The first four matches have been announced for NJPW Strong: Fighting Spirit Unleashed on August 21.
In an eight-man tag, Bullet Club’s Jay White, Juice Robinson, Chase Owens, and Hikuleo will take on KUSHIDA, AEW’s Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero, and Taylor Rust.
Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles will be in action in Los Angeles, as he faces Kevin Blackwood in singles competition.
In another singles bout, Mascara Dorada will take on Stray Dog Army’s Misterioso in a battle of masked wrestlers.
AEW’s QT Marshall returns to Strong on August 21, facing Keita.
Fighting Spirit Unleashed will be taped at the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 21.
Here is the lineup so far:
NJPW Strong: Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Sunday, August 21 —
Jay White, Juice Robinson, Chase Owens & Hikuleo vs. KUSHIDA, Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero & Taylor Rust
The final set of matches from NJPW Strong’s Ignition tapings in Hollywood, California, aired Saturday.
Jeff Cobb defeated Jordan Clearwater
Clearwater returned to NJPW Strong after a few months away from the show. He has modified his look a bit, coming back in even better shape than he was before. Clearwater, sporting a new haircut and tan, wore a Nature Boy-esque robe to the ring.
Before things got underway, Clearwater did a slow, heelish disrobing before giving the crowd a few hip swivels. Cobb was not amused and went after the Karl Anderson trainee, but Clearwater looked to have expected an ambush and decked Cobb with a right hand.
They fought on the floor for a few moments. Back in the ring, Cobb was able to ragdoll Clearwater around the ring a bit — impressive because Clearwater is approximately the same size as Kazuchika Okada. He’s not a small fry.
After laying Clearwater out with a vertical suplex, Cobb went for a standing moonsault but missed. Clearwater connected with a running neckbreaker, but missed on his Midas Touch finish. Cobb answered with a back suplex.
Minutes later, we saw a similar version of the sequence described above with Clearwater missing on the Midas Touch and Cobb taking advantage, putting him down with a swinging back suplex before putting Clearwater away for good after a Tour of the Islands. This was also nice because we got to hear announcer Ian Riccaboni once again be able to say “‘Aloha’ means goodbye!’” It’s been a while.
Fred Yehi defeated Bateman
This was a good, solid match that was as tough as it was logical. Both very much understand how to be themselves in the ring in that they already seem to know what works and what doesn’t. It makes for an organic flow to a match, natural, but not forced.
There was a point in this when Yehi unloaded a flurry of jumping knee drops onto Bateman in the corner, and the crowd applauded at the intensity of the knee drops alone.
Compared with other bouts at the Ignition tapings, this featured less action, but the crowd still sounded invested. The wider differences in style help the program feel fresh.
Yehi knocked Bateman silly with a uraken and then won the match via TKO after dropping a series of elbows while holding Bateman in a koji clutch. This was a good match. Let’s get Yehi with the Blackpool Combat Club.
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament Semifinal: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso) to advance
Misterioso stuck the quebrada in the ring early in this match. Earlier on the tapings, he crashed shin-first into the guardrail and it looked nasty. He toughed it out, though, and looked unshaken here.
Misterioso went for a double-jump moonsault, but Fletcher caught him with a superkick in mid-air on the way down.
Later, Davis of Aussie Open slammed Brown on the floor. Brown later connected with a suicide dive onto the floor, and Misterioso followed up with a tope con giro.
Aussie Open looked so damn good throughout this. They’ve looked fantastic in all of their NJPW outings, really. It’s amazing how they move for their sizes; they’re most definitely heavyweights but they move at the same pace as any current high-impact junior heavyweight does.
They won the match with their Coriolis finish: a double-pumphandle suplex bomb, pinning Brown to put Stray Dog Army away to advance to the finals in North Carolina against TMDK.
Bullet Club (Jay White, Hikuleo & Chase Owens) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Fred Rosser & Kevin Knight
Yuya Uemura was originally supposed to team with Tanahashi for this, but when Karl Fredericks was pulled from the NJPW Strong tag tournament, Uemura became his replacement and this turned into a special six-man match.
This was the first time ever that both the IWGP World Champion and STRONG Openweight champion have stood in the same ring together.
Tanahashi and White had a pose-off for the fans before things got underway. The two got the loudest reactions of the night. White teased squaring off with Tanahashi first, but he quickly tagged out to Chase Owens.
Knight tagged in after Rosser got some licks in on Owens. Knight has a very, very high leapfrog. Owens was able to come back against him and, at one point during the comeback, he shot a disgusting snot rocket Knight’s way.
