By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@McGMondays)
NJPW Strong
Taped September 25-26 in Garland, Texas at Curtis Culwell Center
Streamed October 30, 2021 on New Japan World
The broadcast team of Alex Koslov and Matt Rehwoldt checked in to begin the show and ran down the card. This is Night 4 of Autumn Attack. The second introductory video package then aired…
1. JR Kratos and Danny Limelight vs. Fred Rosser and Rocky Romero. Limelight and Romero started the match. The two locked up. After a series of exchanges, Limelight hit a few chops on Romero. Limelight landed an arm-drag and then danced, but Romero hit back and danced. Romero went for an arm-bar, but Limelight made it to the ropes for a break.
Romero worked Limelight’s arm and tagged in Rosser. Limelight rolled out and tagged in Kratos. Kratos took Rosser down and hit a knee. Rosser got to his feet and the two locked up again. Rosser worked a side head-lock. The two traded elbows in the middle of the ring. The two worked their way onto the apron and fought.
The action spilled to the outside of the ring and everyone involved landed some strikes. Back in the ring, Kratos hit some forearms on Rosser. Kratos landed a release suplex that was kind of wild. That got Kratos a two-count on Rosser. Kratos continued to work over Rosser with the ropes and kicks. Limelight tagged in and landed a double-stomp for a two-count.
Limelight choked Rosser over the middle rope while the referee was distracted. Kratos eventually did a dance of his own. Kratos went for a suplex, but Frosser got out and landed the hot tag to Romero. Romero eventually hit a clothesline on Limelight, which got a two-count. Romero landed a dropkick onto Limelight to take him down.
Romero worked over Limelight’s arm. Limelight ultimately hit a half-nelson suplex for a two-count. Limelight and Kratos landed some double-team moves, but Rosser started pounding on Kratos. Rosser slammed Limelight on the apron. Inside the ring, Kratos fired up, but missed a splash on Romero. Romero tagged in Rosser, and Rosser hit some strikes on Kratos. Rosser got to the second rope and lifted Limelight, but Kratos hit a knee to break it all up.
Kratos hit a Falcon Arrow on Rosser, but Romero made the save. Kratos lifted Rosser, but Rosser fought his way out. Rosser speared Kratos outside of the ring. Limelight went for a double-springboard move, but Rosser caught him, slammed him, and that was it.
Fred Rosser and Rocky Romero defeated JR Kratos and Danny Limelight via pinfall in 17:05.
McGuire’s Musings: This kind of overstayed its welcome. All the guys involved worked hard, but you could have shaved five minutes off this and it would have been just as well, if not better. Kratos is a beast and I’d like to see him booked as such in NJPW, but that’s just me. This fell a little flat for me, even though I know the feud between Rosser and Team Filthy is supposed to heat up. Overall, the match was more random than anything.
2. Taiji Ishimori vs. Lio Rush. The two locked up to begin the match. Ishimori backed Rush into the ropes and then flexed. Rush worked a head-lock and that led to the two working a series of exchanges before it came to a stop and the crowd cheered. Rush ultimately hit a kick, but Ishimori sent Rush to the outside of the ring.
Outside the ring, Ishimori ran Rush’s arm into the ring post. Ishimori worked Rush’s arm over the barricade outside the ring. Back in the ring, Ishimori ran Rush’s shoulder into a corner. Ishimori kept working Rush’s arm. Ishimori ran at Rush and Rush moved, which led to Rush taking control. Rush hit some clotheslines and a handstand-springboard back-elbow. Rush landed another big clothesline. Rush hit a Falcon Arrow for a two-count.
Rush hit a series of kicks on Ishimori. Ishimori fired up and hit some chops. Ishimori hit a springboard of his own, which transitioned into a roundhouse kick. Ishimori then hit a snap German Suplex, which was good enough for a two-count. Ishimori hit a shoulder-breaker, but Rush bridged out at two. Ishimori landed a spinning head-scissors, which transitioned into a cross-face. Before long, Rush lifted Ishimori and slammed him to an ovation from the crowd.
Ishimori rolled to the apron and Rush eventually hit a tough Tope Suicida. Rush rolled Ishimori back into the ring, but Ishimori landed a Tombstone into knees into the face and both guys were down. The two traded elbows on their knees. Rush hit a spinning kick that resulted in a 2.9. Rush then hit the Final Hour and that was enough for the win.
Lio Rush defeated Taiji Ishimori via pinfall in 15:12.
McGuire’s Musings: The expectations for this were large and those expectations were met. This will probably be the best match of the show, and both guys deserve all the credit they can get for this one. Ishimori looked great and I spent half the match convinced he was going to walk away the winner. Rush has been booked very well in NJPW and I’m happy to see his retirement isn’t necessarily a retirement anymore. That said, this was a very good match and worth seeking out if you can.
3. Tom Lawlor and Royce Isaacs vs. Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki and Archer jump-started the match. Outside the ring, Archer controlled everyone. Back in the ring, Suzuki worked over Isaacs’s arm and shoulder. Suzuki hit the ropes, but Lawlor hit a boot and that resulted in Lawlor and Suzuki fighting on the outside of the ring. Lawlor eventually rolled Suzuki back into the ring and Isaacs worked over Suzuki.
Isaacs hit some elbows and tagged in Lawlor. Lawlor kept hitting some forearms. Lawlor worked an arm bar on Suzuki before tagging in Isaacs. Lawlor and Isaacs hit a double-elbow on Suzuki and posed on everyone involved. Lawlor hit a bunch of strikes, but Suzuki hit back and tagged in Archer. Archer hit a series of strikes on Lawlor. Eventually, Lawlor tried to choke out Archer, but fought out and landed a strong vertical suplex.
Archer perched Lawlor on the top rope for a Blackout, but Lawlor worked a choke and tagged in Isaacs for a double-team move. Isaacs toyed with Archer, but Archer responded with a punch and a spinning side-slam. Suzuki tagged in and kicked Isaacs for a two-count. Suzuki worked elbows on Isaacs. Everything broke down and Archer hit the Blackout on Lawlor, but Isaacs and Suzuki kept fighting in the ring. Isaacs hit a German Suplex for a good near-fall. Suzuki hit a bunch of slaps on Isaacs and then went for the Gotch pile-driver and got it. That was it.
Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki defeated Tom Lawlor and Royce Isaacs via pinfall in 11:02.
After the match, Archer grabbed the microphone and started to cut a promo, but Chris Dickinson’s music hit and Dickinson came out of the curtain. Dickinson challenged Suzuki for the Philadelphia tapings and said he’s already dead. Suzuki said he speaks little English and then said “fuck you” to Dickinson.
McGuire’s Musings: I won’t spoil the Philly tapings because I was there, but there’s a lot more that made sense today than there was that made sense yesterday. Either way, this was a good match and a good variation from what has become the Suzuki God Tour formula. What I liked most about this was the fact that we didn’t have to get super violent and we didn’t have to rely on seven minutes worth of chops. When all is said and done, this might be one of the best Suzuki matches on his American run.
In all, this was a fine enough goodbye to the Texas tapings. I’m interested to see how Philly looks, not only because I was there, but also because Texas looked so … not great. Onward and upward, right?
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