth.

Next week’s edition of NJPW Strong: NEVER will feature Jay White vs. Rocky Romero and Brody King and Flip Gordon vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).

NEVER Openweight title match set for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

Posted on by Bryan Rose

After an injury temporarily derailed plans, the Wrestle Kingdom 13 NEVER Openweight title was set tonight at the World Tag League finals as new champion Kota Ibushi will challenge Will Ospreay.

Ospreay won a number one contender’s match on the show, defeating Taichi with the stormbreaker. In the next match, Kota Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto to win his first championship since 2014, putting away Goto with two kamigoyes. 

After the title match, Ospreay came out and officially challenged Ibushi to a match on January 4, noting how this was a dream match that everyone wanted. They shook hands, confirming the match for the Tokyo Dome.

Ospreay was originally supposed to challenge then champion Taichi to a match at Power Struggle for the championship. However, Ospreay injured his ribs and was sidelined until tonight’s match. Goto filled in for him and ended up winning the championship on 11/3. He ended up holding the title for around 36 days.