NJPW New Year Dash 2018: Jay White Shows Star Potential

After he lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi in a straightforward match for the Intercontinental Championship, some wondered if NJPW started to have cold feet with Jay White. But after New Year Dash!! 2018, it’s clear that there are still huge plans for Switchblade.

The biggest story coming out of NJPW New Year Dash!! 2018 was Chris Jericho’s attack on Tetsuya Naito, which was nearly as shocking as his attacks of Kenny Omega. A day after losing his memorable United States Championship match to Omega at Wrestle Kingdom, Jericho went after another one of NJPW’s biggest stars.

But while Jericho grabbed headlines, perhaps nobody emerged as a bigger winner from New Year Dash!! than Jay White, whose Switchblade gimmick received some much-needed momentum. White’s loss to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 12 wasn’t puzzling, because even though he was a chic upset pick among some crowds, the smart money was always on the “Ace” retaining. Even though the match itself was solid, it wasn’t spectacular, and the crowd just wasn’t into it, which perhaps reflected poorly on White.

Some were slightly worried about White’s future after the match, because the whole Switchblade gimmick was a bold repackaging. White didn’t seem into the character during the match, which may have been part of the reason why the crowd wasn’t really into the proceedings.

At New Year Dash!!, White put together a quality match with Katsuya Kitamura, winning with the Blade Runner finisher. There was a point in the match where White asked Kitamura to give him one of his trademark chops, but he stomped on his opponent’s knee right as he was winding up for a chop. Touches like this made the match feel like it had a stamp of White’s character on it, and it was a strong showing from Switchblade.

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He topped this later in the show when Kenny Omega asked him to join the Bullet Club. After getting into a shouting match with fellow Bullet Club member Cody Rhodes, Omega grabbed the microphone and lamented the in-fighting within the faction.

When White was offered a chance to join the Bullet Club, Omega spoke highly of Tanahashi’s Wrestle Kingdom challenger, stating that White reminds him of himself as “The Cleaner” in 2015. White grabbed the T-Shirt and wore it, did a #TooSweet, and the two embraced.

It seemed like White would indeed become the Bullet Club’s latest member, but he suddenly made his “Switchblade” taunt and hit Omega with a savage Blade Runner. He then got up, picked Omega’s head up, yelled in his face, and left the ring.

For the first time, White showed some fire, and it was by far the most intriguing moment of Switchblade’s. He came across like an arrogant jerk in his match with Kitamura, and he definitely seemed like a treacherous heel who is willing to take shortcuts. But in this showdown with Omega, he seemed more like a selfish bad-ass, and there’s an interesting story to be told here between Omega and White, who can also extend this feud to the other Bullet Club members.

After a rather lackluster match with Tanahashi that didn’t really do him a whole lot of good, Switchblade had an important evening at New Year Dash!!, further proving that the show after Wrestle Kingdom is a must-watch in its own right.

I’m excited to see what White can do over the course of 2018, because it’s clear that NJPW has plans for him. A match with Tanahashi and a showdown with Omega in back-to-back nights isn’t something to take likely, and his win with Kitamura was a noteworthy bonus. During New Year Dash!!. White showed off glimpses of the major potential that NJPW surely sees in him, and we’ll all have to keep our eyes glued for his next move.

Next: Cody Silences The Critics

A match with Omega is on the horizon, and if White can put on a classic against one of the two best wrestlers in the world, he’ll be well on the way to superstardom in his own right.

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