NJPW Strong results: Cobb & Finlay vs. KENTA & Owens

Misterioso defeated Danny Limelight

Fine, slow-paced match. Misterioso caught Limelight when he went for a pescado to the floor and slammed him spine-first against the ring post on the floor.

Limelight skinned the cat, pulling himself from the rope back into the ring, and on his way up caught Misterioso with a headscissors and shifted the match momentum in his direction until Misterioso caught him with the MSR back cracker to put Limelight away in just over six minutes.

Hikuleo defeated TJP

Hikuleo used his abundant size and power to ragdoll TJP around early. TJP was able to slide out of his grasp a few times, at one point applying an Muta Lock on Hikuleo briefly; later, he locked on an octopus hold, but Hikuleo again powered out, then slammed him to the mat.

TJP used a big swinging DDT to spike Hikuleo midway through the match. TJP began unloading an arsenal of aerial moves Hikuleo’s way, though the youngest son of Haku always had an answer and returned TJP’s offense with power moves. He put TJP away with a snap power slam and the Gunslinger to win in dominant fashion. 

This was a good match that did a great job at establishing him as the real deal. TJP was great and Hikuleo is looking better with each match.

PJ Black defeated Alex Zayne

This match felt like something we’d see on NXT, lots of high flying spots and loads of nearfalls for a ten-minute match. Very flashy.

Black offered a handshake, but Zayne went for a roundhouse kick from the bell. Fast-paced action between the two for a few minutes until Black began to slow the pace. Black used a roundhouse kick of his own to put Zayne down, but he couldn’t pick up more than a two count. Black, frustrated, began shouting. When he came off the top, Zayne caught him with a wild spinning kick.

It was about five or six minutes into the match when the two started trading wild-looking high spots, with Zayne using what was called a ‘Crunchwrap Supreme’, a modified pumphandle bomb, at one point. After a top rope hurricanrana, and a picture-perfect moonsault press, Black went for another pin but again, only got a two count. He used a Spanish Fly from the top for another near fall.

Zayne used a shooting star kneedrop to Black, who was bent over. Alex Koslov on commentary also called this move the Crunchwrap Supreme, so I’m not sure what’s what. He put Zayne away with the Bad Habit for the win just after the ten-minute mark. Good flying match that would have been way better with a crowd, which would have ate this up, I imagine.

Jeff Cobb and David Finlay defeated Bullet Club (KENTA and Chase Owens)

This was great. Bullet Club ambushed Finlay and Cobb at the bell. They worked over Cobb for a bit until he was able to tag out to Finlay, who picked up a big win in last week’s 12-man elimination match.

Later, Owens clipped Jeff Cobb’s knee from behind and immediately tagged out to KENTA, who went right after Cobb’s knee. He and Owens switched on and off, keeping Cobb in the blue corner and always going back to the knee attacks. This more or less lasted until around five minutes into the match when Cobb was finally to tag out to Finlay.

Finlay tore through Bullet Club with a flurry of crisp offense. NJPW seems focused on rebranding him as a serious competitor, and he has looked better than ever on this show. He and KENTA were excellent together.

When Finlay tagged Cobb back in, Cobb laid in big elbows to Chase in the corner. KENTA hopped in from this point and the match began to spill out of control, bodies scattered in and outside the ring.

The last bit of this saw Finlay land a cool-looking swinging back cracker on Owens, but then Finlay ate a big high kick from KENTA. Cobb then stormed in and took KENTA out with a running lariat. He wasn’t able to make the cover, however, because he was holding his injured knee. 

Owens snuck back in and blasted him with a high knee strike for a close count, but Finlay dove in to make the save. KENTA threw Finlay from the ring, leaving Owens and Cobb together inside. After a big forearm smash, Cobb planted Owens with Tour of the Islands for the emphatic win.

Final thoughts:

This was a good show with a great main event. That’s saying a lot when it’s airing during the G1 tournament, though half of the wrestlers in tonight’s match are currently in the G1, so take it for what it’s worth.

Next week’s edition of NJPW Strong: NEVER will feature Jay White vs. Rocky Romero and Brody King and Flip Gordon vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).