Who do you think should make the Top 10 greatest rivalries of Kenny Omega? Let us know in the comments!
Tempest runs down the greatest rivals of one of the best wrestlers in the world, Kenny Omega.
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
Tempest runs down the greatest rivals of one of the best wrestlers in the world, Kenny Omega.
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Happy Wrestle Kingdom week everyone!
00:02 January 4th has been an important day in the careers of a lot of wrestlers, including everyone's
00:06 favorite weeb and the man finally about to make his return to the Tokyo Dome, Kenny Omega.
00:12 Kenny Omega has had one of the most incredible careers of a non-WWE wrestler this century,
00:17 becoming the top star of two of wrestling's biggest promotions and putting on some of
00:20 the most legendary rivalries of a generation.
00:23 Some of these rivalries are just a great piece of business, some of them helped start a business,
00:27 and some of them are just extremely thoughtful stories told over the course of years, culminating
00:32 with fantastic matches.
00:34 Again, this is not a ranking of each man in regards to their level of talent, but rather
00:38 a ranking of those whose rivalries with Kenny Omega have made the biggest impact on his
00:42 career and have reached levels of greatness with their work with Kenny specifically.
00:46 I'm Tempest Hailing from PartsFunKnown, and these are the 10 Greatest Rivals of Kenny
00:50 Omega's Career.
00:51 But before we get on with this list, make sure of course that you like this video, subscribe,
00:54 and enable notifications to always on so you never miss another list just like it.
00:58 We've done Greatest Rival lists of John Cena and The Undertaker so far, but let us
01:01 know in the comments below which wrestlers you would like to see covered in a list just
01:05 like it.
01:06 #10 Kushida Kenny Omega's run as a junior heavyweight
01:08 was the run that saw him rise through the ranks of Bullet Club to the point that he
01:12 eventually became the group's leader in 2016.
01:15 The Cleaner's biggest rival during that time?
01:17 Everyone's favorite Back to the Future enthusiast, Kushida.
01:20 The two traded the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship throughout 2015 in great matches
01:25 and were the top two guys of the division, all the while Kenny's character was developing
01:28 more and more since his introduction into Bullet Club the year prior.
01:32 Omega lost his title to the time-traveling Best of the Super Juniors winner at Dominion
01:35 in their best singles match together, before taking it back off Kushida at Destruction
01:39 in Okayama, and then finally settling their rivalry at Wrestle Kingdom 10.
01:43 Had AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows not left New Japan after the event, Kenny
01:47 may not have moved up to the heavyweight division, and thus may not have lost the junior title
01:51 to his rival in another excellent match.
01:54 But as it stands, this underrated trilogy of matches serves as the final time Kenny
01:58 Omega went one-on-one with his most underrated rival.
02:02 #9 Jon Moxley I wonder how the story of Jon Moxley and Kenny
02:05 Omega would be different if Moxley didn't have to pull out of their scheduled match
02:09 for All Out 2019.
02:10 If they had had that straight wrestling match to start their rivalry, would that change
02:15 the trajectory of their rivalry at all?
02:17 Only the fates know for sure.
02:19 As it stands, Moxley and Omega also have a trilogy of highly memorable matches spread
02:23 out over the course of 16 months.
02:25 They started out hot, culminating the 2019 chapter of their rivalry that started with
02:30 Moxley attacking Omega in his AEW debut at Double or Nothing with a lights-out match
02:34 at Full Gear.
02:35 If you like ridiculous, hardcore nonsense, this match was for you, and boy was it all
02:39 three of those things.
02:40 They then didn't wrestle for a whole year, wrestling next at Winter is Coming 2020, after
02:45 Moxley had reigned as AEW World Champion for almost the entire year.
02:49 Omega cemented his heel turn, cheating to win with the help of Don Callis before setting
02:53 up their final match to date at Revolution 2021.
02:56 Had this match not ended up with the unfortunate reputation of being the most anticlimactic
03:00 match in the history of wrestling, this rivalry would probably have placed higher, but as
03:04 it stands, Moxley and Omega were a recurring thread that helped tie the main event scene
03:08 of AEW together through their first two years.
