The newest member of the United Empire has been revealed.
Jake Lee made his return from injury at Wrestle Kingdom 20, joining Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Andrade El Idolo as the latest incarnation of the United Empire. Members of Bullet Club War Dogs in the ring reacted in anger, upset that their stablemate had turned their back against them. Lee scored the win for his team, pinning Unaffiliated’s Hiromu Takahashi.
After the match, a masked man entered the ring and added insult to injury by superkicking Hiromu. He revealed himself to be none other than Francesco Akira, returning from injury.
Lee has been out of action since September of 2024 when he suffered a foot injury during the Road to Destruction tour. He had made his NJPW debut that April, leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH to join NJPW, specifically the Bullet Club War Dogs. He entered his first G1 Climax tournament shortly thereafter, failing to make it to the playoff stage.
Joining AJPW in 2011, Lee became one of the company’s top stars, winning the Triple Crown Championship on two occasions and won the 2021 Champion Carnival. His contract expired in 2022 and joined NOAH soon after.
Fumi Saito knew Hulk Hogan for over 40 years, going back to the AWA when they both lived in Minnesota.
On this episode of Pacific Rim, Fumi talks about Hulk Hogan before WWE, Hogan’s first tour in NJPW, how Stan Hansen and Andre the Giant mentored and helped Terry Bollea better define the image and wrestling style of Hulk Hogan, which match in Japan earned Hogan nearly $250,000 in today’s money, and Fumi’s stories about his friend Terry away from the ring.
A partial list of participants for the 34th G1 Climax tournament have been revealed.
The two big surprises this year include Jake Lee from Pro Wrestling NOAH and Konosuke Takeshita of AEW/DDT. Both will be making their G1 Climax debut this year. Lee most recently came up short against Tetsuya Naito on Saturday’s All Together Sapporo event. Both will be in the same block this year.
Eighteen of the twenty participants were announced on Sunday’s NJPW Soul tour. They include:
Block A:
Tetsuya Naito
Shota Umino
Shingo Takagi
SANADA
Great-O-Khan
Zack Sabre Jr.
Gabe Kidd
EVIL
Jake Lee
TBA
Block B:
Hirooki Goto
El Phantasmo
Yota Tsuji
Jeff Cobb
Henare
David Finlay
Ren Narita
Yuya Uemura
Konosuke Takeshita
TBA
The final Block A and Block B participants will be decided in a tournament that begins during the NJPW Soul tour, ending with the finals at Tokyo Budokan on July 5. The participants in the tournament include:
Fumi Saito and I are back with another episode of the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast.
This week, we discuss New Japan Pro Wrestling’s new president Hiroshi Tanahashi, including what he’ll do, his goals, his college background, and the fact that he’s actually the fourth wrestler to carry the title of NJPW president.
Plus, we talk the success of All Japan and why Fumi is not concerned about their new partnership with WWE NXT.
We’re coming up on Wrestle Kingdom next week and we also run down a number of shows running in Tokyo the next several days.
We’re back with nearly 90 minutes of the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast.
Fumi Saito and I talk about what the future may hold for Will Ospreay, Giulia and Okada in 2024 including why WWE may or may not be the best fit for them.
Fumi answers questions on Stardom’s new president and possible changes we could see in the company in 2024.
We also discuss All Japan Pro Wrestling’s comeback year and the three people driving the resurgence and change backstage.
Plus, Wrestle Kingdom, Bruiser Brody, Abdullah The Butcher, The Von Erichs, questions from the YouTube chat and much more.
The 2023 World Tag League continued on Sunday in Fukushima.
Matches in the B Block were featured on the sixth night of the tournament. With all teams having wrestled three times each, the Monstersauce team of Lance Archer & Alex Zayn and the Just Five Guys team of Yuya Uemura & Taichi sit atop the block with 6 points each.
IWGP Tag Team Champions and two-time defending World Tag League winners Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) finally got in the win column on Sunday as well, defeating Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza.
