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  • 2 weeks later...

Catching up on episodes.

Conners is looking good. I still don't know what happens to him once he's back on the Japan tours (or if he's ever a regular member of their tours) 

ELP is a clown and I mean that in the best way possible. I wonder if they'll actually turn the "is his boot loaded" into a proper angle or if it's just Kelly making stuff up.

Dickinson/Lawlor was dope and would have been amazing with a crowd.

Brown/Quest was alright. But Rosser remaining intense veteran is great. 

Kojima popping in as grumpy vet is great. Hopefully more NJPW vets do it if they're coming over to work other promotions. Fredricks just walking to the back was hilarious.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was excited to see Alex Couglin vs. Josh Alexander. You know it's not going to be some 30 min epic (nor should it be) but it was pretty good based on what Kevin Kelly said it's a start to a trial series for Couglin so he'll probably get more matches against a variety of guys. 

Quest/Rosser vs. Brown/Bateman was good. I am still digging the hell out of Rosser, he's just got so much fire and determination to what he does. Also, Bateman being almost the same size as Rosser is interesting. Rosser/Bateman also looks to be the next feud for both. 

That commercial for their new mobile game with Naito and Kidiani was odd. 

8 team tag tourney for Strong? Sign me up!

Kojima/Kratos was in the words of Big E: "big meaty men slapping meat" 

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1 hour ago, D.Z said:

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Fans allowed back.

Brand new 5k capacity venue at LA Coliseum. Looks cool. I bet with all the strong talent and them putting it on fite it will be less a collection of tag matches and more singles matches with a little bit of weight to them. 

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Yehi/Yuta vs. DKC/Knight was pretty good. Yehi looked really good and I want to see more of him.

The progression of Clark Connors continues with a win over Rocky Romero. It he going to be the guy to dethrone Lawlor eventually?

Fredricks/Lawlor was good and a crowd would have bit on that nearfall after Fredricks hit that DDT. Wonder if Kojima's title challenge will be before the show in August?

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I enjoyed Yehi/Yuta vs. DKC/Knight a whole bunch.  DKC/Knight are a tremendous young lion team, I hope they are kept together for a while and even get an opening slot Japan tour someday (maybe early fall?) as they would be a perfect fit for that type of scenario.  

I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about Yuta at first, as I heard the name for years but hadn't sat down to watch his matches before now, but one thing for sure is that the Yehi/Yuta pairing is pretty damn great, and Yuta excels in this role.  Man oh man, Yehi is something else, and I enjoy the fact that seeing him in a tag team on Strong will help  preserve the mystique for a while until the inevitable singles encounters start to occur.  Who is the supreme Fred?  We must know the answer!

The last two matches were both really good to great as well; Connors-Romero had a built-in storyline with plenty of emotion, and Lawlor is low-key one of the best wrestlers on the planet right now.  I'm hoping Lawlor is in the G1 this year; given his recent announcement about his MMA career, the chances seem at the very least quite promising.  He thoroughly sports entertains me (the Fargo strut inside the ring as a bizarre intimidation tactic towards Fredericks during his entrance was brilliant) and bell to bell he seems to know exactly where every match needs to go.  

I like Kojima being in the mix, and I'm looking forward to Lawlor taking him on.  I wouldn't mind the match being at the LA Coliseum show, but truth be known, I'd love to see Lawlor take on Rosser in a rematch to one of my favorite matches this year.  Rosser's name gets mentioned a lot on commentary, so I wonder if that's also coming soon.  Clearly something is in place for Connors due to the results of this week, but it seems way too early for him to take the title.  He needs to run the gauntlet of Team Filthy or something to ensure maximum impact when that day finally arises, and even then Lawlor should squeak out a victory.  The slow burn with Connors has been well done so far.

On a side note, I'm happy to see Lio Rush fulfilling his dates with New Japan.  If he is indeed retiring, then going out by showing respect to the company that he truly seems satisfied with is a good way to do it.   

Finally, here's hoping the fans at the LA Coliseum (parking lot) give Rocky Romero a long, sustained "Rocky, Rocky" chant, as he's completely earned it.  That dude, along with Shibata and whoever else is running things over in LA, deserves a standing ovation for being one of the true champions during this pandemic era.  

