NJPW has announced the full card for this Saturday’s NJPW Strong.
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor’s Team Filthy will be in action in a trios match in the main event. Lawlor, Black Tiger and Jorel Nelson will face Lawlor’s next title contender Taylor Rust, Fred Rosser, and Rocky Romero.
Also set for Saturday’s show, Juice Robinson will face Bad Dude Tito. The match will be Tito’s NJPW debut.
In the opener, Team Filthy member and half of the West Coast Wrecking Crew Royce Isaacs will take on Lucas Riley.
The Nemesis episodes of Strong were taped on December 9, 2021 in Los Angeles, California at the Vermont Hollywood. Saturday’s show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is the full lineup:
NJPW Strong Nemesis night three, Saturday, January 22, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
Tom Lawlor, Black Tiger & Jorel Nelson vs. Taylor Rust, Fred Rosser & Rocky Romero
Tonight saw the third installment of NJPW Strong: Detonation from Riverside, CA.
The DKC and Kevin Knight defeated Jordan Clearwater and Brogan Finlay
Good opener. Clearwater and Knight kicked things off for their teams. Remember these words: Within the next three years or so, these two will be big names in the industry. Clearwater looks more muscular than he has in the past.
Brogan Finlay, brother of David and son of Fit, had his second match on NJPW Strong. He’s technically the youngest wrestler on NJPW’s roster and has been active for seven months so far.
Clearwater and Finlay worked the DKC over in their corner for a while. Knight was able to make a save late in the match for his partner, connecting with a dropkick that he didn’t get all of. This gave DKC the chance to use a number of karate chops on Finlay. He earned a close nearfall with a crucifix bomb on Finlay, then tapped him out with a Koji clutch variation.
Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Black Tiger) (with Jorel Nelson) defeated FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) and Rocky Romero
Kevin Kelly referred to this iteration of Black Tiger as the “underground version.” He was brought in a few weeks ago and was hunting Rocky Romero.
Isaacs and Romero started things off, but Black Tiger ambushed Romero just seconds into the match. The crowd booed. They were chanting for Romero pretty loudly throughout the match.
Team Filthy beat on Romero on the floor, but FinJuice made the save. After some bedlam outside the ring, the babyfaces took control on offense and double-teamed Black Tiger. They bodyslammed each other on top of Black Tiger, then dropped a few sentons on him.
Team Filthy gained the upper hand after Jorel Nelson, who was on the floor, got involved. The group posed in the ring at one point, too, but Robinson and Finlay broke it up.
Kratos deadlift suplexed Romero. Isaacs hit a gnarly-looking one-armed power bomb on Romero. Robinson made a tag into the match minutes later and had a good exchange with Kratos. These two are about the same height, actually. I’m sure this would make for a great singles match on the show next year.
Robinson used the Left Hand of God on Kratos but the giant didn’t go down. He laid Black Tiger out with a spinebuster. Finlay was in next to clean house. The ten-minute call sounded while he was in the ring. He tagged Romero in and Romero went to town on Tiger with Forever Clotheslines in the corner. Isaacs got involved and tipped the scales in favor of Team Filthy. Kratos landed a big corner superman punch that knocked Romero cold. Nelson got involved again too, behind the ref’s back, and connected with jumping knees to Romero’s chest in the corner.
FinJuice broke things up and would moments later hit tandem pescados to the floor on Kratos and Isaacs while Romero and Tiger traded submissions in the ring. The two went back and forth until Tiger spiked Romero with a tombstone piledriver, then a tiger driver for the win in just over 15 minutes. Team Filthy beat on the babyfaces a bit more before exiting; the crowd showered them with boos as they walked to the back.
STRONG Openweight Championship match: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Fred Rosser to retain via TKO
They aired a video package before the match which told the story of what had happened between champion Lawlor and Rosser over the past months. Rosser is actually the first person to pin Lawlor in a NJPW ring, which he did in Philadelphia. Lawlor’s response was to beat Rosser up after the match and shave Rosser’s head.
Lawlor came to the ring with Team Filthy. JR Kratos brought the pair of scissors Lawlor used to cut Rosser’s hair with. When Rosser came out, he had a fresh new look, bald head and new trunks. He charged the ring during the entrances and tried getting into it with “Filthy” Tom early.
When the match was finally underway, Rosser got into Lawlor’s face and slapped him. The two grappled back and forth early on. The slightly bigger Rosser took the advantage and was able to stay over Lawlor, often controlling with armlocks or headlocks.
When they wrestled into the corner, neither man would break their hold, so referee Jeremy Marcus had to literally get in between the two to break them up. Later, Lawlor slipped out to the floor, but Rosser chased after him and whipped the champion into three guardrails. The crowd enjoyed that. Rosser began choking Lawlor with some of his own wrist tape, then bit Lawlor’s face. Rosser then tried back suplexing Lawlor onto the apron, but Lawlor blocked it by using a low blow that the ref didn’t see. He drove Rosser sternum-first into the guardrail on the floor next. He threw himself and Rosser over the guardrail into the crowd with a lariat.
Lawlor was able to get both he and Rosser back into the ring at the count of 16. He cradled Rosser for two. Lawlor threw hard low kicks at Rosser’s chest, but Rosser ate them. They started trading hard elbows. The crowd started chanting “Let’s go, Fred!” Lawlor locked in a guillotine choke but didn’t have luck with that, so transitioned to a cravat, snap-mared Rosser over, then used two sliding lariats—one to each side—to earn a two-count.
Rosser tried fighting back but Lawlor kept shutting him down. He laid Rosser out with a bulldog. When Rosser tried doing his signature gutbuster, Lawlor escaped, then did a double-leg dragon screw leg whip and locked Rosser into a cloverleaf until Rosser grabbed the rope for a break.
Rosser unleashed a flurry of lariats in the corner, a Mail Mary effort, but Lawlor picked him up and slammed him into the middle of the mat with a modified uranage slam. He put him down with a wrist-clutch exploder next, again for two. The fans didn’t give up on Rosser and kept chanting for him. When Lawlor went for a sleeper, Rosser slipped out and laid in a dozen forearms and elbows. At the 15-minute mark, he finally put Lawlor flat on the mat with a hard double ax-handle.
When Rosser tried suplexing Lawlor off the apron onto the floor, Lawlor blocked it by jumping him then locking on a guillotine choke. Rosser shoved Lawlor off, then did a slingshot to Lawlor from the floor into the ringpost, Bret Hart–Shawn Michaels style.
The two traded more heavy blows inside the ring next. Lawlor knocked Rosser down with an enzuigiri kick and the crowd booed loudly. Rosser’s wrist tape had come completely off at this point, which shows how damn serious things were getting between the two. Lawlor locked in another sleeper, but Rosser ran up the ropes and back-cradled him, another Bret Hart-Steve Austin throwback. Lawlor escaped the pin by bridging up and rolling back into the sleeper. Very cool.
Rosser used a running Death Valley Bomb on Lawlor for two. The crowd kept chanting “Fred!” When the 20-minute call sounded, Rosser put Lawlor down with an Emerald Flowsion. Lawlor escaped the pin by putting his foot on the lower rope.
Rosser drove in a number of 12–6 elbows, then locked on his once-signature crossface chickenwing. Lawlor rolled from side to side of the ring trying to grab the ropes for a break. The crowd bit on this and it really felt like they might give the win to Rosser with this.
Lawlor barely escaped the chickenwing, then got dropped back-first on the apron with the back suplex Rosser attempted early on in the match. Rosser then went for a diving Earthquake splash off the apron onto the floor, but Lawlor moved out of the way to lock in a sleeper again, this time on the floor. Wow. The two fought a bit more on the floor before they made it back into the ring.
As they crawled back inside, Rosser was a few feet ahead of Lawlor, and Lawlor still hadn’t gone through the ropes yet, so he dove through the ropes and caught Rosser with a rolling sleeper. I don’t think I’d ever seen that before. Rosser passed out from the sleeper hold and referee Jeremy Marcus stopped the match due to TKO. The crowd cursed at Lawlor and chanted for Rosser afterwards.
Lawlor cut a promo and explained how he was the only one who really deserved the STRONG Openweight champion. He said he’d beaten legends and top contenders and “pretenders, like Fred.” No one came out initially, so he and Team Filthy posed while his music played. This was until the returning Rust Taylor (Tyler Rust in NXT this year) came out. Taylor was actually an original member of Team Filthy last year.
He got into the ring to celebrate with Lawlor, then swerved him and took him out with his finisher, a forward-swinging neckbreaker type deal. If you didn’t know who Taylor is before this segment, it’s OK, because he came off as a somebody. His hair grew out and he got much bigger compared to his first stint on Strong. It looks like he’ll soon challenge “Filthy” Tom for the Openweight title soon.
Final thoughts:
The main event was excellent this week. It was a near-30-minute match that was arguably Rosser’s best match ever, but also one of Lawlor’s, who has been racking them up lately. The funny thing is that when you hear the term “New Japan,” the kind of match these two had doesn’t come to mind. This was a technical or modern brawl. It had good emotion coming from Rosser’s end. It was extremely physical but not in a forced way. Rosser’s transition from WWE to NJPW has worked but it also hasn’t forced Rosser to change his in-ring style at all, and somehow it worked well with Lawlor’s MMA-centric approach.
I imagine if this were in front of the right crowd it’d have blown the roof of the venue, though that’s not to say the Riverside crowd was a detriment in any way. Detonation was an excellent show, but the reality is there aren’t enough eyeballs on the product to measure how good these shows have been lately.
Three matches have been announced for this week’s episode of NJPW Strong.
In the show’s main event, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Fred Rosser.
In the second match, Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Rocky Romero will tag against Team Filthy’s JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs and Black Tiger.
In the opener, Kevin Knight and The DKC will face Brogan Finlay, as the younger Finlay brother appears in his second NJPW Strong match.
The Detonation episodes of Strong were taped on November 15 in Riverside, California. Saturday’s show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is the full lineup:
NJPW Strong Detonation night three, Saturday, December 18, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Fred Rosser
Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Rocky Romero vs. JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Black Tiger
Kevin Knight & The DKC vs. Jordan Clearwater & Brogan Finlay
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor is officially a pro wrestling free agent as his MLW contract expired Monday.
Both sides talked about a new deal, but couldn’t come to an agreement.
Lawlor, co-host of the weekly Filthy Four Daily podcast with Bryan Alvarez on this website, took to Twitter to announce the news, thanking the company, management and fellow wrestlers for the last four years.