NJPW World Tag League 2023 night six results:
World Tag League 2023 B Block match: Yota Tsuji & Zandokan Jr. (4pts) defeated El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (2pts)
World Tag League 2023 B Block match: Taichi & Yuya Uemura (6pts) defeated Yuji Nagata & Minoru Suzuki (0pts)
World Tag League 2023 B Block match: Hirooki Goto.& YOSHI-HASHI (2pts) defeated Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza (0pts)
World Tag League 2023 B Block match: Lance Archer & Alex Zayn (6pts) defeated Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. (4pts)
The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships will be defended at NJPW Destruction in Ryogoku.
Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Kazuchika Okada will put their titles on the line against Impact Wrestling’s Josh Alexander and the Motor City Machine Guns.
A huge addition to Destruction in Ryogoku October 9!
Alexander began wrestling with NJPW of USA in 2021 but has yet to wrestle a match for the promotion in Japan.
The current NEVER Six Man champions won the titles from Strong Style at Wrestling Dontaku in May. Since then they’ve defended the belts against The Blackpool Combat Club at Dominion and last Friday in Korakuen Hall against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tiger Mask, and Togi Makabe.
NJPW Destruction in Ryogoku takes place on Monday, October 9, and will air on NJPW World.
NJPW Destruction in Ryogoku October 9, 2023 lineup:
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defends against EVIL
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi defends against Mike Bailey and Lio Rush in a three-way match
NEVER Openweight Champion David Finlay defends against Tama Tonga
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend against KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight
Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin defend against El Phantasmo & Hikuleo
Tanga Loa vs. Chase Owens
Best-of-seven series finale: Shota Umino, Master Wato & Yuji Nagata vs. Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki (if necessary)
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Kazuchika Okada defend against Josh Alexander & The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced some significant upgrades are coming to its streaming service, NJPW World, this fall.
The new service will include apps for iOS, Android, and Roku TV. Video on the service will be upgraded to full HD and users will also have the ability to download content to watch offline. Search functions will also be improved.
The price for the service is increasing from ¥999 JPY ($6.82 USD) per month to ¥1,298 JPY ($8.86 USD) per month. It is expected to debut this fall. However, an exact release date for the new streaming service has yet to be announced.
“The new price point will come into effect at the next payment date after the renewal. Those who wish to unsubscribe or delete their accounts must do so before that date. The first payment date under the new plan will be announced at a later time,” NJPW1972.com reads.
Returning subscribers will not need to re-register for the new service. Their payments will automatically be increased to the new price. Pay-per-view content previously purchased by users will automatically transfer over to the new service.
NJPW World’s current app on Amazon Fire TV app will no longer be supported following the debut of the new service, but a new app will be made available for download. Customers being billed through Amazon will have their subscription payments canceled in the coming days.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia at the famous 2300 Arena in July with Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker on the call.
The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) defeated The Calling (Delirious & Talon) and The Samoan SWAT Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) in a three-way to become the no. 1 contenders for the MLW Tag Team titles
Talon was debuting here but was wearing a gas mask to hide his identity. Nothing was mentioned regarding his team competing for the no. 1 contendership in their first match, but they tried to explain it by saying The Calling want to dominate the tag team scene.
Delirious and Talon took control early after initially disappearing backstage only to jump the babyfaces moment later.
Justice and Anoa’i dove to the floor early and Talon was taken out after a Michinoku Driver from Finau and a top rope splash from Anoa’i. Delirious was on the receiving end of a big Samoan drop from Finau, which led to the babyfaces squaring off.
Second Gear Crew launched Anoa’i out of the ring onto Finau, then finished off The Calling with a top rope power slam by Manders and a top rope splash by Justice to pick up the pinfall win. With that, they are now the new top contenders for the titles held by The Calling’s Rickey Shane Page & AKIRA.
– After B3CCA attacked her with a guitar last week, we learned MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo will be out of action for 2-3 weeks while B3CCA will face the debuting Maki Itoh in a no. 1 contender’s match at Fury Road.
– The major announcement that has been building for several weeks was revealed to be a partnership between MLW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. The recent teaser was shown in full as the MLW and NJPW logos appeared from behind Earth with the Fury Road logo also hinting at more developments to come for that event.
– KUSHIDA had already been heavily hinted as appearing at September’s Fury Road, and it was confirmed here via the new partnership. He will be in action against Tony Deppen.
