New Year's Dash promises to provide the same unpredictable action that each year's New Year's Dash brings in NJPW. It also will give us all an idea of where the company is going moving forward. The card is literally announced as the show goes live.
Note: I'm not going to go blow for blow with the review for this show. Instead, expect a little mix of what I usually do for TV shows and what I do for big events.
Match #1- IIzuka and K.E.S. vs. Roppongi 3K and Rocky Romero
Suzuki-Gun jumps 3K and Rocky as the bell rings. Chaos all over Korakuen Hall. Rocky does the Forever clotheslines, but Archer no sells them. Then, Archer catches Rocky diving at him on the floor and chokeslams him on the edge of the ring. Archer does the Forever Clotheslines in the ring. Cue Iizuka to get tagged in and do the biting gimmick to Rocky and 3K. Smith gets tagged in. Rocky is taking the brunt of the Suzuki-Gun punishment. Rocky gets Smith down and tags in 3K (I think SHO). 3K does some of their tandem offense on Smith, but Smith moves out of the way once too many times for 3K. Triple team by Suzuki-Gun including a Powerslam Off The Corner by Smith. Killer Bomb avoided by YOH. SHO hits a dropkick off the ropes on K.E.S. Rocky dives out at Archer. Iizuka gets tagged and bites 3K and Rocky. But YOH catches him with a surprise roll up to get the win.
Winners: Roppongi 3K and Rocky Romero
Match Grade: C+. Harmless opener for this type of show.
After the match, Smith takes a Young Lion and gives him the Running Powerslam on the concrete floor. Archer, not to be outdone, beats up two Young Lions. (I think Suzuki demands that if you lose, you have to beat up Young Lions on your way out. Lol.)
Match #2: Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens vs. Toa Henare and Tomoaki Honma
Owens and Yujiro seems to be now divorced from The Elite. In fact, it doesn't look like The Elite are mentioned at all as far as being on this show. So, it looks like they are all finished with the promotion, including Omega.
Honma and Owens start off for a few moments. Nothing special happens. Then, Henare gets tagged in to work with Yujiro. Owens gets a knee to the back of Henare, leading to Yujiro and Chase beating up both of their opponents on the floor. Back in the ring, Henare is double teamed by both Chase and Yujiro with frequent tags and attacks. Tag to Honma eventually by Henare who goes on the attack. Bulldog on Yujiro. He misses the falling headbutt, and Yujiro gets in a Fisherman Buster for a 2. Eventually, Honma does get in his falling headbutt. Owens and Henare get tagged back in. Flying shoulder tackle by Henare. Henare beats down on both Chase and Yujiro. Owens transitions really nice at one point into an ankle lock. Yujiro and Chase get the advantage on Honma and Henare. Package Piledriver by Owens gets... THE WIN?! Owens wins! Nice change of pace here.
Winners: Owens and Yujiro
Match Grade: C. Very basic tag match. Nice performance by Owens and Yujiro here as they looked like a really well-oiled tag team in this match. I want to see these guys continue to get this sort of development going forward. Owens has paid more than enough dues and done more than his fair share of jobs in order to get a little push. Give him and Yujiro an opportunity. See what happens.
Match #3: Best Friends (Beretta and Chuckie T) vs. David Finlay amd Juice Robinson
Beretta at one point goes to give a fan a hug up in the crowd. Beretta and Chuckie T argue about hugging for God's sakes. Juice and Finlay beat down on both Best Friends in the ring. Stereo Dives to them on the floor followed by a hug. But the Best Friends get their revenge: Juice gets thrown into the rail while Finlay gets double stomped by Beretta while hanging off the rail.
Best Friends begin beating down on Finlay in the ring. Oddly, it seems like they are making Best Friends the "heels" of this match though they aren't really heels. Eventually Juice gets the tag and starts trading chops with Beretta. Juice Jabs. Beretta gets the advantage, but Juice is able to fight off Beretta. Left Hand of God is avoided a couple times by Beretta. But Beretta throws himself at Juice and gets hit with it. Shotgun Knee by Beretta knocks down Juice. Tag to Finlay who goes on the fast-paced offense against Beretta. Chuckie T runs in and destroys Finlay with a steel chair for the DQ.
Winners: Finlay and Juice by DQ
Match Grade: C. Another average match here that served a purpose but doesn't really stand out.
