By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@McGMondays)
NJPW Strong
Taped in Long Beach, California at Thunder Studios
Streamed November 27, 2020 on New Japan World
The show began with the broadcast team of Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov introducing The Road To Detonation and hyping the eight-man tag main event…
1. Clark Connors vs. Logan Riegel. Logan made his entrance with his twin, Sterling. Connors, meanwhile, entered with The DKC supporting him. Riegel began with a wristlock, but Connors got on the offensive with a leg twist. The two got back to their feet and Riegel worked a side headlock. Riegel backed Connors into a corner and landed a chop.
Connors took Riegel down and worked him over before sinking in a headlock and head-scissors. Connors drove Riegel back to the corner and hit a chop, but Riegel fired up and backed Connors up until he got him in a side headlock, taking Connors to the canvas. Hitting the ropes, Riegel hit a shoulder block, but Connors came back to land a vicious shoulder block of his own. He then hit Riegel with chops to the chest and back.
Connors eventually hit a bodyslam and went for a spear, but Riegel rolled him up for a near fall. Connors went back on the offensive with an elbow for a two-count. The two traded a couple strikes and Connors hit a snap suplex for a one-count. He hit another one for a two-count. Connors then hit a slap across Riegel’s face and went for another suplex, but Riegel blocked it and hit one of his own.
Back on their feet, the two traded chops and elbows. Before long, Riegel landed a huracanrana, which drove Connors to the apron, where Riegel took off from the top rope and drove his opponent’s head into the apron. Riegel went to the top but missed and rolled through and eventually hit a neck-breaker for a two-count.
Riegel hit a knee-breaker for a two-count. Koslov literally said, out loud, “He’s calling for the finish.” Connors, after the two missed each other, hit a spear and sank in a Boston crab and the twin tapped out.
Clark Connors defeated Logan Riegel via submission in 7:47.
After the match, Kelly noted how The DKC will face Sterling Riegel on next week’s show…
McGuire’s Musings: This was a good match, but I’m not much of a fan of Alex Koslov using a phrase like “He’s calling for the finish.” I know that at this point, we aren’t as naive to the wrestling business as we once were, but come on, man. Anyway, these two worked really well together and they told the story of Connors attempting to hit a spear twice and missing before finally hitting it the third time, which led to his win. I’m interested to see how Sterling and The DKC work together next week.
2. Juice Robinson and ACH vs. Adrian Quest and Jordan Clearwater. Robinson came out in his rejected Blues Brother get-up again. Robinson and Clearwater began the match and traded wrist-locks. Robinson eventually got the best of it with an arm bar. Robinson hit Clearwater with a shoulder-block, but Clearwater got back to his feet and hit a hip-toss into an arm bar.
Quest tagged in and kept working Robinson’s left arm. ACH then tagged in and the two sized each other up. After trading some blows, Quest hit a head-scissors takedown and a springboard back elbow. Quest backed ACH into the corner and whipped him across the ring, but ACH landed a back-breaker for a two-count. Robinson then tagged in and hit an axe-handle from the top rope.
Robinson got Quest up for a long standing suplex. ACH tagged in to hit an elbow on Quest’s back. He then got a bodyslam for a two-count. ACH landed another bodyslam and tagged out. Robinson came in and went for another suplex, but Quest countered and hit a dropkick to tag in Clearwater, who fired up and hit Robinson with a series of strikes.
Clearwater hit a running bulldog and an eventual spine buster for a very, very close near-fall. Clearwater went for a kick, but Robinson got out of the way and planted Clearwater. Both wrestlers tagged out and Quest fired up against ACH. Quest got a roll-up for a two, but ACH hit a kick, yet as he went for a suplex, Quest countered and rolled ACH up for a two-count. Quest went for a DDT from the top rope and ACH threw him off. ACH then hit a brain-buster and got the pin.
Juice Robinson and ACH defeated Adrian Quest and Jordan Clearwater via pinfall in 8:01.
After the match, Robinson cut a rambling promo backstage saying young guys need a chance and Robinson and ACH are veterans.