Willie Mack defeated Ken Broadway, Love Doug, Nolo Kitano and O’Shay Edwards in a scramble match
This helped build to the big Mack vs. Alex Kane MLW title match at Fury Road with Edwards being the latest member of the Bomaye Fight Club to put a target on Mack’s back.
In his MLW debut, Edwards was slated as the powerhouse and caught Kitano and Doug as they launched themselves from the ring. It wasn’t until Mack came flying at him that Edwards finally fell.
Broadway, Kitano and Doug hit each other one after the other until Edwards came in and floored them all, culminating in a big delayed suplex on Broadway.
Kitano is called “The Concrete Samurai” with kicks and escapes to match his character. He would fit perfectly in the middleweight division. Doug is a lovable comedy character who can turn it on and fight dirty when he needs to.
The main story of the match was the dominance of Edwards. He again bullied the pack (without Mack) and had to be attacked 4-on-1 to take him out of the equation with an avalanche superplex.
With Edwards out of the picture, Mack picked up the quick pinfall victory after a top rope splash to Broadway after he had planted Kitano with a face-first slam.
MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defeated MLW Openweight Champion AKIRA via disqualification
After going to a double disqualification last week with Rickey Shane Page, Fatu was scheduled to meet another member of The Calling here in AKIRA, but yet again The Calling were up to their usual tricks and the match ended prematurely.
AKIRA and Fatu got on the mic before the match. After security came out to temporarily block Fatu from entering the ring, AKIRA came off the top rope with a chair onto everyone.
They eventually got into the ring after a brawl on the outside with chairs. AKIRA reversed a pop-up Samoan drop attempt into a backslide for a close two count but Fatu came back with a superkick.
Some masked men from The Calling ran in for a disqualification, and the distraction allowed Page to run in with a barbed wire baseball bat which he then used to ram Fatu’s head into the ring post.
AKIRA and Page left the area as Fatu was left on the ringside floor grabbing at his face and eye. The commentary team speculated that a barb from the bat may have hit Fatu in the eye.
This week’s NJPW Strong kicked off the Nemesis series that was held in Hollywood, California. Announcer Kevin Kelly finally returned to after calling a number of shows onsite with NJPW last year, joined by Alex Kozlov.
Tonight featured the first-ever Strong Survivor match, a unique multi-man match used to determine a new number one contender to Fred Rosser’s Strong Openweight Championship.
Bullet Club (Jay White & El Phantasmo) defeated Hikuleo & Alan Angels
After some stalling, it was White and Angels who kicked the match off. The Hollywood crowd was pretty loud in support of Angels, who has quickly become a Strong favorite.
Later, when El Phantasmo tagged in, he and White held Angels in the corner so ELP could do his corner-to-corner rolling back rake spot. The crowd started chanting “holy sh*t” and Kelly’s response was dead on: “All right, let’s take it easy out there. It was a back rake!” It’s great to have you back, Mr. Kelly.
Angels was later able to put Phantasmo down with Shiranui and tag out to a fresh Hikuleo, ex-Bullet Club giant. ELP tagged out to White who dropped White face-first onto the turnbuckle pad with Snake Eyes and then laid him out with a running lariat for two, broken up by Phantasmo.
Hikuleo put White down with a snap powerslam and then went for a chokeslam, but ELP appeared. It looked as though he would be getting chokeslammed instead, but White chop blocked Hikuleo from behind, taking out his knee and letting go of Phantasmo.
Angels re-appeared and took White out with a low tope through the bottom rope. He would then catch Phantasmo off the ropes with La Mistica until White broke it up. Hikuleo charged at White, so White parried while pulling the rope down, low-bridging Hikuleo over the ropes out onto the floor.
Angels went for a quebrada inside the ring, but Phantasmo caught him mid-air with a low superkick. He flattened Angels with the UFO (Unidentified Flying Opponent) for the win.
– There was a pre-taped promo from United Empire’s Jeff Cobb. He called out Bad Dude Tito (TMDK) for trying to make a name for himself off of Cobb and United Empire. Cobb said when Tito first came to Japan last summer, he couldn’t make a name for himself off of anyone.