03:11 8.
03:12 Tetsuya Naito At first glance, Tetsuya Naito may seem like
03:15 an odd inclusion on this list.
03:17 He and Kenny Omega don't have the long-running or highly personal narrative rivalry that
03:21 Kenny has had with others on this list, but what they do have is a perfect record of classic
03:25 matches every time they stepped in the ring together.
03:28 Omega and Naito's three singles matches were among the highlights of the G1 Climax in 2016,
03:33 2017, and 2018.
03:34 In 2016, they competed in the B Block Final, putting on the runner-up for the match of
03:38 the year, with Omega punching his ticket to the final, which he would also win.
03:42 The following year, the two had their best and most dangerous match in the finals of
03:46 the whole tournament, with Omega accidentally DDT-ing Naito's head into the ring post
03:50 and receiving a sickening pile driver on the announce table before Naito finally put him
03:54 away to prevent an Omega repeat.
03:56 Then they opened the 2018 B Block with yet another classic, rounding out a trilogy of
04:01 matches that would be untouchable on most people's lists with another Omega win.
04:05 His first tournament match is the newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
04:09 Each of these matches received at least 5 stars from Big Uncle Dave, and it is impossible
04:13 to argue otherwise.
04:15 Not an emotional rivalry, but a fantastic one in terms of sheer quality.
04:19 Number 7.
04:20 Hiroshi Tanahashi Until this all changes tomorrow, Hiroshi Tanahashi
04:24 is the last opponent in Kenny Omega's New Japan Pro Wrestling career to date.
04:28 Omega and Tanahashi only have two singles matches between them, but there is no shortage
04:32 of history to pull from.
04:33 After Shinsuke Nakamura left New Japan in 2016, Tanahashi was the only man that stood
04:38 between Omega and the newly vacated IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
04:42 Their first match at the New Beginning in Nagata was Omega's true coming out party
04:45 as a heavyweight, beating Tanahashi in a brilliant match with the help of the Young Bucks to
04:49 win the title.
04:50 They were supposed to have New Japan's first ever ladder match before an injury took Tanahashi
04:54 out of the match, but it wouldn't be the last time the two faces of New Japan would
04:58 cross paths.
04:59 With Kenny reigning in 2018 as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tanahashi won that year's G1 Climax
05:04 to earn the right to challenge Kenny at Wrestle Kingdom 13, a match that started as a battle
05:09 of wrestling philosophies, with Tanahashi's more old school mentality clashing with Omega's
05:13 wrestling as art outlook, but became increasingly personal as the relationship between Kenny
05:18 and New Japan deteriorated.
05:19 Ultimately, Kenny would leave New Japan after the event, but not before he had one of the
05:23 greatest matches in Tokyo Dome history with Tanahashi in the main event, with Tanahashi
05:27 having to stoop to Kenny's level in his mind to finally beat him and capture his final
05:31 IWGP Heavyweight title.
05:33 #6 Cody Rhodes
05:35 The Bullet Club Civil War of 2018 was a long time coming.
05:38 When Cody Rhodes made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut at Wrestle Kingdom 11, he was immediately
05:42 thrust into Bullet Club, where he seemed to instantly butt heads with leader Kenny Omega.
05:47 When Omega was wrestling his hour draw with Kazuchika Okada, there was Cody trying to
05:51 throw in the towel in a showing of quote-unquote "mercy".
05:54 Fast forward and Cody is trying to fight Kota Ibushi, the one person Omega had instructed
05:59 all of Bullet Club to leave alone, leading to Omega coming to Ibushi's aid at New Year's
06:04 Dash 2018, and finally Ibushi saving Omega from Cody's betrayal at the New Beginning
06:08 in Sapporo.
06:09 Bullet Club was disintegrating, yet Omega and Cody had yet to have their first match.
06:13 Cody managed to top Kenny in their first match at Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor 12 event
06:17 thanks to an errant superkick from the Young Bucks, but finally the storyline came to a
06:21 head at G1 Special in San Francisco as Omega retained his newly won IWGP Heavyweight Championship
06:26 against Cody before the Gorillas of Destiny turned on the rest of Bullet Club, allowing
06:30 Cody to then redeem himself and save Kenny from their former friends.
