The tournament to crown the New Japan Cup USA 2021 winner – and the first Strong Openweight Champion – gets going on this week’s episode of Strong.
Quick Results
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Lio Rush pinned Clark Connors in 9:57 (***)
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Tom Lawlor submitted Ren Narita in 13:19 (***¾)
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Hikuleo pinned Fred Rosser in 6:22 (**½)
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Brody King pinned Chris Dickinson in 10:42 (***¼)
We’re back at the unnamed venue… but first, a recap of last year’s New Japan Cup winners. Boy, EVIL’s really gone off the deep end since he lost the double gold, huh? It’s almost like he wasn’t meant to win it in the first place, if rumours are to be believed. They show a video package of this year’s tournament entrants, along with the new NJPW Strong title belt. Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov run down tonight’s quarter-finals…
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Clark Connors vs. Lio Rush
Connors beat TJP to qualify, and it’s safe to say he doesn’t have an easy path in this tournament…
Clark doesn’t want a handshake to start, as he grounds Rush in the opening stages, looking for a side headlock before the push-off led to him charging down Rush. Rush returns with misdirection and a dropkick, taking Connors down before Clark’s misdirection led to a shoulder tackle. Some forearms from Connors take Rush to the corner for stomps, before a hiptoss Beels Rush across the ring. Lio boots Clark away and returns with headscissors, before uppercuts keep Clark down ahead of a snap suplex. Kicks keep Clark on his knees, with an axe kick getting Rush a two-count, before a POUNCE out of nowhere has Clark back on top.
Chops have Rush in trouble, as did a shoulder charge and a release Northern Lights suplex, but Rush kicks out at two from that before sidestepping a spear. A spinning kick takes Connors down, while a clothesline crashes Connors to the outside ahead of an Asai moonsault. Rush throws him back inside for a crossbody, before a cutter was caught… Clark goes for a spear, but it’s kicked away, before he landed it at the second time of asking. Rush kicks out, but is instantly caught in a Boston crab… but Connors can’t fully apply it and gets spun to the apron. Rush tries for a handspring kick, but Connors caught it and applies the Boston crab in the ropes for as long as he was allowed, before Rush returned with a spinning kick and a rebound stunner for the win. An enjoyable back-and-forth match, and one that kinda showed up Connors’ one-track mind in terms of spear > Boston crab. He could do with a second finish, perhaps… ***
We’re told that Sterling Riegel is going to be on the shelf “for quite some time” after he was attacked last week…
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Tom Lawlor vs. Ren Narita
Ren Narita’s coming into this with a win over Chris Dickinson in the recent past, so perhaps he can collect another Team Filthy scalp?
Narita works the arm but gets taken into the ropes as Lawlor claimed a phantom hair pull… Standing switches have Narita ahead as he looks again for Lawlor’s arm, but the hold’s countered in kind, before Narita managed to trip Lawlor to the mat. A front facelock from Narita is escaped, and he ends up in trouble as Lawlor takes him down for a hammerlock. Lawlor rolls Narita down for a one-count in that hammerlock, and maintains wrist control before they reset. Narita returns by taking out Lawlor’s leg, but that goes nowhere as Lawlor shot for a takedown before he rolled Narita through into a banana split that led to a quick pin attempt. Lawlor’s back with a blistering chop, but Narita fought back and took him in for a chinlock, only for Lawlor to escape and DDT the leg, forcing Narita into the ropes on the follow-up.
Lawlor keeps his focus on Narita’s leg with kicks, before some cravat knees softened up Narita for a suplex that nearly wins it. Elbows from Narita prevent any follow-up, at least until Lawlor found a way in with an Exploder, before Narita rolled Lawlor down in the search for a Narita special. Lawlor counters with a triangle armbar, only for Narita to roll out as he looked for a Cobra twist. Eventually Lawlor rolled through for a leglock, but Narita escaped and countered with the Narita Special #3 leg lace. Lawlor quickly rolls free though, and goes back for a Figure Four, piling on the pressure as Narita tried to get to the ropes… before eventually doing so. Narita gets a second wind with a Northern Lights, but he rolled through and adds a belly-to-belly for a near-fall, before a spinning heel dropped Lawlor for another two-count.