As of today, I am a free agent in the world of professional wrestling. Thank you to @mlw@courtbauer@MSL@beINSPORTSUSA for the time & effort they put in with me. But mostly I’d like to thank the MLW staff, wrestlers past & present, and fans for the 4 years of memories! #mlw
Despite being the current New Japan Strong Openweight Champion, the 38-year-old is not under a contract there either. He will defend that title on November 15th against Fred Rosser.
He has remained active on the indies and was recently part of the latest Bloodsport show for GCW. He is slated to take on Jon Moxley later this month for Seattle-based Defy Wrestling.
Lawlor made his MLW debut in 2017 and defeated Low Ki for their World title in February 2019. He defended their title three times before losing it to Jacob Fatu in July 2019.
The former Opera Cup winner last appeared at their October TV tapings, losing in the first round of this year’s tournament against Davey Richards and then losing to Caribbean Champion King Muertes in a casket match.
A former MMA fighter, Lawlor retired from the cage this past June after a run with the PFL.
Tonight was the fourth installment of NJPW Strong’s Autumn Attack US tour series.
Fred Rosser and Rocky Romero defeated Team Filthy (JR Kratos & Danny Limelight)
Nice opener. Limelight was a regular on Strong for a good chunk of last year and was a big part of their lineup when the show launched; it was good to see him back. He and Romero had a good mentor-mentee singles program in 2020, and the beginning of this saw a slight return, with Limelight and Romero kicking things off. Rosser and Kratos were in next, and these two had a hell of a singles match on Strong this past March.
Kratos launched Rosser with a vertical suplex. Limelight choked Rosser with the ropes while Kratos distracted the ref. Kratos continued working Rosser over, but as the match went on the crowd got really behind Rosser and started chanting for him. When Kratos tried deadlifting Rosser into another vertical suplex, Rosser slipped away, then landed a low single-leg dropkick before he tagged out to Romero. Kratos tagged out to Limelight, who ended up being on the other end of Romero’s fiery offensive attack. Romero caught Limelight with a springboard basement dropkick.
The match broke down into bedlam shortly after, with all four brawling in and out of the ring. Rosser laid Limelight out with a falling backdrop suplex on the apron. Inside the ring, he and Kratos duked it out. They collided with simultaneous big boots.
Limelight made his way back into the match and took Rosser off the top ropes with a flying hurricanrana. Kratos laid Rosser out with a Falcon Arrow, but Romero made the save for his partner.
The finish saw Limelight attempt his signature double-jump swinging DDT, but Rosser caught him mid-air and drove him into the mat with an Emerald Frosion to score the win for his team.
Lio Rush defeated Taiji Ishimori
In some ways, these two are almost mirror versions of each other. Ishimori is bigger, in general, but they’re approximately the same height, have pretty much the same hair length and are both shredded high flyers.
Ishimori played bully and flexed his biceps at Rush a few times. The match kicked into high gear early, and only after a minute or so they were exchanging holds at a frenetic pace. Rush caught Ishimori in the gut while he hung in the air when he went for a leapfrog. Even the announcers said it might be too fast of a match for them to call.
Ishimori caught Rush running towards him off the ropes, so he pulled the middle rope down and Rush went crashing onto the floor. From here, Ishimori slowed the pace and began working over Rush’s arm outside the ring, wrapping it against the ring post and guardrail and smashing it over and over again. Back in the ring, Ishimori did more of the same, hammerlocking Rush’s arm and ramming it into the ringpost. When Rush went for a handspring off the ropes, Ishimori clipped him in the injured arm with a low dropkick.
Rush made a comeback using his right arm, as his left was kayfabe-injured, and took Ishimori out with a series of lariats followed by the handspring elbow he’d attempted earlier. The stronger, more experienced Ishimori responded later with a hammerlock shoulder-breaker that drove Rush’s shoulder into Ishimori’s knee for two. Rush actually bridged out using only his neck and uninjured arm. The crowd started chanting for him loudly. Ishimori locked in La Mistica and held him in the hold for a good while until Rush power-bombed his way out of it.
Rush unloaded a series of kicks that Ishimori ate, but that didn’t keep the Bone Soldier on the mat. Ishimori smacked his own head showing that those kicks did nothing to him. Rush served up a spinning enzuigiri next, though, and that laid Ishimori out. Rush then landed a big frog splash for the win. For Rush, that’s a huge W, as Ishimori in 2021 is a decorated wrestler, with experience and title runs in IMPACT, Pro Wrestling NOAH and others in addition to being former IWGP Junior heavyweight champion. I think most fans would agree that these two need to have a rematch soon.
Suzuki and Archer ambushed Team Filthy, who stood on the apron waiting for Suzuki’s entrance to wrap. Suzuki caught Isaacs with a boot, while Archer decked Lawlor. The fight spilled out onto the floor immediately, with Suzuki and Isaacs and one side of the ring and Archer and Lawlor fighting around the corner.
After another minute or so, all four found themselves inside the ring, and this is when the match officially started and the bell rang. Archer and Suzuki double-teamed Isaacs. “Filthy” Tom later used a cheap shot to take Suzuki out, throwing a knee into Suzuki’s back as he was bouncing off the ropes. Isaacs then caught a distracted Archer and started putting the boots to him as Lawlor and Suzuki fought on the floor. Can we please get a singles match between these two eventually?
