Kenny Omega's G1 Climax Victory;
A sign of absolute loyalty, a sacrificial chess move or
Perfecting the Art of Making A Main Eventer
As of Sunday night, New Japan Pro Wrestling concluded their much chaotic and much confusing 26th Annual 19 day G1 Climax tournament.
In what was to be a fairly predictable race to the top just a few months ago, turned out to be one hell of a shocker with two unexpected finalists and an unexpected win with no chance of looking back.
Kenny Omega, the former Cleaner of the Bullet Gang and current leader among the Elite; managed to despite an injured knee bring a ferocity unlike seen to be the first Gaijin [Foreigner] superstar in the history of the G1 Climax tournament to win. Only two others have reached the finals [Rick Rude and Karl Anderson, his former faction mate].
Kenny Omega's victory comes as a surprise due to a number of factors.
Though on top form, AJ Styles and the Club have been a mixed bag in WWE so far, where as Omega has run with the leadership of the Bullet Club in Japan
Earlier this year, while Omega was carrying the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship into the storied Wrestle Kingdom X, three of his senior Bullet Club members and one of the trio of NJPW's top homegrown stars were signing the dotted line that would forever change their careers, his career and the Japanese scene.
Top stars Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Shinsuke Nakamura and The Phenomenal AJ Style would go out with a bang at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome Show [the latter two against each other in a match of the year candidate] to then join the juggernaut that is WWE.
It left a huge hole in New Japan's upper echelons that saw Omega relish the opportunity unlike anyone else. Omega would go on to make gains to move from the Junior's division into the Heavyweight division.
His first big move came by taking over the leadership of Bullet Club and ousting the "traitor" AJ Styles. Within that time frame as the tag duo of Anderson and Gallows segued away; Omega and the Young Bucks became what is known as The Elite of the Bullet Club.
Omega would soon see new rival; Shinsuke Nakamura leave for the supposed greener pastures, the IWGP Intercontinental Title left vacant and in a shocker of a move he would beat none other than the Ace of the NJPW; Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title. #LOLTANADOESN'TWIN
This obviously felt like a top class move and to add to that, the MVP of the first half of NJPW's new year scored big by also holding the Never Openweight Trios Titles with the Young Bucks. Things were looking up for Omega and then both titles slipped out of his hand.
In an epic Ladder Match encounter; Michael Elgin beat Omega for his Intercontinental Championship which he holds to this day.
However the magical year while well deserved for Omega was more or less a move made in consideration to New Japan's great exodus. Not to take anything away from him, Omega is a terrific talent and would eventually make the considered big leagues of the company within the year most likely but the fact is it helped that Styles and the boys went packing.
Even then; what comes as a surprise more than the rise of Omega is the shot that sees him most likely to main event next years Wrestle Kingdom; the equivalent of WWE's Wrestlemania.
With the departure of Shinsuke Nakamura, the true heavy lifting was expected by none other than last years breakout Japanese star; Tetsuya Naito. Naito who floundered as a babyface for most of his career, reignited himself with a second tour to Mexico joining their infamous Los Ingobernables faction and developing a personality unseen from him before.
His return heralded a great change with his work rate excelling and his character and showmanship on form. AJ Styles exit early this year and the rebuild needed with Bullet Club under the Elite brand predicated that Naito's faction Los Ingobernables Japan could become the big dogs.
Naito was seen as a future star and a most likely replacement on the level of Shinsuke. While he did end up winning the Heavyweight title during the year and even losing it back to Okada, it was expected that the not so fresh world title match would headline next years Wrestle Kingdom 11.
With Okada and Naito busy, Tanahashi and Omega would probably take on each other for the Intercontinental title with Omega getting a big win and an eventual push that could see him contest for the World title at a later date and most likely main event Wrestle Kingdom 12, 13 or more.
In relatively short time despite their booking; AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke [Doc] Gallows have made a hard hitting impact on WWE. The same can be said for Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been an unbelievable god send for NxT TV. The WWE Cruiserweight Classic has also sought to highlight WWE's interest in another top Japanese independent star; Kota Ibushi.
NJPW are losing serious ground to a company that would irk from mentioning or poaching talents from outside of their own gigantic sphere. WWE has truly gone global and smart.
The next man on their list?
Bullet Club's very own Kenny Omega.
So it begs to question?
Is Omega's latest win a sign of NJPW trying to appease the electric anime-esque villainous star to remain or it it a victory due to a sign of loyalty from the man who has on many an occasion rejected the advances of the Big E [not the New Day superstar, the company; New Day by the way have a fun rivalry going on with The Elite].
It's no conincidence that after his monumental victory Omega spewed a shoot mentioning the WWE and its poaching of recent NJPW stars to a rancous roar from the crowd. Kenny Omega is a terrific find for the company after all, a Gaijin warrior who has all the skills necessary to be a top star and connect with the oft elite [pun intended] Japanese crowd because unlike other foreigner he fluently speaks Japanese.
I'm not questioning Omega's talent. He is by far the best thing in New Japan right now but so is Naito. Naito's hard perseverance and improvement deserved an acknowledgment for at least a Wrestle Kingdom Main Event. Omega could have been primed for a bigger turn soon enough.
It's not like the Bullet Club brand was waning that Omega's push needed to boost them again. Sure it was a heavy loss, early this year but the Elite seemed to have anchored the ship especially with some awesome State side acquisitions to the growing faction.
Omega is going to be terrific in the Wrestle Kingdom Main Event no doubt and a fresh match up for the World Title against Okada is an exciting prospect. Despite this; Naito is my guy, all I can be satisfied with is that Naito especially after the Day 19 show is likely to take on Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 11 and win [Naito's an upside for now] hopefully even for the Intercontinental Championship.
Omega is bound for the big Tokyo Dome show, as per regulation he must defend his G1 Climax Briefcase against the men he lost against in the tournament. His opponents are; Shibata, Yoshi-Hashi and big time rival Michael Elgin. Elgin being his toughest challenge.
Omega beating Elgin for the briefcase will be a redemption and closing of that chapter onto his main event.
Once again I want to stress this; I adore Omega's abilities. His promo after kicking AJ Styles from the Club was one of the best this year and my personal favorite. He is an intriguing character and even with a bum knee; he pulled of one of the best matches of the year and a hell of a main event at the G1 Climax. He deserves a world title shot and despite my favored contender and what I do consider is the involvement of backstage politics [yes it also happens in NJPW]; Omega and Okada promises to be a hell of a match that opens up the Wrestle Kingdom card for other top class exciting contests.
Kudos to Omega but even then after his epic win at this years Wrestle Kingdom main event and cementing his legacy; Kazuchika Okada is going to walk out champion, my prediction!
As for Omega, with this match; he will become a bigger star than he already is.
He will truly become; The Elite!
Top stars Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Shinsuke Nakamura and The Phenomenal AJ Style would go out with a bang at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome Show [the latter two against each other in a match of the year candidate] to then join the juggernaut that is WWE.
It left a huge hole in New Japan's upper echelons that saw Omega relish the opportunity unlike anyone else. Omega would go on to make gains to move from the Junior's division into the Heavyweight division.
His first big move came by taking over the leadership of Bullet Club and ousting the "traitor" AJ Styles. Within that time frame as the tag duo of Anderson and Gallows segued away; Omega and the Young Bucks became what is known as The Elite of the Bullet Club.
Nakamura is on course to becoming WWE's first Japanese World Champion having already wowed the NxT crowd!
Omega would soon see new rival; Shinsuke Nakamura leave for the supposed greener pastures, the IWGP Intercontinental Title left vacant and in a shocker of a move he would beat none other than the Ace of the NJPW; Hiroshi Tanahashi for the title. #LOLTANADOESN'TWIN
This obviously felt like a top class move and to add to that, the MVP of the first half of NJPW's new year scored big by also holding the Never Openweight Trios Titles with the Young Bucks. Things were looking up for Omega and then both titles slipped out of his hand.
In an epic Ladder Match encounter; Michael Elgin beat Omega for his Intercontinental Championship which he holds to this day.
Elgin breaking ground in NJPW would put a stop to Omega's historic Intercontinental reign, where in he took the title to new heights post Shinsuke's departure
However the magical year while well deserved for Omega was more or less a move made in consideration to New Japan's great exodus. Not to take anything away from him, Omega is a terrific talent and would eventually make the considered big leagues of the company within the year most likely but the fact is it helped that Styles and the boys went packing.
Even then; what comes as a surprise more than the rise of Omega is the shot that sees him most likely to main event next years Wrestle Kingdom; the equivalent of WWE's Wrestlemania.
With the departure of Shinsuke Nakamura, the true heavy lifting was expected by none other than last years breakout Japanese star; Tetsuya Naito. Naito who floundered as a babyface for most of his career, reignited himself with a second tour to Mexico joining their infamous Los Ingobernables faction and developing a personality unseen from him before.
