NJPW has recently held New Year Dash!! 2023. Kazuchika Okada teams up with Kenny Omega for the first time to take on United Empire’s Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan. Plus, GOD, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato collide BULLET CLUB in 8-Man Tag Team action and the KOPW 2023 Champion was crowned in a 4-Way Match.
Welcome to another edition of Wrestling Republic’s coverage of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This time, we’ll put the focus on the promotion first show after Wrestle Kingdom 17.
The promotion has recently held NJPW NEW YEAR DASH!! 2023, which took place from the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan and presented some very interesting in-ring action. So, with nothing else to say, here are the full results of NJPW NEW YEAR DASH!! 2023:
- 6-Man Tag Team Match: House Of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo) defeated Ren Narita, Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma – EVIL pinned Honma after he and Togo hit the Magic Killer.
- Shortly after the match ended, House of Torture delivers a post match assault on Ren Narita. Minoru Suzuki attempts to make the save but struggles with the number’s game before El Desperado joins the brawl and helps Suzuki & Narita fend off House of Torture.
- TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI make an in-ring promo. TAKA says they are ‘Just Four Guys’ and promises to bring in a huge change to NJPW in 2023, before Will Ospreay & Catch 2/2 interrupt them.
- 6-Man Tag Team Match: Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI (w/TAKA Michinoku) defeated United Empire (Will Ospreay, TJP & Francesco Akira) – DOUKI pinned Akira with the Jorge Rivera Special.
- Shortly after the match ended, United Empire attacked Taichi, Kanemaru, TAKA & DOUKI, with both teams engaging in a heated brawl.
- 6-Man Tag Team Match: TMDK (Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii) – Nicholls pinned YOSHI-HASHI after he and Haste hit the Tank Buster.
- Shortly after the match ended, Nicholls & Haste challenged the new IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI to a title match. Additionally, Kosei Fujita is given a TMDK shirt and officially joins the group.
- 8-Man Tag Team Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, Togi Makabe & YOH defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) – SHO pinned Hiromu after hitting the DIRECT DRIVE.
- Shortly after the match ended, Tetsuya Naito engaged in a heated staredown with Shota Umino. Meanwhile, YOH challenged new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi to a title match, which he accepts.
- 8-Man Tag Team Match: Guerrillas Of Destiny (Hikuleo & Tama Tonga), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato defeated BULLET CLUB (Jay White, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) by DQ – El Phantasmo hit Tama with the NEVER Openweight Belt and caused the DQ.
- Shortly after the match ended, BULLET CLUB brutally attacked their opponents and ‘Swithcblade’ Jay White challenges Hikuleo to a ‘Loser Leaves Japan Match’
- KOPW Championship, 4-Way Match: Shingo Takagi defeated Great-O-Khan, SHO & Toru Yano to become the KOPW 23 Champion – Shingo pinned Yano after hitting Last of the Dragon.
- Tag Team Match: Kazuchika Okada & Kenny Omega defeated United Empire (Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb) – Okada pinned Henare after hitting the Rainmaker.
- Shortly after the match ended, KOPW 23 Champion ‘The Dragon’ Shingo Takagi confronts ‘The Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada and once again challenges him to a IWGP World Heavyweight Title match.
This is all for our coverage of NJPW New Year Dash 2023. Stay tuned to Wrestling Republic, since we’ll keep you updated with everything you need to know about NJPW and the world of Japanese Wrestling.
Where Can You Watch NJPW New Year Dash 2023?
Fans will be able to watch NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 -as well as every other NJPW event- on the company’s official streaming platform, NJPW World.
You can also visit NJPW’s official website -as well as their Japanese & English Twitter accounts- for more information about the promotion, wrestlers, merchandise, fan club and details about their upcoming shows.
Photo Credit – New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
