10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2023
2. Kenny Omega Vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17
Kenny Omega presented himself as nothing short of a pro wrestling God on January 4 in a match of preposterous ambition and towering achievement - a cinematic experience with no pretentious aspirations to it.
The story told was incredible; Omega, defensive over Will Ospreay's rise to his stratosphere of acclaim and success, returned to what was his domain to prove that the book of his legend had not been closed. He had spent the year prior slowly pecking at Ospreay's psyche, revelling in the fact that Ospreay's acclaimed output meant nothing against a clap crowd backdrop.
An incensed Ospreay - after cutting the promo of his life at the Wrestle Kingdom presser - immediately jumped Omega, who dodged, at the bell. Omega had him. After some awesome back-and-forth exchanges of stunning, unparalleled precision, the tenor of the match changed when Omega blasted Ospreay on the exposed top turnbuckle with an unhinged DDT. Omega slowly dismantled Ospreay physically and mentally, reaching the Final Boss persona to which he had strived for his entire career. In an iconic sequence, he smashed Will's head through a Japanese table. While not pleasant to take, it was a perfect work. The horrifying tone had been set, and what ultimately was a safer spot than it looked also looked like a bludgeoning.
The danger escalated, quite literally, when Omega hoisted Ospreay onto the top turnbuckle. This spot epitomised a match premised on the alarming idea that a very serious injury could take place: using unreal core strength, Omega blasted Ospreay with an avalanche Croyt's Wrath. This was as scary as wrestling gets, and no other two wrestlers alive had the athletic ability to pull it off - nor the showmanship to make it seem like a transgressive murder attempt.
Ospreay, already beaten and abandoning any pre-match strategy, spent the last five minutes wildly swinging at Omega's head, trying to decapitate him with series of Hidden Blade attempts.
In a story premised on Omega's psychological chokehold over Ospreay, the finish was perfect. After dropping Will with a straitjacket German suplex, Omega, with Ospreay's arms trapped, transitioned into Kota Ibushi's Kamigoye.
The revenge mission had been completed.