Leave us your feedback regarding the New Year’s Dash card and more so the angles shot and what directions you like or dislike for the immediate future.
Wai Ting and I will have a special bonus show Friday afternoon for members as we review this card.
RATE THIS SHOW FROM 0-10:
0 voters
Chris From Florida
Tough to rate these shows, its never about the wrestling here but about setting up the next few big shows and man did this deliver.
Omega has two big potential angles coming out of this, I think short term the match with White will be great but the real meat here is the potential split between the BC and The Elite with Omega vs Cody and I think we might get that in Long Beach.
You also have a strong rematch possibility for Ibushi and Cody in the immediate future due to the beat down Ibushi got.
A bunch of other very solid angles that are great but not worth spending alot of time on (Hiromu vs Ospreay and Sanada vs Okada).
The other two worth talking about are Suzuki vs Tanahashi. Which I think you really need to put the belt on Suzuki to get Tanahashi some very very needed rest.
And of course Naito vs Jericho., Incredible angle to end the show, Jericho once again showing why he is one of the best in pro wrestling. That match will be electric.
10/10 for what this show is meant to do, which is set up the roadmap for the future.
John from Montana,
I didn’t originally plan on staying up to watch New Years Dash but I am really glad I did. I love how New Japan is able to set up future feuds/storylines in a way that you don’t even have to speak Japanese to totally get where they are going, and it gets us invested, no scripted promos needed. After a nice 48 hour vacation to New Japan world, I am dreading going back to the “WWE Universe” on Monday.
Jay White was completely different tonight for the better, as he seemed to flush out his character a lot more, I think last nights match with Tanahashi would have been better with tonight’s version of Switchblade.
I am excited to see Suzuki/Tanahashi, as it’s time for Suzuki to win the IC Title. I think Jericho vs Naito will be amazing, and will elevate Naito to a much larger world stage.
9 Switchblades out of 10.
Question for you guys:
Do you think it is time to get Kenny Omega out of the Bullet Club and possibly have Cody take over as the leader? Cody can argue that Kenny only cares about “The Elite” and not the Bullet Club, and try to kick him and the Young Bucks out, and I think this would be a perfect angle for the Long Beach show.
Lara from Vancouver
While I’d never claim it was the better show, I did kind of have more fun with New Years Dash than WrestleKingdom 12. Probably because I had no significant expectations like I did for WK 12. It was a killer show that sets up so many exciting angles.
Naito/Jericho already has me hyped… Naito taking Jericho’s assault but staying Tranquilo was phenomenal. I look forward to Jericho’s eventual Los Ingobernables de Jericho shirt.
I liked the subtle lines being drawn in the eventual Bullet Club split. Scurll trying to talk Cody out from using the chair on Ibushi hints that he’ll side with Omega. They’ll likely establish The Elite as its own stable alongside the Bucks and I’m guessing Hangman Page. In one segment, months of story for Omega has been established. Fantastic stuff.
Finally, bald Suzuki is somehow even scarier and I hope this leads to him tearing apart Tanahashi, taking the title, and doing it in such a way that writes Tanahashi out of NJPW for months so he can heal.
Thanks for doing this show. Exciting to get in depth New Japan coverage from both of you guys. Keep up the amazing work.
10 bald Suzukis out of 10
Jalen from Pickering,
Fun show, crowd seemed pretty into everything on the card. While it’s nice to see them giving Omega several programs to work towards, the Jay White one did not make sense in terms of build up. He rushes out to save Ibushi but conveniently was holding a BC shirt in his hand, and somehow believed that adding a new member to the group would improve strained relations. Makes even less sense since Kenny is clearly a babyface, while Jay White is a heel.
Enjoyed all the post-match shenanigans between LIJ and Chaos, I’m really hoping that a program with Okada can help bring Sanada up a level as a performer. Loved the Jericho and Naito stuff, but it is kinda dumb logically. They can argue who was the main event, but they were both losers. Luckily it’s a program between the most over performer and a special attraction, so it doesn’t matter.
Who do you guys think should win between Naito and Jericho, and does that answer change depending on if Jericho is staying in NJPW after this program?
Dan from Liverpool,
This show was extremely satisfying and the perfect amuse-bouche after yesterday’s Wrestle Kingdom.
For what it lacked in match quality it made up for in intrigue, New Japan is going in several mouthwatering directions, Naito Vs Jericho being chief among them.
Also, Goto what have you done?! Bald Suzuki is somehow even more terrifying than before, we truly are living in the scariest New Japan time line.
8 Okada Pants out of 10
J from Columbus
I just finished watching the show and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Multi-man matches normally don’t do much for me, but it just felt fun.
• I feel like I’m alone in this, but I’m really growing tired of The Bullet Club. I don’t really get the appeal of the Omega and Young Bucks characters.
• Speaking of characters, I feel like Jay White is fleshing his character out a lot more and I’m excited to see what happens moving forward.
• Jericho vs. Naito will be a blast. It will be interesting to see how Jericho is able to build a feud with someone when there is a language barrier in place.
• Don Callis is quickly becoming my favorite commentator in the business. There’s a certain throwback to his call. Impact would benefit from putting him in the booth with JB instead of Matthews.
Overall, I give the show a B+.
Andrew from Nova Scotia
The main angle was spoiled for me thanks to someone who posted it on Youtube. I was going through some videos to put on Watch Later and saw it. I know John may complain about this, but avoiding spoilers isn’t the easiest for New Japan shows, even if I took all the advice for twitter. I do blame myself for going to Youtube before the end of the show, but I guess it’s something you have to get used to as a new New Japan World subscriber.
That being said, I thought the show was pretty good. My match of the night was the Roppongi 3K/Elite match and enjoyed how the injuries sustained by Elite members made the match more interesting. Does John think that Cheeseburger may end up being used more in New Japan as someone in the role of a Captain New Japan in the future? He seems really over.
Beer Guy from Saint Albans, UK.
I love the pure vicious nature of Minoru Suzuki. I feel he will batter Tanahashi so hard, that will be the angle for him to rehab his injuries for a few months.
Who would you like to see Zack Sabre Jr Fight next? Rev Pro have a show in a few weeks where we’ll see Suzuki and Sabre Jr vs Moustache Mountain. I fear for Trent Seven…
Love the forum and the show, keeps me sane on the way to and back from work!