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Ever since making his Pro Wrestling debut several years ago, current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega has pretty much scratched and clawed his way to the top of the realm in the Pro Wrestling industry, as he currently finds himself in conversation of eventually ending up as one of the greatest Pro Wrestlers to ever grace this business.
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Omega, who eventually started out as a Jr. Heavyweight, has travelled all around the world in his 18-year-old Pro Wrestling career and has previously competed for promotions such as the WWE, TNA/Impact Wrestling, DDT Pro Wrestling, and even AJPW as well, before eventually making his way to NJPW.
Throughout his career, Omega has competed at the very highest level irrespective of the promotion that he competed for and the man is known as ‘The Best Bout Machine’ for a definite reason. With that being said, here are 10 of Kenny Omega’s all-time best matches.
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#10 Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi- New Beginning in Niigata, 2016
The year 2016 proved to be the turning point of Kenny Omega’s Pro Wrestling career, as he finally made his much-awaited jump to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s heavyweight division after having spent the majority of his career as a Jr. Heavyweight.
In his first match as a heavyweight, Omega had the opportunity of winning the prestigious IWGP Intercontinental Championship, which at that point was vacated by former Champion Shinsuke Nakamura who left the promotion in order to join the WWE. However, in order to get his hands on his first major Heavyweight Championship belt, Omega had the uphill task of defeating ‘The Ace’ Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Heading into this match, ‘The Cleaner’ was definitely confident, considering the fact that he had just kicked AJ Styles out of The Bullet Club and took over the leadership reigns from ‘The Phenomenal One’. With the backing of the rest of the faction, Omega went into a first-time hardcore battle against Tanahashi.
Both men seemingly started off this match in a slow pace, with Omega eventually ordering his fellow Bullet Club stablemates Cody Hall and Yujiro Takahashi to head backstage after the two men started causing trouble from ringside in the early stages.
The pace of the match eventually picked up as both Omega and Tana sold both of their respective offences in a solid manner and went back-and-forth with each other in spectacular fashion for a while. However, the former’s fellow BC mates The Young Bucks started causing the shenanigans yet again. This eventually led to Omega using the Styles Clash on Tanahashi and also Nakamura’s Boma Ye knees as well before subsequently hitting the One-Winged Angel to finish the match.
#9 Omega vs Kushida- Wrestle Kingdom 10, 2016
Prior to Kenny Omega’s betrayal of AJ Styles, his eventual jump to NJPW’s heavyweight division, and him becoming the leader of The Bullet Club, ‘The Cleaner’ wrestled in his final match as a Jr. Heavyweight when he went toe-to-toe against his arch-rival Kushida for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 10.
Considered as two of the finest Jr. Heavyweights of all time, Kushida and Omega, much like every other occasion, successfully managed to put together yet another clinical match against each other with an incredibly fast pace throughout the contest. There were also some tremendous spots during this match, with one of the most memorable of them is when Kenny moonsaulted off a guardrail with a trashcan in his hand and eventually landed on top of Kushida.
Omega eventually went on to lose his final match as Jr. Heavyweight, as he subsequently turned his focus on bigger things in the heavyweight division.
#8 Kenny Omega vs Hirooki Goto- G1 Climax 26 Final, 2016
As mentioned earlier, the year 2016 indeed was the biggest turning point in Kenny Omega’s Professional Wrestling career. He went from Jr. Heavyweight to Heavyweight, kicked AJ Styles out of The BC, and became the leader of the faction, and to for the icing on the cake, Omega also captured (and eventually lost) the IWGP IC Title in his first match as a Heavyweight.
Following his IC Title loss to Michael Elgin, ‘The Cleaner’, now billed as ‘The Best Bout Machine’, took part in his first ever G1 Climax tournament and made a huge impact right from the get-go, as he reached the finals against CHAOS lieutenant Hirooki Goto.
This match is the purest example of storytelling with raw emotion running through the entirety of the contest, Omega was on the verge of creating history by becoming the first gaijin competitor to win the prestigious G1 Climax and in order to achieve his dream, the Bullet Club leader even tore a page out of his predecessors AJ Styles and Finn Balor.