Knight was able to put both Owens, then White, into a Boston crab, but Hikuleo entered the ring to shut him down. When White tagged back in, he mockingly played air guitar in Tanahashi’s face.
Hikuleo blasted Knight with a front-handed chop in the corner before ragdolling him into the same corner with a toss. Owens used a back rake on Knight.
After working him over for a few more minutes, Knight was able to connect with a sky-high dropkick on Owens before tagging out to Tanahashi.
White had entered the ring at this point and Tanahashi pointed his finger at him as he walked through the ropes into the ring. Tanahashi ducked a lariat from White, dashed to the opposite corner to take out Hikuleo on the apron, and then took White down with a flying forearm shot. He followed up with a rolling senton from the second rope for two.
White slowed Tanahashi down with a dragon screw leg whip before scoring a nearfall with a Bladebuster. When White put Tanahashi in a rear chinlock, the crowd was chanting and split for both men.
Later, Tana and Rosser did tandem dragon screw leg whips. He’d then use one on former rival, Hikuleo, too. Tanahashi reappeared and took Hikuleo down with a Slingblade. Rosser did an Earthquake squash next, followed by Knight coming down on Hikuleo with a standing frog splash. Knight was fired up and yelled “Let’s go!” before locking Hikuleo in a Boston crab. While Knight had Hikuleo in the crab, Tana locked Owens in the Texas Cloverhold, and Rosser locked White in his crossface chicken wing submission in a great photo moment.
Bullet Club eventually broke free. Hikuleo regained ground and put Knight down hard with a snap powerslam before chokeslamming him for the pin and the win for Bullet Club.
Afterward, White got on the mic and teased doing a babyface style promo. The California crowd loved him and chanted, “Thank you, Jay!” and it sounded like at first he was going to praise them. “I’m proof that NJPW Strong has been a f*cking success,” he said, mentioning wrestlers from the LA Dojo and Team Filthy for making the show great. Owens and Hikuleo looked confused and thrown off by White’s sudden show of gratitude.
“Oh, I almost misspoke. Of course, I was always going to win this, with or without you! You really think I needed your support to win this?” He pointed at his IWGP title. “You should be thanking me!” The crowd began thanking him. “I don’t need Strong—Strong needs me!” He also mentioned that the crowd “wouldn’t have ever seen the likes of the guys in the back” if it weren’t for his hard work. He then did his usual spiel about selling out Madison Square Garden before claiming it was the Switchblade Era and exiting.
Final thoughts:
This was one of the more well-rounded episodes of NJPW Strong in the last few weeks with the main event really feeling like an important, big-time match. That and the singles bout between Yehi and Bateman were the standouts this week.
NJPW Strong: High Alert from Charlotte, North Carolina begins airing next week with stars like Jon Moxley, Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado scheduled for upcoming episodes, as well as the finals of the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship between TMDK and Aussie Open.
A trios match featuring Hiroshi Tanahashi headlines Saturday’s NJPW Strong episode.
Tanahashi, Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser, and Kevin Knight will face the Bullet Club trio of IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White, Hikuleo, and Chase Owens in the main event of Saturday’s Strong: Ignition show.
Also announced, the second semifinal bout in the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament will air, as Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis of United Empire’s Aussie Open face Barrett Brown and Misterioso of Stray Dog Army.
In another match announced for Saturday’s show, Fred Yehi will take on Stray Dog Army’s Bateman.
In Saturday’s opener, United Empire’s Jeff Cobb faces Jordan Clearwater.
Here is Saturday’s lineup:
NJPW Strong: Ignition night four, Saturday, July 30, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Fred Rosser & Kevin Knight vs. Jay White, Hikuleo & Chase Owens
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament semifinal: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso)
The following are results from Sunday’s NJPW Strong High Alert TV taping in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jorel Nelson defeated Shane Haste
JR Kratos defeated Drew Adler
John Skyler defeated Lucky Ali
Dax Harwood defeated Rocky Romero
Hikuleo defeated Big Damo
DKC and Kevin Knight defeated The Heatseekers (Elliot Russell and Sigmon)
QT Marshall cut a promo about how he personally kicked open the forbidden door. Strong wanted him back but Charlotte is a C market. He introduced Parker Lee as his opponent, who came out with no music.
QT Marshall defeated Parker Lee. After the match, Marshall said he was warmed up and could take on anybody. Out comes Shota Umino. Marshall kept asking if he wanted to fight and Umino kept saying yes. Marahall left and Umino took a bow in the ring.
