After spending a bulk of his time in AEW playing around in the tag team division, Kenny Omega finally focused on his true self in recent weeks. He has rekindled his fire as The Best Bout Machine, put on his Cleaner shades, and now he has a shot to become the AEW World Champion.
He just needs to beat Jon Moxley, in the biggest match in AEW history. We’ve already looked at Jon Moxley’s case for victory, but all great champions fall eventually. Is it time for Kenny Omega to rise?
Proving He Didn’t Peak In NJPW
While he’s become a popular name through his time in AEW alone, the lore of Kenny Omega’s achievements in Japan is what brings people to him. From the moment he left the Junior Heavyweight division following Wrestle Kingdom 10, he was set to take the place of AJ Styles in NJPW. He’d beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to become the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, before entering his first G1 Climax, and winning.
He’d go onto Wrestle Kingdom 11, and have what many still consider one of the greatest wrestling matches ever with Kazuchika Okada. While he failed to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on his first try, he’d stay persistent, and by 2018 he’d beat Okada in a match even better than their first and become champion. This is what many feel was the peak of Kenny Omega, as after then he’d have a solid run in the G1, before losing the belt to Hiroshi Tanahashi, before starting up AEW.
Since then, fans have just wanted the old Kenny Omega back, not this watered down AEW version. This match with Jon Moxley is his chance to prove that his peak wasn’t back in Japan, but now in AEW.
Kenny Omega Needs This Win To Make Up For His 2019
Much like how Hangman Page has been deeply affected by failing to defeat Chris Jericho at All Out 2019, Omega feels the same about his losses in 2019. He would seemingly lose every big match that year, to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Chris Jericho, PAC and then Jon Moxley. His only major win in 2019 was beating Rey Fenix for the AAA Mega Championship, and then another match for that belt against Dragon Lee.
For someone like Kenny Omega, who was on top of the world in 2018, a poor year like that reflects poorly. He’d redeem some of these losses in 2020, finally beating PAC, winning gold alongside Hangman Page, but now comes the big one. The loss to Jon Moxley, the one that put his confidence down.
On Wednesday, he can prove that he is the man he claims to be, the confidence and bravado he’s carried in the last weeks isn’t a mere facade. He can prove he’s a champion.
Do you think Kenny Omega can end the reign of Jon Moxley this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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