New Japan followed up A scintillating Wrestle Kingdom 11 PPV with a pretty good show the following day at New Year Dash. We saw the start of new storylines to 2017, the truly shocking return of one of Japan’s top factions as well as a huge title change during the main event. Let’s dive in straight to the results.
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Henare vs. David Finlay, Ricochet & Kyle O’Reilly
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The night kicked off with Liger, Tiger Mask and Henare taking on the team of David Finlay, Ricochet and former ROH World Champion Kyle O’Reilly.
The 6 men put on a fast paced match to set the crowd going. Liger and Finlay started us off with Liger hitting an early 619 before following it up with a tope suicida to the floor before Finlay manages to tag O’Reilly in. O’Reilly rushes into a backbreaker before Liger tagged Tiger Mask in. Tiger Mask entered by hitting a crossbody before taking the fight to the opponents. He followed it up with a beautiful Tiger Bomb to O’Reilly before tagging Henare in.
Henare comes in and locks a Boson Crab on Finlay before RIchochet comes the rescue, throwing kicks at Henare. Henare somehow manages to keep the hold locked in as Liger comes to the rescue and hits the Surfboard Lock on Ricochet as Tiger Mask also locked in an Octopus Hold to O’Reilly.
Finlay, Ricochet and O’Reilly finally rallied as they drove Liger and Tiger Mask out of the ring. Finlay then hits the Rolling Hills to Henare into Richochet’s Shooting Star Press. Ricochet then coverd Henare for the win.
David Finlay, Ricochet and Kyle O’Reilly def. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Henare
Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page vs. Billy Gunn & Yoshitatsu
Takahashi and Page start off by hammering Yoshitatsu before Billy Gunn comes for the save. He tells his opponents hey can “suck it” before Takahashi attempts to take him down with a dropkick. Gunn replies with a Powerslam before tagging Yoshitatsu back in.
Yoshitatsu came in and hammered Hangman Page before Takahashi grabbed him and dropped him to the floor. Takahashi then hit his snap DDT as Billy Gunn re-entered the ring, shouting expletives at Page and Takahashi. Page then hit a low blow before taking Gunn down. He follows it up by delivering the Right of Passage to Yoshitatsu before covering him for the pinfall.
Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page vs. Billy Gunn & Yoshitatsu
Roppongi Vice and Yoshi-Hashi vs Adam Cole and The Young Bucks
Roppongi Vice beat The Youngs Bucks at Wrestle Kingdom 11 to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champions. Adam Cole had a better night than his Bullet Club mates with Cole regaining the ROH World Championship from Kyle O’Reilly.
In the beginning of the match there was tension between Romero and Baretta but they ended up high-fiving. The Bucks then go for a Meltzer Driver but both Nick Jackson and Adam Cole get pulled off the apron. Baretta then hit a Tombstone before making a tag. Romero got hit a Last Shot from Cole before Yoshi-Hashi came in and hit a Swanton Bomb. The Young Bucks break up the pin attemp as Cole got up and hit Romero with a Superkick before his Last Shot got reversed into a rolling pin for the 3-count.
Roppongi Vice and Yoshi-Hashi def. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks
Team 2000 (Scott Norton, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Saito & Cheeseburger) vs. Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Guerrillas of Destiny, Bone Soldier & Bad Luck Fale)
The crowds shows massive appreceation for Kenny Omega as he came out, following his 46-minute battle with Okada at WK11. Omega kicks off by trying to convince Norton to join the Bullet Club only to be rebuffed. Norton refused and cleaned house, clearing the Bullet Club members from the ring. He then lifted Cheeseburger and tossed him out into the mass of Bullet Club members.
Also Read: Kenny Omega stepping away from New Japan; is he WWE bound?
Back in the ring, Cheeseburger hits a headscissors before tagging in Tenzan. Bullet Club members overpower Tenzan and isolated him before he finally tagged in Kojima. Kojima hits the double-chops spot to Omega and Bone Soldier. Saito then came in and hits the boots the boots to Tama Tonga in the corner. The faces then isolate Bone Soldier and go to work on him. Saito hits him with a running senton before Kojima hits him with one of his trademark lariat’s for the win.
