Lio Rush made his New Japan Strong debut on a show that would get people talking with an unexpected arrival at the end…
Quick Results
Clark Connors submitted The DKC in 7:22 (**¾)
Chris Dickinson submitted Rocky Romero in 9:53 (***½)
Lio Rush, TJP & Fred Rosser pinned El Phantasmo, KENTA & Hikuleo in 11:54 (***)
For some reason, NJPW World is still listing this as a road-to show… and I’m watching this straight after Tanahashi/Shingo, so if I’m a little grumpier than usual… there you go!
Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov, as ever, are on the call…
The DKC vs. Clark Connors
The DKC’s now a Young Lion, so Shibata-san’s made him run to the ring in black trunks and boots. I’d have made him use his name and not an acronym, but baby steps!
We start with a tie-up into the ropes from DKC, before they switch waistlocks, with DKC being taken down, only to come back with an armbar. Connors escapes and takes him down with a waistlock, but DKC scrambles free. Another tie-up sees Connors land a headlock takedown, before we reached another break. DKC returns the favour with the side headlock, but Connors shoves him into the ropes as we get shoulder tackles that Connors won out on. Chops from DKC have Connors cornered, ahead of a hiptoss out of the corner but it barely gets a one-count as DKC went back to an armbar. Connors escaped and teases a Boston crab, but DKC gets to the ropes to save himself.
A chop in the ropes stings DKC, with a hiptoss getting Connors a two-count. He throws DKC into the corner for some shoulder charges, rolling him out to chop the back for a two-count, before DKC began to kick back in, stinging Connors’ quads. Another armbar sees DKC scissor the body, but Connors broke free and took DKC into the corner… only to get clobbered with a clothesline for a two-count. Connors gets caught with elbows from DKC, but recovers with a snap suplex for a two-count. A single-leg dropkick from DKC keeps it even, as does a falling chop lands for a two-count, before he went back to the cross armbar. He breaks Connors’ grip, but it quickly ends in the ropes as we hit the 7 minute mark… when Clark fires back with a spear before a Boston crab forced the stoppage. A quick turnaround from Connors snuffs out the DKC, whose maiden outing as a Young Lion offered some hope at least. **¾
Chris Dickinson vs. Rocky Romero
Dickinson’s singles debut is up next, and those penile ropes are swinging from those trunks…
Dickinson took the initiative early on, taking down Rocky with a headlock on the mat, but headscissors get Rocky free. He traps Dickinson with a Cobra Twist, then rolled him to the mat for a two-count… only for Dickinson to come right back with a STF by the ropes. Rocky’s back with a wristlock, taking Dickinson down, but he gets free and traps Rocky in an armbar before a Magistral cradle drew a near-fall. Rocky has trouble getting away from the “Dirty Daddy”, whose chinlock is elbowed out of, before Dickinson tried to kick Rocky’s leg out of his leg. A Dragon screw exacerbates things, with Dickinson following in with a half crab as Rocky again had to get to the ropes. Staying on the leg, Dickinson lands some kicks before Rocky finally fought back with a dropkick… but Dickinson caught it and turned it into a Figure Four. NICE!
Rocky tries to unlock the hold, and eventually does so after tweaking the ankle of Dickinson… but still, he couldn’t build momentum. A Dragon screw’s countered with a rewind kick from Rocky, before an armbreaker and some kicks finally had Dickinson on the defensive. Rocky drops a knee onto the arm of Dickinson, then placed him in the ropes for a flying dropkick to the doubled-over Daddy for a two-count. A roll-through pin from Dickinson starts some back-and-forth, before he went to a leg lock on Rocky, but that too ends in the ropes. Rocky baits Dickinson in as he hung the arm on the ropes, then ran in for some Sliced Bread that nearly gets the win.
Kicks from Romero sting Dickinson as Rocky went for the Diablo armbar, but Dickinson clung on and broke the hold, before shoving off another Shiranui… countering it into a death valley driver for a near-fall. From the kick out, he rolls Rocky into the STF, and there’s the submission. I absolutely LOVED the aggression on show here from Dickinson – two matches in and he’s already bringing something different to this show, while not out-and-out squashing Rocky. ***½
Next week, the New Beginning USA 2021 tour starts. Hopefully the folks who throw this up on NJPW World remember that it’s not all a big road-to nowhere!
