What's the story?
The build-up towards the historic match between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom 12 is getting more and more brutal as days go by, but a recent special interview with Chris Jericho, posted by NJPW on their Youtube channel has shown that Jericho intends to end Kenny Omega's NJPW career.
In case you didn't know...
Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega are bringing a new element to professional wrestling with WWE and NJPW heading towards a more PG-friendly product, with both promotions banning the use of deliberate blood.
However, Jericho changed things when he hit Omega with his own IWGP United States Heavyweight Title belt, busting him open and shedding blood. The match between the two has subsequently been made into a No Disqualification match with more bloodshed promised by both wrestlers.
The heart of the matter
In the above video, Jericho lays out his intentions to not only bring a new type of match to NJPW but to ensure that Kenny Omega's NJPW career is ended by him in the ring.
And once again, I like that, because to me it’s gonna stand out. You’re going to see the last match of Kenny Omega’s New Japan career happen at Wrestle Kingdom 12, because of me.
Jericho goes on to cement himself as a vicious heel by cutting a promo on all of Omega's fans, including women and children, and how they'll be crying that Jericho has ended the career of their hero
“Can you imagine all the New Japan Pro Wrestling fans? The women, crying. The little kids, crying. The longtime 20-year fans, crying when their hero, Kenny Omega’s career is over....And all the New Japan people, all the New Japan fans, and any wrestler in the New Japan locker room is going to learn a lesson.
And it’s going to be a sad day for Kenny Omega and all of his fans at Wrestle Kingdom 12. I guarantee it.”
What's next?
The match between Jericho and Omega co-headlines Wrestle Kingdom 12 with Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito as the other main event, much to Naito's chagrin.
The intrigue surrounding the Jericho/Omega match and the repurcussions there might be afterwards have piqued a lot of people's interests, with talks of Omega appearing in WWE, or Jericho working a prolonged programme for NJPW. We'll know more after January 4th.
Author's take
Regardless of the outcome, or where either man ends up afterwards, it looks like the Jericho and Omega match is going to be a violent bloody spectacle the likes of which we haven't seen a WWE Superstar compete in for quite some time.
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