Tom Lawlor On His Feud With Fred Rosser, STARDOM Talent Competing on NJPW Strong

Tom Lawlor is a big part of NJPW Strong, and he recently discussed his feud with Fred Rosser, STARDOM talent competing on the brand and more. Lawlor spoke with Fightful for a new interview and you can check out some highlights below:

On his match against Homicide at New Japan Showdown: “This is not Ring of Honor. This is not Homicide’s heyday anymore. I defeated Homicide at Bloodsport. You mentioned that we faced off, but you didn’t mention who won. There are a lot of similarities and differences. One of the similarities is I’m gonna be getting my hand raised at the end of the contest on Sunday just like I did at Bloodsport 3. Homicide—the guy’s not a skilled technician clearly. He’s not gonna be able to match me hold for hold, but I’ll give him his due, he’s a tough guy. He likes to fight. He talks a big game. Scares people with his attitude and his aura, if you will. I’m not one of these people who’s scared of him. Maybe on Homicide’s day and my worst day at this point, he’d have a shot at beating me. But it’s not gonna be that day on Sunday.”

On having pride in how NJPW Strong has developed as a brand: “Absolutely. Being a part of New Japan, whether it’s overseas in Japan or here in the USA is a big deal to me. So to that, I’m proud to say that I’ve been a part of New Japan Strong since the very beginning is another thing that I’m very proud of. I don’t take the fact that I was the first and for a long time the only champion in New Japan Strong history, lately is another thing I, once again, am very proud of. I put in a lot of work and effort into that title. I held it very, very close to my heart. I think it was the best work that I’ve done inside the professional wrestling ring bar none.

“It’s something I would love to be associated with, for the rest of my career, I’m happy to hear that you bring that up and you say, ‘You helped create a brand here in the USA.’ Because there are interchangeable wrestlers to a certain degree with New Japan and Strong. You have guys going back and forth and you’re gonna have guys going back and forth even more now the borders have opened up a little bit. I’m sure we’ll talk about it a little more, but when I was overseas in Japan, one of the things that made me the happiest would be when I’d have fans come up and say, ‘Hey, I watched New Japan Strong every week. I’m here to support you. I’ve been watching you in the G1 for the past month, but I watch you on New Japan Strong every week and we want to see the rest of Team Filthy over here. We want to see you here all the time.’ That really makes me feel awesome as a professional.”

On his feud with Fred Rosser: “Yeah, well, Fred is the type of guy that when I first found out I was gonna face him, I had no clue what to expect. My exposure to Fred Rosser had been what he was as Darren Young. Which is a very far cry from who Fred Rosser really is and who he’s turned out to be. I didn’t know what to think going into that first match. Ever after that, obviously, I respected him. I loved being able to wrestle against him. As you mentioned, you thought it made me better. Well, one hundred percent that feud did make me better, being in the ring with Fred made me better. Fred’s a ton of worldwide experience at a very high level. While maybe it didn’t work out the way that he had always dreamed that it did, I think you can say he is accomplishing his dreams pretty well right now. I wouldn’t say I like Fred, but clearly, I do respect the guy. I respect his message. I think that people gravitate to him and maybe sometimes take the wrong part of his message. But Fred is, I hate to say it, Fred is as much a part of New Japan Strong as I am.”

On New Japan stars he wants to face: “I need a singles match with Zack Sabre, Jr. before all is said and done. I need a singles match with Great-O-Khan before all is said and done. I need a singles match with any of the guys over there. I need a singles match with Ren Narita, the Son of Strong Style in New Japan. I fought him over here a few times. But any of the guys who can go on the mat at a high level, at a world-class level, that have shoot-fighting skills, those are the guys I want to go against. I had to spend forty days going against tall dudes, fat dudes, gigantic muscular guys. I’m sick of it. I want to do some mat wrestling for a little bit. I guess some of those guys aren’t very small. But I wanted to display my shoot fighting skills. I don’t like getting crushed, squished. That’s not fun.”

On STARDOM competing on NJPW Strong shows: “I’m pumped up. I wish I knew who was coming over so I could be even more excited. There are so many awesome wrestlers that STARDOM could send over. I just want to know who it’s going to be. What direction are they going to go? Are we going to get top-notch, skilled power fighters like Hayashishita? Or are we gonna get someone like Mina Shirakawa and the Cosmic Angels, who have a more playful side? I’m just interested to see who exactly we’re going to get because there are so many different aspects of STARDOM. It’s not like a promotion where people a lot of people are homogenous, you know what I mean? You have a lot of varying styles, a lot of varying colors, costumes, looks. It’s something that we have, obviously, women’s wrestling here in the USA, but it is a different product compared to what you see in Japan and I can’t wait to see it here live. I was lucky enough to see Korakuen Hall and go to a STARDOM show in Japan, so any chance you get to watch or be on a show with whoever it is, I’m sure it’s going to be one of the best wrestlers in the world. There’s too many of ‘em for it to not be.”