NEW JAPAN CUP USA: Tournament field
Well, that’s it. The qualifiers are over. Our eight-man field for the New Japan Cup USA tournament are:
· Brody King
· Chris Dickinson
· Clark Connors
· Fred Rosser
· Hikuleo
· Lio Rush
· Ren Narita
· Tom Lawlor
MATCH THREE: David Finlay and Karl Fredericks Vs Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor and Danny Limelight)
Lawlor and Finlay start the match, with Lawlor taking Finlay to the mat a few times with leg holds. Both men transition and counter each other’s attempts to get an advantage, before Lawlor grabs Finlay’s head in a leg-scissors and tries to lock in a kimura on the left arm. Finlay escapes with a wrist-lock, and both men make the tag. Fredericks takes Limelight down from a waist-lock and tries to grab a limb. Limelight gets to the ropes to escape, and complains to the referee about a hair-pull! Fredericks grabs a side headlock, but Limelight pulls the hair to back him into the corner to escape. Limelight misses a chop, and Fredericks makes him pay with two of his own. Limelight runs the ropes and tries to whip Fredericks, but Karl keeps hold of the arm and tackles Limelight to the mat. Fredericks takes Limelight over with a snapmare and kicks him in the spine. Finlay and Fredericks drop Limelight with a double back elbow.
Fredericks gets a near-fall following one of the best elbow drops in the business. Lawlor grabs Karl’s ankle and pulls him out to the floor. Fredericks chases Lawlor and runs right into a dropkick to the knee from Limelight. Limelight gets a near-fall from a double stomp to the back. Lawlor tags in and delivers a chop, but all it does is piss Fredericks off. Fredericks Lawlor to do it again, and eats two more before firing back with three of his own. Fredericks attempts an Irish Whip, but Lawlor drops him with a short forearm. Lawlor gets a two-count from a suplex, and transitions into an arm-bar attempt, but Fredericks rolls out.
Limelight returns the favour to Fredericks with a snapmare and spine kick. Limelight then launches some stiff kicks to Karl’s chest, but Fredericks again stands up and looks more angry than hurt. Limelight switches up with a kick to the knee and a DDT for a two-count. Lawlor assists Limelight to deliver a high knee in the corner before they deliver a bulldog/front leg sweep combination for a two-count. Lawlor locks in a leg-lock and prevents Fredericks from reaching the ropes before transitioning into an ankle lock. Fredericks rolls through, sending Lawlor into the waiting forearm of Finlay, before making the much-needed tag.
Finlay drops Limelight with a running European uppercut, and Lawlor with a dropkick, before following up with running elbows in the corner on both opponents. Finlay hits a diving European uppercut on Lawlor for a two-count. Lawlor counters a uranage and throws Finlay with an exploder suplex for a two-count. Finlay escapes a sleeper and attempts a cutter, but Lawlor blocks and locks in a rear-naked choke. Finlay manages to back Lawlor into the corner and rolls him over his shoulders to break the hold. Finlay manages to hit the uranage backbreaker the second time around.
Both men tag. Fredericks and Limelight exchange shots, with Limelight getting the better of it with a spinning back-fist. Limelight doesn’t capitalise though, showing off instead, and eats an uppercut. Fredericks runs Limelight into the corner at the same time as delivering a kick to the face and follows up with a series of forearms. Fredericks hits a beautiful Chris Sabin-esque stalling dropkick on a downed Limelight in the corner. Limelight counters a Falcon Arrow into a cutter for a near-fall. Fredericks evades a roundhouse kick and gets a near-fall of his own after a spinebuster. Limelight manages to prevent Manifest Destiny and gets a tag. Lawlor delivers a lariat to the back of Karl’s head before taking Finlay off of the apron. Lawlor and Fredericks exchange forearms, but Karl ducks a lariat and lands a Pele kick. Lawlor counters a Manifest Destiny with an Exploder, but Finlay breaks up the pinfall.
Limelight connects with a superkick on Fredericks, and Lawlor follows with a German Suplex, but Fredericks kicks out at two. Lawlor locks in the rear-naked choke and tags in Limelight. Danny aims for a springboard, but Fredericks shoves Lawlor into him to prevent it and tags in Finlay. Fredericks whips Finlay into the corner to deliver an uppercut to Limelight. Finlay then pushes Limelight into an uppercut from Fredericks. Lawlor breaks up the pin following a single-leg dropkick from Finlay. Lawlor lifts Fredericks for a powerslam and drives him down on the back of his neck.
Finlay hits a stunner on Lawlor. Limelight gets a near-fall on Finlay with a Small Package Driver. Finlay avoids a PK and rolls Limelight up for a two-count. Finlay counters Limelight with a hard lariat and follows up with the Last Shot for the win.
Match Time: 17m 24s
WINNER: David Finlay via Last Shot
Backstage, David Finlay says he’s impressed with Team Filthy. He says it could have gone either way, with it being the first time he’s teamed with Fredericks in a two-on-two tag match, but they came out with the win. Finlay says “beating Team Filthy, what more could you want? Actually, I’ll TELL you what I want. I want to beat Tom Lawlor one-on-one.” He said he used to sit in Hooters and watch Lawlor in UFC, but now he’s in an NJPW ring – Finlay’s ring – and that’s a completely different world.
This was a tough test for Fredericks. Finlay rarely got involved in the match when not needed, and Karl took a lot of punishment from Team Filthy. This was another action-packed match and showed how deep the NJoA roster is.
I got my prediction wrong, but I’m OK with that. Another 33% week comes and goes, but my two perfect weeks in the middle being me up to a two-thirds success rate.
Prediction Result: 1-2
The show finishes with a recap from Alex Koslov and Kevin Kelly, along with a reveal of the New Japan Cup USA brackets. All four quarter-final matches will be outstanding in their own rights, but one stands out for me. Which one? Well, I’ll be taking a look at the brackets, and dropping my predictions in the coming week on TWM.News. You’ll be able to find them in our NJoA Strong section, so pop by and see!
you can watch New Japan Strong every friday on njpwworld.com