Tonight saw the final set of matches from the NJPW Strong: Nemesis taping in Hollywood, California.
While Ian Riccaboni and Alex Koslov ran down tonight’s lineup at the top of the show, Christopher Daniels showed up as he was scheduled to face The DKC on tonight’s episode. Daniels told the announce team that he didn’t need any friends at the LA Dojo and didn’t care that everyone was upset with his recent actions toward members of the LA Dojo.
He then addressed DKC, saying that the Young Lion would finally be in the ring with someone who could teach him something, though the sad part would be that DKC would also learn how little he truly knows. After saying “class is in session,” Daniels then put his shades back on and walked away.
Kenny King defeated Gregory Sharpe
This was a good opener. Sharpe has appeared on recent episodes of Strong and often teams with Jakob Austin Young. King and Sharpe locked up early, but King quickly rolled out onto the apron and did the lackadaisical Los Ingobernables pose, just like his teammate Rush in La Faccion.
Later, Sharpe hit a really nice diving bodypress off the top rope for two. When Sharpe would attempt another aerial attack from the top, King threw a short dropkick to the ropes, wobbling Sharpe off balance causing him to slip and fall. King looked to the crowd and pointed to his head, the universal wrestling gesture for “I’m smart.” King hit a vertical suplex and floated over immediately to follow up with some ground and pound which was nice.
Sharpe came back with a pounce, but instead of shoulder tackling King, he threw a dropkick instead. (Pounce kick?) He then put Sharpe down with a German suplex for a count of two.
King answered with a release Dragon Suplex followed by a capoeira-style kick to Sharpe’s head followed by a nice standing spinebuster for a two count.
When King went to the top for an attack, Sharpe ran up the ropes and gutwrench superplexed King back into the ring. He landed a short, but sharp, running basement dropkick for a close near fall. King would finally put Sharpe away with a picture-perfect Royal Flush for the win. Again, this was a solid opener where both King and Sharpe looked good.
Christopher Daniels defeated The DKC
The DKC was defending the honor of the LA Dojo and was fired up as he waited for the bell to ring. Daniels gestured for DKC to calm down. They would lock up and trade a few holds before Daniels took DKC to the mat and slapped him in the back of the head with no respect whatsoever for the Young Lion.
One of Daniels’ most impressive skills is to take a fairly conservative or fundamental wrestling sequence and make it look not only compelling and smooth, but also completely in his style. The subtle technique he uses is as masterful as it is invisible.
He took DKC down hard with an exploder suplex for two. He would use a few hurricanranas to counter back with, the second one coming off the top rope. He then hit a somersault dive right onto Daniels after coming off the ropes. I don’t believe I’ve seen someone do that in the ring before. He then did DKC FIRE, where he laid Daniels across his knee and proceeded to give him multiple knife-edged chops into the neck. He slammed Daniels to the mat and dropped one more falling chop onto him before taking him out with a diving single-leg “Liu Kang” kick.
When DKC went back to the ropes for another flying attack, Daniels knocked him off. He then landed the double-jump moonsault to score the victory.
Afterwards, he gave The DKC a piledriver for good measure, got in his face, and talked some more smack before leaving. The crowd started chanting “One more time!” at Daniels after the piledriver. It’s weird that Daniels would literally tell off the crowd during the match and still treated him as a babyface.
Tama Tonga, Hikuleo, David Finlay & Alan Angels defeated Bullet Club (Jay White & El Phantasmo) & West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson w/ Bobby Fish)
This was your typical fast-paced, all-action NJPW multi-man tag match. The Bullet Club guys got star treatment from the crowd. White & Tonga looked good together when they were in. WCWC was able to show off a lot of cool double-team spots. Finlay & Angels looked great. Hikuleo put El Phantasmo down with a massive chokeslam. Phantasmo did a lot of his goofing off spots. He did the cartwheel back rake he does in most of his matches which Riccaboni called a “dermal strike.” Tama Tonga would pick up the win for his team after taking Jorel Nelson out with a Gun Stun for the win.
Final thoughts:
This was a solid and kind of eclectic episode of Strong. The more I see Gregory Sharpe on the show, the more I enjoy him and imagine he has tons of potential. Christopher Daniels working with top rookies has also become one of my favorite things to keep tabs on. He’s masterful and he knows how to make younger wrestlers feel important and interesting, but in an organic way, not at all forced. Credit to both he and DKC.
The main event was good too, though if you watch the show regularly, you knew what to expect. I thought the most interesting takeaway was how good White & Tonga looked together in the ring during the match and wonder if we’ll see another match between them next year.
Next week kicks off NJPW’s last set of tapings for the year at Nemesis in Hollywood, California.
