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Lance Archer advances in NJPW IWGP US title contender's tournament

Posted: Apr 17th 2023 By: Ethan Renner

Lance Archer has secured a spot in the finals of NJPW's IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship number one contender's tournament.

Archer defeated Fred Rosser in a street fight at Sunday's NJPW Collision in Philadelphia event to advance to the tournament finals to be held on June 4 at Dominion.

With an assist from Bullet Club's Juice Robinson, Archer pinned Rosser after hitting a lariat to earn his spot in the tournament finals. Robinson was originally advertised as Archer's opponent for the Collision match, but was given a storyline suspension for his actions in a match against Rosser at Saturday's Capital Collision show, and Rosser was put in the spot instead.

Due to the street fight stipulation, Robinson's interference did not lead to an Archer disqualification.

After his victory, Archer cut a promo on AEW's Tony Khan, and IWGP US Champion Kenny Omega, threatening to defeat Omega for the title at Forbidden Door 2 on June 25. It has not officially been announced that Forbidden Door will feature Omega's next title defense, but that seems to be the direction.

Archer will now face the winner of a scheduled Will Ospreay vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi bout set for NJPW Resurgence on May 21. That bout is in question however, as Tanahashi suffered a broken rib at Saturday's Capital Collision and was pulled from his scheduled main event match at Collision in Philadelphia.

It was announced Sunday that Ospreay is now medically cleared to compete after missing a month of action with a shoulder injury.