The penultimate round of the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament will conclude on the July 30 episode of NJPW STRONG.
This week's episode will feature the second semifinal match; Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) will face Barrett Brown and Misterioso of Stray Dog Army. The winning team wil advance to the finals at NJPW STRONG High Alert.
Plus, in a star-studded six-man tag team match, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Fred Rosser and Kevin Knight will battle the Bullet Club trio of Jay White, Hikuleo, and Chase Owens.
Elsewhere on the show, Fred Yehi will battle Tyler Bateman, and Jordan Clearwater will face Jeff Cobb.
From NJPW:
NJPW STRONG history is made in our main event, as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is in action on the show for the first time, and shares a ring with the STRONG Openweight Champion for the first time in the process. Jay White continues the summer of the Switchblade as he leads Hikuleo and fellow G1 B Block entrant Chase Owens into battle.
In the opposite corner, Hiroshi Tanahashi returns to NJPW STRONG. Teaming with the Ace is a partner Tanahashi has long requested in the new STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser. Rosser is in action for the first time as the Openweight Champion, and will want to get his reign off to the best start as he carries the standard of STRONG into the future. Speaking of future prospects, Kevin Knight will be rounding up the trio, wanting to make a high flying mark on our main event.
The second semifinal in the STRONG Openweight Tag team Championship tournament sees the Stray Dog Army take on Aussie Open. With Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher’s incredible track record in the UK and beyond, Aussie Open are the oddsmakers’ favourites tonight in Hollywood, but after Yuya Uemura and Christopher Daniels shocked TMDK last week, one cannot discount Misterioso and Barrett Brown. Indeed, the Stray Dog Army already advanced past a highly accomplished and decorated tag team to get to this point in Midnight Heat, and will be fighting to show the world that they aren’t to be looked past.
Bateman will be looking to make it a sweep for Stray Dog Army on this week’s STRONG when he takes on the Savageweight Fred Yehi. Bateman and Yehi’s issues go back to six man tag action weeks ago on STRONG, where Yehi was able to lead the LA Dojo Young Lions to victory over Bateman’s Stray Dog Army. The group’s twisted leader demanded a change of focus for he, Misterioso and Barrett Brown, and the latter’s tag team success of late is evidence that the plan is working. Will that be the case for Bateman himself, or will Yehi serve up a savage Saturday night of suplexes and submissions?
Starting off this week’s STRONG, Jordan Clearwater returns to Saturday night competition to face Jeff Cobb. While showing immense potential, ‘Golden Child’ Clearwater was still searching for his first big statement win the last we saw him on STRONG. That could come at the expense of the Imperial Unit; a difficult match indeed for the financial expert could potentially see his stock price rise exponentially tonight.
The card is as follows:
- NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinal: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) vs. Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown and Misterioso)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Fred Rosser, & Kevin Knight vs. Bullet Club (Jay White, Hikuleo, & Chase Owens)
- Jordan Clearwater vs. Jeff Cobb
- Fred Yehi vs. Tyler Bateman
NJPW STRONG airs at 8 p.m. ET on NJPW World. Fightful will have results from the show following its conclusion. Fans can find results from past NJPW STRONG episodes at Fightful's results section.
