NJPW Strong Independence Day 7/4/2023 Day 1

NJPW Strong Independence Day 7/4/2023 Day 1

Dragon Libre, Kengo & Takahiro Katori vs. Oskar Leube, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOH

I never thought I'd see Dragon Libre and Katori on an NJPW show. Oskar pushes Libre over on the lock-up and challenges him to a test of strength. Libre can't reach it, so he kicks him then dropkicks his knee. Oskar shoulders him over hard. Katori comes in with hi s toy rabbit which Taguchi points at. Taguchi shoulders him over and Katori kips up. Katori springboard twisting crossbodies him then throws the toy at him and dropkicks him.

Taguchi goes for a hip attack but gets atomic dropped, then hits it on the 2nd attempt. Yoh running back elbows and neckbreakers Katori for 2. Oskar chops and hiptoses Katori. Taguchi hits Katori with his toy then shoves it in his mouth. Taguchi then puts it in his pants and puts it in his mouth.

Katori suplexes Taguchi then Kengo misses a facekick on Taguchi. Kengo stares down with Oskar then dropkicks Taguchi against the 2nd rope. Taguchi misses a hip attack on Kengo then Taguchi rolls into a butt bump on him. Taguchi tags and hands the toy to Yoh. Yoh flying forearms Kengo and does Katori's pose. Yoh then puts the toy in his pants and trades forearms with Kengo. Kengo spin kicks him in the gut and corner lariats him.

Libre top rope crossbodies Yoh and jumping knees him in the corner. Libre meteora's him and Yoh takes corner moves. Yoh takes a sandwich knee + kick then is swinging neckbreakered. Oskar hits a big slam on Kengo then Libre superkicks Yoh. Yoh double underhook suplexes him for the win.

It went closer to 11 minutes. It was a fun opener with the NJPW guys having fun with Katori's toys. Libre and Kengo didn't really get to do a lot here. Oskar looked good.

Alex Zayne, Lance Archer & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Team Filthy (Jorel Nelson, JR Kratos & Royce Isaacs)

Jorel hits shots on Oiwa then takes forearms. Oiwa armdrags him then shoulders him. Oiwa hits a slam on Jorel and splashes him for 2.  Royce slides under Alex and has knees dropped on his back then Alex does a corkscrew running ssp on him. Alex jumping back elbows him in the corner then Royce 2nd rope forearms him.

Alex takes a double atomic drop then takes sliding moves. JR chest slaps Alex and hits a big forearm in the corner. Alex is whipped hard into the buckle and goes down then takes a suplex throw. JR knocks Lance off the apron and Lance yells at him. JR deadlift suplexes Alex then JR's team all does poses.

Alex flips out of a german then flipping legdrops Royce over the neck. Lance and JR get tagged in and the crowd pops big. They trade shots. JR hits forearms and gets one blocked with a knee. JR jumping forearms Lance then Lance does a bodyblock. Lance slams Oiwa onto JR and JR's team takes running corner moves. Lance suplexes Alex onto JR, who flips. JR deadlift pickups Alex then slams him.

Oiwa rolls up JR for 2 then Alex headscissors someone over the top. Oiwa is popped up from JR and has the growth on his head busted open. JR cannonballs opponents off the apron and Oiwa hits forearms and a dropkick on Jorel. Oiwa hits a great Karelin's lift on Jorel for 2. Royce spinning slaps Oiwa then does a full-nelson in a german. Jorel hits a Cody cutter on Oiwa and wins it.

It was a fun little tag match. The crowd was into it, Oiwa got some shine spots, we got blood and we go to see Lance and JR go at it.

Eddie Kingston & Rocky Romero vs. BULLET CLUB (Gedo & KENTA)

They stall a bunch to start. Rocky and Gedo lock up and they hit each other. Rocky eye pokes Gedo then Gedo takes a double shoulder. Eddie suplexes Gedo then Rocky drops Gedo with a punch. Gedo pulls Rocky out and Kenta kicks him on the floor. Kenta drops Eddie on the floor with kicks then hits some bad mounted punches.

Gedo chokes Rocky and bangs his head off the buckle. Kenta drops Rocky with a punch. Rocky goes for the tag and Gedo rips at his face. Rocky is held in the corner but slips out and jumping knees Kenta. Eddie gets the hot tag in and hits chops on both opponents.

Eddie throws both in the corner and machine gun chops Gedo and Kenta. Eddie exploders Kenta and we get "Eddie" chants. Kenta forearms Eddie and is chopped. Kenta ddt's Eddie then Gedo superkicks Eddie. Eddie tells him no and is hit from behind. Rocky hits corner lariats on both opponents then double lariats them. Rocky single leg dropkicks Kenta on the floor then Eddie is kicked by Gedo. He blocks his 2nd kick and uraken's him for the win.

The finish was kind of lame as it just doesn't look that painful. It was a very basic and by the numbers match with no one doing anything too crazy.

Momo Kohgo & Willow Nightingale vs. Mafia Bella (Giulia & Thekla)

Willow backs up Gulia and they trade chops. Willow slams her. Momo and Thekla go at it. Momo does a nice armdrag and the two try to dropkick each other. Thekla slams her then Giulia throws her by the hair. Giulia running back elbows her and foot chokes her. Momo dropkicks Giulia then 619's her.

