Tag: njpw world

NJPW Strong results: Six-man tag team action

Posted on by Justin Knipper

This week saw the third installment of the NJPW Strong: Nemesis tapings from Hollywood, CA.

Royce Isaacs (with Jorel Nelson) defeated Lucas Riley

Nelson accompanied his West Coast Wrecking Crew partner to the ring for the match. He jaw-jacked from the floor before things got started.

Isaacs out-wrestled Riley on the mat early on. Riley did a headscissors and a springboard swanton. Isaacs came back and hoisted Riley into the air with a delayed hanging suplex. Nelson then hopped in the ring and the Team Filthy members ended up posing for the crowd.

The crowd eventually got behind Riley. Nelson told announcer Kevin Kelly, who was at ringside with Alex Koslov, to clean his glasses. Riley hit the Orb of Confusion late in the match, but Isaacs responded with a mid-air powerslam for two. He put Riley away after a big deadlift German suplex. Isscs and Nelson did a chest bump afterwards.

Juice Robinson defeated Bad Dude Tito

This was a very good, hard-hitting match. It was Tito’s NJPW debut. Viewers may recognize him as a regular on Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport events. We saw a different style from Tito here, a more traditional pro wrestling approach. His ring gear had him looking like a modern-day Hercules Hernandez.

The crowd wouldn’t stop chanting “JUICE!” throughout the bout. The two were on the floor brawling early in the match, chopping each other up before Robinson suplexed Tito on the floor.

Back in the ring, Tito landed a huge spinebuster. Robinson later connected with a big senton. They did a double-KO spot after they crashed into each other with lariats.

Robinson connected with more of his Terry Funk-style jabs. Tito came back with a blue thunder bomb for a two-count. Later, Tito connected with a Death Valley Bomb, again for two. By this point the Hollywood crowd was audibly split between Robinson and Tito.

When Tito went to the top turnbuckle for a dive, Robinson connected with the Left Hand of God punch, then planted him with a draping Pulp Friction from off the top. Robinson then put Tito away with a sitout fisherman’s buster, which seems to be Robinson’s new finisher. Again, this was really damn good.

Robinson grabbed a microphone and called out JONAH next. JONAH walked to the ring, albeit slowly. When he finally made his way into the ring, Bad Dude Tito snuck over to Robinson and held his ankle so JONAH could attack him. Tito and JONAH then climbed to opposite corners and teased a double-splash until David Finlay came out to make the save for Robinson. So, JONAH and Bad Dude Tito are aligned now, and I’m sure we’ll see those two versus FinJuice soon.

Rocky Romero, Rust Taylor & Fred Rosser defeated Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Black Tiger & Jorel Nelson with Royce Isaacs)

There were loud “ROC-KY!” chants before things got started. Romero and Black Tiger kicked things off for their teams, continuing their recent feud between each other. The announcers have established Black Tiger as an imposter, as he isn’t a part of the small club of wrestlers who’ve been under the Black Tiger hood, which includes Romero and the late Eddie Guerreo.

Without delay, Romero ran across the ring and blasted Tiger in the face with a flying knee. Fred Rosser, who has become NJPW Strong’s resident brawler, was in soon after Romero. He took the fight to the floor, causing bedlam not even five minutes into the match.

Team Filthy triple teamed Romero once the match settled back into the ring. At one point, Royce Isaacs, who was at ringside with Team Filthy, hopped into the ring for a four-man pose over Romero. Lawlor held up a sign from the crowd that said “YA FILTHY ANIMALS.” The crowd enjoyed that.

Rust Taylor finally had a chance to tag into the match and went to town on Filthy Tom. Lawlor made a comeback after ambushing Taylor when he had his back turned. Lawlor would deck Rust with a few closed fists and would later slam him.

Rosser eventually came in and made the save for Taylor. He went at it with recent rival Lawlor, as Team Filthy are responsible for Rosser’s new bald-headed look, when they shaved his head at the Philadelphia NJPW Strong tapings in November. Nelson and Lawlor landed a Hart Attack and then a Boston Crab-flying knee drop combo for a near fall.

Taylor connected with his finisher, a snapping front-neckbreaker, dropping Nelson for the win.

Afterwards, Romero and the imposter Black Tiger got into it on the floor despite the match being over. Romero locked an armbar on Tiger and had to be dragged to the back. This match did a good job of advancing whatever they have planned for Romero and Tiger while also shining up the returning Rust Taylor with a decisive win.

Final thoughts:

Juice Robinson vs. Bad Dude Tito was the show-stealer tonight. Should it have main-evented the episode? I think so. The final six-man tag team match was good, but Robinson vs. Tito really stuck out. All in all, it was a solid, very watchable episode of NJPW Strong that clocked in at just under an hour.

NJPW Strong results: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Brody King

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight’s episode of NJPW Strong was taped in Riverside, CA at the New Japan Detonation show.

Jonathan Gresham defeated Gabriel Kidd

Kidd shook announcer Kevin Kelly’s hand and told him he loved him before the match. Kelly told him the same. This was Kidd’s first match in six months after what’s reported to have been a tumultuous year for him.

They shook hands before the match. When it kicked off, the two went into a fluid mat exchange that lasted a few minutes. Gresham had an arguable edge over the younger Kidd, but even still, it was hard for either to gain the upper hand. Neither threw strikes or resorted to dirty technique. 

Not being able to take Kidd down or get a real advantage frustrated and annoyed Gresham midway through the bout. He’d later “accidentally” poked Kidd in the eye. This was disputable, albeit in a kayfabe kind of way. Gresham apologized and offered his hand. A lot of the crowd booed this, but some sounded delighted.

Gresham teased throwing a punch or elbow over the course of this. He got a lot of mileage out of this and was able to get the crowd to react without having to do all that much. It was a good sub-story within the match. 

At around ten minutes in, Kidd bodyslammed Gresham. He later went to put Gresham away with the Billy Robinson-style single-arm suplex he’s known to use, but Gresham escaped. After a series of reversals, Gresham picked up the win with a headscissors pin combination.

United Empire (WIll Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & TJP) defeated LA Dojo (Ren Narita, Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors)

This turned out to be a pretty exciting tag match. Both teams jaw-jacked with each other and it quickly turned into a brawl. The bell rang. Fredericks landed a crazy tope con giro to the floor in the first minute. The LA Dojo team was fired up for this one.

After the Dojo babyfaces worked TJP over for a few minutes, Cobb got involved to even the score when he launched Narita into a guardrail on the floor behind the ref’s back. It got a good reaction from the crowd. He’d later ragdoll Narita around the ring, impressing the crowd with a squatting deadlift vertical suplex, again propelling him comically far.

Ospreay used a spinning backbreaker on Narita. He chopped Narita and the sound rang out like a pistol firing. Connors eventually caught the hot tag after Narita threw Ospreay coming off the ropes with a front suplex. Connors cleaned house.

Before the ten-minute announcement sounded, Connors caught TJP with an insane snap powerslam, then speared Ospreay on the apron. 

TJP later took Narita out with a cradle back suplex. Fredericks and Cobb were in the ring together next when Fredericks caught Cobb with a big spinebuster. He earned a two-count after a jumping elbow drop.

Connors went to spear TJP towards the end of the match but he couldn’t because his knee gave out. Earlier on, TJP had hyper-extended Connors’ knee, so it’d already been tenderized. He locked in a modified scorpion deathlock. This gave Cobb a chance to stamp Fredericks out completely after a Spin-Cycle suplex. Connors broke up the pin. Cobb then put Fredericks down with a Tour of the Islands for a decisive-looking pin. 

Despite the match being over, TJP kept hold on his submission lock, ripping on Connors’ knee. Narita tried attacking the group but staff held him back. Narita escaped and tried taking the three heels out, but he’d get stomped out again. United Abominations posed with their belts in the ring. The crowd showered them with boos. The group messed with Kevin Kelly at the announcers’ table before they’d exit to the back. 

NEVER Openweight Championship match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) defeated Brody King to retain

What a match.

They didn’t waste any time getting into the violence. In terms of style, this was the total opposite of Gresham vs. Kidd. They exchanged elbows and shoulder blocks. Neither would go down, neither wanted to give an inch. The bigger King was able to take Ishii down a few times, though, once laying him out after a senton.

Ishii went for a vertical suplex but King shut it down quickly. He blasted Ishii with chops. The first two were so loud. Ishii took a number of them and insisted King throw more at him until he collapsed in the corner. Ishii’s chest was bright red. 

It looked like they’d been through actual war by the five minute mark. Ishii somehow was able to spike King with a brainbuster and later chop and elbow him hard in the opposite corner. King was barely able to survive Ishii’s offensive and flattened him with a lariat. 

King crushed Ishii in the corner with a cannonball. Ishii reacted like he’d gotten into a car accident, just pure agony. King used a piledriver for two. 

They traded nasty elbows. The crowd seemed half in support of King, half in support of Ishii. Ishii threw King with a release German suplex off the ropes. He tried taking King out with a number of lariats of his own, but King wouldn’t go down. King went down after a headbutt, then Ishii went for a Sliding D. King caught Ishii. They were up on their feet and eventually Ishii laid King out with a lariat. 

King shouted his tag team partner Chris Dickinson out before dropping Ishii on his head with a Death Valley Bomb for two. 

King went for the Gonzo Bomb but Ishii slipped out. They played cat-and-mouse some more until King blasted Ishii with another huge lariat. King went for the Gonzo Bomb but again Ishii escaped, then dazed the giant King with an enzuigiri kick. In the end, Ishii lifted King into the air, then drilled him into the mat with a picture-perfect vertical-drop brainbuster for the win.

Final thoughts:

This was one of the best episodes of NJPW Strong front-to-back. This one has to go in the top five, at least. The six-man tag match sounded like a blast for the crowd. Kidd and Gresham told such a great and physical story. The main event between King and Ishii is as good as one would expect. As a fan, all I can ask for is a lot more of this. Hope there’s a rematch planned for next year.

NJPW Strong moving to Saturday beginning September 18

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW Strong is moving from Friday nights to Saturday nights. 

NJPW announced that Strong will move from its Friday 10 p.m. Eastern time slot to Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern, beginning with the September 18 edition of the show. Strong airs on NJPW World and FITE TV. 

The Friday night landscape has grown increasingly crowded with the addition of AEW Rampage earlier this month. WWE has SmackDown on Fox at 8 p.m. Eastern and 205 Live on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern on Fridays. 

NJPW Strong debuted on August 7, 2020 and primarily features a different roster than the NJPW main unit. With pandemic-related travel issues plaguing NJPW’s main roster, some talent based outside of Japan that had been main unit mainstays have moved over to becoming Strong regulars, including Will Ospreay, Jay White, Juice Robinson and David Finlay.

Additionally, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii were brought in for the most recent set of NJPW Strong tapings in Long Beach, California. 

NJPW Strong results: New Japan Cup USA 2021 finals

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Team Filthy (JR Kratos and Chris Dickinson) defeated Clark Connors and TJP

Good, hard-hitting opener. Connors got the tar beaten out of him in this match. Kratos launched him across the ring with a vertical suplex at one point. When Connors finally could tag out to partner TJP, the LA Dojo alum came into the match to clean the proverbial house. There was a spot where Connors had Dickinson in a Boston crab, while TJP locked Kratos in an octopus hold, a move symbolic of Antonio Inoki, founder of the first NJPW dojo in California.

Kratos powered out of the hold. Dickinson later spiked Connors with a brainbuster for two. The finish saw Connors try throwing Kratos in a Boston crab, but Kratos muscled out and reversed the hold into a huge wheelbarrow suplex for the win.

Rocky Romero defeated Wheeler Yuta via submission

Tonight saw Wheeler Yuta make his NJPW Strong debut. He looked very good despite the loss, which came across more as a “you’re-worthy-of-us” loss than anything. Yuta was in ROH’s Pure title tournament last year, and before that has traveled around the world working with various independents. It’s clear how much he has honed his craft and transformed his body over the past few years.

We saw smooth mat wrestling from both at the beginning. Romero went after Yuta’s left arm. The NJPW neophyte answered later with a forward-facing figure-four type submission before Romero could break the hold by grabbing hold of the bottom rope.

Yuta landed a nice flying cross body attack later on, then threw Romero into a figure four-STF submission hold. Romero escaped again, and later put Yuta on the mat with a low springboard dropkick. Romero delivered a sharp counter-kick into Yuta’s face, but Yuta ate it and immediately answered with a German suplex for two. Romero rallied back and put Yuta down with Sliced Bread, and eventually got him to tap out in an armbar after spending much of the match attacking Yuta’s arm.

This was good. Yuta is a good fit with the current roster.

NJPW Cup USA 2021 Finals: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Brody King via TKO to win the New Japan USA Cup and the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship

There’s not much better in life than a brawl, is there? Lawlor threw low kicks early. The much bigger King outmuscled Lawlor into the corner soon after, then laid in a few hard forearms into Lawlor’s chest. There was pensive energy from the match and between the two early in this. The volume and intensity started to rise when King threw a few huge knife-edged chops that sounded to echo throughout the venue. Lawlor rolled to the floor when he could for an early breather.

Lawlor tried trapping King outside the ring, baiting him to make chase. King didn’t bite, then quickly recovered, going right back on offense. He had Lawlor placed prone in the red corner when he went for a running cannonball, but Lawlor slipped out of the ring and out of harm’s way. “Filthy” Tom immediately went after King’s legs, smashing them against the ring post while on the floor. He stomped on King’s fingers, too. Lawlor kept King on the floor for as long as he could and took advantage of every second. After whipping King into the guardrail and working over his arm some more, Lawlor rolled back into the ring. The referee started the ring-out count, but King rolled in at the count of 13.

Lawlor tried knocking King off his feet with a few lariats, but King wouldn’t budge. He answered with a senton, squashing Lawlor. The two had another series of chops before King used an exploder to fold Lawlor into the corner post. He then connected with the same cannonball he’d attempted earlier on.

Later, Lawlor jumped onto King and locked on a guillotine choke. King carried Lawlor to the corner, placed him on top of the turnbuckle, then superplexed him off the top for two.

Lawlor recovered and threw on an ankle lock. King wouldn’t tap, so Lawlor flipped King to his back and used a jacknife pin, but King countered that and turned it into a jumping piledriver. After another close nearfall, King, exhausted, dropped a few more hammer forearms on Lawlor before the Filthy one powered up and planted King with an awesome-looking uranage. KIng kicked out at one and seemed to power up. He charged at Lawlor, who parried and dropkicked King low, in the knees. He locked in an STF, but no dice for Lawlor. He kicked King hard in the back with a penalty kick. On the next attempt, King caught his leg. Lawlor countered and locked in a rear naked choke, which neutralized King almost completely. Then, finally, Lawlor ripped King in the chest with a running PK, then put King in the same rear naked choke hold he used earlier. King let out a death rattle before losing consciousness; the referee eventually called for the bell.

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor is this year’s New Japan Cup USA 2021 winner, as well as the first-ever New Japan Strong Openweight Champion. NJPW’s Kaname. Tezuka presented Lawlor his giant New Japan Cup USA trophy and his Strong Openweight title belt. JR Kratos and Chris Dickinson celebrated in the ring with Lawlor after the match.

Lawlor said this win had been “a long time comin’” and that he was now, in fact, the strongest competitor on the NJPW roster. He explained how this part of the show is usually when someone comes out and challenges the victor, so he insisted his next opponent come out and face him. No one came out. Lawlor explained that’s what he figured would happen. Lawlor’s music hit, but suddenly, we realized who Lawlor’s next opponent would be: Chris Dickinson, or Lawlor’s team mate, took the mic and challenged Lawlor for his newly-won championship. Lawlor and Kratos were shocked. The new champion asked, “Is this really the right time to do this?” Dickinson answered that it was.

Final thoughts: King and Lawlor had a hell of a match tonight. It was basically a hardcore match without weapons. The story was great, and the last couple minutes of this were top-notch pro wrestling. I don’t know how else to describe it other than just that. Nothing flashy, nothing kitschy, just two fighters fightin’. Go out of your way to watch this over the weekend, and congratulations to the first-ever member of the F4W Empire  to simultaneously hold a New Japan title. History has been made.

NJPW Strong results: New Japan Cup USA 2021 semifinals

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Jordan Clearwater, Adrian Quest, Barrett Brown & Misterioso defeated The DKC, Kevin Knight, Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredericks

Both teams got chippy with each other before the bell. LA Dojo’s Alex Coughlin and Barrett Brown were in first. The DKC and Clearwater were in together after that, and DKC was extra fired up tonight. He stomped the taller Clearwater’s foot before tagging out to Adrian Quest. DKC tagged out to Kevin Knight, who made a fundamental bodyslam look more impressive than you’d imagine. Very strong dude, this Kevin Knight.

Brown and Quest double-teamed DKC until Coughlin got involved briefly. Later, Misterioso tagged in and worked over DKC some more. He was the whipping boy in this match, taking the brunt of the abuse from the opposite team until he was able to finally tag out to Karl Fredericks. He and Clearwater will probably have a barnburner of a singles match together down the road. Same goes for Brown and Knight, who looked good together towards the end.

Knight did a sliding shoulder block, then a standing frog splash for two. Coughlin blocked Quest from doing a dive to the floor, blasting him with a shoulder tackle. Quest eventually pulled off a springboard flip dive to the floor. Misterioso was next, and the six guys on the floor had to huddle and wait together until he jumped. This section towards the end messed with the flow of the match, which was up to this point pretty intense and without pauses in action.

Brown took out Knight with a huge 50 Calibre kick (Claymore Kick). Knight went flying, but later took Brown out with a high dropkick of his own. Misterioso pinned Knight moments later after a back cracker.

Barrett Brown freaked out on teammate Misterioso afterwards. “What are you doing?!” Brown has slowly been losing his cool on Strong, going off on a number of occasions after taking losses. The story here was that he, selfishly, wanted to be the guy who pinned Knight.

New Japan Cup USA 2021 semifinals match: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Hikuleo

This was good. “Filthy” Tom brought his Iron Shiek club to the ring again this week. He charged at the much bigger Hikuleo just after the bell. Hikuleo outmuscled Lawlor, slowing his assault. When Lawlor went for a dragon screw leg whip, Hikuleo didn’t go down, and instead picked Lawlor up by the throat. Lawlor clipped Hikuleo’s knee in an attempt to bring the rookie giant back to the mat. Lawlor made Hikuleo feel like a beast, and he wrestled in a way that felt realistic, or logical. He’s shorter than Hikuleo, so his offense was based entirely on making Hikuleo smaller, taking out his legs with kicks and a variety of leg submissions. 

Hikuleo and Lawlor eventually rolled to the floor after Hikuleo attempted escaping a figure four leglock. He rammed Lawlor spine-first into the ring post. Lawlor slapped on another figure four, this time outside of the ring. The referee began counting them out, so they both tried getting back into the ring but kept fighting each other, cutting it close to a 20-count disqualification finish.

They were able to break the count, and soon after, “Filthy” Tom was able to wrap Hikuleo into a small package cradle for the win. Memories of Bret Hart vs. Diesel at Survivor Series 1995 flashed in my brain. Lawlor advances to the Cup finals, where he’ll face either Brody King or Lio Rush.

New Japan Cup USA 2021 semifinals match: Brody King defeated Lio Rush

Seeing King and Rush stand face-to-face made for a great visual. King dwarfed Rush. He played bully in this match, shouting “This ain’t the juniors anymore!” before smushing him in the face. Rush fired a few one-two combinations, fast stick-and-move shots not all unlike what we see from Kota Ibushi. Rush went for a tope suicida, but King caught him in the air, then chokeslammed him onto the apron. He shouted at Rush to get up before launching him with a hip toss.

Later, King went to power bomb Rush onto the apron. Rush escaped, then landed a nice plancha from the top rope to the floor onto King. He landed a frog splash inside the ring for two. He went for his springboard cutter finish, but King blocked it, shoved him into the ropes, then decimated with a lariat.

After a big Gonzo Bomb, that was it: King wins. He’ll next wrestle “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in the New Japan Cup USA 2021 Finals, where the winner will be crowned first-ever NJPW Strong Openweight champion.

After the match, King cut a promo saying Lio Rush brought the fight to NJPW pro wrestling but ran into “the beast.” King understood how experienced Lawlor is as a fighter, but even still, it wouldn’t match the level of violence King plans to bring to the ring.

Final thoughts:

Tonight’s episode was short and sweet, clocking in at around 45 minutes with King vs. Rush as match of the night. King faces Lawlor in the Cup finals on next week’s episode. NJPW will announce the rest of the card in the next few days.

NJPW Strong results: Lio Rush vs. Rocky Romero

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight’s episode started off with both Lio Rush and Rocky Romero’s pre-taped selfie promos hyping their main event later in the show. Their match was one of two New Japan Cup USA qualifying matches that aired tonight. The Cup will host eight entrants in total once all competitors are qualified.  We’d know the first two participants of the tourney by the end of the show.

Karl Fredericks and Alex Coughlin defeated Clark Connors and Kevin Knight

The Young Lions were back in the ring with each other for the first time in months. Coughlin suffered a neck injury last year, so this was the first time we got to see him on the show this year. He recently appeared at both of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport events before making his return appearance on Strong this week.

Even before the bell sounded, all four were talking trash with each other, all audible, for the most part. Connors seems to have a uniquely dynamic chemistry with both Fredericks and Coughlin.

The first match kicked off with Coughlin and a more recent Young Lion, Kevin Knight, and the two looked sharp together from the beginning, cycling through holds and submission attempts without hesitating. Coughlin was keen on proving that his neck injury was healed, making it a point to use holds that put pressure on his own neck, ones that forced him to bridge.

No matter what, this always felt like a competitive contest. There was never a doubt in my mind that what I was watching was ‘sport’ and not something else. The way all four come across in the ring, their intensity plus the crazy athleticism among each of them is notable, and it made me pay closer attention.

I forgot how high Fredericks could jump. He showed off a high leapfrog while in the ring with Connors, and it’s always impressive because of how tall Fredericks is. There looked to be a bit of miscommunication between the two on a powerslam spot, but it didn’t ruin the momentum of the match, fortunately.

Knight took a beating from both Fredericks and Coughlin by the time this was half-way through. Knight would sometimes explode with a return attack, like once when he used a diving shoulder tackle to a seat Coughlin—something I’d never seen before—plus, later, he landed a dropkick where Knight had to be close to six-feet in the air Keep an eye on Knight this year, as he’s sure to blow up once NJPW gives him the nod.

Towards the end of the match, Coughlin used a double gutwrench suplex on both Connors and Knight. Eat your heart out, Daisuke Sekimoto. Knight later locked on a Boston Crab on Fredericks until he grabbed the ropes for the break. The finish saw Fredericks locking in a sleeperhold to put Knight down, then hoisted him up for Manifest Destiny, Frederick’s impaler DDT finisher, and picked up the win for him and Coughlin.

Afterwards, the two cut a good promo that featured a fired-up Coughlin, who expressed his desire to get back into the ring after being out of commission for more than half a year.

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated The DKC to qualify for the New Japan USA Cup 2021

Filthy” Tom brought a long Indian club with him into the ring and swung it over his head a few times before the match. It’s the same piece of exercise equipment greats like Karl Gotch and the Iron Sheik used in their training, 

One of the best things about this match was how it started: Instead of tying up, Lawlor kicked the DKC flush in the chest. I immediately thought to myself, “Why haven’t more wrestlers started their matches this way?”

Lawlor then boasted in the ring and asked for Kevin Kelly, who was on commentary. The momentary lapse allowed the DKC enough time to recover and get revenge on Lawlor for his “filthy” tactics. He landed a nice dropkick before the fight spilled out onto the floor.

Later, back in the ring, Lawlor took control on offense and it stayed that way for much of the match; the DKC would often try exploding back with bursts of offense, but the more experienced Lawlor was able to shut down anything DKC threw his way.

Lawlor spent time during the match working on the DKC’s arm. DKC answered back late with a Northern Lights suplex for two. DKC would continue to fight off submission attempts from Lawlor, and at points he’d come close to nearfalls via cradles or roll-up pins, but after Lawlor broke out the reverse bodyslam, the path to the finish was clear. He put the DKC down into a sitting position after locking him in a sleeper, then blasted him with a penalty kick for the win in a relatively short match, but a good one with a good story.

Lio Rush defeated Rocky Romero to qualify for the New Japan Cup USA 2021

Rush has had only a handful of matches with NJPW but already feels like a halfway seasoned regular of the show. His style really seems to suit the show so far.

The beginning of the match was similar to Rush’s match against El Phantasmo a few weeks back in that both matches started at a much slower pace than anticipated. The first five minutes of that match and tonight’s match with Rush and Romero were similarly paced, methodical and measured but with bursts of athleticism peppered throughout. Rush showed lots of flare and flash in his wrestling, but it never felt out of place or overdone.He and Romero complemented each other well tonight.

Romero looked to be in control of things. He targeted Rush’s arm throughout, tenderizing it with a hard dropkick from the second rope at one point, then later applying an arm lock on the same arm. Towards the end, when Romero went for his repeated forever clotheslines in the corner, Rush was able to withstand the blows, hop to the second rope and dive into Romero with a flying clothesline of his own. When Rush called for his finish, Romero was able to block it and turn Rush inside out with sliced bread for two. Romero cradled Rush for two, then Rush rolled back over, reversing the cradle and pinning Romero for three. Lio Rush wins and advances to the first round of the New Japan Cup USA 2021.

Final thoughts:

Everything on tonight’s show was great, but the first match had the most intensity and a lot of unanticipated excitement. I look forward to seeing more “Filthy” Tom in NJPW, too. Lio Rush seems like he’ll be appearing more for New Japan of America as well, as he too is slated for more appearances starting with the Cup shows.

Next week features Fred Rosser vs. JR Kratos in another New Japan Cup USA qualifying match.

NJPW Strong results: Jon Moxley vs. KENTA

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Ahead of the show, tonight’s episode of NJPW Strong was promoted as the hands-down biggest episode since the series’ inception last July. This was also one of the first live stream presentations of the show on NJPW World. It’s usually uploaded right at 10 PM Eastern/7 PT in the States.

Brody King, Super ACH, Sterling Riegel & Logan Riegel defeated The DKC, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors & TJP 

Brody King and his partners all came to the ring wearing the same ski mask he often does when he makes his entrance. Also, ACH now goes by “Super ACH,” or at least according to NJPW’s ring announcer tonight.

This was a great opener. Young lions DKC, Clark Connors, and Kevin Lee got into the ring and started jaw-jacking and chest-bumping with the opposing team before the match even started.

ACH kept his hoodie and face mask on as he and DKC kicked things off. The masked ACH blasted the newest Young Lion with hard chops early on before tagging out to Sterling Riegel. He and twin brother Logan used double-team offense, including an assisted neckbreaker spot. Lee and King got into it and had a great exchange of strikes and chops. Lee had a hydraulic kit but King answered back quickly with a senton.

Still in his hoodie and mask, ACH was next. Maybe he’s trying to cut weight. He, King and the Riegels laid into rookie Lee for the next few minutes. Lee is outrageously athletic and threw huge dropkicks. Keep an eye on him this year, for sure.

Clark Connors and the still-masked ACH were next in and had an excellent exchange. Connors was the proverbial “house of fire,” and no, I don’t feel guilty about writing such a clichéd wrestling trope because that is truly how Connors came off when he came into the match.

Later, Connors landed a spear, and TJP landed a frog splash for close count until King broke up the count. Lee came in and launched a huge dropkick. DKC and ACH were in together next and when DKC missed a dropkick ACH kicked him in the chest while he was seated, then put him down with a brain buster to pick up the win for his team. Yes, he had wrestled the entire match in mask and hoodie. Really good stuff.

Ren Narita submitted Chris Dickinson

What an awesome match this turned out to be. Not that I was necessarily doubting it, but these two over-delivered tonight. 

The match started out relatively slow and methodical, pretty quiet up until Narita threw the first chop that echoed in the empty venue. We were off from here, with both dishing it out at 100%. The two became increasingly more aggressive, throwing harder chops and slaps, all while shouting and generally kicking up the match intensity in bursts.

Dickinson seemed to get the better of Narita throughout the match as he dictated the pace. It was only a few minutes into the match and his chest was visibly red from chops.

“Dirty Daddy” locked in a heel hook type-submission on Narita, though the two didn’t let up with the chops while they were on the mat. Narita tried chopping and kicking his way out of the hold, which Dickinson had to break eventually. When they were back on their feet, they traded more chops until Dickinson used the Dragon screw leg whip to put Narita back to the mat. Narita somehow found some extra power inside of himself at around five minutes in when he muscled Dickinson into the corner and unloaded a flurry of forearms. Dickinson quickly returned and landed the death valley bomb on Narita but only garnered a two count. I think this was the first time someone kicked out of that move on the show. 

Dickinson called for the finish and tried for a powerbomb, but couldn’t lift him up. He tried smacking Narita, But Narita suddenly exploded with super-hard strikes slabs and then locked on his modified Texas cloverhold finish for the submission win. 

Announcers sold this as an upset and to be honest I’m pretty surprised with the result myself. Good choice in the end as both looked terrific. Good, hard-hitting stuff.

Jon Moxley (c) defeated KENTA to retain the IWGP US Heavyweight championship

A quick promo package aired explaining the backstory between the two. Definitely had the big match, especially in the short history of the show’s existence.

The two went head for head as soon as the bell sounded and immediately started throwing elbows. Moxley took KENTA out with a hard tackle, then threw them into the corner. Interestingly, he also used a sliding lariat, a move first made famous by Masato Tanaka, but also often used by his rival from last year’s G-1 Climax in 2019, Tomohiro Ishii.

Mox and KENTA were out to the floor moments later. Moxley tried suplexing KENTA but used a snap suplex of his own onto the mat on the floor. 

KENTA brought out the red briefcase but Moxley blocked his attempt at an attack, then tried to give him a piledriver on top of the briefcase. KENTA reversed that then DDT’d Mox onto the briefcase.

Back in the ring, KENTA continued his assault. Hard kicks to Mox’s back from KENTA, which Mox sold as though he was really getting the crap kicked out of him. It felt like the textbook example of a pro wrestling brawl, or one for the modern era.

KENTA kicked John Moxley square in the face with indignance, then yelled “come on!” mockingly at the US champ. KENTA played the merciless heel in this match, and was fantastic.

KENTA went for the GTS but Moxley blocked it and shoved KENTA out of the ring. He then followed up with a tope suicida through the ropes onto the floor. They continued fighting on the outside around the ring. Moments later, we saw Moxley on top of the entrance ramp where he ran off and did a jumping knee that connected with KENTA, presumably getting him back for the flying double stomp off the stage on AEW a few weeks ago.

Moxley tried setting up a table outside the ring but while he did that, KENTA grabbed the US title and bashed Mox in the head with it. KENTA then laid him across the table, climbed to the top rope, and connected with a flying elbow drop through the table, both landing on the floor in a heap as the referee began his count-out call.

Both made it back to the ring at 19. KENTA capitalized, connecting with a big boot then a running basement dropkick before stomping Moxley with a diving double stomp off the top rope for a very close count. KENTA then called for the finish and went for a Go 2 Sleep, but Moxley escaped. Moxley struck KENTA with a pretty violent German suplex, then caught KENTA with a flying lariat.

Mox tried to ground and power his way out of the match, but KENTA caught Moxley in the cross-face lock. Mox reversed that into a bully choke. KENTA transitioned back into Game Over. Before passing out, Moxley was able to break the hold and launched another flurry of strikes at KENTA. 

Lots of trash talking between these two towards the end with KENTA even being blocked out after saying the F-word a couple times. KENTA had one final stand before Moxley drilled KENTA with the death rider for a definitive win. One of the top matches of the year so far.

Final thoughts:

If you weren’t watching NJPW Strong before, this was a great episode to start off with. We basically got an enhanced edition of the weekly show, this time with a bigger main event than ever plus an outstanding undercard. 

The opener was a fun and fast opener featuring new faces at the top of their game; Narita submitting Dickinson was intriguing, and the match itself was on a similar plane in terms of quality when compared with tonight’s main event, which was an awesome brawl. It could have gone on another five or ten minutes, I’m sure, but these two never overstayed their welcome and really delivered a quality main event tonight, one worthy of the past month’s worth of promotion by NJPW and AEW.

NJPW Strong results: Ren Narita vs. Bateman

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Logan & Sterling Riegel defeated Jordan Clearwater and Kevin Knight

The newest LA Dojo recruit, Kevin Knight, started the match off with Logan Riegel. The two had a quick exchange on the mat before Knight tagged out to the Karl Anderson-trained Clearwater. The twins started double-teaming the much taller Clearwater in their corner for a bit with some innovative double-team offense. Clearwater eventually escaped to the red corner to tag out to Knight, who came in and cleaned house, taking both Riegels out with big shoulder blocks. Knight got serious air on his leapfrogs. Keep an eye out on this guy this year, for sure.

Clearwater looked good on offense towards the end. Knight and Sterling tagged in, lots of fast action among all four as the five minute call sounded. Sterling hit a slingblade onto Clearwater, dropping him onto the ring apron, right before Logan dove onto everyone with a tope suicida. We saw the finish a minute later when the Riegels used their finisher on Knight, an assisted swinging DDT type of deal, for the win. Short, fast action from all four here. Nice opener.

Brody King told Kevin Kelly in an interview before the match that he wasn’t going to let Kratos make a name for himself on King’s back.

Brody King defeated JR Kratos

These two got down to business just as the bell sounded. Huge elbows, chops, stomps, slaps. Both shouted really loud. If these two had a crowd, it’d have amplified this match’s intensity. There was something very explosive about this match, and it added to the two’s chemistry with one another..

Kevin Kelly made a good point on commentary during this, querying why no one within the industry had picked up on Kratos before now. 

These two went more or less full blast in the first five minutes. Kratos has unbelievable charisma, or at least showed it in this match. On commentary, they sold it like King had never been in this much trouble before Kratos tonight. King took Kratos’ offense for a good portion of the match, right up until he was able to get Kratos in the bottom corner where he launched himself at Kratos with a cannonball. Kratos answered later with a big deadlift bodyslam. King came back with a release German suplex and followed it up with a big running lariat for a two count.

As the ten-minute call sounded, King ended one last exchange between the two after decking Kratos with one last lariat for the three count and the win in 10:06. 

I loved everything about this match. If you have ten minutes over the weekend and a subscription to NJPW World, do it.

Ren Narita defeated Bateman

Bateman from ROH made his debut on NJPW Strong tonight. He came out to doomy violin music and sported a curly moustache. We haven’t seen Ren Narita in a while, though he’s officially listed as representing the LA Dojo, meaning this is the first part of his US excursion. 

These two started off trading traditional holds both standing and on the mat. Nothing flashy from either, just expert fundamentals. Narita took hold of Bateman for a short while with a headscissors, though Bateman broke his flow when he landed a neckbreaker into his knee, then connected with a rough forearm smash for a count of two. 

Because Bateman wrestled as such a traditional-style heel, it really allowed Narita’s fire to show through, it felt all that much easier to get behind Narita. It was clear cut who was who, even though both are technically “debuting” tonight. Narita started firing wild forearms at Bateman, almost out of desperation, and knocked Bateman out of the ring. Narita tried going on the assault over and over but Bateman would constantly shut him down. This lasted until late in the match until Narita caught Bateman with a front suplex off the ropes for a close nearfall. A few minutes later, Bateman cracked Narita with a short-arm lariat for a close call of his own. 

Bateman followed up with a northern lights bomb for another two count. Narita wouldn’t quit and eventually locked on a modified cobra twist onto Bateman. Narita transitioned from that to a release German suplex for two, then finished Bateman off using a modified Texas Cloverhold, forcing the ROH regular to tap out. The English announcers sold this like crazy, and it did fit the moment because the last few minutes of this were rather intense. Kudos to both men here, who put on an excellent main event.

Narita spoke briefly afterwards, confirming he had won but also mentioning that he still wasn’t satisfied.

Final thoughts:

Fantastic episode of NJPW Strong tonight, with both King vs. Kratos and Narita vs. Bateman in their debut being the must-see highlights. The opener wasn’t far behind, either, and probably could have been on the level as the former two matches, but the match only lasted around six minutes.

In short, this is the episode to watch if you’ve been sleeping on the show so far. This was an excellent hour of violence.

NJPW Strong results: Eight-man tag action

Posted on by Justin Knipper

The Riegel Twins (Sterling & Logan Riegel) defeated Clark Connors and The DKC

Great match. This was Sterling Riegel’s NJPW Strong debut. His twin brother, Logan, took part in NJPW’s recent Lion’s Break Crown tournament. On commentary, Kevin Kelly explained that Sterling Riegel was on excursion in the U.K. earlier this year, which was why we didn’t see him on NJPW Strong earlier.

The DKC and the clean-shaven Logan Riegel (it’s the only way to tell them apart) kicked off the match. DKC is really explosive and fluid in the ring. He and Logan had a good back-and-forth on the mat early on.

Connors continuously fought off the twins’ double-team offense midway through this. He rallied back and used a pounce to send one of the Rigel twins flying, one that’d surely make Monty Brown proud. He tagged back out to the DKC later on, who grounded Sterling with a side headlock in the middle of the ring.

Sterling tagged out to brother Logan who took it to Connors, laying him out on the floor after putting him down with a pescado. He landed a slingblade on Connors for a two. Back inside the ring. They knocked each other out moments later with double-clotheslines. Sterling did a diving double stomp after leapfrogging over his brother. The DKC shot back into the ring a few seconds later and the match quickly broke down into a festival of highspots. 

The DKC followed things up with a modified falcon arrow for two. Connors came in from out of nowhere and took Sterling Riegel out with a spear, but Logan was able to take Connors down with a neckbreaker drop out of the corner. DKC made the save for Connors and took both twins out with big “karate chops,” as they were called, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Riegels down for long. Moments later, with Connors still neutralized outside the ring, they put the DKC down for a three count after an assisted modified spike DDT. 

All action. The Riegel brothers are excellent and I imagine they can be big players going forward. Ideal and obvious junior heavyweight tag title contenders down the road.

Karl Fredericks defeated Blake Christian

Lots of action in this even though it was just six minutes long. Fredericks landed a nice low kick early on. Blake Christian landed a tope suicida within a minute or so into this. Fredericks shifted the momentum after blasting Christian in the back with two more stiff kicks. Christian answered later with a spinning gamengiri kick and a low-angle 619 while Fredericks hung on top of the bottom rope. He later put Fredericks down for a close two-count after he used a diving double-stomp to Fredericks, who was bent over.

By the time the five-minute call sounded, the two began trading bigger moves. Christian landed a big flying knee, but Fredericks put Christian down with a spinebuster. He transitioned to a single-leg crab from here, and when Christian wouldn’t tap, Fredericks readjusted, served up a few more stiff kicks, then torqued the hold back a few more inches until Christian tapped out.

After the match, Fredericks cut a promo backstage saying that NJPW Strong was his show and that Friday nights were his nights.

Bullet Club (KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Hikuleo) defeated David Finlay, PJ Black, Alex Zayne & Misterioso

Tonga Loa and PJ Black were in together first. Black challenged Loa to a knuckle-lock test of strength, so Loa played along for a second, then kicked him in the gut and gave Black a shoulder block. Black took Loa out with a sweep and a high roundhouse kick, but Tama Tonga threw a sneaky knee behind the ref’s back to slow Black’s pace down.

Black then tagged out to Misterioso, who got a few licks in before the Guerillas of Destiny started double-teaming the resident luchador. He tagged out to Zayne, who took an awesome-looking chokeslam from Hikuleo who was standing on the ring apron. Have I mentioned how huge Hikuleo is? He towers over everyone on the show weekly, aside from Brody King.

KENTA popped in for a minute and blasted Zayne with a penalty kick to Zayne’s back. He and Tama Tonga traded off working over Zayne until the rookie fired a corkscrew spin kick at KENTA, which gave him time enough to roll to the red corner and tag out to Dave Finlay. Finlay’s been booked on a hot streak on the past few episodes of Strong; His mini-feud with KENTA on recent episodes has been good stuff.

PJ Black flew in and took a few Bullet Club members out with a big flying cross body block, but once the giant Hikuleo got involved, he dictated the pace, slowing things down after planting Finlay with a big snap powerslam. Eyes on Hikuleo in 2021.

Tama Tonga had Finlay in an ankle lock when Zayne flew in and took Tonga out with a springboard dropkick. Misterioso tagged in and tried doing a Johnny B. Badd-style top rope sunset flip on Hikuleo, which didn’t work. When he went for a cross body block next, Hikuleo caught him mid-air, but Misterioso looked like a big sandbag out there which made it look like Hikuleo was unintentionally struggling. The big man made it work, though, and he, somehow, deadlifted Misterioso into the Gunslinger for the pin. It looked good in the end. Solid main event.

PJ Black and Tama Tonga jaw-jacked after the match, with Tonga shoving Black before exiting the ring. KENTA talked lots of trash at Finlay, who has been terrific at making himself unlikeable this year. The program between those two continues while Black and Tonga will have a singles match on next week’s show.

Finlay challenged KENTA after the match in a backstage interview with his friends. He urged KENTA to put his briefcase on the line in a match against him. The stipulation would be that if Finlay wins the match, he wins the briefcase.

Final thoughts:

Tonight was a really good, pretty high-energy episode of Strong. It clocked in at around 42 minutes long, and it was pretty much nonstop action from top to bottom. The first match was a barnburner of an opener, especially since most of the fellows in the match are still new faces to most of the NJPW audience. I imagine we’ll see more of the identical Riegel Twins down the line.

Karl Fredericks and Blake Christian had a heck of a six-minute match, which leads me to wonder how they’d do with double the time in their next bout. The main event was fun action, but also did a lot in the way of moving certain wrestlers to the forefront of fans’ minds’, particularly Dave Finlay, Hikuleo and Alex Zayne tonight. They’ve done a good job at establishing new faces of this experimental US brand. They’ve done it at a moderate pace, like with Finlay and KENTA, for example, where you don’t need much more context than a) Finlay’s on a roll while b) KENTA’s still in possession of the red “attaché case,” as it’s called.

On NJPW Strong: Road to New Japan Showdown next week, we’ll see Fred Rosser vs. Jordan Clearwater and Jeff Cobb and Rocky Romero vs. Rust Taylor and JR Kratos.

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

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Misterioso defeated Danny Limelight

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

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

Hikuleo defeated TJP

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

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

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

PJ Black defeated Alex Zayne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final thoughts:

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

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

NJPW Strong results: Lion’s Break Crown finals

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Misterioso, Blake Christian, and Logan Riegel defeated Adrian Quest, Barrett Brown and Fred Rosser

Decent opener with even-tempo action. 

Blake Christian used a big springboard lariat on Adrian Quest early on. Fred Rosser later back suplexed Logan Riegel on the apron. Rosser and Misterioso looked to be the heavyweights on their teams. Misterioso landed an Asai moonsault onto Rosser. Blake Christian landed a twisting trust-fall splash for the win. 

This was good, but these six-man matches sometimes fall into cursory patterns and I got that sense here. It was good, but this show’s standard happens to be good, too.

Clark Connors defeated Danny Limelight to win the Lion’s Break Crown tournament

Tentative start between these two from the bell. Limelight tried throwing low kicks and other strikes while Connors tried shooting in for a takedown. Connors ate a knee from Limelight, but he quickly countered on the mat and was able to sink in an armlock before Limelight reached the bottom rope for a break.

Connors yelled “Get back up!” at Limelight, who did just that moments later, landing a frankensteiner and then a twisting Fosberry flop to the floor. When he dove off the top rope, Connors caught him and reversed it into a powerslam. Didn’t look great but Connors pulled it off. It wasn’t a botch but we’ve seen him stick the same move perfectly before.

Five minutes into the match Connors was in clear control, working Limelight over with suplexes and generally out-grappling him. Limelight used hard strikes of his own to mount a comeback, chopping Connors hard and laying in hard kicks to wear out the ex-football player.

Speaking of football, Connors paused Limelight’s comeback with a hard pounce when Limelight was coming off the ropes. Limelight responded with a double-jump springboard meteora. The two traded higher impact moves until Limelight went to the top for a 450, but missed. Connors went for a spear, but Limelight jumped out of the way then put Connors down with a cradle fisherman’s buster, or the same move he used to win his semi-finals match.

Limelight was frustrated from not being able to put Connors away. He landed a spinning buzzsaw kick but again, only a two-count. Limelight went for a superplex from the top but couldn’t keep Connors in place, so he moonsaulted off the top back into the ring. Connors then came off the second rope with a flying spear. He then cinched in—you guessed it—the Boston Crab. After struggling for a minute or so, Limelight was forced to tap as Connors sat deeper into the hold. Clark Connors is the first ever Lion’s Break Crown tournament winner.

Dave Finlay, ACH, Karl Fredericks, TJP, & Jeff Cobb defeated Bullet Club (KENTA, Tama Tonga, Jay White, Chase Owens, Tonga Loa and Hikuleo) in a 10-man elimination match

Eliminations in this came either when a wrestler was thrown over the top rope to the floor, or pinned/submitted inside the ring.

Tonga Loa and Hikuleo bullied Rocky Romero early on in this. Actually, pretty much all of Bullet Club bullied him for a while. Romero came back later with some uppercuts to Jay White, though White shut that down quickly and continued working him over until Romero snuck up from behind White while he was distracted and threw him over the top rope to the floor, eliminating White.

ACH and Tonga Loa were in together next. Jay White decided to join Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov on commentary midway through this. He might as well, right?

Loa knocked ACH off the top rope when he went for a springboard and eliminated him. Loa was eliminated soon after by Fredericks with a lariat. Tama Tonga and Fredericks then went at it for a minute until Tonga caught Fredericks with the Gun Stun to pin him, thus eliminating Fredericks.

Jeff Cobb was in for his team next and dumped Tonga to the floor with a back suplex drop. Eliminations were coming fast and furious at this point.

Cobb and Hikuleo had a nice exchange, but after another minute, Hikuleo eliminated Cobb. TJP and Rocky got into the ring and double-teamed Hikuleo, landing some Forever clotheslines on him in the corner before trying to double-suplex him, which didn’t work out. Hikuleo suplexed both of them. Hikuleo then eliminated Romero. TJP eliminated Hikuleo with a leg scissors while he was skinning the cat, but Hikuleo grabbed TJP from the apron and dragged him to the floor, eliminating him as well.

The end saw Dave Finlay taking on both Chase Owens and KENTA by himself since the rest of his team had been eliminated. At the fifteen-minute mark, Finlay rallied back against Bullet Club. He first dodged a running yakuza kick from KENTA, who inadvertently kicked Owens from the apron, eliminating him from the match. Finlay landed, then threw KENTA over the top to win the match for his team. This was treated like an upset on commentary. Afterwards, Finlay said he wanted a shot at KENTA’s US title briefcase soon.

Final thoughts:

Go out of your way to watch the Lion’s Break Crown finals, which was the best part of this week’s show. The first and third matches were good, but with the current deluge of wrestling we’re getting on TV these days, I wouldn’t call this a must-watch episode. Nonetheless, this was a solid hour of wrestling, once again.

NJPW Strong results: Jay White vs. Flip Gordon

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight’s episode of New Japan Strong marked the first night of NJPW’s “Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2020” tour.

Alex Zayne and Fred Rosser defeated The DKC and Clark Connors

The DKC and Zayne in first for their teams. They had obvious chemistry together. DKC overall shows great energy that shines through onscreen.

Tonight was Fred Rosser’s NJPW debut. He and Clark Connors were good together. It’s easy to forget how big Rosser is, and he looked to be twice Connor’s size when they stood face to face.

The finish saw Zayne do a crazy double-jump springboard Asai moonsault to the floor, which allowed Rosser to score the pinfall in his debut after taking out the DKC with a fireman’s carry-to-double-knees gutbuster.

Karl Fredericks defeated Misterioso

Fredericks and Misterioso got into it on last week’s episode of NJPW Strong, which led to tonight’s bout.

This was good. Misterioso took most of the offense throughout this. He did a tope con giro to the floor, then landed a diving crossbody block for two inside the ring. Fredericks mounted a comeback halfway through the match, at one point blasting Misterioso in the face with his own version of the Shibata dropkick in the corner.

Misterioso tried using a back cracker on Fredericks–the move that put him away in last week’s tag team match–but Fredericks blocked it, then used the Manifest Destiny (high-angle implant DDT) for the win.

Hikuleo defeated Brody King

They exploded on each other right from the bell. King laid Hikuleo out early with a running cross body block.

The match spilled to the floor soon after. We had a true hoss brawl on our hands. Hikuleo looks much different from when he debuted in New Japan. Kevin Kelly talked about his recent excursion to England. It’s clear he hasn’t just improved, but is already finding his swagger and comfort zone in the ring.

King planted Hikuleo with a jumping piledriver late in the match and scored a two count. King went for a Gonzo Bomb but Hikuleo powered out, and later used a deadlift flatliner on King to pin him clean and pick up what some may consider an upset victory. Really good stuff from both here. 

Before he left the ring, Hikuleo yelled “I’m not a Young Boy anymore!” at King.

Jay White defeated Flip Gordon

White rolled to the floor as the bell sounded. When he came back to the ring, White took the reins. He kept Gordon glued to the mat with side headlocks and other plodding offense for the first half of this, basically until Gordon landed a dropkick to stun White. He scored a nearfall after taking White out with a springboard spear.

The finish saw White shove the referee into Gordon. White threw a sucker-punch but Gordon dodged out of the way, then planted White with a Falcon Arrow for another close nearfall.

Things heated up at around ten minutes into this. They traded close falls, but White took the win after a Bladebuster and later the Bladerunner for the win over Gordon. Really good stuff from both here. 

Afterwards, White cut a promo explaining how that was just a warm-up, and that this was still “his” New Japan.

Final thoughts:

Great show this week, and maybe one of the best so far. The main event was as good as the recent KENTA vs. Jeff Cobb match, though that’s not to take away from the really impressive hoss brawl between Brody King and Hikuoleo. Fredericks continues to be impressive.

Fred Rosser will be an interesting character to keep an eye on; aside from a somewhat botched legdrop spot in his match, he clearly could hang with the younger guys. His size adds a freshness to the show, which tends to be heavier on junior heavyweight matches. Overall, it was yet another solid hour of Friday night pro wrestling with two exceptional matches.

NJPW Strong results: New Japan Cup USA finals

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Rocky Romero and Adrian Quest defeated The DKC and Danny Limelight

Good match. DKC and Limelight have already appeared on NJPW Strong, while this was Quest’s debut on the show.

Midway through, Limelight took Romero out with a jumping knee strike that left both temporarily KO’d. DKC tagged in next and showed lots of fire before plating Romero with an inverted Samoan Drop. The finish saw Quest do a crazy twisting plancha from the top to the floor to take out Limelight before Romero pinned DKC after using Sliced Bread #2 for the win. The three young guys were impressive in this.

Brody King and Flip Gordon defeated Jay White and Chase Owens

Gordon hasn’t been on TV since February in ROH. Neither he or King were wearing their Villain Enterprises gear.

