Tonight featured the last content from the Strong Style Evolved 2022 tapings from St. Petersburg, Fla.
The DKC defeated Kevin Knight via submission
High quality opener. These Young Lions usually tag together which made the match more interesting; Ian Riccaboni even said they were “like brothers” on commentary. In many ways it was your prototypical NJPW Young Lion style match, but both DKC and Knight added their own distinct wrestling pizazz to make it stand apart from other NJPW rookie openers.
The bout became a much higher impact affair after a few minutes in. The crowd got into it as the match went on, especially towards the finish. Late in the match, the DKC fired up, shouted “DKC FIRE!!” and threw a number of knife-edged chops into Knight’s throat. Knight responded with a basement shoulder-tackle. DKC caught Knight with a flying jump kick off the ropes; it was more like a Bruce Lee type kick as opposed to the modern wrestling fare. It looked cool. He’d later tap Knight out with a crucifix Bomb that he turned into a modified crucifix/Koji clutch submission hold for the win.
As for the match between him and Mascara Dorada, it was very good, albeit short. This was Dorada’s first time back in a NJPW ring in six years. The two complemented each other nicely and felt naturally in sync working together.
It was subtle, but on commentary, Riccaboni and Matt Rehwoldt talked about the history between these two. They didn’t mention it, but they are referring to WWE’s 2017 Cruiserweight Classic that TJP won, and Dorada (as Gran Metallik) was a part of.
Early on in the match, Mascara Dorada caught TJP with a perfectly timed Asai moonsault after TJP had slid onto the floor from the outside. His momentum was short-lived, though, as TJP would take back the reins, neutralizing Dorada in the ring with a hammerlock surfboard submission, then released the hold by falling backwards and snapping Dorada’s arm backwards. The crowd booed.
Dorada came back and in the end scored a pinfall on TJP after planting him with a spinning sit-out Death Valley Bomb.
TJP acted like a sore loser afterwards by unmasking Dorada, forcing him to throw a towel over his head to protect his identity. The crowd was heated as TJP left the ring with Dorada’s mask. I imagine we’ll see a rematch between these two down the road based on what we saw tonight.
Jay Lethal defeated Ren Narita
Retired NJPW referee Tiger Hattori joined the English broadcast team for this match.
When the bell sounded, Lethal took his time engaging Narita, instead choosing to please the crowd with his version of the Flair Strut mixed in with a couple of “Woos!” Narita didn’t look pleased. They started off with an extended exchange, going back and forth first on the mat, then running off the ropes. Lethal teased Lethal Injection, but Narita shoved Lethal away.
Ian Riccaboni put over Lethal on commentary as an unsung, underrated wrestler of the scene for years, and rightly so. I mention this because it also reminded me of how young Narita is and how he’s only been wrestling for five years. But he didn’t look out of place at all with a vet like Lethal. It’s almost as though Katsuyori Shibata fully transferred his wrestling spirit into Ren Narita’s body, and what we see now is simply that.
Speaking of Shibata-esque wrestling, Narita later caught Lethal with a few high roundhouse kicks to the chest. Lethal would recover and later attempted a springboard dropkick to Narita as Narita stood on the apron. Narita ducked, but Lethal caught him with a draping cutter which brought Narita back into the ring.
Lethal missed a diving elbow drop, allowing Narita to recover and plant Lethal with a front suplex. He earned himself a nearfall after hitting a nice bridging single-arm suplex. Narita then went for the Narita Special #3, a modified Texas Cloverhold, then transitioned from that into a figure-four leglock. Lethal was able to force the break, and when they separated, we could see Narita’s nose and/or mouth were bloodied up. The announcers weren’t quite sure what happened to cause it, and it wasn’t clear on screen, either.
Lethal used his Lethal Combination on Narita, then followed up with a deadlift brainbuster before connecting with Hail to the King, his Randy Savage-inspired diving elbow drop.
It was around the ten-minute mark when Lethal locked on his own figure four. When Narita got out of the hold, Lethal went for Lethal Injection, but Narita blocked it again, catching Lethal with a sleeper hold before transitioning into a cobra twist submission. The visual here was inadvertently amazing, with Narita’s face now pouring with blood down onto Lethal’s ribcage.
Lethal countered the hold, rolling Narita up for two. They exchanged roll-up pins before Lethal was finally able to catch Narita in rhythm with Lethal Injection and put him away for the victory in just over ten minutes.
Lethal offered Narita his hand after the match. Narita proudly accepted and shook Lethal’s hand while bowing. Both looked terrific in this.
Final thoughts:
This was a short and sweet episode of Strong, clocking in at under an hour with three very good matches that didn’t drag. This episode is the epitome of what we often call an “easy watch.”
The DKC vs. Kevin Knight is a great primer for those unfamiliar with the LA Dojo’s latest prospects. Mascara Dorada vs. TJP had natural chemistry and previewed what could become a longer rivalry down the road between the two. Jay Lethal vs. Ren Narita was one of those Strong matches that if it were in front of a different and/or bigger audience, it’d have torn the house down. Lethal is a pro’s pro, and Narita is something special, proving it all in about ten minutes with Lethal.
AEW’s Jay Lethal will appear in the main event of Saturday’s NJPW Strong episode.
In the last episode of the Strong Style Evolved 2022 series on Strong, Lethal will face Narita in the main event in a first-time matchup.
Also announced for Saturday’s show, Mascara Dorada will be in action against United Empire’s TJP. Dorada holds a 3-1 edge over TJP in their previous singles matches.
In Saturday’s opening contest, frequent tag partners Kevin Knight and The DKC will face off in a singles match. The two have faced off twice before, splitting the contests 1-1.
Strong Style Evolved 2022 was taped on March 20 in Florida.
Strong airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Saturdays on NJPW World and is available on demand after airing.
Here is Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong: Strong Style Evolved 2022, Saturday, April 30, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Tonight saw the third installment of the Strong Style Evolved 2022 tapings in Tampa from last month.
Big Damo defeated John Skyler
Among ROH and other independent promotions, Skyler is most known for his time in Impact as part of their X-Division. Big Damo, “The Beast From Belfast,” was called Killian Dane in WWE NXT up until fairly recently where he was a part of the Sanity group. He had really long, brown hair in NXT but has since chopped it off upon returning to the non-WWE world.
After the bell sounded, Skyler got into Big Damo’s face and shouted that he didn’t care how big Damo was or where he was from, nor did he care for the NJPW audience. He got booed for that one. He poked Damo in the chest. When Damo turned his head, Skyler grabbed him by the beard, re-centering his head. This was a bad move on Skylar’s part as Damo went to town on Skyler, launching him across the ring by his neck. Skyler was able to escape to the ring apron and spear Damo off of it to the floor.
In the ring, Skyler later threw a few hard chops though Damo seemed not to have felt them as he just stared right at Skyler after each one. Skyler chopped the big man down with hard forearms to the back. He took him down with a neckbreaker and connected with a short missile dropkick off the second rope. He decided not to pin Damo and instead let the crowd know how sweet he was. That didn’t work out to well as Damo recovered somewhat quickly, back body dropping Skyler before laying him out with a lariat.
After two running avalanches in the corner, Damo put Skyler down with a pop-up spinebuster followed by an elbow drop for two. While Skyler was standing on the apron, Damo charged at him, but Skyler ducked and launched himself threw the ropes, spearing Damo Johnny Gargano-style.
Skyler went to the top rope, but Damo used a second rope fisherman’s buster to take lay him out again. Skyler answered with a few short lariats and Damo took him down with a cross body block.
The finish saw Damo put Skyler down for the count after a fireman’s carry slam followed by a senton and a Vader Bomb, making Damo victorious in his NJPW debut. This wasn’t bad.
SW3RVE (Swerve Strickland) defeated Blake Christian
The Tampa crowd was digging SW3RVE and chanting for him at the beginning of the match. They grappled early on and SW3RVE mostly got the better of the exchange, but Christian hung around and wouldn’t let the more experienced SW3RVE get the better of him. They went back and forth from chain wrestling to rope running teases, nip-ups and a number of standing waistlock switch counters.
At one point, Christian moonsaulted off the apron and landed on his feet, but SW3RVE was right behind him and did a handspring flip of his own to the floor. It was the same type of superhero spot that Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay did where Ibushi went for a super Frankensteiner but Ospreay landed on his feet which then led to a dramatic (mildly campy) staredown. SW3RVE and Christian did their own version of that. They liked it, but ultimately began chanting for SW3RVE again.
Christian landed a basement dropkick and locked him in a inverted guard lock (scissor hold). Later, SW3RVE bridged out of Christian’s pin attempt, pushed him out of the ring and caught Christian in the face with a pump kick while still on the apron. The referee started the count but SW3RVE had Christian in the ring by six. The audience kept chanting for SW3RVE.
Christian returned fire and earned a two count after a standing frog splash and standing moonsault. They exchanged quasi-martial arts kicks before Christian caught SW3RVE with a spanish fly off the ropes for a very close two. The crowd had come to life by this point and started doing the “This is awesome!” chant.
Christian did a Fosbury Flop to the floor, but instead of taking SW3RVE out with it, he held on to SW3RVE’s head and dropped him with an inverted DDT. In pro wrestling logic, this was superfluous and almost confusing. Why would someone go to all that trouble just to stick an inverted DDT or other move like that? Again, in pro wrestling logic, is moonsaulting yourself into another move necessary or is it pure showmanship that shouldn’t be scrutinized? I don’t have a good answer.
Back in the ring, Christian connected with a 450 splash and earned another count of two. I should mention that SW3RVE was lying in the center of the ring on the Lion Mark logo, which is far for a 450 splash, but Christian made it look easy. The crowd did the “Both these guys!” chant next as they now accepted Christian after chanting “Who’s house? SW3RVE’s house!” for a lot of the match.
SW3RVE planted Christian with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker followed by a tilt-a-whirl powerslam before spiking him with a brainbuster. He won the match after taking Christian out with his signature sidekick to the head while Christian was in a seated position. SW3RVE feels like a bigger deal each time he’s on NJPW Strong.
Buddy Matthews defeated Yuya Uemura
Matthews was wearing his House of Black gear, the stable he’s a part of in AEW alongside NJPW Strong regular Brody King and Malaki Black.
Matthews is built like a Greek statue, resembling a linebacker in American football each time he’s on. Whereas Ren Narita improved on his game while on excursion in the States, Uemura has not just improved his wrestling skill but has changed the look of his body almost completely. He’s not the same height as Matthews, but the size wasn’t much different. Just by the first look of things, Uemura looked like he could “realistically” hang in there with Matthews.
Uemura and Matthews got into an intense lockup right off the bat. They exchanged holds on the mat, but the more experienced Matthews got the better of it, keeping Uemura neutralized in the middle of the ring. Uemura would counter once and lock Matthews in a headscissors. Matthews continually wrenched on Uemura’s fingers, which, technically speaking, is an illegal joint lock. Matthews resorted to the same behavior again when the two stood on the ring apron and Matthews yanked Uemura by the fingers and arm, smashing him shoulder first into the apron.
In the ring, Matthews locked a double wrist lock from a high S-guard before Uemura muscled out of it. Uemura was squeezing his arm in pain as he darted to the opposite corner but ate Matthews’ boot instead of landing any offense. When Matthews went for his own running attack after bouncing off the ropes, Uemura caught him with a picture perfect dropkick. We’re talking Okada-level and that’s not an exaggeration. For someone of his size, it was really impressive.
They traded forearms when they both got back to their feet. Uemura caught Matthews with a beautiful flying forearm and a running back elbow. He slammed Matthews and dropped a few elbows onto him for two.
When Matthews came back from Uemura’s late rally, he began dropping 12–6 elbows onto Uemura à la Bryan Danielson or Jon Moxley. When referee Jeremy Marcus checked on Uemura’s status, Matthews shoved Marcus away. The crowd booed. When Matthews went for a kamigoe, Uemura caught Matthews’ knee and stood up, later putting him down with a bridging German suplex for two.
Uemura went to the top rope for a flying attack. Matthews jumped on top too, but Uemura knocked him back off the ropes. Uemura came off the top with a beautiful diving crossbody block, but Matthews sidestepped out of the way causing Uemura to belly flop onto the cerulean blue.
Matthews used a curb stomp and went for a pin but pulled Uemura up at the count of two which got boos from the crowd. He finally laid Uemura with Murphy’s Law (Matthews’ Law?) for the finish. He gave the KO’d Uemura a patronizing handshake before exiting.
Final thoughts:
This was a good but somewhat forgettable episode of NJPW Strong. The main event was very good and is worth a watch.
Next week will feature more bouts from Strong Style Evolved 2022, with Jay Lethal vs. Ren Narita, Mascara Dorada vs. TJP, and Kevin Knight vs. the DKC.
Tonight saw the second installment of the NJPW Strong: Strong Style Evolved 2022 tapings from Tampa, Fla., a giant-sized 90-minute edition.
Hikuleo defeated Andy Brown
Ian Riccaboni and Matt Rehwoldt were joined by retired New Japan referee Tiger Hattori on commentary for this match.
This was “Thicc Daddy” Andy Brown’s NJPW debut. He’s made a name for himself at Championship Wrestling from Atlanta and Championship Wrestling from Hollywood primarily.
Last month in Japan, Bullet Club turned on Hikuleo’s older brothers, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa. Hikuleo is still technically a member of Bullet Club, and on commentary, the team discussed how Hikuleo is in a tough spot at the moment. Does he go with his brothers? Or does he stick with Bullet Club?
Hikuleo launched Brown into the corner ring pads before blasting him with chops and boots to the face while on the floor. Brown returned the attack, connecting with a running facewash dropkick and a senton. He connected with a flying elbow, but only earned a count of one for his troubles.
Hikuleo caught Brown with a pop-up punch and followed up with a snap powerslam that’d have made Buzz Sawyer proud. He then put Brown away with an emphatic chokeslam for the win.
Josh Alexander defeated Karl Fredericks
This was excellent. Ian Riccaboni was right when he described this as a kind of dream match. These two are roughly the same size, which is above average compared with the majority of wrestlers these days. Both have garnered positive buzz and acclaim among hardcore fans over the past year or so.
They tied up at first, though Alexander outwrestled Fredericks to the mat and took the early advantage. After a few minutes of back-and-forth on the mat, Fredericks was able to land a running kitchen sink knee to force Alexander out onto the floor. Fredericks then caught him with a running tope con giro that looked just like the one Great Sasuke does, the big difference being Fredericks is about a foot and a half taller than Sasuke.
Back in the ring, Fredericks laid in a few chops. Alexander rescinded with a hard running boot. Whenever Alexander took control on offense, he slowed the pace and kept Fredericks grounded. He trapped Fredericks in the corner and worked him over with chops and stomps.
Alexander laid in even more chops to Fredericks, who wouldn’t stay down. The more Alexander chopped, the more Fredericks would recover. He powered up and forced Alexander into the blue corner and began stomping away at Alexander’s face. He connected with a Shibata-style running dropkick to Alexander while he was seated in the same corner. He connected with a scissor elbow for two. Fredericks later put Alexander down with a big spinebuster, locking him in an STF before Alexander grabbed the ropes for a break.
As they stood on the apron, Alexander scooped Fredericks into a slam, then dropped him back-first onto the apron’s edge. Alexander then came off the ropes and took Fredericks to the floor with a low running cross body block.
After earning a two count after landing a diving headbutt from the top, Alexander tried locking in the ankle lock to put Fredericks away. Fredericks himself leveled up once again, and the two went into a heavy exchange of blows that ended with Fredericks going for a Pele kick. Alexander blocked it and attempted the ankle lock once more. Fredericks blocked that and later caught him with a high kick in the corner.
Fredericks did a wild-looking springboard double-stomp to Alexander who was draped across the other rope. After a few moments of respite, both were back to their feet. Fredericks went for quick pinning attempts but Alexander kept kicking out. Fredericks connected with a backbreaker and went for Manifest Destiny but Alexander blocked that, too. Alexander caught Fredericks with an elbow while he was coming off the ropes, then launched him with a release German suplex that he followed up with the C4 Spike (aka Jaydriller) for the win. Again, this was an excellent match, and it’s a great representation of the show’s current product.
After the match, QT Marshall came out with The Factory and tried recruiting Fredericks to become a member. They gave him a t-shirt, but Fredericks threw it back at Marshall, then attacked all three. He had some momentum until Nick Comoroto caught Fredericks with a slam and laid him out. The Factory put the boots to Fredericks until his LA Dojo comrades Clark Connors and Yuya Uemura came out and cleared the ring. Fredericks took the mic and said he wasn’t interested in joining the Factory, but he’d be interested in fighting them. He challenged The Factory to a match at Windy City Riot pay-per-view in Chicago next week, an LA Dojo vs. Factory six-man tag team match.
Eddie Kingston and Fred Rosser defeated Fred Yehi and Daniel Garcia
Kingston got the loudest reaction I’ve heard so far on these Strong Style Evolved ‘22 tapings. There was an “EDD-IE!” chant before he even hit the ring. On commentary, they pushed Kingston’s current AEW program with Chris Jericho and tied the story to this match, explaining why Kingston stormed the ring and went after Daniel Garcia, a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society in AEW.
The match hadn’t officially started yet, and it wasn’t until the fisticuffs ceased that the bell rang. Yehi and Rosser were first for their teams. Yehi rained stomps down on Rosser. Rosser came back with a swinging neckbreaker. He and Kingston double-teamed Yehi before Kingston again ran after Garcia, taking him to the floor.
Back in the ring, Kingston flattened Yehi with an STO. Rosser continued working over Yehi in the ring while Kingston again went after Garia on the outside. Rosser got distracted for a second, which allowed Yehi to take advantage and go on the offensive, taking Rosser down before tagging out to Garcia, who began working over Rosser’s knee. He tripped him up with a dragon screw leg whip. Yehi came in and stomped the same knee. They two tried double-suplexing Rosser, who blocked it before finally tagging out to Kingston.
Yehi and Garcia were able to neutralize Kingston quickly with the double-team barrage. Kingston later powered back and did machine gun chops to Garcia in the corner. Whenever Kingston would gain the upper hand, Yehi and Garcia would return to the double-team approach.
Kingston was able to land a release butterfly suplex on Garcia and crawl his way back to the red corner to tag Rosser in. Rosser connected with a big powerslam and later a running powerslam on Yehi for two. Again, Garcia and Yehi would resort to double-teaming when they began losing momentum.
Later on, Yehi caught Rosser with a hard spinning backfist. He then went for a vertical suplex, but Rosser reversed it into an inside cradle. The finish came soon after, when Kingston took Yehi with a spinning backfist of his own before Rosser laid him out with a fireman’s carry gutbuster for the three-count. This was really good. Kingston and Rosser really complement each other and make a somewhat perfect brawler tag team.
U S of Jay Open Challenge: Jay White defeated Chris Sabin
This was an awesome main event.
So, Sabin was one of Jay White’s mentors while White lived in the US on an excursion from NJPW. He looks to be in the best physical shape of his career right now. He’s 40 but could pass for 30.
