New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the full card for New Year Dash, breaking from the event’s recent tradition of keeping matchups a mystery until the show begins.
The event takes place on January 5 at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, one night after Wrestle Kingdom 20. The show is being billed as the start of the “post-Tanahashi era” following the Ace’s retirement match at the Tokyo Dome.
In the main event, the IWGP Tag Team Championships will be on the line. The Knockout Brothers (OSKAR and Yuto-Ice) will defend their titles against World Tag League winners Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa. Sabre and Oiwa requested the match take place at New Year Dash rather than the traditional Wrestle Kingdom slot.
The semi-main event will see the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships defended in a four-way match. Champions DOUKI and SHO (House of Torture) will face El Desperado and KUUKAI, TMDK’s Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita, and the War Dogs duo of Taiji Ishimori and Robbie X.
The card also features several matches highlighting major faction shifts that occurred at Wrestle Kingdom 20.
Newly crowned double champion Yota Tsuji, who holds both the IWGP World Heavyweight and Global Heavyweight titles, will compete in an eight-man tag team match. He joins forces with David Finlay, Shingo Takagi, and Drilla Moloney to face United Empire. The United Empire team features Jake Lee, who defected from the War Dogs to join the faction as “X” at the Tokyo Dome.
Former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita will look to rebound from his title loss in a tag match, partnering with Rocky Romero to face World TV Champion El Phantasmo and Shoma Kato.
Elsewhere, Olympic gold medalist and new NEVER Openweight Champion Aaron Wolf is scheduled for eight-man tag team action against House of Torture.
The full lineup was published on the NJPW website:
- IWGP Tag Team Championships: Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) (c) vs. TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa)
- IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: House of Torture (DOUKI & SHO) (c) vs. El Desperado & KUUKAI vs. TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) vs. War Dogs (Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X)
- Yota Tsuji, David Finlay, Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney vs. United Empire (Jake Lee, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE)
- Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. House of Torture (Ren Narita, EVIL, Don Fale & Dick Togo)
- Gabe Kidd, Hiromu Takahashi & Clark Connors vs. United Empire (Andrade El Idolo, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young)
- Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin Oleg vs. House of Torture (SANADA, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
- El Phantasmo & Shoma Kato vs. Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero)
- Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & Katsuya Murashima vs. Team 150 (Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi & Satoshi Kojima)
