Hamilton’s New Japan Lion’s Break Collision Review 7.11.20

Quick Results

Rust Taylor submitted The DKC in 7:30 (***¼)
TJP pinned Danny Limelight in 10:40

— We open with a recap of last week’s main event, with Not-Young-Lion Karl Fredericks backsliding Rocky Romero for the win… then getting into a shoving match with Jeff Cobb afterwards.

Kevin Kelly interviews Jeff Cobb, who’s on this show because he couldn’t make it to the New Japan Cup… Yes, I’m curious as to just what they’re blurring out on Kevin’s side of things. Cobb’s asked what he’s going to do to handle the Karl Fredericks situation… he’s going to sort it out himself.

— Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton and Gino Gambino are on tap for commentary.

The DKC vs. Rust Taylor

The DKC is Dylan Kyle Cox, so yeah, maybe the acronym is a catcher name… and I’m very familiar with Rust Taylor from his trips to Europe for wXw.

We get going with the pair tying up going into the ropes… so we get a forced break before we wash, rinse and repeat. Taylor catches DKC in a Corning hold, switching it into a hammerlock as he ends up taking him to the mat in a side headlock – throwing in a shot to the arm too as he went for two stretches in one.

Back to his feet, DKC goes for the leg and takes down Taylor, but Rust switched out and torques the arm and wrist of the DKC on the mat once again. A quick sunset flip from DKC gets a two-count, but Taylor goes back to the bat with a chinbar, as that arm remained his primary focus.

DKC gets back in as he wrenches and flips Taylor down by the arm, but a shot to the midsection puts Taylor back in it. A Jim Breaks-ish arm lift takes down DKC, as Taylor continued to dominate, laying in with some forearms from the mount before stretching DKC in a Japanese stranglehold.

DKC tries to get out into a pin from a Banana Split-like hold, but Taylor again manipulated his way free and drops a knee onto the arm once more. Forearms from the DKC get a response from Taylor, before a running ‘rana and a dropkick left Rust in a heap… a small package nearly gets the win, before an uppercut swats DKC out of mid air. Taylor’s back in with kicks, before he got flipped with almost a one-man Fidget Spinner for a near-fall.

In the end, the DKC runs into a big boot, as Taylor rolls him into what he calls a Gaia Lock – think a Rings of Saturn mixed with a grounded Octopus, and that’s enough to make anyone submit. An impressive outing for Rust, even if this was a competitive match… of course, I want to see more of Rust here! ***¼

— Filthy Tom Lawlor debuts next week against Rocky Romero.

— Rust has his post-match comments as the referee wiped down the ring. Taylor tells New Japan they’ll get the best in the world with him, and throws out some names for potential opponents. Maybe one day.

— We get the wacky adverts again, but not Clark Connors shilling soap…

Danny Limelight vs. TJP

Limelight styled out a slip on his way to the ring, and started out on the defensive as TJP took him to the corner. We’ve a clean break, as Limelight came back with a wristlock… which TJP floats out of.

A dropkick takes Danny down, before they went for a knuckle lock… which TJP turned into a trip as he wrestled Limelight to the mat for some pinning attempts. Limelight goes for a waistlock, but he’s taken down again as TJP again looked for some pinning attempts, before a shoulder tackle knocked Limelight down.

There’s a nice standing moonsault from Limelight as he leapt over TJP, but he couldn’t avoid some spinning headscissors as TJP took Limelight back to the mat. Limelight bridges to break pins, but TJP breaks the bridge before a wheelbarrow roll out and a springboard Flatliner had TJP rolling to the outside.

Limelight follows him with a wild Fosbury flop to the outside, before they returned inside… Limelight is taken into the corner, but gets crotched and met with a dropkick from the Tree of Woe position. TJP builds momentum with a back elbow, getting a near-fall, before TJP snapmared him to the mat for some rakes to the face.

Rolling suplexes follow from TJP, but Limelight escapes and cracks into him with a dropkick for a two-count. A side Russian legsweep from TJP blends into a grounded Octopus hold, before an Anaconda Vise trapped Limelight once again. Limelight rolls out to try and pin TJP, but the hold’s broken as TJP then worked his way into a Muta lock, breaking it so he can wrench Limelight’s shoulder for another near-fall.

An Irish whip takes Limelight into the corner, but he’s able to slip outside for a gamengiri before some nice rope walking allowed Danny to springboard up for a flying forearm. Very swish. Clotheslines keep TJP at bay, as does a half nelson suplex and a superkick, but it doesn’t get the job done. Danny heads up for a flying tornado DDT, but it only gets a near-fall as he goes up top again… TJP cuts him off and brings him down with a big superplex, and rolls it into a brainbuster before TJP finished off Limelight with a Mamba splash. Some good stuff for Limelight, but TJP’s experience was the edge here. ***½

— After the match, TJP puts over the LA Dojo, and called Limelight the future before heading off. Kevin Kelly wraps up the show as usual, confirming Filthy Tom Lawlor vs. Rocky Romero, plus Karl Fredericks is back in a tag team match against unspecified opponents.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

A bit more of a nuts and bolts show, with two matches and no new storylines, but at half an hour long, this absolutely breezed by. All three debutants showed something different, and while I’m biased, Rust Taylor perhaps edged the pack here… and next week we’ve got a more familiar newcomer in the form of Tom Lawlor.