Bullet Club (KENTA, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) vs. Lio Rush, TJP & Fred Rosser
Rush left Rosser hanging on a fist bump as Fred was all about starting things with the Bullet Club lads.
Rosser and TJP jump start things, with Rosser going for Hikuleo at the bell as Lio Rush made a beeline for ELP. Rosser clubs away at Hikuleo, but just gets shoved into the stage in the venue as the big lad choked away on the former Nexus man. Back inside, Rosser’s able to catch Hikuleo with some headbutts, but Hikuleo just swats him into the ropes before an Irish whip saw Rosser’s knee give out. He’s able to wriggle out of a Fireman’s carry as Lio Rush tagged in, giving us the David vs. Goliath staredown… but ELP wants in instead.
…and he immediately tagged out to KENTA, rather than face the pissed-off Rush. Lio uses misdirection to confuse KENTA, ducking and diving ahead of a forearm… before KENTA just looked for a Go 2 Sleep instead. An up-kick from Rush lands as TJP tagged in, landing a back elbow before he rolled KENTA in for a Muta Lock. After KENTA broke the hold in the ropes, ELP kicks TJP in the ropes, providing a distraction as KENTA came back with a DDT… with Hikuleo then rushing the ring as he went to work on Rosser in the other corner. KENTA and ELP double-team TJP in their corner, before Hikuleo came in to boot-choke TJP to the outside.
Rosser runs across the apron to break that up, but TJP’s still in the wrong part of the ring as Hikuleo proceeded to hit a slam and a legdrop for a two-count. ELP tags in as we start the back rake portion of the match. After those, ELP accidentally threw KENTA into Hikuleo off the apron, before he took a tornado DDT as TJP finally managed to make the tag out to Lio Rush. Rush goes for Hikuleo, but his crossbody is caught and turned into a slam. Hikuleo throws Rush into the corner pad, then to the outside as he looked to take a count-out win. Of course, Rush makes it back inside and gets stomped on, before a front chancery looked to choke out Rush. Hikuleo changes it up, but Rush slips out of a suplex, fighting away from the Bullet Club corner before again getting thrown outside.
ELP goes for a cheapshot, but gets knocked down as Rush dove back inside to tag in Rosser, who clears house ahead of a flying clothesline. A seated splash followed for a two-count at the ten minute mark, before Rosser was blind-tagged out by TJP, whose crossbody off the top was caught. Rosser knocks them down for a two-count, as TJP then followed up with a double dropkick to ELP and Phantasmo as things began to break down. Rush tags back in as TJP’s slingshot dropkick keeps Hikuleo on the outside. A low-pe from Rush wipes everyone out as he then went back in to hit a springboard stunner on ELP. It’s blocked as ELP looks for a whirlibird, only to get caught with a roll-up. ELP kicks out at two and tries for a superkick, but Rush caught it and hit a roll-up flip for the win! That’s a win for Rush on his Strong debut… and that’s a sore loser in ELP as the Bullet Club attack after the bell. A decent enough main event, even if things frayed a little towards the end of the match. ***
Out go the lights… and when they come back on… ohmygoditsJonMoxley.
ELP runs at Mox, and gets cracked with the US title belt. Ditto Hikuleo. KENTA’s stunned, but then went head-to-head as the pair trade right hands over the US title belt, leading to a Go 2 Sleep tease… only for Moxley to lay out KENTA with a Death Rider. There you go then – we’re definitely getting that match, and it finally looks to be sooner, rather than later!
Finally, a properly newsworthy episode, with Jon Moxley’s run in at the end of the show grabbing all of the headlines. A trio of decent-enough TV matches continue to keep things trundling along, with perhaps Chris Dickinson being the stand out this week, but the news of us finally inching closer to that US title match will switch folks onto this show.