Tag: njpwworld

NJPW Strong results: Jon Moxley appears

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Clark Connors defeated the DKC

The DKC is officially the newest young lion for the LA Dojo. Tonight he came to the ring in the traditional NJPW rookie get-up, simple black trunks and black boots. He and Connors traded holds on the mat early on, both displaying A+ fundamentals before the two tried knocking each other over with shoulder blocks. Neither would give until Connors finally bowled DKC over. 

The announcers put over DKC’s ballsiness to basically restart his career as a NJPW rookie. They also mentioned how Connors and DKC used to tag, mentioning their recent series with the Riegel Twins.

The DKC used knife-edged drops then tried locking on a triangle hold until Connors blasted DKC with a spear, then tapped him out quickly with a Boston crab submission.

Connors mentioned after the match that even though he might have broken Connors’ arm before, it seems like know he’s “learning,” like DKC is getting the hang of being a young lion.

Chris Dickinson defeated Rocky Romero

Dickinson outgrappled Romero on the mat early on; the size difference between the two becoming pretty clear early on. That was the story of the match — Dickinson was as skilled as Romero but also way bigger, allowing him to dominate Romero early on. He later locked on a figure four leglock at around the five-minute mark. Romero eventually answered with a rewind kick, then started working Dickinson’s arm.

Romero landed a springboard basement dropkick. Rocky later baited him to the apron and used an armbreaker. He followed what with sliced bread, then eventually went for another armbar, but Dickinson reversed it into a Death Valley Bomb for the win (not a Burning Hammer like Koslov called on commentary.) 

Dickinson cut a powerful and enthusiastic promo afterwards. He said he wasn’t trying to put himself over here as much as he was trying to put over NJPW. First, he celebrated his win over Rocky, and then essentially explained how NJPW is the top of the top in the business and how proud he was to be there now, and how he’d be ready for any and all comers going forward.

The New Beginning USA 2021 starts next week.

Lio Rush, TJP, and Fred Rosser defeated Bullet Club (KENTA,  Hikuleo, and El Phantasmo)

Rosser and company jumped Bullet Club just as they were “Too Sweet-ing” in their corner before the bell. Hikuleo shoved Rosser into the barricade outside the ring; it sounded pretty loud. Hikuleo continued abusing Rosser outside the ring, dropping him one more time onto the barricade before throwing him back inside the ring. El Phantasmo talked a lot of trash throughout the match.

When Rosser finally tagged out to Rush, he and Hikuleo had a stare down, the smaller Rush standing against the giant Hikuleo. Good visual. They teased getting into it, but Hikuleo tagged out to KENTA, who said he would take care of things. Rush outran KENTA, frustrating him and not allowing him to lock Rush down for more than a second or two. TJP tagged in next and locked KENTA into his modified Indian deathlock hold. El Phantasmo got involved and raked TJP’s eyes to break things up from outside the ring. KENTA took advantage of the opportunity and spiked TJP with a DDT.

KENTA and Hikuleo worked TJP over in their corner. ELP tagged in next and used his signature backrakes on TJP, just before TJP escaped the Bullet Club corner with a swinging DDT and a tag out to Lio Rush, who showed some fire for a second before Hikuleo extinguished it, slowing things down to the 6’9” rookie’s pace.

Rush finally escaped and tagged out to Rosser, who landed a legdrop at around the 10-minute mark for a two count. Towards the last half of the match, when things started spilling to the floor, TJP connected with a double dropkick inside the ring, taking out both Hikuleo and El Phantasmo before tagging out to Lio Rush, who landed a tope suicida through the bottom rope before getting back in the ring. After a few fast exchanges, Rush was able to pin ELP with a sunset flip cradle and the upset victory for the debuting NJPW Strong wrestler.

Bullet Club jumped Rosser, TJP, and Rush after the match. The lights went out for a few moments. When they were back on, we saw Jon Moxley in the ring with the IWGP US title across his shoulder. He took out Hikuleo and El Phantasmo with the belt before getting into it with KENTA, the number-one contender to that title. They traded elbows before KENTA tried hoisting Moxley up into a fireman’s carry for Go-2-Sleep. Mox countered and turned it into a Death Rider DDT.

“I think you thought you were gonna get off easy, my man,” Mox told KENTA before departing, including this final line: “Your dream of becoming IWGP US champion just became a nightmare!“

Final thoughts:

Solid episode of NJPW Strong with a great surprise angle at the end. Everything on tonight’s episode is worth checking out, though Jon Moxley appearing will be what everyone is talking about this weekend. Nothing more was announced for next week other than tonight was the final episode of the Lion’s Break Contender tour. Next week kicks off New Beginning USA 2021.

