There are a few major players in the world of professional wrestling, WWE, AEW, and NJPW. For the best pure wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling brings, by far, the best bang for your buck. This past Sunday was no different. Broadcasting live from a sold-out 2300 arena on the corner of Swanson and Rittner. New Japan brought Collision to the arena. With its Pay Per View show Collision in Philadelphia. Some of the company’s major players made the long trip from Japan to put on an unforgettable show for the energetic Philadelphia wrestling fan base.
2300 on a Collision Corse
In total, on the night, there were 9 matches scheduled for the evening’s show. With every match offering something a little different than the other. There were three matches from the crowd’s reaction to the presentation by New Japan that truly gave you the big fight feel. These matches were Gabriel Kidd vs. Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Title, Lance Archer vs. Fred Rosser in the IWGP United States Heavyweight Title Contender’s Tournament, and Aussie Open vs. Lio Rush and Tomohiro Ishii for the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title.
Gabriel Kidd vs. Orange Cassidy was not originally the scheduled match for this card. Gabriel Kidd was supposed to square off with Eddie Kingston, which was for sure going to be a smash-mouth hard-hitting match. Unfortunately, Eddie Kingston suffered an injury and could not compete on Sunday night. The fans were more than happy with the replacement, the fan-favorite AEW international champion Orange Cassidy. This match provided it all hard-hitting, fast past action and the comedy stuff you come to know and love from any Orange Cassidy match. The ending of this match came with Orange Cassidy pinning Gabriel Kidd to retain his AEW International Championship. However, after the match, both competitors showed mutual respect with a handshake that left everyone in the arena happy.
Change in Match
Earlier this week, it was announced that NJPW would be holding a four-man tournament, the participants being Lance Archer, Juice Robinson, Will Osprey, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. With the winner getting a title match at forbidden door 2 against Kenny Omega. The opening round was set for this past Sunday, Juice vs. Archer. Unfortunately, Juice Robinson was suspended and removed from the tournament. Being replaced by fan favorite Fred Rosser. The match was originally supposed to be normal rules match. However, the competitors had a different idea and, before the start of the match, turned this into a Philadelphia Street fight. Boy, was this a street fight! This bout saw the action spill out into the crowd. You saw weapons like kendo sticks and chairs being used. The end of the match happened when the suspended Juice Robinson stormed the ring and attacked Fred Rosser, helping give Lance the win.
Injuries Happen
Injuries happen in wrestling. It is a very violent sport that puts a lot of pressure on the competitor’s bodies. The main event suffered an injury that forced NJPW to make last-second changes to the originally scheduled bout. Hiroshi Tanahashi and TJP were both scheduled to be a part of the main event Sunday night that would see a six-man tag match. Due to injuries, both were pulled. Resulting in NJPW making the main event an NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title match with Lio Rush teaming with Tomohiro Ishii to take on the champs Aussie Open.
If you are a fan of tag team wrestling, this is a must-watch bout. This match delivered everything you could ask for in a tag match. Very fast-paced and technically sound, sprinkled in with some breathtaking high spots. The end saw Aussie open land their finisher, the Coriolis, on Lio Rush and get the pin. This was an incredible match that sent the fans home happy.
Overall
Collision in Philadelphia was everything that the fans of NJPW have come to know and love from this company. A fast-paced, action-packed event that had fans engaged from start to finish. This sold-out crowd brought the noise, and were treated to a truly unforgettable show. For showing up and selling out the event, the fans were rewarded with some breaking news. On August 19th, NJPW will return to the 2300 Arena when they bring their All-Star Junior Festival USA 2023 to Philadelphia. No details or names have been announced yet for this event. However, judging by the crowd reaction and the buzz on social media, this will for sure be another sell-out, cant-miss event.
Joe Wood was born and raised in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia. A dedicated father of 2, a boy and a girl. Who is a lifelong Philadelphia 4 for 4-er. Joe found a passion for Professional wrestling from a young age thanks to his father, who took him to live events. Currently, Joe is studying at Full Sail University to achieve his bachelor’s degree in sports marketing and media. Once completed, he hopes to be able to cover sports full-time.
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