The lineup is set for Saturday's NJPW STRONG.
NJPW announced that Will Ospreay will defend what he is calling the "real" IWGP" Heavyweight Championship against Karl Fredericks in the main event of NJPW STRONG Autumn Attack on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
The other two matches will see Bullet Club, Lio Rush, Juice Robinson, Rocky Romero, and more in action.
Autumn Attack continues this Saturday on NJPW STRONG, with four matches, none bigger than Will Ospreay’s first NJPW bout in five months, defending the ‘Real’ IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Karl Fredericks.
Our main event this week sees Karl Fredericks go head to head with Will ospreay. When Ospreay returned to NJPW at Resurgence, it was with an even more pronounced chip on his shoulder than ever to accompany his ‘real’ IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Ospreay had plenty of vitriol in LA for current champion Shingo Takagi, the field of competition in Japan, and indeed the competition on STRONG, which included the ‘LA Dojo losers’.
Ospreay sneered that the LA Dojo simply did not ‘produce killers’, something Fredericks was keen and quick to refute. The Alpha Wolf called out Ospreay on NJPW STRONG, leading to a wild brawl and a Hidden Blade delivered to Katsuyori Shibata’s first graduate. On STRONG this week, he will seek to shut Ospreay’s sizable mouth in a bout that Ospreay insists is for the ‘IWGP World Heavyweight Championship’ that he posesses.
Eight man tag team action will see Juice Robinson pick up a long standing feud with BULLET CLUB this week. Robinson’s feud with Hikuleo has raged since the summer, and not just on NJPW STRONG; on IMPACT last week, six man action would see him team with David Finlay and Chris Sabin against Hikuleo and the ‘Bey-F-Fs’ of Chris Bey and El Phantasmo. Tonight that trio sees Taiji Ishimori added, with an extra preview of Ishimori’s dream singles bout with Lio Rush to come.
The Mega Coaches reunite in the second match of the evening this week on STRONG. Last we saw Rocky Romero and Ryusuke Taguchi it was in the Tokyo Dome this past July, where they fell just short of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. The two junior heavy tag specialist are sure to one day resume their hunt for their first titles together, but before that, they must take on the decidedly heavyweight WCWC. Can the veteran instincts of the Mega Coaches overcome the power and effective teamwork of Nelson and Isaacs?
Alex Coughlin’s open challenge series continues in the opening match of the night as he faces the Dirty Daddy, Chris Dickinson. Coughlin’s power, aggression and technical mastery have all been displayed over the past several challenge matches stretching all the way back through the summer, but Chris Dickinson represents all three qualities to near perfection. Can the LA Dojo member finally get the signature win he craves so badly?
Fightful will have results from NJPW STRONG on Saturday, October 9 following the conclusion of the event. You can find results from past NJPW STRONG events in Fightful's results section.
