Roppongi Vice look to unseat the Motor City Machine Guns as Strong tag team champions on this week\u2019s episode of Strong.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Quick Results<\/strong> Just one episode left in the can after this\u2026 and we\u2019re back at the Vermont Hollywood with Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov on the call. There\u2019s no interrupting promo this week, as we head to the ring after the hype-up\u2026 and we\u2019re over an hour long this week.<\/p>\n West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) vs. C4 (Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas)<\/strong> The fantastic mutton chops of Royce Isaacs starts things off against Guillermo Rosas, catching a leapfrog attempt before Rosas escaped a suplex. A chop to the thigh stings Isaacs ahead of a suplex for a one-count, before Cody Chhun tagged in and had Isaacs tripped into his knee for a two-count. Chhun stings Isaacs with a chop, but gets pancaked as Jorel Nelson tagged in\u2026 and ran into a series of armdrags. Dropkicks from C4 take care of the Wrecking Crew, as they began to double-team Nelson ahead of a dropkick-aided suplex for a two-count. Misdirection from Nelson confuses C4, as the Team Filthy pair turn it around, leading to Isaacs walking Chhun around ringside in a stalling suplex. That\u2019ll never not be impressive.<\/p>\n Rosas is kept isolated as Isaacs\u2019 gutwrench suplex flung him across the ring for a nonchalant two-count, before a lariat wiped out Rosas\u2019 attempted comeback. Nelson picks up an easy two-count from that, before Rosas\u2019 desperation sunset flip earned him a two-count. Isaacs is back, but couldn\u2019t avoid Rosas from tagging out as Chhun went wild with dropkicks, then with Dusty punches, leading to a snap DDT on Isaacs. Nelson and Isaacs fight back, double-teaming Chhun ahead of a pumphandle powerslam from Isaacs for a near-fall, before Chhun \u2018rana\u2019d Nelson into Isaacs to buy him some time. Chhun hands off Nelson for a Rosas powerbomb, before a cutter out of the corner from Chhun and a wacky Angle Slam from Rosas almost won it.<\/p>\n Chhun dove on Isaacs to stop him from breaking up the pin, then returned\u2026 only to get caught by Nelson as Royce Isaacs snuffed out the C4 double-team. Nelson\u2019s Fisherman Buster leaves Chhun laying, as did an Alley Oop into the corner, a German suplex out of it, before an Isaacs Dominator and a flying elbow drop from Nelson got the win. Nelson looked more than a little banged up by the end of this, as the WCWC had to dig a little deeper than they expected to get past a really game C4. ***\u00bc<\/p>\n QT Marshall vs. KENTA<\/strong> KENTA came in as the number one contender to the Strong Openweight title, having won the Strong Survival match a fortnight ago\u2026 and KENTA was the massive favourite in Los Angeles. Poor QT. We got going with a lock-up that took KENTA into the corner, with QT posing on the break before KENTA returned the favour\u2026 slapping him instead. A flurry of strikes from KENTA led to QT bailing\u2026 KENTA gives chase, avoiding an elbow drop back inside before he started going after QT with chops. QT\u2019s left in the corner, but bails to avoid a teased hesitation dropkick\u2026 only to eat an apron PK. Up on the apron, Marshall charges KENTA into the ring post, then faked out a trip to the rails as KENTA was taken back inside.<\/p>\n QT adds a backbreaker to the mix for a two-count, as he wore down KENTA in the corner, then clotheslined him out of it to keep the direction of travel going. Marshall teases a Go 2 Sleep, but KENTA elbows out and hits a DDT instead, before kicks began to wear QT down into the corner. The hesitation dropkick\u2019s next\u2026 but KENTA just slapped him instead before QT pulled KENTA into the middle rope. A pop-up forearm drops KENTA for a two-count shortly afterwards. KENTA manages to snatch the Green Killer draping DDT after QT\u2019d been sent onto the apron, before a hesitation dropkick into the corner and a double stomp off the top squished Marshall for a near-fall. QT wipes out the referee after he escaped a Go To Sleep\u2026 and with no ref, QT heads outside and grabs a chair from under the ring\u2026 only for KENTA to kick it into QT\u2019s face. KENTA grabs the chair after that and whacks QT\u2019s back before a low blow stopped KENTA in his tracks.<\/p>\n QT lays out the chair and teases a powerbomb into it, but KENTA countered into a DDT, right as the referee was beginning to stir. A Go 2 Sleep follows right as the ref was back on his feet, and that\u2019s your lot. Enjoyable, but perhaps not the style you\u2019d expect as this felt very \u201chouse show-y\u201d, for better or worse. ***<\/p>\n NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c)<\/strong> Beretta and Sabin start with arm wringers, then armdrags ahead of a stand-off\u2026 which ended with Sabin asking for a hug, only to roll-up Beretta for a two-count. Tags bring in Shelley and Rocky, as the pair stayed at close quarters, with Rocky\u2019s toe-hold leading to him having to snapmare his way out of a hammerlock. Sabin kicks Rocky in the ropes as the champions swarm the ring\u2026 but a tijeras from Rocky took care of Sabin ahead of Forever clotheslines in the corners. Beretta\u2019s back to light up Shelley with chops, before the ring filled again, this time leading to Rocky getting charged knees-first into Shelley in the corner.<\/p>\n Rocky grounds Shelley with a chinlock from there, but after Shelley got free, Sabin tripped up Rocky in the ropes, then scored with a Dragon screw between the ropes as the champions targeted Rocky\u2019s knees. Elbow drops from Sabin go for both knees of Rocky, before Shelley came in and took Rocky back down with chops before dualling Figure Fours had the challengers scrambling for the ropes\u2026 complete with referee Jeremy Marcus instantly leaping on Shelley to undo the hold. Precedent.<\/p>\n Shelley\u2019s quickly caught with a swinging DDT by Rocky as he bought himself some time, leading to tags to bring in Sabin and Beretta. Trent runs wild with forearms and suplexes, before he trapped Sabin in the corner with chops and forearms. Shelley sneaks in to cut off Trent, but succeeded in clotheslining his own man as the challengers remained ahead, leading to a piledriver on Sabin for a near-fall. On the apron, a back body from from Sabin sees Beretta take a bad landing as Shelley and Rocky took over in the ring, trading right hands. An uppercut from Rocky tries to snuff out the \u201cRocky Sucks\u201d chants, as did a rewind enziguiri, before Rocky ate a sandwich of apron PKs on the outside. Shelley held the ropes open for a Sabin dive, but Roppongi Vice hit the ring to cut him off ahead of the Strong Zero from Rocky, then a diving knee for a near-fall from Beretta.<\/p>\n Another Strong Zero\u2019s stopped by Sabin, who then countered a Dudebuster into a Code Red for a near-fall, thanks to a superkick from Shelley. On the bottom of the screen we see Rocky\u2019s head scroll across as he\u2019s thrown into the ring post, as Beretta then got taken into the corner for a running Sabin kick\u2026 ahead of a teased Sliced Bread\/Powerbomb combo. Rocky\u2019s back to make the save, then hit the Sliced Bread\/Powerbomb combo out of the corner for themselves for a near-fall. Sabin\u2019s forced to fight out of a double superplex, as he instead flew into Roppongi Vice with a crossbody off the top, before an errant Beretta superkick laid out Rocky. Shelley\u2019s back as he helped Sabin hit a cutter on Trent, before Shelley called for a Strong Zero\u2026 forcing Beretta in to break up the cover just in time.<\/p>\n Beretta tries to turn it around, but he\u2019s blitzed in quick fashion, taking a Muta lock and low dropkick as Rocky ends up alone once more\u2026 with kicks and a Dirt Bomb quickly putting Rocky away. Considering this was virtually out of the blue (as in, not with a storyline behind it), this was a really good main event – with things hitting fever pitch right in time for the closing stretch. ***\u00be<\/p>\n Next week: the Strong finale as Fred Rosser defends the NJPW Strong Openweight title against Peter Avalon\u2026<\/p>\n Strong continues to be buoyant as the show heads towards its conclusion – although the way the two title pictures have been characterised by \u201cchallengers of the month\u201d in lieu of any longer-arching storylines is symptomatic of Strong\u2019s final months. Well worth your time, especially for the main event!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Roppongi Vice look to unseat the Motor City Machine Guns as Strong tag team champions on this week\u2019s episode of Strong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":26568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NJPW Strong E125 - Nemesis 2023 (January 21, 2023) review - #njpwstrong - Roppongi Vice look to unseat the Motor City Machine Guns as Strong tag team champions on this week\u2019s episode of Strong.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[688,6],"tags":[3271,5992,91,6199,6498,5769,4564,3272,4808,6514,292,5345,330,348,1629,4310,5346,6527,5847],"class_list":["post-26603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-japan","category-reviews","tag-alex-shelley","tag-c4","tag-chris-sabin","tag-cody-chhun","tag-guillermo-rosas","tag-jorel-nelson","tag-kenta","tag-motor-city-machine-guns","tag-nemesis","tag-nemesis-2023","tag-new-japan","tag-njpw-strong","tag-qt-marshall","tag-rocky-romero","tag-roppongi-vice","tag-royce-isaacs","tag-strong","tag-trent-beretta","tag-west-coast-wrecking-crew"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-6V5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/njpw-strong-nemesis.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26604,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26603\/revisions\/26604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs pinned Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas in 10:37 (***\u00bc)
\nKENTA pinned QT Marshall in 12:35 (***)
\nChris Sabin & Alex Shelley pinned Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta in 18:12 to retain the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships (***\u00be)<\/p>\n
\nC4 lost to Mascara Dorada and Lince Dorado on their tag debut here a few weeks ago\u2026<\/p>\n
\nMarshall\u2019s had a bit of a rocky run on Strong, and was back for the first time in over three months, having lost to Shota Umino back in October\u2026<\/p>\n
\nBilled as a battle of two generational tag teams, Roppongi Vice reunited here to have a shot at the gold\u2026<\/p>\n