Later tonight the pilot episode of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Strong premiers at 10 PM EST in the United States, and will see the beginning of the New Japan Cup USA Tournament. Where the winner will receive the V3 challenge during Jon Moxley’s current reign as IWGP United States Heavyweight champion.
NJPW Announcer Kevin Kelly will be joined by former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (w/Rocky Romero as Forever Hooligan) Alex Koslov for Color Commentary.
The marquee match will see Ring of Honor (ROH) wrestler Brody King make his return to NJPW after his last appearance on June 5, 2019. Take on the former six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Tama Tonga of the Bullet Club.
Brody may have the upper hand in a singles match, but the counter-attacking style of Tama Tonga could see him defeat the Villain Enterprise member on his way to singles success within New Japan Pro Wrestling of America (NJoA).
The headline match features former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion David Finlay of the Hontai unit take of Bullet Club member Chase Owens.
Finlay and Owens have strong folkstyle wrestling backgrounds, which come into play as both will see New Japan Cup USA 2020 as an opportunity to make a mark as a singles competitor.
During the 2019 New Japan Cup, Owens was able to defeat at the time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson in the opening round.
The second match will see Hontai member and former NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb take on former six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Tanga Loa in the first round.
Cobb looks to be the overwhelming favorite as the vast majority of Tanga Loa’s focus since he made his NJPW debut in April 2016 has been on tag team wrestling.
If Tanga Loa is to upset Cobb he will have to bring out something new or he may take a Tour of the Islands and fail to advance.
After graduating from the NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo, Karl Fredericks had an impressive run during the first season of Lion’s Break Collision. However, he is facing former NEVER Openweight Champion Kenta who has a long list of accomplishments to his name.
After failing to capture the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Championship’ earlier this year during The New Beginning in Osaka, Kenta will be motivated to get back into title contention.
Karl could take advantage of a distracted Kenta if the veteran’s mind is lingering on Evil becoming the ‘Double Champion’ in Bullet Club and not either he or Jay White.
The full bracket for the tournament is below.
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