NJPW STRONG Preview: Fredericks vs Ospreay 【NJoA】
Four matches from Texas’ Autumn Attack highlighted on another stacked night of 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.
Watch NJPW STRONG Saturdays at 8/7c on NJPW World!
Or purchase the Autumn Attack bundle on FITE!
Main event: Will Ospreay vs 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 possesses.
3rd Match: TJP, Clark Connors, Lio Rush & Juice Robinson vs BULLET CLUB (Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Chris Bey & Hikuleo)
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.
2nd Match: Mega Coaches (Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero) vs West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
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 specialists 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?
1st Match: Alex Coughlin Open Challenge Series: Alex Coughlin vs Chris Dickinson
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?
no Kevin Kelly bc of the G1 though 