It was only a few minutes into the match when Sabin’s chest started bleeding from White’s chops. We’re talking not even two minutes. The two traded holds and Sabin eventually got the better of the exchange when he used an arm drag that knocked White off balance. As per usual, White then slid out to the floor for a breather; the “Keiji Muto” spot. He popped his head in between the ropes repeatedly to break the ring-out count, playing cutesy mind-games with his mentor.
White then walked around the corner of the ring and talked trash into the camera. While he wasn’t looking, Sabin darted out of the ring and took White out with a suicide dive through the ropes. He threw more chops before landing on White with a running cannonball off the apron. He used a side Russian leg sweep to slam White into the guardrail before earning a two-count for a beautiful cross body block off the ropes back in the ring.
Sabin took control for a bit until he went back to the top rope for an attack. White caught him with another hard chop, and Sabin fell to the floor. Sabin’s chest was purple by now.
White took control of the match from here. After dropping Sabin on the apron with a backdrop suplex and gourdbuster, he slowed Sabin’s momentum and held him firmly in the center of the mat, squeezing on a headlock for a while. Sabin kept fighting back but White would shut him down each time until Sabin was able to connect with a jumping enzuigiri kick to White’s face. Sabin then unloaded more strikes on White before catching him with a big missile dropkick.
The two traded DDTs. Sabin answered White’s DDT with a tornado DDT of his own and earned a two-count. The crowd started chanting “this is awesome.” Just over ten minutes had passed when White caught Sabin with a backdrop driver and followed it up with a Bladebuster for two. White began shouting at referee Jeremy Marcus, insinuating that Marcus was slow on the count.
White caught Sabin with a flatliner before folding him with a deadlift release German suplex. The fifteen-minute call sounded after White planted Sabin with a big uranage.
By this point, the crowd had gotten really into the match and were split between White and Sabin, with one side chanting “let’s go, Sabin!” and one chanting “let’s go, Switchblade!”
Sabin later removed his elbow pad, then decked White with a lariat, but when he went for the Cradle Shock, White reversed it into the Bladerunner for the three-count. This was high-level stuff.
Afterwards, White grabbed a microphone and explained that Bullet Club is cutting dead weight, and that the fans would soon learn who is really with Bullet Club and who is really against them. Before he could finish, Hikuleo’s music hit.
As mentioned earlier, Hikuleo is still technically a part of Bullet Club, but his older brothers seem to be the “dead weight” that was cut from the crew. according to Jay White.
White said he knew he was going to have to have this conversation at some point. He told Hikuleo that his brothers’ time with Bullet Club had expired, but his hasn’t. White also told him that he was the future of Bullet Club. He insisted Hikuleo just trust him and listen to him. White threw up the “too sweet” gesture.
Hikuleo agreed that he was the future of Bullet Club, and that Bullet Club was, indeed, “for life,” but before he reciprocated the “too sweet,” he asked White why the future couldn’t start “right here, right now.”
White grabbed the mic and said that if he had what it takes to lead Bullet Club and dominate the wrestling world, then he’d have to teach Hikuleo a lesson.
“I’ll open up those lungs for you and teach you how to breathe.” Before finishing, he told Hikuleo that it was still “his era.” He then exited to the back, leaving Hikuleo alone in the ring.
Final thoughts:
This was another great episode of Strong, and more substantial than usual due to the 90-minute format. White vs. Sabin and Alexander vs. Fredericks are excellent singles matches that are absolutely worth making time for. The tag match between Kingston and Rosser & Garcia and Yehi was a fun brawl, too, a somewhat old-school style one. Kingston and Rosser complement each other extremely well and come off as believable powerhouses together, and it’s clearly because of their ring style. No fanciness, no gloss, just fighting.
New Japan of America’s next event will be next week in Chicago for the Windy City Riot pay-per-view, which can be purchased on either FITE.tv or the NJPW World streaming app.
Jay White vs. Chris Sabin headlines this week’s episode of NJPW Strong.
Sabin answered White’s US of Jay open challenge at the Strong Style Evolved taping in Florida on March 20, and that match is one of four bouts announced for Saturday’s show.
In addition to White vs. Sabin, Impact Wrestling’s Josh Alexander will face LA Dojo graduate Karl Fredericks. Alexander will challenge Moose for the Impact World title at Rebellion on April 23.
Also announced, AEW’s Eddie Kingston teams with Fred Rosser against Fred Yehi and AEW’s Daniel Garcia.
Hikuleo vs Andy Brown rounds out the first Strong Style Evolved episode of Strong.
The show streams at 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World on Saturday, April 9. The episode will be available on demand immediately after airing.
The full card:
US of Jay open challenge: Jay White vs. Chris Sabin
Josh Alexander vs. Karl Fredericks
Eddie Kingston & Fred Rosser vs. Daniel Garcia & Fred Yehi
Tonight saw the first installment of tapings from NJPW Strong’s Strong Style Evolve 2022 tour in Tampa. Ian Riccaboni and Matt Rehwoldt were on the call as Kevin Kelly is still overseas doing commentary for NJPW proper.
