The NJPW Strong Openweight title’s on the line as Chris Dickinson looks for revenge on Tom Lawlor.
Quick Results
Clark Connors pinned AJZ in 9:38 (***)
El Phantasmo pinned Wheeler Yuta in 14:06 (***)
Tom Lawlor pinned Chris Dickinson in 21:16 to retain the New Japan Strong Openweight Championship (****¼)
We’re running over an hour this week, so set that time aside! Once again, Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov voice over some B-roll to introduce the show, which is the last on this Collision “tour”.
AJZ vs. Clark Connors
AJZ’s back after coming close against Rocky Romero last time out.
Connors takes AJZ down early on, looking for an early pin, before he chucked AJZ to the outside from a tie-up. Connors followed him outside for some chops, before he posted AJZ – something very different to what we saw from him in the Young Lion days. Connors breaks the count, so he could hit a double sledge off the apron to AJZ, but ends up taking too much time coming back in as AJZ hung him up in the ropes ahead of a slingshot DDT back in that gets him a two-count. Some punches from above have Clark in trouble, as did a pop-up punch, which gets AJZ another two-count.
AJZ goes for a suplex, but Connors reverses it, then came back with some crossface punches to keep things chugging along. A stomp to the foot gets AJZ back in, as did a front suplex, but AJZ starts mouthing off and got goozled by Connors… who then escaped a Fireman’s carry and came back in with a POUNCE. From there, chops keep AJZ in the corner, as did a series of shoulder charges ahead of a release Northern Lights suplex-style throw. AJZ blocks a spear, then headed outside for a springboard leaping knee, which gets him another two-count, only to get caught with a powerslam as Connors came right back in. A spear follows, before Connors puts AJZ away with the Trophy Kill – a back suplex into a uranage. A good showing for Connors, who’s getting wins now he’s shed those black trunks, while AJZ continued to look promising in defeat. ***
Wheeler Yuta vs. El Phantasmo
It’s another quick return for a guy who lost to Rocky Romero on his debut, as Wheeler Yuta looks to get an upset win over the former junior tag team champion.
When we get going, ELP plays to the no-crowd, before he found himself downed with a wristlock. Headscissors free the Canadian, but Yuta rolled free and got a quick pin attempt off for good measure. Phantasmo goes for a hammerlock, but reaches for the ropes when Yuta reversed it, before he managed to find a way in with the wristlock. Headlocks and headscissors get us to the restart, with both men countering the other’s takedown attempts before Yuta snuck in with a rolling crucifix for a two-count. Yuta lands on his feet from a monkey flip, then dropkicked Phantasmo to the outside, which led to ELP breaking the count as he stretched his time on the outside.
The referee’s had enough of ELP dicking about, so he speeds up the count as ELP went slow-mo… eventually getting back inside as he went to work on Yuta’s wrist again, stomping on the hand before he went rope-walking… stopping to bite Yuta’s fingers on the way. After a nipple twist, Phantasmo lands on Yuta with a Quebrada for a near-fall, before he threw in some elbows from a side headlock. A front headlock’s fought out of by Yuta, who bamboozled ELP on the way to an Angle Slam for a near-fall. Yuta counters a back suplex into a crossbody for a near-fall, following up with another crossbody before he faked out Phantasmo for a third one off the top rope. ELP comes back with a quick whirlibird neckbreaker for a two-count, before Yuta’s attempt at a superplex was pushed off, with a big splash off the top from ELP almost ending things.
From there, ELP “loads up” the boot, but Yuta sidesteps the Sudden Death and tries his luck with roll-ups, before a German suplex planted Phantasmo for a near-fall. Yuta keeps pushing, rolling ELP into a Deathlock, but the Deathlock’d STF ends with ELP biting, before Phantasmo cracked Yuta with the Sudden Death for the win. This took a while to get going, but once they hit their stride it got pretty good, even though Yuta never seemed to be within touching distance of a win here. ***
Next week, the Ignition tour starts…
New Japan Strong Openweight Championship: Chris Dickinson vs. Tom Lawlor (c)
Lawlor came out on the back of JR Kratos, as Danny Limelight’s presence at ringside added to the automatic disadvantage for the former Team Filthy man Dickinson.
