Since NJPW Strong had Tom Lawlor step through the door, Team Filthy has been taking over. They control the top of the card with Lawlor as Strong Openweight Champion, and having West Coast Wrecking Crew join their ranks has only served to help boost their stock. They will face a stacked unit including Lio Rush, Fred Yehi, Yuya Uemura, Chris Dickinson, and Adrian Quest. Brody King was originally booked for this match, but missed the show due to medical issues.
Team Filthy Came To Fight
Team Filthy came out as a united unit, ready to do what they do best. Without Brody King to lead the opposition, they can hope for an easier fight. However, Lio Rush would lead his teammates to the ring, including ex-Team Filthy member Chris Dickinson and Yuya Uemura in his first match since leaving Japan.
This one exploded into a brawl, with Team Filthy winning out and isolating Dickinson. He’d fight back with a double dropkick and go after Lawlor with a suplex and an armbar. JRKratos made the save, and ran down Dickinson with a lariat before meeting Yehi. Yehi held off Kratos and Royce Isaacs, before Adrian Quest got into the mix with a twisting body press.
Jorel Nelson got into the right followed by Danny Limelight, before Lio Rush would take the fight to Limelight and pick the pace up. Lawlor would yank Rush down from the apron before tagging in, but was unable to catch the speedy Rush and was taken into the wrong corner. Quest tagged in and threw some heavy blows, but springboarding off the ropes was a mistake as Lawlor caught him with a knee strike.
Isaacs would stop a comeback from Quest with a snap powerslam, before a hard mid-kick from Lawlor rattled the spine. Lawlor would gyrate before a heavy mid-kick, and he’d tag the big Kratos in to maintain control. A gutwrench suplex would launch Quest, who needed a save from Yehi. Team Filthy would rush their opponents down, and the crowd was far from impressed as they posed in the ring.
Yuya Uemura & Lio Rush Work in Tandem To Get The Win
Quest would be slammed down and hit by strike after strike by Team Filthy, before Lawlor applied a sleeper hold. Dickinson made the save as this one broken down into chaos once again, with Isaacs maintaining control until Quest hit the codebreaker. Uemura would tag into the match and bring his signature babyface fire, dropping Limelight with a big backdrop.
Dickinson & Yehi would maintain some order when Uemura was dropped, with Dickinson getting into a slugfest with Lawlor. Lawlor would drop him with a piledriver before taking a spinkick from Rush. Kratos shoved Rush away, and Quest took his place before hitting a springboard moonsault to the outside. Rush would get back in the face of Kratos, peppering him with chops before being caught with a press slam to the outside. Kratos looked to dive to the outside, but Uemura caught him with a powerbomb off the top rope.
Limelight would hit a foot stomp on Uemura before a destroyer on Quest, but Rush made the save. A slide kick from Rush and a springboard stunner set up the double underhook suplex from Uemura for the win!
Insanely frantic action from bell to bell, with everyone getting their chance to shine. Team Filthy is a solid faction, and their teamwork and power was a real highlight here. Uemura looked like a star, and his future is very bright. Just an incredibly fun match. Match Rating: 3.25/5 (*** 1/4)
This is potentially one of the final matches from Lio Rush, who has announced his retirement but is finishing up NJPW dates. Could you see him sticking around in NJPW? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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