Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada may have put on the greatest match in pro wrestling history in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome.
The 46:45 classic, coming at the end of a show that lasted five hours and 40 minutes, set New Japan’s all-time record for live foreign ********* viewers, peaking at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern time. A Jim Ross/Josh Barnett commentated version of the match will air on 1/13 on AXS TV, which very well could be the best one hour pro wrestling television show ever, given one match shows (Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. from CWF in 1972; Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich in Dallas; Flair vs. Von Erich in Honolulu; Flair vs. Barry Windham in Fayetteville; Midnight Express vs. Fantastics in Chattanooga; Tanahashi vs. Okada from 2013; Tanahashi vs. Styles from 2015) have been among the best and as great as the aforementioned matches were, this had most of the elements that all of those matches had, but elements they didn’t and really combined the elements they did better.
Okada retained the IWGP heavyweight title after a spinning jumping tombstone piledriver and a fourth rainmaker, featured nearly every element of a classic match, from intensity, crowd heat, tremendous psychology, off the charts athleticism, hard hitting, timing, innovation and high risk and dangerous moves. The keys to the story is that Omega never once got to hit his one winged angel finisher, and even in defeat, came out of the show being almost clearly the best big match wrestler on the planet.
While watching the show, it felt like the time and place to do the title change, but the argument was it was too early in the Okada reign. Still, based on the performance, and the performance of Omega in the build to the show, by all rights Omega should win the championship at some point this year. Part of it is that if they are going to expand internationally, Omega is the best face of the company because he can talk different languages, is ridiculously good athletically and has so much charisma at this point. But losing this way was almost better, because it’ll mean more when he wins it, particularly if it’s in June in Osaka, which will be a hot crowd and right before the U.S. push.
Another key is his future because watching him, if I’m WWE, I’d not just want him, but he could be that elusive special star that they’ve been unable to make. There is the issue that he can’t wrestle matches like this nightly, or even monthly, without having a short life span on his career. But he’s got the presence, charisma, ****iness and acting ability, as well as the look that WWE is afraid to push someone who doesn’t have. Plus with the world a smaller place and mainstream sports web sites giving Omega U.S. media exposure, he’ll walk in with a hardcore base he could build from. Plus, he’s turned into a tremendous promo, although he’s got the huge advantage of being able to use his own voice and use reality for his promos, like he did to build the Okada match.
Then again, from a WWE standpoint, having him have a couple of years as the face of New Japan, it’ll only elevate him and he’d be able to walk in like A.J. Styles did this past year.
New Japan announced several of its major shows for the first eight months of the year, which includes dates on 7/1 and 7/2 at the Long Beach, CA, Convention Center. These are not G-1 Climax tournament shows, but are being called G-1 special shows. The G-1 Climax tournament was announced as starting on 7/17 in Sapporo, and finishing with three straight nights at Sumo Hall on 8/11, 8/12 and 8/13.
After the Fantastica Mania tour from 1/13 to 1/22 (with shows on 1/20, 1/21 and 1/22 at Korakuen Hall, all on New Japan World), there will be PPV shows on 2/5 as The New Beginning in Sapporo, 2/11 as The New Beginning in Osaka at the Edion Arena, the 45th anniversary show on 3/6 at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo, and the New Japan Cup tournament in March with the finals on 3/20 in Niigata.
The former Invasion Attack show, now called Sakura Genesis, takes place on 4/9 at Tokyo Sumo Hall. Wrestling Dontaku once again takes place on 5/3 at the Fukuoka International Center Arena. The Best of the Super Junior finals will be on 6/3 at the Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo. Dominion, which is traditionally the biggest show between the Tokyo Dome and G-1 finals, will be on 6/11 at the Osaka Jo Hall.
Okada will likely defend his title in Sapporo or Osaka. The winner of the New Japan Cup single elimination tournament will get the title shot at Sakura Genesis. It’s possible for Omega to win the tournament and get the shot, but from a timing standpoint, I’d do the rematch at Dominion.
A number of people after the match stated that it was the greatest match they’d ever seen. Personally, I’d say the same thing. As people were leaving the Tokyo Dome the murmur in the crowd was that it was the greatest pro wrestling match ever, and at restaurants in the area after the show, and on the subway, that was the main topic of conversation. The talk backstage was also that it was the greatest match anyone had ever seen.