TJP defeated Mascara Dorada
Fred Rosser defeated Fred Yehi to retain the NJPW Strong Openweight Title. After the match, he talked about how much he loved NJPW Strong and that he’s the people’s champ. When he asked who’s next, TJP came out. Rosser talked about how TJP helped him get in NJPW, but TJP said Rosser is just renting the ring from him. TJP told him he wants another title shot, but he can’t do it here tonight. He wants to do it in Los Angeles.
Ren Narita and KUSHIDA defeated The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry and JD Drake)
Eddie Kingston defeated Jake Something
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Title tournament finals: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) defeated Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura
El Desperado defeated Blake Christian and Hiromu Takahasi in a triple threat
Saturday night saw more matches from NJPW Strong’s Ignition tapings in Hollywood, California, including a Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinal match as the main event. Here are the results from the episode:
JR Kratos defeated Jordan Cruz
Kratos squashed Cruz in a very short match. Cruz mounted a quick comeback late in this, but the much larger Kratos caught him with a Claymore Kick before putting Cruz away with a powerslam into Boss Man Slam for the finish.
Kratos got into it with the audience before cutting a promo on his rival, Alex Coughlin. He challenged Coughlin to a Last Man Standing match in Charlotte, North Carolina. “You and me, bitch!”
Mascara Dorada, Rocky Romero & David Finlay defeated Negro Casas, Adrian Quest & Lucas Riley
This was Negro Casas’ NJPW Strong debut. He got a good reaction from the Hollywood crowd. David Finlay’s father, Fit Finlay, and Casas often wrestled together in NJPW back in the early 1990s. Ian Riccaboni explained that Casas is actually 2–0 over father Fit Finlay at the moment.
Finlay and Casas started things off and mixed it up on the mat. Quest landed on Dorada with a tornillo a few moments afterwards.
Later, LA’s Lucas Riley was able to counter Rocky Romero’s Forever clotheslines and was able to suplex Romero before tagging out to Casas. The two had a nice exchange together, and the live crowd seemed to love both Romero and Casas. Riley did a running Shooting Star Press onto Romero and earned a two count for it.
Dorada tagged in later and took Casas out with a rope-walk springboard dropkick. Finlay planted Quest with a uranage into a backbreaker.
Dorada and Finlay did dives to the floor, and Romero was able to put Riley away inside the ring with Sliced Bread to pick up the win for his team in just over 10 minutes.
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinal match: Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura defeated TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls)
TMDK jumped Daniels and Uemura before the bell sounded, but Daniels and Uemura recovered quickly and were soon on offense themselves.
There was a spot early on where Nicholls, who was standing on the floor, took Uemura’s head and bashed it against the ring apron, and it looked like this unintentionally busted Uemura’s nose open. It bled profusely for the remainder of the match. Nicholls began pulling and biting around Uemura’s face.
After about five minutes, Uemura, whose face was a mess by this point, was finally able to break free from TMDK, suplexing Haste, then tagging out to Daniels.
Daniels cleaned house. He tried doing an STO to Nicholls but it looked messed up. Daniels laid Haste out with a Blue Thunder Bomb, then called for Angel’s Wings on Nicholls, but Nicholls back body-dropped Daniels off his back, blocking the move. He laid Daniels out with a spinebuster, then connected with a low basement lariat for two. TMDK hit the Tankbuster to Daniels but only earned a two count for it.
Haste went for a diving lariat in the corner, but Daniels parried and rolled to Uemura for the tag. Uemura’s face was still very bloody. The crowd was loud for his comeback. He ran wild on TMDK with shoulder blocks and diving forearm shots. Uemura caught Nicholls with a beautiful dropkick, then screamed in Haste’s face before launching him with a release double overhook suplex. That was the highlight of the match, I think, the screaming suplex spot.
TMDK did a Tower of Power suplex but only earned two for it. The crowd rallied behind Uemura and chanted “YU-YA!” over and over. TMDK took Daniels out with a double-team pendulum slam maneuver. Uemura then reappeared and shoved Haste into Nicholls, which suddenly knocked Nicholls out of the ring. Uemura then leapt high and took Haste over with a standing Frankensteiner and pinned him for the win.
The crowd erupted, and the announcers treated this like a big upset. Daniels & Uemura advance to the upcoming finals in North Carolina.
