Tags
Aiden English, El Phantasmo, Main Event Madness, Matthew Rehwoldt, New Japan Pro Wrestling, NJPW, NJPW Strong, Wrestling
On certain days of the week, you feel like a kid in a candy store with all the wrestling that is available whether on a major station or online through FITE or IWTV. Sometimes when you look at a match and you have no idea why the two involved are going at it, it makes for exciting television to have a contrast of styles. NJPW Strong has been putting together some great matches over the past month or so that it’s been hard to ignore and on their last day of their New Beginnings 2022 tour, we were promised some interesting matches including today’s match which saw El Phantasmo take on the drama king Matthew Rehwoldt who usually makes his money on Impact. Matthew definitely made the beginning of the match interesting when he grabbed the microphone to describe how depressing the Pacific Northwest was and that he didn’t blame Cobain at all. These words incensed El Phantasmo who told hind that he had no right to make fun of his home and that only he did. So he took the fight to the drama king, but it wouldn’t last long as Rehwoldt was able to gain the advantage with some vicious rights and some devastating boots.
Any piece of offense that ELP would muster, Rehwoldt was crafty and he had an answer for it which shows why experience can come in handy during a match. Rehwoldts offensive skills were impressive hitting moves like a springboard moonsault or a single leg Dropkick that connected flush, but he couldn’t put ELP away. Rehwoldt would try a swan dive like slam Into the corner, but it still wasn’t enough to put the headbanger down. One has to remember that ELP has an impressive resume with two Super J Cup wins (2019,20), a former IWGP Tag Team Champion, British J Cup Winner, and so much more. After trading some shots, ELP was finally able to hit the cutthroat driver, but to make sure you put someone away, he followed it with a swanton bomb from the top and then a moonsault from the opposite corner for good measure and it was all ELP needed to seal the deal as he pinned The Drama King for the 1-2-3. I actually look forward to seeing these two again in the future, maybe not against each other, but El Phantasmo is exciting to watch in any ring he chooses.