Kenny Omega will take on NEVER Openweight Champion, Hirooki Goto, tomorrow in the G1 Climax 28 tournament. It will be a rematch from 2 years ago when Omega defeated Goto in the finals of G1 Climax 26.
Omega spoke with reporters backstage after night 3 of the tournament. He spoke about his upcoming match with Goto and the possibility he could one day become the first-ever NJPW Grand Slam Champion.
Kenny Omega vs Hirooki Goto G1 Climax 28 (night 4)
Omega and Chase Owens were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Yohei Komatsu in a tag match on night 3. Goto pinned Owens and Omega then directed his comments towards him after the match.
“Hey Goto,” Omega started his post-match interview. “It’s easy to say that your belt means nothing compared to mine. That you are nothing compared to me. But guess what? That isn’t true because your NEVER belt, as s****y as it may be, it’s the only single’s belt I’ve never won.”
“Trust me, I’m a fair man. I believe in revenge. My career has been fundamentally been built upon revenge,” Omega continued. “So, I’m going to give you a fair chance. G1 26 Finals, I beat you, do you remember? I do. I made history and then I went on to have one of the greatest matches of all time against Okada and I lost. And he gave me revenge and then I couldn’t beat him and then he gave me revenge and then I did.
What kind of champion would I be if I didn’t give you that same chance? You better come prepared because the next chance at the G1 could mean everything. And it could cost everything for you Goto because I might just come for your title after. What are you going to do then? What’s everyone going to do once I become the first-ever Grand Slam Champion of New Japan? Wouldn’t that be interesting? Wouldn’t that be something?”
Kenny Omega has given some high praise to one New Japan Pro Wrestling Star who has reinvented himself in the promotion after his departure from the WWE and that’s Juice Robinson.
The IWGP Heavyweight Champion recently appeared on The Ross Report to talk with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross about various topics. When talking about Robinson, Omega pointed out that people are starting to believe in Robinson and that he’s going to start to connect to people in a brand new way and people are going to start to care more about what he does in the ring.
Omega would continue to say that he remembers that he was sort of recognized as a graduate of the Young Lions kind of program even though he was fully trained when he came to New Japan.
“This is sort of a gimmick kind of thing. But he was doing the punches. You know he [has] got those great punches and he eventually wanted the crowd to chant, ‘Juice’ with it as he did every jab. And I worked with him in a singles match in one of the country towns and none of them knew to chant the ‘Juice’ and he was really disappointed about that, but now he’ll go anywhere and everybody is all about his punches and they’re all about his character. He’s really starting to get that effect and have that gathering and people are really starting to cheer for him as an underdog.”
Switching gears to former ROH World Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes, Omega, who just wrestled him last weekend at NJPW G1 Special, stated that he always look forward to when working with Cody because it’s rare that he gets to work with someone who has such good facials and selling ability.
“So I love being able to work with people like that. It allows for moments, and moves to feel more real, and for people to kind of take in the in-between stuff a lot more.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcribed quotes.
What are your thoughts on Omega’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
NJPW held a press conference today to promote the G1 Climax 28. The tournament gets started tomorrow.
One of the match-ups that everyone is looking forward to will take place on July 21st, 2018. On that night, Kenny Omega will face Tama Tonga.
Tonga was all confidence when he appeared at the G1 Climax 28 press conference today. He turned his attention to Omega shortly after he began speaking.
“You can just feel the tension right here!” Tonga said before turning to Omega (who was seated to the left of the podium). “Do you blame me for what I did?”
Bullet Club “Firing Squad” versus Bullet Club “the Elite”
“(Kenny Omega) shouldn’t be mad. He should be thanking me,” Tonga said. “I granted him his wish! I cut him away from Bullet Club so he can be the super-Kliq, no wait Golden Lovers, no wait, Golden.. whatever team he’s always wanted. Obviously, he’s never wanted to be Bullet Club. You can just tell that from the very beginning!”
With the Cody vs Omega rivalry over, it now looks as though this version of the Bullet Club civil war angle will play a key role in NJPW storylines.
“As for the G1,” Tonga continued. “I want (Kenny Omega) and he knows that. Everyone here knows that. This G1 I’ll show you how good I am.”
For his part, Omega chose not to comment on Tama Tonga or the Firing Squad. He simply promised the fans that he would put in a good performance at the tournament.
“I promise you, every match will be a best bout,” Omega said. “It will only be a race for a distant second place.”
Hangman Page vs Bad Luck Fale
While Omega vs Tonga might be the most anticipated match of the new rivalry, the first battle takes place tomorrow. The first match between the Elite and the Firing Squad will be between Hangman Page and Bad Luck Fale.
While Fale was not present for the Cow Palace attack, it’s been made clear since that he played a pivotal role in the planning. Fale also sent out the following Tweet which Page took offense to.
Fale then gave the same statement as his pre G1 speech during the press conference.
“Is there more to that?” Page asked Fale. “Is it F*** Me, is it F*** Kenny, is it F*** the Elite? Is that what you are trying to say? You’re not making it very clear, Fale. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”
Golden Lovers teammates, Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega, will face each other in the round-robin of this year’s G1 tournament. The two will meet on Saturday, August 11th, 2018, the final night of the round-robin. The match will take place inside the same venue as their last match did, the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
The last time Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi met, Ibushi was banned from performing in the famed Nippon Budokan again. Ibushi delivered a moonsault from the balcony, causing the venue to state he was not allowed to wrestle there anymore. The venue has since lifted his ban, however.
Author, Chris Charlton, provided a translation of Ibushi’s comments:
Kota Ibushi vs Kenny Omega – August 11th, 2018 – Nippon Budokan – Tokyo, Japan
“I hate it. Hate that I have to face (Kenny Omega). It’s like ‘the time has finally come’. To have Kenny last, that’s a really dangerous scenario. The finals are the very next night, remember. But we have to do it. I don’t have all the time in the world, so we have to do this.”
Ibushi also spoke about his feelings regarding the rest of the B Block this year.
“It’s the more athletic group I think,” Ibushi said. “It’ll be a more athletic, physical style in these matches. People that stand out, of course, Kenny, Naito, SANADA. He’s interesting. I haven’t wrestled him before. I think there’s something about him he hasn’t shown. I want to get that out of him.”
This past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018) New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) hosted their G1 Special event in San Francisco, California. The show was main evented by an IWGP Heavyweight Title match between defending champion Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes.
One spot during the match saw Omega do a running release powerbomb to Cody from inside the ring, dumping him outside the ring and onto the floor after failing to break a table. After the match Rhodes took to Twitter and noted he’d be taking time off to heal his body before September 1st’s “All In.”
Former WCW ring announcer, Gary Michael Cappetta, (the spot can be seen by clicking the following link)took to his official Facebook page and offered a bit of criticism towards Omega and Rhodes’ match. Cappetta’s comments seemed to come from a place of concern and wished wrestlers wouldn’t do spots like this in order to preserve their longevity:
“WRESTLER ALERT: Human bodies aren’t made to do this,” said Cappetta. “Please stop shortening your valuable careers. Stop limiting the health and happiness of your post wrestling lives.”
Hiromu Takahashi is currently undergoing a thorough medical evaluation after sustaining an injury Saturday at the Cow Palace. Takahashi was dropped on his head during a cradle-suplex in his match with Dragon Lee. After finishing the match, Takahashi collapsed backstage and was taken to hospital.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega commented on Takahashi’s injury on Monday morning. “As everyone may know, ‘Kenny Omega’ isn’t an LIJ guy whatsoever, but there’s no mistaking that Hiromu was one of, if not, our company’s brightest current/future star. Let’s pray for his recovery.”
Hiromu Takahashi Neck Injury
Earlier today, New Japan Pro Wrestling sent out an update on Takahashi’s condition. “It is reported Takahashi, after the match was immediately taken to a nearby hospital,” the statement reads. “He is currently undergoing a thorough evaluation, Takahashi is conscious, and is able to sit and talk.”
Hiromu Takahashi was having a career year in 2018. He won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament and followed it up five days later by defeating Will Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship at Dominion. It was the second time Takahashi won the title.
Takahashi and his opponent from the G1 Special on Saturday, Dragon Lee, are longtime rivals. Their rivalry sparked during Takahashi’s multi-year excursion to CMLL in Mexico. Dragon Lee unmasked Takahashi when he wrestled as Kamaitaichi as well. It had been speculated the two would meet in a Mask vs Hair match later this year or possibly at the Tokyo Dome show in 2019.
WWE Hall Of Famer and Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle recently held a Q&A on his Facebook page. You can find some of the highlights here below:
Who he’d like to see Kenny Omega face in WWE:
“Seth Rollins or AJ Styles. I’d love a shot at Kenny as well. I have a list of dream opponents that I would like to compete against. These three are in the list.”
If he has any regrets about leaving TNA for WWE:
“I can’t. I had a great career in TNA, maybe better than my WWE career. I had a reduced schedule there. And I wrestled so many greats AJ, Joe, Sting, Roode…To name a few. My body couldn’t hold up to the rigorous schedule in WWE at the time. I always imagine the career I could have had if I stayed in WWE. It would have been incredible, but I couldn’t stay so I can’t keep asking myself ‘What if?'”
Which tag team he’d like to face if he partnered up with Shawn Michaels:
“Tag teams? Cesaro and Shaemus or The Usos. But the most cohesive tag team right now is…The Revival. They are amazing together as a unit. Great things coming from them.”
Should aspiring wrestlers get an education first or start training as young as possible:
“Education first! You’re still young after you graduate college. If you skip college and promise yourself you’ll go back and graduate later on in life, there’s a 99 percent chance you won’t. Get your degree. Then focus on wrestling.”
Is he writing a biography:
“Yes. Someday. I have a documentary I’m making right now. I’m excited to show all of you my entire life story. Stay tuned.”