Final Thoughts —
The main event wasn’t perfect, but it was good — and not for the reasons you initially might think of. I believe what really made the match special was Uemura’s performance in it. It was “fortuitous blood” that Uemura was able to take advantage of, turning the moment into an advantage. Uemura was able to make the match memorable.
The semifinals in the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament kick off on Saturday’s episode.
In the first semifinal bout, Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura will team against TMDK’s Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls on this week’s episode. The second semifinal, likely to air next week, will feature Aussie Open’s Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis facing Stray Dog Army’s Barrett Brown and Misterioso. The tournament finals will be taped Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina at the High Alert event.
Two other matches have been announced for Saturday’s Ignition episode.
Negro Casas’s Strong debut will air, as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer teams with Adrian Quest, and Lucas Riley against Rocky Romero, Mascara Dorada, and David Finlay.
In Saturday’s opener, JR Kratos will face Jordan Cruz.
Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong: Ignition night three, Saturday, July 23, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament semifinal: Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
Negro Casas, Adrian Quest & Lucas Riley vs. Rocky Romero, Mascara Dorada & David Finlay
Autumn Attack will be taped at Sam’s Town Live in NJPW Strong’s Vegas debut.
In addition to Mistico, Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii, and Alex Zayne have been announced as appearing at the taping. No matches have been announced for the event to this point.
August’s NJPW Strong taping will be held in Los Angeles at the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 21, while July’s taping will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Grady Cole Center on Sunday, July 24.
Tickets for the event go on sale Friday, July 22 at 10 a.m. Pacific time, with prices ranging from $25 to $150.
Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso) defeated Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson)
Pearl and Brown kept missing elbow drops on each other early on. Misterioso did a giant swing to Gibson later, and Brown caught Gibson in the face with a low dropkick mid-swing.
When Brown was running off the ropes, Eddie Pearl, who was on the ground outside the ring, pulled at Brown’s ankle, tripping him up. This allowed Ricky Gibson to spike Brown with a DDT for a count of two.
Midnight Heat worked Brown over in their corner for a while. When the crowd started stomping and clapping in support of Brown, Pearl spat at the crowd, which elicited lots of boos.
Brown was almost able to tag out to Misterioso, but Midnight Heat pulled him back towards the center of the ring, slamming him down with a combination side Russian leg sweep and backcracker.
Misterioso made the save for Brown. Gibson whipped Misterioso into the ropes, but Misterioso caught himself before flying out of the ring, setting himself up between the top and middle ropes, much like Andrade el Idolo often does. He then threw Gibson to the floor and crashed onto Gibson with an Asai moonsault, but Misterioso looked to have slammed his foot/ankle/knee into the guardrail on the way down. It looked brutal live, and even more so on video. The live crowd gasped. Thankfully Misterioso was OK, I think, because just moments later he helped Brown finish off Midnight Heat. The finish came when Misterioso hopped back into the ring to catch Pearl with a superkick and lung-blower before Barrett Brown sent him flying with a Claymore kick for the win. Kudos to Misterioso for finishing the match smoothly because that Asai moonsault landing looked rough. Stray Dog Army advances to the semi-finals.
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Bad Dude Tito
Both Lawlor and Tito are in Japan right now for NJPW’s G1 Climax 32 tour, with Lawlor a part of this year’s A Block competition.
So, this was really good. Bad Dude Tito’s style meshed perfectly with how “Filthy” Tom wrestles, and from the get-go you could sense an organic chemistry between the two.
Tito slammed Lawlor into the corner and lit him up with chops. Lawlor answered back with a few of his own. They traded leglocks and heel hooks next.
Tito used a waistlock takedown from behind before locking in a double wrist-lock. “Filthy” rolled out and used a drop toe-hold on Tito, causing him to fall forward. Lawlor then transitioned into a face lock before pivoting to Tito’s legs. Lawlor yanked Tito’s leg into a crab hold before falling backwards, pulling Tito’s leg away from his hip flexor.
Lawlor jumped Tito into his guard and locked on a guillotine choke but Tito muscled him off. Lawlor teased a tomoe nage throw, then flipped Tito around into a rear naked choke while grapevining the legs. Tito escaped and slapped on a standing ankle lock before Lawlor moved to a triangle choke, then armbar.
The fight moved from the ground to the feet after about five minutes in. Lawlor connected with an enzuigiri kick to the back of Tito’s head. Tito answered with one of his, then followed up with a rolling elbow. The crowd heated up.
