New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/15/2024 Strong Style Evolved 2024

New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/15/2024 Strong Style Evolved 2024

Mina Shirakawa vs. Johnnie Robbie

Mina wristlocks her and JR rolls out. Mina spin kicks her in the gut then JR hits armdrags. Mina ducks a lariat and shimmies. Mina basement dropkicks her. JR slingshot stomps her on the apron. JR corner euros her then does a half-straightjacket backcracker.

Mina springboard kicks her and hits a reverse ddt for 2. They trade chest forearms and regular forearms. Mina dropkicks her in the knee. Mina drops down on the knee and JR hits a bad rewind kick.

Mina hits kicks to the leg and JR northern lights suplexes her for 2. JR fisherman suplexes her for 2. Mina figure fours her and JR ropebreaks. JR hits slaps and a euro. Mina urakens her. Mina 2nd rope diving slingblades her for 2.

JR cradles her for 2 then rolls her up for another 2. Mina spinning forearms her and does a lifting reverse ddt for the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't that good. Mina's not the best and did her usual legwork oriented match. JR was pretty sloppy here.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title Match - Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) (c) vs. The West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)

Drake and Royce go at it. Drake hits some forearms and side headlocks him. They shoulderblock battle. Drake rolls him up and is shouldered over. JN dragon screws Drake and Royce hits a sliding lariat for 2.

Gibson hits forearms on JN. They trade euros. JN crossfaces him and Gibson ropebreaks. Gibson takes a double atomic drop and a running knee to the body from Royce. Royce hits karelin's lift on Gibson. Royce is tripped into a basement dropkick. Drake jumps off Gibson's back to dropkick JN on the apron.

Drake hits forearms on Royce. Drake chinlocks him. Royce tries to backdrop him out of it but Drake hangs on. Gibson eye rakes Royce then chokes him on the ropes. Gibson lariats him for 2 and chinlocks him. Royce back body drops him. Drake tags back in. Royce germans him.

JN gets in and gets offense in on the heels. He then chops both in the corner. JN short arm lariats Drake. JN hits a top rope double crossbody on his opponents. JN takes a double shoulder then Royce double lariats The Vets. Royce lariats both opponents in the corners and yanks Drake into an overhead suplex.

Royce lariats Gibson over the top. Royce takes an enzugiri > STO > koji clutch. The four square off and trade forearms. Drake takes a falcon arrow + powerbomb combo. Gibson takes corner attacks and is death valley drivered onto Gibson's knees.

Gibson rolls up Royce for 2. Royce superman punches Gibson. Drake pulls Royce down with a towel around the neck. Royce rolls up Drake with the tights and picks up the win.

Thoughts: I was surprised to see the titles change here. It was fine but just never got great. I thought the finish could have been a bit better.

Rocky Romero comes out after. He says he wanted to congratulate Nelson and Royce. He says them winning was truly moving. He says he wants to be their first challengers though and says his partner will be Yoh. They shake hands and Royce germans Rocky. The champs then put the titles in Rocky's face and hold them over him.

Clark Connors vs KUSHIDA vs Kosei Fujita vs TJP

Clark has a chair as it starts and gets beaten up by everyone. Kosei headbutts TJP. Kosei step up enzugiri's him. Kosei kicks him in the back and TJP backbreakers Kosei. TJP hits facewash kicks on Kosei. Clark side slams Kosei. Clark overhead throws Kosei. Kosei chops him. TJP is thrown over the top.

Clark pounds on Kush and sends him into the corner. Clark headbutts and powerslams TJP for 2. TJP hits a slam and Kosei springboard double dropkicks his opponents. TJP is on the apron and Clark spears him between the ropes. Kush hiptoss cartwheel dropkicks Clark. Kush diving tornado ddt's Clark on the floor.

TJP tornado ddt's Kush inside. Kush la magistral's TJP for 2. Clark pounces Kush then powerslams TJP. Clark tries spear TJP but gets double stomped. TJP does a hold on Kosei and Clark at the same time and Kush breaks it up.

All 4 men go down after stereo double lariat spots. Kosei deadlift germans Kush. Clark throws Kosei out, goes for the pin on Kush and is kimura'd. TJP breaks it up with a splash off the top. Kosei step up enzugiri's TJP. Kosei surfboards Clark with a chinlock and TJP pins Kush while he does it to win.

Thoughts: It was pretty hectic here with lots of people coming in and out. It was your usual 4-way where it was hard to build any stories in particular because of all the action going on. The crowd seemed to like it. 

Hechicero vs Lio Rush

It was a fast paced match as expected here. They goofed around a little at the start but it was all good the rest of the way. The two worked well together and got some good stuff out of each other here. Hech went into the crowd to celebrate his win after.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Titan) vs. United Empire (Jakob Austin Young & Templario)

HT = Hiromu Takahashi

HT's team is hit from behind as it starts. HT makes Jake headscissors his own opponent. He corner lariats Jake then basement dropkicks him. HT runs around the ring and crossbodies his opponents. Titan top rope double stomps Jake's arm and hits kicks.

Titan rolls him into an indian deathlock variation. HT hits double axe handle shots and takes a dropkick from Jake. Temp splashes HT's leg. Temp walks up the ropes and dropkicks HT into a Jake suplex. Jake hits corner euros on HT.

Jake 2nd rope dropkicks HT for 2. HT falcon arrows Jake. Both tag out. Titan springboard crossbodies Temp and strike combos him. Temp superkicks him. Titano tornado ddt's him. Titan bodyscissors Temp over the top and top rope moonsaults him.

Titan does a weird drop on Temp. Temp fireman's carry gutbusters Titan for 2. Titan is lifted into a Temp german. Jake takes kicks from both opponents. Temp then takes a double superkick. Titan lariats Temp through the ropes and goes out. HT helps Titan up the ropes and Titan springboard splashes Temp. Temp powerbomb backbreakers Titan and wins.

Thoughts: It was another solid fast paced match. The selling wasn't the best but they kept it moving and had some highlights before getting out of there. I doubt this is leading to anything and just was a way to get people on the show and fill time.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Title Match - Gabe Kidd (c) vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Gabe hits shots on Oiwa to start. Oiwa misses a corner charge and is slapped. Gabe hits chops and slaps. Oiwa armdrags him, Gabe headscissors him and Oiwa headlock takeovers him. Oiwa headlocks him.

Oiwa side headlock takeovers him. Gabe throws Oiwa over the top. Gabe lariats him outside. Gabe throws him on his chest in the ring. Gabe chops Oiwa up. Gabe chops up Oiwa and Oiwa spinning forearms him.

They trade chops. Oiwa germans him then backdrops him. Oiwa germans Gabe for 2. Gabe rebound lariats Oiwa for 2. Gabe brainbusters Oiwa for 2. They try to gutwrench eah other at the same time. They lariat each other and trade slaps. Oiwa rolls him up for 2. Oiwa doctor bombs him. Clark Connors comes out and pulls the ref out.

Clark chairs Oiwa in the gut then the back. Kosei Fujita comes out to help. Oiwa hits lariats on Gabe. Gabe germans him for 2. Oiwa hits a big lariat. Gabe piledrivers him for 2. Gabe then pins him with a doctor bomb and wins.

Thoughts: The crowd was pretty dead for this. That's the hazard of doing longer shows like this. They have styles that work together but the energy just wasn't there and it didn't feel like Oiwa was really giving his best for this one. This had a lot of bad slaps and decent lariats. The interference didn't add anything to this.

Gabe gets on the mic after. He says this is the last time he steps on this logo before he fights Kenny in the Tokyo Dome. He calls him a little b!tch for taking time off and says Kenny will wish diverticulitis killed him off due to the beating he will give him. He then talks about fighting Tomohiro Ishii in San Jose.

Dirty Work (Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor) & Shota Umino vs. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Zack facekicks Shota and gets forearmed. They trade euros. Shota misses an enzugiri then armdrags him. Zack headscisosrs him and they stand off. Tom and Shane go at it. They go to the mat. Shane snaps Tom's suspenders into him. Tom then hits shots on him and is rolled up. Tom knees him in the face. Shane takes a forearm + russian legsweep.

Tito and Fred trade chops. They shoulder battle then Tito takes a double shoulder. Tito spinebusters Fred. Tito stands on Fred's crotch in the corner. Zack twists Fred's head with his feet. Shane dropkicks Fred in the back of the neck.

Tito overhead suplexes Fred for 2. Shane falcon arrows Fred for 2. Zack cobra twists Shota outside then does a cobra clutch out of it. Tito foot chokes tom outside. Fred hits a gutbuster on Tom. Shota dropkicks Shane.

Shota fisherman suplexes Shane for 2. Shane dropkicks Shota. Zack gets in and pele kicks the arm. Zack armbars Shota. Zack slaps Shota multiple times and Shota overhead suplexes him. Shota tornado ddt's him.

Ito and Tom trade forearms. Tom hits a forearm combo. Fred powerslams Tito and knocks Tom off the top rope on accident. Tom hits a top rope diving forearm on Tito for 2. Tito forearms Tom then F-5's him.

Fred and Shane fight on the apron and Fred backdrops Shane there. Shota euros Zack off a backslide. Zack michinoku drivers him. Tom stomps Tito's F-5. Tito screwdrivers Tom and wins.

Fred has words with Shane and Tito after. Shota and Zack tease getting into a fight.

Thoughts: I didn't like most of Tom's work here. I'm sure he tried just he's older, a bit slower and it didn't look good. Fred knocking Tom off the top on accident was a bad look. The wrestlers were a little disconnected from each other here with Shota and Zack focusing on each other and the other four doing their own thing. It was a slower match at times and the crowd wasn't into it. I didn't like this that much.

