The fallout from the well-received Wrestle Kingdom 19 & Wrestle Dynasty shows in the Tokyo Dome this past weekend will continue with the annual New Year’s Dash show.
Today’s show emanates from the Ota-City General Gymnasium.
Per tradition, the card isn’t announced beforehand. Rather, the fans learn about who is competing when they are announced to the ring.
The one exception is an expected Josh Barnett vs. Oleg Boltin clash after Barnett called him out at Wrestle Kingdom 19 following both men participating in the annual Rambo match.
Our live coverage begins at 4:30 AM Eastern.
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Pre-show
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Yuji Nagata defeated Shoma Kato, Daiki Nagai, and Katsuma Murashima
The Young Lions started the night overwhelming the group of veterans, but Kojima’s resilience was the difference-maker that gave his team room to breathe. Kato launched a comeback, however, leading to Murashima to fearlessly charge his elders with strikes. Nagai continued this by flattening Nagata and unleashing a Boston Crab, but Tenzan and Kojima broke the hold. If it were not for them, he would not have been able to use Nagata Lock II to secure the victory. Nagai tapped to the Blue Justice’s submission.
This small group of Young Lions show a lot of promise. Murashima in particular has star power combined with his strength and power.
Main Card
Oleg Boltin versus Josh Barnett ended in a time-limit draw
This exhibition match saw Boltin’s immeasurable power bring out use advanced expertise and technique, namely in the left arm. A Gut-Wrench Suplex followed by a Fireman’s Carry nearly took out Barnett, but a Rear-Naked Choke by the veteran left this match a tie.
— Post-match: Barnett congratulated Boltin on passing the test in surviving him, and promised he’d help Boltin become champion someday.
I’m over the moon about Boltin; he has all the makings for a top guy in NJPW someday. Matches like these make that gap all the more closer.
United Empire (TJP, Jakob Austin Young, Frencesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, and Jeff Cobb) defeated Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma, Jado, Master Wato, and El Phantasmo
Umino started the match strong against Khan in a technical test, but his combined effort alongside Phantasmo and Jado chipped further away on him. Young and Cobb then took turns on Jado, with Khan pressing all his eight on the former Bullet Club member’s back. Cobb manhandled Phantasmo for the most part, with a splendid Spin Cycle, but his Tour of the Islands had been cancelled due to a countered DDT courtesy of Phantasmo.
A combined front from Umino, Jado, Wato, and Phantasmo wiped out most of United Empire so Honma could drop a Kokeshi on a horizontal Khan. However, this resulted in only a 2-count. Khan held down the legend with an Eliminator for the pinfall.
— Post-match: Phantasmo repeatedly flaunted his NJPW World Television Championship to a smug Cobb. Umino fell victim to a beatdown after Khan ripped up mock-up paper and plastic championship belts made by fans.
House of Torture (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, & Ren Narita) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask, Toru Yano, and Togi Makabe
After a promising start for the team of veterans and a manic display by Yano, House of Torture swarmed them; Yano could only scream in agony as Kanemaru delivered knees to his back and SHO working the left arm. Makabe, however, proved to be a bit more than the House expected as he crushed SHO with a Lariat.
Everyone took turns with a Hair-Pull Mat Slam, leaving Tiger Mask tapping SHO out. Unfortunately for him, the referee’s back was turned due to SHO’s interfering teammates. Takahashi sneakily dropped Tiger Mask with a NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team belt; SHO capitalized with a pinfall.
Skippable. There was nothing here of substance.
Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & SANADA) defeated Just Four Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)
Taichi intercepted SANADA in the ring, but was sent over the barricade and onto the chairs outside. Meanwhile, Connors bullied Michnoku in the ring while still wearing the fur coat from his entrance. SANADA used his wrist tape to throttle Michonoku into near unconsciousness before the referee caught it.
Michinoku made a brief comeback, trapping SANADA and Connors into a Facelock, earning enough time to tag in Taichi. SANADA held Taichi down until he leapt for a enzuigiri and an Axe Bomber. Michinoku’s spirit kept him alive for a while, but SANADA ended the match with a sleeper, forcing his legal opponent to tap out.
