By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@McGMondays)
NJPW Strong
Taped September 11, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Live
Streamed October 15, 2022 on New Japan World
Ian Riccaboni checked in with Alex Koslov on commentary to run down the card. This is the Autumn Action tour. We are on the second week of it. While the duo ran down the card, Kevin Knight showed up and essentially challenged whomever wins the tag-team title match, saying he and the DKC are coming for the belts…
1. Doc Gallows vs. Che Cabrera. Clark Connors sat in on commentary. Cabrera chopped Gallows a couple times, but it didn’t matter. Gallows came back with an uppercut and some chops of his own. Gallows landed a snap-suplex before clotheslining Cabrera over the top rope. Gallows worked over Cabrera around the ring before rolling him back into the ring.
Cabrera gained control with a neck-breaker and some shoulders to the midsection. Cabrera followed that up with a clothesline for a one-count. Gallows went to the outside and Cabrera followed him to hit a chop and roll Gallows back into the ring. Cabrera went for a cover and got a two-count. Cabrera sunk in a camel clutch and then turned that into a chin-lock. Gallows fought his way out and ultimately hit a series of clotheslines.
Gallows landed a splash in the corner and then took Cabrera down with a shoulder block. Gallows went for a choke-slam, but Cabrera got out of it to hit a Spicolli Driver, which was good enough for a two-count. Cabrera ran at Gallows, but Gallows landed a super-kick. After that, Gallows hit the Anarchist Suplex (Gallows’s end of the Magic Killer) and that got Gallows the win.
Doc Gallows defeated Che Cabrera via pinfall in 6:54.
McGuire’s Musings: A hell of a week for Doc Gallows, who somehow made the New Japan shot after rushing over from Raw. I kid, of course, because this thing was taped more than a month ago. But I do wonder what’s going to happen with Gallows and Anderson when it comes to marrying their NJPW commitments with the fancy new WWE gig. Anyway, this was about what you’d expect it to be, with the addition of a little more offense than I anticipated we’d get from Cabrera, who continues to look good in these Strong appearances. Gallows is a weird one for me. We just don’t see him wrestle that much anymore and when he does, he always seems to look slower than he did the last time we saw him, whenever that was. He was very generous here, though, with the amount of shine he gave to Cabrera, and kudos to him for that. Here’s a question: If the Good Brothers didn’t head back to WWE, would they be next in line for the Strong tag titles? Seems like it would have made sense. But so it goes.
2. “Aussie Open” Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher vs. JR Kratos and Danny Limelight for the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Titles. Limelight and Fletcher began the match. Limelight kneed Fletcher in the stomach and Fletcher came back with a shoulder-tackle before tagging in Davis. Kratos then tagged in. The big guys had a staredown and face-palmed each other. They traded forearms. Kratos landed a knee and clotheslined Davis down. Limelight ran into the ring and Team Filthy posed.
Limelight tagged in and Limelight and Kratos hit a pair of double-team moves for a two-count. Davis came back with a back-body drop and tagged in Fletcher. Kratos tagged in, too, and landed a snap-powerslam, followed up with a suplex for a two-count. Limelight tagged in and landed a knee and a stomp for a two-count. Limelight landed a Senton for a two-count. Fletcher fired up and got the hot tag to Davis.
Davis came in and took both opponents down. The action stopped with Davis and Kratos had another staredown. They went into trading forearms again. Kratos hit a belly-to-back suplex and ran at Davis, but Davis caught him and slammed him into the corner. Fletcher tagged in and Davis lifted Kratos, but Limelight tagged in. Limelight landed a springboard destroyer. Limelight hit a frog splash for a good near-fall. A “This is awesome” chant broke out. Fletcher came back with a 360 Tombstone and then Aussie Open hit a series of double-team moves on Kratos before landing their finisher on Limelight for the win.
“Aussie Open” Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher defeated JR Kratos and Danny Limelight via pinfall in 10:09 to retain the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.
McGuire’s Musings: Boy, Kyle Fletcher reminds me so much of Will Ospreay. Throwing them in a faction together makes all the sense in the world. I digress. This was a very good tag-team match and when people say Aussie Open is the second best tag-team in the world, they aren’t wrong. Whenever FTR decides to hang it up (and we all hope that won’t be anytime soon), it’ll be Aussie Open’s position to lose. For now, though, they’ll just keep having really good matches with teams that never look as good as they do when they’re in the ring with the Aussie boys. Kratos and Limelight have been tagging together for a long time on Strong (even if we only really see them a few times a year), and throwing their chemistry in the ring with the chemistry of Aussie Open made for a fun title defense. Hat’s off to Riccaboni, too, who made the near-falls toward the end feel bigger than they were. I don’t think anyone expected Aussie Open to drop the belts here, but Riccaboni didn’t get that memo and he made the match better for it. This was all-around good stuff.
3. Fred Rosser vs. Chris Dickinson for the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship. Rosser jumpstarted the match by attacking Dickinson in a corner, but Dickinson came right back with a German Suplex and things settled down. Dickinson kicked Rosser a couple times. The two traded forearms before Rosser took Dickinson down with a shoulder tackle. The action spilled outside, where Dickinson hit a running clothesline from the apron. Back in the ring, Rosser went for a chicken wing, but Dickinson blocked it and ultimately landed a clothesline for a two-count.
Dickinson landed some chops and the two traded blows again. Dickinson lifted Rosser, but Rosser got out of it and countered with a running power-slam for a two-count. Rosser struggled to sink in an STF, but Dickinson made it to the ropes for a break. Rosser slammed Dickinson on the apron and Dickinson sold arm pain. Dickinson then clotheslined Rosser over the guardrail and into the crowd. The two continued to fight each other and the referee actually got to a 20-count for the double count-out.
Fred Rosser and Chris Dickinson fought to a double count-out in 6:49 in an NJPW Strong Openweight Championship match.
After the match, the two brawled. Rosser tried to choke Dickinson with a camera cable. Dickinson got on top of Rosser and punched him. Dickinson somehow found his way into the crowd while Rosser got into the ring. Dickinson had the hammer for the ring bell in his mouth. Dickinson looked to bite Rosser and Connors said he took a page from Ace Steel’s handbook. Next week’s main event is Rocky Romero vs. Shingo Takagi. The show closed as Rosser walked to the back.
McGuire’s Musings: Ha. Now, isn’t that something. A double count-out. No kidding. I definitely was not expecting that. In hindsight, though, it makes a little bit of sense because they only had a two-week build to the match and it felt like they rushed it; now we know this isn’t the end. It was good while it lasted, though. Rosser has become the best “I hate you so much right now” wrestler on Strong. Somehow, he always turns up the intensity, even when it doesn’t seem he should, could or can. Dickinson is a good dancing partner for that type of story because he’s also very good at turning up the heat when he wants to. I assume they run this back with an actual finish at the next set of tapings, but we’ll see. I mean, hell. Who knows what they’ll do after pulling something like this. The crowd, for whatever it’s worth, didn’t much seem to care for the no-finish, either. As hard as the wrestlers tried to ramp it up with the post-match brawl, things seemed a little flat to end the night.
Still, this was a quality episode of Strong. The tag match was very good, while Gallows showed how giving he can be in the opening bout. The main event was a bit of a let down, but since we never see double count-outs on New Japan Strong, I’m happy for the change of pace. It puts heat on the program and it makes this title defense seem a little more heavy than just “Fred Rosser needs to beat someone this week.” I can’t complain. I’ll also have more to say in my audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
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