The tour finale of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Showdown took place on Friday during New Japan Strong. The marquee match saw former NEVER Openweight Champion, New Japan Cup 2020 winner, and Bullet Club member Kenta defend the right to make the V3 challenge of IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley’s second reign with the title against David Finlay.
Kenta defeated Finlay earlier in the year for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship opportunity in the New Japan Cup 2020 Finals.
Throughout the match, Finlay was able to give Kenta problems, just as he did during their match earlier in the year. However, Kenta was able to gain the fall over Finlay at the 14 minutes and 11 seconds mark with his Go 2 Sleep technique to secure his shot at Moxley.
Finlay did have a visual pinfall on Kenta after his Prima Nocta technique, but the referee was out of position. Despite the loss, Finlay remains in the best form of his career.
The headline match saw former NEVER Openweight Champion and new Empire member Jeff Cobb take on career rival JR Kratos, who recently joined Team Filthy.
Their match was a power versus power contest that saw Cobb defeat Kratos with his Tour of the Islands technique at the 7 minutes and 38 seconds mark.
The second match saw former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion (as Black Tiger) and CHAOS member Rocky Romero face Team Filthy member Rust Taylor. The two had a negative experience earlier in the year, leading to this match.
Their match was a mixture of Folk Wrestling, Catch Wrestling, and Jijutisu with both wrestlers focusing on highly technical ground-based techniques. However, Taylor was able to eventually catch Rocky in his GAIA Lock to gain the submission fall at the 10 minutes mark.
The opening contest saw a rematch from several New Japan Strong episodes ago. NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion and Lion’s Crown 2020 winner Clark Connors and The DKC against The Riegel Twins (Logan/Sterling Riegel).
Despite the Riegel Twins showing their experience advantage, The DKC showed up, raising his form and helping raise his team to victory. Connors would submit Logan Riegel at the 9 minutes and 6 seconds mark.
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