Jack Perry & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji)

KT = Konosuke Takeshita

Jack side headlocks Yota and tags out. KT and Shingo get in. They shoulder battle. KT eye rakes him and is back body dropped. KT flying lariats him. Shingo hiptosses him then shoulders him over. KT takes a double shoulderblock. Jack pulls Yota out and throws him into a ring crew guy outside. He then beats him up on the rails. KT beats up Shingo outside and sends him into the post.

They get back in and Jack hits back kicks on Yota. Jack suplexes Yota then chinlocks him. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Jack. Shingo gets in and hits a double lariat on his opponents but only Jack goes down. Shingo double chops KT then takes a hard forearm. They trade shots and KT forearms him down. KT 2nd rope sentons him for 2.

Shingo hits forearms and chops on KT. KT facekicks him. Shingo dragon screws him. Jack gets in. He corner lariats Shingo and basement dropkicks him. Jack hits forearms on Shingo and eye rakes him. Shingo punches him then hits a ddt.

Yota armdrags Jack then legsweeps him. Yota does his curbstomp on Jack for 2. Jack neckbreakers Yota. Yota hits a superkick on KT. Shingo and KT hit corner attacks. Shingo does a punch and chop combo then suplexes him.

Shingo does a gori special to KT. KT rolls him into a wheelbarrow german. KT blue thunders Shingo for 2. KT and Shingo trade forearms. KT forearms him. They lariat each other at the same time and KT poisonrana's him. Shingo flips KT with a lariat. KT no sells it and running knees him.

Yota and Jack get in. Yota headbutts him and misses a marlow crash. Jack low blows him then running knees him for the win.

Thoughts: Jack beating Yota was not exactly something I expected. The Shingo and KT sections were good and the work with Jack was pretty average. It was a decent match overall and picked up in the second half once KT and Shingo started fighting.

The heels beat up Shingo and Yota after. Hiromu Takahashi comes out for the save. The Young Bucks then come out and superkick Hiromu. The Bucks get on the mic after. They put themselves over. They talk about matches they had in the area and bring up fighting Ibushi and Omega. They ask whatever happened to them and Nick says they are injury prone. They say they didn't come to play politics but to win the tag titles on 1/5. 

NJPW STRONG Women's Title Match - Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Hazuki

They lock up and Haz is backed up in the corner. Mone then messes with Haz's hair. Haz shoulders her over then Mone flying headscissors her. Mone armdrags her then la mistica drops her into a crossface.

Haz goes out to regroup. Mone hits a shot on her then walks up the buckles and armdrags her. Haz dropkicks Mone. Haz hair throws Mone. Mone trips her then bangs Haz's head off the buckles. Mone hits a knee flurry to the face. Haz ddt's Mone for 2. 

Haz slams Mone then kneels on her on the bottom rope. Haz does facewash kicks. Haz crossfaces her. Mone jawbreakers her then hits a hard knee to the face. Mone flying double knee hes her in the corner then meteora's her for 2. Haz ddt's her over the middle rope onto the apron. Haz topes Mone outside three times in a row.

Mone gets back in and is senton'd. Haz springboard dropkicks Mone for 2. Haz crossfaces her. Mone reverses it and puts it on her. They trade forearms and slaps. Mone suplexes her and holds on for 2 more. Mone hits a top rope frogsplash on Haz for 2. 

Mone does another crossface. Haz hits forearms on Mone on the buckles. Haz superplexes her. Haz does a rings of saturn. Haz misses a top rope senton. Mone sunset bombs her in the corner and meteora's her in the corner. Mone 2nd rope meteora's her for 2. Haz pump kicks Mone then codebreakers her while she's on the middle rope.

Haz 2nd rope sentons Mone for 2. Haz 2nd rope codebreakers Mone for 2. Mone backcrackers her for 2. Mone does it twice more then powerbombs her for 2. Mone hits the mone maker for 2. Haz la magistrals her for 2 then Mone hits a mone maker for the win.

Thoughts: This was a long one with a lot of kickouts. The work was pretty good with everything they did being hit clean and looking good. They did keep a good pace to this one too. The work in it was really above the usual offerings and it was one of Mone's best matches yet in the US. I thought it was good but I thought it could have been a little shorter and had more of a story.

Mone gets n the mic after. She says the Strong title was destined to be hers. She said she didn't walk out as champ for the title and ended up going to the hospital. She said she can say she's still the Strong champ. She says she knows what her fate is for next year. She says she wants to go to the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Dynasty. She asks who's ready to step up to The CEO?

Mina Shirakawa comes out. She says Mone wants a lot of things like money, fame and titles. She says the real question is if she wants Mina. Mina says she wants the title at Wrestle Dynasty. Mone tells her to defend her Rev Pro title and put it on the line at Wrestle Dynasty. They then dance together.

Overall thoughts: It was a long show with more matches than necessary and everything getting enough time. I'm not a huge fan of these shows as generally, nothing really happens that affects storylines that much and it's not quite the true NJPW experience. I thought they put out a nice card on this one and put a lot of good names on it. The main was the best thing on here, the semi main was good, I liked some of Kidd/Oiwa and I liked Hechicero vs Rush. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 but I wouldn't recommend it due to the length.