NJPW Strong
Episode 4
Road to Fighting Spirit Unleashed
#njpwstrong
Original Air Date: August 28, 2020
Event Date: August 28, 2020 (unconfirmed)
(uploaded to NJPW World)
City: Port Hueneme, CA (unconfirmed)
Venue: Oceanview Pavilion (empty arena) (unconfirmed)
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Alex Koslov
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (remotely?), Adnan Kureishy (ringside)
Intro Video
Ring Area
Kevin Kelly welcomes Jay White at the commentary area. Jay White laughs at Kevin Kelly when he asks White if he’s worried about facing Flip Gordon in a match next week. White is treating his match with Gordon as a warm-up and a welcome back to the ring after his time away during quarantine.
Video
A look at the upcoming Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour featuring a match between Jeff Cobb and KENTA for the rights contract for the IWGP US Heavyweight Title.
Match 1
Jordan Clearwater vs Danny Limelight
(referee: Sparky Ballard)
Result: Danny Limelight wins via pinfall after the Symbiote DDT
Time: 5:58
Match Thoughts
Good match. Danny Limelight came into the match with a lot of energy and personality. Jordan Clearwater was good in the match, and he had a few nice counters, but Limelight was in control tonight. Limelight is fast and fun to watch, and his developing story with Rocky Romero possibly mentoring him has me very intrigued.
Match 2
Adrian Quest & Blake Christian & Barrett Brown & Misterioso vs Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks & ACH & TJP
(referee: Sparky Ballard)
Result: Misterioso pins Clark Connors after MSO (lung blower)
Time: 12:04
Match Thoughts
Great match. TJP’s team seemed to be the heavy favorites going into this match (despite having a young lion on their side), but Misterioso’s team looked equally as great as TJP’s. Every match-up throughout this match was a lot of fun, and the action never really stopped. The biggest story element in the match was that Misterioso and Karl Fredericks have a one on one match coming up soon, but that never overshadowed anything else. Everyone had moments to shine pretty much equally.
Intermission
The ring is cleaned and sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 3
Chase Owens vs PJ Black
(referee: Jeremy Marcus)
Result: Chase Owens wins via pinfall after a package piledriver
Time: 11:10
Match Thoughts
Very good match. It’s been nice seeing Chase Owens in singles matches over the past few weeks. I’ve gotten used to seeing him in only in tag matches in the Japanese NJPW shows over the years, so I haven’t really been sure of what to expect from him in one on one matches. In this match against PJ Black, I would say that Owens’ biggest trait was that he was very smart. Black was aggressive and came at Owens in a lot of different ways, but Owens would always back off when he needed to, and he was able to avoid some of Black’s biggest moves and shut down him momentum time and time again. Owens aggravated Black to the point of Black making mistakes, and that’s when Owens capitalized. It was fun to watch.
Show Impressions
This was a good show. As the Road to Fighting Spirit Unleashed, there weren’t any super important matches tonight, but they did a nice job of getting me excited for the Fighting Spirit Unleashed shows. The action tonight was varied and good though, and that’s what I really what from these shows.
Match of the Night
Eight Man Tag
I liked the main event a lot as well, but the eight-man tag match was definitely had a lot more flash to it. Plus, I think being pleasantly surprised by some of the guys I didn’t expect anything from helped push this match over the top for me tonight.
Official Results: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/79270?showResult=1