5 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2016

#2 Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito - G1 Climax 2016

Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito were – and still are – two of the most beloved wrestlers in NJPW. 2016 saw Omega make the transition from background midcarder and glorified comedy wrestler to a serious, main-event-level athlete. It also saw the explosion in popularity of the new Tetsuya Naito, whose Los Ignobernables de Japon gimmick became the coolest thing in all of wrestling.

These two upper-tier athletes faced each other in the semi-finals of the always-spectacular G1 Climax tournament, and they put on a performance for the ages.

Naito and Kenny absolutely destroyed each other with vicious strikes and amazing wrestling. They exemplified toughness in this match, as they hit each other as hard as possible and on the hardest parts of the ring as well. Kenny hit a Dragon Suplex on Naito on the ring apron, while Naito tried his best to demolish Kenny’s legs throughout the match.

Kenny showed everyone just how good he is at selling by not only being incapable of running the ropes (due to said limb targeting by Naito) and writhing in pain as if he had suffered a real injury. The audience could feel his pain, which is why they were much more vocal for this match than almost any other G1 contest in 2016.

While some might dismiss this as another one of those ‘big move after big move after big move’ finish sequences, the story made complete sense. The desperation and the will to win was so overpowering for both Kenny and Naito that they did whatever was necessary to beat the other.

They both knew how determined the other was, which is why it wasn’t ‘big move then pin then big move again’, but instead, ‘three big moves and then 2 9/10 count’.

While it isn’t the best match of 2016, it definitely earned its 5-star rating and must-see status.