Team Filthy (JR Kratos & Black Tiger) defeated CHAOS (Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta)
Team Filthy jumped Romero and Yuta before they even stepped into the ring. Once the match got underway, Romero took Tiger over with a headscissors. Romero tagged in Yuta, who was impressive in his quick exchange with Black Tiger. This featured some cool British escapist-style wrestling and counter-wrestling.
Yuta and Kratos started jaw-jacking. Yuta challenged Kratos to get into the ring, but before Kratos could get in, Black Tiger pounced and took Yuta out from behind. Kratos then powerslammed Yuta for a two count.
Kratos pounded on Yuta from corner to corner with chops, lariats and fists. Yuta would try and fight back but Kratos was just too much for him. Team Filthy would continue double-teaming him but he wouldn’t quit. Kratos barked at the crowd for supporting Yuta and told them to shut their mouths.
Yuta caught Kratos with a short missile dropkick from the second rope and tagged out to a fresh Rocky Romero. Kratos tagged out, too. Romero and Black Tiger got into it with Romero landing Sliced Bread for two. He used a few Forever Clotheslines until Kratos reappeared and hit Romero with a pounce as he was mid-ring.
Romero later caught Kratos with a satellite DDT for two. Kratos returned the attack with twice the power, laying Romero out with a wild pop-up spinning side-slam for the win.
Kratos grabbed the mic afterward and called out Alex Coughlin, who pinned Kratos to graduate from Young Lionhood a few months ago. Kratos wants revenge and compared Coughlin to “that p***y Tom Brady,” a famous NFL player who also plays in Tampa.
Coughlin appeared at the entrance. He ran to the ring and got into it with Kratos, exchanging a few hard elbows before catching the larger man mid-air and launching him over his head with a front suplex. Coughlin was amped and rightfully so. If you could suplex Kratos like that, wouldn’t you get hyped, too?
But during Coughlin’s proverbial touchdown celebration, Kratos got back up and laid him out with a falling lariat while he wasn’t paying attention. Coughlin recovered and went after Kratos again. He threw elbows until NJPW staff entered the ring to break things up. Coughlin scooped up one ring security in a bodyslam and launched him at Kratos, effectively weaponizing a human being. After the fight was broken up, Kratos chuckled on the apron and walked to the back while fans booed. These two are going to have a great rematch.
FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) defeated TMDK (JONAH & Shane Haste) via disqualification
FinJuice has been feuding with JONAH and his friends for the past few months, and took on JONAH and Bad Dude Tito twice already this year. Haste actually debuted at the end of their last tag match from NJPW Strong: Rivals where he assisted JONAH and Tito by sneaking into the ring and laying out Finlay to earn the hollow victory. This marked Haste’s official in-ring debut for NJPW.
When Finlay and Robinson appeared on the ramp for their ring entrance, instead of high fiving fans, they charged TMDK. Haste and JONAH met them near the ramp in the aisle between the guardrails. Chaos ensued. They brawled into the crowd and around the ring. The match hadn’t even started yet when FinJuice sat TMDK on two folding chairs and nailed them with stereo running cannonballs. Haste would later back body drop Robinson over the guardrail onto the ringside floor. Finlay caught Haste with a lariat soon after and knocked him over the guardrail, too.
Finlay and Haste finally made it into the ring, and from there, the bell sounded and the match was officially underway. Haste connected with a high dropkick and backdrop suplex before tagging out to JONAH.
TMDK double-teamed Finlay in the blue corner for a while. Fans started chanting “WE WANT JUICE!” We saw a delayed suplex next, where JONAH held Finlay in the air for about 20 seconds before dropping him. When Haste tagged in, Finlay was able to counter his offense with a satellite DDT and finally tag out to Robinson.
Robinson went to town on JONAH, lighting him up with a couple jabs before trapping him in the corner and punching him some more. He even started biting JONAH in the corner. It’s clear how no nonsense FinJuice is these days and it helps make their feud with TMDK feel more important and more serious.
FinJuice took JONAH out with a double flapjack. When Robinson went for Pulp Friction, Haste came into the ring with a steel chair and jabbed Robinson in the stomach with it. He wasn’t discrete about it, either, which meant TMDK had to be disqualified.
FinJuiced score the win via DQ, and we’re inching closer and closer to a clean FinJuice win over TMDK. When we do eventually get to that point, it will be that much sweeter.
TMDK would continue battering Robinson until Finlay returned to the ring with a foreign object of his own: a sheleighleigh, the Finlay family heirloom.
Robinson grabbed the mic and said he wanted to end the feud between TMDK and FinJuice. He proposed they end it at NJPW’s sold-out Windy City Riot event on April 16. And to avoid another DQ finish, Robinson insisted on a having a street fight. JONAH, Haste and Bad Dude Tito would take on FinJuice and a mystery partner. TMDK accepted.
NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Clark Connors to retain
Connors came to the ring wearing new ring gear: a pink shirt, pink shorts and pink wristbands with white boots & kneepads. He resembled a young, hip Bjorn Borg.
“Filthy” came to the ring with Kratos and Black Tiger. After he got into the ring, Lawlor took a moment to strip down from his regular jorts to his ring jorts. Connors then took a pause to reveal that under his chic pink shorts, he was wearing his own pair of short jorts: white ones to match the boots.
Lawlor wasn’t impressed. The two trash-talked some more until Lawlor insisted on showing off his signature “Filthy strut.” Connors would catch Lawlor mid-strut with a spear for two. He scored a German suplex for two and then a backdrop suplex for two. Lawlor slipped out to the floor for a breather, but Connors chased after him, landing on the champion with a pescado to the floor.
Connors got in Kratos’ face at ringside. Connors then removed his white jorts to reveal that he was wearing his usual “White Lion” trunks all along. He threw the white jorts at Kratos and dashed around the corner to catch Lawlor with a running pounce that sent Lawlor flying into the guardrail.
Connors and Kratos exchanged more words at ringside, which gave Lawlor enough time to recover and trap Connors in a guillotine choke as he stood on the ring apron. He planted Connors with a big one-armed uranage for a two-count.
When the ring announcer made the five-minute call, Lawlor and Connors were trading hard chops in the corner. When Connors went for a Northern Lights suplex, Lawlor again caught him in a guillotine choke. He earned a two moments later after putting Connors down with an exploder suplex.
Connors kept giving Lawlor a hard time. He would eventually rally back and superplex Lawlor off the second rope. He’d finally reversed the momentum of the match in his favor. He slapped on a Mr. Gannosuke-style full nelson camel clutch but Lawlor escaped. When Connors went to spear Lawlor through the ropes to the floor, Lawlor sidestepped so Connors flew threw the ropes and right onto Kratos, who was standing in the line of fire. Connors hopped back onto the apron and speared Lawlor off of it onto the floor.
Lawlor got Connors in a sleeperhold from out of nowhere. Connors shucked him off and went for a spear, and Lawlor sprawled and blocked it, then jumped into closed full guard and once again sunk in a guillotine choke. Fans chanted for Connors to recover. He eventually muscled out of the choke and slammed Lawlor back first into the corner, hitting a snap powerslam for two.
Both went for submissions with Lawlor trying the sleeper again and Connors trying to reapply the full nelson hold. Lawlor would backdrop Connors onto the turnbuckle to break the full nelson, then spiking him with a Tenzan Tombstone Driver (TTD). Connors kicked out at one and laid Lawlor out with a lariat for two.
When they were back on their feet, they traded even more heavy shots. When Connors went for his finish, Lawlor countered it by rolling through while holding onto Connors’ wrists. He then stood up and, still holding Connors’ wrists, delivered two kamigori knee strikes, one to the front of Connors’ head and one to the back as he held Connors in a straightjacket hold for the win. Lawlor retained and is now 8–0.
Afterward, Lawlor got on the mic and got into it with a heckler before saying that he didn’t care who his next challenger would be, whether it was “Tom Ishii,” the Great O-Khan or “Blue Justice” Yuji Nagata himself. No matter who it was, it would be an opponent of Lawlor’s choosing, so in the meantime, he’d be going on vacation.
Then Fred Rosser’s music hit. “Mr. No Days Off” is the only wrestler to have pinned Lawlor in NJPW.
“I’m not out here to whoop that ass. I’m here to challenge that ass!”
Rosser went on to explain that between 2003 and 2009, he was told “no” by WWE over 40 times until May 4, 2009, when WWE told him “yes,” and in Tampa, Florida, to boot. He told Lawlor that despite what the champion said, Rosser’s story does matter. He said he knows he can beat Lawlor and has been the only one to do so on Strong in the past.
Rosser then said he wasn’t asking Lawlor for a title shot — he was telling Lawlor that he would be the next contender for his title. Lawlor grabbed the mic and told Rosser he’d give him a shot at the belt when Rosser proves that he’s ready for it. “My answer? Hell no!”
Final thoughts:
Tonight’s episode of NJPW Strong was solid. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, who has held onto the Strong Openweight championship for close to a year now, continues to prove he’s one of the top main eventers in wrestling right now based solely on match quality and consistency.
Connors looked great, too, but the crowd seemed exhausted. While the match was excellent, the crowd wasn’t able to match the energy and take it to the next level.
Jay White vs. Chris Sabin is set for NJPW Strong Style Evolved.
NJPW of America posted a video on Friday featuring Sabin answering Jay White’s ongoing US of Jay Open Challenge:
“Forget the surprises. I’m just going to tell you straight up right now, Jay. I accept your challenge. March 20, New Japan Strong, Chris Sabin vs. Jay White.”
White and Sabin are involved in an ongoing program in Impact Wrestling as well. They are also scheduled to face each other on Friday, April 1 for Impact Multiverse of Matches.
White defeated Sabin’s teammate, Alex Shelley, at last Saturday’s Impact Sacrifice and the Motor City Machine Guns will face White and Chris Bey on this Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV.
NJPW Strong Style Evolved will be a TV taping and is set for Sunday, March 20, from the St. Petersburg Coliseum in Tampa, Florida.
The updated lineup is as follows:
Jay White vs. Chris Sabin
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Tom Lawlor defends against Clark Connors
Finjuice vs. Shane Haste & JONAH
Karl Fredericks vs. Josh Alexander
Ren Narita vs. Jay Lethal
Blake Christian vs. SW3RVE
Mascara Dorada vs. TJP
Fred Yehi & Daniel Garcia vs. Fred Rosser & Eddie Kingston
Buddy Matthews vs. Yuya Uemura
Black Tiger & JR Kratos vs. Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta
Big Damo, formerly Killian Dain in WWE NXT, will make his NJPW debut at Strong Style Evolved.
Damo will take on John Skyler at the show.
Damo’s debut was one of four new matches announced today for the Sunday, March 20 event in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Impact Wrestling’s Josh Alexander will face Karl Fredericks. In tag team action, Juice Robinson and David Finlay will take on JONAH and Shane Haste. Also announced, Kevin Knight will face The DKC, plus Hikuleo will take on Andy Brown.
Strong Style Evolved will be taped for NJPW Strong.
The full lineup:
NJPW Strong Style Evolved, Sunday, March 20 —
US of Jay open challenge: Jay White vs. TBA
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Clark Connors
Jay Lethal vs. Ren Narita
Shane “Swerve” Strickland vs. Blake Christian
Buddy Matthews vs. Yuya Uemura
Mascara Dorada vs. TJP
Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta vs. JR Kratos & Black Tiger
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. JONAH & Shane Haste
Eddie Kingston & Fred Rosser vs. Fred Yehi & Daniel Garcia
NJPW has made the first four match announcements for next month’s Strong Style Evolved Strong taping in Florida on Sunday, March 20.
Jay White’s US of Jay open challenge series will continue at the show. White has seen AEW talent answer the challenge twice in the series, as he holds wins over Christopher Daniels and Jay Lethal.
After answering White’s open challenge at the Rivals taping last week, Shane “Swerve” Strickland will wrestle at Strong Style Evolved, taking on Blake Christian.
Lethal will return to NJPW at the show, facing Ren Narita.
The returning Mascara Dorada will also wrestle at Strong Style Evolved, taking on TJP.
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Juice Robinson, Fred Rosser, JONAH, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, Hikuleo, Rocky Romero, and Josh Alexander have also been announced for the event.
The lineup so far:
NJPW Strong: Strong Style Evolved 2022, Sunday, March 20 —
Jay White open challenge
Shane “Swerve” Strickland vs. Blake Christian
Jay Lethal vs. Ren Narita
Mascara Dorada vs. TJP
First matches set for Strong Style Evolved March 20 in Tampa/St. Pete!
The company announced tonight that Lethal has been added to their Strong Style Evolved event in Tampa, Florida at the St. Petersburg Coliseum on March 20.
Lethal made an appearance for NJPW back on January 15, when he answered Jay White’s US of Jay open challenge, with White defeating Lethal. Other names that White has beaten as part of his open challenge include Shane ‘Swerve’ Strickland and Christopher Daniels.
Lethal signed with AEW in November of last year following the announcement that ROH would go under hiatus and release everyone from their contracts. Despite this, Lethal appeared at ROH Final Battle on December 11, replacing Bandido in a match against Jonathan Gresham for the vacant ROH World Championship. Gresham defeated Lethal to win the championship.
Those already set to appear at Strong Style Evolved include Strong Openweight Champion Filthy Tom Lawlor, White, Juice Robinson, Fred Rosser, JONAH, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, Hikuleo, and Rocky Romero.
Other events scheduled for NJPW’s USA branch include Lonestar Shootout on April 1 in Dallas and Windy City Riot in Chicago, Illinois on April 16.
While working with CMLL, Dorada frequently participated in NJPW tours in the 2010s due to the partnership between the two companies, including participating in multiple Best of the Super Juniors and Super Junior Tag League tournaments, as well as the annual CMLL Fantastica Mania tour of Japan.
Dorada challenged then-IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega for the title at NJPW Invasion Attack in April 2015 in a losing effort.
Mascara Dorada joins Tom Lawlor, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Fred Rosser, JONAH, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, Hikuleo, Rocky Romero, and Josh Alexander as talent announced for the show.
Tickets for Strong Style Evolved are on sale now. There is no mask or COVID-19 testing mandate for the show, but wearing a mask is encouraged on the event’s website.