Yesterday (Fri. July 6, 2018) IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega spoke at the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) G1 Special press conference. “The Cleaner” was asked where in the United States he’d like to see NJPW go next.
Omega offered a rather unorthodox answer, saying he’d like to see the promotion go somewhere such as Alaska. Omega explained it’s tough for fans in locations such as those to go see professional wrestling shows and he wants NJPW to make their product available to as many fans as possible:
“I mean, this might sound strange, but maybe a place like Alaska? The reason why I say that is because geographically it might be the most difficult place for citizens of Alaska to travel outside of to get to [shows],” Omega said.
“Like I said, I feel like if we’re already making the strides to visit these new and exciting places, I want to make it as fair as possible for everyone to get to places we’re going to. Of course, we can’t travel to every state, we can’t travel to every country, but for ease of travel and to spread our wealth – so to speak – it would be cool to do that.
“I’m not sure how much wrestling is in Alaska. I know they have independent promotions, but for me that sounds exciting and I think we’d reach a lot of new people and the people there would probably also appreciate it, as well.”
Kenny Omega has his eyes on a pair of top WWE talents should he execute a potential move to the professional wrestling juggernaut.
“The Cleaner” recently joined WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report, and was asked about the possibility of signing with WWE. He also touched on potential matches that await him in the promotion. Omega named two potential opponents specifically that fans would love to see him share the ring with – Seth Rollins and AJ Styles:
“When I think about the possibilities and stuff like that it does get me excited,” Omega said. “Every promotion has so many good guys – there’s no way that I would have a bad time going almost anywhere because the depths to the talent is so deep. WWE right now has a very great collection of talent.
“I would feel like it was a missed opportunity if I couldn’t work with them at some point. If I could work with Seth Rollins at some point in time that would be a lot of fun. And of course, the huge name amongst all that, is AJ (Styles). I would love to work with AJ at some point. And I would like to be able to do it while I can still move, you know what I mean?”
Kenny Omega and Cody will go one-on-one for the second time in their rivalry this Saturday at the Cow Palace. Not only will the match be for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the winner will be declared the leader of Bullet Club.
Omega built the match up with the following Tweet from earlier today:
Both Cody and Omega alluded to the idea that the winner of their last match would be declared leader of Bullet Club as well. The faction leadership was still up for debate after Cody had won, however.
Kenny Omega versus Cody II
Saturday will be Omega’s first defense of the title he won at Dominion. Omega’s victory over Kazuchika Okada ended the longest running IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign of all-time. He is just the second member of the faction to win the title after AJ Styles did so in 2014.
As for Cody, this will be his 3rd title match in a week’s time. He unsuccessfully challenged for the ROH World Championship this weekend. At Best in the World on Friday night, Dalton Castle won a 3-way match against Cody and Marty Scurll. The next night in Fairfax, Jay Lethal would win a fatal 4-way match against Castle, Scurll, and Matt Taven to win the title for the second time in his career.
“NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco
Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero, Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and King Haku (Bullet Club)
Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Marty Scurll and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
NEVER Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) (c) vs Jeff Cobb
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) (c) vs SANADA and EVIL (LIJ)
Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI (LIJ)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (LIJ) (c) vs Dragon Lee (CMLL)
IWGP United States Championship
Jay White (CHAOS) (c) vs Juice Robinson
Kofi Kingston thought WWE would cancel the New Day vs the Elite gaming battle at E3. The member of New Day recently spoke to the Unsanctioned Podcast about his experience at the event.
Kingston mentioned he is a big Kenny Omega fan. “To see where [Omega’s] career has gone, and to see him just rise over there in Japan has been awesome to watch,” Kofi said. “So I always regretted not being able to have personal interaction with him, so for me, it was kind of a dream come true.”
Kofi Kingston on WWE Promoting E3 Battle With Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks
Many were surprised when WWE got behind the event, even mentioning the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega on WWE.com.
“It was just great, man. And the Young Bucks are just so cool. It was just an instant vibe, just instant chemistry,” Kingston said. “We were all on the same page and just went out there. And honestly, the vibe in general like leading up to it was like, okay, this is probably going to get canceled because there’s no way that Vince knows this is happening. When was the last time you saw WWE doing anything inter-promotional? Granted it was on the video game stage, but still. Ever since we came out, there was talk of The Elite versus The New Day, all this talk on the internet, on social media. We get those comments every single day. And hopefully, this was like the first step to open up some doors to do more things in the future. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
WWE has shown more openness to working with different promotions as of late. The company recently reached a deal with Pro Wrestling NOAH to allow Hideo Itami to appear on an event for the promotion as well.
AJ Styles isn’t afraid of shutting someone down on Twitter. He did so just recently to a fan who bashed WWE’s potential signing of Bullet Club members.
AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson were in Tokyo recently as part of the Smackdown brand’s live events this weekend. WWE posted the following Tweet in reference to the Club’s Japanese roots.
