The Good Brothers are officially free agents — and they’ve already booked their NJPW return.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson entered free agency today with 90 days having passed since WWE released them. NJPW announced that the two will return to the promotion this Friday at Resurgence, where they’ll reunite with their former Bullet Club faction members The Young Bucks in an eight-man tag match against Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, Clark Connors & Gedo of Bullet Club War Dogs.
NJPW shared a promo with Gallows & Anderson addressing their return:
“What you’re witnessing here today my friends, it is not a re-debut. It is not an arrival shot. It is a resurrection. It is the resurgence of the Good Brothers,” Gallows said.
“May 9 is day one at Resurgence,” Anderson added. “You are witnessing a total takeover.”
Gallows & Anderson have had three reigns together as IWGP Tag Team Champions in NJPW. Anderson has also held singles gold in the company with one reign as NEVER Openweight Champion.
Their most recent WWE run lasted from late 2022 until February 2025. Resurgence will be Anderson’s first time wrestling since undergoing surgery last November for a torn rotator cuff and partially torn labrum.
Friday’s show is taking place from Toyota Arena in Ontario, California and will air on New Japan World as a pay-per-view. Here is the updated card:
NJPW Resurgence (Friday, May 9) —
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto defends against Zack Sabre Jr.
Strong Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone defends against AZM and Mina Shirakawa in a three-way match
NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against El Phantasmo
Strong Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii defends against Drilla Moloney
The Young Bucks, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, Clark Connors & Gedo
Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson defend against Templario & TJP
When NJPW returns to the United States this April and May, the company’s top title will be on the line.
NJPW has announced that the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be defended at both Windy City Riot (Friday, April 11) and Resurgence 2025 (Friday, May 9). The title is currently held by Hirooki Goto, who became the new champion by dethroning Zack Sabre Jr. earlier this week. NJPW has not announced who will be challenging for the belt at either of these two events.
A veteran of the NJPW roster for more than 20 years, Goto finally reached the top of the company with his IWGP World Championship win. His first defense will be against Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW’s 53rd Anniversary show on March 6. The winner of that match will defend their belt against the New Japan Cup tournament winner at Sakura Genesis on April 5, less than a week before Windy City Riot.
Wintrust Arena in Chicago is hosting Windy City Riot, while Resurgence will be held at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Tickets for Resurgence are going on sale to the general public this Friday (February 14). Windy City Riot tickets are already available.
There were also IWGP World Championship matches at both Windy City Riot and Resurgence last year. Jon Moxley won the belt from Tetsuya Naito in Chicago before retaining against Shota Umino at Resurgence. Moxley, Naito, Sabre, and Goto are the most recent title holders.
These two had a good match tonight. Morris looked good, but it was Coughlin who really stood out. He looked like a million bucks, and his new mustache makes him look like the hypothetical lovechild of the Incredible Hulk and Ron Swanson. He ragdolled Morris around early on, but the Drama King put Coughlin away later with a front-falling DDT to win his first match in New Japan.
TJP, Ren Narita & Clark Connors defeated Danny Garcia Fred Yehi & Fred Rosser
We saw another debut tonight in Danny Garcia. He’s 22 and has been active in the US indies and has had matches on AEW television recently. He and TJP were in first for their teams. Kelly mentioned Garcia has an amateur wrestling background.
Later, Connors was later able to get the upper hand over Fred Rosser before tagging TJP back into the match. Narita and Connors charged the blue corner and knocked Rosser’s partners off the apron. Rosser was able to recover in the meantime and was able to bodyslam Connors and tag out to Fred Yehi next. Yehi cleaned house for a bit, but Connors exploded in response, catching Yehi with a snap powerslam as he came off the ropes, and later a spear.
Garcia and Ren Narita were in the for their teams towards the end of the match. Narita landed a front suplex off the ropes; Garcia returned the offense with a low dropkick to the back of Narita’s head. Narita then blocked a suplex attempt from Garcia and locked him in a manji-gatame octopus hold, then transitioned to a bridging wristlock suplex for two. Narita put Garcia away next after a high bridging front suplex, picking up the win for his team.