Juice and Finlay are laid out with steel chair shots by Chuckie T. Chuckie T runs in and spike piledrives Finlay on a steel chair. The story being told is that Chuckie T is becoming uncontrollable and insane when he loses his temper. They started this during World Tag League, and it continues here on this show.
Match #4- Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, and Kushida vs. Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, and Tomohiro Ishii
We start off with Kushida and Ospreay. Ospreay eventually gets help from Goto and Ishii in beating down on Kushida in a triple team. (Goto and Ishii are some backup for Ospreay.) Tag to Ishii who continues the beatdown on Kushida. Kushida fires back with a lot of kicks, but it only takes one blow from Ishii to knock him down. Nagata breaks up a submission. Ishii and Nagata exchange blows with Nagata on the apron. Goto helps knock off Cobb and gets tagged in to continue the beatdown on Kushida. Kushida fires out of the CHAOS corner and nails a Pele Kick on Goto.
Tag to Ishii who stops the tag for Kushida. But he and Ospreay suffer a Double Handspring Elbow. Tag to Nagata. It's Nagata and Ishii. Running boot and kick by Nagata. They are exchanging forearms now. Nagata gets the advantage. A big chop and kick by Nagata knocks Ishii down. Nagata is going absolutely nuts on Ishii in the ring with multiple kicks and forearms on a prone Ishii. Ishii gets put in the armbar. Ospreay breaks it up. He springboards to attack Nagata, but he gets hit with an Exploder Suplex by Nagata. Powerslam by Ishii to Nagata. Tag to Goto. Nagata dropkicks Goto in the knee and tags in Cobb.
Cobb and Goto go at it. Cobb plows over Goto. GTR and Tour of the Islands both missed. Both men charge and knock each other down. Tags to Kushida and Ospreay. An amazing sequence between Ospreay and Kushida with both men using their aerial abilty to tell a great story. Springboard Forearm by Ospreay eventually, but there were about 4-5 moves in 10 seconds that I couldn't write fast enough. Cobb catches Oscutter and does the Twisting Back Suplex. He then suplexes Kushida onto Ospreay for a 2 count. More fast-paced offense between Kushida and Ospreay. Ospreay uses Ishii to flip onto Kushida for a 2. Brawling on the floor while Ospreay hits Stormbreaker on Kushida for a 3 count.
Winners: Goto, Ishii, and Ospreay
Match Grade: B+. Excellent match here with Ospreay looking like a complete star here. Ospreay has gotten a great amount of momentum after Wrestle Kingdom 13. Here's hoping we get Ospreay in the G1 this year as he can hang in there with men a lot heavier than him.
After the match, Nagata and Ishii get in each other's faces. Cobb and Goto are now doing the same. Ishii and Nagata are striking each other over the Young Lions trying to keep them apart. Great moment of respect though between Ospreay and Kushida as they fist-bump.
Match #5- NEVER Openweight Championship
Makabe, Yano, and Taguchi vs. G.O.D. and Ishimori (c) (w/Jado)
Makabe and Loa start off the match. But Makabe tags in Yano to face off against Tama Tonga. Yano sells fear of Tonga. Yano removes one of the corner pads, but he opens himself up to an attack by The Bad Boy. Thanks to a distraction by Jado, Tonga is able to get Yano into the Bullet Club corner. Tag to Ishimori who beats down on Yano. Frequent tags by Bullet Club to continue dominating Yano. Tama Tonga continues to play "nice" by not using the exposed corner against Yano. Lol. He goes to finally use the corner, but Yano reverse the Irish Whip to make Tonga take the bump.
Loa prevents Yano from making the tag initially, but Yano gets to Taguchi eventually. Hip Attack to the freshly tagged Ishimori ... and to G.O.D. Taguchi continues to attack Ishimori with the Hip Attack and teases Bomaye. Three Amigos by Taguchi is stopped at 2. Jado nails Taguchi with a cane, but it doesn't stop Taguchi from getting an ankle lock on Ishimori. Roll-up by Ishimori almost gets a 3, but Ishimori hits a Handspring Back Kick to get to his corner. Tag to Loa. Atomic Drop to counter the first Hip Attack, but the second Hip Attack connects. Tag to Makabe. Corner clothesline. Ten punches. Clotheslines to Loa. Yano uses a steel chair to smack Loa in the face. Ishimori pulls out the referee before he can count to three. Jado tries to interfere to no avail. Makabe double clotheslines G.O.D. Makabe slams Loa and climbs the corner. YUJIRO AND CHASE ARE HERE! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER TO MAKABE! Loa hits Ape.... (Rikishi Driver) to retain the titles. It looks like Yujiro and Chase are back in the main Bullet Club.