Once he’d shed his summer-cut Canadian tuxedo, Lawlor gets going as he feints some kicks, only for Dickinson to shoot for the leg and take Lawlor down to the mat. Lawlor takes things to the corner for a break, then rolled Dickinson to the mat for some headscissors. Dickinson ties up the legs as he went for a leg lock on Lawlor, but the champion had similar ideas as he managed to finagle his way into a Sharpshooter. After a rope break, Dickinson tries for a Judo-style takedown, but Lawlor hooked the ropes and forced another break before Dickinson threw a series of kicks, only to get taken down by Lawlor. A triangle armbar attempt from Dickinson is broken as Lawlor rolled into a head and arm choke, but he couldn’t hold it for too long as Dickinson escaped, keeping the almost Bloodsport-y vibe to this going with a search for an armbar.
Lawlor countered as the pair eventually separate, but Dickinson suckered Lawlor in for a dropkick, before he charged the champion to the outside. Dickinson followed, but the brief Benny Hill chase ends with him dragging Lawlor to the apron, where he threw some uppercuts to the leg. A Dragon screw against the edge of the ring takes Lawlor to the floor… where the pair exchange strikes before Lawlor broke the count, rolling back outside after Dickinson took him in.
They head onto the apron for chops and forearms, but Lawlor caught a kick to tie up Dickinson in the ropes, hanging him up in the ropes for good measure. Lawlor follows up with some chops, but Dickinson retaliates in kind, throwing in a clothesline in the corner before a second one was countered into a takedown. Lawlor rolls Dickinson into an ankle lock, then transitioned it into a Figure Four. Dickinson rolls it over to reverse the hold, forcing Lawlor to break via the ropes. Uppercuts from Lawlor look to re-establish himself in the match, as he went for a rear naked choke… but Dickinson backs into the corner to break it… so Lawlor just climbs the ropes as he tried to hang his opponent.
Dickinson slips free and chops Lawlor on the top rope, then threw in some elbows before bringing the champion down with a superplex. Charges take Lawlor into the corner, with clotheslines being the order of the day, before a surprise death valley driver dropped Lawlow. That’s the cue for interference as Danny Limelight distracts the referee, only to get knocked down, while JR Kratos’ own distraction ended by way of Brody King, who ran out to take care of the big man.
Lawlor tries to go for a choke, but Dickinson escaped and hit a brainbuster for a two-count, as the match descended back into strikes. Elbows lead to Dickinson going for a powerbomb, but instead he just twists Lawlor with a Dragon screw ahead of an enziguiri for a near-fall. A STF followed from Dickinson, but that too ends in the ropes as Dickinson just dumped him with a German suplex. Another German suplex lands, but from the impact Lawlor repositioned into a Kimura. Dickinson escaped, but gets dumped with almost a Tenzan Tombstone Driver for a near-fall, as the pair resorted to strikes, going back-and-forth before some cravat knees from Lawlor led to an Exploder suplex.
Lawlor racks Dickinson and drops him, then rolled him into a grounded guillotine choke, but that ends in the ropes as Dickinson rolled through. Dickinson stings Lawlor with a series of kicks, but ends up getting caught in a rear naked choke briefly… Dickinson fought free, but got pulled into another rear naked choke, which he rolled back on for a near-fall. A back suplex offered some more hope for Dickinson, only to run right back into a sleeperhold, which Lawlor turned into a sleeper suplex… and that was all. My WORD. This was one for the ages – and a match that will have tongues wagging. Perhaps even more so if they were able to have a crowd – but for anyone who’s a fan of the Bloodsport/Ambition-style of wrestling, this is going to be right up your alley. Get this on your watchlists! ****¼
Post-match, Karl Fredericks interrupts Tom Lawlor’s backstage promo to mop his brow and set up his future title match. Even if Lawlor insisted that he didn’t deserve a shot…
The first Strong Openweight title defence will go down as a classic as Tom Lawlor just about edged past Chris Dickinson – and instantly set the course for that Lawlor/Fredericks defence as Strong continues to be the most consistent hour (or so) of wrestling TV in 2021.