Tom Lawlor To Defend Openweight Championship Against Lio Rush On 10/2 NJPW STRONG, Updated Card

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor will defend the STRONG Openweight Championship against Lio Rush on this week’s episode of NJPW STRONG.

NJPW announced this bout among two other noteworthy clashes for the show, which will air on Saturday.

The preview of the title match, courtesy of NJPW’s official website, is as follows:

Filthy Tom Lawlor puts the STRONG Openweight Championship on the line in the main event, seeking his fourth defence against ‘Man of the Hour’ Lio Rush. Rush presents an exciting stylistic challenge for Lawlor in the FSU main event, bringing a pace and intensity that has made Lawlor sweat in preliminary tags on STRONG and at resurgence last month, and creating results that have granted this title bout. Yet it isn’t just pace that Rush brings; his amateur All American background means he is a proficient grappler, and will not be easily dominated by Lawlor’s submission work. Lawlor has sat at the top of the STRONG mountain for almost half a year now since winning New Japan Cup USA; could we be seeing a new champion crowned?

The updated card is as follows:

• STRONG Openweight Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Lio Rush
• Chris Dickinson vs. Royce Isaacs
• JR Kratos vs. Fred Yehi

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