19 Things We Learned From Kenny Omega On Edge & Christian's Podcast
11. Getting To Okada
After becoming a heavyweight and losing his Junior Heavyweight Championship, Omega believed he was facing an uphill battle in his quest for the Intercontinental title because, you know, who's going to believe a man who just lost a junior belt can get his hands on the IC title? However, he overcame those initial crickets to have a successful run with the title which culminated in that ladder match - a match he was scheduled to lose even before Hiroshi Tanahashi got injured and Michael Elgin took his place.
Since this was the first ever Ladder Match in NJPW, Omega made sure it was kept pretty basic and easily digestible for the fans just in case they did it again and it could be eclipsed.
The response to the match was universally positive and plans started to change. Omega was told the day before the 2016 G1 Finals that he was going to win and become the first ever foreigner to do so.
Kenny believed that he would lose the right to main event the Tokyo Dome, but he didn't, and suddenly around November 2016 time realised that it was happening and that he needed to do something special.