In a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is an insane amount of pressure behind the main event for this year’s New Japan Pro-Wrestling Wrestle Kingdom 11 between the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and the G1 Climax 26 winner Kenny Omega.
It’s being said that many backstage have ridiculously high expectations for this match. The report states that if this match isn’t considered as a “match of the year” contender, it will be a huge disappointment.
Obviously, there is always high pressure for whoever main events the Tokyo Dome, but there has been rising tension backstage in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as top officials have grown frustrated with WWE and their raiding of Japanese and independent talent. NJPW fears that WWE could be after Omega, Okada and others within the company. Additionally, NJPW has almost been skeptical about a foreign born wrestler (Omega) main eventing their biggest show of the year.
Last year, WWE signed Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows away from New Japan right after Wrestle Kingdom 10. In case you’re unfamiliar, Wrestle Kingdom is considered the promotion’s biggest show of the year and the way the wrestlers contracts are structured, most deals expire around this time of the year.
WWE has reportedly been very interested in signing Kenny Omega to WWE NXT. But in an interview with Spandex, Kenny Omega had some words for the company and their attempts to sign indy talent:
“It seems as though we’re headed towards a monopoly, if I were to speak honestly. WWE is hiring people just to hire them. That’s fine, and I’m happy for whoever’s happy to collect a paycheck from them. A lot of my good friends are now receiving work and receiving money. But sadly, a lot of those people are signing with WWE just to ride the pine. You can’t put all these guys on TV. On one end, you have these mom-and-pop indy superstars getting TV time, and people all around the world are able to see the art of what they do. And in a lot of cases, they’re enjoying it, which is fantastic. I’m really happy about that. But as everyone gets picked up, as all these independent promotions have to shut down and close their doors because of WWE scooping everyone up, everyone’s going to lose an option. And that guy you saw for that one tournament, you’re not going to see him anymore. You can’t put him on TV, there’s only so much time. So eventually, people are going to run out of options.”
In the past, Omega has been known to take jabs at the company for their raiding of talent and has stated that he doesn’t plan on signing with WWE anytime soon. Most fans expect Omega vs. Okada will not disappoint, as many believe these two are the best wrestlers in the world, today.
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