Fighting Spirit Unleashed (2021) was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling's sub-brand New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA). The event took place on August 16, 2021 and was aired on tape delay on September 18, 2021 at the Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, United States with the event being the second NJPW event to be held with an audience, following the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This was the seventh show under the Fighting Spirit Unleashed name. The show was also part of the NJPW Strong televisions series.
Production[]
Background[]
On August 21, 2020, during the finals of the New Japan Cup USA, NJPW announced a third event under the Fighting Spirit Unleashed name with two nights being held at the Oceanview Pavilion in California, United States. NJPW began usually promoting the Fighting Spirit Unleashed events since 2018, as part of NJPW annually promoting events in the Unied States. The 2020 Fighting Spirit Unleashed events were also part of the NJPW Strong televisions series and were held behind closed doors without a live audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Fighting Spirit Unleashed was announced on June 30, with the event taking place on August 16 at Thunder Stduios in Long Beach, California. This event also marked the second NJPW show has held an event in the United States with fans in attendance since February 2020, due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets went on sale on July 1, costing from $60 to $120. On July 30, NJPW confirmed that all the tickets for the event were sold out. On August 5, NJPW announced that Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii were going to take part of the event. On August 9, NJPW announced that was going to put additional seats for the show on sale, which was also quickly sold out within two days.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic[]
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel or postpone their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. At the end of February, following recommendations by the Japanese Ministry of Health regarding the coronavirus outbreak, NJPW canceled the events between March 1 and March 15, 2020, including the promotion's Anniversary Event and the first and the second round of New Japan Cup. Various wrestlers such as David Finlay, El Phantasmo, KENTA, the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa), Jay White, Juice Robinson, Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, and Robbie Eagles were unable to work on NJPW events due to travel restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 6, NJPW announced that their Wrestle Dynasty event would be postponed to 2021, due to the effects of the 2019-20 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On June 19, NJPW held a weekly series called Lion's Break Collision that aired throughout the month of July, with the series airing on NJPW's internet streaming service NJPW World and digital network FITE TV worldwide. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, the shows were held behind closed doors without a live audience, with only essential personnel in the arena. The series would be replaced by NJPW Strong, which was also behind closed doors with essential staff and personnel due to the COVID-19 restrictions. NJPW's last show with a live audience was The New Beginning in USA in Atlanta, Georgia on February 1, at the Coca-Cola Roxy.
On July 31, 2021, Shota Umino who was originally scheduled to take part of the event, announced that would be unable to work at the event due to the travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic between the United Kingdom and the United States.
Storylines[]
Fighting Spirit Unleashed (2021) featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Tom Lawlor, who defended the Strong Openweight Championship against Lio Rush
On July 23, during the NJPW Strong, Tom Lawlor sucessfully defended the Strong Openweight Championship against NJPW veteran Satoshi Kojima. Afterwards, in a backstage interview, Lio Rush challenged Lawlor to a title match, but Lawlor wasn't convinced. On August 13, during the NJPW Strong, Rush and Karl Fredericks faced Lawlor and his Team Filthy stablemate Danny Limelight in a winning effort, leading Rush to convince Lawlor to give him a title match. The following day, at Resurgence, Lawlor and Rush faced each other in a eight-man tag team match, which Rush's team won.
The event also included a tables match between Hikuleo and Juice Robinson. On August 13 during the NJPW Strong, after defeating Fredi Yehi, Hikuleo demanded to face an opponent at Resurgence, which Robinson accepted. At Resurgence, Robinson defeated Hikuleo. Afterwards, Hikuleo attacked Robinson, before stating that his issues with him were "far from over", leading NJPW to announce a tables match between the two.
Results[]
Night 1[]
| # | Matches | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomohiro Ishii defeated Alex Coughlin | Singles match Alex Coughlin Open Challenge Series |
9:13 |
| 2 | Hiroshi Tanahashi, Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks defeated Stray Dog Army (Bateman, Barrett Brown and Misterioso) | Six-man tag team match | 13:33 |
| 3 | Hikuleo defeated Juice Robinson | Tables match | 9:57 |
| |||
Night 2[]
| # | Matches | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuji Nagata and Yuya Uemura defeated Kevin Knight and The DKC | Tag team match | 9:27 |
| 2 | Jay White defeated Wheeler Yuta | Singles match | 10:29 |
| 3 | Ren Narita defeated Fred Rosser | Singles match | 15:11 |
| |||
Night 3[]
| # | Matches | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JR Kratos defeated Fred Yehi | Singles match | 9:04 |
| 2 | Chris Dickinson defeated Royce Isaacs | Singles match | 11:08 |
| 3 | Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Lio Rush | Singles match for the Strong Openweight Championship | 16:19 |
| |||