 

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On 6/27/2021 at 7:34 AM, Evil Otto said:

I like Kojima being in the mix, and I'm looking forward to Lawlor taking him on.  I wouldn't mind the match being at the LA Coliseum show, but truth be known, I'd love to see Lawlor take on Rosser in a rematch to one of my favorite matches this year.  Rosser's name gets mentioned a lot on commentary, so I wonder if that's also coming soon.

Kojima is back in Japan so I think they probably already taped Lawlor/Kojima since I doubt that they'd fly him to the states two times in few months.

Rosser is my favourite as well, this week he again picked up a win and he has called out Lawlor a month or so ago. But I also could see Lio getting last title match before he goes away.

 

In other news we got Resurgence show coming up and it looks like it is selling pretty well:

I'm sure that this being first USA show in a while and having Mox is helping a lot so it will be interesting to see how show is accepted since asides of White/Finlay and Moxley it is probably going to be mostly Strong guys filling out the card.

And they are also selling tickets for tapings now so I guess Strong will have audience in late August or early September.

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Interesting that they're filming out of Long Beach since I assumed they would keep using the CWFH set in Port Hueneme.

Speaking of Strong:

Couglin/PJ Black was stiff! 

What was up with Koslov referring to Davey Richards as a nobody when talking about Rocky Romero's tag partners? He didn't even mention Richard's name at all (or Trent's, but he did refer to Trent as a supernova).

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Huh. TJP took the pinfall in the match with Anderson and Gallows instead of Connors. There are plans for Clark!

Holy shit Ren got the pin on Wheeler Yuta! Also those scars from the chops on Ren's chest are nasty.

Danny Limlight's trash talk is great. And Kratos and Brody start the match slapping meat.

Limelight knowing he was toast after the failed low blow, doing the hip swivel and giving Dickinson the finger was hilarious.

Lawlor/Kojima next week!

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Is Lio actually still working? I know the Stong stuff is taped a decent bit in advance. 

Tag tourney broke down in a logical way, I'd assume Anderson and Gallows go over Brody and Dickinson next week.

Cool that Natira got to kick out of the Gun Stun though. I wonder what his gimmick will look like whenever he graduates. Who's the last guy to come back with a mellow gimmick, Sho and Yoh I guess? But even their initial return was pretty showy.

Lol @ Lawlor offering bread to Kojima before the match. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Resurgence was a hell of a good time. Ishii/Moose was really ridiculous, they pulled out all the stops. It wasn't a ginormous crowd but you could tell there were a lot of true NJPW fans and I think that added a lot. There were really significant, meaningful moments, like GOD who just flew over to come punk out Gun/Doc, and the young lion asking Shibata for a spot at the dojo. Even Ospreay actually kind of won me over with that promo. And just all the interpromotional shit with Impact/AEW guys, it's a pretty magical time right now.

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Another solid episode this week.  I know the landscape has changed since Resurgence, and that we are likely to see some bigger names pop up on Strong imminently, but I appreciate the fact that they are also sticking to the original formula and are focusing on the LA Dojo guys along with up and coming indie talent.  Hey, if NXT doesn't want the latter, I'm sure New Japan would welcome some of them!  

Random thoughts:  as usual, a pretty easy-to-watch hour, as all the matches were solid.  DKC does the "scrappy underdog who's potentially lethal" shtick quite well, it would be nice to see him on the road for the upcoming shows, as he's a guy a live audience could easily get behind.  I like Barrett Brown as a heel, it suits him well. Lio Rush is so good in Strong, and I'm selfishly hoping he sticks it out for a while in New Japan.  It was clear in the final match that Juice might be an upcoming title contender, and I'm pretty confident he will thrive in these conditions, as he's a top-tier guy in the States for NJPW but mid-range over in Japan.  I look forward to Lawlor and Juice at some point, it seems like they already have good chemistry.  

That all being said, if there's one match you have time for, watch Alexander James vs. Karl Fredericks.  Fredericks has been fine since being moved up from young lion, and I know New Japan have him earmarked, but he's rarely been the highlight on Strong episodes for me.  James had his first match in Strong a couple weeks ago, and that was good, but I was still a little unsure what I thought of him since he was completely new to me.  Well, in this match, James is clearly much more in control and confident, and as such, lays it in pretty heavy on Fredericks.  I like that Fredericks is really being pushed here, as to be honest, it's kind of what he needs.  Super physical and intense, really good stuff.  

Edited by Evil Otto
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