Tito used an exploder suplex on Lawlor. Lawlor went for one of his own, but Tito countered and threw another exploder. Later, Tito caught Lawlor with a deadlift German suplex. Tito was on offense for much of this bout. He caught Lawlor with a blockbuster off the second rope and earned a close two-count. Lawlor moved to another rear naked choke, but Tito countered into a Blue Thunder bomb for another nearfall. Lawlor wouldn’t stay down.
“Filthy” Tom ripped Tito with a Penalty Kick in the chest for two. He next went for a kamigoye knee strike, but Tito spat in his face. Lawlor then plowed him with the knee, then turned around while keeping Tito locked in a straightjacket hold and threw a knee to the back of Tito’s head.
Lawlor went for another choke sleeper, but Tito rammed Lawlor into the corner before he could really cinch it in. The finish saw Lawlor spike Tito with a bulldog DDT, planting Tito head-first into the mat. Lawlor picks up the win in his last singles bout before the G1 Climax 32 tournament. Really good match.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Tournament Round One:
Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) defeated Dark Order (Evil Uno & Alan Angels)
Dark Order got a loud reaction upon arrival. Lots of AEW fans, or non-regular NJPW fans, were in attendance at the Ignition tapings.
Angels and Fletcher had an excellent exchange at the top of the match. Aussie Open later hit some impressive double-team moves on Angels, at one point pulling off a double-team slingshot elbow that put Angels on the mat.
When Uno tagged in, the crowd popped before he could even do anything. The AEW rub. Uno at one point tossed Fletcher’s leg to the referee, then took Fletcher down with a running neckbreaker. Angels reappeared and took both of Aussie Open down with a diving bodypress.
When Uno laid Fletcher out with a deadlift German suplex, five minutes had passed. Angels did a moonsault to Davis on the floor.
Later, Fletcher was able to take the heavier Uno down with a vertical suplex. He then tagged out to Mark Davis, who’d ragdoll Alan Angels around the ring, launching him from corner to corner. When the fight spilled onto the floor, Angels dove onto Davis with a tope through the ropes. When he rolled Davis back into the ring, he went for another aerial attack from the top rope, but Davis caught Angels mid-air with a chop.
Aussie Open put Angels down with a double-team Emerald Flowsion move for two. When they went for their finisher, Angels countered with a hurricanrana that took Davis out onto the floor. Evil Uno connected with a somersault senton onto Davis.
Dark Order used a quick combo of strikes before Uno pinned Fletcher for two. Ten minutes had passed. Uno, now shirtless, and Davis got into a chop battle next. The crowd was as loud as ever behind Dark Order at this point.
Davis super-plexed Uno off the second rope. Angels landed on Fletcher with a frog splash. Finally, Aussie Open were able to elbow Angels into a dazed stupor before putting him away with the Coriolis for an emphatic win. Aussie Opens advances to the semi-finals of the STRONG Openweight tag team tournament.
Final thoughts:
I liked “Filthy” Tom vs. Bad Dude Tito’s match the best on tonight’s episode, but the final bout between Aussie Open and Dark Order was awesome action. If innovative, high-octane tag team wrestling is your thing, you should probably check this one out.
Lawlor and Tito had an abbreviated main event style match that told a good story. Bad Dude Tito is one of the most underrated and overlooked wrestlers on the market today, and I imagine he’ll make some noise this summer while on tour in Japan teaming with JONAH of TMDK.
FTR’s Dax Harwood will make his NJPW Strong debut at High Alert on July 24.
Harwood and partner Cash Wheeler captured NJPW’s IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles last month at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, and now he will have his first official NJPW match.
Harwood’s debut bout against Rocky Romero is one of four new matches announced for the High Alert taping.
Also added to the card, KUSHIDA and Ren Narita will team against JD Drake and Anthony Henry of The WorkHorsemen.
In another singles bout, JR Kratos will face Drew Adler. Additionally, John Skyler will face Lucky Ali.
The finals of the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team title tournament, Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Clark Connors, plus AEW’s Eddie Kingston vs. Jake Something are already set for Charlotte, North Carolina on the 24th.
Here is the lineup so far:
NJPW Strong: High Alert, Sunday, July 24 —
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament finals
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Clark Connors
The Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament continues on Saturday’s Ignition episode of NJPW Strong with a pair of first round matches.
Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Alan Angels will team against Aussie Open’s Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis in one of the quarterfinal bouts. Angels has left AEW since the Ignition series was taped last month, and has since made his Impact Wrestling debut.
In the other tournament bout, Stray Dog Army’s Barrett Brown and Misterioso will team against the Midnight Heat duo of Ricky Gibson and Eddie Pearl.
In a non-tournament match, former Strong Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will take on Bad Dude Tito.
Here is Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong: Ignition night two, Saturday, July 16, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament first round: Dark Order (Evil Uno & Alan Angels) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Bad Dude Tito
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament first round: Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso) vs. Midnight Heat (Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl)
NJPW Strong: Ignition from Hollywood, California kicked off tonight, which featured two first round matches in the STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament.
Christopher Daniels and announcer Ian Riccaboni appeared at the top of the program to explain Karl Fredericks’ absence from the scheduled Openweight Tag Team Tournament. NJPW aired an angle this year which had Fredericks asking Daniels to be his tag partner in the upcoming tournament.
Daniels explained that with such a high level of talent in the tag tournament, he’d be smart to simply step aside and allow a more established unit to take his and Fredericks’ spot. He also explained that with his 29-year background in wrestling, he also knew that opportunities like this don’t often come by, and that if he’s to win the tournament, he’d need a partner who matched his drive and ambition to win.
Daniels then brought out Yuya Uemura. He told Uemura that he had the same fire and heart as he did, and that together they could surprise many teams and become the inaugural tag team champions. Uemura said “Let’s go!” and the two shook hands. Daniels is masterful at this sort of thing and did a good job of smoothing over loose ends. Simple, short, and effective.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship, Round 1: Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura defeated The Factory (Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo) w/ QT Marshall to advance to the semi-finals
Good opener. The crowd loved Daniels & Uemura and loved to hate The Factory. The heel team were in control early. Daniels took a beating for a bit, but when the five-minute call sounded, he was able to power up and tag out to a fresh Uemura, who re-entered the ring afire with forearms. He has a great-looking flying forearm a la Tito Santana. Uemura landed a running bulldog on Solo, which the crowd loved. He earned a close near-fall after a back suplex, but Comoroto rushed in to break up the pin. He beat on Uemura despite being the illegal man.
Uemura tagged out to Daniels and they double-teamed “The Freak Beast,” Comoroto. When Comoroto ran towards the two, Daniels low-bridged him, pulling the top rope down and letting Comoroto spill out onto the floor. The stocky Uemura followed up with a huge pescado out onto Comoroto.
Inside the ring, Daniels caught Solo with a standing uranage and pinned him after a picturesque double-jump moonsault for the win. Daniels & Uemura advance to the semi-finals of the tag tournament.
JONAH defeated Taylor Rust
Rust had trouble with JONAH’s size early on. He tried chopping him down with low kicks as they circled each other. Despite JONAH’s positioning as heel, the crowd clearly preferred JONAH to Rust, who would crush Rust with a running avalanche a few minutes into this. Rust countered quickly and continued working over JONAH’s legs. JONAH answered back with a buckle bomb.
A fan began chanting “N-X-T!” at JONAH, who pointed at the fan and took a few steps. His response is hard to catch on the broadcast, but inside the venue, it was clear as crystal: “That 2.0 s*** sucks.” The crowd went wild for the line and began chanting “JO-NAH!” over and over.
JONAH blasted Rust with chops out on the floor. Rust threw a few shots in return, but JONAH stayed in control. Back in the ring, JONAH leveled Rust with a back elbow.
After around five minutes of action, the pace began to slow, with JONAH neutralizing Rust on the mat, squeezing him with a waistlock. JONAH went for a splash but Rust moved. He caught JONAH with a scissor kick. JONAH answered with a fireman’s carry throw. Rust would lay JONAH out moments later with a Samoan drop of his own, where he carried JONAH from the corner to the middle of the ring. Rust is damn strong. He followed up with a super-shallow swanton bomb for two.
Rust would ground & pound JONAH with elbows and kicks before locking him in a modified Rings of Saturn submission. JONAH earned a rope break, and both were back to their feet. They traded big strikes. JONAH caught Rust with a lariat, then wrecked him with a spear before squashing him with a splash off the top rope for the win. JONAH remains undefeated in NJPW Strong.
STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship, Round 1: TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) to advance to the semi-finals
This was very good. I don’t believe Haste & Nicholls have appeared together as a single unit for a long time, maybe since their time together in NXT.
Nelson and Nicholls started things off. Nelson whipped his t-shirt at Haste, who was standing on the apron in the red corner. Since both teams play heel, I liked how Riccaboni described them as having different momentums. They do work different styles, with TMDK falling more on the high octane, high impact side, while WCWC prefers to slowly tenderize their opponents before putting them away with impressive double-team finishes.
Haste landed a nice Japanese-style armdrag. Nelson eventually out-powered Haste and slammed him into the blue corner before tagging Isaacs into the match. Isaacs held Haste in a delayed vertical suplex position for over 20 seconds before dropping him. He and Nelson then flexed for the crowd in celebration.
WCWC trapped Haste in the corner and picked him apart, pounding and stomping away. Isaacs landed a backbreaker and Nelson went in for the pin, but only for two. Later, he caught Haste with a jumping knee, then climbed to the top rope. Before he could dive, a reanimated Shane Haste dashed up to the second rope and launched Nelson with a single-arm suplex.
Isaacs and Nicholls were tagged back into the match after this. They duked it out for a few, but Isaacs would tag Nelson back in, and WCWC then laid Nicholls out with a suplex-power bomb combination for a two-count on Nicholls.
When Jorel Nelson went for a German suplex, Nicholls countered and spiked Nelson with a DDT before tagging Haste back in. Haste landed a pretty dropkick on Nelson before crashing into both members of WCWC with a leg lariat in the corner. Nicholls then powerslammed Isaacs and stayed on top of him so that Haste could launch himself off of Nicholl’s back for a cannonball into the corner onto Nelson.
TMDK connected with the Tank Buster on Nelson, but Isaacs rushed in for the save. WCWC took Nicholls out with a double-team Dominator-facebuster combo.
Isaacs caught Haste in the corner and flung him off with a spinning avalanche powerslam. Nelson followed that up with a nice diving elbow drop.
WCWC called for the finish, but when Nelson bounced off the ropes, Nicholls yanked Nelson out of the ring by his ankles, then served him a lariat on the floor. In the ring, Haste blasted Isaacs with a high roundhouse kick. TMDK then put him away with Hell in the Elevator for the win. TMDK advances to the semi-finals.
Final thoughts:
Yet another solid, watchable episode of NJPW Strong that lasted under an hour.
Next week sees Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso) vs. The Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson) and The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Alan Angels) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) as the STRONG Openweight Tag Team tournament continues.
The company announced Wednesday night that NJPW Strong: Fighting Spirit Unleashed will be taped at the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 21.
Tickets for the taping will go on sale Friday, July 8 at 10 a.m. Pacific time, with prices ranging from $25 for standing room tickets to $90 for ringside seats.
Current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White, and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser are the only talent announced for the event so far.
NJPW has run the Vermont Hollywood for Strong tapings four times before, with Nemesis in December 2021, Rivals in February, Mutiny in April, and Ignition in June.
Early Thursday, NJPW held a press conference in Japan to announce their business strategy for the remainder of 2022, and touted the success of Strong as a touring brand in the US market.
The company also announced that STARDOM wrestlers will begin appearing on the Strong brand on US shows “In adapting NJPW to the global standard and audience expectations.”
NJPW has announced two new matches, plus changed an already announced bout for the Strong: High Alert taping in Charlotte on July 24.
A previously announced Hiromu Takahashi vs Clark Connors singles match will now be a three-way, with El Desperado added to the match.
In a new addition to the lineup, AEW’s Eddie Kingston will face Jake Something.
In the other newly announced bout, The DKC and Kevin Knight will take on the debuting Heat Seekers (Elliot Russel and Sigmon) in a tag team match.
The finals of a tournament to crown the first NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions is also set for Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as singles matches with Hikuleo vs. Big Damo, and Mascara Dorada vs. TJP.
The announced lineup so far:
NJPW Strong: High Alert, Sunday, July 24 —
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament finals
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Clark Connors
A tournament to crown the first NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions kicks off on this week’s Strong: Ignition episode.
A pair of first round tournament matches have been announced for Saturday’s episode, as well as a singles bout.
In one first round bout, Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura will team against AEW’s The Factory duo of Aaron Solow and Nick Comoroto. That match will open Saturday’s show.
In the other first round bout, TMDK’s Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls will face the West Coast Wrecking Crew, Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs from Team Filthy. That match will close Saturday’s episode.
In Saturday’s non-tournament bout, JONAH will face Taylor Rust.
The Ignition series of Strong shows was taped on June 19 in Los Angeles.
Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong: Ignition night one, Saturday, July 9, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament first round: Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
JONAH vs. Taylor Rust
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament first round: Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura vs. Aaron Solow & Nick Comoroto
A special edition of NJPW Strong aired tonight called United Empire Rising with members of the faction appearing in each match on the show.
