History is revisionist. Records are meant to be broken. Champions break through barriers and so-called 'glass ceilings'.
Kenny Omega created history last night by becoming the first ever North American to win New Japan Pro Wrestling's prestigious G1 Climax tournament. Omega fought his way through the hellish 19-day long tournament and clawed his way to the top of Block B for the chance to face Block A winner Hiroki Goto in last night's brutal final.
Winning the G1 is much more than winning a trophy or respect, the winner gets to challenge for any championship of their choosing at the Tokyo Dome for NJPW's biggest night of the year, Wrestle Kingdom. Omega beat a host of the New Japan top brass on his way to victory including former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito in one of his final Block B match-ups. With the crowd expecting a Naito victory to set up a rematch between Naito and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada at the Tokyo Dome, Kenny Omega fought the match of his life and pulled off the upset.
Tradition doesn't mean much to the current Bullet Club leader. Nor does respect. Instead of traditionally waving the NJPW flag after winning the G1, like previous G1 winners, Omega chose to throw away the New Japan banner and unfurled a Bullet Club flag, clearly showing where his affiliations lay.
The match itself was spectacular, with both Goto and Omega throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other. Omega channeled former Bullet Club leaders AJ Styles and Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) during the match, unsuccessfully using their finishers and those of former tag-team partner Kota Ibushi in an attempt to pull off the win. However, in the end, it was his own move to pull off the win.
The big story after the match was Omega challenging Kazuchika Okada for his IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in January. Kenny Omega will finally be headlining at the Tokyo Dome and it's been a long road for the former WWE developmental prospect who left for the Far East in 2008.
Apparently, he turned down the WWE thrice in 2015 when they approached him to sign for them.
One important take-away from this is the fact that WWE has reportedly shown interest in Kenny Omega over the past year. Could giving him the main event spot be a way of convincing him to stay?
Former Bullet Club leaders AJ Styles and Finn Balor congratulated Kenny Omega about his G1 Climax win.