Willow gets in and hits lariat and a hip attack on Giulia. She then front kicks her. Willow spinebusters her then samoan drops her. Willow hits a big forearm on Giulia then takes a facekick. Thekla puts an octopus hold on Willow then Momo takes a hart attack variation. Willow hits a nasty uranage on Thekla and goes up top. Thekla hangs from the top then superplexes her over. Giulia top rope dropkicks Willow then Thekla top rope crossbodies Willow on the floor.

Thekla buzzsaw kicks Willow then Willow hits a big double clothesline. Willow and Momo go up top and Willow throws Momo off the top onto both opponents. Momo corner dropkicks Thekla then Willow cannonballs her. Willow hits a death valley driver for 2 then hits a nasty sit out powerbomb on Thekla to win it.

Willow was real stiff here and probably hurt Thekla with the uranage and powerbomb. The match was decent at times but it went on a little longer than it needed and wasn't the cleanest match ever.

Willow holds up her belt to Giulia then Giulia slaps her chest willow knocks her down and tells her she will see her tomorrow.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title Match - Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd)

The heels throw steps and chairs and the crowd just kind of wonders what the yare doing. The faces get hit with belts to start and the heels tell the ref to ring the bell. Goto and Yoshi are thrown into the rails and Alex chokes Goto with his foot. Goto is thrown into the apron and Kidd flips off the crowd. Yoshi is sent hard into the steps and then is held up for chops.

Alex does a nice gutwrench throw on Yoshi. The two trade forearms and Yoshi goes down. Alex forearms him down again then Yoshi knee dropkicks and neckbreakers him. Goto gets the hot tag in and shoulders over and lariats Kidd. Goto corner lariats him then top rope elbow drops him. Goto and Kidd trade forearms and Kidd spinning chops him. They lariat battle and Kidd slaps him hard. Goto slaps him back then neckbreakers him over the knee.

Yoshi hits forearms and chops on Kidd in the corner. Yoshi double chops him then hits a running blockbuster for 2. Goto hits a big lariat on Kidd then Kidd takes a superkick + neckbreaker on the knee. Goto lariats Alex hard then kidd takes a superkick. Kidd suplexes Goto then Yoshi superkicks Kidd. Kid lariatas his partner off the apron on accident then Alex chairs Yoshi right in front of the ref.

Goto hits forearms on both opponents then Goto takes a double chokeslam. The heels hit a double muscle buster then Yoshi takes a spike tombstone for the Alex and Kidd win.

It was a good match and the teams worked really well together. I did not like the chair spot in front of the ref at all as that should have been a DQ. The heels looked good here and it's good to finally see them getting their due in Japan.

Doomsday No Disqualification Tag Team Match - Homicide & Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai

The crowd came to see Kasai and went nuts for him. Kasai brought out a forkboard. They all fight to start and Despy hits Mox with kendo sticks. Despy hits Homicide with a trash can lid as does Jun. Mox hits Despy in the stands and they trade forearms in the aisle up there. Jun and Homicide trade forearms and Mox is back body dropped on the aisle. June takes a trash can lid shot to the head then hits Homicide with it. Mox forks Despy then is thrown into the wall by Jun.

Homicide and Despy trade shots and Mox throws a chair at Jun. Jun spits water at Mox then hits him in the head with it. Homicide takes a cane shot to the back and Mox hits Jun while he's on a chair. Homicide low blows Despy then Despy takes down Mox and pounds on him. Jun takes a razor to Homicide's head then Jun takes a back body drop on the fork board.

Homicide gets a fork and stabs Jun then Mox slams Despy on the fork board. Mox stabs Despy with the fork while Homicide does the same to Jun. Jun gets the fork put in his mouth then is stabed in the armpit with it. Despy is backdropped on the fork board and Homicide hits and chokes Jun with a chain. Mox piledrives Despy then Mox does a bad tope on Jun outside.

Despy and Homicide trade shots then Homicide puts a fork in Despy's crotch. Mox figure fours Despy then the two trade forearms. Mox kicks Despy in the gut then dropkicks him in the knee. Homicide is back body dropped over the top then Jun hits a corner lariat and suplex on Mox. Jun hits Mox with a razor then brings out a razor blade cross. Jun germans Mox then goes hed first into the razor board. Mox shotgun dropkicks him into it then curb stomps him for 2.

Mox rains down elbows on him and they trade forearms. Jun headbutts him and takes a cutter. Jun lariats Homicide and makes the tag to Despy for some reason, even though it's been a tornado tag all match long. Despy spinesbuters Homicide and back body drops Despy over the top. Despy hits Homicide with a trash can then pumphandle drivers him. Jun hits his splash off the top then Despy hits an angel's wings for 2 on Homicide. Mox takes a step up enzugiri and a backdrop.

Jun puts skewers into Mox's head and Homicide low blows Despy. Despy low blows him then hits an angel's wings on a trash can on him for the win.

The selling wasn't too good as you would expect here but it was a fun match. The tag near the end didn't make much sense since this was a tornado tag all throughout. It was a good main and the crowd made everything better.

Overall thoughts: I only missed 2 matches here but I liked the show. There was a fun mix of guys and we got to see some matches and matchups we would never otherwise see. The deathmatch wasn't the greatest match ever but the crowd loved it and it made everything they did that much better.