Narita goes back to the chinlock, turning it to a rear naked choke that Lawlor throws out of, before a cross armbar ended in the ropes. Armdrags from Lawlor have Narita on the defensive once again, but Narita stuns him by rolling Lawlor into a rear naked choke, before Lawlor countered with an Angle slam. A clothesline from Lawlor is ducked as Narita reapplies the hold, but Lawlor counters in kind, taking a bloodied Narita to the mat before a PK led to a rear naked choke for the stoppage. This was a lovely slice of mat-based action, with Narita’s blood at the end adding to the intensity as Team Filthy continues to rack up bodies. ***¾
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Hikuleo vs. Fred Rosser
Rosser’s got a win over Hikuleo earlier this year, but it was in very dodgy circumstances…
Hikuleo boots Rosser as he tried to come into the ring, and the pair scrap around ringside before the bell. Rosser’s thrown over a guard rail, then Snake Eye’d onto the rails before Hikuleo tried to get a pin… but the match hadn’t even started. The bell goes though as Rosser demanded to get going, but he’s instantly caught with a running powerslam for a two-count, before a chop sunk Rosser in the corner. Short shoulder tackles keep Rosser down as Hikuleo maintained wrist control. Rosser clings to the ropes, but is pulled away as Hikuleo muscles him up for a suplex for a near-fall… then began to pull away on Hikuleo’s hair as the Bullet Club man went towards him in the ropes again. The referee has a hard time separating them, and when he did, Rosser baited Hikuleo outside for some charges into the apron.
A back suplex from Rosser drops Hikuleo on the edge of the ring, before he pulled down the knee pad to land a knee strike for a two-count. Hikuleo tries to surprise Rosser with a chokeslam, but it’s fought out of as Rosser elbows back… then ran into a scoop slam before Hikuleo picked up Rosser for a Samoan driver for the win. This was an enjoyable, if not short, scrap, with Hikuleo winning remarkably cleanly for a Bullet Club guy. **½
New Japan Cup 2021 USA Quarter-Final: Chris Dickinson vs. Brody King
We’ve a battle of ROH’s VLNCE UNLTD faction here, something that was addressed in promos last week…
Dickinson looks for a takedown to start, but Brody clubs away on him into the corner, following up with a chop. Getting free, Dickinson chops and elbows Brody in the corner, only to get pushed away as a slam and a back senton gets Brody a two-count. A wheelbarrow from Dickinson puts him in position for some kicks, a Dragon screw and a half crab, stretching King before the eventual rope break. Kicks from Dickinson looked to weaken the leg some more, with Dickinson then baiting Brody in… only to trap him in a Figure Four. Dickinson releases the hold to go for a Dragon screw… then reapplies it before we got a rope break. More kicks keep King in the corner as Dickinson had bossed the first five minutes… and keeps going with a dropkick to the knee ahead of a Dragon screw to King once more.
King’s kept in the corner with chops, before more leg kicks kept the big man at bay… but he reverses an Irish whip to take Dickinson to the corner for a body splash, then for a clothesline. A cannonball’s next for a near-fall, before a short piledriver stuck Dickinson for another near-fall. Dickinson flies back in with a swinging DDT for a near-fall, before he rolled King into a STF, but King’s able to crawl to the ropes. A German suplex drops Brody for another near-fall as Dickinson began to get frustrated with his opponent, with King then getting back up to start trading chops. The pace of the chops increase at the ten-minute mark, before a missed enziguiri leads to a German suplex from King… who then ate a few more elbows before he spins Dickinson to the mat with a lariat for the win. King escaped with the win there after having been on the back foot for so long, but this was a good big lads’ match that leaves room for a rematch should they go that way. ***¼
Next week: Tom Lawlor vs. Hikuleo and Brody King vs. Lio Rush in the semi-finals, plus a non-tournament tag match.
While dropping the first round of the cup over WrestleMania weekend perhaps did a number on viewing figures in the States, those who did tune in – belatedly or otherwise – were treated to some solid action as the tournament to crown yet another new champion in New Japan gets going.