Kazuchika Okada’s IWGP Title Reign - Every Match Ranked from Worst To Best
2. Vs. Kenny Omega (Wrestle Kingdom 11)
A relatively rare case of the original not being the best (despite being absolutely f*cking incredible), Kenny Omega's first crack at Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Title was initially thought to be a match untouchable even by the rapidly increasing standards of the time.
2017 would ultimately furnish fans with arguably the greatest year of in-ring action in the history of the industry, and much of the positive tone towards the year's output was set by this contemporary classic.
Yet another triumph of meticulous star creation by booker Gedo in 2016 following his hostile takeover of Bullet Club, Omega came into the contest as close an equal to Okada as anybody on the roster beyond Hiroshi Tanahashi thanks to his phenomenal G1 Climax success and a year in general defined by his potential placement as the man fit to forcibly take the throne. That he failed even to hit his One Winged Angel finisher (in spite of unleashing an artillery of alternatively terrifying offence) only further fed into the brilliance of the narrative at play.
'The Cleaner' had to leave Wrestle Kingdom 11 knowing that he'd not even been able to give everything he had - 'The Rainmaker's persistent counter game even robbed him of that, as well as his Tokyo Dome moment of glory.