NJPW Strong results: KENTA vs. Brody King

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Report —

Rocky Romero defeated Danny Limelight via submission

The mentor-mentee program between these two has been boiling slowly over the past few months, and this seems to act as the blow-off match.

Romero went after Limelight before the bell sounded. They let their hands go early, exchanging hard open hand strikes. Romero went for his patented Forever Clotheslines in the corner early, but Limelight moved out of the way, then threw him out of the ring and started working Rocky‘s left arm. That’s been a subtle angle Romero has milked over the summer into these current episodes, the injured left arm and his opponents consistently targeting it.

Romero mounted a comeback with another lariat out of the corner, then a springboard dropkick to Limelight as he was draped over the second rope.

Limelight answered, using a front suplex off the ropes, then turning the hold into a modified key lock once they hit the mat. Romero made it to the ropes for a break. Rocky used sliced bread a for close two count.

Moments later, Romero used a falcon arrow directly into an armbar for the submission victory.

Good match. Rocky iced his arm in the ring afterwards.

Jeff Cobb defeated Rust Taylor

Rust Taylor just signed with WWE NXT. Cobb is scheduled to wrestle Shingo Takagi for the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 15.

This started off with a bit of standing chain wrestling and some flashy stuff from Taylor. Cobb eventually out-muscled Taylor and slammed into the mat. Just before Cobb tried a standing moonsault, Taylor blocked it and locked in a modified armbar/triangle thing. Taylor continued going after Cobb’s left arm from there.

Cobb used his gachi-muchi power again, muscling out with a swinging back suplex and standing moonsault.

Taylor responded by going after Cobb’s arm once again, keeping him on the mat, neutralized. Taylor threw a flurry of European uppercuts late in this, but ultimately it wasn’t enough, as Cobb planted Taylor with Tour of the Islands just a few moments later to win this one.

Another solid match.

Fred Rosser and PJ Black defeated Team Filthy (JR Kratos & “Filthy” Tom Lawlor)

Kratos looks massive. He reminded me of Steve Williams with the red and white color scheme tonight.

Kratos and Rosser were in first, but it wasn’t long before Black had tagged in and took a beating from Team Filthy. Kratos dragged Black to his team’s corner and tagged in Lawlor, who worked Black over for a few minutes. When Black tried a leapfrog, Tom countered, locking in an ankle lock after taking Black out of the air.

Black later reversed the momentum, escaping out of Lawlor’s German suplex attempt and somehow found a way to tag out to Rosser, who proceeded to clean house. He knocked Kratos off the apron to the floor, then launched himself and Lawlor from the ring to the floor with a lariat.

Rosser then jumped off the apron, launching himself at Lawlor on the floor. Go Fred. After a few more moments of brawling and chaos outside the ring, Rosser and “Filthy” Tom threw down and had a hot exchange, the final sprint of this match.

Rosser and Black began double-teaming Kratos. Lawlor tried making the save but accidentally got knocked to the floor by his partner. That fatal flaw led to a Black landing a springboard 450 splash on Kratos for the win.

Rosser and Lawlor’s mini-feud continues on NJPW Strong continues.

KENTA defeated Brody King to retain the right to challenge for the IWGP U.S. Championship

A slick promo package aired for this beforehand.

KENTA talked trash at King when both had made it to the ring, before the match.

KENTA tried avoiding King early on, holding himself between the ropes until the much larger King would back off. King simply went to the corner and dragged KENTA back to the middle to fight. King dwarves KENTA, which made for a pretty unique visual.

KENTA threw big kicks early. King ate them without wincing, then went after KENTA. King slowed the pace and punished him with a neck lock and some hard chops.

KENTA played chickensh*t heel perfectly throughout this. He tried escaping the ring a few times until he could find King distracted enough to catch him out of nowhere, using a stun gun from the apron to the floor.

KENTA’s chicanery opened up a chance for him to step in and dictate the pace for a little while. He used dozens of low kicks and one dragon screw leg whip in an attempt at chopping King down to the mat from the bottom up.

Later, King answered back with a huge jumping lariat, but he he couldn’t make the pin because of his knee. KENTA would throw on in a figure four leglock on King, who screamed in pain before he was able to grab the ropes, forcing KENTA to break the hold.

The two were soon on the apron next, where KENTA blocked a chokeslam attempt from King, then spiked King with the “Greed Killer,” his signature draping DDT. This earned him a two-count. He and King exchanged hard strikes until King planted KENTA with a sudden black hole slam, followed up with a big piledriver for two.

KENTA blocked King’s Gonzo Bomb finisher, but accidentally shoved King into the referee in the process. The ref lay dazed in the corner while KENTA spiked King with a DDT, then went to the floor to grab his IWGP US title briefcase. He brought it into the ring and smashed King in the head with it twice.

