NJPW STRONG Synopsis for 1/21/23 – NEMESIS WEEK 2!

Last week on NJPW STRONG, we saw the kickoff of the NJPW STRONG Nemesis series as we preview NJPW STRONG Synopsis for 1/21/23. That night we saw a Lucha Libre-flavored start to 2023, the continuation of Homicide’s feud with Team Filthy, and Bad Dude Tito squaring off with Jeff Cobb in his first main event. This week, Nemesis rolls into week 2.

This second week is a tag-team-centric episode featuring a Pacific Northwest grudge match and The Motor City Machine Guns defending their NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championships. Not only that, but we will see a representative of BULLET CLUB take on a representative of AEW’s The Factory for the first time ever. All that is in this week’s breakdown of Saturday night’s card on the NJPW STRONG Synopsis.

NJPW STRONG Synopsis for 1/21/23C4
(Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas) vs West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)

Team C4 returns to tag team action for the first time in 2023, and they must be fired up. The start of a new year is a perfect time to establish yourself, and the duo of Rosas and Chhun have an opportunity to do that against the West Coast Wrecking Crew. Usually, in matches like these, the competitors have very little experience with each other, however, this is not the case.

Team C4 have encountered WCWC multiple times on the West Coast indie circuit. The last time these teams met was in October of 2022 for Prestige Wrestling in Oregon. That night, Team C4 picked up the victory, advancing in the Prestige Tag Team Championship tournament. Can they get a repeat this Saturday night on NJPW STRONG?

NJPW STRONG Synopsis for 1/21/23
KENTA vs QT Marshall

That’s right NJPW’s BULLET CLUB goes one-on-one with AEW’s The Factory in this first-time-ever matchup. Those who watched STRONG through 2022 will remember QT Marshall’s unabashed antagonism towards the NJPW LA Dojo, where he spent much of the last year humiliating the Young Lions.

Normally, that’s the kind of behavior KENTA could respect. As a member of BULLET CLUB, KENTA likes to antagonize many of his colleagues in NJPW. However, KENTA started his year with a big win in the NJPW STRONG Survivor match, meaning he is currently the #1 Contender to the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship.

If he wants the fans behind him when he eventually faces reigning NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser, he’ll need to stand for something. This match will also serve as something of a tune-up before KENTA heads into a singles match with The Ace Of New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi on February 11th in Osaka. We could see the beginning of a KENTA face turn this Saturday night on NJPW STRONG.

NJPW STRONG Synopsis for 1/21/23
Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) vs The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c)
– NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship

The championship reign of the Motor City Machine Guns has been among the strangest in NJPW STRONG history, if not the history of pro wrestling altogether. On October 28, 2022 at Rumble on 44th Street, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin joined Kevin Knight and The DKC in a previously two-on-two championship match against inaugural NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions Aussie Open. That night, The Motor City Machine Guns shocked the world by capturing the STRONG tag team titles despite never having appeared on NJPW STRONG!

Last month, Sabin and Shelley had their first title defense against Barret Brown and Misterioso at Detonation and added the IMPACT! Wrestling tag team championship to their collection. This week on NJPW STRONG, they defend their titles against a team they have quite the history with.

Beretta and Rocky Romero reformed Roppongi Vice in 2022 so as to defend the honor of the LA Dojo against the likes of The Factory. But now that they’ve rebuilt their chemistry, they’re on the championship hunt. Both these teams have had a heavy influence on the tag team scene in NJPW and around the world, but this will be the first time they’ve met in 2-on-2 action. One more time for the gold this Saturday night on NJPW STRONG.

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