Owens and Flip started the match off, but White intervened early on. He and Owens took turns wearing Gordon down in their corner. This was also Jay White’s first match in months, but he didn’t look to have any ring rust.

On commentary, Kevin Kelly said that Gordon changed up his in-ring style because of past knee injuries. He didn’t fly around too much tonight.

Flip was finally able to tag out to Brody King after a few more minutes. King cleaned house, laying White out with a spinning Boss Man slam. King then pinned Owens after a spike Gonzo Bomb to pick up the win.

This was really good. For some reason, White and Owens came off like they’d been a teaming forever. A rematch could be great down the road.

After the match, Jay White grabbed Gordon and went for a Bladerunner before King chased him off. Out of the post-match chaos appeared Hikuleo, younger brother to Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, and laid out King. Looks like a program is building between these groups.

*****
New Japan announced that starting next week at the same time, the company will air NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed on the NJPW World streaming service.

*****

KENTA defeated David Finlay to win the 2020 NJPW USA Cup

There was no time limit in this one. The two grappled in the center of the ring for the opening minutes. The story here was that KENTA got an advantage over Finlay unless he resorted to cheating. It’s a subtle way of getting Finlay over in our minds without him having to do much. Hats off to KENTA, who relishes his 2020 heel life.

The pace of this might be too slow for a lot of people’s tastes, but I thought it was perfect for the context. KENTA worked slow and heavy over Finlay for a long five minutes or so. Finlay rallied back with a back suplex, then a knee strike and a spear only a two-count. It’s notable how much Finlay has improved a lot since his shoulder injury; his past three matches on this show have been solid. He’s crisper in the ring than before and it shows.

As Finlay went for Prima Nocta, KENTA shoved him into the referee, then kicked him low. This happened in KENTA’s match with Cobb also. The ref got back up but KENTA could only score a two-count on Finlay. The two went on to trade hard European uppercuts before KENTA was able to cinch in the GTS to put Finlay away for the win. KENTA is the first ever New Japan Cup USA winner.

KENTA was awarded a trophy and IWGP US title briefcase as his reward. He called out Jon Moxley next, shouting “Where’s Jon Moxley? What’s he doing?!”, saying he was coming for the current IWGP US champion.

KENTA switched to Japanese next and reiterated what he’d said in English until Jeff Cobb jumped into the ring. Cobb tried German suplexing KENTA, but KENTA escaped and ran out of the ring. The two jaw-jacked from a distance before the show ended.

Final thoughts: 

Another solid hour of pro wrestling from NJPW. The tag match between White/Owens and Gordon/King was good, and it’s great to see those guys getting a chance to be in front of the cameras after half a year. 

The main event was really good, though the slower, thinking-man’s pace isn’t for everyone. Regardless, both KENTA and Finlay did a great job, and it was cool to see Finlay finding his groove as a singles wrestler. Despite losing clean in the finals, he still got over.

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed will air in the same time slot as NJPW Strong next week on Friday at 10 EST/7 PST on NJPW World.

NJPW Strong results: Jeff Cobb vs. KENTA

Posted on by Justin Knipper

The second episode of New Japan Strong aired tonight  NJPW World. This week featured two of the NJ Cup USA 2020 semifinal matches. The winner of this tournament will earn a title shot at IWGP US champion Jon Moxley.

Barrett Brown and Logan Riegel defeated Clark Connors and Jordan Clearwater

Connors and Clearwater went after Barrett Brown and Logan Riegel before the bell. All four jaw-jacked and were shoving each other.

These guys wrestled with an intense, palpable energy from the get-go. Jordan Clearwater is a really tall blonde fellow trained by Karl Anderson. He and the opposite team had appeared on NJPW USA shows in the past but tonight was their TV debut.

Towards the end of the match, Clearwater tagged himself in while Connors wasn’t looking. He went to finish off Brown who countered Clearwater’s move into a schoolboy pin to pick up the win.

These four worked their asses off and really laid into each other here. All four impressed.

PJ Black, Misterioso & Blake Christian defeated ACH, TJP & Alex Zayne

PJ Black’s team ambushed their opponents before the bell rang. This was ACH’s first match back in NJPW since November 2018. He was charged up for this.

PJ Black and Alex Zayne crashed into each other with simultaneous cross-body blocks early on. ACH and Blake Christian were in next and had a quick exchange. The same went for Misterioso and TJP.

TJP planted Black with a tornado DDT. ACH went did a few dives in row to the floor. Alex Zayne landed a nutty-looking shooting star press double-knee drop onto a bent-over PJ Black. Jeez. Blake Christian looked particularly good in this and could shine a little bit at the end before Black pinned him after a springboard shooting star press.

This was an all-action car crash match—that’s a compliment, by the way—that did a good job of showcasing each wrestler in a short window of time.

New Japan Cup 2020 USA Semi-Final match: David Finlay defeated Tama Tonga

This was good and probably could have been longer. Tonga went down clean after Finlay stuck the acid drop for the clean win. They sold this as a pretty big upset on commentary, and a big win for Finlay, who advances to the tournament finals next week. 

In his post match promo, Finlay claimed Tonga couldn’t ever beat him without help from Bullet Club, and he just proved it tonight.

New Japan Cup 2020 USA Semi-Final match: KENTA defeated Jeff Cobb

This was really good. Cobb is hitting some kind of next level in his career right now, and he’s developed a style no one can really imitate. KENTA also looked less inhibited these days, and he’s clearly enjoying his life as a heel.

The finish came when Cobb went for the Tour of the Islands, but KENTA grabbed the ref by his shirt and slid out of the hold, then whipped Cobb into the referee in the corner. Ref was out. Cobb grabbed KENTA and pinned him with a bridging pump-handle suplex, but the ref was still out. Cobb went for another Tour of the Islands slam, but KENTA was able to slide out and land a low blow while the ref still wasn’t looking. He tied Cobb into a small package for the sham victory.

Final thoughts:

This week’s episode had a different feel to it compared with last week’s debut, with higher energy and higher stakes. The tag matches added a lot to it. The new faces we saw tonight were impressive, particularly Blake Christian and Barrett Brown. Cobb vs. KENTA was a standout match, and while I thought tonight’s finish was well executed, I also feel NJPW needs to ease up on schmozz-y finishes, especially the ones with referees getting knocked out on every card. Regardless, this was another really good hour of Friday night pro wrestling.

NJPW announces details on Strong show, New Japan Cup USA tourney

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced details on NJPW Strong, as well as a tournament that will start on the new program.

NJPW aired a press conference this evening featuring Takami Ohbari, president of New Japan Pro Wrestling of America. He announced that NJPW Strong will be a weekly television series every Friday featuring talent from NJPW of America. The show be up at 10 p.m. EST.

The first show on August 7 will feature the opening round of a tournament called New Japan Cup USA. It will be a single elimination tournament featuring eight NJPW wrestlers currently in the United States. The opening round will feature the following matches:

  • Karl Fredericks vs. KENTA
  • Jeff Cobb vs. Tanga Loa
  • David Finlay vs. Chase Owens
  • Brody King vs. Tama Tonga

The semifinals will take on August 14, and the final match will take place on August 21. The winner of the tournament will be able to challenge for the IWGP United States title, which is currently held by Jon Moxley.

NJPW aired a short series in July called Lion’s Break Collision, which also featured NJPW of America talent. The show built to a singles match between Jeff Cobb and Karl Fredericks, a match that Cobb won.