10 Booking Steps For Kenny Omega As IWGP Heavyweight Champion
9. A Strong G1...
A strong G1 Climax competitor before he entered as New Japan's top dog, Kenny's record in wrestling's toughest tournament currently stands in the top tier. The first ever Canadian to win it (and at his first attempt) in 2016, he made it all the way to the final yet again before falling millimetres short against Testuya Naito in yet another match of the year candidate for the 'Best Bout Machine'.
Along the way in both, he used the Climax to flex his performance muscles - Omega was part-'Cleaner', part-clinician, knocking off everybody from Kazuchika Okada to Toru Yano with victories as divergent as the opponents themselves. It was all part of the several-year arc that made Kenny's Dominion victory so incredibly satisfying - he had to become everything to reach the summit of New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2018, not just try and win a tournament he'd already managed to do a year earlier.
Omega will thrive again in a challenging block, scoring wins over a string of tough competitors including Zack Sabre Jr, Juice Robinson and most notably Naito in a revenge victory for last year's heartbreaking loss. Sustaining his legacy as G1 doyen and Champion will be tough, but Kenny's exploits should lead him all the way to a deciding final battle...