Then came the cutting words: Cobb said Tito was not a “bad dude” at all, but was, in fact, a “so-so dude.” Feel the burn! Cobb then told Tito to get ready to fly, because he’d be throwing Tito all around the Strong ring. They square off next week.
KENTA won the first-ever Strong Survivor Match and earns a shot at Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser
The rules: The match begins as a battle royal with mystery entrants until the match is down to four remaining wrestlers. Then, eliminations will be pinfall or submission only until one Strong Survivor remains.
The participants were Christopher Daniels, Blake Christian, The DKC, Adrian Quest, Mascara Dorada, JR Kratos, C4 (Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas), Rocky Romero, KENTA, Wheeler Yuta, Jakob Austin Young, Bateman, Misterioso, KEITA and Che Cabrera.
All wrestlers waited at ringside until the match was officially underway. Once the bell sounded, it was bedlam as entrants rushed into the ring and began throwing fists immediately. Kratos wisely took his time entering the ring, though he did so about 30 seconds after everyone else had.
C4 (Rosas & Chhun) were eliminated first, back to back. KEITA was next, then Romero. Christian eliminated Cabrera after snapping the straps on Cabrera’s singlet, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor. Kratos eliminated Misterioso next.
When Mascara Dorada went for a springboard attack into the ring, Yuta caught him mid-air with a dropkick, knocking Dorada to the floor and eliminating him. Yuta then threw Young over the top to eliminate him too.
Kratos then caught KENTA, Yuta and Christian with separate avalanche attacks in the corner. He pancaked DKC coming off the ropes next before powerslamming Quest and tossing him over the top. Bateman felt the wrath of Kratos just seconds later with Kratos sending him flying over the top with a lariat. He went to eliminate Daniels next, but Daniels held on. While Kratos fought with Daniels, the rest of the entrants got behind Kratos and threw him over the top, eliminating him.
DKC then threw Daniels out of the ring, but since Kratos and the other wrestlers were arguing with referees on the floor, Daniels snuck back into the ring and threw DKC out of the ring. The refs never saw Daniels eliminated, so ended up in the final four despite DKC clearly eliminating him on screen.
The final four entrants were Daniels, KENTA, Christian and Yuta with eliminations now occurring by pinfall or submission.
Christian went on a tear and laid both Daniels and KENTA out with some aerial offense, but it would be Daniels who would score the first elimination (and on Christian to boot) when he rolled Christian up with a schoolboy cradle while putting his ankles on the second rope for illegal extra leverage. Referee Jeremy Marcus didn’t see it, so Christian was eliminated.
Daniels and KENTA formed a short-lived alliance meant to take out Yuta. After some double-teaming, the two eventually started arguing over who would be the one to eliminate Yuta. Daniels got fed up and shoved KENTA. Daniels was quick to apologize and change his mind, insisting that KENTA be the one to eliminate Yuta. As soon as KENTA turned his back, Daniels went after KENTA — the heel of heels.
Daniels teased Angel’s Wings, but KENTA reversed it and then teased Go 2 Sleep, which Daniels slipped out of. Then, out of the corner came Yuta, who took both out with a double lariat and a double missile dropkick off the top later.
While KENTA was on the floor, Yuta caught him with a tope suicida. He went for a sunset flip over the ropes to Daniels back in the ring, but Daniels sat down into a pin to counter while holding onto the ropes for leverage. Yuta was able to kick out at two despite Daniels’ shifty tactics.
Moments later, it was Yuta who would eliminate Daniels with a bridging German suplex for a three count. Without a moment to celebrate, KENTA reappeared to greet and floor Yuta with his busaiku knee.
After a bit more back-and-forth, KENTA would finally take Yuta out with another busaiku knee to score a pinfall at 15:45 of the match, winning the first-ever Strong Survivor match to earn a Strong Openweight title shot.
Final thoughts:
The opening match was a nice way to kick off the show. The Strong Survivor bout was fine, but it was most interesting at the end when it was down to the final four. Daniels stole the show, but Yuta, KENTA & Christian all had memorable (albeit short) moments in this one.
