Jay White and Kota Ibushi were on the wrong side of the history that was made here tonight. Wrestle Kingdom 14, a two night spectacular, was centered around the Double Gold Dash, in which the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles would first be defended individually on Night 1, then both be up for grabs in the same match on Night 2.
G1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi ultimately failed in his attempt at taking the Heavyweight crown from Kazuchika Okada, and Intercontinental Champion Jay White ended up dropping to Tetsuya Naito. That left the two dejected and angry competitors against one another here in this bronze match, a battle for third place.
Gedo, the manager for Jay White, ended up making his presence known many a time in this match. Though Kota thwarted him on a few occasions, ultimately the cheating became too much for him and White eeked out a victory.
You can see an excerpt of my recap of this match below:
V-Trigger to Jay!! Hoists him up, Golden Star Bomb! But there’s no ref for the cover! Kota has to roll outside and grab the ref, slowly bring him into the ring! Kota pulls Jay up but he falls limp to avoid any more. Nonetheless he manages to keep hold of a wrist, vicious roundhouse kicks to the face, pulls him in for the Kamigoye! Covers, but Gedo pulls the ref from the ring! Gedo slips inside the ring behind Kota’s back… charges, Kota blocks the clothesline and twists his arm! But Jay tosses a steel chair right into Kota’s face! He no sells and rises, but Gedo with a knockout punch lays him out! Jay slowly crawls over. Ref rolled back into the ring. Jay grabs Kota’s arms, hooking them Straitjacket style as he pulls him up… into a Brainbuster! Pulls him up once more, Bladerunner, he can barely stand for his own move, but he nails it and that is that.
Winner: Jay White
