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What's the story?
Kenny Omega from NJPW will be wrestling Chris Jericho from WWE at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in a match that will be the first of its kind.
'The Cleaner' Omega hopes that his match against the loyal longtime WWE employee will lead to more crossovers between New Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE.
In case you didn't know...
Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho have caused quite the buzz in the wrestling world by actually following through on the Twitter argument they started when Jericho challenged Omega to a match.
Many thought this was just innocent cross-promotional online beef and that nothing would come of it because Jericho is a WWE lifer, but we've been proven wrong.
It's actually happening, and with Vince McMahon and Triple H's blessings.
The heart of the matter
Kenny Omega was part of an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated where he explained his aspirations for the future, following their match.
“I really want this match to be a wake-up call to New Japan and WWE,” said Omega. “This match is going to open up a lot of eyes, and it’s going to invoke a feeling you’ve never felt when watching a wrestling match. It’s a clash of unique worlds, and the match we’re going to show with aggression, violence, and disdain is going to evoke a new kind of emotion from people watching.”
Omega goes on to indicate that he sees a place in the world of wrestling for more crossovers between the big companies such as NJPW, ROH and the normally fairly insular WWE, that has typically shied away from even acknowledging its competition, let alone working with it.
“It has ascended to a new height. It’s no longer, ‘What would happen if Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega fought?’ At Wrestle Kingdom 12, this match will actually happen. There will be a pay-off, and the success of this match could lead to more cross-overs for the sake of good business.”
What's next?
The Jericho/Omega match is currently scheduled to be a one-off with no further clashes between the two planned.
There have been no more developments on possible speculation that Omega could return the favour and make a WWE appearance.
But, in the world of Sports Entertainment, anything is possible.
Author's take
I agree with Kenny Omega. It's that simple.
Imagine a world where all of the top wrestlers could wrestle against each other regardless of company boundaries and divides, a world where Superstars from the WWE could face the best of ROH or NJPW.
I'm Daniel Wood, all for a better pro-wrestling industry.
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