06:34 Cody and Kenny tore Bullet Club apart, but their rivalry brought them back together just
06:38 in time for the Elite to move on to newer pastures.
06:41 #5 Chris Jericho Of the rivalries on this list, there are few
06:45 with the historical significance of Kenny Omega's rivalry with Chris Jericho.
06:49 Let me tell you, when Chris Jericho showed up on the screen at Power Struggle 2017, setting
06:53 up this match with Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, that was a f*cking moment in time.
06:58 This was not a dream match that seemed at all possible until that moment, and once that
07:02 dream had become a reality, that reality turned into big business for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
07:07 Their All-Winnipeg Classic at Wrestle Kingdom brought in a massive number of new subscribers
07:11 to New Japan World, and that display of international wrestling interest was one of the biggest
07:15 factors in the creation of AEW.
07:17 And I haven't even gotten into how great the match was!
07:20 Many were calling this the best match of Jericho's career at the time, as he did some of his
07:23 best heel work attacking referee Red Shoes Uno's son, Young Lion and All-Around Lovely
07:28 Boy's Shota Umino, and just being an all-around bastard while Kenny continued his trend towards
07:32 being a true babyface.
07:34 This match was such a success that it was chosen as the main event of the very first
07:38 AEW event, reigniting their rivalry a year later with Chris Jericho evening the score
07:43 against Omega at Double or Nothing.
07:45 Wrestling tells me that before all is said and done, these two will probably have their
07:48 rubber match and judging by their first two matches, it'll probably be great too.
07:53 Number 4.
07:54 PAC When AEW has been in need of a fantastic match,
07:58 their break glass in case of emergency rivalry has been Kenny Omega vs. PAC.
08:02 When Jon Moxley was forced to pull out of All Out 2019, AEW called PAC.
08:07 Their match was one of the biggest highlights of AEW's second ever pay-per-view, with
08:10 a shocking conclusion as PAC forced Omega to pass out to the Brutalizer.
08:14 They weren't done either, as their Iron Man match in February 2020 still stands as
08:18 one of the best matches in AEW Dynamite's history, with Omega finally getting retribution
08:22 for his early struggles against the bastard.
08:25 From that point on, Omega and PAC have been a consistent thread that has tied the years
08:28 of AEW together, wrestling fantastic matches in each of the company's first four years
08:32 of existence.
08:33 Omega's three-way with PAC and Orange Cassidy was maybe the best title defense of his excellent
08:37 AEW World Championship reign, and we're only just now nearing the end of the Elite's
08:42 best-of-seven series with Death Triangle that has been everything it was advertised to be.
08:46 Again, not as emotional as other rivalries on this list, but this has been one of the
08:49 most consistently excellent.
08:51 Number 3.
08:52 Hangman Page In the first three years of AEW, you will
08:55 not find a more perfectly told story than Hangman Page's extremely personal jury alongside
09:00 and standing against the Elite.
09:02 Hangman and Omega's first match together actually came at Wrestling Dontaku 2018 in
09:07 New Japan, when Page was backing up Cody Rhodes and Bullet Club's Civil War, and it was this
09:11 groundwork that set the stage for their rivalry in AEW.
09:15 Page and Omega were friends, but not best friends like Omega and The Young Bucks, which
09:18 gave their team the kind of tension that made this storyline so believable.
09:22 Through their impeccable tag team run that saw them have one of the best tag team matches
09:25 of all time at Revolution 2020, to their tremendous breakup in Eliminator Tournament match at
09:30 Full Gear 2020, and then finally their climactic AEW World Championship match at Full Gear
09:35 2021.
09:36 Tony Khan had expertly planned out this storyline, and properly coronated Page as World Champion
09:41 in the most satisfying way possible, through thoughtful storytelling and fantastic matches,
09:46 using the man everyone expected to be the ace of AEW when the company launched to create
09:50 a new top star.
09:52 This would be the top spot on most wrestlers' list, but Kenny had two better.
09:55 Number 2.
09:56 Kazuchika Okada What is there to say about Kenny Omega's
09:59 rivalry with Kazuchika Okada?
10:01 From Wrestle Kingdom 11 to Dominion 2018, this rivalry was the talk of the wrestling
10:05 world on a level that an international rivalry had never reached.
10:09 In contrast to the extremely personal rivalries that bookend this entry, Omega and Okada's
10:13 quadrilogy was purely based on the sporting nature of New Japan Pro Wrestling and Okada's
10:18 legendary reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
10:21 Omega stepped into the ring in the Tokyo Dome for his first match with Okada, a villain
10:25 backed up by Bullet Club and fueled by jealousy.
10:28 The two broke Dave Meltzer's scale with their first six-star classic that saw Okada
10:31 retain his title in a 43-minute masterclass, only to run it back with an even better hour
10:36 draw that June and a 24-minute sprint in the G1 Climax that finally saw Kenny even the
10:41 score in a non-title match.
10:43 Kenny himself has described his rivalry with Okada as an unstoppable android versus a New
10:48 Japan mascot, and now I just want to see Okada wrestle in a big lion mascot costume, and
10:52 to be fair, he could probably get five stars doing it.
10:55 All of this finally built to Okada breaking nearly every record for a single IWGP title
11:00 reign and challenging Omega to one final match to settle the score at Dominion.
11:04 What we got is still what I consider the best wrestling match of all time, a 65-minute,
11:10 two-out-of-three falls match with Omega now detached from Bullet Club, a hero with his
11:14 estranged tag partner by his side.
11:16 Omega finally capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the perfect match to end a
11:20 perfect title reign and a perfect rivalry.
11:23 It simply does not get any better than this.
11:27 Well one thing does, and that's...
11:29 Number 1.
11:30 Kota Ibushi A lot of people would probably put Kenny's
11:32 rivalry with Kazuchika Okada in the top spot of this list.
11:35 Others might put his feud with Hangman Page.
11:37 I won't be the one to tell either of those groups of people that they're wrong, but for
11:40 my money, the rival that has meant the most to the career of Kenny Omega is his golden
11:44 lover, Kota Ibushi.
11:46 Omega and Ibushi have had only one singles match in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the B Block
11:50 Final in the 2018 G1 Climax, which is an excellent match, but not by any means the conclusion
11:56 to their story.
11:57 That conclusion has yet to happen, and hopefully we will still get the chance to see it at
12:01 some point.
12:02 The majority of their matches together took place in DDT.
12:04 They developed a rivalry dating back to 2008 with a match that saw Ibushi hit a Phoenix
12:08 Splash off a vending machine, a rivalry that became a partnership, and one of the best
12:13 tag teams in the world with the duo winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
12:17 from Apollo 55.
12:19 But all the while, there was an underlying personal rivalry between them.
12:23 Ibushi reached singles success before Omega, competing on the Wrestle Kingdom stage in
12:26 a featured match in 2011, with Omega stuck on the pre-show.
12:30 The divide between them grew, and they had their most famous match together at DDT's
12:34 Peter Pan event in 2012, a match that got Ibushi banned from the Budokan Senwa Hall
12:38 for six years because of this ridiculous moonsault off the balcony.
12:42 Their story continued through New Japan as Omega joined Bullet Club and Ibushi clashed
12:46 with AJ Styles, and eventually after years of being a world apart from one another, they
12:50 finally reconciled in 2018 with one of wrestling's greatest feel-good moments of the last decade.
12:56 The two have done a lot to normalize queer storytelling in wrestling, which would make
12:59 them deserving of a place on this list, even without the ridiculously good singles and
13:03 tag matches.
13:04 But considering their story has yet to be concluded, hopefully the best is still to
13:08 come.
13:09 And that's our list.
13:10 Make sure of course that you like this video, subscribe, and enable notifications to always
13:13 on so you never miss a fun list just like it.
13:14 And let me know in the comments below who you think Kenny Omega's best rival is.
13:18 I'm actually really curious to hear your thoughts.
13:19 Until then, I miss bid you adieu, mwah, goodbye, and goodnight.
13:23 Jam that jam.
13:24 Bang!
13:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]