134. Will Ospreay (c) vs Kenny Omega (IWGP US Championship, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17)

Wrestle Kingdom 17 has been and gone…and the only match people are talking about is Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega for the IWGP US Championship. Of course, this dream match was the bout to put bums on seats. Forget White vs Okada; that was old hat with an obvious outcome. Every wrestling fan I talked to suddenly had an interest in NJPW. It’s a bout that would bring in every type of wrestling fan. Could they live up to the lofty expectations? Almost…almost…

124. Will Ospreay (c) vs Tetsuo Naito (IWGP US Championship Match, NJPW Battle Autumn 2022)

Stop the press! Pencil in the date: on January 4th, 2023, at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, Will Ospreay will go one on one with…Kenny Omega!!! A dream match, and one will no doubt be awarded a million stars by Dave Meltzer. This year alone, Ospreay has been a part of six 5* (and 5*+) matches as rated by Meltzer. His latest one came at NJPW Battle Autumn 2022 against Tetsuo Naito. Of course, I had to watch it. And while a high 4* match, it never reached the heights to call it a truly great match…

109. Kenny Omega (c) vs Chris Jericho (No DQ Match for the IWGP US Championship, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12)

As soon as a famous wrestler leaves one promotion for another, it opens up a plethora of dream matches. When Chris Jericho left WWE in 2017, his first port of call was NJPW. His first opponent? Kenny Omega. A dream match, to be sure. But how would Jericho fit in to NJPW’s style? Omega strained the NJPW style to its limits, so to wouldn’t be a total clash of styles. And the No DQ stipulation made constructing a match a little easier. But would this dream match reap rewards? Sort of…