Tonight saw the next set of Detonation tapings from Hollywood, California.
Bateman of Stray Dog Army appeared at the top of the show with Ian Riccaboni & Alex Koslov. He talked about his match on the show against newcomer Jakob Austin Young. Bateman mentioned that the two had wrestled long ago, and that tonight he’d be checking to see how much “love” is in Austin’s violence these days.
Bateman defeated Jakob Austin Young
Bateman bullied Young for a long while until Austin connected with a leg lariat after a few minutes. The crowd then got behind Bateman, the heel, chanting “Let’s go Bateman” when Austin would get in any offense. Young hit a back suplex for a count of two. In the end, Bateman put Young away with a tombstone piledriver for the win.
KENTA defeated Bad Dude Tito
This was good. KENTA got a great reaction on his way to the ring. Early on, Tito bullied KENTA, knocking him off his feet with shoulder blocks and shouting things like “You’re too small!!” and “Too much power!!”
Throughout the match, KENTA targeted Tito’s knees and worked them over for a good while. Later, he smashed Tito with big kicks to his chest. Tito would return with a short kick to KENTA’s breadbasket followed by a nice spinning enzuigiri to the back of the head. KENTA would take Tito off his feet again with a dragon screw leg whip, then blast him with a big basement dropkick in the corner, Shibata-style.
When KENTA went for the GTS, Tito reversed it into a Blue Thunder for two. The finish saw KENTA grab the ref while Tito held him in a fireman’s carry. He used this moment to slip out of Tito’s clutch, and then, behind the ref’s back, kicked Tito in the groin then cradled him for the hollow victory. I’d love to see another one between these two next year.
Emily Mae interviewed STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser and talked about his upcoming title defense against JR Kratos, who didn’t reveal his full gameplan, though he did mention that he was planning to run Kratos’ gas tank down to empty. They’ll face off in the main event on next week’s episode.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) (c) defeated Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso)
Motor City Machine Guns, the second tag team champions, took on Stray Dog Army, who recently won their number-one contender match to earn their title shot this week.
After about five minutes, the Stray Dog Army took control. Brown finally tagged out to Misterioso, who quickly dove onto Sabin on the floor then hit a slingshot double-knee drop onto Shelley in the ring. Later, Stray Dog Army double-teamed Shelley, with Brown connecting with a basement dropkick before Misterioso used a quebrada in the ring for two.
When Misterioso went for a second-rope moonsault, Shelley got his knees up and Misterioso crashed into them. Shelley tagged Sabin in and Misterioso tagged Brown. Sabin caught Brown with a huge tornado DDT for two. They did an assisted flatliner to Brown for another close nearfall.
Brown did a dive onto MCMG onto the floor and Misterioso followed up with a big Asai moonsault. He followed up back in the ring with a guillotine legdrop onto Sabin for two.
In the end, MCMG put Brown away with the Dirty Bomb in 12:11 to pick up the win and successfully retain their tag titles.
Final thoughts:
This was a short but solid episode of Strong, with KENTA and Bad Dude Tito and the main event tag match being the highlights of the show this week.
The next set of matches from Detonation will air next week and features Fred Rosser defending his STRONG Openweight championship against Team Filthy’s JR Kratos.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including RAW from Monday night, all the latest news from the past few days, Dave Meltzer moving to video, and THE RETURN OF ROCKY ROMERO to talk about two big New Japan USA shows this weekend on FITE.tv. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Tonight saw the next set of tapings from NJPW Strong’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022 tapings in Hollywood, California, with IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori defending his title against Alan Angels in the main event.
QT Marshall (w/ Aaron Solo) defeated Keita
Marshall got booed a lot, both before and during the match. It was around the time of the five-minute call that Marshall flashed the Diamond Dallas Page diamond gesture, crotch-chopped the audience, then put Keita away with a Diamond Cutter for the win.
Marshall got on the mic and talked about how Shota Umino ruined his moment at NJPW Strong in Charlotte, North Carolina recently. Knowing that Umino wasn’t in the building for this show, Marshall would challenge Umino to a one-on-one match. Suddenly, a backstage vignette of Umino aired where he answered Marshall’s challenge. He showed off his Death Rider jacket Jon Moxley gave him, then addressed Marshall before saying “See you in Las Vegas.” Marshall then started screaming to unbook the match as he exited with Aaron Solo.
TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) defeated Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura
This match was great.
There were sporadic “TITO!” calls came from the audience before things got underway. On commentary, Ian Riccaboni explained that Haste’s usual tag partner in TMDK, Mikey Nicholls, was absent due to the birth of his child, which is why Tito was in his spot. Congratulations to Mikey Nicholls.
Uemura took a beating from TMDK until he was able to stop Haste from coming off the top rope, taking him over with a big double-overhook suplex into the ring. He then tagged out to Daniels, who cleaned house. He took Tito out with a big diving lariat from the second rope before spiking Haste with a Death Valley Bomb for two.
There came a point where Daniels hoisted Haste onto his shoulders in an electric chair so that Uemura could come off the top with a flying bulldog, Steiner Bros. style, just like they’ve used over the summer. However, Bad Dude Tito was able to shove Uemura off the top, which sent him crashing into Daniels and breaking up the spot. Daniels started yelling at Uemura, but Haste capitalized and attacked Daniels while Daniels had his back turned. Tito dragged Uemura out of the ring, and Haste put Daniels away after a fireman’s carry-to-uranage slam for the win.
Afterwards, Daniels apologized to Uemura. The two hugged, and Daniels raised Uemura’s arm . . . just before giving Uemura a low blow. Daniels kicked him in the groin, dropping Uemura immediately. The crowd booed a lot. A scowling Daniels then gave Uemura two double-jump moonsaults before telling off the crowd and heading backstage.
Next up was a short promo interview from TJP. He addressed NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser and the upcoming match between the two. He talked about how they’d both been champions in New Japan and at “a different company” (WWE). He told a story about the WWE Cruiserweight Championship; since he was the inaugural champion, TJP claimed wrestlers would ask him why his name wasn’t featured on the side plates of the belt with the other champions. TJP said that it was because the big part in the middle was made for him. He then said Rosser wouldn’t be “sharing” the ring with TJP but “renting” it from him, because he said without a NJPW Strong there’d be no LA Dojo, and without an LA Dojo, NJPW wouldn’t have existed, saying the he “built this dojo”. He told Rosser to remember the big centerpiece on the Strong Openweight championship before their match, because TJP is the one who “built” that championship.
Ren Narita defeated Jakob Austin Young
This was solid. Young was discovered by NJPW at one of their dojo tryouts. He’s previously worked for OWE in China. He’s very talented.
Narita would pick up the win with a bridging front suplex.
This was good, but it seemed as though it finished early because of a possible injury towards the end of the match.
Angels has good charisma and is just 24. Towards the finish, Angels did a triangle moonsault from the top rope to the floor, but on his way down, he crashed shin-first into the guardrail. It doesn’t come across that loudly on screen, but inside the venue, it was absolutely jarring; it sounded like a car crash. The crowd reaction was loud, and a number of fans unfortunately began chanting “You f****d up!” The mood changed at the venue from here. Even Ian Riccaboni hoped Angels was all right after the match.
Angels and Ishimori crawled back in the ring and went right to the finish. Angels came off the second rope, but Ishimori caught him on the way down with double-knees to the face. He’d then put Angels away with the Bloody Cross, which looked kind of bad because Angels couldn’t kick his legs up in the air for it.
Final thoughts:
Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura vs. TMDK was the best match of this week’s episode, with Narita vs. Austin as a short but solid runner-up.
Next week sees STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser take on TJP and more.
Tonight saw the first of NJPW Strong’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022 tapings from Hollywood, California.
Mascara Dorada defeated Misterioso
Dorada did a spinning rope-walk hurricanrana that took Misterioso to the floor. When Dorada went for a tope con giro to the floor, Misterioso caught him on the way down in mid-air, then slammed Dorada into the barricades at ringside.