Narita and Rosser had a small dust-up afterward. Narita pointed at Garcia and implied that Rosser may be the next wrestler he pins.
West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs w/ JR Kratos) defeated Violence Unlimited (Brody King and Chris Dickinson)
Dickinson and Isaacs kicked things off. The story was that WCWC are Dickinson’s replacements in the Team Filthy group. Nelson and Isaacs quickly went into double-team offense and kept Dickinson in the blue corner for as long as they could as they went to work on Dickinson’s left knee. Isaacs locked Dickinson in a kneebar; Nelson smashed Dickinson’s knee across the ring post.
Dickinson threw some “Hail Mary” elbows at Isaacs late in the match. He finally was able to land a deadlift German suplex before tagging Brody King in. King hadn’t actually been in the match yet at this point. King put Nelson in a Boston crab but Isaacs broke it up. Dickinson used a single-underhook suplex on Isaacs, and later a fisherman’s buster on Nelson. WCWC had to resort to more double-teaming to kill Dickinson’s momentum, and since the referee couldn’t stop the two, King decided to stop them himself. When he brought the fight onto the floor, he found JR Kratos waiting for him with a huge lariat, neutralizing King for the last moments of the match.
Back in the ring, Isaacs landed a full-nelson-to-German suplex on Dickinson, which conveniently placed him in position for a big diving elbow drop off the top ropes from Nelson to put Violence Unlimited away and pick up the win. Dickinson continues to get screwed over by his old stablemates in Team Filthy.
Afterward, we saw Team Filthy minus “Filthy” Tom Lawlor backstage. Kratos looked at his cell phone and read a text from Lawlor that said he saw the match and he liked what he saw. He must be watching it on a closed-circuit channel. Isaacs said that they lost to King & Dickinson in the Tag Team Turmoil tournament, but since joining Team Filthy, they’ve now beaten the ROH team, calling it their “return on investment.” Isaacs also called out the Good Brothers and told them to watch their backs.
Final thoughts:
The Strong train continues to move along in terms of storyline. Dickinson is still fending off Team Filthy, Ren Narita picked a fight with Fred Rosse, and Alex Coughlin continues to impress despite his losing streak.
In terms of action, if you liked what you saw on Resurgence last weekend then tonight was more of that. We got high-quality matches all around, with Morris vs. Coughlin and the main event as the two to watch closely.
Tonight marks 52 episodes of NJPW Strong, which premiered on NJPW World almost a year to the day last August.
Alexander James defeated Kevin Knight
James has wrestled for wXw in Germany and Beyond Wrestling , plus has been featured on a few of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport cards. On commentary, Kevin Kelly mentioned that he trained at the same school as Adam Cole did in Maryland and was a student of WWE’s Drew Gulak.
For those who haven’t seen Alexander James wrestle yet, know that he’s a perfect fit for Strong. From his in-ring wrestling style to body size to overall demeanor, James seems to fit like a glove here in NJPW. He wrestles a hard-hitting, classical style of pro wrestling, something more in line with coach Katsuyori Shibata’s “realistic” vision of what wrestling should be, a style adjacent to how Young Lions wrestle these days.
James worked Knight over for the first five minutes of the match, slowly grinding down on Knight’s shoulder with a series of standing arm and wristlocks. Knight was able to swing the momentum back his way after connecting with a high dropkick. He later locked on a Boston Crab which quickly turned into a single-leg crab, but James escaped and went after Knight’s shoulder again. He then climbed to the top and dove onto Knight with a flying headbutt and landed onto Knight’s shoulder. James locked in a modified cobra clutch, then lifted him and did something I’d call a Rainmaker Judas Effect, or a spinning wrist-drag into a back elbow, before pinning Knight with a gutwrench powerbomb to win his first match on the show. Nice showing for James. Knight continues to impress, as well.
Rocky Romero and Fred Rosser defeated Ren Narita and Alex Coughlin
Rosser and Narita were first for their teams. I like the way Rosser has adapted his ring style to New Japan without having to compromise much, if anything, and actually being able to stand out in a very different way among a high-end, generally younger roster. Don’t sleep on Mr. No-Days-Off.
Alex Coughlin and Rocky Romero were in together next after a short exchange between Rosser and Narita. Coughlin is another of the Young Lions who, along with classmates Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors, should be due for a bump up the roster sooner rather than later. Coughlin used a big deadlift German suplex on Romero.
Coughlin and Rosser later brawled on the floor while Narita attempted a single-leg crab on Romero inside the ring. Romero avoided any damage and enzuigiri’d his way out of Narita’s attack to tag back out to Rosser, who cleaned house. After ragdolling Narita around the ring a bit, he placed him on the top rope for a possible superplex, but Narita escaped and landed a spinning wheel kick that dazed Rosser. Coughlin tagged in and did some ragdolling of his own, using a deadlift gutwrench suplex for two. Remember, Rosser is 6’1″, 238 lbs, not exactly the size of someone that can be ragdolled around. The two traded hard elbows before Rosser got the better of the exchange and tagged out to Romero.
When Romero went for Sliced Bread #2, Coughlin caught him mid-air to block, then hoisted him atop his shoulders into a fireman’s carry-to-gutbuster, a lá Dean Malenko. Coughlin earned a two-count for that plus a bridging fall-away slam afterwards. Romero persisted, kicked out, and was eventually able lock in a cross-armbreaker. He’d finally tap Coughlin in the armbreaker with an assist in leverage from Rosser.
Afterwards, with a giant smile across his face, a happy Fred Rosser went over to shake Narita’s hand again, just as he did before the match. This time, though, Narita shot Rosser a cold glare and exited without shaking Rosser’s hand. Rosser looked to enjoy the tension building between the two since his smile seemed to get wider as Narita got angrier. Romero stepped in to separate them before Narita was finally out of the ring. I anticipate a singles match between the seasoned Rosser and rookie Narita on the show this summer.
Team Filthy (JR Kratos & Danny Limelight) defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)
Isaacs and Limelight entered first for their teams. Isaacs showcased both his amateur style skills and overall power, using one huge powerslam early on. It didn’t hold Limelight down for long, and he was running the ropes just moments later, exploding with offense that was cut short when Jorel Nelson tagged in and took Limelight’s head off with a dropkick.
Limelight eventually slipped away to tag Kratos into the match. Kratos ran roughshod on WCWC, cleaning the ring out quickly. He launched Isaacs from post to post with a vertical suplex, and later would do a similar deadlift vertical suplex on Nelson. Kelly called him a one-man wrecking crew. Isaacs threw a proverbial hail mary late in the match and put Kratos down with a deadlift suplex of his own, exhibiting serious strength.
Isaacs tagged out to a fresher Nelson who cleared the ring of both Limelight and Kratos quickly. They did a jumping knee to German suplex and then a super power bomb on Limelight, both for two. When the WCWC tried lifting Kratos onto the top rope for a double-team finish, Kratos was able to interrupt and block his way out of their clutch, then used a jumping knee of his own. Kratos is around 260 lbs., by the way. He used another vertical suplex variation before Limelight dropped two knees on Nelson from off the top rope for two. Kratos is reinventing the vertical suplex.
When Nelson was back inside, he did some “lucha things” to take care of Kratos, like landing a frankensteiner to Kratos to put him on the floor, then diving onto him with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, he connected with a diving elbow drop off the top that’d make Randy Savage say “Ooh yeah.”
In the end, it was Team Filthy who’d come out victorious: Kratos launched Nelson into the air with a flapjack before Limelight delivered a pretty double-jump tornado DDT, spiking Nelson head-first before picking up the three-count.