“I know you’re not implying you’d like to see them all in the WWE,” the fan Tweeted. “Seriously? So they could be ruined and tarnished and have WWE’s corporate stench on them? They’re perfectly fine changing the wrestling world in NJPW, ROH and ALL_IN.”
The fan who AJ ultimately shut down is of the belief if the Bucks and Omega went to WWE, it would not be as entertaining as what they are doing now is. In the fan’s defense, this is a popularly held belief.
Styles saw the Tweet and addressed it directly.
This is what you and some seem to forget….THIS IS A BUSINESS. We have bills and a family to take care of just like everyone else. Everything we put our body’s through on a weekly basis well not last forever. Work hard and earn it all. https://t.co/qdV76UjPgu
“This is what you and some seem to forget….THIS IS A BUSINESS. We have bills and a family to take care of just like everyone else. Everything we put our body’s through on a weekly basis well not last forever. Work hard and earn it all.”
Would WWE misuse Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Don Callis is believed to have played a key role in organizing the Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega match at the Tokyo Dome this year. All three are from Winnipeg and Callis also has his own podcast through the Chris Jericho podcast network.
At the Slammiversary press conference in Toronto recently, Callis indicated to me he’d love to bring Omega and Jericho to Impact Wrestling. “There’s a young Canadian kid I like, we’d love to sign him, his name is Kenny Omega,” Callis said. “Another is Chris Jericho.”
Callis recently doubled-down on his comments during his appearance on Jim Ross’ podcast.
Don Callis On Jim Ross Podcast
Callis explained his history with Omega. “I’ve been on this journey with Kenny Omega since he was a 16-year-old kid who I booked,” Callis explained.
“I gave him his first break wrestling for the promotion I had in Winnipeg [Canada]. And his uncle, The Golden Sheik, who was an indie wrestler in Winnipeg helped train me in the [pro wrestling] business in 1989, so my roots with Kenny go back many years. I’ve been on this journey with him, and specifically since I’ve been in New Japan and we have a very close relationship. We talk about ideas, we do things, I helped put together the match between him and Chris [Jericho] for the Tokyo Dome.”
Callis On Omega and Jericho to Impact Wrestling
Callis continued to say the chances of Omega and Jericho appearing in an Impact Wrestling ring are less remote than they seemed not too long ago.
“I kind of say, ‘never say ‘never” and I think that one of the things that we’ve been doing under Ed Nordholm here at Impact is breaking some longstanding paradigms of pro wrestling,” Callis said.
“The intellectual property stuff that we’ve talked about before, but also we’ve been working with multiple people now and now recently announced by Chris Jericho and I know [Ross] will be on that cruise, so that’ll be cool, get to have a beer together. It’s going to be Impact and Ring Of Honor on the same cruise ship, so there’s some stuff that’s probably going to happen and I don’t think you can have those talents in a closed environment like that, so we are working, in a sense if you take that, with Ring Of Honor right now.
We’ve got Taiji Ishimori coming in for our pay-per-view and our TV in July. The Bone Soldier just started with New Japan, so we’ll see what happens. How many people would’ve thought that Chris Jericho would’ve headlined the Tokyo Dome with New Japan Pro-Wrestling? I was so sheepish when I pitched it to him because he always told me, ‘I will never work for anyone except Vince McMahon and I have a deep respect for Vince.’ Obviously, he took Vince into consideration. Vince is the first guy he told about it. Nevertheless, it shocked me that Chris was on a New Japan show, so I’ve learned to say, ‘never say ‘never” in this business.”
On Friday night, Kenny Omega produced a live CEOxNJPW show which aired on Twitch. After the show, word began to spread that one of the wrestlers booked for the show was a registered sex offender.
Fans took to social media to voice their concern over the wrestler being booked. Omega issued the following response to the situation:
Big thanks to all that made #CEOxNJPW possible, but I wanted to address a terrible oversight on my part, in depth, for all to read. pic.twitter.com/JKBiqcuzGK
Earlier in the day, Omega released a series of Tweets addressing the matter:
“Here it is: I produced all matches from dark match #2 on. I gave the ring crew (also a wrestling school) carte Blanche to have our first dark. No entrances, no name graphics. And thus they had a match. I met Chasyn once in 2004 so his name was familiar. The other guy I’d never met.”
“Regardless of their history or whatever, this crew of people were all very helpful in set up, tear down, and various odd jobs around the arena. I’d felt giving them the opportunity to have a dark match was the least I could do as a way to show appreciation.”
“I’m gutted that people feel betrayed by their involvement, but at no point did I feel I was working with criminals or anything of the sort. As I’d said earlier, they were nothing but polite and helpful throughout the entire experience.”
“I’ll know better for next time to only use those I’m absolutely familiar/comfortable with”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Good Ole’ JR first talked about getting to call Cody Rhodes vs. Kenny Omega at the upcoming G1 Special in San Francisco:
“Kenny is so cerebral and makes his matches so different. He and Cody have some characteristics that are compatible, but they also have some very different traits. The story they’re going to tell is going to be so well told. They are two of the best in the game. They’re going to mix all those ingredients into a hell of an entrée on July 7.”