His return heralded a great change with his work rate excelling and his character and showmanship on form. AJ Styles exit early this year and the rebuild needed with Bullet Club under the Elite brand predicated that Naito's faction Los Ingobernables Japan could become the big dogs.
Naito's meteoric improvement from his Mexican exodus catapulted him to the World Title; however what seemed like a set main event. Only time will tell where the LIGS Japan leader will stand at
Wrestle Kingdom XI
Naito was seen as a future star and a most likely replacement on the level of Shinsuke. While he did end up winning the Heavyweight title during the year and even losing it back to Okada, it was expected that the not so fresh world title match would headline next years Wrestle Kingdom 11.
With Okada and Naito busy, Tanahashi and Omega would probably take on each other for the Intercontinental title with Omega getting a big win and an eventual push that could see him contest for the World title at a later date and most likely main event Wrestle Kingdom 12, 13 or more.
In relatively short time despite their booking; AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke [Doc] Gallows have made a hard hitting impact on WWE. The same can be said for Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been an unbelievable god send for NxT TV. The WWE Cruiserweight Classic has also sought to highlight WWE's interest in another top Japanese independent star; Kota Ibushi.
NJPW are losing serious ground to a company that would irk from mentioning or poaching talents from outside of their own gigantic sphere. WWE has truly gone global and smart.
The next man on their list?
Bullet Club's very own Kenny Omega.
The Elite are future WWE prospects no doubt, but for now they are the top trios of the world [Ssh don't let New Day hear that].
So it begs to question?
Is Omega's latest win a sign of NJPW trying to appease the electric anime-esque villainous star to remain or it it a victory due to a sign of loyalty from the man who has on many an occasion rejected the advances of the Big E [not the New Day superstar, the company; New Day by the way have a fun rivalry going on with The Elite].
It's no conincidence that after his monumental victory Omega spewed a shoot mentioning the WWE and its poaching of recent NJPW stars to a rancous roar from the crowd. Kenny Omega is a terrific find for the company after all, a Gaijin warrior who has all the skills necessary to be a top star and connect with the oft elite [pun intended] Japanese crowd because unlike other foreigner he fluently speaks Japanese.
I'm not questioning Omega's talent. He is by far the best thing in New Japan right now but so is Naito. Naito's hard perseverance and improvement deserved an acknowledgment for at least a Wrestle Kingdom Main Event. Omega could have been primed for a bigger turn soon enough.
It's not like the Bullet Club brand was waning that Omega's push needed to boost them again. Sure it was a heavy loss, early this year but the Elite seemed to have anchored the ship especially with some awesome State side acquisitions to the growing faction.
Omega is going to be terrific in the Wrestle Kingdom Main Event no doubt and a fresh match up for the World Title against Okada is an exciting prospect. Despite this; Naito is my guy, all I can be satisfied with is that Naito especially after the Day 19 show is likely to take on Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 11 and win [Naito's an upside for now] hopefully even for the Intercontinental Championship.
Omega is bound for the big Tokyo Dome show, as per regulation he must defend his G1 Climax Briefcase against the men he lost against in the tournament. His opponents are; Shibata, Yoshi-Hashi and big time rival Michael Elgin. Elgin being his toughest challenge.
Omega beating Elgin for the briefcase will be a redemption and closing of that chapter onto his main event.
The greatest rivalry in modern pro wrestling came to an end at last years Wrestle Kingdom with Okada gaining a measure of redemption and finally moving out New Japan's Ace's shadow. He may have lost the title within the year [only to regain it] but you best believe Okada's reign at the top ain't coming to an end so soon.
Once again I want to stress this; I adore Omega's abilities. His promo after kicking AJ Styles from the Club was one of the best this year and my personal favorite. He is an intriguing character and even with a bum knee; he pulled of one of the best matches of the year and a hell of a main event at the G1 Climax. He deserves a world title shot and despite my favored contender and what I do consider is the involvement of backstage politics [yes it also happens in NJPW]; Omega and Okada promises to be a hell of a match that opens up the Wrestle Kingdom card for other top class exciting contests.
Kudos to Omega but even then after his epic win at this years Wrestle Kingdom main event and cementing his legacy; Kazuchika Okada is going to walk out champion, my prediction!
As for Omega, with this match; he will become a bigger star than he already is.
He will truly become; The Elite!
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