Last STRONG title match of the year sees Fred Rosser challenge
Saturday at 8/7c, NJPW STRONG sees the Detonation series finish off 2021 in style. The year’s final title match will see Fred Rosser finally challenge STRONG Openweight Champion Tom Lawlor, driven by revenge and a desire for the gold.
Watch STRONG Saturdays at 8/7c on NJPW World!
Main event: STRONG Openweight Championship: Tom Lawlor vs Fred Rosser
Singles record: 1-0 Lawlor
Tom Lawlor seeks to make his sixth defence of the STRONG Openweight Championship with his most personal encounter yet. Over one year ago Lawlor did battle with Fred Rosser in a match that defied all expectations to become the top voted match of the year with STRONGT viewers. Rosser has campaigned for a rematch ever since, and would definitively earn his shot against the Filthy One in Philadelphia.
There Rosser, caught in a rear naked choke, shifted his weight backward to trap Lawlor’s shoulders to the mat for a three count. It was the first pinfall loss Lawlor had ever experienced in a NJPW ring; the embarrassment was acute and the revenge was swift. Lawlor would hold Rosser down as his hair was cut and identity shorn. For a man like Rosser who wears his heart proudly on his sleeve, this was unforgivable, and Mr. No Days Off has devoted every day at work since to ending the reign of Filthy Tom. Will he do it Saturday night in Riverside?
2nd Match: Rocky Romero, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Black Tiger)
Six man action in the second match of the evening will see fallout from Showdown in Philadelphia. There Rocky Romero would join Fred Rosser in ten man warfare with Team Filthy; Romero was closing in on victory when he was attacked by a figure from his past.
Some 15 years ago, Rocky was battling over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship under the Black Tiger mask; that night in Philadelphia, it was someone else under the same hood that attacked him with a kendo stick before landing a Tombstone piledriver. Tonight Rocky has solid backup in FinJuice as they take on three of Team Filthy’s best, including ‘Black Tiger’ himself.
1st Match: LA Dojo (Kevin Knight & The DKC) vs Jordan Clearwater & Brogan Finlay
The La Dojo’s Kevin Knight and the DKC will kick off the night’s action as they take on Jordan Clearwater and Brogan Finlay. Finlay returns for his first NJPW match since Autumn Attack in Texas, while clearwater returns after action on NJPW XTRA in recent weeks. Can either score their first NJPW pinfall win over the Young Lions tonight?