“They’re both in their 30s, they’ve both paid their dues, they’re not new kids on the block. They have the chance to close the show on a live, free national broadcast. There is a lot of opportunity for positive exposure. They just need to get it done, bell-to-bell. It should be absolutely off the hook.”
Ross then explained why he thinks that Will Ospreay could be professional wrestling’s next big breakout star:
“Ospreay is the next breakout star, but only if he can stay healthy. He has a great upside, without any question, but the questions concern the style and how he works. Calling his matches, I’ve seen him get up after I thought he hurt himself or broke something in his body. At some point, you don’t need a medical degree to figure out the fact that when you take bumps on surfaces that were never intended to be bumping surfaces, and you do it for too long, the cumulative effect is going to be negative.
“He has a great imagination and he’s a great improvisationalist, and he’s really good with strikes and submissions. So if he leaned a little more on the other aspects of ‘The Aerial Assassin’–he doesn’t have to do a moonsault to the outside to be an aerial assassin, he just needs to land on a surface that will half-ass welcome your body to it.
“He’s got some size, he’s a real keeper, but I do worry about the number of risks he takes on any given tour. I hope I’m wrong, because he is so entertaining and wonderfully creative, and he’ll be a big, big star if he stays healthy. It’s up to guys like myself and Josh Barnett, or Don Callis and Kevin Kelly, to make sure we don’t make him known for only one thing in taking risks. Sometimes the talent believe what you say about them, and they continue down that road, which has a very unfortunate but inevitable destination.”
You can read Ross’ full interview with Sports Illustrated by clicking this link here.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega recently spoke to Tokyo Sports in Japan on a variety of topics including his involvement in the upcoming G1 Climax Tournament.
Due to the ‘block’ structure of the round robin tournament the IWGP Champion will be facing his longtime friend and ‘Golden Lovers’ tag team partner Kota Ibushi. When asked how he felt about facing the ‘Golden Star’ Omega gave the following response:
“Honestly I don’t like it. Six Years ago after the Budokan match, we had an agreement. ‘If we do this again, one of us might die. If it isn’t a bigger match than this, let’s never wrestle a singles match again.’ If it was the G1 final, or the Tokyo Dome main event, that level. But the group selection is random, you can’t help that...”
Omega went on to say; “I don’t want there to be an injury and I don’t want to hurt him. But I am the Champion, and I don’t want to lose in that situation. In all honestly, he’s on a level that he could be a legitimate challenger whether he wins the G1 or not but he wants to earn his spot, that’s the type of guy he is. So he’s going to come at me with all he has.”
New Japan’s G1 Climax Tournament begins on Saturday July 14th and will be available to view on NJPWWorld.com
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was recently a guest on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast and talked about his match with Kazuchika Okada at Dominion 6.9.
It was arguably the greatest match in professional wrestling history. The two-out-of-three falls match lasted about 65 minutes and Omega revealed it took “a lot of thought and care” to put together parts of the match.
The Cleaner also divulged that he and Okada didn’t want to do too much in the two falls leading up to the third in order to keep the audience intrigued. Creatively, Omega and Okada didn’t want to exhaust themselves creatively, leaving the door open for a fifth possible meeting between the two rivals:
“It’s what story are we going to tell that complements the other three matches that we’ve done,” said Omega.
“What story do we tell that leaves something open for a possible fifth match, because even though we were never told that there was gonna be a fifth match, I have a feeling that there’s gonna be a fifth match. So I didn’t want to blow everything in that match, and I wanted to leave it for that there is gonna be another one.”
For a fifth meeting between himself and Okada, Omega wants to bring something different to the table “whenever it happens.”
You can listen to Omega on the X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast by clicking this link here.
WWE NXT North American Champion Adam Cole recently did an interview with Sports Illustrated to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Cole was first asked if he thinks Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks would be good additions to The Undisputed Era:
“Those guys would fit perfectly in the Undisputed Era. They’re exactly what the Undisputed Era is all about: cutting-edge, going against the grain, doing what they want when they want.
“Obviously, a lot of people know my history with Kenny Omega, and I have a very long history with the Young Bucks, and those guys would fit perfectly. It’s like two peas in a pod.”
Cole then discussed going back-and-forth on the NXT TakeOver: Chicago pre-show with panelist Pat McAfee:
“Pat McAfee is real quick on his feet and he’s real entertaining to listen to when he talks, but every time I speak to Pat, I make sure he knows that he’s in my world. This isn’t a football field, and I make sure he’s very aware of that every time we exchange words.
“Pat got a taste of that again on NXT TakeOver: Chicago’s pre-show panel. As long as Pat’s running his mouth the way that he does, I guarantee I’ll be there to back up every word that comes out of my mouth, as well.”
