New Japan Pro Wrestling presented another banner episode of NJPW STRONG on Saturday. This week’s show, taped in Garland, TX, saw Will Ospreay return to NJPW action against Karl Fredericks, his first match in the promotion since vacating (and then reneging on said vacation) the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
While Ospreay has wrestled a few matches for his home promotion, Revolution Pro Wrestling, he had yet to do more than run his mouth in an NJPW ring. That changed on Saturday, when Ospreay put down former Young Lion Karl Fredericks with the Hidden Blade. After the match, Ospreay welcomed TJP to The United Empire by letting him help in beating down the defeated Fredericks, as well as Clark Connors, who tried -in vain- to make the save.. TJP was looking to work out some frustration, as his 8-man tag match against Bullet Club devolved into a DQ and a brawl.
TJP joins the United Empire, and the LA Dojo has been destroyed at the conclusion of STRONG!
Watch NOW: https://t.co/AdKFwGovDD#njpwSTRONG #njAA pic.twitter.com/UzFRwPIXpo
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) October 17, 2021
Elsewhere on the card, The Super Coaches Taguchi & Romero snuck out a win over Isaacs & Nelson from Team Filthy. Romero & Taguchi both looked strong heading into this fall’s Best of Super Juniors tournament, and Alex Coughlin was defeated by Chris Dickinson.
Here are the full results:
10/16
NJPW STRONG
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Alex Coughlin Challenge Match Series: Chris Dickinson def. Alex Coughlin by submission via Cross Armbreaker. (13:03)
- Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Team Filthy (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson) by pinfall. (13:41)
Rocky Romero pinned Jorel Nelson via Backslide. - Juice Robinson, Lio Rush, Clark Connors & TJP def. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Chris Bey) by DQ. (11:07)
- Will Ospreay def. Karl Fredericks by pinfall via Hidden Blade. (18:08)
NJPW STRONG airs every Saturday on NJPWWorld.com at 8/7c.
CORRECTION: This article originally listed the wrong result for Coughlin vs. Dickinson and has been updated.