The match didn’t rely on crazy moves, and more relied on psychology, but had the few memorable spots built up that would be remembered. Omega did a moonsault off the top rope and cleared the barricade on Okada, in the position the Japanese announcers would have been in, but they moved themselves and their tables away. Omega took an insane high backdrop over the top rope and through a table on the floor. The scariest spot, and one I hope doesn’t get copied, saw Omega do a top rope dragon superplex. Okada landed off the top rope almost on the top of his head. While he seemed fine, announcer Steve Corino noted that when, not if, Okada has neck fusion surgery, he’ll always remember that spot. The 90s All Japan stars, as great as they were, should be the example of why taking suplexes at high angles nearly on top of your head should be avoided at all costs, and this wasn’t just a suplex but it was being nearly spiked falling backwards at a high angle off the top rope.
The Dome show drew 26,192 paid and there was in the neighborhood of 35,000 to 37,000 in the building. It was well up as far as total in the building from last year, although paid was only up about 1,100. Still, that is considered a major success because it’s the first time since 2010 that Hiroshi Tanahashi wasn’t in the Tokyo Dome main event, and Omega was unproven as far as headlining a show of this caliber. Going in, the crowd saw Okada vs. Omega as that epic championship match, and both came out of it having transformed from two of the best wrestlers in the industry to bonafide big card draws.
Because of the huge merchandise business, this was likely the most successful Dome show dating back more than a decade. It also had, by far, the most foreigners in attendance, stemming from New Japan World, the Internet in general, and the English language television show on AXS.
Still, the huge merchandise business was based more on the LIJ stable, headed by Tetsuya Naito, who retained his IC title over Tanahashi in the No. 2 bout, a match that would be being talked about as a potential 2017 match of the year under normal circumstances.
The titles being retained in the top matches came after six straight title changes underneath.
It started with Rocky Romero & Baretta winning the IWGP jr. tag team titles over The Young Bucks. Next was a gauntlet series that ended with the LIJ team of Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi winning the Never Open weight trios titles from Satoshi Kojima & Ricochet & David Finlay. That followed with Adam Cole winning the ROH title from Kyle O’Reilly, which had major significance.
Next saw the returning Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii win the IWGP heavyweight tag team titles in a three-way over Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa, the champions, and the 2016 New Japan Tag League winners, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma.
That was followed by two classic matches, where Hiromu Takahashi (Kamaitachi) won the IWGP jr. title from Kushida, which looks to set the division up for a golden era starting this year with a big four of Kushida, Takahashi, Ricochet and Will Ospreay and people like Dragon Lee and Volador Jr. Takahashi in many ways, the style is different but significance, reminds me of 1981 Dynamite Kid. Both were great but that both had that extra bit of charisma that made them standout above the others of their era. Really, Takahashi has more personality than Dynamite, and unfortunately, is just as nuts in the sense he’s so reckless with his body that he’s likely to burn out. And he’s so good and charismatic he doesn’t have to be reckless. When he came down the ramp, the crowd took to him like a superstar, which is very difficult for someone who doesn’t have a long tenure of being a big name. It’s also the kind of a guy needed to take Kushida from being a great worker to being a special champion, as the era legends of the division, like Danny Hodge, Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger all had to not only standout, but have the rivalries. As great as Kushida is, he doesn’t have the charisma of a Sayama or a Liger, and needs the opponents and the great matches to be seen as something special. Takahashi can be that legendary rival, and the other opponents are so strong that these guys may be able to have a juniors steal the show era like the period when Liger, Chris Benoit, Shinjiro Otani, Great Sasuke, Ultimo Dragon and Eddy Guerrero were in their primes in the mid-90s.
The final title change was the battle of high school best friends and wrestling teammates, and roommates, who started together in pro wrestling, where Hirooki Goto won the Never open weight title from Katsuyori Shibata.
The Cole vs. O’Reilly finish was the most significant from a U.S. standpoint. It was well known going in that O’Reilly would retain if he signed a new deal. The loss means he decided against signing, which was still up in the air until this past week. WWE has real interest in him. With Bobby Fish staying with ROH and New Japan, it breaks up their tag team. O’Reilly was one of the best Americans at working in Japan because of his MMA-based style and ability to adapt it to have great pro wrestling matches, and was a particular favorite of New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani. He’d have been a key player in what is expected to be a junior heavyweight boom year in Japan, or even as a heavyweight, since his style would work well with the Tanahashi, Naito, Goto, Shibata and Okada headliners.
Really, the first few hours of the show, while good, were hardly off the charts. But few shows in history have had the quality of four matches in a row like the last four on this card.
The angles to kick off 2017 and set up the big shows in February were to be shot at New Year’s Dash on 1/5 at Korakuen Hall.