The North American champ seems confident in his ability inside the ring. So confident in fact that he believes he’s not just the best in NXT or in WWE, but the best in the world:
“I’m not just the best in NXT, I’m not just the best in the WWE, I’m the best on the freaking planet. Part of backing that statement up is competing outside of WWE, and the North American championship has given me the opportunity to do that.
“I can go to a company like EVOLVE and wrestle a talent as good, as big, and as strong as WALTER and defend my championship on a non-WWE show. That’s the epitome of making the North American title a world championship, one I can defend all over the world.”
You can read Cole’s full interview with Sports Illustrated by clicking this link here.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega recently participated in a media call to help promote the G1 Special in San Francisco from the Cow Palace on July 7th. The Cleaner will defend his title against Cody Rhodes at the event. Omega was first asked how he would prepare for a match in an environment where his match length is limited:
“It’s funny there’s this idea where Kenny is only good because he can do what he wants and he gets time. Well, everyone else through those doors had had time and opportunity. Why didn’t they do anything special?”
He was then asked how he feels he’d work in a restrictive environment such as WWE. Omega feels he would thrive in such an environment as it would force him to think creatively to work around such restrictions:
“I actually work better within restrictions,” the IWGP Heavyweight Champion continued. “When you leave everything wide open things tend to get a little convoluted. So when you give me those restrictions and I start to use my brain creatively to work around those that’s when things get interesting.
“I mean no, you’re not going to get a seven-star match or six or five in a seven-minute segment but I always do the best I can to make that segment memorable and entertaining and I think that’s always the name of the game.
“The thing is too it’s like, ‘hey if you ever go to WWE what are you gonna do if you only get five minutes?’ I mean sure you’d have nights like that but would I take a contract with WWE if I were not gonna be able to show the best of Kenny Omega? That would be a disservice to fans to professional wrestling, it would be a disservice to my own career all the hard work I put in.
“I would for sure make sure that I was able to show the best of what I do and that requires a little bit of time. So yeah, things like that don’t really worry me I think I would be fine.”
Yesterday, Kenny Omega took part in an AXS TV media conference call to promote the G1 Special in San Francisco. During the press conference, Omega mentioned Matt Riddle as someone who he feels should do well in NJPW.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle do in Japan,” Omega said. “Matt Riddle should have a very successful career in Japan. It’d be cool if he became the foreign Shibata.”
Word reached Riddle about comments made by Omega and he responded in a way consistent with his moniker as “the King of Bros”.
The former UFC fighter is no stranger to receiving praise. After winning “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved” in the 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, Riddle turned in a solid 2017 which saw him ranked at 116th in the PWI 500.
Riddle is the current Evolve champion, former WWN Live champion, and also held the PWG tag titles along with Jeff Cobb. In May, Riddle made it down to the final 2 competitors in Smash Wrestling’s Northern Tournament. The Northern runs a similar format to BOLA and was eventually won by Tyson Dux. Other competitors in the tournament included Joey Janela, Joey Mercury, Mia Yim, Kimber Lee, and Andrew Everett.
Kenny Omega Interview Notes
During the press conference, Omega also noted that he is proud of the Golden Lovers storyline.
“I’m proud of it. I’m not going to lie, that story was created for us,” Omega said. For myself and Ibushi…we built to it for years and years and years. For it to finally culminate and to hear the positive feedback, it was overwhelming.”
Omega also took some shots at Los InGobernables and most notably, their leader Tetsuya Naito.
“Naito is a pseudo-Steve Austin. I really don’t appreciate his message,” Omega said. “It only works in Japan. They live rough lives, it’s easier to fit in than rock the boat. Naito’s message is to calm down and not care. I think that message only has life in Japan.”
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was Sean Waltman’s guest this week on the X-Pac 1-2-360 podcast. Omega spoke about a wide variety of topics, including:
His “7-Star” match with Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion
If he feels pressure to fill Okada’s Shoes
His reaction to WWE promoting The Elite’s video game battle against New Day
His upcoming match against Kota Ibushi at NJPW G1 Climax
Wanting to defend the IWGP title against Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi
Here are some highlights of what Kenny Omega said about:
WWE Supporting The E3 Gaming Battle Between New Day & The Elite
“The amount of support I had from their side [WWE] was certainly surprising. And I’m thankful for it, we really went out and tried to do something new…I really think that we need to get out and explore other options as to how to make wrestling fun and cool again. How to kinda introduce what we do to a brand new audience and gaming was a way to do that. And The New Day… well especially Austin Creed/Xavier Woods himself, he has that really popular Youtube gaming channel and he’s always involved in anything gaming and we sort of have the video gaming rivalry because we can’t have an in-ring rivalry being part of two different companies.
To have the blessing of both companies, and the overwhelming support by WWE was really cool. It’s a possible big game changer, we broke a lot of records with just that event alone and I think it goes to show that all the companies and these wrestlers, we can play nice with each other and it is entertaining and that’s the type of involvement as champion that I want to have.”
His “7-Star” Match with Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion
“A lot of thought and care went into all of that stuff [match layout].What moves are we gonna do? What are the finishes going to be? Of course that’s all part of it. It’s what story do we tell that compliments the other three matches that we’ve done? What story do we tell that leaves something open for a possible fifth match because even though we were never told there was gonna be a fifth match. I have a feeling there’s gonna be a fifth match. So I didn’t want to blow everything in that match.
I wanted to leave it so that there is gonna be another one. And I also still wanted to make it sort of based in reality where this is sort of the be-all-end-all and the match decides which one of us is superior for at least this point in time but I didn’t feel like we had to overkill anything. And there’s so many factors that go into it and I really tried to carefully consider them all. The story surrounding the match, the story within the match, the story that happens before, the story that happens after…
There’s so much to go over and I wanted each fall to look different enough from one another so that it did really look like three different matches. And I wanted all the matches to make both of us look good, I wanted them to highlight our strengths as performers.”
If He Feels Pressure To Fill Okada’s Shoes and His Goals As IWGP Champion
“No, I would feel pressure if there was the pressure to be a textbook wrestler, to be a textbook wrestler and have a textbook wrestler-ish run. Okada had that covered completely and he had done things that no one else could really ever do, he was one of the greatest title runs of all time.
Luckily, I’m kind of not the conventional wrestler and a lot of my matches visually appear similar to one another so my hope is to kind of have a very original looking run, where I am digging deeper into everyone’s character and kind of adding layers to the people I work with, so that way all of the defenses look different from one another. The matches themselves may even be different or original or whatever, so I don’t feel like I have to fill Okada’s shoes… Even though people may not prefer my run over Okada’s, I want them to kind of recognize it as something original and unique and hopefully enjoyable.”
His Upcoming Match With Golden Lovers Partner Kota Ibushi at NJPW G1 Climax
“I mean both of us think it’s too soon, both of us really had it in our minds that we don’t want to re-visit it unless it’s the Tokyo Dome because we get sort of too crazy with one another. And we push each others limits too far and it’s scary, especially Ibushi and I always feel like I can’t be in this guy’s shadow so I have to meet his craziness and that just creates an endless circle of one-upmanship.”
Wanting To Defend The IWGP Title Against Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi
“I would love to wrestle Naito in an actual championship capacity rather than just the G1. I’d love to wrestle Tanahashi because I feel that he was always the protected ace of the company and now he’s getting run down and beaten down and he knows that he’s sort of on his way out of being a top four guy. And I really want to have sort of a special moment with him if it’s possible. And I know he kinda hates me in real life… it’s like a professional jealousy thing that’s all it is {laughs}. Not actually hates me hates me, you know I love him but we love to hate each other because we have very different views on wrestling.”
Remembering Vader and How He Helped Kenny Legally Wrestle In Japan
“Terrible news. I was absolutely shocked when it happened. Especially since he just had just gone through that crazy surgery where it was just miraculous that he got through it all. You can never be prepared for news like that and luckily all the memories I have of Vader when I’ve met him in person were really really pleasant. He was always a very pleasant individual.
He was actually the reason I was able to get my first work visa in Japan. Because he had a promotion in Japan for a moment in time where he was running shows every three or four months. And if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have been able to legally work in Japan until actually signing with New Japan. Mostly because of Vader I was able to legally wrestle and make money in Japan.”
Celebrating His IWGP Title Win With The Young Bucks
“It’s funny we’d created this storyline where we would all kind of go splitsville. And we really pushed it to the extreme where we wouldn’t be seen in public we’d only talk to each other in private. In the Being The Elite storyline, we weren’t in any scenes together and the only actual physical altercation we ended up having was the match in Long Beach. So we sort of worked ourselves into a shoot brother. Where we were sort of actually forced to live out this lie where we were at odds with each other. So for us to finally kinda come together and in Japan too.
Another thing to mention is, it’s really Kayfabed out there. You can’t just go out to a restaurant after a show cause ‘hey it’s not the show anymore’. You have to continue, you have to keep faith and stay true to the angles. So we couldn’t hang out before shows, after shows, nothing like that unless it was in private. And usually, I’m always tied up with whatever after the shows… We never saw each other so for us to finally come together and have that as our first moment. Where it’s like ‘yes it’s okay to be friends again’ it was really emotional.”
Visit AfterbuzzTV for more information on Sean Waltman’s show.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the full lineup for the upcoming G1 Special in San Francisco. The show takes place just outside city limits in the Cow Palace on July 7th, 2018.
NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco Lineup
Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero, Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and King Haku (Bullet Club)
Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Marty Scurll and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
NEVER Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) (c) vs Jeff Cobb
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) (c) vs SANADA and EVIL (LIJ)
Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI (LIJ)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (LIJ) (c) vs Dragon Lee (CMLL)
IWGP United States Championship
Jay White (CHAOS) (c) vs Juice Robinson
Omega vs Cody was announced shortly after Dominion. It will be the second time the two have faced each other since the Bullet Club civil war angle began. In the first meeting, Cody defeated Omega at Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor show this April.