Team Filthy continued the double-team onslaught on Suzuki, who played de facto face here (and pretty much every place he went to on his recent US tour). Lawlor and Isaacs flexed and posed while Archer flipped out in his corner while referee Jeremy Marcus kept him from entering the ring.
The crowd began chanting for Suzuki as Lawlor continued working him over. Suzuki seemingly used this fan energy to blast Lawlor in the solar plexus with a kitchen sink knee against the ropes. He then tagged out to Archer, who was your proverbial house of fire. Lawlor threw chops at Archer, but they didn’t phase him. Archer started running roughshod on Team Filthy, charging at whomever was in his way. Lawlor finally jumped Archer into his full guard and locked on a guillotine choke, which slowed Archer temporarily, until Archer suplexed Lawlor off his back.
Later, Archer took Isaacs out with a modified Boss Man Slam and tagged Suzuki back into the match. He locked Isaacs in a front facelock while Archer finally laid Lawlor out with the Blackout, the reverse Iconoclast with Lawlor coming off the top rope.
In the meantime, Isaacs escaped from Suzuki’s hold and dumped him backwards with a sweet backdrop Saito Suplex. He low-bridged Archer over the top rope to the floor, then kneed Suzuki in the face. Isaacs then landed his patented full nelson-to-deadlift-German suplex which earned him a close two-count. Ten minutes had passed by this point.
Suzuki made one final comeback, plastering Isaacs with palm strikes and elbows before putting him away with the Gotch-style piledriver and picking up the win for him and Archer. The crowd loved the finish.
After the match, Archer grabbed the mic and asked if the crowd had enjoyed the show, and it sounded like they did. Archer was cut off, though, when Chris Dickinson’s music hit. The “Dirty Daddy” made his way out to the ring. He took the mic, looked Suzuki in the eye and told him that Suzuki’s “vacation is over,” and that at the New Japan Philadelphia Showdown show, he’d already be dead. Dickinson said this in both Japanese and English; “Omae wa mou shindeiru.” For any classic comic & animation fans reading, this is a famous line from Fist of the North Star.
Minoru Suzuki’s response: “I speak a little English. . . F*CK YOU!”
The crowd lost it after he said that. Dickinson was fired up outside of the ring. These two just recently squared off in the main event of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 7, but I’m not sure if or when NJPW will acknowledge that on the air.
Suzuki then asked the crowd if they wanted to see him again, and they responded with a loud roar of approval. “I’ll be back.”
Final thoughts:
NJPW Strong has always had consistently good match quality, but tonight’s show really felt prime-time outside of the somewhat low-rent production of these Autumn Attack shows. Lio Rush vs. Taiji Ishimori and Suzuki-gun vs. Team Filthy are worth going out of your way to watch this week.
Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer will face Team Filthy’s Tom Lawlor and Royce Isaacs in the main event of this week’s NJPW Strong Autumn Attack.
Also announced, Lio Rush will face Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori in a junior heavyweight clash.
In the opener, Fred Rosser and Rocky Romero will team against Team Filthy’s JR Kratos and Danny Limelight. Rosser is next in line to challenge Lawlor for the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.
The Autumn Attack episodes of Strong were taped on September 25 and September 26 in Garland, Texas.
Strong airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday on NJPW World. The show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong Autumn Attack night three, Saturday, October 30, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer vs. Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs
Lio Rush vs. Taiji Ishimori
Fred Rosser & Rocky Romero vs. JR Kratos & Danny Limelight
Tonight’s episode was called Autumn Attack and was filmed in front of a crowd in Dallas. Matt Rehwoldt (fka WWE’s Aiden English) filled in for Kevin Kelly tonight on commentary. Kelly is in Japan right now for the G1 tournament.
The show opened with a pre-taped promo from Fred Rosser where he explained why he needs the STRONG Openweight title, and in order to do that, he’d have to beat Suzuki.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Fred Rosser
Rosser jumped Suzuki before the bell. Suzuki smiled and answered back with hard elbow shots. Rosser shouted that NJPW Strong was “his house” a few times. When Suzuki was seated, Rosser got into his face to let him know this again. Suzuki slapped him.
Suzuki would next go to work on Rosser’s left arm. He did an armbar while draped over the rope, then started smashing Rosser’s arm against the barricade on the floor and around the ringpost. Suzuki rolled back into the ring and did the Los Ingobernables tranquilo pose—sort of.
This fired Rosser up. He tried bringing a chair into the ring but the referee grabbed it from his hands. Suzuki continued working over Rosser’s arm. Rosser was able to catch Suzuki off the ropes with a scoop Emerald Flowsion for two.
Rosser ripped his wrist tape off and wrapped it around Suzuki’s next before applying a chicken-wing facelock. I don’t think I’ve seen Rosser use this since he was Darren Young in WWE when he was feuding with the Miz with Bob Backlund, master of the chicken-wing, in his corner. Suzuki looked amused while he was in the hold.
Rosser had to break the hold when Suzuki made it to the ropes. Rosser dragged Suzuki to the apron and landed a back suplex.
Suzuki was able to put Rosser in a sleeper, then readied him for his patented Gotch-style piledriver. He got the crowd pumped for it, but he waited too long, and Rosser back bodydropped himself out of harm’s way. The crowd booed this. Rosser reacted perfectly and flexed at the crowd while they continued booing.
Rosser threw a few closed fists and headbutts, but it wasn’t enough to put Suzuki away, as Suzuki hit Rosser with the Gotch piledriver for the win.
STRONG Openweight championship: Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Ren Narita to retain the title via submission
We saw a segment centered on Ren Narita promo next. He has beaten Chris Dickinson, Karl Fredericks and Fred Rosser this year. Lawlor had already beaten Narita previously in the New Japan Cup USA tournament.
They felt each other out for a minute or so as things got started. Lawlor shot on Narita a few times but wasn’t able to take Narita down. Narita grabbed a waistlock, dragged Lawlor to the mat and went for an armlock, but Lawlor slipped out. This was a great example of modern chain wrestling, two guys going hold for hold while also demonstrating actual wrestling and submission grappling techniques.
Lawlor got frustrated after a few minutes and slapped the ring post. He threw Narita into a side headlock and clearly pulled Narita’s hair. Narita slipped out the back door and locked Narita into an achilles lock. Lawlor tried chopping his way out but Narita wouldn’t let go. Lawlor had to use a few dirty closed fists so that he could stand up and create space. Narita shut it down and went back to the achilles lock. Lawlor literally had to drag Narita out of the ring by the arms, then smashed him into the guardrail. “Filthy” celebrated with a short strut on the floor.
Lawlor blasted a seated Narita with two low kicks. Narita ate both and asked for more. He sat cross-legged like Shibata. Narita’s new facial hair and tan makes him look an awful lot like his trainer these days. Lawlor threw another and Narita again ate it, then stood up and delivered a low kick of his own to Lawlor.
Narita went suplex-crazy towards the end, putting Lawlor down with three different variations by around the ten-minute mark. The crowd really enjoyed Narita throughout the match.
Lawlor responded with two giant drop uranages. Narita somehow slid into a ankle slicer/achilles hold that looked to have Lawlor close to tapping until he grabbed the ropes for a break. Later, Lawlor earned a two-count after a big exploder suplex.
The two traded sleeperholds towards the end of the match. They traded maybe four sleepers until Narita got the better of the exchange. He’d transition to an octopus hold, but Lawlor escaped, then jumped guard and locked Narita in a guiltillione choke. Narita powered out of it with a wrist-grip suplex with a bridge for two. Lawlor saw an opening and quickly locked Narita in a triangle choke, then moved into an armbar submission, but Narita escaped and eventually locked in a figure-four. Lawlor sold this like he knee was ripping in half. Narita would later move into an STF; Lawlor barely escaped.
Lawlor would eventually score the submission win with a wild 10th Planet-style double-arm, double-leglock. I’ve never seen this one before. Narita, effectively limbless, had no choice but to tap: Lawlor retained via submission.
Lawlor shouted “STRONGEST FOR THE LONGEST” after the match. This was one of the top matches of the show this year.
Jay White defeated Robbie Eagles
This was a non-title bout between Eagles, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion, and the NEVER Openweight champion in White.
White went to “too sweet” the ex-Bullet Clubber, but when Eagles refused, White slapped him in the face. When the bell rang, Eagles ran at White, ducked a lariat, then unloaded a barrage of punches. White shut Eagles down with shoulder blocks and chops, but he couldn’t control Eagles’ rhythm.
Eagles wears a handkerchief around his neck when he wrestles, so White choked him with it minutes into the match. When he flexed to the crowd, they actually cheered him. White got similar reactions at NJPW’s Resurgence show in Los Angeles; while he’s technically a heel, in the US, he’s popular, regardless of character.
At five minutes in, Eagles landed a jumping double knee strike on White in the corner. White spiked him on top of his head with a DDT. Eagles landed a somersault dive through the middle ropes, onto White and over the barricade, landing on his feet.
From here, a frustrated White made Eagles pay for a good section of the match. Nothing flashy, just a slow, methodical beatdown. At one point, he did a stalling Saito suplex where he carried Eagles around the ring with one arm, like a doll, before spiking him.
When White set Eagles up for the Bladerunner, Eagles smacked White in the face before he could do the move. Eagles then went after White’s knee and leg, then finally locked on his reverse figure-four variation, his submission finish. White teased tapping but eventually broke the hold.
Eagles landed a 450 splash from the top on White’s knee, and again applied his inverted figure-four. White escaped and planted Eagles with a snap sleeper suplex. After a brainbuster and finally the Bladerunner, that was it, and White walked away with the win in just over 15 minutes. This was really good.
“When I’m away, everybody else seems like they get over-confident and get carried away with the decision making in Bullet Club.”
White specifically referred to EVIL, who the Dallas crowd booed.
‘It’s almost like they’ve forgotten who makes the decisions. It’s almost like they’ve forgotten who is in charge!”
He said he was the leader of Bullet Club, he confirmed that he still makes the decisions, and that this was still his “new era” before exiting to the back. Those who were in attendance ate it up.
Final thoughts:
This felt more like a special edition episode of Strong than what we’re used to. It was almost 30 minutes longer than the show usually is, and each match had relatively high stakes either because of the wrestlers involved (guests like Suzuki, White and Eagles) or because of titles on the line (Lawlor vs. Narita).