The teams got into a post-match dust-up before STRONG Openweight champion (and F4W’s own) “Filthy” Tom Lawlor got into the ring. After calming his crew down, he told the WCWC that he liked what he saw and offered his hand. “It looks like a deal has been made!” The West Coast Wrecking Crew is now a part of Team Filthy, along with Lawlor, Kratos and Limelight.
Final thoughts:
Tonight’s show was really good. The first singles and second tag team match were solid, but the main event was a hell of a tag match. I enjoyed the slight twist-ending tonight, too, with WCWC joining up with Team Filthy. It didn’t seem like Nelson or Isaacs gave much thought to it—they decided within about five seconds. With such power of persuasion, I think Lawlor should try his hand in politics someday.
This is the penultimate episode of NJPW Strong before NJoA Resurgence, which airs live from Los Angeles, California on August 14.
NJPW has added two matches to their Resurgence event on August 14 in Los Angeles.
Karl Fredericks will take on Alex Coughlin in a singles match. Additionally, Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero and Wheeler Yuta will face TJP, Clark Connors and Ren Narita in a six-man tag.
Already announced for the show, Jay White will make his first NEVER Openweight Championship defense, taking on David Finlay. Finlay eliminated White from the 2021 New Japan Cup to set up the contest.
NJPW also announced that Drama King Matt will be on the English commentary team on FITE TV, joining the regular NJPW Strong duo of Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov. NJPW World will stream the show with Japanese commentary.
Resurgence will be the first ticketed NJPW event in the United States since The New Beginning in USA tour event in Georgia on February 1, 2020. It will be held at The Torch at LA Coliseum.
Here is the lineup so far:
NJPW Resurgence, Saturday, August 14, 10 p.m. Eastern time on FITE TV & NJPW World —
NEVER Openweight Championship: Jay White (c) vs. David Finlay
Karl Fredericks vs. Alex Coughlin
Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta vs. TJP, Clark Connors & Ren Narita
NJPW has made their first official match announcement for the Saturday, August 14 Resurgence event in Los Angeles.
Jay White will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against David Finlay. Finlay eliminated White in the quarterfinals of the 2021 New Japan Cup in an upset. After defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the NEVER title at Wrestling Dontaku on May 3, White stated that he would like his first defense to be against Finlay.
Tickets for Resurgence went on sale today. The $299 tier of ringside tickets has sold out, while tickets remain in each of the other five tiers at prices of $39, $59, $79, $99 and $199. The show will be held at The Torch at LA Coliseum, an outdoor concert venue. The event will mark the first ticketed NJPW event in the United States since The New Beginning in USA tour event in Georgia on February 1, 2020.
FITE TV and NJPW World will broadcast Resurgence live. FITE has been announced as the exclusive English commentary broadcast, while NJPW World will offer Japanese commentary for the show.
Here is the full list of talent advertised for Resurgence:
NJPW has announced an event for August to be held in front of fans in Los Angeles.
NJPW Resurgence will take place on Saturday, August 14 at The Torch at L.A. Coliseum, a new concert venue set to open this summer. IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley is among the talent advertised for the show.
The event will mark the first ticketed NJPW event in the United States since The New Beginning in USA tour event in Georgia on February 1, 2020.
Shota Umino is also set to return to NJPW for the event. He left the promotion for his Young Lion excursion in September 2019.
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, June 30 and will be priced at $39, $59, $79, $99, $199 and $299. Fans will be asked to wear a mask when not eating or drinking. The venue’s website lists attendance capacity for The Torch at 5,000 with the possibility to expand to 10,000.
FITE TV and NJPW World will broadcast the event live. FITE has been announced as the exclusive English commentary broadcast, while NJPW World will offer Japanese commentary. A full card for the event will be announced at a later date.
Here is the full list of talent advertised for Resurgence:
