Tag: Njpw New Year Dash 2024

NJPW New Year Dash takes place today from the sold out Sumida City Gymnasium in Tokyo. 

Only one match is official for the show, with the rest of the lineup a mystery, a format introduced with last year’s event. 

The provisional KOPW 2024 title will be on the line in a four-way match featuring the final four from the New Japan Ranbo at yesterday’s Wrestle Kingdom 18 event, with Toru Yano, Taiji Ishimori, Great-O-Khan, and YOH set to square off. 

Every title match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 featured a new champion crowned, as Tetsuya Naito won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, David Finlay won the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, El Desperado won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo won the IWGP Tag Team titles, Tama Tonga won the NEVER Openweight title, Hiroshi Tanahashi captured the NJPW World TV title, and Catch 2/2’s TJP & Francesco Akira won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles.

NJPW World Television Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

This was a goofy opener. It was nothing comparable to the TV title sprints you would expect from ZSJ, but it was a Taguchi match. I have no doubt Tanahashi will deliver as TV champion in his coming defenses.

This match opened with a silly exchange. First, Taguchi refused to lock hands with Tanahashi. Then, Taguchi ran the ropes, repeatedly missing the champion. Tanahashi punished Taguchi with spanks on the bottom and some hip attacks.

Taguchi answered Tanahashi with a hip attack of his own and a plancha. Back in the ring, both men fought for control in position for a suplex, which Taguchi won out. Another hip attack scored Taguchi a near fall, which he transitioned into an ankle lock.

Tanahashi and Taguchi traded quick pin attempts. In the final seconds, Taguchi pulled down Tanahashi’s tights, revealing his tiny black briefs and quite a bit of his backside. Tanahashi reversed Taguchi’s last pin attempt into one of his own, which won him the match.

After the match, a video played. Matt Riddle appeared on screen and challenged Tanahashi. Tanahashi accepted his challenge but said he had no clue who Riddle was, and would have to do some research.

YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (Bishamon) defeated Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa

Kaito and Oiwa worked together early to gain an advantage, but as soon as Bishamon did the same, the match turned around. Bishamon isolated Oiwa for some time, leading to a hot tag into Kaito. Kaito took out both former champions on his own with firey offense until a Goto lariat reset the match.

A double dropkick from Oiwa and Kaito forced YH to hit the ring. Together, Bishamon was able to rid the ring of Kaito, freeing them to focus on Oiwa. They hit him with a violent flash and Shoto to win the match.

El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (Guerrillas of Destiny) defeated Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima (Young Blood)

Before the match began, there was an announcement that Leube & Nakashima were being sent off following this match. I love both of these guys, and I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.

Before the opening bell, Young Blood blindsided the champions. They then worked together to isolate ELP, securing a deep crab in the ring. Hikuleo eventually made the save. Leube stepped up to the challenge, trading strikes with Hikuleo. Hikuleo won out, leading to a period of GoD control. Leube escaped after landing a dropkick, leading to a similar sequence between Nakashima and ELP. Nakashima held his own until he contested a referee’s call, which opened the door for a UFO from ELP.

Leube hit the ring, but Hikuleo quickly responded with a chokeslam. Another chokeslam to Nakashima and a super Thunderkiss 86 to both men secured the GoD win.

After the match, GoD showed their support for the leaving lions. Young Blood shared a hug and a bow. Once Young Blood left the ring, Chase Owens ran in and hit ELP with a piledriver. He challenged GoD to a title match with KENTA as his partner. Hikuleo accepted. 

Dick Togo, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita (House of Torture) defeated Shota Umino, El Desperado, Master Wato, Tama Tonga, Tomoaki Honma, & Togi Makabe

This was a big House of Torture stinker. 

This match opened with a brawl. Once things calmed down, Honma and Kanemaru traded blows in the ring. After Honma missed a headbutt, another brawl broke out. This time, HoT established control by isolating Honma, which they took advantage of for some time. The eventual tag to Makabe only led to more HoT shenanigans.

Once Umino tagged in, he unloaded on Narita, but another HoT run in ended his rally. Another inter-team back and forth followed, with nearly everyone getting someone in. The babyfaces won out, leaving Togo alone in the ring with Umino. Umino hit Togo with Death Rider and won the match.

After the match, Narita hit Umino with the pushup bar, leading to a full-fledged HoT beatdown. After destroying everyone, EVIL handcuffed Tama and cut his hair. EVIL posed with the openweight belt while Kanemaru showed off the junior title. 

No Contest: Fransico Akira, TJP, HENARE, Jeff Cobb, & Will Ospreay (United Empire) vs. Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, & David Finlay (Bullet Club War Dogs)

This was an incredible blood-filled war. This was as good or better than nearly all of the ittenyon card. Amazing.

The match broke down before it started, with both teams fighting into the isle. Akira dove from a balcony onto everyone in sight to slow the bout down.

In the ring, Ospreay focused Finlay, gaining a bit of an upper hand. Kidd hit the ring to save Finlay, leading to an extensive back and forth between teams. A referee bump led to Caughlin attempting to use a chair, but HENARE punched through it. HENARE tried to use the chair, but a new referee stopped him. Connors took advantage of this distraction, raking the eyes of HENARE. The referee pushed Connors after he refused, leading to Connors hitting the official with a spear.

Another rapid back-and-forth followed the second ref bump. In the chaos, Kidd was thrown into the turnbuckle, drawing a ton of blood. The crimson mask infuriated the War Dogs, who filled the ring with chairs from the crowd. This forced a no-contest. An intense, bloody, weapon-filled beatdown followed.

United Empire survived the beatdown, eventually gaining the upper hand on the War Dogs. As Ospreay looked ready to finish Finlay, Gedo hit the ring and landed a low blow. Another scuffle followed, and again, the United Empire won out. Ospreay then grabbed Gedo and delivered a brutal powerbomb into a table in the corner.

Once United Empire, Ospreay took the microphone and called out Bullet Club. He announced that February 11th was his last NJPW match and promised to fight alongside United Empire. Five-on-five, United Empire vs. Bullet Club in Osaka, with Finlay picking the rules. Finlay took the mic and accepted the challenge; he decided the match would be contested in a steel cage.

SANADA, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura (Just 5 Guys) defeated BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, & Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)

Uemura and Tsuji opened the match with a quick exchange before passing the ball to Hiromu and DOUKI. After a short back-and-forth, Hiromu tagged out to Naito, who forced the tag to SANADA. Naito tagged out, allowing SANADA to take on the rest of LIJ successfully.

Taichi tagged in next, leading to a strike exchange between him and Shingo. A TAKA/BUSHI sequence followed, with both teams getting involved. Once the fog was cleared, TAKA hit BUSHI with a Michinoku driver and won the match.

After the match, both teams shared a tension-filled ring. Before coming to blows, SANADA challenged Naito for one more match. There was a staredown, but Naito said nothing. LIJ left the ring, leaving TAKA free to cut a J5G hype promo.

KOPW 2024 Championship 10-Minute Pinfall Scramble Match: Taiji Ishimori defeated Great-O-Khan, Toru Yano, & YOH

The rules of this match are simple. There is a 10-minute time limit. The last man to score a pin leaves with the KOPW title.

The match opened with a less-than-serious exchange. Everyone tried for quick pins while going for their normal shenanigans. YOH was the first to score a pin after dropping Yano. Minutes passed without a pinfall, with YOH making a few saves to maintain his lead.

With two minutes left, O-Khan hit YOH with the eliminator and pinned him twice. With one minute left, Ishimori dropped O-Khan with a low blow and stole a pin. Ishimori then interrupted O-Khan’s pin attempts, baiting him into a chase around the ring. The clock expired, leaving Ishimori as the winner.

Ishimori is the KOPW 2024 champion.

Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, & Kosei Fujita (TMDK) defeated Tomohiro Ishii, Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada, & Bryan Danielson

This was a fantastic main event. Everyone looked terrific, and the stories in the match left me excited for things to come.

Danielson and ZSJ opened the match with a slick grappling sequence, with neither man getting the upper hand. Both men slowly introduced strikes before pulling apart and tagging out.

Okada and Nicholls entered the match next. Okada established control with help from his team, but Nicholls and Haste attacked Okada’s arm to put him on the back foot. The rest of TMDK helped isolate Okada, with continued attention paid to his injured arm.

A hot tag to Moxley led to a passionate attack. After ridding the ring inside and out of TMDK, Moxley dropped Nicholls with a superplex and a kick. When Haste tried providing backup, both men ate a DDT.

Ishii continued what Moxley started, but ZSJ hit the ring to break it up. ZSJ locked in a choke, but Danielson was right behind him, leading to a back-and-forth choke exchange. Danielson threw ZSJ out of the ring and hit a jumping knee to write off ZSJ momentarily.

Fujita prevented Danielson from re-entering the ropes, allowing TMDK to isolate Ishii. Moxley saved Ishii with a suplex, leading to a full match breakdown in the middle of the ring. Multiple dives and nearfalls followed. TMDK established control in the chaos, with ZSJ tying Danielson up in the corner. Haste and Nicholls hit Ishii with a Tank Buster and pinned him.

After the match, ZSJ challenged Danielson to a rematch. Danielson accepted and both men threatened to tap each other out. Kosei Fujita grabbed the mic next and challenged Okada to a match for the NEVER Six-Man belts alongside Haste and Nicholls. Okada said Fujita wasn’t ready and left. After Okada left, Fujita asked Tanahashi to make the match happen.