KENTA then blasted King with a penalty kick. KENTA lifted King into a fireman’s carry, then planted a knee in his face, a picture-perfect Go2Sleep to put King away. KENTA wins, and in doing so, he keeps his right to challenge for the IWGP US title.

**********

Afterwards, KENTA grabbed a microphone and shouted “Where are you Jon Moxley? I don’t wanna waste time anymore. I’m ready to fight anytime anywhere. Jon Moxley, I’m coming for you.”

Final thoughts —

A solid episode of NJPW Strong, with KENTA and Brody King delivering what could arguably be considered as a G1-level match. This was on par with KENTA’s main events on Strong with Jeff Cobb earlier in the year.

The only real weak point in this week’s show is the fact that it looks so obviously taped, similar to what we saw in some of last week’s episode. That can’t be helped, of course, because of the nature of how things are in 2020 at the moment. That nitpick aside, this was yet one more solid hour of pro wrestling.

The subtle angles between Danny Limelight and Rocky Romero and “Filthy” Tom and Fred Rosser were interesting, but the main event between KENTA and ROH’s Brody King was the clear standout.

NJPW Strong results: Ten-man tag team elimination match

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Sterling Riegel (w/ Logan Riegel) defeated The DKC (w/ Clark Connors)

These two kicked off the match with what looked more like modern jiu-jitsu than pro wrestling, really smooth chain grappling with DKC even transitioning in and out of knee-on-belly position, something rarely (if ever) seen on a Friday night pro wrestling show. Sterling Riegel, twin brother of tag partner Logan, looked excellent in this, as did DKC.

After a few more minutes of mat wrestling, Riegel landed a tope suicida to the floor onto DKC, followed up with a nice missile dropkick back inside the ring. From here, Riegel clearly had an upper hand and went after pins with more aggression. He later went for a moonsault off the top rope but DKC moved out of the way, with Riegel landing on his feet. He sold his knee like he popped it on the way down. The DKC took advantage and landed a high roundhouse kick, then followed up with karate strikes for a two-count of his own.

WIth under three minutes left to go in this ten-minute bout, Riegel went for an elbow drop off the second rope.  DKC caught him as he hit the mat and locked on an armlock. He transitioned from there into a submission hold that looked like a combination between an STF and a Cobra Clutch. When DKC moved to adjust the angle of his hold, Riegel cradled him into a pin and scored the sudden three-count. 

Afterwards, both Riegel Twins got into the ring when DKC started jaw-jacking after the finish. Clark Connors was in quickly to back up his recent tag partner, but things de-escalated from there. I imagine we’ll see a tag match between the four of these guys soon.

The twins celebrated Sterling’s win backstage.They said it was the first singles match Sterling had in six months, and that even though they respect both Connors and the DKC, they were simply not as good as the Riegel Twins because they’re not a “real” tag team. They told the two to bring their A-game before the end of the segment. Good opener.

Alex Zayne defeated Blake Christian

Earlier this week, WWE announced that Alex Zayne (and NJPW Strong alumni Rust Taylor) will soon report to their Performance Center.

A full on stunt show from the bell. Kevin Kelly said that these two are actually best friends outside of the ring from their time together in GCW. Christian did a tope dragonrana, though it didn’t do much damage because Zayne had Christian locked in a chinlock inside the ring 30 seconds later. Christian fired back later with kicks and a basement dropkick into Zayne’s head. It felt like I was watching this in fast-forward. 

Zayne botched an attempted twisting sunset flip that looked rough. Christian’s offense is really impressive, he’s comparable to Rey Fenix, but again, there were some mistimed spots that just didn’t cut it at times, really killing the momentum. They tried hard to keep the pace at 110 miles per hour but it wasn’t sustainable and that was clear. Zayne did a shooting star knee drop on Chistian for two. He finished off best friend Christian minutes later with a pump-handle Liger Bomb. Innovative ideas in this for sure, but all around but quite bad.

After the match, Zayne said the following, literally: “I finally found my footing here in New Japan.” I’m not sure why New Japan decided to air any of this.

Brody King, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, ACH, & Karl Fredericks defeated Bullet Club (KENTA, Jay White, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, & Hikuleo) in an elimination match

If a wrestler was pinned, submitted or thrown over the top rope, they would be eliminated.

Brody King, who is scheduled to wrestle Rush for the ROH World Heavyweight title at Final Battle at the end of this month, and Hikuleo, the big boys of their teams, were about to kick the match off for their respective teams when Bullet Club jumped in and ambushed King. Chaos ensued from here, with all eight men going at it until the babyface team eliminated Hikuleo by dumping him over the top rope.

Whenever David Finlay and Jay White were in the ring together, they were noticeably very tight. Same for Finlay and Tama Tonga.