I went from being so high on SANADA back when he won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship back in 2023 to forgetting that he’s dyed his hair bleach blonde. Outside of his interactions with Taichi, there wasn’t much special about this match. That aside, SANADA’s hasn’t been this interesting in Bullet Club War Dogs since his Los Ingobernables de Japon days and I hope to see that continue. He fits like a glove.
El Desperado & KUSHIDA defeated Bullet Club (KENTA & Taiji Ishimori)
Ishimori remained in control of Desperado, which transitioned over to KENTA, with both choking out Desperado with holds. Desperado finally gained an opening with a Rolling Elbow to Ishimori, giving KUSHIDA a hot tag. Throwing dropkicks and strikes, he was off to a hot start until KENTA and Ishimori combined their efforts to thwart any upward momentum. While Desperado held Ishimori tight on the apron, KUSHIDA torqued KENTA’s left arm until he had no choice but to submit.
— Post-match: Ishimori challenged for Desperado’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at a later date.
Excellent Junior Heavyweight action. Nothing groundbreaking, but Ishimori’s interactions with Desperado and KUSHIDA were eye candy. Storyline-wise, Ishimori’s win at Wrestle Dynasty’s Lucha Gauntlet makes him deserving of the title shot in my opinion.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Titan, Shingo Takagi, & Yota Tsuji) defeated Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Gedo, Gabe Kidd, & Drilla Moloney)
An emotional Finlay ran back his Wrestle Kingdom 19 match against Tsuji before being intercepted by BUSHI. Gedo equalized the masked wrestler, softening him up for Finlay to abuse on the turnbuckle. Each of the War Dogs took turns tagging in on BUSHI until Tsuji made the hot tag. Kidd and Tsuji circled each other like warring beasts, chopping each other’s chest until they reddened, but neither could get past the other.
Moloney and Takagi exchanged forearms until spilling outside, reaching the same fate as Kidd and Tsuji. Back in the ring, Titan & BUSHI weakened Gedo, despite Finlay’s attempts to save him. With no one to rescue him, Gedo tapped to Titan’s El Inmortal.
— Post-match: Moloney challenged Takagi for a singles bout in the future.
A strong weekend for the War Dogs ends in defeat, but the crowd is still hot for Finlay and Kidd. With the star-making performance at Wrestle Dynasty, having Kidd head into Tsuji would have me happily seated.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Alex Zayne
Zayne & Taguchi held Takahashi underfoot, with the former dropping him on his face. Naito, having saved Takahashi, spat in the face of Zayne handled him smartly until he tagged in Taguchi. A Hiromu Bomber/Jackknife combo from Takahashi and Naito quelled Taguchi. Naito followed this with a Swing DDT and Destino for the pinfall.
— Post-match: Naito called out the Young Bucks, challenging for the IWGP Tag Team Championships at a later date.
Zayne & Taguchi make for a nice tag team. They’d do well together in 2025.
Main Event
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), YOH, & Rocky Romero defeated TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, Kozei Fujita, & Robbie Eagles)
Fujita started the match against YOH, ending their interaction with flirting. Romero and Eagles traded some Junior Heavyweight offense, while Sabre and Goto provided a glimpse at their upcoming IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match whenever the challenger sets the date. TMDK toyed with an immobilized YOSHI-HASHI with a game of musical chairs on his limbs.
Eagles and Fujita continued picking at YOSHI-HASHI, and the strong Oiwa followed suit with his sheer force. YOSHI-HASHI made an adrenaline-fueled comeback, dropping Oiwa with a sound lariat. Sabre and Goto reunited, with the champion targeting the impending challenger’s left arm. All-out warfare boiled over between the teams, with Goto delivering an Ushigoroshi unto Sabre. YOH dodged a leg strike from Eagles and rolled him up for the pinfall.
— Post-match: YOSHI-HASHI and Oiwa partook in a lengthy chop exchange, despite the best efforts of the Young Lions to break it up.
I’m not sure when Goto gets his title shot, maybe February, but this was an entertaining New Year Dash main event.
Though not as packed with huge surprises as 2023 and 2024, this New Year Dash had some excellent follow-ups. Finlay and Kidd have won everyone over, Oiwa’s already main event material, and there are implications for the months to come in NJPW.