Team 2000 def. Bullet Club
Michael Elgin and KUSHIDA vs Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi
Elgin had a good night at WK11 winning the New Japan Rumble. Not so for KUSHIDA who lost the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship to Hiromu Takahashi. Naito had a great night too, retaining the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The match starts off with Elgin and Takahashi. Takahashi tries to use his speed in his favour but Elgin powers him all the way across the ring. Naito tried to come in but Elgin takes him out. He then throws KUSHIDA over th ropes and into the two Los Ingobernables members. Elgin then started working on both Naito and Takahashi but they eventually overpower him with KUSHIDA still down at ringside. Naito and Takahashi continue pounding Elgin, even pushing the referee away when he tried to stop them.
KUSHIDA finally came back in for the rescue, hitting both members of LIJ with dropkicks. Takahashi hit back with a wicked Dragon Screw before tagging Naito back in. Naito spits into Elgin’s face before yelling “Tranquilo” at him and grabbing the ropes. KUSHIDA tags Elgin back in who cleans house before hitting a double Falcon Arrow.
Bg Mike tries to hit the buckle bomb on Takahashi but Naito comes in and hits him with the low dropkick to the knees. A shock came at this point as Dragon Lee came. The returning star came out and hit Takahashi with a headscissors sending him to the floor. He then hits a massive over-the-top-rope dive to Takahashi as Elgin hits Naito with a Burning Hammer before pinning Naito.
Michael Elgin and KUSHIDA def. Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi
Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe, Yuji Nigata and Tomaoki Honma vs Yuji Nagata vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay (CHAOS)
This match was a war. The CHAOS members and their opponents threw everything at each other but the main story came after the match. Ospreay impressed with his high-risk offence as his feud with Shibata continued. Shibata comes in throws his lethal kicks at Ospreay who dodges all of them as Yano and Nigata get to it in the middle of the ring. Yano grabs the ropes but Nigata kicks him in the gut.
Okada got a huge pop when he finally got tagged in. He was impressive as usual. At one point in the match Ishii even got busted open by a lariat. CHAOS come close to winning a number of times but it wasn’t to be their night. Goto won the title from Shibata the night before but he got hammered by Juice Robinson. Shibata then takes out Ospreay with a brutal kicks before hitting a Penalty Kick to Goto before Juice Robinson hit Goto with a Unprettier before pinning him.
Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe, Yuji Nigata and Tomaoki Honma vs Yuji Nagata def. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay (CHAOS)
Robinson holds up the NEVER Openweight title after the match as Men in white and black uniforms hit the ring from the crowd. It’s Suzuki-Gun! They take out everyone in sight before Okada tried to mount a fightback. Suzuki-Gun leader Minro Suzuki strolled up from behind Okada and hithim with a Gotch Piledriver after chokinghim out. Suzuki-Gun then lay the boot to CHAOS before Suzuki picked up the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Also Read: Suzuki-Gun return at New Year Dash and take out CHAOS
Suzuki then got on the mic and told the fans that he blamed Okada for the events of the evening before promising to rule the NJPW ring once again.
EVIL, BUSHI and Sanada (Los Ingobernables de Japon) (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi (for the NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag-Team Championships)
LIJ take the fight to Nakanishi and Taguchi in the opening stages of the match. EVIL hangs Tanahashi on the barricade at ringside. He then grabs a steel chair and slams it into Tanahashi’s knee. LIJ then focus on Taguchi who tries to make the tag but fails. Sanada and EVIL rotate tags, hitting Taguchi with a variety of power moves. Taguchi finally manages to tag in Tanahashi who’d managed to climb back onto the apron.
Tanahashi comes in and cleans house before tagging in Nakanisho who hits clotheslines to every LIJ member in sight. LIJ then briefly mount a comeback but Tanahashi came in once again and hit Sanada with a neckbreaker. Nakanishi then catches BUSHI mid-air from an attempted crossbody and attempts the Hercules Cutter. BUSHI somehow got out of it and hit a Code Breaker for the nearfall. Tanahashi then hit Bushi with a Slingblade before taking EVIL out. Nakanishi finished BUSHI off with a Hercules Cutter! New champions!
Tanahashi, Nakanishi and Taguchi def. Los Ingobernables