We are in December now and guys like KENTA and Tama Tonga have entirely different haircuts, so while this was a solid match and everything, the fact that it’s so obviously dated now cheapened this as a “new” show. It’d be nice if commentary explained the situation and not be forced to ignore the obvious.

ACH continued to impress as he has on each of his appearances on NJPW Strong. He and Jay White were impressive together for the short amount of time they wrestled each other in this match. Later, Karl Fredericks tagged in and cleaned house. He always comes off like a focal point of any of these tag matches he’s in. He almost eliminated KENTA from the match, but KENTA skinned the cat, pulled himself back into the ring, then got himself eliminated after Jay White jumped in and held the top rope down, eliminating Fredericks. On commentary, they blamed the referee for not seeing Jay White, the illegal man at the time, but then what about when the babyfaces all teamed up on Hikuleo early on?

Tama Tonga eliminated Juice Robinson by throwing him over the top rope. ACH quickly eliminated Tama Tonga, but moments later Tonga pulled ACH from the apron to the floor, eliminating him. The two went at it on the floor afterwards. Finlay eliminated Jay White next, but then Tonga Loa eliminated Finlay. Rapid fire eliminations here. King blasted Loa with a lariat, and later another one, knocking Loa to the floor and out of the match. KENTA tried sneaking up on King from behind, but the big man was too quick for that. 

KENTA backed off, then slapped King in the face, followed up with a series of yakuza kicks. But it didn’t do anything to King, who spiked KENTA with a Gonzo Bomb, winning the match for his team in emphatic fashion. It sounds like he and KENTA will square off for a match in the future, possibly with KENTA’s briefcase for the IWGP US title on the line.

Final thoughts:

Not a bad show in the grand scheme of things, but definitely the weakest episode of NJPW Strong so far. The first match between the DKC and Sterling Riegel was the best match on the show, and while the elimination match was good, it isn’t unlike what we’ve seen in recent episodes. NJPW has recorded so far in advance iit shows, and that cheapens the show. The Zayne vs. Christian match was not good, but if you’re a fan of them, you’d enjoy it as Blake Christian did some amazing stuff. Still, it was very off-brand for Strong. 

We also need to address Alex Koslov’s commentary. Kevin Kelly’s carry-job on announcing has been unreal. When Koslov misread Sterling Riegel’s name as “Riegel Sterling,” it didn’t sound like a joke, and if it was, it was the most apathetic delivery on NJPW World ever. Kevin Kelly swooped in and brilliantly saved his ass, blaming the flub on the fact that Koslov “speaks more than three languages”. Kozlov is clearly the weak link on the show, and it showed not even five minutes into tonight’s episode.

NJPW Strong results: Road to Fighting Spirit Unleashed

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Kevin Kelly and Jay White appeared at the top of the show together from behind the broadcast table. White talked about how he planned on taking out Flip Gordon later on in the man event.

Danny Limelight defeated Jordan Clearwater

Clearwater, the young Karl Anderson trainee, towered over Limelight, the latter of whom dominated the first match on tonight’s episode. He put Clearwater away in five minutes or so with a pretty springboard tornado DDT for the win. 

Limelight cut a quick promo calling out Rocky Romero afterwards.

Misterioso, Blake Christian, Barrett Brown, & Adrian Quest defeated TJP, Karl Fredericks, ACH & Clark Connors  

This was nonstop action for ten minutes. Fredericks and Misterioso were in early together. Both move like they’re much smaller than they are, especially Fredericks, who moved no slower than a junior heavyweight tonight.

ACH looks like he hasn’t lost a step since his time off. He and Blake Christian looked great together and traded aerial moves for a minute before TJP tagged in for ACH. Brown and Connors later had a great exchange, too. Both bring serious energy into their matches. Connors used a huge hip toss on Brown, launching him into his team’s corner.

Quest looked good in the ring with TJP, who was on fire. Christian landed a Lionsault onto ACH before Brown used a triangle moonsault from to the floor onto Fredericks. ACH hit a pescado onto the floor and actually looked like a fish on his way down. Christian did a springboard 630 senton onto everyone on the floor. NJPW really needs to make use of instant replays, because this match was basically a highlight reel.

Misterioso pinned Connors after a superkick and a backcracker to pick up the win for his team. Misterioso and Fredericks got into it after the match. The two will have a match on the upcoming Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour.

Chase Owens defeated PJ Black

Black was on offense for much of this. Owens played sneaky heel and would do things like roll out of the ring to stall and used closed fists behind the ref’s back. Late in the match, Black landed a springboard moonsault for two. When he tried it again, Owens got his knees up, then put Black away with a package piledriver for the win.

Final thoughts:

Another solid episode of Strong tonight, albeit shorter than usual. The main event was good, but the eight-man tag was most memorable, with Karl Fredericks vs. Misterioso taking segmentsof the night.