NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 Review: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega

Result: Kazuchika Okada defeats Kenny Omega via pinfall to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

Rating: 5 stars

Where to begin. Man, oh, man, where to begin with this.

The match started slow, sure. That was my initial reaction, but to think this wouldn’t end up succeeding in the end is ludicrous because this is Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada we’re talking about, two of the best wrestlers not just in NJPW, but in the world.

From the start, we had the Omega entrance that saw him come out as Terminator and smash anything Triple H did at WrestleMania 31. If you ask who did it better, check one off for the Canadian star.

Getting down to the match. The most notable part of the first quarter of the match may have been this brutal dropkick that Okada took to the back of the head. It was the first of many (with an emphasis on many) hard-hitting bumps taken in this match.

Omega added what would be his first of many highlights with this ridiculous moonsault. The guy pretty much leaped onto the top rope and dove OVER the barricade and onto Okada in one fell swoop. Go watch this GIF over, and over, and over again.

Following a tope suicida from Omega, things went into a second gear. This quickly led to tables being brought into the equation with Omega placing one onto Okada and stomping on him.

However, Omega’s table would come back to haunt him. As he went for a move, Okada tossed Omega like a feather over his shoulder, over the ropes and through the table at ringside. Even for a babyface performing this, it looked dastardly and cold-blooded, but made for one hell of a moment.

Then came the ending sequence of the match, which you MUST go back and watch. It’s worth the $8.00 and change that it costs for a monthly subscription to New Japan World.

Everything about this was off the charts. Literally everything. It started with Omega picking up a head of steam after going through a handful of counters with Okada. He tried for the One-Winged Angel, but never could pull it off. This led to Okada hitting a Rainmarker, before Omega kicked out on an excellent false finish that seemed like the champion had this in the bag.

Then came another Rainmaker, but Okada couldn’t get to the pin. Following this would be a third one, which didn’t lead to the four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion placing himself on top of Omega either.

In between this all was the two Tombstones from Okada, so many counters from the two men that you couldn’t keep track of it, and just pure insanity.

It stems from this dragon suplex from the top rope:

This wild sequence:

Another dragon suplex:

One Rainmaker:

And another Rainmaker.

Sure, this seemed like the prime time for Omega to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Amazingly, though, he got protected throughout all of this. A historic match will do this, but he never once hit the One-Winged Angel, so this finisher never got kicked out of, unlike the Rainmaker being hit four times. That should be a testament to what NJPW thinks of Omega, what Okada was willing to do to get him over, and to give the Bullet Club leader the ultimate treatment in defeat. It really can’t get better for anyone else like that when they lose.

This match will go down as one of the best ever at Wrestle Kingdom. Yes, it was that good.

Five-star classic.