New Japan taping features AEW & Impact talent, angles

New Japan of America put on a show last night (Mar. 20) in St. Petersburg, Florida. Matches taped at Strong Style Evolved will end up on future episodes of the streaming show NJPW Strong, but they featured quite a few AEW & Impact stars. In at least one case, a storyline from Dynamite factored into a match.

Check out the results, courtesy of Wrestling Observer:

- The DKC def. Kevin Knight

- Hikuleo def. Andy Brown

- Buddy Matthews def. Yuya Uemura

- JR Kratos & Black Tiger def. Wheeler Yuta & Rocky Romero. After the match, Kratos badmouthed Alex Coughlin. This brought Coughlin out and the two brawled.

- Big Damo def. John Skyler

- Finjuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) def. JONAH & Shane Haste of TDMK by disqualification after Haste used a steel chair. Finjuice recovered and ran TDMK off. Finjuice then challenged TDMK for a six man tag match (David & Brogan Finlay & Robinson vs. JONAH, Haste & Bad Dude Tito) at April 16’s Windy City Riot.

- Filthy Tom Lawlor def. Clark Connors to retain the Strong Openweight championship. Lawlor’s post-match promo was an announcement he’s taking a vacation since he gets to choose who he faces for the championship. Fred Rosser appeared to call next, but Lawlor said no.

- Mascara Dorada (fka WWE’s Gran Metalik) def. TJP

- Josh Alexander def. Karl Fredericks. Afterwards, AEW’s QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, and Nick Comoroto (do we still call them The Factory?) showed up to try and recruit Fredericks. He turned them down, so QT & the boys jumped him. Connors & Uemura made the save, then the segment wrapped with Fredericks challenged Marshall to a match in Chicago.

- Swerve Strickland def. Blake Christian

- Jay Lethal def. Ren Narita

- Fred Rosser & Eddie Kingston def. Fred Yehi & Daniel Garcia. Kingston was focused on attacking Garcia, playing off his storyline with Jericho Appreciation Society in AEW.

- Jay White def. Chris Sabin via pinfall with bladerunner. Afterward, Switchblade cut a promo about the cross-promotional Bullet Club drama, mentioning his kicking Guerrillas of Destiny and Jado out. He asked Hikuelo to stay with him. Hikuleo responded he’s still Bullet Club, but doesn’t want to be associated with White.

There’s another taping before Windy City Riot. It’s WrestleMania weekend, Fri., April 1 — Lonestar Shootout at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas.