10 Reasons Why January 2018 Was The Best Month In Wrestling History

9. New Year Dash 2018

Andrade Almas Ronda Rousey Chris Jericho
NJPW1972.com

NJPW's browser refresh the night after another incredible evening at the Tokyo Dome miraculously found a way to completely reshuffle the deck despite the reinvigorated health of most of the big pairings coming out of Wrestle Kingdom.

Kenny Omega joined The Young Bucks in an hilarious victory over Roppongi 3K and Cheeseburger that made unique use of Omega and Matt Jackson's injuries one night earlier whilst Jay White overcame the mixed reviews from his Wrestle Kingdom 12 match with Hiroshi Tanahashi with a stellar victory over Katsuya Kitamura. He shockingly rejecting Bullet Club membership in an attack on Omega afterwards.

It was one of several big angles coming out of the show, with none more shocking than a quick return 'The Cleaner's foe from one night prior.

Following a main event between Los Ingobernables de Japan and CHAOS that positioned SANADA as the unlikely next challenger for Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Title, Chris Jericho darted in with an attack on Tetsuya Naito to potentially build to a mammoth match between them later this year.

Naito was typically TRANQUILO in the aftermath, but 'Y2J's gauntlet throw-down was a perfect use of the company's next big thing despite his emotional loss 24 hours earlier.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett