10 Booking Steps For Kenny Omega As IWGP Heavyweight Champion
'The Best Bout Machine' changes the world, and his whole world changes...
When Kenny Omega laid out his 'Golden Elite' mission statement flanked by The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi after his historic encounter with Kazuchika Okada, he made clear his vision of professional wrestling with himself at the top of the tree. The traditionally selfish closed club was no longer going to operate by slamming doors or cutting corners. Matches would be exciting, always. Stories would be enchanting and rich in content, as would the profiled performers within them. He summed it up with a succinct summary of the industry so obvious and yet so often ignored.
"Anything is possible".
This wasn't a grandiose throwaway remark. This was a reminder when one was sorely needed that wrestling should always supply entertainment because it has every opportunity to do so. It's not a sport - it's a scripted presentation of a sport. The beats can be manufactured and engineered with precision for an outcome of choice.
The line felt like a veiled dig at WWE for one of their worst ever post-WrestleMania creative slumps, but he needn't have concerned himself with anything happening in Stamford, Connecticut. Unlike spewing bullsh*t merchant Bray Wyatt, 'The Best Bout Machine' really did have the whole world in his hands, with the next period of his career sure to be unlike anything he'd ever experienced before.
Kenny Omega was speaking as a man that had just won what many already consider wrestling's greatest match ever. How would he follow it?
10. Cody & The Club
Kenny Omega's first official defence of the IWGP Heavyweight Title on paper looks one of the safest possible retentions, but the ever-crucial one percent of doubt installed by the sinister threat of Cody should carry the contest to an intriguing high.
'The American Nightmare's attempt to take Bullet Club from its leader has been partially successful, with Hangman Page and Marty Scurll pledging their allegiance to him during a challenging period for 'The Best Bout Machine'. Since claiming the industry's most prestigious prize and Wrestle Kingdom though, Omega's galvanised his troops. 'The Golden Elite' sub-faction reflected the unbroken bond between Kenny and The Young Bucks, as well as Matt and Nick Jackson's own endorsement of his relationship with Kota Ibushi. As a quartet with a positive vision for the future of pro wrestling, they represent the biggest threat to Cody's hostile takeover.
A cynical tyrant, Cody's slithered in between the ranks to reach this very moment - the point at which he can assume total control of Bullet Club and the industry's richest prize. He's even promoted the match as such - a winner take all. It's this that casts the doubt, but Kenny's immense talent that should dismiss it.