Back in the ring, Misterioso connected with a running double-knee strike in the corner for two. Dorada would later catch Misterioso with a huge rope-walk somersault dive to the floor. “Death-defying” would be an appropriate way to describe the spot. Pretty amazing. The crowd lost it and broke out into a “LU-CHA!” chant afterwards.
Back in the ring, Dorada would connect with a flawless springboard swanton onto Misterioso. Dorada’s smoothness on the ropes is something else.
Misterioso later answered with a tope con giro of his own, though he clipped his legs on the ringside barricade on the way down. Thankfully Misterioso seemed all right, but the crowd went into a “HOLY SH*T!” chant after it happened. The impact the steel makes is so loud inside the venue, which inadvertently adds more of a dramatic effect.
Late in the match, Misterioso landed a beautiful springboard hurricanrana from the top rope. Again, the crowd went wild. Misterioso only got a two-count for his troubles, though. He then landed an electric chair-to-wheelbarrow German suplex for two. Misterioso can move like a smaller luchador, but he’s actually a muscular 230 lbs. with serious power. It wasn’t a perfect match, but this may have been his best showing on NJPW Strong since the inception of the show in 2020.
Mascara Dorada won the match with what commentator Alex Koslov called “The Guadalajara County Slam” to put Misterioso away for the win. Good opener.
Robbie Eagles defeated Kevin Blackwood
Midway into the match, Eagles lit Blackwood’s chest up with kicks. He then went for a basement dropkick into the corner, but Blackwood blocked it and returned with a flurry of strikes.
Eagles targeted Blackwood’s leg in order to soften Blackwood up for his Ron Miller Special submission. He used a springboard basement dropkick to take Blackwood out, though Blackwood wasn’t phased and immediately locked Eagles in a Texas Cloverhold until Eagles grabbed the ropes for a break.
Blackwood connected with a Buzzsaw Kick and followed up with a brainbuster—a nice little ode to TAJIRI—before Eagles answered with a Turtle Backpack driver before giving Blackwood a 450 splash from the top, one where Eagles crashed down onto Blackwood’s legs. Eagles then locked in the Ron Miller Special for the win. Eagles picked up the victory in his return to NJPW Strong.
NJPW Openweight Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) (c) defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
This was excellent.
Nelson and Fletcher kicked things off for their teams, but after only a few minutes into the match, things had spilled out onto the floor between Isaacs and Davis. The other two brawled around ringside. Fletcher and Nelson followed. Aussie Open did a double backdrop suplex to WCWC, dropping them back-first onto the ring apron.
Davis locked in a back face lock on Nelson back in the ring. Davis tagged Fletcher into the match, and Fletcher tried taking Nelson to the top rope for some sort of maneuver. Nelson bit Fletcher’s bicep, which forced Fletcher to lose his balance and fall off the ropes. When Nelson went for a diving crossbody bodyblock, Fletcher blocked the press by pulling his knees up.
Nelson was eventually able to tag out to Isaacs, who’d immediately cleaned house. He did a flipping lariat, then stacked Aussie Open in the corner and proceeded to give them more lariats. It was a lariat parfait. Isaacs earned a two-count after putting Fletcher down with a jackhammer.
WCWC gained much of their momentum back towards the end of the match, at one point running roughshod on Aussie Open with power moves. Isaacs & Nelson tried doing stereo deadlift German suplexes on AO, but the Aussies countered and turned it into a stereo brainbusters instead.
Both teams traded superkicks. Nelson would land a big pop-up power bomb on Fletcher before slingshotting him to Isaacs, who’d catch Fletcher, spin him around, then drive him back onto Nelson’s knees with a Death Valley Bomb—but only for two.
Aussie Open mounted a final comeback and launched the rest of whatever artillery they had in their arsenal at WCWC. After a few more close nearfalls, they’d win the match after hitting Coriolus, putting Isaacs away for the pin. Aussie Open are now two for two.
Final thoughts:
The main event was great modern tag team wrestling, and with two of the hottest teams on the scene right now. The whole show was good, the main event turned out to be this week’s highlight.
Roppongi Vice, Taylor Rust & KUSHIDA vs. Bullet Club (Jay White, Hikuleo, Chase Owens & Juice Robinson) headlines next week’s episode of NJPW Strong: Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022.
