The November 13, 2020 New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Strong event saw the first night of New Japan Showdown 2020. The intriguing night feature two interesting singles matches, with the second taking place in the marquee.
Bullet Club member Tama Tonga took on Ring of Honor (ROH) roster member PJ Black. Despite being known as a tag team competitor, and a six-time former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with his brother Tanga Loa (as Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama was able to look comfortable against Black who never put him on his back foot.
Tama would gain the fall at the 10 minutes and 38 seconds mark after using his Gun Stun cutter technique.
The headline match saw former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (w/David Finaly) “The Flamboyant” Juice Robinson, “Alpha Wolf” Karl Fredericks, and Brody King defeat the Bullet Club team of “Switchblade” Jay White, former six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion Tanga Loa, and “Crown Jewel” Chase Owens.
The Bullet Club trio unsurprisingly looked better as a unit, yet they were able to finish the job. Juice Robinson, who was making his New Japan Strong debut gained the fall over Chase Owens at the 9 minutes and 51 seconds mark with his Pulp Friction technique.
The second match of the event saw “Mr. No Days Off” Fred Rosser take on “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. Lawlor came out with JR Kratos and Rust Taylor, who teamed together on the November 6, 2020 edition of New Japan Strong. As seen in the United States independent scene, Kratos and Taylor flew the ‘Team Filfthy’ banner, signifying the unit has come to New Japan of America.
The match itself was a gritty blend of Strong Style brawling and math submission wrestling. The competitors looked evenly matched, but Rosser was caught in a full-body hook that led to the referee stopping the match at the 11 minutes and 13 seconds mark, to the dismay of Rosser who wanted the match to continue.
It’s likely the two will wrestle again down the future, as the match received immediate applause on Twitter from English speaking fans of NJPW.
The opening match saw Alex Zayne and Adrian Quest defeat “All Heart” Blake Christian and ACH at the 7 minutes and 12 seconds mark when Zayne gained the fall on Christian with a Victory Roll cradle.
The competitive match saw moments for each junior heavyweight wrestler as the two teams went to battle.
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