NJPW Strong results: Jay White vs. Karl Fredericks

Clark Connors and The DKC def. Logan Riegel and Sterling Riegel

The two stormed at each other as the bell sounded. Sterling worked over Connors for a bit until the Young Lion came back and pushed both Riegel twins out of the ring. Connors tagged out to The DKC next, who came in and used muay thai-style knees from the clinch. He followed with a knife-edge karate chop to lay Riegel out. Interesting double team moves from the twins here, but when they went for a double team DDT, DKC countered and rolled Sterling up for a surprise win. Short, but good match. 

Bullet Club (Tanga Loa, Chase Owens, & Hikuleo) defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, & Misterioso

Fine match. Loa and Misterioso were first. Babyfaces worked over Loa early on until Hikuleo tagged in and cleared the ring with ease. Juice Robinson came in later and turned the tables in favor of his team. After five minutes into the match, Chase Owens was able to stop Juice and tagged out to Loa, while Juice tagged out to Misterioso. When Misterioso missed on a moonsault attempt, Loa capitalized and used the Apesh*t piledriver to pick up the win for his team.

Tama Tonga defeated ACH

The story throughout most of this was that ACH would try to pick up the tempo and use aerial offense while Tonga would try and slow things down with less wrestling holds and more bullying. ACH went for a penalty kick on the apron early, but Tonga cut that off, tripping ACH onto the edge of the apron. There is a nice dynamic between these two.

Later in the match, ACH flashed Tonga a DX-style crotch chop, then put him on the mat with a snap powerslam. ACH is clearly a lot stronger than so many modern junior heavyweights. 

At the ten-minute call, ACH landed a deadlift German suplex, just like how Vader used to do it, for two. He went to the top next, but Tonga avoided that and moments later, he landed a sudden Gun Stun, which looked great, and picked up the win. Good match. Two totally different styles working and complementing each other. 

Jay White defeated Karl Frdericks

White slipped out of the ring just after the bell sounded. Mind games as per usual. He caught Fredericks with a side headlock once he stepped into the ring. Every match White has seems to flow at his pace, which often starts off slow and deliberate.

Fredericks responded minutes later with a big shoulder block. When White slipped to the floor, Fredericks followed. Back in the ring, when Fredericks went for a big boot in the corner, White moved aside and took advantage, dragging Fredericks back down to the mat to lock in a chinlock, and later a patronizing Single leg crab onto the former young lion.

Fredericks clawed his way back into the match with a pele kick. He followed that up with a stinger splash into the corner.

White tried shoving the ref into Fredericks, but the ref just moved. Fredericks went for manifest destiny, but White kept avoiding it. Fredericks began laying in a flurry of elbows before landing a basement dropkick in the corner before he locked in his own signature single leg crab. White got to the ropes to force the break. 

Fredericks again went for manifest destiny, but White again survived and once he found the right moment, he snapped Fredericks onto his back  with a backdrop driver. White wasn’t able to make the cover. He went for blade runner but Fredericks countered into a cradle. 

Lots of quick exchanges and counters toward the finish. Fredericks landed a spine buster for a close two, but White responded with a sleeper suplex and landed the blade runner for the win. Announcers sold the idea that things would have been different if Fredericks had landed manifest destiny.

In his post-match promo, White explained that he was one step ahead of everyone in NJPW. He talked trash to Karl Fredericks, saying he may as well quit now because there’s no chance he’ll ever catch up to where Jay White is now. 

Final thoughts: Good show. White vs. Fredericks and Tonga vs. ACH were quality matches. Next week will be Brody King vs KENTA for the right to challenge for the IWGP US title, something promoted heavily throughout the show.