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Dash After Kingdom: All The Surprises That Went Down

New Year Dash happened today in Japan, the event that directly follows up Wrestle Kingdom for NJPW and effectively kickstarts the new year for New Japan, in many ways what the first Raw and Smackdown after WrestleMania do for the WWE. And much like 2016’s Dash that saw AJ Styles ejected from the Bullet Club or last year’s Dash that saw Suzuki-Gun return from a year exile in Pro Wrestling NOAH, this year’s held no expense – in fact it may have been the most shocking yet. If you missed it, here’s a recap of the most shocking moments.

TANAHASHI vs. SUZUKI

Still reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed up with Michael Elgin and War Machine (who are all most likely gone from NJPW) against Suzuki-Gun, with Minor Suzuki singling out the IC champ with his brutality. Now that Suzuki is away from the NEVER Openweight title, a feud between the Ace and New Japan’s most vicious striker is on the cards, in what should be a very interesting contrast of old school New Japan with the new.

JERICHO ATTACKS NAITO

It appears all that build-up and back and forth in the media for weeks lead right into where we predicted back in late December, as “The Alpha” Chris Jericho, hot after losing his contest with Kenny Omega last night, stormed the ring after Los Ingobernables de Japon big 10-man victory over CHAOS and attacked Tetsuya Naito mercilessly. Looks like we’ve got Jericho’s next battle in New Japan.

A BULLET CLUB REJECTION

Cody Rhodes continued his battle against Ibushi in a tag match, but when he went to continue his beat down, Ibushi’s old tag partner and Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega came down to make the save for Ibushi, angering Cody in the process.

Omega decided that in order to create more unity, the Bullet Club needed more members, and called out “Switchblade” Jay White to don the colours.

With a quick rejection from “Switchblade”, it appears we have Omega’s next challenger for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.

Jamie Greer

Jamie Greer

Jamie Greer joined LWOPW in 2015 and was the site's Managing Editor from 2016 through 2020. After handing over ME duties to Alex Richards, he remains a frequent contributor to the site. He's also written for Pro Wrestling Illustrated, WrestleZone, The Windsor Star, and other publications. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and son.

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