In a dream bout that should be advertised as either “Finishing American Strong Style” or the “Go To Sleep Match”, fans are looking towards AEW star CM Punk taking on New Japan’s KENTA. Previously, it was viewed as just that: a dream match.
KENTA Declares He Wants The Bag and “Correct Amount of Money” If He’s to Face “G2S Thief “CM Punk
Both men debuted around the same time with Punk having over a year of experience when KENTA debuted in early 2000. Their career paths never actually crossed until recently. When Punk first toured Japan, it was for Zero-One while KENTA was in Pro-Wrestling NOAH which was popular at time in Japan and among Western tape traders.
In ROH, KENTA came in with other NOAH talents as part of the promotion’s working relationships via the now-defunct GPWA.
If you don’t remember that period of the 2000s indies, wrestlers—who were fans before becoming wrestlers—got Japanese wrestling tapes. As Dave Meltzer was big on the All Japan style—and later NOAH and ROH’s–many of 90s All Japan’s most important bouts got high ratings.
The matches with those ratings feature a variety of dangerous head-drop moves and a ton of stiff strikes. That was the company’s big match approach in the 90s and it followed the majority of the roster who had left to form NOAH.
American indie wrestling implemented a lot the All Japan product and some of the New Japan product into the American strong style approach to matches. Samoa Joe’s Muscle Buster, the sharp brainbusters, stiff lariats and Yakuza Kicks from junior heavyweights, frightening suplexes, Homicide’s STF, Low Ki’s strike and submission-heavy offense, Da Hit Squad using the Burning Hammer as a regular match finisher—mostly taken from All Japan and New Japan.
They were inspired just like CM Punk when he began using the G2S as a finisher after the Anaconda Vice and also there weren’t going to be Pepsi Plunges finishing matches in WWE. KENTA’s G2S would put the cap on my title encounters for Punk during his time as a major star.
KENTA himself was prevented from using the move after Punk left the company.
Their paths still never crossed as CM Punk was either WWE bound or had already joined their developmental in 2005. When KENTA arrived in WWE, CM Punk was in his last year with WWE and getting ready to quit wrestling.
With AEW having a working relationship with New Japan, we might just see the match although few aren’t particularly interested in the match years after it would’ve been ideal. KENTA has targeted Punk on social media multiple times about the G2S. Now it appears he wants to be paid very well to face CM Punk:
Oh hell no
Tell Tony Khan
GIVE ME THE BAG https://t.co/snGQYB87bK— KENTA aka Lil’K (@KENTAG2S) June 9, 2023
The belief is that this is to add some extra mmph to the potential match so that it’s not a dream exhibition match.
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