By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Lonestar Shootout”
Dallas, Texas at Fairmont Hotel (WrestleCon)
Streamed live on FITE TV
Like the other shows in this venue over the weekend, the crowd is maybe 400. They recorded three or four other matches for a future episode of New Japan Strong as well. The commentary team was Kevin Kelly (welcome back to the U.S.!) and Matt Rehwoldt.
1. Ren Narita defeated Rocky Romero at 7:40. Narita still wears generic black trunks. Kelly pointed out that Ren is now taller and stronger than Romero is today. Narita definitely overpowered him with forearms and chops. Narita hit a nice Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall at 5:30. Romero hit a flipping Sliced Bread, almost a Destino. Romero leveled him with a hard clothesline. Out of nowhere, Narita caught him with an overhead suplex with a bridge to score the pin.
2. Mascara Dorada (f/k/a Gran Metallik), Yuya Umera, Clark Connors, and Karl Fredericks defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Kevin Knight, and Daniel Garcia at 10:44. Dorada and Knight opened with fast-paced reversals. Garcia and Connors entered and launched hard chops. Juice and Finlay worked over Uemera. Neither team is acting like heels. Juice hit a rolling tumbleweed in the corner on Uemera at 5:30. Connors finally got the hot tag at 7:00 and he took down both Juice and Finlay.
Fredericks entered the ring for the first time at 8:00 and brawled with Knight, hitting a spinebuster. Knight countered with a dropkick. Connors speared Knight. Juice performed a spinebuster on Uemera. Mascara hit a flip dive to the floor at 9:30. It left just Fredericks and Knight in the ring, and Fredericks hit the Manifest Destiny jumping DDT for the pin. Good, nonstop action.
3. Minoru Suzuki defeated Killer Kross at 9:48. Kross came out solo. If you haven’t seen him recently, his brown hair is grown out a bit and it makes him look so much different than his Impact and NXT run. The crowd is hot as they open with armbars. MInoru applied a Divorce Court armbreaker in the ropes at 2:30. Kross unloaded some stiff forearms on the floor. Back in the ring, Minoru tied up the arms and twisted Kross’ fingers.
Kross executed an overhead supllex for a nearfall at 6:00. Suzuki went back to the arm. Suzuki yelled at Kross, taunting him. They began trading stiff overhand chops, and Minoru displayed his evil smile. Kross applied a rear-naked choke at 9:00, but Kross escaped it. Out of nowhere, Suzuki got Kross up for the Gotch-style piledriver and scored the pin. That wrapped up suddenly. Good brawl. Suzuki grabbed the hand of a boy, perhaps age 8, and Kelly shouted, “Oh no! He’s gonna eat that kid!” That made me laugh-out-loud.
Jon Moxley made an unadvertised appearance, and Kelly immediately talked about Moxley’s match against Will Ospreay in Chicago in two weeks. Moxley got in the ring and grabbed the mic. He said all these fans have been brought together to Dallas because of their love of pro wrestling. He said he’s had three matches in the past 24 hours. He is ready to fight Ospreay. “I’m not just going to teach him a lesson, I’m going to make an example out of Will Ospreay,” he vowed.
4. Jay White defeated Mike Bailey at 14:17. Bailey threw some spin kicks early and the crowd chanted “Speedball!” Jay performed a Stunner across the top rope at 2:30, with Bailey hitting throat-first before falling to the floor. Ouch. White unloaded some hard chops on the floor. In the ring, Bailey performed a corkscrew press for a nearfall at 6:00.
Bailey missed his top-rope 450 kneedrop, but he hit a springboard moonsault to the floor on White at 8:00 and the crowd popped and started chanting, “This is awesome!” Back in the ring, White tied up Bailey’s legs. They got to their feet and traded chops and stiff kicks. Bailey hit the 450 double knee drop at 13:00 and got a nearfall, but he sold pain in his legs. Bailey missed his top-rope 450 kneedrop. White immediately hit the Blade Runner spinning face plant for the clean pin.
White grabbed the mic, the crowd cheered, but then he dropped it and left the fans disappointed.
5. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Chris Dickinson at 16:17. Dickinson scored a surprising win over Suzuki a day earlier at the Bloodsport event. Kelly talked about Dickinson’s remarkably quick recovery from his hip injury. There was an intense lockup to open followed by running shoulder tackles but neither fell initially. Ishii eventually went down. They started trading hard chops, then brawled to the floor. In the ring, Dickinson hit some spin kicks at 5:00, and he was in charge.
Ishii got angry and dared Dickinson to hit him. Ishii began unloading his own stiff forearms and chops and the crowd was fired up. Dickinson hit a brainbuster but Ishii popped up at 10:00. Dickinson then followed with a Death Valley Driver for a believable nearfall. They traded more forearms. Ishii hit a headbutt that knocked them both down at 13:00. Dickinson nailed a brainbuster for another believable nearfall. Ishii connected with an enziguri at 15:30, then the basement clothesline for a nearfall. Ishii performed a brainbuster for the clean pin.
Minoru Suzuki emerged on the stage, and he challenged Ishii to a singles match. It has now been set for the Chicago show on April 16.
Final Thoughts: The show clocked in at about 1 hour, 40 minutes. This was a fun, fast-paced show that didn’t overstay its welcome. Both Ishii and Suzuki continue to impress with their non-stop schedule in Dallas the past two days. I’ve said this a few times recently, but the young lions continue to impress, as both Uemera and Narita look so much better than they did just a few years ago in Japan. I saw Bailey lose three of four matches over these two days, but he just continues to impress in every outing. Kross is a welcome addition to this roster, and hopefully he will be used more soon.
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