While everything on this episode was very good, I preferred the STRONG Openweight title the most. White and Eagles had an excellent match as well, though I imagine they’ll top themselves whenever they meet again in their next bout.
Rosser vs. Suzuki was good, but I can’t say it was better than Rosser’s match with Ren Narita a few weeks ago. Ultimately, I think what this match did was build Rosser as a more believable contender on the show as it unfolds over the rest of the year.
Tonight marked the final night of NJoA’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour.
JR Kratos defeated Fred Yehi
Solid opener. Kratos worked over Yehi for most of this match. Kratos launched Yehi across from corner to corner with a vertical suplex. The story was Yehi kept trying to take Kratos off of his feet but he couldn’t do it until late in the match, when he landed two rolling German suplexes on the larger Kratos.
The finish came when Yehi had Kratos trapped in a triangle choke, but Kratos reversed it into a deadlift wheelbarrow power bomb for the win in 9:02.
Chris Dickinson defeated Royce Isaacs via submission
The story so far between these two links back to STRONG Openweight champion Tom Lawlor and his Team Filthy group. When Dickinson was still in Team Filthy, he challenged Lawlor to a match for Lawlor’s title. Lawlor answered by not only kicking Dickinson out of Team Filthy but ambushing him and recruiting the West Coast Wrecking Crew to take his place in the gang. A babyface Dickinson is out for vengeance on all of Team Filthy now.
The match itself was very good. They went hold for hold early until Dickinson shut Isaacs down with hard mid-kicks and a spinning heel kick coming off the ropes. Isaacs pushed the ref at one point, when Dickinson had Isaacs in a waist lock. In a moment behind the ref’s back, Isaacs shoved Lawlor into the cornerpost, shoulder-first, then drilled him with a back suplex.
Isaacs controlled much of the next part of this match. Dickinson scored a Death Valley Bomb as Isaacs went for a leapfrog. Dickinson scored a two-count, so he transitioned to an armbar, which Isaacs countered and reversed into a Texas Cloverleaf until Dickinson made it to the ropes for a break. Dickinson would soon tap Isaacs out with an STF in 11:08. Again, a really good match.
Backstage, Dickinson accused ex-best friend Isaacs of being a snake and that he would “cut the head off of the snake”. Dickinson thanked the audience that came to the taping that night before exiting.
STRONG Openweight Championship: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (with JR Kratos) defeated Lio Rush via TKO to retain the title
Lawlor feigned engaging with Rush, then slid to the floor. Jay White does this all the time. Lawlor conferred with Kratos for a minute or so before Rush decided to break up the strategy session with a baseball slide dropkick through the bottom ropes. Rush jumped on Lawlor’s back and locked on a sleeper hold until Lawlor escaped. He went back to the floor to recover, but Rush was able to run him and Team Filthy associate Kratos into each other. This was a rare time where a wrestler came off looking clever instead of clueless.
Rush launched into Lawlor with low kicks. When Rush came off the middle rope, Lawlor caught him and slammed him into the red corner, then gave him a front uranage drop, spiking Rush. He locked in a guillotine choke that he turned into a cravat at around five minutes in.
Lawlor planted Rush with an exploder suplex. The crowd chanted for Rush. Rush tried firing up but Lawlor chopped the hell out of him in the corner. Rush wouldn’t let up. He went for a standing frog splash but Lawlor caught him in a triangle choke. He’d move into a single-leg crab next, until Rush escaped via rope break. Ten minutes had elapsed at this point in the match.
Rush was able to knock Lawlor onto the floor and take him out with a running suicide dive through the bottom two ropes. He was picking up momentum when Kratos grabbed him and went to press slam him. The referee saw it and ordered Kratos to let go or else he’d disqualify Lawlor. Kratos obliged, but Rush threw a shot at Kratos, which upset him. He grabbed Rush by the throat and again threatened violence, until ref Jeremy Marcus ejected Kratos from ringside. The audience sang “Na-na-na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!” as he exited.
The match heated up from here. Rush scored a close nearfall after a roll-up. He spiked Lawlor with a reverse frankensteiner, then caught him with a frog splash from the top rope for another close nearfall. The crowd was really into him. In a lot of ways, Lawlor and Rush are a babyface-heel pair made for each other.
Rush went back to the rear naked choke that he locked on Lawlor at the top of the match. Lawlor struggled out of it, then laid Rush out with a spinning Funaki tombstone, then locked in his own rear naked choke until Rush passed out. Referee Jeremy Marcus called the match; “Filthy” Tom Lawlor retained the STRONG Openweight title in 16:19.
Lawlor was in the ring with mic after Rush had left. He told the crowd to give it up for Rush, whom he called a worthy opponent. They chanted for him. Lawlor then put out another open challenge for his championship and wondered aloud whether it’d be a Young Lion or possibly a “scrub from another company.” Lawlor assumed no one would come to the ring to challenge him, so started posing with the belt for the crowd.
Ren Narita came out next and got right into Lawlor’s face. They were nose to nose. Lawlor shoved Narita a few times but he no-sold it, then gave Lawlor a hard index-finger point that really reminded me of Katsuyori Shibata in terms of body language.
