NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed results and notes: Jack Perry and Mercedes Moné appear, Gabe Kidd retains in main event

Image Courtesy: NJPW

New Japan Pro Wrestling held its latest US-based event on Friday night in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Fighting Spirit Unleashed saw a title change as the Grizzled Young Vets won the STRONG Openweight Tag Championships from Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste.

A big match for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 also looks to be on the cards after NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi challenged Konosuke Takeshita, the AEW International Champion.

Earlier, Jack Perry made a surprise appearance after Yota Tsuji and Shingo Takagi won their tag match against Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. The lights went out after the match ended, with Perry attacking Tsuji and hitting him with a running knee. He then challenged Tsuji to a match at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5th.

Mercedes Moné also made an unannounced appearance, confronting Hazuki, who had just won a four-way match to become the challenger for Moné’s STRONG Women’s Title.

Jon Moxley appeared via video to tell his former friend Shota Umino that the would be sending “an emissary” to face him at Wrestle Dynasty.

Ryohei Oiwa issued a challenge to Gabe Kidd after Kidd retained the STRONG Openweight Title in the main event.

Match results:

  • Pre-show: Matt Vandagriff def. Seabass Finn
  • David Finlay def. Kevin Knight
  • STRONG Openweight Tag Team Titles: Zack Gibson & James Drake def. Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste (c)
  • Lio Rush def. Mustafa Ali
  • 2 out of 3 Falls: Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson [2] def. Tom Lawlor & Fred Rosser [1]
  • STRONG Women’s Title 4-Way #1 Contender Match: Hazuki def. Anna Jay, Koguma & Trish Adora
  • Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji def. Matt Taven & Mike Bennett
  • Ryohei Oiwa def. KENTA
  • Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito
  • AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) def. TJP
  • STRONG Openweight Title: Gabe Kidd (c) def. Kosei Fujita
About Neal Flanagan 1042 Articles
Based in Northern Ireland, Neal Flanagan is a former newspaper journalist and copy editor. In addition to reporting for POST Wrestling, he co-hosts The Wellness Policy podcast with Wai Ting and Jordan Goodman.