Making A Case: Why Kenny Omega Must Defeat Kurt Angle

Kenny Omega has a stake in being the best wrestler in the world today. However, how would he hold up against the best wrestler in the world back in 2007?

Kenny Omega is on the run of his career. Which is saying something for somebody like Omega. He has been one-half of multiple five-plus star matches. The battles that he had with Kazuchika Okada have gone down in wrestling history. He has truly earned his nickname as a “best bout machine.” Kenny Omega is on the top of the wrestling mountain right now carrying major championships in three companies.

Kenny is the reigning AEW World Champion, Impact World Champion, and AAA Mega Champion. He is collecting gold where ever he goes and proving himself as one of the best in the world as he does. However, all of this success is making me feel a sense of nostalgia. If it feels like there has been somebody else that has had this kind of similar success, it’s because someone has.

Back in 2007, Kurt Angle was on top of the wrestling industry. After signing with Impact Wrestling, then known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Kurt Angle quickly reminded the world how damn good he actually is. He won the TNA World Championship before moving on to win Inoki Genome Federation’s version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He also collected TNA’s X-Division and Tag Team Championships with Sting in the process.

Fourteen years later, Kenny Omega is on the verge of replicating Angle’s feat if not bettering it. Kenny has defeated the top stars in multiple companies on his rise back to the top. “The Cleaner” is mopping up all the competition. He is scheduled for two multiple major matches in the next few months. He will be defending his championships against the best talents in the world.

He will start off by defending the AEW World Championships against PAC and Orange Cassidy at Double or Nothing. Then he defends the Impact World Championship against Moose at Against All Odds. Last, but certainly not least, Kenny will defend the AAA Mega Championship against the returning Andrade in his first match post-WWE. As for those matches go, Andrade poses the biggest threat to Omega, in my opinion.

You can expect Kenny Omega to enter all of these matches and put on an absolute clinic. It isn’t the right time to take any of the gold off of him; especially the Impact and AEW World Championships. With all respect to AAA, those are the two world titles that everyone has been talking about. Perhaps this is the most Impact Wrestling has been talked about in years.

The moment Kenny Omega showed up on Impact television, fans showed up with him. Kenny brought ratings to the show and everyone began speculating. With a top draw like Omega in your company, you have to utilize him. That is why fans started speculating about his eventual match with then world champion Rich Swann for the world title from day one. Now that the championship is around Kenny’s waist, you have to keep pushing him harder.

You need to bring out the best challengers in the world for Kenny Omega. While All Elite Wrestling has multiple challengers in the wake, I am looking forward to the potential encounter between Omega and Christian Cage. That is the type of challenger that I would like to see Kenny face over the next few months. The best the world of wrestling has ever produced. That is how Kenny Omega will cement his name as the best in the world.

While Kenny Omega has been replicating Kurt Angle, and other’s, feat, one questions if Kenny Omega could beat the Olympic Gold Medalist. While it would have been a multi-star dream match to see both men collide in their prime, it is still a match that I would love to see this very day. Kurt Angle is still in tremendous shape, despite not competing in over two years. Angle has been “retired” since his WrestleMania 35 defeat to Baron Corbin.

However, any wrestling fan will tell you that nobody is ever truly retired in this industry. Kurt Angle could easily be the next person to step out of retirement. He would be a perfect fit to return to Impact Wrestling and represent the company against Kenny Omega and company. Many fans were asking for Kurt to have a different opponent for his last match. Kenny would be a great choice for Angle if he is open to one more match.

Kurt was released from the WWE during the April 2020 budget cuts. Since then, he has appeared twice alongside Matt Riddle. Angle later revealed in an interview with CBR that he was offered a role as Riddle’s manager, but he turned it down. Angle has goals he wants to achieve outside of the ring and is running a podcast alongside Conrad Thompson called The Kurt Angle Show.

However, that doesn’t count out one last match. And if there was anybody to coax Kurt out of retirement, Kenny Omega is an ideal choice. Kurt Angle has even called Kenny Omega a dream opponent. Here’s to hoping one guy’s fantasy booking becomes real. Damn real.