McGuire’s Musings: It was hard not to think Juice and ACH would go over when this thing began, but they made it interesting and holy moly, that near-fall from Clearwater on Robinson was razor-thin. So much so that it almost felt like a botch. Either way, it continues to feel like Robinson is slumming it on something like Strong, but that might be unfair on my part. ACH continues to impress as he re-finds his career.
A video aired recapping last week and setting up the main event…
3. PJ Black, Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero, and Jeff Cobb vs. “Team Filthy” Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Rust Taylor, and Danny Limelight. Team Filthy made their entrance first. As the babyfaces ran into the ring, Team Filthy retreated to the outside of the ring. They then all split up and surrounded the ring and hit the ring as all the wrestlers brawled.
Before long, Cobb and Limelight began trading moves, but Romero tagged in to get his revenge from last week on Limelight. Romero got Limelight up for a suplex and tagged Cobb in and handed Limelight off. Black then tagged in and took Limelight from Cobb. And, finally, of course, Rosser tagged in, took Limelight and finished the suplex. A series of one- and two-counts ensued.
Limelight worked his way out and hit a pair of kicks on Rosser, but Rosser took control back and hit a leg-drop for a two-count. He then hit a back elbow and got another two-count on Limelight. Rosser hit a backbreaker and tossed Limelight to his corner so Lawlor could tag in, which he did. Rosser took some chops and strikes from Lawlor as his leg was hung in the ropes, but Rosser countered with a clothesline.
Lawlor sunk in a chin-lock on Rosser and dragged Rosser from the apron into the ring for a German Suplex. Lawlor backed Rosser into his corner and hit him with a series of kicks. He tagged in Kratos, who did the same. Kratos then hit Rosser with a punch to the head, eventually followed by a hard chop that knocked Rosser to the outside.
While outside, Limelight and Taylor attacked Rosser and rolled him back into the ring. Kratos suplexed Rosser back into the ring for a two-count. Kratos dragged Rosser back to his team’s corner and tagged Taylor in. Taylor got Rosser in some type of arm/back submission. Rosser got back to his feet, but Taylor hit a European uppercut and tagged in Limelight. Romero ran in, but Limelight tagged in Kratos.
Kratos hit a series of elbows and covered Rosser for a two-count. The two traded punches and Rosser eventually tagged in Black. Black hit a series of shoulder-blocks on Kratos, but he couldn’t get him down. Before long, a forearm off the top rope got Kratos to his knees. Black hit the ring and Kratos threw him into the air. Black hit hard. Lawlor tagged in and went for a suplex, but Black countered and tagged in Romero who hit a huracanrana.
Rosser, Cobb and Romero were in the ring with Lawlor. Romero, Rosser, Black and Cobb hit Lawlor a trillion times in the corner. Cobb landed a moonsault, and Romero went for the pin, but it was broken up at two by the rest of Lawlor’s team. Romero hit Lawlor with a punch and some kicks, but Limelight blindsided Romero and all hell broke loose as all the wrestlers traded moves.
Eventually, Lawlor got Romero in a rear-naked choke, but Romero rolled Lawlor up for a two-count. Romero hit a knee, but Lawlor hit an exploder suplex and sank in a chin-lock to get Romero to tap out.
“Team Filthy” Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Rust Taylor, and Danny Limelight defeated PJ Black, Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero, and Jeff Cobb via submission in 11:42.
After the match, the winners cut a promo backstage, led by Lawlor, who said they are the best damn fighters on the roster. Kelly and Koslov then closed the show…
McGuire’s Musings: The thing about this style of professional wrestling is that it’s like very good chocolate. It can be great when it hits at the right time, but too much of it at once makes you never want to eat chocolate again. I liked that Team Lawlor won because I like all the guys Lawlor has on his side, but the constant no-selling and that long stretch of running moves onto Lawlor from the opposing team was just overkill. I know the referee isn’t ever going to hit his limit on the count, but if there was ever such a thing as “exposing the business …”.
In all, a disappointing episode of Strong. The main event was all over the place, and it’s impossible to keep up with all the action in an eight-man tag when there really is no official presence inside the ring to play anything remotely close to a traffic cop. I like a lot of the work from a lot of these wrestlers, but at some point, we should at least acknowledge the fundamentals of an athletic contest. We’ll see what next week brings. Dot Net Members hear my weekly NJPW Strong audio reviews every Saturday.
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