The 8th episode of New Japan Strong showcased the full opening round of the Lion’s Break Crown tournament. While New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Clark Connors is the overwhelming favorite, his competitors and fellow hungry athletes want to make a name for themselves within New Japan of America (NJoA).
The marquee match saw a faced past contest between junior heavyweights “All Heart” Blake Christian and Adrian Quest. In one of three matches that looked like it would have fit into the Best of the Super Juniors, Christian was able to gain the fall over Quest at the 6 minutes and 49-seconds mark after hitting his Elia technique.
The headline match saw United States independent wrestling veteran “.50 Caliber” Barrett Brown take on Danny Limelight in what was a perfect example of what BOSJ tournament wrestling looks like.
Danny and Barret exchanged the advantage and looked to be equal to one another. Brown was able to control the match on the ground, while Danny took to the air to spring his offense to life.
Limelight gained the fall over Brown at the 9 minutes and 31 seconds mark after using his Symbiote DDT technique to take his place in the semi-final round.
The second match of the Lion’s Break Crown opening round saw Clark Connors face heavyweight Jordan Clearwater. Despite his height disadvantage, Connors was able to use his power and quickness to enhance his amateur wrestling techniques throughout the match.
However, Clearwater was able to keep himself in the match, showing that he also has an extremely high ceiling in professional wrestling. Connors would gain the fall by submission at the 6 minutes and 11 seconds mark with a Boston Crab technique to move on to the semi-final round.
The opening match of the Lion’s Break Crown tournament saw Logan Riegel and The DKC battle one another. Riegel was unable to get out to a fast start, nor really ever find his form throughout the match.
The DKC was able to use his physicality to control the pace of the contest, making life extremely difficult for Riegel. However, Riegel would gain the fall over The DKC at the 6 minutes and 31 seconds mark with an Inside Cradle to snatch his place in the next round.
