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New Japan Pro Wrestling New Year's Dash From Sumida Gymnasium, Tokyo Japan:
The announcer called Wrestle Kingdom 18 "the most watched Wrestle Kingdom in history". This event is free on New Japan World.
Traditionally, no matches are announced ahead of time. The announcers do not know the matches either. This is an event which sets up potential feud or programs going forward into the new year.
1 - NJPW World Television Championship: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Taguchi goes for a Sunset Flip. Tanahashi reverses and pins Taguchi.
Hiroshi Tanahashi retains the NJPW World TV Title.
As Tanahashi leaves the ring, a video plays. It is Matt Riddle. He says that he has set his sights on the Ace and he will see him soon.
Tanahashi takes the mic and says he does not know this man and he will have to do his research. Hilarious!
2 - HIrooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa
Bishomon hit a Violent Flash on Oiwa and follows with a Shoto.
Goto pins Oiwa
3 - Yuto Nakashima and Oskar Leube vs. Hikuleo and El Phantasmo
The announcer said this will be the send off match for Nakashima and Oskar. They will leave New Japan and travel on their excursion to another wrestling promotion. Both will be traveling together as a tag team.
HIkuleo hit a powerslam and a Godsend Chokeslam on Oskar. ELP hit Sudden Death on Nakashima and Hikuleo hits a Godsend on him. Hikuleo stacks them up and ELP hits a Super Thunderkiss 86 on them both. ELP pins both of them.
After the match, the Tag Champs pick up the young lions and raise their arms before the crowd. They all shake hands. Nakashima and Oskar get on their knees and bow to the crowd. ELP tell the sound guys to cut his music and give the young lions the spotlight.
Chase Owens rushes the ring, knocks Hikuleo to the floor and hits a Package Piledriver on ELP. Owens takes the mic and congratulates them, and he challenges them to a Tag Title match with his partner KENTA. Hikuleo accepts the match.
4 - Tama Tonga, Shota Umino, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Homna, El Desperado and Master Wato vs. SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo, Ren Narita and EVIL
Tama Tonga made the announcement after winning the NEVER Openweight Title that he will be finishing with New Japan in the next month. Big loss for New Japan, but Tama has accomplished everything that he could in the company.
Lots of action with bodies flying all over. Umino hits a Death Rider on Togo and gets the pin.
Narita immediately attacks Umino choking him and hitting him with his push-up bar. Desperado gets in the face of Narita. They used to be teammates in Strong Style. Kanemaru hits Desperado in the gut with his whiskey bottle. SHO hits Wato in the face with his wrench. Kanemaru hits Desperado with the IWGP Jr. Title Belt. Tama Tonga takes the belt from Kanemaru. EVIL hits Tama with a low blow and plants him with Everything is Evil. House of Torture handcuffs Tama and cut his hair with scissors. Crowd is pissed at all of this. EVIL hold the NEVER Openweight Title and poses over Tama's body. EVIL steals the NEVER belt and shows off Tama's hair to the crowd.
5 - TJP, Francesco Akira, HENARE, Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay vs. Drilla Moloney, Clark Conners, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin and David Finlay
Announcers tease a new leader of United Empire on the horizon with Ospreay spending more time in AEW in 2024. Massive cheers and chants for Ospreay.
Massive brawl into the crowd. Too much to recap. Turnbuckle pad got ripped off. Akira sent Kidd face first into the metal bolt. Kidd is bleeding all over the place. Finlay grabs Kidd and screams "Look at what they did to you, I want to you to kill them". War Dogs start throwing chairs into the ring. They grabbed chairs from the fans and threw them in the ring. Guardrails go flying around.
Referee stopped the match and ruled it a no contest.
Finlay attacked Ospreay. Moloney and Kidd tried to cut open Akira with a fork. Cobb and Ospreay made the save. Finlay started swinging his club, but Ospreay beat hiim down. Ospreay threw out the referee. Ospreay hit an Oscutter on Finlay and was about to hit the HIdden Blade. Gedo hit a low blow on Ospreay. Gedo sets up a table in the ring. Finlay was about to powerbomb Ospreay into a table. United Empire makes the save. Every War Dog is taken out. Ospreay lifts Gedo into powerbombs and throws him through the table. Bullet Club retreats. United Empire stands tall in the ring.
Ospreay gets the mic and tells Bullet Club they are still standing. Ospreay said February 11 is his last match in New Japan. He will fight along side his brothers. He challenges Bullet Club at New Beginning in Osaka and they can pick the match. Finlay picks a no rules steel cage match. He said Ospreay's last match will be his last match of his career.
The blood and excessive violence is ridiculous. The throwing of fans' chairs into to the ring is stupid and dangerous. The War Dogs' violent gimmick is fine and different, but they go over the top with it. With everyday violence, we see in everyday life, I don't think wrestling should be tapping into that type of brutal hysteria. I don't understand why Finlay chose a steel cage match. War Dogs have been using chairs and guardrails and any weapon they find. The heels should want the match to be open so they can have the advantage. The cage confines the battle in one place. New Japan officials should have announced the cage stipulation to keep the fight between these men contained and to protect the fans at ringside.
Clearly, this is all a build towards Ospreay's departure. Fans will want to see him stand tall at the end on February 11. This will be the main storyline for all these men going forward until a new United Empire leader is determined.
The new Global Title is an afterthought in this chaos. The Title was once the "US", then "UK" and now "Global" Heavyweight belt. It sounds too close to "World" Title or Global Force Wrestling. I always thought Kota Ibushi should never have combined the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Belts in 2021. The Global Title should be the Intercontinental Title, and there are too many belts in New Japan as it is. Finlay will hopefully defend the title at Battle in the Valley on January 13 or on January 20 at New Beginning in Nagoya. If there are no defenses till after February 11, then the title looks meaningless.
6 - BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji and Tetsuya Naito vs. Yuya Uyemura, DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi and SANADA
TAKA hits a Michinoku Driver on BUSHI and gets the pin.
Uemura and Tsuji continue have words after the match. SANADA asks Naito for one more match. Naito leaves the ring. SANADA tells the rest of LIJ to leave the ring as they lost the match. TAKA said that one year ago it was Just 4 Guys, now there are 5 of them. They are looking toward a better 2024.
7 - KOPW 2024 Provisional Championship: Toru Yano vs. YOH vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. Great O-Khan
This match will be 10 minutes long. Whoever has the last pinfall at the end of 10 minutes will be the KOPW 2024 Champion.
With two minutes to go, O-Khan plants YOH with the Eliminator and gets the pin. Ishimori his a low blow on O-Khan and gets a pin. Ishimori grabs the belt and runs. YOH and Yano are dazed on the floor. O-Khan tried to pin them but the referee would not count. O-Khan chases after Ishimori as the time runs out.
Taiji Ishimori is the KOPW 2024 Provisional Champion.
O-Khan chased after Ishimori to the locker room.
8 - Tomohiro Ishii, Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls and Zack Sabre Jr.
Danielson gets a massive reaction as he comes to ringside. Announcers called this team the Blackpool CHAOS Club.
Before the match started, they confirmed that Kazuchika Okada will face Will Ospreay at Battle in the Valley on January 13.
Good match. Fujita got some shots in on Okada.
Nicholls and Haste caught Ishii and hit a Tank Buster.
Haste pins Ishii
After the match, Zack tells Danielson that he will tap him out the next time. Fujita gets the mic and challenges Okada and Ishii for the NEVER 6-man Titles. Okada says that he does not deserve a shot. Fujita repeats his challenge to Tanahashi who is on Japanese commentary.
Danielson is backstage and says Zack Sabre Jr. is a coward. He says that Zack never made Okada tap out and he did in his first match. He says the next time they face each other, Danielson will make Zack tap out.
Moxley is backstage and he is challenged by Shingo Takagi for Battle in the Valley. Moxley wants a No Disqualification match. Takagi accepts.
TMDK is next backstage and they repeated their challenge to Okada and Tanahashi. Zack repeats his challenge to Danielson and tells him to get back to Japan.
The next event is Battle in the Valley in San Jose on January 13.
The next event on New Japan World is New Beginning in Nagoya on January 20.
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