Archibald Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Figures we could use a separate thread for these shows since it kinda does look like we'll get them for a while and this might be how, obvious with Covid changing things here and there, NJPW USA expansion is going to go. It started with 4 LION'S BREAK COLLISION that basically showcased bunch of LA Dojo guys and some guys that NJPW is (or might be) interested. It concluded with Karl Fredericks vs Cobb match. And now we have NJPW Strong that starts with NJPW Cup USA 2020 tournament: Winner is going to get a title shot for USA title at a later date. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted August 8, 2020 Author Share Posted August 8, 2020 Some thoughts and spoilers: KENTA, Cobb, Finlay and Tonga won their matches. Not surprising results, but I was a bit surprised about how definitive KENTA/Fredericks was. At first I thought that these shows are about establishing Karl, but now he lost two big matches and I'm not so sure anymore, are they doing a long build here? Or are they not as high on him as everyone thinks? Question with Moxley remains. This tournament concludes in two weeks, are they going to really hold that title shot till 2021? Or have they worked out something here with him and AEW? Another option is that he vacates again, but then winner of this tournament would just face someone else who didn't win the tournament... this would make entire tournament pointless. I don't, it can get really messy here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 Excursion talent is "not there yet"- they're going to beat Young Lions, but lose to established NJPW stars. Jay White was a midcarder in ROH, which is like being Henare in NJPW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Did they ever mention where they're shooting these shows at? The entrance looks similar to the CWFH setup and they're using some of the same talent so I wonder if they hooked up with Marquez since he's probably the most stable indy promoter in the US (assuming we're not calling ROH and Impact independent promotions) and has a good lead on West Coast talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 I vaguely remember someone mentioning Marquez somewhere in relation to these shows so you might be right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 Looks like that while the focus on main shows will be on G1 for next month or so Strong will be doing Lions Break Crown or something like that. Another tournament for new and up and coming guys. Maybe it will focus on various indie guys that they featured on last few shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Otto Posted September 26, 2020 Share Posted September 26, 2020 The first night of Lions Break Crown was a very enjoyable watch. In particular, the Danny Limelight vs. Barrett Brown match is definitely worth making time to watch. I also was quite impressed with The DKC, Clark Connors, and Blake Christian in their respective matches. It's exciting to ponder as to who eventually ends up being a legit superstar, Connors or Fredericks. It's a toss-up at this point for me. Generally speaking, this show has really turned out to be very entertaining. It hardly ever drags and is almost always engaging, given the huge potential of a lot of these workers. It's become a show I now watch regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 I think that Connors is definitely going to the finals, but on the other side I could see Limelight winning since he had that short program with Rocky, while Blake just did some stuff in multimans. Anyway, with magic of taping next week are getting White, KENTA and Cobb on the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 So i decided to check out Fighting Spirit Unleashed. Both weeks combined made for a really fun 2 hours and 10 minutes of wrestling no match went too long shit only two out of the 8 matches went 10 minutes or more. I've never seen the Ocean Side loom that good. Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov make for a good team on commentary. First time i've seen Fred Rosser since he was Darren Young he was cool but I think Alex Zayne was the standout in that match, Jay White is really awesome he got a good match out of Flip Gordon, TJP and ACH should continue to shine, It's fitting that every one else grows facial hair and Tama decides he should shave his face clean, and Kenta vs Cobb was easily one of the better matches ive seen in the Pandemic I mena Kenta worked over that knee something fierce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Starting next week we have some juniors vs heavyweights action thou I'm not sure if that really matters since they didn't really focus on this distinction on previous shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Otto Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 For anyone who's interested in keeping up with NJPW Strong, I'd suggest watching matches spanning the last three weeks: Fred Rosser vs. Filthy Tom Lawlor, then Rocky Romero vs. Rust Taylor, and wrapping it up with the most recent 8-man tag of Team Filthy vs. Rocky's crew. Good stuff all around. In particular, the Rosser-Lawlor match surprised the hell out of me, and has really turned me back around to Rosser as a guy who can still go. He seemed a bit out of place the first few times I'd seen him on Strong, a little unsure and clunky, but it was if Lawlor pushed his buttons and woke him up, not only in storyline, but a little in reality as well. A really impressive physical encounter, it was borderline clubberin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 I'm just glad that it looks we are finally getting some longer term storyline here that connects to the very first Lion Collision shows. Also kinda funny how Rocky is probably main character in all of this with his "impressive" number of wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontaneous Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Kenta-Moxley was a fun brawl. Definitely hurt but lack of crowd though. I loved Kenta's defiance and the trash talking in general. Narita-Dickerson was good. No filler. Dickerson needs to be in the G1. He can eat a lot of losses and it's all fresh and fun match ups. Narita is looking better in the ring but needs a few more Shibata slaps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 I was rather surprised that Narita picked up a win. Won't be surprised if he'll go deep into NJ Cup USA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 Dug Rocky/Lio and the Young Lions match. DKC got way more than I thought against Lawlor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontaneous Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 Alex Coughlin & Karl Fredericks both being back is good for NJPW Strong. Coughlin grew quite the moustache. That DKC-Lawlor match was fun enough. I was surprised as well about how much offense DKC got. I'd like to see Moxley vs Lio Rush or Tom Lawlor for his next defense. I presume it'll be a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontaneous Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 I have to say, I'm sorry, Koslov is just awful. I wish he just did backstage stuff or something. Just Kevin Kelly is fine. I liked Hikuleo using the landslide, looked good. Rosser-Kratos was ok. The slow middle section was rough. Why did Kratos need to get heat back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 Kratos booking is kinda weird, I think he doesn't have any singles wins, but is presented as this monster guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Watched last nights Strong. Opening match was fun with Cobb looking strong. Natira looks good and Misterioso almost wrecked his knees on that moonsault. Bateman/Brody was fun. The grouping for the US Cup will be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontaneous Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 This year's US Cup line up looks a million times better. A few intriguing opponents for Moxley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 Yeah, it feels like this year so far we don't have obvious fall guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Cute dig at Danny Limelight doing AEW shots to open the show. The internet says Alex Koslov is 5'9 while Kevin Kelly is 5'10 but that's complete BS based on them standing side by side. Also Koslov was AWFUL this episode. Connors/TJP was fun. Dickinson/Christian was ok. Tag main event was nice. Finlay vs Lawlor should be good whenever it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontaneous Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Koslov just gets worse on commentary. Anyone else or just Kevin Kelly! Dickinson-Christian was disappointing, their match up at the Acid Cup in 2020 was better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archibald Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 Looks a bit better than previous one (that we can see in the first post) and I don't really see a clear favourite to win? I could see Lio, Brody, Dickinson and Lawlor taking it. On the other hand Narita is getting wins so its possible that he takes it as well. My predictions: Lio over Clark, Chris over Brody, Lawlor over Narita, Fred over Hikuleo. Then Lio over Dickinson, Lawlor over Fred and finally Lawlor over Lio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontaneous Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I think it'll be Lawlor. He could do a few defenses of the case like KENTA. I like the bracket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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