Winner: Bullet Club.
Match Grade: C+. Decent enough 6-Man match. But I'll be honest: the match didn't really do much to increase my enjoyment of the show. The best thing to happen on this match was the finale with Owens and Yujiro being brought back into the main fold of Bullet Club.
Owens and Yujiro are welcomed back by Tonga and the rest of Bullet Club. All is forgiven apparently from past transgressions. Owens gets on commentary and says "While others have been doing YouTube videos, I've been making business decisions."
Semi-Main Event: Los Ingobernables de Japon (Naito, Evil, Sanada, Bushi, and Shingo) vs. Suzuki-Gun (Suzuki, ZSJ, Kanemaru, Desperado, and Taichi)
Taka does his big introduction for Zack Sabre Jr. He tells LIJ to "JUST TAP OUT. COME OVER HERE!" And "Stardust" plays LIJ to the ring, with all 5 men with their newly won championship gold. Naito could care less about being Intercontinental Champion as he is back to dragging the belt towards the ring. Lol. (Suzuki-Gun and LIJ are mortal enemies. So this should be awesome.) Naito knows Suzuki is going ot jump him and turns his back to Suzuki nonetheless. BUT IT'S TAICHI WHO BREAKS A CHAIR OVER NAITO'S HEAD!
Suzuki-Gun goes on the offense and attacks LIJ around ringside. Taichi is working over Naito in the ring. Dear God. That chair shot was brutal. Shingo runs in and helps get Taichi off of Naito. Naito is rolled into the corner as Shingo takes over. Shingo and Bushi double team Desperado. It looks like Bushi is now legal for LIJ. LIJ and Suzuki-Gun continue to brawl around the arena. The camera pans out to literally show the action going on all around the arena. Suzuki and Sanada are fighting into the backstage area while Naito is getting assaulted again by Taichi with a steel chair. Back in the ring, ZSJ and Suzuki put a double submission hold on Bushi. Damn!
We've calmed down a bit. It's Bushi getting assaulted in the ring by Suzuki-Gun. Suzuki toys with Bushi and just continues the assault. Tag to Kanemaru. Desperado rips at the mask of Bushi behind the referee's back. Single Leg Boston Crab by Kanemaru to Bushi. Evil is being tortured by Suzuki around the rail while Taichi goes back to work on Naito somewhere in the arena. Bushi is still being destroyed in the ring. Step Up Enziguri by Bushi, but Desperado stops a tag. Hurricanrana by Bushi. Tag to Sanada.
Sanada and Suzuki are the legal men apparently. Sanada puts Kanemaru in Paradise Lock and kicks him out of it. Suzuki baits Sanada to put the hold on, but he puts an armbar on him instead. Brilliant sequence here sees Sanada go for the Superfly Leapfrogs only for Suzuki to stop and get the Rear Naked Choke in. Tag to ZSJ. Dragon Screw by Sanada to put down ZSJ. Tag to EVIL. Evil kicks ZSJ in the midsection and hits a running senton. Cobra Twist/Abdominal Stretch. ZSJ pulls the fingers and kicks on the arm of Evil. Guillotine Choke along with an arm twist by ZSJ. Evil powers out and hits a Fisherman Buster.
Naito is back up. He gets tagged in as does Taichi. Taichi takes the advantage. Arm Drag by Naito. Dropkick to the back of Taichi's head. Spinning DDT by Naito. Taichi gets 3-1 attacked by LIJ. Naito hurricanrana to Taichi. Multiple clotheslines by Taichi to Naito. Taichi gets the Intercontinental Championship while Taka distracts the referee. He decks Naito with it. Black Mephisto (White Noise) to Naito. 1-2-3?!! TAICHI HAS PINNED NAITO!
Winners: Suzuki-Gun
Match Grade: A-. That was an insanely entertaining match with Suzuki-Gun and LIJ just going to war. I love these matches between these two factions, and this didn't disappoint. Add into that equation that Taichi is given a huge pinfall victory here over Naito (regardless of how it happened) proves that NJPW has plans to elevate talent in the future.
After the match, LIJ gets laid out by Suzuki-Gun once again. Taichi gets on the mic and humiliates Naito. He challenges Naito for the Intercontinental Championship, saying he just beat down Naito worse than Chris Jericho ever did. Naito doesn't even care about the championship. So, Taichi suggests he just hand it over to him. Wow. SUZUKI-GUN ICHIBAN! Suzuki beats up a Young Lion or two on the way out.
Main Event: Yoshi-Hashi, Okada, and Tanahashi vs. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, and Gedo
Yoshi-Hashi makes it to the ring safely this time. Okada still continues to pull out the classic Rainmaker attire. Go Ace! And there's the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi is sore as hell. You can tell as the Young Lions literally have to hold open the ropes for him to get into the ring.
Okada and White start off the match. Gedo jumps Okada from behind. Tanahashi runs in to face off with White. Okada escapes Fale and Gedo on the floor. Okada runs in and tags Yoshi-Hashi who goes after Jay White. Gedo trips up Yoshi-Hashi and pulls him to the floor. Bullet Club beats down on their opponents on the floor. White uses a camera cord to choke Tanahashi. Gedo uses a chair on Yoshi-Hashi and throws him into the post. Fale throws Okada into a rail and beats on him on the floor.
Back in the ring, Yoshi-Hashi gets assaulted by the Bullet Club for a bit. Gedo gets tagged in and works over Yoshi-Hashi for a while. Fale continues the assault by standing on Yoshi-Hashi. Bullet Club continues to assert its dominance. For every move Hashi gets in, it seems Bullet Club has an answer. Hashi finally gets Gedo off of him. Okada gets the tag and goes after White. Gedo is in the ring with him and slaps Okada. But Okada starts going after his former friend. Running back elbow into the corner. DDT and Kip Up by Okada. Fale kicks Okada bouncing off the ropes. Fale gets tagged in. Backdrop to Okada. 2 count. Corner splash by Fale. Grenade avoided. Dropkick by Okada. Okada can't slam Fale. Dragon Screw works, though. Tanahashi gives Okada a thumbs up. Lol.
Tag to Tanahashi who begins fighting with Jay White. Dragon Screw to Jay White. Thumbs up from Okada. Lol. Cloverleaf avoided by White. Saito Suplex by White. Sling Blade by Tanahashi. Tag to Yoshi-Hashi. Snap Rana to White. Running chop by Yoshi-Hashi. Head Hunter gets a 2. Fisherman Buster is blocked by White. Urinage by White. Blade Runner stopped by Okada. Tanahashi knocks down Fale and hits White with Twist and Shout. Brainbuster by Yoshi-Hashi only gets a 2. Karma is stopped by White who grabs the referee. Half and Half Suplex by White. BLADE RUNNER! 1-2-3! Well, Yoshi-Hashi is back to doing what he does best: jobs. Lol.
Winner: Bullet Club
Match Grade: C+. This wasn't nearly as good as a couple of the other matches on the undercard. But it is seriously nice to see Yoshi-Hashi being able to work again, even if he did just lose his return match.
Jay White gets on the mic and congratulates Yoshi-Hashi on being back. He wants Tanahashi's belt. He already beat Okada. He is better than Tanahashi. It is the Switch Blade Era. It's going to be easy to take that title from Tanahashi considering how beat up he is, according to White. He calls Tanahashi an "old man." Gedo jumps Tanahashi from behind once he gets in the ring. Okada runs in, but he gets the Grenade by Fale. The Ace and The Rainmaker are both down. Blade Runner to Tanahashi. White picks up the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and poses. Switch Blade calls his dibs on being the next champion. Breathe with the Switch Blade in the New Year in the New Era.
Show Grade: B-. This was an intriguing show as you see where New Japan is going with a few programs to start off the new year: White challenging Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Naito being challenged by Taichi for the Intercontinental Championship. But we didn't get a major shocker like we've been used to over the past few years. This could be seen as a good thing though as NJPW is investing in their current roster without having to rely on major surprises. Two matches worth checking out are definitely the CHAOS vs. Nagata, Cobb, and Kushida and LIJ vs. Suzuki-Gun matches.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
Comments
Post a Comment