Faceoff
“He has sheathed the assassin’s blade”, Excalibur exclaimed after Will Ospreay returned a fingerpoke to the eyes of Kenny Omega back in 2015 when they met in singles action for the first time at PWG’s All Star Weekend 11. Yet, this statement feels almost symbolic when you look at the history of the rivalry between these two leading to the conclusion(for now) of their conflict. A highly anticipated bout at Wrestle Kingdom 17, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year, did not disappoint in the slightest seeing as these are two of the very best professional wrestlers in the world. But before we talk about the climax of this feud, let’s give an insight to how these two have been connected for nearly a decade and ultimately what led to this match taking place.
The Aerial Assassin vs The Cleaner
Now dubbed “The Cleaner”, Kenny Omega had joined the Bullet Club, one of wrestling’s most notable factions and arguably the hottest thing going in the industry at the time, just a year prior to our showdown on November 8, 2014. Heading into the bout, Omega was a two-time(and current)IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion. Whereas Omega could be considered the best Jr. heavyweight in the world at the time, Will Ospreay was the polar opposite; a young, bright-eyed junior heavyweight from the British wrestling scene on the cusp of breaking onto the world stage. Having been a mainstay of RevPro and recently having his match with Kazuchika Okada(which would lead to him being offered a contract by New Japan), Ospreay had certainly began to make a name for himself, but he was still not quite ready to handle the man responsible for cleaning up the junior heavyweight division.
Their first encounter is much of what you would expect of not just the high flying style of Ospreay and a younger Omega, but also the high octane PWG style match. It was very fast-paced, lasting a bit over 15 minutes with lots of high spots, some brutal knees, and Kenny getting a… chainsaw to the penis? It was Omega that dominated a decent bit of the match and ultimately picked up the victory, but Ospreay came close with a late flurry of offense hitting a hurricanrana off the top rope and a standing Spanish fly. It was not exactly the storytelling spectacle that was displayed at WK17, just a match showcasing a breakout talent in Will Ospreay attempting to overcome the 14 year veteran Jr. heavyweight champ, Kenny Omega.
Ascension to Godhood/Rise of the Kingpin
Not long after this match took place, Kenny Omega and the Bullet Club would turn on AJ Styles(who was leaving for WWE) ultimately becoming the new leader of the faction. Omega would then fight his way up in the promotion, moving up to the heavyweight division and beginning to string together top performances to cement himself as one of the best in the world. Omega would eventually win the G1 Climax in 2016, being the first gaijin(non-japanese talent) to do so, and in 2018 finally defeated Kazuchika Okada in a two out of three falls match to claim the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Omega would later leave NJPW to start up All Elite Wrestling as an Executive Vice President alongside the Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes. He had a bit of a rough patch in the early days of the company, losing to Chris Jericho in the main event of the inaugural Double or Nothing for the AEW World Championship, losing to PAC at All Out, and then losing to Jon Moxley at Full Gear. It was bewildering to many as this was not the Kenny Omega fans had known, and this was not the same man that new fans had heard of.
Days would begin to look brighter as Omega would win the AEW Tag Team Championships with Hangman Adam Page at Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea in January 2020. They would go on to defend the titles against the Young Bucks at Revolution 2020 in one of the most critically acclaimed tag team matches in history(seriously, go watch it), as well as various other teams before they dropped the titles to FTR at All Out of that same year. There’s a lot of reasons as to why Omega and Page lost the titles, but that’s a whole article in itself(though, if you have the time, check out this series on Youtube). To keep things brief, Omega would then re-enter singles competition before picking up the AEW World Championship in December 2020 and becoming the longest reigning AEW champion at 346 days.
While Kenny was shifting into the heavyweight division and on his way to winning the G1, Will Ospreay was putting his stamp on the junior heavyweight division upon arriving in New Japan. Though he would lose his first two challenges for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, Ospreay would win the 2016 Best of Super Juniors tournament in his first attempt. He would then go on to make it all the way to the finals in 2017 before being defeated by Kushida, the man whom Ospreay had lost his previous title challenges to. Finally, in October of 2017, Ospreay defeated Kushida to win the Jr. Heavyweight title. Through various injuries and challenges over the years, Ospreay began to adapt more and more to the style of New Japan becoming one of the best junior heavyweights in the world before putting on weight to compete and take over the heavyweight division. Since joining NJPW Ospreay has won: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship 3x, IWGP US Championship 1x, NEVER Openweight Championship 1x, 2x Best of the Super Juniors winner, New Japan Cup 2021 winner, and IWGP World Heavyweight Championship 1x. Will Ospreay’s matches against the likes of Okada and Shingo Takagi amongst many others has helped elevate his name over the last 7 years into one of wrestling’s elite talents, and a must watch every time he is announced on a card.
“I Haven’t Forgotten What You’ve Done”
In 2018, upon returning from injury Will Ospreay challenged Kota Ibushi for the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13(2019). Ospreay and Ibushi had a stellar, yet stiff match before Ospreay claimed the victory. The finish of the match, however, saw Ospreay legitimately knock out and concuss Kota Ibushi, something that would come back to haunt him four years later.
While The Elite have been dominating AEW since their departure from NJPW, Will Ospreay formed the United Empire in his own quest to dominate New Japan. He would go on to claim the New Japan Cup in 2021, eventually dethroning Ibushi once again to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. However, Kenny Omega seemed to always be watching from afar in disgust at Ospreay and the United Empire.
Once he left New Japan, Omega figured that they had decided to replace him with a new gaijin and it so happened to be Will Ospreay. This, along with the formation of Ospreay’s own stable running amok in New Japan(much like the Bullet Club), caused Kenny to feel like Ospreay was just a watered down version of himself. Not only is Will not on his level, but Omega feels like Ospreay and the United Empire do not respect the Japanese culture quite like he did; a country that Omega lived in for years, going so far as to learn the culture and the Japanese language.
Ospreay, however, retorts that he stayed in Japan through its darkest and toughest time. When he could hardly even enter the country due to Covid regulations, let alone compete in a match, he was still there. In the press conference leading to WK17, Ospreay berates Omega for not understanding his struggle to the top and the hardships he faced. On top of the difficulty of getting into the country for matches, he often had to quarantine in a room “no bigger than a wrestling ring”, and even had to watch his own friend’s funeral on an iPad. Will Ospreay is fighting to show that he has improved exponentially since 2015, and that the bright lights of the Tokyo Dome that once shined down on Omega are now on him. However, Kenny Omega is fighting to “save” NJPW from Ospreay and avenge his Golden Lover, Kota Ibushi, for what Ospreay has done to him. Furthermore, Omega is fighting to show Ospreay that he will never reach the level of a god.
The Fall of a King
“You see Will, I gave you the impossible task of filling my shoes. But maybe I shouldn’t have given you a pair of shoes when you haven’t grown out of your diapers.”
After the United Empire fell to The Elite in the AEW Trios Championship tournament in the summer of ‘22, Kenny officially challenged Will Ospreay to a match for the IWGP US Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 17 during the NJPW and Stardom Historic X Over event.
In the build up and introductions to this match, Kenny Omega leans more into the godhood that he and Don Callis have touted upon himself during his reign as the belt collector(while holding the AEW Championship, Omega held world titles from multiple promotions). Entering to his new final boss music and donning the jacket of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Omega was more than ready to show Will Ospreay there are levels to professional wrestling that he cannot quite reach. Ospreay, however, went for something different. Hailing himself as the Commonwealth Kingpin in recent years, Ospreay instead decided to return to his old ways coming out as The Assassin with “Elevated” blaring through the speakers for the first time in years.
This may have proved costly.
The battle starts much like their previous encounter in 2015, quick and fast-paced with Ospreay taking the early advantage. However, Omega is much more ferocious than we have seen him in years, and it seemed that he was out to prove to Ospreay and everyone watching that there is only one true god of wrestling. Will Ospreay is no longer the scrawny, high-flying kid from London, but a grizzled heavyweight superstar capable of hanging with the best. The only problem? Kenny is above anyone Ospreay has faced to this point(bar Okada?). Kenny Omega has won everything Ospreay has won, Omega has won nearly every major championship wrestling has to offer, and, though their styles greatly differ, Kenny Omega is the blueprint for what Will Ospreay has been touted to be in New Japan. Within the match, everytime Ospreay attempts to put any offense together he is quickly shut down by Omega. Ospreay shows exponential improvement since their first singles bout back in 2015, but he still can not amount to the level of experience Omega has over him. On top of that, Ospreay’s willingness to lean on the past, a version of himself that was light years too inexperienced to handle Omega before his prime, hinders his ability to win the bout.
While Ospreay is held back by his trek to the past, Omega digs into his history and, most importantly, his bond with Kota Ibushi to surpass the level of a god and silence the assassin. Omega ate three hidden blades, the same move that knocked out Ibushi, before hitting a kamigoye and a one winged angel to win the match. Ospreay truly fought valiantly, but in the end it just wasn’t enough. If Will Ospreay ever hopes to defeat Kenny Omega he must abandon The Assassin, and arguably ascend above being the Kingpin because in the end, what is a king to a god?