Team Filthy’s back in the main event as Taylor Rust’s road to a Strong Openweight title shot continues.
Quick Results
Royce Isaacs pinned Lucas Riley in 7:24 (**¾)
Juice Robinson pinned Bad Dude Tito in 9:37 (***)
Taylor Rust, Fred Rosser & Rocky Romero pinned Jorel Nelson, Tom Lawlor & Black Tiger in 11:35 (***½)
We’re back at the Riverside in Hollywood for another week – Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov are on the call… the US of Jay open challenge between Jay White and Christopher Daniels is next week, but this week we’ve a trios match with Team Filthy.
Lucas Riley vs. Royce Isaacs
Riley’s back after being squashed by JONAH a few weeks back…
Isaacs initially started on offence, but gets taken down with headscissors from Riley before a springboard cannonball back in just about caught Isaacs. A standing shooting star’s good for a two-count, before Riley was stopped with a pop-up knee.
A stalling suplex from Isaacs draws boos as he dropped Riley, before Jorel Nelson rolled into the ring to join a pose. Isaacs keeps Riley down with a chinlock, but that’s broken with a jawbreaker… before the pair traded shots. Another ‘rana from Riley nearly gets the upset, while a wheelbarrow set up for some kicks.
“The Orb of Confusion” – or a Mistica – from Riley keeps his momentum going for a near-fall, before Isaacs caught a leapfrog and turned it into a powerslam to turn things around. A Dragon suplex into a German suplex followed, and that’s the win for Isaacs, who had more of a fight than he bargained for here. **¾
Bad Dude Tito vs. Juice Robinson
It’s a Strong debut for Tito, who’s name’s popped up on a few of the recent Bloodsport shows…
Tito looks to work the arm early on, but Juice returned with a headlock takedown as the pair went back-and-forth on the mat. A blistering chop from Tito’s shrugged off by Juice, who replies in kind, only to get taken down with a teardrop suplex as Tito took over.
The pair head outside to trade more chops, before Juice hit a suplex on the floor. Rather than take the count-out, Juice breaks the count so he could post Tito, then came back in with a spinebuster and a back senton for a two-count. More chops from Juice followed, but Tito stays in it with a clothesline into the corner before throwing some chops of his own.
Another exchange of strikes leads to a deadlift Blue Thunder bomb from Tito for a near-fall, before a wheelbarrow nearly nicked it for Tito… then a death valley driver… before Juice got up to stop Tito on the top rope, then brought him down with a draping Pulp Friction off the top rope, ahead of the HHB – a wrist-clutch Falcon arrow – for the win. An impressive debut from Tito, even in defeat here… ***
Post-match, Juice gets the mic and called out JONAH… who came out through the other entrance way as Juice was looking the wrong way. Bad Dude Tito’s still in the ring, and held Juice by the legs as JONAH knocked him down… both JONAH and Tito head up top, but David Finlay makes the save, and we have a tag match down the line.
Team Filthy (Jorel Nelson & Tom Lawlor) & Black Tiger vs. Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero & Taylor Rust
We’re building up to Lawlor vs. Rust down the line – or “Taylor Dist Rust”, as Alex Koslov kept calling him…
Rocky and Black Tiger start us off, before Rosser came in to clear the ring as the match spilled to the outside. Returning to the ring, a slam and a seated splash from Rosser gets a one-count on Black Tiger, while Rocky took over with some Forever clotheslines. Black Tiger avoids a dropkick in the ropes as Jorel Nelson comes in for the distraction, which led to Team Filthy storming the ring once more.
Rocky’s kept isolated as Royce Isaacs joined the ring for the posing, and it’s pretty much one-way traffic from there as Rocky’s kept in the Team Filthy Corner. Lawlor works over Rocky’s legs, then grounded him in an abdominal stretch while Black Tiger came in to stomp on Rocky.
Jorel Nelson brings in a sign from the crowd that’s briefly paraded before a half crab from Lawlor was defended… A rewind kick from Rocky misses, but a swinging DDT did not as Taylor Rust got the tag in against his former stablemates. There’s a scissor kick from Rust, but Black Tiger swarms him… Rust overcomes, but Lawlor’s back up as those two trade right hands.
A discus elbow from Rust knocked Lawlor ahead of a retaliatory Olympic slam, before Nelson tagged in to hit a powerbomb for a near-fall. Things boil down to Rosser and Rust double-teaming Lawlor, but Nelson comes in to help turn it around ahead of a Hart Attack, while a Boston crab/Alabama Jam combo took care of Rosser as we hit the finishing stretch. More elbows between Rocky and Black Tiger lead to Rocky hitting a tope to the outside.
Nelson tries to join in, but opts to just charge Rocky into the rails before Rust clotheslined away a dive attempt… Rust teases his Perfect Circle snapmare drivers, but gets blocked twice before the third one connected, proving to be enough to get the win on Isaacs. A good trios tag to close out the show – with some scrapping afterwards as Rocky went after Black Tiger on the floor. ***½
A solid episode of Strong as they kept the main storylines rolling – and with each episode on Nemesis being under an hour long, these are much more like the “studio” shows that got Strong a lot of hype last year.