In order to put away the very resilient Goto, Omega decided to hit the Bloody Sunday, Styles Clash and even attempted the Phoenix Splash in tribute to his longtime best friend Kota Ibushi, however, by the end of the evening it was eventually the One-Winged Angel that got the job done for ‘The Best Bout Machine’ as he created history by winning the G1 Climax.
Honourable Mention: Kenny Omega vs Hirooki Goto (G1 Climax 28)
#7 Kenny Omega vs Tomohiro Ishii- G1 Specials in USA, 2017
Both Kenny Omega and Tomohiro Ishii are among two of the hardest hitting wrestlers from the NJPW roster and fans are always in for a treat every time the two men share the ring alongside each other.
This match itself was arguably the best encounter between Ishii and Omega, considering the fact that this was the main event of NJPW’s first ever US show and was also contested to decide the inaugural IWGP US Heavyweight Champion as well.
As expected, both Omega and Ishii tore the house down at the Long Beach in what was an absolutely dramatic encounter between the two men and one of the rather popular spots from the match is when Ishii bit down on the ropes in order to prevent himself from getting suplexed through a table.
After hitting some brutal V-Triggers and the One-Winged Angel; Omega eventually won the contest and became the first ever IWGP US Heavyweight Champion in the process as well.
Honourable Mentions: Kenny Omega vs Tomohiro Ishii- Wrestling Dontaku, 2017
#6 Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi- DDT Nippon Budokan, 2012
Prior to signing with NJPW in 2014, Kenny Omega was one of the fastest rising stars in Japan where he competed for promotions such as AJPW and DDT Pro Wrestling, where he alongside his best friend Kota Ibushi cemented their place among two of the hardest working superstars in the country.
During their initial days, Ibushi and Omega started working together as a tag team called The Golden Lovers and the two men had/still have, some absolutely amazing chemistry with each other even if they’re standing alongside each other or across each other inside the ring.
This showdown between Ibushi and Omega from 2012 is arguably one of the greatest DDT matches of all time and the sheer physicality that has been executed throughout this match was pure brilliance and the high-risk moves that were also executed by both Jr. Heavyweights make this match another classic Kenny Omega affair.
#5 Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito- G1 Climax 27 Final, 2017
This was quite arguably one of the most anticipated G1 Climax finals’ of all time, with two of NJPW’s very best going head-to-head against each other in order to get a shot at the most prestigious world title in all of Professional Wrestling today, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Coming into this match, both Omega and Naito certainly had a lot of pressure on their shoulders in order to deliver an instant classic and that’s exactly what they did, as the respective leaders of the Bullet Club and LIJ once again stole the show in yet another G1 Climax clash. With their performances in this match, Omega once again proved why he is one of the hottest wrestlers in the world and Naito did the same as well.
It was eventually Tetsuya Naito who came out on top in this one as he sealed the G1 27 trophy for himself and earned a shot at the IWGP World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12.
#4 Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito- G1 Climax 26, 2016
Many people would somewhat question my decision of putting this Omega vs Naito match ahead of their G1 27 final. However, I personally, feel that this match was certainly the better of the two, just by a slight margin.
This was the very first time two of New Japan’s top superstars came head-to-head, as Omega and Naito shared the ring for the very first time and with the entire Pro Wrestling universe watching, both men lived up to all the hype and expectations and eventually delivered an instant classic. This match was by far one of the most insane matches in NJPW history, with both men going back-and-forth against each other almost every single minute in the match.
There were several close falls during the match and both men literally hit each other with every single move they had in their arsenals. However, with just four minutes left on the clock, we were edging closer to yet another nail-biting finish. In the closing stages, with just under two minutes left on the clock and with Omega’s ticket to the G1 26 final hanging by the balance, ‘The Best Bout Machine’ eventually connected with the One-Winged Angel and pinned Tetsuya Naito for the win.
Honourable Mention: Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito- G1 Climax 28, 2018
#3 Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada- Wrestle Kingdom 11
The beginning of a historic rivalry in New Japan Pro Wrestling!
