New Year Dash!!


New Year Dash!! is a professional wrestling event held annually by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It is held every year the day after Wrestle Kingdom, the biggest show of the year for New Japan, starting at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014. There have been eight events under the name held so far, with the traditional January 5 date. In 2020 and 2021, with Wrestle Kingdom a two-night event, New Year Dash!! was held on January 6. The event was not held in 2022. After it was confirmed that Wrestle Kingdom would return to a one-day event for 2023, the event returned to its original January 5 date.

Production

Background

New Year Dash!! is traditionally held at Korakuen Hall, a prestigious venue right next to the Tokyo Dome, where Wrestle Kingdom is held. The 2020 edition, however, was held at Ota City General Gymnasium due to the event being the official retirement ceremony for Jyushin Thunder Liger. The 2021 edition was held at Tokyo Dome City Hall, another venue right next to the Dome.

Storylines

New Year Dash!! features professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. New Year Dash!! is the night were New Japan Pro-Wrestling starts many new storylines and feuds after most have ended the night before at Wrestle Kingdom. Dash!! is an exciting show, where fans tune in to see how the promotion will start the year in terms of stories leading into the New Beginning shows. Because of its "reset"-like nature after the company's biggest show of the year, many fans see Dash!! as NJPW's equivalent to the first Raw after WrestleMania in WWE.

Date and venues

EventDateCityVenueMain event
New Year Dash!! (2014)January 5, 2014Tokyo, JapanKorakuen HallCaptain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito vs. Chaos
New Year Dash!! (2015)January 5, 2015Tokyo, JapanKorakuen HallBullet Club] vs. Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata and Tetsuya Naito
New Year Dash!! (2016)January 5, 2016Tokyo, JapanKorakuen HallToru Yano and The Briscoes vs. Bullet Club for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
New Year Dash!! (2017)January 5, 2017Tokyo, JapanKorakuen HallLos Ingobernables de Japón vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, and Ryusuke Taguchi for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
New Year Dash!! (2018)January 5, 2018Tokyo, JapanKorakuen HallLos Ingobernables de Japón vs. Chaos
New Year Dash!! (2019)January 5, 2019Tokyo, JapanKorakuen HallBullet Club vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Chaos
New Year Dash!! (2020)January 6, 2020Tokyo, JapanOta City General GymnasiumLos Ingobernables de Japón vs. Bullet Club
New Year Dash!! (2021)January 6, 2021Tokyo, JapanTokyo Dome City HallLos Ingobernables de Japón vs. Master Wato, Golden Ace and Roppongi 3K
New Year Dash!! (2023)January 5, 2023Tokyo, JapanOta City General GymnasiumKazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega vs. United Empire
New Year Dash!! (2024)January 5, 2024Tokyo, JapanSumida City GymnasiumTMDK vs Chaos and Blackpool Combat Club
New Year Dash!! (2025)January 6, 2025Tokyo, JapanOta City General GymnasiumChaos vs. TMDK )
New Year Dash!! (2026)January 5, 2026Tokyo, JapanOta City General GymnasiumKnock Out Brothers vs. TMDK for the IWGP Tag Team Championship