Jay White has been attacking Juice Robinson after matches during the Kizuna Road tour. Robinson’s arm is now in a cast and could still be by the time this match comes around in a few weeks.
Takahashi challenged Dragon Lee to a title match after he defeated El Desperado in Tokyo last week. There has been some speculation the two longtime rivals could end up in a mask vs hair match somewhere down the line.
Goto lost the NEVER Openweight title to Elgin at Dominion but then won it back on the 1st night of the Kizuna Road tour. Jeff Cobb challenged him to a match immediately after he won back the title.
Last but certainly not least, King Haku will return to New Japan Pro Wrestling on July 7th. He will be teaming with his sons, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. HIKULEO, his youngest son, is still out with a leg injury.
This morning in Tokyo, Japan, NJPW released the block groupings for the G1 Climax 2018 tournament. The announcement was made at the Kizuna Road show held in Tokyo’s famed Korakuen Hall.
The promotion unveiled the participants on Sunday’s show and will release the schedule in the coming days.
Block A
Togi Makabe (GBH)
Michael Elgin
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)
Jay White (CHAOS)
Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)
Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
EVIL (LIJ)
Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
Notable matches which will occur during the round-robin portion of Block A include Hiroshi Tanahashi facing his longtime rival, Kazuchika Okada. Also of note, is that recent CHAOS newcomer, Jay White, will get to face Okada as well, something he said he wanted to do not long after joining the stable. White is also the only Champion in the block so far. Any matches he loses during the tournament could lead to a future title defense. He will have to defend his title against Juice Robinson on July 7th, 2018 before the G1, however.
B Block
Juice Robinson
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS)
Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
Toru Yano (CHAOS)
Tama Tonga (Bullet Club)
SANADA (LIJ)
Tetsuya Naito (LIJ)
Zack Sabre Junior (Suzuki-Gun)
Kenny Omega (Bullet Club)
Kota Ibushi
These groupings mean Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi will face each other at some point during the round-robin portion of the tournament. The two Golden Lovers teammates have met twice in single’s action before. Both matches took place in DDT. Ibushi won both matches, the first in 2008 and the second in 2012.
As of this writing, Omega and Goto are the only champions in the block. Any losses they incur during the tournament could lead to future title defenses. Juice Robinson will have the chance to win the IWGP United States title before the G1 stars as well, however.
Omega and Tama Tonga will also meet in the G1 this year. Omega previously beat Tonga in the tournament in 2017. Leading up to the match, Tonga complained that Omega was too focussed on the Elite and not on Bullet Club as a whole. Tonga has also been complaining through social media about the recently unveiled “Golden Elite” faction. He will get to wrestle Kota Ibushi at this year’s G1 as well.
New Japan Pro Wrestling saw one of the greatest main events in the history of the company last Saturday when Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Omega’s longtime tag team partner Kota Ibushi was ringside for the bout and he recently gave his thoughts on the incredible ‘7 Star Bout.’
Ibushi stated that “the moment he won I was delighted. I wanted to congratulate him from the bottom of my heart but a few seconds later I was thinking ‘why aren’t I in this ring having wrestled tonight?’ I wasn’t booked. It felt weird. Honestly, I was thinking ‘what am I even doing here?’”
The former Junior Heavyweight went on to “It’s easy to think he’s going to keep moving forward and we’re going to move apart. But tranquilo. Asssen na ya. People can think that but I just have to get results and that starts in the G1.”
Ibushi has also been confirmed for the upcoming ‘All In’ event which takes on September 1, 2018, at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. His opponent for the show has not yet been named.
WWE Adds One Of Kenny Omega’s Matches To The WWE Network
We’ve recently noted that WWE has been mentioning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega quite a bit recently to promote The New Day vs. The Elite (Omega and The Young Bucks) at E3 in a Street Fighter V video game tournament.
It seems like WWE is taking things a step further, adding an old WWE match of Omega’s to their Network. Omega was signed to a developmental deal with WWE several years back in the early stages of his career.
WWE has added Kenny Omega vs. Cru Jones from Deep South Wrestling in 2006 to the WWE Network. It’s under the “Hidden Gems” collection on the application. WWE’s YouTube channel posted the following preview:
Kurt Angle Reveals One Of His Favorite Undertaker Matches
A fan recently took to Twitter to pay homage to the matches The Undertaker and Kurt Angle have put on together during their professional wrestling careers.
The Monday Night RAW General Manager responded and said that one match of theirs he recommends viewing is their meeting at No Way Out 2006. Angle said it’s a good viewing experience for fans and aspiring professional wrestlers:
WWE Posts Briefcases For All Possible Men’s MITB Match Winners
WWE’s Instagram recently published a photo showcasing all the possible designs for a briefcase for all the men involved in the Men’s Money In The Bank (MITB) Ladder match this weekend. There’s actually some pretty cool designs. You can check them out here: