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What’s the story?
NJPW superstar Kenny Omega recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated in order to promote the upcoming NJPW show that he will be running at the 2018 CEO Fighting Game.
Also, during the conversation, Omega opened up about his historic tag team match against The Young Bucks at NJPW: Strong Style Evolved PPV this past March in Long Beach, California.
In case you didn’t know…
Earlier this year, NJPW hosted their first ever Strong Style Evolved show at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California and the show was main-evented by two of the world's finest tag teams in The Young Bucks and The Golden Lovers, who battled each other to a grueling 39-minute match that saw the duo of Omega and Ibushi come out on top in an astonishing win over the team of Matt and Nick Jackson.
The heart of the matter
As per Omega, he claimed that the NJPW crew apparently did not come in with a powerhouse match card for their first ever Strong Style Evolved show and thus a lot of pressure was seemingly put on Omega, Ibushi, and the Young Bucks to really live up to people’s expectations and eventually deliver on the big stage in the United States.
Omega stated that he along with Ibushi and The Bucks took a chance and decided to totally go outside of their comfort zone to deliver something on an emotional level that no one had ever before seen in professional wrestling and their match could’ve also possibly caught people off guard as well.
Additionally, the former IWGP US Heavyweight Champion also said that there was seemingly a chance to potentially put on an athletic showcase, but both The Golden Lovers and The Young Bucks went against it and instead wanted to accomplish something different in the match. (H/T: Wrestling Inc)
"New Japan Pro Wrestling is my company, but I'll be the first to admit we did not come with a powerhouse card [to Strong Style Evolved]. A lot of the pressure was put on myself, Ibushi, and the Young Bucks to really deliver. We took a chance and went outside of our comfort zone to deliver something on an emotional level that no one had ever before seen in professional wrestling. Maybe we caught people off-guard. The potential was there for an athletic showcase, but we wanted to accomplish something different in the match. Lately, that's been my MO in professional wrestling: not to see something based out of shock factor, but to watch my match and feel something. You see enough of that in PWG, NXT, and the New Japan juniors, which is basically all shock factor with insane athleticism and crazy moves and things that make you wince in pain. Even if I could be that guy, I don't want to be anymore. I have it in me to explore these other options and make people feel something. I want to instill a memory."
What’s next?
Omega will be challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.9 in a two out of three falls match against ‘The Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada.
Author’s Take
The tag match between The Golden Lovers and The Young Bucks will arguably go down as one of the most historic matches in Pro Wrestling history and could very well turn out to be the best tag team match ever.