United Empire (Aussie Open, Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan) defeated TMDK (JONAH, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Bad Dude Tito)
TMTK jumped United Empire once the bell sounded. O-Khan used Mongolian chops on Haste and then sat on his head, sandwiching it between the top rope and O-Khan’s ass. O-Khan later tried knocking JONAH off the apron, but the big man wouldn’t budge.
Aussie Open double-teamed Henare for a while. Later, JONAH unloaded on Kyle Fletcher in the corner. They worked over the youngest wrestler in the match for a few minutes until Fletcher was able to roll to the opposite corner and tag Mark Davis, who cleaned house.
TMDK later used the Tankbuster, and Tito followed up with a frog splash for two. Fletcher dove to the floor. Tito connected with a blockbuster on O-Khan, but Henare returned to the ring and put Tito away with Streets of Rage for the win. United Empire kicked off the night 1–0.
O-Khan cut a promo afterwards and called the crowd peasants before reiterating that United Empire were taking over NJPW.
Jeff Cobb defeated Willie Mack
The story in this match was that Mack, between his size and high flying ability, gave Cobb a real run for his money. Cobb didn’t look as strong or dominant as he usually does in NJPW singles matches. Despite him picking up the win, he didn’t finish with an emphatic, clear victory. Mack took most of the offense throughout the match, and Cobb wasn’t able to do many of his usual power spots; no suplexes, no slams.
Cobb wasn’t able to land his standing moonsault, either. Interestingly, Mack used a standing moonsault of his own and connected for a close two. Mack ended up using a german suplex and exploder suplex back to back for another near fall. It was clear the story they were telling was Mack has Cobb’s number.
When Mack put Cobb down with a Sky High, he was able to score another two count. It was right after this that Cobb decided to schoolboy Mack, cradling him with his shoulders pinned against the mat.
This could be viewed as a hollow victory for the otherwise dominant Cobb, so I imagine we’ll see these two together in the ring sometime down the road this year. Still, United Empire moved to 2–0.
Will Ospreay (w/ Aussie Open) defeated Homicide
Eddie Kingston joined Ian Riccaboni and Matthew Rehwoldt on commentary, but he wasn’t mic’d correctly and you could hear almost nothing of what he said.
The match itself, though, was very good. It was well paced from the beginning, slower than one might come to expect from a Ospreay match. The two jaw-jacked early on. Ospreay mouthed off to Homicide and was quite loud Homicide responded by slapping him in the face, knocking him silly.
Homicide went for a monkey flip, but Ospreay landed on his feet and then hopped to the second rope and dove off, catching Homicide with a flying cross body block.
Ospreay landed a big pescado to the floor later on. The two then continued brawling around ringside. Homicide put Ospreay down with a vertical suplex on the floor and then a swinging neckbreaker on the entrance ramp.
Homicide took out a fork later and teased stabbing Ospreay with it. Aussie Open distracted Homicide, allowing Ospreay to block the fork shot. Ospreay recovered and blasted Homicide with a baseball slide dropkick between the ropes. He then teased using the fork on Homicide, but didn’t.
Later, Ospreay taunted Kingston, who was still near ringside on commentary. What’s funny was that Kingston was way more audible when he was shouting at Ospreay and Homicide in the ring than he was on the broadcast. The crowd went wild when Kingston started shouting at Ospreay.
Homicide dove through the middle rope and crashed into Ospreay with a reckless, but perfect, somersault senton.
Back in the ring, Ospreay connected with a step-up enzuigiri, but Homicide recovered fast and launched Ospreay into the corner with an overhead front suplex. Ospreay responded with a Liger Bomb for two and then an Os-Cutter for another. The crowd was wide awake at this point.
Homicide collapsed as Ospreay was winding up for his Hidden Blade elbow finish. Later, after Homicide had recovered, he was able to spike Ospreay with the Cop Killer for a very close count of two. When he went to use the fork, the referee took it from Homicide’s hands. While he was distracted with the ref, Ospreay reappeared with a roundhouse kick to the head, followed by the Hidden Blade, but only for two which got an audible gasp from the Philly crowd.
Ospreay then dumped cold water on the audience when he soon laid Homicide out with a Stormbreaker to pick up the win. United Empire finished the night 3–0.
Final thoughts:
The main event from tonight’s United Empire Rising edition of NJPW Strong is very much worth going out of your way to check out. Ospreay’s game has developed a lot in the past two years and it was on full display in his match with Homicide, who looked terrific tonight. Hopefully he shows up in NJPW more often going forward.
