8 Major Talking Points From NJPW Dominion In Osaka
2. The Legendary ****** Match Has Been Bettered
Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega II achieved the possible and wrestled something better than a ****** masterpiece.
The sequel wove at least four engrossing subplots into its grand tapestry. Okada’s knee was damaged in the early going. Omega teased and finally struck his One-Winged Angel - something teased to unbearably suspenseful effect over the course of the two matches - but Okada was too close to the ropes. The monumental effort both men spent justified the near fall, which nobody saw coming. The move had been expertly built as the only means of putting Okada’s legendary title reign in the books. It didn’t.
Okada’s dropkick festival over the last ten minutes was a sensation. How he managed to strike them so flawlessly and so suddenly, after fifty minutes of fury, should have been impossible.
The most effective thread was the sheer exhaustion sold by the two men.
In a match comprised of totally unparalleled athleticism, content, precision and brutality - Omega’s dropkick into the guardrail was a sickener - the best spot saw Omega avoid Okada’s Rainmaker by collapsing to his knees just before the moment of impact. There was room for ingenuous psychology and nuance in this content-heavy masterwork.
To nitpick: Okada could have clutched and tended to his knee as the action drew to a close, especially after he managed to hit those countless dropkicks. Omega could have saved the dropkick-into-a-powerbomb counter for the last few minutes, to inspire one last glimmer of hope. That phenomenal sequence was let down ever so slightly by the fact that we knew he already had an answer to it.
What this proves, ultimately, is that there is somehow scope for improvement. Bring on Wrestle Kingdom XII.