This was the very first time two of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s top superstars went head-to-head against each other, as the challenger Kenny Omega had his sights set on Kazuchika Okada’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Having never faced-off against each other in the past, Okada and Omega initially started off things in a very slow pace, however, things eventually started to get a lot stiffer as the two men started trading some hard-hitting shots and took some of the most ridiculous bumps you’ll ever see in a wrestling match.
Omega, in particular, executed some absolutely crazy spots throughout the match, with one of the biggest highlights being when he leapt on to the top rope and dived over the barricade and landed on Okada. Everything about this match was just crazy, from start to finish, both men slowly and steadily build-up the momentum and put together one hell of a masterpiece.
By the end of the evening, it was Okada who came out on top after hitting four Rainmakers on Omega, but even in defeat, the latter once again proved why he is indeed billed as ‘The Best Bout Machine’.
#2 Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada- Dominion 6.11, 2017
With The Young Bucks in his corner once again, Kenny Omega, on this occasion, was pretty confident about defeating ‘The Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada on this occasion, as he prepared for yet another gruelling battle in order to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
As usual, things started slowly between the two men as they once again slowly build-up towards an explosive encounter, with a lot of back-and-forths. Throughout the match, Omega and Okada exchanged some solid blows and also hit each other with their finishing manoeuvres as well, however, in overall, it was the entire storytelling of the match that made it such a special encounter.
At one point of the match, it seemed like Okada was closing in on yet another huge victory and was on the driver’s seat when he connected with The Rainmaker, however, with the Bullet Club coming down to the aid of Omega at ringside was another master touch to this amazing match.
Omega’s fellow stablemate Cody even teased throwing in the towel, before The Young Bucks prevented him from doing so and with the full support of The BC at ringside, a resilient Kenny Omega was absolutely determined to defeat Okada at any costs now.
However, the contest eventually ended with the two men wrestling each other to an outstanding 60-minute time limit draw.
#1 Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada- Dominion 6.9, 2018
After two unsuccessful historic attempts to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada in 2017, ‘The Best Bout Machine’ Kenny Omega eventually reached the do or die point in his Pro Wrestling career, as he squared-off against Okada for the fourth time in an NJPW ring at this year’s Dominion 6.9 pay-per-view.
Having failed to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title on two occasions in the past, Omega, now with the support of his best friend Kota Ibushi, finally looked to do the unthinkable by defeating his biggest nemesis of all time and eventually end the most historic world title reign in Pro Wrestling history.
Coming into this match, Okada was confident than ever after having defended his title for a total of 12 times, whereas, Omega, on the other hand, was a man on a mission who was driven by the implosion of The Bullet Club and the reunion of The Golden Lovers.
With no sort of time limits, Okada and Omega finally went to battle against each other and by the end of the evening, we were destined to witness a winner of the match as the two men battled against in what will go down as the most historic 2 out of 3 falls match. After scoring the first fall, there was certainly no doubt about the fact that Okada’s confidence was now elevated to the very next level, as he looked to spoil the party for Omega.
But, the challenger eventually scored his first fall after somewhat dominating the second round of the match, as he hit the V-Trigger and eventually the One-Winged Angel in order to secure tie the score at 1-1.
However, what followed next is quite possibly the most exciting and intense quarter one will ever witness in a Pro Wrestling match. Omega and Okada once again proved the entire world why they’re not only two of the very best in NJPW, but are two of the very best wrestlers in the world today. There was plenty of back-and-forth between the two men, as Omega immediately went for the final fall when he hit the Styles Clash on Okada, that eventually led to an ‘AJ Styles’ chant from the audience.
After getting the upper hand on Omega for a while, Okada eventually fell to the latter when his Rainmaker move was countered into the One-Winged Angel as Kenny Omega finally defeated Kazuchika Okada in a title match and won his first IWGP Heavyweight Title in the process as well. This by far remains as the most memorable match in Kenny Omega’s Pro Wrestling career thus far and if you haven't watched this one yet, then I recommend you to check it out immediately.
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