“I already beat you before I was champion . . . and I’ve only gotten stronger since.” Lawlor downplayed Narita’s short career and told him to go back and train with Shibata for longer and maybe then he’d be ready for a shot at Lawlor’s Openweight title. Narita didn’t say anything. Then, suddenly, he kicked Lawlor in the face, a high kick that again looked like it came directly out of his trainer Shibata’s playbook. Narita dropped the belt over Lawlor, who was completely laid out, then left.
Final thoughts:
Tonight’s main event truly felt like a main event. I don’t think many believed Rush would actually win the STRONG Openweight title, but the two were able to have a match that came pretty close to making you believe that maybe Rush could have eked out a win against Lawlor. Narita came off looking stronger than ever in his brief appearance with Lawlor, and I imagine they’ll tear the roof off the venue when they do have their bout. The openers were very good, but after watching over a year of NJPW Strong I can say with confidence that that is par for the course.
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Lio Rush on this week’s Strong episode.
NJPW made the announcement tonight. The match will be Lawlor’s fourth defense of the title.
In the second match, former Team Filthy member Chris Dickinson will take on current Filthy ally Royce Isaacs of the West Coast Wrecking Crew.
In the opener, Fred Yehi will take on Team Filthy’s JR Kratos.
The Fighting Spirit Unleashed episodes of Strong were taped on Monday, August 16 in Long Beach, California at Thunder Studios and were the first Strong shows taped in front of fans.
Strong airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday on NJPW World. The show will also be available on demand immediately following airing.
Here is Saturday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Saturday, October 2, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World–
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Lio Rush
A National Openweight Championship match will headline the second week of MLW Fusion: Alpha.
MLW announced that National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone will defend his title against Tom Lawlor on next Wednesday’s show. The series debuted with its first episode premiering on YouTube last night.
There was a segment on the Fusion: Alpha premiere where Lawlor complained to authority figure Cesar Duran (formerly known as Lucha Underground’s Dario Cueto) that he didn’t get a title shot for winning last year’s Opera Cup. Lawlor pointed out that Hammerstone is getting a World title shot for winning July’s Battle Riot III match.
Duran decided to make a National Openweight Championship match between Hammerstone and Lawlor for next week, but that didn’t appear to be the match that Lawlor was looking for.
Hammerstone has held the National Openweight Championship since the title was introduced in 2019. He’s set to face MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu in a title vs. title match at Fightland next month.
After winning last year’s tournament, Lawlor will again be taking part in the Opera Cup this year and will face Davey Richards in the first round at Fightland.
Here’s the full list of what’s been announced for next week’s show:
National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone vs. Tom Lawlor title match
MLW has revealed the first opening round matchup in this year’s Opera Cup tournament.
Tom Lawlor and Davey Richards will face off in the first round of the Opera Cup at MLW’s Fightland tapings at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 2. The Opera Cup first round and semifinal matches are taking place at Fightland. The finals will then be held when MLW returns to the 2300 Arena on Saturday, November 6.
Alex Shelley, Bobby Fish, Lee Moriarty, TJP, Calvin Tankman, and Matt Cross are the other participants for this year’s Opera Cup.
Lawlor was the winner of the 2020 Opera Cup. Davey Boy Smith Jr. won MLW’s inaugural edition of the tournament in 2019.
Richards made his MLW debut at July’s Battle Riot tapings.
A one-hour special from the Fightland tapings will air on Vice TV at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, October 7. MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone in a title vs. title match will headline the special. A four-way match with Myron Reed defending his MLW Middleweight title against Tajiri, Aramis, and Arez will also air on the special.
Here’s the updated lineup for the Fightland tapings:
Title vs. title match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone
MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defends against Tajiri, Aramis, and Arez in a four-way match
Nicole Savoy vs. Holidead
2021 Opera Cup tournament first round and semifinals
The next challenger is set for “Filthy” Tom Lawlor’s NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.
Lio Rush will face Lawlor for the title at the Fighting Spirit Unleashed NJPW Strong tapings on Monday, August 16 at Thunder Studio in Long Beach, California. The match will air on an episode of Strong at a later date.
Following Lawlor’s last title defense against Satoshi Kojima on the July 23 episode of Strong, Rush confronted Lawlor in a post-match backstage segment. Rush and Karl Fredericks then scored a tag team victory over Lawlor and Danny Limelight on the August 13 edition of the show. NJPW then announced the match.
In addition to Lawlor vs. Rush, appearances from Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii have been advertised for the sold out August 16 tapings in Long Beach. The Strong shows will be the first in the history of the series to be held in front of live fans.
Another match is official for Saturday’s NJPW Resurgence event.
NJPW announced that Juice Robinson will take on Hikuleo at The Torch at LA Coliseum.
Additionally, a dark match was announced for the event. Kevin Knight, The DKC and Adrian Quest will take on Bateman, Misterioso and Barrett Brown in a trios match. That match will kick off the event for the live crowd at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The main card will begin at 8 p.m. Pacific time.
NJPW World and FITE TV are the broadcast partners for the show. NJPW World will have Japanese commentary, while FITE TV will have the exclusive English commentary for the event.
Here is the full Resurgence lineup:
NJPW Resurgence, Saturday, August 14, 11 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World and FITE TV —
IWGP United States Championship: Lance Archer (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
NEVER Openweight Championship: Jay White (c) vs. David Finlay
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Moose
Lio Rush, Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Fred Yehi & Yuya Uemura vs. Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Juice Robinson vs. Hikuleo
Jon Moxley & a mystery partner vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson
Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta vs. TJP, Clark Connors & Ren Narita
Karl Fredericks vs. Alex Coughlin
Dark match: Kevin Knight, The DKC & Adrian Quest vs. Bateman, Misterioso & Barrett Brown
Barrett Brown (with Bateman & Misterioso) defeated Wheeler Yuta
Wheeler seemed to have an edge over Brown on offense. He put Brown into a bow-and-arrow stretch submission but Brown slipped out. Wheeler later caught Brown with a high dropkick to the face.
Brown gained an advantage after kicking the ropes into Wheeler’s throat while he was hanging over the ropes. He applied a chin lock and illegally fish hooked Wheeler until the ref made him break the hold. More dirty fighting, or, really, more Bateman-inspired offense. Brown would actually walk over and confer with Bateman, who was cornering him at ringside.
Brown missed a swanton from the top rope. Wheeler earned a close two-count with a German suplex. When Wheeler locked in a modified STF, Bateman slid into the ring to distract the ref. Wheeler broke the hold to confront Bateman, and while the ref argued with him, Misterioso snuck in from the opposite side of the ring and gave a backcracker to Wheeler. Brown recovered then pinned Wheeler to pick up the win.
Brown’s win streak continues, and the story is that Brown only wins matches when he resorts to illegal tactics, ones that he learned from Bateman.
Hikuleo defeated Fred Yehi
Hikuleo shoved Yehi to the mat at the beginning of the match, then sneered at him. Yehi later took the big man down to the mat and locked in a Koji Clutch early on. Hikuleo shut Yehi down early and took control of the offense for much of the middle part of this match, up until Yehi shot a flurry of bicycle up-kicks to a standing Hikuleo. Yehi went back to the Koji Clutch, then transitioned to a seated headscissors and threw a few Gary Goodridge-style elbow smashes.
Hikuleo wrapped his hand around Yehi’s throat and threatened a chokeslam; Yehi escaped. When he ran off the ropes, Hikuelo caught him with a sudden snap-powerslam for two. He’d put Yehi away in 5:39 after a sit-out Death Valley Bomb.
Afterwards, Hikuleo grabbed the mic and cut a rare in-ring promo demanding that New Japan give him stronger opponents. “This is too easy,” he said. As soon as he said that, Juice Robinson’s music sounded. He appeared at ringside, mic in hand.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but did I hear your 8’0” ass whining about the lack of competition here on Strong?” After calling him a “baby giraffe”, Juice challenged Hikuleo to a match that was later confirmed for Resurgence tomorrow.
Karl Fredericks and Lio Rush defeated Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor & Danny Limelight)
Lots of action in this one. Fredericks jumped Team Filthy before the bell. He laid in about a half-dozen elbows to Lawlor before “Filthy” was able to temporarily neutralize Fredericks to collect himself. Rush did a bottom-rope springboard dive onto Limelight who was on the floor.
Fredericks went for Manifest Destiny early but he couldn’t lift Lawlor up. He’d instead drop a huge elbow onto Lawlor, and then Rush caught Lawlor with a running frog splash.
When Fredericks next bounced off the ropes, Limelight kneed him in the back. Fredericks turned around and ran towards Limelight on the apron with a big boot, but Limelight dropped to the floor, so Fredericks’ leg got hung up on the top rope. Lawlor took advantage and went to town on an incapacitated Fredericks. He’d next apply a straight ankle lock and tore away at Fredericks’ knee.
The middle part of this match was primarily Lawlor and Limelight attempting to destroy Fredericks’ knee, right up until Fredericks was able to escape to the red corner and tag out to a fresh Lio Rush, who’d go on to clean the proverbial house. He caught Limelight with a handspring elbow, then dove through the bottom ropes onto Lawlor with a tope suicida.
Back in the ring, Lawlor launched Rush with a modified uranage slam. Rush would recover later but miss a frog splash from the top. He tumbled through and went for a frankensteiner, but Limelight turned it into a backcracker bomb for two.
Towards the end, Fredericks and Lawlor brawled all the way down to the floor. In the ring, Rush was able to use his first-rope springboard cutter to put Limelight away and pick up the win for him and Fredericks.
After the match, Fredericks and Rush cut a promo on Tom Lawlor and Team Filthy and claimed Lawlor wouldn’t be Openweight champion for much longer. Fredericks said he wouldn’t let Lawlor walk into New Japan and take his and his boys’ jobs. Both showed good delivery on the mic.
Final thoughts:
Tonight’s episode was solid, yet again. Barrett Brown’s working relationship with Bateman continued to develop as Brown picked up another singles win over Wheeler YUTA. Yehi, who’s usually a tag wrestler on the show, fell to Hikuleo, who will challenge the returning Juice Robinson in the near future. And Team Filthy vs. NJoA continues to evolve, with Fredericks as the de facto leader of the Strong ship, so it seems.
“Steady as she goes” would be an accurate phrase to describe tonight’s show. It was quality but also didn’t deviate from prior episodes. No surprises here, but really, that’s not to be expected on this show. Strong succeeds in its quality consistency and its commitment to a simple, hard-hitting in-ring product. But if you’re expecting angles and surprise swerves peppered into your wrestling, maybe NJPW Strong isn’t the show for you.
